TV Reviews: W (2016)

W (2016) produced by Chorokbaem Media

The very popular webtoon (a digital comic designed for reading on smartphones) "W" tells the story of Kang Cheol (Lee Jong-Suk). He is an Olympic competitor in pistol shooting who comes home from a meet to discover his family shot to death. Suspicion falls on him but he is not convicted. He creates a TV program called "W" which is intended to investigate what happened to his family (and discover the real murderer) but also documents other real crimes. The webtoon focuses on Kang Cheol's search for the killer and the killer's attempts to kill Kang Cheol. But that plot is only half the show.

In the real world, the writer of "W," Oh Sung-Moo (Eui-sung Kim) is tired of the very popular comic and has decided to kill off Kang Cheol to make an ending. The plan goes awry when his daughter Oh Yeon-joo (Han Hyo-joo) is sucked into the comic. She's a medical intern so she saves the handsome Kang Cheol and starts to fall in love with him. This plot twist shows up in the webtoon, surprising both readers and the writer. The writer keeps failing to kill off the main character, causing him some angst. Kang Cheol and Oh Yeon-joo start falling in love though she is sucked back to the real world at the end of each issue. She is not really in control of when she comes and goes, making things more dramatic. The killer becomes interested in killing her, though his interest shifts when he discovers that he's a faceless character in a comic with no real motivation other than making the hero's life miserable. Just when the romantic part of the plot is resolved, the killer creates lots of complications both in the comic world and out in the real world.

The premise is a lot of fun, a typical fantasy for fiction fans. Who wouldn't be intrigued at the chance to live in an imagined world or to meet a favorite character? The logic of how the two worlds interact gets more complicated and convoluted as the story goes on. At some point, it felt as if things were changing or added just to make some new drama to fill out the sixteen-episode season. It would have been better if they'd tightened it up to ten or twelve episodes, but still it's a fun premise and otherwise well executed (good acting, charming characters, good visual effects).

Recommended.

As I write this (December 2021), the show is only available in America through Viki.

Book Review: The Problem with Socialism by Thomas J. DiLorenzo

The Problem with Socialism by Thomas J. DiLorenzo

A more apt title for this might be "The Problems with Socialism" as it describes the historical, economic, and philosophical failings of the governing model taken primarily from Marx and Engel's The Communist Manifesto.

The twentieth century is full of examples of failed socialist government, the most infamous examples being the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. Both countries governments took over most of their nation's industries or created so many regulations that, in practical effect, they ran those industries. The Soviets had access to large amounts of natural resources and could last longer without resorting to taking over other countries (which they got away with as much as the could during the Cold War). The people weren't subjects of the state, they were subjected to its demands. Venezuela was an economic disaster. China still has massive human rights problems. The author even examines problems in the Scandinavian countries where socialist like to claim success.

While "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need" is a noble sentiment, the practical effect of establishing it on a national level is to suppress productivity. If a worker is not rewarded for extra effort or achievement or ability with a higher salary or other benefits, how motivated would anyone be to work harder? If someone with more technical abilities is paid the same as an unskilled laborer (the imposition of equality on the workers), how likely is someone to seek out abilities or use them? The problem is exacerbated in a socialist government where the means of production are all run by the government. The government basically establishes a monopoly with no competition to spur on creativity or frugality in producing goods and services. Instead, industries develop a top-heavy bureaucracy that is slow to implement change or raise standards.

A national economy is large and has many intricate interconnections, more than can be managed by any bureaucracy. Often, the bureaucrats work in their own self-interest, creating the typical socialist strata--the people and the government or governing party. While the people have to scrape by on the subsistence existence of "each according to his need," the ruling class lives a much better life. The practical result is the Orwellian "all men are equal, but some are more equal than others."

The book is an interesting analysis of all sorts of flaws in socialist thinking and governing. It's a little light on acknowledging the problems with capitalism. The focus is more on how capitalism is falsely depicted by socialists and how capitalism provides a lot more to people and the economy than socialism even could. His arguments that socialist countries get by on the wealth previously generated is not quite convincing. On the other hand, he's got it right about the false understanding of human nature that cripples any practical implementation of socialism.

Recommended.

Laurel Museum--Poe Death Exhibit and 150 Years of Laurel

Our local historical museum, the Laurel Museum, is not very big but does do a good job at rotating exhibits. The building was originally apartments for workers at the Laurel Mill, which used to be across the street. Now, the town pool is there.

Laurel Museum

An exhibit we saw over Thanksgiving weekend is the Poe Baltimore Art Installation Edgar Allen Poe "Body" and Casket. It's a small exhibit that examines the mysterious circumstances around Poe's death in Baltimore in 1849. It includes a recreation of the man and his last resting place.

Recreation of Poe's casket and the man

Votive candles

Poe was discovered passed out on the streets of Baltimore on October 3, 1849, dressed in ragged clothing that did not fit him well, as if he had pulled them from a trash can. Poe usually dressed quite properly. The exhibit shows an example of the typical outfit of a gentleman in the late 1840s. Poe was not fabulously wealthy but he could afford then current styles.

How the times have changed

Poe was taken by a friend to Washington College Hospital where his delirium continued until his death on October 7. He was unable to explain what had happened to him. A set of large panels dramatizes the events.

Poe's fate, much like one of his stories

The exhibit was quite small but very interesting. It was in the museum's basement, right next to the gift shop. Upstairs was an exhibit meant for last year though the museum was closed because of Covid. The exhibit celebrates 150 years of Laurel. Laurel was incorporated as a city in 1870, though it obviously existed as a community long before that. 

The community

In the 1980s, during the Trivial Pursuit craze, the local Jaycees created a Laurel-based trivia game.

At least it wasn't Monopoly

The museum has a View-Master on display which the kids enjoyed looking through. I remember it from my own childhood. 

View-Master and earlier version

Laurel has plenty of entertainment venues, some still around (the horserace track) and some gone (the bowling alley).

Entertainment in Laurel

Technology in Laurel has advanced through time. The computer below had a catalog of images on 5 1/4 floppy disks! The instructions for a rotary phone fascinated me too.

Old tech

The museum also has housewares from the last 150 years.

"Teapots and Things" would be a good name for a store

Another display has pages from a World War II war ration book.

War rationing

Civic organizations are represented in another display. The Knights of Columbus have been very active (though they have only been around for a hundred years). The sword, scabbard, and baldric are from George Jones, the second Grand Knight in the 1920s.

Knights of Columbus regalia

We are always excited to see new exhibits at our local museum. The kids like it because the museum is close by and not very big, so it isn't a long visit that can get boring. They don't know what they are missing!

Book Review: Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Lost Adventures by Various Authors

Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Lost Adventures based on the television series created by by Brian Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino with contributions from twenty-two writers and artists

This graphic novel contains a myriad of stories set during the television show's three-season storyline. Many of the stories are very short (just a few pages) and seem like they might have been jokes or little side stories that didn't make it into the show, probably for time constraints, not for the lack of quality. They don't add a much to the overall story arc. They do remind the reader of the high points and push nostalgia buttons. The show premiered in 2002, so it's just about 20 year old!

The stories are in chronological order and may be confusing if you have not seen the show. While they focus on the Avatar's group, plenty of the side characters make appearances. Considering how good the show was at developing even minor characters, their reappearances bring a smile to the fans. My favorite stories were ones about Sokka pretending to be the Avatar to impress a girl, an epic showdown between Toph and King Boomi to see who is the best earthbender ever, and Zuko visiting an arcade where he plays a game against his sister. The collection is very entertaining.

Highly recommended for Avatar fans.

Movie Review: Ninotchka (1939)

Ninotchka (1939) directed by Ernst Lubitsch

Three Soviet agents (Iranoff, Buljanoff, and Kopalski) travel to Paris in the early 1930s to sell a set of diamonds for cash to help out the agricultural situation in the Motherland. The jewels were seized from a Russian aristocratic family and one of the surviving aristocrats, Grand Duchess Swana (Ina Claire) just happens to live in Paris and hears about them from another expatriate who works at the agents' hotel. She wants her stuff back and gets her boyfriend Count Leon (Melvyn Douglas) to negotiate with the Soviets. These three particular agents are a bit bumbling and, quite frankly, enjoy living the Parisian lifestyle, especially at their swanky hotel where the only room with a safe big enough to hold the jewels is the Royal Suite. With the pending legal complications, they send a message back to their superiors in Moscow. The superiors send someone to take over, a no-nonsense daughter of the Revolution named Ninotchka (Greta Garbo). She shows up and they have to cut down their lifestyle. For herself, she spends her spare time inspect utilities and other industrial things to take valuable information home. As she wanders the streets, she runs into Leon and they hit it off, even with her amazing reserve and disinterest in capitalist waste and inefficiency. Leon is the epitome of what she should dislike--he's got money and a butler and no job except entertaining himself by entertaining the ladies. Ninotchka does not know of Leon's connection to the jewels, nor does he know hers. Once they find out, things get more difficult. Still, love is stronger than ideology in this case. Swana is finally forced to make Ninotchka an offer: Swana will drop her claim as long as Ninotchka goes back to Moscow, leaving Leon for herself. 

The movie is a delightful romantic comedy. Lubitsch is a director who can take what seems like slight material and make it shine. The romantic plot has some fun turns. The actors are all great in their roles--the three Russians have a nice comic repartee with each other, Garbo is great as the dour official and the romantic foil for Douglas (and she makes the transition seamlessly, which is amazing). The sympathy for the characters shifts around. At first, viewers feel for the wronged Duchess but she turns out to be more devious while Ninotchka shifts from bureaucratic to love-struck and more compassionate, even to the three bumbling agents. They are an interesting group of real people. The script even sneaks in a couple of jokes around Garbo's famous "I want to be alone" line and a cameo for Bela Lugosi.

Highly recommended.

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Cute Kid Pix November 2021

Some more pictures that didn't get their own posts...

My daughter's middle school orchestra class had a guest performance at the high school where most of the kids will go in a couple of years. The middle school is split between two high schools and, based on where we live right now, she will go to the other high school. She was happy to go anyway--they served pizza for dinner after the warm-ups and before the performance. The middle scholars wore white and black. The high scholars dressed only in black.

My view

The cello section (my daughter second from the right)

I was the only one who got up to see the lunar eclipse the night of the 18th (or really the morning of the 19th, since it peaked at 4:03 a.m. EST). The picture does not do it justice.

I need a better camera!

With the end of the liturgical year, we switched our Saint Joseph's altar to an Advent altar. The Year of Saint Joseph started last Advent and had me reading several books (some repeats) along with a novena or two. I also joined the men's group at our church. We meet on Saturday mornings at 6:45, so it's not for the feint of pillow. 

Goodbye!

The Advent calendar tree!

Geocaching November 2021

Near our gym is a multi-cache called LOB: I don't remember what I put on the log. This cache uses the certitude site to confirm that you've found the first stage of the cache. The second (and final) stage was up the hill. I had trouble finding the cache but I was making a false assumption. When I expanded the radius of my search I achieved success.

Stages 1 & 2 in the same photo!

Oh, and I have no idea what the title of the cache is referring to...maybe the cache owner gave it a name and forgot what it was. I didn't see any name on it, maybe they forgot the name because they forgot to give it a name. I'm not sure what the "LOB" refers to either.

I went back to a previous cache that had a utility truck with the driver sitting around waiting to be called. This visit, the area was clear and I was able to drive to within ten feet of the cache. Dick's cache was almost a drive-thru cache! 

I should have got Dick's Sporting Goods in the mirror

On the other side of the shopping plaza was another cache that had muggles all over it. This time, I had to drive through a gaggle of geese! The cache, A B C, was easy to find once I was able to get near ground zero.

Cache nearby, geese in the back

Out running errands another day, I found some quick park and grab caches. First was All Gray cache which was in the parking lot of a gas station. Luckily ground zero was off on the side where it was less visible to the customers.

The side with the cache

The gas station's convenience store

The Blue Fish... is not too far away. It's in the back of a business park and the nearby buildings are waiting for renters. I didn't need to be too stealthy here. The container explains the name of the cache.

Maybe it should be called "Three Blue Fish"?

My final cache for that outing, Hold My Dollars..., was another drive up cache out in the middle of the parking lot. The only car nearby looked like an employee's car that would be there for the day. Again, I didn't need too much stealth even with the open exposure. The cache is a pill container, but originally was just a money clip. The log must have gotten too wet for that to last. There's a Dollar Tree and a bank nearby. Either of those can stand in for the rationale of the name (or maybe both can). 

Definitely not named after the BBQ restaurant shown here