Author: peterjang73

A nerdy father of two, a husband of a beautiful and understanding wife, an engineer who loves anime and tinkering with PCs and games, but most of all, loves God.
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Once: A Totally Mesmerizing Video AND Audio Experience!

I first heard them on NPR last Friday.  Check their video interview/concert out!  So I was intrigued by their rather memerizing and VERY original works.  Then I learned that these two called “The Swell Season” were brought together because of a “small” movie called “Once“.  It was released in 2006 and since it was on Netflix, I decided to check them out.

Boy, was I glad I did it!!  I can’t stop enjoying the movie!!  And the music was even more so!  It was mesmerizing and haunting, in good ways!  The songs are just so original!  If they had to be compared to something, dare I say it’s comparable to Simon & Garfunkel’s work!  The movie story is rather simple of two people who cross path because of music.  The songs are sooo original that it’s refreshing!  I loved the soundtrack so much that I ended up buying it on Amazon.com!  I have listend to it 4 times already!

The guy’s voice (Glen Hansard) is very gritty and his lyrics are very honest.  The woman’s voice, Marketa Irglova, is gentle but not boring.  And their combination is just very explosive!!  I really recommend this to everyone out there!  Go watch it and listen to it!

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Adventures in Childhood

Article: Review of Wilderness of Childhood

I may not remember a whole lot about my childhood, but I remember lots of little adventures.  It’s in men’s nature to seek adventure.  We like going to new places, seek new challenges, and find out what is out there.  I realized that when we lived in England.  First few months in Harlow, once I had learned how to ride a bike, I used to ride around the little town trying to find out where each roads led to.  That sense of adventure never left me.  I think that’s why I loved driving.  Even in my four years of college in New England area, I drove to Vermont by myself before school began to take in the countryside.

Now, I am a parent and every area and people seem like dangers to my kids.  It’s true.  Fatherhood changes you.  The world is truly scary place.  Ok, it probably has always been that very same scary but we just never knew about it.   Now, thanks to the media and the Internet, we know bit too much.  No, way too much.  🙁  I want my kids to be able to play wherever and whenever they want.  However, part of me says it’s too dangerous.  The book review of The Adventures in Childhood points out the very same things I worry about and what the kids would miss out on…

I hope that I will do well in keeping the balance on kids’ safety and allowing them to develop sense of adventure and their imagination.  Sometimes, we just have to say “No, I won’t deprive them of what is due them as kids!”  Say it with me!!

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My Secret Dream of the Past: Rally Racing

Yes, you read that right.  After reading about this Suzuki SX4 winning the famous Pike’s Peak rally racing, I was reminded of my secret dream of my past (and still present).  Ever since high school years, I developed serious interest in cars.  And racing.

No, I don’t have any racing experience.  I wish.  It’s an expensive career to get into.  You gotta start as an amateur and you need serious cash to get started.  So obviously, I never got into it.  If JJ wants to become one and has the means to do it, I’m very tempted to encrouage him!  😮  But it’s not just any racing that I’m interested in… it’s the rally racing.  Why?  It’s because I find track racing too… boring.  You drive around the same track over and over and scenery doesn’t change.  What’s the fun in that?!  Enter the rally racing and it’s a constant change of scenery and roads!  That’s why you need a co-driver in rally racing… one who navigates each turns and plans ahead!

Shucks… At this point in time of my life, I’d be happy to just drive through one course one time.  🙁

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40th Anniversary of Man Landing on the Moon

“That’s one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind“

Those words still linger in the back of my head to this day… today, July 20th, 2009, marks the 40th anniversary of the man landing on the moon.  To all the space exploration haters, you need not apply.  If you can’t begin to fathom the butt loads of benefits from the research alone, you won’t ever be a believer…

And to all those lunar landing hoax pushers, again, read my previous post.  Obama seems to not want much of space exploration.  That’s a mighty shame.  But let’s not let that stop us from celebrating the 40th anniversary!  Despite all the fears most people have of it, I’d be an astronaut in a heart beat!  The space is indeed, in the cliche’ words of Star Trek, the final frontier.  😛

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Zit-popers & Wax-pickers Gross Me Out!

Ok… I don’t remember how we got to this topic but I was talking with my co-workers when we started talking about ear wax.  Soojin loves to pick ear wax.  Going one step further (and this is not for the faint at heart), she loves to pick wax even from the belly button!!  😮  That’s just nasty!

Not only that, but she’s also a zit-popper!  You know who you are!  There are a rather (disturbingly) large number of people out there that cannot leave a zit alone!  WTH?!  People like Soojin will always ask me if they can pop it for me.  Um… no!  Yikes…

Are you a zit-popper or a wax-picker?!  You guys need help!!  😛

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Australia’s Small Town Starts a Trend (Hopefully)

NY Times

Small town in Australia decided to stop the sale of bottled water altogether!  Plastic bottled water has been infamous for at least two major reasons:

  • Making plastic bottles & transporting them has been detrimental to the environment
  • Drinking water from such bottles have been known to be harmful as bottled water is likely to have been stored fairly long time and thus contains plastic in some amount in the water

I hope it’s a worldwide trend to stop it.  On top of that, most of the bottled water comes from your local municipal water treatment centers!  So it’s nothing special.