Apr 27, 2002

It's Saturday again?
My housemate's been back for a week after an almost three month hiatus in New Zealand and Toronto. I had come to enjoy having an apartment to myself, but the sheer freedom from any form of social obligation meant my schedule's been slipping back towards that university lifestyle. You know the one, where all life's necessary functions except for sleep transpired under the light of the moon or flourescent tubes; daylight hours existed for the purpose of exams and handing in papers. In this past week I think I've seen my housemate twice. Typically, he's off to work before I awake, and I get home after his lights go out. I've spent too many hours at work this week. And in the midst of it all there just wasn't the time to blog about the past weekend, and I already find it's Satuday again. And since I haven't had time to mention it, here's the sad news of the week. Not only do we get bombed by Americans, but we pick up their eating habits as well.

Last Saturday was actually quite interesting. Billy and I caught a full-house screening of Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi) (2001) at the San Francisco Film Festival. This is the lastest film by Hayao Miyazaki, released last summer in Japan, December in Hong Kong, and supposedly September 20th, 2002 in North America. Like many other Miyazaki features, this one was made "For the people who used to be 10 years old, and the people who are going to be 10 years old". I've realized I'm slowly losing the ability to see things as a kid. I think kids would love this movie, but I wonder whether they really would, or whether they'd find parts of it slow moving (much like Totoro). As an adult I'd say it's the best Miyazaki film so far. It's got the typical themes that recur in his films - uncertain child heroines, fantastic creatures, tradition, magic, humour, victory and love. The fairy-tale plot follows Chihiro as her family curiously wanders into an abandoned Japanese theme park, where they are sucked into a magical world in medieval Japan. Chihiro struggles to find her own identity and free the friends she meets and her own parents from the witch Yu-baba which runs the alternate reality. Like most films for kids, this movie comes off as heartwarming and uplifting. Like most other Miyazaki films, it manages to do it honestly, without resorting to cheezy cliches. This one should be coming into wide release from Disney by the fall. Watch it. 4.5/5

We spent Saturday night wandering North Beach for something interesting to do. Having passed by all the 'hip' looking spots, at the point of calling it a night, we go back to the live music blaring from a small bar, simply named 'Saloon'. We weren't quite sure whether the '1232' of the address was part of the name or not, but it was an interesting spot in itself. The bar itself was old and run down. It could have been out of a western if it weren't for the fact that we're too far west for cowboys. The clientele were in their early thirties through to what must have been their 70s. All caucasian, and mostly obese. A slice of the American crowd you'd least to expect a couple of Chinese kids to hang in. Up on stage, a guy I've never heard of named Daniel Castro was wailing out some sad song about walking down some road, but he was mighty lively about it. The whole of the crowded little bar was on their feet grooving to the beat of the blues guitar. This kinda thing doesn't quite have the right sound on CD, it's not stuff I'd normally go buy, but one of these days I gotta get myself back in a blues bar.

How does Yu-ling manage to post just about every day? Kids and co-op these days. Oh, wait, I remember, back in the day when my mailbox handled 400 emails a day while I my catatonic brain fermented in the basement of some unnamed bank tower. Speaking of Yuling, his posts on sex and the arts are quite interesting. Just last week the Supreme Court made a relevent ruling.

On the topic of sex and film, the theme this week is love stories, although there are quite a few variations on that theme.

Boys Don't Cry (1999)
After making quite a buzz in many gay & lesbian film fests, this one netted a Best Actress Oscar for Hilary Swank. As an independent film, you get the gritty low cost cinematography often seen in indies. Based on a true story, the story follows an underacheiving teen girl (who wants to be a boy) wandering stupidly through white trash America looking for love. Although the plot only gets about as complicated as it could when you throw tomboys, pretty girls, and drunk jealous boyfriends together, the ending's a real doozy.
3.5/5

The Crying Game (1992)
I'm a decade late in watching this one, the buzz has long died and everyone knows the 'twist' in this one already. It certainly would have been more of a bomb if you weren't expecting it coming, but even then it's still a great movie. Unlike the previous movie, the visuals are lush, vivid and intentional. The plot (which I actually knew nothing about) actually follows a group of the IRA as they kidnap a British soldier from a local fair and hold him. One of the IRA volunteers, Fergus, builds up a friendship with the soldier, Jody while guarding him, yet In the end, their demands are not met and Fergus leads Jody off to his execution. That's actually just the introduction as Fergus then tries to put his IRA past behind him and somehow find redemption in searching out Jody's girlfriend in London. It does a great job of portraying love and sexuality - how they're both intertwined and yet two vastly different things. Worth watching but not everyone will like it.
4/5

Like Water for Chocolate (1992)
Despite having raked in tonnes of awards in its home country of Mexico, this film was highly dissappointing, especially if you're expecting some sort of drama. Writer Lauren Esquivel (who also wrote the novel, which I haven't read, and don't plan to read) does herself a great disservice, falling into the stereotype of an overly romantic feminist woman writer). Tita is born, the youngest daughter in a 19th century Mexican family, must live by her family's tradition and not marry, but fulfill her role and care for her mother until she passes. All is well, with Tita growing up in the kitchen, until a charming but stupid boy comes along, and the desire for love and freedom draws out the rest of the story. The only non-standard fare are the fantastic elements here and there - the magical effects of Tita's cooking and her visions. Although the characters do show a hint of humanity - living torn between the desire for freedom and the bounds of propriety and tradition, making mistakes, growing up - they're still mostly cliche. The cooking scenes don't come across as particularly sensual (I don't think Mexican food ever truly attains that). And the passionately romantic love scenes end up coming across as comedic and gauche. Maybe you'll like it if you're looking for a romantic chick flick, but I think this is even too much for that.
1.5/5

Angels and Insects (1995)
I had heard of this one before, something to do with Victorian era prurient interests. But Sinyee rented it and she had no idea what it was about. A shipwrecked naturalist returns penniless to his aristocratic benefactor, a reverend struggling between God and science at the time when Darwin was novel. Despite the biologist's meagre upbringing, his benefactor accepts him into the family, as he marries the much desired, beautiful older daughter and assists the father in his entomological research - much to the dismay of the antagonistic brother. The plot twists from there, leaving the viewer is trying to decipher whether something is indeed going on beneath the surface of the house. It actually reminds me of the recent bruhaha with the RC church. This film starts off painfully slow, the well enunciated Victorian speech and formality drags the entire first half; only in the end do you realize how masterfully intentional the whole pace has been set.
4/5

And speaking of watching what you watch, you may or may not be interested in these, since they all have scenes with full nudity (uh oh!).

Apr 17, 2002

"Christian" music?
There's a Christian radio station in San Francisco. I can barely get reception when driving around in SJ, but everyone can get it over the miracle of streaming audio. However, listening to it for a few hours hasn't changed my opinion that commercial Christian music generally sucks. Most of it sounds like a rehash of common pop music styles.

Of course my current favourite bands still happen to be Christian, check U2 and TVB. After all, isn't music an expression of being human? And isn't part of being human searching for that Relationship?

Oh, and Yuling, you've watched Moulin Rouge far too many times.

Apr 16, 2002

Touch the sky
Imagine yourself sitting on a hill; it's a large hill but not quite a mountain. You look in one direction as the hill drops off, far below you lies the city from where you came. You can't see anyone from this height, but you know there are hundreds of thousands of people below you going on about their daily business - working, shopping, having fun.

In the opposite direction are the mountains. You may be on a hill, but you are only on the foothills of a much larger range. There land in that direction is rugged. Buildings and roads are very sparse. In nature's reign there's a different sort of business, as hundreds of thousands of animals going on about their daily business - hunting, being hunted, or just basking in the sun.

On Saturday I hiked up Monument Peak. I was expecting to be able to drive up the hill, but it turned out to be a 3.5 mile, 2300 vertical foot hike. The top of the hill had a number of microwave and radio antennae and satellite dishes, but was otherwise deserted. Atop the peak, staring eastward into the Californian coastal mountain range, it's a different world from the suburban sprawl to the west. I'm reminded of Paul Tokunaga's comment about retreats of solitude, and the top of a hill is as good a place as any to spend some time alone.

Here's a 360° view from the peak. The axis of rotation wasn't quite vertical, hence the resulting image looks kinda wavy (imagine it wrapped around, you'll see how it looks like a ring at an angle). If anyone knows of a good piece of software for stitching panorama shots together, let me know!

I find Matt and lyds have had highly amusing blogs lately. Especially the 'discussion' (girl vs boy). Guys, denial's just the first stage.

As for wongz, I think the last line is "but this is for the extras... what? no tip?"

Apr 10, 2002

Awww...
Conball's outdone herself. Cute kid, but she's got the expression of a sack of rice. I guess that's before she met Ronald.

Problem with California, is that I've never, ever had allergies this early in the year in Toronto. The itchy eyes and nose aren't too bad, but the constant fatigue is really getting to me. It doesn't help that I'm reading Inside COM. Though well written, it still isn't the most exciting read. Best line so far: "At Microsoft, we always feel we can improve on a standard". If this drowsiness keeps up, I'm gonna start saying "Yes to Drugs".

Apr 8, 2002

Boring
I had two opportunities to go hiking this weekend but neither panned out. Bummer. So instead I did some reading after attending a different church. I find that I have an automatic cynicism towards great big "white" churches, with a band on stage, centered on a grand piano, from where the charismatic pianist leads the congregation in soulful bouts of Maranatha music. Perhaps it's from too much exposure to church services on TV. Perhaps it's some ingrained childhood revulsion against PCS. Somehow I just find it incredibly challenging to put aside the cynicism and worship when I walk in and see the ever-so-slick production. But I'm glad I went out of my way today, since it lead to my reading this:

But in order that the characteristics of the divine may shine more brightly by the development of the truth, I will give you light to apprehend it, the obscurity caused by sin being wiped away. I will draw away the veil from the darkness of this hidden world. For a brief space conceive yourself to be transported to one of the loftiest peaks of some inaccessible mountain, thence gaze on the appearances of things lying below you, and with eyes turned in various directions look upon the eddies of the billowy world, while you yourself are removed from earthly contacts,-you will at once begin to feel compassion for the world, and with self-recollection and increasing gratitude to God, you will rejoice with all the greater joy that you have escaped it. Consider the roads blocked up by robbers, the seas beset with pirates, wars scattered all over the earth with the bloody horror of camps. The whole world is wet with mutual blood; and murder, which in the case of an individual is admitted to be a crime, is called a virtue when it is committed wholesale. Impunity is claimed for the wicked deeds, not on the plea that they are guiltless, but because the cruelty is perpetrated on a grand scale.
   - Epistle from Cyprian to Donatus

I think we're often missing that compassion for the world.

Food...
I've been trying to get back to some regular fare after that gourmet binge back in February. It doesn't help that our company's replaced the free bad catered food with a cafeteria that's actually pretty damn good. Since the mass production style has been replaced with 'quality and freshness', it's actually faster to go for Jack in the Box (and cheaper with the $0.99 Jumbo Jack). I'm really hoping they'll improve the efficiency.

It was however, Xun's birthday, and for dinner we headed out to Le Papillon. Perhaps it was because I was tired, but it was less than memorable. I had to try to remember what I ordered - a bland lobster appetizer atop flat puff pastry and a tasteless duck entree. The dessert, a pear charlotte with caramel ice cream, was good but not outstanding (the ice cream was a nice touch). For $55 a person it was a lot less than other French restaurants around here, but then, I left those places impressed.
2/5

... and Flicks
Eat Drink Man Woman (1994)
I remember having seen bits of this way back when, but I don't recall having watched the whole thing. After watching Yi Yi, I hope Taiwanese directors are adding a lot of hyperbole to their everyday life, or else it seems like those Taiwanese are pretty screwed up. If episodes of Iron Chef were as succulent as this film, I'd probably be watching more TV. Coyly humorous, this film following the life of three sisters and their elderly father chef, illustrates a lot of the quirks Chinese culture that a lot of us westernized kids recognize and love/hate. Enjoyed this far more than anything else I've seen recently. Definitely watch this one.
5/5

Billy Elliot (2000)
I shirk away from most feel good, 'power of the human spirit', movies; I appreciate cheese on my toast, but I just don't have the taste for it on the screen. However, somehow I watched this one to the end without that gut-wrenching feeling. Looks very British (is it the film stock or the lighting that gives all these Brit films the same feel?), but it's got enough in it to be enchanting. Not raving mind you, but good to rent.
3/5

Run Lola Run (1998)
I've been meaning to watch this one for a while. You watch the same story - in which Lola attempts to raise enough money to save her bumbling boyfriend in twenty minutes - three times; in each run, minor differences in certain events lead to drastically different endings. Not too much in terms of characters, dialogue or even action, but the constant techno beat in the background makes watching the same movie thrice captivating enough.
3.5/5

The Hurricane (1999)
Denzel won an Oscar for this one, but I found it rather dull. One of those 'power of the human spirit biographies', that's supposed to make you feel good at the end without really learning anything.
2.5/5

A Beautiful Mind (2001)
Yet another one of those 'power of the human spirit biographies', yet this one was actually interesting... but perhaps I just have a personal predilection towards crazy mathematicians. I actually left with more of an idea of what life is for someone who is really crazy. Unfortunately, the movie does have it's major chunk of cheese (seriously, Jennifer Connelly's wife character was too perfect). With all the Oscar hype I guess my expectations were way too high, but I still left the theater happy for spending my $6.75.
3.5/5

Blade 2 (2002)
Yes, I usually avoid these ones, but I found myself watching it in a fit of boredome... and actually found myself entertained. There's more problems with plausibility in this one than your average Hollywood action movie, but the effects were good and the music thumped nicely. I have to say it was pretty good for a crappy action movie.
2.5/5