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Entertainment > Movies >
(on Wikipedia)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110200/
Upon hearing of his master's death, a man returns to Shanghai amidst tensions from its Japanese occupation, and learns there was foul play.
Quite a good movie, with all the basic elements. There's next to none of the B-movie cheese that's pervasive of such films, so it's good enough for everyday people.
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(on Wikipedia)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080274/
It is 1598, and a ship pilot gets stranded in Japan.
Meh, it's old.
Properly titled Shōgun
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Entertainment > Movies >
(on Wikipedia)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080979/
Instead of a death sentence, a convict is given the opportunity to impersonate a lord in a time of war.
kagemusha lit. "shadow warrior"
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Entertainment > Movies >
(on Wikipedia)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0245429/
On the way to moving to a new town, a girl stumbles upon and is trapped in a pocket dimension with an old Japanese bath house run by spirits and non-humans.
SHE SHOUTS A LOT
A spectacular movie. Youthful but with a balance of fantasy spectacle and horror.
 This image doesn't even begin to do this book cover justice |
Entertainment > Reading > samurai >
An extraordinary tactician and samurai (Japanese swordsman) had a late-life crisis and retired into monkhood. Over time, he allowed a scribe to record advice from his experience. Though meant to be extremely-selectively passed-on, it ultimately found itself in the hands of enough people to survive to today. It is a book on the martial use of the sword, the way of swords, the way of personal and mass martial strategy, and the Way.
I haven't read broadly and deeply enough, and I doubt anyone has, to truly judge this work in the context of what humanity has to offer (what has survived, that is), but I feel comfortable saying this is one of the Great works. I should say I highly recommend it, but I fear most people wouldn't even begin to comprehend it even in any vague sense. This is not a beginner's book, whatever "beginner" means with this book in that context. At the very least, this ought to be read by people who are deeply passionate about philosophy (of the armchair variety).
My edition of this book has an unfortunately-shiny fabric hardcover, with glossy full-colour pages with photographs which give it an impression of high quality. It even has an integrated ribbon bookmark. When reading it at length, I get the impression that the pages will eventually pull out. I hope this is not true.
Some years ago, I also read A Book of Five Rings: The Classic Guide to Strategy, translated by Victor Harris (1982)
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Entertainment > Reading > samurai >
A book on Bushido, the old way of the samurai, as created in conversation with an old master-turned-monk.
In a time when the others were softening up, a samurai who had lost his master and left to live in a monastery spoke in hushed tones to a friend about the old ways he grew up in. Although he and others insisted the manuscripts be burned, the promises were broken when they were kept secret. They would be later compiled and published, and even later translated from its original Japanese.
A particularly interesting book. Although most of it is definitely not directly-applicable today, I think anyone who already has a sufficient "wisdom" (whatever that means) will find bits and pieces of insight.
TODO - Make a proper page
TODO - Add my notes. They're in deep archives.
A QWERTY clamshell palmtop which runs Linux.
Codenamed Akita.
--
~2006-06-12 -- This replaced my HP 200LX.
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(on Wikipedia)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0278238/
to re-watch
I recall this being an amazing show, well-worth buying.
(samurai)
See also "The Premiere Movie" (TODO)
Similar to the weblog, the Japanese have a concept called Zuihitsu, which means something close to "following the brush". It is a reference to writing one's mind as thoughts come to it, perhaps best described in English as "miscellany" or "stream of thought" writing.
Write as if you are dying. -- Annie Dillard
