Absurdity of the day (#02017040)

Everything Trump! That's the most absurd stuff I've seen in years!

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Image du mer-fleuri

Friends: Dog, bird and golden orange California Poppies
Amis: Un chien, un oiseau et des Pavots de Californie

© 2017 Miyako Matsuda
See more of my wife's art in this Flickr album

Découverte: De nouveaux “Classiques” chez Soleil

J'ai déjà beaucoup parlé de cette collection des “Classiques” de la littérature en manga publiée en français chez Soleil. Je croyais d'ailleurs qu'ils en avaient abandonné la publication, mais non: après un hiatus en 2015, Soleil a publié cinq titres à l'automne 2016 (Théorie de la Relativité par Albert Einstein, Du Contrat Social par Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Ainsi parlait Zarathoustra par Frederich Nietzsche, Orgueil et Préjugés par Jane Austen, ainsi que la réédition du Capital de Marx en un seul volume) et annonce trois nouveaux titres pour le printemps 2017 (Une Vie par Guy de Maupassant, Théorie de l'évolution par Charles Darwin et Discours de la Méthode par Descartes) !

Cette collection reprend en traduction quelques titres de l'impressionnante collection japonaise Manga de Dokuha (comportant jusqu'à maintenant plus de cent-cinquante titres!) illustrée par le Studio Variety Art Works et publiée par East Press, qui se consacre à adapter en manga des classiques de la littérature pour les rendre accessible à un plus large publique.

Découvrez plus de détails après le saut de page >>

Image du chat-medi

A Cat and ladybug under a blackberry bush
Un chat et une coccinelle sous un buisson de mûres

© 2017 Miyako Matsuda

Cat-urday's picture

Friendly cat at a nearby café
Chat amical devant un café du quartier

(iPhone 6s, 2017-01-21)

February turd

Le trois fait le moi ?
That's how I feel this month…

(actually the picture was taken on January 22nd,
but it cames from an idea I had during a walk on January 3rd…)

Image du mer-fleuri

Labrador retreiver in a meadow (with clover and ladybugs)
Labrador dans un pré (avec du trèfle et des coccinelles)

© 2017 Miyako Matsuda

Winter landscape

Paysage hivernal

(iPhone 6s, Parc Frédéric-Back, 2017-01-30)

Image du chat-medi

Mother Cat And Her Kitten (3) with viola
Chatte et son petit (3) avec des violettes

© 2017 Miyako Matsuda

Image du mer-fleuri

American Goldfinches and Sunflowers (3)
Chardonnerets jaunes et tournesols (3)

© 2016-17 Miyako Matsuda

Monthly notable news (W53-03)

The Holidays and the couple of weeks that followed were rather quiet. Thankfully, I had to deal with much less craziness at work. But that was only the eye of the storm and those depressing days (scientifically certified as such since Blue Monday fell on January 16th this year) are coming to an end. The days are getting longer and more shit will soon hit the fan. Of course, there's also this endless American nightmare with everything Trump. I wish I could forget about all that and never hear about it again, but unfortunately that's what the world has become now.

I am already getting behind in my writings, but I caught up a little with my TV and movie watching. Besides the restarting new seasons (mostly Call The Midwife, Colony, Endeavour, Father Brown, Homeland), the notable new additions are Victoria and Dark Angel (although those two have already ended) as well as the weird Young Pope (a young and reckless leader is unexpectedly elected to head the Church — a little reminescent of the whole “orange is the new black” American electoral fiasco — but it's directed by Paolo Sorrentino, who gave us La grande bellezza) and the quite interesting Mercy Street, a medical period drama set at the Mansion House Hospital during the American Civil War.

I'll try to reinvent myself this year (so much to do) and push forward even harder on the path to improve my temperament and expend my knowledge. That's the only purpose one can have.

Despite everything, I tried to stay acquainted (a bit) with the affairs of the world. Here's a “few” notable news & links that I came across this month and that I'd like to share with you, after the jump (in no particular order, in both french and english):

Haïku du dimanche

With this winter of discontent
I'm glad for not being American — but
“Stop fretting and start fighting!”

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Image du chat-medi

Mother Cat And Her Kitten Under the Cherry Blossoms (2)
Chatte et son petit sous les cerisiers en fleurs (2)

© 2017 Miyako Matsuda

Image du mer-fleuri

Rabbit in a blackberry bush
Lapin dans un buisson de mûres

© 2016-17 Miyako Matsuda

Image du chat-medi

Cat and ladybugs
Un chat et des coccinelles

© 2017 Miyako Matsuda

Image du mer-fleuri

American Goldfinches and Sunflowers (2)
Chardonnerets jaunes et tournesols (2)

© 2016 Miyako Matsuda

S'enfuir - Récit d'un otage

“En 1997, alors qu'il est responsable d'une ONG médicale dans le Caucase, Christophe André a vu sa vie basculer du jour au lendemain après avoir été enlevé en pleine nuit et emmené, cagoule sur la tête, vers une destination inconnue. Guy Delisle l'a rencontré des années plus tard et a recueilli le récit de sa captivité – un enfer qui a duré 111 jours. Que peut-il se passer dans la tête d'un otage lorsque tout espoir de libération semble évanoui ? Un ouvrage déchirant, par l'auteur de Pyongyang, de Shenzhen, de Chroniques birmanes et de Chroniques de Jérusalem.” [ Texte du site de l'éditeur ]

“Être otage, c'est pire qu'être en prison. En prison, tu sais pourquoi tu es là et à quelle date tu vas sortir. Quand t'es otage, tu n'as même pas ce genre de repères. Tu n'as rien.” [ Texte de la couverture arrière ]


Continuez après le saut de page >>

Haïku du dimanche

Le bruit de l’eau — hors du temps —
Au travers le bruit blanc du ruissellement
J’entends l’angoisse et la terreur m’appeler

(iPhone 6s, 2017-01-08)
[ Translate ]

Image du chat-medi

Black cat and columbines
Chat noir et ancolies

© 2016 Miyako Matsuda

Capsule reviews

The Giver

In a post-cataclysmic world, humanity survives in a small utopian society which is peaceful and content, but colourless and deprived of emotions. With his coming of age, Jonas (Brenton Thwaites) is assigned a role as Receiver of Memory and instructed by the Giver (Jeff Bridges), who telepathically shares with him all the memories from the ancient time in order to give him the wisdom necessary to advise the Chief Elder (Meryl Streep) in her decisions. With this knowledge comes the realization that this seemingly perfect society is in no way morally better than the previous one: citizens are drugged into conformity and when they become less useful or rebellious they are “released to the Elsewhere”, i.e. murdered by lethal injection! To justify their authoritarian ways, the Chief Elder says “When people have the freedom to chose, they chose wrong every single time” — true, but at least they have the freedom to be wrong! By reaching the distant borders of the community, the hero wants to reset the society in hope for a better future (and to save the woman he loves, Fiona (Odeya Rush)). Based on Lois Lowry's young adult novel, this science-fiction movie succeeds, with a relatively small budget ($25 millions), to create an entertaining and thought-provoking story, making us ponder the moral values of our society. Even if it’s a little reminscient of Logan’s Run, this is an excellent movie well worth watching.

[ Amazon — Biblio — IMdB — Wikipedia — Youtube ]

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Victoria

This British drama TV series depicts the reign of Queen Victoria from her accession (after the death of her uncle William IV) to her mariage with Prince Albert (Tom Hughes) and the birth of her first child (also named Victoria). It was produced by ITV in the UK and will premiere on PBS’s Masterpiece next week. In a way, it is very similar to the series The Crown that depicts the early reign of Queen Elisabeth II. It is quite interesting to see all the politics and trials that play out around the English monarchy at such an important time in history (the Victorian era was particularly characterized by the industrial revolution and the development of railways). It’s also funny that there is so much German blood (from the House of Hanover and the House of Saxe-Coburg) in the British monarchy, and it created quite a stir at the time. But I must admit that what first caught my attention is the fact that the title role is played by Jenna Coleman (who has also interpreted Clara Oswald, one of the best companions in the new Doctor Who TV series, but also acted in Julian Fellowes’ Titanic and in Dancing on the Edge). Also starring is Rufus Sewell, who plays Victoria’s counsel and Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne. I also liked the haunting music theme. I really cannot resist a British historical drama, even less a very good one. Don’t miss it!

[ Amazon — IMdB — Wikipedia — Youtube ]

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Dark Angel

This is a two-part mini-series (although it feels more like a TV movie cut in two) produced by ITV in the UK and starring Joanne Froggatt (Anna in Downton Abbey). It will be shown on PBS’s Masterpiece later this year. Inspired by David Wilson’s book Mary Ann Cotton: Britain's First Female Serial Killer, it tells the sordid story of Mary Ann Cotton, a black widow who poisoned three of her four husbands as well as eleven of her thirteen children in order to collect insurance money and survive the harsh conditions women had to endure in nineteenth century England. You can’t help but feel some sympathy for her. A good period drama as it is often the case with Brit TV. Recommended.

[ Amazon — IMdB — Wikipedia — Youtube ]

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Eye in the Sky

An interesting movie showing, from the British point of view, all the procedures and decisions behind a drone strike in Somalia, as well as the moral questions it raises. If you could eliminate three top wanted terrorists as well as two suicide bombers preparing for an eminent attack that could kill up to eighty civilians, would you do it even if it meant probably killing one innocent girl? The collateral damage question is always a difficult choice between two evils. In a way, nothing much happens in this movie as the story is told almost in real time. Everything is in the debate, which makes it clearly a political movie. But is it an apology of war or a critic of the politicians inaptitude? Maybe both? Interesting indeed!

[ Amazon — Biblio — IMdB — Wikipedia — Youtube ]

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A Ghost of a Chance

Emi (Eri Fukatsu) is a lawyer whose client is accused of murdering his wife. But he couldn’t have done it since the night of the murder he was pined down in his hotel room by a ghost! What sort of defence can you build when your only witness is the ghost of a samurai? You manage to make him testify, of course! A funny japanese movie just as I like them, with a great line-up of actors (Toshiyuki Nishida, Hiroshi Abe, Kiichi Nakai, Koichi Sato, Takayuki Kinoshita, Yūko Takeuchi, Tadanobu Asano, etc.)!

I stumbled on this movie while watching TV Japan — a New-York based Japanese language channel operated by NHK Cosmomedia America and broadcasting a compilation of the best programming from the top Japanese networks and studios, including news and entertainment programs such as movies, dramas, variety shows, anime, sporting events, etc. (and available in Canada thanks to Bell Fibe TV!). I am glad that they show movies subtitled in english once in while.

[ Amazon — AsianWiki — IMdB — Wikipedia — Youtube ]

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Suffragette

Maud (Carey Mulligan) works in an industrial laundry house and gets involved by chance in the suffragette movement. Participating in illegal protests causes her to be outcast by her husband, which in turn drives her even further into political activism. Protests become more and more violent with property damages and bombings, hunger strikes when they were jailed, but it fails to really attract attention since the government controls the press… Until one woman, Emily Davison, is killed on a race track in front of the king. In 1928, women’s rights were finally recognized in Britain. But it took fifteen years to get there and the movie doesn’t show how Maud managed to survive during that time (if she could). Meryl Streep has a brief cameo as one of the movement’s leader, Emmeline Pankhurst. It’s unbelievable to see how bad were women’s living and working conditions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. For that, it’s an interesting movie but I found it was lacking passion.

[ Amazon — Biblio — IMdB — Official sites — Wikipedia — Youtube ]

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