Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Wednesday In Japan... Yes, Hanshin Tigers !

Tucson son is visiting his brother, family and friends in Japan


Japanese son sent me this app so I could watch the flight.
And I did.


Walking in the Temple's bamboo forest.
I want to do this.

The sign says that the temple is a historical national monument
please don't walk dogs here.
awwwww no Square Dogs allowed.
yert !


This is really where I want to be, a Hanshin Tigers Baseball game.
I am a huge fan.
It was raining off and on, everyone stayed.
They lost (again) bummer.
Family buys bentos next to the stadium and beer at the game. Perfect !
Photos are from Tucson and Japanese son.
I wish I was there.

..................
Subliminal Coffee has been posting about movies.
Ones that she likes, disliked and wants to see.
One movie she wants to see is "33 Postcards" (coming soon to netflix) which got me thinking about three movies that I have on my Netflix list and one extra.

Afterlife... Japanese 1999
Hirokazu Koreeda
When I lived in California I had two Asian TV channels (LA) to watch on Cox cable. In Tucson on my "basic" comcast cable I have almost as many Hispanic channels as English but not one Asian channel, even on their premium package. But I do get the Chicago (WGN) channel ? which I do watch every once in awhile.
 I miss the LA channels very much, I was able to watch many interesting and different  movies.
Thank goodness for Netflix !

I watched this movie 13 years ago.
With any movie you watch you bring what is happening to you at that moment
or your personal history.
I think being raised Catholic had much to do with how I viewed this movie and why I still think about it long after the CGI's of Summer Blockbuster have been forgotten.
How sad that I never thought I would go strait to heaven but would end up in purgatory first, working off all my sins so this movie was very interesting to me.
I missed the first few minutes so it took a few moments to figure out what was happening.
You are at a  "station" between heaven and hell. People who have just died are helped by guides to remember their memories and pick one defining moment in their life. This moment will be recreated and then they will take it heaven. It is their only memory that they move on with.
I don't want to tell more (you are just dropped in the story) but for me it was very suprising how I felt after watching this quiet movie.

Next on my list.
Still Walking... Japanese,  2008
Hirokazu Koreeda 
A death in the family of a favorite son still weighs on the family 15 years later.
The movie centers on yearly gathering to commmemorate his death.
I like the directors work and many of the actors in this movie and from what I have read it sound very interesting.

And just so you don't think I am always thinking of death.
Third on my list
Good Morning... Japanese 1959
Yasujiro Ozu
I have read and heard much about this film off and on for many years
and have wanted to see it for a long time.
Tokyo in the 1950, social structure, culture and two little boys.
The boy are constantly bugging their parents for a TV.  The parents finely tell the boys to stop talking and  they do and how it affect the family and the people around them in different ways.

A film I saw it in 2006.

Riding Alone For Thousands Of Miles, China  2005
Yimou Zhang
 An aging Japanese father tries to re-connect with his dying son. He travels thousands of miles in China to finish a film his son was working on and didn't finish.
Understated and quiet film.

ummmmmmm I think you can tell I am not a "Twilight" film person.
I have a very eclectic list of movies on my queue, watching "The Girls From Paris" French 2001, but NO sparkly vampires please.

As I said, I have seen the first movie and will watch it again
and I wonder if I will see and feel about it that same way after all this time.
The next two are next up on my Queue.
The last one I watched before.

movies. . . parsnip
music. . . 10 Mile Stereo,  Beach house







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23 comments:

  1. Looks like fun.

    Hugs and chocolate,
    Shelly

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  2. The baseball stadium looks nice, but I think walking in the bamboo forest would be awesome!

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    Replies
    1. I have always wanted to walk in a bamboo forest

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  3. Nifty, thanks for the movie descriptions.

    I always wanted to have noodles at a Japanese baseball game! Such good wa!

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  4. i had a friend (she died tragically at 40!) whose brother played for that japanese team. he is retired now.

    smiles, bee
    xoox

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    Replies
    1. That is so sad to hear. One of my favorite neighborhood restaurants owner use to be a Hanshin Tiger till he blew out his arm.

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  5. Afterlife sounds like it would make a brilliant short story. p, this was an excellent post, not only for the descriptions of the films but for the bit of background on your spirituality which influences how you view them.

    Also, that app is amazing. Just amazing where we are as a species, today.

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    Replies
    1. Thank You, just a quick description of some films that I am interested in. Not quite the in depth reviews you have been posting.
      I am not a practicing Catholic but I think I will be in purgatory for a long time to absolve all my sins.

      I am amazed by the app, how can we do all these amazing things ? It was so exciting to watch his flight.

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  6. No Square Dogs allowed?

    Unacceptable!

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    Replies
    1. awwwwwwww, they would like just hanging out anywhere + chicken strips !

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  7. Your son's plane is going toward the Aleutian Islands. You actually forced me to find an online map of the world, and then an online map of the Northern Pacific, to see the relationship between those islands and Japan. As I thought, the Aleutians are to the north of Japan. So, was your son's plane just going there to refuel? Do all air trips to Japan from the West Coast take that route?

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    Replies
    1. No refueling just the way they fly and yes all fights are take that route as far as I know. Don't know if there is a California, Hawaii Japan flight.
      I love maps so I am happy you found some to look at.

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  8. The sign shows a brown dog, so maybe black dogs are ok?
    No American movies on your list?

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    Replies
    1. Not so sure about my Square Dogs as much as I love them !

      My Netflix is filled with movies I can't find in the US. So that means Independent and Foreign films.
      The film "33 Postcards" started our post about movies we want to see but can't. "33 Postcards" (Australia) does have a few cities it is playing in but I would rather not drive to Phoenix, the only city near me.
      The same with "The Kings Of Summer" I want to hope it will be shown somewhere near me.
      Tucson does have a great Independent Movie Theater but with two screens it can only show a limited amount of films.
      I do have some American films I liked or want to see on my Netflix but right off hand I can't think of any on my list at the moment.

      Argo= finally at my 3 dollar theater ! can't wait
      Iron Man 3 = wait for TV
      Star Trek = so board wait for late night TV
      Great Gatsby = ????
      Hangover 111 = OMG hell no !
      Fast and Furious 6 = there is not enough space
      OZ = disaster
      I love scifi
      Oblivion = I would watch this EXCEPT refuse to watch Tom Cruise in any movie
      Pacific Rim = yes please
      I even liked Battleship the only person in the US who did.
      just watch "Men In Black 3" on my Netflix and loved it
      so you see I am all over the place.


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  9. Sometimes I watch the wind in my garden go through the horsetail reeds and I imagine it as a bamboo forest where I'm lost. Great photos and the Netflix reviews are awesome. Thanks. I like.

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  10. OMG !
    I used to have horsetails in one of my Laguna Beach homes (the one that burned down) and I always imagined I was walking through them too. Not lost but just walking.

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  11. «Louis» will check back later today to see what The Square Black Ones® have been up to...
    :-)

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  12. I don't want to go anywhere that won't accept a Square Dog!

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