I had to get it. The "I love toxic waste" t-shirt from the movie "Real Genius." This guy has recreated all of the t-shirts Val Kilmer wore in the movie.

This has got to be one of the greatest geek movies of all time. We need some more of this genre to get younger people enthused about studying science again. Another classic, of course, was "War Games," which turned on all the young wannabe hackers to phreaking on public phones. ;)

The first thing the girl working the register at the cafe said to me on the first day I wore it: "You don't really love toxic waste, do you?" I almost laughed out loud. This is why I wear this shirt. Because too many people take themselves far, far too seriously.

The DC Film Fest will start soon, and I'm psyched to see some neat movies that stretch my brain. I'll let you know how they go...

Two years ago Yuki and I went to the Denver International Film Festival, and watched up to 3 films a day for 2 weeks or so. That was pretty insane, although it was really fun... ;) I don't think we'll see that many this time, but I'm still anxiously looking forward to it. heehee.

At the Denver one, we saw Waking Life for the first time, and Richard Linklater, the director, was there to accept an award for it. I was lucky enough to get the chance to ask him a question afterwards, but was sort of surprised that his answer led me to believe he didn't really know where he was going with the movie, or what it was really trying to say... I guess that's how a lot of art gets made, but I had been hoping to hear some interesting insights... oh well. I still absolutely love that movie. :)

I've been posting about a lot of films lately, but I think they are one of the best mediums we have to convey intangible feelings, so I tend to watch a lot of them. Yesterday, I watched one called "Joint Security Area," at once both profoundly endearing and disturbingly tragic, it hammers home the ubiquity of human compassion, and the tragedy of manufactured distinctions.

Lately I had been thinking about how similar Japanese and Korean culture and language really are, but I still know little about the situation between North and South Korea except what I've gleaned mostly from textbooks and magazines over the years. I think I actually did a paper on the whole situation in Junior High, but it was mostly a rehashing of conveniently categorized events: skirmishes, border clashes, violations...

But the situation is vastly more complex, because the humans involved are complex creatures. No one serving alongside Americans day after day can look across the border at a North Korean soldier, and not feel some sort of kinship, and some sort of strange unsettling twilight-zone discomfort at how strange the situation is. I'd like to learn more about it, but it's hard without going there.

This movie conveys very well some of the more complex human aspects of this cold conflict. It's about 4 border troops who fall into an unlikely friendship which inevitably ends in tragedy. Unfortunately, it's tragedy of the worst kind, so don't watch this movie unless you're ready for something heavy. But I do recommend you watch it, if you're at all interested in one of the most important aspects of Korean society since WWII.

I've come across a review on Salon of an intriguing new movie about Hitler: "Max." (Also being discussed on Plastic)

It seems to be the first film to take a more realistic look at Hitler as a human being, and how he might have become the man he did. Very few investors were willing to take on the film, and a large number of groups were against it. But Cusack had great faith in the film, and had resolved early on that this was the next film he was doing, even without pay. Finally, they were able to pull together the $10 million to produce the film, and I can't wait to see it.

There's nothing wrong with seeing Hitler in shades not clearly black or white, except that it scares us a tad. That's not such a bad thing, eh? ;) Maybe it will keep us all a bit more vigilant.

After reading this review on Salon a while back, I was anxious to get a chance to see "The Fast Runner", or "Atanarjuat." Finally on Sunday we were able to go see it at the Bethesda Row Cinema, a relatively new independent theatre in Bethesda, Maryland, north of Washington.

This movie is based on an old Inuit legend, about a young man named Atanarjuat, and I believe it was shot in Inuktitut, the huge new Inuit province of northern Canada.

It's an amazing trip back to a primitive culture and way of life that we may think we've forgotten, but really lives on in our subconscious. Watching this movie, I realized how much of our primitive culture we bring across into our so-called modern lives. Men hunt, women nurture, and everyone plays sometimes... :) That's why these legends and stories feel so good to us — they simplify everything, and make things very clear because they put them in our real language: the language of our instincts, and our natural and primitive culture.

It is a serious drag not having DSL anymore. I've been dealing with this mind-numbing situation for about 6 months. But soon, soon my friends, I will have DSL once more... And then I won't have to abstain from using the web on the weekends...

But, no, this is not germane to the post at hand, my brothers... I am posting to share with all of you a couple of interesting reviews of books and films that I found, which perchance you may go see, and be entertained.

A film called Satin Rouge is discussed on Salon, about a pudgy middle-aged woman in Tunisia who finds herself through belly-dancing. It sounded really interesting earlier today, but now, I'm about to crack up. No! Maybe it's cool! Maybe! No, I can't be serious right now... ;)

A book review on Salon about Cicero — just the thing I would love to read if I had the cash to blow on more books. Looks cool. I do want to read this one sometime. Hopefully it's more entertaining than Plutarch.

And on Shift, a film that really looks neat — Hotel, by Mike Figgis... Yes. Looks to be a good film to see sandwitched between espressos and pseudo-intellectual conversations! :) I love that. (BTW, I use that term self-mockingly, although I actually believe that 'pseudo-intellectual' is a term coined by pseudo-intellectuals to cement their egos and their tenuous status. Hmmm.)

A couple of new movie trailers that are pretty cool came out recently: Spirited Away (千と千尋の神隠し), and X-Men 2. We just got the DVD for 千と千尋の神隠し, and now I can't wait to watch it (in Japanese) since seeing the trailer... It looks awesome. I also am surprised by the quality of the dubbing on the American Disney release. It actually sounds pretty cool. :)

Friday, we had a pretty interesting night. Started out great, had a big challenge, and ended up 'ok' but not stupendous... We went to the Freer Gallery to see a film called "Twelve Nights", part of their annual Hong-Kong film festival. It was pretty cool... A funny story about a typically neurotic couple in a big Asian city... ;) You should definitely see it if you get a chance.

Afterwards, we went over to Adams Morgan on the subway to hang out. On the subway there were 4 or 5 black kids (13 or 14 years old) screwing around, and acting incredibly obnoxious. They were screaming, laughing, yelling, and one girl was running up and down the car swinging on the bars... It was not an empty car, this being a Friday night, and all the other passengers were pretty angry. So finally, I said to one kid "Why don't you guys just try to chill out a bit, ok?" And guess what? Of course, he starts threatening me. The girl started into some rant about me attempting to "talk black" (apparently because I used the word 'chill'), and they began to make racist comments about me and my wife Yuki (Korean descent).

Unfortunately, Yuki got angry at them too, and said some things that probably made them even more antagonistic, but when we were about to leave the subway, and one kid rudely pushed past my wife to get out, while threatening to smack her, I got pretty angry myself. I got up in his face and repeatedly asked him who he thought he was going to smack.

He was about a head taller than me (I'm 5'10"), and I'm sure he didn't realize I have been practicing various martial arts for 8 years, on and off, but he saw that I was serious and they backed off, resorting to immature insults from a distance.

Regardless of your confidence level, this sort of thing will always give you a shot of adrenaline, and it can be hard to deal with... Yuki was fine after a while, but it was a crummy experience. We agreed that it's sad these kids don't have any discipline. Their minds are so closed that they fail to realize the effect their behavior has on the other passengers. This is Washington, D.C. -- the capital of the U.S. Tourists see this sort of behavior and think that D.C. is dangerous, uncivilized, etc, and these people have no clue that it's because of them. Argh. Not only that, but it gives more than a bit of fuel to racism. A lot of people here would see that and decide that they should just never venture into D.C. The problem isn't that they're black, though -- the problem is that they are poor, uneducated, and undisciplined, and that they often live in an insular culture where these attributes are tolerated if not accepted...

Luckily, we got to Adams Morgan, and after relaxing at an Ethiopian restaurant for a while, began to feel better. We got some drinks at Tryst, and headed home having eaten a bit too much, but it was a good time altogether... :)