House of Stone Version 10 point 8

I am always cheered by the fact that no matter if I write about Abraham Joshua Heschel, or the Holy Rabbi of Brooklyn, or Einstein, or my mother Ruth Stone, or Korean Drama's and British actors, someone across the world in Israel checks in to see my blog. Maybe, I think, maybe it is my uncle, my fathers brother who lives there. But he only reads the Talmud and the Torah so I don't think it could be.  Anyway, one person in Israel, one person in China, one person in the US, and my little crowd in Poland. That is a cozy group, I think. An odd but cozy group. And in these High Holy Days, what more could one hope for? I am cheered by a mass mailing from a Rabbi in Chabad who wrote that he hoped we would all be sealed in the Book of Life.
    Tonight I am watching "Emperor", with Matthew Fox, who was in LOST. It starts out with a little bow to Lost by showing Matthew Fox in a forest of Bamboo, just like the beginning of Lost, only he is smiling and standing up rather than lying flat on his back having fallen out of a plane. I am only a half hour in, but I had to pause it because my son called me from Oregon and we ended up talking all night. He showed me how to Google Video Chat and how to add family to my google family circle. He showed me how to find his original music on SoundCloud. It was all very illuminating. Although I would rather have my family in a real circle around me, it is the best one can hope for in these digital times. I was thinking how these days people don't have piano's or books or even photo albums in their livingrooms. They have Itunes, or kindle or SoundCloud. The have SnapFish or Iphoto. Matter is disappearing and our world becomes more and more internal and ethereal. We have our online family circle. We have our online music and pictures and relationships. Our stores are online. Almost everything is neatly organized in an invisible area, called digital storage space. If it keep going as it is going, I think the next step is for us to move in to the computer completely. We will end up living in Cloud. And aren't we almost there anyway? Our relationships are more and more invisible. Perhaps we will drift to a dimension where slipping inside the computer will be possible. Perhaps we are already in it. Perhaps we are being led to this awareness, carefully but briskly being led down the rosy path to acceptance that it is, and has always been, all virtual.
Even so, May you have a sweet and uplifting year. May you be sealed in the Book of Life. May you return if you wish, or retire from the wheel if you choose, or float across all 10 dimensions on the very latest version of your Cloud.
     Now I am going back to watch the sad movie Emperor, about Japan after World War 2. I feel if Sugihara was so Holy as to save so many in Lithuania when no one else was helping, the Japanese must have have had a great deal of goodness in them during that wicked heartless era. Surely Sugihara and his children and whole family are sealed forever in the Book of LIFE. May we all be so honorable and brave.

HOUSE OF STONE Best Actor in the World Awards

Protect the Boss was cute, ended cute, overall cute rating 8. The father was a fantastic actor. He really was good. In fact, the father and the grandmother stole the show. And the poor little rich girl too. She was great. But now it is finished. I tried watching Flower Shop Boy or whatever for the 3rd time and I still HATE it, too bad, cause I loved the main guy in it when he was Death in 49 Days. 49 Days is what started this whole obsession. So I was trying for the 3rd time to wade through the Flower Shop series, but I just couldn't do it. One has the feeling that probably buried in there are some great moments, but the idea of a teacher and a student is kind of weird to begin with. And its about high school which is another turn off for an ancient alien relic such as I am.
God, can I SAY that? Why not? Most of my readership is Polish, believe it or not, and I am sure over in Poland they don't mind what I say. If it is not too personal a question though, WHY is my blog read in Poland? I don't mean to say I am a big hit there, just that more people in Poland read my blog than anywhere else in the world. Which, despite the modest numbers, means a lot. Is it because I wrote about Einstein so much? Or Rebbe's? I just am not sure. My daughter's boyfriend is half Polish. But what else? Surely there are no Koreans living in Poland. I am always hoping a Korean or Polish person will read my blog and comment. Actually I am always hoping anyone will comment. But now I sound like I am begging..... je song hamida. ("I'm sorry" in Korean)
     We were chatting about Korean Dramas. I finished Protect the Boss and was surfing for a new series to watch. I have lots of Korean movies lined up but I am too hooked on the series format to watch something that only goes on for an hour or two... Although I did like Castaway on the Moon just because the nutty girl was so wonderful.  Oh did I tell you I watched Romantic Island? I love that Lee Sun Kyun. Why, if I can drift a bit here, does he change his name so often? He is hard to locate on Netflix and on the web because he changed his name several times through out his career. Or maybe people just misspell it. I probably misspelled it here. Anyway, I gave him the "House of Stone Best Most Adorable Actor Award" for this year. It had previously gone to Bill Nighy for anything and everything he has ever done and will do in the future. Before Bill Nighy the House of Stone Award went to the actor who played Jodah Akbar (which I am also probably misspelling). That movie changed my life. Not actually, but internally. I began to buy silk chiffon fabric and hang it in doorways, I listened to Sufi music all day, especially that one song at his wedding where the Sufi's swirl and Johdah Akbar begins to swirl too and he sees God, or Allah or Hashem or whatever name you prefer, and the silk chiffon around the females tent swirls and blows in the wind. It was a most moving cinematic masterpiece. Like the Life of Pi. That was also one of the GREATS. But who knows what lies ahead? My life has paused and the television screen flickers on, and on, and on. Not only am I now a simple watcher, but my brain has acclimated to it's new function and offers little in the way of thought or comfort. It forgets words. It fails to recall books we read. It doesn't like to be awakened except when I say, "Want some Lime Tostitoes?" to which it replys, "Sure! Go get some!" or when I ask, "Are you tired? Shall we turn off episode 4 and go to bed?" and it will say, "Ok. Let us retire."
     We were talking about Korean Dramas. I tried one about a time traveling guy called,  Operation Proposal and after 1 and a half episodes I was not getting in to it just because it was about teenagers, and the main guy in it looked 14 at the most. Which is not to say it was bad or boring. It was just for a younger audience I think.
     I am now in episode 3 of Heartstrings and I really like it. I really like the leading actress, Park Shin Lee.  I also really like Strawberry Ritter Chocolate bars. Do you know Ritter Candy makes lots of different chocolate bars, most of them are available almost anywhere, except the one I like. The strawberry chocolate bar is available at a few grocery stores in Brooklyn and was for sale last December in Target of all places, but is otherwise unavailable on the planet. It's the best chocolate bar I've ever had. It's better than Godiva, better than Lake Champlain chocolates, better than the weird modern chocolate made with things like pepper and chili and shoe leather. God the things chocolateers come up with! Now that is a word I think is perhaps not correct. Chocolateers? People who make chocolate are called.....not volunteers. Not rotisseries. Not confectioners. Well, anyway, my brain took the bag of lime Tostitoes and disappeared upstairs. I think it may have gone to bed without me. It likes to fall asleep watching Richard Dreyfus movies on the old VCR. Sometimes it talks in it's sleep. It says, "that was a second encounter!" It says, "I can't be a World Citizen! I'm not FROM this solar system." It mumbles. Last night though, when I had set the alarm and was turning off the light, I said, "Are you still awake?" and my brain whispered, "dayyy" which means "yes" in Korean. Which means it may actually be learning something from all this passivity.

Camsahamida Netflix for bringing Korean drama to the USA!

 I have been watching Protect the Boss, which I loved for the first 8 or 9 episodes. I regret to say it has become more than a little redundant and reminds me more of old American soaps than any of the other Korean Dramas so far. I am going to see it through to the end, but here's what I am thinking....There are two or three evil older women in it who are constantly meeting in secret to think up something evil to do. That's kind of depressing. And the characters in the show are less enchanting. The main young man who carried the drama for the first half was adorable and innocent and had phobia's which were very endearing, but there is too much physical abuse for my taste. The girl he likes is constantly twisting his arm or slapping or punching him for liking her. It is obvious his father hit him through out his childhood because he cringes every time his father is near him. The father's mother also hits the father and threatens to break his legs, though she is the kindly one of the whole family. All in all, it is tedious and lacks interesting characters and dialogue to carry through however many episodes it is... I am still watching it. Yes, there are times when it is funny. The father is the best actor without a doubt. The son is good too, though his character is not given enough good lines as the show progresses. It falls back on fight scenes more and more. I do like the main girl and the dumped beauty, just because they are in opposite roles. The main girl is not beautiful, though she has a beautiful figure, and she slouches and her aggressive behavior is weird. I like the unusualness of that set up, but I am sorry she is so unkind to the main son while helping him. The other main young man could have been much much more interesting but they give him so little to work with. He has to do all his acting with his facial expressions because he rarely says anything of interest. The crying rich girl does her part well and is increasingly special. Unfortunately the "wrestler" girl is given a typical role to play. She has to be thuggish and mostly interested in overeating. But you get the feeling this girl could probably be a wondrous character if she was given a great role.  I wish TV would have a positive big female once in a while. Not mean or tough or indifferent, but actually a wonderful human who isn't skinny. But maybe I want too much from the world.

     Every single Americanized movie or show has three constants. The first is violence. Usually someone is about to get murdered, or has a gun, or is planning something dangerous. There is usually a shoot out, the bad guys shooting badly and the good guys killing left and right in order to save someone or do some good in the world. A total oxymoronic constant. The second "must be included in every movie" is a sex scene, usually five minutes after the two people meet, and it is always the same and it is always stupid and steamy and utterly unrealistic. In my opinion (and really I am NOT a prude.) I think watching a bedroom scene in a movie is SO dull and kind of repellant. Do people REALLY like to watch other people naked in bed together? I just don't see how it is so important to include the same thing in every major motion picture. I don't think it's WRONG or DIRTY or wicked, I just think it's boring. And they always make the same boring noises, and you see the same naked shoulders and hips and blah blah, get over it. In the last few years they have added a lot of sticky audio to kissing too which really turns me off. Why do people like to watch other people being intimate? It's such a cop out to character development.
The third constant is of course, the car. The car is being pursued. The car is pursuing. The car can do almost anything, even fly if you are watching anything with Nicholas Cage in it. The car spins, rolls over, falls off a cliff and bursts in to flames. The guy and girl crawl out, unscathed, and are able to shoot their pursuer just before they begin fondling each other and have sex.
     There are over one and a half million people in the United States who are producers, directors, and actors. You would think, with all those people making movies, that they would come up with story lines that did not revolve around car chasing, shootouts, and sex scenes. ( ok, notwithstanding independent films about the Aboriginal tribal whatever....) In Korea, at least in Korean Drama, they have managed to do just that. There have been car scenes, but they are not heroics set up to make the main guy appealing. There have been a few guns in some of the dramas, but they are not shoot out scenes set up to turn the leading man into the hero. In Korean Drama, they let the leading man turn himself in to a hero, with his acting skill and his character, and his flaws. It is the differences, the individuality of the people that take their filmmaking to the top of my list. In the current American TV drama Person of Interest, the character "Harold" is enthralling in a similar way. His peculiarities are what make him so appealing; his limp, his inability to fist fight, his dislike of guns, etc. I remember going to a screen writing workshop in NYC some years ago and hearing how the writer should make a list for each character of things he says and does and wears and carries that make him that character. I didn't think much of it at the time because the speaker used, as an example, the movie Jerry Mcguire, explaining to the full auditorium that this was one of the best movies ever made. I could hardly wait to get out of there. I thought Jerry Mcguire was a perfect example of real garbage. I didn't think a single line in it was original or fresh or worthy and the story was unmemorable but I remember I hated it. Anyway, that speaker was spot on about developing characters. A list of what they are like. What they say. Like Hugo in LOST, said "dude", loved food, wore enormous teeshirts, listened to awesome music on his headphones, and was humorous even when he was suicidal.
           Sometimes I give Korean Drama a break and watch something else on Netflix. I watched an episode of the British TV series House of Cards, I watched a Netflix mini series called the Prisoner (with the guy from PERSON OF INTEREST in it), I watched an episode of the American version of House of Cards (yikes! Sorry Netfix!). But nothing lately holds my interest other than these strange, wonderful, hilarious, tragic, emotional Korean Dramas. It's a phenomena, right?

Korean Character in Dramas

You Are Beautiful... Another addicting Korean Drama. But how could she continue loving that turkey of a guy episode after episode? Ok he was very cute, but so wrapped up in himself, and with such a wicked mother. But then how could she leave him after he stood on stage talking to her and found her in the crowd of 15 thousand screaming fans? That was a great scene. That was the scene the audience waited for, waded for through 16 episodes. What an awesome scene. So erotic. But then what? After something so terrific as that, what else is there? The mundane day to day life that inevitably follows is too disappointing to think about. So in a way she has to leave, this nun turned boy turned pig-rabbit turned woman. She has to leave otherwise we are left only with an ordinary couple.
     What I want to know is why do they use so much english? And why is there so much catholicism?
    Well, the long week-end is over. You are Beautiful is over. The morning pushes on, and it's time to go back to work. Forget the glittering world of television. Let go of the lives of all those others who exist only in the dreamworld. Work. Work to forget. Work to make money. Work to pass time. Work to remember you are human, regardless of where you were born, you are human... and existence is enough of a drama, subtitles or not.
     PASTA, the Korean Drama about a girl who wants to be a chef and a Chef that hates girls in his kitchen, REAL acting suddenly appears on the screen in episode 10 and knocks you off your feet. Yoo Kyung is one of the most convincing actresses I have ever watched. Her character is awkward, childlike (almost overly so, but not quite), and somewhat plain. She is told over and over by Chef that she is not attractive. Ugly, he says. Her face is full of expression, her body movements are exactly right, and her joy is contagious. Sorry, that is a oh so corny remark but it is true! It is true, you must watch this soap. In episode 10 Hyun Wook, (real name Lee Sun-kyun, the worlds most adorable sensual powerhouse of an actor) tells Yoo Kyung (the worlds most adorable, childlike, strong female lead..her real name is Gong Hyo-Jin)  that he likes her. And in these few minutes where she sits on his cutting table and he bends over her, the emotions and facial expressions and acting is absolutely REALITY TV. It could not be more real. In fact, I keep wondering if they are really who they are portraying. These two carry the show, along with the restaurant owner who also acts well, though his role is more quiet and his love unrequited, and Yoo Kyung's father who plays a small but beautifully done part.

Can I gush anymore? Are these people famous? I know they are famous in Korea, but what about in the U.S.? 

 These shows all use odd real type people. You don't need to hear an actor repeating the same word, or wearing the same shirt to know their character. They stand out and are memorable because they are not perfect to begin with. The leading girl doesn't wear lip gloss in PASTA. The female cook who gets fired kind of has a Roseanne aura, chunky and angry. (She turns up again in Protect the Boss, another FANTASTIC drama I'm in the middle of now.) Sometimes people look disheveled, really look it. In US movies a person might say, "wow you look terrible! what's the matter?" but in truth, the other person doesn't look terrible at all... they look spiffy and perfect but maybe they're frowning. Korean Drama lets you see as well as hear. The story is not in perfection. It is not about perfection. The scenery is refreshingly dumpy at times. The cars aren't all perfect. The imperfections make it. and the fact that you can watch 20 or more hours of one drama without having to see people copulating in order to know they are in love is...well... it's just way sexier. I love how you grow to love each character because you get to see such interesting scenes that may not be directly related to the plot but they add tremendously to the story. It's like listening to a folk tale. It's rich stuff. And grown up people are important. They aren't people to avoid like in this country, they are the center of the family. The grown kids listen to them. They have this respect shown to them. Honorifics. "Yo" at the end of a sentence. Bowing. And a meaningful place in the group. A person watching this yearns for that kind of acceptance and inclusion in the familial group. A person watching these Korean Dramas may feel we have sacrificed too much in our loss of formality and tradition, trading it for independence which teeters on isolation.