Weekend Update

Okay, UCLA won, although it was another ugly win, 24-21. But that's okay. A win is a win is a win. It doesn't matter how ugly it was. The Bruins were just palin flat. But I still think they showed a lot of heart, because even though they knew they were flat, they still tried hard. I know it sounds contradictory--how can you be flat and still have heart? Hmm... I think they wanted to play hard once the game started, but they were flat because they were ill-prepared for Arizona's intensity and actual talent.

Lost in Japan : update:
On Friday, I went with Musubi-chan to see Lost in Translation by Sofia Coppola. People have told me it was funny so I expected it to be a comedy, but it turned out to be a different kind of movie. Parts were funny, other parts were "romantic." The quotation marks are there because I can't think of any other to describe the connection made between a man, Bob Harris (Bill Murray), and women, Charlotte (Scarlet Johansson), that is so intimate and yet lacking in sexual passion. This intimacy is suggested from the opening scene where the title of the film is displayed at the bottom of the screen in an opaque aqua-blue, almost difficult to read in the shadow of a derrier of a female lying on her side on a bed. The derrier is not naked, but covered in a sheer pink panty--hinting at intimacy. However, it is not a thong or bikini or a g-string; rather it is a sensible full-cut panty covering her entire bottom--implying the absence of an overt sexual attitude....

So the main story surrounds the relationship between Bob and Charlotte. But more interesting to me is their interaction with Japan. It is, in a way, the thing that links them. Once they return to the US, they will no longer be able to share the intimacy. Tokyo is their Paris, a la Bogart and Bergman; a place they can share mentally and maybe emotionally, but no longer physically. As such it is interesting to see how they interact with Tokyo.

Individually, the focus is on Bob. He does a whiskey commercial and photo shoot with Japanese individuals. The lack of subtitles forces the audience to feel what Bob is going through. It is--in my mind--a form of participational art: the viewer participates in the confusion that Bob is enduring, thereby using this confusion--and the possible frustration it arousses--to understand and appreciate the film. I almost wish I didn't understand Japanese so I could participate, as well. Instead, I got to play god, the omniscient observer. more later.

Saturday's post: Another week has past and Saturday is upon us. UCLA plays the Univrersity of Arizona, the sorriest of the Pac-10 teams. Of course, the only reason its the sorriest is because UCLA crushed Washington last week. Before last weeks game, UA and our beloved Bruins were neck and neck for the distinction of sorriest team. I hope they play well today, as they have shown improvement week to week, albeit in minisicule increments.