Boon's Basement

An FX Trader and his Veron.

// August 15th, 2009 // No Comments » // Finance, Thoughts, cars

Below is a classic joke that appears in many versions.
An FX trader walks into a bank in Manhattan and asks for the loan officer. He explains that he is going to Europe on business for two weeks and needs to borrow $2,000.

The bank officer says, “We will need some kind of security for such a loan.”

The trader hands over the keys to a new Bugatti Veron parked in front of the bank. The Bank does a registration check with NYDMV. Everything checks out. The Officer agrees to accept the car as collateral for the loan. An employee drives the Veron into the bank’s underground garage and parks it there.

While the trader is away the Bank realizes their client is a multimillionaire. So several weeks later when the chap returns, repays the $2,000 and the interest which comes to $5.41, the loan officer questions, “Why would you bother to borrow $2,000? You are very wealthy.”

The trader replies, “Parking. Where can you park in midtown Manhattan for two weeks for only five dollars plus change?”

Classic…..

Love it, Loathe it? Comments appreciated.

-Boon

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Two Face of the Day: Glenn Beck

// August 14th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Health, Politics, Thoughts

Two must watch videos by the super awesome John Stewart and Stephen Colbert:

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Shaolin and Kung Fu Movies Overload!

// August 14th, 2009 // No Comments » // Entertainment

Ever since Stephen Chow made a come back with Shaolin Soccer in 2001, there have been tons of movie titles bearing the word Shaolin or Kung Fu. While Martial arts have been the central theme for a lot of Asian movies since being introduced by famous Shaw Brothes to the Hong Kong film industry in the early 1930’s, it can be seen in a lot of Hollywood films, thanks to Asian directors such as Jackie Chan, Jet Li, John Woo, Chow Yun Fatt and many more.

A lot of the producers or directors of the movies listed below attempted a cheap shot by inserting  the wushu theme into everything from sports to cooking. Not only they failed to entice their audience through applying Kung Fu to everything done in the film, the producers and directors have bastardized a martial art that has existed for 4000 years for the sake of selling a movie. Although many of the movies below are ridiculously boring, there are some that are quite entertaining.

Below are the list of movie titles that bear the word Kung Fu or Shaolin.

Enjoy!

Kung Fu Hustle 2004

Starring:
Stephen Chow
Yuen Wah
Yuen Qiu
Danny Chan Kwok Kwan
Bruce Leung
Kung Fu Hustle (Chinese: 功夫; pinyin: Gōngfu) is a 2004 Hong Kong action crime comedy film directed by Stephen Chow, who also produced and starred in the film. The film was also produced by Po Chu Chui and Jeffrey Lau, meanwhile the screenplay was wrote by Xin Huo, Chan Man Keung and Kan-Cheung Tsang. Set in Canton, China in the 1940s in a town ruled by the Axe Gang, the story revolves around Sing (Chow) who desperately wants to become a member. He stumbles into a slum ruled by eccentric landlords who turns out to be the greatest kung-fu masters in disguise. Sing’s actions eventually cause the Axe Gang and the slumlords to engage in an explosive kung-fu battle. The film stars Yuen Wah, Yuen Qiu, Danny Chan Kwok Kwan and Bruce Leung in prominent roles.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kung_Fu_Hustle
Trailer:

Shaolin Soccer 2001

Starring:

Stephen Chow
Zhao Wei
Ng Man Tat
Patrick Tse
Wong Yat-Fei
Danny Chan Kwok Kwan
Shaolin Soccer is a 2001 Hong Kong comedy film co-written and directed by Stephen Chow, who also stars in the film. A former Shaolin monk reunites his five brothers, years after their master’s death, to apply their superhuman martial arts skills to play soccer and bring Shaolin kung fu to the masses.
In 2008 a sequel, produced by, but not starring Stephen Chow, was released entitled Shaolin Girl. Very few of the cast from the original film make an appearance.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaolin_Soccer
Trailer:

Kung Fu Mahjong 2005

Starring:

Yuen Wah
Yuen Qiu
Roger Kwok
Theresa Fu
Wong Jing
Wong Yat Tung
Jade Leung
Tin Kai Man
Lam Chi Chung
Kung Fu Mahjong (traditional Chinese: 雀聖) is a 2005 Hong Kong comedy film directed by Wong Jing and Billy Chung. It is about an obsessive gambler Chi Mo Sai (Yuen Wah) and Auntie Fei (Yuen Qiu). It falls into the Hong Kong cinema genre of Mahjong films. The film was followed by two sequels, Kung Fu Mahjong 2 which was released the same year as the first film, and Kung Fu Mahjong 3: The Final Duel, which was released in 2007.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kung_Fu_Mahjong
Trailer:

Shaolin Girl 2008

Cast:Kou Shibasaki, Toru Nakamura,  Kitty Zhang Yuqi, Takashi Okamura, Lam Chi-Chung, Tin Kai-Man, Yosuke Eguchi

Shaolin Girl (少林少女 shōrin shōjo?) a 2008 Japanese film inspired by the 2001 Hong Kong film Shaolin Soccer. Unlike the original film, the movie focuses on women’s lacrosse. It starred Japanese actress Kou Shibasaki and see Hong Kong actors Lam Chi Chung and Kai Man Tin return from the original film. The film was released in Japan on April 26, 2008. Stephen Chow, director and star in Shaolin Soccer, was the producer, but is not credited as writer or director.[1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaolin_Girl
Trailer:

Kung Fu Chefs 2008

Cast: Sammo Hung, Vanness Wu, Cherrie Ying, Kago Ai, Hung Tin Ming, Lam Tze Chung, Louis Fan, Bruce Leung

Synopsis: History of traditional Chinese culture is lengthy and vast. Chinese cuisine is just as colorful and flavorful. Not to mention Chinese kung fu where there are hundreds of styles and worldwide renowned. Wong Bing Yee is village head and master chef, until a banquet goes horribly wrong. In search of his brother’s master, he finds a place he is needed, and sets about making Four Seas a successful restaurant. But past wrongs bring Yee, the restuarant owners and his talented apprentice into danger and Yee must reduce to basics the things that are most important. /heroic-cinema/
Ousted chef Wong Bing-Yi is determined to help Shen Qing at her restaurant “Four Seas”. He trains a young chef, Lung Kin-Yat to compete against Chef Tin, the head chef at “Imperial Palace”, for the title of “Top Chef”. /imdb/
Trailer:

Shaolin Grandma 2009

Starring:
Chiyoko Asami
Nao Nagasawa
Kazuyuki Senba
Sentaro
Ryutaro Ueshima

SHAOLIN GRANDMA stars 67-year-old Chiyoko Asami, whose previous claim to fame is as an elderly character on a variety show that cast members are sometimes forced to kiss. The fact that she looks like Wong Yut-fei, aka “Iron Head,” from SHAOLIN SOCCER seems to be part of the joke. She plays Miyoko, a Shaolin kung fu instructor found apparently dead in her apartment by the local mailman. While waiting for the police to arrive he begins reading about her absurd life in a series of scrolls.
Trailer:

Kung Fu Dunk 2008

Starring:

Jay Chou
Charlene Choi
Wilson Chen

Kung Fu Dunk (traditional Chinese: 功夫灌籃; simplified Chinese: 功夫灌篮; pinyin: Gōngfū Guànlán), also known by its former title Slam Dunk, is a 2008 Mainland Chinese live-action film. It was directed by Taiwanese director Chu Yin-Ping and filmed in Taiwan and mainland China. The film was previously titled Slam Dunk, but later the title has been changed to avoid confusion with the Slam Dunk manga and anime series[1] which it was roughly based on despite the film itself having no association whatsoever. The filming, however, conveyed a strong flavour of Hong Kong films, reminiscent of movies like Shaolin Soccer. It features a list of well-known stars although not from Mainland China, but predominantly actors and singers from Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Trailer:

Love it, loathe it? Comments appreciated.

-Boon

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R.I.P. Les Paul June 9, 1915 – August 13, 2009

// August 13th, 2009 // No Comments » // Entertainment, Music

-picture by Reuters

Invented the solid body electrical guitar that bore his name, Les Paul (Lester William Polsfuss) passed away on Thursday Aug 13, 2009 from pneumonia in New York. Collaborating with his wife, Mary Ford, after World War Two, Les Paul has some memorable hits such as “Mockingbird Hill” and “How High the Moon”. The greatest contribution from Les Paul was the signature solid body Gibson Les Paul electric guitar. Since its first inception in 1941, the Gibson Les Paul has sold millions and altered the landscape of music, especially Rock and Roll.

More from Reuters here.

Below are the two songs by Les Paul back in the 1950’s.

Mockingbird Hill – Les Paul & Mary Ford

How High the Moon – Les Paul & Mary Ford

Here’s a 10 minute documentary of Les Paul produced by www.lespaulfilm.com

Another great musician and inventor has gone away. RIP Les Paul.

Love it, loathe it? Comments appreciated.

-Boon

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How much do you pay for parking?

// August 13th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Finance, Thoughts, cars

Today was an eventful day as I drove from Forest Hills to Stony Brook to meet up with my old supervisor and friend, Rose. The day was partly cloudy and there wasn’t much traffic on the Grand Central Parkway to Stony Brook which was a boon. Once I reached Stony Brook, I was reminded how unfriendly it was for visitors to find parking. Luckily, I remembered where the paid parking lots for visitors were. Instead of parking at the main lot near the Admin Building, I chose to park at the Chemistry parking lot, which has parking meters.  I inserted 6 quarters, which gave me an hour parking limit, and went ahead to visit Rose.

Two hours later, I came back and got a lovely note from Campus police, stating that I owe them $30 for an expired meter. Great, it was good catching up with Rose over lunch and now I owe the school $30. I guess, that is the price I pay when I don’t remind myself to feed the parking meter!

Instead of dwelling on my misfortune, have you ever calculated how much do you pay for parking annually, including parking garages, parking lots, parking meters, parking tickets and any cost related to parking?

Let’s start with the basic, the price of a monthly parking garage at an apartment (assuming you live in one). In Forest Hills, the garages range from $120 to $200 per month. So taking the average, it would be at $160 per month. Multiplying 12 months, the cost for a parking garage in Forest Hills is about $1920 per year.

Now for your daily commute, assuming you drive. You will need to pay for parking at work. My ex-company used to charge commuters $55 per month for parking, which is a great price compared to other companies my friends work at. So lets assume work parking is at $75 a month. Multiply that with 12 and you have to pay $900 a year.

The total so far for home and work parking is at $2820 per year. We are not done yet. We still have to consider parking cost when you go out for shopping, dinner, lunch, hair-do, doctor’s visit, etc.

Let us assume that you go out on Saturday and Sunday, averaging 3-4 hours per day. That gives you roughly 8 hours for two days we hang out on the weekends. If you are lucky, you will not have to pay for parking but if you’re unlucky or just live around a busy neighborhood such as Flushing, be prepared to pay a quarter for 15 minutes parking. We shall take Flushing’s parking rates, 25cents per 15 minutes to calculate the weekend parking cost. To spend 4 hours at Flushing, you will need to fork out $4.00. That isn’t too bad compared to what you will be spending shopping the whole day. So, for two days, it is a total of $8.00 for the weekend. A year, you pay $96.00.

Add that to the total so far, it comes to $2916 per year. We are almost done. I just need to add one or two parking tickets here and there because of an expired meter or a ticket for a no standing or no standing zone. Give and take you pay $150 worth of tickets per year, add that to the total, we have $3066 of parking related expenses per year.

Rough Estimation of the $3066 per year cost

Yearly garage parking  = $1920
Yearly work garage = $900
Yearly going out parking = $96 (not inclusive of valet, tips)
Yearly parking tickets = $150 (If you’re a careful driver)

Total = $3066

From our guesstimation, a driver, living in an apartment Forest Hills – Flushing area and who chooses to park in a garage, spends roughly $3000 a year on parking related expenses. That’s a lot of money you spend by having your car stationary. Every time you pay for parking or any expenses related to parking, note it down. By the end of the year, you will be surprised how much you are paying for having your car PARKED!

Maybe our government should create a free parking bill..

Love it, loathe it? Comments are appreciated.

-Boon

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Crazy Girlfriend Not Realizing Boyfriend on vacation went crazy! – from JD’s Man

// August 12th, 2009 // No Comments » // Thoughts

Crazy girlfriend not realizing her boyfriend went on a 2 week backpacking trip in Europe went berserk and started doing crazy things! Check out the video:

Love it, loathe it? Comments are appreciated?

-Boon

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Time for some reflection

// August 10th, 2009 // No Comments » // Thoughts

8 months of 2009 have passed and have you ever reflected on your past actions?
What have you achieved so far? Have you gotten wiser? Did you manage to keep to your new year resolutions? Time passes by so fast that sometimes we need some alone time to reflect on our lives. Now, take a moment, close your eyes and journey back to the beginning of 2009. Reflect on things that you have done or have had happened to you for the past 8 months and while you’re at it, play your favourite tune, it helps!

Here are some Chinese proverbs for your reading pleasure.

A little impatience will spoil great plans.
Chinese Proverb

Even a hare will bite when it is cornered.
Chinese Proverb

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Chinese Proverb

If you bow at all, bow low.
Chinese Proverb

A smile will gain you ten more years of life.
Chinese Proverb

A bird does not sing because it has an answer.
It sings because it has a song.
Chinese Proverb

Behave toward everyone as if receiving a guest.
Chinese Proverb

A fall into a ditch makes you wiser.
Chinese Proverb

Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without one.
Chinese Proverb

He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.
Chinese Proverb

An inch of time is an inch of gold but you can’t buy that inch of time with an inch of gold.
Chinese Proverb

Love it, loathe it? Comments are appreciated.

-Boon

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BMW Shorties

// August 9th, 2009 // No Comments » // Thoughts, cars

At4 am in the morning , I should be sleeping instead of surfing the web. I found an interesting site, www.bmwshorties.com.my, that features alot of short clips featured by aspiring Malaysian film makers. BMW Shorties is a platform for the independent film movie in Malaysia.

This video is quite interesting:

Le Mannequin from Vjan Wong on Vimeo.

Check out more short videos here: http://www.bmwshorties.com.my/2009/

Love it, loathe it? Comments appreciated.

-Boon

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Tanger Outlet, Hoshi Sushi.

// August 7th, 2009 // No Comments » // Thoughts

The weather was spectacular today as I spent half of my day at the Tanger Outlet in Riverside, NY. It was supposed to be an hour drive from Forest Hills but because of congestion on the Long Island Expressway (495), the journey took us almost 2 hours. Once we got to the outlet, we had to look at the signs for the stores we wanted to visit. It wasn’t the most intuitive, as the stores were scattered between Tanger 1 and Tanger 2, each accessible by car but by foot, it may take an extra 15 minutes walk.

Looking for the Coach store, I had to ask the car next to me, as we both waited for the red light. Realizing that the Coach store was on the other side of the road, I quickly made a U-turn, almost hitting an incoming car.

Apparently, weekdays aren’t as busy as the weekends for Tanger outlet. Unlike Woodbury Commons, Tanger outlet seems to be missing the tour buses that carry tourists from New York City. One of the reason could be the bad layout of the stores make it inconvenient for tourists shopping.

Entering the Coach store, we quickly spotted the differences between Tanger’s Coach store and Woodbury’s Coach store.

1. Tanger has less selections than Woodbury
2. Tanger isn’t as busy as Woodbury during weekdays, while Woodbury is constantly busy
3. When you buy bags from Coach at Tanger, the sales person will tear the prices off – the reason is to prevent people from reselling the bags. I find it ridiculous especially when Coach has unlimited return policy, it would create inconvenience for the store when customers return the bags. Silly store policy…
4. The sales associate at Tanger’s Coach aren’t as enthusiastic as those at Woodbury’s Coach

After spending $700 at the Coach store, my girlfriend and I went to the Children’s place because she had to get a gift for her friend. Taking the opportunity, I too bought some clothes for my niece in LA. I haven’t seen her in almost 9 months, since last Christmas.

After all that shopping, we headed to Stony Brook’s Hoshi Sushi for dinner. It sure brings back memories. For those UMN peeps who may be reading this post, just so you know..Boon misses everyone!
Speaking of which, my friend is waiting for his son to be born at any moment now. Phoenix, we are all waiting!

Love it, loathe it? Comments appreciated.

-Boon

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On my way to Philly~

// August 4th, 2009 // No Comments » // Thoughts

I am at a cybercafe in Chinatown, NY, waiting for my bus to Philadelphia. The internet cafe charges $2 an hour. If you’re a VIP member, you only pay $1.50. Gosh!

Will be visiting Rub and Wharton. Will post an update on that!

10.19am update: I have boarded the bus, run by Eastern, and I am connected to the onboard wifi. This is what travelling should be, being able to go online whether you’re on a bus or a plane. Awesomeness!

Woot.

2.17pm update: I am at Rob’s Lab waiting for him to walk me to Wharton. The info session starts at 3 pm and the walk from Rob’s Lab to Wharton is about 10 minutes. The weather is beautiful here in Philadelphia, sunny with the humidity around 70-80%. Will keep you guys updated.

-Boon

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