NEWS HEADLINES

Aug 31 - 10:06 PM - Oh WOW, i wasted like an HOUR doing nothing but yawning...

ReJoovenation: (yawn...)
fightergal27: yawn
fightergal27: now i'm tired
fightergal27: u gave me ur yawns
ReJoovenation: ooh---i can give yawns over the interenet!!
ReJoovenation: im gonna yawn everyone on my buddy list...

ReJoovenation: (yawn...)
Underpnts Gnomes: .
Underpnts Gnomes: ....
Underpnts Gnomes: thanks...
Underpnts Gnomes: I've been rejected

ReJoovenation: (yawn...)
flingy7: are you tired or bored?

ReJoovenation: (yawn...)
mylifeNchoice: hehe, tired?

ReJoovenation: (yawn...)
clamchow7: whos this?

ALL THE YAWNS AND THEIR RESPONSES

Messed Up Person Online Trying to Sell Lips

Jul 23 (1:54 AM) - A couple days ago, this... weirdo (AIMSN: weloveourlips) was disturbing people, trying to get them to buy "lips (?!) that attract the opposite sex". I know its a damn prank, but I had fun toying with whoever it was. I'm tracking the dude down...

Here's the entire chat transcript

Future Reflections

Apr 28 - These are reflections that I'd like to write, but can't (mostly because of time constraints)

Better Luck Tomorrow -R-
Directed by Justin Lin

Apr 16 - I've really been looking forward to seeing this movie for quite some time. Asian-Americans are the under-represented race of the American culture.

"Lin focuses on an ethnic group that is routinely praised for its industriousness, which deepens the irony, and also perhaps reveals a certain anger at the way white America patronizingly smiles on its successful Asian-American citizens."

It is true that Asians in America are seen as the "good race". Unlike the usually disparaging stereotypes of other races, t

"Better Luck Tomorrow" is a coming-of-age film for Asian Americans in American cinema. Like African-American films that take race for granted and get on with the characters and the story, Lin is making a movie where race is not the point but simply the given."

Asian-Americans are a diverse ethnic group, and almost a cultural anomaly. Unlike immigration waves in the past, the first and second generation AA's of today often come highly educated, and well equipped for success. Asian children (like myself) for the most part do unusually well in school, but our cultural identities are somewhat unclear. Brought up by Asian standards, but raised in America, it leads to an unusual identity mesh. When compared to America as a whole, we're just Asian, but within Asian communities, more detailed ethnicity becomes important. However, that is clearly not so much true in generations further down the cultural structure.

"They may be Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, but their generation no longer obsesses with the nation before the hyphen"

"Better Luck Tomorrow" is not just a thriller, not just a social commentary, not just a comedy or a romance, but all of those in a clearly seen, brilliantly made film."

I'm really looking forward to seeing this film on Friday (no school!!).

Quotes from Roger Ebert's Review in the Chicago Sun-Times.
An appeal by an actor in the film

New Section in the Works!

Apr 13 - A severe lack of time has kept me from updating this site for the past week. BTW, I'm very tired so if what I'm saying here doesn't make any sense--bear w/it.

Though I'm glad that soliloquies are over, I and many other people sincerely enjoyed the project. I was really impressed by what other kids had to say regarding spirituality. The sad fact is that the only a few people (the writer, peer critic, teacher) ever get to see these, and they usually end up hidden in some obscure corner. So, I'm creating a new section that will house student written works so that these essays, which represent the voice of teens, can be seen.

Expect something by the end of this week. Maybe it'll just end up merging with the Art Tree (which is in dire need of updates) I'll just post one essay up right now; a  soliloquy titled "Buddah and the Latkes" by Sabahat.

Fade in to Front Page Removed

Apr 4 - Apparently, some people have been having trouble opening the front page to Angelex, possible because of the cool "fade in" effect. So, with much sorrow, I am having it removed. I'll experiment with it some other time.

Profusion of Web Acronyms

Apr 2 - Here's a list of almost all acronyms that you might across on the web (and in the spoken vocab of really S.A.D. teenagers) -- also a list of some acronyms you'll see elsewhere (like fubar, snafu). Some samples:

rofl - rolling on floor laughing
rolfapmp - roll on floor and peed my pants
rolflmao - roll on floor laughing my ass off
rolflmaoay - roll on floor laughing my ass off at you
rolflmaowtime - roll on floor laughing my ass off with tears in my eyes
rofluts - roll on floor laughing unable to speak
rotfl - roll on the floor laughing

Click here to see the rest

Prime Minister Tony Blair

Apr 2 - "Blair not only helped prove that this war was necessary; he also helped show that it was moral. That is no small achievement." - Andrew Sullivan. Read his speech that did a lot to convince me and the world, and then read Sullivan's Time magazine Viewpoint, "The American Prime Minister". Click Here

Exploring Humanity
The start of an extended special report on what it means to be human

Mar 6 - What is human? Going beyond the boundaries of race, nationality, or any other human created concept, I ask a question about the fundamental definition of being human. (come to think of it... this would make a PERFECT topic for my independent-study next year) If you say that a human is simply "a homo sapiens", you are missing about 99% of the thoughts and abstractions behind the simple denotation. So to further explicate upon the question, and to create thoughtful discussion, am starting a whole new thought journey with the intent of at least trying to answer it from every possible vista possible, from the pure denotative  biology behind it, to the ever-expansive notion of culture.

Still under Construction! I'm in the process of making the Index page now. About 30% ready. ETA: ???.

The Animatrix
The Final Flight of the Osiris

Mar 22 - Those of you who saw Dreamcatcher yesterday got another treat--an unreleased episode of "The Animatrix," which I have to say was the most stunning piece of graphics work that I've ever seen put into a 10 minute short.

For those who don't know, The Animatrix is an animated "series" (though each a stand alone story) expected to be around 9 episodes long (10 minutes each), giving us glimpses of what we don't see in The Matrix, or the upcoming sequel, the Matrix Reloaded (sucky title). The first episode, The Second Renascence, I think, deals with the origin of the Machines--I don't want to spoil it for you, so go to the site to download them! Two episodes are available for download at www.theanimatrix.com, including The Second Renascence.

The Final Flight, however, unlike the first two episodes is in full 3D--and is the most realistic 3D rendering I've ever seen on the big screen. I mean seriously, I was thinking "isn't it supposed to be animated" for at least the first 30 seconds. And they ain't rending crackpots here--the hottest virtual girl I've ever seen, in the most intimate swordfight I've ever seen... Final Fantasy can go to hell.

So far, you can only see it before Dreamcatcher, which has the characteristically WEIRD but GOOD Stephen King feel--so go see it! Make sure you get your ticket at Cinemark (we're boycotting AMC for being such a rip off).

Political Immaturity Takes a New High
Regarding the potentially dangerous public anti-French sentiment...

Mar 11 - Just look at this article -- Congress shuns French-named food -- and just try not to tell me of this absurdity. I dare you to. French belittling is getting a bit out of hand -- from supposedly professional articles in the Trib, to Stan's belittling of the French military in the North Star, to our lunch room debates -- its all over the place. And maybe it's a little too far.

Seriously, I feel that I have to stand up for the underdog nation that is getting more than its share of blame. France is not opposing America--just the Bush Administration's policy towards Iraq, as do many others (myself included). Even in France, reasonable French don't have animosity towards American people or culture--so why should we against the French people or culture? France has been the longest and most consistent ally of America for over 200 years. There's been some weak French belittling for no good reason throughout history (and that's okay... it's only human), but when members of the government do so, especially in a public manner like this, it's kind of unsettling. Perhaps, like the British, Americans naturally dislike the French. PPL!! Get a grip! (Noteworthy is the fact that 11 million Americans are of French ancestry--about the population of Illinois.) The most absurd typical conversation I've been hearing is the example below the poll. This just goes to show how easily it is to be racist/anti-French -- almost as if people inherently have some undirected ill will and just need a little push to start hating. What we're forgetting to do is to distinguish between a nation's government and its people/culture -- and that can have dangerous consequences. These members of congress (MCs) aren't distinguishing the two by renaming French fries (which are actually from Belgium) to freedom fries. Al Qaeda terrorists didn't either when they attacked and killed American civilians because they didn't like the government. When my brother, 8, said he hated Afghans I was compelled to teach him some healthy discrimination between a nation's government and its people. Perhaps that lesson is one that we all need to learn. It's a really sad part of our culture, and I don't like it.

Badminton Team Accepts New Athletes!

Mar 7 - Congratulations to sophomore Helen L. who was accepted into one of NNHS's badminton teams. Good luck in this calling!

(appended 3/9) - Also, congrats to everyone who made it into the (sexually discriminating) badminton teams (party occasion!!). But what the hell, girls only??? There's an idea floating around for the creation of a badminton club (maybe it'll have it just for guys to protest).

Site Hit Counter Updated with Netfirms.com records

Mar 6 - The hit counter on the top of this page has again been synchronized with the Netfirms.com records as provided on their site. The discrepancy is likely caused by the following reasons: (1) people entering the site through other than the index page, (2) people viewing the site during updates, (3) faulty hit counter software not registering browsers with cookies disabled. In any case, counter updates are conducted once every few months to accommodate the un-registered hits. Of course, this is conducted under the assumption that the Netfirms.com counters are accurate.

Discussion Forum Opened!
"The Myriad" - a myriad of discussions are expected.

Mar 5 - Angelex has inaugurated its 6th official forum. All previous forums were totally open to any topics and otherwise aimless. Plagued with flooders and back and forth insults, or just inactive, each forum in the end *died*.

This new forum intends to change this sad trend. Titled "The Myriad" (as suggested by Sabahat), this new forum is planned to have  much stricter, and regulated discussions. To facilitate this, only moderators and administrators will be able to initiate new topics. Users will post replies adding to the thread of debate.

The first order of discussion shall be to decide on our first discussion topic. Suggestions include religion, international relations, politics.

SEE "THE MYRIAD" HERE

A Birthday!

Mar 3 - Hey its yo b-day! Happy Birthday to Christie! Ooh... seventeen years old--time for some R-rated action! I also owe her... 3 or so presents...

NNHS Victory at DVC!
JV Scholastic Bowl Team places 1st at conference.

Feb 27 - The junior varsity scholastic bowl team of Naperville North High School won a closely contested final conference meet at Glenbard East Thursday, matching up with a strong performance throughout the year to end the season in 1st place with a record of 10:1.

Leading the team to victory were ever powerful captain Felix (Jr.), and the knowledgeable Priya (So.). Other key players were Jon (So.), Anubhav (Ju.)--also participating were Alex (Ju), Yilin (So.), and Rohit (Ju). Presiding over the team was coach Mrs. John.

CLICK HERE TO SEE FULL STORY with pictures

An error in this story has been corrected on 3/2/2003 - details in story