I’ve been on vacation this week, and rather than writing a half-baked essay on a solid idea, so barely a month after the last time, I’m doing another one of those What Have I Been Doing Lately. Is it a cop-out? Maybe. But it’s my blog and I can do whatever I want. Movie TV:… Continue reading Vacationing
Tag: Books
Finding Joy
It feels odd to write a pop-culture focused blog right now, especially with the everything going on these days. Writing an essay about a movie or video game feels so futile when I’d much rather rail against an illegitimate court or decry ineffectual politicians doing nothing to stop gun violence. With it is that desires… Continue reading Finding Joy
Language Barrier
I’ve been reading Hideo Kojima’s The Creative Gene lately, because not only do I love this man's video games, I love the brain of the guy that makes them. There’s a particular spark to his games and a love of storytelling that's downright infectious, so a collection of essays about pieces of media that he… Continue reading Language Barrier
The Spine
The movie version of The Lord of The Rings is quite different from the book version of The Lord of The Rings, but they’re both very much The Lord of The Rings. It’s the same story, and the movie does an incredible job at adapting the book by not adapting the book. Let me explain.… Continue reading The Spine
Reading Time
I haven’t been reading as much since I’ve moved. A big part of that is due to longer having my subway commute. You can’t exactly read while you’re driving, owing to the whole, y’know, fact that you’re driving. I’m sure I could put on an audiobook (though it’s not the same), but I do wish… Continue reading Reading Time
Coach Beard and Ulysses
When the synopsis for this week’s episode of Ted Lasso was released, I jumped to some wild ideas. Ted Lasso is a show about an American Football coach assigned to coach an Association Football (aka the better football) team. His hopefulness in the face of adversity is contagious, and it’s a really nice and optimistic… Continue reading Coach Beard and Ulysses
Self-Hating Asians
I moved to South Carolina the summer I turned fifteen, after growing up in Singapore and spending four years on a ship. Unknowingly, I stepped into a paradigm where my half-Singaporean Chinese self was now firmly classified as Asian, a title that brought with it very specific expectations. I quickly learned that the best way… Continue reading Self-Hating Asians
Spice Flows Like Time
Didja hear? There’s a new trailer for Dune out! I haven’t seen it, because I already know I’m going to watch it, and the first trailer was super dope and I’m on board because the look is right and Dennis Villeneuve is a director whose work I love and, given his three-hit-combo of Sicario, Arrival,… Continue reading Spice Flows Like Time
The Power of Mordor
My love of The Lord of The Rings is well documented, heck, I just reread the books over the summer (with my glorious hardcovers). There’s a lot I like about them, like how they marry a beautiful world to an epic quest, and how that epic quest is a story of vanquishing evil not through… Continue reading The Power of Mordor
Story Language
A while ago, Merriam Webster (y’know, the dictionary) published an article that I found fascinating. It was about language as it’s used in Star Wars and it’s a short and interesting read. The gist of it is this: In Star Wars, George Lucas used a lot of plain, English words to create his world. There’s… Continue reading Story Language
Essays, Not Rants! 