Visiting the JANM Museum

Last Saturday is my second weekend in Los Angeles. Honestly, I went to Little Tokyo just for grocery shopping. Even true, I was looking around because I cant find the store I used to go. Then, I saw the posters hanging in front of a museum like building: “Kokeshi: From folk art to art toy”. Well, I just could not go away when I see creative toys. (So, all the photos are from my cell phone.)

The building actually is the Japanese American National Museum, which holds two new exhibition currently, the Glories Excess by Linkin Park member Mike Shinoda and this toy exhibition. I will say both are worth visiting.

Though I listen to Linkin Park’s songs sometimes, I am not familiar with individuals of the band. So, I am surprised to see this kind of reflection on celebrity culture by a member of such a well-known band. Shinoda’s exhibition has two sections, which are Glories Excess (born) and the Glories Excess (death). The first part was held last year and this second part will be shown in the museum from August 30 to October 4. Under the death theme, he uses skeleton to symbolize the excess and illustrates its relationship with fame, money, sex and other tempting things. Comparing to his paintings, for me, the notes on the wall are more meaningful. He explained his initial interests in this project and explains his understanding on this excess. All the things we are experiencing are actually short and temporal which can not be over-used but we never pay attention to the excess until it is too late. I also like the meaning behind the exhibition, a celebrity’s awareness on the celebrity phenomenon and I think this critical expression should be appreciated.

The toy exhibition is on the second floor, no photos, sorry. Kokeshi (こけし), is a traditional Japanese doll, which usually has two parts, the head and the body. These dolls are all hand-made and painted by local artists. The evolution of the pattern and shape of the doll also convey the historical changes and the expression of the artists. The whole collection includes all sizes of Japanese traditional Kokeshi but also some creative Kokeshi by contemporary artists, a nice combination. I did not buy any Kokeshi souvenir when I visited Tokyo but I got two from the museum store this time.

For more information about the museum and the exhibition, please visit:
http://www.janm.org/exhibits/gloriousexcess/ (August 30~October 4, 2009)
http://www.janm.org/exhibits/kokeshi/ (July 11~October 4, 2009)

What if you can not find your valet program button

The remote control of my Mitsubishi Galant has been broken (cant attach to the key chain) for a while, so I have to use it carefully and elegantly by putting it in a small purse. I finally decided to buy a new one before I move to Los Angeles, where I need to use the car everyday. The remote is associated with the security system provided by Viper, so I thought I just buy exactly the same model and replace it.

It never goes that easy as I thought but also not that complicate as those professionals told me.

So, I got the new Viper remote with the manual, which says I need to re-activate the valet program button in my car and press it several times in order to set the system. So, I Googled and Googled and Googled, to see where is the valet program button of my car. Still, I cant find it according to those answers (around the dashboard area). I bought the car from someone who is now in Taiwan, so I have to figure it out by myself now. Then, I took it to Walmart auto center, people there cant help me, another local auto center, neither. Either of them can locate the cute valet program button. They suggested me to call StereOne, a dealer of Viper. The StereoOne in my town says they no longer deal with Viper but can take a look at the car, charging $65 for finding the button, totally disappointed.

Well, after this whole complain, here comes the idea. I thought, since I actually only need the shell of the remote, what if it is just a whole chip inside, I just can replace them, not touching the system. So, I opened it, yes, it is exactly a whole chip. Finally, I saved the $65 and still dont know where's the valet program of my car, but, successfully replaced the old broken remote with a new one. So, if its just something wrong with the remote, maybe opening it and replacing the chip is a lot easier than trying to find the activate button of the car.

[Movie]I've Loved You So Long

《I've loved you so long》(Il y a longtemps que je t'aime)，是法国和德国合拍片，58届柏林影展竞赛单元入围作品，中文译作《爱你长久》，女主角是《英国病人》的美丽少妇Kristin Scott Thomas。

去年看预告的时候，就对影片整个灰蓝色的基调和流畅的音乐很有印象，终于有机会看了这部片，是一个悲伤而美丽的故事。看完觉得Kate Winslet要分一半的金球奖给Kristin，因为她把女主人公的神秘、憔悴、不安、以及坚强的每一个层面都表现出来了，非常感人。预告打的是悬疑牌，一个因为谋杀而入狱15年的女人突然出现，进入妹妹一家人平静的生活，好在故事没有朝着惊悚阴暗的方向走，而是讨论一个带着异类标签的女人，如何重新融入社会以及生与死与道德的问题，是一个充满社会关怀的故事。

IMDB显示，这部片是Philippe Claudel的电影导演处女作，他之前都参与一些电视制作，一上来就能够如此细致刻画女性情感，相当了不起。这部片没有获得那年的金熊奖，但是被授予了 “Prize of the Ecumenical Jury”，这是个有点宗教色彩的奖项，有译作“天主教人道精神将”，由世界天主教传播协会赞助，主旨是鼓励那些能够带来心灵、人性、社会价值探索的影 片。
以下有微雷，不过不涉及核心秘密。

电影一开场的2分半钟，真的很适合拿来做分镜头分析，姐姐/字幕/妹妹之间的交叉镜头，马上就把两人的互动表现出来了。在机场休息室的姐姐 Juliette面容憔悴，失神地抽着烟，妹妹Lea急匆匆地从停车场一路奔来，见到了姐姐，现在远处停顿了一下，走近，两人相识尴尬地笑了笑，姐姐起 身，妹妹上前拥吻，果真是熟悉的陌生人。

相对姐姐的坎坷人生和背负的巨大的悲伤，其实我更容易站在妹妹Lea视角来看这部影片，妹妹Lea是一个文学老师，面对姐姐被称为是谋杀犯，妹妹其实也是一个受害人，在讨论陀思妥耶夫斯基作品的 课上，论及人们对于谋杀犯的看法，Lea就几乎情绪崩溃，没有经历过的人，要如何理解杀人犯/杀人犯的亲人。与父母的冷漠不同，Lea长大以后，选择了包 容，相信和支持姐姐，I've love you so long，不仅仅是女主人公Juliette的独白，也是妹妹Lea对姐姐的表白，这句话就像支持姐妹两人自我救赎的主题。

不过影片中也有让我看不太明白的地方，就是负责监察Juliette生活的那位警察的故事，就算他觉得孤单寂寞，可是他仍然有梦想，为什么就这样抛弃梦想自杀了呢?虽然有一个悲伤的影子，本片基调还是温暖的，就像灰蓝色一样，虽然不是明亮的颜色，可是让人觉得平静温和。