Apologia: The Hubris of I (part 2)

I'm going home to my province for the holidays. I go there today specifically because I want to complete the nine Misa de Gallo for the Christmas novena, which begins tomorrow at 4:30 a.m. That said, this will be my last post for 2009. This year I've had some real highs and real lows but all in all 2009 has been good to me. I don't really have any new resolutions for 2010. I'm recycling...for shame. -_- I've discovered that I can't really change everything I don't like about myself. I'm afraid I have to live with many of them. But next year, I begin to live the dividing line between what I want to do and what I think I should do. I clip my wings myself and look out. Probably, I will be miserable for the most part but there will be (I hope) genuine intense moments of joy, too -- and that's something I'd rather have than this...aimless freedom.

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Moview Review: The Lady Shogun and Her Men

I've heard about this story for sometime now. The Japanese title is Ooku , which refers to the chamber in the shogun's castle where all the women of the shogun's harem are kept. However, Yoshinaga Fumi's manga, on which this movie is adapted, adds a twist: the shogun is a woman and beautiful men fill her harem. THE STORY In the year 1716 Japan, most of the men have died from a deadly disease that only affects men, resulting in their population dwindling to as much as 1/4 of the total population of women. Consequently, women fill in the traditional roles of men, performing hard labor, managing businesses and running government while men are pampered, protected and allowed only to indulge in light entertainment. In this nonexistent Japan lives Mizuno Yunoshin (Kazunari Ninomiya), a teenager from an impoverished samurai class family. He likes fencing and his childhood friend, O-Nobu (Horikita Maki), but because of his family's financial status (O-Nobu is a daugh...

I have loved the stars too truly to be fearful of the night

THE OLD ASTRONOMER. - Sarah Williams R EACH me down my Tycho Brahé,—I would know him when we meet, When I share my later science, sitting humbly at his feet; He may know the law of all things, yet be ignorant of how We are working to completion, working on from then till now. Pray, remember, that I leave you all my theory complete, Lacking only certain data, for your adding, as is meet; And remember, men will scorn it, 'tis original and true, And the obloquy of newness may fall bitterly on you. But, my pupil, as my pupil you have learnt the worth of scorn; You have laughed with me at pity, we have joyed to be forlorn; What, for us, are all distractions of men's fellowship and smiles? What, for us, the goddess Pleasure, with her meretricious wiles? You may tell that German college that their honour comes too late. But they must not waste repentance on the grizzly savant's fate; Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light; I have loved the s...

TV Review: The Queen's Classroom

Imagine a person with the emotional range of a terminator, the aura of Darth Vader and the Machiavellian mindset of Hitler. Now put her in a classroom. What you get is an unusual Japanese drama series that debunks the "heroic" teacher stereotype, presents searing commentaries about the state of the public school system, and gives you a character so evil and negative that the makers of the series had to show a clip at the ending transforming her back into just an actress. The show is called The Queen's Classroom and not for no reason. THE STORY Sixth grader Kanda Kazumi ( Shida Mirai ) is looking forward to spending her last year in grade school having fun and creating lasting memories with her friends. But problems arise when a strict new teacher, Akutsu Maya ( Amami Yuki ) is assigned as their homeroom adviser. Maya ranks her class strictly according to merit, punishing harshly those with the lowest grades while lavishly awarding those with the highest marks. So...

The Complete Substitute for All Forms of Sociability

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