Anyone can cook

One of my favorite moments in cinema:  

In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face is that, in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. 

But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. Last night, I experienced something new, an extraordinary meal from a singularly unexpected source. To say that both the meal and its maker have challenged my preconceptions is a gross understatement. They have rocked me to my core. In the past, I have made no secret of my disdain for Chef Gusteau's famous motto: Anyone can cook. But I realize that only now do I truly understand what he meant. Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere. 

It is difficult to imagine more humble origins than those of the genius now cooking at Gusteau's, who is, in this critic's opinion, nothing less than the finest chef in France. I will be returning to Gusteau's soon, hungry for more. 

Simply brilliant

I Ching of carpes

It's a shame that the term YOLO became an excuse for irresponsible behaviors.  As cliche as it may sound, it's true - your only life is quite precious.  Of course, the equally played out but slightly more educated phrase, the one that doesn't annoy as many people, is carpe diem (no need for translation I'm sure) and its lesser known twin, carpe noctem - seize the night.  


But as I waft in this deluge of aphorisms, I would like to point out just one more phrase.  The one that I always say with an impish grin and an index finger raised up - carpe vinum - seize the wine.  When done correctly, I'd contend that there's no more seizing left to do.  Hence, carpe vinum is alpha and the omega of all the carpes.  It is the I Ching and the champion.  At least until the next morning of course, when you wake up with a migraine and an unbelievable desire to carpe pho.  Sigh.  Pho.

And to my Christian friends rolling their eyes, I would like to share my favorite verse in the bible; the only verse that I happen to have memorized by heart.  Ecclesiastes 9:7 - "drink wine with a joyful heart." 

Label me a highfalutin pedant if you will.  But moving onto matters of consequence, this cheap bottle of wine, Estratego Real, is simply amazing.  Cheers.

p.s. One of my small joys of life is drinking wine straight from the bottle.  I guess I enjoy feeling like a rebel, and not like a sommelier. 

Opinion - Introduction

I wrote this on my journal the other day, with the intention of moving my writings from blogs to Facebook.  But... there's something about it that I don't quite like.  I'll just post it here, and think about it for a few days and then decide.  Time is editor's best friend.

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Opinion - Introduction

For me, reading Facebook statuses is the single most defining act of irony.  It’s almost impressive how people can write so much about something so utterly unimportant, yet I find slow status updates to be irritating.  What is even worse is when I see scores of likes and comments on a post that is clearly unexceptional.  I don’t know whether to applaud people’s unending optimism or to conclude that they’ve been inured to celebrating mediocrity.  The whole act is horribly similar to flipping through TV channels, complaining about the shows instead of switching the damn thing off.  The difference is that the channels in Facebook are a culmination of 30+ years of my social life.  For a split second, I wished I lived in a 14 story building.  

But my aim is not to criticize but to encourage.  After all, just about everyone that I know has something interesting or some area of expertise that they can share with others.  Instead of sharing videos and articles all the time, why don’t we produce something of value on our own?  I'm not against posting videos and articles; I am for putting in extra 10 minutes to craft a well-thought out material once in a while.  I'm absolutely convinced that everyone has more intriguing things to say than what they had for dinner. 

So this is what I'll do.  I will write 1~2 opinions a month, on slew of topics ranging from the effect of Confucianism on modern Korean society to the size of Crayon Pop's helmets.  Regarding my writing, I promise two things:  1. I will attempt to write with terseness, verve and wit (emphasis on attempt - and on a side note, there ought to be a special place in hell for people who do otherwise).  2. I will be honest even if I offend people.  I think we all have some despicable and ridiculous thoughts and I think it's acceptable to share some of them, as long as its ridiculousness is acknowledged.  After all, it's just a thought.  

For instance, when I'm near a baby that has been crying nonstop for 30 minutes, my impulse isn't to utter, "oh my, that baby must have some matters of consequence at hand."  I have a flashing image of myself shot-putting the baby out of a 14 story building, because I'd hate to break my arm in the process.  That would be quite tragic.  I'd never do it obviously, but the thought did occur once.  Tossing is probably the better option. 

Some argue that Facebook is not the right medium for such writings and even kindly point out that there are these things called tumblr and blogspot.  Well who cares what Facebook was meant to be?  The internet was invented for military purposes, yet people use it to express their disapproval of the new Batman - and to watch porn.  Spoons were made for eating, but people use it to open beer bottles.  Anus was made for discharging feces, but gay people use it for coitus.  In short, who cares about what something was meant to be.  There is no need to eschew organizing your thoughts and posting something original, out of fear that you're not using something the way it was meant to be.  

As far as blogs go, I see no need to update multiple websites for identical content.  You might - but I don't.  Facebook is severely limited in scope but it's pretty much guaranteed that some people will see what you write (different from reading).  Blog has the potential of reaching millions of people, but honestly, no one reads your stupid blog.  

The second question is, why am I sharing my opinions and writing with others to begin with?  For the same reason that musicians hold concerts and artists exhibit - writers publish.  We are all social creatures and we experience a rush, for whatever reason, when we share our work with others.  In other words, it's fun.  That alone is enough reason for me to write and share. 

I hope not to waste your time.  Cheers. 

He deserved to be zapped

As I was checking my facebook yesterday, this was what I saw: 

"I'm getting Lasik done this Friday in Gangnam. Anybody else who's visually impaired interested in joining in? I schedule an appt at 12pm for this Friday. 1.3million. Michael free, Bryce, and some others I know have gotten it done there. Legit place."

Okay, fair enough, although it did strike me a bit odd... I've never seen people get surgery together, no matter how simple it was.  But there's no reason not to I suppose. 

And as I was reading the comments, I rand into this:

make sure your cornea (or some part - I can't remember) has enough thickness...this is one important part.

I had my surgery performed by Dr. Thomas Tooma in Newport Beach back in 2007. He is the same doctor that did the surgery on Tiger Woods. Of course, it was way more than the above mentioned price but he was the known as the best of the best.

I was completely blown away by the childishness of this self-centered and annoying comment.  Let's analyze this comment together:

make sure your cornea (or some part - I can't remember) has enough thickness...this is one important part.  This guy clearly doesn't work in the medical field, and he can't even remember if it's his cornea or some other part... And he's too lazy to google it which takes 5 seconds, yet he's giving someone a medical advice.  

this is one important part.  An Incredible show of verbosity.  Why not say "this is important?"  This guy is an ESL teacher by the way. 

I had my surgery performed by Dr. Thomas Tooma in Newport Beach back in 2007.  Fair enough, as long as you can relate this to the original post and help her in some way.  

He is the same doctor that did the surgery on Tiger Woods.  Now, if this awesome doctor gave him some advice that he can relay to the writer of the post, it might do her some good. 

Of course, it was way more than the above mentioned price but he was the known as the best of the best. Nope.  He wanted to use the famed doctor's credentials to elevate himself in the social ladder.  In other words, he wants to feel special. 


In a way, this made me feel sad.  It's sad that he's 28, and you usually learn in Kindergarten that special people either do special things to others or do something incredible - they don't become special by bragging, especially bragging about someone you know. 










So I decided to sacrifice my lunch time to write a reply.  I hope you enjoy:

Hey guys, I had a surgery on my butt back in 2001. When they do the surgery, make sure that they don’t stitch up what needs to be open. Of course, I feel comfortable giving such an advice because I’m not a qualified medical professional whatsoever.

And the doctor who performed the surgery, Conrad Murray, was a physician for a famous celebrity. So by definition, he must be good, minus the little incident with Michael Jackson. But who cares about him anyway?

I’m sharing this with you because my experiences with such best-of-the-best doctors would certainly enhance your experience with a mediocre one. I call this compassion.

Please, in the future, tell me more about your experiences so that I can tell you how my experience was so much better. I mean, who wouldn’t want to hear about THAT?

 



And the girl who posted this wrote:

Fred, you are welcome to join us. lol

So I replied: 

Let me get my ruler and measure my cornea first.

Postponing religious arguments, and where I stand

I have yet another post about religion somewhere in my journal, but I'll save it for some other time.

But the question is where do I stand?  This is both easy and hard.  You have so many words, apostate, lapsed Methodist, atheist, agnostic, etc.  But no one word describes myself quite well.  If I had to choose, agnostic would be the best description.  I have no idea whether God exists or not, and I lack faith.  I refuse to believe in something without (what I consider to be) sound reasons and evidence. 

I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I am a bit capricious.  I might change my views later - I have no qualms about switching my views.  Who knows, next year, I might be in church again, or become an anti-theist.