Latin Beat

I have heard so much about the carnival celebration in New Orleans and in Sydney. I have never been to any. Well, it turns out that I don’t have to travel that far for it. There is one right at my door step: Carnaval San Francisco. I don’t understand how come I didn’t attend any over the years. I changed that yesterday and witness the extravaganza. It was a really chilly day. It was so cold that it set a "record low for high temperature." I know, I need to read that again to make sure I wrote it correctly. What a big contrast with the record high during the Bay to Breakers last week! However, the cold weather didn’t damper the festival spirit a bit on Mission Street in a Latino neighborhood. People dress in lavish and flamboyant costumes in the parade while exposing as much skin as possible. http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf The upbeat Latin music is extremely contiguous. I couldn’t keep my feet, legs, and anything on my body standing still. I don’t think anybody can. A guy in the parade even came over to me and led me circling couple times like in a ballroom dancing. Even I tried move around a little, I was still cold. That makes me appreciate those folks in the parade even more—they worn so little while bringing the happiness and smile to everybody. I am shocked to realize that some of the dancers didn’t even wear shoes! They dance through the lengthy parade route on the cold paved road without anything under their bare feet! Let’s hope next year it will be sunny and warm. Today was not much sunny either in the morning, but I went to Marin Headlands hiking anyway, because I have not been there for a while. Like always, it’s peaceful and delightful hopping around those hills and sneaking in and out the fog. It’s very dreamy. Too bad the long weekend doesn’t last any longer. I must get ready to get back to work tomorrow. How come I have not won the lottery yet? Departures (おくりびと) Winning the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film and numerous awards around the world, "Departures" (おくりびと | Japan 2008 | in Japanese | 131 min.) is a deeply moving and sentimental film that pays tributes to a traditional Japanese profession—encoffiner. Young cellist Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki) loses his job in an orchestra. He and his wife move back to his late-mother’s old house in his small hometown. After he answers a job ad in a newspaper to help "departures," he reluctantly becomes an encoffiner who sends those "departed" to a new journey by gracefully dressing and placing the body into a coffin. When Daigo’s wife Mika (Ryoko Hirosue) finds out his encoffiner job, like many others, she disapproves him and hopes that he gets a different job instead. However, after she sees his elegant work, she and people around the town gain respect toward Daigo’s profession and appreciate how encoffiners bring a closure to the family and connect the life and death. An encoffination ritual is tremendously moving and beautiful. Like during a tea ceremony (茶道), every move by a encoffiner possesses impeccable precision, soothing gentleness, and ultimate respect. Boy-band-singer-turned-actor Masahiro Motoki (本木 雅弘) gives a terrific performance as Daigo. Tsutomu Yamazaki (山崎 努) brings humor and wisdom to the role of Daigo’s boss. Unlike in the classic "Tampopo" (タンポポ | Japan 1985 | in Japanese | 114 min.), instead of eating noodles, Tsutomu Yamazaki is cooking good chicken and fish. He "hates" himself because he cooks them so well. "Departures" is a well crafted film that touches all walks of live who must face the inevitable—death. The film does not shy away from being sentimental while dealing with a sensitive topic. Yet, it eloquently transforms the moaning of death into a celebration of love among the living. "Departures" opens on May 29 at Bay Area theaters.