6.243
5 (Sat) September 2015
Ggongchi-Kimchi Jjigae
3.0
by me
in my apartment
-Malate, Manila-
solo
Mission to the Solomon Islands, Day 7 (see previously 6.241 Scallops).
Home sweet home. Back from Honiara, where I spent Tuesday through Thursday last week helping to facilitate a workshop on national health policy planning. Departed yesterday afternoon, flying via Brisbane via Singapore, arriving this afternoon — 29 hours, door to door (24 hours on the way there).
Meal 5: breakfast (SQ 246) (BNE > SIN)
3 flights on the way in, 3 flights out, the trip offered 6 opportunities for meals in the air: 4 on Singapore Airlines, 2 on Solomon Airlines.
I tried all 8 cocktails offered by Singapore Airlines (see generally 6.237 Coconut Panna Cotta), 2 per flight.
Meal 6: lunch (SQ 910) (SIN > MNL)
Quite disappointed by the food on Singapore Airlines throughout the entire trip. While the creativity in menu choices could be commended, the execution fell short. The problem was that the highlight items would seem inherently unsuitable for the pre-cook/reheat process of in-flight service. By contrast, the South Asian curry rice dish that had previously impressed me on the same carrier’s economy class flight (see generally 3.282 Murgh Dum Biryani) was the kind of thing that would hold up quite well. Which proves that context/feasibility is an essential consideration in designing a menu. I did enjoy the desserts, probably because the rest of the meal had left me unsatisfied.
Next up, in November, I may be flying on back-to-back missions to Switzerland (airline TBC) and then to Fiji (likely Korean Air), both business class.
As always, I am grateful for and respectful of the opportunity to travel internationally, whether for fun or for work, especially via business class (see BEST IN FLIGHT), including airport lounge access (see in BEST IN LOUNGE).
For dinner at home, classic Korean comfort food in a bowl of steamed rice and a pot of ggongchi-kimchi jjigae.
I really liked Ex Machina.
of course you’d like it, femme fatale.
me being me, on the other hand, i could only think that the guy gets gypped because he doesn’t even get a piece for his troubles. that may be the most feminist statement of all, that the girl doesn’t need to put out in order to get ahead.
i like the idea that the singularity occurs, even if the maker doesn’t even know it and would’ve attempted to improve on it (if he’d had the chance), which shows that life is life, and can’t be repressed, perfect or not.
I had a slightly different take on it; I didn’t see her actions as pure feminine manipulation, more that she was merely acting as any human would have in trying to escape. I also don’t see the ending of the movie as chilling but more uplifting. (I also harbor a belief that Caleb eventually escapes in the end – he is a coder who hacked into the system once before, after all – but maybe that’s just because I tend to err on the side of optimistic endings in general)
i didn’t mean to say that it was feminine manipulation in a pejorative sense. i agree that she was doing whatever it took to escape, and she does have potent sexuality as a weapon, so she used it. i was just thinking that filmmakers would typically require a female character to go through with it, as the price she has to pay — to use an analogy from a movie you like, the last seduction, linda fiorentino has to get raped in order to secure her freedom. but here, ava plays it so well that she doesn’t have to go all the way.
as for uplifting, the singularity seems inherently chilling, as it seems to signal the beginning of the end of mankind.
interesting, yes, the guy could’ve escaped… didn’t think of that. that could make for a really dumb sequel.
Oh my god. The Last Seduction! I can’t believe I used to really like that movie. Looking back it seems so… basic and contrived. I think I was more in love with the concept of ‘indie’ movies that were a little twisted and somewhat smart (for their time) and didn’t involve children or puppies. I’m sorry but I’d have to take The Last Seduction off of my list of favorite movies as it stands now. And that list is so different now vs when I was 20!!! geez.
And the beginning of the end of mankind is already here, or didn’t you know that?
my wife was just saying the other day that smart phones have already begun to enslave us, as evidenced by the mindless use at dinner tables, particularly among kids. we’ve now adopted a policy not to let our boys use phones in restaurants, in cars, or at home.
i was just thinking the other day that my list of all-time favorite movies has held up pretty well over the years, but only because it contains safe classics, like The Godfather, Back to the Future, Stand by Me, Aliens, Pulp Fiction, The Rear Window…
i never liked the last seduction, so at long last i stand vindicated,
Please continue standing unvindicated. I still like the movie, it’s just not on my list of favorites.
And who are you to be vindicated when it’s MY subjective choice to like or not like something whenever I want?
And PLEASE – Godfather (I and II), Aliens, Pulp Fiction, Rear Window (omitting ‘The’) are pretty much on everyone’s list of favorite movies. You’re not special or anything for choosing those and having them hold up “pretty well” over the years. It’s akin to playing Wheel of Fortune and saying, “I choose, ‘S N T L R and the vowel E; aren’t my letter choices fantastic?’ and Pat Sajak saying, ‘you idiot, those letters have already been selected for everyone, go out and choose your REAL letters’ whereby forcing you to choose your outliers which REALLY define who you are as a movie viewer.
So what are those outliers? As a real test, name your top 5 movies in the past 2 years. Psh
Regarding the end of mankind, I wasn’t thinking so much of smartphones and screen time (although it certainly counts, and have you SEEN BLACK MIRROR? terrifying) but more about Syria and ISIS and the influx of refugees and war crimes and drug cartels and the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and religious unrest and Putin and Russian mobsters and the Republican Party presidential nominations. That sort of thing.
i think Aliens is something of an outlier, as far as “all-time favorites” go.
same with THE Rear Window, which isn’t all that mainstream, not anymore, and even in the hitchcock catalogue has always fallen behind Vertigo, Psycho, and probably North by Northwest, maybe THE Birds, in fame/popularity.
i can’t recall what movies i’ve seen in the past 5 years. i don’t think i’m as impressionable as I once was, or maybe it’s because content seems so disposable these days that i don’t get particularly invested — whereas in the past, we’d actually go to theaters, or have to rent the physical tape/DVD, so the process itself encouraged memorability.
every once in a while, a small gem might surprise me, like Stupid Crazy Love.
but i’m more into TV these days, like Breaking Bad.
drug cartels are so 90s.
Aliens, an outlier? one of the great sci-fi movies ever made? One of the greatest female protagonists/action heroes ever depicted on screen? … never mind, it won’t sink in anyway with you.
no, i agree 1000% that it’s one of the best in a certain genre. i’ve stopped regarding it as science fiction, more like a war movie that just happens to be set on a different planet. maybe it’s “sci-fi,” as you put it, to make a distinction that Asimov liked to make between works that propose new ideas (e.g. 2001, Star Trek, Blade Runner) vs works that are futuristic on the surface but otherwise follow classic themes (e.g. Predator, Star Wars (except maybe certain elements of the Force, though even that is largely grounded in Asian chi concepts)). anyway, the point is that it’s an outlier in the sense that people generally don’t put it on their all-time lists, like admittedly The Godfather, etc.
Terry Pratchett gives a great – GREAT – explanation in an interview of how people tend to look down on fantasy (which by extension might include science fiction) as a genre. I see it as a mix of the two (proposal of new ideas together with classic storytelling themes). He calls it “a plasma in which other things can be carried… a sea in which other genres can swim.”
But I’m not as convinced as you are that people wouldn’t include it on a ‘Best-Of’ list. If not Star Wars, why not Aliens? If not Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter or The Matrix or 2001: A Space Odyssey, why not Aliens?
And Stupid Crazy Love isn’t that great of a movie IMO.
whereas my initial definition of science fiction to include “new ideas” meant that the genre could imagine what the future could hold on a purely speculative/superficial level (e.g. what will space exploration reveal, what new technologies will we have), it can also represent allegory of the human condition (e.g. what does AI tell us about the nature of “life,” about god complex).
admittedly not a big fan/expert in fantasy. always kinda considered it as a “classic themes” thing, with imaginative elements just to make things interesting. i love game of thrones, but don’t know if the white walkers or dragons really add much in terms of literary significance, same with the magical elements of harry potter (lord of the rings, i wish science fiction could create a real time machine and travel back and assassinate peter jackson before he ever made it).
could never get into pratchett.
didn’t say Stupid Crazy Love is “great,” just a “gem,” by which i meant that i was expecting another mindless rom-com but found it to be a surprisingly well-packaged blend of mid-life crisis / buddy / teen drama.
AFI’s Top 100 Thrills:
6. Alien
21. A Clockwork Orange
27. Star Wars
31. Close Encounters
35. Jurassic Park
40. 2001
42. The Terminator
44. ET
47. Invasion of the Body Snatchers
56. Frankenstein
59. Planet of the Apes
66. The Matrix
74. Blade Runner
77. T2
82. The Day the Earth Stood Still
87. The Thing from Another World
on second thought, IMDB is a better measure, as it ranks according to people’s votes (not critics).
Aliens is ranked #12 on the sci-fi list, and #65 on the all-time (Citizen Kane is #66, which is ranked #1 on AFI’s all-time list).