설국열차 (Snowpiercer)

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An experiment gone awry prompts a new ice age which deems the planet inhabitable. The remaining survivors are aboard the Snowpiercer, a train circling the globe and powered by a perpetual-motion mechanism. The train is owned by a wealthy entrepreneur named Wilford (Ed Harris) who was ridiculed for coming up with a modern day Noah’s Ark back in the day, not knowing that his creation would end up to be the salvation of the human race. Since the train is private property, a hierarchy among its passengers exists, with the poor residents occupying the tail end of the train while the chosen few in the elite circle enjoy a life of splendor at the front. From time to time, Mason (Tilda Swinton), Wilford’s right hand, visits the occupants of the tail to make sure that their subjugation is in place. Years of deprivation and unequal treatment have taken its toll, though, and a rebellion is about to begin. Led by Curtis (Chris Evans) and his wingman Edgar (Jamie Bell), will the proletariat be able to succeed in taking over the train?

Who Wants to Be a YouTube Celebrity?

             
Are you a YouTube celebrity? How do you answer this question? Does it depend on the number of videos you post? How many subscribers you have? Your all-time page views? It was in 2006 when I first signed up for a YouTube account. That was almost the same time when the likes of kevjumba and nigahiga were just starting. YouTube celebrities were mostly dominated by Asians, with happyslip becoming some sort of de facto representation for Filipino-Americans, and yes maybe Filipinos as a whole. It was very clear back then that if you wanted to make it big on YouTube, you had to be either good-looking or really talented. You get plus points if you happen to be really entertaining.

Kidney Stones and Projectile Vomit

The kidney stone saga continues this week, which only means that instead of relaxation and all the undisturbed geeking out I imagined this week would be full of, I got pain, and more pain instead. You know how I always joke about projectile vomit being the closest alternative you could get to a mutant power? Well, hooray me. Wish granted!

Battling Kidney Stones in the Middle of Nowhere

I have not been drinking lots of water when I first arrived here in Xiamen. I don’t know if it was just the excitement of finally getting to study abroad for free or plain stupidity and laziness that got me to that point. I mean, how difficult is it to vanquish a 500-ml bottle of mineral water? It’s not even bitter gourd tea or some yucky infusion that would make you throw up the moment you smell it. It’s water, for crying out loud! But no, this is me. It’s my world. My complicated world. And that bottle of mineral water just lives in it. I would buy one but not be able to gulp every single drop until two or three days later, which means I was getting just around 100+ ml hydration on a daily basis. I had lots of soda, though. I was having two meals daily, and a can of Coke would always be the guest of honor.