Other Side of the Planet dot com

Show: The Toxic Avenger

Posted on November 23rd, 2009 by Anna Zhan.
Categories: Blog.

Randomly, at the suggestion from a couple of volunteers from the Theater Development Fund, Chris and I elected to try the Off-Broadway production: The Toxic Avenger.  (After having been delighted by Avenue Q, we asked about comedies, and this was recommended.)

It’s really hard for a person like me to turn down the opportunity to see a show about New Jersey’s first superhero, who was born of toxic waste.  (And, admittedly, the idea of an on-site bar serving drinks that you are allowed to bring into the theater also had its appeal.)

The story it set at Exit 13B off the New Jersey Turnpike, at the fictional city of Tomaville (aka Traumaville).  The score boasts songs with titles like Evil is Hot, Thank God She’s Blind, All Men Are Freaks, and other amusing titles.

The most impressive part of this show (other than the voice of the woman who played the nun, the mother, and the mayor) was the costume changes.  I have no idea how they change so quickly, with two men (White Dude and Black Dude) playing dozens of roles.  The show pokes fun at this as well, finally putting two characters played by the same person on stage at the same time (you just have to see it.)

The music was fun, and it was clear that everyone - both in the band atop the barrels of toxic waste and the actors on the stage below - was having a lot of fun.  It was a good show to see, and tickets at the TKTS booth only ran us about $40 each, so it was easy on the wallet, too.

Definately recommended for a light-hearted evening.  Especially if there are geeks in your number.  Apparently it’s only in NYC through 1/03/10, so get a move on.

0 comments.

Food: Georgia 21

Posted on November 18th, 2009 by Anna Zhan.
Categories: Blog.

Regarding the food pictures…dug in and devoured before remembering to take pictures…portions were far more generous.

[Tiny store front, Georgia 21 is small but nice on the inside, yet has pretty reasonable prices]

When Chris came up to visit me in New York City, she had one request: “Can we go out for Georgian food?”  Chris had spent two years in the Republic of Georgia and hadn’t had the opportunity to dine on Georgian food since her return to America two years ago.

[This eggplant dish with walnut paste on it was absolutely fantastic.  You eat it on bread…my one complain is that the bread resembled a rock in texture]

“But doesn’t Georgian food suck?” I caught myself wondering.  Letters about beans and rice…followed by beans and rice…and more beans and rice…  I also recall a lack of heating, telephone lines, or reliable electricity.  But I distinctly recalled the endless series of meals that consisted of nothing but beans and rice.

[Xiaolongbao!  But…made with mutton.  Really.  Whatever you call them.  Soup dumplings.  Juicy buns.  TRhey have ‘em in China, and they have them in Georgia, too.  Who knew?]

But if you were living in Georgia and you were rich, you might instead find yourself dining on some of these popular foods (the “banquet food”, as I called it.)  The food was delicious, although the menu would have been useless to someone who didn’t know what things were.  Be prepared, or ask a waiter for help.

[The national dish of Georgia is, apparently, a wheel of cheese dropped in a deep fryer.  They call it cheesy bread…but lwet’s be honest: this is nothing but deep-fried cheese…and it’s delicious.]

Randomly, there was one thing that was not to my liking: “lemonade” (read: slightly carbonated soda?) which comes in tarragon and pear flavors.  Tarragon could better be called licorice…yuck.  Pear, Chris says is too sweet, and Liz S. on Yelp! said it would be better named “bubblegum” flavor.  General recommendation: avoid the “lemonade”.

[Tarragon-flavored “lemonade”…ew.]

Address: 414 Brighton Beach Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11235 (between 4th and 5th Streets, just below the B/Q station)

0 comments.

Meaningless Rant: Five Rules for Surviving Grad School

Posted on September 7th, 2009 by Anna Zhan.
Categories: Blog.

As I look over my blog, I realize that I’ve barely been posting once a month this year, which I largely attribute to grad school’s effect on my life.

What did I really learn from grad school?

1. I work more efficiently when well-rested.
   While it may seem appealing to sacrifice hours of sleep for work time, the truth is that, comparatively, you just don’t get jack done in the middle of the night.  Yes, I have finished every grad school paper during the wee hours, but I would finish five times as fast if I slept at night and merely worked in the evenings.
2. My brain functions more clearly when well-nourished.
   While diet drinks and the like can actually sustain your livelihood and fill your tummy, I have noticed a drastic difference in the functionality of my brain when supplied with nourishing items featured on the food pyramid, such as fresh fruits and veggies, which make great snacks, or large bowls of pasta, perhaps.
3. Rest is needed to overcome illness.
   However precious those few sick days or vacation days are, know that you will remain ill for more than a month at a time if you do not rest.  Believe it or not, your overall efficiency will be increased if you just call in sick, buy large quantities of soup broth, find a comfy spot on the couch and watch movies for a couple days.
4. Keep EVERYTHING.
   I cannot describe how important that is.  More important than food or sleep, you should keep copies of absolutely every crappy paper you hand in, and every bit of communication you have with professors.  Document when you hand in papers, and when you get them back.  File them all away in an organized fashion should you one day need them, as I did.
5. Set aside 15 minutes a day to do something for yourself.
   Seemingly unimportant, this last one is a biggie.  Efficiency is increased when there’s some shred of happiness in the bleak existence that is grad school.  I found a large box of crayons and a coloring book to be highly enjoyable, but your vice might be playing a first-person shooter game or sitting on the fire escape playing the harmonica.  Whatever it is, your brain will thank you.

When I do my PhD, I promise myself now that I will obey these five rules.  Not only will it benefit me, but I dare say my friends and family will be mighty grateful as well.

0 comments.

Book: Me Talk Pretty One Day

Posted on August 27th, 2009 by Anna Zhan.
Categories: Blog.

Title: Me Talk Pretty One Day
Author: David Sedaris
Anna’s Rating: 4/5 (I should change to a 1-10 scale so I can give it a 9.)
Comments: Didn’t change my life, but it did, at times, make me laugh so hard that tears were rolling down my face.

Me Talk Pretty One Day is a series of essays divided into two parts: the first part is a collection of memories that begin in the author’s childhood in North Carolina and his adult life in New York City.  The second part relates the experiences associated with moving to a foreign country (France, in this case) and learning a new language.

The absolute best chapter is entitled “Jesus Shaves”.  It relates the story of second languages learners together in a class as they try to explain the concept of Easter to someone who had never heard of the holiday.  Lacking vocabularly leads the students to describe Easter as the day when the man with long hair dies on two morsels of lumber and goes above your head to live with your father after coming back to say hello because he’s nice.  Unfortunately, I can relate to this situation.

I also enjoyed reading about the author’s life in New York City, as I can relate all to well to this, too.  Bits of New York wisdom are interspered, such as the fact that “owning a twelve-foot ladder in New York is a probable sign of success, as it means you likely have enough room to store one” (p. 153) and that “to be broke in New York was to feel a constant, needling sense of failure, as you were constantly confronted by people who not only had more but much, much more.” (p. 101)  Asking movers with a full truck if the apartment they just emptied had been rented yet is not going too far - “they asked the same thing of the emergency medical crews pulling up to the hospital morgue.” (p. 115)

I’ll likely as not pursue some more of Sedaris’s works - he has a way of stringing words together into memorable short stories that produce laughter in quantities that will embarrass the reader in public, causing cheeks to ache from smiling too much and bellies to hurt from laughter.

0 comments.

Car Show: Macungie, PA (2009)

Posted on August 2nd, 2009 by Anna Zhan.
Categories: Blog.

After spending a month sleeping, my body is finally healing.  Now, I’m going to make an effort to catch up on my blogging, and as I assume I’ll be going to a good many car shows in the future, this seems a good place to start.

[Every mad scientist needs a Prowler]

One of the first things I discovered at the show was the car I am destined to drive after taking over the world.  I think every evil overlord deserves a car like the Prowler.  Most unfortunately, they apparently went out of production about five years ago.  As the quantity of mad scientists and evil overlords on this planet is limited, the market for it was simply lacking.  Pity.

[Lee with Mad Scientist hair - “Uh-Oh!  You look CRA-ZY!”]

Speaking of mad scientists, Lee’s hat hair pulls off quite the crazy engineer / mad scientist look.  I think he should go for it.

[Bob’s new car - a 1955 Hudson Wasp]

The problem with car shows is that they have cars.  More specifically, they have cars for sale.  Most unfortunately, this car show had the specific make and models of cars that both Lee and his cousin Bob were looking for, a situation that spells certain doom for this family.

[Lee’s kryptonite: a 1982 Corvette with the T-Top]

Were the price a bit better, I have no doubt that we would have left the show with two new cars.  (This, I have learned, is why car enthusiasts carpool to these events: so they have extra drivers to bring home new acquisitions.)

[The first car I ever wanted - a Delorean.]

I have to admit, there are vehicles that even I have a weakness for.  My obsession with the Delorian is, of course, tied to Back to the Future, but still, it’s just a neat car: the stainless steel panels, the gull wing doors…the flux capacitor…not a standard feature, I understand…

[Kaiser with bamboo interior]

There were also a number of random and amusing vehicles, such as the vintage NYC taxi cab and a large variety of cars with wood paneling.  Above, however, is the car I found to have a bamboo interior, which seems like something I might find at Ikea…hmm…  Still, awesome.

[Miniature human in miniature lime green sports car]

My other random find was this: a lime-green stoller in the shape of a sports car.  (I needed something lime green from the day, didn’t I?)

0 comments.

Blog: Hulatrooper

Posted on June 18th, 2009 by Anna Zhan.
Categories: Blog.

All I can say is that my life has a lot of stress in it, and that the simple things provide an immense amount of amusement for me.  The recipe for humor last night was a hula hoop (found standing near a garbage can in Union Square) and a stormtrooper helmet (unfinished, which Ray had just bought off Skutch).

I’d only ever tried a hula hoop once, a few weeks earlire at the First Grade Field Day (I guess I missed out on such things when I wsa in 1st grade).  Needless to say, I was mostly a dismal failure, and hesitant to try again.  Yet, for the sake of a good story, I would try it again.

The great thing about being a stormtrooper is the smiles you bring to the faces of complete strangers.  And, really, it’s the most fun I can remember having in the City in months.  Yay for burger  night!

1 comment.

Toys: Walking LEGO AT-AT

Posted on May 27th, 2009 by Anna Zhan.
Categories: Blog.

My apologies for my recent lack of blogging - life has been insane.  Gimme another month.

[Myself with the LEGO AT-AT box, for all my world domination needs]

“Other women want jewelry, but all you want is an instrument of war.”

So it was that, after two years of drooling over the motorized LEGO AT-AT online, I finally got my miniturized machine of destruction as a birthday gift.  (Just wait ’till it snows again this year - oh the pictures we will have!)

 
[Tarzan with the AT-AT’s feet and inner body structure]

Nothing if not a devoted companion, Tarzan insisted in taking part in the building process.  Already pals with the Roomba, he showed no fear when faced with this walking skeleton (which is nearly as large as Tarzan himself.)

[Tarzan, trying to figure out our newest robot]

I was so busy that it took me a couple weeks to finish it.  The inside was a cluster of tiny, interlocking bits that took much longer than expected.  The legs, body, and head came along much more quickly.

At long last, I attached the armor plating.  My newest robotic minion was finally ready to bring forth a new reign of terror!  (Or a new stewardship of terror, at the very least.)

3 comments.

Easter: Look What the Bunny Gave Me!

Posted on April 17th, 2009 by Anna Zhan.
Categories: Blog.

 
[Gertrude Hawk’s Dinosaur Egg: filled with Baby Dinosaurs!]

This is the mark of a man who understands me well: for Easter, I got a chocolate dinosaur egg filled with chocolate baby dinosaurs (it was that or the chocolate flying saucer with the four chocolate aliens riding on top…but there’s always next year…I guess dinosaur egg just fit the Easter theme better.)

 
[A parade of chocolate baby dinosaurs, marching out of their egg.  Three species, one egg - don’t ask.]

And no, there are no pictures from Easter dinner…we forgot to take any.  We fail.  Or I fail, at least.  I think mostly I was just grateful that we were all healthy enough to enjoy the meal.  Even I have spent most of the semester ill - the weight loss evident in the picture below speaks volumes.

[Myself, early morning, clutching a chocolate dinosaur egg.]

1 comment.

Blog: Does Your Pet Fear the Roomba?

Posted on April 16th, 2009 by Anna Zhan.
Categories: Blog.

I hear reports of people with dogs that absolutely fear the roomba, but I had never known a cat owner who had a roomba.  It was a risk, but one that, with my laziness, I was willing to take.

Tarzan is pretty mellow and easy-going, but I know that he DOES fear the hair dryer.

The roomba, however, he’s OK with.  I observed Tarzan to be slightly apprehensive, perhaps, but he also regards the roomba with a healthy dose of curiosity.  Never before, however, did I ever see him bonding so affectionately with our floor-cleaning robotic minion.  If he ever starts giving it a bath, I’ll have to rename the roomba Jane.

1 comment.

Blog: My Day Without the Interwebs

Posted on April 16th, 2009 by Anna Zhan.
Categories: Blog.

I was on vacation: Spring Break.  I woke up.  I showered.  I filled a bowl with milk and grabbed a box of cereal, and armed with these two items, I sat down in front of the computer: no interwebs.

I turned the wireless modem off and then on: no interwebs.

I turned the computer off and then on: no interwebs.

I troubleshooted the problem, which led me to turn both the modem and the wireless router off and then on: still no interwebs.

I even plugged the computer into the modem directly via a cable – a low point of the day – but I was still left stranded, unconnected, in my Brooklyn apartment.

The interwebs had died.

Oh, I had my suspicions about my 3.5-year-old laptop.  The battery last 15 minutes, the DVD-RW drive reads but does not write, and the P key is missing.  More alarming are the computer’s tendencies to occasionally give me an electric shock, or randomly freeze and reboot.  (And though I promised myself I’d replace the machine upon graduation in May, the truth is that the 2008 tax season dealt me a heavy blow, and my aspirations may have to be put on hold temporarily.)

Still, I had my doubts that I could fault my not-so-trusty laptop with my troubles, for throughout it all, my computer maintained that it was connected to the Internet via my wireless network, the Ninja News Network (NNN).

Time Warner had failed before.  It’d be back up within the hour, I told myself.  (At the time of writing I did not realize that, in my current apartment, I actually have Cable Vision.)

But it wasn’t back up in an hour.

In desperation, I issue the following text message: “My interwebs is broken. I am doomed.” 

Response?  “can you ping out?”  I know not what this is, nor how it is related to the end of my world, and it is never explained to me.

I go to get my hair cut at a salon school.  I doze off during the three hours it taken the aspiring stylist to cut my hair.  When I return home at 5pm, the interwebs are still broken.  Somewhere, there is an ethereal spider that has fallen asleep.  It needs to wake up and patch the interwebs.

What to do?

Use an hour’s worth of daytime minutes to express how my world is collapsing.

Play a round of Scrabble against – with? – myself.

Play four rounds of single-player Ingenious.

Play three rounds of Risk against the computer.

I could clean.

I could work on a paper for grad school.

I could do my lesson planning.

But I don’t.

I can’t concentrate, because the interwebs is broken, and I am doomed.

I know I am doomed because at Death + 12 hours, my computer loses connectivity to the interwebs.  After more than twelve hours of internet deprivation, even my laptop is giving up on life.  In this, our fourth year together, it knows its purpose.  If it can’t get me online, it might as well take a nose-dive off the fire escape.  I’ll write my paper s by hand, like I did before the fifth grade, or perhaps I can bring the typewriter back into fashion.

Without the internet, I have no television service.  For while my friends gave me a set of rabbit ears last fall, which they made me hook up in January, I think we all know that, barring a second 9/11, I’ll likely never attempt to view the contents of any one of the four fuzzy channels it provides me with.

Without the Internet, I have no way to communicate with friends or family.  Most of my communication is done through chat clients and Facebook, which I affectionately refer to as Facecrack.  Half my friends I wouldn’t even know how to reach if not for Facebook (or gmail’s amazing memory for e-mail addresses and their associated names.)

Without the internet, I have no radio.  I don’t have one in my house.  Between my iPod and Pandora, who needs a conventional radio?

Without the internet, I can’t pay my bills or do my banking.

Without the internet, I can’t bake, because all my recipies are online or stored in my e-mail account.

Without the internet, I have no Chinese dictionary.

Without the internet, I am doomed.

0 comments.