Something a Little Funny For Today From FabledVerse

Just to get off on a light hearted note, I found this amusing little piece on Youtube by FabledVerse. I featured him on this blog before and for those of you who missed it, click on the "poetry" topic and his artist's showcase should come up.

Today, instead of poetry, I'm featuring a short skit by FabledVerse, entitled "Absolute Power", that gives tribute to the Star Wars universe. Let's just say that it's a little....ummmmm...

Fishing With the Mad Hermit

Usually all of you, here at the site, tend to see me reading poems and making my own comments on them. Hardly ever do any of you get to see me beyond this element...until now.

Just for the sake of improving the personal connection between this blog and its audience (and for the sake of self-mockery), I've included an absolutely random video of me in one of my most recent fishing excursions to Sandy Hook.

Basically, I didn't catch these fish, but my friend, who originally caught them, gave me the opportunity to reel them in. And all I have to say is this: "YOUR GILLS ARE USELESS HERE!!!"

A New Jersey Rant: The Accent

One of the greatest stereotypes of Jersey is the “Accent”. Nobody can ever ignore the Accent. It’s the basic all-in-one, take-no-prisoners Jersey stereotype besides the pollution and driving.

But the truth is, the Accent is hardly as prevalent in NJ as people think. Take it from one who’s been born and raised in Jersey all his life—besides some Jerseyans who might have the occasional hint of it in such words like “gone” and “on”, the Accent is a pretty rare in Jersey.

As far as I know, I don’t have much of the Accent (see my video entries in case you want some voice samples) and hardly any of my Jersey friends have the Accent. How and when this stereotype began to apply to all Jerseyans completely eludes me.

Maybe somewhere in Jersey there are specific regions where the Accent is more present, but I hardly ever run across them at all.

So why do some people still cling to this Jersey stereotype like grim death? Two words—spite and ignorance. That’s usually the case with nearly all stereotypes (or at least a majority of them). But that’s just me.

What say you out there?

A New Jersey Rant: Florida Drivers…In Jersey?

This is something that was lingering in my mind for quite a while, but here it is: why are there so many Florida plates in New Jersey? For nearly all the years that I’ve been on the road in my home state, I keep seeing at least several of them a week, driving slow as heck all over the place.

Pennsylvania, New York, and even Connecticut plates, I can understand, but Florida? Are these people here on vacation? What would possibly possess a person from Florida to want to come to New Jersey?

Maybe it’s just my area of NJ that happens to have these Florida drivers (coming to visit their kids over and over again or something like that). Maybe it’s some weird coincidence that I keep running into the occasional Florida driver in NJ (I’ve been cursed by some mysterious force to run into them). But there must be a reason why all these Floridians find their way to the Garden State. But it’s not occurring to me.

What say you all out there?

Just Turned 30!

A lot of young people dread the age of 30, especially when they get there. Many people tend to make a big hype about it. And today, I just turned 30.

What grand wisdom did I find out once I became 30?

Well, first off, this did not happen

Nor this


The moral of this tale--30 is just a number.

Shanghai Kiss: The Cover of Shanghai Kiss Can Kiss My _ _ _!

Just a year ago, this independent flick featuring an Asian American actor trying to reconcile himself with his culture was released. Below is the imdb summary for this film:

“A struggling Chinese-American actor, who unwittingly finds himself involved with a high school girl, learns he has inherited his grandmother's home in Shanghai. The American-raised character moves to China in an attempt to connect with his ancestry, leaving behind quite possibly the only girl who has ever loved him.”

Though I never watched this film before, but I read enough about it and saw its trailer to know that, obviously, the central character to this film’s an Asian guy. I mean, I think that’s obvious for anyone. In addition to that, besides Hayden Panettiere, there are a decent number of supporting characters who are also Asian.

But the thing that gets me about this film is this—its cover. Why is the main character featured in the far background (with his face blurred in a side view motion shot) and a supporting character featured in the foreground (perfectly posed in a perfectly clear still image)? I mean who’s really the central character here? Read the summary. Look at the title.

Call me crazy, biased, or over-reacting, but I think all of you know the reason why, just as I do. Keep the scrawny, not too attractive, Asian guy in the back and keep the hot blonde Caucasian girl (who’s not even the main character) WAYYYYY up in the front.

If it’s not a Kung Fu film or a film with an Asian in a stereotypical role, what’s the point of seeing the film? Oh yeah, there’s Hayden Panettiere in it, that’s why! That should get the predominantly Caucasian audiences revved up in their seats. Cause who wants to see an Asian actor break pre-determined stereotypes? Who wants to see an Asian guy not do kung fu, fix a computer, be a gangster, or be a minor FOB character in an American movie? That’ll be insane!!!! It’ll be madness, I tell you, MADNESS!!!

Seriously, although this work, as a film, might be a step up for Asian portrayals in American cinema, its presentation just seems to be real step back for it. True, Hayden’s over-magnified presence on the cover will probably get more people to see it as opposed to having the main character over-magnified, but something really says “keep the Asian man down” about it. What say you?

My Bucket List

While I was helping a friend move, I had some time to think about stuff. Somehow,I got into a discussion about making a Bucket List for myself. Since I'm going to turn 30 in the next several weeks, I figured now's the time to start. Well, once I got a chance to sit down and I wrote it out on a napkin (shown above). Below, is the basic elaborated list in no particular order.

My Bucket List
1.) Go on a cruise. (never been on one)

2.) Visit the West Coast. (never been there)

3.) Visit a tropical beach. (nope, never been there either)

4.) Shoot a gun.

5.) Visit Europe. (yeah, same as above)

6.) See the New Year's ball drop at Time's Square in person.

7.) Visit Japan. Eat some Kobe beef. (visited China, not Japan)

8.) Go snorkling/scuba diving.

9.) Eat a dog!!!! (seriously, you would think I would have covered that during my trip to China)

10.) Go to a wine tasting. (I'm such an uncultured twit)

11.) Go spelunking.

12.) Learn how to fly a plane.

What's your "Bucket List"?

Five Ways to Unclutter Your Life (Advice From a Mad Hermit)

1.) Clean Your Space – To unclutter the world within, the best place to start is to unclutter the world without. Plus, it makes living each day a little easier. Trust me, everyone can use a cleaner room.

2.) Make a List of Priorities – It doesn’t have to be long. But it should be something that you take some time to do. Write down, one at a time, a few goals to set for yourself. Cleaning your room or workspace could even be one of them. When you gather your priorities into a list that you can see in front of you, life becomes a little neater.

3.) Take a Break – Sometimes all we need is some time to ourselves. A “time out” just to relax, take a step back, and gather ourselves is an invaluable option. If things are going insane around you, there’s nothing like a breather to put a little sanity where it’s lacking.

4.) Reschedule When Possible – If your calendar is too cluttered, it won’t kill you to reschedule certain things, especially if you can reschedule them. For instance, pushing back a dental check up to free up time for other things won’t kill you, unless it’s major surgery. All it takes is a phone call. So why stress out about something that you can easily change?

5.) Get Healthier Habits – Sometimes it’s low energy levels that make our lives more cluttered rather than bad time management. So, if you feel that you don’t have the energy to run the race, learn how to rest in between strides. Get more sleep. Make curfews for yourself. Are eating habits not working for you? Eat healthier. Get exercise. Cause a little bit goes a long way.

The Whole Tibet and China Thing

I know I'm a little late to respond to the whole China vs. Tibet argument thing that's been happening for quite a while now, but, hey, better late than never.

Anywho, with the 2008 Bejing Olympics just a few months away, the conflict between Tibet and China has been put on the public stage, especially with the protests in Tibet and China's all-too-violent response to that protest.

Lately, I have heard many arguments from the Chinese side about how the world shouldn't make such a "spectacle" of this issue simply because it's:

a.) None of the world's business.

and

b.) Western countries are just as guilty as China when it comes to taking over other people's land. So Western countries shouldn't point fingers.

Okay, so here's my take on these two pro-China arguments:

a.) Hey, China, since you always wanted to be the center of the world's attention, you got it!!! Oh wait? You only want the world to focus on the good things about you and ignore the bad things? Well, tough $#@#. When you put yourself up to attracting the eyes of the world (like you do when you advertise yourself as the host of the freakin 2008 Olympics), everyone sees everything about you, whether good or bad. And, when people see everything about you, they're entitled to their opinion. This is reality, China, take it or leave it. You're the one who placed yourself in this position, not anyone else.

b.) Yes, America had it's share of doing things that it was never proud of doing, like seizing land from the Native Americans. But you know what? This is old news to us. People have pointed this out to us millions of times and we're used to being accused left and right. And, you know what? At least we've tried to do something to make ammends for it (reservations, recognition of some autonomy for the Native American people, etc.). So, in short, here's the deal:

- Just because Western countries have their own baggage in their history, doesn't make what you're doing to Tibet any better.

- Again, China, welcome to our world. America's been laughed at and accused countless times for its mistakes. It's all part of being a popular country. But we're used to it by now. So, China, you better start getting use to it too and stop throwing a hissy fit.

Just my two cents.

Things I Learned From Being Sick

These are just common sense things, but since I've recently been sick this whole week, I might as well allow everyone to profit from my experience, in some way or another. Just think of it as a good reminder to everyone who already knows and good advice to the few who actually don't.

When sick with cold-like or flu-like symptoms, remember:

1.) Orange juice and vitamins are your friend. Still take vitamins even if you don't feel like it and drink juice EVERY chance you get.

2.) Sweating is very good. Do it as often as possible (with common sense of course).

3.) Stay in bed as much as you can even when you don't feel like it. If you're body begins to ache from being in bed too long, take a small walk around the house, but don't over do it.

4.) Calling the doctor as soon as you can, for major sickness, is NOT a sign of weakness. It's a sign of common sense. If you really feel sick, don't try to "muscle" it out alone for a few days.

5.) If your pounding head's preventing you from sleeping, Advil is your friend.

6.) When your doctor gives you medicine, namely antibiotics (like for a sinus infection), finish ALL OF IT. Even when you feel "better" keep taking it.

7.) Try to eat at least 1 small thing during the day, even when you don't have an appetite. This small thing should namely be something light, like a cup of soup or an orange. As long as you're able to keep food down, some nourishment is better than no nourishment at all. Plus, it can help flush the system.

Pac Man: THE MOVIE

There was a Super Mario Brother's movie. Then a Double Dragon movie. Then a Resident Evil movie. And then a Doom movie. And a bunch of other video game movies that came out in between them all that aren't worth mentioning. Now, BEHOLD we have Pac Man: The Movie (the ultimate parody of every video game movie)!!!

Six Good Reasons Why Every Writer Should Have a Blog

1.) A blog allows your writing to gain public exposure.

2.) A blog helps you maintain the discipline of writing on a regular basis.

3.) A blog allows you to open connections with other writers, whether if they stumble onto your site or if you meet them through a blog community.

4.) A blog can also help you with some extra supplemental cash, when the writing market runs low (e.g. Adsense, payperpost, etc.)!

5.) A blog is a wonderful way to advertise yourself, whether for the purpose of getting yourself hired as a freelancer or for selling self-published works.

6.) Sanity: If you're one of those people who write fragments of stuff that can't add up to a complete work, but you don't wanna keep it to yourself, a blog is your next best thing. It scratches the brain itch.

Why Questions

Why do we concern ourselves so much with the lives of celebrities, when we constantly struggle to have control over own?

Why do we idealize possibly non-existent virtues onto strangers we're infatuated with, instead of actualizing them within ourselves?

Why do we insist that we're not influenced by commercialism when we find ourselves using commercial slogans to explain ourselves when we could simply use our own words?

Why do some people consider themselves non-conformist even when they're part of a crowd that dresses alike, acts alike, and talks alike?

Why do all personal blogs eventually end up asking the same questions with the same ideas that were probably asked and answered many times over on countless other blogs?

A Perfect Metaphor for Blogging

Just a few nights ago, I realized how much blogging's like the proverbial "message in a bottle"--unless you activate the privacy command, whatever you write, you seal into a "blog bottle" and toss it into the digital ocean of information, hoping that somewhere out there, a stranger would pick it up and read your message.

It's kinda like the old "BC" comic strip, when one of the cavemen characters would chisel a message on a slab of stone and send it adrift in the ocean to communicate with his pen pal who would, likewise, send a message back.

It's strange, really, how it all works out--how something that I write today, at my desk in NJ can somehow end up on someone's screen somewhere in Tokyo or Singapore or wherever else. And it's also ironic in that, even though technology has advanced so far beyond the quill and paper, age old concepts can still be as relevant today as they were hundreds of years ago. Some things never change.

Happy St. Patrick's Day from the Mad Hermit

To celebrate the festivity of one of my most favorite holidays, here's a spectacular little piece that I found over YouTube. The song that's played is "The Blood Of Cu Chulainn" by Mychael Danna & Jeff Danna.



For those of you who want to know more about who Cuchulainn is, here's a wikipedia link for you:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%BAchulainn

Slante!!!

The Piggy Bank

Just today, I watched a public television special on the history of food and its relation to the history of cultures ("Burt Wolf: What We Eat"). While watching, I found this interesting segment in it regarding the history of pork.

Supposedly, in the past, because the pig was the easiest acquirable source of protein for the poor, most poor families would have the habit of "banking" on their pigs.

In the spring they would acquire them and, from summer to fall, they would feed them and allow them to grow to their maximum size. By the winter, the pigs would hopefully be large enough to feed the entire family throughout the season after they slaughtered them. And once the winter was over, the family would then sell the left over meat, giving them enough money to purchase more piglets for the following year.

So, in short, there was a lot of "banking" and hoping going around for many poor families throughout the time. And the pig was essentially the "poor man's bank". Therefore, as a result, that's supposedly how the idea of the "piggy bank" was started. Quite interesting if you ask me.

Theoretical Question: If You Found Out That Monsters Existed

If, one day, you suddenly discover that monsters existed and are in the process of corrupting/doing harm to humanity, what would you do?

Possible Options:

1.) Go look for a good therapist.

2.) Actively “hunt” the monsters. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

3.) Lay-low and pretend they don’t exist. Maybe this will all pass and maybe the monsters might destroy themselves or get destroyed by something else. Besides, I have my own life and the life of my loved ones to worry about.

4.) Try my best to tell someone or convince the world that monsters exist.

5.) None or all of the above.

What I Would Do:
First, I’ll go with Option 1 just to find out if monsters really did exist or if I’m just going crazy. If I found out that they do exist, I’ll try to find out if anyone else out there already knows about their existence besides me. If I do find others like myself, I would try to go about sharing with them what I know about the monsters and then I’ll try to find out what they know. From there, with the same group of people, I might be able to do other things (find more “knowers”, find out more about the monsters, or find ways to subvert/destroy them).

If, however, I discover that I’m alone on this, I’ll probably:

1.) Lay low and make sure that the monsters don’t notice me.

2.) Gather as much information as I can about them (the extent of their influence on humanity, their nature/origin, their “threat” level, etc.) from a safe distance.

3.) When the time is right, I’ll then try to convince maybe my family and a few close friends of what I “know”.

4.) Depending on how well I do with gathering information about the monsters and, convincing others, I’ll then try to focus on subverting the monsters and, ultimately, revealing their existence to the rest of the world.

What I Won’t Do:
1.) Unless the monsters are attacking me or my loved ones, I will NOT actively “hunt” them. I will NOT go Boondock Saints on them.

2.) I will not go around telling everyone in public about their existence.

3.) I will not go up talk to one of them, unless I'm cornered and forced to do so.

What say you?

German Longsword Fencing

Did a little research the other night on German Long Sword Fencing. For a while, I always suspected that medieval Europe had its own martial arts for their weaponry. Unfortunately, with the over-romanticization of Far Eastern martial arts and the over-deification of the Samurai, the European style of long sword fighting kinda got lost in the mix. When I first saw these videos, I was really impressed by how enormously practical and efficient the German style is compared to how most would imagine the fighting style of medieval knights. To many, they would tend to quickly stereotype knights as being clumsy, crude, and barbaric when it comes to sword play. But as you can all see from the videos below--that wasn't the case at all.



In the second video notice the variety of grabs that they use. In other videos that I've seen, they also have a variety of "take-down" moves that they use to bring down an opponent during a sword-fight.

Is Too Much Information Killing Us?

We have the Internet. We have Wikipedia. We have Youtube. And we have more websites and blogs than anyone can count. And each and every day these "sources" grow, most of the time, exponentially.

But can all this someday destroy us? I'm not talking about information bringing about inevitable Doomsday with bombs and large explosions and stuff (though it could), but what I'm trying to say is this: can the overflow of information end up doing humanity more harm than good?

Some of the possible detriments that I could see arising, in the near future, from the overflow of information include:

1.) An increased sense of apathy towards discovery and exploration. This may lead to less enthusiasm for scientific advancement if the younger generations become less motivated to discover and explore.

2.) A decreased appreciation for knowledge for the sake of knowledge. People may become less willing to learn for the sake of learning and they learn only when their situation necessitates it. This could possibly lead to cultural detriment.

3.) Knowledge would become more of a commodity rather than an inherent right. With knowledge being pumped out each day, there's always cases where companies and corporations attempt to "red tape", legalize, and put a price tag on everything. This could lead to a more "tied up" legal system where most of the government's legal assets are spent on sorting out messes caused by increased information rather than towards more legitimate cases.

4.) Plagiarism and academic dishonesty may become rampant if left to itself (it's pretty rampant as it is now).

5.) As knowledge continues to grow, more knowledge will inevitably become available to the masses, including to the criminal elements present within the masses. If specific pieces of knowledge fall into the wrong hands (bomb building, weapons making, nuclear device production, etc.), dire consequences would no doubt follow.

6.) An increased “docile-ness” and gullibility among the masses. With too much information to handle, less people would bother to investigate products or pieces of information, because it would be too much trouble or too overwhelming to look into facts. People would, therefore, grow to mindlessly accept what they’re told out of both convenience and apathy, even if the information's wrong or misleading.

Overall, I believe that there's nothing wrong with acquiring and having information. It's just a matter of why and how you got that information and what you end up doing with it that makes it either "wrong" or "right". But where should we draw the line with this? Or should we draw a line at all? What say you?

Interesting Facts About Caffeine and Its Products

A few years ago, I bought this National Geographic issue devoted to caffeine. Found out some interesting stuff about it. Today, as I sit here drinking a large cup of French Roast, I couldn't help but think about the impact caffeine has over our daily lives (namely mine). Below are just some of the interesting facts about it from the January 2005 National Geographic article. To say the least, it was a real eyebrow raiser when I first read it and continues to be even when I flip through it, today.

- Studies suggest that extroverted people are less sensitive to caffeine's effects than introverts.

- Pain relievers fortified with caffeine have proven more effective than the analgesics used alone.

- The robusta coffee beans used in less expensive brands contain almost twice as much caffeine as the arabica beans favored by coffee connoisseurs.

- Military studies of subjects who hadn't slept for 48 hours showed that 600 mg of caffeine improved alertness and mood as much as 20 mg of amphetamine.

- Going without caffeine for a day and a half increases blood flow in the brain, which may explain why people get headaches when they first give it up.

- Caffeine is so acrid that it's used as a standard for "bitter" in training professional food tasters.

- The caffeine extracted from coffee beans to make decaf is sold to drug and soft drink manufaturers.

- Caffeine is being developed as a pesticide for slugs and snails.

- A university student in Wales committed suicide in 2002 when he deliberately swallowed caffeine pills equivalent to 100 cups of coffee.

- Black tea, green tea, and oolong are all made from the same plant; the differences in taste and color come from their processing.

- One of the newest products to wich the stimulant has been added: "Coffee tights" are panty hose with caffeine woven into their threads to supposedly help shrink thighs.

- Vietnam is now the second largest producer of coffee worldwide, but it's largely a nation of tea drinkers.

- Cigarette smoking nearly doubles the rate at which the body metabolizes caffeine.