Blame Canada

Last night I walked outside, only to find it SNOWING. What's going on?

Also, I finally uploaded that Tim Horton's commercial about "coffee." It seems more like a reconciliation between father and son:
"Jimmy-ah! You must study more, no more hockey all the time. Understand!!"
"Jimmy-ah, you study; no hockey!"

Substitute "Jimmy" for your name and "hockey" for a non-academic activity...

Dad embodies the Overbearing and Oppressive Asian Parent (complete with accent) while Jimmy embodies the Oppressed and Embittered Asian Child. And somehow, Tim Horton's brings them all together through...coffee? To complete this entire circle I initially thought tea was more appropriate, but I think the coffee is what makes it an Asian American experience. Or Asian Canadian, as I suspect from all that hockey.

Happy birthday to...

JEAN CLAUDE VAN DAMME!

He turns 46 today. To celebrate, I watched "Street Fighters: The Movie" the other day, which is one of the best cheesey action flicks.

Also, today happens to be my birthday as well!

As a treat, I've uploaded a short film, Ausreißer (Runaway). It is a heartwarming story about family.

Struggling architect Walter encounters a little boy, Yuri. Yuri insists on calling him "papa" although Walter claims to have never met him before. Although Yuri won't return to his home, who is really the runaway here? What makes a good architect is having a strong foundation, strong roots.

Watch it, please! (132 MB) Directed by Ulrike Grote. Starring Peter Jordan and Maximilliam Werner.

Songs for the day:
Caetano Veloso - Cucurrucucu Paloma (I also really like his rendition in Hable con Ella)
Lou Reed - Street Hassle

A laboring man

Today I went jogging round the neighborhood. It was unusually warm, but beautiful. The trees are just beginning to turn, so I got a chance to go "crunchcrunchcrunch" with my feet.

Plodded my way through the Edgewood campus. At the back, they've been doing some reconstruction, creating a circular drive and better access to the Mazzuchelli Center, a lab that hugs the shore of Lake Wingra. A few men were still hanging out at the site.

Getting closer, I noticed one guy half-heartedly shoveling who didn't look like the other two. The other two were wearing bright orange vests, loose-fit stonewashed jeans, and yellow hardhats. Very construction-esque.

This guy was wearing a canvas porkpie (pork-pie?) hat and a form-fitting white tee, which were tucked into a pair of faded slim black jeans that were cuffed a little. And the best part? He had a cigar hanging from the corner of his mouth. He was like...from the fifties. I wish I had my camera. It was the best sartorial moment of the day. I wanted really badly to ask him about his outfit.

As we passed him, he looked up and smiled. "How you doing today?" he said out of the corner of his mouth.

Oh, very good.