Treat Animals Humanly but Not Treat People Like Animals?

Even the rain finally comes and prevents me from going hiking in the mountains today, even it has been unusually cold as if I were back to my childhood in Harbin, even I don’t celebrate Christmas or whatever other religious significance, I really enjoy this holiday season. It is the time when I can go from party to party; it is the time when I have a week off before New Year’s Day; it is the time when there are great number of terrific films rushing into theaters for Oscar; it is the time when I can look back with gratitude and look forward to a better year. This year’s holiday party from work is supposed to be the last one, I was told. Cutting perks seems to be the general trend no matter which way we turn these days. If it is beneficial to the bottom line, I have no problem with that. Nevertheless, I had a good time at the party with Calvin, despite the food was disappointing. Of course, this is also the shopping season. People flock to shops as if everything is free. Consumerism in America is still alive and strong. When I passed a department store today at Union Square, I saw some PETA protesters at the front entrance, with many animal furs hanging on sticks. It makes me wonder why people want to treat animals humanly, in the meantime, we are forbidden to treat people like animals. I think it is self-serving—to make themselves feel better. Otherwise, the money PETA spends can actually get some real human beings a decent meal or a shelter. Just go a few blocks to the Tenderloin area or Market Street, where there are plenty homeless people on the streets. I come to this conclusion because I believe they only like cute animals, and nothing is wrong to be that way. It’s human nature to like cutie pies. People, PETA in particular, get furious when the Japanese (and others) kill whales, when the Danish kill dolphins, when the Canadian kill seal, when the Korean eat live octopus and dogs, and when the Chinese eat anything with four legs except a table (okay, a panda is spared too). The truth is, most of them are adorable creatures. Therefore, killing or eating a cutie is cruel and "inhuman." If it’s something ugly and nasty, I bet you can go right ahead kill or eat however you want, even PETA won’t bother you. For example, we have not seen any protest about how a cockroach is killed in an apartment. Wait, in San Francisco, they protest just about anything, I must have missed that protest. Animals are animals, they are not human, period. Therefore, to advocate treating them humanly, it’s entirely for the benefit of people who propose it. It does make them feel better about themselves. That’s the bottom line. That being said, I am still a PETA—People for Eating Taste Meat, as a friend puts it. To live up with this motto, I bought some (humanly caught) salmon last weekend, and made some sushi at home. I prepared some eggs and cucumber, and I was ready to make my own version of California roll—never put in imitation crab meat, I hate that crap. I love salmon. Therefore, everything is salmon on the plate, also because I don’t have any other fish at home. I also made two spicy salmon rolls, with avocado, cucumber, red pepper paste, egg, and of course, salmon inside. How can I live without salmon? Wait, no meat? Well, of course I will have meat. The next day, I made some stuffed eggplant with ground pork after a long hike in Marin Headlands. Since it has been so cold, a big bowl of hot kudzu soup really heats up the body. The aroma from cooking the soup makes the apartment cozy and homey. Of course, there is pork in the soup too. It’s quite obvious that I can never become a vegetarian. It was a very hectic week. I went to five screenings. I decide to slow down and skip some films this coming week. I will only go to two screenings: "It’s Complicated" and "Avatar." Hopefully, I might find more time to cook something tasty. Me and Orson Welles Perhaps the most brilliant films by writer/director Richard Linklater are "Before Sunrise" and "Before Sunset" (also "Waking Life"). Who can forget those fascinating conversations on quiet streets in Europe? He seems have a unique ability to ignite the sparks between a couple on the big screen. In his latest film, "Me and Orson Welles" (UK/USA 2008 | 114 min.), he leaves traces of similar magical moments whenever two protagonists are alone on the big screen. However, this new charming period-drama is dominated by the marvelous performance from a British pianist-turn-actor Christian McKay, playing the legendary Orsen Welles. Based on Robert Kaplow‘s novel, the film is a fictional recount of the behind the stage story about Orsen Welles‘s production of Shakespeare‘s Julius Caesar at Mercury Theatre in NYC, 1937. Seventeen-year-old Richard Samuels (Zac Efron) lands a role in Orsor Welles’s (Christian McKay) theater production Caesar and falls for Orson’s ambitious assistant Sonja Jones (Claire Danes). During the short period of preparation for the play’s opening, he learns more about show business, love, and life than he ever hopes. Although the story is told from the eyes of a teenager, the exuberant, charismatic, extremely talented, and sometimes arrogant Orson Welles unquestionably draws all the spotlights. The relatively little known Christian McKay deserves an Oscar nomination for his fantastic portrait of this colorful persona. This is an utterly entertaining film with glorious art design, terrific ensemble cast, and nostalgic music. "Me and Orson Welles" opens on Friday, December 11, 2009 at Bay Area theaters. A Single Man Tom Ford is best known as an accomplished fashion designer. However, he expands his artistic talent beyond the fashion industry into film in his impressive stylish feature directorial debut "A Single Man" (USA 2009 | 99 min.). This adaption of Christopher Isherwood‘s 1964 novel is a haunting emotional journey about a gay professor’s finding hope in life after a devastating loss in love. This is a film about affectionate love and hope, as much as about loss and despair. The film is set in Los Angeles during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, English professor George Falconer (Colin Firth) begins his day with the flashbacks of precious moments with his lover of 16 years, Jim (Matthew Goode), who is killed in a car accident recently. Although George often finds comfort from his best friend Charley (Julianne Moore), he is unable to overcome the grief from Jim’s sudden death and is consumed by the unbearable pain. When a youthful student Kenny (Nicholas Hoult) enters his day, George’s hope in life is awaken again. Colin Firth‘s subtle performance as Goerge already won the Best Actor award at this year’s Venice International Film Festival, and very likely will get an Oscar node. He brilliantly expresses George’s complex emotion, sometimes without saying any word. This is his best performance to date. Director Tom Ford demonstrates his root in fashion design throughout the film. Many frames look outrageously beautiful as if they are torn off a fashion magazine or a perfume ad. Besides the marvelous visual, the gorgeous music (by Abel Korzeniowski and Shigeru Umebayashi) is also effective and expressive to the story telling. George’s interation with his blue eyed young student Kenny is fascinating to watch. Nicholas Hoult plays Kenny who looks like an innocent angel, or an A&F model, depended on your perspective. Kenny’s surreal beauty and energetic spirit make George begin to believe "Love is like a bus, you just have to wait for a little while, the next one will come along." "A Single Man" opens on Friday, December 11, 2009 at Bay Area theaters.