Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Although I seek to avoid watching TV save for a few select Food Network and sports programs, I have much difficulty escaping the lure of movies on the box, especially when they are commercial free. There's something about live films on TV that make you want to continue to the very end, regardless of their caliber. My guilty pleasure: watching made for TV and Disney style feature films just to see what happens in the end.


A recent Disney creation I would be fixated on, were it to appear on TV

Thus, I feel much less guilty when I stumble upon classics which will inevitably survive the test of time and become ageless. The other day, I found the third of the Indiana Jones trilogy "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" and was in awe of how complete the film was. This is all in retrospect, seeing as I had first watched the film at the tender age of 11. Also, to add more perspective, the new Indiana film, which came out two years ago, had somewhat tainted Harrison's impenetrable exterior (no thanks to one Shia LaBeouf).

The 1989 classic


The 2008 version, with an aged Indy





Now, let's revert back to what I said about how Spielberg's 1989 work was so complete. Mostly I am referring to the storyline and its context. It had been almost a decade since I had seen the film, although I did thoroughly enjoy it on more than one occasion through my younger years. Thus, when I took it all in once again, I had more history behind me, as well as more movies to compare to.

Here are the elements that make the film so dynamic:

1. As Indy was obviously a treasure hunter, the historical allusions are numerous. The film went all the way back to Utah, with a young boy scout Indy. He finds treasure this far north of the Spanish conquistador Francisco Vásquez de Coronado.

Coronado heading north


2. Next, the overriding theme of the movie - the Holy Grail. There is so much mystery behind the cup that was present at the last supper, its significance is great. Three of the biggest monotheist religions at present are at a rift regarding Christ.



3. Then, the catacombs are visited, where a knight of the First Crusade is buried.



4. Back to the present situation, where the Nazis are partaking in rallies all over Germany, including a book burning.



5. If you're not already knee deep in historical allusions, we visit İskenderun, in Turkey, where the grail resides, as this used to be call Alexandretta during the Crusades.



So, the plot elements are thick, but let's not forget the actors who made it happen.



It is nice to watch this movie after the fact, as we can make many comments on the two actors careers. We have on the left, one of the smoothest 007 operators ever, while on the right, one of the only successful crew members to set foot on the Millennium Falcon.

Tapsilog

I will continue my Filipino cuisine column with the most important meal of the day: breakfast. I present "tapsilog" simple classic dish which serves the purpose of nourishing the body after the fast, as well as satisfying the taste buds.



Filipinos are known for their practicality, and this extends to their naming schemes. The word "tapsilog" is really composed of three parts.

Beef Tapa - a dried or cured form of beef, similar to jerky.

Sinangag - garlic fried rice

Itlog - egg


And there you have it. High protein, high carbs, moderate fat. All a recipe for a good start to the day. Now, the recipe is quite simple, but there are many variations which have been created. Taken from wikipedia:

* Daingsilog - Daing, fried rice and fried egg
* Adosilog - adobo, fried rice and fried egg
* Bacsilog - bacon, fried rice and fried egg
* Bangsilog - bangus (milkfish), fried rice and fried egg
* Bisteksilog - beefsteak, fried rice and fried egg
* Dangsilog - danggit (rabbitfish) , fried rice and fried egg
* Vicsilog - Vic (chinless hogfish), fried rice and hard cooked egg yolks
* Chosilog - chorizo, fried rice and fried egg
* Chiksilog - chicken, fried rice and fried egg
* Cornsilog - corned beef, fried rice and fried egg
* Hotsilog - hotdog, fried rice and fried egg
* Longsilog - longganisa, fried rice and fried egg
* Litsilog - lechon, fried rice and fried egg
* Masilog - Ma Ling brand Chinese luncheon meat, fried rice and fried egg
* SPAMsilog - SPAM brand luncheon meat, fried rice and fried egg
* Tosilog - tocino, fried rice and fried egg
* Pakaplog - Pan de sal (bread), kape (coffee) and fried egg

Longsilog, featuring the Filipino style chorizo


Daingsilog, featuring Daing, aka Rabbit fish


Stay tuned for merienda (snack).

One, Four, Five

"Pop music" refers to the commercialized sound that is meant to appeal to the masses, from the teeny boppers to the trying to be hip middle-agers. Many would argue that today's music lacks the originality and creativity found in earlier generations. This is witnessed in the lack of unique melodies and chord progressions.

Just look at Kate Perry's "California Gurls" and Ke$ha's "Tic Toc". They are essentially the same song.



We can also argue that over the years, our ears have selected the music they prefer. Anything unique and outside the box will thus be undesirable. What kind of music have we gravitated to? If one were to look at the relative chord progressions in all soft rock, pop songs and ballads, he/she would observe the I, IV, V chord progression in different keys. I will not engage in a theory lesson right now, so, simply put, the numbers refer to the position of the root of the chords in the context of a scale.

The group "Axis of Awesome" has found a way of demonstrating the similarity in progressions of different songs. It includes the I, V, VI, IV. Let's listen. Name the songs.



It seems as if the days of the singer-songwriter are numbered. Chord progressions like the one "Axis of Awesome" have clued in on are rampantly growing. Furthermore, ghosts writers are starting to write more and more songs for so-called music artists.

It seems that music creation is more of a production than it has ever been. Get some lyrics from a writer, try it out on a pre-made progression, and find a suitable, good looking singer.



This trend will inevitably change. As the weeds begin to overgrow the garden, someone will break through from underneath and begin a musical revolution. We have seen it in generations past and will see it again. Music has always hit a soft spot in the brain, and will continue to shape our culture.

Julyberia: A Spanish July

Let the red and yellow colors fly high, as the Spaniards have become coquistadors once again. This time, they conquer not the New World, but that of the sporting realm.



July 2010 will go down in the records books as a Spanish sweep of the top sporting events. Every week was cause for fiesta, as the top Spanish born players dominated their respective sports.

Here's a recap of what took place. I won't write much, just my own captions and lots of multimedia. The pictures should capture the moments.

July 4: Rafa takes the title at Wimbledon





July 11: Villa leads "La Roja" in South Africa





July 17: Javier Gomez runs away in Hamburg






July 25: Alberto Contador astonishes for Astana





Whether you call it coincidence or fate, it was certainly not due to luck that four men who have been at the top of their respective sports for the past few years were able to put things in place and execute for the pride of their nation. Critics may call sport an opiate for the masses, a distraction from the real problems in life. However, sport and competition has always been a part of real life, a culture aspect which allows the human species to supersede race and religion. It is its ability to inspire, to instill hope and freedom of expression that makes sports a critical part of our society.

Outliers

Canadian author Malcolm Gladwell is a contemporary author who has revolutionized our perspective on life and turned our focus onto the small things, the details that shape the world, most notably in his non-fiction novels "The Tipping Point" and "Outliers".



"Outliers" is intriguing in the way it underlines the subtle yet important nuances that made the world's most successful people who they are. Gladwell looks to discard the image of the rags to riches celebrity, sports star, billionaire, and replace with a meticulous individual who did the right things at the right time and seized every relevant opportunity.



I will discuss two examples which outline his perspective. The first is the birth date rule.



The thing about dates and months is that they are indeed very indicative of what how a child will develop. The example of junior all-star hockey players shows that the rosters are dominated by teens who barely made the cut off date. For hockey, a December 31st cutoff would mean that all the January, February and March babies will be older by just a little bit. Although the age differential is less than a year, these older players will be selected to all-star teams from an early age. Subsequently, the all star experience will give the same players more opportunities to play at higher levels. This is compounded all through childhood into adolescence and results in a skewing of birth months.



This same principle is applicable in the classroom, where the slightly more mature January, February, March children will get more opportunities with challenge/honours classes than their October, November, December counterparts. Of course, there are always exceptions but this is certainly a point to consider.

Gladwell extends this to the birth year of individuals, which dictates further down the road what technological and political context the individual will be in. For example, Bill Gates did not just happen to be lucky, he grew up spending thousands of hours programming on some of the first computers.




This gets me to the second topic of interest in the book, the 10 000 hour rule. It states that in order to be an expert/virtuoso/master at anything, it requires 10 000 hours of practice. This principle is so very relevant and can be applied to a large range of fields.

This is obvious in music, where practice makes perfect.


The common pattern among sports stars is that they start at a very early age. Spending hours in their respective courts/playing fields.


The 10 000 hours applies to any other professional who is proficient in their work. 10 000 hours is just the right amount of time for the body to internalize and automize the details and complexities in movement, problem solving and processing.

I hear it far too often with regards to supposed super human individuals - they are prodigies, with talent that you only see once a century. Moreover, the same people give too much credit to the expert's genetics, from which the talent was expressed. I am not planning on disregarding genetics and talent altogether, however, I do want to give more credit to hard work and dedication.

10 000 hours simply means you have seized 10 000 opportunities and did not back down to the challenge.

"Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent." - Calvin Coolidge

Rerun

A survey I came across recently was directed at my movie watching preferences. More specifically, it wanted to know which movie I would choose to watch over and over again, without getting bored.

This is indeed a tough one, as there are so many classics of every genre. Many people seemed to have a few select movies in common.






Note: this includes any or all of the LOTR series

I am as of yet undecided. It is clear to me that my choice would be dependent on a few factors. The examples are not indicative of my nominations.

a. The movie must be quotable. Part of the fun in reminiscing on your favorite flick is to be able to recite a few lines by the leading man/lady.
b. Along the same lines, if not quotable, characters must be imitate-able. Mannerisms are always remembered throughout the ages.


The video encompasses both a and b.

c. The film must be visually appealing. Genius cinematographers make movies which are able to delight our eyes every time.



d. There must be some sort of ongoing action or plot. If a movie lulls you to sleep one time, it will do so over and over again.



Now that these considerations have been laid out, I will address the objection to watching a movie over and over again.

The argument: it is a waste of time to watch a movie which you have already seen, because you already know what is going to happen.

The rebuttal: Indeed this is true, we do know what is going to happen. However, we may have forgotten how the actors have gotten to the conclusion, as the details often get fuzzy. If this is not good enough for one time only critics, we can reason another way.
Each time a movie is viewed, it is seen in a different context with regards to the viewer. Thus, a different person will be watching every time, as the viewer will have had other experiences to integrate into the movie. This argument only holds true if the said movie is not repeated daily.

The question interpretation of any form of art is an interesting one, as it can extend to novel and other finer art forms. The viewer is constantly developing and given the fact that the work is incomplete without the viewer, the work must change as well.

Funk Phenomena

Now that I have cleared up the title of my blog, I may as well provide explanation for my user/pen name. Funkphenom is derived from the song "Funk Phenomena" by DJ Armand van Helden.

Here's the link to the song:



I am not a regular follower of the House/Electro music circuit, but was entranced by this one song many years ago. First off, it had a catchy title, created by a DJ with a name which is just as interesting.

The repetitive bass and synthesized rhythmic beat somehow get the body moving. Also, the way the title is repeated over and over again in an almost indistinct mantra make the song eerily pleasing. I normally am not a fan of synthesized music, however house DJs seem to make it work, or at least ensure a few fist pumps.

In the end any sounds can become music.

HUP

As the 25th post, I will address and attempt to make clear the purpose of the title of the blog. I will try to make sure the blog won't be too lengthy in discussion of the title, because it is not meant to be analyzed in such depth. I will however, try to encourage further exploration into what the title may suggest.

Let's begin with the HUP! In a few words, HUP simply refers to the military style counting "HUP, 2, 3, 4". In this case, it replaces the one, and could signify a start. I find that yelling HUP really loud allows oneself to release and let go, similar to a battle cry. That's it. Try it.

Sir William Wallace (played by Mel Gibson) makes his battle cry.




Now I designate HUP as being a complete utterance - a complete unit of speech often bound by silence. Notice how the word complete is redundant. This is important because HUP can stand alone and mean so much, without verbally saying anything. It is more of a sound than a word.

Let's remember that the human language, although brilliant and presumably the very factor which allowed us to evolve into the humans we are today, is itself limited and can only convey so much.



So the point is that the blogger understands how limited his ability to communicate with mere words. The reader's task therefore must be to search for the presence of the writer's non-verbal influence on his writing. That is, my style of writing can, in a sense communicate my thoughts without words.



Now, before I conclude, I must underline the importance of non-verbal communication. It sends so many messages before the first word is spoken.

Sign language is super cool, and has helped many people with hearing difficulties.



We are more familiar, on the other hand, with body language. Interviews, relationships and any other type of human interaction depends on it. As long as you are aware of it, you can make yourself more approachable and trustworthy - not saying you already aren't.



We all know that the most socially awkward are not aware of the body language.

Merton on Chat Roulette

As a follow up to the last post on Old Spice man's personally addressed videos, I present Merton a piano man who improvises for the unsuspecting chat partner. Some responded well, requesting songs, while others simply sat by the computer, allowing Merton to freestyle lyrics and piano accompaniment about them.

The video of course went viral. Merton was witty, quick with the lyrics and very like-able, with his odd turtle looks (glasses and hoody up). The videos were originally removed from youtube based on privacy issues, but are now back up.






He was so innovative and inspiring that musician Ben Folds did a tribute to Merton live in concert. There's something about being on the spot and creative that truly exhibits our ability to use our brains.

Old Spice Man

For the most part, commercials are annoying, too loud, silly and not effective. However, there are exceptions to everything, and Old Spice has managed to conjure up a mind blowing campaign.

They've created the Old Spice man, a real, non-airbrushed man who is tall, dark and handsome. His selling point is his satirical machismo and baritone voice. He is so confident about himself that he erases all notion of egoism. His assurance of self makes it seem almost sarcastic. This makes him all the more personable, not to mention the fact that he addresses his viewers (as opposed to those other models who pay no attention to the viewers).

His latest marketing ad:




Recently, in the era of tweeting and social networks, Old Spice man has started to reply to questions and comments made on Twitter. After his first few video posts directed to celebrities, the tweets would not stop ringing in. He is a busy man, good looks and all, and finally called an end to the posts, bidding adieu to his internet friends. Silver Fish Hand Catch.

Pound for Pound

Olympic weightlifting is a very simple sport, in terms of its objective. Simply lift the most weight from the ground to a locked out position overhead.

When people think of strength they think of fat American powerlifters wearing full lifting suits who are limited in their range of motion. However, the lifts that these athletes perform (squat, deadlift and benchpress) are essentially not power movements.



Simple physics dictates that Power = Work/Time. The so-called powerlifts are performed over a large time frame. eg. A heavy deadlift make take 3-5 seconds to lock out.



However, Olympic weightlifting requires lifters to be very explosive and go from ground to lockout overhead (in the case of the snatch) or ground to chest, then to lockout overhead (clean and jerk) in less than a second per movement.



Therefore, Olympic lifting is a much more technical sport in that it requires more coordination between the muscles and subsequently neuromuscular engagement. Humans are only able to require a fraction of their muscle fibers in daily activities. In this sport, lifters are conditioned to use many fibers at once in strict coordination. This is analogous to the mother who, having undergone an adrenaline rush upon seeing her baby's head trapped in the cradle, pries open metal bars. Muscle recruitment.


The next video is an example of such pound for pound strength. The teenager lifts twice his weight, 225lbs, from the ground to shoulders in the clean. There aren't a whole lot of 225lb men who can do this in your local gym.

Free Running

Along the lines of improvisation, I present free running, or urban running. It is, simply put, a form of acrobatics exercised on the streets, using any and all obstacles to maneuver around. Also known as parkour, the sport originated in France and involved flips, handsprings and all sorts of nameless tricks to navigate through, around and below buildings and other obstacles.



Practitioners of the sport make it look so fluid and easy to do, but the beauty of the sport is the amount of time and skill required to perform tricks without killing yourself. It is easy to see why so many students of the sport get such a kick out of it. The adrenaline must truly be pumping to know that if you make a mistake in any trick there is no redo, simply a few cracked bones (at best). Thus, countless hours in padded environments (ie gymnastics facilities) are required to become proficient.




Practice makes perfect- or in this case, keeps you alive.



If you still want more, here's Damien Walters - stuntman, freeruner, and gymnast.
He is a true example of what raising the limits of human potential means.

Gabriela Montero

One cannot become a truly successful artist unless they are innovative and talented. Many are talented, technically proficient in all sorts of musical genres. However, it isn't until you get a unique individual, capable of creating something new out of the old, that you have a star.

These qualifications do not include today's mainstream pop music, as artists are simply synthesized and musically illiterate, save for the ability to more or less carry a tune (auto-tune can do the rest).

Here I present Gabriela Montero, a beautiful, talented woman who has revived the classical masterpieces. She is able to take modern tunes and transform them into their classical forms, incorporating more arpeggios, trills and an overall antique sound. What is more amazing is that she improvises all of it. Now improvising and classical music are contrasting terms. One requires no sheet music and simply feeling and flow. The other latter is technically structured and scripted.



Nevertheless, she has charmed audiences, mixed old with new, allowed audiences to enjoy trinkets form the past that flow through her fingers.

A little Billy Joel transformed. "For the Longest Time"



Another improvisation on Tango rhythm