As a a piece of narrative film-making, it's bunk. Bloated and hackneyed with one-note characters and lame, jackhammer-subtle dialogue.
As a demo reel of possible cinematic futures, though, it's exciting. Avatar is, in its best moments, so gorgeous, so absorbing. Imagine what a filmmaker like Christopher Nolan could do with James Cameron's piggy-bank and toy-box.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Friday, December 25, 2009
No. 4: Photos from my school's Christmas party
Jason giving us the thumbs-up, while Lion absolutely crushes his lunch.
Phillip. Classy guy.
Jaclin, about to go to town on her Jello.
Lovely, Alvin.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
No. 3: Observations on Korean fashion
One: fashion is serious business in Korea. I sink a fair amount of time into my appearance, but it’s clearly a full-time job for young Koreans, men and women alike. It’s borderline obsessive, and sort of weird. We’re talking mirrors in front of the urinals so you can fix your hair while you piss. We’re talking six-inch heels, day and night, rain or shine. It’s cool, because everyone looks like a million bucks, all the time, but it’s probably not healthy.
Two: these cats go gaga for pricey, North American outdoor gear. The streets are seas of North Face puffer coats.
Three: one of my students came to class wearing UGGs with LA Gear-style light-up heels. Frankensteining two or more trends into one article of clothing seems to be the norm.
Four: Koreans can’t seem to get enough of the Cleveland Indians logo. Chief Wahoo is everywhere. It remains, despite heavy baggage (centuries of colonial oppression, cultural genocide, that sort of thing), a classic design, so I guess I can’t fault ‘em for it. Wonder how they’d feel if there was an NPB team called the Nagasaki Kimchees with a similarly offensive caricature for a logo.
Two: these cats go gaga for pricey, North American outdoor gear. The streets are seas of North Face puffer coats.
Three: one of my students came to class wearing UGGs with LA Gear-style light-up heels. Frankensteining two or more trends into one article of clothing seems to be the norm.
Four: Koreans can’t seem to get enough of the Cleveland Indians logo. Chief Wahoo is everywhere. It remains, despite heavy baggage (centuries of colonial oppression, cultural genocide, that sort of thing), a classic design, so I guess I can’t fault ‘em for it. Wonder how they’d feel if there was an NPB team called the Nagasaki Kimchees with a similarly offensive caricature for a logo.
Monday, December 21, 2009
No. 2: About
I guess this should have been No. 1.
I moved to Korea a little over a week ago to teach English. I've created this blog because I'm hoping that some of my experiences here will be of genuine interest to friends and family in Canada. I've been gone less than two weeks, but things are very, very different here, and I don't anticipate having much difficulty generating interesting content. Personal blogging never seemed like a good idea back home, because who wants to read about me drinking coffee at Manic or eating a pita and watching 30 Rock in my apartment? Here, you can't even buy a pita! And that's a post right there.
Naturally, what I write will be tailored to my specific interests - music, cities, film, baseball, literature, sneakers, expensive hoodies, etc.
Enjoy, please!
I moved to Korea a little over a week ago to teach English. I've created this blog because I'm hoping that some of my experiences here will be of genuine interest to friends and family in Canada. I've been gone less than two weeks, but things are very, very different here, and I don't anticipate having much difficulty generating interesting content. Personal blogging never seemed like a good idea back home, because who wants to read about me drinking coffee at Manic or eating a pita and watching 30 Rock in my apartment? Here, you can't even buy a pita! And that's a post right there.
Naturally, what I write will be tailored to my specific interests - music, cities, film, baseball, literature, sneakers, expensive hoodies, etc.
Enjoy, please!
Sunday, December 20, 2009
No. 1: Macdonald-Cartier to Pearson to Narita to Incheon
Funny, isn't it, how the world's shrunk? There's no place on the planet farther away than a meal, a movie, and a nap. My flight from Ottawa to Seoul took just about twenty-four hours, but I can't say it felt that long. Hard to explain just how it felt. Surreal, certainly. Dreamlike, in the way that I wandered thru airports, blithely accepting it all as though I was about to wake up.
The Toronto-Tokyo leg was especially strange. I was in the air nearly twelve hours, nowhere near a window, with an analog watch. Though my sense of time was decalibrated, the most disorienting thing about the flight was being unplugged - this was the longest I'd gone without checking my email or sending a text message in something like eight years. It was a strange, unwelcome feeling, to've been wrenched from that superconnected network.
A brief stopover at Narita International Airport (where the above photo was taken), and I was in Seoul, crusing along the Han River, listening to what I was told is the city's only English radio station ("One Sweet Day" - classic Mariah/Boyz II Men jam). Though I'm living just outside Seoul, in Ilsan, it was nice to see the city proper. It's teeming with life, choked with people and bathed in neon light. I'm drawn to that dense, flickering cityscape - it reminds me of Blade Runner, William Gibson's novels, even Lost in Translation. It's frightening and beautiful - kind of sublime.
The Toronto-Tokyo leg was especially strange. I was in the air nearly twelve hours, nowhere near a window, with an analog watch. Though my sense of time was decalibrated, the most disorienting thing about the flight was being unplugged - this was the longest I'd gone without checking my email or sending a text message in something like eight years. It was a strange, unwelcome feeling, to've been wrenched from that superconnected network.
A brief stopover at Narita International Airport (where the above photo was taken), and I was in Seoul, crusing along the Han River, listening to what I was told is the city's only English radio station ("One Sweet Day" - classic Mariah/Boyz II Men jam). Though I'm living just outside Seoul, in Ilsan, it was nice to see the city proper. It's teeming with life, choked with people and bathed in neon light. I'm drawn to that dense, flickering cityscape - it reminds me of Blade Runner, William Gibson's novels, even Lost in Translation. It's frightening and beautiful - kind of sublime.
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