Favorite Pastimes
Music: I like singing and dancing with my friends. Just this past Sunday, some of my friends and a few of their friends gathered at the WWI Memorial Oak Grove on campus and sang devotional songs. The trees give off such high energy, which energized our voices and our drum-playing. I also like to watch my buddies sing at open mic nights around Berkeley.
Movies: I rarely watch t.v. or go to the movies. The last movie I saw in the theater was Blood Diamonds with Leonardo DiCaprio. I like movies that have a socio-environmental message, make you think about things you hadn't thought about, or demonstrate the ingenuity of people (i.e. Catch Me if You Can, coincidentally also with DiCaprio). My favorite movies are Back to the Future, Pleasantville, and The Wizard of Oz. I enjoy watching any black and white film, especially slap-stick comedies. The Pacific Film Archive (PFA) is a great cultural campus resource. I've seen great films there, including The Beatles' Hard Day's Night and Ich moechte kein Mann sein (a silent film).
T.V. Shows: I rarely watch television, because it sucks away your intelligence. Corporate money-makers flash images on television that make you rely on their messages, and make you rely less on thinking for yourself. Disney, McDonanld's, and ABC are one of the many corporate conglomerates in the entertainment world. What are their motives? If Disney did something bad, do you think ABC is going to report it on their nightly news? Anyway, there are better and more important things one could do with one's time. When all is said and done, when I'm on break back home, I enjoy taking the time to watch I Love Lucy and M.A.S.H.--the classics. I like the Simpsons too, for a good laugh and thought-provoking innuendos.
Food: Italian, Mexican, and Indian. Did you know that traditional Mexican food is mainly vegetarian? Meat has been put into many dishes to appease the meat-eating, non-Mexican population. Being part Mexican, I'd always thought meat was traditional. In some dishes it is, but not all. And some things, like burritos, are not really Mexican dishes. I like traditional Indian food, which is also vegetarian. According to Vedic tradition, it is an offense to Lord Krishna to eat meat. How can we blindlessly, carelessly kill animals (albeit indirectly) and think we can live in peace among our fellow human beings?