Category Archive
The following is a list of all entries from the Uncategorized category.
Night Drive in Tokyo
I thought this was a beautiful video. The ambiance from the music fit the scene perfectly. I also love the perspective on the skyscrapers. I wish I knew more about the places it references. Someday I wouldn’t mind getting the chance to wander through Tokyo like this.
The Game
I used to watch a lot of basketball in elementary school and middle school. Back then in the early 2000s, besides the fact that I had a whole lot more time, it felt like a different sort of game. Jordan was retired, but there was a feeling that the game was about the fundamentals–dribbling, passing, shooting, defense, teamwork. When I look at NBA games now, the game appears to revolve around superstars trampling over everyone else with moves that look good in 10 second clips. It seems like there used to be so much more respect for the game of basketball by the players. Even today, when you hear Jordan talk about basketball, he always refers to “the game” as something more than “a game.” I’m sure the coaches and players always remind themselves to uphold this sort of respect, but it sure seems like a different game today.
5 Centimeters Per Second
Stringing together stories about people’s struggle to overcome time and circumstance, this beautiful work inched closer to my heart with each passing moment.
While the subject of withered relationships is quite universal, we all still forget how easily memories and feelings become lost through time. Pushing viewers to face this steady force permeating our lives, Makoto Shinkai creates a sober portrait of loss in real life. The bittersweet conclusion reminds us of the realities of life lacking in the dramas we typically see on the screen.
Never forcing viewers onto a revelation, the story allowed me to pull up close to the situations it portrayed. Because it is easy to identify with the characters and their struggles, the story conveys the theme with powerful clarity. The familiar scenes depicting moments of anxiety, hesitation, and desperation reveals the intense feelings we associate with these situations, driving home the significance of the theme of gradual separation.
Simple, subtle, yet effective, 5 Centimeters Per Second is one of the best films I’ve seen in a while.
TypeMania
I just found this neat little game today. The best part about it is it’s fully functional in the browser.
It beats any of the other word typing programs you find at Kmart (not sure how accurate that WPM measure is though). Too bad I don’t know much Japanese. As it turns out, transcribing lyrics with speed and accuracy requires some command of the language–who knew? Playing this reminded me of what they tell you when you are learning to speed read (in English). To read with greater speed and precision you have to focus not on individual words but large “blocks” of texts. In this case, to type with speed and precision, you have to not focus on individual letters but rather whole words or phrases that are sung.
