Ruined for Life: Phoenix Edition

Weekly Photo Challenge: Escape

smkelly8 — Tue, 21 May 2013 14:52:02 +0000

Shandong Provincial Museum, my favorite escape

Here’s how it works:

1. Each week, we’ll provide a theme for creative inspiration. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog anytime before the following Friday when the next photo theme will be announced.

2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “Weekly Photo Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use a “postaday2013″ or “postaweek2013″ tag.

3. Subscribe to The Daily Post so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements. Sign up via the email subscription link in the sidebar or RSS.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Escape (daily post)
Weekly Photo Challenge: Escape (flickr comments)
Weekly Photo Challenge: Escape (fotos)
Weekly Photo Challenge: Escape (jean’s photography)
Weekly Photo Challenge: Escape (third culture children)
Weekly Photo Challenge: Escape (third eye mom)
Weekly Photo Challenge: Escape (whats (in) the picture?)
Weekly Photo Challenge: Escape (broken light)
Weekly Photo Challenge: Escape (kanlaon)
Weekly Photo Challenge: Escape (ad sach)
Weekly Photo Challenge: Escape (travels and trifles)
Weekly Photo Challenge: Escape (dan photos)
Weekly Photo Challenge: Escape (jinan daily photo)
Weekly Photo Challenge: Escape (here and there)
Weekly Photo Challenge: Escape (charles schnyder photography)
Weekly Photo Challenge: Escape (things to rave about)
Weekly Photo Challenge: Patterns (eclectic, eccentric shopaholic)
Weekly Photo Challenge: Patterns (photo & tour)
Weekly Photo Challenge: Patterns (thoughtsofrk)
Weekly Photo Challenge: Patterns (flickr comments)
Weekly Photo Challenge: Patterns (third eye mom)
Weekly Photo Challenge: Patterns (colline’s blog)
Weekly Photo Challenge: Patterns (jinan daily photo)
Weekly Photo Challenge: Patterns (beijing daily photo)
Weekly Photo Challenge: Patterns (a hectic life)
Weekly Photo Challenge: Patterns (here and there)
Weekly Photo Challenge: Patterns (peripatetic eric)
Weekly Photo Challenge: Patterns (vivid visions)

Promised Land

smkelly8 — Tue, 21 May 2013 05:44:12 +0000

While certainly agitpop, I enjoyed Promised Land starring Matt Damon, John Krasinski, Frances McDormand, and Hal Halbrooke. It’s the story of a newly promoted natural gas employee whose job is to get family farmers to sign over their land rights. Then Global Oil will begin fracking, which can go terribly wrong, contaminating the land and water for generations. Of course, Damon’s character leaves that bit out of his sales pitch. He and McDormand visit a small town in Pennsylvania promising these good folks that they can make loads of cash and threatening them that this is their last and only chance at a good life for their kids.

Damon’s character, Steve Butler, comes from a small town in Iowa that’s hit economic hard times since a Catapillar plant left town, probably for China or some place with cheap, cheap labor. Steve keeps assuring himself that he’s a good guy and his conscience starts to flare when Krasinski’s environmental advocate comes to town. The two compete and time and again Steve’s luck and charm run out.

The story has some twists at the end and reminded me of a modern version of Upton Sinclair’s Oil! – which we all should read. It’s a palatable way to learn about fracking and corporate practice. There’s a B story with a love triangle, but that subplot isn’t as strong as it could be.

All in all, I’d give this a thumbs up.

Another Job Hunt

smkelly8 — Sun, 19 May 2013 14:52:31 +0000

I got a job offer in March. A job with good pay, working on a new campus for a respected university. I immediately inquired about housing and benefits and was informed that housing is arranged. The sample contract I saw listed good benefits including health care. Since I enjoyed the people I met, I accepted the job.

I also made the mistake of not continuing to job hunt. In fact, I wrote to two contacts to withdraw my application for jobs that seemed quite good. Also, I informed my current employer than in the fall, that I’d be teaching elsewhere. My current job has been given to someone else so my only chance to remain here would be if someone had to back out.

Well, now things don’t look so certain.

I got an email from someone at the new university and she mentioned temporary housing. I inquired about the adjective and learned that new hires got 60 days of temporary housing. I was told I could get my own housing. While that’s possible, it’s not what I wanted ever. I prefer the convenience and will sacrifice space for the proximity to the campus. Also, there’s the issue of the university not coming through with what they said earlier. That’s a red flag for me. I’ve had a couple horrendous jobs and I’ve learned from them. Better safe than sorry.

Moreover, the new campus isn’t ready so we won’t teach there till second semester. If I got my own housing it would either be on the island with the current campus or on Hengqin Island where the new one is being built. The fact that we’re talking about different islands does make a commute sound like a hassle.

So I’m waiting for further information from Human Resources. I’ve been waiting since Wednesday.

I don’t like that the question that I asked in plain language and got an answer to is now void. I don’t want to move three times in five months. While I do have a good impression of the department director, I recall that at EBUS/Xiangjiang High School, I liked the program manager/director. Sometimes they really don’t have much power to solve problems. I can’t find any information about the school on the internet. Reading a detailed blog could provide some insights.

As it now stands, I’m trying to be patient and hopeful. The problems aren’t insurmountable and how they’re handled will tell me a lot about the school.

For Whomever’s Interested in Grammar

smkelly8 — Sun, 19 May 2013 13:48:19 +0000

Silver Lining Playbook

smkelly8 — Tue, 14 May 2013 02:45:23 +0000

While I enjoyed Silver Lining Playbook, the story of Pat, a bipolar man released from a mental institution, who’s intensely committed to getting his wife back. I wouldn’t watch it twice. It’s good, but not that good.

Robert De Niro, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence and the rest of the cast all turn in fine performances and the story pulls one along. I was just too aware of the plot points and screenwriting conventions to be blown away. I found the energy between characters, particularly Pat’s father (De Niro), Pat (Cooper) and Tiffany (Lawrence), entertaining, though I was aware that I was suspending disbelief while I watched. I guess I just don’t spend much time with people who’re so compulsive.

Midway through the story Pat Sr., who’s very superstitious, bets a fortune on a big game. Throughout the film the characters’ reverence for football is played out and I suppose some people’s lives do revolve around these hobbies in this fashion. I didn’t mind watching their rituals, but sometimes I felt manipulated. For example, Pat goes to a football game and sees his Indian shrink alight from a stereotypical bus that you’d see in New Delhi with Hindu gods painted on it. Never in a million years would this professional take that bus with all his Indian friends to a game. They might drive in sedans, but that wouldn’t serve the plot. Of course, some red necks bully the minorities and Pat gets into the fray after trying really hard not to. Will he be sent back to the mental hospital? That worry is worked throughout the film.

I think and hope we’re in the midst of a change in story paradigms so the conventions are more noticeable, and for me, disappointing. Adding a bet to a plot is so simplistic, such a cop out, as is abnormal psychology in characterization. I know bipolar people and they aren’t like Pat or Tiffany. Now those folks mainly take their meds, but not always. Also, there seems to be a disproportionate number of mentally ill characters on screens, big and small, in the U.S. now. Writers seem fascinated with them and I think they’re easier to write than other characters. I admit Tiffany’s personality, while abrasive to the nth degree was compelling, but the idea that a relationship with her as she is is a good idea for anyone was hard to buy. Lawrence got the Oscar for her performance, but the Academy falls for these sorts of characters a lot. While a crazy chick is a compelling character, I don’t think the performance ranks as best of the year, unless 2012 was a slow year for female roles.

I also didn’t buy that Pat Sr. made a ton of money bookmaking without facing troubles from the mob. They’d want their cut. That’s were they make a lot of money, hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

I saw Silver Lining Playbook because my friend Michele recommended it strongly. It was a fine movie, but not a must see. I’m glad I didn’t spend $10 on a ticket.

The Silver Linings Playbook (theartistmindset.com)
Silver Linings Playbook (2012) (proseandconversations.wordpress.com)
Silver Linings Playbook (2012): Almost Old Fashioned Fun (mikesfilmtalk.com)
Watch An Alternate Ending For ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ (businessinsider.com)
DVD reviews: ‘Silver Linings Playbook,’ ‘Broken City’ and ‘Not Fade Away’ (triblive.com)

Highway Robbery by Kohl’s

smkelly8 — Mon, 13 May 2013 15:03:13 +0000

I recently got a dubious looking email allegedly from Kohl’s, the retailer. I emailed them via their website to see if it was a phishing email and soon got a reply that it was legitimate, despite putting my name in ALL CAPS.

So I called as directed and found out I’d forgotten to pay a small bill, less than $14. Before I could speak to a person I had to wait a long while and then got a recording that repeated my balance and asked the same questions six, count ‘em six times.

Okay, that’s American “customer service” in the voice mail age. I wanted to pay over the phone, as I have $14. I was blown away that I’d also be charged $10 to do this. Jeez. That put me in an ugly mood and made me loath to ever shop at Kohl’s again. It’s not like they’re the only place that sells clothing in my area. The clerk on the phone was nice enough, but the company’s policies are awful. And since I’m not in America, I’m not used to waiting so long for anything.

In China there are hordes of people at various places, but I’ve gotten good at avoiding lines. And in a lot of places lines aren’t so bad. There aren’t any for restaurants or movie theaters. To get in line for a train is ugly, but we manage. I’ve never had to wait for more than one person ahead of me at a post office here. Think how amazing that is since there are one billion more people here than in the U.S.

From Bangladesh

smkelly8 — Mon, 13 May 2013 14:20:52 +0000

I’ve watched the news of Bangladesh, the collapsed garment factory and the protests, with sympathy and concern as a friend runs a school there. He’s fine, but had this to say about the situation there:

I am fine except I’ve been greatly saddened by the tragedy of the collapsed factory building at Savar on April 24th. The death toll according to this morning’s paper is over 1,100.

On Friday, the 26th, I visited the site, which is probably within fifteen miles of here, on one of our school microbuses. My Vice-Principal and one of the staff and I found a few shops open (Friday is a holiday) in the area and brought a small donation of wire cutters, hammers, metal poles, hacksaw blades, face masks, wire tubing (for sending oral saline, water, and/or oxygen down to those still alive in the rubble), flashlights, air freshers, and food. We made two visits that afternoon and had no trouble getting by the patrol keeping vehicles out as we had come to bring supplies. There was a large crowd, probably mostly families of victims hoping to see their loved ones rescued, at the site. I saw two people, an old man and a young girl, who were clearly grieving. I could see only the wrecked front of the building, which was an awful enough spectacle. The ground was a mosaic of purple glass shards from the facade. Just after we arrived the first time, they rushed out on stretchers and put in ambulances five survivors! They had been in the wreckage for more than two days. I saw two of them, both women, on the stretcher. There was a fairly steady stream of ambulances from the site for a while after that. Some 2,437 people were eventually rescued by the end of April.

You probably saw in the news a few days ago the amazing story of one more person’s rescue, a female garment worker, who had been trapped for 17 days.

The local garment industry is likely to suffer as international companies decide to go to other countries where labor standards are better. Since garments is the country’s chief export, there may be even more poverty until safer factories and conditions can be set up.

The country’s political situation has greatly deteriorated since last December. Just after my departure early that month for Washington to be with my family, the opposing political party began staging regular “hartals,” or potentially violent protests. On May 5th and 6th, they held a siege of the city, blocking six major ports of entry by road and rail. Fighting and arson, initiated in part by an Islamic fundamentalist faction, gripped the city on the night of the 5th.

I’ll keep Bangladesh in my prayers. It seems like so much is going wrong there.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge

smkelly8 — Sun, 12 May 2013 13:34:42 +0000

Cee chose signs for this week’s challenge. Here are two I saw at a temple in Phnom Penh in February, seems so long ago.

What wisdom would you put on a sign?

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge … it is a sign! (alwaysbobswife.wordpress.com)
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Signs (ulillala.wordpress.com)
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge (2): Signs…Lost in Translation (mytropicalhome.wordpress.com)
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Signs (francineinretirement.wordpress.com)
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Signs (imexcited.wordpress.com)
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Signs (judylesko.com)
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Signs (unexpectedincommonhours.wordpress.com)
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Signs (yarn spinner)
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Signs (jennifer nicole wells)

Monsieur Lazhar

smkelly8 — Sun, 12 May 2013 12:50:10 +0000

Quiet, thoughtful, and touching, Monsieur Lazhar tells the story of a substitute teacher from Algeria who takes over a grade school class whose teacher committed suicide. The title character came to Montreal as a refugee and his immigration status is precarious.

I soon got pulled into this film in a way that’s rare when I watch a Hollywood film. It’s less predictable or high octane. The characters seemed very real, especially the children whose dialog was authentic. Too often child actors are given absurd lines only someone over 30 would come up with.

Monsieur Lazhar reminded me of The Class, a.k.a.Entre les Murs, another film set in a school, which was well worth watching.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Patterns

smkelly8 — Sat, 11 May 2013 13:15:20 +0000

Sublime

Regal

Classic

Regular