I am Your Sunshine

每天都覺得好多事要做做不完, 好多書要看看不完.

結果去圖書館時一下就覺得不知道要看什麼了,

回到家待在電腦前, 也想不起那些很急切的事究竟是什麼. orz

– finish Part One of The Abstinence Teacher
– discussion topics

– 1A posting, start rewrite

– Shelley’s Defense of Poetry
(好長喔…. 看了大概 1/4)

– Frankenstein (怎麼可能一周內看完啦… ~”~)
(thank goodness for audio book. 聽完一張, 還有六張CD)

[updated 3/29/08]
發現我還是得看一下時間表, 像星期一八點, 在我還沒忽然完全不想看 The Secret Life of American Teenagers 之前, 有三部影集撞在一起害我老是沒錄到 The Big Bang Theory.
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Overall, the contestants this season are either talented or hard working. You don’t see someone sitting in a chair and enjoying a lap dance from his partner. So kudos to all. :)
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Premier tomorrow. I’m so excited. Even though the past two season didn’t quite live up to my expectation, I still look forward to it. Let’s check out the contestants of this season. Continue Reading »

After being an editor for a national literary magazine for 3 months, I learned something about myself: I’d rather let the editors read and reject my crap than reading other people’s crap. orz

Now, it’s time to read some crap…

what i learned…

先從最後一項開始說, Diablo Cody 的座談會, 由UCLA的教授, 在編劇被眾多人 (包括 Alexander Payne, Steven Spielberg 等) 尊崇的老師 Lew Hunter 主持. 差點變成一場完全的災難.

首先, 你找一個以教人家怎麼樣作一個成功的編劇為志業的成名老先生訪問一個沒有受過專業訓練, 第一次嘗試寫劇本就拿到奧斯卡原創劇本獎, 甚至在 Juno 還蠻上映前就各個寫作的邀約源源不絕, 成功的原因除了天份之外有一部份要歸功於運氣(這一點也不是壞事, 不靠任何運氣就能夠成功的人實在是太不可思議了)的小ㄚ頭, 這不是像叫一個胖子訪問一個怎麼都吃不胖的人怎麼減肥一樣讓人難堪嗎? 算我小人之心吧, 面對這樣一個我行我素運氣又好到不行的”年輕人”, Lew Hunter 心中多半有些嗤之以鼻, 一些不屑與不平衡. 而更丟臉的是, 活到這麼大把年紀也不知道要遮掩一下.

座談會一開始, Lew 不停地講關於自己的事, 自己的書, 然後自己笑得很開心. 只給 Diablo 一點講 yes or no 的機會, 然後繼續講自己的事. 是的, 你在編劇(教學)屆受人景仰, 我相信你的講座也很多人喜歡聽, 但是今天這是 Diablo Cody 的座談會, 你仗著年紀喧賓奪主會不會太過份了. Lew 如此無發無天地進行了大約十來分鐘, 聽眾們終於忍無可忍了, 開始有人在下面大喊 Ask some questions! Let her talk! 騷動斷斷續續地持續了約五分鐘, 他才終於讓 Diablo 講話. 說真的, 做人做到這種地步, 讓人家連看在你的年紀上都無法尊重你, 不覺得很可悲嗎?

還好場面後來轉向, 而觀眾們踴躍地提問, 感覺都是有備而來, 除了一兩個笨蛋問了她本名跟她的兄弟姊妹這種你用手機上一下wiki就可以查到為什麼還要浪費大家的生命的問題之外, 大部份的提問都很有趣.

Diablo 說, 她喜歡跟朋友一起寫作. 不是合作, 只是一起在同一個空間寫作, 當有人不小心逛上網路或是查email的時候, 另一個人可以把他拉回來, 另外, 也可以即時地交換一些點子以即得到回覆. 另外, 有的時候寫不出東西, 她會帶著筆電到外面, 在背景有活人走動, 有不太可分辨的對話聲的地方比較能刺激她靈感. 她也覺得 The Wrestler 是去年超棒的一部電影, 有人問她會不會想寫個類似主題但是以女性 (也許是過氣女星) 為主角的劇本, 她說會, 不過她沒有講出她心目中以誰為藍圖. 休閒的時候她喜歡看 Reality show, 任何有一群絕望的女人搶一個不怎麼樣的男人的實境節目她都愛看, 反之亦然. 在製作 Unites States of Tera 的時候幾乎佔掉她所有時間, 她無法同時做別的 project. 她希望有朝一日能跟 Robert Downey Jr. 合作 (dream movie star), 另外她也希望有一天能夠拍 The Beach Boys 的 Bruce Johnston 的故事 (dream project). 她媽媽從小就告訴她, 沒有人真的靠寫作賺錢的. 但是她的國小老師有一天叫她到旁邊, 對她說, 你將來會成為職業作家. 對她來說, 有mentor的鼓勵非常重要.

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When we two parted
In silence and tears,
Half broken-hearted
To sever for years,
Pale grew thy cheek and cold, 5
Colder thy kiss;
Truly that hour foretold
Sorrow to this.

The dew of the morning
Sunk chill on my brow— 10
It felt like the warning
Of what I feel now.
Thy vows are all broken,
And light is thy fame:
I hear thy name spoken, 15
And share in its shame.

They name thee before me,
A knell to mine ear;
A shudder comes o’er me—
Why wert thou so dear? 20
They know not I knew thee,
Who knew thee too well:
Long, long shall I rue thee,
Too deeply to tell.

In secret we met— 25
In silence I grieve,
That thy heart could forget,
Thy spirit deceive.
If I should meet thee
After long years, 30
How should I greet thee?
With silence and tears.

never a dream or fantasy,
rather once an object of my sick,
sick infatuation. I thank you
sincerely for your caprice which
turned the passion away abruptly
during the course of this doomed
encounter, and allowed me to break
free from you and my past that lingers and
haunts, and start clean.

The Reader. I haven’t seen the Reader. I was going to see it later but I fell behind. My Batmobile took longer than I thought to design. The Reader. I know I need to see the Reader. I even went down to the theater but there was a line of all the people watching Ironman the second time.

I can’t resist it. XD

看完 The Reader 已經好一陣子了, 甚至連 Revolutionary Road 都看完了, 我卻一直遲遲沒有下筆寫心得. 一方面是因為懶惰, 一方面是對於本片的感想有點雜亂難整理.

我喜歡 The Reader 表現出的非常強烈的感情 – 不單是肉慾 (或者我想更多人寧願稱之為愛情), 還有更多像是未成熟發展的青澀心理, 隱諱又尖銳的自卑感…等等交織出的複雜感情, 強大而感染力十足. 但我不是很喜歡主角在電影裡說故事的方法, 雖然有種釋放的意味, 總覺得與全片不太和諧.

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其實也沒什麼神奇的.

大部份的人都知道我很挑食, 但是我的手藝很糟. 手藝糟的主因之一是我作菜非常”差不多先生”. 有天分的廚子會利用手邊的食材變出佳餚, 我作菜往往不依照食譜, 憑著自己喜好以及不甚恰當的想像力來運用手邊有限的食材, 結果可以想見, 通常是災難一場. 有時難吃到重創自己對於自己手藝的印象, 而幾個月都不想吃自己煮的東西.

今天晚上我打算弄點簡單的, 因為還有個報告要趕, 但是還是不想吃微波食品. 於是基於每天都要有菜, 海鮮/肉, 澱粉的原則 (中午吃法國土司, 所以不能再吃蛋料理), 我燙了青江菜 + 柚子醋, 以及蝦 + linguine.

幾年前很愛弄義大利麵, 因為那是我少數還算拿手的東西, 但因為太花時間 (我不用罐頭醬, 然後蔬菜切丁每次都要切好久) 而越來越少做. 今天要煮的時候我都幾乎忘了以前是怎麼做的了. 於是, 我又發揮我的想像力… 運用手邊現成的食材 – 蝦 (連蕃茄洋蔥都沒有. orz) 蒜 乾辣椒 牛奶 太白份 與剩下一小把全麥 linguine, 我抱著有全部倒掉吃泡麵的決心採用比較冒險的步驟 (因為安全的做法做出來會太乾, 不夠配麵), 沒想到成品竟然稱得上好吃, 我真是非常驚訝. XD
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A-

Exciting drama and excellent performances.

From the beginning of the movie, one can sense that it was indeed adapted from a play. The sharp and dense dialogue prefigured the intensity throughout the entire film. Michael Sheen delivered Davis Frost’s transformation from his initial ambition and ignorance to his later acknowledgment of the impact Watergate had and the cruciality of the interview. Frank Langella’s portrayal of Nixon was powerful and I can’t help but thinking that Nixon was really something (and he had to be).

The movie in all was very entertaining. I think even people who are not familiar with the history can enjoy the movie as long as they like a good drama.

side notes: Continue Reading »

Even though I watched more than half of the major films nominated this year, I wasn’t too anxious to know the result. Afterall, we all knew that SM would win everything cos it is so Oscar. But we did have something to look forward to – our sexy, singing and dancing Hugh Jackman!

Having seen him live in The Boy from Oz and Tony Awards, I knew he could easily nail Oscar. And of course, he didn’t let us down. Hugh Jackman delivered a spectacular award show with charm and presence, and his opening number was definitely the highlight of the night.

I LOVE every part of it, especially the dance of “The Reader”, simply hilarious.

One of the different thing they did this year was having 5 presenters who previously won the category to introduce and praise the nominees. It was no doubt a nice surprise to see Sophia Loren and co, but it was awkward for the most part. Plus, having Anthony Hopkins praising BP, are you kidding me? I think I’d rather see clips of nominees’ performances.

Another thing I wanna mention is the “Musical is Back”” number which came out of place. It was nice, true, seeing Jackman singing and dancing again, but it just didn’t feel right. Perhaps they were trying to promote Broadway; afterall, the business wasn’t good. But come on, this is the Oscar, not the Tonys. Anyway, the number was half enjoyable half disaster. Half way through the medley, it became a mishmash of songs and the only fun was to see how many we were able to recognize. It did, nevertheless, cohere with the other movie compilations (Romance in 2008 and etc). I guess it’s what they wanted to achieve.

I think Jackman’s Oscar is the best since Billy Crystal.

Oh by the way, the set was AMAZING.

I think I finally figure out why my “production” always drop dramatically when I’m in a relationship.

I have a need to express whatever come over me, however grand or insignificant, and the most common way is to write it down. However, when I’m in a relationship, I tend to tell the other person whatever it is on my mind, for communication and mutual inspiration is what I deem most important in a relationship, or rather, what makes a relationship pertinent. Usually the frequency of the conversation determines the rawness of a thought. Once a “thought” is expressed, I’m less inclined (nor feel the need) to put it in writing, especially those undeveloped.

I came to this realization today when I flipped through my notes and came across a fragment of a fragment which I was trying to write. It was an observation of a delicate psychology of one incident of interpersonal interaction. It intrigued me and I tried to put it in words as accurate as possible. I wanted to reconstruct the scene, with moderated dialogue so that it wouldn’t be recognized, and portray the idea in a natural, yet personal, way rather than bluntly stating the conclusion. However, I told a friend the essence of this observation the other day and apparently that put my mind at rest. I left it there, along with other pages of scribbles, gradually being forgotten.

妳

莫名其妙的愛情, 灑狗血不用錢, 努力加運氣就會有明天

唱唱歌跳跳舞, 哇好印度風啊~

美國佬最愛搞的自我滿足於顯示自己兼容並蓄精神的表現.

Are we really surprised? No.

I’m not able to write a piece for movie in 2008 because I lost track of them (an impressive piece for 2007) and I’m not too enthusiastic about writing one for TV in 2008. I’ve done a partial music piece for ModernRock and again, I don’t have a record of the books I read in the past year.

2008 flies by in a speed so fast that I lost grasp of many things which are not even registered in the memory. It’s a year of frustration – continuing pressure and growing sense of futility from work, the wait for GC approval which seemed to take forever, JT’s penalty kick, Oakland Athletics, self-doubt and procrastination, procrastination, procrastination. It’s also a year of joy – GC approval, two trips back to Taiwan, enjoying a hell of a good time with w, making a life changing decision which instantly alleviated my depression. But I was too happy in general (despite hating work every single day. There, I said it.) to write. The amount of articles I wrote in 2007 is less than a half of my usual production. The fact agitated me. My writing defines me and without it, I can’t find my place. For a person who has a extreme sense of superiority and inferiority at the same time, writing stuffs that occasionally delight me gives me a great sense of security. Moreover, the decreasing number of articles is an evidence of my lack of brain activity (not literally, yet literally). This is also a year I drifted further and further away from God.

So in short, my 2008 was a unconscious flow of a stereotypical middle class life most of us bought into – going to work, relax (in wine, movie, music, occasional sight seeing, theatre, fine dining), and work, relax, and work. I’m so glad I’m out of it.

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Her words was not as mesmerizing as she was in The Murder Room; however, it was still no doubt worthy of appreciation.

In the end of Part 2, where Emma found comfort in Dalgliesh’s company. James wrote,

It was strange to be lying on his sheet. She hoped that he didn’t despise her for her cowardice. The relief of knowing that he was downstairs was immense. She closed her eyes on darkness, not on the dancing images of death, and in minutes she was asleep.

It was so romantic. A damsel in distress. I can totally picture her being “rescued” by Dalgliesh, who even made his offering of help sound rather like a plead. Such a fine, sensitive, well-educated gentlemen. Alas, he’s a bit too old for my taste. Too old to be an object of my fantasy.

B

Anna 真是情何以堪啊…

I’ve been using Yahoo! for various basic functions in life. Search, TV schedule, movie schedule, mail, keeping track of my movie review and stuffs. But first, they change the homepage, which became unbearable for my taste. Then, the TV listing turned utterly unusable, and I had to resort to msn.com. Last year, “My List” category under Movies, which I used to track my movie viewing record and ratings, lost half of my 2008 data and was inaccessible for over 6 months. And I just found out that they changed Showtime and Tickets page which made it hard for me to find and compare schedule for different theatres.

If Yahoo! is trying to push me away, they’re doing a hell of a good job.