Friday, July 31, 2009
Suetaka Hayase - July 31, 2009.
My cousin married a man who enjoyed life. He had a good job and made it better when he picked up his family and moved away from the country. He surfed and dived for shellfish. He ran around wearing USC jacket, when everyone else had UCLA. His daughter grew up to be a nurse, and his son plays collegiate baseball for one of the top colleges in Tokyo. And he had the most fun visiting us in the U.S. when he got married almost 30 years ago, and when we visited with them 13 years ago. He finished technical high school and he could barely read in his native language, yet he could make his way around Honolulu, and have no problems understanding my wife, who spoke no Japanese. He passed away yesterday from cancer. 5,571 miles and a whole world away yet he feels so close by. My family will miss him, and wishes to be with family there.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
UP - Disney-Pixar
Last night at the El Capitan theatre in Hollywood, I finally saw the 3D version of Disney's "UP."
What a surprise! From the beginning it tugged at the emotions. What an impact through writing a good script.
We may have dreams, but if we don't achieve them, it doesn't mean we led an unfulfilled life. Carl Frederiksen assumed that his wife had left the pages blank where she was going to write "stuff" that she was going to do, once she got to Paradise Falls. Near the end of her life in the hospital, we see that she had been looking through her "Adventure Book" that she had since they were kids. As he discovered near the end, where he completed her dream of moving their "clubhouse" to the top of Paradise Falls, that she had instead added pictures of the two of them together throughout their lives together ending with "Thank you for the adventures. Now start one of your own." She may not have gotten to Paradise Falls, but she did achieve things that she wanted to do on the way.
Now Carl has realized that and goes off to help his little friend Russell to save the bird, Kevin.
Russell earned his last badge, assisting the elderly, by helping Carl realize that holding on to memories is one thing, but letting go is another.
Amazing is the powers of film and even computer-generated characters could achieve this.
What a surprise! From the beginning it tugged at the emotions. What an impact through writing a good script.
We may have dreams, but if we don't achieve them, it doesn't mean we led an unfulfilled life. Carl Frederiksen assumed that his wife had left the pages blank where she was going to write "stuff" that she was going to do, once she got to Paradise Falls. Near the end of her life in the hospital, we see that she had been looking through her "Adventure Book" that she had since they were kids. As he discovered near the end, where he completed her dream of moving their "clubhouse" to the top of Paradise Falls, that she had instead added pictures of the two of them together throughout their lives together ending with "Thank you for the adventures. Now start one of your own." She may not have gotten to Paradise Falls, but she did achieve things that she wanted to do on the way.
Now Carl has realized that and goes off to help his little friend Russell to save the bird, Kevin.
Russell earned his last badge, assisting the elderly, by helping Carl realize that holding on to memories is one thing, but letting go is another.
Amazing is the powers of film and even computer-generated characters could achieve this.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Rudeness
This morning my thoughts are on rudeness. Of course, I'm writing about it while I'm waiting for my planning meeting to start - "How rude!" Or is it not?
To be consider rude, one has to be in a culture that determines that certain action or words are rude. So one could rude at a given time with certain people, yet at a different time and with a different group, it may not be considered rude.
We expect service providers to not be rude. Well, if I ever get to Paris and be waited on at a cafe, I would expect the waiter to be rude - so it I don't think it is bad.
On the other hand, as we are contemplating in my current liberal studies class and for my final paper for that class, there is a certain coding and decoding on the part of the speaker and the listener that determines whether the said action is rude or not.
I have heard people complain about someone else being rude, and yet not realized that their own actions can be construed as being rude. Maybe they don't realize the kind of coding they are sending out.
Well this is my thoughts for the day...now we are almost ready to start my meeting.
To be consider rude, one has to be in a culture that determines that certain action or words are rude. So one could rude at a given time with certain people, yet at a different time and with a different group, it may not be considered rude.
We expect service providers to not be rude. Well, if I ever get to Paris and be waited on at a cafe, I would expect the waiter to be rude - so it I don't think it is bad.
On the other hand, as we are contemplating in my current liberal studies class and for my final paper for that class, there is a certain coding and decoding on the part of the speaker and the listener that determines whether the said action is rude or not.
I have heard people complain about someone else being rude, and yet not realized that their own actions can be construed as being rude. Maybe they don't realize the kind of coding they are sending out.
Well this is my thoughts for the day...now we are almost ready to start my meeting.
Liberal Studies
I am working on a master's in liberal studies. Although it only requires taking one class each semester, it is a lot of work to do all the readings and writings, while working full-time and have a full-schedule volunteering.
Its hard work but I enjoy the class discussions and now that I'm near the end of the program (I have to still spend a year writing a 100-page paper to get the degree), I now realize how important each class is in relationship to another.
We start the program by taking "Introduction of Knowing." It was a lot of reading, Fouceault, De Certeau, Stuart Hall, etc. But even in the current class, we have to refer back to them.
The current class - "Analysis in Cultural Studies" - is not just interesting but relevant to my final research paper on "Why adhering to a strict Japanese culture is detrimental in propagating Jodo Shinshu Buddhism in North America." In fact, I have made notes to check up on some of the readings we did in the first class.
And to think I'm doing this for fun. What do I do for boredom? Go to Disneyland or something?
Its hard work but I enjoy the class discussions and now that I'm near the end of the program (I have to still spend a year writing a 100-page paper to get the degree), I now realize how important each class is in relationship to another.
We start the program by taking "Introduction of Knowing." It was a lot of reading, Fouceault, De Certeau, Stuart Hall, etc. But even in the current class, we have to refer back to them.
The current class - "Analysis in Cultural Studies" - is not just interesting but relevant to my final research paper on "Why adhering to a strict Japanese culture is detrimental in propagating Jodo Shinshu Buddhism in North America." In fact, I have made notes to check up on some of the readings we did in the first class.
And to think I'm doing this for fun. What do I do for boredom? Go to Disneyland or something?
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Inauguration
Well we are chaperoning the high school band to its music competition at the Inauguration.
On the day of the Inauguration, we got up early and our chartered bus took us from Chantilly to The Mall - a distance of 26 miles, but because of the bus traffic and street closures, it took us well over an hour to get in.
We didn't get quite close enough to our pre-designated parking area, although we think that was thrown out anyways...so we were able to get close enough (12th Street and D Street) to walk onto The Mall.
Which we did - little security - I guess because we far enough away from the Capitol? But we situated ourselves at 7:30 in the morning in front of a Jumbotron and waited in the freezing weather for the inauguration to start.
The Jumbotron was showing the HBO Inaugration concert from the Lincoln Memorial two days earlier. People were reacting as if was live.
We were able to see all the dignitaries enter through the Capitol and onto the steps on the Mall side to their seats. Members of Congress, the governors of all the states, the members of the Senate, the members of the Supreme Court, all living Presidents, all living Vice Presidents.
A short program when President-elect Obama arrived with his family. The Oath was administered in error by the Chief Justice, and then it was over. People were cheering and tearing - in tears at the moment. In an instant we were all part of history. Or at least a witness to it.
Immediately, people dispersed to warmer quarters, namely the museums of the Smithsonian Institution and it got real cold on the Mall. The Mall becams one dustbowl litered with newspapers and trash from 1.7 million bodies.
It didn't matter to use if the music combo of Itzhak Perlman and Yo-yo Ma was recorded or not...you couldn't tell the difference on the Jumbotron. It didn't matter if Chief Justice flubbed up his lines and caused him to be an asterisk in history. We were all part of the day - in that moment.
When Obama took office of the most important person in the world, at least, I know where I was at that time - huddled in a mass between the Capitol and the Washington Monument, the Smithsonian and the Natural History Museum.
On the day of the Inauguration, we got up early and our chartered bus took us from Chantilly to The Mall - a distance of 26 miles, but because of the bus traffic and street closures, it took us well over an hour to get in.
We didn't get quite close enough to our pre-designated parking area, although we think that was thrown out anyways...so we were able to get close enough (12th Street and D Street) to walk onto The Mall.
Which we did - little security - I guess because we far enough away from the Capitol? But we situated ourselves at 7:30 in the morning in front of a Jumbotron and waited in the freezing weather for the inauguration to start.
The Jumbotron was showing the HBO Inaugration concert from the Lincoln Memorial two days earlier. People were reacting as if was live.
We were able to see all the dignitaries enter through the Capitol and onto the steps on the Mall side to their seats. Members of Congress, the governors of all the states, the members of the Senate, the members of the Supreme Court, all living Presidents, all living Vice Presidents.
A short program when President-elect Obama arrived with his family. The Oath was administered in error by the Chief Justice, and then it was over. People were cheering and tearing - in tears at the moment. In an instant we were all part of history. Or at least a witness to it.
Immediately, people dispersed to warmer quarters, namely the museums of the Smithsonian Institution and it got real cold on the Mall. The Mall becams one dustbowl litered with newspapers and trash from 1.7 million bodies.
It didn't matter to use if the music combo of Itzhak Perlman and Yo-yo Ma was recorded or not...you couldn't tell the difference on the Jumbotron. It didn't matter if Chief Justice flubbed up his lines and caused him to be an asterisk in history. We were all part of the day - in that moment.
When Obama took office of the most important person in the world, at least, I know where I was at that time - huddled in a mass between the Capitol and the Washington Monument, the Smithsonian and the Natural History Museum.
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