Lost In Translation

Ekoda

I was planning on eating lunch at Ecoda Hem, a Vietnamese restaurant in Ekoda, but it isn't open on Wednesdays--which is unfortunate since that is the day I teach at Musashi University. Instead I ended up eating keema curry at Masala, an Indian restaurant in Ekoda.

A temple near the station.

I usually used the rear gate since I usually come from Meiji, but this semester I don't have any morning classes on Wednesday. This is the new building from the front entrance.

They've planted some new trees as part of the remodel.

2013 Summer Vacation Films

I was interested in seeing Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine (2013) given all the positive press it received. I am happy to say that unlike last year’s Midnight In Paris, it lives up to the hype. I suppose much of this has to do with Cate Blanchett’s strong portrayal of the Bernie Madoff-like wife who has fallen on hard times. Teetering on the brink of insanity and trying to forge on in a world without status wealth and comfort that she had gown accustomed to. There is a great supporting cast with the likes of Alec Baldwin, Sally Hawkins, Andrew Dice Clay, Bobby Cannavale, Louis C.K., and Peter Sarsggard among others. Certainly one his best film in the last decade.

No (2012) is a Chilean film directed by Pablo Larrain about the national plebiscite in 1988 designed to give dictator Augusto Pinochet international legitimacy. Gael Garcia Bernal stars as the commercial director that inspired the “No” campaign to defeat Pinochet. I always enjoy historical based dramas that tell contemporary political stories. It was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards this year.  

Surprisingly, A Band Called Death (2012) is the second powerful Detroit musical documentary about an overlooked and obscure band to come out of the Motor City in recent years. It follows the amazing story of Searching for Sugarman. It is the story of a proto-punk band, Death, which was formed by a black family of brothers, the Hackneys-David, Bobby Sr., and Dannis, who recorded an album that was ahead of its time in 1974. It wasn’t released until 2009 by Drag City records. It is another moving story.

I also saw another well-received film, Rust And Bone (2012) directed by Jacques Audiard (director of A Prophet). It was on many critics’ best of 21012 lists. It was a powerful story of class, poverty, struggle, hope and more. Matthias Schoenaerts stars as a single father who is a boxer/kick boxers who is struggling to get by and ends up in a relationship with a killer whale trainer who loses her legs in an accident. It may sound like an unlikely story, but is very cinematic and dramatic as both leads are very convincing in their roles.

I enjoyed JJ Abrams first Star Trek installment and could say the same of  Star Trek Into Darkness(2013). This is not great cinema or art, but great tent pole summer movie fun. Some implausible moments, but that’s what Star Trek was always about. There were some great special effects.

I was intrigued by the teasers I saw of Baz Lurhman’s The Great Gatsby (2013), but was wary of the negative reviews I read about the latest cinematic version of one of my favorite novels of all time. I thought the main casting of the main characters was great: Tobey Maguire (perhaps a little too earnest for Nick Carraway), Carey Mulligan (Daisy), Joel Edgerton (Tom Buchan), and Lenoardo DeCaprio (Gasby). There were some great set piece spectacles of the jazz age through out the film as well as the Valley of Ashes with the eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleberg (straight from the classic cover of the novel) watching over all. I felt it stayed close to the plot of the novel and used some of the same classic lines in the screenplay. So I was surprised I liked it as much as I did. Not the same experience as reading the novel, but it covered the main themes present in the novel.

Sounders FC 2 Real Salt Lake 0

My first visit to Century Link Field home of the NFL Seahawks and MLS Sounders.

The Sounders took over first plac eith their 2-0 win over Real Salt Lake.

Bon Bon

Bon Bon, a cocktail lounge in the Garland Theater near my parents house. Fresh squeezed-juice, top shelf booze, in a cozy little bar.

Dirty martini and Old Fashioned.

Spokane Riverfront Park

Riverfront Park.









My niece, Kalynn, at work at the carousel.

Clinkerdagger

I took my sister out for lunch for her birthday at Clinkerdagger in the Flour Mill near downtown Spokane.

Elder-flower: Tito's vodaka, St. Germain, fresh sweet and sour, Hendrik's gin.

Cubano sliders with fries.

New Old School

This is the high school I graduated from, after a recent remodel: Shadle Park High School. I went to see a friend's daughter play a volleyball match there the other day. It looks nothing like the school I attended.

Burnt Water

Burnt Water (1980) is an eclectic collection of short stories from recently deceased Mexican author Carlos Fuentes. There are several different types of stories, but Mexico City plays a major role in most of them. Not matter the genre, Fuentes does an excellent job of creating that particular world and believable characters who feel true-to-life. It starts out with a gothic tale of the supernatural, “Chac-Mool.” That is followed by a magic realist tale, “In A Flemish Garden.” “Mother’s Day” is a three generational tale about one family’s legacy that might possible be a metaphor for the legacy of Mexico itself. “The Two Elena’s” is a more conventional short story that tells the story of a man in love with an independent, modern woman in the 60s, whilst he is truly wishing for a conventional woman and relationship. I was reminded of Mario Vargas Llosa’s novel, The Bad Girl, as I read “A Pure Love” about an exile, who has love affair with an European woman. Both works feel very cosmopolitan in their outlook and focus on love affairs that are essentially impossible in nature. Another favorite story was “These Were Palaces” about a lonely old woman and a boy who are isolated in Mexico City and search out ways to assert themselves in their loneliness: the woman by looking after the stray dogs and the boy through his imagination of the colonial buildings of the past he lives amongst. The last story, “The Son of Andres Aparicio,” about a humble son of a once prosperous family that became a political thug was among the best stories in the book. I also liked “The Cost of Living” about exploited teachers in Mexico City. “Other stories include, “The Doll Queen” and “The Old Morality.” Overall, it is a strong collection of disparate short stories mostly set in Mexico City that show Fuentes range and breath of storytelling.

Spokane In The Summer

I haven't been home in the summer for several years: blue skies, green grass, flowers blooming, nice dry weather in the mid 80s to low 90s but cools down at night--the perfect Indian summer.







Summer is always a good time for a BBQ.

Gerald Collier at the Ould Triangle

Last Saturday night we went to see gerald Collier plays songs from his new album Help Is On The Way at the Ould Triangle pub in North Seattle.