I lived in San Jose for the past 17 years. Yet, it was not till Wednesday that I visited the Winchester Mystery House. Growing up with my group of friends, I have heard many ghost stories. My friends and I always wanted to explore many places that people have claimed were haunted. Whether it is on San Felipe Road in the Evergreen Valley, where they said a ghost of an old woman on a bike will greet you and your lover in the car. Or Marsh Road in Milpitas, where there have been rumors of a girl at the end of the road that will chase you down if you do not leave right away. We have been going down old roads, sneaking into abandoned property and trying to take all the pictures as possible to try and see if we can get a safe paranormal experience. With all of that behind us, I have decided to just go and pay $23.95 to take a tour of the Winchester Mystery House.
I have heard the story about Sarah Winchester and her husband’s rifle company. The legend goes that she built the Winchester Mansion to appease the spirits that were killed by the Winchester rifle.
It was still daylight outside when I toured the mansion, yet I still had an eerie feeling something was there besides my tour group. We went down twisted staircases and saw doors that led to nowhere. We visited the room where Sarah Winchester died and took a peek at her séance room. In the end of the tour, that eerie feeling went away when our tour guide conveniently lead us into the gift shop. I was satisfied that I was able to visit a part of San Jose’s history, and got to visit a haunted house with out climbing over a fence or crawl through holes on the side of the walls.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Friday, September 21, 2007
It is Just Music
“That’s just emo!” “What happened to Hip-Hop?” “I hate mainstream crap.” Everyone keeps on telling me his or her negative opinion on music. While growing up in the United States, I was fortunate enough to listen to many varieties of music. I always had my favorites in each genre, but people keep on telling me that some of my choices are crap. They literally think that I care about their opinion, to the point where they will get angry with me when they think I do not get what they are trying to lecture me about. The sentence I hear the most is, “Music isn’t what it was when I was growing up.” This is coming from a person that is my age. Each time they ask who are my favorite bands or artist is I ignore the question and talk about politics.
I love music; I understand that music evolves and adapts over time. What a band or artist was, when they started, is not going to be what they are going to be now. The good band or artist adapts to their listeners. Some people believe that they are betraying their fans when they change their sound, but what they are doing is trying to get a new generation of fans. For example, the band Green Day had a sound that would appeal to most audience when they had their first album, Dookie in 1994. It was mellow and the album was easy to relate to their main audience since it dealt with boredom and wanting to get away from it. Yet their second album, Insomniac, was more of a punk album, with more power chords and a harder sound. This album related more to the people they played for in the past, the punk crowd.
Other people believe that mainstream music, is commercialize and money is the only thing they want out of their experience. These people like to trash the artist from companies like RCA, Arista, and Sony. They like underground artist from independent record labels like Look Out Records and A&M Records. Even though their artist is in their taste, it might not be for someone like me.
People need to get that music is a form of art that is judged only by personal opinion. It is not something that people should trash just because they don’t like the band or artist. Music is something that people should just listen to and shut up about it because in the end, its just music
I love music; I understand that music evolves and adapts over time. What a band or artist was, when they started, is not going to be what they are going to be now. The good band or artist adapts to their listeners. Some people believe that they are betraying their fans when they change their sound, but what they are doing is trying to get a new generation of fans. For example, the band Green Day had a sound that would appeal to most audience when they had their first album, Dookie in 1994. It was mellow and the album was easy to relate to their main audience since it dealt with boredom and wanting to get away from it. Yet their second album, Insomniac, was more of a punk album, with more power chords and a harder sound. This album related more to the people they played for in the past, the punk crowd.
Other people believe that mainstream music, is commercialize and money is the only thing they want out of their experience. These people like to trash the artist from companies like RCA, Arista, and Sony. They like underground artist from independent record labels like Look Out Records and A&M Records. Even though their artist is in their taste, it might not be for someone like me.
People need to get that music is a form of art that is judged only by personal opinion. It is not something that people should trash just because they don’t like the band or artist. Music is something that people should just listen to and shut up about it because in the end, its just music
Friday, September 14, 2007
That is messed up Food Network
Am I the only person in the world who does not like Bobby Flay?
If you have ever watched The Food Network on late night, you would see this show called Throw Down with Bobby Flay. This show is about a New York Chef named Bobby Flay; he goes around challenging unknown chefs on their signature dishes. To do so, Food Network producers would go down to the home town of the unknown chef and lie to them by telling them that The Food Network would give them their own segment on a made up show. While back in New York, Bobby Flay would practice making his own style of their signature dishes. At the climax of the episode, the unknown chef would host some kind of gathering where he or she would make or bring their signature dish. Before the festivities start, Bobby Flay would sneak into the crowd and present himself and his challenge of who would make the better dish. After the tasting of the dishes, food critics and or local chefs would be selected as judges to judge which dish is better. Usually, the unknown chef would win the throw down.
My problem with Bobby Flay is his ego. Even though he looses most of his throw downs, his ego seems to still be there. My family who likes his show likes to claim that he is exposing these unknown chefs to the world. Yet, if you watch the show, the camera is mostly on Bobby Flay. One episode had a doughnut throw down. In this episode, Bobby Flay challenged Mark Israel of Doughnut Plant. Mark’s reaction was pleasant at first, yet when the cameras was still rolling on Mark in the back of the stage, he was yelling at his cell phone screaming, “They lied to me!” Throughout the episode Mark’s attitude was in disgust, especially when Bobby Flay asked Mark to taste his doughnut.
Bobby Flay needs to calm himself down. He does not need to make food into some kind on competition. Food should be left alone as something to eat, not for something to compete.
If you have ever watched The Food Network on late night, you would see this show called Throw Down with Bobby Flay. This show is about a New York Chef named Bobby Flay; he goes around challenging unknown chefs on their signature dishes. To do so, Food Network producers would go down to the home town of the unknown chef and lie to them by telling them that The Food Network would give them their own segment on a made up show. While back in New York, Bobby Flay would practice making his own style of their signature dishes. At the climax of the episode, the unknown chef would host some kind of gathering where he or she would make or bring their signature dish. Before the festivities start, Bobby Flay would sneak into the crowd and present himself and his challenge of who would make the better dish. After the tasting of the dishes, food critics and or local chefs would be selected as judges to judge which dish is better. Usually, the unknown chef would win the throw down.
My problem with Bobby Flay is his ego. Even though he looses most of his throw downs, his ego seems to still be there. My family who likes his show likes to claim that he is exposing these unknown chefs to the world. Yet, if you watch the show, the camera is mostly on Bobby Flay. One episode had a doughnut throw down. In this episode, Bobby Flay challenged Mark Israel of Doughnut Plant. Mark’s reaction was pleasant at first, yet when the cameras was still rolling on Mark in the back of the stage, he was yelling at his cell phone screaming, “They lied to me!” Throughout the episode Mark’s attitude was in disgust, especially when Bobby Flay asked Mark to taste his doughnut.
Bobby Flay needs to calm himself down. He does not need to make food into some kind on competition. Food should be left alone as something to eat, not for something to compete.
Friday, September 7, 2007
F U Steve Jobs
I hate Apple Inc. recently they cut the price of the 8GB iPhone and introduce a new line of iPods. They did not have the decency to wait at least a year before making something obsolete. The 8GB iPhone is now $200 less than what the price was when it came out last June and the 4GB iPhone will be gone in a few weeks.
I bought an iPod Nano last February since my 30GB iPod Video broke for some reason. Now Apple Inc introduces a new Nano that also plays video. To be honest, I rarely used the video function on my iPod, yet I wish I waited a few more months to get the new Nano. The 30 GB Ipod Video will also be obsolete just like the 4GB iPhone. Steve Jobs is introducing a 160 GB iPod and calling it the iPod Classic, just like coke re-introduce their old recipe and calling it Coca Cola Classic.
Why did Steve Jobs do this to his loyal customers? He is punishing all the people who wanted to get his new products early. The iPod is more than just a product; it became part of a lifestyle with all the accessories you can buy for it. He says that he will give a $100 Apple rebate for the people who bought the iPhone with in fourteen days of the price drop, but how about the other people who bought his product a little earlier than that. Where is our rebate ?
I bought an iPod Nano last February since my 30GB iPod Video broke for some reason. Now Apple Inc introduces a new Nano that also plays video. To be honest, I rarely used the video function on my iPod, yet I wish I waited a few more months to get the new Nano. The 30 GB Ipod Video will also be obsolete just like the 4GB iPhone. Steve Jobs is introducing a 160 GB iPod and calling it the iPod Classic, just like coke re-introduce their old recipe and calling it Coca Cola Classic.
Why did Steve Jobs do this to his loyal customers? He is punishing all the people who wanted to get his new products early. The iPod is more than just a product; it became part of a lifestyle with all the accessories you can buy for it. He says that he will give a $100 Apple rebate for the people who bought the iPhone with in fourteen days of the price drop, but how about the other people who bought his product a little earlier than that. Where is our rebate ?
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