It's fitting that I've been watching Angel, since I'll be moving back to LA in the fall.
In Season 2, there's an episode called "Reprise," in which Angel steals a ring that allows him to travel across dimensions. At the end of the episode, he asks to be taken to the "Home Office," a thinly-veiled metaphor for Hell. Here's the scene. Holland Manners was a lawyer who was killed off earlier in the season, and comes back:
Holland is standing in the open doors of the elevator slowly clapping his hands.
Angel walks slowly closer.
Holland: "Congratulations. Great victory."
Angel: "You're..."
Holland: "Holland Manners."
Angel: "...not alive."
Holland: "Oh, no. I'm quite dead. Unfortunately my contract with Wolfram and Hart extends well beyond that. (Gives Angel a big smile, then motions his head) Hop on in. You certainly earned it."
Angel slowly steps in, looking at Holland, who laughs.
Holland: "No. Not a ghost here. No, it's just me. Dead me. (Pulls the collar of his shirt aside to show Angel Darla's bite marks, then reaches for the elevator buttons) See? - Home office, wasn't it? I should mention the trip is one way."
Angel stands in the elevator looking out, not saying anything.
We see a homeless person pushing a loaded down shopping cart across the plaza in front of the elevator.
Holland: "Well, if there are no objections, I suggest we get going. It is rather a long ride."
Holland pushes the 'down' button. The doors close and we see the elevator descending down the elevator shaft.
Angel and Holland are standing side by side in the elevator as the lights from the floors it is passing flash by and typically annoying elevator music plays in the background.
Holland: "Well, this is exciting, isn't it? (Smiles) Going straight to the source. - So, what's the big plan, Angel? Destroy the Senior Partners, smash Wolfram and Hart once and for all?"
Angel: "Something like that."
Holland: "Hm-mm, now tell me just what do you think that would accomplish? In the end, I mean."
Angel: "It'll be - the end."
Holland: "Well, the end of you, certainly. But I meant in the larger sense."
Angel: "In the larger sense I really don't give a crap."
Holland: "Now I don't think that's true. - Be honest. - You got the tiniest bit of 'give a crap' left. Otherwise you wouldn't be going on this Kamikaze mission. Now let me see, there was something - in a sacred prophecy, some oblique reference to you. Something you're supposed to prevent. Now what was that?"
Angel: "The apocalypse."
Holland: "Yes, the apocalypse, of course. - Another one of those. Well, it's true. We do have one scheduled. And I imagine if you were to prevent it you would save a great many people. Well, you should do that then. Absolutely. I wasn't thinking. - Of course all those people you save from that apocalypse would then have the next one to look forward to, but, hey, it's always something, isn't it?"
The elevator shaft and cable dissolve as the elevator continues to plummet into a hellish red glow.
Angel: "You're not gonna win."
Holland: "Well - *no*. Of course we aren't. We have no intention of doing anything so prosaic as 'winning.'"
Holland laughs and for the first time Angel turns his head to glance in Holland's general direction.
Angel: "Then why?"
Holland: "Hmm? I'm sorry? Why what?"
Angel: "Why fight?"
Holland: "That's really the question you should be asking yourself, isn't it? See, for us, there is no fight. Which is why winning doesn't enter into it. We - go on - no matter what. Our firm has always been here. In one form or another. The Inquisition. The Khmer Rouge. We were there when the very first cave man clubbed his neighbor. See, we're in the hearts and minds of every single living being. And *that* - friend - is what's making things so difficult for you. - See, the world doesn't work in spite of evil, Angel. - It works with us. - It works because of us."
And with that the elevator comes to a screeching halt.
The doors open and Angel looks out to see a homeless person pushing a loaded shopping cart across the plaza in front of the Wolfram and Hart Office building in LA.
Holland: "Welcome to the home office."
Angel: "This isn't..."
Holland: "Well, you know it is. - You know *that* better than anyone. Things you've seen. Things you've, well - done. You see, if there wasn't evil in every single one of them out there (Angel watches as some people in the plaza start yelling at each other) why, they wouldn't be people. - They'd all be angels."
The glove drops from Angel's right to land on the floor of the elevator and Angel slowly shuffles out of it.
Holland calling after him as the doors close: "Have a nice day."
What strikes me about this scene is how heartbreakingly poignant its message is. We're brought up to believe in good and evil, with good always seeking to do away with evil, but the fact of the matter is, like everything in life, good can't exist without evil. Absolutes must co-exist. If they don't, they are rendered meaningless. We can't have good without evil, freedom without repression, right without wrong.
Of course, the definition of absolutes is problematic as well. Maybe it's just all on a spectrum, and trying to define the extremes simply complicates everything.
Also hits close to home for me, as they're saying LA is hell here. Of course it is.
Monday, May 03, 2010
Sunday, April 04, 2010
This is my Bible
"Anyone who practices the art of cultural criticism must endure being asked, What is the solution to the problems you describe? Critics almost never appreciate this question, since, in most cases, they are entirely satisfied with themselves for having posed the problems and, in any event, are rarely skilled in formulating practical suggestions about anything. This is why they became cultural critics.
"The question comes forth nonetheless, and in three different voices. One is gentle and eager, as if to suggest that the critic knows the solutions but has merely forgotten to include them in the work itself. A second is threatening and judgmental, as if to suggest that the critic had no business bothering people in the first place unless there were some pretty good solutions at hand. And a third is wishful and encouraging, as if to suggest that it is well known that there are not always solutions to serious problems but if the critic will give it a little thought perhaps something constructive might come from the effort."
~Neil Postman, Technopoly
Only Time Will Tell
An astute observation was made today over brunch. That, in the rapid growth of the use of mobile devices, wrist-watches have become less popular, less worn. Everyone has a clock on their cell phone - usually more accurate than the one you set yourself. This, of course, prompted us to start checking out everyone's wrists to see who still wears one. I still do - my watch was given to me as a high school graduation present by a very close friend. But neither friend I was with wore a watch.
There's a tradition in wearing watches. From the days of yore when a little boy came into manhood, his father would often give him a pocket watch, perhaps as a way of saying, keep track of your time, you're responsible now. Even today, watches are often given as presents, or passed down through generations. When someone buys a watch, it probably comes with a lot of thought. There are still Rolex knockoffs out there. Watches still seem to convey a sense of class status, of tradition.
So, will watches become non-functional, just a piece of jewelry, in the age of digital mobility and interconnectivity? I don't know. But I now can't help but look at people's wrists all the time.
Saturday, April 03, 2010
Really now?! #ipad
Got this off an article about the iPad on NPR today...
"Outside an Apple Store in Freehold, Ray Majewski came with his 10-year-old daughter, Julia, partly as a reward for getting straight A's in school."
Really?? When I got straight A's in 5th grade, I got a pat on the head and a cookie.
"Outside an Apple Store in Freehold, Ray Majewski came with his 10-year-old daughter, Julia, partly as a reward for getting straight A's in school."
Really?? When I got straight A's in 5th grade, I got a pat on the head and a cookie.
Friday, April 02, 2010
Fwd: Important Easter Literature
From Cris
>
>
> Some important literature to cover during your Easter weekend. Some
> scientific, some culinary in nature. As always, please make science
> your priority.
>
> ***The Science***
>
> peep surgery,
>
> http://www.peepresearch.org/surgery.html
>
> the effects of smoking and alcohol on peeps,
>
> http://www.peepresearch.org/smoking.html
>
> the evolution of fear response in peeps,
>
> http://www.peepresearch.org/fear.html
>
> more on cold response, heat response, and solubility,
>
> http://www.peepresearch.org/index.html
>
> ***The Culinary***
>
> peep sushi,
>
> http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/03/peeps-recipes-how-to-make-peepshi-sushi-rice-krispies-treats-easter.html
>
>
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Green Day on Broadway
****Spoiler alert for the new Green Day musical on Broadway, "American Idiot"******
The challenge with taking a well-known, critically acclaimed rock album and making it into a musical is how to translate it so it fits the medium. I'll admit, as a fervent Green Day fan, and staunch listener to I was highly skeptical when I first Green Day's music was being adapted to a Broadway show called "American Idiot," after their 2004 album, despite assurances from early reviews that the show had gotten Green Day's blessing and would be performed with minimal tampering.
The show is still currently in preview, so one rainy night (tonight), I went to see it. From the very first chords of "American Idiot" (the title piece), the goosebumps started. With John Gallagher's character, Johnny's narration, it was a bit reminiscent of Rent, especially with the grunge-like style and punk dance choreography that was clearly emulating not only Billie Joe Armstrong's performance persona, but embodies the anxiety and discontent the music portrays.
I was impressed by the fidelity of the musical music to the original album. I mean, I think it was a good move - Green Day with jazz hands probably wouldn't have worked quite so well. Other than a few deviations and remixes (in one instance, "She's a Rebel" was mixed with "Last of the American Girls," a song off the 21st Century Breakdown album), the music didn't change much from what you would hear from the American Idiot album (other than the interweaving music lines and different characters singing different parts). Even the core instrumentation was the same - rhythm guitar, bass, lead, drum set, and other auxiliary instrumentation as needed (piano, cello, violin, timpani). The entire musical was framed by the "American Idiot" album.
But as the characters' situations got murky about halfway through, the music's structure itself deviated from the structure of the album. There were more remixes, and more insertions of their 21st Century Breakdown album songs in there, as well as an awesome misdirect. Johnny, sitting on the bed of Whatsername, starts playing the first few notes of "Wake Me Up When September Ends." Very familiar, well-known notes. Except, it's not "September" - it's another song completely, called "When It's Time" - a song Billie Joe wrote for his wife, but has never been performed before the musical.
One a very obvious level, this was for the fans. Any die-hard fan of the album would recognize that the production keeps very close to the album, and would have known that "September" isn't supposed to happen yet (and indeed, "September" is sung later, at the right time). The framing of the music to make us expect "September," then not satisfying that expectation follows the act of rupturing the familiarity of the album that occurs all throughout the second half of the show (there's no intermission). If we were expecting the "American Idiot" album to be presented on stage in all its unmodified glory, well, some of us may have been disappointed (after all, we like to be flattered - to think we know what's to come, and this musical doesn't give us that satisfaction), but more importantly, it ruptures the familiarity, like Johnny leaving home ruptures the familiarity of suburban America (of course, we will see that familiarity isn't always good either, as Will, the guy who stays home, gets progressively more discontent as he feels he's left behind).
The only slightly awkward thing I thought was the choreography - just the fact that there was choreography (the choreography itself, as I said before, seeks to emulate that punk feel, and I feel like it does it very well), but it is the only time that the musical really feels Broadway. The way Billy Joe moves on stage is completely spontaneous (at least, it feels that way - it helps that he's the only one moving that way), and choreography, by definition, is NOT completely spontaneous - it is planned. It's antithetical to the spontaneity, the unplanned-ness of Green Day.
There was also absolute media saturation in the show - right in your face. There must have been 20+ screens all playing news clips and such, and a projection that turns the entire stage into a projection show, as media saturates us and turns us all into American idiots, right?
Overall, it was a thoroughly enjoyable show, and certainly nostalgic for those of us who were obsessed with the album when it came out in 2004. A rock opera for our anxiety-ridden society today.
The night also included Soondubu and concluded with a stranger on the train giving me chocolate and, together with a couple of tourists from Chile, telling me I'm very "elegant." It was a good good night.
The challenge with taking a well-known, critically acclaimed rock album and making it into a musical is how to translate it so it fits the medium. I'll admit, as a fervent Green Day fan, and staunch listener to I was highly skeptical when I first Green Day's music was being adapted to a Broadway show called "American Idiot," after their 2004 album, despite assurances from early reviews that the show had gotten Green Day's blessing and would be performed with minimal tampering.
The show is still currently in preview, so one rainy night (tonight), I went to see it. From the very first chords of "American Idiot" (the title piece), the goosebumps started. With John Gallagher's character, Johnny's narration, it was a bit reminiscent of Rent, especially with the grunge-like style and punk dance choreography that was clearly emulating not only Billie Joe Armstrong's performance persona, but embodies the anxiety and discontent the music portrays.
I was impressed by the fidelity of the musical music to the original album. I mean, I think it was a good move - Green Day with jazz hands probably wouldn't have worked quite so well. Other than a few deviations and remixes (in one instance, "She's a Rebel" was mixed with "Last of the American Girls," a song off the 21st Century Breakdown album), the music didn't change much from what you would hear from the American Idiot album (other than the interweaving music lines and different characters singing different parts). Even the core instrumentation was the same - rhythm guitar, bass, lead, drum set, and other auxiliary instrumentation as needed (piano, cello, violin, timpani). The entire musical was framed by the "American Idiot" album.
But as the characters' situations got murky about halfway through, the music's structure itself deviated from the structure of the album. There were more remixes, and more insertions of their 21st Century Breakdown album songs in there, as well as an awesome misdirect. Johnny, sitting on the bed of Whatsername, starts playing the first few notes of "Wake Me Up When September Ends." Very familiar, well-known notes. Except, it's not "September" - it's another song completely, called "When It's Time" - a song Billie Joe wrote for his wife, but has never been performed before the musical.
One a very obvious level, this was for the fans. Any die-hard fan of the album would recognize that the production keeps very close to the album, and would have known that "September" isn't supposed to happen yet (and indeed, "September" is sung later, at the right time). The framing of the music to make us expect "September," then not satisfying that expectation follows the act of rupturing the familiarity of the album that occurs all throughout the second half of the show (there's no intermission). If we were expecting the "American Idiot" album to be presented on stage in all its unmodified glory, well, some of us may have been disappointed (after all, we like to be flattered - to think we know what's to come, and this musical doesn't give us that satisfaction), but more importantly, it ruptures the familiarity, like Johnny leaving home ruptures the familiarity of suburban America (of course, we will see that familiarity isn't always good either, as Will, the guy who stays home, gets progressively more discontent as he feels he's left behind).
The only slightly awkward thing I thought was the choreography - just the fact that there was choreography (the choreography itself, as I said before, seeks to emulate that punk feel, and I feel like it does it very well), but it is the only time that the musical really feels Broadway. The way Billy Joe moves on stage is completely spontaneous (at least, it feels that way - it helps that he's the only one moving that way), and choreography, by definition, is NOT completely spontaneous - it is planned. It's antithetical to the spontaneity, the unplanned-ness of Green Day.
There was also absolute media saturation in the show - right in your face. There must have been 20+ screens all playing news clips and such, and a projection that turns the entire stage into a projection show, as media saturates us and turns us all into American idiots, right?
Overall, it was a thoroughly enjoyable show, and certainly nostalgic for those of us who were obsessed with the album when it came out in 2004. A rock opera for our anxiety-ridden society today.
The night also included Soondubu and concluded with a stranger on the train giving me chocolate and, together with a couple of tourists from Chile, telling me I'm very "elegant." It was a good good night.
Monday, March 29, 2010
City of Strangers
A sign in the airport when you step off at La Guardia (and many similar ones are found at JFK) says, "If someone asks you if you need a ride, they probably shouldn't be giving you one."
Isn't it kinda sad? That an act of helpfulness in a city is automatically called into suspicion? That the person asking you for a ride somehow seeks to harm you, and that you must be on guard all the time from others? There's a need to protect, and need to close yourself off.
I feel like this is a symptom of the city. A city where you live among strangers, where your community is limited to the few you allow to get close to you, and that is about how far your compassion extends. No smiles to the stranger on the street, no spending some extra time talking to your waiter at the restaurant. Your waiter doesn't care to talk to you either. Everyone's closed off, in their own world, with their own lives to live.
Even if one wants to be compassionate, it may not be welcome. It's the culture of the city. Never stray too long in conversation with a stranger. Never extend more help than might be wanted. Look after number one.
No wonder Baz Luhrmann says, "Live in New York, but leave before it makes you hard." There's a toughness that is necessary to live in New York, but is that toughness making us forget our day-to-day humanity?
Isn't it kinda sad? That an act of helpfulness in a city is automatically called into suspicion? That the person asking you for a ride somehow seeks to harm you, and that you must be on guard all the time from others? There's a need to protect, and need to close yourself off.
I feel like this is a symptom of the city. A city where you live among strangers, where your community is limited to the few you allow to get close to you, and that is about how far your compassion extends. No smiles to the stranger on the street, no spending some extra time talking to your waiter at the restaurant. Your waiter doesn't care to talk to you either. Everyone's closed off, in their own world, with their own lives to live.
Even if one wants to be compassionate, it may not be welcome. It's the culture of the city. Never stray too long in conversation with a stranger. Never extend more help than might be wanted. Look after number one.
No wonder Baz Luhrmann says, "Live in New York, but leave before it makes you hard." There's a toughness that is necessary to live in New York, but is that toughness making us forget our day-to-day humanity?
Saturday, March 27, 2010
This is how the story went.
I met someone by accident,
Who blew me away.
Blew me away.
It was in the darkest of my days
When you took my sorrow and you took my pain,
And buried them away.
Buried them away.
I wish I could lay down beside you when the day is done.
Wake up to your face against the morning sun.
But like everything I've ever known,
You disappear one day,
So I spend my whole life hiding my heart away.
~Brandi Carlile
I met someone by accident,
Who blew me away.
Blew me away.
It was in the darkest of my days
When you took my sorrow and you took my pain,
And buried them away.
Buried them away.
I wish I could lay down beside you when the day is done.
Wake up to your face against the morning sun.
But like everything I've ever known,
You disappear one day,
So I spend my whole life hiding my heart away.
~Brandi Carlile
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Addendum: automated restrooms
What I can get on board with are the automatic self-changing toilet
seat covers. Those things are cool. Of course, they come with the
automatically flushing toilet that doesn't actually flush...
seat covers. Those things are cool. Of course, they come with the
automatically flushing toilet that doesn't actually flush...
*******************
Cynthia Wang's iPhone
cynthiawang@nyu.edu
Monday, March 15, 2010
Stupidest invention ever
For a city (LA) that is constantly in shortage of water, installing automatically flushing toilets is a brilliant idea. It flushes before you sit, flushes after you stand up, then flushes again as you're
leaving the stall. Who was the genius that thought of that? I mean, because people just don't know how to wash their hands. And of course, there are no germs on the handles of the doors. They are, natually, completely sterile and pristine. You know what you should also install? Invisible, intangible handrails that you can't actually grasp on the subway, cuz that would prevent germs as well. You're so smart.
You know what's also smart? People who aren't competent enough to tell you the right DAY you're flying out of a city. Thank you, American Airlines and Delta Airlines for making my overextended stay in Los Angeles much longer than it needed to be and giving me *gasp* mileage for my troubles and my friends' cuz that completely compensates for your incompetency and bureacratic mumbo jumbo. You are so fucking generous. You even saved me from spending time with my friends who are currently in New York cuz I certainly have better things to do, like sleeping on the floor of your terminal cuz you wouldn't let me into your lounge without paying the $50 day pass. Yea, I know. It's company policy. Pat on the head for you for sticking to the rules, you good little automaton. I mean, who cares about brains and your own judgment when there are these wonderful things called policies. Convenient little buggers, aren't they? Especially when you want to turn a blind eye.
And THANK YOU Delta for assigning me to a middle seat even as you're assigning aisles to other people. I'm looking forward to giving strangers a lap dance every time I need to pee or get to my computer.
And thanks also for putting me in a shitty mood for 48 hours cuz that's just so fucking productive.
*Edited 3/16/10 for formatting, not content. Content all the same.
leaving the stall. Who was the genius that thought of that? I mean, because people just don't know how to wash their hands. And of course, there are no germs on the handles of the doors. They are, natually, completely sterile and pristine. You know what you should also install? Invisible, intangible handrails that you can't actually grasp on the subway, cuz that would prevent germs as well. You're so smart.
You know what's also smart? People who aren't competent enough to tell you the right DAY you're flying out of a city. Thank you, American Airlines and Delta Airlines for making my overextended stay in Los Angeles much longer than it needed to be and giving me *gasp* mileage for my troubles and my friends' cuz that completely compensates for your incompetency and bureacratic mumbo jumbo. You are so fucking generous. You even saved me from spending time with my friends who are currently in New York cuz I certainly have better things to do, like sleeping on the floor of your terminal cuz you wouldn't let me into your lounge without paying the $50 day pass. Yea, I know. It's company policy. Pat on the head for you for sticking to the rules, you good little automaton. I mean, who cares about brains and your own judgment when there are these wonderful things called policies. Convenient little buggers, aren't they? Especially when you want to turn a blind eye.
And THANK YOU Delta for assigning me to a middle seat even as you're assigning aisles to other people. I'm looking forward to giving strangers a lap dance every time I need to pee or get to my computer.
And thanks also for putting me in a shitty mood for 48 hours cuz that's just so fucking productive.
*Edited 3/16/10 for formatting, not content. Content all the same.
Friday, March 12, 2010
LA's car culture
Epiphany. Why do we need 4 to 5-seater cars when there's usually only one person driving in it at any given time? Can you imagine how much SPACE there would be in the freeways of LA if each car could only hold on person? There would only be a quarter of the physical space on roads taken up by cars! We should all be driving around in single-seater pods with the family car at home for when we need it.
I know there are logistical and safety issues involved in this, but take, for a moment, my family. At one point, we had 5 cars. FIVE. We had only four people in our family that needed seats. Maybe five, if we counted our dog. How many seats did we have in our cars? Four sedans (at 5 seats each), and one mini-van (which can seat 7 people) - that's 27 seats. For 4 people. I mean, even a family of 4 that has TWO cars still has 10 seats to their disposal)
Something to think about.
I know there are logistical and safety issues involved in this, but take, for a moment, my family. At one point, we had 5 cars. FIVE. We had only four people in our family that needed seats. Maybe five, if we counted our dog. How many seats did we have in our cars? Four sedans (at 5 seats each), and one mini-van (which can seat 7 people) - that's 27 seats. For 4 people. I mean, even a family of 4 that has TWO cars still has 10 seats to their disposal)
Something to think about.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Radisson, we meet again.
Just got settled in at the Radisson in Downtown LA. As fate would have it, it's the same Radisson right next door to the Sizzler's we came to all the time (before it closed), and the last time I stayed in here was for a grand total of 3 hours while working on a grant for COPE (which also cost some ridiculous amount).
Allen and I stayed at the office till around 3am or something. Then I was back in the office at 7 or 8 the next morning to get the grant out the door by 5p. It was intense, and sadly, our grant wasn't even reviewed because of a technicality.
Yup. Back on my old stomping grounds-ish for a couple days. Oh, the memories. At least the air is thicker here, but smog-filled.
Allen and I stayed at the office till around 3am or something. Then I was back in the office at 7 or 8 the next morning to get the grant out the door by 5p. It was intense, and sadly, our grant wasn't even reviewed because of a technicality.
Yup. Back on my old stomping grounds-ish for a couple days. Oh, the memories. At least the air is thicker here, but smog-filled.
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
High-altitude oxygen deprivation
Not something you experience every day unless you live in Boulder or Denver.
I'm in Boulder for a couple days, and if it weren't for the fact that someone had mentioned the high altitude-ness of Boulder, I probably wouldn't have noticed as much as I'm noticing now that
a) I am out of breath after walking a block
b) there is serious lactic acid build up in my muscles
c) my poor broken lung is protesting the low pressure
d) I'm getting lightheaded just sitting here
e) I feel cold - probably has something to do with O2 not getting anywhere, and
f) generally feels like I just ran a mile (when really, all I did was walk up a flight of stairs)
And I think the more I think about it, the worse it gets! Probably should just go to sleep and not think about it. Supposedly the O2 deprivation makes it harder to get up in the mornings too. Fantastic.
This, of course, is in no way impacted by the measly two hours of sleep I got last night, and a full day of activities here on campus, which included a discussion of political economy vs. cultural studies.
Otherwise, Boulder and CU and people are lovely. And the food is amazing too.
I'm in Boulder for a couple days, and if it weren't for the fact that someone had mentioned the high altitude-ness of Boulder, I probably wouldn't have noticed as much as I'm noticing now that
a) I am out of breath after walking a block
b) there is serious lactic acid build up in my muscles
c) my poor broken lung is protesting the low pressure
d) I'm getting lightheaded just sitting here
e) I feel cold - probably has something to do with O2 not getting anywhere, and
f) generally feels like I just ran a mile (when really, all I did was walk up a flight of stairs)
And I think the more I think about it, the worse it gets! Probably should just go to sleep and not think about it. Supposedly the O2 deprivation makes it harder to get up in the mornings too. Fantastic.
This, of course, is in no way impacted by the measly two hours of sleep I got last night, and a full day of activities here on campus, which included a discussion of political economy vs. cultural studies.
Otherwise, Boulder and CU and people are lovely. And the food is amazing too.
Monday, March 08, 2010
Hrm.
We have this problem in our HK home, where fishes that get put into the same tank as our turtle, Soupe, keep going MIA. My mom offers probably what is the best explanation of this situation in an email I got this morning...
>>>>>>>>>>>>
From: Jenny Wang
Subject: One more fish disappeared!!
Date: March 8, 2010 3:59:28 AM EST
To: Cynthia Wang
We suspected it may became the snack of Soupe.
Mama
>>>>>>>>>>>>
From: Jenny Wang
Subject: One more fish disappeared!!
Date: March 8, 2010 3:59:28 AM EST
To: Cynthia Wang
We suspected it may became the snack of Soupe.
Mama
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Good ear?
So, I'm sure by this point, everyone's heard of this ukulele kid (playing Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours"). And I think a good number of people have probably seen his cover of Jake Shimabukuro's cover of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."
Cute he absolutely is. Criticism aside, this kid either has a great teacher who's teaching him all the tabs for these songs, or he simply has a great ear. I'm going for the latter, because it doesn't look like he's "learning tabs". Really convinced he's playing by ear. If that's actually the case, that's friggin' amazing.
I didn't really have a point with this post - well, I do, but to get to it would take several pages, and I must to bed. If I feel inspired to write later, perhaps I shall. All this should be read aloud with a British accent.
Friday, February 05, 2010
0 for 2 in the NYC music scene
Something about the New York indie music scene that intimidates me, I think. I can honestly say I played my worst set tonight at Five Points Variety Hour (in Chinatown), which I feel bad and sad about, because Five Points is made up of amazing people and has such a great vibe. It was a bit like a comedy of errors tonight.
So, I developed a bit of tendonitis a couple weeks ago, after I played at the MLK singalong thing, so I resolved to not bring my guitar to this gig (on one hand, playing guitar is what caused the pain in the first place, and second, carrying it around doesn't help either), meaning I had less than a week to transpose two songs onto piano. Of course, between last week and this week, I got bronchitis too, and was in Phlegm-ville and Snotsville all week. I'm not sick anymore, there's just residual stuff, but doesn't do wonders for, you know, breathing. Yummy.
What really took the cake was frustrating at the time, but totally hilarious after the fact. Five Points has a house piano that I used. Except there was something wrong with the pedal. It sustained when you didn't press it, and stopped sustaining as soon as you pressed it. Worked completely opposite of what it was supposed to do. I didn't figure this out until my second piece, and in my attempt to try and have some sustain in the piano part, drove my mind to work overtime on a piece never before played on piano, and rarely performed in the first place. It was like that time in Australia, where I had to drive with the driver's seat on the other side of the car, and on the opposite side of the road, sleep deprived, in the rain and in the dark.
The only other time I really had a "set" in NYC (the MLK Singalongs don't count - the audience is much more forgiving - or maybe I just forgive myself more for mistakes and imperfections because of the informal venue) was a Vivaldi Caffe in the Village a year ago. Also a piano set, also not great. I think I have to resign myself to the fact that sticking to what works is good (playing songs written FOR guitar ON guitar that I can play in my sleep), at least for now, when I'm still trying to make friends in the NYC music scene. This whole trying to reinvent thing and playing unfamiliar stuff in a new city just isn't working very well.
Five Points was really fun tonight though. I'll hopefully be playing again in their new venue sometime this semester.
Ok. I'm done whining for the night and making excuses for myself. At this point, I think I'm on the verge of pulling an all-nighter. Oops.
So, I developed a bit of tendonitis a couple weeks ago, after I played at the MLK singalong thing, so I resolved to not bring my guitar to this gig (on one hand, playing guitar is what caused the pain in the first place, and second, carrying it around doesn't help either), meaning I had less than a week to transpose two songs onto piano. Of course, between last week and this week, I got bronchitis too, and was in Phlegm-ville and Snotsville all week. I'm not sick anymore, there's just residual stuff, but doesn't do wonders for, you know, breathing. Yummy.
What really took the cake was frustrating at the time, but totally hilarious after the fact. Five Points has a house piano that I used. Except there was something wrong with the pedal. It sustained when you didn't press it, and stopped sustaining as soon as you pressed it. Worked completely opposite of what it was supposed to do. I didn't figure this out until my second piece, and in my attempt to try and have some sustain in the piano part, drove my mind to work overtime on a piece never before played on piano, and rarely performed in the first place. It was like that time in Australia, where I had to drive with the driver's seat on the other side of the car, and on the opposite side of the road, sleep deprived, in the rain and in the dark.
The only other time I really had a "set" in NYC (the MLK Singalongs don't count - the audience is much more forgiving - or maybe I just forgive myself more for mistakes and imperfections because of the informal venue) was a Vivaldi Caffe in the Village a year ago. Also a piano set, also not great. I think I have to resign myself to the fact that sticking to what works is good (playing songs written FOR guitar ON guitar that I can play in my sleep), at least for now, when I'm still trying to make friends in the NYC music scene. This whole trying to reinvent thing and playing unfamiliar stuff in a new city just isn't working very well.
Five Points was really fun tonight though. I'll hopefully be playing again in their new venue sometime this semester.
Ok. I'm done whining for the night and making excuses for myself. At this point, I think I'm on the verge of pulling an all-nighter. Oops.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Hacker/Scam alert
If you get this from a friend, it's a scam:
"This had to come in a hurry and it has left me in a devastating state.We are in some terrible situation and I'm really going to need your urgent help.Some days ago,unannounced we came to visit resort center in Leicester Square.City London,but we got mugged by
some hoodlums and lost all my cash,credit cards,and cellphones,I was little injured but i thank god we are fine,we are financially stranded right now and our return flight leaves in few hours time but I need some money to clear some bills,So all I can do now is
pay cash and get out of here quickly.I do not want to make a scene of this why I did not call my house,this is embarrassing enough.I was wondering if you could loan me some cash,I promise I'll refund it to you once we arrived home, hope to read from you as soon as possible."
Makes me laugh a little, how transparent these things are now.
"This had to come in a hurry and it has left me in a devastating state.We are in some terrible situation and I'm really going to need your urgent help.Some days ago,unannounced we came to visit resort center in Leicester Square.City London,but we got mugged by
some hoodlums and lost all my cash,credit cards,and cellphones,I was little injured but i thank god we are fine,we are financially stranded right now and our return flight leaves in few hours time but I need some money to clear some bills,So all I can do now is
pay cash and get out of here quickly.I do not want to make a scene of this why I did not call my house,this is embarrassing enough.I was wondering if you could loan me some cash,I promise I'll refund it to you once we arrived home, hope to read from you as soon as possible."
Makes me laugh a little, how transparent these things are now.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Avatar
Just saw Avatar. Quick thoughts. Execution, great. Technology and visuals, revolutionary. Story, tired. Cultural implications, huge. Lots of spoilers, though I feel like I'm one of the last folks on earth to see Avatar.
I'll concentrate on the cultural implications of the movie. One can totally see what James Cameron is trying to do here - to show another culture in a protagonistic light, to welcome the audience into this "exotic" and different culture, to get us to relate to the characters, their plight, to make us feel their pain when their home is destroyed. He even goes as far as to make Jake Sully choose to abandon his (Western) culture to join the Navi (what I feel is simply a shortened version of "Native" or, in other words "primitive" - I know this point can be argued).
So there's this clear dichotomy between Western culture and non-Western, primitive, "Indian"-like culture - cultures traditionally placed on a power scale in which Western culture is seen as superior. Avatar puts a lot of effort in stressing that the culture of guns and technological advancement is not necessarily superior - a point we are duly convinced of by the end of the film. By the end of the film, we, like Jake Sully, are drawn into this exotic culture, and we embrace it as a culture that, within this fictional world, is better than the gun-toting, tree-blasting military officials that represent the Western world. And then we go back to our own Western world, our consumerisms, our commodifications, our very Western-centric culture.
As a matter of fact, Avatar puts us, the audience, in a privileged position to embrace a "primitive", "inferior" culture. By the end of the movie, we give ourselves pats on the back for being open-minded enough to see that a non-Western culture is superior to our own.
Here's where things get problematic. The protagonists, the natives - they're visually (and aurally at times) portrayed as aliens, different, foreign. Here's that thing with system and culture again. System being what we're told, culture being what we internalize and feel. Sure, at the end of the movie, in an almost tongue-in-cheek way, the humans are called "aliens". But, dude. They LOOK like us. That we can't deny. We're just not blue, lanky creatures with pointy ears and flat noses.
Good for us for embracing a culture so very different from our own. Good for us for accepting the visually (and underlying tones of racially) and culturally different groups. But this film PUTS us in this position of privilege, PUTS us in this place where we can be entertained by the struggles of the Navi, and yes, even relate to them in some way. But the fact that we feel good about relating to a culturally different group (and then using that for commercial gain - James Cameron, once he breaks even, will be making bank) carry with it invisible, subconscious reinforcement of the pre-existing cultural power structures in place as it relates to the Western world and how the Western world perceives and relates to non-Western cultures. In the case of Avatar, these cultures become appropriated through the narrative, and appropriated by us, even being represented by Jake Sully taking on the form of a Navi by the end of the film. We each become a Jake Sully by the end of the film. But at the end of the day, only a Western protagonist can really save the day. Only a Western guy can change himself, and thereby change the world.
Furthermore on the two-dimensionality of the Navi, the film falls into that dangerous polarized categorization of good guys and bad guys. By making the "bad guys" (the humans) SO bad, while the Navi can do no wrong (there wasn't even a bad Navi who went to the side of the humans - but of course, our human protagonists side with the Navi) - that's a bit overcompensation, don't you think? That, or all Navi are homogenously earth-loving and good-doing. Or victimized.
I'm not going to belabor the point more - I think I already have. I will say, though, it was a very enjoyable three hours, but the 3D aspect of it is completely unnecessary.
I'll concentrate on the cultural implications of the movie. One can totally see what James Cameron is trying to do here - to show another culture in a protagonistic light, to welcome the audience into this "exotic" and different culture, to get us to relate to the characters, their plight, to make us feel their pain when their home is destroyed. He even goes as far as to make Jake Sully choose to abandon his (Western) culture to join the Navi (what I feel is simply a shortened version of "Native" or, in other words "primitive" - I know this point can be argued).
So there's this clear dichotomy between Western culture and non-Western, primitive, "Indian"-like culture - cultures traditionally placed on a power scale in which Western culture is seen as superior. Avatar puts a lot of effort in stressing that the culture of guns and technological advancement is not necessarily superior - a point we are duly convinced of by the end of the film. By the end of the film, we, like Jake Sully, are drawn into this exotic culture, and we embrace it as a culture that, within this fictional world, is better than the gun-toting, tree-blasting military officials that represent the Western world. And then we go back to our own Western world, our consumerisms, our commodifications, our very Western-centric culture.
As a matter of fact, Avatar puts us, the audience, in a privileged position to embrace a "primitive", "inferior" culture. By the end of the movie, we give ourselves pats on the back for being open-minded enough to see that a non-Western culture is superior to our own.
Here's where things get problematic. The protagonists, the natives - they're visually (and aurally at times) portrayed as aliens, different, foreign. Here's that thing with system and culture again. System being what we're told, culture being what we internalize and feel. Sure, at the end of the movie, in an almost tongue-in-cheek way, the humans are called "aliens". But, dude. They LOOK like us. That we can't deny. We're just not blue, lanky creatures with pointy ears and flat noses.
Good for us for embracing a culture so very different from our own. Good for us for accepting the visually (and underlying tones of racially) and culturally different groups. But this film PUTS us in this position of privilege, PUTS us in this place where we can be entertained by the struggles of the Navi, and yes, even relate to them in some way. But the fact that we feel good about relating to a culturally different group (and then using that for commercial gain - James Cameron, once he breaks even, will be making bank) carry with it invisible, subconscious reinforcement of the pre-existing cultural power structures in place as it relates to the Western world and how the Western world perceives and relates to non-Western cultures. In the case of Avatar, these cultures become appropriated through the narrative, and appropriated by us, even being represented by Jake Sully taking on the form of a Navi by the end of the film. We each become a Jake Sully by the end of the film. But at the end of the day, only a Western protagonist can really save the day. Only a Western guy can change himself, and thereby change the world.
Furthermore on the two-dimensionality of the Navi, the film falls into that dangerous polarized categorization of good guys and bad guys. By making the "bad guys" (the humans) SO bad, while the Navi can do no wrong (there wasn't even a bad Navi who went to the side of the humans - but of course, our human protagonists side with the Navi) - that's a bit overcompensation, don't you think? That, or all Navi are homogenously earth-loving and good-doing. Or victimized.
I'm not going to belabor the point more - I think I already have. I will say, though, it was a very enjoyable three hours, but the 3D aspect of it is completely unnecessary.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Systems and Cultures
I've always (ok, not always, but came up within the last year or so) had this theory. In any modern society (let's not think too much about how we define society, or we'd get tangled in semantics all night - just what you'd normally think of as a society), there are two forces at play. One is culture, one is system. At least, those are the words I use. And they're always at war - very rarely do they go hand in hand. For instance, we all know that racial equality is an ideology of America that we're taught, and is reflected in our legislation. Hate crimes, employment discrimination, etc are against the law. However, I don't believe anyone would argue with me that racism and racial discrimination still exists in society. That's our culture, that's what gets internalized through visual and educational representation, that's what goes on beneath the surface of consciousness, and that's how people live every day.
I bring this up because I've been getting into a lot of debates lately about China's economic condition (ie: everyone seems to want to do business in China because the economy is booming), but I've been hesitant to believe that China's economic boom is sustainable. This is, of course, based on almost no research on my part nor any in-depth knowledge about the global economic climate and all the messy dynamics of. However, I recently found this article about China's economy (by Thomas Friedman), which seems to say a lot of what I feel. Not sure I agree with it completely, but it's an interesting read.
This is a theme I'm probably going to try and expand upon more in later posts, but for now, I'm underslept and, hence, underthunk, so more later.
I bring this up because I've been getting into a lot of debates lately about China's economic condition (ie: everyone seems to want to do business in China because the economy is booming), but I've been hesitant to believe that China's economic boom is sustainable. This is, of course, based on almost no research on my part nor any in-depth knowledge about the global economic climate and all the messy dynamics of. However, I recently found this article about China's economy (by Thomas Friedman), which seems to say a lot of what I feel. Not sure I agree with it completely, but it's an interesting read.
This is a theme I'm probably going to try and expand upon more in later posts, but for now, I'm underslept and, hence, underthunk, so more later.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Losing a train of thought...
I found this in my "drafts" folder in Blogger today. It's an incomplete blog from early November that I let sit until I forgot entirely what I was going to write about...
"I used to read so much news. I don't anymore. It occurred to me just now as I read two articles - one about a missing baby found in a box and another about a teen who was set on fire. You know, the 2-minute news stories that are entertaining, but ultimately inconsequential. I used to snarf those up. What happened?
"Anyway. I had an epiphany today on the train. Not really an epiphany, but just a quiet thought, I guess." .......?!
Ok, that is where I stopped. Reading that again, I want to take myself by the shoulders and shake me and yell, WHAT WAS YOUR EPIPHANY?! I even tried looking in my journal to see if I made some sort of reference to this epiphany about stupid news, and couldn't find any. Maybe my quiet thought had to do with the fact that there's so much consequential stuff out there I need to read that I can't take the time to read stupid news like that. Or maybe it's all this insignificant news that's causing a culture of fear and paranoia in which our society seems to be entrenched. Or maybe it's lamenting the fact that we've gotten so lost in the little details of culture and life that we lose sight of the really "important" stuff. I really don't know.
Maybe this blog is more representative of why I shouldn't be reading news. I simply don't have time. I mean, I obviously don't have time to finish a blog (until now). But I somehow magically find time to Facebook-stalk people for hours. My response to myself there is, hey, it's for research.
"I used to read so much news. I don't anymore. It occurred to me just now as I read two articles - one about a missing baby found in a box and another about a teen who was set on fire. You know, the 2-minute news stories that are entertaining, but ultimately inconsequential. I used to snarf those up. What happened?
"Anyway. I had an epiphany today on the train. Not really an epiphany, but just a quiet thought, I guess." .......?!
Ok, that is where I stopped. Reading that again, I want to take myself by the shoulders and shake me and yell, WHAT WAS YOUR EPIPHANY?! I even tried looking in my journal to see if I made some sort of reference to this epiphany about stupid news, and couldn't find any. Maybe my quiet thought had to do with the fact that there's so much consequential stuff out there I need to read that I can't take the time to read stupid news like that. Or maybe it's all this insignificant news that's causing a culture of fear and paranoia in which our society seems to be entrenched. Or maybe it's lamenting the fact that we've gotten so lost in the little details of culture and life that we lose sight of the really "important" stuff. I really don't know.
Maybe this blog is more representative of why I shouldn't be reading news. I simply don't have time. I mean, I obviously don't have time to finish a blog (until now). But I somehow magically find time to Facebook-stalk people for hours. My response to myself there is, hey, it's for research.
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