Thang Nguyen 555
Cultures on Collision Course
about
Author: Thang Nguyen 555
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When my mom, a teacher, took me there, I was 5. This time, I went there by myself. Happy Teacher’s Day! The Temple has always opened to seekers . On New Year‘s Eve, it’s the equivalent of Times Square . The crowd, the smell of incense burning and the long line at fortune teller’s dispensary. It…
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When I visited the neighborhood gym, and heard “I will survive” over the speaker, I knew I was back in full swing. Scooters weaved in and out, backpackers with signature sandals (footwear was an important identifier here) and fake Heineken bootlegged in from our neighbor in the North. I will survive (recycled cook oil, recycled…
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He is the man. My man. Summer night 40 some years ago, he practiced his guitar on the roof behind my house (like a line in Your Song). Today he is still playing, whistling and singing. On previous trips, I watched him perform along with two other members in an outdoor cafe. Slowly, it winded…
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When I boarded my flight to Vietnam, Penn State was losing to Nebraska. And after I landed in Vietnam, I read about New York “tent city” had been re-occupied by the Mayor. Here in the land of motor scooters, and kids try to conjugate in English, I can put those problems in perspective. It’s true…
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A photo of Penn Stater, eyes glued to the Collegian, brought back strong memories of the HUB (Student Union Building) and my time in Happy Valley. State College was home to me for 4 years. Happy Days. The Wall. The Corner Room. Beaver Stadium. Best ice-cream at the Creamery. In the Spring, at outdoor concert…
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In the latest issue of the New Yorker we find a cartoon, showing two women with huge brand-name shopping bags, blurting out “I am going to start my own Occupy movement on 57th St”. Scott Peck, on Organization, observes that organisations go through phases: honeymoon , chaos then, compromise before reaching full functioning. Movements however are little bit different…
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On Easter, the networks dutifully searched their archives for larger-than-life movies like Ben-Hur to fill their air time. From the Beat Generation to the Beatles, anti-hero started to emerge, like in “Rebel without a cause” (the knife-fight at the Observatory between leader of the black leather gang and James Dean in white T-shirt). Since then, anti-heroes, like at My Lai Village,…
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Oakland Bridge that is. The one got fixed by a China-based sub-contractor. Now, down the dock and downtown, Occupy pledges to stay for the long haul. Gertrude Stein once said of Oakland: “there is no there, there” (hence, no center to be occupied.) When crossing that bridge, I thought of New York City (sprawling California only…
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It’s not that safe at Safeway, if you decided to munch on one of their merchandise (eat-now, pay-later vs pay-now, eat-later), as one pregnant Honolulu tourist found out. http://news.yahoo.com/pregnant-mom-says-sandwich-arrest-horrifying-214407004.html We learned in this AP article that no one stopped to say,” this has been taken far enough” i.e. we have made mountains out of mole hills.…
Thang Nguyen 555 