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And the saga continues.
So, long story short, my computer is almost fixed. I say almost because they replaced the logic board, the LCD and they ran a system check with 1G of RAM and it worked, so yay, I could back up all my files etc. However. When they put the 4G RAM back into my mac, it died again. Which means that in the process of the logic board getting fried, it must have damaged the RAM at the same time since the RAM sits right under it.
Since the RAM was an upgrade, that particular piece is not covered under the original Apple Care warranty. Which, whatever. It costs like $150 to replace. Fine. The problem? I have to wait another 2 weeks for the parts to come in.
Awesome. And by awesome I mean a veritable sucktasm of sucktastic things that suck. *points to icon*
So, expect me to not be here until like 4th of July.
In other news:
+ Went to Manila last weekend and had an awesome time. Spent Filipino Independence Day doing walking tours of historical Intramuros (the oldest part of the city) and Chinatown with Mom and Ya Din. The first tour was a lot of Spanish houses, churches, and forts, and we rode a kalesa drawn by a horse hilariously called Rambo. The second tour was a walk through Manila's Chinatown, which is one of the oldest Chinatowns in the world. It was equally awesome because it was an eating tour, so we stopped at various restaurants to sample "the best" samples of the many good Chinese dishes in the city. (Our tour guide helped out Anthony Bourdain on his show, so he definitely knows his stuff.)
Also I wound up shopping while I was there. Major shopping. Like 4 pairs of shoes, 2 pants, 5 shirts, a bag, wallet, pearl necklace, and a silver necklace/bracelet set kind of shopping. Which, for anyone who knows me, is kinda insane, especially the shoes part since I normally buy, at most, 3 pairs of shoes in a given year, one of which is guaranteed to be sneakers or flip-flops. And not just shoes, I mean girly, cute sandals, including one pair that I refer to as my Cinderella shoes because they're awesome and the heels are this strange clear plastic wedge-like shape.
Of course the reason for that is because somehow, on Sunday morning, we were invited to a wedding on Monday. It was very spur of the moment. Since the original plan was just to hang out and sight see, my wardrobe consisted of jeans, shorts and t-shirts. So we were forced to go shopping for outfits for the wedding of my second cousin whom I had never met before in my life. It was kinda awesome, though. It was par the course, getting introduced to relatives via family links (e.g. "Kay, this is Roanne. She is the daughter of Tita Rochi who is the sister of Tita Jean." "Ohhhhhhh.") but everyone was super cool.
+ Also, I recently watched Prince of Persia, A-Team, and Toy Story 3 because movie tickets here cost the equivalent of $3.50.
Prince of Persia was good, if you don't mind that: 1) there are no Persians in a movie called the Prince of Persia and everyone is inexplicably British; 2) Gemma Arterton plays the same character she does in Clash of the Titans, and 3) Jake Gyllenhaal's accent is only marginally better than David Boreanaz' Irish accent. (It's a movie based on a video game, okay? My expectations were really low, in that the only thing I was looking for was for it to be better than Double Dragon and Super Mario Brothers.) Dastan and Tamia were cute together, though.
A-Team was fine. Nobody can compete with Mr. T, Bradley Cooper's chest is practically a character in and of itself, and Jessica Biel is not too distracting as the love interest (I know. WTF, right? There's not supposed to be a love interest in THE A-TEAM.). Liam Neeson continues to make questionable choices since his wife's death, but it's a good enough popcorn blockbuster for the summer. We're not really meant to think in these movies, anyway.
Toy Story 3 was awesome. Jaz and Jane loved it. I won't spoil you. Just watch it and be amazed at how perfect Pixar is at hitting all the right notes all the freaking time. The best easter egg of the movie? The trash guy is Sid, the sadistic kid from Toy Story 1.
+ And speaking of movies, Avatar, the Last Airbender movie is coming out. As someone who loves the original, I am begging you not to waste your money on this movie and feed into the institutionalized racism that it is.
Remember that awesome Chromatic Casting meme way back when? Well someone armed with Google and imdb basically did that for this movie and it's so spot on, I can't even deal. The kid she recast as Aang is *perfect* and Dev definitely makes a better Sokka than Zuko. It's just sad that someone even *had* to do a Chromatic Casting for this movie because the cast should have been mostly Asian from the start. The cartoons are so clearly Asian, it hurts. You had a visual blue-print, M. Night. How could you screw this up so badly?
And for anyone who thinks that it's not a big deal, I direct you this post (These Are My Colours), which sums it up best:
If you think that stories are not important, if you think a movie that just removed real world people from the landscape of a source material that respected and loved their 5000 years of culture and history is no big deal, if you've never known what it means to be erased from your own world and told to be thankful for it, I want you to do something for me.
Stop thinking. Stop feeling. Put down your books, put down your pens, forget your stories. Close your eyes and plug your ears. Forget what your story sounds like. You have no myths. You have no history. Stop breathing with your heart and living in your head. Your dreams are worthless, because they are not real. They are not tangible. You can't sell them. They are worthless. Go outside and consume, consume, consume. But never question. Never speak. Never dare to feel that you've been malnourished or mistreated. Never, ever admit that you have been poisoned. Be satisfied; you are well fed.
Remember: It's no big deal. It doesn't matter. And neither do you.
And just so we end an less of a depressing note, some entertainment for those bored at work or who like random stuff for their desks: 3D paper toy designs free on the internet. It's really fun. I highly recommend them.
So. How was your week?
Since the RAM was an upgrade, that particular piece is not covered under the original Apple Care warranty. Which, whatever. It costs like $150 to replace. Fine. The problem? I have to wait another 2 weeks for the parts to come in.
Awesome. And by awesome I mean a veritable sucktasm of sucktastic things that suck. *points to icon*
So, expect me to not be here until like 4th of July.
In other news:
+ Went to Manila last weekend and had an awesome time. Spent Filipino Independence Day doing walking tours of historical Intramuros (the oldest part of the city) and Chinatown with Mom and Ya Din. The first tour was a lot of Spanish houses, churches, and forts, and we rode a kalesa drawn by a horse hilariously called Rambo. The second tour was a walk through Manila's Chinatown, which is one of the oldest Chinatowns in the world. It was equally awesome because it was an eating tour, so we stopped at various restaurants to sample "the best" samples of the many good Chinese dishes in the city. (Our tour guide helped out Anthony Bourdain on his show, so he definitely knows his stuff.)
Also I wound up shopping while I was there. Major shopping. Like 4 pairs of shoes, 2 pants, 5 shirts, a bag, wallet, pearl necklace, and a silver necklace/bracelet set kind of shopping. Which, for anyone who knows me, is kinda insane, especially the shoes part since I normally buy, at most, 3 pairs of shoes in a given year, one of which is guaranteed to be sneakers or flip-flops. And not just shoes, I mean girly, cute sandals, including one pair that I refer to as my Cinderella shoes because they're awesome and the heels are this strange clear plastic wedge-like shape.
Of course the reason for that is because somehow, on Sunday morning, we were invited to a wedding on Monday. It was very spur of the moment. Since the original plan was just to hang out and sight see, my wardrobe consisted of jeans, shorts and t-shirts. So we were forced to go shopping for outfits for the wedding of my second cousin whom I had never met before in my life. It was kinda awesome, though. It was par the course, getting introduced to relatives via family links (e.g. "Kay, this is Roanne. She is the daughter of Tita Rochi who is the sister of Tita Jean." "Ohhhhhhh.") but everyone was super cool.
+ Also, I recently watched Prince of Persia, A-Team, and Toy Story 3 because movie tickets here cost the equivalent of $3.50.
Prince of Persia was good, if you don't mind that: 1) there are no Persians in a movie called the Prince of Persia and everyone is inexplicably British; 2) Gemma Arterton plays the same character she does in Clash of the Titans, and 3) Jake Gyllenhaal's accent is only marginally better than David Boreanaz' Irish accent. (It's a movie based on a video game, okay? My expectations were really low, in that the only thing I was looking for was for it to be better than Double Dragon and Super Mario Brothers.) Dastan and Tamia were cute together, though.
A-Team was fine. Nobody can compete with Mr. T, Bradley Cooper's chest is practically a character in and of itself, and Jessica Biel is not too distracting as the love interest (I know. WTF, right? There's not supposed to be a love interest in THE A-TEAM.). Liam Neeson continues to make questionable choices since his wife's death, but it's a good enough popcorn blockbuster for the summer. We're not really meant to think in these movies, anyway.
Toy Story 3 was awesome. Jaz and Jane loved it. I won't spoil you. Just watch it and be amazed at how perfect Pixar is at hitting all the right notes all the freaking time. The best easter egg of the movie? The trash guy is Sid, the sadistic kid from Toy Story 1.
+ And speaking of movies, Avatar, the Last Airbender movie is coming out. As someone who loves the original, I am begging you not to waste your money on this movie and feed into the institutionalized racism that it is.
Remember that awesome Chromatic Casting meme way back when? Well someone armed with Google and imdb basically did that for this movie and it's so spot on, I can't even deal. The kid she recast as Aang is *perfect* and Dev definitely makes a better Sokka than Zuko. It's just sad that someone even *had* to do a Chromatic Casting for this movie because the cast should have been mostly Asian from the start. The cartoons are so clearly Asian, it hurts. You had a visual blue-print, M. Night. How could you screw this up so badly?
And for anyone who thinks that it's not a big deal, I direct you this post (These Are My Colours), which sums it up best:
If you think that stories are not important, if you think a movie that just removed real world people from the landscape of a source material that respected and loved their 5000 years of culture and history is no big deal, if you've never known what it means to be erased from your own world and told to be thankful for it, I want you to do something for me.
Stop thinking. Stop feeling. Put down your books, put down your pens, forget your stories. Close your eyes and plug your ears. Forget what your story sounds like. You have no myths. You have no history. Stop breathing with your heart and living in your head. Your dreams are worthless, because they are not real. They are not tangible. You can't sell them. They are worthless. Go outside and consume, consume, consume. But never question. Never speak. Never dare to feel that you've been malnourished or mistreated. Never, ever admit that you have been poisoned. Be satisfied; you are well fed.
Remember: It's no big deal. It doesn't matter. And neither do you.
And just so we end an less of a depressing note, some entertainment for those bored at work or who like random stuff for their desks: 3D paper toy designs free on the internet. It's really fun. I highly recommend them.
So. How was your week?
no subject
Also, suck that the Last Airbender doesn't have an Asian cast. I haven't followed it that closely, and haven't seen the series, but it's on my list. But suck about the movie.
I'm still trying to find an Asian or South Asian folktale or saying about either wetlands, ponds, water quality, birds or migration for a wetland I'm working on in a community with a ton of residents from Vietnam, the Philippines, India and Pakistan.
When I say 'trying to find' I mean I've farted around on the internets a little, but really should go to the library. Maybe something from the Mahabharata? The theme of the trail that the wetland is on is 'Welcome to the community' which I know is a sucky theme. But there must be some kind of Asian equivalent to the Aldo Leopold's quote: "We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect."
Nerg.
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In general, though, would you say birds are important in Filipino culture? Or Vietnamese? I'm not sure how familiar you are with Vietnamese culture, but you are my go-to gal for pop culture in general, so.
Oh! I futzed around some more and discovered that one of the key species of duck at this wetland is also common in India! Yays! So I'm good. Thanks, though! Your willingness to help is so awesome, much like you!
I read some of your links for Avatar. Holy crap. How can they have done that? That would be like casting Tin Tin as an American! It wouldn't work. No wonder people are upset.
no subject
Also I've never seen/read Avatar, the Last Airbender, but talking visually that casting looks perfect. DAMMIT, HOLLYWOOD, WTF YOU ASSHOLES.
...Though on a really shallow note, OH HELLO KEN WATANABE, PLEASE COME OVER HERE AND ALLOW ME TO DO NAUGHTY, NAUGHTY THINGS TO YOU.
no subject
Especially when the original casting call was for "Caucasians and any other races."
Why are people so dumb?
no subject
no subject