I saw X-men, I thought it was really cool. So I was disappointed when I read the reviews after the movie, that generally said that it was a piece of crap.

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&gl=us&ie=UTF-8&q=x-men&btnG=Search+News

Please support your local mutant by watching the movie!

I also read an article on CNN about how Marvel is investing in it's own movie production studio. Unfortunately, they are investing a lot of money into Captain America! WTF, who wants to watch a patriotic freak in tights that throws around a metal sheild? But then again, I did enjoy watching a movie with a bunch of guys in leather tights running around and beat each other up to save humanity.

Also found a cool site: http://peekvid.com/

It's got a lot of cool downloads. Not sure if it is entirely legal though, but GEEZ, there's no LOST.

Even though I'm in Shanghai and don't get the daily dishings of HBO and other pay TV programming, the many pirated DVD shops and magical technologies of BitTorrent have fed many a thirst for quality programming in China.

Hello. I can't wait. Tomorrow, I will be watching X-men 3!!!!

http://www.x-menthelaststand.com/

I'm still a kid deep inside.

Last night was Robin Gibb's concert in Shanghai. It wasn't a sold out audience, and I was able to get scalped tickets for cheap. 580RMB tickets I got for 200RMB each. So my mom and I sat and watched Robin Gibb sing the Bee Gee hits that we all know. It's kinda sad that his brother passed away, and even though it wasn't really watching the Bee Gees perform, it kinda was like we were watching them perform. Of course, Robin Gibb does have some vocal leads on songs like I Started a Joke and Words and Massachusetts. I can't believe I've watched Michael Bolton AND Robin Gibb in concert. Nevertheless, it was still fun. Scalped tickets for this type of concert is very easy to get, and I couldn't help but think that people who paid for front row seats got jipped, since the audience started gathering right in front of the stage by the time Robin Gibb was singing his Saturday Night Fever songs blocking the view of anyone in the first few rows.

Here are some pics from the Chivas party. It was good seeing Jaime, Karin and their friends.

A while back, I said something new was happening. So here it is, I just quit my job.

There's so much fascination with this country:

http://www.nytimes.com/specials/chinarises/intro/index.html

Everyone's trying to figure it out. I sometimes doubt my decisions to come here, but when I look at all the different places in the world, and what's going on over there and wherever, my personal experiences andarticles like these reinforce my hunch that this is one of the most exciting places to be right now. Once in a lifetime.

Watching the NYTimes special, I am also saddened by the videos of the extremely poor, and about the people who are very wealthy now in China. The rich like Jack Ma and Zuo Zongsen literally busted their balls to get where they were. Jack Ma randomly approached white people and practiced English on his own for 9 years on a daily basis! That's friggin dedication. I'm reminded of stories about Li Ka Shing who used to sell wallets and plastic flowers on the streets, and now is one of the most powerful men in Asia. Or even my dad, who read the English dictionary cover to cover everyday until he memorized all the words so that he could properly understand the English language.

We have it so good, we will never be as hungry as they are/were. The discipline, the zen like patience... goes against the grain in this world of consumerism and instant gratification. Where commercials are limited to 30 seconds and people are finding out that even that is too long to keep the attention of the average person. Where headlines are cut to 3 - 5 key words or they're not read. Where daily conversation is kept at a minimum in illegible short hand OMG, TTYL, LOL. Some may claim efficiency, but I think it more has to do with laziness, impatience and lack of discipline. This is a 1.2 billion force that is on the rise, I don't think people truly understand that yet. Do you?