Natures at the Arboretum

青青河畔草，綿綿思遠道。

Pacific Rim (2013, Movie)

It's a movie about giant nuclear-powered robots fighting enormous marauding alien monsters from another dimension. Its not complicated, its tongue-in-cheek, and a great homage to Japanese monster/robot films. Fun!

Half day strolling at Huntington Library

X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014, Movie)

Wolverine is sent back in time to help dodge a moment in the past that could change the course of history.

The best part of the film far and away is Quicksilver, who makes The Flash look like a sloth. The slow motion / real-time kitchen battle scene is hilarious and one of the best super-hero film moments ever. Quicksilver rescues Magneto from an ultra-security prison, but the film fails when he doesn't join the gang for the rest, to save Trask, help capture Mystique and neutralize Erik Magneto.

Laguna Beach Festival of Arts

For about 80 plus years the nation's oldest and very highly celebrated fine art show, the Laguna Beach Festival of Arts has offered this breathtaking showcase for artists and art lovers alike.  The Festival's respected art show includes a huge variety of art such as paintings, photography, printmaking, sculpture, jewelry, handcrafted wood and furniture, ceramics, glass and much, much more.

We strolled over and checked out the nearby The Cliff restaurant in Main Beach for dinner. After dinner, we used the same tickets to enter "Art A Fair", which is for non-Laguna artists, free. However, the tickets didn't work for "Sawdust Festival"!

We also enjoyed great Spanish guitar music playing the night we walked the grounds and the temperature was perfect.

The only way to describe the Pageant of the Masters is to say that is live art. Instead of painted people you have real people that are painted to look just like the picture of "Washington Crossing Delaware". All of the cast are volunteers!  It is held in an outdoor amphitheater, with a professional orchestra, live narration, and the sets are so intricate. The lighting also helps to pull the breathtaking re-creations of classical and contemporary masterpieces together.

Edge of Tomorrow (2014, Movie)

Think Alien Meets Transformers Meets Groundhog Day. Gotta admit Cruise looks great for 52...and can still pass as an action hero. The death sequences & rebirths are often hilarious. The end is totally unexplained in the context of the film: why would he wake up in the helicopter, and, it makes no sense that he destroyed the Omega BEFORE he actually did in the film.

逆鱗 (Movie, 2014)

「逆鱗」是龍下顎逆生的鱗片。也就是傳說若觸摸此鱗片會激怒龍而來的語詞。用以比喻王的憤怒。

「逆鱗」是一部史劇電影。以朝鮮27代君王中最富戲劇性人生的第22代王正祖實際體驗的「丁酉叛亂」事件為主題，發生「叛亂」24小時前到事件發生的瞬間，針對這段時間的事情所描寫出來的劇情。設定在24小時的時間內，為了刺殺正祖而進行的事情是其重點。「丁酉叛亂」是時代扭轉的必然副產物。當時是朝鮮時代500年歴史中黨派爭論最激烈的時期。「逆鱗」在24小時和時間的限制中、必須描寫正祖的人性苦悩和阻止「丁酉叛亂」機智高的王，從一開始就是非合乎道理的電影。

最後一幕正祖握著貞純王后的手，以無表情的臉吐出自己想法的因果連續。