Wednesdays

I’ve consistently found Mondays to offer more than say, a Tuesday or a Wednesday. On Mondays I am well-rested, bright and chirpy well into the workday, planning my tasks for the week and catching up on the weekend e-mails. It provides a nice, productive contrast to the lazy Sunday of the day before.

By Wednesday though, I’m fatigued, less motivated, and completely aware that a long and unwelcome Thursday stands between me and the breath of freedom/Friday evening. Yes, I’ll have to settle on Wednesdays being my least favorite day of the week.

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On the subject of self-delusions, I came across the following article in the New York Times today, entitled “When All You Have Left Is Your Pride”. To no surprise, I was inclined to filter the headlines and arrive at a page that gave self-reinforcing confirmations on a matter I had recently given thought to.

Delusions

I’ve neglected to write for a while. Though convenient it is to use the hustle and bustle of a daily work schedule as an excuse, it leaves me feeling that my literary skills are deterioriating as rapidly as time speeds by these days. Since when should anyone heed any attention to excuses anyway?

I am troubled with my own inactions these days; these concerns revolve not of what could have been, but on the lack of absolute care that I am so quick to (not) feel. It is surprising how troublesome a moderately good (this varies comparatively) lifestyle can be; when one’s daily routine consists of a modicum of events strung together over the months into a comfortable and overly familiar pattern. My greatest enemy is sloth. I tend to lose these battles during my free time.

Outside of my free time is another story. Active challenges at work do provide me a steady dynamic to work with, and I look back on the workweek with appreciation and satisfaction. It’s not exactly a paradise, corporate life that is, but just about everything has its ups and downs. How rare and amazing must it be for an individual to do what he/she truly loves for a living. I believe these few exceptions are showcased by the media (and ourselves) in a way that they falsely represent a higher percentage of Americans than is accurately so. Many may fool themselves into thinking they are truly in love with their work, and I do not blame them so. It is in human nature to do so and when presented with such few outs, especially in the current state of the world we are in, it is perhaps more practical (though blind) to do so.

These self-delusions do not draw the line at careers alone. Every facet of our culture and our lifestyles is embedded with reinforcing thoughts of support. We carry out actions to uphold our beliefs and our principles. When we fail to achieve what we set out to do, or when something does not fall in line with our reasoning, our temperament shifts. There is an initial answer to anything gone wrong, whether its rising sales amidst a recession (”the video game industry must be recession-proof as consumers look for alternative stay-at-home entertainment options” analysts say), a hasty judgment call on a fellow’s integrity over one drunken night, a bad call in a poker game (”it was necessary, to learn his style” you say), or a conclusive and satisfying interpretation of a Bible passage written generations ago. Someone somewhere has an answer or a proposed cause for any question or event, and will stand firm in his/her belief to the bittersweet end. This amuses me.

I conclude with an idea: I would love to see the most prominent figures and persons of faith in each of the major religions of our world stuck in a room. Or how about, 7 of these strangers picked to live in a house together, and watch their lives get taped, so we can see what happens when people stop being fake, and start being real… The Religious World on MTV!

It is immediately clear what would unfold if this Real World setup were to materialize. Either A) all of the roommates except one would come to the mind-boggling realization of how they were misled since birth and would be re-born as a devoted follower of what can only be the one, true, religion, or B) viewers would be exposed to the most drama-filled season of reality television ever.

Hollywood Remakes

I’ve been informed that a remake of Oldboy (a Chanwook Park directed Korean film released in 2003) is in the works. The plan is to have Steven Spielberg direct and to have Will Smith play the role of Daesu Oh, the protagonist who is imprisoned for fifteen years without knowing why. I’m a fan of both Spielberg and Will Smith alike, but this casting decision is a mistake.

A.I., Saving Private Ryan, and Schindler’s List serve as an impressive line of work for Spielberg, leaving me little doubt that he will deliver a strong adaptation of the Korean classic which brings with it an atypically darker tone and potentially disturbing material for some. But I’ve settled on the fact that Will Smith carries a relentless aura of a charmer, a good-hearted guy who likes to have fun, a sharp guy who delivers quips that leaves his audience snickering or outright laughing. From his “allergic to bullshit” liner in I, Robot to his jabbering with Martin Lawrence in the Bad Boys franchise to his ability to humorously play off of Agent K’s stoic demeanor in Men In Black, Will can’t seem to fully bury his comedic talents.

Yet I found nothing funny about the scenes in Oldboy, which dabbles in cold-hearted revenge, torture, lust, to name a few themes without giving away any spoilers. Even had animal rights activists in a hissy fit with its incredibly eerie scene with a live octopus. The movie is amazing but I am disappointed to hear that the filmmakers and studio executives behind the casting decisions feel that they need to throw in a Hollywood A-list actor like Will Smith to top this movie off. If they genuinely believe Will is the best fit for this role and his penchant for drawing in megahit box-office numbers was a non-factor, then I think they aren’t seriously considering some of the lesser known names out there in the acting pool. I would be pleasantly surprised if Will can stretch his acting chops beyond his comfort zone and pull off this very dark role. I still feel he is at his best playing the love doctor or the action star in a Jerry Bruckheimer film.

Generally speaking however, I’m just plain sick of Hollywood remakes of successful Asian films and franchises. My Sassy Girl starring Elisha Cuthberg was atrocious. I’m guessing the same was for The Lake House. The seemingly infinite line of bad Japanese horror film adaptations appears to have finally been depleted. The Departed, perhaps one of the better and obviously more successful adapations, won a Best Picture Oscar but there was nary a mention of the Infernal Affairs film. To think the Scorsese film would have never come to fruition without the Hong Kong original, I was pretty pissed to hear words like “chinks”, “Bruce Lee and the Karate Kids”, and a reference to dick sizes coming out of Nicholson’s mouth, no matter how sleazy the character was.

And one of my beloved franchises, Dragonball, is slated to be released next year as a Hollywood film starring a Mr. Justin Chatwin as Goku. That series has such deep roots and a huge fanbase, it would have been such a positive step forward for the Asian-American community to have casted an Asian male lead for that film. Wishful thinking, I guess. No one should give a rat’s ass whether the supporting characters or the female characters were faithfully represented by an Asian counterpart (e.g. Yamucha, Chi-Chi). Goku is Goku, the face of the franchise, and it went to this guy.

It was awesome to see the nation take its first strides towards a new chapter with the first African-American elected to the presidency. Yet, if Asian-Americans can’t take the forefront of movies, let alone movies based off of material sourced from Asia, will we ever see the day when America is united under an Asian-American president?

Into the Fire

The Knicks held their first pre-season game today, and I was able to catch only ten minutes of the game in the first half. They looked surprisingly comfortable in D’Antoni’s new fast-paced system, a black-and-white contrast to the slow and methodical style that coaches have hammered into the franchise in years past. Every year I get very excited and hopeful for the Knicks chances in the season and making the playoffs. Who knew Marbury wouldn’t deliver? How could anyone have predicted Larry Brown’s torrid performance? Let’s not forget Isaiah Thomas’ ineffectiveness, even after taking the full-time coaching reigns from a position of presidency. It’s absolutely nuts how badly the Knicks perform every year given the level of talent, expectations, and salary numbers that are poured into the organization.

This year, I remain a loyal fan (and a very happy one, having moved closer to Madison Square Garden and into local MSG Network television coverage), but my expectations are not about to be popped again this year. I don’t see them making the playoffs, and unfortunately for D’Antoni and his strong and positive reputation, it just can’t be done with the tools on this team. Secretly however, I harbor the idea that God has a sense of humor and will use this opportunity to prove my expectations wrong again, perhaps vaulting the team into the 40, 45+ win total category. Miracles aside, I see the organization winning 36 games. That’s 36-46, good enough to just barely miss the post-season. And yet in my unwavering fanboy eyes, the Knicks still kick ass.

In video-game news, I converted to the realms of the Sony PlayStation. I’ve conducted my fair share of research into determining whether to even keep my Wii (sold it on eBay along with my games) and if I should choose the XBox 360 or the PlayStation 3. Pages and pages could be written on the pros and cons of each system, in addition to why I feel the PS3 is the better choice, so I’ll try to be succinct.

- I purchased the PS3 as part of a limited SKU that was bundled with probable 2008’s Game of the Year, Metal Gear Solid 4, along with a DualShock3 (replacing the then standard controller SixAxis w/out rumble) and a free voucher for a PSN game (which at about $20-40, have smaller scopes than retail games, but are downloaded to the console’s hard drive). This bundle came at a price tag of $499, but with a $100 gift card (which Best Buy price matched from Wal-Mart). That’s $400. Considering the NTSC PS3 originally debuted in 2007 at $600 with 20GB less HD space, a controller with no rumble feature, and no bundled game, this is one extremely good case where it paid off to be a late adopter.

- The XBox 360 has roughly a 30% defective rate, and frequently encounters a problem known as RROD, or the “Red Ring Of Death”. This manufacturing defect has cost Microsoft over $1 billion to recuperate and it continues to this day to see systems being sent in for replacement. All they could do to temporarily appease its customers worldwide was offer an extended standard warranty to 3 years, while allowing the system’s problems to persist.

- Microsoft charges gamers a $50 annual subscription fee to its online service, though Live is considered a slightly better service than PSN. They also charge $100 for a Wi-fi adapter, $90 for a mere 20GB external HD, the power supply is external, the controller’s use AA batteries, and HDMI is only available on the higher priced Elite model. All PS3 systems include Wi-fi, an internal HD, HDMI, an internal power supply, and all of the controllers have internal rechargeable batteries.

- This PS3 model can play CD’s, DVD’s, BD’s (Blu-ray Discs), PS2 games, PS3 games, and can accept media cards in SD, CF, Microdrive formats, and has 4 USB ports. It comes loaded with a built-in web browser (which is a bit slow but is free), whereas the 360 does not. The Live service offered on the 360 is also loaded with advertisements, whereas the PSN Store is not. The 360 cannot play Blu-ray discs, has limited backwards compatibility, and no media card support.

- Games. Again, this is too deep to get into. I’ll just say this: Microsoft has marketed the XBox more successfully than Sony has with the PS3, and their game line-up also reflects more of the mainstream crowd. More casuals will pick up games like Halo, Gears of War, Madden, etc. and be fully satisfied with their experience. But the PS3 houses titles that haven’t been exposed properly to non-hardcore gamers, but nevertheless often feature far more richer and better gameplay, cinematics, graphics, or presentation. The XBox has more games (people often forget it was released a full year earlier) but the PS3 has tilted its advantage towards having more exclusives. It’s quality over quantity, that’s basic logic.

- They’re both good systems… but the PS3 is just better in terms of value, as a media center/player, and it is more future-proof.

- Halo 3 is overrated.

In personal news, I’ve moved on to another assignment yet again, this time in familiar (yet unfamiliar) territory. Whereas I’m now back in the region of the country I’ve grew up in and out of the Northwest, I’ve still never lived or worked in a true city before on a day-to-day basis. That’s changed now, and in a tumultous time when the country is fighting an economic crisis and jobs are shaky, I’m leaping straight into the fire of Wall St. (well, one street off of) and can confidently declare I don’t know where I’m headed for the future. Seven months ago was a whole ‘nother ballpark, but apparently God likes to play with my future a lot, changing his plans for me unexpectedly as if he can’t make up his mind (or laughing as I’m forced to build character). I’m stressin’ like mad and busy as heck, but hoping things will settle soon.

I played three games of basketball with this guy.

Well, I suppose most people don’t know who he is… I sheepishly admit that I didn’t at first. It wasn’t until after we hit the water fountains and I struck up a conversation with one of the regulars that I discovered the guy was is a cornerback for the Seattle Seahawks.

Stats: Marcus Trufant, #23, CB, 5′11, 197 lbs and ripped like a beast.

You know, I remember seeing him run up and down the Gold’s Gym basketball court, and couldn’t help but notice how cut and muscular this guy was (no homo). I remember thinking “How can some run-of-the-mill gym-goer have this ridiculous kind of build??” And “why wasn’t I born black?”

To hear that the guy was a multimillion-dollar professional athlete… well, that made me feel better. That and the fact that I handed him like 4 assists for the night easy, one being a game-winning jumpshot from the 3-pt line…. money.

(But just so we’re clear here, I was probably the last reason why our team kept winning).