2009 Livingstone Baptism for my broz

Surrogacy

~ Warning. Movie Spoiler for the new movie Surrogate. ~

Surrogate. Overall, 4.5/5

It's a pretty good movie for something that hasn't been hyped up. It isn't a movie for just anyone to watch. It kept me thinking, but not just about what was going to happen next or anything directly related to the movie, but just about the different concepts and ideas that this movie spawn from. The reason why I rate it so high is because after one of the longest school days of my life, and a tiring drive back from San Diego, this hour and a half long movie managed to gain my full attention, and kept my mind moving. Acting wasn't half bad since most of the time it was robots, reminded me a bit of iRobot the way they moved, and the plot was a little...unexpected to say the least. Filled with a couple surprises and it was like a PG rated movie (I think PG-13, but the way movies are rated now-a-days it might as well be).

So now to the "movie spoiler" part of my very first movie review. well sorta.

The movie was basically about technology, it's social influences, it's addictive properties, it's ability to create a "new" life, and a lot of the modern day problems of the advancement of technology.

The first thing that struck me hard was that each human had their surrogate (a robot that represented themselves in their daily lives), and the surrogate did their daily routines by control of mind through a control center (controlled by the real human at home). Portraying the slothfulness of mankind by having them never leave their homes, I think this is a pretty good representation of all the n33ts, hardcore gamers, geeks, and all the other people that spend more time on their virtual lives than physical lives. If this is truly "advancement" then maybe one day in the not too distant future, everyone will be something like that.

The second thing is that each surrogate had a youthful body, nice and fit, no wrinkles, nice eyes, perfect teeth, basically the "perfect body." This fake image of people represents another part of technology that isn't too much of a problem, but it is what makes the online community so fakely appealing. The idea that you can be transformed by using the internet. It is a place where the introverts can become outspoken and a place to create new identity. Even though in comparison it may seem too far from reality, with time I do believe that similar things can happen.

The addiction is my last point. Technology, as you can see from me being on my laptop at 3 a.m. is very addicting, this is undeniable. A new way to communicate with people, access to unlimited information, but regardless of the use, it's addicting. The movie takes it even further to say that through these different characteristics of new technology (of creating a new self), it has become a new lifestyle. Technology is becoming to future of mankind. This new lifestyle, once created, becomes so addicting that the word addicting is an understatement.

Sorry, I know I said last point, but a line in the movie caught my attention "to kill the addiction you have to kill the addict," the whole car ride back I was asking my brother what he got from it (we went to watch it for his birthday), but this quote was ringing in my head. I think this is partially true, obviously not kill the physical body, but the mental body that is attached to the addiction. "I have been crucified with Christ, that I no longer live, but Christ lives in me, the life I live..." That's the verse that came immediately to me. Some food for thought, do you kill the addict to kill the addiction?

This movie DEFINITELY makes you think a lot, though it isn't too suspenseful or actiony, or dramaticy, or lubby dubby, or anything of those sorts, I recommend it for those who want to challenge themselves about the world that we live in today.

Now we type with our fingers, what if we could type with our thoughts? o.o Before you think I'm crazy (i'm probably just really tired) think about this, the world was first thought to be flat, cause if it wasn't the water would fall off right? Things unimaginable can become reality.

First day of class

I'm only half way through my first day as a second year and I'm bored out of my living mind. 5 lectures straight from 9:30-5 (on tuesdays and thursdays). And almost every class that I have consist of 90% freshmen, man I'm such a noob.

Here is my schedule (as of today):

I've ran out of places to go on the internet, schedule that I could make on my iCal, and so I come back to blogging. SIGH, I've never done this much class in my life, and the sad thing is that the classes that I'm expecting to drop don't look half bad so I might stick with this for a bit. We'll see where the Lord leads.

For now back to class! 3 down, two more to go...

Bored in my room

its 12:30 and today was probably the most unproductive day in the history of YY.

~end post.

Moving in

Driving down the 5 as we passed the Carmel Mountain exit, I got excited to get back to San Diego.

Entering Sixth college with my car full of dorm stuffs, Jackie sleeping in the front seat, and Sylvia chilling in the back, I was eager to get all moved in.

And when I entered my apartment, I knew that it was going to be a crazy year. with 3 people already moved in (from my last years res halls) they had 3 amps, a drum set, a bass, electric guitar, and a lot of other stuff (one of which was a stolen cardboard cutout of a man from Ralphs)

Moving in was really interesting, the room felt small, but it wasn't too bad. And afterward to celebrate we went out to Phil's BBQ! A table of 25, and it was basically 5 different parties who have never met each other and we just chilled and ate.

Then afterward I had to drive all the way back home on a crazies stomachache and headache, missed the exit, took the long way home, and finally here in Corona. School year hasn't started but I guess I consider this the first of many fun trains this year. (soon to be blogged more about)

oh how I miss you San Diego.

Love will find a way to break through.

My favorite part of life is simply reconciliation.

This life is made for reconciliation,

from imperfect humans reconciling with the perfect Lord.

to long lost children reconciling with loving parents.

to old friends reconciling with their childhood buddies.

but my most favorite...

is the reconciliation of a broken friendship, made new into a bond formed stronger than the one that was broken.

And in this all, I realized that reconciliation is made possible by Love. Not the "love" that comes from the world, but out of sacrifice. To gain something beautiful must cost something painful. The cost of new life was death on the cross and the cost for reformed friendship is the risk of losing it altogether.

what a beautiful word. reconciliation. Love.

The Lost Symbol

Just finished reading Dan Brown's new book!

Actually it took me longer than I expected, but this week has been pretty jacked up for me.

Anyway, I'm going to attempt to write my first book review (or so I'll call it).

The beginning of the book was a bit slow, though I kind of expected it considering that the book looked bigger than the rest of Dan Brown's works. From the night that I first opened the book, I was surprised, it was a book that I could actually put down and go to sleep without getting all antsy about picking up from where I left off the next day. But at the same time, even though it didn't capture my full attention, the kept reading.

Plot wise, the story was well built (like most of Dan Brown's works) and well finished. It kept a consistent pace from cover to cover, and the tone and transitions were very fluid. The antagonist was a bit more gruesome and at points the story kept me at the edge.

(now to get to what I was thinking in my head)

The story isn't based on Roman Catholicism or any target belief, but is composed of most of the major world religions. And at times I had to pray about keeping focused and realizing that this was all fiction. Many times I found myself on the computer researching to see if some of it was true, but every time I would stop myself midway of the search and just continue reading. Of course, as we see from the Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown's work can be quite controversial, and although this book probably won't stir up as much talk as the Da Vinci Code, you can definitely see how Dan Brown uses small facts to build up a larger picture of having Christian's question their faith.

I suggest that those of you who do plan on reading this book to prepare your hearts and minds, and it is not a direct attack, but rather a slow pushing of ideas and thoughts to formulate a bigger "attack."

Overall, it is a good book and I'm really satisfied with it. I rate it a 9/10.

First Repost (or whatever you call it)

Joe Tsang:(via daphneemarie)

…and that is the nature of woman: to love when we love them not and not to love when we do.

(disclaimer: I don’t believe what i just wrote, although my experience tells me its right, its just the first quote that popped in my mind when i saw this. )

my thoughts: Pretty funny, yet seemingly true. Maybe I'll post more thoughts on it later.

And I await the words...

After a long time of not meditating and waiting on the Lord, the problems surface. Spiritually speaking, the attack has begun. I'm being surrounded on every side, pushed in to my very core by every means possible. The enemy has found my weakness and is advancing, taking over my expansions that I felt I had worked so hard for.

My financial tower is crushed, impenetrable (or so I thought) wall of confidence has fallen, my dad basically "disowned" me, my emotional barriers have crumbled, and all because of my incapability to push to maintain a consistent time with the Lord.

I'm tired of fighting these battles, and yet I know the Lord is calling me to leave it to Him. But I don't know what is getting in my way. Is it my pride? Is it my faith? I have absolutely no clue. Yea, these words are those of a depressed man, and I guess it's something that I was going through.

Yea, those are words of the past, probably about an hour or so ago. Now I feel like I've given the reins to the Lord. To have Him do what He will is my new will. Now to prevent me from grabbing those reins back, I realized I need to handcuff myself and let the battles begin. I've seen the Lord knock down my problems before, and now I'm about to watch it again. From the North to the South, from the East to the West, I have been given a new hope. It's time to listen to the words that He so gently whispers.

And the funny thing is that with all the noise around, it's hard to just sit and listen. It's hard to listen for that whisper. I just want the world to shut up so I could listen. It's time to listen, time to pray.

To the few of you who read my blog, just pray for a peace in my heart.

To those that are concerned, don't be, I have the Lord on my side.

Birthday

First and foremost, I want to say thanks to everyone who made my day. From the simplest "happy birthday" wishes on Facebook, to the dinner at CPK, and to the fun monopoly games.

Today started and ended with Monopoly games, consisted of dinner at CPK, the hub with peeps, and a lot more.

I slept over at Delia's place with Jared, Laura, and Jackie. At around 1ish we (SD hg) played Monopoly which was really fun. Went to sleep, woke up at around 10 went to the hub to just chill, I went home to wash my car, then at 6 went to CPK with Helen, Christina, Gary, Delia, Jared, Christine, and Josh. Then went to search for a Toys R' Us which was really adventurous (not really), went back to Josh's house to play Monopoly again.

Honestly speaking, today was a very chill day. It was fun, but could've been funner (yes I know it's not a word). It was surprising, but I could have been more surprised. Adventurous, but could have been more adventurous. But I liked it just the way it was, considering the weekend's retreat, everyone was so dead tired, including myself, that I couldn't have asked for a better "chill" day than my birthday.

This year has definitely been a year of growth for me, I hope to never say that I had a year of un-growth, or a year of standstill. I want to continue to push forward and I know that God is opening up so many opportunities. I will blog again tomorrow just because I'm tired, but I have so much to say, and so much to do so goodnight world. Thank you all for letting me have a wonderful birffday.

Shrek

Musicals have always captivated me. From my freshmen or sophomore year in HS, and going to musicals to get extra credit, to now watching broadway shows in New York City, I'm so amazed at everything that goes on during a musical.

First and foremost the acting and singing is always amazing, whether it be in Diamond Bar or on Broadway.

Second is the music, the orchestra/band always amazes me. With the precision from the conductor and the notes blasting away from each instrument, I always get the goosebumps.

Third is the staging, the lighting, and all of that kind of stuff. Props, backdrops, etc. always shows how much effort is put into each musical.

Last year I watched The Little Mermaid with Ruth, Grace, and Hannah. This year I watched Shrek with Josh, Eddie, and Chester. At first someone brought up the question, "how are they going to make Shrek into a musical?" and at that moment I started getting anxious. I didn't want to pay $62 to watch a crappy musical. But right from the start of Shrek I was blown away, the musical aspect of it swept all my fears clean. When Shrek emerged and the loud applause echoed throughout the theater, I knew that this was going to be a great musical.

I think I got the goosebumps so many times, and almost teared up a couple times too and had more laughs than I've had in a long time.

The music was one of my favorite parts, and if you were to compare this with the Little Mermaid, well I hate to play favorites soo I'll just tell you to watch both. Next on my list is to watch The Lion King.

My favorite song from the musical: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C20CjvnrR-U&feature=related