Ok, show-off session done.
Monday, February 13, 2006
Just a quick post.
This is just a quick post to show off some display pictures I just made:
Ok, show-off session done.
Ok, show-off session done.
Sunday, February 05, 2006
A Villanelle.
Wrote a villanelle.
For the Dark Has Engulfed this World
Pray, pray that the light of day won’t go away
The gods forbid this from continuing
For the dark has engulfed this world.
The scream of fire and
The horrible calls of torment
Tearing the sky apart, the sun gone
Pray, pray that the light of day won’t go away.
Turn over that coin to the needy child
And watch the news with more
Sympathy – you’ll need it
For the dark has engulfed this world.
In the raging horrors that plague
This world – we can only watch and stop
Not do anything except that we
Pray, pray that the light of day won’t go away.
Why – not even the gods can anymore help
For even the skies are plagued with
Terrible smoke and choking flames
For the dark has engulfed this world.
No more can we do except stop
And watch the world crumble – we can only
Pray, pray that the light of day won’t go away
For the dark has engulfed this world.
For the Dark Has Engulfed this World
Pray, pray that the light of day won’t go away
The gods forbid this from continuing
For the dark has engulfed this world.
The scream of fire and
The horrible calls of torment
Tearing the sky apart, the sun gone
Pray, pray that the light of day won’t go away.
Turn over that coin to the needy child
And watch the news with more
Sympathy – you’ll need it
For the dark has engulfed this world.
In the raging horrors that plague
This world – we can only watch and stop
Not do anything except that we
Pray, pray that the light of day won’t go away.
Why – not even the gods can anymore help
For even the skies are plagued with
Terrible smoke and choking flames
For the dark has engulfed this world.
No more can we do except stop
And watch the world crumble – we can only
Pray, pray that the light of day won’t go away
For the dark has engulfed this world.
Friday, February 03, 2006
Memoirs of a Geisha: The Showdown
It's showdown time! Time to look back on how "Memoirs of a Geisha" has been whether it's a novel or a movie. I'll give a list for the things I liked about the novel and then for the movie and then the things I didn't like about the novel and then for the movie. (Please note that the things I state are in no particular order, whether by merit or by chronology; they're just written down as I can remember them)
The Novel: Things I Feel Strongly About...
i) The whole mizuage thing was a total screw-up. Ok, fine, so it had a lot to do with money and played a vital role in Sayuri's life as a geisha, it just wasn't, wasn't fair at all to real Japanese geishas that they should be portrayed as having a goal of selling their virginity at a high price. It completely defeats the purpose of the rest of the book trying to emphasise that geishas weren't prostitutes - it doesn't matter what price the virginity sells for - if it's exchanged for money, it IS prostitution.
ii) I get the idea that there's more to Hatsumomo's character - in fact, I'm rather fine with the idea that Hatsumomo had a failed lover of a Koichi, but couldn't more have been done to flesh out the emotions that should have plagued Hatsumomo after Koichi left? And couldn't we at least have been given an idea of what became of Hatsumomo during and after the war? The vague knowledge that she either became or didn't become a prostitute is too confusing and simply leaves the reader wondering whatever happened to her. The fact is Hatsumomo remains a very mysterious character ... or perhaps this has been Mr. Golden's aim after all. Oh my. Hatsumomo IS a true geisha after all (despite her rather wild passions? No wait, she probably has tamer passions than, say, Sayuri. Yes, I do mean that.)
iii) Why why why why why why the HELL did Sayuri HAVE to end up in New York? For the main part having her in New York in the later part of the book only serves to remind readers that an American wrote the book. This destroys the magic of the book having been set in Japan. The last two or so chapters talking about Sayuri's life in New York sounds too much like American propaganda - what with New York resembling Gion or even better than Gion or something. Sayuri is depicted as having fit into New York life like batter fits into a mould - shouldn't she, having been raised in a strict traditional geisha culture and having spoken Japanese for practically all her life, struggle for at least a good few years with communication and all that before being able to settle down comfortably? Ok, so she has a teahouse of her own, nice - but the teahouse isn't, and can't possibly where she spends all the 24 hours of her day. Obviously she will venture out, and obviously she will come into a lot of contact with the people of New York - and obviously the enormous distance between the world she came from and the world she is now should have caused her trouble or something. I know that there are restraints seeing that the book is already long enough as it is, but the lack of any explication on her life adapting to New York (and making it seem like a breeze) is almost too much of a compliment. The author appears to be attempting to praise the Big Apple to the skies instead of describing the life of a Japanese geisha living in America. STOP the ego. Please. I would rather she remain in Japan, perhaps move to Osaka or Tokyo, or even better, return to Yoroido to see how things are. I have always, always wished to read about her visiting Yoroido again, but I was disappointed because it never happened. Yoroido was her birth place, she had a childhood there, and even though her family was poor I'm sure Sayuri at least values the time when she was still little Chiyo. Bringing her back to Yoroido would be a lot more sentimental than sending her to some foreign place and then praising that foreign place to the skies when the context has always been somewhere else so far.
The Movie: Things I Feel Strongly About...
i) John Williams is an utter utter genius. Practically ALL his soundtracks are masterpieces of music beyond excellence. They evoke just the right emotions, and are befitting of the scenes that they depict or the characters that they represent.
ii) WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM WITH CHIYO BEING BORN IN THE YEAR OF THE MONKEY? WHY WAS THERE A NEED TO CHANGE IT TO HER BEING BORN IN THE YEAR OF THE ROOSTER? Bah. Westerners obviously don't find it important.
iii) NO!!! Why, I repeat, WHY, did she RELEASE the Chairman's handkerchief when she was standing on the cliff by the ocean near the end of the movie? There WAS a reason WHY she kept the handkerchief in the book - by having her release it in the movie, it's like as though SHE WAS WILLING TO FORGET HER HISTORY WITH THE CHAIRMAN! That is NOT Sayuri!
iv) No no no - why the blardy-f*** did the Deputy Minister of Finance get replaced by some Colonel Derricks? I am not, I repeat, NOT amused at all by this "stunt" by Hollywood to get some Westerners acting inside. You AREN'T everything, Hollywood - you don't HAVE to have an American in every movie you make. Having an American in the movie and replacing the Japanese Minister with an American colonel, you make Sayuri look like an absolute slut when she seduced him. And what was the heck with Sayuri literally throwing herself into the arms of the colonel? She TALKED and SEDUCED him with her words, as a geisha is prone to do - jumping straight into the steamy act without much of a word is SO Hollywood-ish. Time to expand your horizons.
v) I'm actually pleased to see that in the movie, Mameha's dance of "A Courtier Returns to His Wife" was done by Sayuri instead and Mameha's part in the dance removed. Partially I felt that although in a book this had the role of fleshing out Mameha's ability as a geisha, it would probably serve to only confuse the audience if it was included in a whole in the movie. Furthermore in a movie you have less time to catch symbolism and making Sayuri do the sad, sorrowful dance in a beautiful fall of white snow hinted at the sorrow and sadness that existed in Sayuri's life.
The Novel: Things I Feel Strongly About...
i) The whole mizuage thing was a total screw-up. Ok, fine, so it had a lot to do with money and played a vital role in Sayuri's life as a geisha, it just wasn't, wasn't fair at all to real Japanese geishas that they should be portrayed as having a goal of selling their virginity at a high price. It completely defeats the purpose of the rest of the book trying to emphasise that geishas weren't prostitutes - it doesn't matter what price the virginity sells for - if it's exchanged for money, it IS prostitution.
ii) I get the idea that there's more to Hatsumomo's character - in fact, I'm rather fine with the idea that Hatsumomo had a failed lover of a Koichi, but couldn't more have been done to flesh out the emotions that should have plagued Hatsumomo after Koichi left? And couldn't we at least have been given an idea of what became of Hatsumomo during and after the war? The vague knowledge that she either became or didn't become a prostitute is too confusing and simply leaves the reader wondering whatever happened to her. The fact is Hatsumomo remains a very mysterious character ... or perhaps this has been Mr. Golden's aim after all. Oh my. Hatsumomo IS a true geisha after all (despite her rather wild passions? No wait, she probably has tamer passions than, say, Sayuri. Yes, I do mean that.)
iii) Why why why why why why the HELL did Sayuri HAVE to end up in New York? For the main part having her in New York in the later part of the book only serves to remind readers that an American wrote the book. This destroys the magic of the book having been set in Japan. The last two or so chapters talking about Sayuri's life in New York sounds too much like American propaganda - what with New York resembling Gion or even better than Gion or something. Sayuri is depicted as having fit into New York life like batter fits into a mould - shouldn't she, having been raised in a strict traditional geisha culture and having spoken Japanese for practically all her life, struggle for at least a good few years with communication and all that before being able to settle down comfortably? Ok, so she has a teahouse of her own, nice - but the teahouse isn't, and can't possibly where she spends all the 24 hours of her day. Obviously she will venture out, and obviously she will come into a lot of contact with the people of New York - and obviously the enormous distance between the world she came from and the world she is now should have caused her trouble or something. I know that there are restraints seeing that the book is already long enough as it is, but the lack of any explication on her life adapting to New York (and making it seem like a breeze) is almost too much of a compliment. The author appears to be attempting to praise the Big Apple to the skies instead of describing the life of a Japanese geisha living in America. STOP the ego. Please. I would rather she remain in Japan, perhaps move to Osaka or Tokyo, or even better, return to Yoroido to see how things are. I have always, always wished to read about her visiting Yoroido again, but I was disappointed because it never happened. Yoroido was her birth place, she had a childhood there, and even though her family was poor I'm sure Sayuri at least values the time when she was still little Chiyo. Bringing her back to Yoroido would be a lot more sentimental than sending her to some foreign place and then praising that foreign place to the skies when the context has always been somewhere else so far.
The Movie: Things I Feel Strongly About...
i) John Williams is an utter utter genius. Practically ALL his soundtracks are masterpieces of music beyond excellence. They evoke just the right emotions, and are befitting of the scenes that they depict or the characters that they represent.
ii) WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM WITH CHIYO BEING BORN IN THE YEAR OF THE MONKEY? WHY WAS THERE A NEED TO CHANGE IT TO HER BEING BORN IN THE YEAR OF THE ROOSTER? Bah. Westerners obviously don't find it important.
iii) NO!!! Why, I repeat, WHY, did she RELEASE the Chairman's handkerchief when she was standing on the cliff by the ocean near the end of the movie? There WAS a reason WHY she kept the handkerchief in the book - by having her release it in the movie, it's like as though SHE WAS WILLING TO FORGET HER HISTORY WITH THE CHAIRMAN! That is NOT Sayuri!
iv) No no no - why the blardy-f*** did the Deputy Minister of Finance get replaced by some Colonel Derricks? I am not, I repeat, NOT amused at all by this "stunt" by Hollywood to get some Westerners acting inside. You AREN'T everything, Hollywood - you don't HAVE to have an American in every movie you make. Having an American in the movie and replacing the Japanese Minister with an American colonel, you make Sayuri look like an absolute slut when she seduced him. And what was the heck with Sayuri literally throwing herself into the arms of the colonel? She TALKED and SEDUCED him with her words, as a geisha is prone to do - jumping straight into the steamy act without much of a word is SO Hollywood-ish. Time to expand your horizons.
v) I'm actually pleased to see that in the movie, Mameha's dance of "A Courtier Returns to His Wife" was done by Sayuri instead and Mameha's part in the dance removed. Partially I felt that although in a book this had the role of fleshing out Mameha's ability as a geisha, it would probably serve to only confuse the audience if it was included in a whole in the movie. Furthermore in a movie you have less time to catch symbolism and making Sayuri do the sad, sorrowful dance in a beautiful fall of white snow hinted at the sorrow and sadness that existed in Sayuri's life.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)