Vietnam and the Ho Chi Minh Tour.

Alls this...

Fit in THIS!

Of the first two days in Vietnam I can say that it is far grungier than I expected. I knew it wouldn't be anything like Japan or Korea or even Malaysia, but its so different it surpassed every expectation I had- including how much fun i'd have.

Of course it was a third world country and technical communist in their political stance- those being two major things you're taught to fear in America, but it was no trouble. I was just another foreigner for merchants to pan handle to and bargain with, which was kinda nice since i'm poked at in Korea as some kind of mutant.

Cross that I dare you

You often hear hotel clerks caution you against the best pickpockets in the world living in Ho Chi Minh , but I have my doubts. The only occasions I was accosted was buy two amatures with a pitiful story about being "college kids" and wanting to "meet foreigners."


PFFT. Likely story from a young couple walking in the park with backpacks! I'm on high alert and not so easily bought in!

Even so it was easy to stretch a dollar when you're bartering with motorbike taxis and rival waiters vie for patronage between their two adjacent eateries. Saving money was half the adventure itself! The idea of never taking things at face value or accepting the labeled norm has become such a requirement in my recent travels that I'm starting to wonder why I don't argue the price over things like that more often. Hmmm...


Well within our second day we sight saw in Ho chi Minh most especially the war museum- which makes you feel absolutely terrible yet compelled to see every gruesome bit of it.


That whole time period was a intercontinental train wreak and thanks to these houses full of remnants we can review the past follies of each gruesome story. Its a version of a well known history that seems ancient to kids these days (AKA me) but blindly believing the lapse in time makes us immune to the effects of slaughter risks dehumanizing the suffering of real people. Then and now.


I Like  believe I'm not  so callous.



The most surprising article of the museum were the memorabilia posters from third party nations that rallied AGAINST the USA, such as Japan and Russia. Back then the fight was pretty two dimensional, but seeing it from the other dimension certainly makes a difference.

There were plenty of other palaces and towers and cathedrals to see, but the height of the Ho Chi Minh circuit was spending evenings out with other travelers and drinking on the cheap. but the food - OH THE FOOD! Generally Spectacular, including the sweet-spicy frog porridge. No Cajun frog legs here- nothing so meaty. Its every bit of the tiny pond hoppers that end up on your plate. but Oh man that was sweet culinary justice against all the fermented soy I've been suffering by in Korea. 

We knew we were in for a great treat after that, and so day 3 approached and before heading north to the next great adventure, we made a side trek to the Meekong Delta, the true country roots of the south.

Just a small outing on a crystal clear river

Then to a Coconut Candy factory where the samples were still warm and chewy.

Observed a harvest up close

And even got cozy with some local wild life.

With such a varying experience after only a few days i was already feeling worn out, but soon enough we'd have a whole new wild, unforgettable and slightly regrettable experience waiting just around the bend, though if you want THAT story, you'll have to ask in person...

About to Depart

As i sit at my desk on Monday August 5th and double check all the final packings and preparations for my major trip I think of how oddly afraid yet at peace I am. If you could blend the two together like a milkshake you'd get a smooth anxiety frappe.

Its the first major trip of nearly- indipendant country roaming, though hopefully not the last. Its a major excursion as far as my previous excursions go- though now it seems i'm just psyching myself out... But even when We first left for Korea, I walked that terminal gate alone but by the time we landed I had met at least 5 others who were in my position. I'll never forget all the brave faces of those nervous kids, myself included, when we landed in Inchon Airport and practically tiptoed through the foreign halls of the terminal before finding the major meeting site for all the affiliated teachers.

That first night was spent on my own though. Having a separate meeting time the next day I had to pull myself up by the britches and book my own hostel ahead of time. (And when I say book my own I mean trust my contracting agency to not screw me over when they booked one for me.)

Even when our College Choir toured through Europe we had constant guides and daily agendas.

Even in the Philippines for our fake honeymoon we were corralled like cattle here and there, often to the cheapest and blandest of restaurants and sites. The adventure was to slip away and discover what we could in those few hours of freedom.

Its the same but this time its different.


11 days of freedom to roam.

And of course whats a roamer without his roaming cap?

No schedule, no agenda, no strict list of things to see or places to be. Just two guys and an open, new, foreign country to explore.

It'll be dangerous. Which of course is half the attraction. Everyone needs a bit of danger on their adventure and being in the most unadventurous town for as long as I have- lets just say we've got to even it out.

It's impossible to know whats gonna happen but the most I can promise myself and others is this: I'll try my best to keep my head on my shoulders. Keeping an eye on my pack, people and surroundings as much as possible.

I trust my travel companion completely so i'll watch his back as much as he watches mine.

He's practically an Angel he is - only the most trivial of character flaws. Honest!

 Won't take unnecessary risks, though favorable risks with potential payoffs are open game~

And I'll try my best to come back alive. Which is only meant to be half sarcasm. Though I am naturally cautios, These last two years have been so stuffed with new and wild experiences that i'm not so paralyzed by the potential dangers anymore. Keeping god friends close and a clear head is key- but as long as we enjoy this short life adventure no matter what happens will be worth it.

In Defense of Darkness: A Critical Read on Villainy in Star Trek

In Defense of Darkness

When is an villain a villain?  when the protagonist of any story butts heads with an opposing force taking the form of an antagonistic nature, then likely you have your villain.

But when is a villain wrong?

Is he really that bad of a guy? Short answer, yes. But...

How many times has it been hammered into minds that the one person standing opposite you is against you and therefore wrong and must be figuratively- or literally obliterated.

Nearly every single time we sit down to a film, game or book. But what if they aren't the true antagonist, the true evil of the story? Just because they are opposite, doesn't make them in the wrong. Does it?

The current example to fuel this monologue is the recent Star Trek into Darkness film, where the ever iconic cast of Trekkers meets a likewise iconic and by all means of the word ‘villainous’ caricature of continuity past. (FYI: Highlight spoilers from here on)

 Khan who happens to be superior to the lead role captain James Kirk, literally down to the genetic level is ruthless, capable, a superb liar and more than willing to shred the world of our key players apart - but does his defined role as an antagonist simply make him a villain?

The caricature of the dark caped, mustachioed sneer of film villains is no longer discernible with black or white clarity in today's culture. Perhaps that comes as a no brainier to some but it begs the question, How DO we define the villain nowadays?

Despite Khan clearly not being a ‘good’ man his due process of egotism, collateral endangerment of civilians and often destructive nature is matched only by our lead role James T. Kirk. As both protagonist and antagonist alike lead all those around them in a hapless dance of revenge and counter revenge; how then can we differentiate which of the two to cheer for and invest our hopes in favor of their success, If either?

Most Trekkies have had furrowed brows over the new films direction of canon

Kirk has a nasty habit of breaking rules and endangering the lives of others around him at a whim when it best suits his needs- or his mood. A caustic character to lead a star ship indeed. Yet as he does it out of his own morally self-awareness and is driven by his ‘heart being in the right place’ then its all good and well yes? After all, he DOES act with the good of his crew in mind- most of the time anyway.

Yet as does the resident naughty boy that we are meant to believe must be stopped at all costs. Khan’s crew and family are all that he really has- super intellect and brawn aside- and he makes a worthy case for himself in saying he’d do anything for said crew. Even going the distance of sabotaging military installations and inciting a private war on the Federation. After all, it was them who opened up that can of worms first, so they had it coming to them from the start. But more on that later.

It was Starfleet who took Khan’s  abilities and intellect hostage to their own ends. Creating a war ship purely out of paranoia of an impending enemy invasion that might be really disastrous. Then they’re led to destroy any 3rd party opposition to cover tracks. Creating more opposition on the way. Obviously quite the villainous thing to do.. The corrupt contemptuous beast of militarization in direct hypocrisy of claiming yourself to seek peace. (Poetic spoilers)

Its not the most original of stories, in fact it may be overplayed as a trending plot, but it leaves us to categorize Khan's role as possibly the not-really-as-bad-as-this-other-bad-guy guy. And perhaps that is enough of a character anchor for him. Maybe being the not-nice bad guy that fights the not-nice good guy is really all there is to their on screen roles.

Perhaps, but for the sake of questioning the status quo  let's take another look into this formula.

There's a lot more to criticize but at least it makes a colorful film reel

Universe of Into Darkness rolls over itself by the powers of circular dueling between three key players.

You have the flawed anti-hero Kirk who despite see-sawing between good captain and space cowboy action hero, still manages to make a glorious mess of things without ever coming out on top. Seriously- except for one small instance of debilitating a single enemy aircraft, he manages to lose every fight he’s in and still be looked to as a leader *Yeash*

Then we have the turncoat manipulative admiral seeking power for some arms race ideal of self preservation for himself and for those he swore to protect; yet all too willing to kill those he swore to protect if it means doing what is necessary AKA starting a war with another race so he can fulfill his own prediction of all out war. A jab at foreign policy within current US military-centric idealism, albeit a shallow one.

And then there is Khan who makes a proper mess of the competition but less out of a self-centered villainy, but more out of reactionary motivation to free his colleagues from ransom and free himself from an advantageous oppressor. As Khan only seems to react impulsively to the danger and loss of his Popsicle crew locked down in cryogenic sleep of 3-centuries and then some; he is less the intellectual menace we are led to believe and are instead offered the vision of an emotionally driven and vengeful renegade. Traits which we could just as easily pin to any of the stories lead roles- meaning this in of itself is NOT ENOUGH to vilify the villain. (If that makes any lick of sense.)

What's even more compelling is the loss of James Kirk’s life that drives Spock to don the new mask of emotionally vengeful and rule rebelling and seek pure revenge upon the one responsible.

The same course as Kirk.

The same course as Khan.

Get it? They’re all driven by the same motives to take the same actions of abandoning all pretense of self control and let the hate flow. Master Yoda would have a field day backwards ranting about how that just leads to darkness and all that jazz, but seeing as darkness is kinda the theme anyways we’re getting there no matter what Jedi Nematoad has to say.

This reference is far too old and I should never be mentioned henceforth.

As if any more metaphor was needed convey the whole ridiculous similitude of these high strung- cross wired captains, lets boil down the idea to its simplest form.

Envision a sandbox in a childs playground. Among the sprawling sandscape are miniaturized child terrors running amok and doing what kids do best, act impulsively, competitivly and trivially immature ways.

One kid breaks another sand castle. The other throws dust in an eye. A third pulls another's  hair.

You have a playground fight over who did what and why and in no time, motives no longer matter, only reactive violence in response to violence and a bunch of scrapes and bruises remain to show for it. So what does that leave us?

It leaves us with a charmless movie and an overhyped drama living off the expansive name of its franchise rather than its stand alone merits. is the quintessential parallel of the ensuing space drama that is Star Trek Into Darkness. Who is to say who the true heroes or villains are and how to tell them apart. Is it decided by the best looking hair? The player with the most heart? Or whoever does the least damage during their time to rampage on screen?

Honestly this may be looking into it WAY too much-but i’ve never been one to simple lay back and let a film glaze me over with its eye popping effects and shallow attempts at homage to a history of nerdom past. If that were enough to win me over then backyard fan films would be enough for me.

So i submit my own (un)apopcalyptic proposal that in the same way that Kirk is an anti-hero, Kahn embodies the role of the anti-villain.

The man who does bad not because he is bad but because bad has been done to him- and in turn aims to direct his misdeeds at those responsible actually makes him a kind of villainous hero in his own right. Right?

"Right!"

Because the admiral was willing to start a war with the Klingon Empire for the sake of throwing the first mighty blow- which makes him the unequivocal villain IF that plan had succeeded; then in the current battle we do see he must ALSO be the true villain of this conflict as he made forced Kahn to be what he will be manipulating him to be villainous against his will.

In closing- Admiral ass-hat is the real bad baddie and Kahn is kinda just the bad luck baddie. Bad or not I say that makes all the difference to me. Which brings me to the lesson I learned from this all: Its best to not be overly critical of a villain, just because he seems villainous.

Unless that villain is JJ Abrams who has a habit of committing cinema malpractice within his third acts. Not the first film that has ended more disingenuous than expect. Remember Supre 8? Big alien terror that just kinda- skidaddles at the end- not all too remarkable. And considering the original Wrath of Khan film climaxed in a pulse racing chess like battle of strategy and skill, a fist fight is a pretty inglorious way to end off this films keynote battle. A waste and a pity.

Ciao~

(Note that it was mentioned Kahn may have had an itsy-bitsy Killing spree a few hundred years ago that had to do with his elitist mindset of destroying everyone perceived not as perfect as he-a tad on the nazi side of the bad-man meter. but this wasn’t proven to be the pure case with THIS kahn, not an alternate dimension Kahn who is essentially a whole different person AND the truth cannot be so clearly defined considering we learn these compelling ‘facts’ from our manipulative villain of less than genuine character. I only take these facts with a grain of salt.)

Image Cites

http://latino-review.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/StarTrekIntoDarkness-app-photo2.jpg

http://www.startrek.com/legacy_media/images/200508/mov-002-khan02/320x240.jpg

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_loxf049vhF1qzy115o1_500.jpg

http://cocafilms.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/star-trek-into-darkness-pstr07.jpg

http://www.screenslam.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Star-Trek-Into-Darkness-Kirk-Spock-Black-Shirts.jpg

Last night, I drank with a gangster

 There are so many spectacular experiences to have when travelling, I just have to write these into my bucket list just to cross it off! its been awhile since i was actively out among the masses of bar lounging foreigners.

I’ve taken more to spending my time with quality people rather than quantity, which is often a more rewarding experience anyways, but I still joined the crowd last night for our little towns little bar open mike night. Jazzy glorious and messy it was. Only takes so much drink to shed away regret of attending (partial sarcasm) and two things I’ve relearned on my night.

 1If you are going to have an open mike night AT A BAR WHERE PEOPLE DRINK, Get a mike. Simple as that. People ain’t gonna hush just to hear a stage frightened canary squeak out some broken notes. Fact. 

2nd. Even with new people, the crowd never changes. Even with interesting additions, Some big gal singer from New Orleans, or really tall kids from England, It may as well be drivel because we’re stuck in the same damn town. Half the reason why i’m looking to move.

 After the main event, people migrate like clockwork geese from the second most popular drinking hole to the first. Begrudgingly i obliged my company for a short while- which is how i drank with a new bunch of Koreans.

 Sat between a correction officer, a club owner, and a Gangtae (Korean yakuza- who was by far the best looking of us despite his prison tattoos and missing pinky fingers) and boy howdy we drank. Damn good thing about Korea, the people can’t stand to talk to you sober.

 Got hair design tips from the gangster, shared stories about university with the clubber, played thumb wars with the jailor- and i felt right at ease with them all.

Ben and Ben with traded hats~

 The other day I was skyping with a friend and just from a 40minute conversation, they could tell that i’ve changed since college. And thats the best damn thing i’ve heard in a long time.~