The Hunger Games:D

YAY!! This is one of my favorite topics EVER!!!! Now, not to be confused with my sister (she isn't  impressed with the series) I am obsessed with the Hunger Games. I bought the book a while back and I finished it in a day. I finished the whole series in two days. I didn't like the 3rd book as much... the 1st book was definitely the best but the 2nd book is amazing as well.

Peeta is amazing. Gale is amazing. I'm not going to say that I'm on team Peeta, (although I love him) because this is not the Twilight series. I'm sick of people making the connection because they are NOTHING alike. I'm just going to stop talking about Twilight because it's contaminating my thoughts about the Hunger Games.

So, for those of you who have not read the amazing series, I'll sum it up for you. It takes place in the ruins of North America. Panem is created, and made of 13 districts and the Capitol. The districts had an uprising against the capitol but they were all defeated, and district 13 destroyed. In result of the uprising, and as punishment against the districts, the Capitol created the Hunger Games. In the Hunger Games both a girl and a boy from the ages of 12 to 18 participate. All 24 of them are put into an arena that could be filled with anything (a desert to an icy wasteland) and they have to fight to the death.

Katniss, a 16 year old girl who grew up in the Seam in District 12, has to hunt in order for her family to survive. The story is about Katniss in the Hunger Games. Hehe...there's a really cute love triangle too. Peeta is amazing. I can't wait!!!!

Anyway, I decided to write this post because the movie is coming out on March 23rd. First day of spring break for me. I am so excited. I hope I can go to the midnight showing. I am so obsessed with this book I look up all the trailers for the movie, all the actors, anything having to do with the Hunger Games.  The premiere was yesterday... I was so jealous of everyone who got to go. Please read the book. You won't be able to put it down. I love it. (I've probably read it about 5 times in the past few weeks)

Jennifer Lawrence plays Katniss. Josh Hutcherson plays Peeta. Liam Hemsworth plays Gale.

Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor.
(Excited scream)


Trailer:

Woooww.. I get shivers just watching them. 

UPDATE:
I can't go to the midnight showing... I guess the odds are not in my favor.... It sucks because it's on a Thursday night (which is a school night) and I have a math test the next day. Now I'm very sad. I hear that the movie is supposed to be AMAZING. Also, I forced my mom to read the whole series! I think she liked it. It's a pretty gory book. I've been making a lot of gifs lately, mostly about the hunger games. Here's one:

I Loaf Peeta!

This is the way I portray myself in drawing form. (Same girl as the logo for Kool Asian Kids) My shirt says I loaf Peeta...... Yeah, I know....It's super corny, but I've seen worse. Example:

Pretty corny right? (I guess you wouldn't get it if you didn't read the book, but the character above is the guy who plays Peeta Mellark. Peeta Mellark loves Katniss, and he's a baker, hence the picture above)
 Finnick is amazing. Finnick is so sweet and awesome and can survive on his own. I think I like him better than Peeta. I hope they choose someone good to play him in Catching Fire. (PLEEASEE don't make it Alex Pettyfer.)

The Robo Games Trilogy

In honor of my favorite books EVEH "The Hunger Games" trilogy by Suzanne Collins being made into a movie that's coming out this weekend, I'm renaming my 3 posts about my Lego League Robotics competition. The Robo Games Trilogy. These are real events, unlike the book. Check them out here:

Part 1: The Competition
Part 2: Catching the Pig
Part 3: Victory

Hehe....Kind of a spoof on the Hunger Games Logo...It's a NXT block
 (which is used in lego league robotics). Made it on AI.

The Robo Games, Part 3. Victory

The Judge's Award at LegoLand.

We won two awards. My group got one. MY group: the Robo Swag team. By the time the competition ended, we thought we did so poorly that all of our teammates left already.  Only me and one other kid stayed to collect the trophy. So, what did we win? We won the Judges Award. For interviewing well....I guess... Not for winning any competition. But that's good with me. At least we won something! The other award was for our other team, the Odd Bots. They won the On-the-Spot mission for catching the Lego pig in 8 seconds!!! That's pretty impressive. They beat the next fastest team by one second!  This is the first time ever that our Middle School Robotics team got two trophies in one competition! I'm pretty proud.

By the time the competition finally ended my mom asked me if I wanted to go on any rides (because there were absolutely no lines due to the rain). We walked through Miniland  in Legoland, which is really amazing. We also walked through this Pharaoh's Revenge thing also. I am, a wuss when it comes to haunted walks. It's like the House of Horrors at Universal Studios. I get so creeped out even though the LegoLand one is not scary AT ALL. I still bury my face in my mom's arm, close my eyes and walk through without seeing anything. I do remember seeing this tiny door in the Pharaoh's Revenge that said "Knock For Assistance". My mom wanted to knock. I did not. The last thing I want was to get a heart attack from some creepy thing popping out of a mysterious door. I guess we were supposed to look for some keys but I just pushed my mom along so we didn't find any. We went on one other ride which was a tiny roller coaster for babies called Coastersaurus. My mom was screaming the whole time, which was embarrassing because even the toddler in front of us wasn't screaming.  My mom and I are pretty pathetic when we go to amusement parks. I can't believe that last year, we even had the courage to go on Jurassic Park at Universal Studios together.

Miniland

So because of our "amazing" performance at the Robotics competition we'll be on the front page of our school's website and we'll go in front of the whole middle school to show off our awards at Monday Morning Meeting.... In our bright pink shirts.

The Robo Games, Part 2. Catching the Pig

The LegoLand competition is a big event. For my school, since I’m in the Robotics class, if I don’t go to the competition, my grade will be impacted in a big way. We have to be at LegoLand at 8:30 in the morning (the competition starts at 9) so I had to get up at 5:30 to drive to LegoLand to be there on time. The whole competition lasts until 2:30 p.m. in the afternoon. We can't really go on the LegoLand rides either because we only have 10 minute breaks in between each competition. It sucks. On top of that it was raining so hard the day we went, most of the rides were closed, and whenever we walked from the theater to the pit (where we prepare our robots) we get drenched in water.

Me and a teammate in our pink t-shirt. Judge behind in farm hat.

     Before the actual competition, there were judges who walked around to interview us. (They all wore farm hats to match the farm theme so you could tell them apart from the rest of the crowd.) They asked us to show them our programs, describe how we tackled our missions, and scribbled our responses on a clipboard. Then they thanked us and walked away.

The actual competition and theater is pretty scary because the competition is projected on a giant screen behind the stage. That means everyone can see if you make one mistake. My team was very easy to spot because our t-shirt was bright pink with my design in black. We had two and a half minutes to try and fit in as many missions as we can to earn the most possible points. Then we leave, go back to the pit for 10 minutes, fix our robot, and go back on stage. We get to do this three times to try to improve our score. Each time mine got so close, even pulled the lever but failed to accomplish the mission. Our scores for the three times were 150, 200, and 75.

Exhausting right? So we get a break after that and get to eat lunch and go on rides? No. We  have to go do the On-the-Spot mission. This year, the mission involved letting loose a Lego pig that's strapped onto a robot that moves in circles and we have to program our robot to catch the pig without damaging the robot. Another catch. We start on one half of the table and a competitor starts on the other side. We have to compete to see who gets the pig first. And it must be knocked onto our side of the table. If we knock the pig onto our opponent’s side of the table they win. So, we get 30 minutes (that's why it's called the on the spot mission) to practice our program. This may seem like a lot of time, but it takes a long time designing attachments for the robot and programming it to run the way you want it to.

To find out how we did, see our next blog: The Robo  Games. Part 3. Victory.

The Robo Games: Part 1: The Competition

,

 

I've been on the Middle School Robotics team this semester. I chose this elective with my dad at the beginning of the year, and I've hated it. First of all, most kids in the class are boys except for me, and two others girls. Sadly, the two other girls are on a team together (with other boys) and I'm all alone in a group with all boys. Two of the boys in our group did everything, while the other three of us did nothing all class because we didn't know how. The class started to grow on me when I created the t-shirt design for my class (I love using Adobe Illustrator) and tried working on making a program for my robot. My team name is Robo Swag. (This is what I get for being in a team with all boys)

Each year the Legoland challenge is different. This time the challenge was farm related. For my challenge I had to move my robot out of base, turn left, and position the robot to pull back a handle which releases the "water" into the fields to feed the crops. (The water is really a blue ball).  There are many obstacles that you have to try and avoid. It was actually pretty fun programming what the robot should do, how many rotations or degrees it should move and watching the robot carry out its tasks. It's pretty hard to picture all of this but I'll try my best to explain. You can choose out of several missions which ones you want to do. For example, knocking the rooster off the fence, using the tractor to plow the fields, finding the needle in the haystack, catching the cow and the pig, and so on and so forth. My mission actually worked pretty well, considering no one helped me learn how to do the programming, and I had to try out my program by trial and error. I almost got excited for the competition at Legoland. Almost.
(For more on how the competition went, see my next blog, Robo Games, Part 2: Catching the Pig)

My Own Funnies

I don't read the newspaper much, but I love to read the funnies.  I also love to watch Sophia, Blanche and Dorothy on the Golden Girls on TV, so I decided to draw some comics about a young girl and her granny.  I love both my po-po and nai-nai, by the way.

Mochi Magazine!

Hi everyone, happy March!

Mochi Pyramid

We recently stumbled upon a really fun website called Mochi Magazine. Founded by Maggie Hsu, Stephanie Wu, and Sandra Sohn, Mochi Mag aims to reach out to Asian-American teen girls. How cool is that? The magazine discusses the the struggles and the successes that come as part of growing up as an Asian-American girl, from eating disorders (how vulnerable we are to developing them and what we can do to maintain healthy body images), to fashion (the latest triends not only in America but also in various parts of Asia), celebrities (did you guys hear that Brenda Song is engaged to Miley Cyrus's older brother?!), college (we work our butts off all through high school....what's next?), and everything in between. We were ecstatic to find that Lijie is also featured on the site, along with a number of other up-and-coming Asian American musicians and actors!

After contacting Mochi, they wanted to interview us and write a short description of who we are and what we do here at Kool Asian Kids. We're really psyched about this; you guys should definitely check it out and all of the other great stuff on the site! Here's the Mochi Mag post about us. Be sure to make the most of all the great information the magazine has to offer by subscribing to it! It's definitely worth it. As a matter of fact, I think I'm going to replace Seventeen with it. It's got all the fun and excitement of seventeen, minus the trash and plus great material really worth thinking over. Let us know what you think!

KOBO

Sorry I haven't posted in a long time. I've been busy with schoolwork. Today, I'm going to write about a special store.  Last summer, we were visiting Seattle and exploring Chinatown when we found KOBO, which is a small store in Seattle that features Japanese, Asian, and Northwest arts and crafts. We ended up spending two hours there looking at all the art work and curios. The store features many different types of artwork by different artists. The artwork they feature is amazing and cute. They sell a wide range of items such as books, posters, paintings, mugs, ceramics, t-shirts (THEY'RE SO CUTE I BOUGHT TWO!), spray painted...objects, and much more. A few of my favorite art pieces were by Enfu. However,  I loved all the other pieces as well. I'll post a few of them below.

We bought these silver spray painted baby durians. They're very cool and decorative. Maybe they are better spray-painted then eaten, because I hear that the inside is supposed to be  stinky.

The store inspired me to paint some artwork of my own. For me, the topic is food, of course,. Here are a few.

Pompano

tomato

Eggplant

Here's KOBO's information if you want to check out the store/artwork.
KOBO website: http://www.koboseattle.com/category/main.aspx?
KOBO Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/KOBO/61999622226
Enfu: http://enfu.com/

New Update! Bravo Canada's reality show WAY OFF BROADWAY with Jon Lee!

Episode 1 of Way Off Broadway Can't wait to check out the first episode of the new series "Way Off Broadway" on March 2 at 8:00 p.m. on Bravo!  Be sure to catch it.

Who says Asian students are just nerds?!!  Our uncle Jonathan Lee (to the right) who just graduated from Medical School to be a psychiatrist, (nerdy, yes. . .) will be featured in the brand new 13 episodes  Bravo reality show "Way Off Broadway" (way cool), undergoing intensive training for eight weeks to put on "The Wizard of Oz" to benefit charity.  In the press release, he is described as Jon Lee – psychiatry resident at the University of Toronto who does research in transcranial magnetic stimulation at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.  How awesomely nerdy is that!! Go Uncle Jonathan! Check out the link to information about Jon Lee on Bravo Canada's website. Jon Lee

Check out the newly released trailer for the show:

Singer Songwriter - Lijie

Lijie Yang

Hey guys, so if you’re looking for some good new music to listen to, boy do I have a treat for you.

Last year, I was mindlessly surfing Youtube for decent music when I stumbled upon a cover of Brandi Carlile’s “The Story” performed by Lijie Yang.  I started checking out the rest of her posts, and I was really impressed with her voice and beautiful songwriting abilities.  I checked out her website, read her great biography, and I was absolutely hooked.

My parents took us to Seattle for a short trip over summer vacation.  I’d read on Lijie’s website that she was having her CD release party in Seattle while we were there, but it was going to be held at a bar so I knew I couldn’t go.  Instead, my parents took us out to have dinner in celebration of my birthday.  After our meal, the most unexpected thing happened: Lijie walked into the restaurant, walked over to our table, and started talking to my mom like they’d met before.  Apparently, my mom had arranged for me to meet her, even though I couldn’t go to her CD party.  It was definitely a great experience—I got a signed copy of her album and the chance to meet one of my favorite musicians.

As someone who follows her dreams, Lijie is definitely a role model to me.  Check out her website here for free downloads of a couple of her songs: www.IamLijie.com. While you're at it, check out and buy her albums:The Music Maker, and Roam. Some of my favorite songs of hers are: I Left a Part of Me, Love's Melody, and Time from the Music Maker, Roam, Blue, and LA from the album Roam.

If Jeremy Lin can make it in the NBA . . .

I'm in the middle of my school midterms, which is why I haven't been thinking about blogging much. However, this last couple of weeks, a lot of news came out about Jeremy Lin, the Chinese American dude who graduated from Harvard, and now plays for the New York Knicks. My sister and I already follow Jeremy Lin and his funny Youtube videos with KevJumba and Nigahiga.

Last week, my dad keeps making me watch clips of Jeremy Lin playing point guard for the New York Knicks. I can't help but think that maybe there is athletic potential in all of us Asian kids after all.

I've been playing in an Asian League basketball team since 2nd grade.  We had a very lame name for our team: "The Shooting Angels".

Me in third grade with the Shooting Angels

When we were kids, we didn't mind so much, but in 6th grade, we started feeling a bit embarrassed by the name.  My teammates were saying that they don't want to wear our team shirts to go out because of the name.  So we finally changed our name to the Magic.  Still lame, but better.  Apparently, the Asian leagues have the funniest team names: the QD's, Below the Rim, Happy Shoyu, Hoops a Daisies, Hollywood Dragonettes, Mustang Rainbows, Kukui Nuts, and many more. It's kind of quaint and nice, as long as you don't have to wear those names on your shirts.

In the Asian league, we play over thirty games a year.  We play all over Los Angeles County, Orange County, and even in Las Vegas.  We are drilled on the fundamentals, and we develop great friendships with our teammates whom we've been together with since 2nd grade or even younger. My team doesn't exclude girls who are not so good at playing. We know each other's strengths and weaknesses, and we encourage each other during games.  I started off shooting at the wrong basket, but now I am the point guard for my team (mainly because I'm short but fast). We've had some good seasons (we were last season's champs), and some bad ones (We're in the midst of a losing season right now). On my part, I also play with kids from my local parks and recreation center perhaps another ten to fifteen more games a year.

In middle school this year, I joined the school basketball team.  Because my school is mostly non-Asian,  I think most of the school coaches and students assume that this short scrawny Asian girl  doesn't play sports. But, when I signed up for basketball this season, I find myself to be one of the more experienced players on the team.  While we've been losing quite a few games, I know that I help keep the team competitive. When we play against other schools, I'm pleasantly surprised that I run into players from the other Asian league teams I've played against before.  We're happy to see each other.

If we all keep playing, and schools and teams give us a chance instead of assuming that Asian kids can't play sports, maybe there will be more Asian boys and girls playing ball in college, and in professional teams too. Go, Jeremy Lin!

Instant Ramen!!!

What is  ramen? A staple for college students, a very pricy meal, a meal for people who don't want to cook, or just something that hits the spot. Either way there are so many different choices, it is bound to satisfy your taste buds.  Ramen can be amazing and expensive noodles, in which chefs try very hard to make the perfect broth, noodles, and toppings. Ramen can also be non-perishable, full of preservatives and loads of unhealthy stuff. However, in my opinion they are both good!

There are many varieties of instant ramen, ranging from (what I call) "safe" ramen called "Cup of Noodles" as you may have all heard of, to the red, hot, spicy "Shin Ramyun" (our favorite). I suppose "Cup of Noodles" is good on a cold, non-adventurous day, however there are so many others to try! When you start watching Korean dramas, you will see dozens and dozens of ramen commercials. Especially, our personal favorite commercial, for "Hoo Roo Rook" and Shin Ramyun. Man these people are so dramatic! Here are the videos below:

 

From the commercials shown above can't you see how happy these ramen eating men are? The catchphrase for Hoo Roo Rook is literally "So good, slurping is allowed!".

We have tried the Japanese ramen before, and trust me you can tell the difference. The Japanese ramen, specifically the ones we got ( Shirakiku Tokusen Sio Ramen "JAPANESE STYLE NOODLE") was bland, not very spicy at all, and best when kimchi is added to it.

"Shin Ramyun" is very spicy and especially good when you add other fresh ingredients to it. For example, eggs, wakame(seaweed), bok choi, other greens, and anything else you desire.

Instant ramen is so delicious, yet so bad for you. I love it! Try to control yourself...like my favorite manga character, Yotsuba below:

Remember to read from RIGHT TO LEFT!!!! 

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Chinese New Year. Year of the Dragon

For New Year's Eve, my extended family and I had a ten course banquet at a Chinese restaurant tonight! We are so full! Wish everyone a Happy Year of the Dragon!

Manga and Anime

Hi everybody! Sorry it's been a little while since the last post. Today I am making up for it by writing about manga and anime. If you don't know what manga is, they are basically Japanese comics with cute characters with big eyes. Anime are animated, Japanese, movies that are about many different things. I guess all manga authors all have a certain style, so not necessarily "big eyed". Manga can have one book or hundreds in one series. Anime is usually based on a popular manga. A few manga comics we know:
Yotsuba, DGray Man, Tsubasa, Oran High School Host Club, Azumanga Daioh, Fruit Basket, Death Note, Clannad, Naruto, Dragon Ball Z, Amulet,  etc, etc, and much much much much more.

We don't read that much manga but enough to be obsessed by them for a little while and draw characters inspired by them....and go to the Anime Expo..luckily not dressed up like most everyone else. (We aint that crazy) 

Some anime are....
(ALL OF THE MOVIES BY STUDIO GHIBLI WHICH ARE AMAZING) Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Porco Rosso, Nausuca,Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor the Yamadas, Howl's Moving Castle, etc, etc... (these are only by Studio, Studio Ghibli)

 The Girl who Leapt Through Time (WHICH IS AMAZING!!!), Naruto, Clannad (the one we are currently obsessed with), Azumanga Daioh, Oran High School Host Club, and many of the ones above plus many more....

Spirited Away

Naruto

Manga and anime have a wide range of story ideas. Ranging from high school angst, exorcists, cute little girls (like Yotsuba.. which is ingenious), strange daily high school with a prodigy student, a pig-man, a girl who has to work in a bathhouse to change her parents back into humans after being turned into pigs, time traveling, fighting, fighting, fighting, awesome spirit things, creepy stuff, etc etc...

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

If I have to choose my favorite anime (just cause I like cute stuff) it would be Yotsuba. (which is made by the same person who made Azumanga Daioh.

YOTSUBA!

The anime Clannad is so cute and so funny, but it's hard to explain the high school angst and drama and funny stuff to people without them looking at you like your psycho. (You really have to watch before you criticize!!) I can't really name my favorite anime. They are all really good.

Manga and Anime are very different from American comics. American comics are based a lot on superheros. In my opinion, the best American comics are the ones based on life, like Calvin and Hobbes, Charlie Brown, Zits, etc, etc. I like superhero comics too and older comics like Archie, but they are a LOT different from manga. French comics like Asterix and Obelix, and Tintin are amazing but there aren't many new ones out. Manga comes out really fast and they all have different stories, some much better than others.

Once you read one you'll get hooked! Start right away everybody!

The Hilarious Lao Fu Zi: Old Master Q

One of the funniest comic strips we've read is the Chinese Lao Fu Zi, or "Old Master Q".  This comic strip has been around for many decades and was created by Mr. Alfonso Wong in Chinese.  When we read the comic strips we just looked at the pictures without understanding the Chinese dialog.  We'd ask our parents to translate the comic strips for us.  Most of the time though, we can understand the comic strip without needing to read the words.  Most of the comic strips have no words. The pictures speak for themselves because the drawing is so amazing.

Old Master Q is about an old Chinese dude who dresses like a very ancient Chinese dude.  However, he is young at heart and is involved in all kinds of antics and adventures.  Sometimes, he flies an airplane. Other times, he fishes, sky dives, challenges vicious gangsters, duels with ghosts, and even tries to woo beautiful young ladies.  Most of the time, Old Master Q lets the situation get the better of him, and falls flat on his face for the world to see.  But, it's always funny to see him try his best.  His two best buddies are Mr. Chin, and Big Potato.

Recently, we found Old Master Q's website at www.oldmasterq.com.  To our surprise, a lot of the original Old Master Q comic strips are posted on the site. What's even better, now there are English subtitles added. So check it out.  You might get some giggles too.

Angry Birds: World Sensation

Has not everyone played Angry Birds at least once since it first came out? Has not everyone played for hours on end staring at the little birds attacking the green pigs? Has not everyone dressed in angry bird costumes for Halloween? Okay, maybe not that extreme, although many people have gone a bit excessive... The whole Angry Birds has been blown out of proportion... and yet we still play it at least once a week trying to get three stars on every level, even if it takes us all night. Angry Birds has created a world epidemic, and even Hitler loves to play it. That's right Hitler.  Hitler, the most hated dictator in the twentieth century got sucked into the addictive game. See the video below:

Confused? Astonished? Disgusted? Well if you've played the game, you should know how addictive it is and how many hours on end, day and night, that you have spent cursing at those green pigs.

How many hours have you played this week? Comment below!

Merkato Ethiopian Restaurant Review by Fanofrice

My friend fanofrice reviews restaurants for kids better than anyone else. This is her review of one of our favorite restaurants in Los Angeles:

Just Bring Your Hands

You must be thinking right now "Just Bring Your Hands? Is this some kind of donation or something?!" Well no, it isn't. I only talk about food and art remember??(though I can't think of what to do in art...) This is a restaurant, Merkato, where you can eat with your hands! Kids will love this!!

Merkato is an Ethiopian restaurant in Little Ethiopia in Los Angeles CA, on Fairfax. (Near LACMA museum) Well if you live under a rock and never heard of Ethiopian food, then I shall explain. Ethiopian food often has on the center platter a piece of spongy flat bread called injera. The bread is a little bit sour but goes great with what you put on it. On top of the bread are often lentils, cabbage, greens, and meat each cooked in different kinds of sauces that soak into the bread.

Then this is when the hand part comes in. Tear off a piece of the injera and scoop up the sauce and eat up! It may seem uncivilized but that's why kids love it! Hope you have fun!

originally published here: http://coolrice.blogspot.com/2009/08/just-bring-your-hands.html

Well, you know what they say...Bollywood meets Jane Austen

 

"No life without wife."

At least that's what they say in "Bride and Prejudice," in which the stunning Aishwarya Rai Bachchan stars as the female lead, Lalita.  The movie is a Bollywood spinoff on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, and while it does follow closely to the original storyline, it differs in its culture and setting.

Instead of being set in early 19th century England as Pride and Prejudice is, "Bride and Prejudice" takes place almost 200 years later--and in India.  Cultured and well-bred Elizabeth from Pride and Prejudice becomes the free-spirited and beautiful Lalita, and the characters of Elizabeth's three sisters all undergo similar transformations.  Energetic and cheerful Mr. Bingley becomes Balraj, and fanatic Catholic Mr. Collins becomes nerdy and socially-awkward Mr. Kohli. While cold and seemingly emotionless Mr. Darcy keeps his original name in his character adaptation, he goes from being wealthy Englishman and owner of the grand Pemberley to a wealthy and successful owner of a Los Angeles hotel chain. And finally, my favorite transformation of all: Mr. Wickham goes from being something of a playboy and a scumbag to being even more of a playboy and a scumbag.

 One of the themes in both the movie and the book is that of the desires of wealthy single men to marry an eligible young woman.  Jane Austen expresses this idea very eloquently at the opening of her book: "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."  "Bride and Prejudice" simplifies this: "No life without wife."

I encourage all Pride and Prejudice fans out there to watch the Bollywood adaptation.  You are sure to get a lot of laughs out of that one.

Bar Mitzvahs and Bat Mitzvahs (Part 2)

Before I went to my first bat mitzvah, I didn't know what to expect. Neither did my parents. To get prepared, my parents and I watched a movie called Sixty Six. 

Sixty Six is about a twelve year old Jewish kid named Bernie who has been planning his bar mitzvah for a long time now. He lives in England. Unfortunately for him, his dad loses his job so he has to have a smaller party, eventually only having the party at his house. To make it worse, his bar mitzvah takes place on the same day as the World Cup, and the year 1966 is the first time that England makes it to the World Cup Finals so nobody wants to attend his bar mitzvah. They were all glued to the TV. The story shows how Bernie deals with the disaster, from doing black magic on the English soccer players, to discussing the problems with his blind rabbi. It's a really great comedy that I suggest everyone should see, even if you aren't Jewish. If you don't recognize the actor, his name is Gregg Sulkin, and he is now in many Disney Channel movies and TV shows. 

Bar Mitzvahs and Bat Mitzvahs (Part 1)

challah bread

Recently, I have been invited to many bat mitzvahs (for girls) and bar mitzvahs (for boys). I've probably been invited to at least ten now, from kids from my school. A few of them I don't even know. Although I have been invited to ten bat mitzvahs and bar mitzvahs, I've only gone to one bat mitzvah so far. I have yet to see what happens at a bar mitzvah. None of the people in my family have ever gone to a bat mitzvah or a bar mitzvah before in their life. So you might imagine, it was quite the experience. The service is about two hours, with prayers and songs. They praise anything you can imagine; food (challah bread, wine), candles, etc.

It was quite entertaining to see my friend up there singing and holding a candle that was on fire, slowly melting and getting more and more warped. I was very happy to experience the Jewish tradition for the first time, although to sing and praise for two hours got a bit tiring after a while. To the point where the grown man in the pew in front of me took off his shoes and started laughing silently to himself.

The party is a completely different experience. They go all out, with DJs, music, colorful laser lights, entertainers, chocolate fountains, candy bars, dance floors, fog makers, and photo booths. They had a challah bread as long as a full sized bed that was on the table. It's a pity that we didn't get to eat it.

My family and I thought it was a bit extravagant to spend so much time, effort and money on this party.  But then again, it is the big 13.  Although, coming from a  Chinese family, we just get a red envelope with some cash in it.

We quickly stopped thinking that the bat mitzvahs were that ridiculous when we found out how much the kids make. My friend got at least $5,000. Although, she  has to donate some of it to different charities, that's still a lot of mullah. My cousin and I even considered converting for a little while dreaming that we'd make that much money. I must say, the party was very fun though, although I don't like dancing for five hours. I think I'll have to get used to more parties, going to a school that is 75% Jewish.