Oh, dear. I found this via bwe.tv. You never told me there was an EMO Point System! BTW, I do play an exotic instrument, the long and slender clarinet.
Watch closely all you former CYHS grads - one of the schools featured is Central High School.
Also - notice how savvy the news team is to play Fall Out Boy in the background of Chelsey WENTZ's talking head (Pete WENTZ is the emo mastermind behind the band, for those who live in a cave).
A lot to talk about, but I'm just too busy to write about it all right now. In regards to the Academy Awards last nite - I thought it was a pretty good show despite reports. A personal report may come later.
Oh - and 17/24? That was my winning score in the office pool. I got a DVD/CD prize pack of the best pic nominations - DVDs were Departed, Little Miss and Babel. CDs were Letters/Iwo Jima and The Queen.
It's like $300 dollars and is a halogen. It's called a Tizio or something and I got to pick it out. More on this later.
Too tired to think of something constructive to write about, so here's a little something I did today to help stimulate some brain cells.
Top Ten - For Now.
1. Babe Pig in the City - George Miller 2. 8 1/2 - Fellini 3. Terminator 2 - Titanic dude 4. Farewell My Concubine - Chinese guy 5. In the Mood for Love - Hong Kong guy 6. Batman Begins - Christopher Cross Nolan 7. The Limey - Steven "not Spielberg" Soderberg 8. 25th Hour - Spike Lee (hey there weren't a lot of black people in this one, eh?) 9. Performance - Two British guys you never heard of, but it has Mick Jagger in it. 10. Nights of Cabiria - see number 2
This one goes to elevan -
11. The Last of the Mohicans - Mike Mann
In a country where freedom of speech existed I would have also put Zoolander in there somewhere.
Feel free to start talking shit in the comments section.
I don't have too many Vietnamese friends here, so in lieu of a Tet celebration, I decided to go dancing at a shoegaze/Britpop night in Chinatown.
Foo-ooh-ohh's Gold. . . . Seriously, I never liked the song or understood it's popularity (I'm more into Elephant Stone) until it was blasting in my ear and I got to watch some really good-looking goths get down to it.
Bonus: It was a My Bloody Valentine Tribute Night!
Have you seen the trailer for this film? I think it looks ridiculously bad (think The Da Vinci Code), but I was intrigued by as short montage sequence in which Jim Carrey's voice over mentions a bunch of tragic events and their correlation to the number 23.
Then I got to thinking - does Sept. 11th, the most significantly historical event of my lifetime, have any correlation to the number 23?
Some quick math - 9 + 11 = 20.
Nope. Then I thought about it for a second longer and that's when I lost my shit:
9 + 11 + 2 + 0 + 0 + 1 = 23.
Snap! You heard it here first. If the movie fails to recognize this coincidence, then someone obviously wasn't doing their homework. Then again, if this coincidence is in the film, it does seem a bit exploitative doesn't it? Though, you could argue:
9 + 11 + 2001 = 2021.
If we want to go even more bat shit about this - On Sept 11th I was working for a law firm, whose address was 2300 N St. Um, maybe I should read this Number 23 book.
SPOILER ALERT - SPOILER ALERT - LAST NIGHT'S EPISODE OF THE OFFICE
SPOILER ALERT - SPOILER ALERT - LAST NIGHT'S EPISODE OF THE OFFICE
SPOILER ALERT - SPOILER ALERT - LAST NIGHT'S EPISODE OF THE OFFICE
SPOILER ALERT - SPOILER ALERT - LAST NIGHT'S EPISODE OF THE OFFICE
Who watched last night's epsiode of The Office? "Business School" just may be my favorite episode of the season so far as it contained a brilliant "good man" Michael Scott moment at the end. It is an understatement to say that most of the uncomfortable/grimacing moments are caused by Michael, but sometimes those great moments of inspiration and heart-warming moments also come from the guy qwho gave us Prison Mike.
One of my favorite moments ever was on the booze cruise when Michael told Jim to not give up on Pam.
The excerpted conversation to refresh -
Jim: To tell you the truth, I used to have a big thing for Pam. So... Michael: Really. You're kidding me. You and Pam? Wow. I would have never put you two together. You really hid it well. God. I usually have a radar for stuff like that. (pauses) You know, I made out with Jan... Jim: Yeah I know. Michael: Yeah. Yup. (pauses) Well Pam is cute. Jim: Yeah. She's really funny. She's warm and she's just... nevermind. Michael Well if you like her so much, you should... Don't give up. Jim: She's engaged. Michael: Pssh. BFD. Engaged ain't married. Jim: Huh. Michael: Never ever ever ever give up.
Well, who would have thought that Michael would come the rescue for Pam at her art show, especially after all the awkward moments between them (i.e. the end of the Diwali episode). Part of me wants to say that the moment was ruined with candy bar in the pocket line, but it was so fucking awesome when Michael sincerely told Pam that he was proud of her. Shit dawg, I almost cried myself.
And what is the deal with Jim NOT showing up for Pam's art show. I know this episode wasn't meant to focus too much on the Pam/Jim dynamic (we find out early in the episode that Pam is back with Roy and she sooo excited), but the lack of interaction between the two of them leaves out a major component of the show. I guess we'll have to wait until next week to see what happens.
Other observations-
- When Dwight pulled the bag over Meredith's I couldn't help but be reminded of the scene in Missing In Action 2 when the Viet Cong puts an angry rat in a bag and ties it over Chuck Norris's head. Needless to to say, there was a lot of blood, but Chuck comes through, gnawing the rat to death. How cool would it have been if Meredith came out of the bag with the bat in her mouth Osbourne-style?
- When Roy tells Pam how cool it was that he brought his brother to the Pam's show and that no one from the office showed up, I scratched my head a bit. Upon second viewing, it sounds like a polite diss on Jim that he's not there. Mind you, Jim had better things to do - LIKE HIS HOT GIRLFRIEND KAREN!
Lastly- when Michael ripped up that kid's book - did you notice who that was? It was David Daskal - the frizzy haired guy from Average Joe season 2. Man, why do I know that?
So I've fixed the comments section allowing you to use emoticons and removed the password part where you have to type in my hard to remember last name. Upgrading the new software and doing the whole CHMOD thing wasn;t as bad as I thought and seriously, now you can add winky smiley faces and shit like that. Part of me wants to say something like "Greymatter is not for pussy-ass bloggers," but I made a New Years resolution to be less of a dick this year.
Now, Greymatter will prompt you to type in a random generated word. The feature wards off spammers, but in some way I think it also wards off the true feelings of my friends. C'mon guys! Express yourselves!
So to all 3 of you that read this blog on (ir)regular basis, you may have noticed a few changes.
First, I added 2 new friends to the side bar under the "Ex-Viet Kieus" title. Thirsty Thong is an excellent blog written by a couple of Vietnamese Americans expats living in Vietnam. Thong, who seems like the main writer, is a mutual friend through some kids I met while working on the film American Knees. The blog is a funny exploration of what it's like to live in Hanoi, from a culturally-savvy, educated view point.
After reading the blog and some email exchanges with Thong, I'm convinced he is my Tyler Durden. I know, it sounds gay, but this kid likes Jenny Lewis, hip hop AND he's Vietnamese. Someday, when we meet in person, I can only hope he asks me to punch him in the face to verify my instincts.
VA to VN is written by an old friend of mine from the APA Film days. Oddly, he stumbled upon my blog via Thong's via another friend of mines, or something like that. The blog is exactly as the title describes: it chronicles his and his wife's move from Virginia to Vietnam. The writer, D, is the first Vietnamese lawyer I ever met (true fact) and for a while we were in the same Vietnamese Big Brother program in DC. The blog is written in a very concise, yet witty manner. D covers everything from technology to economics to food to cars. He also likes sports, which I am slowly getting into.
The second and probably most notable change you may have noticed is my Header picture. I just felt like the blog needed a change, tho I was very happy with my old header pic:
This was a composite picture of my two cousins, Jenna and Bao. Bao was probably 5 (13 now?) and Jenna 3 (11 now?) when these pictures were taken. The photos were part of a photography project and I liked how in both of the pictures they were covering their ears, like "Man, this blog is soo loud!" (i.e. annoying). The pictures are a bit fuzzy because I had to scan them from a contact sheet.
The new Header pic is of my mom when she was in her early twenties. I decided to keep the color scheme cconsistent with the rest of the blog. Call me crazy, but I'm pretty set on this pink color.
In the future, I will see about adding some more peeps and links to the side bar and will keep on working on Header pics as I need to improve my horrid photoshop/design skills.
music: They saw a big raven/It glided down the sky/She touched it/Ohh...
mood: I have some of the greatest friends in the world/the United States of America
I am 28 now. Here are some pics of me and a few friends celebrating the occasion last Saturday night.
music: Diva Original Soundtrack
mood: Emo Terry Lives!
It's easy for me to hate on this holiday, but this morning when I came into my office I was greeted with a nice little cupcake and some chocolates on my desk courtesy of the blondes that work with me. Quite honestly, it was one of the best cupcakes I've had in a very long time. The chocolate was so so.
I don't have any plans yet for tonight, but I can definitely tell you what I am NOT going to do:
1) Listen to Smiths records
2) Read old love letters
3) Watch "Fever Pitch"
4) Go to a "Single Awareness Day" party/bar (read: too cynical)
5) Drunk dial someone.
I've got a copy of The Kite Runner on my desk and I promised myself I would learn some new programs this year. Not a bad night to start some creative shit, either. Maybe some magazines will come in the mail. The possibilities are ENDLESS!
Seriously tho, in honor of the holiday, here's one of my favorite videos of all time. Directed by John Cameron Mitchell (props).
--EDIT--
I got a date with a girl! Her name is Patron. So I guess one of us is going to get fucked tonight.
I Think Now Would Be The Time To Finally Buy A Television.
For the past 2 years I chose not to own a televsion. This changed my mind today -
--EDIT--
Looks like a major television network removed the clip. It was basically the funniest American Idol audition I've ever seen. True, I don't watch American Idol regulalry, so I may be exagerrating. If you're still curious - go to youtube and look up Eccentric the Panther.
My name is Terry and this is my blog. 
