Beyond Those There Mountains

Ladies and Gents,

I have returned to Ann Arbor, Michigan. I am living with my girlfriend, Caitlin, and enjoying time with good friends--who work at places like this. I am currently writing international community health courses for International Medical Relief (the organization with which I teamed to go to Haiti and Ethiopia). Soon, I will compile briefing packets for upcoming I.M.R. missions. This is paying the bills, but I am looking for some more work to fill my hours, to pad my bank account, and to instill myself with a sense of purpose when I can so easily spend my daylight hours wasting away with Netflix instant and "Lost" marathons.

I recently returned from a week in Colorado with my parents and Caitlin (C). We were blessed with fortunately sunny and warm weather, even when we took two days in Keystone--where we received a half-off discount on lift tickets because of an executive chef we met at a sleigh-ride dinner in a valley ranch once used for gold mining and lettuce farming. Speaking of food, the week was filled with childhood classic eateries as well as recent additions to the Zwiebel Family Favorites:

-Fish tacos at Wahoo's
-Pad thai at Saigon Terrace
-Garden burger sliders, carrot-ginger-cumin soup, and chorizo omelette at Root Down
-Pad see yew at Wild Ginger
-Colorado style mountain pizza pie at Beau Joe's in Idaho Springs
-Chicken shwarma at Saj
-Chicken curry wrap and tea infused ice cream at Dushanbe Tea House
-Butterscotch fudge ripple, heath bar based, dulce de leche, espresso-based-chocolate-covered-espresso-bean, etc ice creams from Likk's
-Scallion pancakes at Jade Garden

A visit to the Denver Art Museum here, a tour of my childhood hot-spots there. Though C got a little ill towards the end of the trip--as per usual--we both had a wonderful time with my parents. No drama. Except when we played Cranium. Lots of laughter there (e.g. my dad shouting chest hair for a sensosketch of corsage or me trying to hum "Sexual Healing" to C). Good drama. Oh! And the drama of watching my 8th grade musical--in which I played Henry Higgins of "My Fair Lady." Man. I sure do maintain a painful tone deafness throughout my years.

Now that I have returned to Lady Ann, I am resettling and discovering my perceptions of the city have shifted. I am, obviously, no longer focusing on the "college town" side of the city; instead, I am taking in the city as a conduit to pursuing my passions and living a sustainable, happy lifestyle. So far, so good.

For the future, I am awaiting a reply from Princeton in Asia (my first choice) about the coming fall's fellowship prospect. I should know by Tuesday. I have been accepted to the American Jewish World Service Fellowship in India, which I am very excited about. Also, I have been accepted to teach English in Shenzhen courtesy of the Chinese Bureau of Education. There may be some tough decisions ahead, but the good news is that I will be on an enriching program abroad this fall.

Hooray!



This too.

Not Really There?

This will be a short-changing of two reviews--please forgive me for short-changing you by combining two reviews, and please forgive me for doing so in a brief post. I am entertaining and being entertained in Colorado until Sunday, when I will be returning to Ann Arbor.

Though "Shutter Island" and "Coraline" may seem miles apart in nature, subject, and target audience, the common theme of the mind's ability to create and the backfiring of alternative realities courses through both films. Not to mention that both movies have their fair share of terrifying moments.

Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio are dead-on, as per usual. And given the presence of such cinematic Goliaths, Mark Ruffalo fills out the supporting side-kick with aplomb. The film recalled my nostalgia for a one-credit-college course I took called "The History of American Psychiatry in Film." If I could remember some of the psychiatric and psychological terms discussed in that course, I would certainly be able to discuss intricacies of story and character development far better.

A few days after viewing DiCaprio's Teddy Daniels struggle to uncover the mysteries surrounding a missing and reappearing patient on an island mental hospital for the criminally insane, my mom pointed out how effectively and painfully Scorsese paralleled the torture perpetrated during the Holocaust with early psychiatric techniques and experiments. These undertones and flashbacks definitely encourage a sense of discomfort and slight agony while watching; these emotions facilitate the few moments that make a woman a few rows back yelp in fear.

Ultimately, the greatest fear from "Shutter Island" comes with the movie's unresolved moral: the mind is a powerful force that can operate counter to social homeostasis and can disrupt the internal milieu.

This is not the horror conveyed in "Coraline," Henry "Pal o' Burton" Selick's Oscar nominated claymation "children's movie." I say "children's movie" because this PG movie was one of the scarier nail-biters that I have seen in some time. I would argue "Coraline" upset me more than "Shutter Island" whilst watching, though "Shutter," as mentioned before, had a more lasting terror.

Embattled with isolation and parents who care more about their magazine than their only kid, Coraline Jones discovers an alternative world with an "Other Mother" who wants to keep her forever to love her forever and possibly, just maybe, eat her soul. Sounds like a great movie to show kids. Great messages about familial love and finding refuge in your dreams.

And though the movie has haunting elements, "Coraline" retains the color, imagery, and dream-like fantasy that permeates childhood perception. The cooky neighbors and talking cat are pure kiddy--albeit "A Nightmare Before Christmas" kiddy. Ian McShane (a.k.a. Al Swearengen) and John Hodgman bring craft and humor to their respective voiceovers.

Still, "Coraline" had me furrowing my eyebrows in concern. Scary.

I recommend both, though neither for young audiences.

"Shutter Island": Three out of five stars
"Coraline": Two.5 out of five stars