Into the 80s

1. The funny scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark
Indiana Jones is at risk, standing against a sword-wielding man. The tension simply resolves. He takes out his gun and fires at him. It looks like he's saying, "Stop pestering."


2. Back to the Future 
Time travel is always an interesting topic. In this chase scene, Marty shows an overwhelming stunt. He pushes the skateboard backward under the chasing car and hops onto the vehicle. Plus, he has converse sneakers on. :-)


3. The Terminator 
I''LL BE BACK! This line comes to life due to Arnold Schwarzenegger's clumsy German accent.
I once had a crush on Michael Biehn playing Kyle Reese and watched every single movie he was in that I could get.


4. Star Wars
No sci-fi film is better than this classic. The prequel trilogy is no match for the originals. George Lucas is a genius. The fighter jet scene and the lightsaber scene are remarkable.



Synthpop became prominent. Two of the synthpop artists: Pet Shop Boys & A-ha.

New York City Boy (by Pet Shop Boys) 
New York City boy
You'll never have a bored day
'Cause you're a New York City boy
Where Seventh Avenue meets Broadway

When you're a boy some days are tough
Lying on your bed playing punk rock and stuff
Home is a boot camp you gotta escape
Wanna go and wander in the ticker tape

You feel the deal is real
You're a New York City boy
So young, so run
Into New York City

New York City boy
You'll never have a bored day
'Cause you're a New York City boy
Where Seventh Avenue meets Broadway

 The street is amazing the hoochies unreal
Check out all the hardware at the latest deal
Hear a song, that's the bomb
If you don't get that mix it's got 86'd

You feel the deal is real
You're in New York City



Always on My Mind (by Pet Shop Boys) 
Maybe I didn't treat you quite as good as I should
Maybe I didn't love you quite as often as I could
Little things I should've said and done, I never took the time
You were always on my mind
You were always on my mind

Maybe I didn't hold you all those lonely, lonely times
And I guess I never told you, I'm so happy that you're mine
If I made you feel second best, I'm so sorry, I was blind
You were always on my mind
You were always on my mind

Tell me, tell me that your sweet love hasn't died
Give me one more chance to keep you satisfied
Satisfied


Take on Me (by A-ha)
First ever music video made in anime style back then.


Manhattan Skyline (by A-ha)
We sit and watch umbrellas fly
I'm trying to keep my newspaper dry
I hear myself say,
"My boat's leaving now"
...so we shake hands and cry
Now I must wave goodbye
Wave goodbye

You know
I don't want to cry again
Don't want to cry again
I don't want to say goodbye
Don't wanna cry again
I don't wanna run away
I don't want to race this pain
I'll never see your face again

Oh but how 
How can you say
That I didn't try...
You see things in the depths of my eyes
That my love's run dry
No...


Summer of 69 (By Bryan Adams)
I got my first real six-string
Bought it at the five-and-dime
Played it till my fingers bleed
Was the summer of 69

Me and some guys from school
Had a band and we tried real hard
Jimmy quit, and Jody got married
I should've known,we'd never get far

O when I look back now
The summer seemed to last forever
And if I had a choice
Yeah- I'd always wanna be there
Those were the best days of my life

Ain't no use in complaining
When you got a job to do
Spent my evenings down at the drive-in
And that's when I met you yeah
Standing on your mama's porch
You told me that you'd wait forever
And when you held my hand
I knew that it was now or never
Those were the best days of my life
O yeah, back in the summer of 69

Man we were killing time
We were young and restless
We needed to unwind

I guess nothing can last forever

And now the times are changing
Look at everything that's come and gone
Sometimes when I play that old six-string
Think about you- wonder what went wrong


Heaven (By Bryan Adams)

Oh - thinking about all our younger years 
There was only you and me 
We were young and wild and free 

Now nothing can take you away from me 
We've been down that road before 
But that's over now 
You keep me coming back for more

Baby you're all that I want 
When you're lying here in my arms 
I'm finding it hard to believe 
We're in heaven 
And love is all that I need 
And I found it there in your heart 
It isn't too hard to see 
We're in heaven 

Oh - once in your life you find someone 
Who will turn your world around 
Bring you up when you're feeling down 

Yeah nothing could change what you mean to me 
Oh there's lots that I could say 
But just hold me now 
Cause our love will light the way 

I've been waiting for so long 
For something to arrive 
For love to come along 

Now our dreams are coming true 
Through the good times and the bad 
I'll be standing there by you 

Cipher

Siva in Indian means the creator of all living things, but also has the aspect of the destroyer. 
Cipher means zero. It's really the same thing.  

That way they won't get conceited when they reach the top or despair if they hit the bottom. Every day is a new start. 

Siva (Jake) & Cipher (Roy) are identical twin brothers. They became famous by their childhood acting success. Now they share not just a face, but a single identity. Trading off attending school and acting auditions, it is nearly impossible to tell them apart. Anise is a schoolmate and good friend of the twins. Though she discovers their secret, she values friendship (Friendship is the highest form of respect there is.)  and just waits until they want to tell her the truth themselves. She is close to both brothers, but something more is growing between her and Cipher. Due to her in their boundary, they enter a new phase of their lives and begin living separate lives.
We hated it when we got compared and ranked by adults. We got along great when we were just the two of us. 
Two individuals with the same face. They're conscious, in fact overconscious, of each other all the time. They love each other, vying for parents' attention and love. The underdog desperately wants to prove that he also has things to do well. The top dog is also deprived too early of being a child. Both of them are being hurt, thinking that adults like the other. 
It's eventually a story of twin brothers getting mature and independent and thus individually standing on their own feet, going through love and loss. The two who sinks into their own world and estranged themselves from society finally come back to live together with others.

Siva: If Anise and I were hanging from a cliff, which one would you save?
Cipher: Anise. Then I'd come back for you. 
Siva: But I'd already be dead.
Cipher: Then I'd just jump after you. 

Siva: He cried first, so then I couldn't. Ever since we were kids, everyone always picked Roy. I feel like I never want to see him again. And yet I want to see him. (Siva doesn't reveal his emotion in public. He feels awkward and uncomfortable with smiles and tears. He seems to think that he has to be strong and become his brother's keeper since Cipher begins to rely on him. Poor him. He could be viewed lifeless, but do consider what he's gone through. Go Siva, hang in there. I'm on your side.You're responsible and unselfish. Jake, it doesn't have to be always you who make a sacrifice.)
The various occurrences. The strange coincidences that happen in our lives. Sometimes it seems like God is moving one of the game pieces. Should we be angry or grateful? One feeling can determine your entire life. 

Alex Levine. It's a guy. Pretty boy. 

Do we ever have a friend that lives up to our ideals? We influence each other and change.

I don't want to be the kind who says nice thing to someone's face and talks trash behind their back. (How noble!)

The more you get to know someone, the more you get to know yourself. 

Cipher: Old things aren't just "things." There is a history in every scratch and dent. Sort of like people. After they've worked so long, you can't just toss them because they are no longer useful. Can you? (Cipher is true to his feelings and instantly expresses his emotional ups and downs. How comfortable! On a side note, I guess now I can understand why my mom keeps things piled in my old room. It's literally become a storage room. I throw old things away and buy new things while she cherishes the memories things have.)
The more I talk with Anise, the further away Jake gets. It's like she's creating a divide between Jake and me.

Anise: If I ran across something like that again, I'd probably still jump in. I love it that you can just say what you really think! Even if it's the total opposite from me, I still love it! (Anise is naive, athletic, and above all thoughtful. A funny anecdote: a boy who she secretly liked said she looked like a girl when she was little. What I still like about America is this aspect: tolerance. Things are accepted though people don't agree or approve of them. Being different is acceptable. It's not viewed wrong as in Korea.I do hope that more and more people look inside me.)

I was dying to buy a bunch of cipher pictures like the ones below. These were sold from a street vendor right outside my high school. They were tempting, but I had no money to buy them. I didn't have enough money to buy reference books for studies back then. I didn't know what the manga is about. I didn't even know it's Japanese. Cartoons and arcade games were strictly prohibited by teachers. They were evil things that were only for delinquent teenagers. But I finally put my hands on those things at the time when nobody dared to do that: the summer of senior year before the competitive college entrance exam. 

I'm very happy to be able to finally read the manga these days through the Internet. I'll post as many pictures as I can. Belated consolation. 

  

Basara (Tamura Yumi) + The Bridges of Madison County

It's even before the first volume ends that I'm drawn to the comic book, Basara. It's like an epic story about a girl-Sarasa's revolutionary battles after the catastrophic fall of the civilization in Japan. Her twin brother, Tatara, who is prophesied to be the child of destiny, is killed by the Red Army and she pretends to be her dead brother to fight against the tyrannical ruler, the Red King, and brings back independence. Sarasa and Shuri (the Red King) deep in love are devastated when they know each other's real identity.

Everyone has survived but Ageha. The character of "trial and sacrifice for an unrequited love 시련, 희생, 보답받지 못하는 사랑." He sacrificed himself to rescue his loved one. He knew he wouldn't come out alive. He knew that she is the one. She's worth dying for. He's dead, but is and will be alive in her heart all the time. 

Once we meet, it might only be for a moment. Perhaps there won't be another chance. Even though you're far apart, you and him will definitely be doing your best! Your hearts are at the same place. In the same era. Pursuing the same dream. That is fate. True respect for someone can only arise when you meet them 그 사람을 소중히 만들어주는 것은 만나는 그 순간뿐. (Volume 12, Copper Ch 2 - Standing on Egg)

I've always thought there will be next time when it comes to people and relationships. But the manga made me realized that  there might not be. There woun't be the next time in this world of uncertainty. This very moment I see the person is the right time I have to do my best for the person. Now I'll say even a little thing like "good morning" more honestly with a bight smile. I don't want to regret later on.

You are unable to see the person again though you miss her.
You try not to see the person again though you don't forget her.
I've met Asako three times.
I shouldn't have seen her the third time.
그리워하면서도 한 번 만나고는 못 만나게 되기도 하고,
일생을 못 잊으면서도 서로 아니 만나고 살기도 한다.
아사코와 나는 세 번 만났다.
세 번째는 아니 만났어야 좋았을 것이다. (피천득, 인연)

I like two scenes in the movie, The Bridges of Madison County. One is when Francesca guides Robert to the covered bridge. He makes her very comfortable and she becomes herself. Long-lost herself. He gradually helps her unearth herself, which is forgotten in a busy, daily life. The other is the tearful moment. Robert waits for Francesca in the rain, but she doesn't leave her husband's car. She grabs the door handle, but she stays there. She looks out of the rainy window and tries hard not to have her husband notice her sorrow. The actor and actress's performances are exceptional.

 

 

The Road Not Taken

by Robert Frost (1874 - 1963)

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear,

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I ---

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference. 

I like this poem because it's about the human tendency about being torn between two attractive things. Making a right decision is always hard. I guess regrets follow in either choice. But what makes people satisfied is their responsible attitude to make the decision a right choice. That is, what is important is not the decision itself, but the endeavor you make afterwards. Whatever you choose, you'll sigh wistfully about the other path. Too late to go back, so that  prove you've made the right choice. 

Nevertheless I will have faith in people.

College years were the best days of my life. They were enjoyable and carefree. Best of all, I learned a lot of things that I couldn't learn from books and lectures in class. There were exemplary friends with different majors and interests who were struggling to live better lives and try to reach helping hands to underprivileged people in every corner of society.
But, in retrospect, we, maybe I, lack of something important. It's a pity that I thought some people were wrong because they took a different stand. They were just different. I thought I was old enough to make right decisions back then. But sadly I wasn't. I was too naive and didn't know how complicated things were in society. They weren't as clear as math problems.
We kept telling each other it is people that are important. People should be around you though what you try to achieve is not successful. The words were told repeatedly and thus worked like brainwash. It seemed to be echoing in my head, not in my heart.
Like I found myself lost in directions after graduation, most of the friends did. Some of them seem to forget the better life we talked about. I hadn't tried to contact them because I didn't want to get disappointed in their change. I had been in a cocoon where I met with people with the same (or similar at least) ideas and opinions as mine.
Time passed, but present I don't seem to get evolved from collegiate I. I hate to admit it, but I put down people who don't their work well. I'm not broad-minded enough to embrace the mistakes and delays they make. Besides, why do I have to accept people who seemingly have jealousy and malice towards me? I don't want to be a person who judge people, but I think I am now.
I know the answer, the correct answer. I know how to treat people nicely. What matters is the practice, not the theory. The lifelong goal exists in becoming a better person by cultivating myself in response to various experiences and relationships. Life is an adventure full of unexpected things and people. Life doesn't turn out the way I expect, but I have to take it the way it comes to me and make the best of it. Back to the college days, I have to believe in people. I will.
There was a line in a poem I read in the 7th grade textbook. "Just smile when I'm asked why I live." Confucius said, "朝聞道夕死可矣(아침에 도를 들으면 저녁에 죽어도 좋다)."


<끌리는 사람은 분명 있다, 임무경>
‘사람 참 좋다’라는 평을 받기 위해서는 인간적인 매력부터 키워야 하고 일을 할 때에도 잘난 척해 보이지 않으면서 일을 잘하는 사람으로 비추어야 하며, 아부 없이도 윗사람에게 인정을 받아야 한다. 요즘은, 평생직장의 개념에서 평생직업의 개념으로 바뀌어 가고 있다. 즉, 직장에서 오랫동안 버틸 수 있는 힘은 갈수록 약해지지만 직업세계에서 돋보이는 프로의식은 어디를 가도 빛을 잃지 않는다. 직장에서 인정받는 대리나 과장 등의 직급은 그 직장에 먼저 입사한 날짜와 여러 경험과 맞바꾼 보상일 뿐이다.
직장을 그만두면 직급이 주는 보상은 그저 추억에 불과할 뿐이다. 직급이 따라주지 않더라도 그 동안 자신이 쌓아왔던 노하우와, 주변의 지인들, 그리고 스스로를 돋보이기 위해서 자기계발을 하거나 인맥을 찾는 등의 노력한 흔적들이 자신을 더 열심히 뛰게 할 단서를 만들어준다.
우리는 이런 이중적인 복잡한 경쟁관계 속에서 결국 ‘나’라고 하는 상품을 어떻게 각색하고 포장하면 좋을지에 대한 고민을 하게 된다.

<당신 참 괜찮은 사람이야, 양창순>

<나는 까칠하게 살기로 했다, 양창순>
그래도 나는 사람을 믿기로 했다.
의미있는 삶을 사는 것은 능력이 아니라 선택이다.
남에게 상처주면서 옳은 일인양 당당했던 적은 없었는지...

<명문장의 조건, 김성우>
아름다움은 아득히 먼 곳에서 빛나는 별빛 같은 것. 가까이 다가가면 신기루처럼 사라지는 것

나는 이 편지를 짧게 할 한가한 시간이 없기 때문에 길게 쓴다. /  파스칼
--- 짧게 쓰는 데 더 긴 시간이 걸리는 것이 문장이다

말을 돈처럼 써라. 말에 인색하기를 돈에 인색하듯 하라. / 중국 옛말
말을 낭비 말라. / 라틴어 격언
--- 말을 조심하라는 뜻도 있겠지만 문장에 낱말을 돈처럼 아끼라는 말이기도 하다.

I Hear Your Voice (너의 목소리가 들려 2013)

There are two significant things that get female viewers hooked in drama stories. An attractive boy who is hovering around to protect a girl who doesn't know anything about the boy's existence. Plus, on the bus right next to the girl is the boy who looks very happy to be around her.

Sooha has extrasensory perception: reading people's mind through their eyes.  He is precocious since he has witnessed injustice/lies win over justice/truth. He tracks down to his long-lost hero, Hyeseong, and helps her get back her will to fight against injustice as a public defender.






 

Chanda's Secrets

I hope I'm not biased, but most Africans seem to have low moral standards when it comes to matrimony and commitment. When their spouse is dead, they instantly get married to another person. (Maybe it's because women don't have jobs and totally depend on men.) Most people are depicted as promiscuous, and thus AIDS prevails. What is worse is that they don't want an AIDS patient to be around them since the sick person brings stigma to the community. There's no difference even though the patient is their family member or relative.
Poverty and short life span are likely to cause orphans. Parentless kids have no means to make their living but to go to the streets. I'm just grateful of not being born in Africa. There, but for the grace of God, go I.

Chanda's mother get married three times to different men. Otherwise, she can't earn her living with her young kids from previous marriages. The second stepfather rapes Chanda. The last stepfather never takes care of his family and enjoys himself at a local bar. Chanda's little sister dies from unknown disease and then her mother gets gradually weakened. Chanda's best friend, Esther gets infected with AIDS from her prostitution. Chanda is worried about being HIV positive because of the rape.
Bright Chanda can't concentrate on studies at school because she has to take care of the sick people close to her. Other people in the community are callous and turn their back on Chanda's family and Esther. Her mother leaves her family to die somewhere else, but Chanda brings her mother home and helps her rest in peace.
The last scene where Chanda stands up for her mother/Esther is really touching. "If Mama's going to die, she's going to die at home, surrounded by family who love her. I'm tired of lies and hiding and being afraid. I'm not ashamed of AIDS! I'm ashamed of being ashamed!"