600 Thank you 2015, Hi to 2016

To wrap up, 2015 was a memorable year. There're lots of challenges and happenings that urged me to learn something from them. I might not be able to tackle with these tasks very well but have always been trying to jump over the hurdle and find the ground to land. Somehow I feel I would like to thank myself and appreciate me being strong and sincere. I would like to celebrate the end of 2015 and the opening of 2016, a hopeful new year. 

599 The New Year's Eve in 2015

A few hours ago I was wandering around the center of the city near to my working place. The night sight is very different from ordinary days --- the office buildings are darker than ever, because, obviously, almost no one is working in these buildings today (but you may notice a few windows are still lighten inside). The street is quiet and wrapped in the shades of night. And I found that the light is even so bright and clear. It was breathtaking.  

598 Movies in 2015

Watching Star Wars in a big theater is a wonderful thing. Watching a quiet human drama in a theater is also great. And watching from a big-badget Hollywood action movies to a small comedy at home with a tiny screen is as happy as the former ones. I wrote lots of cinema review this year (not every movie is released in 2015.) Here's some of the most unforgettable masterpieces.

Chef : The untouchable. The warmth, cheerfulness, humor, good foods and good musics are perfectly living together in the movie.

Captain America  The Winter Soldier : Sharp and amazing action sequences. It doesn't feel like Marvel's super hero story.

Cars : To be honest, I have been underestimating the movie before I see but it turns to be top-tier favorites among Pixar works. 

Dior and I : After the sad news that Raf Simmons left Dior later this year, the story of his  struggle and victory mean a lot. Together with the film about Anna Wintour ("September Issue"),  the two works remind me of the excitement to know the one and only creativity in the world of fashion.

Mission Impossible The Rogue Nation : Exciting action and fascinating story. It must be really hard to achieve this in a modern spy action film, no matter how simple it seems. What I feel about this incredible film is that it has a good faith, authenticity and honesty which otherwise we might see in Hollywood classics. 

Moneyball : The catharsis of the story is I think not for baseball fans but for business person. The great thing about this masterpiece is it has both intelligence and emotion and yet shows them in a very minimum way, which makes the film unusually cool.

Pitch Perfect : The power of music. What I like about this film is that it's full of the beauty of the power of music and at the same time it's just a silly college comedy.

Star Wars VII The Force Awakens : No need to explain more. Wholeheartedly I welcome the new saga.

597 Bests in 2015

At the end of the year, now I feel like relaxed and taking a look at with many thanks my great influencers in 2015. They have been bringing me great fun, delight, inspiration, courage, humor, energy and power to keep going on.

Taylor Swift : Her amazing album "1989" has been literally staying with me all the time. I've never listened to her music until I met her new pop songs but they seem to cast a wonderful magic to me and definitely it is my album of the year.

Jimmy Fallon : I cannot remember how many times I kept his show on Youtube playing again and again for hours. I like his style of hosting a talk show in a very, seemingly effortless and friendly manner, and his joke, humor, silly but funny games (an egg-russian roulette!), songs and dance (especially the lip-sync battles!), and above all, the purely happy laughter surrounding the whole studio every time. And of course, his amazing house band, The Roots.
  
Tai-Chi : This is certainly not a human or a thing and I only started to learn the basics of it for about three months now, but I am totally attracted by the beauty, calmness, the methodology and the philosophy of the famous martial arts. The method is always on a circular move and both the defense and attack are unified to a series of flows. I remember when I first met hip-hop dance and how I liked it right away, and this time is very similar. I've been keeping dancing for over 12 years and became a part of my life. For Tai-chi, I'm sure this fits me so well.

And, my old friends : 2015 was a year of reunion. I don't repeat each stories here but one of the amazing things is that they really understand me even if we didn't meet for a long time. In fact the older the friendship is, the better and deeper the friend can understand my sense and feelings. It was a great pleasure. I wish I could be someone to whom they can feel free to talk and trust with at ease, just as I did to them.

596 Cooking

One of the best practices I got in 2015 was to enjoy cooking more than ever. My style of cooking is very simple: pick up whatever I want to eat and cook it really simple (grill, bake, or boil) with good seasonings and lots of herbs. My favorites are salmon, tofu and ground chicken. Egg, beans, pork shoulder and avocado follow them. I frequently use such simple seasoning as salt&pepper, miso, dashi kombu, olive oil, sesame, apple vinegar, soy sauce, ginger, garlic and bonito flakes. Herbs are indispensable in my dish. Basil, parsley, rosemary, rocket, leek, radish sprouts, and sometimes accompanied by grated radish. When I'm too busy to cook, I don't hesitate to rely on canned foods like boiled mackerel in miso, boiled herring or grilled saury pike. 

What I learnt is that cuisine is a great and interesting creative work which can be well done by such an amateur like me with combining these rather limited ingredients.

595 See The Light Of Day

What do you feel when you turns to your late 30s with 10+ years working experience? I have not really cared for what I should achieve or establish something in work. This is partly because I have been working in financial industry where personal contribution is not easy to be estimated. But looking at the other fields I cannot help being inspired by the great works of contemporary creators. 

Steven Soderbergh made Ocean's 11 at age 38, Jim Jarmusch made Night on Earth at age of 38, and J.J. Abrams made MI:III at age 39. What I mean is of course not to compare myself with these genius but to think twice on achieving something to be widely known and remembered in work. That is an honor, fame and will become a track record, and also it might open the way to reach to and be recognized by the people you never be familiar with. If your work is fine enough to be memorized it might create another opportunity and change your life. 

594 STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS (Spoiler Alert!)

SPOILER ALERT!
Here's only for those who have already seen the movie and also to look back my personal memo before watching it.


So this is finally all about missing Luke Skywalker. His mysterious existence has been shedding light to the hope or sometimes shadowing the untold history all through the story and the cinematic impact when he finally shows himself and face with Rey, for only a minute without any words, blew my mind. Rey's awakening of strong force, Han's tragic death caused by his own son, the fight against Star Killer, the reunion of R2-D2, C-3PO and Leia, with introduction of new attractive characters like Finn, Poe and BB-8, make us excited and satisfied, but above all, this time the magnetics of Luke Skywalker rules the movie. The reason of his missing is not specifically told but suggested that it has something to do with the fact that Kylo Ren, his nephew, turned to dark side. But the last sequence casts us further questions and curiosities to be continued to Episode VIII (in this way, the style of story telling is felt a bit like a television drama series). 

Why Luke had to disappear, what is he doing in an isolated planet, why he quit fighting as a last Jedi knight and as a leader of resistance army and left everything behind, does he know Kylo Ren killed Solo, his best friend and brother-in-law, is Rey really a child of Luke, and if so why she had to be abandoned alone in a desert planet, is she thinking about finding and asking help for a Jedi knight, or rather finding her own father, and what is the story behind Luke's lightsaber (originally, Anakin's lightsaber) returned to the owner for the first time in over 30 years?

Another mysterious leading character, Rey, is just marvelous. Her inner and outer strength, emotional depth, strong will, intelligence, tact and freshness are fully and perfectly shining. The movie no doubt succeeds to create an attractive heroine who was born to carry her own destiny and mission but also try to challenge them. She seems to be not so naive as young Luke in Episode IV, and sometimes she has mixed feelings. In one of the unforgettable scenes when Rey overwhelms Kylo Ren in their lightsaber combat, she looks truly fierce with anger for a moment as if she is on the verge of turing to the dark side. 

Finally, my personal question on AT-AT was satisfied with a very surprising way: Rey is living in a wreck of AT-AT! The idea reminds me of the scene that Luke was kept warm and alive in a Tauntaun in Episode V. Talking about the linkage with the past generation, Rey's hairstyling is very similar to Padme in disguise, and her outfit design seems to have mixed origins from Shmi Skywalker, Luke Skywalker and again Padme in combat uniform. Anyway she is already a seasoned fighter and we'll see her being trained as a Jedi not just with strength but with wisdom and balance of mind.