Korean War Veterans Memorial, Washington D.C.

Washington, D. C., has a myriad of memorials. We finally got to see one of the lesser-known ones, the Korean War Veterans Memorial. The memorial was authorized by Congress in 1986. In 1992 they broke ground on the site, just south of the Reflecting Pool and just southeast of the Lincoln Memorial. The memorial was dedicated in 1995. It was built under the guidance of the Korean War Veterans Memorial Advisory Board (appointed by President Ronald Reagan) and turned over to the National Parks Service for ongoing care and maintenance.

The most striking part of the memorial is the set of nineteen statues representing American soldiers. The statues represent fourteen Army soldiers, three Marines, one Navy Corpsman, and one Air Force Forward Air Observer. They stand in the midst of juniper bushes with some granite strips interspersed, representing the rugged Korean terrain. They wear ponchos over their weapons and equipment, protection from the rainy and cold weather.

Korean War Veterans Memorial

A side view

Another side

The United Nations Wall lists the various countries that were part of the armed forces in Korea, along with the casualties. The Pool of Remembrance is right nearby, with the "Freedom is not free" wall as part of the pool. The pool did not have water in it when we visited.

UN Wall and dry Pool of Remembrance

Freedom is not free wall

The Mural Wall parallels the statues and is 164 feet long. The pictures in the wall are from the National Archives and depict various soldiers, equipment, and places from the war.

Statues and Mural Wall

A picture of the wall

The polished black granite of the wall makes a reflection of the soldiers, represent the number thirty-eight. The war lasted thirty-eight months and the dividing line between North Korea and South Korea is the thirty-eighth parallel.

The memorial isn't very big but it is very striking and well worth visiting.

Watching out for us

Book Review: B.P.R.D. The Devil You Know Vol. 1 by M. Mignola et al.

B.P.R.D. The Devil You Know Volume 1: Messiah story by Mike Mignola and Scott Allie, art by Laurence Campbell, and Colors by Dave Stewart

In the aftermath of the Hell on Earth series, the remnants of the B.P.R.D. are still fighting off the remnants of the Ogdru Hem that went inert when their mother, the Ogdru Jahad, was defeated. The agents are checking the various Ogdru Hem to make sure they are dead. Creepy supernatural activity still happens around the inert, gigantic bodies. If that wasn't bad enough, creepy Russian girl Varvara is gathering people from across the world to New York City. She sends out dreams summoning them. When they get there, the people are expecting a heaven on earth, though Varvara seems bent on establishing the opposite. Didn't the B.P.R.D. just stop that?

The story is interesting but a little convoluted. I haven't read the Hell on Earth series, so I was surprised by some of the revelations (like major characters who had died) and confused by some of the new characters (who were established in the previous series I assume). My befuddlement is comparable to skipping two or three seasons of a television show and then jumping back in. I may tough it out anyway since the ending establishes the return of a central character hinted at by the title. I go on to Volume 2 soonest!

Mildly recommended--this is not a good jumping on point, especially if you are just starting the B.P.R.D. (which is the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense)!

Movie Review: The Golem (2018)

The Golem (2018) directed by Yoav and Doron Paz

In seventeenth century Lithuania, Hannah lives a small Jewish village. She is beset with problems. Seven years early, she lost her son. She's grieved for him and refused to have another child. Her husband is unhappy. He's the son of the town's rabbi. He goes for lessons with other men from the village. Hannah listens in from underneath the building; her husband sneaks books away for her to read. Hannah's sister is getting married but the ceremony is interrupted by a ruthless gentile who brings his plague-striken daughter to be cured. Without a cure, he'll destroy the town. The local healer promises to do her best. The rabbi recommends not striking back at the gentiles. Hannah has other ideas. In Kabbalistic texts (like the ones "borrowed" from the rabbi), a formula is given for creating a being out of clay that will protect its master. Hannah's chance to get her son back (sort of) and to defend the village is at hand. Of course, things don't go exactly according to plan.

Hannah is a very complicated character, eliciting both sympathy and revulsion as she makes her choices throughout the story. Other characters are less developed. The villain is little more than a bad guy (he does have a creepy bird-beak mask like the plague doctors used to wear) and just creates peril for the village. The healer once confronted a golem in her childhood (which we see at the beginning of the movie), though her experience doesn't really contribute to the situation. The husband is interesting as he is flawfully supportive of his wife and also frustrated with her. The tension between them is subtle and well developed. The boy who played the golem did a good job which is critical for the film. He doesn't talk and he has little emotional expression (like a golem). He's got enough intensity to give the movie the edge it doesn't have in other departments.

The story is fairly standard. No huge surprises happen. The backstory is told at a good pace. I found the characters a little less sympathetic than they should be, making me less engaged in the story. It wasn't bad and it wasn't great.

Slightly recommended.

TV Review: Kingdom Season One (2019)

Kingdom Season One (2019) written by Kim Eun-hee and directed by Seong-hun Kim

Set during Korea's medieval period, Kingdom tells the story of the nation's king who has been afflicted with smallpox. At least that's the official story. The Crown Prince (Ji-hoon Ju) is suspicious since no one is allowed to see the king except for a small set of advisers...and the queen. The queen is not his mother. She is the second wife of the king. In fact, she is about the same age as the crown prince. She's also pregnant. Since the crown prince is actually the son of a concubine, the royal lineage will fall to the unborn child if he is born before the king dies.

The king did die but a royal physician was brought in with the "resurrection plant" to keep him alive. Unfortunately, the cure turned the king into a flesh-hungry, irrational monster, i.e. a zombie. Political intrigues ensue as the Crown Prince investigates and the Haewon Cho clan (the queen is a member) schemes to get rid of the Crown Prince. Zombie mayhem also ensues as the corpse of the physician's assistant inadvertently causes a zombie plague outbreak starting from the doctor's rural clinic.

The show is a good mixture of royal drama and zombie horror. The political fencing would make a good drama all on its own. The gore starts off fairly mild though that increases during the third episode. The actors are very good and the stunt work and special effects are very realistic-looking (hardly any noticeable CGI). I enjoyed the ongoing story and the action/horror elements.

The big finale had two problems. We expected this to be a self-contained series but found out at the cliffhanger ending that there's another season. So we would have been left waiting around. Luckily the second season has already released. The other problem is a surprise twist about the zombies that really does not make much sense though they may have a chance to explain it away as the characters reading the situation wrong. At least I hope that's what happens. We will watch on.

Recommended.

This is currently available on Netflix (as of May 2020).

Bike Riding May 2020

My daughter and I went for a bike ride because she was supposed to go out and find evidence of animal life in different locations. We recently discovered a trail along power lines near us. That seemed like a good spot to go to fulfill a school assignment.

We looked along the trail and found some tiny butterflies, a couple of cigarette butts, some scat from an unidentified animal, and the buzzing sound of some insect.

On the trail

Maybe twenty yards off the trail, a local street crosses a bridge. Underneath is a stream that feeds into Hammond Branch. It was a different environment from the path and had different evidence of animal life.

Graffiti is a sign of someone there

The little shore had all sorts of evidence. Deer must come here to drink, leaving their hoof prints behind. We saw paw prints from other animals too. And the regrettable detritus of some human.

Can you spot the evidence?

A variety of paw prints

Someone celebrated Cinco de Mayo early

The stream winds its way through a neighborhood into a larger stream. We did not go downstream.

A river runs out of it

We went back to the trail in search of the Hammond Branch ford that my daughter had discovered on a previous trip.

Biking to a new area

The Hammond Branch, upstream from where we were previously

The water had an impressive current (we'd had a rainstorm the night before) and the waters made a pleasant sound as they rolled over a patch of rocks to the right of the ford.

A nice bit of the stream

At the ford, we found the best evidence of animal life...actual animal life!

Taking a picture

Close up of the tiny fish

We had a fun adventure and she got to complete some science assignments for her distance learning. It was a win all around!

ClimbZone, Laurel, Maryland

We took our children to ClimbZone in Laurel, Maryland, to give it a try (this was before the virus lockdown). They had rock climbed before at a gym. That experience was more of a typical fake rock face with grips attached. ClimbZone is not a gym per se, it is a place to climb all sorts of fun and creatively-themed challenges.

ClimbZone in Laurel

Our kids suited up with harnesses and hooked on at a lot of the climbing walls.

My eldest at the steam punk wall

The Tetris wall was challenging because the pieces stick out more or less from the wall. My son managed to make it to the top with some effort.

Daughter gets a head start

Son at the top of Tetris; daughter working her way up an Alice in Wonderland challenge

We were concerned about our youngest not being able to get far. The first few challenges he tried were a bit beyond his abilities.

Tricky waves

Cargo net challenge

Climbing the Lincoln Memorial

Close up on Lincoln's steps

His persistence paid off when he found a wall that was all circles all the way up. He must have climbed to the top ten times, which was a bit nerve wracking for us parents.

Found a favorite

He's higher than his sister!

I had a hard time figuring out why I took the picture below. Can you find one of my children?

Becoming one with the wall

Some adventurous walls reminded me of Indiana Jones. I challenged the older kids to see who could make it to the small bridge first on the wall depicted below.

Shouldn't have given a head start

Victory!

My youngest was happy to do something he's not allowed to do at home--climbing a bookshelf! Maybe we should install some auto-belayers at home.

Really climbing to get the toys

The kids had a great time. We may go back. I may try it out next time!

Book Review: Y: The Last Man Vol. 2 by B. K. Vaughn et al.

Y: The Last Man Volume 2: Cycles written by Brian K. Vaughn, pencilled by Pia Guerra, and inked by Jose Marzan, Jr.

Yorick Brown's cross-country adventure continues as he, Agent 355, and Dr. Mann take a train to California to the doctor's back-up laboratory. Mann has been working on cloning and hopes to clone Yorick so he won't be the last man. A couple of toughs encounter the travelers in Ohio, forcing them to jump from the train. Yorick winds up in an idyllic-seeming town where all the women are nice and caring. The women are welcoming but also fearful because they have a secret they don't want let out...especially to any authorities, like his government covert spy traveling companion. And what about that Russian woman who is going to Kansas for some unexplained reason?

The idyllic town is a little unbelievable given the overall story's set-up. The explanation for why they are in such great shape and of their dark secret both strain credibility. I have the impression the authors are either going for blatant social commentary or subtle Swiftian satire. The problem is how unclear their intentions are. Neither interpretation is satisfactory because neither one is well executed. I don't think it's meant to be a meandering, fantastic adventure with a deeper but obvious meaning like The Odyssey. The deeper message isn't that deep or else it's too deep to be fathomed. Either way, it is not for me. I'm done with Y: The Last Man.

Not recommended.