First, the other Jen emails me wanting less newsfeeds and more me stories, then Becky leaves a comment basically asking the same thing. So, here's a me story, though I think the newsfeeds will continue.
Lately, I've been very busy. So to fill the blog I've been placing newsfeeds on subjects I thought would be interesting. Granted, I could have blogged about playing 4 Man Scramble last Tuesday during a down pour leaving me soaked and changing clothes at a KFC like a homeless person, and walking into my next class bones aching and hair disheveled. I probably could have also blogged about the midterms. Finishing my programming test in less than 30 minutes enough time to run to the Timbuktu bar across the street to study for my Spanish midterm that same night, play a little MegaTouch, drink a red beer, and hustle some pool. Spanish midterms, was of course a piece of cake, and was done in 15 minutes.
Really, if you've read any of my previous blogs it's a predictable pattern. Busy during the weekdays and drink for the weekend. Last night Ray and I made an appearance at Finn's for their anniversary party. (I forget how many years of being open they were celebrating, but atleast we came in.) After a brief convo with James and Brea, during which we had to sadly turn down an invite to their barbecue they were having this weekend =(, we went to Liquid to finish out the night. Played Megatouch, played pool, watched some UFC, and bs-ed with Adina and Landon.
Ray was supposed to work this morning, I'm not sure what happened, but I woke up and he was still here. I think later on he is going to his buddy's house so they can replace the brake lines in his car. After he lifted the truck his current brake lines ended up not being long enough for him to be able to steer properly. While they are doing that I'm sure I can distract myself with a well deserved and much needed manicure/pedicure.
Currently waiting for the pizza and wings to arrive. Saturdays are always our lazy days. When I woke up I grabbed the laptop, checked email, and ordered pizza.
That picture was taken more than 20 minutes ago now, and I'm still in the same spot. So if I can keep the same momentum until Monday, I should have nothing exciting to blog about for this weekend. Stay tuned for more news.
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt Fighting over Aniston again...
So Life & Style Weekly has reported that Brad and Angie were once again fighting over Brad's ex-wife, Jennifer Aniston. Supposedly this time it's because Jennifer sent the couple gifts to congratulate them for Angie's newly adopted child Pax Thien Jolie. Aniston reportedly bought books, games along with a nice congratulatory card and insider tells that that did not go over well with Angie. Brad did not take Angie's reaction very well, especially since Angelina's ex Billy Bob recently revealed that he speaks to Jolie on a near daily basis.
Also an earlier report claimed that Jolie is in constant fear of losing Brad to Aniston.
Sources that are supposedly within the Jolie-Pitt circle were just dishing all kinds of tidbits to the National Enquirer. A source that's worked regularly for the couple, reveals Brad constantly tries to please Angelina, who often acts the diva. "All I heard her do was complain," the source recalled. "She'd say: 'I'm tired. It's hot. Why do we have to do that? Why are you always committing us to do things?' Brad seemed kind of used to being beaten down. He's very quiet and seems like he's always trying to please her."
"I got the impression he's a nice guy just trying to make conversation, and she gave him quick, snippy answers. She controlled the things they talked about - and their schedule too." If this is playing out behind closed doors no wonder Jen is on his mind. It will be interesting to see what ITW has on the "rivalry" but there is no question that right now, Jen is up, and Jolie is down.
Well, well, how the mighty have fallen. What did Angie really expect. You try to steal someone else's husband by presenting yourself as the "newest and coolest" and soon enough the newness and coolness will wear off. I think Angie knows that she had nothing substantial to offer and is now getting paranoid. The stress is definitely getting to her, and she is looking more haggard than ever. C'mon, Jolie, find your self-esteem and get your act together.
Ray's new toy arrived today. After class, I knew that his Dad would be at the house helping him get the TV downstairs and set up on the stand (attached to the brackets and all) so I killed time at Liquid to allow them some guy time. When I got home Ray was downstairs kicking it with the TV. Supposedly so I could enjoy it a little before going to bed. I admit, it's impressive. We definitely have to stock up on DVDs now. Of course, that means that he'll be setting up the surround sound this weekend, which means that the new shower rods for the two guess bathrooms will have to wait again. Good thing we're not expecting guests =D
I know, E and Chuck are real big on Japan right now, and I'm sure it's a lovely country but to this day it's not very hard to have animosity towards their government. Well, many have heard of my personal opinion on Japan, but it was quite unbelieveable to see this in the news today. I thought to drive the story deeper I would include my own personal research.
Also, while you read keep in mind that the abuse did not maintain itself within the makeshift brothels that Japanese soldiers created. It was well known that during WWII you could get raped anywhere (i.e. on the side of the road) just by being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Beside my great grandfather's house in Tanjay, neighbors used to tell me that there were several Santelmo (similar to Saint Elmo's Fire) sightings caused by the spirit of a girl who was raped and killed there by a Japanese soldier during WWII. Now, that particular story may not be true but the fact that these incidents have embeded themselves in Filipino folklore means that it did create a huge impact. Now the Japaneses PM Shinzo Abe is saying "Even if it is passed, it does not mean we will apologize." "EVEN IF"? Ugh!
Okay, enough blabbering or I'll never get done with this blog. First a Wikipedia definition:
"Comfort women (Japanese: 慰安婦, ianfu?) or military comfort women (Japanese: 従軍慰安婦, jūgun-ianfu?) is a euphemism for the up to 200,000 women who served in the Japanese army's brothels during World War II."
The "recruitment" process:
"In the early stages of the war, Japanese authorities recruited prostitutes through conventional means. Middlemen advertised in newspapers circulating in Japan and the Japanese colonies of Korea, Taiwan, Manchukuo, and mainland China. Many who answered the advertisements were already prostitutes and offered their services voluntarily. Others were sold by their families to the military due to economic hardship. However, these sources soon dried up, especially from Japan. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs resisted further issuance of travel visas for Japanese prostitutes, feeling it tarnished the image of the Japanese Empire. The military turned to acquiring comfort women outside mainland Japan, especially from Korea and occupied China. Many women were tricked or defrauded into joining the military brothels. The US Army Force Office report of interview with 20 comfort women in Burma found that the girls were induced by the offer of plenty of money, an opportunity to pay off the family debts, and on the basis of these false representations many girls enlisted for overseas duty and were rewarded with advance of a few hundred yen.
In urban areas, conventional advertising through middlemen was used alongside kidnapping. However, along the front lines, especially in the countryside where middlemen were rare, the military often directly demanded that local leaders procure women for the brothels. This situation became worse as the war progressed. Under the strain of the war effort, the military became unable to provide enough supplies to Japanese units; in response, the units made up the difference by demanding or looting supplies from the locals. Moreover, when the locals, especially Chinese, were considered hostile, Japanese soldiers carried out the "Three Alls Policy", which included indiscriminately kidnapping and raping local civilians.
*The Three Alls - Kill All, Burn All, Loot All.
Below a video of Lola Dolor,
The video was found on the Support 121 Website. 121 Coalition is a national coalition representing nearly 200 civic organizations. We are united to defend human rights and support the passage of House Resolution 121 that calls upon the government of Japan to apologize for its war crime enslaving over 200,000 girls and women during World War II as "comfort women." The victims were referred to as "comfort women," but they were mostly girls under eighteen, some as young as twelve. They were kept in military "comfort stations" and were subjected to inhuman and degrading forms of sexual violence.
Click on the link to learn more.
Getting off the soap box now. That should be it for awhile. Thank you.
I'm not a fan of wrestling, but Multitasker Dad is so I wonder if he knows who this guy is. Anyway, I saw this feed earlier today and didn't think it would be a big buzz but apparently (based on the conversation in my programming class) it is. Or perhaps just big with the geeky community. Hi, Dad!
Got home from school and Ray had put the TV stand we got this weekend together. It looked awesome! I cannot wait for the TV! Last time checked (this morning by Ray) tracking says that it's still in LA, Cali. But with electronics it usually only takes a couple days to get delivered. Cross fingers!
This is product image for the TV.
I could cut and paste the specs, but you could also just find it yourself so...do that. It's a Panasonic Viera TH50PX600U. Go Google.
What's really funny is that Ray and I told Mom during dinner Saturday night that Ray bought a plasma, and Ching pointed out that plasmas use a lot of electricity. Ray responded (the best response ever) "So does my hot tub." Mom was actually still laughing about it this afternoon.
Took a lot out of me actually. Took Thursday night off class and Friday off work.
Friday I ate lunch with Eli, and that's all I'm allowed to say about that.
Friday night Ray and I attempted another dinner and movie date night, dinner went great but trying to watch a movie in a regular theatre is annoying. We went to the West side Warren and the kids were so annoying we decided to leave half way. We ended up playing pool at Old Chicago instead and that was just as fun. Perhaps next weekend we can try again, only this time we will most def be back up on the balcony.
Saturday Ray and I went shopping for a TV stand. Ray finally bought a 50 inch for the basement and he wanted to get the stand before the TV arrived. We got that accomplished and then some. While Ray was working out in the afternoon I went to Maurices and bought my best outfit ensemble to date. My black and white striped tank top that I wore that night, leather sash belt, and black platform pumps. I was so proud.
For dinner we met the family and then some at Kobe's and went bowling after. It was bunches of fun. I stole the following pictures from Ching's Flickr so you might also want to read about it from Ching's site. No point telling the story twice.
On a warm summer's evenin' on a train bound for nowhere, I met up with the gambler; we were both too tired to sleep. So we took turns a starin' out the window at the darkness 'Til boredom overtook us, and he began to speak.
He said, "Son, I've made my life out of readin' people's faces, And knowin' what their cards were by the way they held their eyes. so if you don't mind my sayin', I can see you're out of aces. For a taste of your whiskey I'll give you some advice."
So I handed him my bottle and he drank down my last swallow. Then he bummed a cigarette and asked me for a light. And the night got deathly quiet, and his face lost all expression. Said, "If you're gonna play the game, boy, ya gotta learn to play it right.
You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, Know when to walk away and know when to run. You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table. There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.
Ev'ry gambler knows that the secret to survivin' Is knowin' what to throw away and knowing what to keep. 'Cause ev'ry hand's a winner and ev'ry hand's a loser, And the best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep."
When he'd finished speakin', he turned back towards the window, Crushed out his cigarette and faded off to sleep. And somewhere in the darkness the gambler, he broke even. But in his final words I found an ace that I could keep.
You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, Know when to walk away and know when to run. You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table. There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.
You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, Know when to walk away and know when to run. You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table. There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.
You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, Know when to walk away and know when to run. You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table. There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.
I was seriously feeling lethargic at work. I came in this morning with a warning sign that read "Will not be productive today." I think I even said it out loud. Right around 11am I was already feeling the hunger but did not know what to fill it with. Eli works around me so I called him first, he declined eating with me and sited poverty as a cause. Whatever! But he did recomment Hot Stone further north on Rock Road. What a find! Eli, you just lost 10 lbs on my book. =D
Of course, I was reluctant to go, I'll have to admit. I had to call Ray and run the options by him, but he agreed with E, and said I should go somewhere that will make me happy as opposed to going to the Chinese buffet across the street for convenience or going for fast food only for the sake of saving a couple bucks. I'm so glad I listened.
It's just like going to Hana without having to drive as far, and I do believe it's actually a little bit cheaper. I had the Bi Bim Bab, great taste, though I admit I was a little disappointed that they skimped on the beef. For those who are curious, Bi Bim Bab is basically a bowl of steamed rice, vegetables, either scrambled or sunny side up eggs, beef, and chili sauce. It's delicious!
So now I'm back to work and quite rejuvinated. Time to crack the whip and see if I can get back on track.
