"I love you more than you love me!"  "Nah uh, I love you more!"

Trust me, it's not an argument you want to win.

So I'm clearly on a post overload today, but when I woke up this morning I jumped out of bed, had time to make myself an egg sandwich, and get to work early enough that I had time to get coffee from Bittersweet.

Anyway, after work, I'm hitting up McCarren Pool for a screening of Wet Hot American Summer. This will be great because I haven't seen the movie since I was 15. Aside from what will probably be an obnoxious gathering of kids in the pool, Michael Showalter will be introducing the film. Hip Hip Hooray! Hip Hip Hooray!

I suppose that viewing the movie on the eve of my Junior year would be appropriate since I first saw the movie at the same time in High school. At the beginning of Summer 2004, some friends introduced me to the web skits that Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter, and David Wain put on as Stella. Honestly, since those skits were posted on the censor-free information super-highway, they were much funnier and disgusting. Dickfish, anyone?

(Big Secret: Whenever I'm in Boerum Hill for my internship at A Public Space, I hope that I run into Michael Showalter -- who supposedly lives in the area -- so I can tell him that my friends had a band called Dickfish. They had one show and played a guitar with a douche. I don't mean the guitar player was a douche, although that could be debated, but they used an actual douche from a box).

Moving on, the Comedy Central series was pretty good, but it was nothing that could top any of their stand-up, web videos, or Wet Hot American Summer.

i love Tom, he always have a word for my moment

This post is the conclusion to a post I wrote a long time ago, appropriately titled Racism (appropriately because, at least superficially, that post makes me look very racist(!)- so I guess this post is partly to clear up any misconceptions that I have anything against black people, which I don't, and expose my true feeling regarding them, and if possible without excessive stereotyping (oops too late :P)

I actually sent an email to someone (who I initially thought was black--well technically I still don't know, but intuition tells me they're not) which perfectly captures the gist of what I'm trying to get across in this post, so I'll just indulge in my already over-used practice of copying directly from the email, with essentially no editing.

"FTR, I consider blacks unfortunate. They are violent and sexual tendencies in their genetics, but it was not always this way. Throughout history, they were targeted for thousands of years, by various nations and empires for slavery. This resulted in several generations of interbreeding, prioritizing physique, endurance, and all other qualities suited for hard labor. This resulted in handicaping the other genes, which also in turn criples African cultures, and thus countries and their descendents, beyond repair.

I feel pity for blacks. they are mankind's greatest sin, and America is paying for it right now, with the blacks ultimately suffering most, because they cannot help the way they are. Genetics is, after all, the most difficult thing to oppose, and add to that a corrupt background and culture- living successfully is nearly impossible for most.

but if anything, it proves that at least one Biblical prophesy is right :-)"

So yeah, to clarify on that: Africans were slaves long before America, or even (civilized) Europe existed. Ironically, everything seems to point to their origin as slaves as being after they (in Egypt) enslaved Hebrews.

Well, I don't know much about African history outside Egypt (should do research), and it's more than likely that they enslaved their own kind long before Abraham even encountered them, let alone Moses. But it cannot be ignored that Egypt, the country once holding the title of most advanced and largest empire in the world (for over 1000 years) ended up (indirectly) regressing into slavery after a few generations of using Hebrews for slave labor.

God said the Hebrews would never find peace again until the end of times)- and if anything that prophesy was an understatement (read:Holocaust). well, that's a bit of a detour from this post though.

As I'll introduce in my post Karma, I believe in miracles, although they IMO do not [necessarily] come from God, but are likely the universe's failsafe mechanism when the balance of things is threatened. Therefore I think that miracles must happen to Africans that will make up for their struggles (as our sin). I think they have happened, in the form of African leaders such as "Martin Luther King Jr." or George Washington Carver" or perhaps even "Akeelah" (or whatever her real name is- only know her name in the movie "Akeelah and the Bee". (lol BTW Akila is an Egyptian female name meaning "intelligent". Cool!)

Well, perhaps these might not be miracles, but Karma does find a way- that is something I am sure of. I believe that American, and perhaps other countries, are paying this debt, having enjoyed technologies, wealth, food, and luxuries that we should not, and these things were largely the product of manipulating African borns, and other minorities (our corporations are still manipulating Third-World countries- abusing their impoverished state) Now we have a crime rate that is far greater than any country, and when we consider what we have gained through war, slavery, and capitalism- it's not that surprising that our sins caught up with us while we're kicking back in high places. (you'll probably have to click on the link to get the joke- it's an irony-loaded pun) Especially ironic is the fact the Africans are the ones doing the payback- and they're not doing it on purpose (honestly what kind of happiness could people get out of that?)- but out the "ill-bred" (another pun) that Americans, and their ancestors, gave them. How appropriate is that!?!

One final point that I noticed is that our circumstances, and the Karma-oriented reasoning I'm presenting, is shockingly similar to the very premise presented in the 2000 film Unbreakable. It was directed by M. Night Shyamalan- I gotta remember that name- a lot of good movies (IMO) were directed by him. To the point:

A little history: In the movie, two twins are born, but one is fair-skinned, strong, "unbreakable" (as demonstrated in several freak-accidents) a sense of justice so strong that he can literally hear people calling for help when crimes occur. His only weakness is water, which he essentially collapses under the pressure of, perhaps eventually melting (although this never occurs in the movie, obviously). The other twin- is dark-skinned, and has bones so hollow that just walking too long, or getting bumped- will cause him to potentially break several bones. Out of a bittersweet and confused mix between fidelity and jealousy, he wrecks havoc, both to reunite with his brother, and out of the helpless belief that he is destined to be a villain, just as his serendipitous brother was destined to be a hero. I think this was a genius idea for the writer(s), as it makes for a magnificent metaphor of the permeation of sacrifice in every aspect of life, and, more controversially, the fact that Americans, like the protagonist of "Unbreakable", live in the luxury they due as the result and at the expense of the deteriation of the African race, having descended from slaves that were abused both genetically and culturally, so that we may live in the sinful luxury we do now. Of course, I do not believe in sin morally (as I said in my Evil post) but I do believe in it as the negative energy of Karma.

Featuring:

Bittersweet, Zaunal Rampa, Pop Shuvit, Sonic Mush, Hujan UK Tour & more!

Price: RM6.00 l Released: Forgot already, sorry..

Of course the sweet to the bitterness is that I get to return to my darling and I cannot wait.

Anyway, thanks for keeping up with my travels. Even though my foreign travels are over for now, my project and adventures continue, so I hope you keep reading and commenting.

Till Next Time--

photo taken from http://postsecret.blogspot.com

I was looking at the new Sunday Secrets over at the PostSecret site when I came upon this picture. My eyes immediately teared up and this bittersweet feeling washed over my being. The picture reminded me of the photo I took of my boyfriend's and my feet. I also knew even way back then that I already loved him. Even if we've been together for just a couple of months that time. I still love him so much. I'm learning to love him (good traits and flaws and all) as each day passes by. I don't know if the day will ever come when I'll be able to show him that picture of our feet and tell him that I've loved him ever since.

P.S. I actually already did show him that particular photo of our feet but I placed a different caption. I still hope every single day that he'll do what it says. <3

Delicate Cage

Life as I know it

Has definition around the edges

Yet freedom keeps me sane enough

To know definition is no barrier the brave

I cannot deny the part of me I cannot hide

Yet living in this delicate cage remains

The kindest gift life has endowed

It is a bittersweet surrender

Accepting reality

And making the

Most of time

And proximity

]]> http://oraporra.wordpress.com/?p=63 Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:22:33 +0000 beuro http://oraporra.wordpress.com/?p=63 olá pessoas oiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii rs hoje quero falar de umas bandas mutcholokas que achei na net rs. to brincando. só umas coisinhas que tenho ouvido ultimamente. por coincidência, as três recomendações que eu vou fazer são todas duplas sertanejas (brinks). vamos fazer uma lista? -s.

1) álbum novo do bitter:sweet

"portishead e zero 7 com um pouco de serge gainsbourg e everything but the girl na medida certa". é assim que o bitter:sweet se descreve no myspace. e eu não poderia achar uma descrição melhor rs. talvez algo como "música de james bond", quem acha? enfim... o segundo álbum da banda, lançado esse ano, consegue ser ainda mais delicioso que o primeiro. vocês podem baixá-lo aqui se não contarem pra niguem que eu postei o link.

só um ps: the bomb, a primeira música de trabalho do álbum ainda não tem clipe, mas... (essa é boa) virou tema da abertura de uma série estrelada por... brooke shieldWHO? essa aqui:

wat?

pois é, ela ainda existe. e eu procurei loucamente a abertura no youtube, mas apagaram ORAPORRenfim, continuand

2) apresentando: kap bambino

mais uma recomendação exclusiva do correspondente do blog em pirockland, tb conhecido como edu, the boy with a big cu. kap bambino é uma duplinha francesa mutcholoka, cujas características mais marcantes são os vocais histéricos de caroline martial e os sons eletrônicos barulhentos, sujos, trashes, enlouquecidos e vaginóides criados por orion bouvier. vale a pena conferir. vejam aqui embaixo o clipe de save:

pra quem curtiu, tb tem também uma performance ao vivo de new breath, minha música preferida da banda. vejam que loucura huahua.

3) clipe novo do electrocute (yay!)

não tem muito o que falar sobre essa duplinha sapeca. lembram quando eu falei do robots in disguise aqui? -nao. ok, mas é que as meninas do electrocute seguem a mesma proposta: pouco dinheiro no bolso e muito cocô de passarinho na cabeça. vejam só o clipe de on the beat:

adoro estampa de oncinha. se você curte, me mande esse wink:

e até o próximo post rs.

The art of making cookies and crackers is that of turning simple ingredients into wonderful things.
-- Cookies and Crackers, Time/Life Books, 1982

Cookies are mostly baked till crisp or just long enough that they remain soft, but these cookies are different. The first bite is a little crisp, but when they reach inside your mouth, you do not have to bite or chew. These buttery and crumbly cookies will simply melt in your mouth, leaving a lightly sweet bitter-sweet chocolate taste. Mmmm...

These cookies are extremely easy to make and they are suitable for people with egg allergy (or allergic to eggs) as this recipe does not require any eggs at all. Eggs are normally used in recipes as binding agent, for this recipe, cornstarch has been used to substitute eggs as the binding agent. It requires just the creaming of butter and icing sugar and then the addition of a sieved flour mixture - plain flour, cornstarch, salt and cocoa powder. Fold in the chocolate chips and then they are ready for the trail in the oven. There is no need to reduce the amount of icing sugar if you are using unsweetened cocoa (I used Hershey unsweetened cocoa as that's what I have on hand). You can use Dutch-process cocoa powder as well (according to the original recipe). The dusting of the icing sugar will not affect much of the sweetness of the cookies.

These cookies will come out of the oven REALLY crumbly, so make sure they are completely cooled before removing them from the baking sheet gently as they are very fragile. However, I'm sure there will be times when you can't resist the temptation of gobbling the hot cookies but just try to abstain yourself! The timing used to bake the cookies varies from people to people. I like to bake it a little longer so that they become a little crispy yet still crumbly inside. Some people may think that these cookies tasted like powder, that's a sign that you've under-baked the cookies. Give it a minute or two extra and try again, until you get the desired texture.

Variations can be made to these cookies as well. I've used a combination of white and milk chocolate chips and added an extra teaspoon of vanilla into the previous batch of cookies. For this batch I used Ghirardelli® bitter-sweet chocolate chips. Both tasted great. :D

These cookies can be kept in an airtight container for up to 5 days (seriously I doubt they can last that long) and can be freeze in resealable plastic freezer bags or airtight containers for up to 2 weeks.

Chocolate Butter Cookies (makes around 40 cookies)

1 cup all-purpose flour (plain flour)
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon salt (omit salt if using salted butter)
227g (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup confectioner's sugar (icing sugar)
150g chocolate chips (bitter-sweet, milk, white, semisweet...)

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a bowl, sift together flour, cornstarch, cocoa powder and salt.
3. In another bowl, beat butter and confectioner's sugar till light and fluffy, 5 to 7 minutes, scrapping the sides occasionally. Add flour mixture, mixing, until smooth. Stir in chocolate chips.
4. Scoop cookie batter by heaping teaspoonfuls, drop them onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes till firm around the edges. Remove to wire rack and generously sprinkle hot cookies with extra confectioner's sugar. Let cookies cool completely on baking sheets on racks.
5. Gobble them down with a cup of tea. :D

P.S. I've baked another pie! I'll get it up soon! :D

A couple of years later, you say
"I never thought you'd stay in the academic circles" and he says
"How come a crowded place like London is for you?"

The talk (and the wine) flows freely.
"Do you rembember that night, when...?"
"Yes, it was a terrible evening, I don't know what went wrong! I only had a bottle of vodka, how come I passed out like that?"

A bottle vodka. Seems a lot more now. For some (for me) it even seemed a lot back then.
"I don't know," I reply. "But it was new years eve and you were sick on my shoes."

The nattering doesn't stop. For me, we are talking about one of the best years of my life. For you, one of the worst. I say, how come you didn't tell me? You say,
"there is a thin line between sanity and senselessness and I thought I'd push you over it, why, do you thrive on craziness or something? "
"I wasn't the one who downed a bottle of vodka!"'
"No, fuck knows what you downed!"

And the summer night is mild along the Thames. We talk about London, about cities, about eccentric professors, and about them weird, weird, Brits (how we love them). About how everyone else are getting established and having children while we're not. How we are not in a hurry, how we are still young (we are, aren't we?) and how most people might not know what they've been missing,

I say don't leave it another five years.

You say you won't, but I think you are lying or that you've had a vodka too many. I say I may come to visit you soon: I may also have had a vodka too many.

It's weird to watch you walk away.

Just like that.