Eye Candy

One of the unique things I love about Taiwan is how you almost feel like you are looking at two places at once. When in a certain area or district, you will see buildings, homes, construction sites, et cetera, in the foreground, but beyond that in the background are mountains that look farther away than they probably are. Here are some photos I took in the Shilin district in northern Taipei.

This first one was taken from the platform of the Jiantan MRT train station.





Same spot, but the photo above is looking one direction and the photo below is looking the opposite direction.


Jason

Gettin' Whacked

Several months ago when I gave my first demo at this cram school, I was shocked to see a guy walking up and down the aisle with a giant stick. He would use it to tap students on the shoulder if they weren't paying attention or doing homework from another class. After teaching there for a while, I got used to it. I even got used to whenever a student got whacked on the hand. I guess depending on the seriousness of what they did, they get whacked on either the palm, the back of the hand, or the wrist. I don't know which hurts worse, and I don't want to know.

Like I said, I was surprised to see this at first, but I eventually got used to it. You learn not to let the occasional whack interrupt your class. When I told Wei or some other Taiwanese about it, they looked a little surprised. I guess most cram schools are phasing this out. I never really liked the fact that this was happening and felt that it just distracts the students more when Mr. Ramrod is walking up and down the rows carrying his Stick of Discipline while I'm trying to teach.

I never liked it until today.

Yes, it's a bunch of Junior High kids who don't care and think that their dramas come before their education. Everyone went through that. But when I tell everyone to repeat after me, then repeat, dammit! When I write aisle on the board and ask you how to pronounce this word because you keep screwing it up, then don't be a smart-ass and say, "apple."

When that happened I just stared at him. The teaching assistant ran over and told him to stand up. He became one of many in the classroom standing there waiting for the Bludgeon of Retribution. And finally it came.

Whack! Whack! Whack! Whack! Whack!

Suddenly they were more than happy to repeat.

Jason

I. . . SAW. . . BEOWULF!!!

And I really enjoyed it. I'm not going to get into a rant about whether or not technology has ruined animation, if mocap is really animation, where is Walt when you need him, blah, blah, blah. I'm getting sick of reading all of these 2D versus 3D debates on the message boards. What about the topics that matter? Like the fact that Dreamworks still wants to make two more Shrek movies? Or how they were trying to make a G.I.Joe movie without Cobra? Or how organic web shooters turned out to be a good idea? Seriously, people. Get a life!

Story. First of all, if you think this is the Cliffs Notes version of the epic poem, then of course you won't like it. If you want to know the real story, then read the book. This is definitely epic, but more like Transformers epic. The story never really dragged, and I never thought to check the time.

Characters. For once the hero isn't the lamest character in the movie. Beowulf is such an arrogant, pompous ass, that not even Angelina Jolie and her terrible accent can overshadow this hero. Sure, he exaggerates how many monsters he's fought and how big they were, but that doesn't mean that the man is any less brave.

Wealthow was not as useless as I was afraid she would be, although I didn't think putting her in danger near the end of the film was necessary. She didn't need to be a damsel in distress.

The character I probably liked the most was Wiglaf. This was the kind of character that you know has a long history with Beowulf. He is aware of Beowulf's flaws, but still remains loyal.

Grendel was awesome, although I didn't feel any sympathy for him when he died. I almost feel that the scene with his mother before he died wasn't meant to garner sympathy, but to show us just how ridiculously over-the-top this movie was going to get.

Animation. The one thing that I wish they wouldn't have done was make some of the characters look like their actors. It was distracting in the beginning of the film when they introduced Hrothgar (Anthony Hopkins) and Unferth (John Malkovich) because I knew who these actors were. I eventually got used to it and found myself wrapped up in the story. Then they introduce Angelina Jo--I mean Grendel's mother. That was distracting. If you can't tell, I'm not a fan.

Most of the time the animation was the kind of fluid you would expect from mocap. However, there were times when the animation was a little choppy, and you could tell it's because these were scenes that were animated from scratch or tweaked.

Another distracting thing were the lip movements. They were a little too subtle and almost looked like bad lip synching. Also, none of the characters could look straight ahead or at each other. They were able to get some nice expressions through eyebrows, foreheads, and mouths. Most of the time they just looked blind.

It isn't perfect, but it is still a hell of a lot better than Polar Express. The biggest problem I had with that movie was the lack of expressions and the number of characters Tom Hanks played. Just knowing that a different actor was used as a voice and model for each character makes Beowulf a lot richer.

Overall, I enjoyed it. Although I would probably only recommend it to people who are really curious about where this technology is going. It isn't the future of film, but it is definitely going somewhere.

Jason

Meet the Prez

On our way to lunch today, Wei and I were walking past the Mackay Hospital. We noticed a lot of fancy black cars and police officers. We were wondering what the big deal was as we were being rerouted around the cars and cops. As we walked past, we looked into the hospital and saw what the big deal was. Taiwan's president Chen Shui-bien was walking out with his entourage of about twenty men dressed in suits.

I don't know what he was doing there. Maybe he was getting a checkup after this nasty little episode.

It was exciting. This is my second time seeing a president in person. The first time was George Bush the First when he visited Enid, OK--er, I mean, Chicago. Because I grew up in Chicago. Yeah.

Jason

Gobble Gobble!

Jason

Hello

Usually when one of my students sees me on the sidewalk or in the halls, he or she will acknowledge me. The junior high and high school students say, "Hello, Jason," while the elementary students say, "Hi, teacher."

Today a student came up to me and said, "Hello Moto."

Well, I thought it was funny. I guess you had to be there.

Jason

Queen of Subtlety

Before leaving for the day on Sunday, I talked to one of the grade school elementary teachers, basically telling her that I don't think a lot of the students are learning anything. Most of them just listen to the CD that comes with their book and memorize that. They don't bother reading what they see. So when I point to I'm going to school, they go through what they have memorized and hope what they say is correct: This is my sister. I have a pen. Where is the monkey?

After telling the teacher my concern and some possible solutions, she nodded her head like she understood what I was talking about. Then she pointed to one of the students and started talking about him. Everything she said about him was right. He isn't a good student. Instead of speaking he just grunts, hoping that is close enough. As bad a student as he is, I started to feel sorry for him as I was talking to the teacher. She kept pointing to him and looking at him as she spoke. And he saw it all!

A problem I have with a lot of the young female populace in Taiwan is that they do a really good job at covering up just how subtle they are trying to be. Let me explain.

Whenever the teachers (or just about any of the ladies on the train) are talking about me, they get really close to each other, cover up their mouths, and whisper to each other. Now that would be fine. In fact covering up their mouths isn't even necessary because I can't read lips in Chinese. But no, that isn't enough for them. As they whisper and cover their mouths with one hand, they stare at me and point to me with their other hand. Then they're shocked when I ask them if they need to talk to me.

THAT'S REALLY SUBTLE!!!

Poor Wang Li Chen (aka Bill). Imagine watching as one of your teachers points, stares, and talks about you with a less than friendly look on her face. I don't see it doing anything for his self-esteem. The little guy (well, not that little, the bastard could stand to lose a few pounds) probably feels like he is being picked on.

If you feel sorry for Bill, then send him a letter and let him know that he isn't being picked on. His address is 67 Angping Rd, 5F, Taipei 10051 Taiwan. Or call him at 02-3375-9837 and tell him that he has no reason to be paranoid.

Jason