Bay to Breakers and Bad News from China

Asian Heritage Street Celebration I don’t know how many people in the US are actually aware of that May is the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM). It’s the law, although it’s one that is hard to break. If one doesn’t live in San Francisco, this APAHM is probably even more ignorable. In that regard, I am lucky to live in the City, because not only this month is celebrated with a wide range activities throughout the month in the City, also there is a street fair last weekend. Although it’s nothing out of ordinary, but it’s simply awesome to get out and to participate, to support, and to celebrate. And, of course, to be proud. I couldn’t stop giggling when I was taking a picture of them holding this sing. Too bad I didn’t have a $20 bill in my wallet, and they don’t accept credit card. And yesterday, May 19, was the National Asian and Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. I bet there are even less people know that such a day even exist. Bay to Breakers Last Sunday was the 99th Bay to Breakers (B2B). I decided to skip the hiking in Marin Headlands, but to join the fun in the Golden Gate Park intead. However, I did something different this year. Although I didn’t dress up like a salmon, I still went against the flow, starting from the finish point at the Ocean Beach and walked all the way back to the downtown. This way, I could see most of the crazy costumes and drunken people. Secondly, I would end up closer to home in the end, because fighting with the drunken crowd on a bus is not an easy task. Like always, the B2Bers just make me smile. There are a lot creative people with amazing costumes. Certainly, there are also plenty who prefer nothing at all. http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf It had a blast and I am already looking forward the 100th Bay to Breakers next year! New Toy Out of blue, I suddenly want a new toy—a handheld blender, to make sauce and purees. The hand held one seems much easier to clean compared to the regular blender I have. Compulsively, I bought one back right the way. The first dish I made was a carrot onion soup. I always enjoy this simple but flavorful soup on a chilly day. I also like the orange color and the nutrition I think I will be getting. I have never made a soup like this before, it’s definitely not a Chinese dish. But how difficult can this be? It’s almost the simplest thing one can do. Yet, the restaurant can charge around $10 bucks per order. First, pan seared some carrots and purple onion, with a pinch salt and a little bit oil. Then move them to a pot and add some more water, bring to a boil, and stick my new toy in it and start to destroy! A few minutes later, I got the perfect soup. Creamy, sweet, and delicious. With some slow braised bayback ribs, pan seared lotus root, mixed rice, dinner is ready. More Bad News From China There have been several gruesome killing innocent children in China recently. There is a report that 13 students are slashed by cleavers in another dormitory rampage. Although no report of casualty yet, two of them are in serious condition. It’s extremely terrifying and sad at the same time. You don’t expect people come to your dorm and chop your hands off. People keep saying this is a mental health issue and characterize those killers as "insane" or "crazy." I beg to differ. They are not crazy. They are reaching the end of the rope and desperate. Their despair overwhelms them and they want to do something unthinkable to draw some attention. With the gap between rich and poor in China keeps widening. It has reached to an alarming point that Gini coefficient is 0.47 in China. The economical condition will further result in more social problems. Remember how the communist party overturned the old government and build the new China? Chairman Mao relied on the vast working classes who had almost nothing and demanded a re-distribution of the wealth. Will the history repeat itself? More disturbing news I read the last few days. A 21-year-old young man jumped off the builder to his death few days ago, and became the 9th worker who tried to commit suicide this year (seven died) at Foxconn Technology Group in Shenzhen, China. I feel very sad for these workers and their families. and a Chinese professor is sent to jail for organizing sex parties at his own house. How is that Chinese government’s business? However China is having all kinds of problems, I still love China. I hope China can overcome and progress. I find some airline tickets that are less than $600 (round trip). I am so tempting to visit China again this Fall. I should go. The City of Your Final Destination What would you expect when a group of Academy Award winners and nominees come together to make a film about an upper-class writer’s family affair? If Masterpiece Theatre on PBS comes to your mind, you are probably not too far off when you watch the quiet and good-looking melodrama "The City of Your Final Destination" (USA 2009 | 118 min.), based on a novel by Peter Cameron. After a renowned writer Jules Gund commits suicide, he leaves a remote farm estate in Uruguay to his family. The family members who live a quiet life on the premises include Gund’s widow Caroline (Laura Linney), Gund’s mistress Arden (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and their daughter Portia, Gund’s brother Adam (Anthony Hopkins), and Adam’s lover of 25 years Peter (Hiroyuki Sanada) since Peter was 15. Gund and his mysterious family become the subject of interest for a Ph.D. graduate student Omar (Omar Metwally) who desperately needs the authorization from the family in order to write a Gund’s authorized autobiography. After being denied by the family, Omar is commanded by his bossy girlfriend Deirdre (Alexandra Maria Lara) and shows up at the estate hoping to convince the family to change their mind. Omar’s unannounced visit not only disturbs the calm country life, but also ignites love interest in Arden. The plot certainly lacks the gravitation and credibility. Does anybody care one way or the other how the story might turn out to any of these privileged characters? However, the film is still pleasant to watch due to the great performance from the award winning actors, the gorgeous cinematography, and even the beautiful music scores. Watching Laura Linney‘s superb acting as Caroline, the masterminded, sharp tongued, yet emotionally traumatized widow, you sense the injustice that Laura Linney still does not have an Oscar even she has been nominated for three times. The film is like an Academy Award after party which full of the awardees and nominees. The film is directed by the three-time Academy Award nominated director James Ivory; written by two-time Academy Award winning screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala; played by Academy Award winner Anthony Hopkins, three-time Academy Award nominee Laura Linney, and Academy Award nominee Norma Aleandro; original music by Academy Award winner Jorge Drexler; and collaborated with many more award winning artists. Let’s hope Laura Linney will finally get her trophy this time. "The City of Your Final Destination" opens on Friday, May 21, 2010 at Bay Area theaters. http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/QIhFvZ-XUro&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&ap=%2526fmt%3d18 MacGruber It is no easy task to spin off a feature film from Saturday Night Live (SNL) sketches, especially to make the film funny. The fact that SNL has been a sleepy yawn during the last few seasons does not help either. Therefore, it is a bold move to turn a not-so-hyped SNL character MacGruber into a motion picture. The gamble pays off. "MacGruber" (USA 2010 | 99 min.) is a hilarious goofy ball that makes you laugh while make your to shake heads in disbelief. As the character MacGruber normally does in SNL, this film also needs him to defuse some kind of explosive. This time, it is a missile smuggled from the Russians. MacGruber (Will Forte) has been "dead" for ten years since his wife (Maya Rudolph) was blown away on their wedding day by Cunth (Val Kilmer), for a reason that will make you laugh. Cunth obtains a nuclear missile from the Russians and plans to blow up the capital on the night of the President’s State of Union address. MacGruber is regarded as the most qualified person to take up the saving the nation challenge. He is back to the action from his death and teamed up with straight-faced Lt. Piper (Ryan Phillippe) and his old friend Vicki (Kristen Wiig). No matter how dangerous the situation is, MacGruber always remembers to take his radio out of his car and carries it around. Probably everybody, not only the guard in the film, gets surprised when the celery stalks are used creatively. Why celery? Although the jokes are sometimes raunchy, offensive, and even outrageous, they are laugh out funny. Some scenes might have lingered too long to gross out the audience—if you ever get shot, maybe you just want to leave the bullet in your body if you are with Vicki. However, we all know what to expect in this film if we have seen MacGruber on SNL. Adding video game type of violence and shouting out the f-words on the big screen is what SNL can never come to close. Along the way, the film manages to be funny, that is what really counts after all. "MacGruber" opens on Friday, May 21, 2010 at Bay Area theaters. http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/bqySbDqTGGc&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&ap=%2526fmt%3d18