I just finished watching 300 on dvd.  All I said as the credits rolled, was "wooooowwwww...."

It was like they merged and blended Gladiator with Hero (Ying Xiong), and came up with something totally different and striking in its own (and in some ways better than both), thanks to the directing of Zach Snyder, the screenwriters, and the ever vivid bountiful mind of creator and graphic novelist Frank Miller.

Every moment of the film, the visuals were a spectacle of awe and a ballet of movement and chaos.  Stunning.  Stirring.  Powerful.  Its set-up as the embellished tale told by Dilios moves the story on as does an expert storyteller, never letting up, and culminating in a wonderfully dramatic and rousing finish.  The acting on all parts was just as the set-up, powerfully over-the-top to match the surrealism of the visuals, in every way aiding in striking the viewer down and battering the viewer into a coma with a barrage of visual and oratory force.  I hated Gerard Butler the last time I saw him, in that awful rendition of The Phantom of the Opera, but here he fills his shoes - or shall we say sandals - perfectly.  I was especially impressed David Wenham as the storyteller Dilios (whom I unfortunately kept confusing with Sean Bean thanks to their former stints together in the Lord of the Rings); the rhetorical performance he gave would be at home in any future remake of Julius Caesar.  I also thought Lena Headey gave a strong performance as Queen Gorgo right up until the scene where she addresses the council of Sparta - the beginning of her speech seemed to be lacking somewhat of the oratory power with which David Wenham here excelled.  I felt that especially as the Queen of Sparta, the beginning of her monologue was a little too vulnerable and soft, not powerful enough, and could have used some help from a Toastmasters public speaking course.

The musical score by Tyler Bates was, as the visuals and the acting, a perfectly suited to the film, invoking with guitar riffs and repetitive rhythms the menace, power, and brutality that was paralleled in the nonstop on-screen action.  I could go on to scream the praise of the digital effects, the costuming, the makeup effects, and all, but it would be more of the same.  A continuous orgy of surreal action and art.

Although this film is in no way Chinese, I believe that every student of wushu should watch it; it is as if they distilled with visual effects, camera speed, choreography, and digital prowess all that is speed and force and rhythm and flow and power and action that is in the best of wushu.  The best of wushu forms should look and feel like that one visual sequence where Leonidas lays a continuous forward solo path of destruction through the oncoming Persian army.  That one sequence is the most amazing continuous scene in the entire film, in my humble opinion.

Of course, one could also make this out to also be a difference in first principles rather than a divide between deontological and consequentialist approaches.  As it is late, and I grow weary, I shall leave my fair reader to entertain his or her own thoughts on this matter.

4.5 lightning bolts out of 5.

Unfortunately, when I actually started watching, I saw only one in the 45 minutes I was out there, and it was orange (and not blue, as the Aurigids are supposed to be, coming from a long-period comet) and didn't even come from the direction of Auriga.  wtf?!  Oh... I did see a satellite passing north to south through Orion sometime between 4:30am and 5:00am.  Even took some digicam photos of Orion.  But that's it, sadly.

According to the official tracking from Ames Research Center & SETI, there should have been loads and loads (see quoted at bottom).

Perhaps it's because my courtyard faces southeast, and Auriga is in the northwest sky right now for Vancouver, and near the horizon, and so probably below my building and behind the trees.  I was originally going to head over to Burnaby Mountain Parkway to get a good view of the Northern skies, but everyone who was going to come along tonight canceled and I was pretty tired, so I decided not to go out there alone.  I figured if it was a particularly spectacular shower, I should be able to see it even beyond the visible area of Auriga.  I was wrong.  Perhaps it was a big mistake not to go out to Burnaby Mountain Parkway, perhaps not, I dunno.  Perhaps it's also because due to the bright moon and the slight haze, the sky is quite blue for the middle of the night, meaning that the meteors might have been too blended into the background to be easily visible.  Just kinda disappointed, since the Aurigids won't be back in our lifetimes.  Oh well... I suppose I can still hope for a good show in November from the Leonids.  The Perseids were visible, but somewhat lackluster this year due to cloudy weather and whatnot.  There will be other "once-in-a-lifetime" astronomical events to view, not the same ones, but there will be different ones.  Now the Leonids I caught back in the late 90's/early 2000's (I can't remember which year), that was an impressive meteor shower.

At least I got to see the snazzy total lunar eclipse this week, even though it's not quite as "once-in-a-lifetime".

"Live updates
(03:00 a.m. to 06:00 a.m. PDT Sept 1)

Between 03:00 a.m. and 06:00 a.m. PDT (10 - 13 h UT), we will
periodically phone in from the aircraft to report on the observations
in near-real time.

2:45 a.m. Good morning! I'm Barbara Vance from the SETI Institute,
and will be transcribing the communications from the planes. The phone
connection is working, and we're just waiting for our first reports.

2:58 a.m. Delia from the North Plane just checked in to report that
they are turning the plane around and that they have already seen 4-5
meteors, some coming from the Big Dipper region.

3:14 a.m. Delia from the North Plane reports ZHR of 15. The plane
has changed directions and some observers have seen 3-4 meteors since
the turn, depending on the viewpoint. Some are intensely looking
through the forward view, but have yet to see any objects from that
aspect.

3:24 a.m. Delia from the North Plane reports ZHR of 14. The
sporadic rate is 11. Some people saw a couple of objects at 10:21 UT.
She reports that everyone is very focused, concentrating through their
goggles. One wouldn't believe that it is so early in the morning here
in California!

3:38 a.m. Delia from the North Plane reports ZHR of 10. The
sporadic rate is 9. The plane is slightly off course, and a few people
saw what is thought to be a sporadic at 10:29 UT, coming from a
different direction.

3:55 a.m. Delia from the North Plane reports ZHR of 28. The sporadic
rate is 9.5. The activity is picking up; one person reported seeing 3
in 10 seconds! Peter Jenniskens states that the Perseids are not
currently active, in case anyone was wondering. All cameras on board
the aircraft are active, and all instruments are online in anticipation
of the peak.

4:09 a.m. Delia from the North Plane reports ZHR of 82 - above the
level of the Perseids! The sporadic rate is 9. Many observers,
including Peter, have had naked eye observation of the meteors through
the plane windows, and there is LOTS of activity! As Delia and I were
talking, there was a collective gasp that was heard from the observers.
Maybe a particularly spectacular trail?

4:20 a.m. Delia from the North Plane reports ZHR of 59 (but they
just got a flurry, so this is fluctuating). The sporadic rate is 20.
Delia has seen not only her first object, but three with the naked eye,
and is amazed to think that no one else in her lifetime will see this.
It's about 10 minutes to peak... There are enough to start measuring
spectra.

4:24 Chuck from the South Plane reports that the crew there is
seeing a few every minute, and it's now a couple hundred an hour. They
have multiple cameras working, and are capturing spectra as well.

4:32 a.m. Delia from the North Plane reports ZHR of 78. The sporadic
rate is 6. Peak will "officially" occur in about a minute. Nake eye
observation is fantastic - one was a huge streak against the sky. We
both can't wait to see the photos!

4:45 a.m. Delia from the North Plane reports ZHR of 34. The sporadic
rate is 8. The plane is around Sacramento, California at this time. The
peak was determined to be at 11:15 UT, but is still going on. Peter and
others report naked eye observation of streaks of bluish-green color.

4:49 a.m. Delia from the North Plane reports that the ZHR at peak
(confirmed at 11:15 UT) was about 100. Current ZHR is 35, with a
sporadic rate of 5. The plane is now flying over San Francisco,
California"

Last few days have been lots of fun, though. 

Monday night/Tuesday morning:  I stayed up till past 6am to see the spectacular total lunar eclipse that started around 1:50am and went till 5:24am, with mid-totality around 3:05am.  I even got digicam photos of the entire thing!  I put them up on my facebook here.  Part 1.  Part 2.

There was Wednesday 29 Aug at the PNE:
(some photos: my facebook )

GiftShop'ers PNE/Playland Outing, 29 August 2007:

I hadn't done PNE in
many many years, so this past Wednesday was a bounty of enjoyment.
Anna, Amanda, and I met up at 1pm at the PNE. First up, Superdogs. The
littlest dogs were the fastest, and very entertaining to watch, lil'
bullets. Especially the little Shelty. The biggest dog, the St Bernard
refused to do anything but saunter slowly around the course. We went
down to see them after the show. I think, next, we wandered around, saw
the sand sculptures, went in the farm pavillion/petting zoo, saw the
cute little pigs, ducklings, and chicks.

Thereafter was the Cartoon
Parade - Amanda had the song stuck in her head afterwards. We went
straight to the Beijing Acrobats show from there. After that, we hit
Playland, dropped off Anna at work. Somewhere amongst that, we got our
first two packs of mini donuts.... mmmm.... Amanda and I did the
Bonanza Shooting Range (my favourite!), met up with Brandon, walked
through the showcase area while we waited for Jane, Tuan, Cody, and
Maria, met up with them, did the showcase yet again when they arrived.
Lots of little absorbant cloths and slice'n'dice blades.

Next, dinner:
Teriyaki Beef on yaki soba. After dinner, we wandered around a bit and
finally got to the magic show back at the same theatre the acrobats
were at (again, after another round of the cartoon inflate-a-parade).
Jordan and his step-dad arrived and took Brandon with them; the rest of
us went back and hit the carnival games (and the betting tables....
Tuan & Jane in particular!). We met up with Anna for another 45
minutes during her break, and the rest of the night consisted of more
carnival games and betting tables. I won a turtle and a little bluebird
at the balloon popping dart booth, bought one of those funky LED
lightsabers, lost $4 on the silly colour wheel, played several rounds
with everyone on the ring-bottle-toss (rigged!!! but still fun). We all
enjoyed the night - we were there for 11 hours in total, methinks. I'm
just happy we got another two packs of mini donuts just before leaving
and busing home.

Yumm..... mini donuts....

Thursday 30 August was the Science World End-of-Summer Staff Party:

I don't have any photos but I had a lot of fun.  Almost everyone from the GS was there too (Zainab left early, Roland didn't manage to make it out, neither did Alexis or Navi).  Met a few new people: Anna's friends Carol and Carmen, and Vivian's friend Amelia.  (yay, I'm doing better remembering names).  The night was fun, Stuttering Wombat was amusing, the steak for bbq dinner was really really good even though it was a long wait.  I heard the jerk chicken was as flaming hot as advertised.  There was stand-up comedy by Adam and Kyle from floor; and drums after in eureka.  Amanda C and I were the last to leave from the GS, and we plus departing co-op'ers Deanna and Ryan got drafted to help Brenton move his drums out at the end.  The four of us stuck around talking for another hour or so until past 1am in the staff parking lot.  Ahh... Monty Python...  Ni!

Friday 31 August:

I drove out early, returned my library books, made it out to Science World in time to catch one of the last showings of Hurricane on the Bayou at 5pm before it stops being shown on September 3rd.  Hurricane was really good.  Easily one of my favourite omni films.  Too bad it's leaving.  Seeing on the giant-screen the boats and ferries that Hurricane Katrina had lifted straight out of the water and onto a highway was truly awe-inspiring.  Then I drove out to Richmond to spend the rest of the evening with the spyo crew:  Patti, Norman, and Hailey at Richmond Night Market.  We had dinner there.  Mmmm....  I got my cheese sausage on a stick, siu mai on a stick, chow mein, corn in a bowl, taro slush with pearls bbt, introduced Patti & Hailey to the famous Gai Dahn Beng ("chicken egg biscuit" waffle) guy's booth, and other foods that the others ordered.  Norm commented that they have these at Metro now... I'd forgotten, I shall have to check them out again next time I'm there.  I ended up buying three things there other than food:  two $2 plush keychain Mario mushrooms (a red "growing" one, and a green "1-up" mushroom) and this funky little robot panda keychain that's got a tiny little panda sitting in its head controlling it.  Patti got a red mushroom too.  The other booth that had "official" mario stuff was exorbitantly expensive, but they did have a super-cool (albeit $30) remote control mario that you could control via a original NES controller!  And giant plush Yoshi's.  And foam fire-flowers and coinboxes and all manners of other cool mario stuff.  We spent the entire night pointing out cute dog outfits for the Jansens' new dog Fritz, much to Norman's dismay.  hehehe.  Oh, and Patti bought lots of socks.

The booth with the robot pandas had gigantic $18 plush slippers, big enough you could put your head into them.  We couldn't figure out why you'd need such huge slippers.

As we were leaving, two girls were there wondering what they were, I made a comment that they were gigantic slippers, and they had this hilarious look of disbelief.  One in a turquoise top was kind cute too... kinda wish I'd approached her (not that I've ever done that to random strangers...), and she looked be a little older than all the rest of the many teenie-boppers swarming around.

Speaking of teenie-boppers, Norman got accosted halfway through the night by some of his or his mom's high-school students.  heh heh heh... they kept him for almost 10 minutes, methinks.  It was amusing.  Nice to see he's getting some attention, even if it's giggly teenie-boppers .

Then I went home, fell asleep for a few hours, and made my attempt to see the Aurigids.  Oh well.

My ideal girlfriend (in no particular order):

-cheerful and exuberant
-self-confident and extroverted
-social, sociable
-good conversationalist, likes conversations about random topics, spunky, spirited, bold
-contemplative, inquisitive, passionately curious, full of wonder, intelligent
-shares interests with me
-not too self-conscious, capable of geeking or dorking it up from time to time
-moral, principled, responsible, but not self-righteous, nor arrogant
-modest in personality, but sexy everyhow else
-not too passive
-passionate
-dependable
-looks up to me
-vulnerable, lively and animated
-spontaneous
-trusting (but prudent)
-sense of humour
-capable of imagination
-creative
-adventurous
-diverse interests
-open
-always willing to try new things and explore new interests, expand her horizons
-respectful, non-judgemental, won't judge on first-impressions but willing to give everything or everyone a chance
-interested in culture, sharing cultural interests and ideally sharing cultural background (both sides) with me
-patient, devoted, flexible and not set in her ways

-same age or slightly younger than me
-fun-loving

Woot!!!

I just bought a 6-string electric violin on ebay!

It's got 6 strings:  E, A, D, G, C, and F!
It's got volune and tone controllers.
It's got an input jack.
It's got a "professional level pickup including a built-in pre-amp".
It comes with a deluxe suspension case, bow, rosin, 10 ft. instrument cable, headphones, and a 9 volt battery.
It's got a "silent" mode for practicing with headphones, although the maker claims it still has some acoustic sound as well for tone quality.
It's black.

Granted, it's a **cheapo** model, and it doesn't have the midi-output that I was looking for so I could plug it into composing software, but it's a start (especially just for the price).  And my dad's promised to buy me a good-quality one once I'm finished my thesis (it'll probably take far longer just to find one that has everything I'm looking for).  Besides, I've still got my trusty good quality traditionally-made acoustic violin for quality.

Yay!

the deep amber moon shone a brilliant white once again as it dissolved into the brightness of the clouds...

Total Lunar Eclipse, Tuesday 28 August 2007, 1:50am-530am.

Thereafter, we came out of the movie; Jane and Tuan left, Amanda and Anna bussed home; I drove Shari home, and Jenn and Steve went together.  I was originally going to go out with Jenn and Steve afterwards for food at the Old Spaghetti Factory, but I was too tired, like I usually am after omni on Saturdays from being in the habit of staying up late weeknights and having to work early on Saturday; plus I didn't want Shari skytraining home all the way to Surrey at night and having to walk home (even though she said her mom would have picked her up at the station).  All in all, the night was pretty enjoyable.  I think Jenn and Steve and Shari got along quite well, as did they with the GS'ers, they even struck up short conversation.  The drive home was entertaining, as usual when driving Shari home.

---

Recent updates/highlights from this week:
-Last Wednesday, watching Simpsons The Movie with Shari at metro
-Last Saturday, staying after work during omni, then going for all-you-can-eat sushi with Amanda, Jessica, Jane, Tuan, and Tuan's friend; thereafter seeing Rush Hour 3 at Silvercity Riverport
-Wednesday, going out for dinner at the Banana Leaf on Broadway near the McDonalds with Camille, Shari, and Ashley Wright!  Haven't seen Ashley in many a year.
-Thursday, Amanda Chow's Gift Shop "Thanks for a great summer" dinner at Steamworks.  Attending: Amanda, Jessica, Anna, Ryan, Roland, Roland's girlfriend Connie, Michelle (our new Assistant Manager), me.  Roland and Connie left afterwards and Jessica went with them.  Amanda, Anna, Ryan, and I went for a walk from Steamworks afterwards through Downtown, down Robson, back up Robson, then down all the way back to Science World.  We went for BBT again after at Dragon Ball and stayed till late (I had a "Pudding Slush with Ice Cream blended in and Pearls"), after which I drove everyone back to the Science World parking lot where they each disembarked.
-Friday, nothing... I went shopping and got some new clothes for the Fall, and some supplies, and some new compact fluorescent light bulbs.  Went from lougheed to coquitlam mall to pick up this new black sweatshirt/jacket at bootlegger there.  Ran into Jeannette from my department on my way out in front of the H&M, chatted for a while, reminisced about the philosophy department, talked about theses defences, etc.  Went home.  Also redid some of the LED lighting in my room to illuminate the new display case.  Shari called me unexpectedly at about 9:55pm to see about Omni today, and we talked for about an hour until 11.  That was the highlight of my day.
-Saturday...today.

--

I was just reminded by Andrew Ling's Facebook what day it was today (August 25th).   It's been five years.  I really don't know what that means to me anymore... I spent a lot of time end energy moving on, and I reached acceptance long ago.  Andrew visited Christina's grave today, he posted a picture of the stone on his Facebook note, but it looks like he took it pretty well.  September 2nd 1981 - August 25th, 2002.  I really feel for him; I know what I went through even with what I had (granted all those unresolved issues with her), he had it a hundred times worse given the long 3-year relationship they were in.  I wished him well in a comment on his note.

I'd wish Christina well too, if I knew she'd accept my wish, whatever that means and for whatever that's worth.

I had just finished dinner at about 11pm when I decided to take a bite of this chocolate bar called the "truffle pig" that I've been eating slowly in the fridge.  It's some crazy gourmet chocolate bar that's also got peanut butter in it.  My mom got it for me at this winery in Langley where she and my dad like to have lunch, which is near this berry farm where they like to go buy fruit and corn. 

Anyhow, I broke off a 3-4cm long chunk to chew on after dinner and within minutes I was sleepy - that's essentially one bite or so of chocolate bar, and it's so rich it put me to sleep for an entire hour.  All woozy when I woke up after too.  Wow.  That's some crazy heavy chocolate bar.  Happened the last 2-3 times I took a bite from the bar too.  I've still got about a third of it left too.  I shudder to think what it would be like to eat the entire bar at once!  Yup, I think after I'm done this bar I shall stick to regular chocolate bars for the foreseeable future.

--

Also, finally bought Paper Walls (Yellowcard) on iTunes, as well as some new Our Lady Peace and Goo Goo Dolls.  I look forward to listening to it all.  Need some new listening material - music soothes the turbulent soul.

I was worried I wouldn't get a chance to see the perseids tonight what with the persistent clouds.  However, I decided to give it a try at about 3am.  From my balcony, which has a visibility of roughly 75 degrees from the horizon up to where the sky is obscured by the roof overhang, I managed to get about the upper 30 degrees more or less clearer black sky below which faded into sporadic clouds, haze, orange light pollution from the city, and brightening horizon close to sunup.  My apartment balcony looks southwest, and with the Big Dipper at more or less 60 degrees up, I actually still got to see a decent number of bright shooting stars (about 5 or so), and dimmer ones.  I even saw two satellites, at roughly 3:25 and 3:35, both heading southwest on more or less parallel trajectories cutting slightly diagonally down across the Big Dipper.  I went in at 3:38am just after the last bright meteor that I saw, because they were coming fewer and farther between and the horizon light interference was gradually increasing (and I was getting cold out there in my PJ's).  I didn't see any really big super-bright ones like I have in the past, or even that last one on that Stanley Park walk Thursday night, nothing for which I could see or hear a pop or bang.  Still, I got a little dose of the Perseids 2007, and that was better than nothing.  Who knows, maybe the sky will defy the forecast tomorrow night and become clear enough for a parting show.

I am a contradiction,
a contradiction is me,
I have many layers,
but my core is there to see.
Deeply genuine,
an onion to be peeled.
My surface so sanguine,
its nature to be revealed.
Sincere.

Brush your curtain away,
let the inside shine through,

and see the world there anew.
Throw those spectacles down,
the preconceptions be gone,
Let the layers unlock,
deeply genuine.

and let your inner light through,
The depths and face there upon you,
combine and thereby align,
Withhold the first conclusions,
never stop learning,
The world is there beyond you,
deeply genuine.