Category: Spanish

  • Al Sur de la Frontera, al Oeste del Sol by Haruki Murakami

    haruki-murakami-sur-frontera-oeste-solOtherwise known in English as “South of the Border, West of the Sun,” it tells the story of Hajime who meets with a childhood friend he hasn’t met in the last 25 years. Her name is Shimamoto, and Hajime is contemplating leaving his wife and daughters to be with her.

    To be really honest, when I was reading 20-year-old-Hajime, I felt I was reading myself. Except I’m not a dude. But I did feel that way. Actually, I could also relate with the fact that he was an only child. The way his head worked, his personality… it reminded me of me.

    However, unlike Hajime… I think ahead. LOL — I really didn’t know whether to shout at him, or roll my eyes when he began cheating on Izumi. But I’m also forced to admit that I was actually hoping he would get together with Shimamoto, and I actually had to stop reading the two last chapters because I was feeling his desperation. She is never coming back, and she’s trying to erase everything that will remind you of her.

    I wanted to know what was up with Shimamoto, I was expecting a big revelation, instead I got a bucket of cold water.

    Other than that reading experience? My moral compass (do I really have one? After all, people have already called me a Fascist) tells me that Shimamoto was wrong, but as she explains… she couldn’t help herself. She had to see him, and she had to talk to him. I wonder if the book would be as “popular” if it were written in the perspective of a woman going about her teens cheating on her boyfriend with his cousin, and then cheating on her husband with her childhood crush.

    I love to hate or hate to love that last chapter on the emptiness. 4/5

  • Experiment Awards’ 2004

    And we continue to go through the years and film~

    Some interesting observations on this one? There were a lot of GOOD male performances. I guess it’s by years, but I thought it was so tough to choose my Best Actors this time.

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  • Experiment Awards’ 2003

    As always, I think I’m a little off with the guys. O.o
    I feel the list is a bit uninspiring, LOL

    check it out yourself~~~

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  • Un Grito de Amor Desde el Centro del Mundo by Kyoichi Katayama

    kyoichi-katayama-un-grito-de-amor-desde-el-centro-del-mundoSo this month I bought a whole (and I mean like half a dozen) books because I felt like I had been spending all my money on music and movies, and had stopped reading. To be honest, I was beginning to feel like I was being a little ignorant on everything that had to do with books xD

    So I grabbed everything Asian I could find on the shelf, including this Alfaguara Spanish translation of Crying Out Love, In the Center of the World (aka Socrates in Love, aka SEKACHU in short Katakana xD) by Kyoichi Katayama. The book sprang a manga series, as well as a film (starring Masami Nagasawa, Mirai Moriyama and Kou Shibasaki), and a TV drama… as well as other Asian remakes, namely Korean. xD

    The book is about the tragic young love of Sakutaro and Aki, and it was apparently very well-received by the public in Japan because of its theme. The Spanish translation is a bit idiotic, some of the words used are very Mexican in use, so I didn’t really know what it meant. The story is super short, but it expands a long period of time so the story feels rushed and characters are barely examined.

    For example, I’m not really sure why should I care much for Aki, other than Sakutaro having a crush (or being in love with her), I am led to believe she is good nature, a good student, shy, and a regular kawaii girl, but I’ve no idea what makes her tick, what are her passions. I don’t relate to her… or him. I know he cares for her, I also know he contemplated getting under her panties or wanted to touch her. I know they are supposed to have developed a deep friendship, but it’s not on the book. I know people begin to see them as one, and I’m a sucker for this type of relationships, but it’s not on the book.

    If I want to see sweet tragic love, I’ll get Sweet November (though, I haven’t read the book), but the movie starring Charlize Theron and Keanu Reeves (though badly received by critics) made me so sad.

    2/5

  • Scribe Mundo de Papel by BBDO Mexico

    There was a time I was nuts about paper and its texture, I still have a thing for it xD

  • Deconstructing Revista Integracion

    Since I liked working on the BOUND magazine post, I decided to do one on the Revista Integracion issue, which I saw this past weekend. I’ve always been a little pissed at this magazine ever since that cover with Zhang Ziyi with the info “cover: Gong Li” or was is it the other way around? Can’t even remember now, it was so long ago. The thing was it felt like “all Chinese are the same, even for the Chinese working on this magazine.” LOL Plus, who the FUCK confuses Zhang Ziyi with Gong Li????

    Integración is the local magazine, formerly known as Revista Oriental, done by the Peruvian/Chinese association… obviously to integrate the Asian community.

    Only, there couldn’t be more ass-licking in a magazine like there is on this one. Trust me, the magazine is 98% photos of them and their events, than actual articles talking about Asian issues in economics, cultural or even entertainment. I’m sure as hell I haven’t ever read a review of The Curse of the Golden Flower when it opened in the city. I’m sure as hell that they didn’t mentioned that the Lima Film Festival was showing Wong Kar-Wai films in some of their events.

    The bigger your stake in the magazine, the bigger the ass-lick you’ll get. Meaning, the bigger your photo will be. Trust me.

    And maybe one or two pages on Korean and Japanese? Integration, my yellow ass.

    Well, now that I’ve rant about content quality of the magazine, let’s talk design, shall we?

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  • September + Half of Oct. Films

    Well, I don’t seem to have seen many films this time.
    Hmm… I wonder why. I still haven’t made a countdown
    of the music I’ve been listening to, so maybe I’ve been
    busy with that. xD You know me, if I listen to much music,
    I don’t have the time to watch many films, and if I read too
    much, I don’t have the time to do either. LOL

    So let’s begin… (more…)

  • 1434 by Gavin Menzies

    1434 by Gavin MenziesI was browsing books at the local bookstore (weeks ago) and picked up a copy of Gavin Menzies’ book 1434 in Spanish, well because it’s hard to look away with a caption like “The Year a Chinese Fleet reached Italy and started the Renaissance.” I’m not a book reader, I’m not a historian, and I’ve learnt to take everything I read or hear or see (documentaries) with a grain of salt… even more so when my sources tell me “they are free and independent” because I know how the media works. I hate journalists, and I hate news reporters…

    To be honest, I’m very likely to believe things written on this book, because at this point in time I have a very deep dislike with everything dealing with the West.

    You gotta admit that’s a pretty bold statement, and it is interesting. If you think Menzies is full of shit for saying this, what makes you think anything written anywhere else is true? Take my school days as example. When I was around 13, we used to have a Chinese Culture class where we learned about Chinese geography, a bit of history, folk tales. In this class we learned about The 4 Great Chinese Inventions. Later the same week, we would get History class on universal history, where they would tell us Gutenberg invented Printing. So, what the fuck. What gives?

    So should I believe one or the other? Why should I believe one over the other? This is all I have to say after reading a lot of hate towards 1421 (Menzies’ first book).

    Fact is, there are some similarities between indigenous people in Peru and across the Altiplano, and the Amazon, and minorities in China, Taiwan and all across South East Asia. And you didn’t have to read the book to notice that, you only need to watch the news, and documentaries to see their cultures, rituals and physical traits.

    On the book itself… it’s a pretty messy read. Like a experimental film edited to jump back and forth, only in written form. Book could’ve been shorter and more straight to the point, instead of musing over Menzies activities. I don’t fucking care if you were a sailor, or if you went with your family to the DaVinci’s exhibits around the world. LOL

    The illustrations and other image inserts is also a mess. I hate it and makes the book very amateur, but I think all these books suffer from the same crap. Cheap design. After all, it’s all about content, right? Whatever.

    Rating: 3/5

  • Talks on Peruvian Animation

    Ever since I read that ad on the newspaper, I’ve always had feelings against Alpamayo. This is one of the reason why I began my presentation with the following words. “What is animation to you? Is it an easy career path? Are you looking for money? Recognition? Do you want to win awards? Then maybe you’re looking at the wrong career.”

    On the topic of my presentation, I wrote an article talking about animation in Peru, though I don’t think I sound like myself. I dunno why I read like a wishy-washy version of my snarky-self. Article is in Spanish, but if you can read… you can read it here.

  • To Watch Until They’re 30 – Inés Efron

    Yo, to mix things up a little bit, I’ve decided to add some little spice.

    Ines Efron by Axel Chaulet
    photo by Axel Chaulet, via Flickr

    Placing #9, there’s Ines Efron. Born in 1985 in Argentina – shot to fame when she played Alex on XXY, as a 15-year-old kid struggling with the issues of being intersexual. The movie was good, but her choice of role is what sets her apart from among her Latin American peers.

    She’s steadily worked on films like Empty Nest, and was recently seen on The Fish Child, in which she takes part of a tragic love story between two girls of different social backgrounds.

    As far as idols go, I don’t believe idols work in Latin America. Efron (no relation to Zac whatsoever xD) seems to be a serious actress, and the way she’s carried herself in different interviews seem to point toward that direction. Moreover, if she keeps up with her decision-making regarding her roles, we should only expect interesting stuff coming our way.