My Sassy Girl

Okay, new awesome movie. It's Korean again...

I like chick flicks cause they have good stories and they're funny, and somtimes I hope I could meet a girl like the ones in the movies and then through a strange series of events, have this exciting and funny courtship, blah blah blah. I'm a hopeless romantic, just like Skye...we're a lot alike.

Anyway, so I found this movie called My Sassy Girl, that was made in 2001, in Korea. It was a HUGE hit and everyone loved it. It's a strange love story. And by strange, I mean that there's not much lovey dovey crap in it. It's a chick flick that I think lots of guys would actually really like.

It's about a guy who is just minding his business one day at the train station, when he notices that there is an extremely drunk woman teetering dangerously close to the edge of the platform, and the train is coming in. He runs over and saves her, just as the train whizzes by, and she's too drunk to notice. On the train, she throws up all over an old man, and just before she passes out, calls to the main character, Gyeon-woo (played by Cha Tae-hyun, who also starred in Speedy Scandal) and says "Honey!" Everyone thinks that he's her boyfriend now, and he is forced to not only help her out, but clean up the vomit. Poor guy! Anyway he takes her to a motel to rest, and jumps in the shower to clean off the sweat (from carrying her the whole way on his back) and the vomit. Her phone rings, and he foolishly tells the voice on the other end of the phone where they are, and before he knows it, the police break in and mace him while he's still naked.

He thinks that the relationship will end there, but it's only the beginning. What ensues is a strange on-and-off courtship as the girl (whose name we never find out, actually) tries to get over an apparently difficult breakup with her old boyfriend. She is strong-willed and has a temper that easily persuades Gyeon-woo to perform any of her silly requests, be it drinking coffee, rather than coke, every time they go out, or changes shoes, so he has to wear the high heels. He endures a very strange courtship, and is much too afraid to admit to anyone that she is actually his girlfriend, for fear that he might get in trouble.

They eventually are forced to separate by her father, and that's where the story really gets good, as the two try to decide what their relationship has really become, and how far it could actually go.

That's all I'll say about the movie, so as to avoid giving away any good parts. It's one of my favorite movies, and I've already watched it twice this week. I highly recommend it to everyone, even if you don't like chick flicks. The majority of the movie is not easily identified as a chick flick, or even a love story, but rather a confused courtship comedy. The comedy of the movie will keep the guys interested, while the fresh yet subtle love story will satisfy the girls in the audience.

It does have subtitles, but honestly, you get used to reading them, and won't even really miss anything at all. It is asian humor, and many of the cultural points and the style of jokes may be a little difficult to understand unless you have lived in an asian country for any period of time. I lived in Japan, and noticed many cultural similarites. Not only that, but I loved the humor, because it is so unmistakably asian. This doesn't mean that American's can't appreciate the film, though. My mom, who watched it with me the second time, loved it. I found myself explaining some cultural things to her, but she seemed to enjoy it ver much. She did admit that there were many things she thought were strange, especially the way that the girl acted sometimes.

This movie has been remade by a few different cultures, including Japan, India and America. My Sassy Girl, starring Elisha Cuthbert and Jesse Bradford, was released in 2008. I was in Japan at the time, but even my family, who live here, hadn't heard of it. I don't know how good the American version was, but I know for certain, that a remake that stays very true to many of the jokes and points in the plot would simply never work here in America because of the vast cultural differences between Americans and Asians. Or maybe that's why the movie obviously wasn't popular. I'll have to watch it to see...I just hope it doesn't ruin the original!

I would definitely give this movie a 10, but I'm pretty easy to please. I loved every part of the movie, and can't wait to watch it again. I highly recommend it!

This is the original movie poster, and the cover of the 2-disc special edition DVD:

This is the cover for the single-disc version:

I like both covers, really. This movie's the best! Watch it!

Addiction

So now I'm totally obsessed with Korean movies, I think. On my way home from Japan, there was a Korean film called "Speedy Scandal" (과속스캔들) on the plane. The guy next to me was watching it--and it had subtitles--so I couldn't help but watch it. I was extremely interested in it, and when I got home, I searched EVERYWHERE for it.

I finally found it, and found some decent english subtitles, and was able to watch it in its entirety. I fell in love with it! Everything about that movie is just likeable. The plot is wonderful, and there are no distasteful (sex) scenes. Ultimately, the actors are what make the movie so great. As a sidenote: This movie is the #1 Korean comedy of all time. Not that really means anything to you, but I'm sure if it was brought to the states, it would do EXTREMELY well.

This movie stars: Cha Tae-hyeon, Park Bo-yeong, and Hwang Seok-hyeon. I know that doesn't mean anything to you, and it means little more to me.

There's great music in the movie as well, and I've been listening to the soundtrack a lot for the last few days.

I won't give away any of the plot, really. I doubt it even matters, cause nobody will ever read this, but in case someone does.

This is a copy of the movie poster:

I know you might be thinking: "Why would I ever want to watch a Korean film? I can't understand what they're saying!" Or you're probably thinking: "Who is this guy, and how did I get here? What is this blog? This guy's a weirdo." I wouldn't blame you for thinking either thing. I don't know how much any of you would be willing to buy this DVD, especially because you can't play it in your normal DVD player. It is possible to get a region-free DVD player on the internet, so that problem is fixed. And the DVD allegedly has english subtitles (though I don't know, cause I haven't bought it yet!). Problem #2 fixed!

So I really see no other reason for you not to get this movie. It's great. I highly doubt that anyone would ever regret watching this movie.

In the wake of the impression this great movie left on me, I'm currently aquiring movies made by the same actors. Park Bo-yeong, of course, takes highest precedence, cause she's beautiful. However, Cha Tae-hyeon was a great actor, so I'm looking for his stuff too. So I'm looking into these movies: My Sassy Girl (the Korean original, not the western remake), and The ESP Couple (also known as Sensitive Couple). I hope I can find more to my liking!

Lastly, I heard somewhere on the web that Hollywood is planning on doing a remake of this movie. Now, that would make it quite convenient for us all to watch. However, I really doubt Hollywood's ability to make a movie that even comes close to the quality of this one. I hope that they don't ruin it...just for the Korean version's sake, because I'm sure it'll get more exposure in the states after the US version's release. But I can see people's impression of the US version affecting their decision to find and watch the Korean version. Let me just say now, that nobody who takes the time and effort to find this movie will be disappointed.

If only I could find a Japanese film with the same feeling, emotion, and likeability as this one...

what kind of a name is this???

i'm not causing much of a scene...maybe i should rethink my blog name.  or maybe find something interesting and write about it.

New Job and Cinco de Mayo Adventures

I just started a job at the Marriott Library on campus at the U. I work in the Special Collections Department as a part-time assistant. So when people donate large collections of documents and artifacts that contain information that would be used to do research and/or contain special or valuable information, we take it, go through it, organize and summarize it. Basically create information about information, in order to make it easier for patrons to access information.

So I got hired for this job, and I know nothing about it, but that doesn't seem to be a prerequisite, so cool. Anyway, my first day was yesterday and everyone was extremely nice and interested in me. I've never received such a warm welcome at any other job I've worked. It really helped to get the job off to the right start. I am so excited to work now, just cause everyone was so positive and helpful.

There was a ton of information to learn right off the bat, so it will be quite overwhelming, but I focused on learning everyone's names on the first day. There are lots of new people to interact with, and names haven't always been my strongpoint. I did a pretty good job, and although the first day of work was full of stuff you wouldn't really consider fitting for a library, it was fun. I moved shelves and stuff which actually tired me out a ton...those shelves were heavy, and there was a lot of bending over and lifting, so my back is really tired. I also got the paperwork done, and got my new UCard (with special staff crap on it), I got introduced to many of the people I'd be working with, and cleaned my workspace.

All in all, my first day of work was 6 hours...not too bad, although I was exhausted by the end of it. The frusterating thing is that with my UCard I am able to get access to special places in the library...such as my workspace. However, the card will probably take a week or so to fully activate. So whenever I want to go in and even out of most of the doors I need to go in and out of, I can't...I have to find someone to let me in or out. So I didn't take a lunch break the first day...cause I didn't really want to deal with the door problem. I didn't even take a drink most of the day...so my throat was super dry and hurt--I'm still not used to the Utah desert climate.

Today (the second day) I went in at 1:30 for an extensive tour of the library, provided by one of the HR people. It was really enjoyable, and I learned a ton about where everything is and how it works. I even got paid...and I'm really glad, cause when Betsey (my supervisor) told me I'd get paid for it, I was like, "Well, it's not that big of a deal." But once it got over, and I looked at my watch, I was grateful that the 2 and a half hour tour would be included on my salary. Now if you ever have a question about the library, just ask me, cause I pretty much know everything.

After the tour I worked for about an hour, looking for a certain box in a certain collection, which happened to get lost in the move since the remodeling of the library. I guess it's still in storage or something. Anyway, that's how I spent my day at work. I found out today, though, that at least until the end of June, I can work up to 39 hours a week, not just 19. Sweetness! Too bad I freaking start school in a week and a half. Speaking of which, I just bought my books today for class. I took the Foundations of Business Thought (or whatever it's called) course in 2006, and kept my book. I was really excited when I already had it, cause I'm retaking the class to improve my GPA. Too bad today, when I went to buy the books, found that a new edition of the book came out. I had to spend another $30 for the same freaking book. I was annoyed.

Happy Cinco de Mayo, by the way. We had our Cinco de Mayo party today...which included me, Jeff, Tyson, and texting the ex-girlfriend of one of Jeff's old missionary companions, rather than talking to her in person cause she bailed out last minute cause of dance or something. So we went to Cafe Rio. Tyson already ate dinner (even though he knew we were going to go somewhere to eat) so Jeff and I ordered stuff. As we were eating, some random lady and a guy come up to Jeff and start up a conversation as if they were picking it up again where they left off. Apparently she's part of the singles' ward or something in his Stake, cause she was talking about some lame singles' ward activity that he didn't go to. The whole situation was awkward as she chatted away at him as if they were buddies. Jeff was obviously uncomfortable, by the way he avoided eye contact as much as possible, whilst attempting to continue eating his enchiladas. Tyson was giving his signal for awkward while he pretended to be texting Jeff's imaginary Spanish Fork girl (the aforementioned ex-girlfriend of his former mission companion), and I did my best to show what little interest I had in the girl's conversation with Jeff, so as to not appear a jerk. Once she left Jeff flashed his awkward sign: "the awkward turtle."

We left Cafe Rio and went to Jeff's house to commence phase two of the Cinco de Mayo party: jumping on the trampoline and then watching a rerun of an old Utah football game from 2007. The game was good though...of course...geez, I mean, it's Utah, hello! Then we watched youtube videos, like: Charlie the Unicorn 2, Charlie the Unicorn 3, and the Sleepwalking Dog. You can look them all up on Youtube. The Sleepwalking Dog was my favorite. I haven't laughed so hard in a while...well, actually since I watched a Wii spoof of the N64 kids video, where teenagers or adults mimic the entire N64 video, but with a Wii. I'll not go into details about why it was so funny...I just almost wet myself when I watched it.

Well...does that qualify as a decent blog post? Probably not, but I'm not going to go back and rewrite it...

My New Love

I got a new laptop today...new to me, at least. My brother just brought it back from college last night. He kept it in great condition--despite his best efforts--and we cleaned off all his crap last night. Now it's mine, and I'll be taking it up to college with me now. I'm excited cause it's my first laptop, and now I'll have much more flexibility and versatility at college. Honestly, I can't figure out what they did before computers!

There's only one catch: the fan's not really working, so a guy's gonna have to come out and fix it for me. But it's under warranty, so whatev.

In other news, my brother also got a steal on a Playstation 3 that some guy sold him. He calculated the value of everything he bought, and it added up to like, $1500. He bought it for about $350. The console is like, the first edition, so it can play Playstation and Playstation 2 games as well. He got four games to go with it, and traded two in for a different one at GameCrazy. He's got all these wires and crap, and three controllers. In addition, he bought a new 250GB HDD for it off Amazon, and then he's gonna get an LCD tv to use as a display, so he can install and run Linux on it. He plans on using it as a computer too...a pretty sweet deal, I think.

The best part is: when he goes on a mission, I'll get to use it! By that time, Final Fantasy 13 will have come out, and that's the only game I'm really interested in playing, so...

Evangelion Review

Today I got the job at the Marriott Library on the University of Utah campus! I'm way excited cause it's super close, and it should work out perfectly with my schedule. I start on Monday, May 4th. Yay! Money!

Other than that, I mowed the front part of our lawn today...the part that everyone can see. Our riding lawn mower finally quit on us. I think I saw the same model of lawnmower in an old John Wayne movie, so it didn't come as a surprise. I don't really know how long it took me...maybe 2 hours. Trying to mow a 3/4 acre lot with one walking lawnmower is a task. I guess I'll finish tomorrow.

So I finished watching the actual Neon Genesis Evangelion series yesterday. It is quite a confusing series, and most of the time I didn't understand what was going on. This could be because I was watching it in Japanese...but perhaps also due to the obvious fact that the creator was psychotic. I read on wikipedia today that because of production errors and a low budget, they weren't able to finish the series the way they wanted to, and had to settle for an alternate ending. The "alternate" ending, however, was actually pretty good, I thought. I mean, it was the most difficult to understand part of the whole series, but right at the end it all came together, and I was able to identify at least one of the underlying themes of the show: the concept of existence, and self-awareness. It really made me think a lot, and I really actually looked back on the overall mentally-disturbing series as quite enjoyable. I really wanted to rewatch it, to be completely honest.

But then I made the mistake of watching the three movies that succeeded the original show. The first was like an hour-long remake of the first 24 episodes (there were 26 in all...the last 2 being the "alternate" ending). So it was pretty good, you know, as a review.

By the end of the original show, the main characters have all gone through some form of mental trauma, and each is either questioning his or her existence, his or her usefulness and worth to the rest of humanity, or his or her decisions and relationships with some of the other characters. Basically, everyone you thought was mentally stable ends up falling apart and doing some irrational crap, and everyone you knew was pretty messed up all along goes completely berserk.

The main character, Ikari Shinji, has given up on life and this thought processes are revealed to the viewer. He is locked in a mental argument with his comrades, who are constantly bombarding him with difficult questions and driving him deeper and deeper into his depressed and insane state. He feels compelled to do what he does, although he is aware that he has total freedom of choice. He can't figure out why he has to pilot the Eva suits, and is coming off a string of failed attempts to simply walk away from the situation.

By this time in the show, the Japanese government organization SEELE, has decided that NERV (the organization running the Eva program) has overstepped its bounds and tries to hack into the central computer system. SEELE has ulterior motives to destroy the human race, in order to solve all of humanity's problems and bind everyone's spirits into one entity. NERV succeeds in locking them out of the system, but SEELE mounts an all-out military invasion, which is permitted to use the lowest of barbaric strategies to completely obliterate even the non-militant NERV employees. This is perhaps the most appalling scene of the show, as defensless men and women are brutally shot, fireballed, and stabbed to death. It's literally a bloodbath, and the soldiers attacking don't seem to be satisfied with simply killing their victims, but obviously feel the need to riddle their bodies with bullets (just in case). I would say that it is, in fact, the worst part of show, but it gets weirder.

I don't wish to go into much detail on the remainder of the show, but there is much nudity and sexual imagery that goes into the last of the movies, which made me uncomfortable. I wondered just how necessary it was in the overall scheme of things, but I'm sure the creator wanted to make some sort of point.

The part that left the worst taste in my mouth, however, was watching all the characters that I liked get brutally murdered and die in obscurity. I liked Misato and Ritsuko! I liked Rei, but she was part of the creepiest thing that happened. The only two people who actually survived were Shinji and Asuka. And the ending scene was Shinji trying to strangle Asuka. So anyway...

I liked the original ending, even though it wasn't supposed to be the real ending. There's too much going on in that show to write a decent review or accurately express my feelings about it. I liked it, although it's going to take time to accept what had to happen to everyone. Perhaps someday I'll watch it again and understand it better. Maybe next time I'll be able to cope with the annihilation of all those characters and the rest of humanity.

Life Update...

This is my first blog entry in like...2 years. I'll give you an update on my life, and a reason as to why it took me so long to write again.
So I was in Japan for two years, as a missionary. I served in the Japan, Fukuoka Mission. Here's a list of my areas and how long I was in each one:

1 - Shimizu (Kumamoto City, Kumamoto Prefecture) - 4 Transfers (roughly 6 months)
2 - Fukuoka City (Fukuoka Prefecture) - 2 Transfers (roughly 3 months)
3 - Kurume City (Fukuoka Prefecture) - 3 Transfers (roughly 4.5 months)
4 - Yahata (Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture) - 3 Transfers (roughly 4.5 months)
5 - Mission Office (Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture) - 2 Transfers (roughly 3 months)
6 - Urasoe City (Okinawa Prefecture) - 2 Transfers (roughly 3 months)

My favorite area was Urasoe, because of how hard we worked and how many miracles we continuously saw. The members in Urasoe were spectacular, and worked with us so closely. The Young Men were so much stronger than all my other areas combined, and I felt so at home there.
Unfortunately, I had to leave Japan when I was seeing the most success, but that seemed to be how my mission worked out. I didn't get to see much "success" while I was in my areas. However, those areas did well afterward, hopefully due somewhat to my efforts. I feel extremely blessed to have had a chance to serve in Japan, among such wonderful people, and with such wonderful companions.
I made a lot of lifelong friends in Japan and I hate the fact that I can't see them now.

Anyway, so that's what I've been up to the last 2 years. Now, what have I been up to the last 5 weeks, since being home? Two words: watching anime. Yes. You read that right. But I'll repeat it just for effect. Watching anime.
I just finished the series Neon Genesis Evangelion today, in fact. I watched it in Japanese, of course, cause I'm cool like that. However, even after 2 years of living in Japan, the show was still way hard to follow. I guess I never really used terms like: commander, captain, synch-rate, or multipurpose humanoid artificial lifeform. So I'm kinda learning new words and doing my best to keep up with their slang Japanese.
The show blew my mind, and made me think about a lot of things. I won't go into detail right now, cause it's late...it's so late that it's tomorrow!

Gotta Please 'em All!

You know what I don't get...when people find out I'm going to Japan on my mission, they immediately say something in Japanese to me (cause for some reason, they all can speak it). I can't speak Japanese, so when they say whatever they say, I have no choice but to stand there and look like a fool.

I mean, I really only have a few options in that kind of situation--believe me, I've had plenty of time to thoroughly contemplate both the awkwardness of these situations I constantly find myself in, and also the very limited number of responses I could possibly have to counter their...whatever they say.

Situation 1:
Me: Yeah, I'm going to Japan.
Other: Genki desu ka?
Me: ...What?


Situation 2:
Me: Yep, Japan.
Other: Oh....Konnichiwa.
Me: ...yeah....Pokémon.

Situation 3:
Me: That's right, I've been called to the Japan, Fukuoka Mission.
Other: (Some random Japanese phrase that I couldn't possibly remember)
Me: Oh...Is that Japanese then?

Situation 4:
Me: Japan
Other: (Another Japanese phrase probably making fun of me)
Me: ...


And so on...

I constantly find myself in these kinds of situations, where those are honestly some of my responses. I mean, who freaking speaks Japanese? Why couldn't I have been called to speak that crazy click-language in Africa? Maybe then people wouldn't try to talk to me in click. Or maybe they would...psychos.

I've thought about wearing a sign around my neck that explained my complete incompetence--that I've somehow managed to be the only person in Utah Valley that missed that day in school where they teach you Japanese. My freaking 9 year-old brother knows how to count to, like, 100 in Japanese. What is this world coming to?

It's also been really weird, learning that just about everyone I know has either lived in Japan for a few years, or went there on their mission, or had Japanese exchange students, or took it in High School or College. Okay, where were all these people before I got my call? I know it's cool that I'm going there--and now we all have that similarity to discuss at what ends up to be the most inconvenient times--but how come they didn't tell me before? Did they not think I'd care? Could I not handle hearing about Japan before I knew I was doomed to go there for the next two years of my life?

I'm probably coming off a lot more annoyed and angry than I am. And I've certainly digressed from my original point...which I've forgotten. Ah, yes, that was it: Stop saying Japanese to me! I don't understand it yet. And that just makes our conversation really awkward afterward. Then somehow it falls to me to save the conversation, and I don't feel like that's fair at all.

Example:
Other: Where are you going on your mission?
Me: Fukuoka, Japan.
Other: Oh, Konnichiwa. Anata wa saru des.
Me: ...Um...So was that Japanese?
One Half of My Brain: OF COURSE IT WAS, YOU FOOL! Now you've done it...You've really gone and done it now.
The Other Half of My Brain: Yeah?! Well, tell me what you would have said. Go on...just work your magic!
The First Half of My Brain: Okay, watch this.
Me: Um, I'm going to Japan on my mission...
All of My Brain: I'm outta here!
*sound of a door closing in my mind*
Me: ...
Other: ...


So now that I've completely exhausted this subject, I'll end my post now. I guess I'm lucky though...at least the people here don't honestly expect me to be able to say anything back. That doesn't necessarily stop them from making a fool of me--we've seen that--but I'm sure it's much easier to deal with here than it is in Japan, when I suddenly find myself on someone's doorstep, who is staring at me, wondering what I'm trying to say.

And I don't think "Pokémon" is gonna save me then...

Definitely Not Del-gross-o!

It's been a few days since my last entry, and a lot has happened. I've been reading lots of different books, including Japan: The Story of a Nation, Jesus the Christ, and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I can't really focus on one thing, but I'll have you know that all of them are interesting, and I'm beginning to feel that the time sitting at home isn't a complete waste.

Yesterday, I went to the Provo temple with Brady and Ben at 6am to do baptisms and confirmations. It was my first time confirming and baptizing, and I really enjoyed it. I learned a lot from the experience, and as we were leaving, we saw Whitlie Murdoch, Sabrina Brunsdale, and Becca Clegg going in to do them too. And while out in the parking lot, we saw Dave Wooley and the futbol team heading in...all, like 10 of them. It's cool to see that the work is going on ALL the time, and so many people are eager to participate. I enjoyed it so much, in fact, that I went again today at 4pm with Whitlie, Sabrina, and Lindsay Pflueger. I got to confirm and baptize all three of them, and it was a really neat experience.


Tonight, I went with Gregory to see the Evolution of Dance at the Scera Theatre, in Orem. I cost us $10 each, and I admit, I was skeptical at first...it had better be worth that $10! But as the concert continued, I found myself more and more entertained. We went to see Rachel Shivers (yes, that's her name, Ollie, and we never actually saw her...Greg, couldn't recognize her) who Greg had worked with. I noticed early on though, that Afton Delgrosso was dancing, and her sister too. I've noticed that there are some dancers that, when they are dancing with a group, tend to stand out somehow--like they're really meant to dance, and the other dancers are just dancing around in their shadows. The Delgrosso's are like that, and not in a conceited way, that I can see. Just, it's easy to spot one in the crowd of dancers, and you can just tell, that they're not only a Delgrosso, but also that they were meant to dance. This is obvious, as Afton has been on "So You Think You Can Dance" and in "High School Musical." She's a veteran--not to mention, she's very good-looking too.

That's right, we never actually met Greg's mystery girl, who's supposedly so stinkin' hot that Greg's glasses fog up when he talks to her on the phone (I have yet to see them fog up when she talks to him in person...). I'm hoping in manages to pull through though, cause he promised to show us a picture of his Rachel. This seems eerily reminiscent of Jeff's "Delta Girls" who were supposed to be the "hottest girls on the planet," or so the saying goes. But Jeff, despite countless promises to show us a picture, never actually pulled through for us, so we may never know. Now we wonder...did they actually exist?

But I did enjoy the show. It was very well done, and was able to incorporate elements of all styles, from African to Swing, to Hip-Hop. What Greg and I couldn't understand was why, in the 1920's, right in the middle of the Roarin' Twenties routine, a hip-hop number cut in. It looked like Dr. Dre meets Newsies, and Greg and I kept looking back and forth at each other, wondering if it was really actually happening--if a bunch of kids in knickers and knee-high socks, sporting those silly golf hats, were actually busting-a-move to Busta Rhymes. This extraordinary display continued in almost every decade during the 20th century, which messed me up, and must have completely boggled the minds of the elderly couples sitting beside us. Up until the 80's section, Greg and I were really confused at which decade we were currently in. Once we saw those wonderful neon spandex uniforms, and cut-off sweatshirts, we knew that we'd made it, and the hip-hop routines that continued to make their interjections, were no longer confusing. Plus, they did some sweet break-dancing.

Anyway, the MC guy was pretty good, despite his annoying personality, he had an incredible voice and occasionally would do a musical number. I was surprised and thought he was lip-syncing at first.

All-in-all, it was a good night, but it lasted 2 and a half hours, and that was a little long...
I'll give it an 8.5 out of 10, but mostly cause it had those Delgrosso's in it. Wow.

Jeff's A Missionary Now

Today was Jeff's last day before he goes into the MTC. He was set apart sometime after 8pm tonight, and is now officially a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He's going to be serving in Calgary, Canada, speaking Spanish. I'm excited for him, but it'll be two years before I see him again. It's weird, cause I've known him for 19 years. I won't see him again until we're both back from our missions and 21 years old.

Anyway, that's about it. We just hung out with him for a while today, before he was set apart. I wish him the best of luck, and to be completely honest, I'll probably see him in the MTC in about a month...

Staples...The New Office

One day, the CEO of Staples was looking for a completely awesome advertising campaign. The regular commercials in between tv shows were just not cutting it, so he appealed to the board of directors.

The board of directors knew exactly what to do. "See," they said to the CEO. "What you ask of us is not a new commercial to air in between television programs. No, what you truly need is a television show to air in between commercials."

Thus, The Office was born. Sure, you can say that it was based on the UK version which aired a few years ago, but only ran for a pathetic two seasons--and really only 11 episodes at that. I don't believe that's the case; but of course it is somewhat loosely based on the same idea (Tim...Jim....we might have something there). This may just be a conspiracy theory, but if Staples was able to pull it off, then this is quite possibly the most ingenious advertising campaign ever developed--certainly the most incredible one I've ever heard of. If I'm wrong, then I'm the most genius person I've ever known.

Anyway, The Office started out humbly, and the first season had a mere 6 episodes. They were very funny, and the character development was a sitcom/reality hybrid of scripted interviews of the main characters. As the show progressed, we got to see the versatility of many of the secondary characters, and even the unrequited love story of Jim Halpert. During its second season, the show picked up many many new viewers, and became a cult classic. As the forbidden love of Jim and Pam progressed, so did the audience.

People connect to The Office because it is a very funny show, but it also depicts life in a very real way. Unlike Seinfeld, which focused on a group of 4 people who, despite jobs, managed to do nothing all day everyday, this show focuses on what seems to be a more realistic lifestyle.

Anyway, I digress. During the second, and especially the third season so far, there have been many subtle hints and advertisements for Staples. At first, it wasn't noticeable, and then it grew to be part of the jokes. (i.e. Kevin's salad, courtesy of a staples paper shredder, which was advertised directly after the show, during the commercial break...)

Meredith: "Where'd you get that salad?"
Kevin: "Staples."

There have been numerous other references to products that everyone wants, including iPods. The Office is definitely a means by which brands get noticed. Staples, however, seems to be different. I formulated this idea a few hours before last Thursday's episode, telling my friend that it would be crazy if Staples was really using The Office to advertise. He agreed, and said, "Of course they are." But I meant something different.

What if the entire show was only a big commercial? What if these characters we'd grown to love were just facilitators for advertisement? What if The Office wasn't meant to satisfy peoples' desires to kill their bosses and laugh about all those stupid people they have to deal with at work, and it was only created in order to shoot subliminal messages? What if we're all being mind-controlled?

It's no secret that everyone who watches this show becomes addicted. Once you watch, you're hooked, and tune in every week. It's every bit as addicting as Lost or 24, because it's not only a comedy show, but it's also a drama, and the idea of Jim and Pam hooking up is what keeps us coming back for more...or is it? Maybe we're being brainwashed, and that's why...

The madness reached a peak on Thursday, just as I'd predicted, when Dwight procured a job at Staples to facilitate his search for a career. All of my wildest dreams and my worst nightmares came true when I saw him in the red uniform of Staples. Perhaps it was true...perhaps this show isn't really what I thought it was.

Needless to say it wasn't subliminal anymore...it was liminal. Maybe even superliminal. Ultraliminal?

You decide...

The Real Office...

Okay, here's the deal. I don't really feel like explaining my whole theory tonight, as it's already past midnight and I got, like, no sleep last night. But here's the basic idea of what I'm proposing.

The Office, the wonderfully witty sitcom on NBC, which has gathered a cult following, and is quickly becoming the most-downloaded tv show on iTunes, is all an elaborate advertising scheme concocted by the Staples board of directors.

No, no, no...hear me out! I stumbled upon this theory-in-full literally a few hours before the latest installment of the series, which aired on Thursday night. I've got witnesses.

Anyway, I'll expound in the near future, seeing as this obviously needs some explaining, and I'm in no condition to do so now. Have faith, my loyal reader (let's be honest here...only one person, if any, reads this pathetic blog). I shall see you through.

Female Comedians...

Is it just me, or is there really no such thing as a decent female stand-up act? Why is it that they're so horrible at stand-up comedy. There are great female comedians, but they're on scripted television, or SNL. I ask this because I just barely saw this horribly overweight and hideous woman on Jay Leno tonight. She was so incredibly awful that it sparked this thought. I've discussed this with friends in the past. I mean, there are so many funny male comics: Brian Regen, Mike Birbiglia, Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Cosby, and Conan O'Brien, just to name a few. Most of those were stand-up comics. They're also pretty clean too; they don't base every joke on sex, or racism, or a lot of swearing. They're actually funny, and prove that comedy doesn't rely on scum and crap.

But it's a running theme with almost all female comedians, that they must not only bore us, but also offend us with their crude jokes and racist jokes. What is the deal? What ever happened to grape sno-cones, or chocolate cake?

It's just sad that women resort to crudity. That's no way to act, especially for a lady. I say, quit it. Nobody cares. Nobody listens to female comics anyway.

Personal History

I'm supposed to write a 500-word personal history for something, so I decided to make it a post. You know, to help you get to know me more than you ever wanted to. Sounds like fun, huh?

I was born of two goodly parents in December of 1987, in a little town known as Provo, Utah. My father was attending Brigham Young University at the time, and eventually graduated to become an electrical engineer. He was offered a few jobs after graduating, and took the best one, which was a job working for Bell Labs in New Jersey. So when I was nine months old, we moved from Utah to New Jersey, to the dismay of my grandparents. We lived in New Jersey for a few years, but then relocated to North Carolina, although my father continued to work for AT&T. While in New Jersey, however, my first brother, Michael, was born. We lived in North Carolina for a few years, while I attended preschool. Just before I started kindergarten. After living in North Carolina for a few years, my parents decided it was best to relocate once more to Allentown, Pennsylvania. This was in my best interests, as I had begun to pick up a southern accent from my preschoolish peers. That "yaller crown" just wasn't going to cut it...I needed the yellow crayon, and it was nowhere to be found in North Carolina. Pennsylvania it was! I began my elementary school education at Ironton Elementary School, in Whitehall Township. We lived in a suburb of Allentown...yes, THE Allentown, sung about by Billy Joel. Ironton was good for me. I made friends with just about everyone, and spent my recesses dominating in kickball with all of the guys. We we so good that we often beat the kids in the grade above us. When we weren't playing kickball, we'd play our own version of soccer, that was more like rugby once someone decided to pick the ball up off the ground. That was a lot of fun too. We spent most of our recesses, however, trying to stay out of trouble and keep from being sent to "the Wall", which was our recess aids' version of the Nazi concentration camps, intended to punish us for poor behavior. Whilst living in Pennsylvania my two other brothers were born, Alex and Matthew successively, were born in an Allentown hospital. Shortly after beginning middle school at Orefield Middle School (so called because naming it after our high school "Parkland High" would have resulted in the initials PMS, which for obvious reasons was a poor choice) I moved back to Utah. We moved to Highland, Utah, and have lived here ever since. I attended Mountain Ridge Junior High and perhaps the only memorable things I did there consisted of making the yearbook staff, and um...running the fun run. Hey, I never said the memories would be good, just memorable. I started at Lone Peak High School in 2003 and that year I made a TON of new friends, and had a wonderful time. I took some very engaging and rewarding classes during the next three years, and formed some lasting friendships with both students and teachers. I performed well during the AP tests both my Junior and Senior years, and did well on the ACT, receiving a 31. I was accepted to both Brigham Young University and The University of Utah, with a half-tuition scholarship to BYU and a full-tuition scholarship to the U of U. Most of my friends went to BYU, but Mike, Quinn, Drew and I decided to go the Utah. I went because of the Architecture program at Utah. I'm now working toward a Masters in Architecture. We all love Utah and look forward to continuing our education in two years. In the meantime, however, we're all preparing for our LDS missions. I've been called to go to Fukuoka, Japan, and I leave on February 28th, 2007 for the MTC. Thus concludes my personal history. I hope you enjoyed it.

Gee, I hope that was 500 words. But then again, who cares? Does it really matter if it's 500 words. I mean, it accomplished the same purpose. If I can inform someone of my own personal history, in less than 500 words, then more power to me, I say.

Good day to you all.

Why Does This Seem Like An Empty Victory?

Don't quote me here, but the high for today was something around, like, 29 degrees...maybe in the 30's. Pretty darn cold for any self-respecting winter-hater like myself. So why do I call this a victory? Well, my point is this. It actually seemed warm. Call me crazy, but I walked out of the house today (which is something I rarely do anymore, since I've got nowhere to go), and I actually was relieved that it had warmed up. Sick, I know. I hate winter because I hate the cold. The cold is bad. I can do cool. I can do breezy...slightly breezy, slightly cool. That's great stuff. I hate too hot and too cold.

This concerns me, as I'll be living in southern Japan for two years. The cold shouldn't be too bitter, supposedly it'll snow only a few times while I'm there and the coldest it'll get is like, 30's. It'll probably get pretty hot though. I might be living in Okinawa for a while, and that's a tropical island. Cool, tropical island, I'm totally all for that. Humidity is foreign to me, since moving to Utah. I grew up back east, and humidity was all over. You couldn't get away from it. It was like a big, blankety, wrappy, huggy thing. So I don't know if it'll be a welcome thing again, but I'm going to have to deal with humidity again. During the summer, humidity makes it seem so much hotter, and during the winter it makes it seem so much colder.

Um, yeah, so I just rambled, and it took me like, an hour to write all of that, cause I've been watching tv at the same time. I'm done, I promise.

Miss Katie Millar

I almost died on the freeway today, but that's not important. What's important is this!

Katie Millar - Miss Utah

What a beautiful picture of her. Well, she's beautiful, so of course the picture will be. She's the awesomest candidate, so watch for her. It's too bad the pageant will be broadcast on CMT. I guess it's not as a respectable pageant as I thought it was, otherwise a decent channel would pick it up. But alas, we will be forced to tune into the Country Music Channel. Ugh, I think I just threw up in my mouth...

Okay, So That Didn't Work Perfectly...But Check This Out!

That test of the email posting didn't quite work. It saved my post as a draft, rather than actually posting it. This may not work quite as smoothly as I wanted, but I will not be shaken so easily. I'm going to iron out the wrinkles and make a few more test runs. If it seems that I cannot actually post my email "posts" then I'll have someone, like my dad, come in and hit the publish button once a week. Pictures...well, we'll see about that. I'll try posting pictures too. Trust me, it'll be okay.

So anyway, today was pretty long. After 3 hours of church, and an extra hour of temple prep, I went to two temple recommend interviews and then at 5 got ordained as an elder. Phew, so much going on. On the bright side, it was fun...I mean, it wasn't like boring, so spending that long in a suit wasn't as excruciating as it could have been. It was good to see everyone, especially my grandparents. I'll go to the Mt. Timpanogos temple on Saturday, and I'm extremely excited for that. It was nice to see Bret Millar too. He got assigned to preside over the ordination instead of Dennis Larsen, who was out of town. I love Bret Millar, he's one of the nicest men I've ever met; always friendly and looks out for you. His family's amazing too. Talk about beautiful daughters!

This brings me to my next point. Katie Millar. She's Miss Utah this year, and next week she'll travel to compete in the Miss America Pageant! How incredibly exciting! I danced with her at MORP, so back off! There's a send-off for her on Thursday at Lone Peak, 7p.m. Everyone's going to wish her good-luck, and say goodbye, at least for a week or two. Poor Bret, though. He told us today in Priesthood, that he had to review the rules of football the other day, just to prove to himself that he still knew them. He's so involved in the pageantry, he's begun to critique Katie, and he can tell you all the points for everything. "I'm counting on you brethren to help me out here," he joked. When Kurt Holmstead said, "Well, it's quite probable that Katie could win Miss America." Bret countered, saying, "Yeah! The headline'll read: MISS UTAH CROWNED MISS AMERICA, PARENTS COMMIT SUICIDE".

Phew...just about wet myself over that one! Good times.

Well, this post probably sucked and was totally boring, but oh well. Deal with it.

This Is A Test

Here we are, testing out our ability to post via email. If this works, I may be able to post occasionally from Japan, and perhaps upload pictures, but let's not get carried away here. I mean, at this very second I don't even know if this will work...

Four Months?

Is it really a problem that I haven't posted in four months? Does anyone actually read this? Would you be interested in learning more about the mundane goings-on of a college/post college student? Did you understand what I meant by "college/post college"?

Although no one actually reads this, I'll attempt to post a daily blog here at least until I leave for Japan. Yes, that's right, Japan. Which brings me to my next point. I'll be serving an LDS mission in Fukuoka, Japan for the next two years, beginning in March. I can't post while I'm there, so if'n I decide to continue with this blog when I get back, it'll be two years until I can actually do so. And that's precisely what I meant by "college/post college"!

Two years in Japan, you say? Better than Seven Years in Tibet, you say? Never saw that one, but I can guarantee you I'll enjoy the next two years. Sure it'll be hard, proselyting and preaching, teaching and ...sleeping? I honestly couldn't think of another thing to rhyme with preaching and teaching, so I slant-rhymed it. Can ya dig it? Too bad. Anyway, Fukuoka is supposed to be the oldest area in Japan, because of it's proximity to China, the mother of civilization and originator of Panda Express. With all this buzz about China and how great it is--I mean, c'mon, that Orange Chicken is to-die-for--Japan seems to be overshadowed, wouldn't you say? WRONG! You couldn't be more wronger... Japan has a lot of cool stuff, like...the Japanese language, for example. And video games, and anime, and ...video games. I'll not be allowed to participate in any of that (except for the Japanese language) for the next two years, which basically limits my activities to languaging, sleeping, teaching, preaching, ...bleaching (ha, got one!), and more teaching. Which is fine by me, cause that's all I wanted. Good thing is that I won't have to worry about anything else, so it's all good.

I don't really have much more to say right now, mostly cause I'm heading over to Greg's house to play Fifa 07. I'd rather play that than blog, you see. ...Aw, shucks, don't cry. I didn't really mean it. Look.....I'll make it up to you. How about I post again tomorrow? Sound good? Okay, sweet.

I'll Drink To That...

So today was the first University of Utah home game, against Northern Arizona. Quinn and Drew were down in Highland doing stuff, and didn't have plans to come to the game. Mike was working concessions, moving drinks and making sure the vendors stay supplied with sodas. I wanted to go to the game, but had nobody to go with. Mike told me and Brian Lunt (who lives about 10 minutes away from our apartment) that they needed help at the concessions today. Brian and I decide to help--Brian doesn't have anything better to do, and I didn't think it would be that bad, cause Mike works the REAL Salt Lake games and gets to watch most of them between a few minutes of work. I didn't want to sit at home by myself and watch the game, but I soon learned that it might have been more fun that way...

To be continued.....