New Year's Meme

Stirrup-Queens have created this meme which can be done in two different ways. "Either you can do all seven categories and list two answers for every category (get it? It's 2007, so I'm playing on the two numbers: 2 and 7) OR you can choose two of the categories and list seven answers."

The categories:
Things you learned this year
People you met
Things you don't want to take with you into 2007
Things you want to hold close as you pass into 2007
Things you're looking forward to in 2007
Things that were life changing in 2006
Things you hope to accomplish by the end of 2007

(see--those are the seven categories. Now you can either give two answers for each category OR you can choose two from that list and give seven answers) Here is mine:

Things you learned this year-since the only thing I can remember I learned in 2005 was not to use my hand as a hammer, I tried to write some things down.
1. "We do not see things as they are, we see them as we are." (Rachael Naomi Remens, Kitchen Table Wisdom)
2. "Real love doesn't make you suffer" (Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now)
3. Stop and identify the feeling before lashing out.
4. I'd rather go to Madison,WI in March then go on a guilt trip.
5. Life is short, and I must be present to win.
6. Even if I take a lot of pictures, I can't capture NOW.
7. Forgiveness is giving up all hope of a better past. I just have to let go of some things.


Things you're looking forward to in 2007
1. The 3 Ms-Malabrigo, movies and massages
2. Dropping my work schedule to half-time
3. Hanging with the knitting buddies at Mocha Java
4. Learning new things, but please not another craft!
5. Number two sons graduating from college
6. Another trip to the Great American Midwest
7. Using up my Christmas gift cards:)

I am also working on finding a way I feel comfortable contributing to the community beyond just contributing money. It is something that is hard for me. I am not an organizer. I can be judgmental. I don't like to commit. I think it as something to do with the unreasonable idea I identified a while back about my issue with perfection. Oh wait, this is a guilt trip and I'm not going there anymore!


Then of course there is the diet and exericse issues. It's always on my mind...one of these days...

If you read this entry, consider yourself tagged!

Get a Fortune Cookie, Review The Good Shepard

Allen Dulles from the movie (Matt Damon)
The Good Shepard is a fictionalized drama based on the life of Allen Dulles, the first civilian director of the CIA. Let me say first this is a long movie. I went in at 3:15 and got out after 6pm. The beginning is hard to follow and the scenes jump back and forth in time. The story that unfolds is quite interesting and generated a lot of questions in my party about the Bay of Pigs and the Skull and Bones. Diniro directs and has a small part. Matt Damon plays an ice man, secretive all his life who makes great sacrifices for his beliefs, or do we really know why or if it was a sacrifice, he was that secretive. My sister did not like it that much, but I found it very interesting, but sad. I did not recognize Keir Dullea even though I knew ahead of time that he was in the movie. John Turturro who I just watched in Unstrung Heroes (a movie directed by Diane Keaton-yikes I digress!)was great as Dulles' sidekick.
I will give this movie 3/5 acorns and 1/2 of clive for some violence and being sad.

Enchanting Juno led me to this meme and it gave me a hoot. Try it!

My Fortune Cookie told me: Your bathtub is full of brightly colored machine tools. Get a cookie from Miss Fortune

My Fortune Cookie told me: We are not anticipating any emergencies. Get a cookie from Miss Fortune

La Boheme, Review

I watched the Australian version of La Boheme. The DVD has added something really great for me, subtitles. It really helps to know what the story is. Opera has so much angst built into the solos.
It was a little bothersome to me that the love between Mimi and Rodolfo is so quick in much the way that Mulan raced through to the end. I know it has to be as, but still it's a bit bothersome. However, the songs they sing to each other at the end of the first act are some of the most moving sounds to me. I think it is better left in Italian, though.
And guess what? Mimi dies. Well I knew that because it's opera.
It tough not to compare the artists, but Maria Callas and Pavarotti are hard to beat. I love the sets on this production.
I will give it 2.5/5 acorns.

Serenity, Review

I had a coupon for Borders so I got this DVD that was on the specials table. This is a movie made from the failed SciFi Channel series Firefly. I never watched Firefly so I thought, why not? Chance it!
I can't say I gave it a fair shake as I felt the need to work on a new hat while watching it and the mohair in the yarn kept making me sneeze.
There is the Milennium Falcon-like vessel and crew captained by Mal, maverick renegade, who pick up some odd characters and of course their life is never the same again. River Tam has all those quirky, psychic type powers AND she knows kung fu! This can be very handy in a fight against those zombie-like Reavers. David Krumholts of Numbers fame is Mr. Universe and he's very good at facts. Hmmm is he type cast?

IMBD gives both the series and this movie fairly high ratings. I will have to watch the series, although I hear it was cancelled in mid-plot, and while I like clifthangers, I don't like to wait forever. The movie didn't grab me that much. But like I said, blame the mohair.

I will give it 2/5 acorns.

Blood Diamond, Review

Leonardo DiCaprio made an impression on me as Johnny Depp's brother in What's Eating Gilbert Grape. He went on to wow me in Titanic. I still can't get his frozen face out of my brain when I hear that song. He made a few stinkers, too, imo. He does a South African accent in Blood Diamond. I can't really saw how well he really does it, but he does it quite effortlessly. I enjoyed him in this part as well as the one he played in The Departed.
Djimon Hounsou was born in Cotonou, Benin. According to Wikipedia Cotonou means mouth of the River of Death. Benin was once called Dahomey and was once occupied by the French. It may be the home of Voodoo. Just reading up on this has made me realize how provincial I really am. Mr. Hounsou plays a humble fisherman and father in this movie and shows his range of emotions.
Jennifer Connelly was really beautiful in this movie, and did a fine job, but was perhaps a bit too sparkly for the role.
The story is about the Kimberley Process which tries to insure that the people from areas that mine the diamonds benefit from the diamonds. Diamonds from conflict areas are illegally obtained and the proceeds often support war efforts. The conflict in Sierra Leone happened in the 1990s and the sale diamonds bought guns used in this violent confrontation.

I will rate this movie 3.8/5 acorns. It had a fair amount of violence. The scenary was beautiful and the music haunting. Mr. DiCaprio was very convincing and buff I might say, as the mercenary who believes in nothing and will say anything to get what he wants, who is moved toward redemption by the passion of a reporter and the heart of a father.

Hurtling toward 2007

Has anyone else wondered what happened to November? I'm still reeling over that. I have misplaced a month in my life. Not much I can do about that. So here it is December, in fact almost one week into it. It's cookie time.

I make cookies at my friends house every year. She has all the cooking toys. I ate a thousand cookies today and I'm sick of cookies. Well, maybe I have room for some Russian Tea Cookies, Molassas Crinkles or Nurnbergers.

It feels wintry here even though its 76 right now. So much to do, so little time.

I recall surviving a personal viral attack, and the drama of my son rupturing his appendix, and look forward to the descent upon the family compound of sister #1 and 2, with various other relations.

I regret Season 3 of Battlestar Galactica is not yet out on DVD. I really enjoyed Season 1,2 and 2.5. Wonder why they numbered the DVD's that way. I am tempted to watch the portions of Season 3 that pass by out of sequence, but so far have talked myself out of that.


My NHK drama about the lives of Chiyo and Kazutoya as gone through Chiyo's orphaning, throught Oda Nobunaga and Hideyoshi. Mitsunari and Tokugawa Ieyasu are building up to the showdown. I know how that one turns out ;)

Biyeolhan geori, Review

Dirty Carnival, just another karaoke-singing, Korean ganster movie. Well not really, I just wanted to say that. There is karaoke, and it is a Korean gangster movie, but it was a cut above the average. The main gangster is quite likeable and seems to have a good heart, but then again he is quite ruthless and not above knocking off those who stand in his way. He says about his right hand man, that he can smile at his victims while killing at them. Is he really much different?

He is still supporting his family, a delinquent brother, smart sister, and ailing mother. He hooks up with his high school friends at a reunion of sorts. He courts the woman as his first true love. Another friend is now a budding film writer/director and he agrees to allow him to interview his gang for his new movie. The movie is a big hit, but is so close to the truth, it causes trouble in the gangster world.

The ending is surprising, so I won't tell. The fight scenes are choreographed looking, but not distractingly so. There is some blood, but hey, gangsters, they have a penchant for guns, knives and beating people to a pulp.

I will rate this one 3/5 acorns. I quite enjoyed it even though the singing was not that good. Some of the tattoos were funny.

Ghost Ships in the Sky, I'm a Skywatcher

I thought this sunset from last night looked like Ghost Ships off on the horizon.

There are at least 6 movies named Ghost Ship or AKA as Ghost Ship That I could find reference to.
1943
1952
1957
1992
1997
2002

Down in the Delta and The Inheritance, Reviews

About all I could yesterday is plant myself in front of the TV. I got stuck on the Women's Channel and watched two movies.

Down in the Delta stars Alfre Woodard who I remember first seeing on Hill Steet Blues. She plays a down and out mom from Chicago who returns to the Delta and finds roots. Wesley Snipes plays her successful cousin from the big city. The corny object in this movie is a family heirloom, a candleabra named Nathan. Her mom always hid Nathan from her since she suspected Nathan would be sold for drug money. Spoiler alert! Nathan was actually the name of here great, great, great, something grandfather. He had been sold for the candleabra right in front of his wife and son, Jesse. As the tale goes, Jesse has an opportunity during the civil war to steal the candlebra, and he roams the country trying to find his father. But, he never does. Instead he talks to candelabra and it has been passes down through the generations. Once Alfre's character has healed, she becomes the keeper of "Nathan". Throw in an autistic child, and a chicken plant going out of business just for good luck.

The Inheritance is based on a Louisa May Alcott story and is a 1997 mad for TV production. It is a Pride and Prejudice sort of tale. Tom Conti plays the dad, level headed and fair. He's always been one of my favorite actors. Meredith Baxtor plays his wife. It was great to see Max Gail who I remember as Det. Stan 'Wojo' Wojciehowicz from Barney Miller, even though he plays and AH. The heroine in this show is an orphan raised by a well to do family. She is loved and cherished. She wins the title for kindest, most honest heroine around. Everyone loves her. This movie just has to have a happy ending. The bitchy houseguest gets hers in end, our heroine has the fairy tale ending she deserves.

It did my hollow head some good to lay back and soak in the good vibes of all these wonderful people. It did me good to see a happy ending. I was entertained!

I will rate these both 2.5/5 acorns. No clives.

Waaah!

Waah, I'm a-wracked with a virus. And I got my flu shot! Waaah, it didn't work.
Waah, waah, my season 2 Battlegalactic DVds aren't here yet.

I finished the miniseries and the first season yesterday, so I can't wait for them to come. Season 1 was an early Christmas present from my awsome sister in Madison. Sisters are the best!!

The Dirk Bogarde character from the original series as been morphed into a woman. It works. Boomer is played by a very beautiful Korean/Canadian actress named Grace Park. Olmos is really great as the head military dude. The actor who played Apollo in the original series is back in this series as a convicted terrorist for interest. The cyclons are new, improved and developing human traits. I don't know that they should be having babies, though. Why is it that every sci-fi drama has to birth babies? I still think that when Keiko had her baby they should have been able to beam it out instead of going through all that breathing and fluid. Man I think I ranted on this before!

I have amassed all the anti-flu remedies and symptomatic treatments I had laying around the house. So far, I'm still sick:(. I put them in my new Magic Bullet, another early Christmas present from by other awsome sister and made Airborne slushy. It helps to keep that feverish feeling down.

Ye Yan, Review

Ziyi Zhang stars in this movie about the intrigue in the Chinese court. Growing up she was in love with the prince, but she ends up marrying his father so he goes far a way and studies dance. When the Emperor dies, supposedly bitten by a scorpion, his brother steps up to take his place and his wife. The prince is summoned back, and survives assassination atempts on his way back.

The film is choreographed almost like a musical. The fight scenes are involved masked soldiers and very red blood. It is a very beautifully done. My main problem with this film is the title. I kept waiting for the Banquet. I was hoping for great food but it was not to be. I also was not sure what to make of the ending. I think the relationships between the the Empress, Emperor and Prince were not developed well and I didn't really like any of them very much.

I will rate this movie 2.5/5 acorns. (No clives).

I made a serious attempt to clean up the house, but alas was waylaid by the computer, the movie and great ramen at Taishoken. I managed to talk my son into changing a lamp for me. I look at all the papers on my desk and realize I have a problem with throwing away receipts. Is it safe to throw them in the trash since only the last four digits appear on most of them now, or do I still have to shred them? If I don't figure that out soon, I'll be buried in an avalance of register receipts. Yikes!

Ansatsu, Review

This black and white samurai picture from 1967 takes place during a period of Japan during the Tokugawa era, when the samurai is falling from his place in society. The emperor will eventually replace the shogun as ruler of Japan and the feudal period which generated so many great pictures about loyalty is crumbling. It has none of the romance of that previous period just the reality of ronin. Some hold to Bushido, but many switch sides at will for survival or other ends.

It does have some great music. Many of the Japanese movies made today use the more modern music been written, but the older scores utilizing a more traditional sound appeal to me much more. I suppose if zombies are jumping out then a heavy metal score really works, but when two highly trained samurai are facing down in a black and white movie, with the dust swirling and eyes glaring, there is nothing like the bleak silence broken by staccato of drums or the hiss of the shakuhachi to enhance the drama.

It is a well made movie, but I am swayed by the period. I like a "hero" to anchor the movie. So there you have it. Much like Raging Bull with it's great film making and acting, I so hated Deniro's character, I have to defer rating the movie to those who can stomach it.

Jeez, there I am true to form, running instead of taking a stand! Yeah, but it's just a movie! I will say, no clives.

Nacho Libre, Lost Season 2 and an oldie

I watched Nacho Libre because after watching all that existentialist stuff at the film festival, I want to laugh. Nacho Libre was silly and fun. I enjoyed the scene where he is in the ring flapping like an eagle. There was not much deep in this movie. Watching Black jump and tumble reminded me of John Belushi, another agile "big" man. I will rate this 3/5 acorns.

While watching Lost, Season 2 I was reminded of the PC games Myst and Riven. The scene change music, the island adventure areas, and the water and mystery all added to this memory. I was very disappointed in Walt shooting Michelle Rodriguez. She needed to be shot as she was difficult to like, but still, I thought better of Walt. I was a little annoyed that food seems to rain down on the lost ones and that they have all the conforts of home in the hatch. I was also annoyed at the unaturally (at least for Hawaii) red mangos that Sawyer was picking from the bamboo forest. I could have sworn mangos grew on mango trees. I wish Sayid would stop torturing people. I mean, I know he is good at it, but hey, shouldn't he be cured by now? All and all I was still amused and intrigued. I will have to wait for Season 3 to come out.

While over at my friend's house I also get to watch oldies with her mom. Sunday we watched Roman Holiday (1953)with Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn. What beautiful people they both are. Life seemed so much more innocent back then. I also watched Move Over Darling (1963) with James Garner and Doris Day. It was so funny, but the other day I ate at a Vietnamese restaurant run by Japanese people, and heard Que Sera Sera in the background. How Doris Day:)

Invisible Waves, Review. The last of the HIFF

Tadanobu Asano. I don't think I have to say more, but of course I will.

I got a call about this film as the first showing did not go off well. The festival's copy apparently was "hung up" in customs. A copy was located on island and and when it was shown, it had no English subs. Between the first showing and my showing a copy was located on the Mainland and flown in. It was not a good copy. There were a lot artifacts, macroblocking and noise, BUT it had English subs. I ran into one of my friends after and she said it was way too slow. Well, yes, I have to agree, it was slow, but there was Tadanobu Asano, so I can't complain.

He plays Kyoji, a chef in Macau. He is having an affair with his bosses wife, and then his boss has him kill her for him. He has to go by boat to Phuket to lay low, and Lizard is his only contact. It turns out Lizard, the karaoke hitman, has been sent to kill him.

Asano excels in playing these odd, detached characters. I remember him from last year's flick Funky Forest where he played one of the Guitar brothers. They all go on a picnic to meet girls. They are such losers, that no girls show up.

Anyway, Kyoji meets a young woman on the boat who has a baby. She is full of energy and life. When he gets to Phuket, things start to go wrong. I can't really say more without giving it away.

Well I will rate this one 2.5/5 acorns. Of course its because of Mr. Asano. It had some offbeat humor in it and a message that made me think.

Holly, Review

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I considered skipping HOLLY as I was thinking there was no way a movie about child prostitution in Cambodia could be upbeat. I was not wrong. Holly is sold by her parents at age 12 and smuggled from Vietnam to work in a brothel. She commands a high price as she is still a virgin. An American dealer of stolen artifacts ends up at the brothel when his motorcycle breaks down. Of course he is offered the girls and even Holly. He is touched by her plight and learns her story. She want's very much to work so her little sister will not be sold and because he is kind to her, she wants him to be her first "yum yum". Child prostitution is against his morals and he is never swayed. He becomes obsessed with saving her even though he is warned that Holly belongs to the "mafia" and that his life is worth less then $5 dollars on the street. A tough story to think about and hard for me to rate. I wonder how "real" it is. I'm not going to think anymore about and I will not rate it. I'm just going to get LOST! I will say though that Guy Livingston is great as the American and Thuy Nguyen is very pretty.

Heh, when the going gets rough.....RUN!!!

I broke down and got Season 2 of LOST. Now to find some time for the marathon.

Severence, Review

I stayed up to watch this movie which started at 10:15pm. My last film was really crowded so I thought I would go a little early but it wasn't too crowded. This is a comedy/horror movie that gave me a few jolts. Danny Dyer is the male lead. I haven't seen him in any other movies as he is from UK and has done a lot of TV there. The announcer compared this movie to Shaun of the Dead, or The Office meets Evil Dead. I never saw The Office, so I can't comment. It has its campy humor like Shaun of the Dead but no zombies :(

It was more of a spoof. The scenary reminded me of Deliverance. A group of workers go off for a team building retreat to Hungary and get lost taking a short cut. They should have known better! There are a lurkers in the forest with really big knives! I'm not sure what drives them but the company makes military weapons and somehow that is connected to the reason.

I will give this movie clives for sure, and 3/5 acorns. I was yawning when it started but I'm wide awake now!

The Machinist, Review

Christian Bale was the American Psycho. He couldn't fool me as Bruce Wayne. He looks cachectic in this role of Trevor Reznik, a man on the verge of of madness, or perhaps already consumed by it. He hasn't slept for a year. He can barely tell which people in his life are real. Memento is mentioned as a comparison for this movie. Both are very dark, and difficult to follow. I will have to think about this one for awhile, and try to sit through it again one of these days. I will give it a tentative 3/5 acorns and a little clive as well.

The Guardian and The Departed, Reviews

A coworker said The Departed was the best movie he'd seen so far this year. It has has a star studded cast-Leonardo deCaprio, Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Alec Baldwin and Martin Sheen. Vera Farmiga, unknown to me, was great as the girlfriend/psychiatrist and pretty much the only female in the cast. It has a fair amount of violence in it. It is set in Boston. The acting is superb. The story complex and intriguing. It follows the lives of two policemen, one clean, and one dirty. It's hard to see through Matt Damon's charm. DeCaprio plays a tormented spirit without going overboard. I will rate it 4.5/5 acorns and half a clive.

The Guardian is a Coast Guard story. Kevin Costner is an aging "swimmer" who has sacrificed everything, even his masrriage, to his job which is saving people. He works out of Kodiak, Alaska. Clancy Brown is his boss. After losing his best friend and getting some severe injuries, Costner is sent to be an instructor. He meets Kutcher who is a hotshot swimmer out to break all Costner's records at the academy. It follows the Top Gun and Officer and Gentleman formula. It was exciting and well done. Kutcher shows another side of his acting, besides the cutie that he is. Costner was quite good I'm happy to say. It was hard for me to forgive him for The Postman. I will rate this movie 3.5/5 acorns.

Tuesday at HIFF

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BALANDA AND THE BARK CANOES is a documentary about making a movie TEN CANOES in a rural native community. The Balanda, or white man, is invited by a friend to make a movie about his roots. The elders died with their secrets and to recreate a story about bark canoes, the director/writer must rely on phots taken by Donald Thomson, an anthropologist from the 1930s. I don't know if I'll make it to the actual movie. The making of was quite interesting. The people feel that telling this about a young man who covets another man's 3rd wife, in an authentic manner will give connect them with their past and bring them pride in who they are.


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TIME AND TIDE grew out of an interest in a story the directors read on the Internet about Tavalu, one the newest and smallest nations in the world. It is a group of nine islands near Fiji. An American business bought the country's URL, DotTV. They visited Tavalu and became interested in the natives concerns about the rising sea due to global warming and the changes brought by globalization. They advertised for people they could interview and were invited to join and Malaga, a group of Tuvalu expatriates living in New Zealand. The elders are saddened by the changes progress has brought to the islands of their childhood, and the younger generation is bored and want to return to McDonalds and movies.


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The Host

is a comedy sci-fi movie that is advertised as the biggest box office hit in Korea. It is a fun movie about a mutant that turns up in the Han River. The monster is a big fishlike creature that is very agile, has a very big mouth and ain't too cute. It gobbles up a bunch of people including the daughter of the convenience store family. The dysfunctional family -dad with his bleached blond hair, grandpa, the college graduate uncle, and the olympic archer aunty, unites to rescue her. If they can survive working together, can they save her? I'm not going to tell.

I will rate Baranga 4/5 acorns, Tuvalu 3.5/5 acorns and the Host 4/5 acorns with 1 clive. I'm taking a day off from the festival tomorrow, but maybe will see a mainstream movie like The Departed.

Day One HIFF

The World of Animation Short Program
BALLYVAUGHAN STORY (Sara Pocock, USA, 2006, 7 min) tells some tales told to the writer by his mother of the Irish War of Independence in 1921
BICYCLE MESSENGERS (Joshua Frankel, USA, 2006, 5 min) sings praises of the highly focused "super" bike messengers, uban pony express.
FOLKLORE RESTAURANT (Tomoko Oguchi, USA, 2005, 14 min) looks like animation of torn paper figures and share fox legends from different countries.
GUIDE DOG (Bill Plympton, USA, 2006, 5 min), a sequel to GUARD DOG, cracked me up. A funny, clueless little dog, tries hard to be a guide dog. Too bad for his clients.
MINOTAURAMAQUIA, PABLO IN THE LABYRINTH (Juan Pablo Etcheverry, Spain, 2004, 10 min) Pablo Picasso desperately escapes from the Minotaur's maze.
SAUL GOODMAN (Jim Connell, USA, 2006, 28 min), A complex, talky story of two men who miss their train with a political message.
TOILET STORY (Isaac Finkbeiner, Myanh Lu, Troy Hieda, USA, 2006, 3 min), If our bathroom accessories could talk, what would they say?
MISSING PAGES (Jerome Olivier, Japan, 2006, 24 min) a short movie shot entirely with a digital still camera. The photos were manipulated using a technique lovingly dubbed "fotomation" and took 14 months to make. A scientist develops a time machine for peaceful applications, but in the end it leads to apocalypse.
ROLLING DOWN LIKE PELE explores the world of traditional Hula and Chant.
THE WRAITH OF COBBLE HILL (Adam Parrish King, USA, 2006, 15 min) is a dark story of a boy who finds some sort of redemption in his world of poverty and hunger.


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Arctic Son is a documentary filmed in the native village of Old Crow, which in in Canada, inside the Arctic Circle. Junior has believes his mom did the best he could raising him in Seattle. He likes to party and drink and seems destined to a short life of addiction and early death. His father invites him to spend time with him and reconnect with his roots. They go fishing and hunting in the unforgiving wilderness. The funniest line in this to this Hawaiian anyway is always, "Boy, it's hot!".

Yo-yo Girl Cop is a live action film based on a Japanese anime. It is implausible and slow in parts but fun. I was expecting more. I almost fell asleep as it was a late movie, starting late and getting out at midnight.

I rate the animations 3/5 acorns, Arctic Son documentary 5/5 acorns and Yo-yo Girl Cop 2/5 acorns.

Rinne, Kagen no Tsuki, and Spider Forest Reviews

Kagen no Tsuki, Last Quarter is as ghostly love story. Although it stars Chiaki Kuriyama, from Juon, Azumi2 and Kill Bill, vol.1, there is very little violence or blood, and no sword fighting :( Her character, Mizuki, has issues as her mother committed suicide because her father had an affair and she has to live with her father, the new wife (former "other woman") and her new sister. That would no doubt mess anyone up. On her 19th birthday, her best friend shows Mizuki a picture of herself in bed with Mizuki's boyfriend. As she is running away from the situation, she comes across a mansion with a very familar melody coming from it and goes in to explore the source. It is a song she dreamed in her childhood and tried to play on the piano, but could never finish it. Also no one else seemed to know the song. Hideto Takarai is playing this song on his guitar and says he wrote it for her. He is distressed and says she left him before, so she promises they will always be together. As the moon moves into its last quarter, he says he has to leave, and she begs to go with him. He says to meet her and she runs to him across the street and is hit by a car, only to be left in coma. She wanders in the woods and comes across as girl calling for her cat. After this movie drags some, but has lovely costumes and Hideto Takarai :).



Rinne or Reincarnation is another Japanese ghost story. There are many people who are having gristly dreams about a hotel. A young woman has been having the same dream for years but her parents tell her she never visited that hotel. Hello...the name of the movie! Anyway, she answers a casting call for a famous horror director who is making a new movie about a mass murder that occured years earlier at that very hotel. After this movie I am not for reincarnation. It seems that there is never a chance for redemption and that evil will live on through all generations and if its in you, you can just give up the idea of ever being well-balanced and fulfilled. It was a pretty creepy movie and has some clives attached to it as there is rarely a movie made with mass murder in that has no blood or sharp objects.



Spider Forest is a Korean movie that I have a sneaking suspicion I've seen before. I watched it all the way through and while parts of it looked familiar, I'm still not sure whether or not I've seen it. A man comes up to a house in the forest and finds two people slaughtered inside. One of them is his former boss and the other is his wife. She supposedly was on a business trip but the plane crashed and he thought she was dead. He chases a man he sees outside and ends up getting hit on the head. When he comes too, he wanders through a tunnel and gets hit by a car. What a bad day he is having! He wakes up in the hospital after surviving a code. A policeman friend of his gets called and they go up to the cabin and start investigating the murders. Our man with the concussion escapes from the hospital to try and figure out the mystery himself. He has many flashbacks about his past as he tells his policeman friend his story. He had gone to the Spider Forest to get a story from a woman who runs a photography store since he works for Mystery Theater. She tells him the Spider Forest is haunted and that the souls of forgotten people become spiders and have no memory of their past. If they are remembered, then they can move on. This is a confusing movie and at the end I have to say I don't get it. I won't say more as I don't want to be a spoiler.

I will rate Kagen 2.5/5 acorns and no clives, and Rinne 3.5/5 acorns and a clive, and Spider 3/5 with a clive also.

Angel Egg and Epsilon, Review

No pictures today, blogger is not sucking them up. Wonder if I hit my quota?

Angel Egg is a Masaru Oshii early work. Some of his works include the classic Ghost in the Shell and JinRoh. Angel Egg is very beautiful, cryptic anime. A nomad comes a cross a young girl with a mysterious egg who's secret she guards. They travel together through strange and ethereal landscapes. The plot escapes me. The visual journey is captivating. I will rate this one 4/5 acorns and no clives. It is a must for anime lovers.

Epsilon is an Australian ecology fairy tale. Ulli Birve plays "She", and alien visitor who shows up nude in the outback and hooks up with a surveyor. She is disgusted by the pollution and destruction of natural habitats. She is able to travel through time and space on earth with "The Man" and they work on a relationship, although she is really hoping her people will come for her. It would have helped this movie a lot if she turned out to be a cyborg and went on a killing spree, or really looked like a giant octapus. The scenery is gorgeous. It certainly is worth saving. I will rate this one 2/5 acorns because of that.

I went to the company dinner the other night, the night before the Earthquake , and spoke to a couple of guys that retired already. They were unanimous in opinion that I should keep working and that things are actually rougher out in the private sector, so I should stay put. They also found they wanted to keep working a few days a week.

On the work scene the rearranging of people and changes in work flows are frustrating for everyone. Sigh.

This and That

Dusk...Run! I think this when all the vampires come out (wink)
This is tonight's sunset over Ala Moana. I wonder how to take pictures of the sun with a digital camera?
I went to a meeting about headaches tonight and learned that just improving sleep can reduce chronic daily headache and make migraines more manageable. So, here are the tips on improving sleep.
1. Sleep for 8 hours
2. Avoid music, TV, stimulation of any kind before bedtime.
3. Don't nap during the day
4. No eating for 4 hours prior to bedtime
5. Use visualization (such as walking on the beach and observing, without any words to yourself) to help induce sleep.

I really believe the part about not eating. It must be dreadful not to be able to sleep. I always think it's like breathing. If I think about it too hard, I can screw it up.

And just in case anyone else makes this mistake, Mariah Carey's song, It's Like That is not the Cat Chow Song, it's, "that y'all (that y'all)". I thank my son for setting me straight. Presbycusis is a bad thing.

Komyo ga Tsuji, Episode 31

Last weeks episode was very sad as Yone, the only child Kazutoyo and Chiyo will ever have is killed in an earthquake.
In this weeks episode, Hideyoshi is trying to make Ieyasu come to Osaka to form a truce and actually has his sister Asahi, divorce her husband and marry Ieyasu. According to the Hiragana Times Asahi was actually Hideyoshi's half-sister. She was a happy farmer's wife until her husband is killed helping Hideyoshi rise to glory. Hideyoshi later forces a low ranked samurai to marry her and they are quite happy. In this episode, Hideyoshi and his wife Nene conspire to have the divorce come about, telling Asahi and her husband that the other wants the divorce. Asahi has Chiyo write a moving goodbye letter to Asahi's husband but it looks like he actually committed seppuku. Bummer. I hope they leave this part out of the series.
Asahi goes off as "hostage" at age 43 to marry Ieyasu, and he finds her "cute" and cherishes her.
I better not say much about what happens next. I couldn't wait and read ahead. I do that sometimes, read the end of a book I'm reading. Impatient, heh.



As a digression, I was surpised to learn that the actress playing Chiyo, Yukie Nakama was also in G@me and Ring 0 the prequel the creepy Ringu the original creepy, drippy, long stringy black hair scary movie. I didn't recognize her.

Hmm, she was also in Love and Pop with Tadanobu Asano...I'll have to find a copy of that somewhere to watch.

On the work front, after a quarter of a century of having my own office I am now sharing with two other people. Rearranging the office to squeeze these bodies in and getting used to thinking while other people are talking has been a challenge. I threw a lot of stuff away. Whole books, "plop" right in the trash. I don't miss them. I still have a lot of crap. Oh well.

Fearless, Review

Fearless is billed as Jet Li's "final" martial arts masterpiece. It is true life story of Huo Yuan-jia, a turn of the century martial arts guru of the Jin wu Sports Federation.

The story is a familiar one in this genre. As a child and young man, his careless lifestyle and desire to be number one bring him the ultimate personal tragedy. He rises from the ashes of his life and brings honor to himself and China. Since he was already nearly the best fighter before his fall having learned from is father, there is no martial arts mentor. His epiphany occurs in a beautifully filmed country village, where he is nurtured body and spirit by a blind woman.

He returns home to rebuild his family honor and ultimately represents his school and country in an international competition. The fight scene are quite good. There are some gravity defying scenes, but keeping these to a minimum helped keep this movie from being too fantastic or corny.

It's hard not to think of Jackie Chan when I think of Jet Li. It seems a natural comparison since they are both so big in the Kung fu genre. Jackie Chan has such a natural apptitude for comedy while Jet Li is always so much more serious. They are both awesome performers of their martial art. I wish they would have made a couple movies together along the way.

I will rate Fearless 4/5 acorns, and no clives.

The Acorns and Yet Another Yesterday's Sky

Yesterday was a day of great clouds and show at dusk. I always find the sky inspiring. I like this photo because the moon is actually in focus for a change. This photo was fun to fiddle around enhancing.





The leaves in Madison had not quite started to turn during my trip. It was still trying to hang on to summer. My sister gifted me the lovely acorn basket and we found a great necklace and also a tatted table scarf in an antique mall in Madison. I'm very fond of acorns and tatting. There are no acorns in Hawaii.

I enjoyed visiting this squash hut. This day did feel like Fall.

Some of the Sights

A is Penn Cove in Coupeville, looking for the alleged Mt. Baker. On clear day one can see the snow cap, but not this trip:)
B is looking across the Straits at Vancouver, Canada off to the left in the distance.

Various Flora and Fauna, and Yesterdays Sky

The Pets

Daisy and Ted are brother and sister and they were "found" after being thrown away by someone. They have become the treasures of my sister, especially Ted. Daisy is a very friendly cat and would love to snuggle up in my bed, but aaachooo! I'm allergic :(

Buddy belongs to my niece and her husband and is a very big cat. He eats yarn and shoelaces, whatever he can find and thankfully everyone was on top of this and I didn't loose any laces or yarn either. He once ate part of a scarf I knit her. But he is a very loveable cat and is forgiven.

Ted did not feel like posing much. He is always on the prowl, looking for ways to run out of the house. If he ever got lost, his owner would be heartbroken.

Ebony is just a love sponge. She has aged and has white hairs, although she is only 7 in people years. She patiently waits after dinner for the sounds of scraping plates, then she "fetches" mostly socks and tries to trade them for scraps. Being the new guy on the block she picked on me a lot, but never got any of my socks.