Comments

Well, I guess you learn something new every day. Today I discovered "comments". :)

A belated thank you for everyone who has bothered to leave a comment on my blog. I thought I had chosen to show them, *and* to be notified by e-mail, if such a miracle ever occurred, but alas, I wrote my e-mail address wrongly, and I had chosen to moderate the comments before publishing (and I really didn't mean to do that).

Well, I've read them now, so thank you. Somebody actually occasionally reads the stuff I write? :o

Ronny Yu and Kung Fu Movies

Any movie that keeps me in a good mood for about a week can't be bad. I'm still talking about Fearless of course.

I thought I was a bit harsh when I wrote about hypocrisy of spreading the message of piece in the middle of fighting. But really, how many pacifist movies without violence have you seen?

Fearless isn't just a movie with some martial arts in it, it's about martial arts, that's the difference. The people behind the project seem to know what they're talking about. The story might be simple , but it's heartfelt.

And no, I've never practiced any martial arts myself. The first kung fu movie I ever saw was The Bride With White Hair (1993), which I just noticed was also directed by Ronny Yu. Actually that film was more about fantasy and wuxia.

You can read more about the differences from an interesting article on Kungfu Magazine E-Zine. There's a great interview with Ronny Yu, the director of Fearless. You should read it, if you're interested in martial arts, movies or if you just want to be inspired.

Kew Gardens

If you want to read something a little out of the ordinary, something challenging, I might recommend Virginia Woolf's "Kew Gardens". It's a rather short short story, and only a click away.

I didn't like it very much. I couldn't really understand it, as is evidenced by my post. Maybe I should stick to kung fu movies. :)

In truth, I enjoy discussing short stories, even if on A Curious Singularity there are so many elegant and thoughtful posts, that I feel like an inferior (reader and) writer. But the good news is that I don't mind it too much.

Back when I was studying literature for a brief while, I wanted to be good at it so badly, that it all became an overwhelming chore, and I switched to studying other stuff. But that's ancient history, and nobody's interested in giving me grades here. :)

Fearless

I just saw the movie Fearless, and I loved it. If it is Jet Li's final martial arts film, as he says, it sure is a great way to end (this part of) his career. (We'll see.)

The fight scenes are spectacular, and the whole movie is just beautiful. I really enjoyed the quieter moments as well, and I have to admit I was moved to tears while watching it. I guess I have a soft spot for Chinese cinema, usually sentimental films just make me feel cynical and cold.

I don't know how they do it, I totally buy the messages of forgiveness and respect in the middle of all the violent action. I must be naive!

Usually I think that the less you know about the real lives of soccer stars and actors the better, but I've always wanted to believe that Jet Li is a hard-working, decent guy with a good heart. It's always healthy to believe in something. :)

"Kung fu is a means to build your self-pride rather than to destroy others," he says. "We are outraged when we are called 'Asia's sickly people.' But if we are strong and believe in ourselves, it doesn't matter what people call us." From a Newsweek interview.

Currency Converter

I have no energy to write anything meaningful, so here's another useful link:

XE.com - The Universal Currency Converter ® is a convenient tool if you want to know how many euros are ten New Zealand dollars for example.

And here is a little currency quiz:

1. The euro is the official currency of how many countries at the moment?
2. Can you name them?
3. What is the official currency used in Afghanistan?
4. The forint is the official currency of which country?
5. Whose portrait is on the currently produced US $5 bill?

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1. 12
2. Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain
3. The afghani
4. Hungary
5. Abraham Lincoln