Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Vietnam Institute of Musicology
Four performances on traditional instruments from the Vietnam Institute of Musicology
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Danang in Typhoon Ketsana
Finally, I have figured out how to make my new computer act like my old computer, and put together my pictures and video from Danang, yeah, like a month ago...
Monday, July 06, 2009
Xe Đạp Trẻ Xanh!
On the subject of bicycles, check this out:
The bamboo bicycle! I like this idea so much I would actually consider buying one, they are supposedly going to start making them in Cambodia - I guess I could ride it from there back home to Vietnam! Anyway, check it out here.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Watching and Reading
Reading the recent news stories about Sri Lanka, I was reminded of a film I saw not too long ago, The Forsaken Land (directed by Vimukthi Jarasundara). Although it is set in the context of the military conflict in Sri Lanka, the dominant impression I had of the film was of silence. I really liked that about it, the silence and the simplicity with which the characters are presented laid bare their common humanity, something too often lacking in movies from war-torn places.
Another film which gets a few stars from me is Couscous, the story of a North African immigrant family in the south of France. Humorous and honest – those two things always go far!
And from my reading list Dreams from my Father by Barack Obama was a good read. In part, I think, because there was no particularly presidential tone about the writing – it was written before the whole running for president thing came up. It is more simply the discovery and coming to terms with a unique family history, or perhaps it is not so unique a history, in any case it’s a good story and, you know, it’s always good to know at least a little something about the president!
The Old Patagonian Express by Paul Theroux is a classic old-school travel memoir, about taking the train from Boston to Patagonia, the southern tip of South America. I enjoyed it, as I have most everything I’ve read from Paul Theroux. Although it is quite old (aside from being old-school!), there are a great many things about travel that don’t change that much between places and decades!
Noah Adams, of NPR ‘fame’, wrote a book called Piano Lessons, on the experience of, well, taking piano lessons. Well written and a quick read, it somehow still failed to inspire me to go out and buy a piano… Perhaps that has more to do with the relative immobility of your average piano compared to, say, me, not to mention the price. I guess pianos are just like that!
Finally, back to Vietnam, Last Night I Dreamed of Peace is the personal diary of Dr. Dang Thuy Tram, a young woman from Hanoi who was head of a medical unit for the North Vietnamese Army during the war, until she was killed. This book was kind of an instant sensation when it was first published in Vietnamese, presumably because it is a strictly personal story from the war period, a perspective probably not often used when young Vietnamese learn about the war. Again, this book is a personal diary, not a history of the war, and, to the extent that you can glean broad themes from a diary, it says more about the human spirit than it does about war.
Another film which gets a few stars from me is Couscous, the story of a North African immigrant family in the south of France. Humorous and honest – those two things always go far!
And from my reading list Dreams from my Father by Barack Obama was a good read. In part, I think, because there was no particularly presidential tone about the writing – it was written before the whole running for president thing came up. It is more simply the discovery and coming to terms with a unique family history, or perhaps it is not so unique a history, in any case it’s a good story and, you know, it’s always good to know at least a little something about the president!
The Old Patagonian Express by Paul Theroux is a classic old-school travel memoir, about taking the train from Boston to Patagonia, the southern tip of South America. I enjoyed it, as I have most everything I’ve read from Paul Theroux. Although it is quite old (aside from being old-school!), there are a great many things about travel that don’t change that much between places and decades!
Noah Adams, of NPR ‘fame’, wrote a book called Piano Lessons, on the experience of, well, taking piano lessons. Well written and a quick read, it somehow still failed to inspire me to go out and buy a piano… Perhaps that has more to do with the relative immobility of your average piano compared to, say, me, not to mention the price. I guess pianos are just like that!
Finally, back to Vietnam, Last Night I Dreamed of Peace is the personal diary of Dr. Dang Thuy Tram, a young woman from Hanoi who was head of a medical unit for the North Vietnamese Army during the war, until she was killed. This book was kind of an instant sensation when it was first published in Vietnamese, presumably because it is a strictly personal story from the war period, a perspective probably not often used when young Vietnamese learn about the war. Again, this book is a personal diary, not a history of the war, and, to the extent that you can glean broad themes from a diary, it says more about the human spirit than it does about war.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
The Road Home
A short video of the labrynth of alleys one passes thru on the way from the real road to Ong Noel in my room.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Me Staying in One Place
Having returned from Kenya and been back in Ho Chi Minh City for a good four days now, I've been sort of reading the paper and, you know, thinking about going somewhere else... I mean really, shouldn't I take advantage of my current lack of work and make it an opportunity to go somewhere? It is a worn bit of logic that has taken me many places, I guess.
Given that state of mind, I was reading an article about Laos. Incidentally, about Bill Lair, who was the subject of a quite good book which I read long, long ago, called Shooting at the Moon: The Story of America's Clandestine War in Laos. Which was reminding me, not of war history and all that, but of the very fun time I had in Laos when I was there. So on that note, let me just announce to everybody that I'm still in Ho Chi Minh and I haven't gone anywhere else.
Yet.
A film I want to see: Pray the Devil Back to Hell. A documentary from Liberia under Charles Taylor. I won't say anything more about it cause that is really all I know. Just thought I'd say I want to see it, so if anybody has a chance to see it, do that and let me know if it's worth buying!
And speaking of films, just before I left for Kenya I saw a Vietnamese film that is truly worth seeing, Owl and the Sparrow. It is a bit sappy at times, the final scene leaves you in a saccharine haze obscuring the authenticity developed through the film, but that last scene stands out precisely because the rest of the film is so well done. The colors are vibrant, the filming is close and intimate. Which is a nice way of saying that it effectively captures the way life is in the middle of Saigon, claustrophobic and frenetic while, at the same time, strangely placid. Check it out!
Given that state of mind, I was reading an article about Laos. Incidentally, about Bill Lair, who was the subject of a quite good book which I read long, long ago, called Shooting at the Moon: The Story of America's Clandestine War in Laos. Which was reminding me, not of war history and all that, but of the very fun time I had in Laos when I was there. So on that note, let me just announce to everybody that I'm still in Ho Chi Minh and I haven't gone anywhere else.
Yet.
A film I want to see: Pray the Devil Back to Hell. A documentary from Liberia under Charles Taylor. I won't say anything more about it cause that is really all I know. Just thought I'd say I want to see it, so if anybody has a chance to see it, do that and let me know if it's worth buying!
And speaking of films, just before I left for Kenya I saw a Vietnamese film that is truly worth seeing, Owl and the Sparrow. It is a bit sappy at times, the final scene leaves you in a saccharine haze obscuring the authenticity developed through the film, but that last scene stands out precisely because the rest of the film is so well done. The colors are vibrant, the filming is close and intimate. Which is a nice way of saying that it effectively captures the way life is in the middle of Saigon, claustrophobic and frenetic while, at the same time, strangely placid. Check it out!
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Saturday, August 02, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Forever and a day
Yes it has been forever and a day since I posted anything. I am still here, and, like, getting up every morning, eating pho, motorbiking with my fingers crossed and all that, so what does the lack of news mean? I guess I haven’t learned anything in the last month? That can’t be it!
I have seen two noteworthy films recently, the first of which is called (with great originality), Congo River, and it is about the Congo River. It appeals to me on several levels. While it was billed as a documentary, it is less of a ‘facts and figures’ kind of documentary, and more of a ‘here is what happened to me’ kind of documentary. Most of the film involves a sort of river barge version of a matatu, how could that fail to be fascinating?
Apart from that the film is narrated in French, obviously with a lot of local languages as well and I heard all of two words that I remember from Swahili (of the four that I remember), and I was provided with Vietnamese commentary. It was a film, not a lecture, so I thoroughly enjoyed it in spite of not understanding much of the narrative. Languages are addictive, and naturally, ever after the first one they just give you a headache.
An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore’s film on climate change did actually make it to Hanoi. Of course, most films make it here before they get anywhere else, through the $1 sidewalk DVD sector, but I mean in a cinema. I don’t think there was much about the film that surprised me, outside, perhaps, of that fact that Al Gore’s delivery has been de-woodenized. Maybe it is easier to be engaging when you are facing the establishment, instead of sort of staggering along underneath it.
On climate change, there are a couple ethanol plants underway here in Vietnam, at least one of which will use cassavas. Which is a great idea, I can’t think of a better way to use a cassava! That in spite of reservations about ethanol as a sort of bandaid on a bullet wound, again pushing off that nasty little issue of the actual problem – the bigger is better complex.
Well, I guess the last month wasn't a complete wash. zaijian
I have seen two noteworthy films recently, the first of which is called (with great originality), Congo River, and it is about the Congo River. It appeals to me on several levels. While it was billed as a documentary, it is less of a ‘facts and figures’ kind of documentary, and more of a ‘here is what happened to me’ kind of documentary. Most of the film involves a sort of river barge version of a matatu, how could that fail to be fascinating?
Apart from that the film is narrated in French, obviously with a lot of local languages as well and I heard all of two words that I remember from Swahili (of the four that I remember), and I was provided with Vietnamese commentary. It was a film, not a lecture, so I thoroughly enjoyed it in spite of not understanding much of the narrative. Languages are addictive, and naturally, ever after the first one they just give you a headache.
An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore’s film on climate change did actually make it to Hanoi. Of course, most films make it here before they get anywhere else, through the $1 sidewalk DVD sector, but I mean in a cinema. I don’t think there was much about the film that surprised me, outside, perhaps, of that fact that Al Gore’s delivery has been de-woodenized. Maybe it is easier to be engaging when you are facing the establishment, instead of sort of staggering along underneath it.
On climate change, there are a couple ethanol plants underway here in Vietnam, at least one of which will use cassavas. Which is a great idea, I can’t think of a better way to use a cassava! That in spite of reservations about ethanol as a sort of bandaid on a bullet wound, again pushing off that nasty little issue of the actual problem – the bigger is better complex.
Well, I guess the last month wasn't a complete wash. zaijian
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
This is for anybody
who hasn't been to Vietnam lately. Who is wondering how exactly it works here, with a Communist Government in charge of a runaway 8-9% annual growth economy, fresh into WTO membership, entrepreneurial in-your-face marketing going on in every street, everybody wants to work hard and get rich... From the news, this little paragraph just made me smile.
It's the facilitating that gets me, you have to facilitate it, whatever it is. If you put socialism, or most anything for that matter, at the end of a sentence like that, it can't really make all that much difference! That's how it works.
A good BBC article on Vietnam, in the present and the future, not the Apocolypse Now Vietnam.
AND a movie I saw last weekend, The Prairie Home Companion Movie, which, yes is a bit incestuous, being a movie about the making of a radio show ... ... but it was amusing anyway and I don't hear that many American accents that often here, so it was funny.
The Vietnamese government is now trying its utmost to speed up
administrative reform. As of November this year, Dung’s cabinet has issued 72 out of 135 new relevant decrees in a bid to complete and streamline, or make transparent, legal framework to facilitate its market-oriented economy on the socialism track.
It's the facilitating that gets me, you have to facilitate it, whatever it is. If you put socialism, or most anything for that matter, at the end of a sentence like that, it can't really make all that much difference! That's how it works.
A good BBC article on Vietnam, in the present and the future, not the Apocolypse Now Vietnam.
AND a movie I saw last weekend, The Prairie Home Companion Movie, which, yes is a bit incestuous, being a movie about the making of a radio show ... ... but it was amusing anyway and I don't hear that many American accents that often here, so it was funny.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Thursday Ramblings
Friday of last week, the last day of the term at my school, all the students went to watch the film Baraka. I had heard of this film before but hadn’t seen it, and I was impressed. It is made somewhat in the mold of Koyaanisqatsi, if that’s familiar to anyone. I’m not sure what exactly to say about it, but if you like simple but remarkable photography, and mesmerizing music, check it out. Here is a link to the associated website. The students thought most of it was too boring. Sometimes I think that my students are sadly sheltered and maddeningly immature. Sometimes I think that I am old and peculiar and staid. I’m probably right on both counts.
The terms at my school are only five weeks long, so they go by pretty quickly. My new class this term has seventeen students, which is rather larger than usual. I had one class last term which was fourteen or so, but remembering their names was a challenge. There were two Ngas - Thu Nga and Thanh Nga, three Trangs - Thu Trang, Quyen Trang and Huyen Trang, two Hungs - Manh Hung and Trong Hung, then a Huong and a Phuong and a Phong... I knew most of their names by the end of the term but it took most of the term to get that far! Anyway, my new class is a lower level than I have taught before. So far it is going pretty well, I have to amuse them a little more than the upper level students, but on the other hand I don't have to explain subordinating conjunctions!
Having been back in Vietnam now for almost six months, I have finally realized that my Vietnamese is not going to improve much by osmosis. Sad. So I am back in language class, at the same university I studied in the first time I was in Hanoi. I enjoy it, although that class is quite noticeably above my level in terms of vocabulary. To offset that I am also taking a sporadic Vietnamese language class at the school I teach in, which is free for teachers, but is noticeably below my level since the other teachers taking that class haven't studied Vietnamese at all, or not until two weeks ago. So I come back from one class confused, exhausted and thoroughly convinced of my monumental inability to accomplish much, and from the other class slightly amused by my colleagues (language professionals, all of them) who can't remember, much less pronounce, the Vietnamese tones... Maybe with the combination of both classes I can move forward!
Tonight I found, behind a very small door on a rather large street in the middle of town, a German restaurant. The Kaiser Kaffee is appealing, if for no other reason, simply because it is called The Kaiser Kaffee and it is in Hanoi! It actually looks sort of German - old fashioned low ceiling with (fake but tasteful) exposed beams and straight-backed wooden chairs like any proper PA Dutch restaurant would have at home. The lady who seemed to be in charge of the place is, well, an unusually German-sized Vietnamese lady who kept on speaking German to me... I guess my Vietnamese was bad enough she couldn't tell what language it was! Anyway, BRATWURST, they have bratwurst. How cool is that! I had bratwurst and Vietnamese fresh spring rolls... The silliest things make me happy!
And speaking of the silliest things, here are my favorite news stories recently:
Man Bites Panda - cute and NOT cuddly
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5364058.stm
The Ancient 26-year-old Terracotta Warrior
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5355546.stm
Vendredi heureux a tout le monde :)
The terms at my school are only five weeks long, so they go by pretty quickly. My new class this term has seventeen students, which is rather larger than usual. I had one class last term which was fourteen or so, but remembering their names was a challenge. There were two Ngas - Thu Nga and Thanh Nga, three Trangs - Thu Trang, Quyen Trang and Huyen Trang, two Hungs - Manh Hung and Trong Hung, then a Huong and a Phuong and a Phong... I knew most of their names by the end of the term but it took most of the term to get that far! Anyway, my new class is a lower level than I have taught before. So far it is going pretty well, I have to amuse them a little more than the upper level students, but on the other hand I don't have to explain subordinating conjunctions!
Having been back in Vietnam now for almost six months, I have finally realized that my Vietnamese is not going to improve much by osmosis. Sad. So I am back in language class, at the same university I studied in the first time I was in Hanoi. I enjoy it, although that class is quite noticeably above my level in terms of vocabulary. To offset that I am also taking a sporadic Vietnamese language class at the school I teach in, which is free for teachers, but is noticeably below my level since the other teachers taking that class haven't studied Vietnamese at all, or not until two weeks ago. So I come back from one class confused, exhausted and thoroughly convinced of my monumental inability to accomplish much, and from the other class slightly amused by my colleagues (language professionals, all of them) who can't remember, much less pronounce, the Vietnamese tones... Maybe with the combination of both classes I can move forward!
Tonight I found, behind a very small door on a rather large street in the middle of town, a German restaurant. The Kaiser Kaffee is appealing, if for no other reason, simply because it is called The Kaiser Kaffee and it is in Hanoi! It actually looks sort of German - old fashioned low ceiling with (fake but tasteful) exposed beams and straight-backed wooden chairs like any proper PA Dutch restaurant would have at home. The lady who seemed to be in charge of the place is, well, an unusually German-sized Vietnamese lady who kept on speaking German to me... I guess my Vietnamese was bad enough she couldn't tell what language it was! Anyway, BRATWURST, they have bratwurst. How cool is that! I had bratwurst and Vietnamese fresh spring rolls... The silliest things make me happy!
And speaking of the silliest things, here are my favorite news stories recently:
Man Bites Panda - cute and NOT cuddly
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5364058.stm
The Ancient 26-year-old Terracotta Warrior
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5355546.stm
Vendredi heureux a tout le monde :)
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Ba Vi Xe Say
For anybody who is both reading this, and understanding Vietnamese, neither I nor my motorbike were exactly "say" at that moment, but it sounds better to pretend that one or both of us was, after looking at the video!
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