Oy Oh Let's Go

I stayed up till 5 am last night doing my packing and stuff. I finally have my room close to 90% cleaned as well. Funny that I don't clean it until the time I'm gonna be gone for a week.

Then I drove home to Alameda so I could pick up my new glasses and contacts this morning. It's been almost 3 years since my last pair. I had $200 total to spend on whatever so I got a pair glasses and contacts and only had to pay about $10 extra. Which means more $$ in my pocket for Hawaii!

But I'll leave you lovelies with this funny clip from one of those wacky Japanese variety shows:

MATRIX PING PONG

Aloha and Mahalo, I'll try to post if I'm near a computer so my 3 readers can have their daily dose!

Makin' Mine Music

~No Tations~

On the beach at Waikiki

When I worked at FedEx [circe 1995-2001] I took advantage of the fact that the company is considered an 'airline,' therefore its employees get flight benefits like other commercial airlines, namely jumpseating [flying on your own company's planes], reduced standby [up to 80% of the commerical fare, but space available] and hotel/car rentals.

When I found out that I could fly to Hawaii on ATA for $90 round trip I took full advantage of it. So from 1997 to 1999 I went there twice a year, once during spring break and once in the summer. Since I mainly stayed with family, my spring break trips were more of a get away, while the summer trips I was usually accompanied by my brothers and friends and we usually hoteled it in Waikiki. I haven't been back since April '99. But my 29 year old uncle is getting married and I used it as my excuse to go back. I'll be there with my brothers, my cousin and his daughter.

Slowly but surely, my mind is starting to drift away from the now and is slowly making it's way 6 hours across the ocean to Hawaii. Last night I messed around on my roommate's ukelele and before I went to sleep I had a vision of me and the crew walking down the Waikiki strip.

If anyone wants something lemme know, else I'll spend it on shots!

Read Very Carefully

The store that I work at, Great Earth Vitamins has a 1-800 number that matches Bay Federal Credit Union except for the fact that Bay Fed's number starts 1-888. But we get at least 5 calls a day from people who are looking for Bay Fed. I doubt it's a printing error which leads me to believe the people aren't reading very closely.

It reminds me of one day in English 414 [which is for those of us sorry enough NOT to pass the freakin' sophomore writing equivalency exam] when, as we read aloud in class, I noticed that some people didn't read ALOUD as well as others. For example, one guy would read the word "INFORMATIVE" but say "INFORMATION," which led me to believe/theorize/hypothesize that some people make assumptions in certain parts of their everyday lives. In this case, this one guy saw the letters "I-N-F-O-R-M-A-T-I-" and just assumes that "O-N" instead of "V-E" are the last two letters.

Which brings me back to the wrong number situation above. Like my parents taught me, read everything before you sign your name. Which is what I do, sometimes to the impatience of the person whose paper I'm signing. But I do fail in one particular instance: I never read through those online 'agreements' that you're supposed to read when opening accounts, such as emails, etc. I'm always scared that I'll be 'agreeing' away my life or something, although legally the company would be in deep crap.

I hate hypocrisy, especially when it comes from me. So from now on I'll be reading closely too.

Happy Thursday BBQ

We were a little bit more prepared for our BBQ on Thursday. My housemate E got chicken, spareribs and steak to put on the grill. He used to go to the culinary academy in Hawaii, so he made his island taught version of kal-bi [Korean BBQ] for the spareribs and also a Hawaiian tasting marinade for the chicken.

Steve-N came over first with a pack of Heinies and kicked it with me as I started the grill. Then came Gilomonsta [again supplying the supply of Kamel Turkish Royal Blend], my cousin Eeko [with the Marlboro Lites supply] and then a bunch of folks, in no particular order of importance: n8diggs, G-on, Boomba, Celly, MrEd, Bos, Sifu, Pnoypangit, Ruggeda55 and lastly MonkeyMarie.

Bos and Sifu left a little bit early to rest for work the next day, but the rest went upstairs to either play poker or watch DVDs on the wall [courtesy of another housemate Wil's projector]. The card playing went on till 2 am with Boomba pulling in $30. Yeah, that's not much but when you're playing with dimes that's a pretty good amount. The rest of us sat in the living room and watched "Old School" and then "The Real Cancun" as we tried in vain to finish all the beer that was brought.

Eeko was the last one to leave at 230, and thereby ended another successful Happy Thursday BBQ.

Why thursdays, you might ask? Well, most people do nothing on Thursday evenings, so I figured might as well go and do nothing with a buncha folks, and in the process have some BBQ, beer and good times!

Do You Feel Lucky Punk?

Bored?

Go to www.google.com.

Type 'weapons of mass destruction' in the box.

Click on the "I feel lucky" tag.

Read carefully.

Happy Thursday

To celebrate another Thursday, me, along with the other residents of The Castle on Camelot, are inviting all you reader(s) of my blog to come through and hang out with us.

Bring whatever you want, preferably something food-like which you can share with others.

Hit me up on the email for directions.

Damn, I've had lots of ideas lately that I wanted to blog about but since I don't have a whole lot of time to do it, I'll just write out some quick thoughts...

- Stephen Funk, Conscientious Objector: On one of my many emailing lists I got an email saying why I should support Stephen in his quest to not fight...but instead feeling sympathy for him, I became annoyed by this email...Why the hell did you join in the first place? Second of all, if you objected, then you should have followed the rules and showed up on the given date like military rules state...so basically you screwed up twice...I myself am a conscientious objector, but I show my dislike of GDub and his posse by not joining in the first place...good luck in your struggle but I will do nothing to support blatant stupidity...

- Manchester United, premiere Engligh Premiere League Team: my favorite club team, well after the SJ Earthquakes [formerly Clash], that is...I miss playing soccer, so I live vicariously through the exploits of Man U and Team Brazil, whose Samba Soccer style of Jogo Bonito [Brasilian for the 'beautiful game] is like poetry in motion...if you've never been a soccer fan, try to catch a game where Brazil's playing...they wear bright yellow jerseys and most of the players go by only one name...but to see them play 'the beautiful game,' as it's called worldwide, is nothing short of amazing...

- Since we're on the subject of sports...I know I've put on a few pounds since my high school glory days, but I still get annoyed when people are 'amazed' at my agility...shoot, I may be slower and less flexible, but I remain an athlete, so quit being amazed and just get ready for me to bring the game to you!

- I finally got Health Coverage again, so tomorrow I will be at the eye doctor getting fitted for contacts...which is just in time for my trip to Hawaii for my Uncle Jeff's wedding...the only thing that sucks is that I did not make my goal of 15% bodyfat [currently 21-22%] in time...oh well...I'm still gonna be dark when I come back...oh yeah, more than 10 of the sisters from Kappa Psi Epsilon will be there too...Woooooooo!

Makin' Mine Music

~No Tations~

Happy Belated Thursday

I scheduled a voice lesson with my Uncle last Saturday night. So I had to cancel my Kulintang lessons in order to go. But as I got there, it turns out that he had to cancel because my godbrother Aaron had to be in Marin.

So as I'm driving up 19th Ave back onto 280 at 715pm and see the sun shining, it suddenly hits me -- I want to BBQ! I knew the weather in Daly City was pretty good, and seeing as that it's not sunny most of the time there, I need to take advantage of it.

Even the rusty, dirty grill didn't stop me. I put on some foil and lit the coals. Then I dug through my fridge for anything to put inside the 'jungle juice' marinade I concocted -- 1 1/2 bottles of Coors, one lime, some Lowry's Seasoned Salt, and some BBQ sauce. Luckily we had some chicken strips and some other chicken. Just for good measure, though, I threw on some breaded chicken patties ["why you gonna cook something that's already cooked?" clowned my roommate, E] But last night, you couldn't stop me, you could only hope to contain me!

I called up Gilomonsta [who contributed some Turkish Golds], N8Diggs [who came by with some oysters], and G-On [with a li'l of da herb]. Then I called up the DVera girls up on Wessix to roll by [with Smirnoff Ices.] Then Emberglo came by [with her usually happy demeanor and great smile], G showed up [from Pinole!] and last but not least, the Kreative Dwella [along with his friends and some more 'o da herb.]

So there we were, up until 1am chillin' and celebrating.

"What's the occasion?" everyone was asking.

Thursday. Happy Thursday.

Here's to the weekend. Great friends. Nice weather. Delicious food. Good times.

and always

Makin' Mine Music

~No Tations~

My sentiments exactly!

Ever seen this comic? Check it out.

On July 9th, 1989, my paternal grandfather, Monico B. Luis, Sr., passed away in Waipahu, Hawaii. Both he and my maternal grandfather, Honorio Acosta Hipol, could be considered 20th century Filipino American history in the flesh.

After going to school in Laoag, Ilokos Norte, Philippines, he was fortunate enough to be chosen to go to school in America. So he became one of many pensionados, who, usually with the monetary backing of a church or organization, were sponsored to continue their education in America. He graduated as Salutatorian from Poly High school in LA and ended up working in fields in both Hawaii and the Central Valley of California. Then he was recruited to the 2nd Filipino Infantry and was sworn in as a US citizen in Fresno, Ca.

When he died, I was going through puberty and just finished 7th grade. Up til that point, I didn't care about school and had no worries that I was barely pulling Cs. But when my aunt read Grandpa's eulogy I suddenly realized that I'm here chillin' and getting by, while he left his family behind in order to study hard. Graduating Salutatorian is no small feat. So as I looked upon his casket for the last time I swore to him that I would do better in school.

Up until I graduated high school I never had less than a 3.8 [okay so I sucked a little in English, sue me.]

Though I don't see myself leaving a family behind permanently, working in fields or fighting a world war, I'm still trying to continue the legacy he left behind.

Do you ever get the feeling that when you run into an old classmate, you can't help but to compare their life to yours, when for all intents and purposes it's like comparing apples to oranges?

At a friend's wedding last friday I happened to be sitting with a friend from middle school. She's actually doing quite well in LA doing accounting, having graduated from UC San Diego. I have to admit I do feel a little behind. Why? I dunno. She and I are two totally different people. This is like the time I ended playing football with an old high school teammate. He asked me, "Aren't you a rocket scientist or something now?" But he was serious.

And now I look at myself. I'm 27, working a retail job that utilizes nothing I've learned, getting ready for another 4 semesters of school. I don't feel at all ready to go and 'settle' into a career. I feel that if your chosen profession is something you don't have a passion for, or at the very least have an interest in, then why do it?

Yeah, I hope to one day have a family and a house with 2.4 kids plus 1.2 pets, but I'm not ready. One day I will be.

In this 'choose your own adventure' story that is my life, these choices haven't even come up. But you can bet that when they do, I'll be more than ready to handle them.

Kiss this, NERD!

Damn I had a good @ss idea about something to write about then lost it.

Sheeyet

LARRY CHING

In the 30s, the time of nightclubs and swing music, a peculiar place opened in San Francisco. One could go to this place and enjoy fine dining, complete with pretty servers, fabulous dancers and top notch singers. What's so peculiar about that? Well, nothing, except for the fact that all of these workers at this place were Asian American.

Yes, I'm talking about Forbidden City Nightclub, a popular attraction for native San Franciscans and tourists alike. One of their best attractions was Larry Ching, dubbed the 'Chinese Frank Sinatra' by the local press.

Born in Hawaii, he joined the merchant marine in order to see the world. As San Francisco was one of the ports he stopped at, he would occasionally go and find work. After hearing him sing, he was hired at Forbidden City.

I had the chance to interview him for my Chinese in America class back in 1998. He pulled an old scrapbook with pictures taken from his days working there. He was especially fond of recalling all the "tail" he would get as a singer. "Chinese tail, Filipino tail, Korean tail, white tail, Mexican tail, hell, even black tail," he told me. "All you have to do is sing and they'll throw it at you!" He also told me, "Most of the good dancers were Filipino. Why? Because a lot of the Chinese girls had no rhythm!" In all, he was a great interview and I had a fun time [though I only got a B on the paper.]

He even completed his first and only cd just this past June. He held the CD Release Party on the 28th. Just a week later, on July 5, he suffered a brain aneurism and died in the hospital.

This is to you, Mr. Larry Ching, for doing what you loved during a time when Chinese and Asians in general failed to get the respect that they deserved, especially in the entertainment world.

[Read his obituary here]

Hoping to continue Larry Ching's legacy in

Makin' Mine Music

~No Tations~

This weekend was one of the most productive "do nothing" weekends I've had in a while that wasn't while I was on vacation.

Friday 7/4 - After working I headed over to Oakland Chinatown to attend the wedding reception of my old friend Brian. I've known him since 6th grade, and up until my sophomore year we pretty much hung out all the time. Then we drifted apart but I still kept in touch. He decided to hold his wedding on July 4th in Golden Gate Park [which was a private ceremony] but since his new wife is Chinese they held the reception at Legendary Palace on Franklin Street. It was one of those 9 course Chinese functions, complete with dragon dance and a change of clothing from western bridal gown and tuxedo to Chinese style dress in the middle of dinner. In all we had a great time. I was telling a friend that I'm not ready to get married, but seeing a childhood friend take the step let's me know there's still a whole lot more life out there waiting for me. Afterward, the fireworks from Jack London Square lit up the night sky. Pretty good exclamation point for a wedding if you ask me.

Sat 7/5 - I attended Atreyu797's birthday bbq in Fremont. She's one of my friends who I can call after not talking for three months and vent about some girl this or some girl that and she won't trip. Probably because she does the same to me too. I set up a future baseball game with a friend from Pittsburg, which of course I'll tell you all about.
Then later that night was the annual Park Street Crawl which takes place in Alameda every saturday after the 4th of July. This is the night that all the bars in Alameda make enough money to stay open until the next year. For those of you who don't know, Alameda, though with a population of close to 60,000, has a very 'small town' feel. Basically, if you went to school or played sports you knew everyone within about 3 years more or less than your age. So it's pretty much high school reunion time. In fact, there's a lot of Alameda heads who come home during 4th of July so they can attend the crawl. Since my house is within walking distance most of us can walk off our stupor.

Sun 7/6 - Had dim sum in the morning then worked the PM shift. Afterwards, went to the 16-inch Stallion's house to learn a new kulintang song, Binalig.

For real, that was a pretty cool "do nothing" weekend if there ever was one.

The only thing that gives justification for working on a freakin' national holiday is the fact that I'm getting paid time and a half. That's it. They should change national holidays to national 'spend time with loved ones day' so that stupid mall retail drones don't have to freakin' work. There's no one coming into my store anyway.

All you mall people, go spend time with family, friends and loved ones so people like me who have lots of the aforementioned can spend time with them on 'holidays'.

I'm missing out on so much free food it's making me nauseous.

Sheesh.

Which [Rainbow Colours] are you?

I knew it. I posted this song on Valentines day and now it's official! I really am Born to Be Blue