Näm's Blogs

Crazy neighbor! Maybe bi-polar

2009-11-27T11:02:00.000-08:00

Crazy neighbor! It's thankgiving day and I am headed home from Milpitas, back from a lovely thanksgiving dinner with my family. I pick my friend Cesar to hang out with and he proceeds to call our other friend Nathan. We all just had dinner at my house the evening before and Nathan was having thanksgiving dinner with his friends that just happen to live in the building next to mine. Now let's add in the crazy guy.

Before I go into the crazy guy, I must write a disclaimer. In no way am I a psychiatrist or expert in behavior of those with mental disabilities. I also must say that everything I say here can only be seen as an outsiders perception. Anywho, one of the tenants of my apartment building is thought to be bipolar. And he has momments of paranoia (either when he didn't take his meds or whatever) where he thinks people are talking about him. I think he's even gone to the point of breaking one of windows because he thought someone in our house was talking about him (no one was in the house at the time).

In any case, Nathan is at his friends house and he is telling us that there is a crazy asian walking the street with a golf club. Well the first thing that pops in my head is that the crazy neighbor forgot to take his pills again. Once we get to my place, there are 4 cop cars outside of the house blocking my garage, so I double park and walk up and see my friends and his friends at the house next door, the crazy guys house's door wide open, and a cop with a shot gun style pellet gun running up the stairs.

Apparently, he crazy boy rang the door bell and proceeded to try and swing a golf club at our neighbor. Fortunately, the neighbors boyfriend pulled back the guy who answered the door in time and slammed the door with his foot, resulting in the golf club hitting the front door with a load thud.

The end up taking the crazy guy out in hand cuffs. Now here is where the wackiness gets better. The cops, have him locked up in the back of the patrol car, and they start posing with each other taking happy holiday pictures with each other (not with the crazy neighbor, just with themselves). It was like a scene out of reno 911.

A while after, Nathan came by my house to hang out before I drove everyone home. He brought up a good point. Because crazy guy didn't actually hit anyone, he is only going in the slammer for three days. If he had actually hit someone then the story would be different. But how much longer does the neighborhood need to be terrorized by this crazy dude. When does the city need to intervene and remove him from society for everyones good? When should his family intervene to get him better care.

The mother was also at home, and was pretty complacent. Most likely, this is due from her just being used to it. I think I've gotten used to it too. According to Nathan, the guy was screaming and making a scene for over two hours before the golf club incident. However, "sorry" just isn't enough. I feel bad for crazy guy, but I also don't think he should be at large without proper supervision.

What are you suppose to do? Oh life.... how you test us...

Towed! - Pride 2009

2009-06-26T16:51:00.000-07:00

It's afternoon on Pride Friday. I am heading to the airport later this evening with Etienne on our weekend Trip to New York. I call Cesar and he tells me that David is down by Dolores park at the Tranny march. So i go down toward the park. As I was looking for parking, I saw that one side of 18th street was empty, so i thought in my head, "Don't Park there". Then, near the Bi-Rite ice cream shop there was a large bank of parked cars and one was pulling out, instinctually I go and get it. I look back at the street sign and see the 2 hour parking sign. I go to Dolores park, come back within 2 hours and BAM! Car gone... towed. I look at the sign again, above the first parking sign was a second sign that I did not notice. Oops.. No parking 4 - 6 pm. Why can't they just make one sign? :(

Movie Review: Up

2009-06-01T22:37:00.001-07:00

Pixar's Up was lovely. It had that magical mix of nostalgic charm and puppy dog sentimentality that has worked time and time again for this digital movie house. The movie is, in one sense, about never letting go of your dreams and aspirations no matter how old you are. Great for all ages.

San Diego - Memorial Day Weekend 2009

2009-06-01T22:25:00.000-07:00

Ming, Eudean, Etienne, Cesar,and I went to San Diego for Memorial Day weekend of 2009.

We stayed at the large hotel where Shaq supposedly was staying. I think Eudean claims to have spotted him in the elevator. We did a bunch of San Diego type things. We went to Legoland, the San Diego Zoo, Balboa Park, shopping, Hillcrest, and the like. The weekend in itself was uneventful. However, one of our friends had gone biking sometime before. In this biking trip their body had a run in with the pavement, the pavement one. Instead of getting his body stitched up, like a normal citizen of a first world nation, he just bought some bandages and covered them up. He got the high tech bandages that are almost like a second skin... but still it was pretty gross. What is looked like was a translucent bandage where someone had put elmers glue underneath. Except it wasn't elmer's glue, it was the puss oozing from his wounds collecting under the skin tight bandages. So, all in all, though the trip was nice and relaxing, all i will remember are those bandages. They will haunt me for life.

Big Bang Love, Juvenile A

2009-06-01T22:22:00.000-07:00

This movie, by world reknown filmaker Takashi Miike, makes no sense and is too bloody. Lots of people like his stuff. I don't But i think it would be cool to have this movie playing the background of a night club or trendy restaurant.

Tragedy: a tradegy

2008-04-12T08:26:00.000-07:00

After our previous success with the Berkeley Reps show Wishful Drinking, Etienne and I decided to try out the other show that they were presenting in the season, Tragedy: a tragedy.

The show was absurd and borderline existential. I believe it had something to do with the mundanity of life and the lazy ruts we get ourselves into with all facets of our lives. Mix all that in the medium of a multi-person news broadcast/station and you have the main intent of this show.

As for production value, it was good. The stage and sceenery were emaculate and the lighting and sound were well put together. The actors were professional and delivered their stories very well. Of course, when anyone starts talking about how great the set and acting were, they invariably foreshadow how bad the they think the show was.

From my point of view, the play started well, remarking on the absurdity of news and the absurdity of what we take for granted as news. However as it progressed it seemed to become too monotonous. Now for a play like "Waiting for Godot", where the monotony is par for the course, it works because we as a society have accepted the fact that things like that happen in plays like that. However, when you put a modern element into the picture, things change - it is almost requisite that information occurs quickly and deliberately. This show did not do these things, which in some ways may have been the point all along. Yet, lacking this, the show progressed from funny, to awkward, and then finally to utter boredom. Within this progression were true momments of greatness. However, at the end of the show, I left with the sad notion that nothing I saw couldn't have been expressed in a saturday night live comedy sketch or maybe in a chance night at the improvs.

Wishful Drinking

2008-04-12T08:17:00.000-07:00

Totally unplanned, Etienne and I found ourselves perusing the Art and Leisure events one weekend, looking for something to do. Amongst the standard orchestras and plays of the season, I saw a familiar name, Carrie Fisher. Now if any of you are a nerd or a geek, or at least aspire to be, then you know that Carrie Fisher is nothing less than a cult icon. Reading more about the show, we find that she is starring in a one woman show called, "Wishful Drinking" at the Berkeley Rep. The show was a case study on Carrie Fischer, performed by Carrie Ficher.

Highlights of the show include her disfunctional family tree, the reasoning of why you can't wear bras in space, her torment over the star wars hologram monologue, and the wonderful world seen through the eyes of a manic depressive.

Another way to see the show is a live episode of E-Hollywood focusing on Carrie Fisher. In all, the show was nostalgic, inspiring, depressing, and most importantly entertaining. We highly recommend the show if you have a chance.

Toshiko Akiyoshi Trio

2008-03-31T08:47:00.000-07:00

The Toshiko Akiyoshi Trio performed at Yoshi's in the Fillmore tonight. As jazz musicians go, she is an interesting talent. I mean interesting in a good way, however at the same time she, like japanese uni, is an acquired taste. Her first, and signature, song was very japanese. Almost like Noe drama or the underscoring in a japanese kabuki, her song was offbeat. Either you liked it or you didn't. I personally did not, but I stayed to hear more.

Between each song, she would tell the story of the song or herself in a charismatic broken english. Though difficult to understand, her spasms of excitement were, in themselves, entertaining.

The rest of her songs showcased her extraordinary piano skills and she was, for the most part, amazing within her genre. She also had a quirk of kicking up a leg as she played the piano, almost like a sumo wrestler does as he enters the ring.

If you like her style of music, I highly recommend her. if you don't come anyway and see what she has to offer.

Crescent City Boogaloo

2008-03-27T08:56:00.000-07:00

Crescent City Boogaloo is off the hook. Their musical styling is very deep and soulful and each song gets my body shaking and tingles of happiness through my core. See them if you ever have the chance.

Each musician is wonderful individually, as a group they are explosive.

Who's Afaid of Virginia Wolf?

2008-03-04T09:40:00.001-08:00

Come see the Calaveras Repertory Theaters new production of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf?," opening this Friday.

National Compania de Danza

2008-02-15T09:04:00.000-08:00

This dance company won their way into my heart with their rhythmic beats and well choregraphed moves. The show started out with what seemed like the torment of a man, of course interpreted through modern dance. It then went to a dance about slavery in some island country, and finally into a dance of love and desire which ended in a woman standing under pouring sand. Magnificent group, magnificent show.

Miami

2008-01-01T13:47:00.000-08:00

Sabine and I had a lovely time in Miami for the new year... I love warm weather. Love it, Love it Love it

I love Charo

2007-11-21T10:18:00.000-08:00

Do you love Charo? I love Charo...

The Miser - Milpitas High School Drama Department

2007-11-10T22:05:00.001-08:00

Just started hell week with Milpitas High School's production of "The Miser" by Molier. Looks to be a fun show with a fun cast. I recommend you go and see it if you like that kind of thing. Opens this Thursday, and last the weekend.

OS X Leopard

2007-11-09T17:16:00.000-08:00

I got OS X Leopard in the mail the other day and immediately installed it on my macbook pro. The installation was easy, however it took about 1.5 hours. I played around with the new features and all-in-all was impressed with the new OS. But then, i go to login to some of my favorite websites and they simply don't work. Well the Java parts don't It seems Leopard has compatibility issues with Java. Um hello? are you guys 'tarded.

So, I have found some work arounds, but none of them very satisfactory. I hope they fix this issue soon. Oh apple.... I am so ashamed.

Greasy Americanized Chinese Food Coma

2007-11-02T13:14:00.000-07:00

There is nothing better on a Friday afternoon then the drowsy disposition of the greasy American Chinese food coma. After gorging on a mound of orange chicken and eggplant tofu, the mass of sticky sugary goodness has settled in my stomach. A haze of sleep falls, pulling my eyelids down with invisible weights. The aromas of the feast still in the air. Glorious.

Just as glorious is a quick glass of wine at noon. Nothing better to get your spirits back in order from a bad morning of work related issues. Not that I advocate the consumption of alcohol, especially before noon or before happy hour for that matter. But, if i did have a nice glass of chardonnay at 11:30 at Harrington's around the corner, who would be the wiser?

Of course, one could always just go for lunch. Chevy's has a great lunch menu. I happen to enjoy the pairing of a prickly pear Margarita with a dinner platter. Can't get too much Tex-mex.

However you get to that necessary state midday, the most important thing is to do it with someone else. Be it a colleague, a friend, enemy, lover, or your bi-polar other half; it is best not to be in this state alone. For doing so is cause for gossip.

Cal Rep Theater

2007-10-31T14:34:00.000-07:00

Another Season, another show.... This winter, The Calaveras Repertory Theater in Milpitas, California is performing, "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest". The show is a glimpse into the lives of people in a mental institution during the advent of the phylosophy of the therapeutic community. The bizarreness of Group Therapy, Electroshock, Lobotomies, and the power struggle between patient and practitioner are shown in this sometimes comedic drama.

As usual I did the lighting design for it. And as usual it is minimilist at best, however still a good show to see.

Operation Couch Surf 2007 - Complete

2007-10-31T14:26:00.000-07:00

Operation Couch Surf 2007 is now officially completed. Leaving my digs on California street a few months back, I had been couch surfing from place to place. Starting in Daly City, then to the a friends in the Inner Richmond, over toward Ocean Beach, back to my friend's in the Inner Richmond and then finally permanently in a new place in the Inner Richmond with Sabina.

Many lessons learned about what I need and don't need in my life. Clothes that have been discarded (not shoes though...), garbage paperwork, and other useless crap that has accumulated throughout the years.

Of course this new place has it's challenges... It needed a thorough cleaning and re-organization. However, the move in was, all in all, a success. Special thinks to my friend Chris for doing most of the move to the second floor flat for me :)

Dave is gone :( - Missing what could have been

2007-09-28T20:38:00.000-07:00

After breaking up, getting together, cheating on him, breaking up again, and then living with him not speaking to me for two months... Dave has finally gone. He got a job, found a place to live, and has movd on. Even after all that, I will miss him.

It's weird when you look back and start missing what could have been. Obviously, things were not working out... but I was that quasi-logical reason, that sense of hope that he would become the person that I wanted him to become and he was probably there likewise. But, as with most people I am with, they don't become that person while I am with them. And because he didn't I became a monster. I wanted an independent person, that was gainfully employed, undepressed and out of my business. He wanted someone to love him and be faithful. And I could not be faithful to the person that he was. I will always love him and wish him nothing but the best and will always miss the person he could have been; knowing that the peson he has become is that much better.

Happy Birthday to Me

2007-09-08T14:10:00.000-07:00

My birthday, My birthday... I'm turning 30

As punishment from the divine, I had pink eye and a cold. But I would not let that stop me from having fun. I went to Kaiser and had them give me anti-biotic drops immediately.

I flew down to L.A. with my friend Eudean for my birthday. Cesar and Nathan headed down by car, and Ming was already in the area for a bachelorette shindig with his old friends. After getting to LAX, we were shipped off to Dollar rent a car to stand in a long line. Once we got up to the counter, the lady was nice enough to tell us to pick a car from Section 1 of the parking lot. I have never rented from dollar before and was not usd to just picking a car from a rental lot. But, I smile and go out with Eudean to find our chariot in section 1. Section 1 was empty. That's actually not true, it had a mini-van. I specifically reserved a compact car; a mini-van is not a compact car. So, I go back inside where a manager tells me to get a car from section 2. I go back and section 2 had two mini-vans. Back again and the guy tells me to get a mini-van. So I tell him, "Hell No". Fortunately, a nice man from the car cleaning center comes out of the woodwork and says there is a PT-cruiser that just came in. I asked very nicely for him to promise me that car. And so after another half hour waiting for them to clean up the car, we were off in a PT-cruiser.

We lucked out and got a super cute suite at the Ramada on Santa Monica Blvd. Yes, the same Ramada notorious for seedy gay happenings and porn shoots. The room itself was strangely spectacular. It had a loft! It had a standard living area on the first floor, with a restroom and pull out couch. A spiral stair-case then wisked us away to the loft which was just about the same size as the room. The loft had a king bed and was very spatious. The ceiling was a half dome and vaulted over the loft to make even Cesar look small. A balcony wrapped around the corner of the hotel from the living area. From the balcony, you could see the 24 hour fitness across the street and watch the men coming to and from west hollywood. In a way the setting was sureal. Turning 30, in the hum drum materialistic and image conscious center of the universe. The whole problem of 30 was in itself an exercise in self vanity. But then again, with all the things that someone can accomplish by 30, I felt I did quite well.

For dinner, I decided to go to Ketchup again. The food was as good as it was the last weekend I came down. However, we had an adorable little girl from the midwest as our waitress. As par for the course, Cesar ended the dinner by making her cry. After our apologies we went out to dance in the night away.

On Sunday I spent the day with Ming and his girls. We went to the W in Westwood for drinkies, did some shopping, and then went to Killer Shrimp in Venice Beach for dinner. I loved it.

The next morning I flew straight from LAX to SFO and went into work. Yah for the innovations of flight.

San Diego and Beverly Hills with Mariae

2007-08-22T14:37:00.000-07:00

Matt (Mariae) planned to be down in San Diego (and the rest of LA) for her cousins wedding. Somehow, she had been skammed to do their photo-shoot (www.pinkposh.com). We unanimously decided that I should come down to celebrate our 30th birthdays together. Her's had already past, but mine was still looming in the distance.

I arrive in San Diego and was promptly picked up by Matt and her college friend Jason in a Mustang. We dropped Jason off, and headed to Matt's sisters house in the suburbs of San Diego. The house was nestled in the middle of no where. It was a large house with substantial property. Large boulders erupted form the landscape. The boulder's were historically protected due to have native american grinding holes. Aside from that, the house was virtually empty and unfurnished.

The next morning Matt and I get up and butt crack in the morning to do engagement portraits with her cousin and his fiance. We went to a train station, we went to the beach and we got really wet. After the photoshoot, we got dressed in cute clothes and were off to Beverly Hills.

We stayed at the Mosaic. It was a cute boutique hotel with cute workers dressed up in cute little suits. We went out for a little bit of shopping and came home to change for our little dinner. Ketchup was the name of the restaurant. An adorable place with stunningly yummy waitstaff and equally yummy food. We ordered way to much... Sliders with kobe beef, hot dogs made with filet mignon, lobster mashed potatoes, and dungeonous crab macaroni and cheese. There was more but i don't dare list anymore. Our waitress was cute and would magically transform into a cute waitor. I could have loved him forever.

After dinner we head over to the Abbey were were have a few drinks and enjoy the scene. We then have a walk down to Mickey's and debated on whether we wanted to go in. Then a very nice man told us we had to go in, so he paid for us... and that was that.

We stayed for a good amount of time enjoying the rhythmic dancing and the sometimes unrhythmic dancing of the gogo boys.

The next morning we headed for more shopping in Beverly Hills and hit Sprinkls for a much deserved red velvet cupcake before the long hall back to San Diego.

After we got back from Beverly Hills Matt's sister's house we had discovered that there was a mountian of cardboard at the door.

Apparently, instead of going to the beach, her family decided to go to costco and buy furniture. They pretty much bought furniture for the whole house, and we had to help put it together. There were couches, lounge chairs, a diner table and a foosball table. It was all quite exciting.

We did another day of pictures for another of Matt's relatives and had a nice dinner. The mother of the family we had visited was very nice but a little clueless. She kept asking me about when i was going to get married and things of that nature. It was fun as everyone obviously knew about my perdicament.

It was a great trip. Yah for Mariae (Matt)

Note: Matt is not a tranny, she is a girl named Mariae who's knickname just happens to be Matt. HAHA

Cancun

2007-08-18T01:14:00.000-07:00

Cancun was so nice. The ocean was great and the pool was greater. I was able to grab a cpy of the last Harry Potter installment at the airport before Dave and I flew out to Mexico. Good times.

Single and Free Again

2007-07-07T01:09:00.001-07:00

So I am single and free again. My last one tried to constrain me too much.. I need my freedom!

I am the gay

2007-06-24T21:58:00.000-07:00

So, I had a good group of friends at the pride parade with the Billy DeFrank center this year. Apparently, my pic made it into the SF Chronicle, San Jose Mercury, and San Diego Something or Other....

"I am so fa-mous" - Margaret Cho

Pride Parade 2007

2007-06-19T19:59:00.000-07:00

Last year I marched with the Billy deFrank Center in the SF parade. This year I have decided to do it again, accept this time I am planning on bringing a larger group of my friends. I think that would make it much more fun for me. They said they wanted more people....

Dave

2007-06-19T19:44:00.000-07:00

On September 12, 2006 I sent an email to my friend Rachel Morello in order to ask her if there was a job at Ann Taylor for this boy I met named Dave. The day or evening before, I met Dave and went to Little Orphan Andy's with him, had a patty melt and spoke about how he doesn't have a job. Which led me to getting his resume and sending it to Rachel sometime after. Why does this all matter? I am now dating the little son of a bitch and we have no real notion of when our first date was and therefore no way of knowing when our anniversary is. Therefore, this sleuth work is vital for my Virgo sensibilities. September 12 has been chosen as the day we met, because no other records could be found aside from a resume emailed to a friend asking for nothing special.

New Job

2007-04-02T19:36:00.000-07:00

I have said farewell to Snap-on Tools and am now working at a informatics company in the financial district. The same sort of thing, writing for the company in the form of business media and product manuals. I am happy.

2 hours off my , access to the life blood of San Francisco and money savings from gas. Oh what a lovely day.

Hello from an 8 year old

2007-02-21T09:27:00.000-08:00

When I was young, my elementary school teacher had the class write a letter to ourselves as an assignment. I did so and stuffed the envelope with my favorite trading card and a stick of gum. The stationary was my mother's; a beige, crisp letterhead with an Iris motif on the left-hand side. The motif was then mirrored on the envelope. I wrote with my best font and felt a strange giddiness writing my name and address in the spot for the mailing address. This seemed almost taboo to me then, but I enjoyed the mischief.

What must be 20 years later, I come home to my parents to collect my mail. The normal pile of bills and advertisements for the fast food flavor of the month littered the pile. Then emerging from this pile a vision from past memory; the stationary was transfixed in a moment in time in my mind. I thought to myself, "They still make this stuff?." Then noticing the return address and the mailing address being identical, I was thoroughly confused. Was this some strange joke? So I open it and read to myself a letter, one that only a young me would write:

Dear Me,

I hope all is good. I live with mom, dad, quang and ro. I hope they are doing ok. I go to school down the street. I have a pet mouse and a finch. When I grow up I want to be a marine biologist or a veterinarian. I hope you didn't become a loser.

I've put some pictures of my friends and some of my favorite things in this envelope. Are they still your friends? I hope this makes it to you.

Nam.

And so I answer myself:

Dear Younger Me,

All is pretty good. I live with a bunch of black gays in san francisco. Hey did you know that you grew up to be gay?

Mom and Dad live happily in the old place and they take care of my cat and Quang's koi. Your room has become a shrine, a new addition was added where the deck was and now orchids fill the house. The garden has been transformed to a aquaint English style garden, slightly overgrown like one would see in a Miyazaki picture.

The mouse you had, Spunky, ended up being pregnant and started a long line of mice for over twenty generations. Then there was an episode that I call the "great escape", where I was brainwashed by television shows about animal rights and let the mice free.

As for the finch, he died on a hot summer day while I went to visit my cousins. The house became an oven and the water trough went dry. That day was the first day I understood what was meant by global warming. You know that saying, "people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones"? Well it should be, "people in glass houses should have central climate control". This was installed in the house some years later.

I think it's great that you wanted to be a marine biologist or a veterinarian. You came close. Your fascination with fish ended after taking care of fish for so long. They just got uninteresting. Also, in college the person that helped you out the most studied insects. Since you had a relative fear of creepy crawly things you found it necessary to pursue a course in it to overcome this fear. As a result you fell in love with the subject and went on to do graduate work in it.

As for veterinarian, you could have been one if you really wanted to be. You went as far as to take the VCAT and got a perfect score only to decide you wanted to be a bug doctor instead.

So now you continue these pursuits, but you've added a few others along the way. You know that Buddhist thing you have always done? Well you got a graduate degree in that, another in environmental management, became a theatrical lighting and set designer, and also studied evolution for a bit.

You are currently a writer, but have also worked in software, real estate auctioning, fairground management, amusement parks, and volunteered at the most auspicious and inauspicious places.

As for loser, that's for other's to judge. If you try your hand in judging yourself, you will end up depressed and lonely. I don't think that is what either of us want.

Quang is doing well, he married a great girl named Huyen and they are set to have their first kid soon. A boy, of course. I think it's a family curse. Quang's working in the tech industry and still enjoys his tennis.

Ro isn't doing so well. He was lost to a freak car accident 10 years ago. But he got a lot done for his time and was teaching mathematics for a while here in the bay area.

As for yourself, you are combating a tumor. Fortunately your just as sadistic and sarcastic as you were so many years ago. I think this resentment for life is the reason why you will continue to be around for another twenty year. Keep up the good work and please write again soon.

(Written on May 10th 2006)

Silver is just like White Gold... It IS!

2007-02-14T20:09:00.000-08:00

So Dave got me a lovely ring from Tiffany's. Its called a torque ring I believe and its very angular and cute. I love it. However, in the box there was a card titled "How to Care for Silver". And to me there is actually nothing wrong with a silver ring and I love the ring... BUT Dave was very upset when I was reading the care instructions outloud because the ring he bought wasn't silver; it was white gold.

So it was an added bonus for me because I was sitting there thinking i had a cute silver ring when I, in fact, had a cute white gold ring. Dave however was very angry about it and wanted to give Tiffany's a piece of his mind.

Well he finally got around to calling the Tiffany's number and they were closed due to "weather conditions". That's a little fishy.

Booze Hag - Thoughts on Gavin Newsom

2007-02-06T10:47:00.000-08:00

I turned the radio on to Alice 97.3 on this mornings commute where Sarah and NoName were all in a flutter about the news that Gavin Newsom had cheated on his wife with a staffer.

Now I have always been politically against Gavin for the plain fact that someone who looks so good must have something deviant to hide. As you can guess, the adultery scandal didn't shock me in the least bit, though it was somewhat disappointing because I was beginning to come around to liking him. But, just five days after he made the adultery statement, he makes another statement that he is an alcoholic and that he was going to immediately check himself into rehabilitation.

Now that's just shady. Too many things are coinciding at once here. Is he coming out about his alcoholism to turn the story away from his adulterous nature? Is he coming out with both problems now so that the problems will be long forgotten within the 12 months time before the next election? Or perhaps there are even more dirty dealing that we will have to succumb to in the coming days!

But seriously, alcohol? I don't know anyone that isn't an alcoholic. In fact it would be more of a revelation if he had just stated he was sober and apologize for that. I would prefer my leaders to be alcoholics; at least i know there judgements were founded on induced absentmindedness and delirium and not just plain stupidity.

So I digress to this weekend where I and my friends were afflicted with the libations. Yet, we were proud of our accomplishment in drunkenness. We were Booze Hags! I think everyone should be a Booze Hag at least once in their life and don't you dare apologize for it. So Gavin Newsom, either be a Booze Hag or a straight shooter, don't try both cause that's just fishy.

Happy Birthday César

2007-02-05T08:05:00.000-08:00

César's birthday celebration was a weekend of discovery and enchantment. César, Nathan, Ming, and I find ourselves in Beverly Hills and West Hollywood. How we get there... unclear, yet there we frolicked. We started with a quick dinner and continued on with the usual Abbey stop and found ourselves proliferating through the clubs one by one. César made sure everyone had a chance to say hello to him.

We then had a full day of shopping and seeing what LA had to offer simple Northern Folk such as ourselves. That evening we had a descent meal at Hamburger Mary's, though service was slow, and headed to Fubar for a gay old time. When we entered this heathen's den everything seemed all so sudden. First go-go boys with unmentionables dangling against their underpants were undulating on podiums. I was shocked and appalled, so we pressed forward. There was a boxing show with men working out and licking water off each other's body, a trapeze woman flying in the air with a pink feather headdress and a black Adonis with piercings in unexpected places. We were had just started enjoying this menagerie when the boxing boys began doing sit-ups in their jock straps. Derriers in the air, their pucker holes were displayed for all to see. And we had no choice but to sneak a peek.

I saw men being wiped down and towels flying. It was all too much for simple folks like us to take. So we left around 1:30 in the AM and headed to Micky's. There, go-go boys were also fun and slightly more wholesome. But only slightly. Nathan did a few splits and pirouettes and César fluttered around and around like a tornado. On our way out for the evening, César discovered a new friend. After negotiating with his new friend's fag hag, we had him in the car and off to an after party in the back alleys of West Hollywood. I myself did not have the strength to experience anymore of what LA had to offer, so I left César and his new friend to celebrate the rest of César's twilight birthday evening alone. Ming, Nathan and I left to our hotel to reflect on the nights happenings.

I awoke to the sounds of a giggling César in the middle of the night as he fluttered in from his evening of premeditated debauchery. I won't share all the secrets, but lets just say César's new friend was left at said after party after being too friendly with everyone and anything that could unzip their pants.

We spend Sunday morning having a nice lunch on Melrose and cocktails at the Abbey's Superbowl celebration before a marathon drive back home. Happy Birthday indeed.

Jane's Farewell with Shortbus

2007-01-31T07:51:00.000-08:00

Jane's Farewell performance with Shortbus arrived this Wednesday. Her sultry and earthy voice resonated well with the bands hodgepodge of musicians. Everyone contributed to a great blue-sy, jazzy atmosphere. The show was set at JJ Blue's on Stevens Creek, a local cozy night stop for San Jose non-commuters. Though not sure I will ever have reason to return to this venue again, I am glad to have gone into it at least once in my life. Being the first and last show I have seen with Shortbus, I can't help but be a little sad that I missed the others. We all look forward to Jane's next venture.

Blogger and Chat added to Namland

2007-01-29T07:42:00.000-08:00

Thank goodness for smart web engineers that make automated tools for creating website integrated Blog and Chat! Our friends at meebo.com and blogger.com are my heroes for the day. Of course there was a bit of tweaking on the blogger in order to get it looking right. With utilities like these, I won't have to know any mark-up languages!

Roll-out begins on the new Namland

2007-01-25T11:28:00.000-08:00

The first phase of a multi-phase roll-out of the new website is underway. This is going to take some time, but it was definitely long overdue. I hope y'all like it.

Dave's Birthday Weekend

2007-01-06T10:05:00.000-08:00

We arrive in Anaheim in the wee hours, at the limbo time between too late and too early. Dave needs antihistamines... stat! So we drive in endless circles and find pharmacy after pharmacy, supermarket after superstore closed for the night. Is there nothing open late in Anaheim? We finally give up and go straight to our hotel. We stay at some priceline.com-ed hotel. It wasn't bad at all, a bit generic but you couldn't complain for the price.

The next morning I get up early to run over to the Target across the way in order to purchase medications for Dave. Just my luck that the pharmacy was still closed. The goods we wanted were behind the counter so I got the next best thing I could find that wasn't behind the counter.

Back at the hotel Dave wakes up begrudgingly and we head to meet my friend Kristie at the park. Kristie, a former employee of Disneyland, has were ways into the park without paying. A cheery smile and a hug later, we were gallivanting in the park.

Now it had come to pass that Colby Cheese was also in Disneyland this very weekend. And that he was already in the park at this very moment. And so our groups converged. There were rides, and Churros and fast passes flying left and right as we made our way through the park.

They had made quite a few changes from the last time I was there; Jack Sparrow was part of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, Space mountain was Red Hot Chili Peppered and Christmas was still in the air. We had a mouthful of Monte Cristo sandwiches and completed our whirlwind tour of Disneyland.

The next morning we had a whirlwind tour of Hollywood and Santa Monica. The third-street promenade had a few things to see and we headed down to the pier to get some corn dogs. Of course, I had forgotten that the corn dog vendor was not on the peer, but instead was below the pier.

We then gave up on that idea and went to eat at this Italian restaurant. However the waiter tells us that they were only serving a $60 buffet and I only had room for $5 dollars worth of their food. We end up at this cute Hawaiian fusion place across the street and have some food and cocktails.

Dear George: Messenger of God and Iran

2006-05-12T09:18:00.000-07:00

A letter to George W. Bush, sent on May 12, 2006:

The Honorable George W. Bush
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear George,

It has come to my attention that you have been chosen by god to lead America. Though I believe in the separation of church and state, I do understand the historical religiosity of our government and feel I can come to accept your calling by the lord. Our forefathers fled England for the very right of religious freedom and acknowledgements of the Christian god have had a prime spot in countless patriotic hymns and monuments across our nation state. I am a Buddhist and have been taught to respect other's beliefs, so if you feel so inclined by your deity to lead us then so be it.

What I fear, is that this religiosity has become a new crusade. I've studied some of these crusades in recent years to much of my dismay. Good Christian aristocrats, to no true fault of their own, somehow have gotten the notion that it was god's will for them to fight and kill. I think there are some commandments against that; however I suppose since Moses was a Jew and not a Christian that those commandments are just suggestions. There is no other way I can reconcile this problem.

That aside, somehow Christian morality and American democracy have become inseparable in the eyes of the administration. Though I feel that Christianity has a positive affect on those that come to its understanding in a more conventional setting, I believe war does not qualify as something that Jesus would do to show the compassion of Christianity. Yet you continue to use war in the name of good. There is no good in war.

I have been in agreement with America's policy of frowning upon some countries enforcing their religious ideology on others. This has been most notable on the Middle East where some Islamic countries have attempted to do so. I am in agreement that of all the types of governments that a nation could be run, democracy is the fairest and preferred style. However, like Christianity and Islam, democracy is an ideology and it must be treated as such. An ideology, like a religion, must be disseminated from within a country and not forced upon them.

In light of this, Iraq was a disaster. Aside from the lack of weapons of mass destruction and aside from the unfinished war we started in Afghanistan, the democracy in Iraq is a failure and continues to be. A puppet democracy is not a democracy. Though they have a common idea, it is not the idea of freedom and fairness, instead it is the idea of playing along like puppets to their US warlords until the time the warlord decides to go away. The country is in economic, social, and cultural ruin. Oil production for Iraq is lower than it was during the war itself, civil war is a whispering reality, and artistic and historical treasures have been dispersed onto the black market. Life in Iraq is worse than it was during Saddam's regime. If Saddam truly is Satan, then what would this make America?

Now we have our eyes set on Iran. Yes, they have are attempting to develop nuclear technology. No, we don't know why. Does it matter? Countless countries have nuclear weapons and we are not in anyway poised to invade them. Iran is developing the technology and probably won't be able to produce uranium at the grade to make weapons for another ten years. Iran is a budding democracy. With a strong feminist movement fueled by a high education rate for woman as well as a young population with a flavor for western ideas, Iran is poised to develop a strong democracy. It must be allowed to develop itself. Pressure from the US only fuels the fire and drums up support for extremist groups. If we are true in our mandate to fight terrorism and extremism in this nature perhaps we can learn about other ways of fighting. Gandhi fought without force.

Iran is a proud country, with over 2 millennium of history and independence over the US's 2 centuries. These are a proud people. We may be able to over power them with the advanced weapons Christians have developed over the years in the name of Christ. Yet, using them will fuel Islamic pride so great that every Iranian would fight to their death to ensure an independent Iran.

Do not impose our religious ideology on Iran. And NO, I do not mean the religion of Christianity, but instead the religion of democracy. It's what is right, it's what is fair, it's what god would want of us and it is what the Buddha taught. As he who is anointed by god, I trust you will do his will in good faith.

Sincerely

Näm

(Written on May 12th 2006)

Happy Vesak!

2006-05-12T09:10:00.000-07:00

Happy Vesak!

Vesak is a Thervadin Buddhist celebration commemorating Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death. It is a day that is more religious than celebratory in which practitioners reaffirm their dedication to leading a life toward the path of enlightenment as taught by the Buddha.

(Written on May 12th 2006)

Shirin Ebadi

2006-05-10T09:25:00.000-07:00

I went to see Shirin Ebadi speak at the Commonwealth Club with my friend Azin this evening. Azin and I arrived and searched for a good seat. There were two podiums, one toward the left aisle and one toward the right isle. We began looking for seats on the right isle closer to the door when I looked at the name on the podium and realized that it wasn't Shirin Ebadi's name. That must be the translator, I thought, and I told Azin. We went to find seats on the other side where Shirin would be standing.

Shirin was a sweet middle aged woman with a kind disposition. She gave her talk about her memoirs in Farsi and had a translator beside her. Her speech started very monotonously as she went through the reasons for writing her book and as she started to talk about her life.

Then it was like the sweet lady became this demanding angry person as she began to speak about political oppression and political injustices in her country of Iran. Azin tells me it was very eloquent. All I saw was the fervor in her eyes telling me that she really meant what she was saying.

She made some interesting points about the Muslim world in the question and answer session. An audience member had asked her how human rights could be coexist with the Islamic ideology seen in Iran. She answered by saying, "It depends on the interpretation of Islam". She correlated this with an American example. Here, some Christian churches are open to same sex marriages and others are against it. She stated that Muslim must be seen as the same. In Iran and Saudi Arabia, polygamy is legal and practiced. Where there are other Muslim nations that have banned it. In Iran women are seen as too emotional to hold high public office. However, in Indonesia women have had a long standing of holding public office and even the presidency.

So, we must not jump to conclusions and think that only Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia have the monopoly of Islamic thought. As we must also realize that America does not wholly have a monopoly of divinity from the Christian god.

Most importantly, Shirin stressed that though there are injustices in her country, the Iranian people would be firmly against an attack on their soil. She stressed that democracy was not a commodity that could be bartered or traded, nor is it an ideology that can be imposed by another. Like America's belief that Islamic countries can and should not impose their ideology on others in their region, Shirin beliefs that America has no right to impose its democratic ideology on Iran.

An interesting statistic that Ebadi stated was that more woman in Iran are educated than men. This has led to a strong feminist movement within Iran. Though this movement has been oppressed by the male dominated regime, it strives to re-open up doors for women in the country.

It is important that Iran is allowed to develop its democracy on its own. If looking at Iraq as an example, war would be backward for the country and very likely bolster support for the non-democratic groups. Once again she stresses that democracy can not be imposed, instead it must disseminate from the people; from within Iran.

She ended by answering a question about her books publishing status in the Iran. The fact is that in order to get anything published in Iran, she must get permission from the government, and that was not going to happen as she was a Nobel prize winning human rights advocate fighting for democracy in Iran. However, the actual struggle was getting published in America. They had told her that if she was published in America, the royalties of this book would go to her in Iran. This would fall under the trade embargo currently imposed on Iran by the United States. As a lawyer she argued in the U.S. courts that the book was a cultural exchange and should not be placed under the trade embargo. She went on to saying that the by banning publication of her book, the U.S. would be censoring its citizens and therefore the banning would be unconstitutional. She won, and now cultural exchanges no longer fall into the jurisdiction of the trade embargo imposed on Iran by the U.S.

At the end of the talk audience members began lining up to get their book signed. Azin had brought a story she had written and wanted to give it to Shirin Ebadi. I asked Azin, "Did you write it in English?"

She said she didn't and had started to wonder how Shirin would be able to read it. Azin and I got to the front of the line and Azin started talking Farsi to Shirin and Shirin smiled and took the story and we walked off completely confused of how or if she would ever read it.

(Written May 11, 2005)

Madeleine Albright

2006-05-08T09:39:00.000-07:00

I took this afternoon off to see Madeleine Albright speak about her new book, "The Mighty and the Almighty" as well as her views on politics and religion at the Commonwealth Club. My friend Chris, a fellow politics buff, joined me.

A woman came out from the curtain and stood at the podium. Adjusting the microphone and shifting the items on the stand, she captivated the audience in anticipation of a beginning to the program. The lady then scurried back behind the curtain, as faint chuckles in the crowd echoed through the hall. The lady was only there to check the podium before the first speakers came out.

The Chair of the Commonwealth Club mechanically came into view and did a heartfelt introduction to the former Secretary of State. When Albright emerged, it was apparent that the audience held her in noble esteem. The clapping was not outrageous in noise, but very deliberate and effectual in nature. The harmony of applause rolled from the theater to embrace the speaker.

She began. Her words were carefully chosen. She emphasized four points that were discussed in either her book or during the question and answer session following the talk. The main points I took are: that the U.S. government has always been religious in its foreign policy but it has metamorphosed to new form in the current administration, that there is a key difference between being moral and being moralistic, that we as Americans must take it upon ourselves to learn more about the religion of Islam, and that though Albright believes there have been mistakes made by politicians she does not believe that they made these decisions in bad faith.

I had no choice but to agree with the majority of what she said, because I had already come to these same conclusions in my studies of religion and my limited understanding of politics. Aside from the meat of the matter, Madeleine's style of performance added great anecdotes to the ideas she was conveying. Some of these anecdotes brought the audience closer to the small world of politics.

For instance, she discussed how Condoleezza Rice was a PhD student of Albright's father. How at his funeral, she noticed a flower arrangement in piano shaped vase that was from Condoleezza. How in a phone call to Ms. Rice to ask her to join a Democratic leader she discovered that Ms. Rice was a Republican. And how they now not only share a father in some sense, but now share the highest title that has been held by a woman in the United States.

I left with a sense of contentment that people such as Madeleine exist in the world and have influence on others. It gives me hope that we will one day have more leaders like her in high positions again.

(Written on May 10th 2006)