awesome video
here's how i got to this video:
looked up youtube clips on Community, clicked on an interview of allison brie, which lead to a clip of her in mad men dancing the charleston, which lead to this.
looked up youtube clips on Community, clicked on an interview of allison brie, which lead to a clip of her in mad men dancing the charleston, which lead to this.
Women serving in combat?
The big news right now is that the U.S. military has some top brass that support women to have combat roles in the military.
People who are against it have two reasons:
1) Physical. Can a woman do the same physical qualifications as a man?
2) Mental/Emotional. Can a woman fight? Will she cause her unit to be less effective?
The physical is easy, a person can either carry one hundred pounds and jump a wall, or they can't. It's the mental part that will get people debating.
My stance? I support having woman permitted in combat roles, because I support every individual's right to do whatever they want, as long as it's not hurting someone else. Some women would make great soldiers. I suppose it's easier for me to imagine as a Vietnamese, because we have the legendary Trung sisters who lead revolts against the Chinese.
That being said, I am not a feminist. I'm actually sexist in the fact that I believe the average men and women have significant differences.
Men are different from women. Not every man is the same, and not every woman is the same. But biologically there are differences that make the gender what it is. An off-topic example: some neurologists took samples of brain fluid from convicts and they have a much higher level of nickel (or was it cobalt?) than the average person. It's not causation, but it's definitely correlation. Keep in mind that Nickel/Cobalt is a trace element in the bloodstream. How much more would testosterone and estrogen affect people? Experiments with hormone therapy significantly affect people's personality and moods. Those two hormones are what makes the genders different.
Most boys grow up playing with guns. Most girls grow up playing with dolls. Some of them will play with the others' toys, but most will not. It's what makes them happy. Some nurture has some part of it: parents give them gender specific toys. But nature is the bigger culprit. Do you think parents tell little boys to go finger shooting each other inside church? Hell no, that's just them. The violence is the same reason bucks play-fight each other as young deer. They don't know it yet, but it's preparing them for the future. It's fun because it's natural.
But while the average man is different from the average woman, not every man is the same and not every woman is the same. Can women make good soldiers? Some can, and some can't. But it's just like men. Some men aren't brave enough to fight. Therefore a woman who wants to fight is more of a man than many men. I say let her fight and let us honor her sacrifices.
People who are against it have two reasons:
1) Physical. Can a woman do the same physical qualifications as a man?
2) Mental/Emotional. Can a woman fight? Will she cause her unit to be less effective?
The physical is easy, a person can either carry one hundred pounds and jump a wall, or they can't. It's the mental part that will get people debating.
My stance? I support having woman permitted in combat roles, because I support every individual's right to do whatever they want, as long as it's not hurting someone else. Some women would make great soldiers. I suppose it's easier for me to imagine as a Vietnamese, because we have the legendary Trung sisters who lead revolts against the Chinese.
That being said, I am not a feminist. I'm actually sexist in the fact that I believe the average men and women have significant differences.
Men are different from women. Not every man is the same, and not every woman is the same. But biologically there are differences that make the gender what it is. An off-topic example: some neurologists took samples of brain fluid from convicts and they have a much higher level of nickel (or was it cobalt?) than the average person. It's not causation, but it's definitely correlation. Keep in mind that Nickel/Cobalt is a trace element in the bloodstream. How much more would testosterone and estrogen affect people? Experiments with hormone therapy significantly affect people's personality and moods. Those two hormones are what makes the genders different.
Most boys grow up playing with guns. Most girls grow up playing with dolls. Some of them will play with the others' toys, but most will not. It's what makes them happy. Some nurture has some part of it: parents give them gender specific toys. But nature is the bigger culprit. Do you think parents tell little boys to go finger shooting each other inside church? Hell no, that's just them. The violence is the same reason bucks play-fight each other as young deer. They don't know it yet, but it's preparing them for the future. It's fun because it's natural.
But while the average man is different from the average woman, not every man is the same and not every woman is the same. Can women make good soldiers? Some can, and some can't. But it's just like men. Some men aren't brave enough to fight. Therefore a woman who wants to fight is more of a man than many men. I say let her fight and let us honor her sacrifices.
What are you more afraid of?
Are you afraid of crazy bad guys more, or rational bad guys?
I'm not sure myself, but I would assume that there are ALOT more rational bad guys than crazy ones.
Repealing the 2nd amendment would stop emo mfers from shooting schools. But it would make life so much easier for the rational bad guys. Now they can rob gas stations and jewelry stores with knives and have no fear.
Which of these would you rather stop? A rare (but getting more common) incident of public shootings, or the everyday occurence of non-reported crime? The big shootings get more attention, but do you think the family of a slain gas station clerk are any less devastated?
People who are extremely liberal would eliminate citizen firearms in the hope that everything becomes better. Admittedly alot of things would get better, but many things would also get worse.
No opinion is stupid, only the people who refuse to listen to all sides of debate. Rational compromise only starts when the yelling stops.
------------------------------
My solution: make guns extremely hard to get - legal and psychology background checks, family friends and employer interview, and a gun shooting test (like DMV test). All these costs would be beared by the gun buyer, and not other taxpayers. But I would also allow those same people to have conceal carry in public. Hopefully this can cut down crazy shootings AND normal crime. Any private business has the choice to put up a "no guns here" sign if they want, but is anyone that brave?
I'm not sure myself, but I would assume that there are ALOT more rational bad guys than crazy ones.
Repealing the 2nd amendment would stop emo mfers from shooting schools. But it would make life so much easier for the rational bad guys. Now they can rob gas stations and jewelry stores with knives and have no fear.
Which of these would you rather stop? A rare (but getting more common) incident of public shootings, or the everyday occurence of non-reported crime? The big shootings get more attention, but do you think the family of a slain gas station clerk are any less devastated?
People who are extremely liberal would eliminate citizen firearms in the hope that everything becomes better. Admittedly alot of things would get better, but many things would also get worse.
No opinion is stupid, only the people who refuse to listen to all sides of debate. Rational compromise only starts when the yelling stops.
------------------------------
My solution: make guns extremely hard to get - legal and psychology background checks, family friends and employer interview, and a gun shooting test (like DMV test). All these costs would be beared by the gun buyer, and not other taxpayers. But I would also allow those same people to have conceal carry in public. Hopefully this can cut down crazy shootings AND normal crime. Any private business has the choice to put up a "no guns here" sign if they want, but is anyone that brave?
Old AIM Logs
I found these gems through my Aim Log file after reformatting. Unfortunately these logs only start in 2008. I probably started doing logs in 2004, but it's lost now. I'd do anything to be able to read those again. But anyway, whenever I get bored I will read some of these and share anything I find interesting.
This looks really bad out of context. The context is that I needed faceshots of everyone to create the An Phong basketball picture. HS kids didn't have facebook yet, so I needed to ask for pics. As you can see, I never did find a picture.
This looks really bad out of context. The context is that I needed faceshots of everyone to create the An Phong basketball picture. HS kids didn't have facebook yet, so I needed to ask for pics. As you can see, I never did find a picture.
| Monday, June 23, 2008 | |
| phAt fAt pAndA (10:15:01 PM): | hey do you got the link to andy's myspace? |
| phAt fAt pAndA (10:15:14 PM): | i havent been tehre forever so i cant find his lol |
| BABY x LUUKiiS (10:15:31 PM): | lol i dont think i have it |
| BABY x LUUKiiS (10:15:39 PM): | sorry >< dont u have his number tho? |
| phAt fAt pAndA (10:15:47 PM): | nah i dont want to talk to him |
| phAt fAt pAndA (10:15:51 PM): | just wanna get a picture of him |
| phAt fAt pAndA (10:15:52 PM): | lol |
| BABY x LUUKiiS (10:15:54 PM): | lmao |
| BABY x LUUKiiS (10:15:59 PM): | i'll try to find it |
| BABY x LUUKiiS (10:16:00 PM): | hold up |
| phAt fAt pAndA (10:16:01 PM): | you have any pics of him? |
| phAt fAt pAndA (10:16:04 PM): | if you do i'll take it |
| BABY x LUUKiiS (10:16:14 PM): | nopee lmao i dont take stalker pics of andy |
| BABY x LUUKiiS (10:16:14 PM): | ;[ |
| BABY x LUUKiiS (10:16:19 PM): | maybe u but not andy. |
| BABY x LUUKiiS (10:16:20 PM): | LOL jks |
| Monday, June 23, 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| phAt fAt pAndA (10:22:22 PM): | hey do you have any pictures of Andy? | |||||||||||||||||||
| phAt fAt pAndA (10:22:27 PM): | i just need his face | |||||||||||||||||||
| iishort86 (10:30:11 PM): | check Nhis emails over the weekend | |||||||||||||||||||
| phAt fAt pAndA (10:30:11 PM): | I am away from my computer right now. | |||||||||||||||||||
| phAt fAt pAndA (10:30:21 PM): | why | |||||||||||||||||||
| iishort86 (10:30:22 PM): | u can prob find a few shots of andy from camp | |||||||||||||||||||
| phAt fAt pAndA (10:30:25 PM): | oh | |||||||||||||||||||
| iishort86 (10:30:29 PM): | she has links to pics | |||||||||||||||||||
| phAt fAt pAndA (10:30:46 PM): | ok thanks | |||||||||||||||||||
| iishort86 (10:32:18 PM): | np | |||||||||||||||||||
Reformatted my Hard Drive
I changed the template of the blog because as nice as the old one looked, it took a long time to load. I'd rather go with simpler so I switched back to classic view. Anyway now to the post.
I reformatted my hard drive because playing League of Legends was laggy on my old Pentium 4. Guess what, still laggy. I realized then that this computer was built the summer 2004 (before my HS senior year). This damn machine is over 8 years old! Anyway, because I reformatted I installed old programs that I always keep in my separate partitions. This is why I've been able to keep files from 2007. Unfortunately I don't have anything from before that because the HD wasn't partitioned yet, so lost it all during reformats. I don't really game anymore nor download random torrents, so I have no need to reformat. This is my first reformat in over two years. Back then it wasn't rare for me to reformat every break between college quarters. I lost nothing because all my music, pictures, program files, documents, etc are on the non-windows partition. I only have to re-install programs.
I highly suggest that you partition your hard drive as soon as you buy a new computer, it also gets rid of all the stupid unnecessary manufacture installed trial programs. Another tip, if you notice your computer startup slowing down over time, it's because of your programs running in the background. Here's something that will help. From the Start button, "Run" msconfig. Go to the startup tab and uncheck EVERYTHING. Now your computer is fast again.
I took a gamble and updated to Windows 7, and luckily all my drivers still work (I was prepared to give it a try, expecting to have to re-install XP). Networking is so easy on Windows 7. Now all the computers in the house have 7 and sharing is so easy. Compare that to XP, where connecting to a wireless router was easy, but network sharing was a pain. Compare XP to Windows 98/ME where connecting to a wireless router was a pain. Stuff keeps getting easier. Technology FTW!
I reformatted my hard drive because playing League of Legends was laggy on my old Pentium 4. Guess what, still laggy. I realized then that this computer was built the summer 2004 (before my HS senior year). This damn machine is over 8 years old! Anyway, because I reformatted I installed old programs that I always keep in my separate partitions. This is why I've been able to keep files from 2007. Unfortunately I don't have anything from before that because the HD wasn't partitioned yet, so lost it all during reformats. I don't really game anymore nor download random torrents, so I have no need to reformat. This is my first reformat in over two years. Back then it wasn't rare for me to reformat every break between college quarters. I lost nothing because all my music, pictures, program files, documents, etc are on the non-windows partition. I only have to re-install programs.
I highly suggest that you partition your hard drive as soon as you buy a new computer, it also gets rid of all the stupid unnecessary manufacture installed trial programs. Another tip, if you notice your computer startup slowing down over time, it's because of your programs running in the background. Here's something that will help. From the Start button, "Run" msconfig. Go to the startup tab and uncheck EVERYTHING. Now your computer is fast again.
I took a gamble and updated to Windows 7, and luckily all my drivers still work (I was prepared to give it a try, expecting to have to re-install XP). Networking is so easy on Windows 7. Now all the computers in the house have 7 and sharing is so easy. Compare that to XP, where connecting to a wireless router was easy, but network sharing was a pain. Compare XP to Windows 98/ME where connecting to a wireless router was a pain. Stuff keeps getting easier. Technology FTW!
CA Proposition results
Results:
http://vote.sos.ca.gov/returns/ballot-measures/
Measure B also passed, the San Fernando Valley industry will likely suffer due to out of state competition. Even worse, tax money will be used on the state for an office of people watching porn to make sure rules are followed. I can see it now: tissue boxes labelled "your tax dollars at work".
It makes no sense to me that the death penalty was not repealed, but voters decided to ease up on the three strikes rule. I'm against the death penalty in theory, but it happens rarely in California (13 executions since 1978, less than 2% of convicted murders) so it's not a big deal. But changing the three strikes law will cause more criminals to be on the streets. A felony is a felony, why should it have to be violent crimes? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times, fuck you. If they don't learn after two felonies, they don't deserve to be in society. Just think from a economic point of view. The two-strike-criminal's fear just went down by ridiculous margins. He can now resume selling meth and stealing cars FOREVER.
http://vote.sos.ca.gov/returns/ballot-measures/
Measure B also passed, the San Fernando Valley industry will likely suffer due to out of state competition. Even worse, tax money will be used on the state for an office of people watching porn to make sure rules are followed. I can see it now: tissue boxes labelled "your tax dollars at work".
It makes no sense to me that the death penalty was not repealed, but voters decided to ease up on the three strikes rule. I'm against the death penalty in theory, but it happens rarely in California (13 executions since 1978, less than 2% of convicted murders) so it's not a big deal. But changing the three strikes law will cause more criminals to be on the streets. A felony is a felony, why should it have to be violent crimes? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times, fuck you. If they don't learn after two felonies, they don't deserve to be in society. Just think from a economic point of view. The two-strike-criminal's fear just went down by ridiculous margins. He can now resume selling meth and stealing cars FOREVER.
boys are simple, and that's good for TN
I've already posted about how boys of all different personalities can get along (source: see Man Day 2011, 2012). But there's cases right now where guys are becoming friends even though they haven't met each other. My brother started playing League of Legends, and he became the middle man to allow Victor and Michael to play with Ryan and Nathan (Joe/Chris' cousin). So now they are friends with Victor even though they've never met him. This is how guys bond: over activities. You can learn alot about a guy's personality and humor as he cusses during a losing session. Anyway, this makes me happy because although Ryan has been missing due of soccer on Sundays, I he'll join once again. There's also a good chance Nathan might join TN in the future, maybe even in time for our Christmas play.
Christmas play ramblings
Christmas script is done. My past work has finally paid off. I put so much time into the 2009 and 2010 script that all I had to do was take some scenes from each play and mash them together. It's already in Vietnamese too, which took the longest to do in the past. Why not try something new? Because I was pretty thorough the first two times so there is pretty much nothing new left to introduce. I used everything from the two Christmas Gospels, Matthew and Luke. They each have unique stories and I have used them all except for Jesus' presentation at the temple, which is how our play will end this year. The relevant Old Testament (related to the line of Jesus) is almost completely used up too, with only Abraham and Noah left. Maybe I will do those two stories if I'm ever in charge of Christmas again.
So I guess only Jon knows so far, but my aim this year is to show the struggle of good versus bad, and how good will win in the end. Scene 1 is the war in heaven, which Michael fighting against Lucifer. You must surely know by now, that if I am in charge of Christmas, there will be a battle lol. Anyway, Scene 2 is about the beauty of creation. I am dead serious about this scene, and I will put all my personal effort into this. I will be playing the role of God, and create the world while dancing with creation. Each day I spend a little time daydreaming about this scene, so by the time practice starts I will know exactly what I want.
Other than story line, I try to do four things as director: change expectations, give big roles to less represented families, helping actors help themselves, and make practice as efficient as possible.
1) Change expectations: I've done a "liberal" interpretation of the Gospel in past plays, where I create scenes that have not been explicit described but had to have occurred. Also, I do stuff differently just for shock value. In the past I made a stir when I cast Gabriel as a boy, but this year I'm changing it to have Gabriel a girl in the war scene. It's nothing political, I'm just bored and I'm sure the audience is too.
2) As far as family power goes we (Jon, Bryan, Lisa, Tony, Chris) and our younger cousins dominate Thieu Nhi in HT positions and also Christmas roles. This is the main reason why I want this year's Joseph and Mary to be Chris Nguyen and Monica. Their families deserve to be in the spotlight.
3) Just by giving the script to actors and telling them to learn their lines and the emotions involved, they will do a better job.
4) Practice will be efficient this year. I learned from my initial attempts in the past, and definitely remember last year's debacle. I fit the scenes and casting into the schedule first, not the other way around. If you cast people first before looking at practice schedule, you are screwed.
There will be four practice sessions, and all the scenes are covered i those four sessions. In addition, almost everyone is in four scenes so there's no downtime for people to mess around. Au Nhi and Thieu Nhi only have to stay for the first session. Nghia Si can leave after the third session, only Hiep Si and Huynh Truong have to stay until the end.
There's going to be four dances, and I already know people at the meeting will say "that's too much! we won't have time to practice!" Well yeah... if you cast a same girl in three different dances like they did in the past. Instead what we're doing this year is have four groups: older/younger boys, and older/younger girls all practice their dance at the same practice session. There is no overlap of cast or dance directors so everyone only needs to learn one dance, while still giving more entertainment to the play itself. Hax.
So I guess only Jon knows so far, but my aim this year is to show the struggle of good versus bad, and how good will win in the end. Scene 1 is the war in heaven, which Michael fighting against Lucifer. You must surely know by now, that if I am in charge of Christmas, there will be a battle lol. Anyway, Scene 2 is about the beauty of creation. I am dead serious about this scene, and I will put all my personal effort into this. I will be playing the role of God, and create the world while dancing with creation. Each day I spend a little time daydreaming about this scene, so by the time practice starts I will know exactly what I want.
Other than story line, I try to do four things as director: change expectations, give big roles to less represented families, helping actors help themselves, and make practice as efficient as possible.
1) Change expectations: I've done a "liberal" interpretation of the Gospel in past plays, where I create scenes that have not been explicit described but had to have occurred. Also, I do stuff differently just for shock value. In the past I made a stir when I cast Gabriel as a boy, but this year I'm changing it to have Gabriel a girl in the war scene. It's nothing political, I'm just bored and I'm sure the audience is too.
2) As far as family power goes we (Jon, Bryan, Lisa, Tony, Chris) and our younger cousins dominate Thieu Nhi in HT positions and also Christmas roles. This is the main reason why I want this year's Joseph and Mary to be Chris Nguyen and Monica. Their families deserve to be in the spotlight.
3) Just by giving the script to actors and telling them to learn their lines and the emotions involved, they will do a better job.
4) Practice will be efficient this year. I learned from my initial attempts in the past, and definitely remember last year's debacle. I fit the scenes and casting into the schedule first, not the other way around. If you cast people first before looking at practice schedule, you are screwed.
There will be four practice sessions, and all the scenes are covered i those four sessions. In addition, almost everyone is in four scenes so there's no downtime for people to mess around. Au Nhi and Thieu Nhi only have to stay for the first session. Nghia Si can leave after the third session, only Hiep Si and Huynh Truong have to stay until the end.
There's going to be four dances, and I already know people at the meeting will say "that's too much! we won't have time to practice!" Well yeah... if you cast a same girl in three different dances like they did in the past. Instead what we're doing this year is have four groups: older/younger boys, and older/younger girls all practice their dance at the same practice session. There is no overlap of cast or dance directors so everyone only needs to learn one dance, while still giving more entertainment to the play itself. Hax.
If you love airplanes, you'll love this!
If you love airplanes as much as I do, this is better than sex. (I was told sex feels pretty dam good)
Summer Break
Was a relaxing and peaceful summer break.
Brain fart for about the first 2 months and work for the last of break. Made awesome softcore with the boys and of course, LOTS OF AIRSOFT =]. Back to school now =[. Good luck and best wishes to everyone on their work/school years!
<3 p="p">
Brain fart for about the first 2 months and work for the last of break. Made awesome softcore with the boys and of course, LOTS OF AIRSOFT =]. Back to school now =[. Good luck and best wishes to everyone on their work/school years!
<3 p="p">
The Hurt Locker
Wasn't as good as End of Watch!
Wow! What a great movie. 10/10 (for reals). There is a lot of comedy and drama with little segments of face paced action. I don't want to spoil anything for anyone but let's just say that only AKs can kill cops... Go watch it if you haven't.
<3 p="p">
Wow! What a great movie. 10/10 (for reals). There is a lot of comedy and drama with little segments of face paced action. I don't want to spoil anything for anyone but let's just say that only AKs can kill cops... Go watch it if you haven't.
<3 p="p">
The Voice (in Vietnam)
I stumbled upon the "Viet Voice" which copies the American show. I think it's entertaining because there's a good percentage of people who sing English songs. I haven't watched this entire episode yet (2 hours) but I will eventually. Check out the girl singing Whitney Houston at 2:30. CRAZY, sounds so American.
Anyway, beyond just musically entertaining, this show gives me hope for Vietnam. Look at the judges, you have a cool guy, a gay guy, a prima donna, and a party girl. There's so much variety that it encourages teenagers to be who they want to be, and not to be afraid to use their "voice" for music and life. Maybe when the current teens become 30-40 years old, Vietnamese society will change to allow more freedoms. It's still not likely, because the Communist party is also a criminal organization, at the lower levels the supporters are brainwashed. But the leaders know what they are doing is unethical, they just want the moneys. There is always hope however. Although no one ever thought the Soviet Union was going to fall from within, that's exactly what happened. I'm rooting for you Vietnam.
Hello again
I have neglected BiA blog, but I found something that had to absolutely be shared. I found this on Khoa's history on his laptop.
Look at this guy!
Notice what he's holding while aiming his AK. Now I want to see his video!
The guy behind him looks like tony!
Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Process
Thoughts?
Yes, these immigrants will be your competitors out on the job market. Not only for that summer job, but for even your dream career.
My thoughts are as follows. Who cares about minimum wage job summer jobs. Yes, it sucks for American adults that are fighting for minimum wage jobs as these young immigrants, but hey those people really should aim higher in life.
If these immigrants beat you to the job offer, that's your fault. From the last time I checked, good grades and good overall applicant will always be the squirrel that gets the nut. If you let them beat you to the job, there's a good chance they've been beating you all your life. They had better grades than you while you were in school, they were out in the community volunteering, etc.
If they beat an American citizen, I think they deserve the job. They have shown that they are smart and can get the job done.
May the better man win! And if you don't win, just wait until the two year time period expires and you can steal the job you've "deserved" all along.
Last thought, this is nothing more than Obama's way of getting the Hispanic votes later this year.
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