A New Year’s Reunion by Yu Li-Qiong.  Illus. by Zhu Cheng-Liang.  (2011).  ).  Pages not numbered.  Candlewick Press.  Ages 5-8.  Picture Book.

For young Maomao Chinese New Year is particularly special because it means her Papa will be home.  He builds houses “in faraway places,” and only come home once a year.  Together the family celebrates with new clothes for little Maomao and Mama, a haircut for Papa, making and eating sticky rice balls, finding a good luck coin in the sticky rice balls, visiting friends, making repairs on the house, listening to fire crackers, and watching the dragon dance.  The colorful, detailed illustrations expand the story.  The backgrounds show contemporary streets in China and the festive decorations for the New Year’s celebrations.  The use of red and patterns in the character’s clothing sparks the illustrations.  Some illustrations are splashed across two pages with no text to show larger scenes like the dragon dancers animating the vivid dragon.  The illustrator has a special talent for showing the characters’ emotions.  This book was first published in China and received an award for the best Chinese Children’s Picture book.  The illustrations were also recognized by the New York Times as one of the Best Illustrated Books of 2011.

Crouching Tiger by Ying Chang Compestine.  Illus. by Yan Nascimbene.  (2011).  Pages not numbered.  Candlewick Press.  Ages 5-8.  Picture Book.

When his Grandpa visits from China, Vinson is fascinated as he watches him practice tai chi.  Grandpa knows English but he wants to speak in Chinese to his grandson and uses his grandson’s Chinese name, Ming Da.  The boy learns tai chi from Grandpa but is disappointed because he is just learning poses and not the kung fu moves he hoped for.  A small drawing under the text illustrates and names each pose.  The story ends with the Chinese New Year parade when Ming Da gets to participate in leading the lion dancers.  Grandpa compliments his grandson and tells him that he has potential to learn the martial arts beginning with tai chi if he is willing to make a serious commitment and work hard for many years.  An Author’s Note at the end explains more about the two major schools of martial arts and the Chinese New Year holiday.  Large size illustrations using ink and watercolors are opposite each page of text.  This book would be excellent for reading aloud in the classroom because the children can easily see the pictures.

To me, the idea exists purely as an abstraction. It’s a kind of terrible and calculated act beyond imagining; an evil far exceeding any crime of passion. Ethnic destruction or genocide is cold and calculating by definition. A dead, efficient precision is required, such that innumerable people are to be erased from this plane of existence as casually as one would erase numbers from a spreadsheet. The term ‘genocide’ seems to be too sedate and too unfeeling to represent what we’re talking about here.

My perception of what the concept of ‘ethnic cleansing’ can actually entail has changed drastically over the years. My first brush with this distinctly human evil was, like most, the Holocaust. While the tragedy is obviously beyond imaging, I am still met with the vague sense that when evil rose up, it was fought – that whatever good there was in the world stood up. Now, this could be purely as a result of some rather clever historical narrative construction, or a program of nationalistic indoctrination. Nonetheless I still feel like that sickening chapter has been stamped out and sterilised; a definitive end has been reached. We analysed, we abhorred, we learnt and we moved on.

Strangely, it wasn’t this particular genocide that had a long-lasting effect on me. Back in high school I read “A Problem From Hell: America and the Age of Genocide” (which was unfortunately not part of the school curriculum.) It was in those pages that I began to appreciate just how many attempts at ethnic cleansing there had been in the last century. More surprising still was the fact that very few people knew about most of them (or at least the people I came into contact with) – you’d think this kind of stuff might form a blip on their radar. It seemed pretty important to me. Most depressingly, some instances of genocide seemed miserably avoidable, with evidence of complicity on behalf of supposedly ‘good’ governments.

The Rwandan genocide of 1994 was the prime example. Reading about all the bullshit political in-action surrounding that disgraceful failure of humanity is enough to make one sick. Since then I have held the view that a politician’s posturing on human rights is little more than just a strategic and calculated risk of self-interest. Governments seem to lack a definite sense of morality. They will fail the standards given to them, and they cannot be relied on to take a pro-active approach.

Now days, I mark the reading of that book as one the defining moments of my 25 years of life – and I would encourage you to read it to. That book set me off on a path of passionate exploration for answers. It made me think that inaction, distraction and ignorance might not be a legitimate reason for apathy. It made me aware of the enormous, gaping chasm between political rhetoric and action.

Thanks to a recent experience, I can now point to another moment that pierced my soul to its very core. In October of 2011, a slight woman named Rebiya Kadeer took her place in a podium before me. There in a room of some few hundred people, Rebiya began to talk about the plight of the Uyghur people – who I had never heard of. The Uyghur’s are an ethnic group indigenous to Central Asia who have been and are still today brutally repressed by the Chinese government.

Prior to her talk, I had held the assumption that, in this day of plentiful technology and content creation, most important world events are known, reported and broadcast. Perhaps that assumption exposes an element of naivety on my behalf, because it would necessitate a major change in the dynamics of world politics and media since those pitiful events in east Africa in 1994. In any case, 90 minutes later my delusive assumption was promptly erased.

Rebiya Kadeer suffered a fate common to her people. She was arrested for doing little more than trying to stand up for her fundamental rights as a human being. Rebiya told us all how she had accepted she was going to die. She had been tortured, starved, beaten and put in solitary confinement. The odds of survival were so pathetically minute as to be laughed at. She was explicitly told by guards “you will die in this dark cell, and when you die we will bury you right here and we’ll step on your body every day”.

One day she was taken from solitary confinement into a slightly nicer cell. This baffled her. How could it be possible? Then she noticed the guards began treating her a little better. Finally, some men in fancy suits came and, after making her swear she would never be politically active, released her from prison. It turns out she was released thanks to the letter-writing campaign of Amnesty International. That is all well and nice and should make us all feel warm and fuzzy (rather than counting the hundreds of thousands who remain unsaved), but this isn’t my point either.

Rebiya went on to describe the situation for Uyghur’s in China. The description of their plight made me totally reassess the ‘mere’ measure of cultural destruction through mass murder. What I discovered was something far more abhorrent. Uyghur’s are not simply repressed. They are not even simply massacred openly (which, considering their situation that might even be seen as a blessing to some), though to be sure there are massacres. The Chinese government is not simply out to murder, they are out to systematically obliterate the Uyghur people and everything they represent – their culture; their language; their traditions; their religion; their land; their wealth; their songs and their very souls. To me this seems a much deeper evil.

Once the Uyghur’s land was occupied by China their property was and then given to Chinese settlers – who are still today shipped in by the tens of thousands to dominate the region. Next, they destroyed their education system and forced the entire population into communist re-education. They publically humiliated their religious leaders and their traditions as part of atheistic Communist indoctrination. In an effort to erase history, the Chinese authorities captured and killed all the Uyghur intellectuals who could or would dispute the new Chinese history of events. They attempted to cloak the Uyghur people in a veil of Orwellian ignorance, while portraying themselves and civilisers, out to save a backwards people.

Single, attractive young Uyghur women are regularly rounded up to be used for slave labour, shipped off to other parts of China. The Uyghur language is officially banned from use for any purpose. Their ancient cities and monuments of stone – some with over 3,000 years of history – are being demolished. Naturally, many have fled their homeland as refugees. As a result, the Chinese government declared that Uyghur’s are not allowed to have passports.

It seems stupidly obvious to point out that the Uyghur’s cannot say how they really feel. To do so will get them jailed or killed. They enjoy close to no human rights at all. Their culture has a very strong musical tradition. It is through song that their utmost joys of their people are expressed – but even this is not sacred for the Chinese government. Song-writers, performers and other artistic or cultural icons are specifically targeted for murder, humiliation and re-education.

But it gets worse still. Not only are prominent musicians targeted, but the Chinese government actively steals the songs of the Uyghur people – including their most cherished and ancient folk songs. The lyrics of their songs are changed into pro-Chinese celebrations. Through state education the government then goes on to claim that these are traditional songs of the Chinese people, rather than of the Uyghur’s.

They do this on a commercial scale as well. Remember Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon? Well, that soundtrack is made up of Uyghur songs that have been tweaked and repackaged as representative of Chinese culture, such that that movie is literally part of a wider plan to eradicate any semblance of Uyghur culture or people.

This ongoing process of intimidation, indoctrination, indiscriminate and targeted murder, terrorism and cultural destruction is simply beyond imagining. One can only imagine how deeply wounded you would feel growing up under 50+ years of Chinese rule. One can only imagine what it would be like for a child to be born a Uyghur, having to learn their people’s customs, religion and culture under shadow – if at all. How would it feel to never feel like you knew your identity – that your very identity was an object of ridicule?

Prior to any Chinese national holiday it is traditional for authorities to execute anywhere from 5 to 10 Uyghur’s from every major town as a warning to anyone who might think it a good time to stand up for their people. The oppression is monotonous, relentless and largely indiscriminate; aimed at crushing the very being of a peaceful, pacifist and deeply serene people.

Take the worst you know about the horrible repression of Tibetans — but then imagine it WITHOUT the global spotlight and recognition of their plight. All of this takes place under shadow, while the international community at large remains ignorance or disinterested. Again, I am quite proud to say that Amnesty International is the first organisation to report on the plight of the Uyghur people under Chinese rule.

Rebiya’s impossibly brave talk gave me a deeper understanding of the scale of evil in this world. I’ve seen the shockingly huge amount that people can get away with in a certain set of circumstance. Moments such as these long shattered any childish belief in an all-powerful arbiter of good to place the world in perfect order and harmony.

Everyone in the world comes at sometimes to suffering. Our defining feature as members of the human race is how we respond to it; do we lose all hope? Do we eradicate all love? Or do we face the bare facts of reality, and try to begin anew building from the bottom up? It would still seem that the Uyghur’s – like the Tibetans – are still singing their songs in shadow and practicing their devout spiritual beliefs underground. However I can’t help but feel that justice is ever likely to be done.

As a final addendum it is worth noting that Rebiya is frequently threatened by Chinese authorities – often against the lives of her children and grandchildren. In spite of these threats, she is not silent.

Metcon
Crouching Tiger- compare to sept 5th and May 31st
50 Squats
25 Pushups
50 Pistols- partitioned as necessary between legs
25 Fingertip push-ups
50 Walking Lunges
25 Diamond Push-ups

Announcements:
Avalon will be hosting an in house competition, sign up here. For more information, check out this post, or our event page.

Hub Freerunning is coming to Avalon to teach parkour basics! Sign up for our 90 minute clinic on February 18th, and check out our event page!

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Feel the charm of Chinese kungfu at http://www.istarin.com/upload/Crouching+Tiger%2C+Hidden+Dragon+%282000%29+_20111207040336A8BBC00D0000B519.html

First up was Darren
He made a number of great point but the main one came down to this:

The Word Count is the Main Thing.

(ok I missed most of his talk because I was chatting outside to my friend Valerie who runs the Centre, but I know this was the message because it was up on the board in Big Bold Letters).

Some of his other (and excellent) points included:

* You aren’t in this alone (which I can testify as being true from my own experience)
* Ignore the internal editor and just write
* Enjoy yourself (what is the point otherwise)
* If you can’t write this, write something else (if you get stuck, move to the bit you know).

Animated Discussion

Naomi
Next up was Naomi who is doing NaNoWriMo for the 7th time. (the mind boggles). Her record of words in a day is 15,000 which she did the first time during her first NaNo and she has done 10K on the first day for the last 4 years.

Her wisdom is summed up:

* It’s not easy
* You have to make yourself sit down and write.
* Make sure you have times when you are not thinking about writing. Watch Star Trek, go for a walk or whatever it is.
* Getting behind isn’t the end of the world
* Ignore the NaNo stats that say when you’ll finish, focus on how many words per day you need to get there. You can do it.

Alex
There was no missing the enthusiasm that poured out of Alex. He has set himself a huge goal this year to try and reach 1/2 million words. To get there he needs to write 80,000 in 13 days. He acknoweldged that he might not make it and sometimes you need to reschedule goals.

He agreed with Naomi: plonk your butt in the chair and type. (it was a common theme).

His favourite dirty little tricks? Keep asking what happens now? Keep asking why? Find something to write about even if it’s a change of direction.

Ray
Ray explained that the 50,000 target came about because in the US anything less is considered a Novella not a Novel. In Australia a novel has to be 60,000 words. This is interesting but as he wisely pointed out The real target is the act of actually writing.

In my experience this is completely dead on. The most useful part of this whole exercise has been that it forced me to put my butt in the chair and actually write something.

He then told us how he got married at the end of October last year thinking that he could use the time on his honeymoon in Tasmania to write. Ahem. Wonder if he discussed that with his wife beforehand. Of course no one had to guess how that went and how much he had to do in the last week to actually make it. Here’s a tip for the boys: Honeymoons are NOT the time to schedule activities that involve you ignoring your spouse for hours and hours on end

A few of Ray’s tips and observations:

* We are all excited about our novels when they are working. Not so much when they aren’t.
* Some writer’s write start to finish, sometimes you need to shake that up
* Same time/place works for a lot of writers as it gets their brain in the right gear
* Your NaNo does not have to be a completely formed story, it can be a bunch of stuff you’l fix later (which is exactly what mine will be)
* Writing lets you create and that is a wonderful thing.

I really agree with this last one as I’ve never felt very creative but writing is an artform and it’s one that can be learned and improved over the years. You might not be a genius who turns out a world-stunning masterpiece the first time out but you can learn how to do good solid work you are proud of.

Ray had a number of quotes and here are a couple of them:
“I think I did pretty well considering I started out with a pile of blank paper.” – Steve Martin

“Writing is like driving a car at night. You only see as far as your headlights go, but you can make the whole trip that way.”
― E.L. Doctorow

Ray’s best piece of advice? FINISH! Finishing NaNoWriMo is a special kind of high. The harder the effort, the greater the achievement.

Tony
Tony, a Canadian transplant, has already published and is a NaNo vet. His message was clear:

* Don’t let this be the only thing you write. Even if it’s complete crap, write another and another. That’s how you learn.

If you get stuck: Work out where you want to be and then ask what needs to happen to get there (work backwards if necessary).

We discussed Pinch Points and the point in the middle that changes everything. In fact, he has noticed in several Lee Childs books there is a character that actually says “this changes everything!”

He drew some magical things on the board that I wont’ replicate here because you can find them on his site here.

Snacks!

He also recommended checking out Storyfix.com

Finally Rose, who is both a fellow NaNoer as well as the organise of this gathering spoke a little bit about the rhythm of writing. People think in 3s and 5s so that’s how stories are divided up (I didn’t know this but it makes sense when you think about remembering numbers).

Then we talked about the 4 Act story (5 points breaking down to 4 acts). It was also pointed out that this is a very western thing as Asian fiction is different. Rose (who apparently is a font of knowledge) told us that Chines music has 5 notes in an Octave while Western music has 8. They do not have the lead to a climax the same way that we do. Look at Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon as an example of how Eastern storytelling differs to Western.

If you are interested in plotting, the Sydney Writer’s Centre has a course that covers just that. I happen to be doing it on the 28th so look out for my review in December. (Though based on previous course I’ve done, it’ll be excellent).

After that we somewhat devolved into a discussion about WrittenKitten.net (and LOLCats, which is really hard to explain to someone who hasn’t seen it), munching on snacks and talking about our books.

All in all it was excellent. Thanks to the Sydney Writers’ Centre for Hosting.

Crouching Tiger was ahead of its time in the effects department but after seeing all the special effects in movie’s nowadays it seemed a little ancient. Most of the tumbles and fight scenes were supported by wires that allowed the actors to give off the effect that they were flying. In today’s movies this could have been done simply by CGI but I think that is what makes the movie such a classic because they kept it simple with live stunts. The movie itself accomplished so much at the box office “becoming the highest-grossing foreign-language film in American history.” It also won an Academy award for the best Foreign film of the year along with three other academy awards. The story behind the film was very interesting involving princess’s, ancient swords and tons of different karate fighting styles. Actor Chow Yun-Fat did a good job at being the leading star and this film seemed to have broken the door open for him to do other major roles in Hollywood. The beautiful leading actress Zhang Ziyi did a great job at being the misguided protege to the Jade Fox and showed her fighting skills while going toe to toe with Chow Yun-Fat. The movie had a great deal of dialogue in order to make it more then your average karate flick, which I’m sure gave it the extra star power it needed in order to accomplish being one of the best foreign films ever made.

There were also underlying themes in the movie that allowed the director to deal with issues that even plague our society today. The green sword that Chow Yun-Fat swore to protect was off limits to women. The Jade fox was one of the best fighters in China and she was not even allowed to learn from the power of the green fighting sword. Even her young protege who was a princess had limitations in the film because she was not allowed to be free and on her own since she was a young woman. This eventually built up to her small stint living on her own in the desert with a paid assassin who she fell in love with. The gender limitations in the film gave us a little insight on the chinese culture on how they felt about women becoming legendary warriors.

I give this film an A overall and it should be watched by as many people as possible. The film broke barriers in Hollywood showing us that a kung fu movie can be more then just fight scenes and have a good plot with plenty of dialogue.

My Daily Dose of Happiness: Choose to think happy thoughts.
Even if you aren’t normally a happy person, thinking happy thoughts is a skill that can be learned.  Work on being open, being an optimist, choosing to think positive thoughts, and seeing the proverbial glass half full rather than half empty. – Courtesy of 365 Ways to Live Happy: Simple Ways to Find Joy Every Day, Meera Lester

Today was hard for a lot of reasons: high expectations set by staying up late last night and dreaming of the journey ahead, a ridiculously stressful day at work that I took too much to heart, and the sun never made it out today.  I used to not believe people when they said the weather was an important factor in your mood, but now in my wise old age I believe it.  A cloudy, grey day does its best to dampen your spirits.

Mid-way through the day I thought there is no way I am going to be able to swallow my Daily Dose of Happiness – again, another pessimistic thought to add to the pile – totally in direct contrast to the task at hand to think happy thoughts.  But then a co-worker crossed my path and reminded me happiness is possible.

M.W. is a walking example of optimism and happiness.  Not the oozing out of her pores to the point of annoyance type, but the kind that is subtle and constant and real.  She crossed my path at just the right moment and encouraged me to open up…and I did (aha…checkmark one aspect of the task.)  It wasn’t something I planned to do, but with her encouragement and subtle hints I opened up and let out some of the tension and pain that has had me grinding my teeth day and night.  It felt good.  It was divine intervention she stepped in when she did and it was the push I needed to keep moving forward throughout the rest of the day.

So while the entire day was not what I would call a complete success, it was a promise of what can be if I try a little harder and open myself up to possibilities and positive thoughts.  The tip states “thinking happy thoughts is a skill that can be learned” and I agree.  It is a skill that I can’t completely master today, but over the next week, month or, say 365 days it’s a skill that I will strive to improve.  Hey, isn’t that an optimistic thought?? 

Oh, and on a much lighter note, I must share a funny from last night.  I went to my very first yoga class.  For years I have heard yoga is THE answer to conquering your daily stress; it will increase your flexibility and bring you closer to a Zen-like state.  I thought it would be a great way to push myself beyond my comfort zone and highlight my new journey.  My employer was offering a chance to attend free classes for the month as part of their wellness program, so I thought like so many other things, why wait any longer?

I showed up a few minutes before class started with my new purple yoga mat in hand.  Even the annoying plastic-y smell of the mat didn’t phase my excitement.  The instructor arrived and asked if there were any new students to which I raised my hand and informed her it was my very first class.  She told me not to worry and to follow at my own pace and then she welcomed everyone to…Power Yoga.  That should have been my first clue.

Within minutes there was no doubt I was in big trouble.  She was contorting her body into positions I did not know were possible and then seemed to support the entire weight of her body on just a tiny toe or a few fingers, all while talking in a monotone whispered voice with spiritual-like music drifting in the background.  She would use phrases like “step into your downward facing dog” or “move into your half moon pose.”  Every time she introduced a new move the phrase “crouching tiger, hidden dragon” played over and over again in my head. I found myself on the verge of tears, partially from the oddity and hilariousness of it all and partly from my sheer frustration of not being able to flex and contort my body into all of the varying poses.  For someone who has now gone through not one, but 2 knee surgeries and apparently has zero flexibility left, Power Yoga was probably not my best choice.  But oh to have had a video of my performance – just thinking about what I tried to put my body through makes me laugh even now!

Hey – the positive, happy thought of it all – I didn’t quit and run out of the room like I wanted to.  And believe it or not, I am pretty sure I am going to finish out the classes left in September.  Talk about seeing the glass half full!

Oh, and last but not least – my quote of the day (I love quotes, can’t get enough of ‘em): You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great. Zig Ziglar

No matter which programming set you use, we will continue to lift heavy, and keep giving you the finest 15 minutes of your day!

Monday, September 5th

Strengthcon: For Quality
5×10 Snatch (or snatch balance for new people)
5×10 Lemon Squeezers

Crouching Tiger: For Time
Compare to Tues, May 31st

“Crouching Tiger”
50 Squats
25 Pushups
50 Pistols
25 Fingertip Pushups
50 Side Lunges
25 Knuckle Pushups
50 Walking Lunges
25 Diamond Pushups

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Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2478873625/

Sorry the Journal was posted out of order.  Had to do with the hacking of word press.  Will diligently try to keep days in numerical order from now on!

Sunshine, rainbows and lollipops are oozing from every orifice.   I give it 48 hours, someone else chimes in with 2 weeks.  Foolish optimist!

Again, stealing a quote from Crouching Tiger:  “It’s the end of the world as I know it and I feel fine.”  Truer words may have never been spoken!

Don’t hold your breath.

“the smallest oceans still have big big waves”

BLOOD: THE LAST VAMPIRE (2009)

Are you a bit sick of the waste of time that is called Twilight? Have you actually had enough of vampire movies in general? Well let me tell you fellow Spaniels and bipeds too that there is a movie I saw recently that has restored my faith in the vampire movie. Blood: The Last Vampire, imagine if ‘Sin City’, met ‘House of Flying Daggers’ and had a child called ‘Dark City’ and you have a brief overview of what you would be witnessing. Daddy let me watch this instead of sitting in the cage, mainly because I think he was scared of the vampires. Anyway let me track back a bit

This is the story of a young (looking) girl, Saya, who happens to be a vampire hunting vampire, it follows her desire to exact revenge on chief vampire/demon Onegin and how these two enormous characters come crashing into each others lives. The visuals are very much inspired by films like Sin City, Dark City and Roadhouse but have the beauty we associate with films like ‘Hero’ and ‘Crouching Tiger’. What makes this better than most though is that the story is well composed, deftly crafted in direction, dialogue left to a minimum and paced at just the right level so that you don’t feel as though you might die of boredom (Twilight) or worse that you are going to vomit from too much camera movement (Transformers).

There is no doubt that it’s bloody, the body count is high and that it is vicious almost to the point of ridiculous but it is also warm and generous and while relationships aren’t explored in too great a depth we get a sense of each of the key characters.

So how did this Spaniel find it? I loved it and if you find yourself an enjoyer of all things vampiric then this is a movie you must try. There are very few English language movies like this and it really does have a little bit of everything and with the added sex appeal of the lead actress, South Korean, Gianna Jun then this is a great way to spend a couple of hours. Enjoy!

This review refers to the live action version rather than the animated version (2000) Image © Beijing Happy Pictures Cultural Communications

YANGON (Reuters) – Authorities in Myanmar have deported Hollywood actress Michelle Yeoh who plans to play pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in an upcoming film, an immigration official said Tuesday. <source>

I guess when a repressive regime is really serious, actors are as bad as the people they play.

Anyway, let’s take this opportunity to celebrate Michelle Yeoh, whose martial arts skills and deeply nuanced facial gestures in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon blew my mind. I watched it again recently and her performance still delivers ecstasy (as does Chow Yun Fat’s performance and pretty much that of the whole cast). Just thinking the words “Green Destiny” gives me goose bumps.

Behold:

Yuen Woo-ping is a true legend in his own right.

The 66-year-old famed fight choreographer shaped Hong Kong action cinema. His films launched Jackie Chan’s career, and his martial arts sequences have made indelible impressions on audiences, including tree-top sword fights in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, back-bending,bullet-dodging sequences in The Matrix and samurai sword-swinging scenes in Kill Bill.

After a 15-year hiatus from the director’s seat, Yuen returns with True Legend, a saga about the Chinese folk character, Beggar Su, a master of drunken boxing. The year is 1861 and Su, a former general, spends his days practising wushu in the courtyard while his wife and son sing and draw. But his peace is destroyed when his evil foster brother, Yuan, murders their father.

Film and television star Vincent Zhao, who plays Su, has such a friendly face that his tirade against the killer is tantamount to a teacher giving a terse lecture. On the flip side, with his slate pallor and gold armour sewn into his flesh, Yuan (Andy On) looks like a cross between a video game super villain and a member of the Blue Man Group.

It becomes apparent that what Yuen really wanted to create was legendary fight scenes. He pits brother against brother on the edge of a roaring waterfall (Yuen actually constructed a set next to the Hukou Waterfall for this sequence). He pits Su against the God of Wushu, portrayed by Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou (The Green Hornet) in a series of lacklustre, computer-generated battles in a mountainous dream world.

But Yuen’s film is missing what its title promises: truth, with its inauthentic, superficial characters and then an icon, with its unsympathetic and kind of boring hero.

You never know whether Su’s fights with the God of Wushu are real or a figment of his very drunk and crazy imagination. You don’t connect with the man who would rather lament the loss of his wife in a wine-induced stupor than care for his son (though, as a spectator, I also grieved the death of the most expressive, most relatable character in the film, Ying, played by the lovely Zhou Xun).

Yuen also wastes Michelle Yeoh (who he directed in the fun 1994 film Wing Chun) and kung fu master Gordon Liu (who he choreographed in both Kill Bill films). In True Legend, Yeoh does little but mix medicine and take Su’s pulse and Liu does nothing but laugh annoyingly and observe Su during the requisite training montages.

The truly strange kicker in this epic is that Su’s clashes with the God of Wushu give him the skills to defeat his brother -with 30 minutes left to go in the film. With the main villain beaten black and, well, more blue, what is there left to do?

Yuen pits Su against the real enemies: fair-skinned foreigners, namely muscle monsters in a WWE-worthy brawl. Borrowing the clichéd idea from Jet Li’s Fearless (which he choreographed in 2006) and Donnie Yen’s Ip Man 2, Su must defend Chinese honour in an arena full of colonizers, personified in this case by David Carradine in one of his last film roles before his death.

The martial arts choreography is top-notch (bonus points for filming and lighting a fight scene in a snake pit); however, the clumsy inclusion of 3-D elements (the film shows in both 2-D and 3-D) may explain the gratuitous use of close-ups and slow-motion shots, such as Su and Yuan smashing a million jugs of wine in a cellar. Is this a wet T-shirt contest or a brawl?

To appreciate the legend of Yuen Woo-ping, one should skip this film and go back into the archives. 1½ stars

True Legend opens June 17 select theatres in Toronto and Vancouver.

This review was originally published in the National Post June 17, 2011.

Lifting belts can be useful at times- at other times, however, they prevent us from developing necessary core strength. A single rep max overhead lift is a great time to use a belt, it will support your back and prevent potential injury if your shoulder range of motion is limited. On a workout like today’s though, lifting belts shouldn’t be needed. We’re looking to hone our form and train our technique, not necessarily get huge weights over our heads. However, “should” is a funny word, and doesn’t always mean “is.” If you feel that you are leaning backwards, and feel any compression in your lower back, ask your trainer for a lifting belt, and how to secure it.

Strength: 4×10 Split Push Jerk from rack (no dropping!)
alternate w/ 4×10 Renegade Rows

Metcon (outside):

“Crouching Tiger”
50 Squats
25 Pushups
50 Pistols
25 Fingertip Pushups
50 Side Lunges
25 Knuckle Pushups
50 Walking Lunges
25 Diamond Pushups

P.S. Be a ninja!

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Your awesome admin #1 (more like #2), Wash Your Hands, here! As of late, I’ve been missing from the blog, and the reason… well, it’s nice out, who wants to just sit and write when you can be running around outside like a mad person chasing birds and other things? Nevertheless, one’s gotta do what one’s gotta do. So I’m back, and ready to be the awesome admin #1 (eh hem…#2) again.

So how will I do that? Well, Asian Movies, of course. East Asian (mainly Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese and Korean) movies to be more specific. We’ve all heard of the really famous ones (that were either subbed in English or remade) , such as ‘Hidden Tiger, Crouching Tiger’, ‘Hero’, ‘The Ring’, ‘Ju-On’, ‘My Sassy Girl’ and ‘A Tale of Two Sisters’. What about the other lesser known ones? That’s where I come in… introducing to you the  ‘East Asian movies you wouldn’t know unless you were East Asian’ corner. Haha.

So to start our new topic, we’ll begin with one of my favorite Asian movies, a Taiwanese movie called ‘Secret’ (不能說的秘密, ‘The Secret That Cannot Be Told’). Initially, I was reluctant to watch this film because a friend had tried to force me to watch it, but eventually, I sat down and watched the film, and then saw it again with some friends a few days later, saw it again a year or two later, and finally, watched it again with another friend. By the number of times I’ve seen it and when the film was released, I’ve averaged an annual viewing for the movie. So first things first, ‘Secret’ is directed by Jay Chou, musician turned director, who also stars in the movie along with Kwai Lun-Mei. The plot  is essentially about a music student, Ye Xianglun (Chou) who one day hears a mysterious piano melody that leads him to another music student, Lu Xiaoyu (Kwai) and a relationship develops between the two. And the rest of the story, you’ll either get by watching the movie or reading a more in-depth plot summary thereby spoiling the plot for yourself.

“Have you athletes heard of asthma?”
“What are you? Stupid?… That’s so easy, it’s a sort of cold.”
“Bull! You’re not even close! It’s a sport injury!“

So what makes the movie worth the annual watching? Well, for one, the plot twist is pretty good ( it wasn’t spoiled when I saw it the first time, so I thoroughly enjoyed the movie), but  I won’t detail it here, cause I don’t want to be the one to spoil it for you. Second, Kwai Lun-Mei is very good as the mysterious piano student, telling you enough to get to know her, but never enough to know about her; and Anthony Wong Chau-Sang does a great job of being the strict, but overall caring father who’s a little on the whimsical end with the guitar playing and the dancing. (Haha, I love the dancing scene between him and Chou) Third, the movie itself is pleasing to look at, and the music was fitting, especially the piano pieces, though I didn’t know any of them. In addition, the scenes with our two leads together did bring a smile to myself at times. One more thing, I’m not a big fan of movies as they’re too long, but I didn’t feel that ‘Secret’ was almost 2 hours, thus the pacing was good. All in all, go watch it.

If May 18 is your birthday,  life is filled with cultural expansions, travel, progressive activity and many independent changes that relate to your urge to be helpful and improve lifestyle conditions for everyone.  Your emotions run deep and a night’s rest is often disturbed by your affinity for solving problems in your sleep.  Money is a responsibility you respect and you dislike being told how to spend it.  Due to the burdens you adopt. marriage and long-term intimate relationships are difficult to maintain.  With perseverance, you succeed at everything you attempt.

In 2011, you are teeming with ideas, prepring for major changes while reflections of past relationships and ambitions fill your mind and disturb your sleep.  Expect success, self-realization and the respect of your peers.  Get set to release anyone or anything that you have outgrown and may slow your progress.  August focus is on money and material objectives; pay debts and receive rewards.  October has a surge of new activity, a change of mood and a faster tempo and forecasts the vibes of the incoming year.  Clean out your mental,  physical and spiritual closets and make room for a rebirth of ambitions in September 2012. 

In 2011 wear the color saffron to attract philosophical, artistic, spiritually awakened companions.               
Opal is your gem in 2011.
People whose names begin with the letters I and R are kindred spirits  in  2011.
Monday (alone) and Friday (with companions) are your lucky days of the week in 2011.

Your lottery numbers are: 3, 5, 9, 12, 21, 27.      

Celebrities born on May 18 are: Pierre Balmain (Fashion Designer), Frank Capra (Dirctor/”It’s A Wonderful Life”, “Arsenic and Old Lace“),  Perry Como (Singer), Diane E Duane (Sci-Fi Author/”Door Into Fire”), Tina Fey (Actor/Writer/Producer/”30 Rock”, Saturday Night Live”), Margot Fonteyn (Prima Ballerina), Duane Hickman (Actor/”Dobie Gillis”),  Reggie Jackson (Baseball), Pope John Paul II (Roman Catholic 264th Polish Pope), Matt Long (Actor), Bill Macy (Actor/”Maude”), Robert Morse (Actor/”Mad Men”), Nicholas II (Last Tsar of Russia), Fred Perry (Tennis Great),  Ezio Pinza (Actor/Operatic Bass), Parnell Roberts (Actor/”Bonanza”), George Strait (Country Singer), Big Joe Turner (Blues Singer/”Shake Rattle and Roll“), Meredith Wilson (Composer/”Music Man”), Kai Winding (Jazz Composer/Trombonist), Chow Yun-Fat (Actor/”Crouching Tiger,Hidden Dragon”).

 For your May 18 Life forecast order YOU ARE YOUR BIRTHDAY available at www.ellindodge.com \ click on BOOKS.  To see excerpts and to order books by Ellin Dodge:  NUMEROLOGY HAS YOUR NUMBER, YOU ARE YOUR FIRST NAME, YOU ARE YOUR BIRTHDAY, WIN THE LOTTERY! and FROM ACE TO ZUMMO  click on BOOKS at WWW.ELLINDODGE.COM now.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Now I know what most people think when I mention Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, “WIRE FU” probably comes to most people’s mind and rightfully so. This movie is chocked to the brim with so many wire fu action scenes that Bruce Lee would role in the grave, punch through his casket and break someone’s rib cage with a mighty kick but this movie is so much more than just wire fu. The plot line and fight scenes are epically engrossing, so much so that the wire action doesn’t even seem to matter once you start getting into it. I would also like to point out that just because there is tons of wires and high flying suspension of belief there is also absolutely stunning choreography and fight scenes that feature little to no wires at all. Take for instance the battle between Michelle Yeoh (always a personal favorite of mine) and Zhang Ziyi. This fight scene between these two women is probably the most action filled and gracefully scene of the entire movie. It is a fatal dance between the old and new and if you are into Martial Arts at all this movie is worth watching just for this scene alone. More importantly what you have with this movie is an immensely profound storyline rich with intrigue, action, love and more drama than you can shake a stick at. Overall whether or not you are a fan of Martial arts is irrelevant, I think this movie is a testament to good storytelling first and martial arts second. I won’t give away the ending but be prepared to be depressed. I would HIGHLY recommend this movie.

Get Low
For anyone that truly knows me they know that I am a junky for movies that are virtually unheard of. I love picking up movies that are in the bargain bin and getting them strictly on the basis of me knowing nothing about them and this movie is one of those purchases.This is probably the single most surprising movie I have ever seen in my life,not because of the plotline or story arcs but because of my own expectations for the movie.  This movie features an amazing cast with Robert Duvall, Bill Murray and Sissy Spacek as the main forerunners in a tale as big as the south itself and of course featuring names like Bill Murray and Robert Duvall you are thinking “Grumpiest Old Men”  but honestly this movie has a far more serious tone than I could have ever imagined and for it to be such a serious role Murray plays it perfectly. The plotline in its basics is about a hermit Felix bush being secluded in the hills of Tennesse for 40 years because of some terrible thing he has done and he is coming to the end of his life so he decides to throw a funeral party. Duvall is electrifying in his role as Felix Bush, he brings this sense of absolute mystery and you are riveted by every word that the character says in his gruff southern style, almost as though every word is an age old wisdom. The humor in this movie is good old fashioned rye as opposed to the obnoxious and offensive humor you often get with movies now but surprisingly the humor in this movie is so sparse and so spread out sometimes it hardly even seems like they are joking around. This movie has a very engrossing plot, it is not original by any stretch of the imagination but it keeps you glued to the seat and more importantly to me is that it keeps you emotionally involved in the struggles and lives of the characters. A word to the wise if you don’t understand southern humor or are annoyed by southern culture I advise you to stay completely away from this movie but if you can look past its rough southern exterior and get to the heart of this story you will find an absolute treasure of a story that seems to have come out of the woods after 40 years to refresh a dying medium.

Silk
This movie is yet another one of those bargain bin movies that I decided to pick up for the sheer fact that I had never heard of it, the only difference is this is probably the opposite end of the spectrum. I can honestly say that this is the best movie with some of the worst acting I have ever seen in my life. To be fair it wasn’t ALL of the actors or actresses that hurt this movie, I actually thought most of them did really well in their roles but that still couldn’t save this movie from Michael Pitt. The plotline already being on the ropes with me (It is basically about a hot shot business owner sending a friend to Japan to get silk worms for a textile mill.) So the acting makes the storyline seem even worse. Almost like hey we have a possibly redeemable plotline and story which could turn into something absolutely beautiful but instead lets ruin it by casting Michael Pitt and his very robotic,zombie like expressions. I swear there is one scene in this movie where I had to pause it to make sure that my DVD hadn’t skipped…it was about 5 minutes straight of staring at Michael Pitt’s extremely expressionless acting. Don’t get me wrong Michael Pitt as an actor is pretty decent…I loved Funny Games and Last Days was long but decent but this is ridiculous. I feel bad for the other actors that had to work along side of him. Overall his acting doesn’t completely tank this movie, If you are truly intrigued by the plotline and can make up your own story arcs and genuinely try to feel this movie, it isn’t bad but for most purposes stay away from this movie. Though I really don’t know what I was expecting for the $5.00 I spent on it.

The Crow
now it has been in the rumor mill for a while that they are going to shoot a remake of this 1994 cult classic staring Brandon Lee and I will be honest I am very aprehensive about any kind of remake of this movie ESPECIALLY considering how well this movie holds up even by today’s standards. This is one of those movies that really drops out of the sky and has the right cast, the right director and the perfect timing. The Crow is one of my all time favorite movies and for those of you children of the 90s who haven’t seen this movie you must have been living under a rock. This movie debuted when I was just 3 or 4 years old and I can remember watching it as a kid and loving pretty much everything about it. It was cool, dark and had some awesome action scenes. Watching it now only makes it that much more for me because I can actually feel what the characters are going through and have a better appreciation for the movie as a whole. The plot follows Eric Draven on his quest for vindication when he rises from the dead exactly one year after him and his wife were brutally murdered. What more could you ask for in a story other than good old fashioned revenge best served one year cold? I honestly can’t praise this movie enough, it has amazing dialogue, a classic plot, superb acting, it has great action and an amazing soundtrack with tracks from The Cure, Stone Temple Pilots, Nine Inch Nails and Machines Of Loving Grace. Put all of that together and you have one of the most atmospherical and emotionally involving experiences in cinema. With the rumor mill abuzz about the remake and possibly starring Bradley Cooper (of The Hangover acclaim) I think hollywood is going to make one of the biggest flops possible. The Crow is one of those movies that can not be topped, you simply can’t make it better than the original no matter how many twists you want to put on it. The shoes of Brandon Lee (who died on the set of this movie) are indeed big shoes to fill. The Crow was Brandon Lee’s Swan Song, his absolute Magnum Opus and I don’t think anyone who plays that role could top him especially not Bradley Cooper. That is like trying to put someone else into the role of The Joker as done by Heath Ledger…it’s just not possible. If you haven’t seen The Crow I strongly urge you to pick it up.

Ghost World
I picked this movie up at Best Buy out of the $5 movie section not really knowing what to expect. Let’s just say I got everything I bargained for on this one. I got nothing and not really. From the looks of the cover I was kind of expecting something funny but when I read the back for the description it struck me as a comedy meets Hard Candy which I thought was a little interesting for a plot.Needless to say it was neither. It was truly in limbo. The plot revolves around a character named Enid (yeah, Enid, the worst name for a daughter ever) who has recently graduated high school and becomes a slacker, one day Enid decides to play a joke on a guy who put an ad in the paper for a mystery woman, she basically makes this guy believe he is going to meet this woman and then stands him up and then through some freak occurence Enid and the guy lets just call him Steve Buscemi, become friends. It’s weird but not weird enough to be interesting. It was never funny enough to be a comedy and not serious enough to be a drama and not really making anything interesting out of either. The first five minutes reminded me of Romy and Michelle’s Highschool Reunion and then the rest of the movie just kind of followed these two odd girls after high school with no real direction at all with the plot or the characters. One of the things that interested me was that a fairly young Scarlett Johansen is in it but really her performance wasn’t compelling in this role. I don’t really think there was anything compelling about this movie at all. It was just kind of like the characters that inhabit the story…it exists. Nothing special, nothing interesting…just existence. This is one of those movies that I buy thinking it is going to be good and then it turns out it is mediocre but I HAVE to watch the whole thing because I am too stubborn to just let it go at “I got through 5 minutes and hated it”.  At the end of this movie I felt accomplished for watching it, not because of it’s excellence but because of sheer will power. This is one of those movies that starts off good but eventually just becomes an absolute chore to watch.

I had been anxiously awaiting its release (April 8) for months. A big, big, big part of the excitement for me was the fact that Cate Blanchett was one of the lead actors and that Joe Wright, the director of Pride and Prejudice and Atonement, has taken a shot at directing an action film. A young girl who can take down grown men with her bare hands? I’m there.

As I went to see Hanna (the day it came out, might I add), I was shaking with excitement. The movie came on the screen quiet and white, set in a snow-covered forrest. I was thinking I knew what I was going to get out of the movie, and I was a little bit disappointed. The plot of the movie, I feel, did not get enough development or attention. With that being said, though, the character development and the visuals were outstanding.

The best part of the film was the soundtrack. When Hanna escapes from imprisonment toward the beginning of the film, The Chemical Brothers’ ”Escape 700″ kept my heart racing as Hanna brutally took down a whole government force to escape. The Chemical Brothers made the soundtrack for the entire film. It reminded me of Tron Legacy‘s soundtrack by Daft Punk, but way better!

As I have sat and thought about the movie (which I have quite in-depth), the more I wanted to go back to see it again. The fight scenes were phenomenal and well-choreographed. Seeing Saoirse Ronan’s (Hanna’s) innocent blue eyes turn cold when she pulls the trigger of a gun gives me chills (in a movie nerd sort of way).

For the girls-kicking-butt film category, I have created a scale. I will rate Hanna on this scale and create comparisons to give you an idea of how it matches up to other movies similar to it. The scale will not be based on the abilities of the girls, but rather on how good or bad the movies are that they’re in. Sorry if I rip apart a movie that you like; it’s just personal taste.

On the scale, 1 is the worst and 4 is the best:

1. Lara Croft – Tomb Raider

    Resident Evil 

2. Salt

    Charlie’s Angels

3. Hanna

    Kick-Ass

    Coffy

    Foxy Brown

    Jackie Brown

    Death Proof

4. Kill Bill Volumes One and Two

    Aliens

    Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

    Million Dollar Baby

A small disclaimer about this list–the No. 2 category of this list, even for me feels quite low of a rating for these movies. Imagine if this scale were on a 1 to 10 basis, I would probably put them at a 6, the No. 3s at an 8 and the No. 4s at a 10. That being said, the No. 1s would be pretty low since the movies are both pretty bad.

Out of all of these women, my favorite is Beatrix Kiddo from Kill Bill. The fight scene at the House of Blue leaves in Kill Bill is easily my favorite fight scene of all time. BUT, since that particular fight scene is way too gory for me to link to this blog, here is a fight scene from Couching Tiger, Hidden Dragon that is almost as good:

Which movies on the list are your favorites? Do you have any favorite women of film who could beat up an NFL linebacker?

Synopsis: A gay Taiwanese-American (Wai-Tung) agrees to marry a woman in need of a green card in order to placate his traditional parents still living in Taiwan, who are unaware of his lifestyle and are growing impatient with the lack of grandchildren. At the news, his parents fly to New York to help plan the wedding, and everyone must keep up the ruse.

A complicated and emotional comedy, The Wedding Banquet represents Ang Lee at his best. He expertly mines two cultures (gay and Taiwan) for humour that points out absurdities while maintaining respect for the beliefs and lifestyle. At the same time, he explores the consequences, both positive and negative, that occur when such contrary cultures overlap. There are some hilarious scenes in which the conflict is obvious, such as Wai-Tung and his partner Simon de-gaying their apartment prior to Wai-Tung’s parent’s arrival (I’ve heard traditional Taiwanese culture frowns on giant photos of sweaty, writhing men… at least when on full display). Lee also brilliantly demonstrates that American and Taiwanese culture are not so different as we would imagine; Simon and several homosexual friends intentionally disturbing the stiff, conservative, WASPy couple on their street, for instance. Clearly, bigotry is not a cultural phenomenon.

I come from one culture: I am Canadian. Sure, I have my mutt-esque heritage, but it’s far enough removed that I only have to navigate the one set of beliefs/principles (not to suggest that being Canadian means the same thing to everyone). Love is complicated enough when working with the one set of conventions. Marriage is complicated enough. Joining two families is complicated enough! Lee is remarkable at highlighting the extra confusions of blending not only two cultures, but three: the additional difficulties, the slight offenses, the funny (and not so funny) misunderstandings, and the heightened joy.

More than anything, The Wedding Banquet is about family. Lee explores the unusual and unconventional path this group of people follow as they evolve from interconnected individuals to a unit. The initial ruse begins to wear on Wai-Tung and Wei-Wei (his betrothed) as the significance of the marriage for his parents becomes clear – the lie is harder to live once they understand the impact of their deceit. But is it marriage that defines our love for one another? [SPOILER] Lee doesn’t seem to think so. Marriage does not guarantee happiness, nor does it make a family in itself. It is love that binds family together, love that transcends blood lines and cultural tradition. When Mr. Gao tells Simon, “you are my son too,” it is a powerful moment; we understand the cultural taboo of homosexuality does not compare to his paternal love for his son or his desire for his child’s happiness. There is no one right way to make a family, and The Wedding Banquet celebrates the uniqueness of family structure. Ultimately, Lee’s message is one of inclusion, hope and acceptance.

Favourite Scene: Wei-Wei’s limited English skills make for an entertaining set of marriage vows

Key Quote: Wai-Tung: “We’re not getting married for them!”      Mrs. Gao: “Well if not them, whom?!”

Fun Fact: The Wedding Banquet was the most financially profitable film of 1993, despite going up against heavy-weights like Jurassic Park (1993), due to its modest budget and international success.

Till the next,

K