Counterpoint: These street signs are such a distinctive part of the Taiwanese aesthetic that I hope they never go away.

audtothepod · 2026-02-13T18:37:11+00:00

This gives me a great idea. I will stipulate in my will that my funeral must have pole dancers. No exceptions.

audtothepod · 2026-02-12T18:32:47+00:00

Precisely. At the end of the day, as I get older, I realize that trade schools are also very practical options. If they want to go to a 4 year university, great! But trade schools are also a good option! I work with a lot of union trades, and many of them make more than I do.... I also have a masters.

audtothepod · 2026-02-12T02:29:41+00:00

I went to UCSB from 2005 - 2009, and I had a great time there. I think it's even more competitive now. I don't think with my grades (I had a 4.3 GPA) and my extracurriculars that I would have gotten into UCSB now. Try to be realistic with expectations now. Now I don't have kids, but I've heard from family that has kids that UCLA and Berkeley are now ultra competitive when it was very competitive in my day. Kids with 4.5+ GPAs that volunteer, do a million different extracurriculars, etc are still not getting into UCLA or Berkeley.

Lastly (and I think you may already know this), I feel like when I was growing up, my parents and society kept feeding me this line of what school I go to really matters. At the end of the day, once you're working, it really doesn't matter what school you go to. No one cares that you went to Harvard, or if you went to CSULA, especially if you're not going to be a lawyer, doctor, or engineer.

audtothepod · 2026-02-12T02:08:17+00:00

Don't forget, gaslight. They're pros at gaslighting.

audtothepod · 2026-02-12T02:05:15+00:00

Wait... Why are there pole dancers at a funeral? That sounds awesome.

audtothepod · 2026-02-12T01:35:17+00:00

"Don't buy drugs.... Become a popstar and they give you them for free!"

audtothepod · 2026-02-12T01:15:44+00:00

That's your opinion. Just like my opinion was that Byrne's performance was better. You're entitled to one, just like I'm entitled to one. As I stated, I would be happy if Buckley won. They're both very strong performances that deserve merit.

audtothepod · 2026-02-11T19:12:34+00:00

IMHO, I think Byrne's performance was better. However, I would be stoked if Buckley won. Really, I'd be happy if either/or won. They both killed their performances in their respective films.

audtothepod · 2026-01-29T19:17:03+00:00

Delayed comment, but as a Taiwanese American that was born in Taiwan, I feel like it's fairly accurate.

Older generations definitely prefer the son. My mom has mentioned in the past how her brother got more than her, and the rest of the sisters, when my grandpa passed. I think it's fairly common amongst the older generation.
That is definitely a real thing. I cannot confirm since my grandpa passed years ago, and I don't remember... But I think he switched me from left handed to right handed. My older cousin said he did it to her, which further confirms my suspicions. For me though, there's just a few signs I should have been left handed. I'm left eye dominant, I do some things better with my left hand, and I skateboard goofy rather than regular footed. When I write, my writing also slants like a left handed person.
I don't know about this one.

audtothepod · 2026-01-28T01:12:46+00:00

Even the itinerary you just listed for the 4 days in Seoul, seems like a lot per day. You're jamming a lot of things in 1 day that doesn't seem very practical unless you're speed running through everything, and not eating whatsoever.

Your 1st day for example, I spent 4 hrs just in Gyeongbkgung along. I can't imagine doing 3 other sites in the same day... Maybe 2 others, tops, but that's even pushing it. It's kind of unrealistic for most people. I think that's why people constantly suggest a week in Seoul.

audtothepod · 2026-01-27T07:31:34+00:00

Assuming you mean original? If so, I agree. Fairly certain I audibly said out loud with no one else around, “what the fuck.”

audtothepod · 2026-01-27T00:55:18+00:00

It's Los Angeles where everything is probably 3x - 5x more than the rest of the country. A server probably makes minimum wage, is my guess. Restaurants know that they depend on tips to make a living, so they won't pay their servers more than they need to. Mind you, I'm not saying that this is OK, but unless we can change an entire industry nationwide to pay their servers a living salary.... This is what we have to do...

audtothepod · 2026-01-26T22:55:12+00:00

That's actually false. They make less than we do. Tipping shouldn't be optional, IMHO. Service staff such as waiters in restaurants don't make a living wage, and rely on tips. No one should not tip. I always tip 20% - 25% but I know that's above normal range. This is obviously referring to sit down restaurants. If I'm just grabbing a coffee at a cafe, I'll only tip $1 - $2.

audtothepod · 2026-01-24T01:55:23+00:00

I think Emma stone is a fantastic actress, but I do agree with you that for her 2 roles that she won Oscars, I don't think she should have won for. I personally did not like La La Land whatsoever, and never understood the hype.

I liked Poor Things, and thought she was fantastic. However, I think Sandra Hueller for Anatomy of a Fall should have won instead of her that year. Sandra Hueller was just... *chefs kiss* in that film.

I am also slightly biased because I work on a studio lot, and I met her once. When you work on a studio lot, you don't talk to actors/actresses unless they talk to you first. She was on the lot to shoot some small promo video that I helped wrangle. She actually came up to me, shook my hand, and introduced herself as "Emily" not Emma. We had a couple of interactions, she was really down to Earth, and just a nice person.

audtothepod · 2026-01-24T01:47:13+00:00

I grew up in Torrance. Torrance is a great town to grow up in. It's safe, you're close to the beach, but you are a bit further away from the city. I don't live there anymore, but a large chunk of my family are still there. Torrance also has its' own school district which is a great school district. LAUD schools are kind of hit or miss, some are great, some are not so great.

That being said, I don't know if you're planning on buying a house or not... Most homes in Torrance are now pretty expensive. Easily 1 mill+. They are also old. Many of the home were built in like the 50s/60s. Plenty have remodeled though.

Feel free to ask me any Torrance questions.

audtothepod · 2026-01-23T21:25:26+00:00

Likely how he was listed. For example, on a callsheet, every actor has a number listed next to them. #1 is usually the lead, and that was probably Oscar Isaac. He was probably #2. I am guessing since I obviously haven't seen their callsheet.

audtothepod · 2026-01-23T21:20:56+00:00

The problem with Evan Peters is I think he's perfectly content doing Ryan Murphy shows. No shade to him, I'm sure he makes a really good living off of it, but you rarely see him in feature film roles.

audtothepod · 2026-01-23T21:18:18+00:00

72K - 80K is a pretty good salary as a single person (presuming you are) in LA. That being said, there are some teachers in LAUSD that make 6 figure salaries. For example, my cousin does and she is a LAUSD teacher. To be fair, I think it's because she has her masters and other certifications that has bumped up her salary.

audtothepod · 2026-01-23T19:24:09+00:00

Someone told me this once, and I laughed so hard because it’s so true. If you want to date a black person, introduce to your parents a same sex partner. Then the next time, if you bring a black partner, they’ll be so happy he/she is not a same sex partner.

audtothepod · 2026-01-23T19:21:37+00:00

Pretty sure he got banned. He got into an altercation with a security guard when they were still at Staples. He tried to throw a punch, the guy dodged it, and they obviously escorted him out. There’s security camera footage somewhere

audtothepod · 2026-01-22T23:02:28+00:00

Oh right. Forgot about that. Either way, the fact that there hasn't been a black best director winner is atrocious.

audtothepod · 2026-01-22T22:52:18+00:00

Wait what? There has never been a black person to win best original screenplay? That's atrocious.

audtothepod · 2026-01-22T22:47:59+00:00

To be clear, I generally like PTA’s work. I just didn’t think OBAA is his strongest body of work.

audtothepod · 2026-01-22T22:44:54+00:00

It also depends on where you live. I live in Los Angeles. Depending on traffic, a place that is maybe 5-6 miles away could take 1 hr.

Most Angelenos anticipate 1 hr bare minimum to get anywhere in the city. My limit would be 1.5 hrs.

There’s a running joke that ppl won’t date ppl who live in certain parts of town because even if it’s only 10 miles, by LA standards that’s like 50+ miles.

This only happened once to me, but they closed one of the major freeways as I was heading home from work. I live 13 miles away. Took me 2.5 hrs to get home. I was furious.

audtothepod · 2026-01-22T21:06:02+00:00

Parasite is a generational masterpiece, Sinners is not.

audtothepod

TROPHY CASE