A World in "Harmony"- Toyota Prius!

http://www.toyota.com/prius-hybrid/commercial.html

Today I watched the making of this Toyota Prius ad and it made me happy. It made me think of why I am a global studies major, as many experiences in my daily life do. I am constantly asking myself: Why do I want to learn about the world? Maybe its because I would like to know what people are like on the other side. I want to know how people think, how people feel. What's the environment that surrounds them, what's the culture that whispers into their ears and breathes into their music? Wow, it is all so exhilirating.

At one point in the video, the Japanese director, Hiro, says something along the lines of, "It wasn't people from different countries that worked on this, it was just people." So true! Toyota, a Japanese company, employs the Brit dude to shoot the video, an American to choreograph, various other people assisting, and a Japanese dude to direct it all. It took people from around the world to create the world portrayed in the ad.

I would just like to take a moment and say that this is the definition of globalization--for me. There are many people who think that globalization is simply Westernization, when it isn't. Clearly, there is a mix of ideas coming from East and West that allow such a production as the Prius commercial to happen. There are endless possibilities when the great minds of the world come together and share their dish at the global potluck.

Asshole on Sexual Abuse

Sometimes you are so molded by reality and other, more sentimental, experiences that you forget sometimes. What do you forget? That there really are stupid people in the world. I mean, sure, you know that there's an idiot who'll get mad at a grandma behind the wheel, or a not-so-nice-lady who thinks she can get what she wants through her looks...Yeah, those are common examples of stupid people. But you know for a fact that they are stupid people. So when you are in an environment, say..UCLA, and you are surrounded by college kids--otherwise known as activists--and their ambitions are sky high, their intentions productful, and so on and so forth, doesn't it always surprise you to genuinely bump into a real-life JERK?

Today I witnessed an acquaintence of mine (not an acquaintence by choice) speaking to another acquaintence of mine on how to get girls. How to abuse them, how to violate them, how to basically get them as drunk as possible to use them for their own pleasure. I was sitting in the same room. Guess what? We were the only three in the room. I cannot disclose any further details. But I was amazed at the shamelessness with which this guy spoke. He was bluntly interrogating a freshman on things his mom would never want to hear. That's fine, at least, in the realm of private conversation. But for God's sake, he was literally telling him how to play on a girl's insecurities in order to get into her panties. It's one thing to be a jerk, another to be a jerk and say ASSHOLEish things IN FRONT OF A GIRL! Wow, I can't believe the stupidity that exists in people.

I would like to know why this person revealed his alcohol, drug, and sex abuses to the freshman as well. Ha.

Coldplay and Jesus

Ever wonder how each decade is characterized by the time of pop music? So I was listening to White Shadows by Coldplay (one of my fave songs by them), and thought of how 80-s influenced it was. With the ins and outs of the music in your ear, it had the vibes of the electric 80s sound that we are all so familiar with. Except much higher sound quality and less static, it's much easier to make out the words in the songs. Next, Suck My Kiss by RHCP played and I was thinking how similar it sounds to Sublime (just that particular song). How could both these two artists be equally as "popular" in this decade? What will our decade sound like to the kids who listen back upon it years from now? I wanna know. Because 80s music sounds fuzzy and computerized to me.

Something funny happened last night. I met Jesus. And I didn't even know it. He entered the Metro at approximately 10 45 pm with his brown latch sandals, hemp-like fibered cloth, and long hair and blonde-brown beard. The guy sitting next to him on the bus quickly taps his hand on Jesus' shoulder and quickly retracts:

"Hey, you were on TMZ, right?"

Apparently this Jesus is on TV and he roams the Grove. The guy keeps talking to Jesus while he glances back and forth at us, since I am involved in the conversation with my eyes. He then leaves to attend some Black Eyed Peas event, and shortly thereafter Jesus proceeds to pick up a conversation with us.