weird

There are some really weird pictures in this blog.

Inspiring words

It is a good week to have TV - the democratic convention is on and it makes for very exciting TV.
Last night I watched Michelle Obama's speech (video) and I was so impressed and so inspired by her words. Hope is a beautiful thing and i think her words, and similarly Obama's, make one dream and believe in ideals as opposed to the cynicism and pragmatism of the world.
There were two things that she said which I liked a lot.

"Barack stood up that day, and spoke words that have stayed with me ever since. He talked about "The world as it is" and "The world as it should be." And he said that all too often, we accept the distance between the two, and settle for the world as it is - even when it doesn't reflect our values and aspirations. But he reminded us that we know what our world should look like. We know what fairness and justice and opportunity look like. And he urged us to believe in ourselves - to find the strength within ourselves to strive for the world as it should be. And isn't that the great American story?"
...
"And one day, they - and your sons and daughters - will tell their own children about what we did together in this election. They'll tell them how this time, we listened to our hopes, instead of our fears. How this time, we decided to stop doubting and to start dreaming. How this time, in this great country - where a girl from the South Side of Chicago can go to college and law school, and the son of a single mother from Hawaii can go all the way to the White House - we committed ourselves to building the world as it should be."

I really liked the line that we have to listen to our hopes, instead of our fears. This is what the Bush era has done to us - it has made us so afraid that we are willing to forgo so much of our rights. Every time I pass the airport security (and it happened again last friday) I think well maybe it's ok for them to check security so rigorously, since it's better that i actually reach my destination. But when i heard the above words, I realized this mentality is the result of the fear that they raise in us; we are willing to accept anything.
Rather, we need to not forget our ideals and not lower our standards.

(this actually reminds me of some of what saenz said about Uribe)

Mexican by Indians?

The other day, Algernon and I stopped by a Mexican restaurant to have lunch. We went in and the restaurant owner and waiters were Indian. So we came out. Somehow it was not quite right having Mexican by Indians. Was I being prejudice?
I am not sure if I want to have Indian food by Mexicans either. Of course, I know the labor is always done somehow by the Latin Americans.

The Olympics

Watching the Olympics this year has been kind of tough for me, mainly because we don't have a TV. :-P The only time I get to watch it is when I go to the gym! I get on a cardio machine and watch one of the silent screens in front of me and since somehow they don't have close caption, I imagine what they say. And time between the commercials flies actually. Even the commercials have suddenly become pretty innovative and interesting. Who has seen the one about wind energy and the ancient greek who throws the discus and because of the wind, the discus changes course and topples the parthenon? :-P

And so 10 days or so have passed and although it is such a huge event in the world, it hasn't really made its self aware in my life.
It makes you wonder how easy it is to not be aware of things going on around you. and this leads to two questions: how much are you really aware of what's going on around you, and how much do you really need to be aware of what is going on around you. Do I really need to know about the Olympics?

New Obsession

My new obsession, Flight of the Conchords, is a TV show on HBO about two NZ-ers trying to make it as a band in NY. The show and the songs in it are some of the most creative and funny i have ever heard. They are ear worms and when i play them, I go in a trance of ecstasy.. :-P

Here is one of the songs from the show which they play in concert -- my second goal in life right now is to watch these guys in concert. Anyway Jemaine and Bret explain the song so no more introduction but listen well to the lyrics.

Christine has introduced me to a lot of new obsessions lately... remind me to tell you about the other shows that are a must.

Wasabe

I have not been a faithful blogger in the last month or so... and a lot has happened. It all started when we had a family reunion in mid august which coincided with the best of the best movie, The Dark Knight. We watched it on IMAX and it was magnificent - Batman as usual was the torn hero, while his nemesis the Joker was evil and chaos combined. I was reminded of the passing of Heath Ledger and it is such a shame. In some ways I was glad his face was always covered by makeup - it distanced him from his character.

I also went for a visit to LA and met up with some old family friends whom i hadn't seen for nearly 10 years - the kids had grown and they were little women now. I love watching and talking to teenagers and young adults - their views and their thought processes and what they deem as cool. Those years are hard! I remember I really wanted a boy friend but of course at that age, if you don't have the look and the cool cat act, which let me assure you i didn't, then boy friends were rare and scarce. It didn't help that i looked different to a lot of people around me. Now i look back and just think what a life.
My mum used to say to me that being young is beautiful. I didn't use to agree with that but now i see these fresh faced kids and understand what she was talking about. (not that i am old now ofcourse, but it is all relative). We used to worry about our hair, our skin, am i too fat, are my legs long enough, am i cute enough... so much energy!
Sorry how did i get in this meandering? :-P

I also went (twice) to the Frida Kahlo exhibition in Sf MOMA - i will have to write about her in a separate post. it was really interesting, her paintings were so emotional and i am glad i went twice because my feelings changed.

As I said lots has happened in these times. I will have to be more consistent with my blogging.
Meanwhile here is a really fun song I heard yesterday by Lily Allen called "GWB (Fuck you very much)", addressing, i assume, the esteemed leader of the first world central. Although some say it means Guess Who batman, which doesn't make sense to me. regardless, it is upbeat with not so upbeat lyrics. Reminds me of her other song Smile.
Boomp3.com
If you want your own copy, you can get it here.