Finishing the Game

I'm really surprised more people didn't like Finishing the Game. The comic timing by the actors and director was hilarious. The mockumentary does a pretty good job of critiquing Hollywood without being too preachy. in fact, it's quite funny. I think some people just didn't get this film, because:

1) They didn't grow up in the 1970's watching Bruce Lee films and cheesy knock-offs

2) Most people just don't the see the racism in Hollywood casting, so most viewers will wonder "What the hell is this movie alluding too?" I think you'll enjoy this if you're an Asian American dude who grew up in the 1970's, watched Kung Fu theater and took Asian American Studies in college. This is a VERY niche film.

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There's a little (or a lot of) Asian in all of us

I once knew a police cadet with an Italian last name. I won't mention his name here, but suffice it to say, it was a hard core Italian name because it rhymed with multiple strains of pastas: tortellini, linguini, fettucine. Anyway he was an American like myself, born and raised in the US. He related his ethnic background to be that of Northern Italian. I didn't know there was a difference between Northern Italians and Southern Italians, but when I looked at him I got a sense of what some of that difference might be. He was tall, blond-haired, blue-eyed and pink-skinned like a pig. He was far from the stereotypical dark-haired mobster guido image.

The funny thing was although his eyes were blue, they had a distinct Asiatic look to them. He related that he was teased in the past for having these Asian eyes and was called all sorts of derogatory names. But as far as he knew, he didn't have any Asian blood in him. He joked that if he did have some Asiatic blood, it was probably because the Mongols had invaded Eastern Europe and fucked the crap out of everybody.

But I had hung around enough Hapas (I dated a Hapa for many years) to sense that there might be some Asiatic blood in him. I'm no geneticist, but from what I can tell, Asian DNA is very dominant. You can usually tell from the eyes if someone has some Asian blood in them. And that trait is so dominant, that it will stay in your family tree for generations.

I mean look at the Gosselin kids. Jon Gosselin is hapa. His kids are a quarter Asian. I know, I know, you smartasses: you can't divide a person into halves or quarters by race. But I just want to illustrate a point: if you look at his kids, ALL OF THEM look Asian. Some of them don't even look Hapa, they just look 100% Asian.

I think everybody has got a little (or a lot) of Asian in them. I mean look at the celebrities below. I betcha someone in their family past had a bad case of yellow fever:


Leann Rimes




Leonardo DiCaprio




Captain Picard?




Colonel Sanders?!




And back to the lovely Leann Rimes




Anyway, back to dude with the last name that sounds like pasta. He could very well have Asiatic blood in him originating somewhere far back in his family tree. I read a book by Gavin Menzies called 1434:

"Two years ago, a Chinese Canadian scholar, Tai Peng Wang, discovered Chinese and Italian records showing beyond a doubt that Chinese delegations had reached Italy during the reigns of Zhu Di (1403 – 1425) and the Xuande Emperor (1426 – 1435)."

What's interesting is that Admiral Zheng He sailed a large fleet into the Mediterranean and met with the Italians and the Papacy. Zheng He served as ambassador for China, and he and his crew would exchange gifts and knowledge with the various Italian city-states. One of these unfortunate "gifts" were slaves. Hundreds of slaves were given as gifts to the Italian elite. I think there were enough of these slaves to have added some Asian DNA into the Northern Italian mix.

One other thing to mention is that sailors will be sailors. Once they're in port, they go out and explore the local "sights." Who knows? They might have infused a little bit of spice into the mix as well.

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Epic Wedding Announcement

These 2 have way too much time on their hands. If this is the preview, then their wedding must be a multi-million production.

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The Forgotten History of the Asiatic Fathers of America

So there was an interesting segment on the Coast to Coast radio broadcast. Host George Noory interviewed Charlotte Harris Rees, author of the book The Secret Maps of the Ancient World. Her father, Hendon Harris Jr., wrote the 1972 book The Asiatic Fathers of America. Both assert that the ancient Chinese had traveled back and forth from China to the Americas since 2250 BC. Much of their evidence is based ancient Chinese records and on maps that they've procured as well as ancient Chinese maps kept in museums and private collections all over the world.











Rees and her father are not the only ones to claim that the Chinese made regular trips between China and America. Many other researchers from the fields of archaelogy, anthropology, genetics, history and linguistics have come to the conclusion that the Chinese established a physical presence and a cultural influence in the Americas, long before Zheng He sailed with his fleet in 1421. Aside from genetic similarities, there are cultural similarities between the ancient Chinese and Native American/Meso-American cultures in their language, pottery, crafts, architecture and religious practices. Take a look at the facial characteristics of these jade masks and figurines from the Olmec civilization:










Chinese junks and ships have been found all over the Americas and not just on the West Coast. The most bizarre instance was when a Chinese junk was found when Washington D.C. was being dredged of its swampland prior to its founding as the capital:

A Chinese junk was found by early settlers buried in Great Dismal Swamp (L A R Clark); This story, we have found out, appeared in Coronet Magazine, p. 34, January, 1945: "…When the government took over the Swamp and dredged some of the ditches, strange looking hulks of ships were found sunk in her marshes. One, a large Chinese craft, had to be cut through. Sunk in her quagmires are the skeletons of other ships that now belong to the ages – all bearing silent testimony that Old Dismal’s rule stretches far down the corridors of time…"

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Three Keys to a Fulfilling Life

Since my wife and I are going to have a baby soon, I've been thinking a lot about what makes a fulfilling life. What makes one's life complete? How can my daughter have a fulfilling life? And how can I not screw it up?

Asian parents tend to be extreme in their parenting. They either are extremely strict and controlling or relaxed and laisez faire in their approach. Strict Asian parents stress education and good grades and track their child's educational and career path. Career decisions are based on stability and earnings. A child's feelings about the career are irrelevant.

So many aspects of the child's life are determined by the parents that the child grows up not ever really knowing what he or she wants out of life. It's as if your desire was stunted, because it's been supplanted by your parents' desire ever since you were a child. Here's an observation from Sun Yunxiao, author of the book Save the Boys (thanks to MaSir for the reference):

According to "Save the Boys," the traditional Chinese method of 'caged breeding' raises a child like a little emperor and doesn't encourage independence. Furthermore, “the frequent absence of a father figure and the overprotection of the mother is another factor that makes Chinese boys more feminine.”


On the other extreme are Asian parents who are hardly around, and the kids are free to do whatever they want, much like the movie Better Luck Tomorrow. My wife works for the San Mateo School District and works with a number of parachute kids:

"Parachute kids” are children of rich Asian families sent to live in U.S. suburbs known for good schools and safe streets. Typically, mothers try to split their time between their husbands in Asia and their children in America, often leaving housekeepers in their stead. Parents may feel guilty about spending too little time with their kids and shower them with money and gifts...


Whereas children of strict parents grow up with no sense of independence and self-reliance following their parents' direction, parachute kids grow up with no guidance and no discipline, adrift in life with no sense of focus. Neither really knows what they want out of life.

There are 3 keys to leading a fulfilling life. These are the things that matter in the end when you see the proverbial white light at the end of the tunnel:


1) Experiences and memories. Part of what makes life fulfilling are diverse and memorable experiences. A lot of people just follow the beaten path that everybody else follows. They don't ever develop memories worthy of remembrance. Experiencing different things and seeing different places and cultures is what helps you develop as a person.


In the movie Blade Runner, one of the problems the Tyrell Corporation had with its replicants was that although the androids were intellectually and physically superior to humans, they were deficient because they lacked the emotional resiliency to deal with life. To overcome this deficiency in its replicants, the Tyrell Corporation infused artificial memories into its replicants to imbue them with an emotional foundation.

Memories are what makes you... YOU! Without memories, then you really wouldn't have any experiences from which to learn new lessons, from which you derive wisdom. So experience different things and deal with different types of people. Travel and take up a hobby or two.


2) Accomplishments and achievements. Although each experience is a lesson, an experience is not necessarily the same thing as an accomplishment or achievement. Going to Paris may be on your "to do" list, but it is not an achievement. Experiencing things is like going on a ride. But accomplishing something is very different. YOU have to build the ride.

Accomplishments and achievements are things that you build, that you create and give to the world. I used to meet up with a Yahoo social group, and every week we'd do a different activity: go to Yosemite, go kayaking, skydiving, food festivals, etc. Even though it was a different experience every week, after awhile I thought to myself, "Is this really all there is to life? Dinner, drinks and road trips?"

That's when I decided I should write a book. Hanging out with friends and experiencing new things every week is certainly fun. But I didn't feel like there was any meaning to my life doing that every week. Achieving something and tapping into your creative juices is what gives your life purpose.


3) Friends and family. There is no point in experiencing life alone or achieving accomplishments and sharing the rewards with nobody else. The connections you make with people and the relationships you forge are what matter to you the most at the end of the day and at the end of your journey called life.

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Apathy by Celtic

GT talks about apathy in the community.

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John Park on American Idol

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