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What do you think of death?
I’d like to believe in heaven or something similar, but I currently don’t. Right now I assume that when you die, you experience nothingness.
What are your beliefs about the afterlife? How does the approach of death, or the idea of it, affect you?
I can’t tell you how excited I was to find this sitting on a shelf at my local Safeway:
In that instant I was transported back to the summer of 1965. I was a grad student living in Berkeley, and just the year before, 10,000 of us had spontaneously surrounded a police car which had driven on to campus to arrest political activist Jack Weinberg. I kicked a cop in the shin, was arrested, detained, but in the end, we prevailed.
The Free Speech movement was born, civil rights were in the air, and I was making the political very personal by dating Odessa, a gorgeous young black activist whose older sister had taken part in the Freedom Rides of 1961 (Odessa’s sense of style, by the way, made Betty Draper look like a frumpy housewife).
Since my 18th Christmas after I left home for the U.S., Christmases have been complicated. My parents got divorced right after I left for college. My mom has chosen to live in Hong Kong. And my dad resides in Canada. So every Christmas I have to debate between going to see my mom, or going to see my dad, or just hanging out by myself. More than a month before the holidays, I have to start pondering and making plans for this annual transcontinental affair between three countries—Canada, America and Hong Kong.
Below is a clip titled “A Christmas Story” that I made in 1992 for my experimental documentary “Anxiety of Inexpression and the Otherness Machine” that still holds true to my feelings today:
At 23, it didn’t get easier when I started dating my friend B who was Taiwanese American. He wanted to go to Taipei for the holidays. So we thought we had it planned out. It was also my first year of film school at UCLA. I’d first go to Hong Kong to hang out with my mom. I’d meet up with B in Taipei for a few days, go to spend Christmas together in Hong Kong with my mom, and then come back to spend New Year’s in America.
Our relationship was not going quite right before he left for Taiwan. So when I was in Hong Kong, I was feeling something off. I also felt a bit estranged to Hong Kong as I had left the city over five years before and hadn’t been in touch with my friends. One day, when I didn’t hear from B, I broke down and told my mom about how I was feeling about B. And remember, there wasn’t e-mail or cell phones or SMS in 1993. It was the good old international call on a landline!
Dear Parent:
If one or both of you are Korean and your child is about to have his or her first birthday, you’re most likely in the midst of planning a big celebration. In the Korean culture, the first birthday is a major occasion. The Dol or Dol Janchi is important because in the olden days, the infant mortality rate was very high for babies and it was considered a milestone to reach one’s first birthday (the first 100 days were also important) and the special day was marked with a big party.
This tradition still continues and one of the things that happens at this celebration is a ritual called the dol jabi. Here’s how it works–a number of items are left in front of the child and whatever he or she grabs is supposed to predict the baby’s future. Traditionally, items such as a book (to represent a scholarly future), string (long life) or money (wealth) are placed in front of the child. So if the birthday baby chooses the money, for example, he or she is supposed to become rich. More modern items can also be used such as a football (to signify a future athlete), a mouse (future computer genius) or even a movie camera (future filmmaker).
Now I’ve been to a number of dol celebrations recently and while this tradition may be my favorite part of the festivities, there’s one problem with it: It lacks serious drama.
Why? Because every item the baby can pick represents something “positive.” So let’s say that he or she chooses long life over money…is that really a bad thing? Nope, what we need to do is introduce a sense of danger to this ritual to make it more interesting by including items no Korean parent would want their kid to ever choose. Along those lines, here are some suggestions for things that you can include to increase your dol jabi drama…
Are you there, YOMYOMF? It’s me, Jerome.
I wanted to, you know, wish you a happy birthday. I mean, if you didn’t forget, it kinda has been a year since your Inception. Have too much to drink, is that it? Yeah, I can see it in your bleary eyes, you wild dog you. Wild night, painting the town red, all that jazz? I can only hope you didn’t kill a hooker.
not really a night till you do, eh patrick?
Well, my lovely, all of these people are here for you, in ur website, reading ur txt, and since they are, I wanted to give them a guided tour of your greatest hits.
This way, I can pay tribute to your achievements over the last year while giving your followers some new material to chew on. Does that sound good, website? I hope so! Who’s a good website? Who’s a good website? YOU ARE! Yes, you are!
By the way, that wasn’t just a lead-in for this article.
The 63rd edition of the Cannes Film Festival, arguably the most revered film festival in the world, is slowly winding down, with the awards presentation happening this weekend. Overall, it was a decent festival, with some good selections in the official competitions. This year’s edition was light on the usual Hollywood glitz and glamour of past editions — aside from the Opening Night film, ROBIN HOOD, bringing the likes of Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchette to the Croisette, Hollywood fare was almost non-existent, leaving room for selections from European auteurs and emerging filmmakers. Screenings were easier to get into and there was definitely less parties. The penny pinching atmosphere was very apparent this year, as the Festival fully felt the film industry credit crunch.
Pictured above are actresses Elizabeth Banks and Aishwarya Rai walking the red carpet, looking stunning. And still, the ubiquitous things about Cannes still existed. There were still glamorous parties, the big AmFar AIDS fundraiser hosted by Harvey Weinstein, day clubs full of exotic and beautiful people, and over-priced French food. Here are some other perennial examples:
My future mother-in-law getting her close up
Being that today is the day for announcements – well, I thought the day would never happen but I’m engaged. My significant other Ned, hails from the grassy hills of New Zealand and we met when he was on tour with his movie ‘Black Sheep’ at the Toronto Film Festival. We didn’t hit it off right away – I thought he seemed a bit gamey and he thought I was a bit of a cold fish. And while I actually love all forms of mutton and could eat it everyday, I never really considered dating one. Yes, some of you may consider me a speciest and I’m prepared to deal with the onslaught of criticisms. Like fellow offender Sung who has posted about how dating preferences and family don’t mix, I too have a mother who had a lot to say about my dating habits and certainly sheep were at the bottom of the food chain in her mind. She told me to stay away from the sheep and derided them as ‘cursed Mongolians’. However, she made an exception for dragons, phoenixes, and fu dogs because they were considered good luck.
Now if you don’t know, I’ve been dating the white meat since the new millennium began. As much as this may offend my fellow Offenders, it makes my mom quite happy. However, the real reason why I date white men…as of right now…. at this very moment… is… they complete the costume.
I’m looking for the perfect “Richard Heene” to add to my “Mayumi Heene” costume. I’ve been constructing the perfect “Balloon Boy Parents” costumes since Falcon Heene was found in a cardboard box in the attic. Mylar balloon, 3 marionette dolls to pose as children (1 that throws up on cue), and shirts that say, “We were on Wife Swap!” All I need now is an egotistical, self-indulgent, angry, kinda red-necky white guy with an updated bowl cut from the 1980′s.
