The Corporate Sell Out Of Lego

I love Legos. When I was a kid I could not get enough Lego sets. Every Christmas and birthday I would look through the Lego catalog and mark which ones I wanted. Usually the biggest set that my parents could afford. Inevitably I didn't get the one I wanted but a smaller set that was nearly as good. Soon I had amassed thousands of pieces that were kept in a giant plastic bin.

So when I had children I couldn't wait to get them started on Legos. It began when they were barely toddlers and I got them the Quatro sets. Sadly they don't make them anymore. Then they graduated up to the Duplo and then the regular Lego bricks. I had hoped that all this brick building would fire up their creativity and imaginations. Alas that hasn't been the case. The reason is that Lego has sold its corporate soul for a fast buck.

When I look at Lego sets now, I am astonished at the variety of pieces that they come in. Take for example the Ninjago sets that my son and almost all elementary school aged boys seem to crave. The figures are amazingly detailed and complex. They have special pieces just for the claws, teeth, or weapons. This realism was unheard of when I was a child.

Unfortunately it is because of this level of precision that makes Lego not fun anymore. When my son finishes building that model that's on the cover of the box, he pretty much puts the toy away. There is no more discovery and imagination when playing Legos. Who could blame him? As a child, I had to fashion swords and wings from flat rectangular pieces, using my creativity to make it work. Today, these bricks are so specialized they can't really be used for anything else. Looking at a Ninjago set, seriously, what else can you do with all those claws, fangs, and horn pieces? Nothing. There are so few general purpose bricks in each set that you are pretty much limited to what can be built pictured on the box.

When I told my brother about the trouble with Legos, he just laughed. He couldn't believe what an old stodger I had become. He reminded me about how I used to complain as a boy about the lack of special pieces that were in Lego sets. My models always looks squarish and clunky because I didn't have the parts that looked like eyes, or shields, or catapults. They looked like flat rectangular Lego pieces that were cobbled together to look something like the real thing. That is not a problem anymore for the new generation.

How do I know that the fancy sets won't help children with their play? Look at the master model builders employed by Lego. In their beautiful replicas of cars, buildings, and landmarks, they are able to fashion virtually the whole world with only rectangular Lego bricks. Animals, plants, humans, architectural landmarks, X-Wing fighters, you name it. With simple bricks the Lego builders can build anything.

Now there is even going to be a Lego movie. Watching the preview at the theater, I was dismayed by how complete the corporate sell out of Lego has become. It looked like a 90 minute long commercial for Lego sets. Is there any other reason for making a Lego movie? If the story line was any good, couldn't it have been made with animated or real live actors instead of computer generated Lego bricks? I am saddened by what has happened to my favorite childhood toy. In their successful quest to become more profitable, they have discarded the essence of what made them special.

Signs You Were Raised In An Asian Immigrant Household

I LOVE this list from Buzzfeed. It is 27 signs you were raised in an Asian immigrant home. When somebody emailed me this list, I almost rolled on the floor laughing. It is hilarious because it is so true. I could compare myself to nearly all of them. It's funny that growing up, I never noticed the quirks of being an Asian American. Now this list shows me that I am not the only one who does things differently from other Americans.

Right away, at #3, is something my wife does religiously. You can see at the 99 Ranch Market all the lao tai tai's pounding away at the melons. Whether they be watermelons, cantaloupes, or honeydews, everybody thinks they know the perfect sound to hear when the fruit is perfectly ripe. My wife has tried to teach me the proper technique but I have never got the hang of differeniating between a dull thud vs. a slightly hollow thump. Thus I never buy melons at the market by myself. I hate being chastised for not picking the perfect fruit.

At #4 is a tradition that I found strange when I first met my wife. Since I am a 1 1/2 generation Asian American, I grew up drinking cold sodas and water with my meals. My wife, who moved here when she was already an adult, swore she gets severe stomach cramps if she doesn't drink warm water. Now that she's lived here for nearly two decades she's not as fervent about hot water as before. But if she gets even a little crampy after a meal, she'll blame first any cold food or drinks she's consumed.

Number 9 is so funny and true. Asians always think it's cold outside. My dad used to wear long sleeve shirts outside even though it may be in the 90's and 90% humidity in the Midwest where I grew up. He didn't mind buying cars with no air conditioning since he hates being cold even though the rest of us in the car were dying of heat exhaustion. My wife always have our kids wear jackets outside even though all the other children have on t-shirts and shorts. Because you know it is an Asian fact that you will catch a cold if your arms and legs are not covered up.

If you want to know what it is like to live in an Asian home, please read this list. I can confirm that we hardly have any plates in the house, our TV remote control is wrapped in cellophane, and our dishwasher is always full but is never turned on. I guess the Asian culture runs pretty strong in all of us.

Running While Arab

The Boston Marathon bombings are horrendous reminders of the vulnerabilities our country still faces. It is all too easy for people with nefarious motives to cause tragedies both big and small. When the two bombs went off, people immediately flashed back to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. So naturally, who was the first suspect to be questioned by the FBI? A Saudi citizen, of course.

When the bombs went off, thousands of people began running away. One of them was a Saudi Arabian student here in Boston to study. Even though this would be considered a normal reaction by anybody, some witness thought his running seemed suspicious. He tackled the student and held him until law enforcement could collect him. The student himself was injured by the bombs and was taken to a hospital for treatment. The FBI continued questioning him in his hospital bed and even searched his apartment. They finally concluded that he is not a terrorist suspect.

It's sad that Americans are still so xenophobic that we suspect anybody who is not white as a criminal. After the Oklahoma City bombing, people immediately thought it too was caused by Middle East terrorists. I thought at the time that it would be extremely strange for international terrorists to travel all the way to Oklahoma City to cause mayhem. Surely there are better targets in more cosmopolitan cities. And of course the culprits turned out to be a couple of white dudes who decided they didn't like their government and bought a few hundred pounds of fertilizer to make a bomb.

So before we start hating on people of Middle Eastern descent, let's take a deep breath and just wait for further findings from the FBI. We don't need any more racist vigilantes blaming innocent Arab students and causing a black eye in our fraught relationship with the Mideast countries.

The Asian Gene

Researchers at the Broad Institute in Cambridge, MA have identified a gene that appears to cause the formation of physical traits common with East Asian people. The gene, called EDAR, seems to lead to the production of thicker hair, increased sweat glands, distinctive teeth, and smaller breast tissue that are more common with East Asians. It is the mutation of this gene, which is in a different form in Caucasians and Blacks, that leads to these changes.

To determine if this mutated EDAR really causes all these changes, the researchers, Yana Kamberov and Pardis Sabeti, spliced the gene into the DNA of lab mice. When the mice reproduced with the new gene, they did indeed have thicker hair, more sweat glands, and smaller amount of breast tissue. Mice teeth are too different from humans for the researchers to make a distinction.

So now I'm wondering when we are going to have our first genetically modified Asian test tube baby. Asians already are world leaders in the use of cosmetic surgery in trying to change their looks to be more Caucasian. They want pointy noses, double layered eyelids, whiter skin. Now that we know some of the genes that can make somebody have more Caucasian physical characteristics, how soon before some rogue laboratory in Asia inserts this gene into a human embryo to create a mixed race child without actually having to have a mixed parentage? Even better for the parents, this restored EDAR gene could theoretically propogate down the family tree so that all their progeny would eventually contain the Caucasian gene that they so desire. This could put all those plastic surgeons in Asia out of business.

The Slippery Slope of Gay Marriage

I'm going to play armchair attorney here. I think the lawyer who was attempting to defend California's Proposition 8, the one that voters passed that defined a marriage in the state as between one man and one woman, was quite feeble. Charles Cooper, the attorney who was arguing the case in the U.S. Supreme Court, tried to justify denying marriage to gay couples by stating that the creation of marriage is supposed to encourage procreation, which gay people obviously can't achieve. He was rightly laughed off by the justices. They easily swatted away that argument by noting multple examples of infertile couples and elderly couples who obviously can't have children. Another way of looking at it is that one doesn't need a marriage for procreation anyway.

The defense also argued that raising children with one male and one female parent is best for their well being. Again that is a very weak statement to bring in front of such a consequential case. No less than the American Academy of Pediatrics has stated that children brought up by gay couples is no worse off than ones raised by heterosexual couples. So there goes that line of reasoning.

What I haven't heard anybody say is what will happen to other forms of marriages when gay marriage is eventually legalized in this country, as I think it inevitably will. Right now, homosexuals say they deserve to marry each other because they love each other, just like their heterosexuals counterparts. Okay I'm fine with two people who are in love wanting to get married. But what happens when three or more people say they love each other. When you can no longer define marriage as between one man and one woman, has the institution of marriage been destroyed?

Throughout human history there have always been cultures where, usually, one man has had more than one wife. In fact it has only been in recent times that monogamy has become idealized in marriage. Think of the old Chinese or Middle Eastern rulers with their mulititude of wives, or harems, or concubines. Here in the U.S., the Mormon Church is well known for having a history of allowing polygamy, with its founder Joseph Smith said to have more than fifty wives.

If we can no longer define marriage as between one man and one woman, then where does this end? If you pass laws stating that marriage can only between two non related people, regardless of gender, won't polygamists feel they are being discriminated against? Won't they want the same federal rights and benefits as couple marriages? Aren't their civil rights being trampled on too? I just wish somebody can address this issue. I don't mind if gay couples have all the same rights as heterosexual couples. They can be considered to be in a civil union, as many states have already done. Just don't redefine marriage to accommodate this new family unit. If we do, then there is no end to how many different ways people will want to push the limits of families all in the name of civil rights.

Justin Bieber's Dirty Song

My eight year old daughter and I were recently in the car listening to a Top 40 radio station. I asked her who she and her friends thought were cool singers currently. Naturally Taylor Swift was at the top of the list. Then of course there is Katy Perry. They even think Adele is pretty cool. I asked her about Justin Bieber. Does she think he's cool?

She said no, he is definitely not cool. I was suprised. I thought all girls in her age group were madly in love with the Biebs. She replied that she thinks Bieber's music is dirty. Really? What little of Bieber's music I know all sound pretty innocent and teeny bopper to me.

Which of his songs is dirty? She said "Baby." "Baby?" Trying my hardest to recall the words to that song, I don't remember any particularly inflammatory language in there. So I asked her why "Baby" is a dirty song. She replied that "Baby" is dirty because babies make all sorts of stinky poop. That's why it's dirty.

I had to suppress my laughter. Her definition of dirty is literally dirty, not the cynical sexual innuendo we adults have come to associate the word dirty with most music. Children, they are so innocent and literal. I hope she never grows up.