Oh how I love dialog in old movies. I recently watched "On the Waterfront" by Elia Kazan, starring a young Marlon Brando. Below are some favorite quotes:

Brando in a tough guy voice,
"I always feel I'll live a bit longer without ambition"
"My philosophy on life, do it to him before he does it to you"
"You've lost the battle, but you've got the chance to win the war"
"Never is going to be too much for me shorty"

Weird phrases on Asian T Shirts

On this t-shirt..."donde estan mis pantalones?" click to enlarge

When in Tokyo I noticed a surplus of young women wearing disturbing profanities across their chests. Cute girls in pink baby t's wore shirts that in thick black lettering exclaimed "fuck me please" or "You are an asshole sir". These young woman were no more than 14 years old. The same odd profanities on tight t-shirts exists to some extent in Singapore as well. I suppose its the same concept as Brittney Spears adorning a tattoo of a Chinese character that she thought meant "mysterious" but instead meant "strange". Alas, it would be cruel to compare these girls to Brittney Spears. I can't possibly believe that these young women understand what they wear so boldly across their shirts, and yet they wear these symbols with pride and with confidence. Is the English language no matter what it says or represents that cool? To some, I suppose it is.

Dear friendlies,

This experience has been tough. I have carried 100's of pounds of equipment on a daily basis through the jungle, I have been potentially cursed by sculptures, I have thrown up while shooting in 100 degree weather, I have been celibate, I have been eaten up by weird South East Asian Bugs, I have smelled nasty smells that you never even knew existed (sweat, socks, farts and durian fruit?), I have missed home, I have been reprimanded for eating popcorn in a movie theater, and I have witnessed drunken brawls on a nightly basis. My question is...do I keep on going? Do I continue to build character with these experiences in Graduate school in a far off land, or do I take what I have learned and return home? What do you think? Its challenging going through it, but when I see these experiences written down, whoa.

Scenes from downstairs

Below my room... I think there is a Buddhist celebration happening downstairs. They bang on gongs for 9 hours every day. I am having difficulty working.