Important Intangible Cultural Property No. 13
So on my lunch hour, I walked toward the Ferry Building and in the little plaza by the funky-assed fountain and I saw a bunch of people with drums in costumes assembling. I grabbed a slice and soda nearby and sat to watch. At precisely 12:30 I heard the drumming begin and two people dressed as black blobby things pantomimed fighting. Or something. This was followed by two people in man-and-woman masks doing a courtship pantomime. And then there were two bad guy with ugly (but human) masks who brandished (wooden) swords at the audience and then at the couple.

Finally I got an explanational brochure and learned that what I was watching was a sort of Korean Commedia dell'Arte, Gwanno Mask Drama. In Korea this is designated "Important Intangible Cultural Property No. 13." Who knew? What a strange thing to walk into without any context. Before I received the brochure I wasn't 100% sure it wasn't a political protest of some sort (although the longer I watched, the more sure I was). I was pleased with myself for correctly suspecting that the display was Korean in origin because the drummers' hats and the man-and-woman characters' robes reminded me of the costumes in Dae Jang Geum (of which I saw three consecutive episodes this week. It's on KMTP 32 at 9pm).

I guess I can understand why it's a protected activity, since even without words or culture-specific references, the "story" was understandable and relate-able-to. Except for the "dancing" black blobs (Jangja Mari, as it turns out) part, the audience knew when to laugh, when to pretend to be scared, etc. I guess like Commedia dell'Arte it draws on certain archetypes--not universal, but frequent?--that are part of the human experience across a low common denominator. I don't know if what I just said makes sense, but my other comment is that I wonder if this particular dance/story was influenced by the spread of the Ramayana, since a main point in the story is the heroine's abduction and subsequent struggle to prove her innocence. After my visit to the Asian Art Museum I wouldn't be surprised--the story did move quite far through Asia.

In other news, I'm a little sad to be leaving this place. It's my third leaving-a-job since January, and the people and working conditions here have been the nicest I've found. Unlike the other two times, this time I'm leaving because I found a new job, and I'm starting in Tuesday. I'll say more after I've signed the HR papers. Scary stuff--this job is part-time and doesn't pay as much. I really will miss this office, which is weird.
- posted by k @ 3:40 PM

 
Ok, so this time it really is Friday, right?

For your amusement and enlightenment:

• Tonight I am going to the encore show of Uke-y Stardust, i.e. an all-ukelele performance of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. How could a person whose schedule allows it possible miss this event? I am excited! I finally have a place to wear my Hedwig shirt. If you want to go, I can pick you up from BART and drive you home. You should go.

• Tomorrow I am going to the Sacramento Jazz Festival, which emphasizes traditional jazz/dixieland, and this year includes Bonerama and Mighty Aphrodite.

• Last night I did a run after work. Pacing was totally off, but I did get a run in this week. Need to figure out what the actual distance of my route is.

• Here is the New Yorker review of DVC movie, also a review of the book, though the reviewer reports not finishing the book. Pretty funny. Beware--Spoilers all over!

- posted by k @ 11:19 AM

 
It's still not Friday???
So I finished reading TDVC, and I have posted my impressions in the comments section of the last post (prompted by the handsome and charming Mr. BG). If you haven't read the book yet and want to be surprised, read those comments at your own risk. I tried to avoid major spoilers, but I might have slipped something in inadvertantly.

In other news:

• Running: I did NOT run yesterday or this morning as I had planned to. Needed the sleep, and this week I needed to make sure I got to work by 8:30. Next week is the 8-wks-to-race mark and my schedule will be easier in the mornings then. However, I have lost 2 lbs, so that's good news. Surprising what a few small changes can do, I guess.

• iPod: Managed to get some podcasts on to the sucker. Thank you, NPR! Next I hope to subscribe to some of the lectures that Cal is podcasting. The only thing that still sucks is that it looks like I'll have to reboot my laptop everytime I plug my iPod in or iTunes won't recognize it. That's not right! This white cord says "fire wire" on it and my laptop recognizes it, but iTunes won't without a reboot. Still telling me to reinstall iTunes, which I swear I did twice last week.

• Car: Have license plates! Need to attach them to car. Filled up with 89 yesterday. At about 900 miles today. Got a second parking ticket yesterday. D'oh. It was the fourth Tuesday of the month, and apparently there's no parking in front of my apartment then. Sometimes I feel like this parking thing involves navigating a mine field. By the way, I don't know why anyone ever tries to drive or park in Berkeley. It's just a losing prospect for everyone involved.

• I had never heard of Gnarls Barkley, but the first time I heard "Crazy" on the radio I thought I had heard it before, and the second time I was singing along, and then it was stuck in my head for a week. That, my friends, is what we call a hook. Ladies and Gentlemen, I think we have our summer hit. It's so catchy! It's got this great pseudo-disco-funk-R&B thing going on, but you realize it's not actually a vintage piece when you hear the electronic bass (which is not inherently annoying in this case, as I often find it to be)

• Summer movies I'm looking forward to: (no links b/c I'm in a hurry. You know where IMDB is if you need it) A Prairie Home Companion, X Men III (even though the Onion AV club panned it), possibly Cars because I trust Pixar. I'll have to see what the reviews are like. I heard somewhere that there's another Star Trek movie in the works, but I don't think it's coming out this year. That might seem like a short list, but it's better than the last two summers. (When was Star Wars III? That was a popcorn-muncher, but I wasn't looking forward to it as much as I am to APHC). Da Vinci Code movie should be fun, too.

- posted by k @ 4:34 PM

 
One more thing
This weekend I am finally going to read The Da Vinci Code. I got a copy for my birthday and have been meaning to read it. If you tell me anything about it before I'm done, I'll kick you in the shins.

I wish iTunes would finish re-installing itself already!

All this blank space at the top is really getting on my nerves. You may have noticed that a while ago I changed the width of the text box, but that didn't solve the problem.
- posted by k @ 5:03 AM

 
Friday Flashes

• I got a job offer! It's a part-time job that doesn't pay enough, but it's in educational research and will give me time to work on neuroscience research (and I'm hoping I can make up the $ difference via tutoring nights & weekends. Tutoring doesn't really seem like work, but I get paid for it). Also the location is good--the downtown Oakland side of Lake Merritt. Great view, easy transit, bikeable. I'm planning to take it.
  
• Also, I did another run yesterday morning and have been snacking less this week. I have lost a pound. Woo-hoo! In the interest of full disclosure I should also let you know that my period has also started flowing in earnest, and when that happens I usually lose my bloatedness anyway, but whatever the cause, it sure was nice. If I can keep up the pound-a -week loss until Gay Games, I will be pretty happy.
• Someone asked about my goal for a 5K time. Basically I want to run the whole course, finish, not embarrass myself and not be last. I think that's about 25 mins for me, but I really have no idea. suggestions?

• In iPod news, I figured out that iTunes wasn't recognizing my iPod because I hadn't formatted it, so I formatted it and iTunes recognized it! That was exciting. Maybe I can actually get some content onto it to take with me this weekend, or at least some time before I die and iPods are replaced by XM radio receiver implants.

• Tonight my sister is being inducted to Phi Beta Kappa and tomorrow I am going down to LA for her graduation. Maybe her key will give her superpowers e.g. protection against intestinal parasites! Anyway, I am very proud, even though I had nothing to do with it. I guess that's what families are for.
  

- posted by k @ 4:42 PM

 
Briefs

• So I actually did go for a run this morning. I'm not sure if it was 1.5 miles, but it was 20 minutes. The first 10 mintues were really not fun, but the last 5 were (mostly downhill), and I was reminded that one of the great blessings in life is a cold shower right after a work out. Next Wednesday is the 8-weeks-from-GG5K mark. I think I will be able to start "training" in earnest by then.

• Oh yeah, I got a haircut on Friday. The avatar hair doesn't quite give you the idea, but basically it's a cross between my usual haircut and the shaggy wildness I had developed as of late. It is a barette-optional configuration. I am toying with the idea of getting highlights or something, but I'm not sure what the point would be or if I would enjoy it enough to justify the cost.

- posted by k @ 1:22 PM

 
More Assorted NewsFlashes
Ok, in no particular order (think Tim Goodman's Crankypants columns):

• Ok, I don't know how to tell you people this, but I got an iPod for my birthday! Now I can take NPR podcasts and music with me everywhere! I'll be damned if I'm paying $1/track all the time, though. I can start by putting all the mp3's on my laptop onto it. I don't have anything on it yet because I didn't have enough time to fiddle with it over the weekend, but I did enough fiddling to get comfortable with the menus, scroll wheel, etc. I like that it has games, but I wish I could take off the one that involves shooting paratroopers. That's just mean! I like that it has a calendar, but I haven't figured out how to put anything on it yet. It's shiny.

• So, my car got its first parking ticket on Friday. $35. I was in a job interview, for crying out loud! What was I supposed to say--"I'd like to tell you about my ideal boss, but first I have to go feed the meter because I didn't think you'd spend 30 minutes talking?" And anyway then it turned out that even though I was a viable candidate for the job, it didn't pay enough hourly for me to consider it.

• Speaking of interviews, I had 2 on Friday, and the other one was somewhere I would really like to work and I think it went well. It doesn't pay quite as much as I'm hoping for, but it's career-related, so the experience and networking would be good. And maybe I can make up the $ difference with tutoring. I also got a phone message that would have been a phone interview if I had been able to pick it up; I called back but it was after 5, so I left a message. Hopefully they'll call back today.

• Went to KFOG KABOOM! with Anna for her birthday on Saturday. It was fun! "Saw" K.T. Tunstall and Los Lonely Boys in concert (meaning, sat in a parking lot from which the stage was audible and from which tiny singing people could be viewed with effort--I noted that that was probably the most relaxed I had ever been in a crowd that size before later wondering if the fact that I wasn't wearing a sousaphone probably helped). Ate regrettable over-priced fried food. K.T. needs to work on her stage patter, but I like some of her songs. Really liked "Black Horse & Cherry Tree" when I heard it on KFOG last summer. The neat thing was during the fireworks show Anna had an NPR survival crank radio so we could hear the synched songs. For "Black Horse & Cherry Tree" the fireworks looked like cherry trees in bloom! Very cool. Lots of innovative fireworks I haven't seen elsewhere, even last year's KABOOM. (PS you can watch streaming video/audio of the fireworks if you click the link above) Oh, and it was free! (except for the regrettable fried food...note to self...)

• Re: GG5K training. Got dragged on some kind of death hike/jog yesterday morning. Should have eaten a little something or had some juice before I left, because I was tired and did not have a very sportsmanlike attitude (read: major lack of hustle). We jogged from about the Ferry Building to the Filbert St. Stairs which go all the way up to Coit Tower. We went up all the stairs. The view from the top was very nice. Then we went down all the stairs and (some of us) jogged back to where we started from. Probably 3-4 miles altogether. In the sun. I would whine more, but I was getting my ass kicked by our 60-year-old "coach" who at least gave me some good advice on running shoes. Did some stretching and crunches this morning. Will theoretically run 1.5 miles tomorrow morning. Perhaps with new iPod for company?

• So, there was a Perspective on KQED last week about how this woman has given up her car and couldn't be happier. She has to wait for the bus now and can't carry things around with her and she loves it. Listen, I would love to be not buying gas, and I do enjoy noticing things as I walk through neighborhoods, but I have to get things from place to place! And buy groceries! And haul a tuba around! Part of the allure of a car to me was storage! If my car had indoor plumbing I could easily live in it! On the serious side, I hope to use it only when necessary and continue walking, biking and transiting when possible. The only problem with that kind of mixed transiting is figuring out where to park your car so it's safe and you can get back to it. Too bad it can't fold up and be carried in one's pocket. That would be ideal. Even fold-up bikes are cumbersome...

• In other car news, I gave it its first fill-up (actually only 2/3 tank) since the drive up yesterday. Car now has 700 miles on it (break-in period is 1000 miles). $20, could be worse. Doesn't do quite as nicely in the city as on the highway, but still does quite well. Hope I don't have to fill up every week, though. Speaking of filling up, the owner's manual said that depending on whether it was type blahblahblahA or blahblahblahB it would prefer either unleaded 87 or unleaded 89. When we were driving up from LA and stopped we could find no indication anywhere on which type the car was, so we guessed and filled it with 87. Still finding no indication, yesterday I put in 89. I think it likes 89 better; seems to run a little more smoothly and quietly. Also started to notice more smoothness around the 400-mile mark; must be a break-in period thing. Looking forward to see what emerges around 1000 miles, though I hope I don't drive so much I hit that mark soon.

• Going back to the KQED thing, I think I really got to the point (especially with tutoring) that I needed a car to get from place to place. Some places just aren't accessible by transit! And some are, but you have to transfer 3 times and it takes you an hour. To wit, my April bill for City Car Share was $500 (and I'm not sure yet how I'm going to pay it, but the new tutoring client should help...). Ok, at that point you pretty much just need to get your own car. My monthly payments are less than $500.

- posted by k @ 3:56 PM

 
Today's Motley Updates

• My job search news: I have an interview on Friday for a part-time job at a non-profit in Oakland that does educational research. It meets most of my criteria, so I hope it goes well.
• Other peoples' job search news: Huge congrats to JF who landed an entry-level, full-time-with-benefits job in her field! Way to go! There may be hope for the rest of us.
• Ice cream: Yesterday after lunch I was treated to ice cream at my suggestion (and since the Baskin Robbins was on the way back to work anyway). I had a single scoop of Mocha Almond Fudge in a sugar cone, which I haven't had in ages. I wasn't sure they even still had that flavor. It was good. However, I observed as I tried to eat my cone while walking back to work that either the server didn't firmly lodge the ice cream in the cone or my tongue is much stronger now than it was when I ate ice cream cones more regularly, since the scoop had a tendency to be pushed off the cone. In fact, disaster was narrowly averted twice when the scoop tried to jump off altogether, but I reflexively caught it with my other hand and smacked it back on the cone. My had was messy, but I washed it when I got back to work, and I by George I ate my whole scoop. Lots of almonds. Yummy.
• GG 5K plans: I will be playing in the band at an international sporting event in July and I think I have decided to participate in the 5K race as well, to give myself a fitness goal. The nice thing is that runner's world magazine online has some 6- and 8-week 5K training plans for beginners. I have also figured out how to fit the runs into my schedule (more on that later)

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,5033,s6-51-55-0-6406-2-2X5X9-4,00.html

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,5033,s6-51-0-0-203,00.html

• Billy bait: Started watching the movie version o f"Rent" on DVD last night. SOme surprising changes in the order of songs, but overall I can't say I have any major qualms. I think the material's being handled well and I know all the songs by heart, so it was fun. WIll probably watch the rest tomorrow night. Am leaning to agreeing with Roger Ebert's review.

- posted by k @ 9:44 AM

 
A Quarter Century
Well, no Housman this time, and no reflective thoughts coming to mind at the moment. It's sunny outside, I'm pretty happy, and I'm having lunch with someone whose company I consistently enjoy.

So far I have received 3 e-cards, 1 e-mail and 2 phone calls :-) I am getting a present but I don't know what it is...oooh, the mystery! The suspense! I actually have not been able to wrestle out even a clue.

I have to tutor tonight until 8, so I'm not doing any partyish thing, though I may later.

I should mention that I am now the proud owner of half a car! It's a white Corolla that we drove back from LA yesterday (stopping to visit Solvang, the Danish Capital of America, which features the Hans Christian Andersen museum). It gets excellent gas mileage--we went more than 350 miles without having to fill up, and the tank takes 10 gallons. I feel like my math must be wrong somewhere, but there you go. The engine is still in its "break-in" period, so driving it up from LA was probably not the best thing to do, but we tried to follow the guidelines in the owners manual, such as driving slowly and gently when possible, avoiding hard stops and sudden accelerations, and not towing a trailer.

It feels strange to get a car when gas prices are so high and I have some philosophical issues with cars, but on the other hand there are times when having a car is really necessary for independence and productivity. I'm going to try to use it only moderately and walk, bike or take transit when possible. Still working on a name for it. Leaning toward Chester, for no good reason (nickname: Chet?).

If time, more about the weekened later.
- posted by k @ 11:54 AM

 
Well, I started a LJ
It will be about job/career stuff, not why chocolate chip scones should be criminalized. I will occasionally link from here to there, but not vice versa.

You may wonder why I chose to do this and if I really have time to. Well, I try to answer some of that in my first post. The good news is that I actually made some similarly-themed posts to my tribe blog which I'll be copying and pasting over to the LJ. If you want to see the tribe profile, it's here. (should work without needing a login).

Yeah, I know it's boring to you. That's why it's a separate blog.
- posted by k @ 10:39 AM

 
Animated News
1. Finally got around to reading last week's interview with Matt Groening over at The Onion AV Club. There are going to be 4 new direct-to-DVD feature-length Futurama movies! !!! Now that's something to look forward to. (Be careful reading the interview, since he's clearly jerking the interviewer around at some points. Perhaps he's doing so less clearly at other points?)

2. Of course, saw the trailer for the Simpsons movie a few weeks ago. Tantalizing and worrying. How many TV shows do you know that made a successful transition to feature-length movie? Sure, the Wild Dingleberries or whatever probably did pretty well at the box office, but that is not what I'm talking about and you know it. These things can be so disappointing--in direct proportion to how much you like the show. On the other hand, from the interview and his track record it sounds like the movie wouldn't be made unless they really had ideas for what to do with it. It will be interesting to see to what extent they spoof movie conventions and history since they do so much of that in the show already. (Just realized it doesn't seem to be coming out until 2007; the suspense will probably kill me).

3. Alison Bechdel said she'd have the new DTWOF comic up on her blog today, but it's not up yet. Hopefully it will be soon. An exhibition at the Cartoon Art Museum in SF is be featuring her work. I have been wanting to visit that museum for some time now, and the exhibit looks very interesting. It closes June 1st, and May is going to be a busy month for me. Hope I make it.
- posted by k @ 1:30 PM