Posted 11:08 PM by Blah blah

White House Correspondents Dinner 2002

Tonight in Washington, DC, the reporters who cover the White House met for their annual dinner with President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and a host of celebrities. Each year, it's the President's job to make a funny speech, and they also invite a comedian to speak after him. This year they got Drew Carey, reborn with NO glasses. He has had LASIK eye surgery and looks great! I love Drew Carey. If you've never seen a White House Correspondents' Dinner, the President pokes fun at himself and gets totally informal with the people who judge and test him day in and day out. Every President has gone to this yearly dinner since 1920.

You can watch the whole dinner here on the cable TV channel C-SPAN. Use RealPlayer.

Bush Entertains Reporters, Exposes Cheney 'Peeing' (Reuters). Since Bush's remarks are not on the web yet, let me show you what Bill Clinton said at this dinner on April 6, 2000:

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AT THE ANNUAL WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS DINNER (Washington Hilton, Washington, D.C., 10:06 P.M. EDT)

THE PRESIDENT: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen; President Page; President-elect Dillon; distinguished guests. I am really happy to be here. Happy to be reunited at long last with the White House Press Corps. (Laughter.) If I may, let me direct your attention to a photograph. (Laughter.) Taken just moments ago, it proves beyond a doubt that I am indeed happy to be here. (Laughter.)

Now, wait a minute. It seems that my hair in that photo -- (laughter) -- is a little longer than it is tonight. (Applause.) So maybe I am happy to be here and maybe I'm not. Feel free to speculate. (Laughter.) Admittedly, looks and photos can be deceiving. Now, look at this photo. It's a recent one of the Vice-President applauding one of my policy initiatives. (Laughter.) But look a little closer. Those are not his real hands. (Laughter.)

Now, this photo. (Laughter.) It made all the papers, but I have to tell you something. I am almost certain this is not the real Easter Bunny. (Laughter.) The next one is my favorite. I really like it. Let's see the next photo. (Laughter and applause.) Isn't it grand? (Laughter.) I thought it was too good to be true. But there is one thing beyond dispute tonight. This is really me. I am really here. And the record on that count is clear, in good days and bad, in times of great confidence or great controversy, I have actually shown up here for eight straight years. (Applause.)

Looking back, that was probably a mistake. (Laughter.) In just eight years, I've given you enough material for 20 years. (Laughter.) This is a special night for me for a lot of reasons. Jay Leno is here. (Applause.) Now, no matter how mean he is to me, I just love this guy. (Laughter.) Because, together, together, we give hope to grey-haired, chunky baby boomers everywhere. (Laughter and applause.)

Tonight marks the end of an era -- the after-dinner party hosted by Vanity Fair. (Laughter.) As you may have heard, it's been cancelled. Every year, for eight years, the Vanity Fair party became more and more and more exclusive. So tonight, it has arrived at its inevitable conclusion: This year, no one made the guest list. (Laughter.) Actually, I hear the Bloomberg party will be even harder to get into than the Vanity Fair party was. But I'm not worried, I'm going with Janet Reno. (Laughter and applause.)

Now, the Bloomberg party is also a cast party for the stars of "The West Wing", who are celebrating the end of their first season. You'll have to forgive me if I'm not as excited as everyone else is at the thought of a West Wing finale party. But I've got to give them credit; their first season got a lot better ratings than mine did -- (laughter) -- not to mention the reviews. The critics just hated my travel office episode. (Laughter and applause.) And that David Gergen cameo fell completely flat. (Laughter.)

Speaking of real-life drama, I'm so glad that Senator McCain is back tonight; I welcome him, especially. (Applause.) As you all know, he just made a difficult journey back to a place where he endured unspeakable abuse at the hands of his oppressors -- the Senate Republican Caucus. (Laughter.)

I am glad to see that Senator McCain and Governor Bush are talking about healing their rift. Actually, they're thinking about talking about healing their rift. And you know, I would really like to help them. I mean, I've got a lot of experience repairing the breach. I've worked with Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, I've worked with Israelis and Palestinians, with Joe Lockhart and David Westin. (Laughter.) But the differences between Bush and McCain may be just too vast. I mean, McCain as Bush's running mate? Hasn't the man suffered enough? (Laughter and applause.)

George W. Bush has got a brand-spanking-new campaign strategy. He's moving toward the political center, distancing himself from his own party, stealing ideas from the other party. I'm so glad Dick Morris has finally found work again. (Laughter and applause.)

You know, the clock is running down on the Republicans in Congress, too. I feel for them. I do. They've only got seven more months to investigate me. (Laughter.) That's a lot of pressure. So little time, so many unanswered questions. (Laughter and applause.) For example, over the last few months I've lost 10 pounds. Where did they go? (Laughter.) Why haven't I produced them to the Independent Counsel? How did some of them manage to wind up on Tim Russert? (Laughter and applause.)

Now, some of you might think I've been busy writing my memoirs. I'm not concerned about my memoirs, I'm concerned about my resume. Here's what I've got so far. Career objective: To stay President. (Laughter.) But being realistic, I would consider an executive position with another country. (Laughter.) Of course, I would prefer to stay within the G-8. (Laughter.) I'm working hard on this resume deal. I've been getting a lot of tips on how to write it, mostly from my staff. They really seem to be up on this stuff. (Laughter.)

They tell me I have to use the active voice for the resume. You know, things like "Commanded U.S. Armed Forces," "Ordered air strikes," "Served three terms as President." Everybody embellishes a little. (Laughter.) Designed, built, and painted Bridge to 21st Century. (Laughter and applause.) Supervised Vice-President's invention of the Internet. (Laughter and applause.) Generated, attracted, heightened and maintained controversy. (Laughter.)

Now, I know lately I haven't done a very good job at creating controversy, and I'm sorry for that. You all have so much less to report. I guess that's why you're covering and commenting on my mood -- my quiet, contemplative moments; my feelings during these final months in office. (Laughter.) In that case, you might be interested to know that a film crew has been following me around the White House, documenting my remaining time there.

This is a strange time in the life of any administration, but I think this short film will show that I have come to terms with it. Can we see the film?

(Film is shown.) (Applause.)

You like me. You really like me. (Laughter.) Now, you know, I may complain about coming here. But a year from now, I'll have to watch someone else give this speech. And I will feel an onset of that rare affliction, unique to former presidents. AGDD -- Attention-Getting Deficit Disorder. (Laughter.) Plus, which I'll really be burned up when Al Gore turns out to be funnier than me. (Laughter and applause.)

But let me say to all of you, I have loved these eight years. You know, I read in the history books how other presidents say the White House is like a penitentiary and every motive they have is suspect; even George Washington complained he was treated like a common thief, and they all say they can't wait to get away. I don't know what the heck they're talking about. (Laughter.)

I've had a wonderful time. It's been an honor to serve and fun to laugh. I only wish that we had even laughed more these last eight years. Because power is not the most important thing in life, and it only counts for what you use it. I thank you for what you do every day, thank you for all the fun times that Hillary and I have had. Keep at it. It's a great country, it deserves our best. Thank you and God bless you. (Applause.)

Posted 11:08 PM by Blah blah

Just bought this awesome relationship book from Barnes & Noble:

Why Can't I Fall in Love? A 12-Step Program, by Shmuley Boteach

I think you will appreciate it. I found myself nodding greatly. This guy is a rabbi and relationship counselor, who talks about these problems we keep hearing nowadays:

1. The inability of seemingly attractive, mature people to find someone they like for more than a few months.
2. People saying they can have close relationships but who never can bring themselves to feel passionate about someone.
3. Of the tendency to play the field and hold out for someone "better," indefinitely.
4. Of the protective shield people build that prevents deeper relationships.
5. Of relying too much on same-sex friends for emotional companionship, cutting off the need to seek out a boyfriend/girlfriend.

Although I'm not religious (any more), his perspective really struck a chord with me. This is what many of those Sex and the City bloggers complain about, yet look at their attitude to long-term relationships! This book will specifically speak to those who feel and talk like Sex and the City women.

Please take a look! I will start quoting from his book in my future entries. I feel he makes many valid points.

One of his main points is: Love does not come before commitment. FIRST we decide, consciously, to commit, THEN we gradually grow into loving it. I realize now that is so true, not just about relationships, but about careers, places we live, hobbies, etc. It goes with what I was musing about soulmates.

I realize that everything and everyone I have grown to love, I did not at first, or even within the first six months. For example, I really hated the idea of moving to California from New England as a kid. I hated leaving all my friends and the quahogs and the fall leaf colors. I was so anti-California I wanted to get the hell out of here when I grew old enough. But you know what? The place grew on me...the culture, the people, the weather, the diversity....I gradually grew to love it and feel homesick whenever I flew somewhere else. Same thing with the first girl I really loved. She was someone who was a friend of my college roommate. Met her the first day I moved into my dorm, when she just walked in on me when I was bringing in my luggage. I just thought she was a nice, cheerful girl at first. Then she started coming to visit my roommate almost everyday, and gradually I began to look forward to seeing her more and more, and then...I was hooked!

I realize that when I have been lazy and barely put in any effort into anything, whether it was a sport, a job, or a relationship, nothing came out of it, even when we may have had some initial sparks. Those sparks and intial good feelings die quickly unless they are sustained through thick and thin by a CONSCIOUS decision to commit to it. With all the people talking on Rice Bowl Journals of "love at first sight" or of having to wait till they feel "butterflies on seeing someone"...I realize that this is not enough nor a good enough sign of what will last. NO...you have a good feeling about someone, make an investment of time and friendship, THEN you get the butterflies.

I'll post more thoughts from this book if anyone is interested. Are you? Please leave a comment.

From the Amazon.com review:

"He blames the widespread inability to find long-lasting love on consumer habits that have crept into current dating mores (e.g., waiting for the 'best' person to marry), and spending too much time on love-substitutes (work, friends, sex, independence) that prevent love from entering the lives of men and women alike. With his usual sprinkling of religious references (Adam and Eve are used as relationship role models), Boteach encourages singles to acknowledge their loneliness and work on their own behaviors and choices instead of merely lamenting the lack of worthy mates or lauding the joys of the single life. He recommends 'emotional nakedness' before the other kind, and a complete shift from 'dating for sport' to dating for love and marriage. An enthusiastic advocate for marriage, although (or perhaps because) his own parents were unhappily married and ultimately divorced, Boteach firmly places responsibility for finding and maintaining love on the shoulders of each reader."

Posted 2:42 PM by Blah blah

Topless thieves outfox man in his own home (Court TV) The going rate for breasts is cheap these days!

Nick, what do you think of this?
HP closes book on Compaq deal (CNet):

"After a rancorous eight-month proxy fight, a three-day trial in Delaware, countless speeches, a blizzard of regulatory filings, and a bitter boardroom squabble, Hewlett-Packard on Friday completed the largest technology merger in history by acquiring Compaq Computer.

Closure of the deal, valued at an estimated $19 billion, is a major victory for Carly Fiorina, the HP chief executive who staked her reputation on acquiring Compaq and refused to publicly consider what would happen if her plan failed....

The sizable remainder of shareholders agreed with former board member Walter Hewlett that combining the companies would dilute the HP lucrative printer operation while increasing its exposure to the low-margin PC business. Many employees also criticized the union, partly because some 15,000 jobs are expected to be cut from a combined work force of 150,000....

Gone is the independent Compaq, whose semi-portable PC dreamed up in a Houston pie shop some 20 years ago was the original challenge to IBM's PC. In a largely symbolic move, HP said Thursday that it would change its ticker symbol from HWP to HPQ to reflect Compaq's heritage and contribution to the new company."

Posted 11:49 AM by Blah blah

From the Rice Bowl Journals discussion boards:
reading your journal...

John says:
Reading DumpyAsian's latest journal entry got me thinking. No... not why the heck am I even reading his journal. Hahaha

Anyway, I'm sure many RBJers have S.O. (wife, gf, etc). Do they know that you have an online journal? If so, how do you feel about them reading your journal? How about people you've dated or just your ex, do they know that you have an online journal? If so, how do you feel about them reading your journal?

I'm bring it up cause someone I was seeing who broke up with me recently told me that she's been reading my journal. I honestly don't care about it. For heaven sake, it's on the internet. If I wanted to keep it private, I won't publish it on the internet. Hahaha. Anyway, how do others feel? Doesn't have to be about your ex.
____________
I replied:
Leo Tolstoy himself, the writer of War and Peace, lived the worst example of what you are talking about, John. Before he married his much younger wife, Sonya, he required her to read all of his intimate diaries, in which he told about all the shocking, dirty stuff he had done before.

You can imagine it severely hurt his relationship.

Later, as he became more and more of a sex hound and infected with religous zeal that caused him to neglect his family and practical life, he became more and more of a lousy husband. He and his wife both wrote and read each others' diaries. He would write hateful things about his wife in his diary and ask her to read it.

See the story here.

My point is...be careful, guys. I try to avoid all talk of dirty laundry and talking badly about people close to me. I think all of us need self-censorship to get along with those who are most intimate with us (our friends, family, etc.) I don't believe that it's a sign of "love" to tell your S.O. every little nasty thing you think about him or her, in the name of "honesty" or "self-expression." Actually, I think it can be cruel.

We need a buffer, an internal editor, to keep our mouths shut until we calm down and can work out our feelings. We need to talk to each other nicely. That's why some space and time alone helps a relationship. The problem with using the Internet to vent all your frustrations, no matter what, is that you have no more safety net.

Jocelyn and Danny, I'm glad you guys have some kind of understanding already and can tolerate some "honesty" in each other's journals. But for most people, I'd say tell your close friend or keep it in the bedroom!
_______________
How do YOU flirt with someone?

(I started this topic.) I added:
It's interesting how some of the people who are not single think that they don't need to flirt any more. As Terry and Julie say, you do keep flirting, but the style changes, no?

By "flirting," I don't only mean "with strangers."

My question, Jocelyn, is how do you show someone (like Danny) you like him? Even on this message board, you guys keep joking around with each other, and I consider that "flirting." You are so good with each other you don't even notice it!

Plus, if you stopped some of those little things you do (like "nibbling on the ears" or changing your excited tone in your voice on the phone), wouldn't that hurt your relationship over time? Wouldn't it make it more boring?

To all of you who think you don't need to flirt...I disagree. We do it naturally, with our family, customers, coworkers, teachers, etc... it's harmless and just spices up your day. Babies are flirting with you all the time. It's a survival skill!

Posted 2:47 PM by Blah blah

Adding Violet to my reading list. Why all the fascinating people from Europe all of a sudden? She's from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia but in grad school now at the London School of Economics. Sounds sweet and reminds me of my friend Magdalene. Note: another Diaryland writer. Aha!

Japanese Radio

Wow, I just got to speak on Japanese radio! As I talked about here, my college friend Takuro has a friend Momo, who helps book guests at FmPort (79.0 FM), a radio station in Niigata that broadcasts news and entertainment. For their early morning (6:30 am) show, "Morning Gate," they interview someone for a few minutes. Momo-san called me in advance, and they had wanted to ask me about the famous Japanese baseball player Takatsu Shingo and how people felt about him here, but I really don't pay attention to baseball.

Momo called me one minute before I was on the air. I heard the host, Naoko Nozawa, speaking in Japanese in her booming upbeat voice. Then she said hi to me and we began to talk. (She had just returned from studying in Seattle last year, so her English was good.) I talked about two things: 1) The rumor, reported by the London Financial Times, that Matt Groening had said he was running out of funny things to say for The Simpsons and planned to stop the show. It's not true. 2) The part-true, part-rumor this morning in the Los Angeles Times about President Clinton being offered $50 million a year to host his own TV talk show. That was not true, and he did not request a show. But he DID meet with NBC executives on Wednesday to go over some options they were offering. They approached him, not the other way around.

After each little chat, Naoko-san translated to her audience, and then we said bye! HA! Naoko, if you are reading this, a late Happy Birthday to you.

Posted 6:30 AM by Blah blah

BlindDateBlog begins! Intriguing how Ernie will not reveal the contestant's homepages until AFTER they are out of the game. I already know that of two of them...haha.

Posted 4:57 AM by Blah blah

Wow! Great news! Myanmar Opposition Aung San Suu Kyi May be Released From House Arrest. Imagine, this Burmese Nobel Peace Prize winner has been under house arrest, with her phone line cut, since Sept. 2000. She's been unable to see her husband and family since then, who live in Britain. Crossing my fingers...

Report: Clinton Discussing Own TV Talk Show (Reuters). Clinton as Oprah? Probably this is pure fiction, but I can just imagine what a Clinton talk show would be like. Part Charlie Rose, part Oprah, and part Howard Stern.

I.B.M. Chairman Lines Up a Book Deal for Himself (NY Times)

I'm adding another artistic writer to my list: Elen of * The Space I'm In *. She's a Filipina girl who lives in Vienna, Austria, married to a Viennese guy. Found her from RBJ and just from the "look" alone of her site, with the serif font, I can tell she's cool writer! Again, she's with Diaryland. Why does Diaryland have a tendency to attract some of the best online writers?? Someone please tell me.

My Favorite Movies

I was slacking off again, visiting Rice Bowl Journals' forum on classic movies. Here's my post:

Hey everyone! This looks like THE place to hang out! I so rarely meet young people who like old movies, and when I talk about Cary Grant they'll say..."Oh, he's related to Keanu right?"

Scott, you are funny! I guess when Frosty the Snowman melts, that's considered a "summer blockbuster."

V, I see why we have this online connection now. We like so many similar movies! "Bringing Up Baby"---YES YES YES!!! This Cary Grant/Katharine Hepburn pic is one of the funniest I've ever seen. And Superdk, you too. I like just about all on your list.

I grew up watching classic movies without caring whether they were "classic" or not. They were just the best stuff out there and helped develop this super interest of mine in film. I liked to think of the people in classic films as representing my "ideal" America and the ones who helped inspire me with "American values" when I was growing up.

Some favorites:
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Ben-Hur (1959)
Long Day's Journey Into Night (1962)
Night of the Iguana (1964), plus...

Top Hat (1935), Bringing Up Baby (1938), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), Pride and Prejudice (1940), Casablanca (1942), Now, Voyager (1942), Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), It's a Wonderful Life (1946), Rope (1948), On the Town (1949), Singin' in the Rain (1952), The Band Wagon (1953), Roman Holiday (1953), Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958 ), Inherit the Wind (1960), West Side Story (1961), my favorite musical, From Russia with Love (1963), the best James Bond movie, The Sound of Music (1965), The Lion in Winter (196 ), The Producers (1968), Sleuth (1972)

More recent stuff I love:
Gandhi (1982)
Schindler's List (1993), plus...

Superman (1978 ), The Elephant Man (1980), Tampopo (Japanese, 1986), Pretty Woman (1990), La Femme Nikita (French, 1991), Raise the Red Lantern (Chinese, 1991), Malcolm X (1992), Six Degrees of Separation (1993), Braveheart (1995), Amistad (1997), Anastasia (1997), The Rainmaker (1997), Shall We Dance? (Japanese, 1997), Gods and Monsters (1998 ), The Negotiator (1998 ).

[Modern stuff I like: Saving Private Ryan (1998), The Truman Show (1998), American Beauty (1999), Blast from the Past (1999), The Thomas Crown Affair (1999), Bedazzled (2000), Gladiator (2000), The Tao of Steve (2000), Quills (2000), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), The Wedding Planner (2001), Shrek (2001), Memento (2001), A Beautiful Mind (2001)]

From The Best Movie of 2001?

I missed a lot of great movies last year. Of the ones I did see, "A Beautiful Mind" tops my list.

As well as "Memento." Too bad I missed "Amelie." David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive" was quirky and didn't make sense, but the lesbian scene made it all worthwhile!

Oh, I pretty much fell asleep during "In the Mood for Love." It was my first Wong Kar-wai movie (and maybe my last?) It LOOKED beautiful, but I would have rather watched lovely Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung in a fashion magazine, where I could turn the pages at leisure. It was excrutiatingly slow and the repetitive music annoyed me after the first 4 times.

[Oh well, I gotta try one of Wong Kar-wai's faster movies, like "Chungking Express" (1994) with Tony Leung. What do you think of Wong Kar-Wai or Leslie Cheung? I just saw "He's a Woman, She's a Man" (1994) last weekend. It was funny/silly the way I like those cartoonish Hong Kong movies. About homosexuality. Anita Yuen, who pretended to be a man, was irritatingly childish. Because she looks so unglamorous in this picture, it was surprising to learn that she was Miss Hong Kong 1990.

Since I grew up watching those American classics above, I have barely watched any Hong Kong films at all. It was my first time seeing Leslie Cheung in action, besides "Farewell My Concubine," (1993) and he is awesome! Carina Lau is a "real woman," very sexy.

It's amazing to me how the Hong Kong scene seems to be the same few actors starring in movies over and over, in slightly different combinations. And they all seem to sing and date each other too! Carina Lau was living with Tony Leung. Leslie Cheung (who is rumored to be gay) has played some sexually ambivalent roles, as in "Farewell My Concubine." He had some big gay scenes with Tony Leung in "Happy Together" (1997), set in Argentina. Anita Mui was first known as the "Madonna of Hong Kong" for her singing career, before she became an action martial arts actress, starring with Jackie Chan in various films. (Last weekend I saw "The Enforcer," with her and Jet Li, and it's much better than any of Jet Li's American movies. I was especially impressed by Tse Miu, who plays Jet Li's kung fu master son who fights beside him. He's only a little kid, but he has presence and devastating kung fu skills. Tse Miu has a fantastic future ahead.)]

Posted 5:51 PM by Blah blah

HEY! Meriben of Benboy.com is back online! Yay! I was gonna file a missing person's report, Ben. We still have to have dinner at Barrio Fiesta sometime. What's happening?

Ad Man Gives His Bitter Divorce a Happy Ending--in a Film Fantasy (LA Times):

"[Steven] Dworman, who runs an infomercial and advertising business, turned the story of his marriage's breakup into a cathartic comedy called "Divorce, the Musical."

The novice filmmaker bankrolled, wrote, directed and starred in the $1.5-million, 86-minute movie. And now he has rented a Santa Monica theater--five blocks from his ex-wife's home--and blanketed the Westside with fliers and signs on the sides of buses to entice people to see it. To the surprise of some, more than 3,000 have bought tickets in the last two weeks--some returning to see it more than once."

Speaking of independent movies, my old high school classmate, Mark Kines, who calls himself "writer/director/producer/whatever," just left his job as art director at Paramount in LA. He will be working on his next film after Sharky Baby. His first film, Foreign Correspondents, is selling at Amazon.com now! Many congratulations, Mark! I'm buying the DVD right now.

Posted 11:06 AM by Blah blah

One last post before I get my butt moving and get something done:

40 Days or 40 Years

On Rice Bowl Journals, this guy Tony started this discussion thread called 40 Days and 40 Nights. He plans to try to find a girlfriend within 40 days, taking the phrase from the recent Josh Harnett movie, and record his progress on the web. Um...yeah. Here's my reply:

Tony, you must be KIDDING. (*Double take*)

I remember in 1995 someone tried this already, but more eloquently. This guy put up a site called something like "Diary of My Search for a Girlfriend." It was funny and pathetic.

Tony, bro,
1. I think this idea works better as a comedy than a serious drama. If you want some dramatic tension, why don't you promise us you'll do something serious in the (infinitesimal) chance you happen NOT to find a girlfriend? Like you'll become a priest. One who stays away from kids. That will be a more compelling read.

2. No popup windows, please! Why do you leave your entire main page BLANK while you open this teeny window with no scroll bars for us to click through, page by page? Simplicity = godliness.

3. Why 40 days? Why not 40 minutes? Or 40 years? Do you think a girl is gonna appreciate the fact that you chose her to fit the conditions of a Josh Harnett movie?

4. You seem to only want "hot Chinese chicks who speak Mandarin or Cantonese." Why limit yourself? I'm sure there are plenty of hot Japanese, Korean, Filipino, Vietnamese, and Indian chicks---who are studying hard in graduate school, but who also go clubbing every week---waiting to be discovered by you.

5. Oh, I forgot. You live in LA. That IS how you folks do things down there, is it not?

Posted 9:58 PM by Blah blah

I'm adding another smart, amusing girl to my list: Sharon. British-born Chinese girl in London. Finishing her PhD in pharmacognosy. Sounds like NOSY pharmacist. Means "the branch of pharmacology that deals with drugs in their crude or natural state and with medicinal herbs or other plants." Read her---I command thee. Her writing is the best prescription for getting out of bed and jump-starting that twinkle in your eye. Ha!

Bear Market Blues

President Bush came to my city today. Although technically, we are out of our recession, practically we are still stuck deep in this mud puddle. Unemployment here in Silicon Valley, 7.4% in March, is well above the national average. I know so many smart people and people close to me who are looking for work. My uncle, for instance, has been out of work for over a YEAR now, and his wife (who doesn't work) just had a baby.

At IBM, here in San Jose we are selling our historic hard drive division to a joint venture that will be mainly controlled by Hitachi. Lots of people at IBM and IBM Research are unhappy about leaving "IBM" the company. Although I don't work in this division, this is a big change and will affect me directly. Hardware and microelectronics in general have become very cutthroat and most companies are quitting the business. But IBM is unique. We INVENTED the hard drive. In fact, that's the reason why IBM came to Silicon Valley in the first place, in the 1950s. One of our scientists had this idea which he wanted to develop further outside of the lab, so the brass in New York decided to buy up a lot of orchard land in south San Jose and build him a manufacturing site.

When I graduated from college, it was amidst a recession here. Now we are again stuck wandering in the economic desert, with flat plains stretching far into at least 2003. I hate it. I hate how people (including me) feel so cautious, so unstable, so pressured to postpone their lives. They are just trying to survive.

Personal news:
- At home, my housemate and I, with some friends, are planning to start doing some IT consulting work together, part-time. We have the special DSL connection now, and we'll set up a home network. I'll buy a new laptop, and we'll set up a website to market ourselves.

- Also, I have decided that this summer I will start taking economics and other business courses. It's time for me to go for that MBA. Seriously.

Wish us luck, strength, stamina, and faith.

I HATE the recession. DAMN you, 9-11. The buried dreams. The shattered lives. It's like you are constantly down with a bad cold.

Montage of a Dream Deferred

by Langston Hughes

What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore-
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over-
Like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
Like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

Posted 1:29 AM by Blah blah

Check out Esther, a graduating political science student at Berkeley, who's Korean. I like her. Finally, someone who blogs, is FUNNY, knows politics, and knows Cal. Seems like a simple enough list, but I haven't seen any blogger like that till now (except for maybe "Eve" of In Passing...)
_____________
It's official. There's never been a better time to be a single man. But do these men have it all, or are they simply commitment-phobic loners? (The Observer):

"Will is what journalist Richard Benson calls a SCREAMER - a Self-Centred, Rich, Educated, Adventurous Materialist. He is what trend-busting magazine Viewpoint calls a Lone Wolf and others have called a Metrosexual. He's the new pink pounder. A straight, single man with few ties, responsibilities or obligations and a healthy bank balance not being drained by dependents. He's the man who loves his technology, furniture (mid-century modernism all the way), Camper shoes and drizzling olive oil over everything. He has learnt to look at himself through the eyes of gay fashion stylists and photographers (the trim waistline, the haircut, the Helmut Lang). He's the whole package....

The number of unmarried men has doubled over the past two decades with six in 10 men between the ages of 25 and 34 not married. According to Mintel, 40 per cent of this age group are flying completely solo. And it estimates that there will be a million more by the end of the decade.

But as Will's desperate measures hint, this multiplying group is not necessarily laughing all the way to the squash court. As far as psychologist Cary Cooper is concerned, the new single man is less likely to be a loafing, shag-happy commitment phobe than a knackered workaholic, running scared of a newly empowered female population, painfully aware of the modern women's willingness to swiftly disengage from any relationship not providing the kind of sex, money and emotional intimacy they deserve.

'If a woman is dependent on you,' says Cooper, 'then even if you don't do things right, she will stay with you. To a degree. But if there is a more economically egalitarian relationship, the man has to give more to the relationship than he might have done in the past. And if a woman doesn't like what she sees, she can leave you. I actually think women do that less than men imagine, but the fear is there.' "

This article definitely does NOT describe most of the single people I know, men or women. Maybe that's because I'm in more conservative San Jose, not ultra-hip San Francisco. God, this article just left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Makes me wonder where this "progressive" Sex-and-the-City lifestyle Christine lauds about is headed. So more women are becoming commitment-phobic players too? I hope not. Actually, the guys I know WANT to settle down. Sure, they admire the next pretty lady as much as biology makes them, but the people around me are working hard to achieve stability, not to be some playboy or playgirl who loves-'em-and-leaves-'em. People here, although politically more democratic, for the most part live pretty conservative family lives.
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From PJammer's site, I like this. Harsh but true:

"404: [noun] (fōr ōh fòr) – A person who is ‘all talk and no follow-through.' Somebody who prattles endlessly about his big plans for business, academic and interpersonal accomplishments but has neither the professional nor intellectual resources to achieve them. 404s are far more infatuated in the trappings/symbols of success (luxury vehicles, expensive housing, admiration from peers, etc.) than the hard work needed to acquire them.

Synonyms: blowhard, braggart, trust-fund baby, dreamer."
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Private sector catches up fast in China (Reuters):

"China's once reviled private sector is poised to overtake the state in terms of economic clout as millions of people jostle for new jobs amid the nation's most wrenching reforms under Communist rule.

The share of the private sector in the fast-growing Chinese economy hit 33 percent, just below the state sector's 37 percent, according to a quarterly survey by China's labour ministry, state media said on Tuesday.

The findings come as Chinese plans to canonise four private entrepreneurs as model workers and award them the prestigious May 1 Labour Medal for the first time, underscoring how economic changes are subtly altering the political landscape.

Millions of workers in the massive but inefficient state sector are facing job losses and an acute shortage of relevant skills as grossly inefficient state firms streamline or close.

China is looking to the private sector to absorb swelling ranks of unemployed migrating in droves to booming cities from the impoverished countryside to find work.

Beijing has highlighted unemployment and the need to build a social security net as critical issues ahead of sweeping leadership changes due this September or October.

Analysts say labour unrest is a potentially explosive issue that could jeopardise a smooth power transition after thousands of workers protested last month against unpaid wages and insufficient welfare support in northeastern cities.

Those protests appear to have petered out under the heavy hand of the government, but analysts see room for more unrest as discontent over official corruption and acute income disparities grows."
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- About my favorite magazine: The New Yorker: Add Hard News, Hold the Glitter (NY Times):

"Four years after he was plucked from the ranks of staff writers at the magazine by S. I. Newhouse Jr., owner of Advance Publications, [David] Remnick is not only the man who edits The New Yorker, he sits more comfortably upon the throne, which only four other editors have ever occupied. Neither a buzz bomb nor an imperious monarch, the affable Mr. Remnick has turned kvetching about The New Yorker, once the favored blood sport of New York publishing, into a lonely pastime.

He is hardly the talk of the town. Mr. Remnick revels in his own lack of celebrity, but the 43-year-old editor also guides the magazine with an eye toward history, knowing that his work will become part of the legend built up around The New Yorker. Mr. Remnick's news-driven, high-tempo version of the magazine is short on historical idiosyncrasies no physical science tutorials on grain, rocks or the weather. But his fans, readers and employees, suggest that Mr. Remnick has something of the jazziness of the founding editor Harold Ross, the depth of William Shawn, the decency of the interregnum editor Robert Gottlieb and Tina Brown's romance with the next new thing. Mr. Remnick's New Yorker won a record 5 National Magazine Awards last year (after a record 11 nominations) and is up for 9 this year."

Posted 1:27 AM by Anonymous

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