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While apparently it's not everyone cup of tea, I have to say that The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey absolutely blew me away. There was not one moment during those 169 minutes that I was not delighted, awed, or dazzled. Indeed, the richness of detail flowed in waves over me, each frame etched ever so sharply. It was an experience I do not recall having had elsewhere; shades of it, perhaps, when I saw my first IMAX film, or my first HD viewing. But this was a muchness of a muchness. To pass this up is folly, to deny is to be left behind in the murk of 24fps. The future is here, now, for the seeing! Oh, and the film itself was great! Dwarves and orcs and giants and trolls and racing rabbits and all manner of creatures from Middle Earth, great and mostly not so great. Plenty of action to take in, and at 48 frames per second, you can take it in to its fullest; gone are the days of blurry fights. See the exact thrust of the sword, the precise swing of an axe, the glory of a brandished ...

Friday I watched the latest James Bond film, Skyfall , and did not think much of it. The first half stretched too long by far, and the action sequences were few and uninspired. The second was saved somewhat by Javier Bardem but I still lacked satisfaction when the film ended. I liked the cinematography; it cannot be denied, the visuals are sumptuous. However the plot was, even by Bond standards, ridiculous. As such, it was hard to have much feeling for, or attachment to, any of the characters. The film shall pass from my mind without a flutter of care. Saturday I was scheduled to see Wolf Children Ame and Yuki by Mamoru Hosoda but it was sold out by the time my friends (Andrew, Andrea, Marc and Alex) and I got to the theatre. Instead, after picking up some Portuguese baked goods and making Rice Krispies' squares, we sat down to Hosoda's Summer Wars , which I'd heard of before (from Andrew), but had little opportunity, or inclination, to see. So I was delighted to find th...

I just can't bring myself to write much any more. It's like every voice in my head, all the ideas, each iota of thought, is stuck, unable to leave its well-worn rut. What is left, then, of the person known as Hwan? Is he there, or just a robot on repeat? Crawford Lake in autumn My days are what you might suppose: Work is where I can be a zombie, the cats are both a hassle and a joy, and Mary Jean keeps me afloat. I haven't gone to karate in ages, I've been playing various games to pass the time. October is nearly over and though I consume more and read more, it seems very little actually sticks. Oh, well, I DID go hiking with some friends a couple weeks back, about an hour's drive west of the city. We also took part in a Native American dance, which was fun, in its way. I suppose I can mention that I've started watching Community, due to the high acclaim from many friends. It took me a few shows to really dig in, and by the seventh episode (the Hallowe...

DETERRING CRIME WITH ALL CAPS Houston, yet another city not high on my list of cities to visit. To be honest, I knew little of the place -- somewhere in Texas, right? Way down in that stomach-of-a-cow region, that hot and dusty stretch between California and Florida. So it was with little in terms of expectation that I was sent there to do some work for a client, out in Sugar Land, a suburb of Houston. Turns out that there is little to do, and not much more to see if one's free time is only in the evening and one does not have a car. Even with a taxi at hand (a rare beast), one gets the impression of tourists being second-class citizens. I suppose I had an okay time though, and in Houston's defence I didn't get around to seeing the Space Center, the only point of interest I'd hoped (against hope) to visit. But the highways! And the lack of public transportation into the downtown! It made me appreciate the TTC all the more. Statue of Sam Houston I've star...

Indeed I've been back for a while now. The Germany trip was a whirlwind of sightseeing and getting lost and soaking up the European sun. People were generally friendly and, despite our lack of German language skills, we got along with the locals just swell. The vacation itself began with some 12 hours of flying (Toronto to Brussels to Berlin), then a quick bus ride to the train station for a 2 hour train ride to Hanover to meet Michelle, Mary Jean's friend. It was then another 2 hour train to Oldenburg, where Michelle was studying. Add in all the wait times plus the bus/subway ride to Pearson and you have a pretty full day of traveling! Oldenburg's a quiet town in Germany's north-east, with some tourist highlights including a castle turned museum, a stylish market and a couple idyllic parks. We took advantage of the town's location to take a day trip to the North Sea. I didn't have a chance to try the water though -- we were there to see the Seehundstati...

Welcome back. It sure has been a while. Much has happened while you were away, which I'm not sure that I can sum up entirely here. But I shall try. Most notably, I have a new girlfriend, Mary Jean. Things are going well, really well.. what can I say, other than she's awesome and I'm incredibly lucky that she isn't repulsed by my hideous visage. So much of my time has been shared with her, every hour delicious, every day brighter. The birthing of Automa Arena Back in February, Jenning and I participated in a boardgame design contest, Board Game Jam Toronto . Though I wasn't entirely happy with how the event was run (judging process and prize allocation patently unfair), I had a lot of fun and I think we created a damn good game. We somehow managed to stamp out an interesting, straightforward, yet rich mechanic in about a day, and the process brought me back to my university days; brainstorming and talking ideas through, trimming here and adding there. I hav...

Hwan and Reg After Maui I was back in Toronto by Thursday morning before the end of the year, the dim dark morning, returning to a cat-less apartment. My memories of sunny beaches and bright skies were not enough to shield me from the horrors, the disappointment of returning to work. Is this really what I'm doing, I wondered. Friday night I went out drinking with Reg and some of his friends, who wanted to watch some UFC. The pints led to more pints, and by the end I found myself shooting pool and singing karaoke. So I guess 2011 still had a few kicks left in it. New Year's eve I did it all over again at Olga's place, with her friends. The Sunday following I went to my parent's house, way up in the northern reaches of Richmond Hill for belated birthday stuff (my father's); food, TV, with some gift exchange. Mimi is well That first week of January I took in a couple documentaries, Waking the Green Tiger  and Slaughter Nick for President . The former is abo...

I returned a couple days before New Year's day, deprived of sleep but still basking in the memories of Maui. What follows are my notes while there, and my observations that have since emerged, so please excuse the switching of tense. Day one: Denver was an easy enough flight, and the one to LAX was just as uneventful -- had a sandwich and juice in the terminal, briefly tempted by the greasy wares of McDonald's. It's funny that the place always brings Doris to mind, due to the disgust it invoked in her. I am glad to be offline, without the distraction, to really be unavailable to the cares of the daily grind and the holidays. It was a combination of work, life and Christmas that drove me out here, an escape from choices. I'd forgotten how maddeningly loud it is inside the plane, a constantly surging white noise, clouding my attempts at concentration and knocking me into dozing. There's a 5 hour time difference between Hawaii and Toronto -- I wonder how I w...

Hola! Or, perhaps an "aloha" would be more accurate? I am leaving for Maui in a couple hours, having decided to join Jenning's marital festivities after all. A rash decision, made in a fit of desperation, and one that certainly bites on a financial level. It's amusing that even at my age I still have problems sleeping, with the foolish fear of missing the flight. Well, I did miss one major flight, back in Denmark, but that was a simple mistake of dates on my part. Anyway, yeah, Hawaii. I keep thinking of how this might be the last few days of my life -- fall into a volcano, or eaten by a shark, etc. It was a nice life, though I am sorry to leave so many days half-lived. More sorry to those I was a dastardly bastard to, a cowardly scoundrel. I don't know that I deserve anything like forgiveness, but I certainly feel that I am wiser now, eyes more open to my actions. Should I happen to make it, I'll be back by the 29th. No plans for New Years. Not that I rea...

I had considered applying to be a writer for blogTO.com , and it was the process of drafting up an application that I decided that I'd be much happier bringing hwan.com back to life. And so here it is, fresh and clean and much of the weight gone! Fret not, I do plan on bringing those entries back, perhaps when I've the time over the Christmas break. Let's see.. back on the 11th I went to see Unter Kontrolle (2011) , an amazingly detailed documentary on Germany's declining nuclear power plants. I was thrilled to get some rare views into how the plants worked, both as a facility and a business. It was followed up by a brief panel discussion, which to my amusement featured some rather anti-nuclear rallying. I was glad to see that the director himself seemed to not pass any judgment on the technology, or those who saw it as a safe and reasonable energy source. On the 12th I went to a large potluck turkey dinner with Andrea's and Marc's friends. I b...

  Back on the 4th of November Loopy and I went to a Penn and Teller show at Casinorama, which is located just outside of Orillia. The drive up was a bittersweet one, for I'd been up Highway 400 and 11 many times with Monica on one of our trips to her cottage in Bala. Hmm. In any case, the show was great, quite the joy. Any perceived misses were overshadowed by the awesomeness of the hits.  I also lost some money at poker and ate some shitty casino food, but that is neither here nor there; it was a fun Friday. The Saturday following I met up with Loopy again and we hung out at Ryan's place, who is an immaculate host and so much fun was had there too. The preceding dinner at Shoeless Joe's was adequate, though I really must stop subjecting myself to such lazy and uncaring eateries.  I'm uncertain about going again but I thought I'd mention that I went to a Toronto Youth Food Policy Council meeting. I was invited by my friend Andrea, and it's more her thing...