Xmas 2009

Watch the new angel on top of our Xmas tree. Did you notice anything different in our front yard? It is the new lights added to some of the bushes!

Ip Man (2008, Movie) The Legend of Yip Man (葉問)

With the exception of the depiction of the Wing Chun style (詠春拳), you won't see elements of this film that are completely unique; rather, it's the mash-up of cinematographic techniques and the genre-crossing story-telling that come together to make it a new experience.

Sammo Hung (洪金寶) has choreographed some of the best action in years, during every fight I was slack-jawed with amazement. Donnie Yen (甄子丹) makes delivering a beat down look as effortless as swatting a fly.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984, Animation)

Before “My Neighbor Totoro” and “Princess Mononoke” there was “Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind,” based on the popular Japanese comic of the same name. Set against the backdrop of a post-apocalyptic Earth, “Nausicaa” tells the tale of one young girl’s struggle for survival against a hostile environment populated with giant insects and a miasma which threatens humanity itself.

Her people live in peace in the Valley of the Wind, drawing intimately from nature to sustain themselves in a fragile world slowly healing from a devastating apocalypse fought by humans long ago.

Filled with Miyazaki’s trademark fluid animation, this movie captures the imagination with memorable characters and an engaging plot.

The King of Kong (2007, Documentary)

A FISTFUL OF QUARTERS

Remember Donkey Kong? This would have been in the early 1980s, and you would have been standing in a video arcade, bar, truck stop or bowling alley, trying to save the damsel in distress from the gorilla. Yes, and now it is 2007 and grown men still pursue each other across the country in pursuit of the world-record Donkey Kong score.

It may seem overblown when one of the gamers calls Donkey Kong a metaphor for life, but The King of Kong is just that -- a reminder of how we all have to prove ourselves to others.

It's a documentary that is beyond strange, follows two arch-enemies in their grim, long-term rivalry, which involves way more time than any human lifetime should devote to Donkey Kong.

Slumdog Millionaire (2008, Movie)

Who want's to be a Millionaire? Well, who wouldn’t in this economy, even if the currency in question is rupees and winning the loot means being pegged as a fraud, getting a firsthand education in “enhanced” interrogation methods, and having to relive some of the most painful moments of your past in order to prove your innocence?

Given the third degree by a tough but ultimately decent police inspector (the excellent Irfan Khan) who demands to know how this lowly tea boy (or chai wala) from the slums could possibly know enough to advance to the show’s 20 million rupee final round, Jamal flashes back over the key events of a life that quite literally contains all the answers.

The historic conflict between India's Hindu majority and Muslims is shown in "Slumdog Millionaire" the protagonist, Jamal, a Muslim, watches as his mother is murdered by a Hindu mob.

As many stories of tragedy and exhilaration play out, it becomes clear that each one has taught Jamal something that directly informs his success on "Millionaire".

It's just another one of the many Bollywood melodramas.

Knott's Berry Farm

Kaiser Friends gathering_122009

We had Keli Esser, Robert Suchoski, Chung Trinh, Yogi Shah, Daniel Liang, Bill Rice, Steve Marks, Eleanor Lee, Harold Turner, Jay Barrios, Raff Rushton and Moses Chu. There was a good chat about new IBM management and people looking for new jobs. Wonderful gathering!

Jury Service: 11/16 to 12/09/2009

What an unforgettable 15 days experience for me!

Civil Case: Plaintiff dying from peritoneal Mesothelioma sued asbestos supplier for negligence and compensation

Plaintiff: Mr. and Mrs. Francisco and Carmen Nunez

Defendant: Advocate Mines, Ltd.

Result: Mistrial due to 8 (Yes) and 4 (No)

Scenarios:

1. Nunez worked at John's Manvill piping factory from 1964 to 1982.
2. During a 10 week period in 1969, Nunez worked in Line Pipe Department doing sandblasting and blow-out jobs. This heaviest exposure to asbestos could generate 400 to 500 fiber per cc (cubic centimeter).
3. Advocate Mines was supplying 70% of the crysotile asbestos in that 10 week time span.
4. Crysotile asbestos has been proven to cause pleural mesothelioma, but no scientific proof to cause peritoneal mesothelioma.
5. Only amphiboles asbestos, e.g., amosite, chricidolite, tremolite, can cause peritoneal mesothelioma.
6. There was a fraction of tremolite existing in crysotile though.
7. Two cases of crysotile causing peritoneal mesothelioma so far, i.e., one in South Carolina and another one in Chung Quing, China.
8. The latency of mesothelioma can be from 10 to 50 years.
9. There is not enough data and proof of such rare disease.

After listening to expert witnesses, including scientists, researchers, cell biologists, pathologists, epidemiologists and professors, there goes on without saying that all those heavy weights contradicted among themselves. Without the knowledge nor the chance to ask questions to those experts, we 13 jurors had a hard time judging this case. The instructions given by the court is so limited and need to be followed no matter what.

Ten days of sitting on the jury box, I observed how sharp attorneys manipulating we jurors' minds. Five days of deliberation turned out to be an excellent lesson for me to view people's inner selves of agony, favoritism, manner, impatience, frustration, etc. Contemplating on the true meaning of U.S. justice, I surely find beauty of it, regardless of the abuses from some parties. Praise to our legal system!

The Dark Knight (2008, Movie)

This Joker Holds All the Cards

Heath Ledger's Clown Gives 'The Dark Knight' Its Power

The Dark Knight, director Christopher Nolan's absolute stunner of a follow-up to 2005's Batman Begins, is a potent provocation decked out as a comic-book movie.

This is not because Heath Ledger died in January, though that event does perhaps add some otherwise unearned melancholy to the film. It's because Ledger's performance is so intense and so lasting. "I don't want to kill you," Heath Ledger's psycho Joker tells Christian Bale's stalwart Batman. "You complete me."

Still, the movie is a bit too long, at two and a half hours.