Live Free or Die Hard

Saw the movie earlier (HBO). Has anyone else seen it? (I'm about to ruin it if you haven't.)

I found the movie to be quite uh. Stupid? For lack of a better word. Granted, I haven't seen the other Die Hard movies (it's on the top of my to-do list), so I dont know if that's how it's supposed to be, with all the explosions and near-misses. But, the movie was nowhere near lacking in explosions and death. I was also a bit confused with all the hacker language (with me being computer-illiterate). Oh, and why is it that everyone dies so simply? One shot and they die. It seems that no matter how much the good guys get shot or whatever, they dont frickin' die. The bad guys drop after one shot to the leg or even just a few punches.
However, that one chick (I think her name was Mai?) just wouldn't die. After getting her ass kicked by Bruce Willis, getting thrown across the room five or six times, getting two metal shelves full of stuff falling on her, getting hit by a car, getting smacked through an elevator door (while still on the car), getting punched even further by Bruce Willis, and getting choked, she finally dies after getting blown up when the car falls down the elevator shaft.
The hell? The main bad guy dies when Bruce Willis shoots him through himself. (If you havent seen it (and you're still reading,) he shoots the guy while the bad guy was behind Bruce Willis, and Bruce Willis shoots himself and the bad guy.) The bad guy dies.
He kinda sucks. That asian chick took more to kill.

As far as explosions, guns, and killing goes, that's obviously what makes a "macho movie."
The opposite would be "chick flicks," where the male lead character is always hot, stupid, and has a bitchy girlfriend. The female lead is always unfortunate, in love with the male lead, and usually stupid as well. Or something along those lines.
My point is that movies seem to be always about the same.
Horror movies always involve some crazy person (or spirit, zombie, vampire, etc) who kills for fun or vengeance. The main character kills the crazy in the end.\
Kiddie movies? Just think Disney cartoon.
Historical fiction is usually pretty predictable, if it's "based on a true event," (and you know your history) then you know what'll probably happen.
Pretty much the only movie genres that dont always have the same storylines are comedy, sci-fi, and I guess we can count historical fiction (it's not always the same; refer to "Top 10 historically inaccurate movies" from previous post).

I guess I'll think twice before I go to the movies again. With movie ticket prices skyrocketing in the recent years, options include to consider what you watch beforehand, movie hop, or get friendly with someone who works in the booth. I see no other option.

My cousin watches too much TV.

I was trying to play piano earlier, without many results. My little cousin was bothering me by hollering and shouting random words (such as "lito," "atsuga" (my sister concluded that he's actually saying "azucar," which means "sugar" in spanish) and "puta," which actually means "whore" in spanish. Oh, how gibberish takes us places. In his case, it's a one-way ticket down spank lane!), which, eventually, I couldn't stand anymore, so I told him to stop yelling. He told me he "couldnt," but when I asked him why, he said "because it's fun." Obviously that means that he CAN stop, but he doesnt want to. After some more struggling, he told me he didnt understand. I told him to stop in chinese. He still said he didnt understand. I dont speak any more languages other than french, so I told him in french. He asked me what I was saying. I told him it was french. He asked what's that. I told him it's from france. He asked what's that. Thus, we embarked on a random history lesson that he will never remember.

This history lesson went from learning the continents to learning north, south, east, and west, to the equator, to Hawaii, to the States, to Pangea, to dinosaurs, to the Tertiary Cretaceous Extinction event. How fruitless that lesson was, because when I asked him to point to South America, he pointed to Australia. Obviously pointing randomly.

As he asked about dinosaurs, I told him about Pangea and how they all died 65 million years ago. He then asked why he saw on TV that there are people who get eaten by dinosaurs. Obviously he was referring to Jurassic Park, and my sister and I concluded that he watches wayy too much TV.

I didnt bother explaining any further, seeing as how I would have to explain to him how Jurassic Park made it to the top 10 of the most scientifically inaccurate movies, thus bringing his whole dream world of Spider-Man being a real person, dinosaurs eating people, and whatever else is jumbled up in there crashing down. I'd be the one to ruin his childhood. So, I stopped.

He also asked about where people came from, which would make me have to explain about theories such as Genesis and evolution, and the battle between science and religion. Who wants to help me try to explain stuff like that to a six year old?

Obviously, this story has a moral. Leave the freaking kid alone when he's shouting his gibberish.

It's interesting where typos get us online. "xonga.com" is actually a site, which I obviously typoed while trying to come to xanga to create this blog which you are reading. It's a blog site, not unlike xanga, but obviously made as another site, because "xanga" was already taken. Another typo that SUCKED (yes, past tense) was www.whitehouse.com which used to be a porn site. I think there have been numerous guys and girls alike who have fallen into that trap, because the real link is www.whitehouse.gov. But, I repeated the same mistake recently and discovered it is no longer a porn site; it is not a "people search engine." What exactly is that? A GPS for anyone at anytime? Or is it like the yellow pages/white pages (I forget which one's the one with only people), where you can find a person's phone number? I guess that'd make more sense, because if there IS a GPs on each and every person alive, I think that there'd be a lot of suspicion (sp?) going around about the governments of the world, regardless of the political system they live under. Well maybe not dictatorships or communistic societies... guess that leaves us with just capitalism and socialism.

Back to why I decided to write this post: I was watching TV earlier, and saw a commercial for KIDZ BOP FOUR-FUCKING-TEEN. I'm still in awe at how they ever got past Kidz Bop 1.. it seems like no one with any sense would buy that crap. "Now That's What I Call Music 5684" or whatever number they're on now is the same thing anyway. Only difference is that the original artists are the ones who sing the songs on Now that's what I call music. I have no personal experience hearing a whole song from a Kidz Bop CD, but from what I can hear from the commercial, it's a bunch of tots, obsessed with their own voices, who haven't hit puberty yet. Sounds like there would be a lot of intonation problems judging from what I hear on the commercials.
I figure the only way Kidz Bop manages to sell is because there are too many whiny, spoiled children out there who watch too much TV. "Sung by kids, for kids!" That'd be enough to hold my attention if I were a 6 year old with rich parents.

And what is it about Now That's What I Call Music, anyway? It's a bunch of recent music that they compile into one CD, right? Perhaps it's just that I have no appreciation for recent music (I think it all sounds the same, they're all used for middle school and high school kids at their proms and stuff, made for the sole purpose of freak dancing to them.), but I just think that the album sucks. Sure, there are a few songs that came out recently that I appreciate and enjoy, but not many. Besides, who still buys music? It's all online now. It seems that CD players are obsolete by now, everyone has an iPod or at least an MP3 player. Seems kinda dumb when you think about it.

I could have included this in my previous post, but I forgot, so I will include it now. THE UNIVERSE HATES MY FREAKING CAR. Why is that? I decided to wash my car on tuesday, having to go pick up Jeremy and his friend (and now my friend), so I wanted to make my car presentable. So, I figured that it's July, so I washed my car. No, I didnt forget what happened last time I washed my car: It rained in the middle of July. But, dirty cars bother me, especially if it's my car. So, I washed it. After the Wong Fu thing, I went to look for the freeway. After finally finding Rosemead Blvd, I headed for the I-10 East. The 10 East is only reachable from the north when you go under the overpass. It was dark, so I didn't see the water coming down from the overpass. By the time I got close enough to see it, it was too late. So, all I could really do was just shout "No, no, NO, NOOOOOO!" As I drove under the imminent doom that leads to dirt and dust all over the car. I even ducked as I drove under it, but I later realized that that does nothing. Seriously. This sucks.

Another thing that I realized on tuesday and again today: I am an expert at getting lost and getting people lost. Tuesday, while looking for the art gallery in which the debut thing was being held, I took Jeremy and Tiffany with me as I wandered around Alhambra looking for Main Street. I called my dad and asked for directions, but I think he was in a meeting, as he was speaking very quietly and quickly. He also hung up on me before I figured out where the hell I was.
Again today, I took my uncle to the doctor, again in Alhambra (or perhaps El Monte) and got hopelessly lost again. This time it wasnt as bad, but I stayed in the carpool lane too long and missed my exit. The lane wouldn't break either, so I was forced to stay in the lane, missing about 7 more exits before I finally got off. I wound up on the 710 freeway, which was wayy off from where I was going to get off. I finally got off on Valley, went back to somewhere close to the doctor's office, missed my turn, and got forced back onto Rosemead Blvd. I circled twice around the office. It kinda sucks. And I just got gas yesterday.

Evidently, putting a map on my car doesnt help. I ended up making my uncle 20 minutes late for his appointment, but it turns out that the doctor's office wasnt's an office at all; it was at his house. Can you say "Underground Doctor?" No tax for what he does. Sneaky and smart.

GREMLIN STOLE MY BISCUIT

My grandma baked some biscuits earlier (dont know why) but she told me and my sister (and presumably my little cousin) to eat them. I didnt eat mine until there was only one left in the oven, because I was upstairs watching TV. After my show, my grandma called me over and told me to eat the remaining biscuit. My cousin strolled by and saw me eating, so I offered him a bite (he would have eventually asked me for a bite anyway, so I saved him the time and breath of asking). Now, he recently lost one of his teeth, and there is another one on its way to freedom from his gums. So, after some difficulty of biting the slightly charred biscuit, he successfully got crumbs all over the table. I went to get a rag to wipe up the crumbs, and I noticed that my biscuit was missing another bite. I wiped the crumbs, dumped them in the sink, and looked over: the gremlin was stealing my biscuit! Freaking six year olds, I swear.

I realize that when one of those evil children are sick, the other wont leave me the hell alone. At the moment, Evelyn is sick, so her brother wont leave me in peace.

No, seriously. He's next to me right now, playing with my phone. It's quite irritating, really.

I think ever since my aunt, uncle, and cousins got back from Taiwan, my cousins have gotten more irritating, if at all possible. It's an amazing feat, really.

Update: he wont stop talking. I'm so serious. If he wants to watch TV with me, I grudgingly agree, but when he watches the show, he seriously wont shut the fuck up. For example, I was watching Avatar (the finale, too!) and he waddles into the room, asks if he can watch. I think for a second and agree. Less than five seconds later, he  starts describing to me what's going on in the show, as if I cant see it myself. I'm sure by now a few of my hairs have turned white because of him (and the other one too, but she's been sick so she hasnt been bothering me recently). *another update: he wont stop touching me, too. (Dont misinterpret that sexually, please, it's mostly that he comes up next to me and grazes me softly, but it tickles D: When I tell him to stop touching me (after it becomes obvious that he's doing it on purpose) he looks down at his hand and acts like he didnt know. He's infuriating, really.

On another note, I am officially a college boy. Went to Orientation last week on Tuesday and Wednesday, where I found foot pain and boredom. The whole point of going to orientation was to meet people and get my classes, I'm told, but I didnt mee too many people. I met this one girl named Christina Han (who at first glance looked like Christine Wang: I misread her nametag as "Christine Wan" at first, severely creeped out. But, yeah. Different person). Er. Yeah, pretty much the only friend I really made there, other than this guy named Ronald Sweet (I went from calling him "Ronald" to "Ron" to "Sweet") and some random girl who started talking to me after our math placement test. I think her name was Crystal. There was this other girl (she was cute, too!)who talked to me randomly (well technically her friend talked to me first):
Random guy walks up next to me and looks at me as if he wants to say something; I anticipate his speech.
Random guy: "Excuse me, sir."
Me: "Hello!"
Random guy: "Does she look part black to you?"
He pulls his friend over, she looks embarassed. I take a gander at her.
Me: "No."
Girl: "See? I told you no one would think I'm black!" She nudges/pushes her friend. "So what DO you think I am?" she asks me.
I take another gander at her. "I think you're filipina. .... Am I right?"
The girl laughs. "No, I'm not filipina. Guess again!"
I took the opportunity while she was laughing to take a look at her name tag. Her last name is Nguyen. "I think you're Vietnamese."
The girl seemed shocked. She gasps. "Oh my gosh, how'd you know?"
Me: "I saw your nametag."
Girl: "Oh my gosh that's cheating!" She nudges/pushes me slightly. "My last name totally gives it away!" she said, talking more to herself than to me or her friend. She was covering her nametag, looking around as if searching for someone else to interrogate about her ethnicity.
I tried to be funny. "Not really, you cant see my eyes." I point to my sunglasses.
Uh. Dont remember what she or I said after this point, but I know it resulted in my taking off my sunglasses as she examined my face. It was a bit uncomfortable, all things considered.
After we went our separate ways, she said "Bye Jonathan, nice meeting you!" (she saw my nametag) and waved goodbye. I almost said it back, but I realized I dont know her name. When I took a look at her nametag, I saw only her last name, as that was the only thing I cared about at the moment. I can't remember what she looks like either. So if I were ever to see her again, and she recognized me, I'll need to find some way around saying her name. Or I could take a guess. Somehow I dont think that'd yield good results, though.

Other part of Orientation was to get my classes. I have to take precalculus again, because math is required for my major. But then, I dont mind too much that I have to retake a class that I took in high school my junior year, because I learned absolutely nothing in that class. Plus, I had to take a math placement test while everyone else was off having fun at some rally thing. I dont know what it was, considering that I wasn't there. Placement test was okay, I guessed on maybe 1/4 of the test, seeing how I havent used my brain for math since January, and I havent used it for anything else since March. So I guess getting placed in precalc isnt that bad, it's not the lowest class there is. Plus, I hate math. They say science is just math in disguise. I've always wondered why I like science so much, when I hate math so much. I think it's because I like biology, and not really chemistry. Biology is, I think, science's excuse for people like me who hate math but like science. Not much math involved in biology, I guess, but still some. No way of getting around it. Chemistry is really just math in disguise. So I wonder, why the hell am I majoring in Biochemistry?

My sister showed me something interesting on Yahoo! Movies: http://movies.yahoo.com/photos/collections/gallery/903/top-10-scientifically-inaccurate-movies#photo1
"Top 10 Scientifically Inaccurate Movies"

There's another one there, Top 10 Historically Inaccurate Movies, but I wont paste it here, because who cares about history.

It rained a few days ago. Again. Not too long after I washed my car, too. What the hell. I think the nature really hates my car. Every freaking time I wash my car, it rains not too long afterwards. Two or three days, usually. I think this last time might have been the longest time between washing my car and raining (9 days). I thought it would be safe to wash my car in the summer too. I guess not.

I've got pretty much nothing else to write. This might be my shortest post ever.