Blathering
Somewhat pushed out of a state of numbness by art and fakery. But I still don't know which way to go.
Some TV and movies have tricked me into caring. Well, they tell stories and that works better than corrosive stasis any day.
Tuesday I went the museums on Miracle Mile and fed my brain lots: my mom's school went to the Tar Pits and helped out with the kids. It's been so long since the last time I headed there that I had completely forgotten that there used to be native camels and lions in this area.
I went separately from the school so I hung around after they left and got lunch with Miss Brazelton. After that I headed to a couple of exhibits at LACMA. I took the docent tours for the Korean and Southeast Asian Art. I've been trying to think of something nice to say about the Korean exhibit and tour but I'm afraid that all I can come up with is there are some very fine examples of celedon ceramics. Also they have a few quite interesting details like a couple of bedroom screens and a funeral palanquin. The tour guide didn't strike me as quite comprehending how imporant screens are, though. Pity. Oh well, I'm pretty sure most of what she knew of Korean art and culture were what she learned to give the tour. Which she forgot pieces of and would occasionally go back and correct.... Ok, I'll admit I have no idea where to go for a better experience of Korean art outside of Korea. But compared to what I saw there this exhibit was rather on the meager side.
The Southeast Asian exhibit was much more satisfying. Chockfull o' Hindu iconography and a guide who knew the different forms in the statues and their various facets, told us stories of the gods - some selected simply because she liked them, and a good grasp on the variation in artistic forms. Enjoyed it lots and only my tired feet forced me to leave - through I took the long way through the gallery of Tibetan religious furniture and art and artifacts from the Middle East (very pretty Ottoman Empire era works here). This I recommend.
******
Job hunt remains deadly quiet. i've almost completely closed the door but can't bring myself to lock it.
******
Drowned myself in anime (more on that in another entry) and I keep thinking about the process of (reading subtitles + comprehending the action on screen)speed of information flow/decoding a foreign language. I'm not entirely sure why it's much easier to read subtitles on live action films than animated shows, but it seems to be. Maybe because in live action films in foreign languages English dubs typically look/sound dumb. I would just as soon not have to read subtitles on anime. There's enough argument in some corners of the Web that says this is because I'm a lazy American, but the fact is text takes away from the action of the screen and adds next to nothing. Furthermore, the Japanese dubtrack is completely lost on me and several voices of the same gender start to sound the same because I don't know what to listen for. I will totally accept that some American dubs completely suck because more often than not there's little communication or direction for the American cast to follow, but that hardly means the attempt should never be made.
Meh. So anyway, other stuff I was thinking about regarding reading subtitles is just that it's significantly tougher when the subject matter is completely new to me. Whatever your speed for fantasy is, there are facets in every fantasy world that are easy to grasp because you are already familiar - friendship, family, love, betrayal, need, loss, villainy, greed, etc. So the characters exhibiting these could be humans, talking animals, wizards, vampires, little green men, it doesn't matter. But the other part to fantasy - the part that makes it fantasy - are the facets that you've never encountered before whether it's magic, fictional technology, supernatural powers, mutations that defy physics and biology, etc. When the narrative goes into the explaination of these it's that exposition that requires a little bit of work on the part of the audience. Moreso than understanding Harry's parents died when he was a baby while trying to protect him from his archenemy, moreso than understanding Professor X is trying to teach and protect exceptional children in a world that fears and hates them. So this technical side to the fantasy can be a little harder to follow and in a movie or TV can end up going by too fast to grasp. Harder still to wrap your mind 'round all of that when it's explained out loud in a foreign language and you have to decipher the text while the action charges full speed ahead.
Imagine if in the Fellowship of the Rings movie that the explanation of the War Against the Last Allaince was told in Elvish and the all the maps that showed troop movement was only in Elvish script. (Also imagine you had never read the books or knew anything about Middle-Earth.) You could probably end up with the gist of it if you only watched the action, but if you read the text you wouldn't get to see the film. And even the text would flow by at an incredible speed so if you missed anything you could only pause and reverse the film (assuming you're watching at home) and leafing through pages to try to catch anything you haven't yet comprehended is impossible. Five-second glances at maps with no English translation would also be nearly meaningless.
It's funny how reading can be a nearly instant translation of characters and ciphers - but it's still a translation, not the comprehension itself. When we hear speech in a language we are fluent in we go straight to comprehension. When the subject matter is unfamiliar the process of translation-comprehension takes longer.
Anyway, I'm not a fan of reading subtitles. Don't hate 'em, lord knows I love plenty of foreign films. It's just frustrating at times and can pull me out of the experience of the show I'm taking in. Which, to me, is the worst problem of all.
******
financially: I'm in a jungle gym, swinging on monkey bars in a thick fog. I'm swinging on one, I can see the next bar coming up. I hope there's another one after and that it will hold me.
******
I was sad but then I remember I have some Pyrat rum. Ambrosia, I tells ya.
******
Listening to my Jazz & Blues station on Pandora - they inexplicably added a lot of modern R&B and emailed to tell me (P.Diddy, Brian McKnight) which I most certainly do not want. They're playing a Son House song that sounds like it was recorded during a sandstorm taking place at the bottom of a well. Damn, I love old Delta blues. }:>
Some TV and movies have tricked me into caring. Well, they tell stories and that works better than corrosive stasis any day.
Tuesday I went the museums on Miracle Mile and fed my brain lots: my mom's school went to the Tar Pits and helped out with the kids. It's been so long since the last time I headed there that I had completely forgotten that there used to be native camels and lions in this area.
I went separately from the school so I hung around after they left and got lunch with Miss Brazelton. After that I headed to a couple of exhibits at LACMA. I took the docent tours for the Korean and Southeast Asian Art. I've been trying to think of something nice to say about the Korean exhibit and tour but I'm afraid that all I can come up with is there are some very fine examples of celedon ceramics. Also they have a few quite interesting details like a couple of bedroom screens and a funeral palanquin. The tour guide didn't strike me as quite comprehending how imporant screens are, though. Pity. Oh well, I'm pretty sure most of what she knew of Korean art and culture were what she learned to give the tour. Which she forgot pieces of and would occasionally go back and correct.... Ok, I'll admit I have no idea where to go for a better experience of Korean art outside of Korea. But compared to what I saw there this exhibit was rather on the meager side.
The Southeast Asian exhibit was much more satisfying. Chockfull o' Hindu iconography and a guide who knew the different forms in the statues and their various facets, told us stories of the gods - some selected simply because she liked them, and a good grasp on the variation in artistic forms. Enjoyed it lots and only my tired feet forced me to leave - through I took the long way through the gallery of Tibetan religious furniture and art and artifacts from the Middle East (very pretty Ottoman Empire era works here). This I recommend.
******
Job hunt remains deadly quiet. i've almost completely closed the door but can't bring myself to lock it.
******
Drowned myself in anime (more on that in another entry) and I keep thinking about the process of (reading subtitles + comprehending the action on screen)speed of information flow/decoding a foreign language. I'm not entirely sure why it's much easier to read subtitles on live action films than animated shows, but it seems to be. Maybe because in live action films in foreign languages English dubs typically look/sound dumb. I would just as soon not have to read subtitles on anime. There's enough argument in some corners of the Web that says this is because I'm a lazy American, but the fact is text takes away from the action of the screen and adds next to nothing. Furthermore, the Japanese dubtrack is completely lost on me and several voices of the same gender start to sound the same because I don't know what to listen for. I will totally accept that some American dubs completely suck because more often than not there's little communication or direction for the American cast to follow, but that hardly means the attempt should never be made.
Meh. So anyway, other stuff I was thinking about regarding reading subtitles is just that it's significantly tougher when the subject matter is completely new to me. Whatever your speed for fantasy is, there are facets in every fantasy world that are easy to grasp because you are already familiar - friendship, family, love, betrayal, need, loss, villainy, greed, etc. So the characters exhibiting these could be humans, talking animals, wizards, vampires, little green men, it doesn't matter. But the other part to fantasy - the part that makes it fantasy - are the facets that you've never encountered before whether it's magic, fictional technology, supernatural powers, mutations that defy physics and biology, etc. When the narrative goes into the explaination of these it's that exposition that requires a little bit of work on the part of the audience. Moreso than understanding Harry's parents died when he was a baby while trying to protect him from his archenemy, moreso than understanding Professor X is trying to teach and protect exceptional children in a world that fears and hates them. So this technical side to the fantasy can be a little harder to follow and in a movie or TV can end up going by too fast to grasp. Harder still to wrap your mind 'round all of that when it's explained out loud in a foreign language and you have to decipher the text while the action charges full speed ahead.
Imagine if in the Fellowship of the Rings movie that the explanation of the War Against the Last Allaince was told in Elvish and the all the maps that showed troop movement was only in Elvish script. (Also imagine you had never read the books or knew anything about Middle-Earth.) You could probably end up with the gist of it if you only watched the action, but if you read the text you wouldn't get to see the film. And even the text would flow by at an incredible speed so if you missed anything you could only pause and reverse the film (assuming you're watching at home) and leafing through pages to try to catch anything you haven't yet comprehended is impossible. Five-second glances at maps with no English translation would also be nearly meaningless.
It's funny how reading can be a nearly instant translation of characters and ciphers - but it's still a translation, not the comprehension itself. When we hear speech in a language we are fluent in we go straight to comprehension. When the subject matter is unfamiliar the process of translation-comprehension takes longer.
Anyway, I'm not a fan of reading subtitles. Don't hate 'em, lord knows I love plenty of foreign films. It's just frustrating at times and can pull me out of the experience of the show I'm taking in. Which, to me, is the worst problem of all.
******
financially: I'm in a jungle gym, swinging on monkey bars in a thick fog. I'm swinging on one, I can see the next bar coming up. I hope there's another one after and that it will hold me.
******
I was sad but then I remember I have some Pyrat rum. Ambrosia, I tells ya.
******
Listening to my Jazz & Blues station on Pandora - they inexplicably added a lot of modern R&B and emailed to tell me (P.Diddy, Brian McKnight) which I most certainly do not want. They're playing a Son House song that sounds like it was recorded during a sandstorm taking place at the bottom of a well. Damn, I love old Delta blues. }:>