Young Sherlock

Young Sherlock is based upon the Judge Dee stories.

The Chinese drama is intriguing. Yet can movie along slowly. So there are three main plots, essentially.

One is the Di renjie storyline with all the mysteries.

The second is the Emperor and the palace.

The third is the people in the cave. These people are lead by bird guy. We don't find out much about him until the end. I'm only on episode 23 out of all fourty.

I did skip to the end out of boredom. Spoilers ahead.

The ending is a cliffhanger. Sorta. The love interest of Di, named Wan Qing, runs away. I don't know why, other than she thinks they shouldn't be together. So she becomes a nun again. She was raised in a nunnery until Di and his friends solved a mistery there, so she joins them. So, the drama ends with Dee keeping his promise at the beginning about wanting Wan Qing to come back. So he goes out to search for her.

The ending should have had another episode where he spends "forever " looking for her and he finds her at last. But we will never know. Since it just shows him riding a horse and the voice over going : " I will definitely find you and return. Li Wan Qing." Does this mean there will be a part two? What if he never finds her? There is no producer who will clarify that ending. (Unlike how Bryan and Mike dispelled any ambiguity for The Legend of Korra.) I'm just so agitated. Just have them meet and make up and walk into the freaking sunset.

So throughout the drama, he solves cases. He is successful on all of them. Even it takes forever. I mean several episodes.   With that said, this is a good drama. Unfortunately, it's not subbed in English. So sometimes even I have no idea what they're saying.

The Shade of the Moon Part B

So Jon is still an ass in my mind after a week later. He thinks that I love you equals sex. So first, poor Juile gets hurt. Then Sarah. This guy has no sense.

So, my long rant comes down to this. Don't waste your time reading this book.

Review : The Shade of the Moon Part A

I just finished reading the fourth book in the Life as We Knew It series. So this review will refer to all four books. More or less.

The main character in this novel, Jon (Jonathan) Evans, is the biggest asshole of a protagonist that I have ever encountered in a book and/or movie. He lived his full life as a spoiled child. So when the moon was hit by a meteor, his life changed for the worst. He and his family survived on nothing. One would expect that when he was able to live I'm comfort again, he would cherish it.

Back to the beggining of the series. In the first and third books, we were told the story from Miranda's point of view. In the second one, Alex told his story. Alex and his two sisters and brother were from NYC and Miranda and her family are from Pennsylvania. People died and food became scarce. The family did what they did to survive.  Eventually, the characters in book one met the characters of book two in book three.

I liked the Miranda and Alex. The author planned to pair them together from the start. Which I agree with. They have given up a lot to become lowly bus drivers and a greenhouse gardener instead of a chance to live in the town of Sexton. With that said, they aren't perfect characters. Alex has stolen from his neighbors to feed his sisters. Miranda had her selfish moment when she ate a whole bag of chocolate. Mind you, in a world where they don't make chocolate anymore, indulging like that is terrible. Anyways, they have a baby girl that was kidnapped by the rich people of the "enclave" of Sexton. Fortunately, asshole Jon with the help of Sarah, his girlfriend, was able to rescue his sister's baby. Miranda had some issues with her mother, Laura, at the beginning of the series, but the whole natural disaster struggle mended their bonds. Miranda suffocated Julie, Alex's sister, to prevent Julie from suffering in pain after being paralyzed by a tornado. Alex ran away after hearing what she did.

There's so much of the story to tell. Laura, by far is the most selfless person. She gives up her meals so that her children can eat. Seriously, she'll go days on end without eating if Miranda and her other son, Matt let her. These two have sense. Jon may have let her starve. After the family relocated to Sexton and the outside "grub" town/ shanty town of White Birch, she became a high school teacher. This lady fought the guards from letting them take her students to become house servants. They killed her. I don't think Jon felt as bad as pregnant Miranda did. She's pregnant! She could have had a miscarriage... Despite being divorced, she had no hatred towards her ex-husband's new spouse. Laura would do anything in her power to help people she cared about. This lady deserves a long moment of silence.

Lisa, is the wife of Harold (Hal). Hal died of exhaustion en route to the settlement.  She has been portayed as a nice and caring lady. But, she is a stepmother, so at first, I didn't trust her. In this fourth book, we see that she also will do everything to help her family survive, even if they are her step family. She did have a son named Gabriel (Gabe) with Hal. She, Gabe and Jon went into the town of Sexton to become "Clavers" because Alex had given up his passes that were for him and his two sisters. So with these passes, they became akin to people in the Second Estate of Pre-Revolutionary France. Lisa first works as a low class clerk in the Administration offices, later being promoted to the Head of the Domestics. She deals with house servant issues. So, she has Gabe in the first book. Lisa doesn't like having Domestics in her house, but she has no choice since she can't work ten hours a day, six days a week and be able to clean and cook. So, knowing Miranda is pregnant, she arranges for Miranda to become a Domestic in their house. I understand this, at least the baby can be looked after and Miranda can be guaranteed decent food that can not be procured in the "Grub" town. But who would want to be a slave for their own family? Fortunately, she never does because the living members of the family move to a new settlement that doesn't have the oppressive Enclaves.

There is a riot between the Grubs and the Clavers and many laborers are killed. So, the children of the highschool are needed to be the new workers. And Laura gets killed. Lisa feels really bad about this, but is torn between her job and indirectly killing her dead Husband's ex-wife. Who wouldn't? Eventually, this guilt gets to her and she commits suicide. Partially, the suicide is a cover up for Jon, Gabe, Alex and Miranda's escape. She was a good woman. A standing ovation goes to her.

Jon should be greatful of having a mother and a stepmother who killed themsleves to let an ungrateful son live as close to a normal life as possible in this dystopia.

Repetition or Variation?

Every single Karate class, we will start with Kihon (basics), we do each technique seven times facing forward, then turning around and continuing backwards. Sometimes, I think fourteen times is too much for three reasons: a) it is time consuming, b) it bores the hell out of the younger students, c) students do not see this as a time to improve themselves, but only a warm up activity that takes fifteen minutes. 

Things learned in isolation does not always allow a student to learn. Many of these students do not know how or why to combine techniques. They see no need to. In schools, when each subject is limited to only that subject, children feel bored. Math does not have to be learned in math class, it can come from cooking class or wood shop. Social studies/ history shouldn't be reading from a textbook about people from "once upon a time". Of course, history isn't a fairy tale, but most kids see it as that because they never get a chance to experience the culture of these historical events. 

This applies to Karate as well. Kata isn't just a dance, it's defense against counterattacks that exist in the form of Bunkai. If Dojos, Dojangs or Halls don't teach the significance, no one will. 

On the other hand, if every single class, we do something different, then students still will not connect these lessons. Every class has to build on the last. 

Someone will ask, what about the new students? If schools are scheduled around rank, then, that isn't an issue. On the other hand, if the school is like mine, where we are dependent on the Parks and Recreation department for students , so we can not have different classes, this becomes an issue. The class is too small to have many classes, but it is too large for each student to receive individual help. Students get left behind. Fortunately, there is an advanced class, but it only is beneficial for senior ranks. In the advanced class, we do a variety of things, not just Kihon and Pinan Shodan all class long. 

I am at a loss of what to do. It is too difficult to have a full class of nearly forty students, with two thirds of the students being low ranks, and be able to teach these kids and adults something new every single class. These students want something new, but they do not necessarily understand the basics of these basics that they are doing. I know the instructors are aware of that, but what can any of us do?  

"I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times. " ~ Bruce Lee 

There are days where this quote is spot on with how the students feel. They want to learn 10,000 different kicks and only practice it once. But we only teach them six or seven of the same ones again and again. The problem is, doing 10,000 things does not mean that you understand 10,000 things. Understanding only one thing is also undesirable. Knowledge comes with repetition, but variation is needed to become a master. 

The "Magic" of Black Belt

I got my black belt today.

There is this myth that when you become a black belt, you become a god. Seriously.

But in reality, you have not changed the least bit. All you have is a new color belt on your waist. You are not special. You are not better than before.

In some senses, I feel unworthy of my black belt. I have not achieved the theory of "10,000 hours to mastery". I probably barely make the 1,000 hour mark by a few hundred hours. I only have a thousand something hours after six years of training... That is not much. If anything at all. Then again, this is already more than most McDojos.

Ah.... Well. I suppose the only thing left to do is to try harder.

One Week Left

Oh dear.

There is one week before my test to black belt. One week. I feel so nervous. And slightly paranoid. Which is not a goodthing.

I need to practice more. It's bad to say that now. A week isn't much time.

A haiku:

Will I pass the test?
Will I be happy with it?
Will things be the same?

With rank comes responsibilities.

Everything is Illuminated : Review

Everything is Illuminated (2005) was a great movie. It's based on the book by Johnathan Safran Foer of the same title.

Each of the three main characters, Johnathan, Alex and Grandfather all have conflicts. They all are internal conflicts about their identity. The final reveal shows that all three are connected to a village called Trachimbrod.

Alex, is part of the family business of being a tour guide. He has aspirations of being a first class accountant. His issue is an identity crisis. He wants to be an American, but rejects being a tourists. Tourists don't belong places. Alex wants somewhere to belong. Surprisingly, he finds his roots. And chooses to live life as one of the Jewish faith. And at the end, it is revealed that he is the one writing the novel. He's also the translator for Johnathan.

Alexander (Baruch), the grandfather, has retired from the family business of helping Jewish families reunite. But his son begs him to take this tour. So he and his grandson, Alex take Johnathan on a tour. Baruch is "blind". He has shed his past of being a Jew to avoid persecution during the second World War. When he discovers his past, he commits suicide, knowing that he has no more skeletons in the closet.

Johnathan, knew about everyone in his family. Except his grandfather, Safran. So, he goes to Ukraine to meet the woman in the picture with his grandfather. Only to find out that she was killed by the anti-semitic army. But, he meets the sister of the woman, Lista. He discovers the atrocities of the war and how lucky his grandfather was to not have died. Through his journey, he learns so much about his familial past. At the end, he brings the earth of Trachimbrod to his Grandfather's grave to complete the cycle of life.

This movie had so much symbolism in it that even if the movie was watched a hundred times, there would still be more not seen.

8.5/100