Boxing Helena, with Julian Sands and Sherilyn Fenn. And directed by the daughter of David Lynch - ah ha! I was right. Kind of. Anyway, this is kind of a rip-off of The Collector, by John Fowles, in terms of general plot, but given an 1980s veneer replete with wealth and egotism. That, and unfortunately the characters were nowhere near as fleshed out (kind-of pun not intended), and nothing like Fowles' famous switching of perspective was even hinted at. There was a lot of unsubtle imagery and metaphoric stuff going on, so it would be easy to write an essay about for a class or something, I suppose, what with statues missing limbs and obvious archetypal characters (mmm, 80s macho man, oh yeah). As much as this is the closest I've come to actually picking out a good movie for a movie night (its badness was luckily mitigated by our running commentary and Ms. Kim being an awesome girlfriend what with the apple pie), just go read The Collector. Hell I might go read it again.

Secondary commentary: we thought it was funny that a good portion of this movie was Skinemax all the way, so if you're looking for some very, very cheap thrills and willing to accept the absurdity and bad acting for some interesting visuals, then maybe rent this movie.

-one of the more practical yoga articles I've read lately, interesting to think of when running into an emotional issue

-if you know me and you saw this, you'd know I'd immediately want to try it

Resurrection, by Paul Kemp. This is the final book in the War of the Spider Queen, and but damn, I was actually satisfied with a conclusion (versus the general opinion of say, the third Matrix). I mean, maybe I didn't like what happens to some of the charaters because I particularly liked them, but I thought at least they ended well, for the most part. This is one of those books/series I could go on and on about, so I'll cut myself off with mentioning the espionage, intrigue, dom/sub 'romance,' tense swordplay, clever magic duels, and a huge amount of depth and complexity in all sorts of gender and ethical themes for beer+pretzel fantasy.

Nightwatch (Nochnoy Dozor), with...Russian people. Mmm, yeah, probably this is going in the box to take to Bookman's - lesson learned, probably don't go by recommendations by ex-girlfriends. I thought this movie had a lot of potential going by the trailer and general concept, and it did end up having an assortment of cool moments. Unfortunately, I'd say those moments were mired in a mess of confusion in plot and holes in background information (and not in a good way, like Pulse). I would have been a lot happier if the movie had gone a lot further in one direction or another - horror, action, conceptual thriller...hm. Maybe I'll watch it again when I'm less tired, it was pretty late at night when we put it on - I suppose it did win awards in Russia, maybe I just wasn't in the right mood to watch it or something. Or maybe I should have just watched it with some wodka.

New rolling drills! Courtesy of Hugh and Martial Science...er...still not sure exactly what to call it. Anyway. The interesting contrast between how he was trained and how we used to train at Ko Sho is in the further development of rolls - the basic idea is the nigh exactly the same, but in these new drills specific attributes are trained one by one. The trick with the old Ko Sho way of teaching is that it would just be the basic technique, and then any furthering of attributes lost the basic technique in (sloppily) straining for the attribute - with these, if the basic technique is not maintained, knotted shoulders and faceplanting results.

-for timing, there's rolling past a sword swung back and forth and low to the
ground, and then up and down in a vertical plane, then an alternation of the two; seems mind-numbingly simple, but can be annoying, initially
-for distance, the roll is done past an object that is moved a little further away each time; we were surprised at the distance we could achieve, more than we thought possible
-for height there's jumping over a sword held horizontally (Hugh could do chin-high gracefully), and conversely there's extending and...well, morphing a roll to fit under the same, held lower and lower; for the former, like the distance drill it's great for teaching controlling the initial contact with the ground with the arms held at a proper 45 and flowing into the roll, and for the latter, it starts to teach deciding how and when to contort the body, for example by elongating and yet keeping the roll tight
-for diving, there's leaping through a 'window' composed of two swords held horizontally; again, it's interesting to learn to consciously decide when to shift the body's form, this time in mid-air
--of course, with any contact with the obstacles in question, there's a recquisite ten pushups, natch

So, basically, that's a whole lot of new (and yet old, in a sense) skills to develop. Which is totally awesome. It really is interesting to see how much every single one of those drills is practically ninety percent mental, as we could all do the individual things fine....it was just the fear/hesitation/not believing in ourselves that would hinder us, and it was obvious that was the only issue.

Random trivia of the day, from wiki - the native mammal fauna of Puerto Rico consists exclusively of bats! Of course, upon further reading, it's revealed that there were other little thangs like rodents and such that are now extinct, but imagine taking that statement entirely wrong and picture Bat Island. Like King Kong, but with wings. Or Hitchcock's Birds, but with fruitbats stealing your mangos. Why yes, I am that badass at coming up with ideas, thank you.

So I stop by my family’s house the other day, and go to get the mail. Next to mailbox is a cholla that has nice, dark red blossoms, so I go to take a picture of it. Noticing a bee, I think hey bee+flower=nice photo. Then I notice the bee isn’t moving. Thinking that strange, I lean in real, real close….then gasp and draw away, as a quarter-sized collection of legs shifts languidly. Who ever heard of a green spider? In any case, for some reason, just standing near the thing was kind of creeping me out, whether by it unexpectedly shifting into existence a few centimeters from my eyeball (at least by my perception, in how it perfectly mimicked the green of the cactus and its legs, the needles, and how it seemed to float in midair) or by the fact that I’d never seen its ilk before.

Ok, this commentary is going to be SPOILER-ific if anyone actually cares to go see that Pulse movie I wrote of below, so don’t read it if you want to see it!

I was thinking of (not sure if it’s a Buddhist or yogic thing) the tenet that one way of looking at suffering in the abstract sense is that it is generated by the feeling of separation – whether from one’s own self, or socially, or even separation from an object that one desires – all different levels of the same thing, basically. In Pulse, the invading ghosts drive/cajole/compel (depending on who you ask) people to separate themselves more and more, in effect acting like an external ego that’s imposing itself upon them, going by this idea:
"This compulsive mind constructs a separate sense of self, often called the ego, that's trapped in a world of psychological time, surrounded by other separate selves that threaten its survival. It then invents the spiritual search and other self-improvement schemes as an attempt to escape the trap it has created for itself."

Like the dots in the grad students allegorical program, as much as they're naturally repulsed, they’re also drawn to the ghost as a dark parody of that natural urge towards ‘spirituality’ (no pun intended), except the ghost is no solution, but the trap itself. The ghost is then keeping the person out of the overflowing afterlife-dimension by trapping them in an extreme of ego-separation - forever, in that ‘psychological time’, which leads into this idea, as a contrast:

"...time is merely a creation of the mind, and only the Now exists. When we awaken to our identity with this timeless dimension, the problem with finding a balance between doing and being drops away as the separate self-sense dissolves, and all that's left is simply life living itself."

Pulse, to me, is a twisted version of that ideal (the zen state of contented being, aware of one’s connection to everything being connected). So when the people are driven to an opposite but yet similar version of that zen state – they’re completely separated from everyone, and yet have still lost their sense of self at the point where they submit to the ghost and embrace it - they’re also in a timeless state. But not one that’s focused on a healthy understanding of ‘living by the moment,’ as it were, but one that leaves them trapped in an extreme of mind-creating-time – hence, they’re immortal in a sense, which is exactly what the invading ghosts desire, to keep them out of the afterlife-dimension.

***

Sounds like an intriguing story based on spirals

Kairo (Pulse), with...uh...a goofy guy that's easy to empathize with, and a pretty girl. Yeeaah, I don't know Japanese actors really, except for Kaneshiro Takeshi. Who definitely wasn't in this movie. I think. Anyway, ten points to Ms. Kim for having great taste in movies, I think I get schooled as much with her as I did in the grand ol' movie-watching days of literary theory. Kairo would have been great fodder for that class, and would have had people going to lunch after class to continue arguing about it, I'm sure. I don't want to inadvertantly create any spoilers by thinking 'out loud' in this forum (and this is a movie that does best without spoilers), but I'll probably see this movie again at some point, if only to figure out a little bit more of it. Creepy, and provocative, and atmospheric - it's slow, but that gives you time to figure out the puzzle of it, I guess.

Thoughts on Thinking - a quick little posit on a zen perspective on the nature of thought

Last week I stayed after class to meet a new instructor for the west-side school, who might be doing a Hapkido class. That hour and some of basically getting beat up was interesting in a few different ways.

For one, I'd forgotten how much of an etiquette there can be when martial artists (at least, the kind without inflated-ego problems like some have) meet each other. When this hapkido instructor and one of our higher-ranked instructors met, for example, even as they were listing multiple ranks and international lineages, there was still an overriding rule of modesty - there was no comparison or competition, just a stating of facts, with the assumption being that the other person would take the information for exactly what it was. My only contribution there, of course, was to insert myself at the very bottom of the Ko Sho lineage.

Then there was the interesting technical discussion as each instructor tried to get a handle on the other's art; I knew hapkido was basically a hybrid of Korean foot-fighting arts and Japanese joint-manipulation, but didn't realize how incredibly similar it is to our Tomiki aikido. Their teaching structure is interestingly a bit different, starting out with offensive joint manipulations, which I think is a great idea, and obviously their atemi includes a repetoire of high kicks, but for the most part a good many techiques are nigh the same, and not just in principle. My contribution there was to be the demonstration dummy (or, 'demo-bitch,' if you will). Ow.

One thing that caught my attention as well was how readily apparent it was to see how a school of thought could diffuse and change by teaching-culture. For example, while the hapkido seemed to have gained some things in mixing a relatively grappling/soft art with completely-offensive, hard striking arts, namely that offensive mindset and a certain flexibility (no pun intended, for anyone who might get that), in being separated from the 'source' and in becoming more technique based, some subtle-understanding was lost. That is, it was funny to see a light-bulb appear over the hapkido instructor's head concerning something he'd been doing for years, when our aiki-jujitsu instructor went, "No no, do it like this, because of this." Ding! So, our principle-based teaching may not be as refined, but we keep some information that is easily lost otherwise. Pros and cons on both sides, which might be rectified in bringing the arts full circle.

And lastly, I'll re-state the opinion, mostly coming from the east-side school, that grappling should be taught early and often, regardless of whether the student is primarily a striker. Besides that it's a royal pain in the ass to train with someone who's never done any and so is uncomfortable and fearful, or with someone who's only trained in full-contact with no regard for control (injury waiting to happen on both counts), the benefits garnered by having that basis in knowledge of continuous contact with the opponent are huge. For example, despite having never met, the instructors and I were able to practically discuss some things without even having to talk about it, because in grappling arts a great deal is dependent upon proprioceptive sensitivity, to oneself and to the other person - their body becomes part of one's own upon contact, for all intents and purposes.

Rent, with most of the original Broadway cast, apparently. I'll put this one in the column of 'musicals I did end up liking.' Actually, that said, I think I generally like most musicals I see, anyway. I'll be curious to see this one on stage when it comes to town, if only to see if I develop a similar man-crush on the character Angel, as I did on the one in the film. I'll maintain, tangentially, that at the moment anyway I still like musicals in a film media over stage musicals; I recognize my girlfriend and music-school cousin's opinions that good stage effects are more worthy of appreciation, but having little knowledge of the mechanics of those, I've got to go with appreciating the wider range of things film can do, with my better understanding of that.

Addendum - so, to keep in line with that earlier Rosario Dawson commentary, in my opinion she was not attractive at all in Sin City, very attractive in Clerks II, and kind of in the middle in Rent, leaning towards not as attractive in a sad way when her addict character loses weight.

Also, today is the anniversary of the Battle of Thermopylae - I just hope a pyrrhic victory doesn't appear at some point...

Wolves of the Calla, by Stephen King. My two favorite epics right now are Frank Herbert's Dune, and King's Dark Tower, I have to say; for a myriad of common and differing reasons, but the one that stands out is in how each story immediately affects my way of thinking as I read a part of each. In the case of Dune, it's mostly the segments where Bene Gesserit philosophy and teaching come into play; for example, I was impressed to learn in my thesis research how Herbert actually implemented some of the ideas from his last novel on his ranch in Washington, and it became a well-known model of ecologically-friendly self-suffecient living. In King's novel, it's the philosophy and behavior of the gunslingers that interests me the most, though I can't help but note how very, very similar it is at times to the Bene Gesserit of Dune.

Anyhoo, this novel lived up to the previous novels in the series admirably, natch. While at parts connecting to another of King's novels, interestingly creating an odd sort of shared setting, most of the novel plays out as a variant of Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, an oft-covered yarn I was happy to see done-over by King. I still haven't figured out how I feel about the (admittedly quite original, at least in my experience) metafiction aspect King slipped into the story, but it's a good kind of indecisiveness, especially in how (as usual) I was left with goosebumps at the end.

The Hills Have Eyes, with a cute little deformed girl played by the annoying cheerleader in that T-Mobile commercial. Wouldn't it be weird if the hills actually had eyes? Or hidden away in the hills there was just a big eye set into the soil, and as you rounded a corner it would shift to stare at you? How freaky would that be? Anyhoo, while not particularly scary, I thought it was a well put-together film; the pacing kind of threw me a little, but I enjoyed the standard horror movie tables-turned segment.

Almost Famous, with a bunch of almost famous people. Ha, ha, except that doesn't really work. Anyway, I've not much to say about this movie, actually, it was just a generally solid film, all-around. Umm...yep, kind of drawing a blank. Except for, "I'M ON DRUGS!!!"

Intermediate Pilates, with Ana Caban. I'll be repeating this one, rather than selling it back to Bookman's; as with most times I've done pilates, I thought it really wasn't much of a workout at first, and it's really not. Rather, I do notice a definite improvement in my posture and...just comfort in standing or sitting nice and upright, afterwards. This dvd has two workouts, one faster and a bit more strenuous, the other slower and more instructional - but in the end, I'd say the most is gotten out of it if both are done one right after the other.

tiny motor - that's up there in being worth a try with the BB gun shenanigans

Hostel, with Jay Hernandez and Derek Richardson. Well, for one I was actually kind of disappointed, in a strange way - I thought there would be much more, and more of a variety of violence and depravity. I guess, as Ms. Kim said, had the movie not been talked up so much in that regard we might have enjoyed it more, instead of it falling short of built-up expectations. In a sense, it was kind of like a bad kung fu movie, with a minimal plot only serving to provide a context for the sex and gore, and in that sense is probably enjoyable in a similar manner, at least.

Direct from Nate the Peace Corps dude, putting a strike-anywhere match in a BB gun! Actually, it didn't turn out to be that big of a deal, it kind of made a little spark that would probably be kind of cool at night, and a 'snap!' I was a bit surprised it actually worked, though. I'm more interested in trying some of his other suggestions, such as putting a noodle of the proper diameter in a BB gun (supposedly it'll hammer through surprising materials) and making little grenados out of the cardboard tube that goes on a coat hanger.

In other news, my first attendance of a fetish ball was pretty fun. It was a much quieter affair than I had expected it to be, though why I had some conception in my mind that it would be a loud, rave environment I've no idea. Mostly just people walking around, complimenting each other's outfits, and chatting. I was quite disappointed in my own outfit (a snafu involving mixed up leather pants and a lack of makeup), but that notwithstanding, some improvised electrical tape and borrowed boots was serviceable enough to generate compliments. The patio was well stocked with hookahs, the stage alternated between some pretty rocking metal bands and shows such as a woman hanging from several hooks.

In the banquet area were several tables selling jewelry and other accoutrements, and a smaller stage that was showing softcore sex shows and bellydancers dancing to old White Zombie songs. There was also a creepy obese guy offering free shoe shining or foot massages, and a few guys in Hawai'ian shirts just grinning like idiots and taking pictures. We quickly figured out there was sort of an etiquette for photos, wherein it wasn't really polite to just take a photo of people unless you looked like a pro-photographer, but it was polite if you were in the photo with the people. So, no artsy photos unfortunately, but if anyone wants to see, just leave a comment and I'll share the snapfish album.

Cool Sol picture found by Wyatt

So, a couple people's voices here at work just completely get on my nerves. I've no idea why, I don't particularly have anything against the people themselves, but ye gods, as soon as I hear their voice on the phone or in person I just want to smack them across the mouth. I don't know if it's something in their inflection or cadence of speech or what; for at least one of the people, I know it's not just me that's affected that way. It's really weird, like a subtlepain that's not exactly aural...*shrug*

Clerks II, with the Clerks cast and Rosario Dawson, and that dude from Alias. Actually, I enjoyed it more than I expected to; I remember thinking the original was funny, but sequels aren't often to get excited about. I did like this sequel, though; Kevin Smith reclaimed Dawson for me in having her be utterably adorable, as opposed to her role in Sin City, which I could barely stand. Besides the groan-worthy and yet snappy humor, and the always fun Jay and Silent Bob, one of my favorite archetypical romances was used, which always makes a story a winner for me.

Not much to say about it, just an interesting little blurb on developmental stages

I'm not sure what comment to make on this, maybe it's just more an observation. So Free Dominguez has moved on from the Kidneythieves to do independent stuff, Melissa Kaplan has done the same from Splashdown, and Imogen Heap has done the same after Frou Frou. Yay girl lead singers doing their own thing?

a unique and interesting weapon

Jujitsu at Ko Sho San: soon to be back in action! Hoorah! Anyway, we've decided to finally apply some karate-concepts of standards to the class, for several reasons, but mainly just to have it more organized - hopefully, we can retain the emphasis on principle over technique, however. In that regard, I'm thinking an overarching principle for each belt, and then a tripartite pathway - groundwork, standup, and drills - split between those belts as well. Here's my initial thought towards structuring:
Principles: need to put some thought into this, but off the top of my head in no particular order are creating a marriage, unbalancing, atemi, explosive vs relaxed, missing leg, ki, and posture.

Drills: backfist rolls, push-away-trap, Session, choreographed striking, falling/rolling, shooting

Groundwork: 5 basic pins, transitions and escapes, pins and strikes from each

Standup: tai sabaki, throws, standing locks, wrist manipulation (kote gaeshi)

So, for each belt, say a principle, a pin (escaping+holding), a throw, a standing lock for each belt; drills scattered throughout, as they're basic and can be filler.
Opinions and suggestions welcome!

eye asanas

Dallas 362, with Jeff Goldblum and Selma Blair, neither of whom were main characters, and neither of whom I recognized till halfway through the movie. This film was...interesting, in my opinion, but I won't say I enjoyed it. I'm not sure it was because I'd call the movie bad, per se, but I think it resonated in dissonant ways with me, reminding me uncannily and uncomfortably of people I'd met while working at the hospital, and calling to mind other issues I have right now. So while perhaps there were effective character studies in the story, in that I ended up just disliking some of the characters I was kind of put off. Interesting, but a bit too stark and colorless for my taste.

In other news, damn but that was a storm last night. And past the dawn; it was like an inordinately long microburst, but one that I'm slowly gather went across southern Arizona. I'll have to fix the screens on the windows in my room so they don't rattle at the thunder, though admittedly I doubt there'll be thunder like that in a while. The first thing I heard on the way to work when I turned on the radio was an elder gal saying, "In my 68 years I ain't never seen a storm like that..." and there's still a flashflood warning Nogales through Tucson periodically between the songs long after it stopped raining well into the morning. Crazyfun!

Apres-midi Addendum: apparently the floodwatch is going till the middle of the day tomorrow, and more storms are a'coming tonight! Aweso.

Flight, Vol. 1, by basically all of my favorite indie artist/writers. I would say this is a perfect book to introduce someone to the graphic/text genre (ie, comics). While often passed over as the realm of superheroes and banal newspaper filler, comics are an interesting liason point between visual and verbal art, and when done right can augment itself with the best points in each. Hence, the goosebumps and stirred emotions that come about after reading many of the stories in this volume, whether they are one page of six panels or can hardly be recognized as 'standard' comics at all.

Tangentially, I'm reminded of a short story, sort of, that was the starter for one of White Wolf Publishing's old shared-setting compilations. The reason I hesitate to call it a short story (as the rest of the pieces in the book were) is because it was basically a fabricated diary - the authors handwrote and sketched out the diary of a man bitten and turned into a vampire, and while that sounds like it might tip into cheesy, it was actually almost heart-wrenching because of the extra pull of that strained handwriting and frenzied, dark drawings.

And to tangent off of vampires, I'll also note that as much as the Blade movies are esteemed at the dojo for being a perfect example of the ideal of the Shuri style of fighting (simplified, staccato power hits with grappling-by-opportunity), in Blade Trinity there's a wealth of different styles right in the end. Reynold's character adroitly shifts from crossbody armbar to omo-plata (hello, standard jujitsu), Biel's character throws in a little wing chun, and Snipes and Purcell's characters throw two completely distinct styles of European sword at each other (an interesting contrast to the European versus Japanese sword at the conclusion of the first movie).

Benchwarmers, with David Spade, Rob Schneider, and Napoleon Dynamite. This movie would have failed miserably as a movie were it to take itself seriously for one moment - naturally, I have to follow that clause by stating that of course there was no point where it did such. In that line, I'd call this one something of a kid's movie for adults. That is, it has the plot and characterization, sort of, of a kid's movie, but the humor is of a fun, vulgar nature. In truth, I'm still kind of amazed I didn't find it just plain stupid...it pulled itself off, I guess.

yay mini-blogosphere!~
y.t. - yours truly, natch
Fighting the Forces of Darkness...day by day - the oh-so-lovely Ms. Connie!
Like a phoenix rises from the ashes. - Mr. Scott, back in action!
now it's powm! - Mr. Kevin, recently of the Sweden-lands, ja!
You almost had to be there. - community forum: quotalicious.

purty.

Random, silly question - for all that spears were supposedly much more prevalent than swords in real life (say, examples such as a spearhead and a pole being cheaper than a sword, or that more samurais used a yari than a katana at various points in time), why aren't they so prevalent in fantasy novels? In fact, the only examples I can think of where spears had any presence at all are in Robert Jordans Wheel of Time novels where the Aiel use an odd combination of African and Okinawan ideas about spears (short, for stabbing, but also like a sword, but also for throwing like a javelin, but with a buckler instead of a shield?), and in George Martin's most recent novel (or was it the one before?) where a spear is used in a duel, largely I'd guess to signify the exotic nature of one of the opponents.

So, is it just that the sword is more suited to heroics in its more versatile nature and myriad connotations (and the spear, conversely, not so heroic, despite its potential as a phallic symbol?). The spear is, however, often used in kung fu movies...but perhaps that's just in the interest of variety of weapons for the sake of the given movie, such as in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon where the only point a spear really comes into play is in a scene entirely based around the sheer number of different weapons used.

-interesting, short little article on yoga, and contrasting the concepts of religion and spirituality (heh, if you know me, and read to the end of the article, you'll know exactly which interests me and how)

-also, put up some old photos from Colorado and Cali

Lady in the Water, with Bryce Dallas Howard and Paul Giamatti. Wow, I really did not realize that the same gal that was in The Village was the nymph in this movie. Or narf. Whatever. In one sense, I enjoyed this movie immensely because it was like a Charles de Lint story in live action; it wasn't as good as a de Lint story because it had to be more overdeveloped and simplified to an extent in being in big-movie form. Had it been in text, however, I think a lot more could have been drawn out of it. Still, solid acting, cinematography, etc, except for the damn monkeys - just don't go into it expecting a horror movie, it's really a kid's movie in Shyamalan-form.

One, never, ever play a game called "Never Have I Ever" with a significant other. This is me verbally shaking my head "no." In the past, I wanted to know every last detail about my woman's past....but now, not so much. That's no reflection on the person at all - it goes exactly the same, the other way. Is that innocence-lost, I guess? It was easier to know about someone's past, when they didn't really have a past, as it were?

Two, 'round here apparently it's cool to have a fire at a residence, as long as it's contained within some sort of oven or grill, and you're cooking something. The firemen (and firewoman) we met the other night were really cool about not slapping down a several thousand dollar fine for a backyard conflagration, but they also weren't told about the drunkent waving of gargantuan flaming palm fronds. They did let us take pictures of the owner of the house in a swimsuit on their firetruck, though.

Three, there's a show I'd never heard of till last night, "Final Fu," that's actually pretty damn good. It's a martial arts competition/reality show, and while there's always going to be some cheese necessary to promote MA to a wider audience, they seem to keep it to a minimum. There are MA-based obstacle courses, board-breaking courses, and multiple types of sparring, the last interesting enough to get the viewer pumped and cheering. Though, we noted, it didn't seem fair to pit a small femme against a much larger guy, just in terms of advantage by weight.

Blow, with Penelope Cruz and Johnny Depp. I think it was acted well, and is an interesting snapshot in the same sense that Scarface was, about a similar subject. Same deal with it being a character study, in a vaguely similar way to that, or maybe Walk the Line. But beyond that...I don't think it pulled it off as well as those other movies. I just couldn't stay interested...maybe because there seemed to be little, realy driving tension except for the main character's oft thwarted ambition? Or maybe I was just exhausted.

Grizzly Man. I honestly saw very little of this movie. I'm just noting that as I napped while it was on in the same room, it seeping into my unconscious made for the strangest dreams I've had in a good long while. I mean, from what I did see I (and my family, who was watching) thought that the guy the movie was about was certifiably insane. Just...wow. A right loon, that one. And somehow he ended up as a transvestite news reporter in my dream? Yeah I dunno.

Superman Returns, with Parker Posey and Kevin Spacey. Eh, nothing to write home about. I think what held my interest most, besides the special effects, was vaguely trying to discern the semantic value and pattern of hair in the movie - say, Luthor's wigs, Kent's versus Superman's hair styles, Kent versus Lois' boyfriend's hair, etc. I think the movie was very true to Superman - unfortunately, as Superman is more a symbol than a character, it didn't so much make for an interesting movie. Posit, though: Superman as the American version of a Greek god?

Dead Man's Chest, with Captain Jack Sparrow. Well, except for some minor boat oar usage, I was quite disappointed in the fight scenes, especially considering how solid they were in the first movie. I liked this better than Superman Returns, overall, though this one was quite long - I almost want to say it would have worked better as a novel, with more room to flesh out a good amount of things (like the relatively more interesting love quadrangle - yes, I am counting Jimmy Olsen in the other movie).

I met a gentleman last night at a bar, who happened to be in a wheelchair. His arms seemed slightly hindered in their movement as well, but he could conversate just fine. Long and short of it, it turned out he had a wealth of knowledge of martial arts theory and application from his former training in wing-chun (I think he'd been hurt relatively recently, I gathered), and was able to articulately pick apart famous scenes and techniques from martial arts movies in a technical manner. Not much to note, just observing that it's really too bad the world didn't get to see him as a martial artist or even teacher, given his mental acuity in that regard.

Randomness. Housework is kind of fun, I've learned enough to have confidence in claiming a modicum of handiness (hell, if anybody else needs to do this stuff, I'm there and ready with oh-god-don't-do-that!'s galore), but it's exhausting and dominates your life when it needs to get done. I've never been so interested in Home Depot, though.

Crash, with many famous people. Interesting, intense, and not very happy. The postmodern aspect of it was pulled off well, I would say, as that's tricky to do without being just plain annoying or pretentious. I was wondering throughout, in regards to the racism theme, is it the anger inherent in the person that creates that racism, or the racism that creates that anger? That is, which is more inherent? If the Persian character could have just let go of his anger when it wasn't justified at all in his second appearance in the movie, would the result have been the same, for example?

So we're driving back and forth from Phoenix last night. And it occurs to me, as we drive by ABF and USF Bestway trucks, that there's a good chance that I had shipped stuff on several of the trucks that we were sharing the road with. It's not the most significant thought ever, but it was interesting to see an extension of my job out in the rest of the world - I mean, to see a...manifestation of the meaning of papers I shuffle and sign. It was a semantic kind of moment, if you will.

Sex and the City (season one). Interesting. It's certainly that. I can see how the show used scandal as an attractant, and while that's amusing on a shallow level I wasn't impressed so much with the acting and such. What interested me most about it, I think, was the structure of each episode and its potential - ie, a theme is presented, and then the episode generally follows the four different reactions of its archetype-characters. So in the sense of each episode being a sort of narrative essay on a particular topic, I enjoyed it. Beyond that, I didn't dislike it, but I'm not sure it would draw me back to follow the show at all.

I wonder, randomly, how far symbolism extends in terms of chess pieces. Does the knight move one square over because a real cavalry man might have turned his horse at the end of charge to be able to fight to one side? Is the queen a symbol of feminine empowerment over the king? Perhaps the bishops can only move in such an oblique way as a commentary on the nature of politico-religious power.

The Producers, with Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, Uma Thurman, Will Ferrell, and more! Fabulous! I think we can all picture what accent I would have said that in. Despite that little dip into the fruitier side of things, I have to say, Thurman has never been hotter. Yowza. Oh, and the rest of the movie is a lot of fun, too. The songs are catchy, but not annoying-get-stuck-in-your-head catchy, which is nice, and the some of the actors really seemed like they were having lots of fun. Keep it gay! I mean, Uma is very attractive. Yes.

NYX. Wow. Great art, great characters, great writing. A quite original and unique take on the Marvel shared-setting, both in terms of depth of the story and its subject matter, and in terms of the style of art; I wish they would do more comics like this one, I think the genre would be the better for it. Now I just need to find the conclusion of the septet, though, I only got to read 1-6!

A while back, kind of around my lowest point in that recent bout of depression, I caught a feature length cartoon, the conclusion to the anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion, on late at night, completely randomly. Especially as after I didn't understand what I had watched until after extensive reading of backstory and synopsises (synopsii?), looking back I'm surprised I bothered watching it at all. Convoluted and fractured to the point of being postmodern at times (and I usually intensely dislike postmodernism), by all logic I should have flipped channels in the space of a few minutes.

But for some reason, I was riveted. I could hardly take my eyes from it; when my dad came home from the night shift, I haltingly tried to explain what I knew to him, but stopped when I realized how little that was. And yet still I watched it till I was sitting still after the credits were over, struggling to find some meaning that seemed just beyond my reach, or on the tip of my tongue, or whatever. Anyway, so just coming across that little blurb about the director/creator/dude basing it on his experiences with depression, it got me thinking. Maybe this movie was one of this things where the significance of it all isn't really in the surface story so much at all, but in how it hits you in the back of your head. That is, whether by something Freudian or Jungian symbols or whatever system one might want to look at it, maybe I just really identified with not the shallowest aspects of the story but the underlying, between-the-lines stuff that's not readily apparent at all.

Then that got me thinking, maybe that's how the better aspects of the horror genre work - I suddenly want to go pick apart a good King story or go play Silent Hill.

Google + Shakespeare = I really wish I had this while in school

Ôdishon, with Ishibashi Ryo and Shiina Eihi. Uh. Whoa? Disturbing. Very, very disturbing. In a sense, it was quite reminiscent to me of Mulholland Drive, both in general character and in specific sequences. White was a really bad choice for subtitles in some scenes, though, although that's a nothing-observation. It's hard to talk about it without giving anything away, so I'll say that it's definitely not for the faint of heart, and I'm torn between wishing there was more depth of story and wondering whether that added depth might have taken away from it. Oh, I suppose also I'd be interested to hear whether people thought this was a feminine-empowering movie, or the opposite - I suspect it could be tricky in that regard, like GI Jane.

Fun logic issues started with Theseus' Paradox

And the entry for Ghost in the Shell is rife with interesting starters for philosophical discussion

Conquest of Armageddon, by Jonathan Green. Though there were a few moments that were nice in a cinematic kind of sense, that doesn't go anywhere near far enough to alleviate the not-so-good qualities of this novel. The structure of the narrative for most of it is just plain confusing, for one - for example, I (now) understand that Green was using a combination of flashbacks and dream-sequences for the first third or so, but there is no reason not to delineate those things (as opposed to just blending them all together in a confusing manner). Beyond that, the writing style was excessively wordy to an extreme degree (much to my chagrin to complain about that, as I know I have to keep from doing the same in my writing), which actually wouldn't have been an issue so much were it not for the repetition involved, as well.

I have to say, the 40k shared setting was used nicely, and the novel certainly fits its atmosphere - but if I could I'd write a general letter to authors using that setting to not use the Space Marines; it just seems needlessly difficult to actually make anything but a cardboard-cutout character out of a religious, scripture-spouting zealot. Which the Marines did a lot of in this book. Just not very much character development.

"The unconscious knows no negatives, I was taught when studying Freud. If someone tells me they don't mean to offend me, I know they probably do." - interesting statement - I'm still trying to figure out exactly what the first bit of it means (I mean, the latter part explains it, but it seems there's more to it, maybe)

X-23. Ah, now this was good stuff. Where House of M was certainly epic in scope and had a definite 'wow!' attached to it, this managed to get a similar 'wow!' while being much smaller in its focus - namely, the origin of X-23 before her introduction in the interesting NYX, the more famous character Wolverine's..uh...sister? Clone? Daughter? In any case, while it's a bit gory at times for the average Marvel fare (ie, don't be surprised), it's interesting how much emotional weight can be drawn into this medium (no pun intended).

So I've been feeling really dispassionate lately. Like...neutral. Not really happy or sad or mad or anything. And to be honest, I'm tired of it - I've almost been wanting someone to pick a verbal fight with me or something, just to get me riled up...the trick is, I'm not sure that would even get me going.

In conversations with Ms. Connie, with direction from her I think maybe I realized part of it is self-defense - from myself. I know that there was a specific point when I was recently depressed where I realized how much letting my temper and frustrations etc out of control actually cost me, in details and in the larger scheme, not just in how much pain and trouble I caused externally but how much damage it did to me on various levels. I wonder whether this dispassionateness is me just unconsciously surpressing any sort of...uh...'louder' emotion for fear of repeated pain/damage/trouble/whatever. Hm.

House of M. I believe it was the big crossover event for last year for Marvel (Civil War being the current one), though House of M is more similar to the classic Age of Apocalypse in its tinkering with characters and setting. This one was especially interesting in contrast as instead of a more likely trope of worst-conditions-possible, say, here each of the characters supposedly had the life they really desired. Naturally, what's supposed to be a utopia really ends up not being such, of course, and that's where the story begins, in a way. It's interesting - the utopia aspect of it makes it seem like as horrible as things get, they're always in watercolor (as opposed to, say, the lurid oilpainting AoA was).


Notting Hill, with Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts. Yay guilty-pleasure romantic comedies....though I suspect something could be done here with William Gibson's ideas of the critical-mass of celebrity, perhaps with his novel Idoru and the lunatic romance therein.

Annihilation, by Peter Athans. Second to last in the War of the Spider Queen...uh...septology? The sixth book, anyway. It wasn't my favorite out of this small shared-setting/multiple-author series (that's still the first book), but it's not the worst, either. The writing is good, the action is solid, the themes and tropes that make this series interesting (questions of theology, alternate societal rules, gender issues) are prodded along a little. I think this novel suffered from being the penultimate book, in that it sets up a lot, but doesn't do as much in and of itself because of that. Still, a very solid showing, and it definitely made me look forward to the conclusion.

In honor of the World Cup - balls! You heard me.

Madagascar, with voices of various famous people. Fun! As much as it's kind of a random animated animal movie, I suspect there's a lot in here to be done with close-reading a solid semantic structure out of it. One thing that would depend upon, however, would be deciding what one wanted to work with the animals as representing, which is so broad of an availability as to almost be daunting. One could go mainstream and have the animals be a direct analogue for some social group, say, or go esoteric and make some moral comment on vegetarianism. Or concentrate on the lemur techno. Which I need an mp3 of, because it's stuck in my head. I like to move it move it. I'm dancing, in my head. Oh! And there was a hilarious American Beauty reference, which I was remarkably slow in getting.

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, by David Sedaris. Thanks to Mr. Andrew for reminding me of this guy/lending me the book! Sedaris is quite an author; this is another of his collection of memoirs/essays/I'm not sure what to call them. Some of them are just funny and satirical; some of them are funny and satirical, and also make you stop, stare off into space, and think for a while as well. Very easy reading, and quite interesting; it'd probably make for a great book to take on a vacation, just in how it spurs new observations of everyday things.

minced oaths - some vaguely interesting lists near the bottom, peppered with trivia; I was kind of surpised somebody put 'feth' in there

Amber and Iron, by Margaret Weis. Ohhh, Margaret, what have you done to this poor, poor setting. It makes me sigh in a melancholy manner. Actually, the setting is still great, rather, I'm really not too keen at all on this particular story I suppose, and its mangled use of that setting and landmark-characters. I'll note that now that I've actually seen an Aussie shephard in action in real life, I actually quite believe the seeming extraordinary behavior of the one in this book - that dog has facial expressions like nothing else, and is intelligent to an eerie degree.

I apparently have 666 MBs in my gmail account. On June 6, 2006. I'm cursed. Or something. Isn't the actual bad number supposed to be 616, though? I think I saw that on a documentary once.

In other news, congratulations to Lee in Warehouse Two; his team placed 77th out of 3300 international teams at the latest big billiards competition in Las Vegas. At his Vegas peak he was up to $47,000 in his pocket; alas, in trying to hit $50,000, he lost a good portion of it. Ah well.

and an article on whether one's abs should be rock-hard, or strong and supple - little bits of interesting trivia in the beginning, yoga exercises in the latter part

and another small psych quote, still pondering its veracity:
"People get anxious about not being able to control their anger or about not knowing how to deal with situations that make them sad. And that is what fear is — the inability to solve the problem that is making you angry or sad."

completely random, found this in an old Phillip Moffitt article about the pysch. of dealing with disappointment:
"First is the creation of a false identity, a you that is solid and never-changing which is continually reinforced by the story. Just by observing yourself closely, you can see that this isn't true and that your ego is really comprised of a group of personalities which are constantly changing.

The second error is that the story-making can create the illusion that your loss is a fresh event when it is actually something that has passed. These two errors combine to lock you into a ghostlike state in which there is no freedom...you have to actively work to see through these errors and to realize that there is no continuing, unchanging person and no experience that is still happening."

Shopgirl, with Steve Martin and Claire Danes. I'm vaguely interested in reading Martin's novel, which this film is based on, but the movie wasn't quite enough to actually interest me. It was quite cute, quite artsy with quality cinematography, quite good acting, and the characters and story were certainly interesting. But, the story as a whole just wasn't...connected well, there was something not very cohesive about the whole thing - which is where my interest in the novel stems from, that is, I think the movie's structure would have worked better in that format.

really tiny art

and finally, the photos from Colorado; they pretty much all turned out to be from the Denver botanical gardens (which so far blew away my other experience with botanical gardens - basically Cleveland - it wasn't even funny, just...sad for Cleveland) and a couple from the Denver aerospace museum.

The Summer of Katya, by Trevanian. Hm, I still can't get over the whole one-name-thing for the author. Anyway, I liked this novel many, many times more than the other novel I've read by him (her?), Shibumi, which admittedly just plain upset me to read. Katya is a whole different ballgame of writing, however, with plenty of witty and snappy repartee. Beyond that, as a thriller (which I'd normally not be very interested in) it quite held my interest and had me guessing right up till the last few pages.

So the illustrious Sensei Tony was giving an introductory talk to the idea of ki last night - both in the somewhat-metaphorical sense, that of extending one's 'intent,' and in the more scientific/practical sense, that of learning to consciously engage muscles and body structure that wouldn't normally be accessed. For example, in the case of the "unbendable arm" trick, if one focuses on keeping their arm straight, it's easily bent, but if one 'extends their intent' to, say, an opposite wall, a little mental trick occurs where the shoulder aligns into a solid frame and one's much larger back muscles are engaged, making it very, very difficult for someone to bend the arm in question.

Anyhoo, my thought in the middle of all of that was to flip not so much the concept of ki, but that certain aspect of it around to meditation and/or general mindset. That is, the idea that there's more that we realize that can be accessed with just a little mental trick of intent within us - whether in our unconscious or 'heart' or otherwise - in the same way that a trick of intent can reshape our bodies and how we use them almost without us realizing. Just something to ponderball, as it were.

Saved!, with Jena Malone and Macauley Culkin. I went into this movie thinking it would just be a shallow satire of fundamentalist Christians, based purely in its jokes, but was pleasantly surprised to find myself really liking some of the characters (especially the adorable Malone and hilarious Culkin) and finding a certain sincerity. Now, one's average fundy probably wouldn't watch this movie, but I firmly believe they should be tricked into watching it if at all possible, and not just for the hilarity of seeing their reaction.

Nice little rundowns of forward and backbends

The tenth anniversary of the Age of Apocalypse epic was apparently celebrated in a miniseries - which was awesome. Basically, it serves the same purpose as Serenity or The Peacekeeper Wars, concluding a series that would have forever been a cliffhanger otherwise. And while it is a bit condensed and some characters take some thought to figure out where the hell they popped up from, I'm not sure they could have done a better job of concluding AoA...except to continue it, natch....

Word of the Day: pleonasm - the use of more words than are necessary to express an idea - heh, probably something I'm constantly guilty of

Wizard and Glass, by Stephen King. As usual with the Dark Tower books, just wow. Tip of the hat again to Mr. Scott for getting me started, and Ms. Connie for bringing me back to them. This is one of those novels where I'm not sure what to write here, as I'd rather go back do something on the order of how I did my thesis on Dune, with all the attendant time and research put in. I'll just note quickly that if you're interested in Roland's backstory, but doesn't want to read the rest of the novels, this is the one for you.

The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty, by Anne Rice under a pen name. Heh, first time I was ever lent this kind of book, for true. I liked the word one reviewer used, 'monotonous.' Who knew Rice was that into spanking? While this does serve it's purpose as erotica to a fair degree, a little variety would have been nice. There are some points that pull off flourishes of language...amidst a lot of repetition. That all could have been saved by allowing for a little more depth of character and much more depth of detail, I think - if some of the sensitivity and depth of Secretary had rubbed off on this story (no pun intended) that would have gone a long, long way in its favor.

and quickquick-
The Wedding Date, with Debra Messing and Dermot Mulroney. Fluffy rom-com - pretty fun. I like Messing better with curly hair, but alas.
Love Actually, with a lot of people. More fluffy rom-com, but I liked this one very much more, for several reasons - structure, actors in question, and general story...or stories, in this case. A movie to smile at, for true.

Here's one of my random conflations: this time, between the comic Exiles and Stephen King's Dark Tower series. Nothing really of any depth as yet, unfortunately, as I've yet to pick up some copies of Exiles (which is basically kind of like Sliders+X-Men), but I'll note that both jump from world to world, in a kind of ka-tet (for King readers), and both have the aim of repairing or protecting reality from breakdown/entropy/wrongness. There's way, way more to both, but I'm bereft of knowledge of the one, and don't want to over-simplify their pleasant complicated-ness.

Interesting quick little quote - "...there's a big difference between doing yoga and simply making an asana out of yourself." - David Swenson

X-Men: The Last Stand, with a good several people. And Kelsey Grammer as Beast - which rocks. Funny thing: my mom started snoring not even one minute into the movie, and every five to ten minutes thereafter, but that might actually be taken as an indication that it's a good movie, ironically, if that makes any sense. Overall, I enjoyed the movie a lot - I just took issue with a couple things, such as what they did with a few of the characters, and that the story was spread a little too wide in my opinion. I know the quick response to that is what the hell do you mean it was spread too wide, but I'll stand fast to that claim, I think they could have focused it in one of a few directions and been the better for it.

Interesting maps

Really, why do they have to spell extreme that way? I think they're compensating.

Humans!

Memnoch the Devil, by Anne Rice. Well, I've officially been de-virginized to Rice - thank you, Ms. Jasmine. I have to say, I did like it for the most part; though the vampires that Rice is particularly known for were completely ancillary to the story, it was a good introductory book for me to read in how much I enjoy variations on the story of Lucifer. This variation was of special note in my mind because it hadn't particularly occurred to me before that most other variations use only a traditional view of heaven and hell - this one very much doesn't.

To flip the coin, there was something continously...presumptuous about the writing, or perhaps the story. Well, perhaps it was more that I was torn between the wonderful and awe-ful story the devil-in-question told, and the complete opposite of those aspects brought on by having the God-in-question so personified. As much as it really was a great variation, that personification just made the implacable, omnipotent force of nature into another character, equal to or even less than the others in stature. I suppose that might have been exactly what Rice was going for, but I was still a bit leary of it.

Veronica Mars is a great show that Ms. Connie found; it's got a touch of The OC, which I'm not sure whether to call fortunate or unfortunate, but it works, and otherwise is a snappy combination of a mundane Buffy and a Janet Evanovich novel.

The Purifiers, with Kevin McKidd and Dominic Monaghan. This is what I happened to watch after coming home from a cross-country flight, and eating a bowl of leftover tuna. I had only planned to flip channels, but Monaghan's presence (not out of any particular liking, but because I thought it odd he'd be in a kung fu movie) and some vague promise of original and good choreography held me. Oh my, but was it bad. I'd say the ADD editing during the fight scenes was 'stylized' if I didn't think it was to hide poor, poor quality. And the plot and writing were...cute. But not in a good way, if that makes any sense. Like I wanted to pat it on the head, for making an effort despite being a ripoff of The Warriors with a weak near-future twist.

Backwards light? Besides that I don't really get the concept still, what application could there be?

Awww, heartwarming. And...uh...polyp-y.


Cool, but I can't imagine it could be as fun as cutting up a pumpkin

Acacia, with Shim Hye-jin and Kim Jin-geun. Well, Ms. Kim got me to watch the first scary movie I've watched in a long ol' time. I don't really do well with scary stuff, as much I really do love it - it completely messes with me and fascinates me at the same time. Anyway, I don't think most devotees of Western horror or slasher flicks would enjoy this too much, but if you're interested in well-layered imagery and understated, quality cinematography, that pretty much sums the movie up. That said, there's a strong beginning, which continues for most of the movie, only stumbling near the end, which wasn't disappointing, but...I think, since most of the scares in the movie were interestingly based in the imagery/created-symbols involved, that the explanation at the end stopped that pattern was something I'd rather they'd done differently; still okay, though. Ah, perhaps it was more that it couldn't decide on whether to maintain the supernatural? But there's a certain element of debate ready to be had as the quality of supernatural throughout the whole thing. Call this movie a thriller with a touch of the supernatural, then. Who'd have ever thought a bloody tree could be so creepy, though?

interesting, kind of poetic thought:
"It might seem strange to us that the yogis place the seat of wisdom in the heart [symbolized by sun], which we typically associate with our emotions, and not the brain. But in yoga, the brain is actually symbolized by the moon, which reflects the sun's light but generates none of its own."

Heh, I guess I'd like to think that the first part of this is a true statement, though I can think of some people I know who do yoga while seemingly actively striving to live against its principles. As to the latter part, I'm inclined to remember that the 'supple' here implies a combination of great strength along with flexiblity - something that will adapt, but not break:
"All practicing yogis are, by necessity, yoga philosophers. At stake is whether we will become as supple in our minds as we are in our bodies."

Completely random: I think a good model for archery in a video game would be to have it where the longer the button is held, the more powerful or far-reaching the shot is, but the less accurate it becomes - thus, reflecting the fact of muscles getting tired in drawing a bow. And looking for the resulting sweet-spot that would be needed between strength and accuracy would be fun for a video game.

Pubs and used books? Hell yeah.

I just want to note my dad's response to watching to watching Eurotrip: "Ahhh, this brings back memories." Hmm.

I don't expect to find these puppies, but I've been wanting to try goji berries for a while

The Great War: American Front, by Harry Turtledove. Well, I decided to give Turtledove another chance, as the first novel I'd ready by him was a mishmash of gratuitous sex, violence, and bad science fiction. Which, you know, might make for a fun beer-and-pretzel novel, unless it's written in a too-dry, academic-historical manner that takes itself too seriously.

Anyway. This novel was better, though less engaging, ironically. It's like a really long docu-drama, and is about as exciting - which fits the topic better, in the end, without cheesy science fiction and pulp-style violence. But as interesting as the topic certainly is (what if the Confederates had won the Civil War - would the South fight the North all over again in WWI? who would become allies? what roles would slaves, Amerindians, and Mormons play?), I'd almost rather have it all in a fictional timeline than in stories of bland characters that seem to all blur together despite their random jumping around.

New X-Men: Academy X Vol. 1 I got this little compilation on Free Comic Book Day, mainly because I couldn't really decide on any of the main X-Men titles. But, I have to say, I was quite pleasantly surprised; the art is great, the writing is pretty light-hearted but not too silly, and it's an interesting expansion of the mutant part of the Marvel setting, in my opinion. From another angle, I prefer Academy X much more than the more serious, but not as interesting, previously run Generation X, I have to say.

I'm always a sucker for playing with words, and a Tank Girl reference will always win my heart

A couple subsequent thoughts on Mission: Impossible III. One, I thought the use of technology in the movie was deftly handled. While the film might not have an 'ageless' quality like, say, The Bourne Supremacy, which could have possibly taken place in many eras of espionage, it instead took advantage of current or near technology within the narrative without doing it gratuitously - the technology served the story. I'll note the gradually increasing prevalance of 'future' technology in narrative that's similar to that old favorite shared setting of mine, Shadowrun (unrelatedly, glee!), such as the bomb-in-the-brain and the use of drones.

Secondly, I find it curious that they gave the Mission: Impossible movies a numbering, because they don't so much seem sequels to me as variations on a similar theme. Each has Ethan Hunt wanting out of the IMF, each has a girl, each involves a traitor in one capacity or another. So, as Wyatt pointed out to me, in a sense they could have been similar to the James Bond movies, each of which has little connection to the others, but follows a similar narrative structure each time.

Mission Impossible III, with Tom Cruise and Ving Rhames. And Laurence Fishburne, Maggie Q (whom I want a poster of in that red dress she wears...), Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and Michelle Monaghan. Basically, a lot of actors I have a high opinion of, when it comes down to it. And it was directed by J. J. Abrams, which apparently turned out to mean the story played out like a really long Alias episode (not to mention the identical signature cinematography and approach to the espionage groups in question). Which, in my opinion, is a good thing. I was certainly kept on the edge of my seat for a good solid portion of the movie, though I almost wish they'd had a bit more of an expansive setting in combination with that Alias style, but that obviously is only viable in a continuous setting like a television show or comic book.

interesting trivia from an article on the fight/flight reflex -
"Muscles that have tensed are left shortened and do not automatically go back to their former length. On the contrary, spinal reflexes make them contract if they begin to lengthen: After the danger has passed and the brain lets the muscles relax a little, the spinal cord immediately tells them to tense up again. At first, they go through a very rapid cycle of relaxing a little and then contracting, again and again."

Mmm, flowers. Hibiscus tea steeped for twelve hours is insanely sweet and hurts your teeth, but it's good. As are rose-flavored turkish delight, though they have a subtler flavor. Ocotillo blossoms are sweet when you pull out their insides to suck on, and different kinds of pricklypear petals each have a unique, spicy or sweet flavor. Any other ideas?

Springtime in the Sonoran desert! When stuff is actually green for a while - not so green as during the monsoon (hey....Feifei might be here during that! awesomeness.), but green enough. It's actually probably more colorful, than just verdant, in the end - flowers are everywhere. Every palo verde in the city is festooned in chartreuse, and the mesquites have their flourescent caterpillar pollen stems, ocotilla reds, every kind of pink and orange and yellow and red and green cactus flower abounds - and I even saw some saguaro blossoms! Which makes me suddenly realize - hey, I haven't seen the wildflowers in Sabino Canyon yet....hmm......

Without a Paddle, with Seth Green and Matthew Lillard. First of all, I could barely stand Green in the role they had him in; I realize he often plays roles that approximate the 'neurotic' or the 'oddball,' but never to such a dippy extreme. Secondly, the writing was also dippy. As well, the feel-good messages. Burt Reynolds has a small role, which was kind of eh. Did I mention that I only happened to be sitting in the room, while this movie played, and willfully sought to devote my attention to other things?

and an interesting experiment

Here's an interesting article conferring aspects of meditation from yogic (specifically Patanjali's Sutras) and generalized Buddhist points of view. I think it would have been interesting had the author had room to delve into some other variances, such as the Siddha yoga that I subscribe more to, or different schools of thought on Buddhism, but it's a nice article as is.

In other news, I noted another little physical habit that I can have fun correcting - while having to stand for a protracted period of time, I noted that my feet were hurting beyond what they should have been. After all, hadn't I corrected my posture enough that my skeleton was aligned with gravity to bear the weight of my flesh without my muscles having to work? But: I noted the inside sides of my feet were dipping inward, putting a bit of strain on the insides of my ankles and knees. I could tell the muscles weren't used to it, but a bit of attention towards shifting my weight more evenly to the inside and outside sides of my feet did wonders for the issue.

I thought this was interesting in how it could be applied to nigh anything -
"Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't." - Margaret Thatcher

an article on the positive effects of yoga - I thought it was kind of interesting in that as much as I'm into yoga, were I asked I'm not sure I could think of a good, clear answer of what it really does

Ultimate Avengers, with...several voices of various people. This is one movie I would not have gone out of my way to see, or perhaps a better way of phrasing that is I only watched it out of obligation. It wasn't unpleasant to watch; it was actually a decent animated movie, it's plot wasn't entirely cohesive or deep in any way, but it didn't need to be. I was never really a fan of the Avengers as a comic nor the Ultimate spinoffs, so that probably colors a large portion of my opinion. That said, if you like the Avengers and that kind of traditional, superhero comic, this movie is actually probably quite enjoyable.

How many people you want to bet end up eating these?

Interesting - the Skiffy channel announced Caprica (as if my time won't be taken up by that channel enough already)

Bird and Moon - a lovely little image story

whitney music box - interesting.

I just want to make a quick pass at an old movie I caught again late last night, Crow: City of Angels. While many people seem to enjoy the first Crow more, I much prefer the...well, it's not a sequel, per se, but rather an extension of the setting, or a retelling of an archetypical story, in a sense. It has a relatively tight narrative and attention to semantic details (how can you beat a background grafitti of the symbol of "om"?), and with plenty of references to multiple mythologies to boot. To me it's an ideal urban folk or fairytale, with all of the dark elan and atmosphere a real fairytale should provide.

Another random thought - I think wire is an interesting medium for craft, on the basis that it's very adaptable - it can act as everything from a medium for sculpture to taking on the properties of rope, or string. I love how it has a memory for shape imparted to it, but at the same time can be called upon to take on tension against itself, as in ropes in a net, for example.

Also, an interesting column on writing in regards to the interwebnet

and a random quote that makes a quite interesting distinction, though I'll counter the vitriol towards Myspace by saying that it works quite well as a medium for keeping in touch with people, which the other two are really not able to do as well at all -
"So there is immediately a different mindset. MySpace is more about the person than what the person has to say. While Xanga and Blogger are predominately freelance soapboxes for trails of (un)conventional thought and opinions, MySpace serves as a catalyst to senseless long-distance relationships and incoherent babble by the masses."

Did I post this one already? Hm. Well, here it is again (maybe) -

It seems funny that a few words, a note
can raise such ire inside.
Perhaps I should call it a poem in prose
to justify this emotion it wakes,
this heat that sings in my veins
and singes the skin of my face,
lighting it crimson from the inside.

Or is it the content, the meaning
of these verbal symbols?
Am I caught in their semantic web,
the threads of connotation too fine to see?
I wonder whether this red disquiet
is a venom of imagined words between words,
whether I am already cocooned
and dreaming poison dreams.

The author, I insist to myself-
it is the writer of this text,
the one who set the message
to paper in ink of arsenic and rust,
who tattooed it in the rapid rhythm of my heart.

But even as my blood burns to sing
in brimstone harangue, even as my eyes narrow
at the brightness of my fiery, righteous response
to the affront of words, meaning, and intent,
I stumble into that quiet moment,
where flame becomes ember.

My anger is my own.
Though I stalk and circle, blade in hand,
I realize there is no handle –
the blood dripping from its edge
flows from the hand that grips it.

My choice is my own.
I sheathe the sword,
still slick with crimson emotion
and wait

for stillness.

Amber and Ashes, by Margaret Weis. This novel was...well, inconsistent. I'm a bit sorry to say it for some reason, but I have to wonder whether the quality of Weis' writing suffers without her husband on board. It often seemed a bit dumbed down, and not intentionally, even, and I really couldn't quite figure out whether the wavering focus on the pantheon-of-gods archetype was supposed to be epic or more personally dramatic. I will note a particular passage near the beginning which leads me to think that Weis had to have been reading yogic texts as she was writing, it was uncanny the parallels with something else I was reading concurrently. As to the attempt to add a martial arts aspect to the Dragonlance, I'm torn, as it was kind of nicely understated, but at the same time cliche - I think she could have made it more unique to the setting, rather than relying on old standbys.

On saving money -

on gas, in Tucson
---and everywhere

and on plane tickets

and passport photos!

Scarface, with Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer. While kind of slow (maybe by "today's" frenetic standards, I suppose), Scarface does have a certain Shakespearean grandeur to it, like a tragedy spread over many years. I loved the way the camera would track slowly back and forth rather than just cutting between shots, it was something I've not seen much at all but was used to wonderful effect. And the one-liner moments in this movie! Great stuff. There's not really a single "good guy" in the story, but it's hard not to like Tony Montana, somehow.

I just like this:
"I should be content to look at a mountain for what it is, and not as a comment on my life." David Ignatow

Google Scholar would have probably been hugely helpful when I was doing my thesis...well, hm, if it has articles beyond the scientific, I didn't think to check. Still, maybe somebody still in school will be able to take advantage of it.

poem-y goodness from a friend - yay, I'm not the only one!

Ones and Zeros

Moonbeams slide oiled
Through the ocean of darkness
And the sound of her laughter
Peals through the air.

Sparrows fly swiftly
Through soot-coated forests
But the girl who once laughed
Is no longer there.

She fled through tangles of
Wrought-iron erratic.
Hid behind vines
Red, black, yellow, white.
As numbers scroll down
From rain clouds of static.
She lets bands of data
Block her from sight.

Darkness weighs heavy
Through a casket of glass
As she leans against it,
Wondering who'd care.

Sunbeams beam sharply
Through rivers of asphalt.
And she walks the water
Photons bright in her hair.

"Primitive Indo-European had pairs of words for some very common things, such as water or fire. Typically, one word in the pair was active, animate, and personified; the other, impersonal and neuter in grammatical gender." - nothing much in particular there, just thought it was interesting

From Mr. Scott, the bibliochaise...which on one level I find slightly freaky, and on another level, aweso.

The Waste Lands, by Stephen King. First off, Oy is aweso. For true. Oy! The Waste Lands is a continuation of King's Dark Tower epic, and it certainly upholds the very high standards of the novels previous to it. For the sheer amount that happens in the narrative, both in terms of plot and character development, it reads so quickly I actually hardly felt I read a full novel at all. I greatly enjoyed the expansion of setting, as per usual, but I was hoping for a bit more backstory on the main-main character, but the next book seems set up for that, I hope. It may seem like I don't have much to say about this novel, considering my high opinion of it, but it's really more a question of not going on for pages and pages in a close-reading manner, which this isn't really the right place to do that in.

A History of Violence, with Maria Bello and Viggo Mortenson. This film was interesting in that it had an incredibly tight narrative structure - it was like parallel!/parallel!/bam!/bam!, to describe it in a very inarticulate manner - and so would be great to write an essay on, and the acting and cinematography were quite good as well. As much as I was a bit disappointed that there weren't more twists and turns to the story, this is the kind of movie that seems just made for provoking discussion - what are 'good' and 'bad' violence, how much does context matter, what kinds of violence aren't readily apparent as violence (violence by mendacity, for example), what does it mean in how people react to violence....seriously, anyone wants to watch this and have a long talk with me, I'm down.

Wedding Crashers, with Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson. As much as comedies don't usually hold my attention very well, this one was okay. It was a good bit more serious (in relative terms) than I expected, which was mildly interesting, though something about the story had me thinking it was going to end much earlier than it did, which threw me a little. It did have Christopher Walken in it, that was nice.

"We like to think of cruelty as the province of the smart, because we tend to think that it takes real brains to be darts-accurate with cruelty, but the truth is that stupid people can be exceptionally cruel, thereby giving credence to the notion that we humans have several kinds of intelligence that layer over one another like transparent pages from an anatomy textbook." - from the blog pretty dumb things

and fun with linguistics from Jabal al-Lughat

I think The Boondock Saints is a great movie for a variety of reasons. In watching it last night, I was reminded of one of them - that is, the ethical issue of the vigilante nature of the Saints in question. It's never really approached directly in the movie till the fake-real man-on-the-street interviews in the ending credits, and even then not with any depth but with impassioned response or actual shying away. I think that's a great decision, in that not only does the audience have the entire film to debate the issue to themselves without judgement or commentary from the narrative, but those interview responses also probably mimic the most common responses on the part of the audience after the end, which is an interesting reflecting idea.

So here's my two cents as to the questionable morality of the Saints' acting as judge, jury and executioner based solely on their own judgment. I'll refer back to what I talked about a little while ago, I think, Krishna's conversation with Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita. Without attempting to encapsulate that at all, I'll come back to the film and make the argument that the narrative is not so simple as to just condone violence - rather, I'd say the deeper meaning is that what is to really be condoned is right action, in the Buddhist sense, however ironic that seems (perhaps a better word might be dharmic action?).

That is, the Saints are presented as inherently good men - even characters who hardly know them at all immediately recognize that. They have aspects of being enlightened - for example (in a within-narrative-structure way) they are obviously capable of living beyond their current means (re: their skill with languages) but are quite conent with the humble living space and job (even their working in a meat packing plant is similar to the story of the butcher who turns out to be a famous sage). In light of these qualities (and others I'm omitting at the moment), it becomes apparent that the saints are quite self-aware and furthermore (from their point of "enlightenment," as it were) are clearly acting from an intention to embrace what is reality is presenting to them to choose to do. In acting from their hearts (or from a deeper, intuitive level, however one wants to put it), they are making their decisions in a similar way to Arjuna on the eve of a battle in which he knew he would have to kill friends and family.

So yes, it's violent; and the morality of it is very much questionable. But all the same, one can argue that the Saints are good men acting from a deep place to do the right thing. And that doesn't make it right - but it makes it as right as something like that can be, in my mind.

-and a nice line from the movie (I'd put down the final declaration before the big bang at the end, but that's the climax and all that):
"When I raise my flashing sword, and my hand takes hold on judgment, I will take vengeance upon mine enemies, and I will repay those who haze me. Oh, Lord, raise me to Thy right hand and count me among Thy saints."

I'm not sure whether it's clever or dumb - a running discourse on penultimate panels

Though I haven't listened to the classical station in a while, an interesting guide

Dragons of a Vanished Moon, by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Ok, last Dragonlance book for a while, methinks. This conclusion to the War of Souls trilogy is the most polished of the three, I think, and certainly the fastest pace and most compelling. To achieve that pace in a story of this size, however, I wouldn't say character development suffered, but there certainly wasn't a great deal of it. But that's ok. I would have loved to have seen even more of the already-interesting-setting-turned-dark, but same deal. Another thing that didn't quite bother me was that as much as this concluded the narrative of the trilogy, the narrative of the characters and setting seems to practically be just beginning all over again just as the novel ends. Of course, as I type this, I realize the authors adroitly pulled a Dune with the ending-that's-not, and in that light their writing just got up'ed in my mind.

For those long-distance calls to little red people (obscure Kim Stanley Robinson reference? Anyone out there get that...?)

Yet another great column by Lore Sjöberg

Today is apparently being called "Day Without A Mexican Day" in the warehouse, on account of the big ol' march going on downtown in regards to immigration issues. I'll be the first to admit that I know next to nothing about said issues, begging the excuses of excess work (pfft, as if a quadruple bypass should keep anyone away from their job that I'm filling in for) and just not watching the news to avoid being depressed by its unrelenting negativity.

Anyway, maybe I'm just noticing this more markedly because the protest in question is so close to home, as it were, but I can't help but feel that there's an excess of blindly following demagogues (even a high school kid demagogue - yay new heights...or is that lows?) going on today. On both sides, even, with some idiots planning to burn a Mexican flag. I'd be a lot more impressed (and interested) if I had seen a single moment or reference to it all that wasn't already drowning in defiant, close-ear'ed mulishness. But I haven't. I just hope the demagogues don't get anyone hurt.

Just because I haven't read any Russell since studying for philosophy on Suntran back and forth across Tucson -
"Conventional people are roused to fury by departure from convention, largely because they regard such departure as a criticism of themselves." - Bertrand Russell

A tattoo expo! Is generally fun. There is an omnipresent buzz of tattoo needles going on (though there was also a lonesome litle tap-tap-tap of a more traditional inking as well). Basically each booth is for a different tattoo place, most of which were from Arizona and California as far as I could tell; each had a few books of flash, and/or a portfolio, and a couple artists rotating in and out to give tattoos behind the table. It's interesting to be in a place where almost every single person around has varying degrees of their body inked; not that that's something worth being horribly conscious of, but it was certainly worth noting. And wow, were there some interesting tattoos (and piercings for that matter). All in all, a generally good way to spend a day, in my opinion.

Well, I have to say it does sound very...ah, elephant-ine. As it were.

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead, with Clive Owen and Jonathan Rhys Meyers. This film had some good things going for it, and some good things not going for it. That is, there's a great noir style to the cinematography, acting, and music, and what I'm sure is a lovely semantic under-structure (though I didn't put that much effort into paying attention to the recurring tropes). But: it seemed that a great deal was missing. I understand not laying things flat out and obvious, it is a thriller, of course, and even ambiguity in an ending, that can be great. But it just seemed like this movie was almost missing whole scenes worth of content that would have done wonders to augment the already interesting characters. As it stood, though, I had a spot of trouble paying attention.

Now, here's a potential that I think was missed in that novel I just read, Dragons of a Lost Star. I mean, I understand it's beer and pretzel fantasy, and so the issue of religion (and its relation to the political structure) would inevitably lend itself to either a Greek-pantheon archetype, or an absence entirely of any meaningful exploration of it. Interestingly, in this novel what there is of the issue revolves around an absence of the the former of those two options, which to me made the setting so interesting (ie, what happens when there is suddenly a void in who has power over everything - who steps up to the plate?).

The trick is, though a messiah-figure is central to the plot (re: Dune, and she uses religion as a political and jihad-ic tool (re: Dune and George Martin's novels), she in turn is herself only a tool in regards to the narrative - and really only to bring back that pantheon-archetype, at that (bleh!). The nominal development there is of that character is secondhand, told only through the plot, and there is no exploration of her internal nature at all. Sadness. But, in the end, that's okay, that perhaps just separates beer and pretzel fantasy from Martin's high fantasy and Herbert's epics.

In other news, might as well do a technique rundown, it's been a while since I've done one of those. In this case, it's a standing sweep from the empty-hand portion Filipino art of kali, a great reference if available being the Kali Tudo dvds from Dog Brothers MMA. Where a more common type of sweep from a striking range (as is a specialty at the eastside KoSho school) is to work from the posterior, heel-side of the leg, for the purpose unbalancing in a stumbling way to make vulnerable for further strikes, this sweep instead works from a more anterior, inside angle. Interestingly, the purpose of kali's sweep is to not unbalance the person, but make them too balanced by widening their base, almost as if they're being forced to do the splits. Then, while they're completely rooted and unable to move, the hurt can be dropped on them.

The sweep itself has the best leverage right at the ankle juncture, and also avoids any clashing of shins, but I've seen a Thai boxer create a similar effect with a slamming shin kick to the inside thigh, followed by a brutal right hook on the recoil (whereas the kali sweep is usually best followed by a downward blow, such as a hammerfist). Another interesting variant occurs if the other fighter is savvy enough to lift their foot away from the sweep - if the sweep continues through, a hook or whip kick back up and over their shoulder becomes almost easy, and while their settling their weight back down, at that.

Dragons of a Lost Star, by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Continuing the Age of Apocalypse-style take on Dragonlance, the authors did a great job in remaking not only the setting itself but the tone of the entire narrative. This is probably one of the fastest moving Dragonlance novels I've read, and certainly the most expansive in terms of a 'global' perspective in the setting. There's a running twist and mystery that's been continuously building throughout this trilogy, and what's been revealed so far has been simulataneously both impressive and disappointing to me, just as the climax of the novel was at once both thrilling and saddening. I'd label all that a good thing, in the end.

In other news, also from Mr. Bryce, if you're into comics at all watch for Marvel's upcoming "Civil War" uber-crossover-arc, it looks to be up there with Age of Apocalypse and Onslaught if they can pull it off, in our estimation.

And lastly, I didn't get to catch all of it, but The Big Kahuna with Kevin Spacey and Danny Devito, a film adapted from a play, had a wonderful ending that resists being simplified quite nicely, though I felt I would have gotten even more out of it had I had the context of the beginning of the movie.

An idea occurred to me the other day, I don't recall when. Somewhere in between thinking that gay bars have the best music, where else but Tucson would you find such a lovely bougainvillea'd courtyard at another bar, and happily finding another place that was showing kickboxing on a big screen, I think. So, on 4th Ave, basically.

Anyway. The thought was that I suddenly find the Ayurvedic school of thought in regards to nutrition a bit more believable on the following logic. Where before I found it mildly engaging as a kind of Indian take on the medieval humours, and with about as much truth to it, besides being much more complex and engaged it also more directly deals with the nature of what we ingest, going beyond just the body. In that (for a small example), by classifying edible things and their effects on the body according to astringent, bitter, etc, basically by their taste, one has a nutrition-guide that will work in the absence of scientific measurement or counting of calories, or that would, say, work in the wilderness with one under duress. So if there is truth to Ayurvedic principles (I've already been impressed by 'sattvic' ginger, and turmeric) I have new respect for the sages of old for putting together such a comprehensive system without empirical science as we know it.