The Silent "I"

PS Vita: Living in a Gamer's Paradise

 

Alex Checks out the PS Vita

A few months ago, I was honored to be asked to join PlayStation Family, a group of tech-savvy mombloggers who were invited to work with PlayStation.  I have to admit, we just bought an Xbox last summer, and already had a Wii for several years.  I wasn't sure if we really needed another gaming system. PlayStation was kind enough to loan us a PS 3 for a year, so I figured we would be a good test family since we had some inside scoop on the competition.  Over the years, we've had more than our share of Gameboys, PSPs, DS, DSI and other small handheld gaming systems. Honestly, I thought I'd seen it all.

In February, PlayStation released its new handheld gaming system, the PS Vita, to the US Market.  The PlayStation Family group was offered loaner units to try out.  My 11 year-old son thought he'd hit the jackpot, since none of his friends have one yet.  Unfortunately for him, mama had other plans.

I never really considered myself a gamer.  Sure, I spend hours on Facebook shooting balls out of a frog's mouth and playing solitaire, but I've always thought of gaming systems as things for kids.  We had Pong when I was a kid, which was a little more exciting than watching TV static late at night when the broadcast signal ended for the day.

I decided that the PS Vita was going to be mine first, because I knew that once he got his grubby paws on it, it would disappear into the chasm of doom known as his room and I'd never see it (or him) again. Fortunately, I have a kid with a great respect for property rights, and he has not absconded with it yet.

The only problem with this plan is that I have no idea what I am doing on a gaming system.  It took me at least a week to figure out how to play Wii bowling without making the remote fly across the room and take out a lamp or two along the way.  Despite being someone game-challenged, I decided that the Vita was my baby.

I carefully opened the package and read all the inserts.   My son hovered around me like a hyperactive bumblebee descending on an azalea festival, asking repeatedly if he could play with it, help me set it up, or just observe what I was doing. I banished him to his room and completed my task.  I was quite proud of myself that I was able to set it up in about ten minutes, with no swearing and no tears (except for the kid's). 

The first game I dove into was ModNation Racers Roadtrip, a madcap racing game in which you can choose a location and race around some scenic courses all over the world.  I've played this type of game in arcades and thought I would know what I was doing.

I was wrong. 

I had no idea how to use the tiny joysticks to steer the car and crashed into walls, viewing stands, directional signs and everything else along the way.  My little driver ended up in last place, with a possible concussion.  I realized I needed some coaching on how to use the controls.

Abel Gance's Napoleon, Epic Silent Movie: Guest Post by Frank

My husband, Frank, discovered that Abel Gance's epic silent film, Napoleon, was playing with a live orchestra in Oakland last weekend.  When I found out it was 5 1/2 hours long, I told him, "You're on your own, bub."

This is his account of a classic movie-going experience that may not be repeated.

I had the good fortune to get a ticket last weekend for the final showing of Napoleon, Abel Gance’s silent movie masterpiece. I recall hearing about the version released with a score by Francis Ford Coppola's father in the early 1980’s, but I skipped it then, and always wondered what I’d missed.

Now, for the first time in 30 years, a new, more complete restoration was on offer as part of the 2012 San Francisco Silent Film Festival, It was being shown with a live performance by the Oakland East Bay Symphony, playing an original score conduced by the composer Carl Davis. Billed as a once-in-lifetime experience, I snapped up a ticket online and headed to Oakland on Sunday, April 1.

This French movie was made in the 1920s, and was first shown in 1927. The director, Abel Gance, got funding to make 6 films to chronicle the whole life of Napoleon. He blew the entire budget on just the first installment, which only carries us through Napoleon’s early life, but even with this limited material, the film is over 5 hours long.

At first, we see him as a teen at boarding school, commanding a snowball fight among his peers. We watch the French Revolution and Napoleon’s imprisonment and the effect this has on him. We see his military talent (and defiance of authority) at the Battle of Toulon in 1793, his romance and marriage to Joséphine, who turns out (at least according to the movie) to have been imprisoned with him (and was saved by a judicious bureaucrat who literally ate – yes, tore up and swallowed - her paperwork rather than letting her be guillotined). The film finally ends with Napoleon’s invasion of Italy in 1796.

San Francisco Chinatown: Fun Things to Do on a Budget

One of my favorite movie musicals as a child was Rogers & Hammerstein's Flower Drum Song, mainly because it was the first movie I ever saw that had Asian and Asian-American actors in leading roles. It didn't matter to me that the plot was ridiculous or that some of the actors weren't even Chinese (or even Asian in some cases).  I just remember being proud of the fact that people who somewhat resembled people in my family had made it to the big screen. 

One of the most memorable songs was the song called "Grant Avenue".

A western street with eastern manners,
Tall pagodas and golden banners
Throw their shadows through the lantern glow.

You can shop for precious jade
or teakwood tables or silk brocade
Or see a bold and brassy night club show,
On the most exciting thoroughfare I know.

We call it
Grant Avenue, San Francisco,
California, U.S.A.
Looks down from Chinatown
Over a foggy bay.

I had this romantic notion of San Francisco's Chinatown as a child.  I thought of it as an exotic, bustling thoroughfare of commerce and cable cars in the town where they invented Rice-a-Roni, quite possibly on Grant Avenue itself.  I think I made up that last part, but it made sense to me, since that was all I knew of San Francisco as a kid in Ohio in the 1960's was what I saw on television.  When I was about five, I used to stomp around the house singing "Grant Avenue! San Francisco! Cal-i-forn-i-a! U! S! A!" until my mother informed me that we were not Chinese and I needed to knock it off.

Anyway, San Francisco's Chinatown holds a special place in my heart.  Last weekend, we did a little mini-vacation and spent the weekend in San Francisco.  We stayed at the Orchard Garden Hotel, courtesy of the We Blog Travels Travel Writing Contest that I won last year with this post about San Francisco for kids.  We decided to see what we could do in San Francisco on a tight budget, and we started off with a walk through Chinatown.

The Orchard Garden is located next to the the Chinatown Gate, on Bush and Grant Avenue.  We were able to walk down the famed Grant Avenue, checking out a thousand and one souvenir shops, selling everything from silk purses to shoes to sculptures to tourist trinkets.  I have to admit, I had the "Grant Avenue" song stuck in my head as we walked along, stopping at nearly every souvenir shop along the way.

Althought it's called "Chinatown", the wares sold on Grant Avenue are sort of Pan-Asian, so you can find imports from Korea, Japan, India, and Thailand as well as China. Some of the best buys are comfy shoes and slippers, porceline dishes, and souvenirs of San Francisco. Alex salivated over racks of reproduction Samurai swords in one shop, and we beat a hasty retreat out of another that featured posters of nude Chinese women from the 1940's.  Every time my mom comes to town, we go jewelry shopping in Chinatown. The jewelers are usually open to bargaining on prices if you chat with them, and will usually throw in a jade bracelet or earrings if you press them. 

Some of the shops feature upscale artwork, Buddha sculptures, pottery, and fake designer bags.  I like the more Zen-inspired ones, with incense, stone garden Buddhas, and inspirational paper weights. 

Ariel's Undersea Adventure: The Little Mermaid Comes to Life

Attention all "Little Mermaid" Fans: There's a new ride in town with your name on it.  It's called "Ariel's Undersea Adventure" and is a colorful, musical extravaganza located in Disney's California Adventure.  I was one of the lucky members of the media invited to the grand opening last week, and got to experience it first-hand.

The ride opened with a great deal of fanfare, with a live musical performance by some talented Disney Cast Members and special guests, including composer Alan Menken. 

The original voice of Ariel herself, Jodi Benson, was on hand to sing "Part of Your World", and honestly, she doesn't seemed to have aged a bit since the movie opened 22 years ago.  Pat Carroll, the original voice of Ursula the Sea Witch was in the audience.  Broadway Star Sherie Rene Scott was on hand to sing Ursula's famous number, "Poor Unfortunate Souls" and later joined Jodi for a duet. Sherie portrayed Ursula in the Broadway production, and she is a fantastic singer.  It was like a mini-musical highlighting music from both the movie and the ride.

Asian American Voices Project

My friends at Clever Girls Collective sent me the link to this video, a trailer for Asian American Voices: Shaping Silicon Valley, Strengthening Community, and Sharing Hope a film about the contributions of Asian Americans in Silicon Valley. You get to hear the very moving stories of various Asian-Americans and how their lives and work helped to shape the community we live in on a daily basis. The full film will be screened at the San Francisco International Asian-American Film Festival on March 20, 2010.

While this film centers on immigrants in the San Francisco Bay area, the stories could be told just about anywhere. For me, the stories reminded me of my mother, and her immigration story.  I've written here before about my mom's determination to become a US citizen, but I haven't told all of her story. That's more than one blog post could possibly handle.

My mother's birthday is tomorrow, March 6, and I have been thinking a great deal about all that she has contributed in her 69 years.  She was never able to complete high school because the Korean War interrupted her schooling and she had to go to work to help support her eleven brothers and sisters after their father died.  She came to the US as a teenager, married to my dad, with a baby in tow. She had three children before age 25. She worked in a factory for 25 years, and would have kept on working had it not closed its doors and moved operations to Mexico.

Despite whatever hardships came her way, She kept her sense of humor and fun, ran a tight ship, and grounded her children in the belief that they could make of their lives whatever they could dream. My mother has been my inspiration, trusted adviser, and friend for my entire life.

My mother never held public office, has never been on television, owned a business, or traveled much of the world.  She has raised three kids, sometimes as a tyrant, sometimes as a friend, but always with enormous courage and love. Her contribution to the world may not seem to be that big, but to me, it is everything.

My mother's story, and the stories of the people in the Asian American Voices film, are only a tiny representation of what Asian Americans have contributed to the US. I hope that everyone, no matter what their ethnicity, will take time to watch this and reflect on the impact of diverse cultures to the richness of our society.

You can join the dialogue and become a fan of the Film on Facebook, and if you do, you could win tickets to the March 20 showing at the SF International Asian-American Film Festival!

"Spring Awakening" Opens in San Jose

A little bit of magic Broadway found its way to San Jose this week, with the opening of the Broadway hit Spring Awakening at the San Jose Center for Performing Arts. Armed with a charming and dynamic young cast, a pop-rock score, and lively dance numbers, this 8-time Tony award winner is sure to be a hit with teens and young adults. 

The cast, capably led by Christy Altomare as Wendla, Jake Epstein as Melchior, and Taylor Trensch as Moritz, tell the story of teens in 19th Century Germany exploring their budding sexuality.  At turns comedic and tragic, the emotions are amplified by an indie-rock score using a modern vernacular, making it more like "Rent" than an Andrew Lloyd Weber period piece.  It's quirky, creative, and fun, with serious cautionary messages for teens and adults.  I enjoyed the piece overall, and think it is one that parents could use as a lynch pin for serious discussions about sex, suicide, sexual abuse, and abortion.  I don't recommend this for kids under 14, due to the mature themes, brief nudity, and strong language. 

To me, the standouts in the cast were Steffi D as Ilse, a troubled girl who runs away from sexual abuse at home.  Steffi has a wonderful, emotive voice, perfect for ballads and rock numbers alike.  I also enjoyed watching Andy Mientus as Hanschen, whose oily, brazen seduction of an innocent classmate, Ernst, was a scene-stealing moment.  My husband thought he looked like Spike from Buffy the Vampire, and with his white-blond hair and swagger, I thought that was a fair comparison.

Where the show fell down for me was in the story line.  Based on an 1891 play by Frank Wedekind that was banned for nearly 100 years, due to it's treatment of issues like homosexuality, teen suicide, and abortion.  It seemed as though someone sat down with a laundry list of horrific events that could befall a teen and stitched them together into a loose storyline. 

While the first act is all about discovery and confusion, my husband noted that the second act could have been called "Rude Awakening."  The second half of the play seemed to reinforce nothing good can come of sex, including death, despair, and reform school.  There didn't seem to be any sense of redemption or reconciliation, though the closing number talks of hope of rebirth and regeneration.  I don't think the story naturally led to that conclusion.

I was also not thrilled with the reinforcement of the notion that all adults are the same, depicted literally by having every adult role played by the same man and woman. The adult characters seemed uniformly oblivious and unsympathetic to what the kids were going through, whether they were parents, teachers, or clergy.  I can definitely see that from a child's perspective, that might appear to be true.  I can understand why this show has such a large teen following, particularly for kids who feel marginalized or that their parents just don't understand the pressures they feel. 

Our town recently been rocked by a serious of very public and painful teen suicides that has ripped the fabric of our community.  It was particularly timely and poignant to watch this played out on stage, and the music seemed to be very much on point, particularly in showing the anger that kids feel that no matter what they do, as the song says, they're "totally f*cked".  I hope if nothing else, this should could open a frank dialogue between teens and their parents.

Spring Awakening is part of a national tour that runs through Sunday, November 1 at the San Jose Center for Performing Arts. For tickets, click here.  For information on other cities and dates, check out the Spring Awakening tour website.

PHOTO 1: (l-r) Kimiko Glenn, Gabrielle Garza, Christy Altomare, and Sarah Hunt.

PHOTO 2: Steffi D. as Ilse

Photo Credit: Paul Kolnik. Photos used with permission of Carla Befera Public Relations.

Disclosure: I received two complimentary media passes to attend the show, but no other compensation for this review. Opinions expressed herein are solely mine.

Easter Island: A Music Video by Animoto

I received a free pass to try out Animoto, a website that turns your short videos and photos into cool music videos in a few minutes.  I've agonized over iMovie attempting to do things like this, but lack the patience or skills to complete anything.  With Animoto, you just upload your pictures, choose some music, and they do the rest. The video here took about 15 minutes to upload the pictures, set the music, and then wait for it to be created. The hardest part was figuring out what pictures to use.

If you sign up, you can do a 30-second video for free, but an all-access pass for one year to create longer videos is $30/year.  You can upgrade to an HD version to burn onto a DVD for an additional $5 per video, if you need it for a special occasion.  I'm thinking about doing one for my parents' 50th wedding anniversary next year.

If you sign up using this link, you can get $5 off an all-access pass, and I earn a discount off future purchases.

Also, if you want to see some other great travel photos, check out Delicious Baby's Photo Friday today!

Disclosure: I received a complimentary temporary all-access pass to try out Animoto, but no other compensation or incentive for writing this review or trying out the product.

A Musical Interlude

Diamond Head, The Video from Glennia Campbell on Vimeo.

Last week, Alex attended DayJams Music Day Camp in Menlo Park.  He signed up for drums, and although he had never played drums before in his life, he performed on Friday.  The camp focuses on Rock & Roll, and each camper chooses and instrument to learn during the week.  They do lessons, and each camper is assigned to a band made up of other campers at their level, and a "manager" who is one of the music teachers or camp counselors.  They work together to write a song, practice it, and perform it at a concert at the end of the week.  The band chose the name "Diamond Head," made t-shirts and backstage passes, and practiced hard through the week.

I was somewhat amazed that Alex learned so much in so little time.  He can't wait for next year!

Movie Review: Coraline

The new animated movie "Coraline" from director Henry Selick, takes you into a magical world that takes hold in the opening sequence and doesn't release you until the very last credit.  Based on the book by fantasy writer and internet rock star Neil Gaiman, Coraline is a visual treat with a strong storyline, compelling characters, and clever animation that propels it along. This is the first 3D movie I've seen in which the 3D actually enhanced the action and didn't seem like a throwaway gimmick. 

The story revolves around a young girl, Coraline Jones, a recent transplant from Michigan to a decrepit pink Victorian apartment house in the Oregon woods.  Her parents are work-at-home writers who are working on  a gardening catalog, but hate dirt and seem to have little interest in either gardening or their child.  In her exploring around the old house, Coraline comes upon a small door that gives her entrance into an alternate world, one where she is the center of attention.  At first, it seems like a dream come true, but Coraline soon learns that she should be careful what she wishes for.

Coraline's main complaint against her parents is a familiar refrain. "You never listen to me," she whines to her mother.  I'm not sure I know any child (or adult for that matter) who hasn't said or felt that sentiment at one time or another.  What Coraline does for parents is to point out that the simple act of listening, and not necessarily indulgence, is what children really want.

Visually, the movie is a stunning, relying on a combination of stop-motion artistry and digital magic.  Coraline's world is beautiful, creepy, and strange, and altogether wonderful. 

As a caution, our 8 year old son thought the movie was too a little too intense at times, although he has seen all of the "Star Wars" and "Lord of the Rings" movies.  When I asked why those movies didn't scare him and this one did, he was vague murmured something about the "weird button eyes".  I think it was because a child he identified with was in peril, and that is more unsettling to him than fantasy monsters and battle scenes.

Some kids will love the spine-tingly creepiness, others will be disturbed by it.  I'm not sure if it's entirely fair to assign a specific age group that this film is suitable for.  You need to know your kids and their sensitivities.  The best way to find out how they will react is by listening to them.  I'm pretty sure that's what Coraline would advise you to do.

Super Bowl Ads of the Super Stupid

I haven't actually watched the Super Bowl for a number of years, until yesterday.  For most of it, I was twittering along with the 500 or so people I follow there. By the end, there was quite a bit of chatter on twitter about certain blatantly sexist ads that seemed to have nothing to do with what they were selling.

Most of the ads went by without much notice.  I was somewhat puzzled by the ad featuring Danica Patrick, somehow being manipulated by teenage boys into showering with a blonde woman.  It wasn't apparent what they were trying to sell, other than a form of cheeseball sexism that mainly works on 15 year old boys and 35 year old men who still live with their mothers.  I rolled my eyes, but didn't think much more of it.

The next one, though, really irritated me.  It showed a couple of big-busted models in a courtroom with Danica Patrick, and ends with one of the models thrusting her breasts into the camera while saying something about being "enhanced." What that has to do with the incredibly dull and unsexy task of registering internet domain names is beyond me.  I'd rather have a spinal tap than ever do another DNS mapping.  Does this marketing really work? If so, maybe Lysol should use bikini models to show men how incredibly sexy it is to clean the bathroom.  Now that would be useful, and more likely to get them some action.