Month: April 2010

In the absence of god

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

I was raised Catholic, and I went to church every Sunday for pretty much most of my entire childhood. Naturally, as most things we’re forced to do as children, I disliked it, and resented it.

When I turned sixteen, and had my drivers license, my parents gave me the freedom to drive myself to church on Sundays.  That lasted all about maybe three weeks before I realized that I could very easily skip church, and go be a rebellious teenager instead.

Aside from a few weddings, and special occasions, I haven’t set foot in church since.

But lately, the thought of sitting somewhere quiet and seemingly holy for just a few minutes doesn’t seem like the worst idea in the world.

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The Adventures of Hit-Girl was pretty Kick-Ass

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Overall, I was pleased with Kick-Ass.  Surprisingly violent and gory, and expectedly nerd-awkward at times.  But I guess my expectations for this movie were a little higher than I had hoped for.  Or maybe the story wasn’t quite as what I had expected it to be.  When I left the theater, all I really had were feelings of satisfaction for the side characters, and more or less indifferent to disappointment with the titular Kick-Ass himself.

I’ll probably disclose more information about the flick than you may or may not want to hear, so if you haven’t seen the flick, read on at your own risk.

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Most awesome bug ever

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Not a whole lot of people know this about me, but despite the overall lack of television I watch these days aside from one or two select shows, and baseball, if there’s one thing that I always have a tendency to stop on, it’s nature shows.  And when I saw the initial previews for Life, I was excited for a high-quality nature show, and set my DVR to record all the episodes.

Now despite the fact that I’m less than pleased with the narration of Oprah Winfrey, the program as a whole is still no less amazing.  It’s just so beautifully done.  I highly recommend to anyone who just likes watch animals doing their thing.

But out of all the episodes so far, the one creature that has gotten my attention to the point where it warranted a post about, is simply awesome.  That’s pretty much all I can about, it’s a bug, and it rules – The Darwin’s Stag Beetle.

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Gratitude

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I just want to say thanks to all the people who were at dinner last night in honor of my birthday.  It was a pleasant surprise to see table filled with familiar faces for lil’ old me.  The food was good, the beer that much sweeter, but nothing compares to the company of nice people.

And of course, thanks Jen.  Wouldn’t have happened without your care.

It was one of the best birthdays I’ve had in quite a long time.

April the Nineteenth

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Historically, April 19th is day that for a lot of people is somewhat of a condemned day on the calendar.  Some might consider it a day of death:

  • In 1993, fires ravaged in Waco, Texas, ending a 51-day standoff between supposed cultists and the FBI resulting in about 80 human casualties.
  • In 1995, Timothy McVeigh detonates a truck filled with explosives in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Downtown Oklahoma City that killed 168 people, as well as injuring close to 700.
  • In 1997, floods ravaged the Dakotas, resulting in the destruction of eleven buildings and ruining countless homes and lives.
  • There was a brief hiatus of April 19th tragedies for the next decade or so, as the insane seemed to have missed the mark by a day or so (April 20, 1999 – Columbine Shootings, April 22, 2000 – Elian Gonzalez is extradited back to Cuba, April 16, 2007 – Virginia Tech Massacre), but in 2007, a crazy Haji suicide bomber drove his explosive-filled vehicle into a tanker, causing an explosion that killed 12 and injured 34 more.

But it’s not all death and tragedy; three very well-known professional athletes were born on April 19th:  In 1981, Troy Polamalu, the wild-haired strong safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers who covers, well, the non-aquatic covered Earth was born.  In 1983, the franchise of the Minnesota Twins and sabermetric Triple Crown winner, catcher Joe Mauer was born.  In 1987, arguably the prize package of women’s tennis, Maria Sharapova was born.

So what’s the point of all this?  If it isn’t already obvious, it’s because April 19th is my birthday.

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Witnessing history

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On April 17th, 2010, I was present at Turner Field, when a no-hitter was thrown.  Ever since I got into baseball, one of the things I’ve always said I wished that I’d experience, was to witness a no-hitter happen live and in person.  And on April 17th, 2010, that wish came true – I saw my no-hitter.

Unfortunately, it was at the expense of the Atlanta Braves, and not a Braves pitcher no-hitting someone else.

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Minivans and déjà vu

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A few nights ago, I had a bad dream which involved me rear-ending a minivan.  I awoke in the middle of the night as a result, because the grief of getting into a car accident and the resulting fallout stressed me to the point of waking up.  The situation was simple – I was behind some woman who couldn’t drive (big surprise), and in my frustration, I was following her a little closer than I normally would follow a person.  We turned right onto a road that was going downhill, and then suddenly the woman slams her brakes, and I’m too late myself, and I end up plowing right into her car.

Usually when a dream like this, that involves car accidents occur, I tend to get extra paranoid that I need to be especially careful when driving around, because it could be a sign of some sort.

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