8 posts tagged “fantasia”
Sometime, one is hit by a wave of nostalgia, making one's thoughts stuck in a loop. This is how I felt in the past few days and today's MtG card fits the mood, as I drew ISLAND.
Even if I have accepted my role as an Outsider, that doesn't mean I don't resent it. This week was such a time.
My only comfort is the realisation I have come that as much I resent the fact that I am sitting on the outside, looking in, there's an whole world out there waiting to be explored.
Hence, my recent purchase of "Lost City of Z", which I heard about on The Colbert Report, a few weeks back...
For my final Fantasia review, I decided to go and see Eureka Seven: Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers.
While I freely admit I am not a fan of the show (I watched a couple of eps when it played on tv), I was interested seeing the story was a retelling of the story between the 2 main characters, Renton and Eureka.
I guess it was okay, I suppose a fan would appreciate the subtlelities between the original story and this, but I think Gundam has kind of soured me on the whole "Mecha Warfare" anime genre.
On the bus the other day, I was reading a copy of D&D's Epic Level Handbook which I borrowed from the library. So, here I am , minding my own business, and this guy slides next to me. Spider-sense tingling, I just look up, raised an eyebrow and return to my book, keeping an eye for...
"See you're reading role-playing games. I used to do that before Jesus saved me" <here we go!> Then a 5-minute monologue about how this poor soul was on a one-way journey to damnation (or one of the suburbs, as I was humming show tunes and missed on some details) with RPGs and arcades and how religion saved him. And he was on a mission to save everyone himself.
Now, I don't have anything about religion, but I do consider that it is a personal journey and people trying to mold other's opinions and passes judgement on others based on their "conversion".
It may have been pithy of me but as I was leaving, I said my only line in this little play: "Seems you traded one addiction for another, not only making a junkie but a flaky one at that..." Then again maybe I'm just one cog of the Darwinian social experiment!
I tool this as a sign that this book could be more useful than I thought for my data gathering. Haven't decided in what capacity yet, but it looks like a sign.
My latest Fantasia foray is "Crush and Blush (Miss Hongdangmu)" a very dark affair that would fit very well with movies like "Rushmore" of "Election" in the line of cynical and anti-heroic stories where teenagers are under the spotlight. While I'm pretty sure the translation was not able to fully convey the sentiments, I found it to be filled with wit and sarcasm but never falling into the easy slapstick and cheap dialogue that could ruin the experience.
Today's Tarot Outlook is Ace of Swords, when reversed: The seed of defeat - perhaps as yet unseen. A challenge met with the invocation of force, leading to disastrous results. Reason and intelligence misdirected or cast aside, resulting in injustice and falsehood. An excessive power abused. May suggest new ideas or information with dangerous implications.
Hmm, Maybe I should rethink my data gathering strategies...
"Idle hands are the Dvil's playground" as the old saying goes, and while I do think there's truth in this, I belive that's easy to cast own one's responsability in the matter. Take myself, for exemple. With BigMediaCo's PHBs hot on my tail, in order to catch me doing something against policy so they can enforce the "2 Strikes and I'm out" policy I seem to be under until the end of the year for my so-called Internet "addiction" (I got this form one trusted source as the actual cover story for my "vacation" they used instead of the make your boss looks bad" one).
But the thing is, I don't feel I have an urge to surf, either at the office or anywhere else, I just found a tool. I may have strayed from time to time checking the weather, blogging, but the fact of the matter is I never lost time as much as a tether to my office when things slowed down...
Now, I take long breaks, long lunches (making sure it ends around my bosses's absences), I get to do roughly the same amount of work as I did before (all the while never falling behind on what's on my plate). In the past, I would probably use most of this "free" time to act proactively in order that when a project has some gray area and when something crucial was missing, I would give a shout and advise. Now, I still keep up to date but I keep it TO MYSELF...
Obviously, they are not interested in my help, why should I provide it. That doesn't mean that I cannot indulge my curiosity (truly, what hath killed the cat is my obsession). I got to read lots of technically off-limits stuff about the white elephant Polynesia project (confirming most of my educated hunches I got from conversations with my friends stuck in that quagmire) and also on our some upcoming projects, ones which I have little chance of being assigned to, despite my skills, but I buy into this whole "Knowledge is power" philosophy.
But enough bitching about work, how about dinner and a movie? Just a movie then? Used my day off to go and see "Spare" a nice addition to the "2 opponents must unite against a common goal" with some unexpected hooks in Korean cinema (after all, when was the last time a Japanese character was the closest to being the hero in a feature?). Lots of action, humour, and enough twists to make this probably a movie that will unfortunately be americanized into a Rush Hour clone, sigh...
To conclude, here's today MtG Tarot draw of the day PTERON GHOST. Hmm the whole "Defending to the death is sometimes not enough" line is a bit omnious but there's a thing to be said about when a sacrifice is better than a win at all cost!
The Fantasia Festival is back, and I for one is leaping with joy. For I have now found an outlet to utilize all these hours I can't fall asleep, Seriously, I have been hooked on this festival ever since I went to see the premiere of John Carpenter's Vampires over 10 years ago and I have tried to enjoy asmany movies as I could.
Over the years, I have been impressed by the quality of the programming available, what, at the beginning was a B-moviefest (with an heavy emphasis on the Asian genre), has become a stepping stone for movies to play in the more accessible cinemas (Last year's "Let The Right One In" being a good example).
This year's opening entry was Park Chan-wook's Thirst, a retelling of Zola's "Thérèse Raquin", albeit with a supernatural twist to it.
I have to admit that when I heard that Park won the Cannes' Jury Prize, I have to admit my interest was stoked.
I found the movie to be mesmerizing, if a bit frustrating. Song Kang-ho's Father Hyun is a tortured character, where his condition is slowly but surely poisoning the pool of his convictions. To the end, his balancing act is a treat to follow.
The story itself could make do with some trimming, the middle part between the changes that Hyun goes through and the endgame which reflects the Zola-inspired tragic affair takes the characters to paths and, then just head back leaving questions unanswered (The question of the virus itself is a prime exemple).
Still, Thirst looks very much like the pet project that Park would let flourish until the time was right to release it and he probably find it hard to make any cuts in the finished product. I predict this movie will join the list of movies making a transition to the mainstream.
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Decided this week-end to forego the MtG Tarot instead choosing to cast some runes.
Fehu is the rune of cattle, the symbol of wealth in the old Norse civilization. Since Fehu is the first rune in Frey's aett, it is a rune of fertility as well. As seen here reversed, it can represent barrenness of the loss of wealth. Some interpret Fehu as representing children, in which case the reversal may portend the distancing of a child for her or his parents.
The only thing barren is my workload. Not that there's anythiong wrong with that!
The other in the latest installment of the SAQ's Tchin-Tchin magazine, I came across a great recipe for shooter-style cold soups. Not being a fan of Gazpacho, I tried instead the Avocado-based recipe and was pleasantly surprised by the results. It was thicker (almost milk-shake like) than I expected, so don't expect to drink straight from the glass without leaving gooey traces here and there, but it's a good way to fight the heat.
AVOCADO SHOOTERS
About 375 ml (1 1/2 cups) or 15 shooters
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1 avocado, peeled
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250 ml (1 cup) water
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30 ml (2 tbsp) chives
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30 ml (2 tbsp) lemon juice
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Salt and pepper. to taste
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Chopped coriander
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Tequila (1 splash per shooter)
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In a food processor or blender, combine the avocado, water, chives, lemon juice, salt and pepper.
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Refregirate for at least an hour
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Just before service, pour a little tequila into each shooter glass, add the avocado mixture and garnish with corinader. Serve with small spoons.
For my last critiic of this year's Fantasia festival, I got to see Hwaryeohan hyuga (May 18). I'm a bit conflicted about the movie. On the one end, it was a formulaic "good" vs "evil" story with stereotypes painted with a very BROAD brush.
Then again, it does bring the spotlight (kinda) on the 1980 Gweangju "rebeillon" which was one of the stepping towards the democratization of South Korea.
Come to think of it, I'm pretty if this were an American movie, it would have the kind of sappiness fueled by Tom Cruise as the male lead. And the good guys would have won!!!
MtG-wise, I've drawn GOLBIN GLIDER. Hmm, the combination of a clumsy race and aerial transportation is not a good omen, for sure...
So, this is it Bonaventure, Victory Square, a new era in my travails at BigMediaCo begins. I have to admit it's not bad, although it's a lot more utilatarian with the ventilation systems hanging on the ceiling bare and all the wires running like a blue-hued highway above our heads.
As luck would have it, my chair was one of the lone casualties of the move as it was broken and I had to pick another one. Both my trash can and recycle bin are missing but there are minor problems, everything else is here. Work-wise, my PC is up and running, but my phone is off.
Having been used to have the company make these kind of operations on extended week-ends, instead of 2 days and a half like this time, I am pleasantly surprised on how few problems remains.
In the news, I was overjoyed to read that, not only has Bombardier will finally release the oft-shelved CSeries, but that it will be produced in La Belle Province. Nationalistic chest-thumping aside, I think it's only fair for a local company to concentrate his endeavours in its place of origin.
Looking at how so many of the Crème-de-la-crème of our industries has fallen into the hands of foreign companies, it's nice that they chose to produce here instead of Mexico, Ireland, or Kansas...
Let's hope this plane will suffer less of the mechanical problems that plagued the Q400 series.
Fantasia-wise, went to Akanbo Shojo,which filled my quota of scholk movies for the rest of year (grin). Seriously, after reading some comparison to Chucky of Child's Play fame, I was a bit apprehensive as to the nature of the movie.
Imagine my surprise to find a taut, suspensful, gory mess of a movie (in a good way). I don't remember who said that these type of movies serve as a release mechanism for an overwrought psyche but I will have to agree in this instance.
3.5 Ramen out of 5
And finally, to keep with the same theme, here's my MtG Tarot draw of the day, GRAVEDIGGER. Keeping in mind that the past week has been filled with a unhealthy dose of horror and other supernatural movies, It was to be expected that the overflow would affect even the Fates...
So today is my last day at the Viger office, soon (well eventually maybe one day) to become part of one of La Cité's Super Hospital.
Only working half a day as the movers are kicking us out. Gee, what am I gonna do on a sunny Friday afternoon? LOL
I'm kind of sad ghinking I won't be around here anymore. Yesterday, I went snooping around our new location and, while I wasn't able to enter into the office itself, I was able to get up to the door, which made me realize that it will probably be easier if I stopped one stop earlier than first planned.
Of course, it's gonna be involved some changes in my data gatherings. I'm be visiting the Jack of Hearts more often as the Northern Dungeon is too far to travel during my lunch hour. And it's probably gonna imply some changes on what I can pick from the office...
Even at the office, this will imply some changes, ranging from not being able to connect to the web without passing through the molassey firewall, limiting some of my choices, to having the test lab moved away, therefore preventing me from even using the TV on the days the Net went kaput on me.
Expect a lot more stuff from BigMediaCo in my idea bag in the near future, for better or worse...
Fantasia wise, I went to see last night Jeong Sik's Gidam last night (side note, I don't know why but Fate is drawing me a lot to Korean movies this year, could be a statistical anomaly).
I understand the need for certain filmmakers to use their work as an exercice of style, and this is a good exemple, if taken to the extreme. Making sense of the 3 intertwined stories was a bit too much for my over-taxed brain.
But there were some hautingly beautiful camera shots and the actors themselves more than hold their own, but in the end, I just wasn't able to appreciate the movie as a story.
2.5 Ramens / 5
No MtG, got instead a Warcraft Tarot draw for you. I've picked LANDRO LONGSHOT.
Not Kenny Rogers, but still a sign I should fold now and leave...
Spent Canada Day on data gathering. That's it, nothing to add! And even then, the changes are minimal. I decided on downplaying the romantic aspects of the story and I'll probably replace some items I got on vampires (taking a cue from the WoD which seems to put the emphasis nowadays on everything but the bloodsuckers).
With the start of the Fantasia movie festival, I am taking the opportunity to offer some critics of the movies I had the privilege to watch. I am making a big effort this year to go and see movies. Threre's a dozen of so that have piqued my interest but we'll see how easy I can slip from my constraints.
My first critic will be on Sukiyaki Western Django. Ever since I first seen "For a Fistful of Dollars" with Clint Eastwood, I was always drawn to the story of the mysterious character with no name wondering into a warzone kicking ass and taking names.
I have to admit I was a bit apprehensive when I learned that Quentin Tarantino was involved, not behind the camera but in front. But even his bad drawl and toonish mannerisms did not prevent me from enjoying this flick.
Although allegedly inspired by the Wars of the Roses (not the one with De Vito, but Henry the VIII), there is little substance into the story. Mostly it's the latest variation on how the best way to end a cycle of violence is to throw a bloody spanner in the works.
3.5 Ramen out of 5
MtG Tarot Time. I got CHAMBERED NAUTILUS.
Hmm, note to self from the Fates, Go see Brendan Fraser in "Journey to the Center of the Earth 3-D"
Or not...
