I saw the screening last night in fairfax. It is a South Korean film directed by Park Chan-wook. The film is about a married man named OH Dae-su who is kidnapped and later wakes up to find himself in a private prison. It is like being locked up in a cheesy motel room.

Dae-su makes numerous attempts to escape and to commit suicide, but they all end up in failure. He is drugged on a regular basis and fed dumplings everyday. His only companion is a TV set which became his source of contact to the outside world. He spends his time analyzing his life trying to find out what he could have done to deserve such an existence. This was a man percolating in sheer vengence as he shadow boxes to release his emotions.

Fifteen years have passed and Dae-su is released with a wallet filled with money and a mobile phone. An unknown man calls Dae-su and asks him to figure out why he was imprisoned.

I will not reveal the twist in the story but the film is very violent and dark. Although the director had a lot of shots showing subtle sensitivities like the scene of the angel wings left on the road drenched in the rain.

As an asian watching the movie I can totally relate to the concept of vengence. OH Dae-sue's character is successful in its potrayal of inner turmoil and isolation. His monologues were reflective and his pain throughout the movie resonates.

Although the theme was dark I was so surprised that It did not stay with me at all. I think listening to positive cd's all throughout the month helped me shake the disturbing theme of the movie.The cinematography was excellent.

At the end of the night I totally agree with Peter that the next movie we see has to be a Disney movie. Seeing Old Boy after the Jacket needs to be followed by an animated feel good movie so my senses can get some reprieve lol.

My Saturday was pretty full. I went to see my dentist at 8:00 am and had my cleaning and a filling. I love my dentist because he is just great. I am no longer stiff and nervous during the process and I actually really take care of my teeth making sure I get my checks every six months. It helps to sit overlooking a mini mini waterfall and think of Maui while the drill is doing its job lol.

I went to a business meeting in the afternoon and it was a pretty jolting experience for me. The speaker from Thailand started with not a word of english and today he motivates people. I was even brave to shake his hand after the meeting. I will not forget his words to me he said in Filipino " KAYO KO, KAYA MO" which means I can do it, you can do it. I hope I do not forget his message of dreaming,believing, following and never to quit on your dreams. It was a powerful experience.

I went to a concert with Peter at the Universal Amphitheatre. On the way to the concert we got rear ended by a taxi. I am pleasantly surprised with my hyundai/elantra as it took in a strong impact pretty good. I was grateful that it was minor as it could be worst like a major accident. We were both physically ok and that is what really matters. No ambulances and car getting totalled is always a good thing. The car will be fixed as the cab driver already called today. All will be handled.

Well the concert was awesome. It was a KCRW hosted event called " A sounds eclectic evening ". It is amazing how my music grows. I really enjoyed all the artist I heard like Van Hunt, Paul Buchanan, Cafe Tacuba and of course COLD PLAY. I listened to my co-workers CD this week and listening to some of the songs last nite was far out. It was a lovely evening of music and perfect company.

Thanks for a far out evening and a far out day that is !

I saw the movie by Johh Mayburry and acted brilliantly by Adrien Brody. I really love the film although it forced me to be literally on the edge and out of my comfort zone. I was at the edge of my seat sitting as if I was meditating on the intensity of the film. The first 15 minutes of the film had pretty disturbing scenes of Jack Starks getting shot in the head by a boy in Iraq that he tried to befriend. Jack being pronouned dead and him blinking and shedding a tear reaching out to say I am here.

Jack ends up in an asylum after being accused as a cop killer and begins his torturous medical sessions with the pure evil Dr.Becker played by Kris Kristoferson. The SADISTIC treatments involve Jack being placed in a straight jacket and locked up inside a morgue drawer.While inside Jacks finds he can travell to the future and meet the same people that brought him to where he eventually was. The character Jack finds relief in this unhumanistic torturous treatment after all. He has become the person he wanted to be was one the lines I heard him say in the movie. Once he found his purpose, Jack used the time he was in the drawer to influence and change circumstances of the people in his life.There is romance in this film if you can believe that and it lends a sense of tenderness to the hostilities in the film.

At the end i cried not the way as drama makes me cry buckets. But the tears were coming from the realization of life and death , destiny and fate. I cheered for Jack when he confronted Dr. Becker in the future and said to his face how he was haunting him. What a triumph for Jack in a scene when Dr. Becker was consuming a handful of pills suggesting to me that he wants to die himself. But it is comforting to me that I know Dr.Becker will not die after that scene and will have a long life full of misery haunted by the death of his patients and him living the life of the undead. I do believe in cause and effect and how just it was for Dr. Becker to live.

Jack made a temendous change in people's lives by making the journey and being in the drawer. He prevented the horrible death of an alcoholic mother and changed the life of the daughter as well not to live the life of her mother if she would have died being burned alive. He found treatment for a a child in seizure and he found the love of a woman.

The ending shows Jack slipping in ice hitting his head and him being rushed back to the drawer. He had changed his death from being shot but the head trauma was still something that wa a common deniminator. He goes back to the future and meets a differrent Petals from the car she drives, her hair and her facial expression. But they connected instantly like destiny and fate. The question was asked by Knightley at the end about how much time do they have left? I cried more this time because it is just a powerful question that is so personal to me.

I was pretty brave watching this film as I did not flinch and I allowed the film to challenge my comfort level. I normally revert to being a girl on suspense thrillers as this one and would hide or grab someone for comfort. What a different experience this time as I was watching independently as an adult immersing myself to feel discomfort, tenderness and my full attention. I so love it!

I was grateful to be invited by a friend to the west coast premiere of the play " The Clean House" by Sarah Ruhl. We drove from Manhattan beach to Costa Mesa and arrived just in time for a lovely back stage reception of yummy delicious hors d' oeuvre and dessertsl. I love the filet minon and the chocolate truffle.

I so love the play as it made me laugh and the undertones were so well placed that you leave the performance feeling good. It is the story of a successful doctor whose perceived controlled life sprirals to chaos. Her marriage to a successful surgeon is one day over when the Husband announces he has found his "beshert", jewish word for soulmate. Her cleaning lady is supposedly depressed because she  would rather tell jokes than clean the house. The sister Virginia  who was outstandingly acted,  makes a pact with the maid. She cleans Lane's house so she can feel order on her own life and the maid can have time to think of her jokes. Ana is the other woman who dies of cancer at the end. The husband by the way is Ana's doctor and that is where their love started.

I look for messages wherever I go. This play speaks to me in all levels of my being. I am a clean crazy person in fact that is an outlet for me when I am angry as I do not do that emotion well. So the title is " The Clean House". I have some semblance of order in my life right now. Things may not be the way I want it to be and I am being proactive in changing the things I can. What is different is my attitude today. Instead of feeling overwhelmed over the things I can not change I try really hard not to procrastinate and take baby steps so door may start opening. I have started the cleaning my life when Roger died. I believed I have shed toxic relations and have closed a lot of that part of my life with Roger.  I was reminded of Roger's death when Ana dies in the play. I have stared death in the eyes and  I have learned to embrace it with grace and serenity. In the play Ana chose to die with the last breath of life by listening to the maid's joke. With Roger's death he died in his sleep eating chocolate before his last goodnite to me. What a wonderful way to die choosing to die in a place that you are truly loved. I pray I can leave the same way when my body no longer supports my spirit. In the mean time there are a lot of doors to open. My purpose is being presented to my face it feels like. It is hard to procrastinate when the knock in your door is too loud to ignore. i have to do my resume today as I am destined to work in a bigger world. I have outgrown my work world right now and it is just a matter of time before I move on. Meanwhile I continue to clean house as in order to have room for the new I have to make room for it. I am really excited because I really know that I am crossing another threshold in my karmic cycle and I have to literally move as life dictates it. World I am ready!