Two things I am used to dismiss quickly; My roommates' Netflix choices and musicals. That's why I would have never even given a chance to this "little movie with big heart" if it was not for the cold and long holiday weekend. My expectations were so low when I put the disk in the player. What a pleasant surprise, It was truly inspirational!..

Celebrating Diversity

Courtesy of Reason Magazine

Kristof has a few good arguments for those who criticizes Obama for his lack of experience in his Ny Times Column.
"With all the sniping from the Clinton camp about whether Barack Obama has enough experience to make a strong president, consider another presidential candidate who was far more of a novice. He had the gall to run for president even though he had served a single undistinguished term in the House of Representatives, before being hounded back to his district. That was Abraham Lincoln."
Here is the ironical part:
"Another successful president scorned any need for years of apprenticeship in Washington, declaring, “The same old experience is not relevant.” He suggested that the most useful training comes not from hanging around the White House and Congress but rather from experience “rooted in the real lives of real people” so that “it will bring real results if we have the courage to change.”
That was Bill Clinton running in 1992 against George H. W. Bush, who was then trumpeting his own experience over the callow youth of Mr. Clinton. That year Mr. Bush aired a television commercial urging voters to keep America “in the hands of experience.”
To put it another way, think which politician is most experienced today in the classic sense, and thus — according to the “experience” camp — best qualified to become the next president.

That’s Dick Cheney. And I rest my case.

Last Saturday, I got to go to the opening of Dan Perjovschi’s first solo show at Lombard-Freid projects in Chelsea with a few friends per their suggestion.

"Known for his incisive social and political commentaries translated in the medium of drawing, Perjovschi’s work has been included for the past decade in numerous biennials and major museum exhibitions around the world. Using humor and irony as a form of poetic conceptualism, Perjovschi reflects on macro-political events with a sensibility that is as finely tuned as it is pointed.

A man stands in front of an ATM machine, his finger pointing towards the keypad, his head turned around facing the surveillance camera behind him asking: You remember my pin?

It is precisely this kind of witticism that allows Perjovschi to address tough issues, frequently of political import, while managing to leave us with a smile on our faces. Whether commenting on the return of the Big Brother or the impact of the 21st century technological revolution and its effects on our lives, Perjovschi resurrects a banal moment of daily routine to a question mark open to different answers."

The exhibition is open till February 22nd. Stop by if you are around the Gallery District in West Chelsea.

In my opinion "In Rainbows" was the best album of 2007. Possibbly one of the best albums that came out in my lifetime. The more you listen to it the more you appreciate the musical genius of Thom Yorke and his mates.

I am at Hop Scotch Cafe which is formerly known as A.L.T Cafe across the street from Tompkins Square Park.
This used to be one of my favorite hangout spots when I moved back from upstate to the city back in 2002.
With walls painted in orange, totally torn-up couches, and countless number of old keyboards and monitors in the bathroom, Alt.Coffee was the perfect dive for the coffee shop set. I havent walked in here in years until I and my friend E.Y decided to go in randomly for free wireless a few weeks ago. We started coming here more often now. It looks a lot different now and the music selection is better. I am posting some new entries on my blog as E.Y is checking his most recent nerdy obsession: www.forex.com. He wants to make money by trading foreign currency and tries to convince me to get into this.

It has been two years since the last time I posted in this blog. Aside from few friends who pretended to follow my blog, no one (including me) cared about my negligence.
In fact, I was pleasantly surprised when I found out recently that Blogger.com has not deactivated my blog.I decided to take advantage of this and start posting again. The new name of the blog is "Modern Times"...

Evolution? Not in Kansas anymore
Public schools in Kansas are getting new science standards casting doubt on evolution.
The Board of Education in the US state has approved language criticising evolution by a margin of 6-4—an outcome expected for months.
Advocates say this will show students that there are legitimate scientific questions about evolution.

Meanwhile, in Dover, Pennsylvania, voters replaced all eight school board members who approved a similar policy. That approval resulted in a current court challenge over separation of church and state. It's anticipated that new Dover board members will repeal the introduction of intelligent design into the school curriculum. "We are all for it being discussed, but we do not want to see it in biology class," said new board member Judy McIlvaine. "It is not a science."

Introducing the world's most unlikely sport: chessboxing

Take one comic book concept and several willing participants and you've got yourself the most unlikely sporting union which is catching on quickly.

The brainchild of Dutch artist Iepe Rubingh, chessboxers alternate between board and ring, engaging both brains and brawn through 11 rounds (four minutes' chess, two minutes' boxing), to see who comes out on top. Contests are won by checkmate, knock-out, retirement, exceeding the time limit at the board or a refereeing decision. If the chess game ends in stalemate, the highest scorer in the boxing rounds wins. Ties are won, for no apparent reason, by the player with the black pieces.

It sounds like a joke but the fans of the sport are determined to develop chessboxing, and hope to make it a part of the 2016 Olympics. "Every sport has Olympic ambitions," shrugs Dilschneider, "and we're no exception. "But we're just beginning. We need to make sure we have two, three, four five events a year to help establish chessboxing less as an art form, or concept, and more as a sport. "When triathlons first came about in the 1970s, people thought it was crazy that someone would run 10km, then jump into the water and start swimming," he adds. "But now that's a normal, famous sport." (See, I think they are making a valid point there)

From now on I will occasionally publish "my top 10" list of various things in my blog.
I am starting with something that is related to two great interests of my life; New York and Movies.

MY TOP 10 LIST
New York, New York: Ten Great Movies About the Big Apple

1-Annie Hall
2-The godfather
3-Serendipity
4-Taxi Driver
5-Moonstruck
6-Wall Street
7-Manhattan
8-Gangs of New York
9-Big
10-When Harry met Sally