Major_Disaster's Xanga

Chinaman Camp, 2008

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 08:08:03 GMT

This past Saturday, I made a pilgrimage with my Chinese brothers to a secret camp spot to explore our Chinese-American identities.

In actuality, it was Chinaman Camp by default... nobody else could go!

We started up the mountain at about 3:30 in the afternoon. The trail was muddy in several areas, and the weather was on the humid side. Muff and Mushu were doing quite well, but I was suffering from the get-go. My ass and quads were burning after just 10 minutes. Going up this trail with a fully stuffed hiking backpack was quite different than going up on a casual hike. About half-way, Mushu took pity on me and lent me one of his walking sticks. That helped a lot! We also ran into a lady who told us someone was already up at the "campsite."

It took us about an hour to get to the site. Muff talked to the dude who was already there, but he was just hanging out with his Buddhism book, a journal, and a tarp to keep the wind off him. He left, and we started setting up. Muff, of course, set up a hammock, albeit a newer and more advanced one. Mushu set up a cool tent that he used during Burning Man... it rolled up into a very compact... roll, sort of the size of a compressed, small sleeping bag. His walking sticks doubled as support for this tent. It had a very cool "lanai" area. I had my tent from Rainy Man Camp, and it needed a decent airing out. It smelled pretty bad.

After setting up, relaxing, catching the sunset, and gathering firewood, Muff busted out the firestarter kit and set up Caveman Television for the night. We also started cooking. On the menu, all fire-grilled: Ciabatta with aged Brie and Salami, Portuguese Sausage on the Stick, BBQ Chicken Wings and Drummettes, Miso Soup, Campfire Vegetables (Mixed Peppers, Onions, and Garlic), Cajun Chicken, Cajun Tri-Tip Steak, Pita Bread, and... I think that's it. Oh, and Mushu made these humangous musubis that were the size of manapua. No joke!

Everything was laid back. We cooked slowly and conversed... slowly. I yet again pondered time travel, and Muff felt the earth move under his feet (actually, it was his back, since he was lying down). Mushu let the brie get the better of him and started playing tunes.

Later in the night, Muff's brother-in-law and his buddy came to join us. It was the first time I'd seen Beanie-Weenie cooked in the can. Pretty cool.

Morning came too soon, and we found ourselves coming back down the mountain. I packed too much, as my pack was still stuffed, even though it weighed a little less. It was just as painful coming down since the ground was muddy and my legs were already sore from the day before.

Reaching my car felt like salvation. Why? Because I was hungry, and it was time to get Shibby for breakfast/lunch! She took me to Wailana Coffee Shop, where I devoured the Breakfast Special with gusto (pancakes, eggs, and bacon for $5.75... all you can eat pancakes if you're that famished). The food and coffee brought me back to life. Apparently, I had been a big grouch on the ride over, and Shibby said I was a different person afterwards.

I spent the rest of day nodding off into short naps. I had put on Helvitica with Netflix's video-on-demand feature, but I couldn't stay awake to watch it.

There's nothing like Man Camp. However, I think I could deal with posh camp the next time. I'm ready for some pampered conditions when sleeping out under the stars.

And what did we learn at Chinaman Camp? One thing: we all had sore left knees on the way down the mountain. Coincidence? I think not.

Music Makes the World Go Round (and, I Feel Old)

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 19:35:37 GMT

Herblau gave me a call a few weeks ago to check out the My Chemical Romance show. It'd been ages since my last concert (jeez, when was the last one? Billy Joel about a year ago?), so I decided to go for it. I'd liked their singles on the radio (very anthemic and theatrical... Queen, glam, emo-esque, and punk-pop at the same time), and decided to go. I enjoyed it a lot... there's nothing like a good rock show.

It was a bit weird, though. Lots of kids with their parents were there. I happened to be standing next to a mother, who was probably in her mid to late 30's, and her two kids during middle of the show. She was jumping up and down along with her boys and seemed to be having a good time. At one point, MCR's lead singer, Gerard Way, did a verse and chorus from Motley Crue's "Home Sweet Home" since Hawaii was their last stop on the current leg of their tour. I started singing along, and the mother turned to me and said, "Hey, this is from our generation!!" God, that made me feel old.

Afterwards, we went to Kochi since Herblau was supposed to meet up with a few people. As we walked in, all these young Asian local kids (by kids I mean guys in their early 20's) turned to look at us and gave us stink eye. I guess we weren't regulars or something, but talked about feeling the hate. Muff had talked about experiencing this at several places around town, but this was the first time I'd ever felt it. Herb's other friends weren't there yet, so we left for Tropics to catch some reggae bands instead. Outside, I asked Herb and his friend D if they had felt a weird vibe. They'd felt it, too, pretty much replied, "Yeah, screw those little punkasses."

So I'd never been to Tropics, but what a breath of fresh air. It had a very local, laid back vibe, and the bands were top notch. We were particularly impressed by Mighty J, a Hawaii supergroup of sorts. Now, I don't really know jack about island music because I usually don't listen to it, but these girls were pretty awesome. The music and vocals were so clear and polished. This a was decent way to end an early evening. I got home around 12:30 and crashed out.

Yes, I'm old.

Where the Fan Hits the Sh*t

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 18:58:38 GMT

I came across a pretty cool private torrent site recently: Cinemageddon

Talk about an incredible repository of "bad" movies! They got some classics in there... Godzilla, blaxpoitation, teensploitation, zombie movies, as well as a decent Jackie Chan and Shaw Brothers collection. They have rather strict rules for members (such as an upload/download ratio), but it's all for the good of their site. Register and browse through their list... see what gems they have. I think you'll be impressed. For example, one of the most popular torrents right now is

Don't Make Promises You Can't Keep

Mon, 15 Oct 2007 22:57:42 GMT

I shouldn't say I"m gonna blog more when I bloody know full well I won't! You'd never think a blog page could get dusty... it feels dusty. Figuratively speaking.I see all these old entries and I know I haven't stepped in here in like forever.

What's changed? Um, well, Shib and I did adopt a new cat. Rather, she adopted the cat because I was, um, recovering from a party. She made a good choice, though. I'll put up some pics of Paisley soon. She's a cutie!

* * *

I made my first album purchases on iTunes last night. It's sort of a big step for me... I've always liked physically owning albums that I buy, and I've always been picky about sound quality. But I have other concerns now such as space (I have a ton of CD's to sell at Jelly's). And I just installed a new battery in my Generation 3 iPod and was dying to hear some good music.

So... earlier in the day when I was working out at 24Hour (Sundays are very nice... hardly anybody there), I heard Sara Bareilles' "Love Song" play. It got stuck in my head, and I just had to look it up when I got to Shib's place. Later that night, I bought her album over the iTunes store, and since I was in the mood for female vocalists, I got Rilo Kiley's "More Adventurous" as well. Good stuff. Bareille's album is definitely the poppier of the two, so it's good ear candy, but Kiley's got the cool indie-pop songs. I love "Pieces for Foxes." Makes me think of Grey's Anatomy every time.

Oh, and to top it off, I got Head East's single, "Never Had Any Reason."

Save my life I'm goin' down for the last time,
Woman with the sweet lovin' better than a white line.

How's that for a 70's rock nugget?

Anybody hitting the HIFF? Good films, but goddamn has it gotten expensive. $75 dollar for the basic membership and six tickets, and then $15 for additional tickets.

Gosh....

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 19:03:16 GMT

Wow, I can't believe my last entry was that depressing one on Miso.

Not much going on. I've become a Battlestar Galactica junkie after watching the mini-series and Season 1. Theoryboy gave it to me half a year ago (I think...), but I only got around to it now. What a frakking great show. Solid stories, good actors, complex and deeply flawed characters, politics, insane amounts of tension... it makes for very enjoyable television. I know, I know, that's what Theory and Redhotwheels have been saying for years... it just took me a while to see for myself. I'm down to the season finale of season 2. Still have a ways to go to catch up before season 4 starts next year, but it shouldn't be a problem!

Miso, 2004-2007

Fri, 08 Jun 2007 03:24:21 GMT

Fuckdammit. We put Miso to sleep this afternoon. He got really sick over the course of a day and a half, but the vet thinks he could've been hiding his sickness from before. He was lethargic on Tuesday, and by Wednesday, he wasn't eating and was breathing hard. We took him to the vet around 3, and the vet started treating him right away. His lungs were filled with fluid, and she thought he may have had a heart condition we didn't know about: maybe cardiomyopathy. He didn't respond to the drugs (diuretics to get the fluid out of his lungs) and was suffering a lot. We had to let him go.

Miso was my first real pet, even though he stayed with Shibby and was never over at my place. In the past, I've only owned fish. And as most people know, you can get real anal about fish, and you may be disappointed to see them die, but you never really get that sad when they swim to fish heaven. At least I didn't.

I'm pretty sad right now. Sounds silly, but I think anybody who's raised a dog or a cat can understand. I didn't live with Miso, but Shibby and I got him together from the Humane Society. He was a cute, scrawny orange cat who seemed really out of it. The staffer at the Humane Society told us he had just had his nuts cut off. That explained a lot.

After some bouts with cat colds, he was really healthy and had a very healthy appetite. He liked us a lot and followed us around. He'd also sleep with Shib and wake her up by licking her eyelids. And even though he saw me the least, he showed me the most affection besides Shib. He'd always meow really loudly when I drove up to the house, and he'd always mark me (the cat headbutt) and act all cute. It drove Shib nuts that he would only act that cute when I was around.

I didn't hesitate in agreeing with Shib that we had to put him to sleep. When the doctor told us how much he was suffering... that he was likely to die from drowning in his own lung fluid... that there's no way we could've safely transported him to an animal hospital.... we knew what the answer was.

I'll miss him a lot.

Friday, May 18, 2007

Fri, 18 May 2007 18:58:28 GMT

I've been away from Xangaland for a hell of a long time! I'll try to come back more often, I promise.

Anyways, I found a pretty amusing entry over at David Thielen's (Representative Cynthia Thielen's [R] son) blog regarding GOP in-fighting. This is amusing stuff. Check it out here. I can't believe they're dumping on Lingle like that.

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Tue, 24 Apr 2007 07:42:12 GMT

The fake trailers included in Grindhouse were fantastic. Check out this one... I totally wish they would make this into a real movie (not truly safe for work).

White meat. Dark meat. All will be carved. Thanksgiving.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Thu, 22 Feb 2007 20:15:09 GMT

"I slept with a crackhead because that's how I roll!"

From the Rolling One. I like my result. Give it a shot.. this one's pretty self explanatory...

The month of your birthday
1 - I cuddled with
2 - I killed
3 - I ran naked with
4 - I @*!!d
5 - I killed
6 - I needed
7 - I banged
8 - I ran shirtless with
9 - I stabbed
10 - I ate out
11 - I slept with
12- I smoked with

Pick the day (number) you were born on
01 - the kool-aid man
02 - a horse
03 - a pornstar
04 - a toothbrush
05 - an apple
06 - a !@#@!@*
07 - a prostitute
08 - your mom
09 - a jew
10 - you
11 - Paris Hilton
12 - the trojan man
13 - a #**!%
14 - a cat
15 - a pickle
16 - micheal jackson
17 - a bisexual
18 - a dog
19 - an orange
20 - a crackhead
21 - a bowl of cereal
22 - a easter egg
23 - my ex
24 - a condom
25 - a jar of honey
26 - a bag of weed
27 - a stripper
28 - a french fry
29 - your dealer
30 - a homeless guy
31 - Ur grandma

Pick the color of shirt you are wearing
White - Because thats how i roll
Black - because im sexy as hell
Pink - Because the lil people told me to
Red - because I have AMAZING boobs
Blue - because I'm a pimp and you're jealous
Polka Dots - because I hate my life
Purple - because I'm gay
Gray - because I love marijuana
Other - because I have double D's
Green - because I'm beautiful
Orange - because I smoke crack
Turqoise - because I have a noodle in my nose
Brown - because i had to
Shirtless - because I've got abs

My Life - The Motion Picture Soundtrack

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 22:58:20 GMT

I haven't blogged in ages. Here's something quick to so I can get something up. It's the movie soundtrack game everyone else is playing!

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So, here's how it works:
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie, its pretty funny

My Life: Lost in Space - Fountains of Wayne

Opening Credits: The Difficult Kind - Sheryl Crow

Waking Up: Mouth for War - Pantera

First day at school: Joining a Fan Club - Jellyfish

Falling in love: Liar (It Takes One to Know One) - Taking Back Sunday

Fight Song: What Does Your Soul Look Like (Part 1) - DJ Shadow

Breaking up: Good Riddance - Green Day

Life: I Can See For Miles - The Who

Mental Breakdown: Say Yes - Elliot Smith

Driving (thinking): Enough - Dance Hall Crashers

Flashback: Rocket Man - Elton John

Wedding: One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later) - Bob Dylan

Birth of a child: Don't Think Twice, It's All Right - Bob Dylan

Final Battle: Tell The Truth - Ray Charles

Death Scene: 1 AM in the Emergency Room - The Ruby Doe

Funeral Song: Suburbia - Pet Shop Boys

End Credit: California All the Way - Luna

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Ok, kinda funny on a few of these, but some didn't really sound right