An Assortment of Weekends

It is nice to live in New York, it is the hub of world -- it is much cheaper to fly to New York than to fly to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. So it is certainly a bonus to meet old friends from time to time.

There is a great film where Billy Crudup, Jason Patric, Brad Pitt and Ron Eldard played together -- in Sleepers. Out of four guys, I find Ron Eldard to be incredibly irresistible because of his eyes. It is good enough to melt me like Dorothy did to the Wicked.

However, in the ending of the film, where these four guys got together for old times' sake -- it is something that I often do with my friends -- talking, poking fun at life and celebrating our times together.

Sometimes it is good life, is it?

In one scene where Ron Eldard used his hands to drum on the table and started to sing something funny. Everyone followed along and sang. It was heart-moving one, especially with Ron's facial expressions -- he was really into this mode. I think I should attempt to do that in ASL someday and see how it happens with friends of mine. I don't care much for gawkers to VEE VEE at us for being silly at times.

Drink it up, buddies!

For Old Times' Sake!
R-

Gorgeous Picture?

Mt. St. Helens

Sometimes you wish that you could be something else outside of a human body, what do you wish to be? I often wished to be a massive mountain, just like this.

Cheers,

R-

Oh, ye poor Astros & Cardinals!

Oh, my poor lost Astros and Cardinals -- the professional baseball teams embarking on a trip to World Series are not getting any attention in the media. The Astros and Cardinals are waving their hands frantically to get some attention to them -- that they are in the finals of NLCS. But nobody cared. The media is saturated with the mystical rivals between Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees in the ALCS.

The rivals between these teams are ridiculous. I am not a fan of both teams, but I really feel for Boston Red Sox who struggled to reach the finals of World Series, only to be blocked repeatedly by New York Yankees since 1918. That is not 20 years ago. That is 86 years ago. Of course, I'm going to root for BoSox just to see what it's going to be like in Boston when they finally beat New York. Of course, just to see Char's reactions when the Yankees finally lost.

The passion between these two teams are ridiculous. One BoSox fan admitted that he sacrificed a goat, trying to break a curse that was started 86 years ago. That is pretty silly, don't you think? But that is how it is.

I was at a local pub, Dempsey's Pub which caters to Irish folks in Manhattan. Last month, there were some games between BoSox and Yankees. When BoSox hits for a home rum, you cannot know how loud the pub endured with these Irish folks -- even for me as Deaf person, I was startled by their passion.

You know, when the professional football team, New England Patriots won the Super Bowl, its fans went out on the streets, they chanted, "YANKS SUCK! YANKS SUCK! YANKS SUCK!" Why did they mention Yankees in the football celebration?

This simply proved that baseball is the American institution, a level above the professional football, like it or not.

Like someone said earlier, if the BoSox finally beats NY Yankees in the ALCS, the riots on the streets in Boston is going to make the recent victory of Super Bowl like "your grandmother's tea party". I agreed with that particular person.

So this time, I'm going to root for BoSox just to see how it turned out in the end. You know me, I love the drama.

I'm not fan of professional baseball -- but I enjoyed hearing the tensions between these two teams. As of now, you know what will happen to a wet towel when you keep on twisting for a long period of time? Eventually, it will snap.

So, the curse shall be ... like that.

R-

Gotta Love These Norwegians!

The Norwegians bought the advertisement page in The Washington Post and it's to tell the swing voters to say "no" to Bush and his foreign policy.

I got few friends from Norway and the most important of all is Berna, my Eurotrash pal -- she's from Norway as well.

Their website is clever -- I love it! Here is the link: www.tellhim.no

Har har! Their flag colors are dark blue and red -- so I'm honoring 'em.

Way to go, Norwegians!

R-

You Go, Girl!

I learned that Stefan LeFors is the quarterback of Louisville Cardinals, who is slated to play against No. 3 Miami Hurricanes on Thursday night. I hope Stefan LeFors will be able to lead the Cardinals to an upset.

Why him? Stefan is the CODA, thus I'm inclined to root for him to beat Miami Hurricanes.

To Hearies, CODA means 'Child of Deaf Adults'.

Stefan's parents are Deaf from Baton Rouge. He also had a Deaf brother, Eric who played the quarterback at Gallaudet for a long time.

Stefan is hot, I admit. That is a bonus to root for him. Stefan mentioned that the deaf community in Baton Rouge knew him and probably is rooting for him -- he is tad wrong on this subject. Many deaf communities in the nation are going to root for Stefan LeFors, because he is one of us.

Beat Hurricanes! Go Stefan!

R-

Absurdity Is Jason Lamberton's Middle Name

The comments by Oscar reflected on his narcissism and his lack of knowledge beyond himself. Oscar's arguments merely focused only on his needs, himself and his surroundings. His perception of welfare programs are appalling. Yes, some people abused the system. But there are millions of people who depended on the welfare programs.

I work in mental health services, I can attest that the monthly checks the clients received are incredibly vital to their survival. Most of the people who has mentally illness has a difficult time in getting jobs, let alone hold the job for months or years! Is it their fault? No, they do not know what is wrong with them. Most of them were raised in a dysfunctional household -- they were never disciplined, taught or explained by their parents. So when they stepped into the real world, they were completely blown away. To make things worse, they find out that they have mental illness. It is such a struggle to maintain their living standards. I will not describe my job position but the whole point is that, there are millions of people who cannot hold a decent job. They are unable to start, and roll their sleeves and compete against millions of persons who holds the BA degrees in search of a decent job -- they are completely at an disadvantage in this capitalistic society. If not for welfare programs, they might have to work double or triple shifts at fast food restaurants, flipping burgers and ... yet, still cannot meet their monthly bills!

It was never a case of spoon-feeding as Jason or Oscar would like it to be -- the truth is that Oscar and Jason were spoon-fed more than the recipients of welfare programs. These programs were placed in to facilitate the solution somehow and somewhere in the middle! Oscar and Jason abused the system, simply put.

When Oscar said, "just my 2 cents. all lofty aspirations aside--i know i'd want to grab that spoon and feed myself." What does it says? Only for himself. What about millions of people who do not have BA degrees, have mental illness and unable to hold jobs? Should we say, "Too fucking bad, roll your sleeves and look for the job!"

To say that the senior Bush was responsible for the passage of Americans with Disabilities Act was an attempt to distort the facts -- it was the Democrats-dominated Congress who overwhelmingly passed the ADA and the insiders warned the senior Bush that if he vetoed the bill, it will make him look bad.

Jason, I know you and your family -- your parents are well-educated, they spoon-fed you from day one, lavishing you with everything, preparing you for what you have on the table -- the result is that you lived a sheltered life. Or should I say 'Spoiled All-American brat'?? You do not live the way many millions persons struggled to live -- your parents helped you to buy a home. Millions of people do not have the luxury of that, including mine. You see, you were pretty much spoon-fed from day one. I work with a large group of disadvantaged people. It is mind-boggling to work with them everyday. You work at a liberal arts university, you study at a good school, you got a home of your own. Did you ever volunteer or work with mental ill people, preferrably ... say ... DeafREACH in DC?? Working at CSD-F does not count, thank you very much.

Keep in mind, it is not about the case of jealousy, it never was. I care less if you bought a house -- but I do care about the struggles of others.

The problem with this country is that lots of people tends to think about future, future and themselves rather than to help each other and deal with the situations right now.

Jason, about the Log Cabin Republicans. They do not hate Bush. IN fact, they endorsed him, defended him and supported him until Bush proposed the amendment to the Constitution to ban the same-sex marriages. That is where the LCR decided not to endorse that ignorant prick. There is no hatred in this, Jason. Don't distort this, thank you very much. You are right that the marriage amendment will never pass, but the whole point is that Bush endorsed it. He fuckin' endorsed the ban on marriage amendment.

Kerry does not support the same-sex marriages, but he supported the civil unions. Bush has none of that, he has been kissing the shit-stained asses of right wing religious nuts.

The reasons why many Deaf students used SSI rather than to work in local businesses is that the businesses would hire hearing people to work as waiters, whereas Deaf persons would be relegate to the kitchen and wash dishes. Meanwhile, these waiters get tips, the workers in the kitchen do not. So it is sensible to rely upon the 'monthly check' to support themselves in college, though.

Again, not all Americans are suitable for higher education. They try their best all the time. You just had an easy time running around with your parents standing behind you all the time -- millions do not. Consider yourself lucky, Jason.

Not all Americans are like you or Oscar -- when the shit hits the fan, you probably cannot tell which one is reality.

Benjamin Franklin once said that freedom itself is not worth it when the rights are being put aside in the name of security. The whole point is that Bush captured the opponents and held them for years without the legal counsel and crafted the Patriot Act to erode our rights -- then our freedom is meaningless. It is inhumane, simply put.

If I was in control of the country, the first thing I will do is to take Bush to a dungeon. Strip him naked, make him lay on the floor, chain his arms and legs to each corner -- ensure that his legs and arms are wide open. Then release the thousands of spiders onto his body for hours. And deny him the right to have a legal counsel. That would be a great experience for Bush. Let's see how he enjoys that!

R-

$$ for Nanc!

Two years ago, Nanc and I had a long chat about everything else, really. One time, she nearly made me blow the coca-cola soda out of my nose when I heard this story.

It was during the Super Bowl party in Baltimore, Nanc participated in a contest that will give money to the winner who predicted the right score or very close score. In the second half, Nanc felt bad about her friend, I believe it was Sharon but I'm not sure, who cheered that she won the prize with few minutes left in the 4th quarter.

Suddenly, an interception occured during the game in the last minute -- and scored a touchdown. That means what? This girl just lost the contest. She was depressed and felt sick. Nanc felt bad and tried to console (Thanks, Amy!) with her.

About an hour after the game, she drove her SUV truck to her parents' house. She got paged by Barb to check the scores (hers and the actual score). During the drive, she attempted to read the actual score with her predicted score -- but she cannot because her light in the jeep was broken. She had no choice but to wait until the intersection where there are stop lights. When Nanc found a red light on the intersection light, she quickly hopped out of her SUV truck and ran into front of her truck to use the headlights to read the actual score and the predicted score.

She won. Nanc blinked and read it again. Nanc won some hundreds of dollars. She won.

She jumped and celebrated wildly by her truck on the intersection while people stared at her like she's crazy. Nanc rushed back to the house to collect the prized money.

Boy, is she crazy as usual?

R-