Tag: observations

I don’t want to tip my Uber drivers

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

I hate tipping.  Tipping sucks.  I still do it when it’s expected (required). 

C’mon, I’m not Scottie Pippen.

Generously, too, because I like to think I’m a decent human being, and I also understand that those working in industries that expect tips are often ones where the laborers themselves are grossly underpaid and that it’s the unfortunate responsibility of patrons like me, to make sure they can make their ends meet.

But still, I hate tipping.  It’s a practice that reeks of labor abuse, and that companies that allege to care about their customers, put the burden of paying their workers onto them.

What I liked about Uber, aside from the obvious reasons that it’s not a dirty, rickety cab driven by an asshole that smells like one too and they show up relatively quickly and have (usually) better cars is that I don’t have to tip.  I know my cost up front, it is taken out of my PayPal account, and I get from point A to point B with full transparency on cost, who’s taking me in what type of vehicle, and a fairly accurate estimate of time it is going to take.  And at the end of the ride, I don’t have to tip anyone, don’t feel obligated to tip anyone, and the drivers (I hope) aren’t expecting any tips.

That is, until soon, since Uber is apparently rolling out tip capabilities across the board.  Initially, they’re claiming it’s to keep up with their rivals Lyft, but really for both companies and all other rideshare clones, the integration of tipping is something that is closing the gap between rideshare and taxi, but in the wrong direction.

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Money in the Blah 2017

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

By the grace of god, a close friend of mine gave me his WWE Network access, so I’ve actually kind of been able to play catch up with wrestling, since I haven’t really watched any televised shows in nearly two years.  I ditched cable television in this span, so although I still can’t watch any RAW or the supposed renaissance of Smackdown that I’ve heard so much good things about, but at least I can watch NXT and pay-per-views as they come out.

And speaking of which, I was able to catch the latest WWE ppv, Money in the Bank, which I like to often describe as the storyline bailout show, since the sheer mechanism behind a one-time, unpredictable title challenge is a blessing for both fan anticipation and Creative, and can easily bail out any bad storyline choices, or add drama to existing ones.

Unfortunately, as much as things change throughout the years, some things never change either, in the world of professional wrestling.  Such as the ideal that if a ppv isn’t Wrestlemania, Summerslam, Survivor Series or the Royal Rumble, it’s basically a glorified bonus episode of RAW or Smackdown.  Money in the Bank is definitely on that B-tier of annual shows, but at least it gets to have a consistent name, and not something random and thoughtless like Great Balls of Fire (really?).

Needless to say, I was excited at the prospect of having a relatively free evening where I could watch MITB, but after the show was over, I was left with this unimpressed taste in my mouth, like when you drink a Pepsi MAX which tastes good going down, but leaves a lingering, slightly acidic and bitter twinge in the back of your throat whenever you swallow afterward.  Except the difference between Pepsi MAX and MITB is that I actually find Pepsi MAX to have been enjoyable, and was mostly meh about the rest of MITB as a whole.

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So good.  Master of None, Season 2

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

I’ve (attempted to) articulated before on how much I loved Netflix’s Master of None, and applauded it on its sheer realism and top-top shelf writing and direction.  The whole minority and LGBT-aware aspect of it took a back seat to the fact that it was simply a dynamite show, that I could not get enough of and was sad when the first season came to an end.

It was wonderful news when the second season was confirmed, and it was happy days all over again when I found the time to binge through the first half of it, and turned into a melancholy end of a good roller-coaster ride as I methodically watched the last few episodes.

Seriously, Master of None is pretty much on my perma-list of favorite television shows.  Ever.  Up there with Parks & Recreation, Black Mirror, and a few other titles that are probably up there that have the unfortunate distinction of being left off because they’re not as fresh on the brain.

Season 2 of Master of None did not disappoint, and I’m hard pressed to say that I didn’t not enjoy a single episode.  Even the prototypical palette-cleanser episode, I Love New York, which barely featured any of the actual cast was done in a manner that was still captivating, entertaining and generated humor in creative and believable ways.

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Honestly, this fight is probably going to suck

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Anyone who likes sports in general would had to have been living under a rock if they didn’t hear about the year-plus of build-up that has finally culminated in an official set date for the next fight of the century, pitting MMA superstar Conor McGregor against Floyd “Money” Mayweather.

Let’s be real here though, the buildup was everything, will continue to be everything as we’ve still got nearly three full months until the match itself, and said match itself will be the most disappointing part of this entire saga.  Basically, this is kind of like a slightly watered down version of Mayweather vs. Pacquiao all over again, except McGregor is a way more entertaining shit-talker and as colorful and flamboyantly outspoken personality as Mayweather himself.

But the result is going to be the same, and that, I would actually wager money on: Mayweather will win via decision after 12 rounds.

As much trash Mayweather spouts, it’s kind of laughable that his boxing style revolves almost entirely around defense, dancing around for 36 minutes and occasionally landing a jab only after he’s 100% certain it will hit after endless time spent observing and circling, instead of actually boxing.  He spends 36 months talking shit, and when it comes time to throw down, he always turtles up and waits for his opponents to make the first moves before methodically playing the counter attack game all the time.

I mean really, the guy is 49-0 where 23 of them came via decision. 

“I’m gonna defend myself against you to death!” 

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Using two lockers at the gym is a dick move

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Seldom does a day go by where at least once, I don’t think to myself how great it would be if I were Luke Cage.  A fairly unsuspecting guy who can blend in anywhere he goes, but he’s really practically invulnerable and has super strength and for the most part doesn’t ever have to be afraid of anyone because not just anyone can actually harm him with fists, knives or even bullets.

Seriously, if I had the capabilities of Luke Cage, I probably wouldn’t go off and become a Defender and try to be any sort of a superhero.  Superheroes get super villains, and then there are a whole lot of superhero responsibilities that come with being one.  No, I’d just want to capitalize on the confidence of knowing that I’m pretty much invincible and start doing all the things I think and say in my head, and say them out loud, since all fear of physical retribution is off the table if one were Luke Cage.

If I saw someone littering outside, I could actually not be reluctant to call out and reprimand them and then force them to pick up their shit.  They could step up all they wanted, and even throw the first punch, but when I’m Luke Cage, their fist would get shattered, and then they’d have to do what I told them, lest I grab them by the collar and personally walk them to some police or something.  Or if I’m on public transportation, and someone is blasting music out of their earbuds that everyone can hear, I can tap them on the shoulder and ask them to turn it down, and when they escalate the situation from their rotten defiance, I can wait for them to try and land the first blow and then dominate them without any fear of harm.

The list of things that would be great if I were Luke Cage could go on for days honestly, but of all the things that could possibly actually get this particular post off the ground, it would be calling out people at the gym, that for whatever reason it is, feel the need to occupy two lockers in the locker room to store their shit.

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A new genre of horror

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Over the last few months, I’ve watched a lot of television shows and movies, that albeit good and entertaining, I’ve noticed an unnerving possibility that these stories could be realities.  Such in themselves transcend a typical horror genre of jump scares or traditional psychological fright, and seem like it’s becoming something of a new genre of horror, in the horror that such fucked up stories could be modern day reality, with just a few realistic tweaks to the world here and there.

Black Mirror and Get Out come to mind pretty quickly, but what really pushes the ball down the path is The Handmaid’s Tale, which the present story is disturbing and disheartening, but it’s really the series of flashbacks that really invoke horror, as modern American society crumbles and deteriorates into the dystopian, Christianity-driven world of Gilead.

That’s really the horror of the show; believable, relatable situations, that especially in today’s modern society, feel like things that could very easily happen with just a little bit of coercion in the wrong direction.  Dystopian inequality?  Just a few wrong bureaucrats voted in away.  Legalized xenophobia?  Same impetus.  Fahrenheit 451 becoming a reality, technology evolving into wrong directions, people getting hanged in public, these are all things that feel like they could become common place with just a few wrong decisions from society here and there.

And I feel like storytelling of today is very much aware of this new genre of horror, and is capitalizing on it, leading to such frightening and captivating television and film.  Much like trainwrecks, they’re hard to turn away from, but goddamn does it provoke thought and make you wonder just how close to chaos it feels like the “real” world is actually operating under, and if things will ever get better, or are all these nihilistic ideas a little too close to reality, and it’s not so much a matter of if, but when shit hits the fan and these stories become reality.

Thoughts on Get Out

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Recently, I just watched the film Get Out, which came highly recommended by just about everyone.  Needless to say, when everyone is saying it’s a great movie, and then you start seeing/reading things about how it’s getting rave reviews, most notably the 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, then the bar is being set onto some skeptically high heights.

To cut to the chase, I did think Get Out was a really good movie.  It’s well acted, thought-provoking, with great timing on comedic moments to break the tension and levity of the constantly escalating conflict of the story, with some pretty good twists because everyone loves twists in the plot.

Worthy of a certifiable fresh rating on snarky websites like Rotten Tomatoes?  Definitely.  But to be given the sheer volume of critical response it received?  I think it’s a little overblown.  Frankly, after the film ended, I couldn’t help but feel like, especially given the sheer nature of the entire film, that there’s a prevalent aftertaste of white guilt involved in how the film was so universally acclaimed.  I feel like I could see clear as day the irony of a film that touches on white guilt on almost an anthropological way is applauded by the vastly white majority of popular media, who watched it undoubtedly in an anthropological manner.

It’s a very good movie, don’t get me wrong, and I would love to see what Jordan Peele does next in the future.  But maybe it’s because I’m in a minority group substantially more minor than blacks in American society that I just don’t see anything about how white people treat black people for me to be apologetically lenient with my judgment of a film over.