on the cliff by the sea

Weather: Warm
State: So freaking tired
Music: Michael Tolcher's Speed Feels Better
Last Movie: Pineapple Express
Last Pleasure: Admiring the green paint I picked out for my kitchen
Last Worry: My hip pain
Looking Forward To: Finishing the kitchen remodel
Not Really Looking Forward To: Going to Sacramento this coming Tues and Wed
Tired Of: Muni delays
Gas Price: $3.99/gallon
Clothes: Black ringer t-shirt over long-sleeved grey t-shirt, dark grey sweatpants
Today's Headline: Nearly Two Million Flee Hurricane Gustav
Current Desktop Wallpaper: The Dark Knight
Last Website Visited: ikea.com
Last Meal: Porridge and chow mein at Fat Wong's on El Camino
Last Purchase: Sidney shoes from J. Crew, size 10, stone color
Latest Evidence It's A Beautiful World: Beijing Olympics opening and closing ceremony - wow!
Fortune of the Day: What the superior man seeks is in himself; what the small man seeks is in others. - Confucius says.

Bonus evidence it's a beautiful world:
Miyazaki is back with Ponyo On The Cliff By The Sea -

one-sixteenth of an inch

Madonna just opened her tour yesterday night in Cardiff. Where the hell is Cardiff? Well, let me tell ya - it's the largest city in Wales in the UK. You see, I've been learning my geography thru Madonna. She is also going to go to Budva in Montenegro. Yup, I've never heard of it either. BTW, I finally sold my spare Madonna tickets. I took a loss of about $80 but am extremely relieved that I won't have to cough up an extra $800 and go to two shows on consecutive nites...The kitchen remodeling is about half-way done. Some of the cabinets are up. I am not crazy about the color of the cabinets. Who knew natural finish maple looks like that? I should have asked for sample before I concurred to the choice. I actually thought natural maple is a light blonde color, but it turns out not so much yellow but actually a little pink. Well, not pink pink, but it's more pink than yellow. Anyways, I've been worrying and fretting since this whole thing started. My latest obsession is over the 1/16" that the microwave cabinet is off by. I noticed by eye that it looked somewhat crooked. I told Bill about it, and he was able to adjust it yesterday, and it was better. But yesterday night I looked it at again, and it's still off. I put a level on it, and it is off by 1/16". So, the question is, to bug Bill or not to bug? Who knew 1/16" can give me such grief? And then there's the countertop material. I had chosen one of the two granite choices Bill gave me. Then I found out that there have been recent studies about how some varieties of granite emit an excessive level of radon, which is supposedly the second highest contributor to lung cancer (behind smoking). The articles say certain varieties from Brazil and Namibia tested high. So I asked Bill where did my granite come from, and he found out it came from...yup, you guessed it - Brazil. So I decided to pass on the granite and go with an engineered quartz stone. Who knows if that poses any health hazard, but as long as I don't know about it. Then it was the floor tile. After the cabinets came, I put the floor tile next to it, and it just didn't work for me. I ended up telling Bill to switch the tile to another color. Fortunately he didn't seem too annoyed. In fact, I think he actually agreed with me that the original tile he suggested didn't really go with the cabinets. Oy - I am the worrying kind......As I type this, I can actually hear Jack Johnson playing outside at Golden Gate Park. It's some kind of music festival that lasted all weekend long. I would have gone except tickets were about $200, and I don't pay $200 for concerts unless the performer wears cone bras...Oh, also as I type this, being the multi-tasker that I am, I am also watching the closing ceremony of the Olympics. It's pretty awe-inspiring stuff - the Memory Tower is jaw-droppingly brilliant. China did itself proud these two weeks. The opening ceremony will be talked about for ages. The Bird's Nest and the Water Cube are architectural wonders. And as the host nation, it has accumulated more gold medals than any other country. Nevermind all that nonsense about the age of the Chinese gymnasts. Don't people know Chinese people always look younger than their actual age? White people are always telling me that I don't look my age either. Thank god I am not a gymnast competing in the Olympics, or else I would too draw the ire of that grouchy Bela Karolyi. BTW, am I the only one who can barely understand him, with that thick Romanian accent of his??? No disrespect to people with accents (I have an accent too), but Karolyi's is so incomprehensible to me that he might as well teach computer science at City College (that's a throwback joke for me, recalling my time at City College struggling to make out what the Indian computer science professors are saying). Finally, bravo to Michael Phelps, the definitive star of the Beijing games...

sticky and new

New Madonna pics from the Sticky & Sweet tour:

Tourbook cover (I love it):


From full dress rehearsal (it's from the section with the 80's vibe):



Tour starts in Europe tonite. Surely new images will be released soon.

in summer olympics

We are half-way thru the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Other than a murder of an American and lipsynch-gate, China is really putting on a great show. Bravo.

I have been addicted since last Friday, staying up every nite til past twelve watching swimming, diving, and gymnastics. Michael Phelps fulfilled his destiny and becomes the winningest Olympian ever, by winning eight golds in one single game. A couple of those were really close calls. Good on him, for being a great champion.

And then there is this commerical that I am loving:



What do I love about it? Well, the girl. And the story, the feel, the song (In Summer by this girl named Cai Fang), the setting (those Li River mountains bring back so much memories). And did I mention the girl? Who is that girl??? I love her.

50

Madonna turns 50 today. Yup. 50, as in half of a century, five freaking decades, two scores and ten years.



To commemorate, here are my 50 favorite Madonna moments, in no particular order:

1. Her 1984 debut on American Bandstand, where she proclaimed she would rule the world.
2. Her Marie-Antoinette Vogue performance on MTV VMA.
3. Truth or Dare.
4. Winning Best Actress at the Golden Globes for Evita.
5. Immaculate Collection.
6. Blonde Ambition tour.
7. Attending Re-Invention tour.
8. Live 8 performance.
9. Herb Ritts-directed Cherish music video with the mer-men.
10. Express Yourself video directed by David Fincher.
11. Vanity Fair cover - Madonna & child
12. Listening to Ray of Light cd for the very first time and realizing we've got a pop masterpiece on our hands.
13. Borderline video.
14. Like A Virgin debut performance on MTV VMA.
15. Music performance at the Grammies.
16. The Immaculate Collection Herb Ritts photoshoot.
17. Ray Of Light performance on Oprah.
18. Ray Of Light photoshoot.
19. Attending the Confessions tour.
20. Attending the Drowned World tour.
21. Rocco cracking jokes in I'm Going To Tell You A Secret.
22. Don't Tell Me music video.
23. The Music promo tour (Roseland and Brixton performances).
24. Opening the mylar-wrapped Sex book.
25. Like A Prayer the song - probably my 2nd favorite Madonna song ever.
26. Ray Of Light the song - probably my favorite Madonna song ever.
27. Like A Prayer cd - brilliant! And it's Patchouli-scented.
28. Madonna Rolling Stone cover story - "Madonna Goes All The Way."
29. Madonna on SNL Coffee Talk.
30. Madonna on SNL Wayne's World.
31. Justified My Love music video - HAWT!
32. Beautiful Stranger from Austin Powers - ear candy.
33. Take A Bow music video.
34. Bad Girl music video - might be Madonna's best acting ever.
35. Bedtime Story music video - I really miss this type of Madonna video.
36. Live To Tell - possibly best Madonna ballad?
37. Holiday on radio - I thought she was black.
38. Buying the Borderline 45 single, with the foldout poster sleeve, from Tower Records.
39. Pepsi commercial featuring Like A Prayer - that was a dang good commercial.
40. Equestrian Madonna.
41. Versace ads.
42. Human Nature video.
43. Cone bras.
44. Papa Don't Preach video.
45. Madonna Time Magazine cover - "Why She's Hot"
46. Performing Express Yourself at the MTV VMA.
47. Hung Up - her biggest hit worldwide. It took me a while to warm up to this song, but now I appreciate its pop genius.
48. Get Together from Confessions On A Dancefloor - underrated gem.
49. Geisha Madonna from Nothing Really Matters.
50. Waiting for the Sticky & Sweet Tour.

high

Dosa's on Valencia is supposedly the only place in SF to serve Southern Indian food. I went there for lunch today, and man, it was delicious. We had seasonal fruit napoleon uttapam, chatni masala dosa, and bhel puri. I can't even begin to try to explain to you what these dishes are, but let's just say I highly recommend them all...Then we went to watch Pineapple Express - a pothead bromance starring my favorites James Franco and Seth Rogan. It's hilarious. Also highly recommended. Haha - get it?...Pineapple Express, as great as it was, wasn't able to unseat The Dark Knight at the box office. The Dark Knight is now the #3 highest grossing movie of all time - behind Titanic and Star Wars...How awesome was the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony!!! I loved the drummers and the lighting of the torch. The artistry and sophistication almost make me forget that this is the same spitting- and smoking-friendly Beijing I experienced two years ago. I bet if I go to Beijing now, I can find someone who speaks enough damn English to sell me a prepaid SIM card...So far Michael Phelps is 2 for 2 for Olympics Gold...I had lunch at Zazil this Friday and ordered the grilled halibut. Except the first try the waiter dropped the plate and food on me. They immediately brought me a towel with club soda, and the manager came over to apologize and said the entree would be on the house. Then she came back five minutes later and gave me a $15 gift card, AND she also gave my coworker another $15 gift card cuz I was eating my coworker's food while I waited for my entree to come again. That is dang good service. And the food was delicious. I would most definitely be back - and not only to use my gift card...Only less than two weeks til Madonna's Sticky & Sweet tour opens in Europe - we will see and hear what all the hard work had yielded...Work is going to be hellish for the next month or two, but then my reward at the end is my vacation to Japan in October. It's true what they say - it's always darkest before the light. I think they said that in The Dark Knight. They also said that you either die a hero, or you live long enough to turn into a villain...The Dark Knight also has a very interesting theme - about escalation in opposing forces. Batman begats the Joker. The more super the hero, the more diabolical the villain. This is basically the same idea behind Matrix Revolutions - how as mankind fights against nature through science and medicine, nature will always one-up mankind, with superviruses, superstorms, etc...But at last, nature can bring it on, cuz I got the iPhone on my side. I feel rather invincible. I am sure someone will come up with an iPhone app soon to defeat Mother Nature and the Joker and cancer and evil bosses and jealous coworkers...

boy meets phone

Oh love is a hard thing to explain. Sometimes it takes time to warm up to someone's qualities. And sometimes it's an instant attraction, like my current romance with my iPhone. It's still fresh and new, so I don't want to jinx it, but man, it's going so good it's scary. You wonder if soon I will tire of her and begin to feel that same ennui settle in, as it has so many times before. But why worry about it and not just enjoy it while it lasts? Since we met this past Monday, I've done nothing but stare in awe at her beauty, discover her every feature, and bask in her glow. I want to protect her from the outside elements by putting her in an armour. Sure, it's not the first time I've felt this way, but man, does it feel good now! All I can say is, she makes me a better man. She makes me want to be a better man. She gives me direction. She is music to my heart. She makes me aspire to get my shit together. She completes me.

curse of the dark knight

I went to see The Dark Knight on Imax Saturday morning. I got there at 8:40am and was the third party in line for the 10am showing. We ended up sitting at the very top row right in the center. You really get the excitement of the ultimate cinema experience, with the massive screen and the booming sound. I am so glad to have gone the Imax route for Batman.

As for the movie, it was a very compelling drama and less of a real superhero movie. Heath Ledger was, as hyped, brilliant. And Aaron Eckhart actually had a really dominate role in the movie. I did want more Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne and Michael Caine as Alfred; I think that's where Batman Begins was better than The Dark Knight. But as a whole, The Dark Knight has a more evolved and involved plot and a robust, layered story that worked every step of the way. There were certain points where I thought I knew where the story was going, and I turned out to be wrong. So all in all, three and a half stars out of four for me.

The Dark Knight just hit $400 million at the box office. However, it is not all good news. There is internet talk of a Dark Knight curse. Heath Ledger died. Christian Bale got arrested for assault (of his mother and sister). And now, Morgan Freeman is injured in a car wreck that sent him to the hospital with broken bones. Let's hope that's the end of it, and everyone remains safe so we can see another sequel.

waiting is a wonderful thing

Waiting is a wonderful thing, some chef on No Reservations said to Anthony Bourdain.

"Waiting for a woman's love. Waiting in line. Patience is good. It brings wonderful things..." he said, something like that.

That struck me. Waiting is a wonderful thing. Patience does in fact bring forth good things, because usually when you wait, you are waiting for something you look forward to. You seldomly wait for the tragedy, the accident. You don't wait for someone to abandon you, for a car crash, for cancer. You wait for the UPS delivery, for the new season of Amazing Race, for the Madonna concert, for that phone call or email from someone you really want to hear from, for love, for the weekend, for the iPhone, for the Dark Knight, for the rebate check, for Christmas, for the cake in the oven, for the pimple to heal, for retirement, for the sun, for vacation, for a cure. Even when you wait for death, it's because death in that case is perceived as a relief to the suffering.

So at the end of all that waiting, all that hard-earned patience and zen, is always something good.

I have been waiting, for a long time, for all my life really. But yet, I never recognized it as something good. I always thought waiting stood between me and my wants and desires, when in fact, waiting is simply a path to all the rewards. When you wait, you are walking a path towards the light. How's that for profound?