-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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,…
-
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…
-
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.…
-
Charlie Chaplin uses lamp post for support, ladder for weapon and shoes for breakfast. When it comes to everyday use of common objects, there is no end. Here is my Top Ten: – shopping cart as walker – golf cart as janitorial vehicle – hand dryer as hair dryer – food freezer as mortuary (Libya) – ammunition…
-
A graduate of Penn State, I related well to the scenes from the Deer Hunter, set in an industrial town of Pennsylvanian. Smokestacks on the slope, familiar faces and friends and the “Welcome Home” sign for returning soldiers from a distant war. But unlike other wars before and since, this one was controversial. It showed when the main character,…
-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
Thang Nguyen 555 