Busy weekend. Busy busy busy.

Saw a Cirque de Soliel show this weekend, Dralion it was. Filled with Chinese acrobats and Asian/Pacific influences it be. Talking like Yoda why am I? No clue I have. Anyways, it was an allright show. The acrobats themselves, while exhibiting moments of brilliance, were surprisingly not up to par with what I've seen before. A couple of gaffs through the performance when I'm used to seeing flawless shows. Oh well, everyone's human I guess. It's just a simple question of statistics, sooner or later a mistake's going to be made and I just happened to see the odds come down on Saturday night. I was kind of dissapointed though (Did I spell it right THIS time Sugar?), as some of the feats they pulled required them to wear safety ropes when again, I'm used to seeing those feats attempted without them. I don't know why, maybe new safety rules in place, or maybe because these were kids pulling them off? Not sure. Anyways, I felt sort of cheated, as they used the ropes not only for safety devices but as aides in their performances, which I think is verboten (German for forbidden). I mean, a gal pulling off a tight 720 twist while having a guy dangling upside-down from a trapeeze trying to catch her should not be physically possible. You'd pull his arms right out of his sockets with the amount of torque she's generating. Also, more than once they used the rope to keep the top person on the human pyramid/pillar from flying off the top or missing their spot entirely. I was also let down in that they took parts of Shaolin kung-fu and dumbed down and dramatized the moves for show, all the more to impress the gwai los (i.e, gajin). Butterfly kicks, spinning back kicks, turning the Drunken Fist style into dance moves?!? C'mon, as I study Northern Shaolin I found that pretty hard to swallow. I will note for the record though, those gals at the Dralion show must not have endoskeletons. I know a fair bit of human anatomy, but I did not think it possible to do that to yourself. Itai!

Other than that, I still was very busy. Also went to a party for my church's pastor on Sunday night among other things, but I didn't go there to eat. I ate so much before the party as well as on Saturday I felt ill. Kind of a shame, as they had oodles and oodles of good Chinese food there. There were enough leftovers for a week I think. My friends at the party also study the martial arts, so I went to practice with them and burn off the multitude of calories I took in. My shi fu was also there and helped me to shake the rust off, and I'll be able to start taking his class again on Thursday night, which I'm greatly looking forward to. He says my flexibility's gotten better, as before I was as bendable "As a robot", in his words. Well, any improvement's better than that right?

Also saw Mononoke Hime and Perfect Blue, 2 very, very good flicks. Mononoke Hime's message was excellent, and I LOVED how Ashitaka's question "Can the forest and human beings live together?" went unanswered. Very poignant in today's world. Plus, not having a clear cut "good" and "bad" guy, but different factions doing what they perceived to be in their best interests added a very real feel to the story. Can't recommend it enough for anyone older than Disney-fodder age. Perfect Blue to me could have been a live action film for the high quality of the production. Mima's inner turmoil over the compromising career choices she made, the obssessed fan, and *SPOILER* Yumi's psychotic clutching to her faded glory as an idol *SPOILER END* felt to me like something straight out of a Hollywood mag, and since I live here in LA it sounded like something I might see on the news one night.

I was thinking about anime this weekend, and this idea's been sort of dogging me, but I'm wondering if I should just set up a permanent anime review column as part of my blog or something completely seperate? Ya'll know I used to write for the first incarnation of Japanimation.com, and my submission did win me a free DVD at animeondvd.com, so I have some modicrum of writing ability (Plus all the writing I do for work and school). However I can't just shake the feeling I wouldn't be contributing anything knew by setting one up. I mean, what's the point? What makes my takes on anything more valid then yours? I guess it's just an ego trip or something to think someone might actually consider my opinions on something like that valid.

Thanks for all your support on the email issue. Well, it seemed like my friend forgot to close his account at the internet cafe where he was logged on, so some joker decided to have some fun and also to send a bunch of porn links using my friend's email address. Nice. In light of everything that happened, I figured I shouldn't try to pull any April's fools jokes, since also like Tigris said the jokes tend to be a little cruel and not entirely funny.

*Uses the following people for sparring partners*
Sugar: Gomen, but it doesn't look like I'll be able to stop by Singapore this vacation like I wanted to. The cost of stopping by is making me blanch a little bit. If it was cheaper I would, but...Shame, really. I would've wanted to have tried to meet you and Suika while I would have been there.
Ming-Ling: You know, I used to love Netscape over IE. Partly because I didn't want to use anything Microsoft more than I had to, and partly because I thought it was a better browser. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say I used to love Netscape 4.7X. Version 6 is something awful. And cool badges by the way. Oh yeah, I share a birthday with the seiyuu for Crayon Shin-Chan& Chu-Chu from Shoujo Kamkei Utena! I can deal with Crayon Shin-Chan, but Chu-Chu? Gah...
Neaux: Boo to airport security. I hate flying, not necessarily because of terrorists, but I've disliked it for a long time simply because of the catastrophic mechanical failures that go along with airplanes. I mean, if you're 20,000 feet in the air all the mechanical failures are catastrophic by definition! I tell you about the time the electrical system cut out on a flight of mine? Five times? Before we left the airport? Needless to say we were just a...tad...nervous at that point. Now, I know this is going to sound incredibly perverse given what I just said, but I do hope you enjoy the trip. And bring back pictures of hot girls from the wedding! *Winks*
Ninja: Medic! Seriously dude, you did the right thing and kudos to you for doing so. And unfortunately yes, people as a whole suck. This may be sad to say, but it's sort of a realistic way of looking at it, but if you don't expect too much from people you won't be dissapointed. Remember, it's a rare thing to show the selflessness you did, as most people will only act if it's in their best interest to do so. We've all been guilty of that, but the question is do you want to move past that? Most don't. As for feeling detached after helping that guy...Believe it or not, it's natural. I've become that way, I've seen doctors and nurses and other health professionals become that way. It is not that you are uncaring about the person, because you do care. But after a while you see and recognize conditions and situations and your first reaction is how to deal with it, because if you stop to think "Oh, the poor fellow" it may be too late. You do your job first and help the subject/patient that way, and afterwards you have time for reflection. When I watched an autopsy I couldn't help thinking "Who was he? What was he like? He had people who loved him and hated him just like I do. And he'll never have that again." As it was the first one I'd witnessed (And helped in) it's natural for me to feel that way. But you can't let your emotions cloud your judgement, espeically when a life is potentially hanging in the balance. There's time enough for that ex post facto. My father for instance is a respiratory therapist, and he works with premature babies. A few times he's come home and told me that one of the babies had died, and he took it hard. I can't blame him. But during the day he still had to stay calm and cool and collected enough to take care of the other babies. We all need that balance between compassion and professionalim, but it's a hard one to strike. You know, it hit me that if there comes a day when a person just becomes "Mr. Smith with myocardial infarct" that's when we should get out. Sorry for the long, rambling reply, but I don't think there's a short way for me to communicate my thoughts on the issue.
Ryan: Tekken 4. Yes? No? Maybe so?
Tigris: You write that? And did you write it after seeing Blade 2, Vampire Hunter D or Vampire Princess Miyu? *Smiles*