Stoker

I really enjoyed watching Stoker last night.

The newest film from acclaimed director Park Chan-wook was his American film debut, starring up-and-coming actress Mia Wasicowska and featuring Nicole Kidman.

The visuals were stunning. Every perfectly executed and tightly controlled camera angle attested to Park’s mastery of his media. The muted colors of the main character’s attire stood out against (without being visually jarring or displeasing) the striking palette of the world around her, hinting at her “otherly” nature.

Kidman’s somewhat caricature-ized portrayal of the puerile mother balanced against Wasicowska’s subtle movements and terse words that conveyed the emergence of the angsty adolescent at the beginning of the film into adulthood by escalating from strained self-control to rash vulgarity. The male lead’s acting was deliberately, painstakingly sultry, which was (at least for my group of friends) a great plus.

Obama Has No Right to Accuse the GOP of Being “irresponsible” and “absurd”

Obama stands firm over debt ceiling and criticises GOP as ‘irresponsible’

President says Republican threat to refuse to raise the debt ceiling is ‘absurd’ and dares GOP to shut down the government

-Guardian

Less talk, more action, please.

GOP already conceded tax hikes on wealthy Americans and prolonged retirement benefits. They’ve even foregone spending cuts for two months. I voted for Obama, but it’s time the Democrats compromise some of their own stances. You can’t make such acerbic remarks when you yourself are refusing to loosen your iron-tight grasp on your own ideals.

(Source: Guardian)

Not All Who Wander Are Lost

It’s a quote that’s becoming increasingly relevant to my life, a mantra that I cling on hopefully.

Not all who wander are lost.

Funny that the quote itself has seemingly frivolous origins, but I guess that just attests to the awesomeness that is LOTR.

멘.탈.붕.괴.

8개월 동안 한국이 너무나도 그리웠다.

그러나 마치 집에 돌아오니까…

가족이랑 너무 오래 갇혀있으니까 멘.붕. 이 찾아오네…

오마이갓…..

July 4th was Disgusting

So much heat. So many people. So much fun.

I tackled July 4th in D.C. in the quintessentially tourist manner:

I rolled up my sleeves, slathered on sunblock, and headed to the Capitol West Lawn,

Not just because the elaborate firework show that would illuminate the nation’s capital was designed to be seen from the Capitol steps,

But more importantly because I wanted to hear the National Symphony Orchestra.

Free music, cool fireworks, Megan Hilty (Carnegie Mellon represent!), John Williams, Amber Riley (to my pleasant surprise (how did I miss that name the first time I read the line-up??)) — what more did I need? (except a portable air conditioner)

I couldn’t help but feel patriotism swell up in my chest as I watched the fireworks bursting to the backdrop of Sousa fanfare by the NSO, accompanied by the various musical troupes of the U.S. military.

It was incredibly too hot, and I felt disgusting before, during, and afterwards. But it was worth it. I literally woke up with no clue as to how to spend the day, but then ended up walking throughout amusing modern art at the Hirshhorn (the Smithsonian art gallery I didn’t know about), devouring Indian Chipotle at Merzi, and shuffling around for a better view at the Capitol, all in the company of fellow interns/tourists.

Giselle, the Gazelle

Just watched Giselle, performed by the Paris Opera Ballet, at the Kennedy Center.

How did the performance compare with those of the American Ballet and the Mariinsky Ballet I witnessed last summer at the Lincoln Center?

Giselle (played by Aurelie Dupont) pranced across the stage with all the grace of a gazelle and all the demureness of a doe-eyed fawn. Her unravelling was truly disturbing; I could literally see her loosing grasp of her 정줄. Meanwhile, her unrequited lover, Albrecht (played by Mathieu Ganio) sprang with all the spriteliness of a Lothlorien elf.

But it’s not just the etoile who impressed. The entire company was like a well-oiled machine. Every perfectly-synchronized move was well executed, showing all the control of the poor French hornist who held the same note for 16 bars during Myrtha’s eerie dance. They really did look like ethereal beings, especially in the second act where the company’s lily-white dresses glowed eerily on the twilit stage (except for the initially-shaky Myrtha). Their mid-air footwork was as intricate as the meticulous brush strokes that adorned the set, created in 1924 by Alexandre Benois for the revival of Giselle at the Paris Opera. 

역시, 파리발레는 이길 수 없구나. The Paris Opera Ballet was unnaturally beautiful and expressive. Not one quake or shiver did I see, like I did so often with the American Ballet, but I did see a lot of expression, which I did not see so much with the Mariinsky Ballet.

But hey, I’m just an amateur judge.

summer nights

exploring summer afternoons and summer nights in dc with old friends, crawling through restaurants, bars, and having that 행복한 고민 of trying to choose among an assortment of scrumptious-sounding items on a menu, blowing more money on one night than you spent the entire week: life is good.

the book of wisdom warns that death is begotten of the devil, while life and happiness are begotten of jesus and are the natural order of the universe. thus, only through association with the devil does something experience death. it disturbed me because it sounded like dogmatic propaganda attempting to scare people into following the church “or thou shalt die, you evil fuck, and everyone will know you associated with the devil.” but on second thought, perhaps sloth, complacency, and fear are the true devils stopping me from going out and living my life.

i feel reinvigorated, revitalized, revivified after this weekend. i have to keep enjoying my life and remembering that this is supposed to be a scenic route, not a racecar track.

quick reminder:

Saturday night:

Leopold’s dinner: AMAZING appetizer with bleu cheese and caramelized beets(?), and ridiculously scrumptious dessert

Kafe Leopold’s

rhino sucked, bandolero was chill, and fur is insane.

Bandelero

Sunday:

Paul’s has awesome croissants, marvin’s tavern was cute, idyllic american place, but piccolo has amazing angel hair pasta and OMG the long-desired seared salmon special was a treat..

Ristorante Piccolo

The Affordable Care Act

The Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, or — as many Americans scathingly refer to it — “Obamacare.”

The policy has garnered media attention and incited both anxiety and indignation among citizens for its individual mandate, which requires all Americans to obtain health insurance. The underlying assumption, of course, is that with inelastic demand for health coverage, health insurance and other related costs will skyrocket past the already strained budgets of millions of middle- to lower-class Americans, as dictated by the fundamental principles of supply and demand.

But citizens are less concerned with this strain on their personal funds than with the government’s seemingly invasive authority to dictate what is commonly perceived as a personal choice. Now that this authority has been endorsed by the Supreme Court, disturbed citizens fear the mandate forebodes an Orwellian-like future in which the government wields this authority at its discretion to control and constrain other aspects of citizens’ personal lives.

The court upheld the mandate on the grounds that the ability to enforce taxes lies within the government’s Constitutional powers. This logic has drawn ire and confusion from disgruntled citizens. Is the reclassification of the fee as a tax an unwarranted stretch, or is it a creative, vital perspective to a complex problem?

General antipathy to the mandate has citizens clamoring to overturn the entire policy, a significant and curious fact considering that, when asked about each of the other provisions of the policy, most embrace the majority of the provisions. Does this phenomena reflect the citizens’ rationalized opinions — that the invasiveness of the individual mandate outweighs the many benefits of the rest of the Affordable Care Act — or is it another example of the media’s and politicians’ ability to manipulate public opinion? After all, castigating “ObamaCare” never hurt the Republican campaign, and news is always juicier when it incites indignation.

The individual mandate has all but become commensurate to the Affordable Care Act, but do people know that the Act will also provide affordable government options and establish free public online price-comparison databases? With prices and rates exposed, wouldn’t the competition compel health insurance companies to lower prices somewhat? True, companies would compete on other, perhaps more significant factors, such as service, but the price exposure wouldn’t hurt from the customer’s standpoint.

We’ll see how this plays out, with Romney gearing up as the last-hope crusader against Obama’s legal-but-publicly-perceived breach of authority in the upcoming election and investors make a hefty profit off of market fluctuations in health-related industries.