A Trip to London

Visiting London has been a life-long dream of mine.  Today, in the Sunday edition of Washington Post in the Travel section, I came across a bargain for a flight from Washington, DC to London.  It says that I could book a flight for $410 roundtrip, including taxes, via Delta Airlines, considering I make the purchase before September 7.  So I decided to check out the Delta Airlines' website and, true enough, I found one for $420 roundtrip, including taxes.  That is a bargain!  I started thinking about taking the trip on the week of Thanksgiving in November.  I have a couple of friends in London who would welcome my stay at their places, instead of getting a hotel room.  Yet... I hesitate.

Why do I hesitate?  It's the currency exchange rate.  If I were to spend £200 in London, it would mean I'd have to spend nearly $400, excluding the currency exchange fees I'll have to pay.  If I were to stay in London for a week, I doubt I would be able to stay within the budget of £200.  There's food, transportation, and some sightseeing activities.  So, £300?  That's easily around $571.

It's likely I'll not take upon that opportunity.  *sigh*  So much for the currency exchange rates.

Thought-provoking analysis: "to be" verbs

Here's some food for thought.  It might even boggle your mind.

Last night, a very interesting thought crossed my mind.  I was thinking about the differences between the verb "to be" between American Sign Language (ASL) and many spoken languages such as English.  ASL doesn't have the "to be" verb.  Then it struck me that the usage of the "to be" verb is illogical.  Now, I just can't stop thinking about it and had this discussion with a few people today, including an English professor at Gallaudet University.  I might be taking the language too literally, but do hear me out.

The verb "to be" (is, am are, were, was, been, being) means "the state of being" or "to have an existence".  Why do you need to discuss the existence of a person or something when that person or that something is already there or has been there?  It is not possible to discuss about something that does not have a state of being.

Before you argue that it's possible to talk about something that doesn't exist, let look at an example that does not exist: superheroes.  While it is true that there is no such a person like Superman on our world, Superman does have a state of being by being an idea, a concept.  Superman exists in the form of an idea.  Therefore, Superman is already there.

Here's an example on what I mean when I said it is not possible to discuss about something that doesn't have a state of being.  Is it possible to talk about a color that has yet to exist, neither physically nor an idea?  No, because there is no name for it or does any of us know what it looks like.

A verb tells you the action of a person or something.  I don't see the action when I see a sentence like, "The leaves are green."  So why is the "to be" verb in this sense a verb?

The use of the "to be" verb can be eliminated from the language.  What's the difference between "he is working today" and "he works today" or "he is working tomorrow", "he works tomorrow" and "he will work tomorrow"?

Just something for you to chew on.

Movie Review: Superman Returns

Superman Returns was...

boring.

I hear a collective "GASP!" from you folks (via telepathic means, that is. :)  I'm still as Deaf as ever.).  Yes, it was boring.  Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy a good superhero flick.  Spiderman and Spiderman 2 were awesome.  Batman Begins kicks ass.  And I seem to recall I enjoyed the first X-men flick, but this... Superman Returns was a bore.

The visual aspect of the film was fanastic and the directing was very good.  So for the flick being a bore, I blame on both the writer and the producer.  The writer for its crappy screenplay and the producer for accepting this crappy screenplay.  The introduction in the movie took way too long.  Taking too long to set everything up.  The exciting part which was the climax was too short.

Seriously, this Superman Return hype is really overrated.  Way overhyped.  If you haven't seen the flick, lower your expections and maybe you'll enjoy the film more than I did.

Hopefully, the next Superman movie will be better than this one.

I give this film a C-.

Donations for AIDS Vaccine Bike Trek 2006

Please help my friend, Andrew Murphy, raise money for the AIDS Vaccine Bike Trek 2006.  The bike trek will be from Montreal to Portland, Maine, taking place in August.  It will be a 5-day, 425 miles trek.  Andrew will be participating in the trek.

Click here to go to his donation page of the AIDS Vaccine Bike Trek 2006 website.

President Bush signs law increasing indency fines

Yesterday, President Bush signed a bill into law that boosts the FCC indecency fines up from $32,500 to as much as $325,000 per violation. The law restricts television and radio broadcasters from broadcasting obscene and indecent material between 6pm to 10pm. The law does not apply to cable or satellite services.

What prompted this law signing by the President was the Jackson "wardrobe malfuction" incident on Superbowl few years ago and ever since then the Parents Television Council has been pushing the FCC to increase the fines to crack down any broadcasters who dare to broadcast any indecent and obscenes material.

Frankly, I find this kind of censorship quite ridiculous. It just pisses me off. If you don't like what you are watching, then don't watch it. If you are concerned about what children are watching, it is YOUR responsibility to control what your children are watching on TV. It just never ceases to amaze me that people keep on complaining when there are technology provided to control what can be watched on TV (v-chips, password lock, etc) -- USE it! It seems like to me that you folks can not be bothered to take responsibility and rather put it on the government. Come on, the government has much more important things to worry about than this! Frankly, people, even children, in Europe are much more grown-up about things like this on TV that you Conversative, stupid, immature Americans are!

If I ever do have children, which I never will, and one of them saw the boob-flashing incident on Superbowl and decides to make a fuss out of it, I'd say to this child, "It's not like you have never seen a boob. It's just a boob, so get over it!" Or even better, if this child laughs at the incident, I will laugh with him. Frankly, I find the "wardrobe malfunction" incident rather funny.

With all this censorship going on and teaching our children that things like that are "wrong" and "offensive", you all are just making the US into a more tense society -- people always being so tense. Ever wonder why Europeans appear much more laid back than we are and enjoying their lives than we are with our lives?

Subtitled movie trailers

Don't you get frustrated that movie trailers are never subtitled?  Well, you can now check them out subtitled at a particular website.  For your information, the website is UK-based.  Here's a link:

http://www.yourlocalcinema.com/subtitled.trailers.html

Movie Review: Cars

Pixar has done it again!  They managed to pull another winner!  I just can't stop thinking about this movie and I want to see it again.

"Cars" is basically about a self-absorbed race car, Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson), with the Piston Cup on his mind.  En route to California for a rematch to break the tie from the racing in the opening of the movie, Lightning ends up in a small town, Radiator Springs, after breaking the law there.  There, Judge Doc Hudson (voiced by Paul Newman) sentenced Lightning to do community service in the town, repaving the stretch of the road he damaged.  When Sally, the porsche (voiced by Bonnie Hunt), tells Lightning the history of the town, the story unfolds and he starts to look into himself, re-prioritizing his values.

"Cars" didn't try to be one of these over-exaggerated caricatures.  Its strength lies in story telling.  It told a story and it had morals.  And the animation was absolutely top-notch: the landscapes were breathtaking!  It managed to pull some strings to my heart.

I give this film an A+.