This week movies,

This week, I can recommend the following movies,

1. Assembly, ****
   
   This film tells the story of a certain episode of the Chinese civil war between the People's Liberation Army and the National Army. A story about recognition for the death. Not our typical western war movie.
   


2. Man on Wire, ****
   
   This is a documentary about Phillippe Petit, the tightrope walker who cruised the abyss between the now destroyed Twin Towers of the WTC. A documentary about the ego, the plot, the ego, the friends and, yes, the ego.
   


3. Gomorrah, ***
   
   A movie about the Camorra, the Italian Mafia. Their modus operandi and modus vivendi. I found myself lost on this film at times; if you ask me, some of the stories just do not flow seamlessly into a whole picture. Nevertheless, an eye opener.
   


4. Idiocracy, ***
   
   This is a comedy and a satire. The first 3 minutes made me roll on the floor laughing. I know intelligence has nothing to do with genes but nevertheless it seems like just that is happening.
   

The ninth episode of The Big Bang Theory third season is out there and you will not believe what is happening in Wollowitz' life.

Thanksgiving 2009

I am thankful for this life, for the chance of roaming the earth in the arms of my beloved family, by the hands of my awesome friends.

The Giant Iguana, my bike, is ready, loaded with enough food for a day. It is amazing how cheap food is in Taiwan. The bill for water, fruit, orange juice, half a chicken, bread and a sausage was 382 NTD, a little bit more than 10 USD. The day is just about to start, the sea is waiting, always waiting...

Hsinchu is not Taipei, a left alone Lexus, its engine purring with nobody in sight, reminds me. Taiwan is not Mexico, an arms dealer shop which is empty of costumers makes me have the day nightmare of such a store back home...

Quality of life, city parks to sit and enjoy breakfast at the shade of a massive tree while a traffic department lady checks the cars for parking permits. Civilization, being able to bike without risking one's life enjoying statues here and there; unblemish statues, grafitti seems to be as foreign as it sounds. Hsinchu is not a big city, respect seems to be still a currency...

The fields, the city is left behind, come with a realization: Taiwan is a secesionist of China. Jet fighter patrols taking off every 10 minutes and landing accordingly make me thing about the surrealism behind living in a country that is not a country, at least not for the UN and the world biggest players. The war birds are as beutiful as dangerous. Fear is not up for the trip. This is a trip of peace, a thanksgiving tour...

A small town, Hsinchu Harbor, appears. Crisis, an unfinished highway stays in the middle of the river leading to a certain death if one were to follow it. It reminds me of the ghost mall and hotels in downtown Hsinchu City, another face of the same coin. There were always better times in the past...

The sea! The needle sting of sand blast off by the wind. The sea! Immense, surrounding everything, both peaceful and turbulent. A lively sea. At last we met windy Taiwan Straight. The sand is dark, the sea is brave, the wind is strong. I'm home. Beware me, shouts the sea, once you dwell on me nothing is the same...

The Harbor's park is lively, kytes flight up on the sky, families group around the jungle gyms, fish are taken out of the water by amateur fishermen, tandem bykes parading love around. It's a thursday in Taiwan...

17km await, flirting, promising time to think and the companionship of just the sea. The common sense tries to stop me as the batteries of the gps give up half way. Now it is time to get lost, in order to find something...

The sun sets on the horizon, wind turbines swoop, the mangroove stands still. Peace...

The way back flows, no need for senses, no need for maps, no need to trace your steps back. Just flow...

9 hours and 50km later I'm back home, thankful for this life, for this place, for this chance.

This week movies,

This week, I can recommend the following movies,

1. Synecdoche, New York, *****
   
   I will not brag about understanding this movie. I think art is about something like this. I could not consume this film, the story, the photography. I have left it apart to watch it sometime in the future, although not soon.
   


2. Surf's up, ****
   
   I like animation movies a lot. They are masterpieces of digital technique most of the time. This one is not a masterpiece, but it got me for the relax, you have to pursuit your dreams but you have to enjoy the ride, that is the ultimate source of accomplishment, not reaching the dream, feeling of it.
   


3. Choke, ****
   
   Sometimes, I like bizarre stories with an extra go beyond the bizarre twist. This film got to my hands precisely at one of these times. The story of a con-man son to a psychotic woman, Anjelica Houston, and the struggle for love and drive.
   


4. Cloverfield, ****
   
   This is a thriller. Great pace. Awesome storytelling. I am marveled by the storytelling. A scifi, a thriller, a love story. All packed in one and all not told in a straightforward manner. I really liked this film.
   


5. Pineapple Express, ***
   
   Do you remember Cheech and Chong movies? Well, this is something quite similar. Prepare yourself for a weed comedy. Plus there is a lot of times when continuity is just not right, or something just don't match, or you can see a glance of the film crew. Just like in the old Cheech and Chong movies.
   


6. 9, **
   
   As I was preparing to watch 9, my expectations grew. Surely, you can figure the result. I was disappointed. While this film is a masterpiece of animation with great storytelling, there's nothing else to it. At least I could not find it.
   

The eight episode of The Big Bang Theory third season is out there and it is great. Lennard, Raj and Howard go camping for the Leonids and have a not-consiously desired weed experience. Meanwhile, back at home, Sheldon has to overcome his driving issues in order to help Penny.

I love Tsing-Hua

The place is wonderful. As I enter the campus, the city is left behind. Every step taking me deeper into the green. A few minutes pass by and I am surrounded by the most beautiful shades of green.

Taiwan's National Tsing Hua University is located behind the 18 peaks mountain, the place with the highest altitude in Hsinchu City. That is around 100m above the sea level. The NTHU is located in the East District of Hsinchu, some 15km away from the sea shore.

The NTHU covers a small area, 105 hecatereas, if you compare it to state universities back in Mexico or in the United States of America. The campus has some fifty buildings in total, three beautiful natural ponds plus an artificial pond serving the experimental and teaching nuclear reactor. It also has two gardens, one being the Mei Memorial Garden in honor of the first presiden of the University and the other a butterfly garden, which I have not found yet. There is a 1km trail connecting the Memorial Garden with one of the ponds and you can get to the 18 peak mountain if you take a detour from this trail.

The architecture is magnificent. The buildings are huge; for example, The Institute of Photonics is located at the Electronic Engineering and Computer Science Building which is eight stories high, plus one or two underground levels, and has a footprint of about 3600 square meters. I think the Physics Building at our side is bigger and the Chemistry, the Engineering and the Management buildings are for sure bigger than ours, can you believe it?

Inside the campus, it is possible to find anything you could need on any given day. There are three food courts catering all kind of cousines, there is even a burrito stall at food court on top of the bookshop and below the international students center. I have seen a dvd rental shop, a copy shop, a fancy coffe shop, and a great, cozy coffe shop and second hand bookshop where people gather to play jazz or watch a movie on the evenings. The owner of the latter is a cool phylosopher who also plays the piano.

There is a convenience store somewhere near the dormitories. That is another amazing story. I am told that every first year student has a dorm room secured as soon as he enters NTHU and if he wants to pay for it. Alas, first year students have to serve as cleaning crews for the departments they are associated. Professional cleaners just do the toiletts of our buildings. Postdocs and students have to clean their own laboratories or offices. The offices of professors and the common areas are cleaned by the first year students.
Also, there are living facilities for some of the faculty; the ones hired in the beginnings of NTHU, some 50 years ago, have nice houses besides the campus; the latter hires have apartments at high rise buildings inside the campus. It seems it is a tradition here to die in office, like it happens with faculty in Mexico. Thus, the more recent hires get a monetary compensation for housing instead of an incampus apartment.

I know UNAM has a larger campus and an ecological reserve. The feeling is not just the same. Here, like in the Slovenska Academia Vied and the Kungliga Tekniska Hogskolan, I am part of the greenery. I walk it every day. Yesterday, on my way to my office, I saw a blue crane or gull or stork eating a huge worm just by the arts garden and its rock sculptures, I saw an old couple feeding bread tothe white-orange and black carpes at the smallest of the three ponds and I saw my first white crane catching a black carpe on the same pond. Everyday, the Physics Building looms in the horizon, like a castle behind its river seen from the nearby forest.

Every day. Walking NTHU is feeling the green, watching the faces of the students talk, smile, enjoy. Enjoy! Furthermore, NTHU is a part of the community, the mother teaching her son how to play piano at the communal pianos in the music building; the adult ladies doing taichi and chikung every morning by the badmington court. the young men and woman learning how to swim at the swimming pool behind EE&CS; the old couples walking the trails for excercise and then relaxing at the benches by the ponds; the newly weds taking pictures at the shrine in the middle of the main pond... well, I guess you get my idea.

That is what a university is about, at least for me. I love Tsing-Hua.

This week movies,

This week, I can recommend the following movies,

1. Repo, The Genetic Opera, *****
   
   A self proclaimed Goth, but I would say Cyberpunk Rock Opera. Great music, great apocalyptic ideas, great costumes, the songs lyrics are not so great. If you liked Dr. Horrible, just watch this.
   


2. Boy A, ****
   
   The tagline for this film is "Who decides who gets a second chance?". Thus explores the film through the story of a teenager who has been in jail serving a sentence for murder. What is a second chance, in the end?
   


3. Iron Man, ****
   
   This is what Iron Man is about. Robert Downey Jr. at his best, is he acting? The best Marvel film shoot to day due to the great reinvention of the character. A possible reason behind this opinion is that I grew up reading X-Men and I know nothing about Iron Man.


4. Be Kind Rewind, ***
   
   An enjoyable comedy with Jack Black, Danny Glover and Mia Farrow. An old man reluctant to change, his VHS rental business, an old demential lady, and two stupid men. One of them manages to erase all the tapes, then they start remaking the films. I wonder if Jack Black can do some other type of character.


5. The Spiderwick Chronicles, ***
   
   If I were a 10 year old kid this could have got me sit through the movie pointing and yelling at the appearance of each of the aos sí and complain that there was a mixture of mythologies. Indeed, I was a weird child. In my defense, I had the normal dinosaur stage too.
   


6. Planet B-Boy, ***
   
   A documentary on breakdancing revival around the world and what it seems the most important breakdance competition in the world. I'm surprised about the importance of dancing for the Japanese and Korean competitors. Great moves, I wish I could do at least one of them.
   


7. Speed Racer, **
   
   The Wachowski brothers revisit the Japanese anime from the sixties "Manha Go". I grew up watching reruns in the early eighties, that is the reason for one star. It is a good reinvention of the old story, that is another start. As an exploration of new filming techniques it is an interesting proposal, but not of my liking.
   


8. The Ruins, *
   
   Another scary movie that happens during spring break. A nice touch is the location, a Mayan Pyramid in the Yucatan peninsula. I will say no more as it is quite predictable.
   

The seventh episode of The Big Bang Theory third season is out there and it is great. Wanna talk about family discussions and spoiling your child? I really wonder where all the events on the Koothrappali - Wolowitz relation will lead.

I have the best girlfriend ever...

Lydia wrote a calavera for me because it was All Hallows day.

In my home region, the Huasteca in Mexico, All Hallows day is known as Xantolo and the indigenous tradition is quite similar to the Irish Samhain: On november 1st, the date is fixed due to Catholic Missionaries influence I guess, as the days come shorter the dead are allowed to come back and roam the earth. We prepare for our dead relatives an altar with their favourite food and drinks. In order for them not to get lost, a road of cempazúchil petals is laid from the street gate to the altar.

By night, Xantolo is a huge party. Los viejos (spanish for the old men) start roaming the streets as they go to the main square. Los viejos are an ensamble of young men lead by a horn holder, half of them wearing male costumes and half wearing female costumes, nowadays women are giving the chance to participate too, who represent the death. They walk the streets from the graveyard to the mainsquare stoping now and then to perform a two line dance to a certain traditional tune played by a violin and a guitar. As the tune finishes they dancers break loose and start chasing children around until the horn holder blews the horn and calls them again to walk the street, I loved this when I was small. Truth be told I still love this now.

In the past, during our dictatorial periods, All Hollows days represented an oportunity to conduct political satire through verses known as calaveras. Also calaveras are written for those you care about. My girlfriend wrote me one for this Xantolo:

Estaba Blas en su hora de comida

saboreando arroz como de costumbre

cuando de pronto aparecio la temida

esa que dicen trae pesadumbre

La figura vestida de negro

comenzo entonces a hablar

no importa que estes en el extranjero

de mi no te vas a escapar!

Solto blas una carcajada

que hizo a la flaca enojar

no digas tanta pendejada

mi novia me va a rescatar!

Los dos me hacen los mandados

y a los dos me los voy a llevar

sirve que ya no estan separados

y juntos x siempre se van a quedar!

--- o ---
Here goes my free translation...

Blas was having his lunch hour.
Eeating rice as usual.
Suddenly, the dreaded,
that they say brings grief,
the black-clad figure
began to speak:
"No matter that you're abroad
you will not escape me! "
Blas laughed out loud.
This made the skinny mad.
"Do not say so much crap,
my girlfriend is going to rescue me! "
"The two of you do my errands
and the two I'm going to take.
Serve you well, that you are no longer separated
and together forever you will always be!"

This week movies,

This week, I can recommend the following movies,

1. Primer, *****
   
   Time travel paradoxes, too much time travel for me. I have watched it twice and I cannot get half of the paradoxes. I will give a third round.


2. Rachel Getting Married, ****
   
   It has the feelings of a documentary with all the camcorder feeling of the takes but it is a movie. I liked it, I always like them movies about families and their dysfunctional way of functioning.
   


3. Son of Rambow, ****
   
   Great movie about childhood friendship and the evolution of a pair of families coping with loss and religion, at leas one of them with the latter. Good takes, great combination of comedy and seriousness.
   


4. Forgetting Sarah Marshall, ***
   
   Is this a chick flick or a dude flick? 14 years ago I was the dude, but without money and the girl was not a tv star, and I didn't get the very nice girl who changed my world, well you get the idea.


5. American Teen, *
   
   My first thought was that this was really a crappy movie, it didn't make sense at all. Then I saw the flash of a microphone. I went to imdb.com and realized this was not a movie but a documentary. My skin crawled just of thinking this could be an average high school in U.S.A.
   

The sixth episode of The Big Bang Theory third season is out there and it is good. I never thought Sheldon having such a prolific knowledge of football.

Awful, Beautiful Life...

I like country music. I like stories. With country music you can almost be sure you will be listening to a story, sad, fun, romantic, true, ficticious...

I was doing some algebra today; a not easy to solve problem, maybe one without a solution, as always. I Youtubed a playlist for "the best of country" and in between my favourites and well known songs from Willie Nelson, Brad Paisley, Mr. Cash, Keith Urban, Garth Brooks, Toby Keith, Hank Williams Sr and Jr, well you get the idea, a song from Darryl Worley popped up "Awful, Beautiful Day"

Embedding has been disabled for the original video, which you can watch here.

This one just made me laugh myself out loud,

Embedding has been disabled for the original video, which you can watch here.

Well, it is time to stop working the problems I like and start doing calculations on those that pay the bills.

It's a beautiful life and now it is even better with Lydia at my side.

This week movies,

This week, I can recommend the following movies,

1. Apaloosa, *****
   I like westerns, and this has a nice twist to it plus Ed Harris, Vigo Mortenssen and Jeremy Irons.


2. Quantum of Solace, ***
   I like this new Bond, the transitional feeling of it, an evolving Bond.
   


3. Religulous, ***
   A very small survey of non-important people about religion, but I really value the comments from the two priests interviewed.
   


4. The Incredible Hulk, ***
   I liked this version more than the first one and I just love the idea of The Avengers they are making. I am curious about who is going to play The Captain.


5. Frost/Nixon, ***
   I do not have an idea about US modern history and this moved me to look for the original interview.


6. W, ***
   Ibidem.


7. Burn after reading, **
   I got to this one with high expectations, a great cast but it didn't deliver to me.


8. The Duchess, **
   This was weird, I'm not really sure what to think about it. I'm not sure if it was just a biographical portray, some kind of statement or something else.
   


9. Meet Dave,
   I did not find this one fun enough.

This week there was no episode for the Big Bang Theory for some reason unknown by yours truly.