Three Things I Learned Last Night

(in reference to the 83rd annual Academy Awards)

1. Kirk Douglas is a national treasure.
2. Hollywood royalty (still) loves movies about real royalty.
3. Auto-tune will not die anytime soon.

Aqua, by Jeanne Gang

As I was flipping through the December issue of Esquire magazine to find the interview with cover man Christian Bale, I came across a sort of "Best of the Year" list. I'm not a regular reader or subscriber so I don't know if they always have an architeture category but there was one in 2010. The picture below was the featured building, designed by architect Jeanne Bang.

I think this is absolutely gorgeous. I love that it looks fluid, like the surface of the building is rippling in reaction to the gusts for which the Windy City is famous. It is a symbiosis of form and function in that each balcony is a unique shape and directs winds in a way that won't endanger the structural integrity of the building. I'm fuzzy on the physics but I trust that the architects involved know how the wind will (or won't) affect the building.

From The New Yorker:

A lot of attention--in Chicago, at least-- has been given to the fact that Aqua is the tallest building in the world designed by a woman. That's nice for Gang, but beside the point, and dwelling on it leads too easily to predictable interpretations of skyscrapers as symbols of male identity. Gang's achievement has more to do with freeing us from such silliness. Her building is most compelling as an example of architecture that is practical and affordable enough to please real-estate developement and stirring enough to please critics. Not many buildings like that get made at any height, or by architects of either gender.

I couldn't find the whole Esquire article online, hence the excerpt from The New Yorker. I may start reading Esquire on a regular basis if I keep finding little treasures like this. So what if I'm not a member of the target demographic.

image source

John Brown, American Hero?

There are probably lots of John Browns out there but the one I'm referring to is the man who launched the raid on Harper's Ferry in Virginia and essentially started the Civil War. I can clearly remember discussing this man in 11th grade when covering the antebellum era in my U.S. History class. (Side note: I'm not a fan of the song "Need You Now" by Lady Antebellum, which in turn makes me dislike the group's name choice. I heard that the members of the group liked the antebellum South as seen in "Gone with the Wind" and I cynically think "Oh yeah, I too am nostalgic for those good ol' days of sippin' sweet tea on the porch while watchin' the darkies work, singin' them songs so happy all day long, yessuh, slavery is good f'them." Ugh, that song just makes me want to stab my ears.)

The raid on Harper's Ferry was violent, poorly planned and executed, and very ballsy, daring. Brown had conducted similar raids but this one was his last, and though he didn't die during the raid he was tried and hung for his acts. While the most other abolitionists of his day wrote arguments against slavery, he actually took action and did something about it. He wasn't formally educated but had a number of meaningful interactions with slaves and othe oppressed groups, and had a very strong, Old Testament sense of justice and retribution. He had twelve children-- I think eight sons and six daughters-- and made sure that his daughters knew how to do outdoor work and his sons know how to cook and clean. He made it a point to travel to hear feminists like Lucretia Mott give lectures. He didn't crave violence but saw it as a necessary means to accomplish his goals.

I empathize with John Brown on some levels. I see him as an idealist, like me. While I'm a staunch pacifist and would pursue any physical or violent actions I have to admire John Brown for how passionately he felt about equality and taking matters into his own hands. He was sort of like a vigilante, with a bigger-than-life personality that makes him seem more like a historical fiction character than a real-life historical figure. My literary heroes include the Scarlet Pimpernel, the Count of Monte Cristo, Sherlock Holmes and Batman; to me, John Brown fits in with these men, except that he really existed and had a wife and children. For a while he was seen as a villain and a madman, and he's still a controversial figure in American history, but now historians seem to be relenting and even calling him a hero. I don't think he'd classify his actions as "heroic", per se, but insist that they were simply the right and necessary things to do. He had no regrets about the way he lived, and really, isn't that something we all want?

In an interview, I think it was with Charlie Rose, Quentin Tarantino named John Brown as the man on whom he'd do a biopic. I can see why Tarantino would be drawn to this man, and he'd do a great job telling Brown's story. Tarantino's already done revenge films, and his most recent one was a period piece, so I doubt that the John Brown movie would be in the works any time in the near future. I hope that someone makes a film about this man so that his life can be even more widely known.

image source

Coupling (BBC)

When I was in grade school I had ten channels to chose from when I wanted to watch TV. My family subscribed to the most basic of basic cable packages, and somehow we ended up with 3 different PBS channels. I know, I know, poor deprived me, I didn't have any MTV to watch and glean the necessary information on how to act like a proper teenager. But don't you worry, I managed to go through my adolescent years without it. Actually, I really like the programming on PBS and without it I would never have been exposed BBC shows, like the sitcom "Coupling".

This show is like the best of Seinfeld, Sex and the City and Friends, all rolled into one and set in the UK. It features six thirtysomethings and their relationship with each other and their struggles to find and/or maintain happy love lives. Most of the time the show features the three men talking amongst themselves in a pub and the three women at a bar splitting a bottle of wine and they talk about the same topic but express different points of view. This is sort of the crux of the show, the "men are from Mars, women are from Venus" concept: men and women have different approaches to situations. Therein lies the comedy. I don't feel that I can succinctly describe how much I enjoy this show so I'll clumsily segue into some quotes:

Jeff Murdock, on arses:

Do you know what arses are, Patrick? Arses are the human races favourite thing. We like them on each other. We like them on magazine covers. We even like them on babies. When we're alonge we like to scratch them; when there's a fire, we like to warm them; and who among us hasn't, in a lonenly moment, reached back for a discreet fondle? We love our arses. When God gave us our arses eh had to stick them around the back just so that we wouldn't sit and stare at them all day. 'Cos when God made the arse he didn't say, "Hey, it's just your basic hinge, let's knock off early." He Said, "Behold ye angels, I have created the arse! Throughout the ages men and women shall grab hold of these and shout my name."

Sally Harper, on the same subject:

You never understood about bottoms, Jane. Having a bottom is like living with the enemy. Not only do they spend their whole lives slowly inflating, they flirt with men while we're looking the other way... I'm sure mine's back there secretly snacking.

Mind you, these are two of the more neurotic characters. Everyone has his or her own neuroses that lead to various Seinfeldian situations. Jeff is sort of the Joey equivalent in that he's The Goofy Guy but he's terrible with women and has the best (read: most awkward and hilarious) lines of all the characters, for all the crazy situations he gets into and his comportment in those situations. Sally is...not as easy to categorize. She runs a beauty salon and constantly voices concern about the way she looks, always analyzing her skin, her body, etc. She's half of a will-they-or-won't-they-end-up-together couple. She's a ginger. She's my favorite of the women, despite all the indications that she portrays a stereotypically insecure woman in search of a man to complete her.

What sets this sitcome apart is that it has heart, and despite all the wackiness around the characters there's something that I connect to, and satisfaction in having men and women talk frankly amongst themselves and to each other. This show gets better the more I watch it, and I never get tired of hearing the same jokes. I know someone else who's seen this series and has lukewarm feelings toward it, which I can understand, but there's just something that I just can't articulate about this show that makes it so appealing to me, and it's easily one of my favorite TV shows of all time. I might have to do reviews of my favorite episodes to point out what it is that makes me love this series so much...

image source

Three phases of Helena Bonham Carter

Weekday

Weekend

Holiday/vacation

I read somewhere that she filmed her part in "The King's Speech" on the weekends when she was on break from being Bellatrix Lestrange in the last Harry Potter films. The third picture, from Sweeney Todd, I thought I'd include because I'd like to imagine that she really does dress like that on holiday (minus Johnny Depp). I can't imagine switching characters like that. She really enjoys dressing up. A refreshing approach to life, compared to that of Hollywood-type actresses.



image source 1
image source 2
image source 3

Character sketch: Inga

Inga (not real name) is a classmate fron high school. We had two or three classes together. She is the kind of girl who can get along with everyone. NOT the girl who is, like, super sweet and has her name utter in a kind of obsequious squeal. No, she's a laid-back kind of chick with a deep voice and easy, genuine laughter. Smart but not a genius, and not smug about it. She was a real bookworm-- she volunteered at the school library-- and was reading something interesting, a book that I would want to read. She liked the Ender's Shadow series and we shared a few animated discussions about the characters, which book was our favorite, etc. Sometimes she wore this long, faded denim shirt that dusted the floor and it would've looked costumey or goofy on anyone else. I wish I had gotten to know her better, because if I had put in more effort I think we would've been closer friends. She'd be the kind of person to keep in touch with you after graduation, who wouldn't just send emails but write letters and affix cool stamps on colored envelopes.

I can't think of a title

Yesterday I ate some wild roasted sesame seeds. I think sometime afterward a bit of saliva went down the wrong tube (bronchus, instead of esophogus), so my breathing felt...weird. Then I went into a sort of fantasy thinking about how maybe I accidentally inhaled a small sesame seed and months from now there would be something growing in my lung.

This is not possible. I'm sure that I didn't aspirate a sesame seed, and if it did I will be fine and I won't have anything growing inside me. However there have been cases where people have had some plant growing in their lung. Two years ago a man was found to have a two-inch long fir tree growing in his lung, which was initially suspected to be cancer. And last year a man was found to have a pea sprout growing inside him.

Roommates

Whoops! Meant to write and publish this post on the date that "The Roommate" came out in theaters (February 4th in the US). Oh well, the movie's still in theaters, currently ranked 8th by box office estimates, so it still counts as a sort of timely topic.

I'm more interested in the premise and tagline than the actual movie. I did a project once on famous roommates, some of whom were randomly assigned to live with each other. Like Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson at the University of Texas.

But the majority of these people had chosen to live together. Like Al Gore and Tommy Lee Jones when they both studied at Harvard.

I love that they agreed to live with each other, and that both have gone on to be famous for their endeavors to save Earth. I doubt that one of my old roommates and I will be able to acheive this goal (to save the planet, not to be famous), but hey, a girl can dream.

image source image source image source

Movie Review Haiku: The Fighter (2010)

What does it take to

become the Pride of Lowell?

Strength to fight for it.

image source

Two Truths and a Lie

Female singers I like:

1. Janelle Monáe 2. Taylor Swift 3. Lily Allen

image source 1 image source 2 image source 3

Epitome of British humor?

Maybe "epitome" isn't the right word, but in any case I think this video aptly demonstrates British humor: deadpan, ironic, and self-deprecating. I like a number of BBC series and hope to write a decent post about each of them, but at the late I'm going I seem to make a lot of these "I hope..." statements without fulfilling any. Hm. I have to work on that.



Some BBC series I like: Coupling, Skins, The IT Crowd, The Mighty Boosh. I've seen bits of Doctor Who, A Bit of Frye and Laurie and Prime Suspect but haven't gotten suckered into them as much as the five aforementioned series.

Scar stories: Right knee

It was the first day of camp during the summer of '96. My family had just moved to a different town and I knew absolutely no one at that camp. I was nervous about navigating through my new surroundings, but everyone was really nice and I instantly hit it off with a handful of girls in my group.

Of course I had a good time. That first day of camp was long but full of excitement. There was an outdoor pool! We made boondoggle keychains! We inspected each others tongues after eating popsicles! Every activity seemed fun and new, and I already couldn't wait to come back tomorrow and do it all over again.

When camp was over we were allowed to either stay in the gymnasium or play in the playground until someone picked us up. Obviously my friends and I (of course we were all already friends by then) opted to play in the playground. The new (well, new to me) playground, which was infinitely better than the tiny one at my old school. It had a bigger slide, a merry-go-round, three seesaws, rubber bottom AND plastic flat-bottomed swings and plenty of space to run around. Truly, a wonderous sight to behold. I had to go on everything and do it quickly, before one of my parents showed up.

I never liked anything that involved lots of spinning; I hate getting dizzy, and get car-sick easily. Still, I figured that I'd give the merry-go-round a go, since I'd never been on one, and I would make sure not to go too fast. But I hadn't considered my new friends' feelings about spinniness. While running to push the wheel around I felt like I'd be fine, but once I jumped onto the platform I realized we were going fast. Too fast for my liking. I lowered my outside leg to the ground, thinking I could slow us down by dragging my foot in the ground. Somehow I lost grip and found myself flying off, my right knee scraping against the ground.

I thought I was okay. My palms and forearms burned from impact, but weren't scratched. My knee, though... it hurt. It was covered in dirt, so I spat on my right knee and rubbed at it with my fingers and revealed a thumbprint-sized wound, bleeding thickly around the edges. Then a counselor called my name, and I collected my backpack and hurried toward my mother.

We headed to the camp nurse's office, where my knee was cleaned, iodined, gauzed and bandaged. I wouldn't be able to go swimming for a few days and would have to change the bandage regularly, but I'd be okay and still able to enjoy my time at the camp. The next day I learned the word "gangrene", and of course I showed all my friends what had happened to me. We boycotted the merry-go-round for the rest of the camp session.

image source

Random Hunger Games thoughts

This morning I finished reading "Catching Fire", the second book of the Hunger Games trilogy. As with the first book I had a very hard time putting it down and ended up reading the entire book the day I got my hands on it.

When "Mockingjay" , the last book in the trilogy, came out toward the end of last year my interest was piqued and I resolved to read the series someday. I guiltily admit that news of the film adaptation motivated me to read the books sooner, rather than later. I regret that my reading list has gotten increasingly influenced by movie releases, but I'm glad that this has gotten me to read books that I otherwise would've left toward the bottom of my ever-growing reading list.

I can't help but try to imagine which actors will be cast for the leads. I read somewhere that Chord Overstreet (left), one of the newest cast members on the tv show "Glee", might make a good Peeta Mellark. What he has going for him is that 1) he's roughly the right age, and 2) he's blond (blonde?). He's an adequate actor, I guess, and I found myself imagining him as this character as I read "Catching Fire." I feel like Logan Lerman would do well with this character, having seen him in a few films, seen what he's capable of. But he doesn't have the right hair color and I don't think that he'd look good with blond hair. It might seem like a trivial detail, the color of an actors hair, but I think it plays a big role in the story because it contrasts with other characters' features.

image source 1 image source 2 image source 3

Voldemort Cat, et al.

I saw a picture of this Voldemort Cat, which got me thinking about other Harry Potter-related thoughts that flit about in my head from time to time:

If I had to face a boggart, what would it turn into?

I'm not exactly sure what it would become right now, but had I been faced with one when I was a kid it'd probably turn into Luke Skywalker's severed hand. That scene when (spoiler alert?) Darth Vader faces Luke and cuts of his lightsaber hand, the one which is famously misquoted? Yeah, I had nightmares about getting my hand cut off after watching that film, that image so completely eclipsed the whole Darth-Vader-is-actually-Luke's-dad part. I got it into my head that Luke's "nooooooooo!" was in response to the pain of losing his dominant hand. Although I'd be really put off if my right hand were cut off I don't think it qualifies as The Thing That I Fear The Most.


What other clubs are there at Hogwarts?

Okay, so there's the Quidditch team and Charms club and Gobstones club. Those are the only Hogwarts extracurricular activities that pop into my head. Hermione formed SPEW but that barely even got a start, although if I attended Hogwarts (ha!) I probably would join.


Where is the Hufflepuff common room?

I think in book 4 it's mentioned that it's near the Great Hall, by the kitchens? But I don't think it's well described, at least not in the same level of detail as given to the other House common rooms.


What happened with Teddy (Tonks and Lupin's son)?

He definitely inherited his mother's shape-shifting abilities, but did he inherit those of his father as well?

My Backstage Food Demands

image source

I saw this article a few days ago, about some of the peculiar food requests that celebs make for when they are on tour. I highly doubt that someday I'll become a singing sensation and tour the nation and have the money to dispense on ridiculous or extravagant food options; the most plausible scenario I can imagine happening is that I do a one-woman show or go on a book tour. In any case I thought I'd have fun by making a list of my own food demands.

1. Local, organic produce. Anything organic is more expensive, but money won't be an issue for me. I'd want to buy local to support the small local businesses, so that when reporters discover my habits they'll realize that even though I am a selfish glutton I am also contributing to the local economy.

2. Claussen Kosher Dill Pickle halves. Again, I only want the best, because I deserve the best. (At least in this imagined future of mine.)

3. Sauerkraut. To slather on vegetarian hot dogs.

4. Cannoli. The original kind, with mascarpone cheese and chocolate chips and bits of candied orange rind. I'd want lots of shells made and have them filled on-demand so they don't get soggy. I'd only eat one every few weeks, though; one good cannoli can last me a while.

5. Hommus, taboule and pita chips-- but only in the summertime.

6. Various teas, both loose leaf and in tea bags. And local honey.

7. The necessary fixings to make a Boloco-style burrito, if there's no decent burrito place nearby.

8. Salt and vinegar chips.

9. Ginger ale.


I came up with all the items on this list off the top of my head. Maybe I'll revisit this list and/or edit it in a later post.

High school flashback: Valentine's Day

The person in the red jacket is a friend of mine, someone who's like a little brother to me. I ordered him a singing valentine for Valentine's day in my senior year of high school, and I've never enjoyed the "holiday" more than I did then. Ah, good times. (I didn't get anyone's permission to use this photo, hence the sinister black bar across the eyes.)

In my high school you could order a singing valentine for your fellow students for $3, and all the money earned went toward the ever-needy music department (music scores aren't cheap). In the beginning of January I'd see posters for auditions to be a singing valentine. The groups were all student-run, choral director-approved, and would rehearse 5 or 6 different songs to perform. In all there were eight quartets-- four all-female ones and four all-male-- and they all dressed up in different outfits-- nurses, firemen/women, dandies, doctors, etc. My freshman year the outfits were very risque and scandalous (one female quartet dressed as bad cops, with shiny tight shorts and handcuffs bouncing ever so suggestively on their waists); since then the outfits became less sexy and more dressy/black-tie. They always had a cutesy line with which they'd enter and interrupt a class, something related to what they were wearing, like, "We're burning with love for (recipient name)" and they'd set up a chair for the victim to sit in while they danced and sang around him/her. Nope, not blush-inducing at all.

The band always gets the most singing valentines sent. It's not as if we band members intentionally filibuster to get out of having to practice; most of the students involved in the music department are all friends and we enjoy getting to see every single quartet (read: all our friends) perform in that span of 50 or 55 minutes. Attempts had been made in the past to order a bunch of singing valentines to a class that potentially has a pop quiz, but teachers ultimately had the right to turn down the interruption to their regularly scheduled programming. In my junior year my chemistry teacher actually bought one for the class, but we ended up making her sit in the chair and watch her face go from pink to red to pinot noir.

I don't feel nostalgic about many experiences from high school, but I miss looking forward to what Valentine's day meant back then: taking pictures of my friends as four very handsome and talented singers serenaded them in front of the entire class. Ah, memories...

I love...Boloco

There, I said it. I like Anna's Taqueria, haven't gone to Boca Grande or Qdoba, and refuse to enter Chipotle; Boloco is the place I go to get my burrito fix. If another burrito place is closer then fine, I'll go there, but I'll always come back to the place I love.

Three hours ago I finished one of their burritos and since then have been in an inordinately good mood. This one was the Yucatan Habañero burrito, which consisted of organic oven-baked tofu, habañero salsa, pickled red onions, sour cream, black beans and rice, all wrapped in a flour tortilla. De-licious. The salsa was hot but manageable and tasty, didn't burn my lips; the onions were wonderfully crunchy and sour-- I've never had a burrito quite like this one.

To be fair, it isn't really a burrito, strictly speaking. Boloco does offer the traditional burrito with beans and rice and salsa and cheese, but has lots of other offerings that qualify more as "wraps". I haven't tried all eight burrito variations but I plan to someday. I love that there are all these options, as well as the option to make your own burrito, but what tops this chain above others is that they offer tofu AND fajita vegetables as vegetarian subsitutes for chicken or beef or carnitas. Most other places only offer some vegetable variant, which is nice, but I love tofu and the protein and texture it brings to the overall burrito. At most places there are limited vegetarian options, which I've come to accept since I'm not otherwise a picky eater; it's just the cherry on top to have TWO different filling choices.

Beyond the menu, I can really get behind the company's efforts to go green, which started even before it became a trend. For as long as I've been going there they've offered all organic meat and tofu and have a user-friendly system of sorting trash and recyclables at their locations. Their cold drink cups are compostable, made from corn. Really I can't find much objectionable about Boloco. They're always fast and efficient and I've never had a leaky burrito. If I could only go out to eat at one restaurant for the rest of my life I'd chose Boloco.

(image source)

Julian Matthias and I: No, No, Nanette

(image source)

This was the third show for which I played in the pit orchestra, and as with other shows I was invited to join by my high school band director. I had to idea what this show was about but I didn't really care; it was the summertime, I had no job, and I would get paid to play music. It was a lot of work, but it was a lot of fun! I would do it again even if I didn't get paid, I had such a good experience.


What I liked about this show in particular:

1. Playing like a hammy, hammy ham. This show is what I call a jazz-hands Broadway musical. Big, show-stopping dance numbers, lots of colors and costumes and wigs-- for the last number all the cast members were on stage singing and playing ukuleles. The musical numbers are all dramatic and stylized, not much subtlety in playing the music. As a violinist I get to use lots of bow and vibrato that it's almost obscene, but it's a jazz-hands musical, so it's acceptable in this scenario.

2. Time between the numbers. The two shows I played previous to this one were through-sung, so music played throughout the entire show and every bit of dialogue had to be timed with a musical cue. String players usually end up playing the entire show and it can get really tiring. This show, thankfully, was not through-sung, and there were stretches of 6, 7 minutes where we didn't have a note to play. Some musicians used this time to read a book, fill out crossword puzzles or chat quietly amongst themselves, sometimes mouthing the words along with the actors. For the first few shows I'd leave Julian Matthias in my seat and creep to the outer edge of the pit to crane my neck and see what was happening on stage. As the run of the show went on I would read or rest my head on J.M.'s and close my eyes until it was time to play the next number.

3. The other musicians. This rings true for all the others shows I've played, actually, but it must be said: pit orchestra musicians are among the most hilarious, intelligent people I've ever met, an all-around great group of people to know and work with. Most of the other musicians in this production majored in music and are professional musicians and music educators. They were all great storytellers, with lots of great stories to tell: about students, other gigs, and life in general. One day between the matinee and evening show we all went out to eat and the whole time we were at that restaurant I just sat there drinking up everything they said. Mind you, I did eat, and didn't feel like I had much to add to a conversation because I was the youngest musician, the naive teenager. Another instance: a fire alarm went off during one show, toward the end of the first act, and while we stood outside the theater and swatting away mosquitos a few of the woodwind players started telling jokes, diffusing the tension.

There were only two things that I disliked about the show, although I feel that "dislike" is too strong a word for how I feel. I was seriously peeved about that one show with the fire alarm; that summer I was irresistable to mosquitos and in that fifteen, twenty-minute span of standing outside that summer evening I got five bites on my legs. But that's not really the show's fault. The only other thing that bothered me was the show itself. The plot is just a vehicle for fun numbers and, yes, audiences left the theater feeling buzzy and fulfilled but there was not much substance in that feeling. After maybe the third show I was already sick of it, but quickly got around to tolerating it, and then maintained an apathetic and indifferent attitude to it all. Of the few gigs I've done, this show felt the most like a responsibility and a job job, rather than something fun that I happened to get paid to do. But the pros far outweigh the cons, and, like they say, there's no business like (jazz hands) SHOW BUSINESS.

Movie Review Haiku: Everything is Illuminated (2005)

Searching for the past

Three wanderers in Ukraine

A premium film

image source

Comfort book: "Shadow of the Hegemon"

Two days ago when I was at the library I saw this book and picked it up to check out. I hadn't planned on taking it out but it just happened to be there and I just happen to be waiting for my next leisure-reading book to come in.

This book is the literary equivalent of comfort food to me. I've read better books-- read all the books in this "Ender's Shadow" series, in fact-- but this is one of those books I can't not pick up when I go past the paperback fiction shelf and it's just there, waiting to be read. I usually read it in a day, not because I have the time to sit down and read a book cover-to-cover but because it takes a lot of effort to tear myself away from it once I've started. It's a real page-turning thriller, and even though I know what will happen to all these characters that I know and care for I still get caught up in the same emotions I had when I first read the book.


Right now the book is in one of my desk drawers rather someplace I can see it. This is to prevent me from reading the book before the weekend. Maybe I'll do an actual book review then, when all the details are fresh, rather than now and during the weekday when other responsibilities take precedence. After all, the protagonist is one of the namesakes of my violin.

image source

RIP Brian Jacques

Brian Jacques, author of the "Redwall" series, passed away a few days ago. I voraciously went through a good chunk of this series in 6th and 7th grade (I know, I was late to the party) and the stories made such an impact on me that I named my violin after one of the many characters. At one point there was an animated TV series based on some of the books and I enjoyed these, too. At the end of every show Jacques himself would focus on some part of the series: how he came up with the names for his characters, the way they lived, or the relationship between characters. He put so much care into the Redwall world and it was hard not to get sucked in, to want to spend more time in the place where all these adventures happened. I haven't read one of those books in a while, but I'll never forget how much I enjoyed them.


image source

What I wear in my dreams

image source

I covet the wardrobe in "Inception". I love what the women and men wear in this film, and if I could have all the clothing tailored to my body I would be sartorially set for life. This is the best movie to happen to a suit since "Reservoir Dogs"-- look at how all the characters wear snazzy single-breasted suits and yet they are all different, distinct. I especially love how Ken Watanabe's character wears a business shirt that is inspired by traditional Japanese clothing.

I even want these Hoth-inspired outfits, though I've only gone skiing once in my life and don't really plan to do it again. I love to wear dark-colored clothing and could wear a different black outfit for at least a week, which is part of why I think I'd do well with the entire wardrobe from this film. Still, I want that puffy white jacket and matching pants, and the outfit wouldn't be complete without those goggles (and that gun, I suppose).

But enough of the men, for now. The (two) women in "Inception" also have their own enviably stylish get-ups. Marion Cotillard wears ladylike dresses that have a vintage feel and look incredibly comfortable. Okay, so this dress might not be as easy to wear as a t-shirt and sweatpants but it is stunning and the second I saw this dress I knew that I had to have it. I don't know if I'll ever have the occasion to wear it but I want it nonetheless. Come to think of it, any good femme fatale has killer fashion sense.

This brings me to the outfits that Ariadne (Ellen Page) wears. Out of all the looks in the film Araidne's are the easiest to replicate. She's a young woman, an architecture student, and has a practical approach to her style. She wears color but nothing loud. Blouses and cardigans are a staple in any woman's closet, and hers are simple with clean lines and no fussy ruffles. Patterns only appear in the square scarves she wears and work well with the rest of the earth-tone palette.

It's too bad that it'll take a while to get all these outfits in my wardrobe. First, though, I'll start by getting good shoes like the ones the characters wear. If I can just get some nice oxfords/brogues that are similar to those men's dress shoes...

Julian Matthias and I: The Foundry

I will be performing the following piece in an orchestra concert next month. We've had four rehearsals so far and have practiced this piece three times. I'm playing second violin, which has the exact same measure repeated over and over again for 90% of the total run time. It sounds dull when I say it like that, but the music is (eventually going to be) very fast-paced and has a manic but controlled energy. It's a challenge to bring the same amount of intensity to every measure every time I play those notes. I'm excited to perform this, to see hear how it all comes together in the end.

The Foundry: Machine-Music, Op. 19 was written by Alexander Vasilievich Mosolov. Wikipedia refers to the piece as "a prime example of Soviet futurist music" and really I couldn't have said it better myself. Without further ado, I give you:

Movie Review Haiku: The Sting (1973)

image source

Newman and Redford

The Original Bromance

Best con of their lives

The music in "The Village"

Say what you will about this movie or M. Night Shyamalan, but the soundtrack for "The Village" is incredibly beautiful, haunting and deserving of its Oscar nomination for best original score. James Newton Howard composed the score, and most recently garnered much acclaim for his collaboration with Hanz Zimmer for the music in The Dark Knight. Hilary Hahn played the solo violin part and her immaculate technique and pristine sound are used to great effect in this romantic Hitchcockian score that really enhances the movie. Which is what any solid soundtrack should do. I liked the movie but have no qualms in saying the aural accompaniment far surpasses the visuals and storytelling. I'd say it's still a film worth watching, but one may find more entertainment in listening to the score from beginning to end with eyes closed.

Here's one of my favorite tracks:

Why I Became Vegetarian

It was the start of the lunar new year in 2004. I was at my grandmother's house along with my entire extended family on my father's side. We had a big get-together to celebrate the lunar new year, which featured a glut of traditional Korean food. I stuffed myself silly, felt a bit disgusted at how much meat I had eaten and vowed never to eat meat again. And I never did. The End!

...Well, not quite. That's the one of the stories I tell when people ask me when and why I became vegetarian. The next day I had myself a bowl of Campbell's chicken noodle soup but didn't eat the scrawny cubes of chicken. After that I decided I should do this vegetarian thing properly, set some rules for myself. I wouldn't eat beef, pork, poultry or seafood. I would still go on eating cheese and dairy products, as well as marshamallows and anything that had gelatin in it-- basically if it tasted like meat I wouldn't eat it. Lent was around the corner: I would be vegetarian until the end of Lent and take it from there. Maybe I'd eat some turkey at Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday at the time, but I'd cross that bridge when I got there. Sometimes I simply tell people I gave meat up for Lent and never turned back to it after that, which is also true.

Somewhere in my conscience I must've been losing my taste for meat even before then. Mind you, it had never crossed my mind that I would become vegetarian. There was one peer of mine who had been vegetarian her whole life and I distinctly remember offering her a piece of my chicken patty at lunch when she remarked that she was still hungry. Still, it wasn't hard to transition my diet, because I didn't eat too much meat in the first place and I had always viewed tofu as a friendly, familiar food. I never really viewed meat as murder, but now that I've read about how animals are treated... that's a topic for another post. Let's just say I don't regret becoming vegetarian.

That first year I was the healthiest I've ever been. I ate salads every day, read countless vegetarian cookbooks and fastidiously made sure that I still got enough iron, protein and calcium in my diet. To this day I think back on what I've eaten and what I need to eat for the next meal to fulfill my dietary needs but I'm not as enthusiastic about salads--especially salad for lunch. I've read stories of how people got better skin, lost a lot of weight and felt more energetic, more alive; I'm not one of those people. Maybe it's because I'm not terribly observant in the first place but I haven't felt any major changes in my body since I became vegetarian seven years ago. I don't regret my decision to give up meat, and it can be tricky sometimes when I go out to eat but it's only been a major problem for the years I gave up bread for Lent.

image source

Scar stories: Left thing

image source

Two of my friends and I had just visited a museum and had an hour or so to kill before catching our train back home. We decided to go shopping nearby, and I was thankful for a chance to cross off items off one of my many lists. One of the stores we visited was Old Navy.

(Side note: why is it that, every Old Navy store feels like a warehouse? The store's chock full of colorful clothes and bright signs with 50s/60s-style typography, yet there's something cold and and slightly unfriendly aura to the store-- all the Old Navy's I've been to. It hasn't really deterred me from shopping there, and I'm not as fond of the clothing there as I used to be, but this was always something that bugged me.)

After loading up on an assortment of apparel we went to fitting rooms to try it all on. On a whim I had grabbed a business-casual sort of skirt, one that had a side zipper. As I zipped into the skirt I somehow managed to scratch myself in the process. I gave an internal groan, not so much because it hurt badly (it didn't) but that I was reminded of my clumsiness. I realized I had groaned audibly when, a second later, I heard "Hey, you okay in there?" from a nearby stall. "Yeah, just scratched myself, I'm okay" I responded. I decided the skirt wasn't really for me and tried on a couple cute tops. I didn't end up buying anything that day.

When we returned I went on my computer, checked my email accounts, the news...I caught myself scratching my leg a few times. It got really itchy to the point where I wanted to slip my hand past my waist band, under my sweatpants to scratch at the skin, but I didn't feel right about it, even with no one else in the room. A little later I went to use the bathroom and as I got up from the toilet I happened to look down at my legs and

WHAT. WAS THAT.

A scratch about a foot long ran along the side of my left thigh, a thick bloodred thread that started about a handwidth away from my hip bone to about two inches above my knee. It took about three blinks' time for me to comprehend what this was and how it got there. When did...? Old Navy. That demmed skirt! I rushed out to show my friends what had happened to me.

It's not a scar that gave me a lot of pain, but it is the longest one I've ever gotten and was very dramatic looking while it scabbed and healed itself. It didn't etch itself too deeply into my skin. It's hard to discern now, but it's still there, like a faded line drawn with a washable brown marker.

* * * * *

Addendum: (I'm including this addendum here even though it's to address yesterday's post; I don't want to be in violation of one of my own rules.) I feel like I came off as very mercenary in yesterday's post. That was sort of the point, but I wanted to mention that I get more out of participating in research studies than just a check in the mail. I get a kick out of it, out of feeling like I've made a small contribution toward research that can be useful for someone, some time in the future. And it can be fun!

Hey! It must be the mon-nay!

image source

Sometime last week on the Yahoo! front page an article appeared with pictures of a younger Amy Poehler dressed as a candy stripper. She went on "Jimmy Kimmel Live! and explained that when she was in her 20s she would do things like give blood or pose for picture frame photo-inserts to earn some extra money. This got me thinking of my own experiences of things I've done to earn money. Mostly I've participated in lots of research studies. I started the summer after my first year in college and just got back from one this morning (not the same study). A sampling of my experiences:

• once I wore an EEG net (see below) to monitor my brain activity and also had to spit into pipettes at various intervals while I sat in front of a computer and played stressful games. It lasted 3 hours.

image source

• I participated in a hearing study and came in twice a week for six weeks to wear headphones listen to various beeps and levels of white noise to compare my results to those of individuals with severe hearing loss
• I had six electrodes taped and glued to my face, scalp and heart to monitor my brain waves, muscle movement and heart rate for a sleep study. After taking a memory test on the computer I took a nap for 2 hours, watched a movie, then re-took the test. The whole thing took about 6 hours.
• I gave blood (about 1/3 the amount drawn for blood drives) and filled out questionnares on medical history and diet.
• I wore a heart-rate monitoring vest while I watched the pilot for the NBC drama "Journeyman" before it aired, had my eye movements tracked, and filled out surveys about my reactions and general TV habits. (I mildly enjoyed the pilot but was jealous when I found out that the other study group got to see the pilot for "Chuck".)

My favorite experience would either be that last one or the sleep study. I've participated in sleep studies a few times, none of which required me to sleep in the facility overnight. I like the fact that I've gotten paid to nap and watch movies or TV shows-- that was how I got to see "Say Anything" and a good chunk of the fourth season of "Seinfeld". It stinks, though, having to wash the electrode-paste out of my hair, but the pros outweigh the cons. Generally I'm able to look past those nuisances and keep in mind the bottom line: I'm getting paid.