the new year

well, it finally came as it always does. Unlike previous year, I stayed home the last night of year by myself. I didn't feel like getting out celebrating what seemed like a dull repeat of what I had been doing, only to see nothing much had changed. I'm hoping this year is different. I have made no promises to myself what I must do (no new year resolutions or anything of that kind) since I think it just puts more pressure on myself and so gives myself more reason to procrastinate. I can afford to do that anymore. Next year is too important a year for me to waste and drink away like I did this year. Let's see what this years brings. 

story

I've finally come up with a story line that would work quite well with the character I'm writing about, or is it the other way. Anyways, I'm so happy that its working out fine. It came to me last night while having a drink. I don't how it came...I think it was something I saw on TV that led me to it. I don't know but I"m glad I finally found the missing piece.

I just need a good central story to wrapped it. 

nick Hornby

I'm reading "the complete polysyllabic spree" by Nick Hornby. I had no idea who he was until I picked up the book at a second-hand book dealer nearby my house. On the flap of the cover it says the author wrote High Fidelity, apparently a bestseller when it came out, and other popular books. I think I heard High Fidelity but I'm not so sure about other books he wrote. 

I read a few pages. So far it's pretty interesting.  In the introduction he mentions that the thought of reading too-literary-minded books are, well, put off by most people because those books tend to be too difficult and highbrow, although there are exceptions like Dickens and um...Dickens. So, his mission is, through this book, to make these books and other popular novels, books, brochures etc...accessible, without making people feel guilty of not having read the books they ought to have, and make them more book-reading-friendly.

This is not a book so much as a compilation of columns he wrote for the literary magazine whose board he sits on. 

Well, I wouldn't say that his prose, as he admits, is one of the most engaging I have ever read, but it's his honesty that matters the most in this book, and not bullshit around and be pretentious. 

Atonement: the movie

Just finished watching the movie. I hadn't read the book so I'm not entirely sure what liberty was taken by the filmmakers in making this movie. Though the movie isn't that apealing to me (only the beginning third is good), it reminded me of another British film based on a book by another British novelist Virginia Woolf. The movie, of course, is "The Hours." Both of these movies share simililarities, in terms of filmmaking at least, in that they both rely heavily on the sound and rythm to advance the narrative. I'm not sure if this is always a good idea. Although, it kind of worked in The Hours, it nonetheless isn't so effective in Atonement. I think it's becuase, intead of betting their filmmaking skills on the telling of the story, they overly rely on the atmosphere of the story. Unless this is music video or documentary, nothing can take the place of good storytelling. One thing it accomplishes, however, is that it's making this viewer want to rush out and buy the book. I'll post another one for the book next time.

cool widget

I'm posting this blog from my blooger widget. Wow, this is pretty cool. I can now blog anything on a whim anytime I use computer, instead of launchingn the browser and logging onto the blogger to do it. 

Woolf and her lighthouse

It’s been more than a decade since I read “To The Lighthouse.” Although I read many books then and since, no reading experience has ever come quite as close as reading this one. Though young and unworldly, I knew, after finishing the novel, I had just read a work that would stay with me for a long time. Even now, some of the passages from the book bubble up from the bottom of my numbed awareness, waking me out of my dead consciousness, as if I’ve never left reading it.

I still remember how I felt when I read it for the first time. I was unprepared for what I was about to embark on, taking days before finally ploughing through one third of the book. What makes the book so difficult at first reading is that the perspective shifts from person to person, the scene and the time along with it. I found myself flipping back and forth between the pages just to make sure if I’d not missed a page or so. At times, the perspective changes in a matter of a sentence without warning, confounding the reader. It was and still is a very difficult novel, and patience is the only sure way to get through this book, at least it was for me.

Though the story unfolds surrounding the Ramsey family, the book is not so much about them as it is about the internal monologues these different characters exert onto the page. It is the language what Virginia Woolf convinces the reader to feel for. What takes the center stage is the words themselves. Through words the readers are thrown about into the turmoils of characters’ psychology, where everything is at once real and elusive, this minute as calm as still water, the next the roaring sea.

I’m reading it again just to remind myself what words alone can accomplish, reliving the rapturous moments I had with the novel at my first encounter.

about Obama

I like him. Period. End of story.

But then again, he’s a risky one, as far as pitting him against a republican candidate, whoever it’ll be, in the general election. Nevertheless, I’d like to see him compete against those republican machines that have hijacked American ideals. Although I have to admit Hillary is a much more shrewder politician than Obama is but I’m disturbed, as the election day approaches, by the way she has carried out her campaign. I am afraid she would cause the republicans to revert to their old hate attacks on the democrats, which was so prevalent in the 90’s. It won’t help the country, nor get us out of this deep hole.

Obama, on the other hand, gives us a hope, though very tenuous, nonetheless a hope. I’m old and wise enough to know that in this modern age we live no one politician can completely alter the course we are on, though Obama can make people believe that people can come together, left or right, for the greater good. I can envision Obama doing this, but not, much to my dismay, Hillary, seeing that, along with her husband, she has been the made object of republican hate, becoming unfortunately for her both a victim and cause of much of the US politics now. it is so hard to believe she can end it. Obama, through not his own making, escaped this perilous period of American politics; he’s not part of it, therefore he can safely dismiss it out of hand.

It’s not fair to vote, especially for Hillary, based on assumption rather than the candidate’s ability as a leader, but I think this election is different in that we have seen much of what can happen in the politics of hate. I want someone with a fresh approach; and the leadership that can both show the world that whatever has caused the water to become muddy is now behind us and only thing we have to worry about is the future.

a new start

I’ve been gone for a long time. I have no idea why but I thought I needed to take some rest, though my entries up until my last one did not amount to much.

I live in a small place with a window taking up more than one half of one of the walls. It is not a big window but it is big enough, though it does not allow in enough light as much as its size. Why? i do not know. I always wanted to live in a place with lots of light flowing in through the windows. So much for my wish I never, so far, lived in one of them.

Wake up and smell the coffee

When I first visited Korea in 2001, there were only a couple of Starbucks outlets, one in Apgujeong-dong and the other in Ehwha University. I was told then it had just crossed the Pacific. Not that Korea needed another coffee shop, most street corners in Seoul are literally saturated with coffee shops, then and now, but it has become curious to me, after relocating here a year go, what made Starbucks so popular here that many Koreans now enjoy their coffee in more than, by one count, 200 stores just in Seoul. I don’t have any idea how many Starbucks there are on the island of Manhattan alone, but I’m guessing probably around 200. In Japan there are more than 500 Starbucks outlets nationwide. So, going just by the number, Korea is one big piece of pie to Starbucks, or, at least, becoming one.

Just a quick glance at the company fact sheet reveals that Starbucks has just more than 6,000 company-operated stores in the United States. But worldwide, it has 1,511 and 2,256 stores, both company-operated and joint-venture, respectively. It’s not so difficult to find a Starbucks on a busy street in Seoul anymore. One would find one just as easily as in Manhattan.

This, however, comes to me as a surprise because, as I see it, Korea is not an easy country to crack. Winning the hearts and minds of its people has been one tough business strategy for any foreign business. A year go Walmart declared a battle lost and took its business out of the country completely, losing it to E-Mart, a Korean supermarket business modeled after Walmart and Cosco. Of course, one is easily tempted to explain the phenomenon by attributing it to the trend currently sweeping the entire globe by Starbucks. A friend of mine who regularly visits France told me that Starbucks is also making inroads into the highly caffeinated French market. In France! Could anybody have guessed that the capital of cafes can come to its knees on their own turf?

Of course, it’s really less about the coffee than about its experience and culture. I’m not really sure what this culture is but it seems a lot has to do with a fundamental human desire: to come together with other people. Because brands promote social cohesion it imposes a certain participation on the part of customers. This explains in part why Koreans and Asian countries at large are especially sensitive to this global trend.

Sleep

I’ve been trying to get some sleep last few days but I failed to squeeze out more than 4 hours a day. I don’t know why. I just can’t. It’s my body that’s resistant to sleep. My mind tells me I need to sleep more, but my body feels otherwise. One day I woke up in the middle of night for no apparent reason. I involuntarily opened my eyes and couldn’t relax. I would just like to get enough to function normally the next day - normally as in not feeling groggy in the morning.

As this ongoing fight against insomnia continued, I traced the cause of this sleep deprivation. I realized that it started when I moved to this new place about a couple of months ago. I have no idea why it started about the same time I moved but one guess is that my mind is probably having a hard time getting used to the new surroundings, getting adjusted to its ambience. Even then, it’s been two months. It normally takes about a month to get fully acclimated to new surroundings. I don’t even remember if I ever had this problem in my previous place. I doubt I did. I probably didn’t if I can remember it right now.

I even tried to do some light work out before going to bed, to no avail. Maybe I just need to relax. Or maybe a few minutes of meditation would do the job. I don’t know. I heard from my friends that there are some teas that make you relax, slipping you into sleep. I’ll probably try that.

In the mean time, I can only hope tonight is better than the last night.

Giuliani

I've been a New Yorker for most of my life. So I've had experiences with most of recent NYC mayors up until Bloomberg (I think he's been a great major.) Although I'm in my early thirties, I remember distinctly about the Giuliani administration, and my recollection of his administration is not a favorable one.


I consider myself a liberal whose breakfast is usually accompanied by NY Times, reading first from the Op-Ed section. At the same time, I make every attempt to be pragmatic on most issues and see from the point of view of the other side. It's not always easy but the upshot is that I learn tremendously, and it allows me to engage in debate with the other side more successfully.

The reason for all this exposition is that I've tried to see Giuliani’s run for the highest office in that same light that I see all the issues. After my struggle with his candidacy, I still can't imagine him being a good President should he become one. Here are my reasons.

First, I cannot shake off the image he indelibly left in my mind during his Brooklyn Museum incident, where he made every effort to cut off the city funding for the museum because it'd been exhibiting an art piece that seemed to him to be desecrating his religion - his argument being that any public funding should only be directed towards to those occasions that do not “offend” any specific group.

Now, I don't know about you but I do not think it is the role of a major, whose job is to represent all people in the city, to decide what to show and not to show in a museum based on his own belief or conviction, let alone about an art piece whose very existence is to broaden the horizon of one’s understanding of the world.

To my knowledge, he hasn't said anything remotely regretting his action. If anything, he probably still believes that he did the right thing and will probably do the same in the future. This is what frightens me the most - the prospect of doing this kind of thing again. How is this any different from the current Bush administration, which justifies its ill-conceived actions by rationalizing it - getting rid of habeas corpus, torturing of the prisoners in Iraq and Git-mo, using homosexuality and religion to divide the country for political gains (the list can go on but I'll stop.)

Second reason is that Giuliani is, in some ways, using 911 to ascent to the top political office. Many people may feel that this is fine as long as it's done respectfully, however, being a New Yorker who knew someone who passed on that day it only makes my blood boil to see a politician taking advantage of one of this nation's great tragedies. His campaign might not imply or suggest it's running the campaign on that idea but only a fool would think that Giuliani's not banking on it. After all, when 911 is evoked, the images of the twin tower being collapsed and Giuliani, in Bush's absence, giving press conferences as the makeshift leader of the country would immediately come to the minds of most Americans. I understand it'd be very difficult for any candidate to resist the impulse to use that as the basis for one’s platform but being a New Yorker I cannot give him the nod on this one. If this is so, he is no better than the current administration, which rings the 911 bell every time it tries to achieve something politically, not to mention using it to go to war in Iraq.

The last but the most important reason - his tendency to reward people based on their loyalty. One example, his record on crime in NYC is a very good one, and it's clear enough that he's counting on that record to boost his image as the marshall President who can safely guard and control the border from the torrorists within and without. However, I must take issue with this as well. Most NYPD believe that the credit for the low crime rate should really go to the former NYC Police Commissioner William Bratton, now LA Chief of Police. I'm told Bratton had done much to change the NYC police before he got the boot from Giuliani as Bratton was becoming more popular than Giuliani.

Bratton instinctively knew the streets of NYC, especially the ghettos. He was able to understand the sentiments of the neighborhoods during that time, which Giuliani had no idea as his response to Diallo case and other similiar incidents showed (what a contrast to Bloomberg.) If it weren’t for the green-eyed monster, why would he fire a well-respected Police Commissioner? A recent New York Times article reports that Giuliani, due to his acrimonious relationship with Bratton and the effect it might have on his campaign, might be mending fences with Bratton as he intensifies his push for Presidency. Politically very calculated move I'd say but, nonetheless, a clear mark of an opportunist.

As opposed to rewarding people for their skills and hard work, he showed a tendency that's reminiscent of the Bush administration – prize people for their loyalty, even if their qualification is questionable ("Brownie, you are doing a heck of a job," "Rumsfeld is the greatest Secretary of Defence in history...," Alberto Gonzales - who authorized the use of torture, the firing of eight well-respected US attorneys on unspecified and unreasonable ground only to be replaced by his loyalists who are not qualified to be on the job, many of his cabinet members who are made up of ideologues, and giving out no-bid contracts to his biggest campaign donors and close associates etc...)

Giuliani’s tendency to prize his loyalists showed itself prominently with Bernard Kerik, who, as we all know by now, is a crook. Giuliani, to his credit, explained that he was not aware of Kerik's past doings. But let’s be honest here, does anybody believe that for a second? After all, Kerik was Giuliani's point-men during his administration. Most of Kerik's connections were made because of his connection with Giuliani. Either Giuliani was stupid or he just ignored it, the two attributes that I can, very conveniently, associate with the Bush administration.

However, even more astonishing is that he pushed Kerik for Homeland Security's top position knowing Kerik was clearly not qualified for it. After 911, Giuliani, being a former NYC major, should have known better than anybody else the importance of that position, but he pushed Kerik anyway because Kerik had the quality Giuliani deemed highest - loyalty.

Although, this is very early in the race, Giuliani has not done much to distill his old image from what is being portrayed. In fact, some of his positions now are in direct contrast to much more socially liberal positions he held in the past - women’s right to choose, civil union, religion etc... May be he will show more sensitivity to these issues and all the others as his campaign slowly rolls out. Thus far, however, I'm not convinced of his qualities as a sound leader. He may be a social liberal, but he hasn't shown the leadership quality that last six years America sorely needed in its top political office. After all, why would we want another Bush in the office?

Nonetheless I’m very open-minded about his campaign. If he can somehow prove that he’s of different species than Bush, I will be more than willing to lend my ear. After all, he has done many wonderful things for NYC especially during when the planes hit the towers, although some of his actions are thrown into doubt. I am just not comfortable with a few issues that have shaped his image. Unlike some people, I am not at all concerned about his private life. His life behind the scene has nothing to do with his ability to become an effective leader. After all, Presidential elections is not a soap opera, although it may look like one. However, as his presidential ambitions go, I’m hoping that he can prove me wrong.

My Self

It's been awhile since I updated anything. Though, I've been busy with nothing, I just couldn't put together a sentence that meant anything to me. As this hiatus seems to drag on too long, so does my motivation not to. There were, at times, when, walking, I thought to myself if blogging had any meaning beyond merely reflecting hazily, in words, a part of me, which had seemed to me utterly, downright useless. Is it, or not? If it is, I may start updating it again soon.

Korean Blog List

My blog has just been added to the list on the Korean Blog List. It's a webiste dedicated to maintaining the list of blogs related to things Korean. If you're curious about what foreigners or natives of Korea have to say about Korea, this would be the first stop.

a bottle

Mom, I shouted. She was next to me. To her I said, can I throw these two stones into the river? Intently she looked. To her, held up a fish I caught. To me she said, enough we have for tonight’s dinner. I turned and let go the fish, the seer. On the bank of a river, I slept. Mom, I shouted, in my dream. She returned with the fish, in her bosom.

persimmon

Hold me, he would say. I held, but couldn’t see. But he saw me nonetheless. So out I reached to him. Smaller, smaller he was getting. Staining my arm, extended, I felt a breeze tickling the finger tip, a drop of honey. Please, I said, show yourself. Emerging from a darkness, out flew a bird with its wing clipped, so, without flying afar it fell, at my feet. I asked and it answered by killing my love. Help, I cried. Nobody answered until, said a voice inside me, leap! Leap from the train, riding. Down I looked, a void, a darkness. Scared I was, but the bird, fluttering its clipped wing, bleeding from its wound, rested its head on the tip, at my foot.

(TOCM)

Just listen to what he can do even with a shorter piece. This is said to be one of his favorites. Ah, Schumann.

A Taste of Classical

I started listening to Vladimir Horowitz since High School when my friends were listening to New Wave music. Although I loved and continue to listen to New Wave even now, not one particular band has touched my soul as Horowitz did. I can truly say that he has shaped my life. He was the first one, with the exception of Rubenstein with his Chopin Nocturne, to open my eyes to the piano music and how beautiful it can be. I was literally taken away by his playing of Schumann’s Kreisleriana 1969 recording and his playing of Arabesque. Although he's not with us anymore, I can still feel the warmth and passion.

an overwhelming sight

I haven’t really traveled a lot outside of Seoul, so my understanding of urban landscapes in other parts of Korea is pretty much limited to a few places I’ve been within the limits of Seoul. Yet, one thing I am struck by, during the short stay I’ve been here, is the overwhelming sight of what seems like fortresses of apartment buildings everywhere, and most of these apartments are new, less than 10 years, by US standards. These are not the kind of apartments you would typically find in the States, mostly 30 to 50 years, instead these are luxury apartments. If one walked into one of these, one would find that the place is better than most houses in the States in terms of looks and style. The floor is almost always wooden so that it looks good as it is to maintain.

Much to my surprise, home systems in the apartments are of digital. Residences of the apartments don't carry home keys around with them because all the locks are either digitally programmed numerical combinations or some form of card detector where you just sweep your home card to open. I was told that in the near future, most locks will have a finger-print sanner whereby you just scan your finger to open, however, some apartments already do. In fact, nobody carries home keys in Korea anymore! Not only that, the main entrances to these buildings all have motion detectors of some kind that when you reach the entrance door in about 5 feet, it automatically opens it for you, along with the motion detect light lamps to lighten up the hallway at night. what's more, every elevator has an LCD screen that makes important public announcements as well as useful health, food, weather news etc...

That’s not the only thing. You ready for this? When you hit the wrong floor number in an elevator by mistake, you can DESELECT it by hitting the same floor number again! I went wow when I first saw it. How many times have you hit the wrong floor number just to waste a valuable few minutes, not to mention the frustration and embarrassment you have to endure when you share the elevator with other people. I was kindly reminded of this feature when a girl of about 10, watching my fiddling with the panel with multiple selections, deselected for me.

The speed of broadband is also something to boast about, too. It is amazingly fast. I was told that Korea has the most fastest network available in the world, making it the only country to provide its broadband connections to more than 2/3 of the population. As a matter fact, most broadband speed is 8 mbps. 8 megabits per second! That's 8 times the speed of the most broadband in US households. And 8 mbps is just an average speed in Korea. The speed of broadband is one thing but what you can do with it is quiet another. The country is planning on replacing all of its lines to fiber optics in a few years. Even now, there are some apartments that get 100 mbps. They watch HD content comfortably in their homes through the internet connection. You might say, "well, so what? I don't need that much speed." Only thing I will say is this, your life changes once you have one of these broadband connections.

There are so many of these amazing technologies at work in these apartments, one wonders how backward a country US is in this regard. Intel, in fact, saw the potential to all of this and decided to learn a thing or two from South Korea to pave the way for the future. The daily pervasiveness of broadband here is one of the primary reasons that Intel created a new lab dedicated to the digital home in Seoul. The company is studying how Koreans use the Internet, from shopping to gaming, to understand how the technology can be developed for other countries.

As if all of this is not enough, the country has announced even more apartments like this to be built around the country, by 2012, three times as much Korea currently has, only this time they will be even more advanced.

Come to think of it, all of these digital systems are incorporated into major public transportation systems in Seoul. For instance, when you ride the bus you just have to get your transportation card or smart card, called here T-money, close to the card detector and you are good to go. You don’t have to take it out of your wallet or even out of the pocket. I saw one rider who just walked close to the panel box without even getting out his wallet or anything and a couple seconds later he was walking down the center. You just get it close to the card detector, it will automatically register your card. It is so un-messy! In fact, you don’t even have to buy a metro card like you would in NYC. Your bank card, or credit card will do the trick if you ask for that feature. I heard even your cell phone can do that. Wow. Not only that, your cell-phone can double as a debit, credit card. I’ve seen some people using ATM with it. It seems, there is just no limit to what technology can do here. For a gadget lover like me, this place is bliss.

I will definitely update more on this with my new findings. Until then…

"The Departed"

One of the great American film directors of his generation, just not for "The Departed."

"the old garden"

I just posted my review on the film. If interested, click here.

the cross

Much to my amazement I went to church this morning to attend a sunday service. I felt weird, first of all, as it was my first sunday service in more than, let's see, um...about 10 years. I attended an English service out of curiosity. I was told by a friend of mine the church has about 10,000 members. Needless to say, it had three 6-story high buildings situated around the main chapel, with another one being erected, all dedicated to services and bible study of one form or another. Because there were so many people who came by car, a nearby elementary school yard had to be used as a parking lot for the attendees. Every Sunday, I was told, it holds 6 main services, without counting the services for English speaking people and other specific groups.

I don't see myself as a christian anymore. I am way too secular to be tied to a religion. Though, I can understand the enthusiasm by its believers, I can never agree with them on whole variety of issues in regards to belief in God, resurrection, trinity etc... I guess, it's one reason why they are Christian and why I am not. But I appreciate their faith.

The motivation behind my visit was to see if there was any difference in the way I think about religion, namely, Christianity. The short answer is no. I felt once more that the church was still trying to insulate the flocks, to see everything in binary. This is one view I was never comfortable with - either or. For example, the message today was about why believing in Jesus Christ was not about just doing good deeds- doing good deeds is secondary to the much more grave and consequential issue - that of believing Him, Him only and only Him. Only through Jesus, the preacher went on, could anybody claim the righteousness.

If you are a Christian, however, I can see the point. It may very well be perferctly legitimate within the Christian doctrine. But doctrine only it is.

I may have been a fool to believe that anything could have changed during my hiatus from the church, that what has been believed and taught for 2000 years can somehow change radically was truly a fool's game. But one can easily see the dangers of this kind of message that inculcates in the minds of many Christians who are not exposed to the more honest and open religious experience. What baffles me the most is that most of us go to church because we feel insecure as human. But we come out of church feeling we've got more truth than the others who do not share our belief. In other words, it becomes very condescending. Somehow the others do not know, but we do because we believe in Jesus. The other religions are wrong, but we are not for we believe in Christ.

Shouldn't the church leaders really talk about the teachings of Jesus more than anything, that he wanted us to love our neighbors just as he loved us. That love is the ultimate message he has left for us. Instead, these leaders of congregation take their measuring stick and unafraid to use it whenever they can. I am constantly reminded that Jesus never judged a person, nor did he condemn any just because he was "different" from him. That he died for us because he loved us, not because he wanted us to feel that we are superior.

For all my diatribe, though, I was, in all honesty, delighted that I was there in the presence of a group of people singing to some unavailing being. Maybe because it brought back the good old memories of me being involved in church activities with friends I cared, which has, to say the least, nothing to do with religious doctrines.

the all-in-one iPhone

and they still left out 3 million other useful things it can do.

funny video

Something we all men can sympathize with.

um...

Care to guess where I took this picture? One object seems a little out of place so as to confound you. After more than a year in Seoul, it all looks natural to me now. In fact, it appears that without it, it seems, the picture is not complete. Without its presence, it throws most of us, the casual diners in Korea, into chaos.

Here, in the long tradition of the dining halls of Korea, where utility takes precedence over the serviceability the western restauranteers value religiously, its essence is obsecured in its common practicality; it's there to give you comfort both in the "back" room and in the dining hall without attracting attention to itself. It is asked silently to pull double duty as always. It is, in essence, the highest stage of dualism.

People absent-mindly reach for it with their hands and, when successfully clamped its white flat square tail between the index finger and the thumb, draw in, as fisher men draw their cast nets, by way of unrolling to "a-good, comfortable-size-for-wiping" amount. And without realizing it they themselves become subject to the utility, to its practicality; before long, they are, as I am, chained to this long tradition.

traffic

Typical day/traffic in Seoul. Why people even bother to drive in Seoul is beyond my realm of comprehension when driving a block can take more than walking 10 blocks. But then again, it's not the only thing that defies the law of natural order in this city. Come to think of it, what am I doing here?

Taken with my phone. Not bad for a phone camera, and mine is an antique compared to other phones in Korea.

The picture shown is the eastern sea of Korea. It is known for its clean and shallow water that extends far into the sea. It was taken last year in the early morning of October, so, as can be imagined, the beach is devoid of people or any kind of activity. Only the fishing boats in the center interest the eyes. For some strange reason, I've had this picture on my phone until now. I didn't know I had it until I was downloading some images off the phone to my computer this morning. Pretty cool.

There is something to be said about watching an image from your past, particularly when you least expect it. It brings about sentiments that you can't quite express. The picture itself, the image alone, does not speak to anything specific, but somehow the viewer is left with an indescribable feeling.

Images conjured up by external objects have a weird way of speaking to you. For example, as Virginia Woolf once put it, wether it be mental or physical, our mind involuntarily gropes for something specific and, in a rush, they all come together without you realize doing it. Your mind and the cognitive faculty in the brain is, in essence, two separate entities that need each other for uninterrupted harmony.

Senator Boxer's comment

Senator Boxer's exchange with Condi Rice about a single mother being not able to give any sacrifice on behalf of her country because of absence of an immediate family member is right on the mark. Some critics note that the comment should not have been personal as it adds nothing to the national discourse on the war in Iraq. Although, I do share some rhetorical assessments of the comment by these critics, I sympathize with the senator. For some time now, however, Bush administration has been making decisions based on some abstract notion that democracy is God's gift to humanity and that we must prevail because failure to secure democracy in a country where it has not been given a serious chance to flourish spells disastrous for the US.

Well, let's see who PAYS the actual price by this argument. ONLY the service men and women and their families pay this price. You see, the reality of it is that not only the most of the country is uninterested in giving more sacrifices but it is always mostly those at a disadvantage economically that go to the military disproportionately to have to pay the price. We can all cry about our national tragedies in Iraq and here in this land, but, at the end of the day, when the dust settles, it is they, the families of service men and women, that have to give the most sacrifices for our inapt decisions.

In other words, we cannot carry out any meaningful political/military solutions to the problem on the backs of small number of people, unless the whole country feels that it shares the same burden and the cause to which it must contribute, it is bound for failure. Therefore, it is the requirement of the government during the time of national crisis via-a-vis war to provide and lay out the specific, detailed strategy to get the country on the wagon. Fail to do so, the government does not have a clear strategy. If so, the people will not support its cause. That's where the real danger lies, I am afraid, that there is a disconnect between the reality on the ground and the political incompetence to come up with any meaningful solutions to the problem.

Apple and its philosophy

Apple has always been a wonder child of sort since its birth. The tech industry looks up at Apple in amazment whenever it wavers its magic wand. This latest interation only reinforces that idea.

the new phone

When Apple first introduced iPod, many in the industry said that the price for the mp3 player,
at the time it was $599 when many others were $100~200, was too much to justfy. All naysayers predicted, in harmony, that it was doomed to failure, not to mention a lot of skepticism on the part of tech pundits and those who claimed to live on the bleeding edge of technology. Well, after more than 5 years of its existence, there is not a person in the world who denies the success it has had.

With the iphone, no doubt the same people will once again find it difficult to see the viability of the phone on the market, Apple has created a new market. It is not going after the PDA/smart phone maket, rather it is merging two fields, that of multimedia and communication, to creat a unique market that was not there before.

What Apple is good at, and no one doubts this, is making the techonolgy friendly with the users. Not one industry is good at this or better than Apple. What sold millions of ipod is not its physical and visual design, although you cannot neglect its appeal, not at all, but it's the way all that thchnologies are seamlessly combined to give users an experience they would otherwise not get from any other similar gadgets. That's what Apple is good at and that's what sold ipods to millions of users.

The biggest misunderstanding the technology industry has had for many years is not that there has not been many new and innovative technologies, but rather, the new techonology was not available to users in the form of "user friendly" design. I hope other phone manufacturers take a note of this.

Once again, our arrogance...

This article makes you really sick. I mean what are we doing in Iraq? Are we really pacifying the place? If recent horrible events in Iraq is any indication, we are not. We, Americans, have to WAKE UP to the realization that what we are doing in Iraq is not helping the iraqis. We let these iraqis die in the name of OUR freedom and security.

Bush loves to talk about how the Iraq war has brought democracy in Iraq, as if democracy can be that easily achieved, but what has he really accomplished in Iraq other than turning them against eachother. Once again, our arrogance has gotten the better of us - the worst naive thinking yet, that we can somehow police/control the world with our mighty power. One can only hope that our next president can think beyond the current one.