Sungha Jung

Look up musical excellence; this name will be the definition.

click the "watch on YouTube button", the screen is tiny here

on the same page

He slept lightly, not quite trusting them. It was a cold night, and the younger man got up several times to put more wood on the fire. Shigeru woke each time and lay for a while thinking about this chance meeting and how his life must be from now on, needing help and support as all men do, yet never able to trust anyone; relying on his own skill and watchfulness to discern threat and defend himself against it, but avoiding living in constant fear and suspicion, which would destroy him more slowly than the sword but as effectively.

Lian Hearn, Heaven's Net Is Wide

Made from Canada

Believe it or not, these questions about Canada were posted on an International Tourism Website.

Obviously the answers are a joke; but the questions were really asked!

Q: I have never seen it warm on Canadian TV, so how do the plants grow? (England)

A. We import all plants fully grown and then just sit around and watch them die.

Q: Will I be able to see polar bears in the street? (Finland)

A: Depends on how much you've been drinking.

Q: Are there any ATM's (cash machines) in Canada? Can you send me a list of them in Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton and Halifax ? (England)

A: No, but you'd better bring a few extra furs for trading purposes.

Q: Can you give me some information about hippo racing in Canada ? (Germany)

A: Af-ri-ca is the big triangle shaped continent south of Europe. Ca-na-da is that big country to your North... oh forget it. Sure, the hippo racing is every Tuesday night in Calgary. Come naked.

Q: Which direction is North in Canada ? (USA)

A: Face south and then turn 180 degrees. Contact us when you get here and we'll send the rest of the directions.

Q: Do you have perfume in Canada ? (Spain)

A: No, WE don't stink.

Q: Are there supermarkets in Toronto and is milk available all year round? (Germany)

A: No, we are a peaceful civilization of vegan hunters/gathers. Milk is illegal.

Ohhh yes.

Next year, that's the only thing that you're going to see on my report card.

It's over. Done. Finished.

Well. That was some ride, huh. This year was.. quite the adventure. I've never been keen on summer, but I can honestly say that I'm glad the school year is over. It was the most challenging by far, both academically and emotionally. But you know what? It was worth it. If high school is supposed to prepare you for "the real world", that's exactly what this year did. My first year of being something between a teenager and an adult went better than expected, I'd do it again anyday  ^_^


PS: I made a small additon to my blog, which you will find at the very bottom of the page. It includes a few things about myself, a copyright note and my playlist which I will update every Monday. If you have any suggestions or comments about this website, please leave a comment!

What am I listening to: Good Day (IU)

What am I thinking of: the delicious smell from the kitchen

What I should be doing: NOT homework, that's what.

What I want to do: practice guitar, I got a capo!

Opinion: Madagascar 3

We all know those movie series where the first one is just fine but the sequels go down the slippery slope of doom. Fortunately for us movie-goers, the Madagascar trilogy was not one of them. In fact, they may have even gotten better. The effort put into each film stayed consistent and the laughs carried through. For today's hilarious cinematic experience, I award Madagascar 3 a well-deserved 9.5/10.

Let's start of with the parts I didn't enjoy. There weren't any.
Alright, now to the positives of the film. The voice actors obviously retained their roles and did their part seamlessly; the length of the film was perfect and the soundtrack was well-fitted. Graphically, the movie was visually appealing, with astonishing attention to detail, bright colors, top-notch HD quality, and the best 3D effects I've seen.
In a comprehendible story line, new characters were introduced to the audience that did not make an appearance in the last two movies - a whole bunch of circus animals each with a distinct and equally comical personality, and a crazed French woman from Monte Carlo's Animal Control. These characters soon became the secondary protagonists and main antagonists. And, for the first time in movie history, a Russian was the good guy! What surprised me even more was when fun was poked at Russians, we laughed. But when Canadians were the butt of the joke, the theatre was silent.
The high-flying acrobatics dazzled the theatre's kids and adults alike. Likewise, each chase was conducted at break-neck speed, thus making them the funniest parts. However, it wasn't silly all throughout the movie, as witty humor was also injected into scenes to keep the critics satisfied. And satisfied they were - even Rotten Tomatoes, which gave Dear John a rating of 28%, scored Madagascar 3 an impressive 76%, the highest I have yet to come across on the website.
I'm thoroughly moved by the sweat, blood and tears the producers put into the movie, as it paid off better than expected. From time to time the improbable occurs: a sequel outdoes its original.

Opinion: Dear John

I won't lie, this movie greatly disappointed me. I was looking forward to watching it as it seemed promising - a tragic love story of a young soldier and an even younger conservative college student who fall head over heels for one another by accident. They decide to keep in touch by writing letters to each other while John is serving overseas. Unfortunately, as some of the letters, the plot got lost in the mail and the film ended up being rather shallow. I would have given it a lower ranking, but only because of one part that made me tear up, I award it a measly 3/10 stars.


What I really liked about the movie was the metaphor of coins. It was fitted perfectly within certain scenes and worked well with both the father and the military.
Now, let's move onto bashing the movie. First and foremost, the actors. Channing Tatum made the best use of his two facial expressions while Amanda Seyfried widened her eyes to the size of saucer plates. The pair couldn't be sold off as a star-crossed couple because they were so strikingly different - a quiet, reserved man, and an obnoxious rich girl. The story would have been a lot more heartbreaking if there was a real connection between the two. The acting was fairly good, but the movie would have jerked at the right heartstrings if the leading actors were picked wiser. Also, there is no way the kind of deep connection they were trying to sell us could have happened in two weeks. It takes months to really get to know a person's thoughts, feelings, and mind, and then maybe love them.
The plot jumped all over the place, from the couple, to the father, to the autistic child, to the military.. There was no real character development, which contributed to the shallowness of the movie.
Next, the tragedies. This next paragraph contains spoilers, so read at your own caution. The father's sudden illness was heartbreaking and during his last meeting with his son, tears were streaming down my face. The pain was real, contrary to the other supposedly terrible events that unfolded throughout the story. There was genuine love between them, unlike the star-crossed pair.
Long story short, Dear John is like a bad soap opera. It prettifies heartache and hardship to the point where it barely has any meaning at all. Perfect for teenage girls who don't know what either of those words mean.

La Maison en Petits Cubes

A little while ago, I came across a little movie that was hailed by some as a masterpiece and had won an Oscar as best short animation. La Maison en Petits Cubes features an old man living alone in a town that has become submerged. His answer to the slowly rising water is to keep building on to his original home by placing cubes on top of cubes to keep out of the water. When he loses his favorite pipe, he dons scuba gear to retrieve it. As he descends and sees the earlier levels of his home (now submerged) he relives his life and love in his mind.
I feel that this is one of those movies of which you don’t need to say much, and trying to analyze it takes away its meaning. All I can say is I really enjoyed the soft drawn and sentimental twelve minutes this film provided me with.

clikety click here to watch

Oddly, while the film maker is Japanese, the original title
is French and the artwork does not look Asian-inspired.

I Won't Give Up

Nothing like beautiful music after a terrible exam.

I won't give up either. Ever.

on the same page

At the temple, there is a poem called "Loss" carved into the stone. It has three words, but the poet has scratched them out. You cannot read loss, only feel it.

Arthur Golden, Memoirs of a Geisha

Opinion: Memoirs of a Geisha

Like most good things, Memoirs of a Geisha took me a while to appreciate. When the film was over, I thought it was rather strange, but I had the same opinion of Norwegian Wood before I thought deeply about it. This movie definitely has some aspects to it that require pondering, so be careful not to jump to conclusions if you are to watch it. I award Memoirs of a Geisha, a story of love and sacrifice, 7/10 stars.
First off, Japanese art forms are hard to comprehend for North Americans because our cultures are something close to opposite. The Japanese have tight family bonds and are among the most respectful people in the world - looking straight into the eyes of another person is even considered a social phobia in Japan as they fear they might offend somebody. They appreciate complicated concepts hidden behind simple appearances. Of course, I am in no position to apply these generalizations to every single Japanese person, but these values are (or at least were) held high in the Japanese culture. In short, to understand why events unfolded the way they did in the movie, one needed to move away from their own culture and wrap themselves in a kimono.
The storyline was interesting enough without seeming over-the-top or fake. The characters were not especially lovable, but that is part of the cold beauty of the culture. What surprised me the most about this movie was the stunning set design and the make-up. The geisha were perfect, not a single strand of hair out of place; the design of the town and the inside of the houses was traditional Japanese and really beautiful; attention to detail was evident at every scene. It was well worth watching just for the props and costumes. Next, the soundtrack! John Williams is a musical genius - he composed music to fit the movie, not to mirror it. Any monkey could have plucked some strings and called it a soundtrack. Williams added his personal touches with deep cello and ascending wind instruments, as well as several breath-taking violin solos. Traditional Japanese music was heard as well, adding on to the feeling. A cute bonus was that the child version of the main character looked very similar to her adult self, something rarely seen in movies. The theme was recurring - look for happiness in everything, while you still can. This worked well with the ending, where any chance of joy was taken away.
Now to what I didn't like about the movie. What really irritated me was the fact that the actors simply did not speak English very well. I had to strain my ears and read their lips to catch what was being said. Surprisingly, I got a good grip on the storyline and even some extras, but I still didn't like making an effort to understand basic sentences. Next, the filming skill was iffy in some scenes, as the camera-man was making sure the camera was going super straight and remained focused on the subject, all to fail at the end with a little bit of shaking. I got used to it eventually, but noticed it right away, which took off some stars. The ending rather disappointed me as I wasn't prepared for an American intervention in this Japanese work of art.
Despite these drawbacks, the movie scored high with me and I liked it a lot. I'm still hooked on it - I find myself thinking about it and reflecting upon it; I also plan to read the book soon.

A Year in Quotations: 24/365

"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."

Albert Einstein

Plans

Summer is fast approaching and you know what that means! That's right - waking up to warm sunshine on my face, shedding the winter sweaters, running barefoot in the field, taking trips with friends, surviving on nothing but icecream and peaches, driving with the windows rolled down, and reading late into the night. This time around, I plan to trash and rebuild my room, as well as get my life together so next grade is a piece of cake. Bring it on, summer 2012.

*tears* Finishing the series this year..

What am I listening to: Walkin (Super Junior)

What am I thinking of: Rubik's Cubes

What I should be doing: having breakfast

What I want to do: have breakfast, of course

Until next year

Escaping class early with your best friend, suntanning (and sunburning) while watching boys play floor hockey, hiking up dangerous terrain to a McDonald's, having a 10 minute long battle over who will throw out the scraps, flipping chairs, and smiling so much your cheeks hurt. That's the stuff celebrations are made of. Even God was happy for our achievements through out the year, as the constant gloom of Vancouver was broken by rays of sunshine today. Yes!!

Edumacation

Today, the education of the rather negligent members of the developed world begins. Who? You!

In Social Studies class, we focused on one unit all throughout the third term. This unit, which turned out to be one of my favorite discussion topics of the whole year, was titled Global Affairs. With every assignment, we had to look at issues and solutions through 3 different perspectives: Environment, Living Standards, and Population. These three are interconnected to the utmost - you cannot talk about either one without referring to the other two.
One of these assignments was to take notes on the video below, The Story of Stuff. If you have a spare 20 minutes, please watch it as it thoroughly explains the devastating effect of our never-ending consumer cycle on the environment, living standards, and population (mostly on the former two). Yes, the music is bad and the speaker might need a make-over, but the information is solid and picked at my brain. With this, I hope you might consider slowing down your own consumer cycle.

note: click on the YouTube button to watch on a larger screen.

второй пончик

You guessed it, another serving of my favorite comedy on the Internet! This one is easier to understand because of the near-absence of beautiful Russian words.

Russian Girl Problems

Problem #11. Before you leave the house, you need to check the stove, the back door, the garage, the basement, the windows, if anything is plugged in...

Problem #12. It is the ultimate win when you beat your grandmother в дурака.

Problem #13. God forbid you forget something in the house after already stepping outside! You will die if you don't look in the mirror 3 times.

Problem #14. When trying to call you by name, your mom or grandma go through all the names in your family before getting to yours.

Problem #15. When at someone else's house, your parents say "ну давай пойдем, очень поздно." 20 minutes later: "ну пойдем, пойдем." 20 more minutes later: "все, идем." 30 minutes later, after another round of shots: "ну хорошо, пошли."

What am I listening to: Beautiful Hangover (BIGBANG)

What am I thinking of: Russian New Year's parties. Oh man.

What I should be doing: math homework

What I want to do: get all the finals over with!

A Year in Quotations: 23/365

"My coat and I live comfortably together. It has assumed all my wrinkles, does not hurt me anywhere, has moulded itself on my deformities, and is complacent to all my movements, and I only feel its presence because it keeps me warm. Old coats and old friends are the same thing."

Victor Hugo

Chapter 10. Lies

Lies are fascinating because there are so many possibilities for invention and embellishment. In a liar's mouth, facts are no longer and predictable, but interesting and surprising. The sense of unlimited possibility is what lies have in common with another vice that most people find interesting: gossip. Gossip is interesting because what we hear and pass on to others may be the truth, but it could also be a wild fantasy; we are captivated by the very uncertainty of what we hear.In spite of the proverb, the truth is seldom as strange or interesting as fiction. Most of us don't want to know the painful facts about other people's lives. I often feel burdened when friends confide in me about their marriage problems, childhood traumas, or job dissatisfactions. Even though I try my best to console and reassure, I can't help wishing - selfishly - that my friends had told someone else. Most people feel the same way: hearing a confidence is a duty. When someone is a good confidante, we see that person as possessing a virtue.
Gossip is entirely different. There is nothing virtuous about engaging in gossip, but we enjoy it to the utmost. When someone tells us vague rumors about someone else's marriage problems, childhood secrets, or job scandals, our ears prick up. When the same information is told to us in confidence, we feel a sinking sense of duty. We listen silently and carefully, trying to think of the few right words to say and maybe getting a headache in the process. When the information is passed on to us as gossip, we jump into the conversation with gusto: nobody knows the truth anyway so we are free to offer our own theories, conjectures, and interpretations. We can talk all we want.

Kyoko Mori, Polite Lies

Faith in Humanity: Regained

half-blood

Several weeks ago, I found out that I'm partially Asian. This is great news for me, because it means that now I have a semi-decent excuse for loving K-pop.

What am I listening to: Still Alive (BIGBANG)
What am I thinking of: how cool would it be if my Asian relatives were Korean?
What I should be doing: psychology project
What I want to do: find out more about my family history

Don't get your knickers in a twist.

           “Global warming” is a common term in our vocabulary today. Awareness about our ecosystem has risen quickly after the publication of the first picture of Earth. Since then, we have learned that our planet is being exposed to numerous harmful processes, one of the most prominent being global warming. However, simply using the term does not guarantee full understanding of it. People are now divided in opinion - a vast majority believe that industrial emission of CO₂ is causing the problem; while a smaller portion of the population is certain that humans should not be held responsible for the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. A moving documentary has been made by Albert Gore Jr. to warn the public of the devastating future brought upon us by none other than ourselves. In response to “The Inconvenient Truth”, a mockumentary was soon released, titled “Great Global Warming Swindle”, which rebuts most of the major points made in the former film. But who do we trust? The former politician or the funding oil companies?

            The effects of global warming cannot be denied. They are seen every day of our lives - steadily increasing temperature, drought in some areas and floods in others, irregular weather patterns, extinction of species who cannot withstand the changing conditions, melting of the ancient icebergs and glaciers, shortage of fresh water. The 10 hottest years of recorded history have been in the last 14 years. Massive heat waves have killed over 35,000 people worldwide. Number of hurricanes and typhoons are on the rise, and tropical storms become stronger as they encounter warm waters. There is more precipitation in one drop down, causing flooding and extreme rainfall. Temperatures above 100F are not unheard of in large cities. Lake Chad in Africa, once holding the title to one of the largest lakes, can now hardly be called a puddle. Arctic Icecap thickness has decreased by 40% in the last 40 years. For the first time in history, polar bears have died of exhaustion, swimming for hours on end, trying to find an iceberg to rest on in the vast, constantly warming ocean.

            But is carbon dioxide gas really the one behind all of this?

            To understand the concerns of the public about global warming, one needs to have a grip on the effects seen on the Earth. Simply put, the globe is warming up due to the excess amount of Sun’s rays trapped within the atmosphere. As presented in “The Inconvenient Truth”, carbon dioxide gas is the root of all problems. Al Gore has clearly pointed out the close relationship between CO₂ and temperature - as measurements of carbon dioxide levels increase, so does the temperature of the Earth. He explained this phenomenon by reasoning that emission of carbon dioxide gas thickens the atmosphere, making it harder for the Sun’s rays to travel back to space, in turn warming the globe. Gore blamed excessive production of CO₂ by industry and scared his audience by informing them that levels of CO₂ have never exceeded 300ppm, as they do now. And, getting on an extendable ladder, he frightened them even further by showing a graph stating that carbon dioxide gas level are expected to triple in the next 50 years. Using tear-jerking clips in between his speeches, Al Gore has effectively presented the “emotional-environmentalist” side of the story.

            On the other hand, sponsored by major oil companies, “Great Global Warming Swindle” has covered the issue from a more rational point of view. Instead of jumping on the panic bandwagon, scientists around the world have pulled back and studied the cause-and-effect pattern of CO₂ levels and temperature. After extended research, they disagreed with the theory which stated that carbon dioxide gas was leading the catastrophic climate change.  They discovered that carbon dioxide is in fact not leading the temperature changes, but following them. Measurements show that as temperature increases, CO₂ lags 800 years behind. These scientists blamed Sun Spots, extremely powerful and hot magnetic reactions on the surface of the Sun, for causing the increase in heat. On top of this, they argued that Earth’s climate is constantly changing - just take a look at the multiple Ice Ages and the hot medieval periods, they reasoned. The Holocene Millennium had higher temperatures than today, for 3000 years. Taking a look at the past, they also found a curious trend. If excessive emission of CO₂ is the reason for dramatic increase of temperature, why did temperatures drop and continue to decrease for 35 years during the post war economic boom, when human technology production was on the rise? Instead of steadily heating up, the world cooled and it looks like most of the temperature rise occurred when production of CO₂ was relatively low. As for the drowned polar bears, the scientists shrugged and stated that ecological succession crowns the species that adapts best and survives - it is only the natural cycle of life.

            Global warming is definitely a rising issue in our society as any change to the regime causes disturbance and leads to problems. However, all evidence points to Sun Spots as the cause of the temperature rise, not carbon dioxide gas. Even so, the build-up of CO₂ in our atmosphere should not be ignored – if it doesn’t cause global warming as initially thought, a multitude of other problems such as pollution and extinction do not disappear. The Earth is warming, but it is not due to human production, it is only a naturally-occurring climate change.

on the same page

"Have you ever been in love, Akane?"
"No, nor do I intend to be!" She saw a look of disappointment flash briefly across his face. We are all the same, she thought. We want to be loved yet will not fall ourselves.

Lian Hearn, Heaven's Net Is Wide

In Response

Why me?

Try me.

Journey of a Japanoodle

As if learning the language wasn't hard enough, Japanese classes in America tend to attract the kind of student who makes you wish that a large comet would strike the earth. There are a few basic types of students that you'll always find yourself running into. These include The Anime Freak, The Know It All, and the Deer Caught In Headlights.

The Anime Freak is probably the most common, and one of the most annoying. You can usually spot a few warning signs to let you identify them before you talk to them and it's too late: they wear the same exact Evangelion shirt every day, they have more than one anime key chain on their person (even one is pushing it), they wear glasses, they say phrases in Japanese that they obviously don't understand (such as "Yes! I will never forgive you!"), they refer to you as "-chan", make obscure Japanese culture references during class, and are usually failing. You have to be extremely careful not to let them smell pity or fear on you, because if they do, they will immediately latch onto you and suck up both your time and patience, leaving only a lifeless husk incapable of human feeling. Desperate for companionship that doesn't give off a soft blue glow and have a Windows Logo, they will invite you to club meetings, anime showings, conventions, and all other sorts of gatherings you don't care about.

The Know It All typically has a Japanese girlfriend or boyfriend, and, due to this "inside source" on Japanese culture, has suddenly become an academic expert on all things Japanese without ever having read a single book on Japan in their entire lives. You can usually spot Know It All's by keeping an eye out for these warning signs: a cocky smile, answering more than their share of questions, getting most questions wrong, enquiring the teacher on various subjects and then arguing about the answers (a typical exchange: Student: What does "ohayoo" mean? Teacher: It means "good morning". Student: That's not what my girlfriend said.), being wrong, talking a lot about Japanese food and being wrong, giving long, unnecessarily detailed answers which are wrong, and failing class.

The Deer Caught In Headlights are those students who took Japanese because a.) they thought it sounded like fun, b.) they thought it would be easy, or c.) they just needed a couple more credits to graduate. These students wear a mask of terror and panic from the moment they walk into class until the moment they leave, the high pitched scream of their future being flushed down the toilet echoing inside their heads. They are usually failing.

Although many of Japanese-language students are smart, funny, hard working people, none of them will be in your class.


If you can get past the difficulty, society, and classmates, you will probably find Japanese to be a fun, rewarding language to learn. We wouldn't know, however, since no one has ever gotten that far. But hey, I'm sure you're different.
Author's Note: Yes, I was a Japanese major. Yes, I enjoyed it. Yes, I finished. No, I don't want to go to an anime convention with you.

I think everyone should give Japanese a try. You should just be ready for a whole lot of pain.

HAPPY LANGUAGE LEARNING!


(to be discontinued)