Mitt Romney...??

ok, as a huge gigantic deviation from the norm, especially since i don't think i've ever posted stuff about candidates before, and especially didn't link political articles on here... but i have to say these two articles i just saw were pretty disturbing if they're at all any indication of his psyche and how he views those less fortunate, or in a less popular position, than himself. 

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/closeread/2012/05/mitt-romney-bully.html

and a perhaps more delicately written/less judgmental one: http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/05/content-of-romneys-character.html

As the second one indicates, it is not really the question of "should we judge someone based on a few mistakes they made as an adolescent", but really a careful consideration of whether one ought to follow and root for someone whose response to such a grossly unwarranted, and even violent, act, is to feign ignorance or block it out of his memory, without even a shred of remorse, or some sense of compassion.  Even if, say, it was so traumatic to his person that at some point he had to block it out - if these allegations and eye-witnesses came out to admit their shame and guilt, and all concur that he was the person responsible, he should at least say something to the effect of "If I have truly done this thing, then I am very sorry for my actions" (and mean it), to express, at least to the family of the victim, that he feels compassion for their plight.  But that is not the case here.  And though it is true you should never judge someone based on just one story (or two, or more! articles that I haven't posted), at the moment, I am left with the words of Jonathan Chait, the author of the second article: "It’s entirely possible to grow out of that youthful mentality — to learn to step out of your own perspective, to develop an appreciation for the difficulties faced by those not born with Romney’s many blessings. I’m just not sure he ever has."

ABDC Season 7 Week 5

Sorry I missed last week - was studying for a final and didn't have time to watch until the weekend.  Kind of expected Step Boys to be in the bottom, but it was really sad that they had to go against Fanny Pak, who were very creative with their treadmill last week.  Sad departure, but unfortunately I had to agree with the judges. :(  8 flavahz also did an amazing and heartfelt job last week. 

So here we go this week!  WHOOO JLo! :D  I think it's awesome they get to work with JLo's choreographer! :D

8 Flavahz: Oh man that's really sad to hear about Angel's mom!! :( :( :( I really hope that she at least was able to watch the show that day... :(
Whoa salsa with trumpets? Interesting mix haha.  Good use of stage, especially when they went to all four corners and back, and good use of pairings for the salsa!  Strong showing and great timing with the back hand-springs and stunts.  The girl with the trumpet at the front with the backwards dip was pretty amazing as well.  Oh wow, JC's slowmo - didn't even realize they were swinging each other out at one point... crazy athletic!

Mos Wanted Crew: Do it on the floor! Whoot! They probably got this haha. Wait what... what does it mean to teach the crowd how to do it? @__@ I wonder how they're gonna time that.  whoaa!! love the floorwork! love the part when the two guys were in the center and going horizontal, then turning around and going vertical.  whooo love the spins and the rolls on the floor.  I guess ok, decent job on the challenge on bringing in the crowd, but great job w/ the floorwork. hahaha nice what D-trix pointed out, taking Jlo's choreo and turning it into a guy one.  Oh wow, good eye JC on seeing people thinking... 

ELECTROLYTES! whoot good haha. :D
moving subway car? what's with all the car challenges lately?  anyways. hmm canes. 
lol nice costumes.  nice twirl and (real!) splits to the guy in the middle.  hahaha ok good subway and "shaking" on the train. oops dropped cane.. wonder if JC's gonna point that one out.  whoa! nice fight scene hahaha. especially the guy he punched and the guy flipped upwards "from" it.  and nice backflip off the bench.  Ha! JC did mention it.  Agreed with D-trix on needing to beware about repeating tricks.

bottom 3:

Collizion Crew - popping and locking . decent showing I guess considering it's completely not their style.  yeah, decent energy but less so than their normal... it seems like they're a bit out of their element. eep... a little shaking ending... :\  hard song to dance to. huh, moonwalking on the knees? didn't realize that's what that was. good catch JC

Rated Next Gen - lol 90's moves... and them being too young to be alive back then! omg. ahahha. that's cute.. and just makes me feel super old.  "the walk"? interesting. it looks super awesome... i wanna learn that move!
this group is really interesting... they hit some moves amazingly well, and sometimes they have awesome choreo and transitions, but other times I find it a little lacking or sloppy, it's so hard to wrap my mind around.  I guess they are young, so maybe that's why.  Agreed with D-trix - Bailey did do an amazing job in the middle.

Fanny Pak - whoa change clothes during routine! that has many possibilities hehe... thinking of what quest crew has done in the past, on and off the show. XD
whoa what the.. interesting costumes.  that must be hard to dance in 0.o  eh.... honestly not too impressed with the clothes-removal portion of the challenge but oh well.  Good moments, like the big burst of energy after they lifted matt up and dropped him back down, but didn't really feel it. ok, lil mama, i agree with the beginning being cool with the robotic, sliding moves out, but yeah, again, it was just moments for me.

kay... well... honestly all 3 i didn't really feel this week so that's gonna be kinda hard.  uhhhh maybe RNG?  In terms of overall strength of crews and their showings in past weeks, I would definitely put them behind the other two crews, but if it's just based on this week, it's hard to say... they did have some hard hitting parts. and D-trix did seem to admire how they incorporated 90's moves in it.  Blah. I'm gonna stick with RNG getting out. we'll see I guess. 

*SPOILERS* ..... WHAT?!!? SERIOUSLY?! how can ... ugh. anyway, much love to Collizion Crew, and great exit speech. I'll miss you guys :(*

wow, it's gonna be a tough battle from here on out. lots of good crews here.  my bet at the moment is that Mos Wanted Crew and 8 Flavahz will be the top two, but as to who will actually win, it's gonna be a close one.  Seriously though, 8 flavahz is one young crew that has a lot of potential.

ABDC Season 7 Week 3

whaaaaaaattt eliminating 2 crews?! @___@@@@ eeep!  and interesting how they're only having 1 judge comment per dance.  (for those who don't know, these are my thoughts before hearing what the judges have to say (unless i attribute it to them, which i don't think i do much this week)

fanny pak: whoaaa heels and whacking?! good luck guys ahaha :D  good use of the mirror prop! and definitely hit the whacking style well and good use of the stage.

electrolytes - krump.  oooh like the opening! and the finger tuts. haha nice hat trick. good stunts.  i like the up and down theme they played throughout (although maybe a little repetitive?) and i like the ending where they tributed their injured member.  good luck to chris for performing with his crew next week!  hope he doesn't try too hard and hurt himself worse though :\

mos wanted crew: popping!!! excited to see this one :D hmm... definitely powerful crew and love the part where the guy went thru the middle and they followed him part-way (reminds me of what kyle hanagami did last year with "falling" at vibe), but nothing really stood out on this for me :\.  i guess i would have liked more hard popping (a la poreotics haha).  Lots of creativity throughout though, and really clean, which i always love. :)

8 flavaz: vogue. hmmm, wonder if they can pull it off haha.  oooh hey hey, they're doing prety good! WHOAAA double aerials in time and the leg up and pirouette into splits and jump over splits whooo. GREAT ending and definitely strong performance. i... am officially impressed.  that would get my vote. good job girls! (also props to the costume designer!)

rated next gen: seductive lol oh dear.  and thrashing 0.o.  whoo strong opening and like the smooth moonwalk-esque move at the beginning and bailey's got hops haha. ehhhhh... not that strong a showing today i don't think. not nearly fierce enough and not as clean as i'd like

stepboys: YES thank you. if they were not saved i think i'd be pretty angry ahaha.  hahha spazztic mvmt. look forward to how they'll choreo this.  ooh great tutting section! and the guy who flipped out while spazzing was pretty cool.  other than that though, kind of disappointing :\  slow in some areas and a little messy, although the short bboying section was pretty tight (together).  hope they can step it up for next week

collizion crew: line dance! that's gonna be fun hehe.  eh? slight mess-up in far right at the beginning?  whoaa, i really like how they incorporated line dance and country flavor into their routine, while still having strength and stunts. i think they did a great job on their challenge.  i hope they can stay.

funkdation: girly cheerleader song. nice timing with their tuts/popping - good moments, but overall kind of bland choreo-wise

irratik: sexiness - not really a big challenge for this group. jazz dance hm.  well.. nice illusion kick at the beginning. lol i bet dtrix liked the leashes.  and impressive push-up on the other girls.  but meh-ish.

soooooooo they BETTER be keeping collizion crew this week. or imma go on rampage. although the other two are both out of the country so...

*SPOILER* THANK YOU. THANK YOUUUUUU and lol about the "pushed over the borderline" line they fed mario lopez hah. *END SPOILER*

note: btw, not hating on any crew - i definitely have the utmost respect for any dance crew who gets out there in front of a crowd and puts their heart out on the stage. 

moar random links, moar!

just so my tab bar doesn't die, here are more interesting links!

ever bored in an elevator?  well, now you can lick the wallpaper as you're waiting. (germaphobes, never fear! apparently they remove them after they've been licked... though i don't know how often they check for licked ones...)

here are some tips for gardening herbs! and along those lines, gardening can actually be good for your health in multiple ways!

the 7 von Trapp children from The Sound of Music got together recently and made a family scrapbook.  Apparently it's still a very popular movie (for good reason!) and fans still love stuff like this.  I like how they all seem to be pretty supportive of each other too, after all these years (they're in their late 50's-60's now)

here's an(other) article on how disconnected we are now with the advent of facebook and other media... kind of scary to imagine that the kind of world people might want is one where they get to talk to Siri or other A.I. as a best friend...

random links

famous websites as dresses!  I'd actually not mind wearing some of these :D ... i think they meant devianTart though, not devian art lol reporter fail.

pizza fork! enough said XP  (lol at practicality... or lack thereof. but who knows, maybe it will be less unwieldy than it seems)

my old dance group with their new set!! EEEEEE I'm so proud of how far they've grown this year!! :D

a old wushu friend's fiance (???!) was recently featured (and heavily lauded) in this article in SF mag.  crazy how accomplished all the people i know are... (albeit indirectly in this case lol)

speaking of marriage... some of these are pretty awkward... not gonna lie... (oh the things you find on xanga's front page...)

andddd NEW CHANGES to the MCAT! for all those who are medically-inclined.  pretty interesting the new trend of incorporating humanities (back) into medical student training.  I'm looking forward to the new batch/generation of med students... hopefully less "neurotic" (as some of my friends fondly *ahem* refer to med students) as most of the current generation. :P