Yangon Thu

Color me beautiful

Just saw this on You Tube. I love the ingeniousness of this SONY ad. I kinda wish I hadn't gotten a Samsung LCD TV now. lol. Maybe next time.

Props to whoever came up with this idea for the ad. See, this is the kind of advertisement that makes me wish I had gone into advertising instead.

Bjork + Timbaland

Bjork has always been one of my favorites, since back in the days! Now there's news that she will be coming out with a new album, and she will be working with Hip Hop producer Timbaland!

Read more here.

I'm so excited for the new album to come out. I wasn't feeling her last album all that much, not like her old albums touched me, but still, it was very adventurous and looks like she is having more adventures!

4 things

Saw this "4 things" list on Crazyauntpurl.com and thought I'd do it since I'm out of things to blog about right now.

Four jobs I’ve had:

* Waitress
* Fund raiser for college
* data entry clerk
* Publicist

Four movies I can watch over and over:

* 10 things I hate about you (my numero Uno teenage movie)
* Love Actually
* The Emperor's New Groove & Elf tie here.
* Tha Gyan Moe (Thingyan Moe?) - the Burmese government used to show this every year in Burma around Thingyan and I really enjoy watching it. And it is the only Burmese movie that sticks in my head - I honestly can't name any other Burmese movies.

Four places I have lived:

* Yangon, Burma
* Jurong East, Singapore
* San Pedro, California
* Berkeley, California

Four television shows I love to watch:

* Prison Break
* CSI (all of them, but especially CSI Las Vegas - Grissom knows everything, y'all. I like CSI: NY less, a lot less, but then they try so hard, I feel bad, lol)
* Grey's Anatomy
* LOST

Four places I have been on vacation:

* London, England
* Disneyland at Anaheim, California
* Ngapali Beach, Burma
* Boston, Massachusetts

Four of my favorite dishes:

* Chin Paung Kyaw - a Burmese dish - fried Roselle with bamboo shoots, prawms, etc. (oh gosh, I haven't had it in a few weeks, I need to get me some)
* Sushi. How can an island nation like Singapore have bad sushi everywhere? I just don't understand.
* In-n-Out burger and fries with a large diet coke (same as Aunt Purl)
* Burmese tofu (tohoo) salad

Four websites I visit daily:

* news.google.com
* www.pinkisthenewblog.com (it's an addiction overlapping from the old days of having worked in gossip filled Hollywood)
* After those 2, I usually browse all the blogs I read and too many to list here.

Four places I would rather be right now:

* Playing around on the beach in Malibu, or Santa Monica, California.
* In Paris, visiting all the museums I never got to see, drinking strong espressos and eating crepes
* In my old house in ahlone, yangon - back in the old days when things were safe and innocent or so I thought.
* In a movie theatre, watching a funny movie.

Four bloggers I am tagging:

* The one who reads this post is tagged!
*yeah that means you.

Modern Girl

More about the artists, click: Sleater Kinney

"My whole life, it's like a picture of a sunny day." --> what do you think that means?

No love, no glory......

Blower's Daughter by Damien Rice - part of the video has parts of the movie Closer in it. The song is featured in the film.

I just saw most of the movie Closer for the first time. I'm trying to digest it right now. I've always liked Natalie Portman as an actress and I think she shines in this one too. I just dislike Jude Law more and more. He plays the same person/character in all the movies I've seen him.

Julia Roberts - hmmm, I don't know what the big fuss about her is. She's alright. Just alright, nothing to shout about.

Clive Owen - I liked how he was angry in this movie. He played that well. I can see him playing alot of different roles.

The song Blower's Daughter by Damien Rice, really suited the tone of the film, which I think is all about LOVE - trying to find it, fighting it, losing it, giving it up, and trying to find it all over again. LYRICS Here.

La Belle et Le Bad Boy

I started listening to MC Solaar, after this song "La Belle et Le Bad Boy" (the beauty and the Bad Boy) was featured on the TV show Sex and the City 2 years ago. I really like his songs, even though I don't know what they mean 98% of the time.

There is no video for this one but you can just listen to the song "La Belle et Le Bad Boy"

This video is for the song "Solaar Pleure" (Solaar Cries- or the sun cries). The video reminds me of the movie "The Devil's Advocate"

Website (Podcast) reccomendation

When I was attending U.C.Berkeley, there was this guy that I really really did not like. But I put up with him because I had to work with him for a whole year to compete in a competition as a group. My dislikeness of him took the cake when I found out he was still a 5th year junior (meaning he has already spent 5 years in school and he was still a junior) and that he has been changing his majors in school so he can keep staying in school longer.

Me: (complaining to a few friends) I wish I could stay a semester or 2 longer, just so I can take up another major, I just really want to learn.......
Him: (cuts me off) what, I am staying another year. Good thing for me, I'm a California resident, I don't have to pay, prices like you do. How much do you pay, again?
Me: (through gritted teeth) US$10,000 a semester.
Him: F*ck! And we get grants form the state of California too, so my parents only have to pay about half or less.
Me: I'm really happy for you (I tried to mean it and I turned, so he won't see that I was kind of seething).

It's the way he said it see, like he knew how much better off he was. Bastard! lol. So you can see, I was jealous, to put it simply. I knew throughout my college years that I had to get a proper degree that will allow me to get a proper job after I graduated. However, I was very much starved of learning things like world history, world literature, Human behavior, etc, etc, etc..... It's not that I necessarily do well in school - I barely pulled off a B+ average when I graduated but I love sitting in that theatre listening to that very interesting lecture that just opened doors and horizons for you. You see, there were so many classes to take at UC Berkeley, I mean, one of my favorite things to do before a semester started was to pick my classes - in awe of what I might learn the next semester. (or to groan about how boring that class I HAD to take was going to be). I know, I'm a big dork.

This guy's parents, being kind of rich, did not mind this guy staying in school - I bet they thought, as long as he was out of their hair, the better, lol.

I wouldn't have been so negative towards him as well, had he not said it in a way that was so superior. Anyways, I had to leave, when I graduated looking forlornly at the new classes being offered that I never had a chance to take.

But, now I can finally let go of all my bad feelings towards this guy (and feeling sorry for myself, lol) because my alma mater broadcast lectures via webcasts that I can now download into my iPod. I mean, it's wonderful.
You can visit the webcasts homepage here.

I think U.C.Berkeley has been doing this for a while, but me, being a bit late to jump on the MP3 player wagon, just discovered this website through iTunes.

I'm currently listening to the following lectures:
ART 23: Foundations of Cyberculture
Psych 156: Human Emotion
History 5: European Civilization from the Renaissance to the Present
Geo 10: World Regions, Peoples, and States
(I was thinking that I should try Statistics 2 - because I was just awful at Stats in college - I couldn't have been happier when I received a C at the end of the class for Statistics 1)

I mean, between Webcasts.Berkeley and MIT Open Courseware, I'm glad I didn't stay longer in College and pay outrageous fees. Only of course, there's this thing I miss about being able to participate and ask questions in class. Now, doing boring things like walking to the post office in the scorching sun, grocery shopping, waiting in the Q (everything in Singapore, you have to line up for), are much more meaningful because I'm learning things like the beginnings of globalization and colonialism.

Welcome to the world Anthony Keontae

Antrice and Anthony's baby - Anthony Keontae.

My dear dear friend Antrice had a baby on September 22nd. Look at that beautiful baby. Isn't he just darlin'?

It's a bit weird to think that my partner in crime from the old days is now all grown and a proud mama!!! (because I'm still under the illusion that I'm 18 and still doing crazy things in college - but alas, reality bites)

I'm so so happy for them and you can read Antrice's blog post on her joy upon having her beautiful baby right here.

Welcome to the world, lil Keontae (very adorable name, btw). You are probably going to be so spoiled because you have so many people who are going to love you to death, starting with your mama, hon.....
And I promised her I'd babysit whenever I was in Modesto, CA. lol. I can't wait to see you.

Love ya lots!

Strike a pose, Vogue! Vogue! Vogue!

I like to call this sculpture at Sculpture Square "stuck on you"

My doctor is the best. I mentioned to my doctor that I really liked his waiting room because, instead of the usual free crap magazines the other doctors had in their waiting room, he had Hollywood gossip rags, International style magazines, men's magazines (I find much humor in reading these men's magazines) and "how to decorate" your house magazines. I really don't mind waiting for the good doctor when I have so much entertainment around. He says that they are all courtesy of his friend who gives him the magazines that he can't sell in time at his magazine stand.

So, I asked my doctor for a few back issues that he had, since I really wanted to make more collages. And a month later, voila(!) I have about 60 magazines. It's kind of fun reading old Hollywood gossip rags to see how silly everything is and also the style magazines are really cool. I love how, a lot of the fashion photographers that work for big mags like Instyle, W, Vogue and Elle are very artistic. I forget I'm supposed to be looking at the models and the thousand dollar clothes sometimes and I get caught up in the way the photos are shot, the styling, the angles, the beauty in the background, etc.

So thank you to my doctor and his faithful receptionist. I think everyone should have a magazine stand owner as a friend. :) I know that is my new goal.

Google Gadgets are da bomb!

A sculpture in front of sculpture square, SG.

Today, I discovered "Google gadgets for your webpage" site and went B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

Now, on my own blog, I can translate things, read my horoscope, ask the Magic-8 ball lifechanging "yes" or "no" questions and even get my writing spell checked (we all know I need that!). I even went so far as to have "Inspirations" for professional women- lol.

I know, I know, I'm a dork, but that's why you love me. Or maybe not. lol

Mon dieu!

French class is kicking my ass. La langue française est très difficile à apprendre!!!

Portishead - Glory Box

I've been doing nothing but listening to "Portishead - Live Roseland NYC" CD and I thought I'd share one of my favorite songs.

Be kind...

My hands never looked like this when I used to be a waitress.

I was a waitress through half of my years in college - it was a way to pay the bills, easy to have cash on hand. It was an extremely exhausting and tiring job for me. But often I would work 6 days a week, so that I can actually make ends meet. I'm not alone. Most women who don't have work experience still become waitresses as being in the food industry seldom require you to have a degree.

I was reading the "Best of Craigslist" section (yes, Jackie, I relapsed, I'm back reading Craigslist again) I saw this post by a waitress in portland and I wanted to post it up as it is accurate description of what most waitresses go through.

I am all about No. 2, 4, 7. And, please tip your waiter and waitresses. (Well, unless they were awful).
Please be kind, people. Be kind.