Overheard last night on the LA area evening news preview, when it was FIFTY-FIVE DEGREES outside, "New lows have people in LA wondering, 'Are we headed for a deep freeze?!?!'".
Right...
There is this Cingular commercial some of you might have seen where two guys are dancing and singing to a song playing off a cell phone. Like many songs, they mishear the lyrics, and think it's saying "Lock the catbox" or "rock the cashbox", and that is the "hero" (industry speak for THE catchphrase or product visual) line. BUT THE NAME OF THE SONG IS ROCK THE CASBAH. I dont understand how they could misinterpret the chorus of the song when they have the damn name of the song on the cell phone being held in their hands. Idiots.
Also, im in this fantasy basketball league and everytime I hear about how such-and-such player is on a hot streak, I go try adding him to my team but I see that this one guy in the league has already taken him. but this isnt the first time, it has in fact happened many times, and its annoying! plus, he oftentimes drops the player i wanted, but then REPICKS him up again before I have a chance to even realize he had dropped him. it adds an irritating tease to the whole act, including the fact that the player sits on waivers for 2 days.
so then i happened to look at the league list of how many moves each manager has made. in spite of my ability to pick up the guys I actually would like, I have made the second most moves in the league with 18 on the NBA season. this other guy Alex has made 14 moves, and our other friend Ming has made 11. those are pretty standard amounts, considering there have only been 11 weeks in the season so far.
but that one guy, HES MADE FORTY-ONE MOVES THIS YEAR ALREADY! FORTY ONE! Stupid Steve Lin...
Anyways, the I caught a televised session of the Prime Minister's Questions in Britain on C-Span the other day, and it was thoroughly entertaining. Examples can be found on youtube. I don't think there is any possible way in the world that George W. would EVER be able to do that for thirty minutes every Wednesday.
What an enthralling post.
Whatup Justin.
Randoms:
- It was 85 degrees today. Yea.
- I had little emotional investment in the game, but it is pretty ridiculous that OSU had 51 days in between bowl games. The NCAA is stupid for scheduling that long of a break, then also claiming a playoff system would take too much time.
- I need to start growing my abs more. Abs abs abs. Grow your abs.
- Illinois football has a really good recruiting class coming in including the top DE and a top 3 WR. Four guys in the ESPN150 overall. Way to go Zook.
- I have yet to eat at a real authentic Mexican restaurant here in LA.
- Ok I really don't have much to say now, other than work related things, which was covered in the previous post that had been sitting waiting to be published for a few days. But if Justin asks me to update, goshdarnit I'm going to update!
- One last thing. For some brilliant reason, city planners in LA decided to have the 10, the 5, the 60, the 110, and the 101 all meet around downtown. That's FIVE major freeways in about a 2 mile span. That's effing insane.
As the new year begins, I have much to look forward to. Beginning this month, I will start working for Formosa Films with Will Tiao on a feature film which some of you may have heard about entitled Formosa Betrayed. For the first few months, I will be working as an assistant to Will, who is the Executive Producer of the project. And hopefully if I prove myself to be competent enough, I'll be even more involved when production (as in filming) begins. I am actually very excited for this job. I look at it as an immensely satisfying opportunity to do what I want to do and staying true to myself while being paid for it and hopefully keeping the parents happy.
While working on commercials in Hollywood has been a great experience, the final product of my work lacks the positive impact on humankind that I wish my work to have. A few weeks ago this began taking its toll and I forgot some of the reasons why I came out to LA in the first place. I was actually thinking about going back to Illinois in the springtime, just to hang out with friends for a month. But while I dearly miss the people there, it's not for me right now. Luckily, I remembered that one night and promptly wrote a post-it note on my desktop saying, "stay in california until formosa betrayed gets made." And as fortune would have it, I ran into Will at a Taiwanese event that weekend, and we spoke about the possibility of me helping the project, and here I am now.
I feel that my life experiences really make me qualified to help this film out. First and most obvious is my Taiwanese background and identity. My parents have always had very strong Taiwanese identities, and that has passed on to me through them and fostered through TAF. A heavy majority of my closest relationships are with TAFers or people met through TAFers. So needless to say, my life would be VERY different if I wasn't Taiwanese or had never gone to TAF, and even that I feel, is an understatement. My college major showed how films and media can impact our society and bring attention to issues that are commonly held as afterthoughts to the general public. This definitly lets me grasp the magnitude and power that the film could possess. My work as a Program Director has also provided me with an invaluable skill set of handling logistics, teamwork, problem solving, problem anticipation, managing, and more. And then the last three months I've spent in Hollywood have helped me learn the film industry, which adds a professional element. Yes, those are my powers, and I look forward to using them for good.
So wish me and everyone else good luck. I am very thankful and grateful for this opportunity, and I am also very thankful and grateful to everyone I have ever met and for every experience that I have ever had. It has brought me here thus far, and I have every intention of continuing to build upon that. Happy New Year.