Life/Death

According to my dictionary, the meanings of these words are…

Life: the ability to breathe grow, reproduce, etc. which people, animals and plants have before they die and which objects do not have.

Death: the fact of somebody dying of being killed. The end of life.

However, through these pages, I find we can use these two words even people are alive. In this book, Nao thought she became a living ghost after her funeral in school. In her mind, she had death in her life. However, after moving to Miyagi during her summer vacation, I’m sure her mind is changing. She is trying to find the meaning of life in her mind. “I think holding hands makes her feel more confident, and so I got into the habit of holding her hand when I was next to her, and to tell you the truth, I liked it, too. I liked the feeling of her thing little fingers in mine. I liked being the strong wasn’t there, she used her stick. I liked feeling more useful than a stick. “(Ozeki, p189) Nobody used to have accepted Nao before living in Miyagi with Jiko. That made her mind dead. However, now she finds that she can help someone, and the feeling satisfies her mind like somebody needs her. In my opinion, this feeling makes her live.

At the same time, I also find Ruth’s life/death in her life. “My whole life is a break. I really need to do this.” “My whole life is a nap. I need to wake up.” (Ozeki, p185) She uses “break” and “nap” as explain her life. I assume, however, these words also connect with her life/death in her life. She gets her object to clarity Nao’s life, so she doesn’t have time to take a break and also a nap. In our life, finding our purposes are important to feel that we are alive.

[ Time ]

There are at least five time differences : Haruki #1, Jiko, Nao, Ruth, and ‘now’ through this story. Each time has different situation. However, I found out that basic social situations are similar. For instance, bullying exists in all ages such as bullying among army toward Haruki #1 , in junior high school toward Nao probably more than ten years ago, and nowadays.

I was really moved when Jiko had been dying and painting ‘生’ (Life). I feel that Jiko is the person who really understands what 生 means because she lost her son and almost lost her grand-son and great grand-daughter too…. Apparently, Jiko gave the word 生 to Nao and Haruki #2.

“Our human body appears and disappears moment by moment, without cease, and this ceaseless arising and passing away is what we experience as time and being. They are not separate.” (Ozeki, p.324)

 This quotation is so true. No one can live forever. This every moment is time being. Thus, Nao kept a diary to make a mark on the world. For me, keeping diary is to organize my thoughts, and when I look it over again, I can recall how I spent time.

[ Memory ]

I think this reading part is talking about memories a lot. It was impressive for me to read Haruki #1′s Letters and conversation between Haruki #1 and Nao. Although these letters do not describe his true feelings, I still can see change of his feelings.

January 2, 1944 ”The way ahead was clear, and I could stop worrying about all the silly metaphysical business of life – identity, society, individualism, totalitarianism, human will – ….”(Ozeki, p.251)

March 27, 1945 “I’m afraid my day is approaching and my next ‘official’ letter to you may be the last one receive from me.”(Ozeki,p. 258)

Haruki #1 faced his death more than for one year. He pretends to be optimistic in the first letter. But, the second one that is his last letter in the book shows his longing for his mom, Jiko and fear of death in the near future.

I was thinking why Jiko had given Haruki #1′s remains to Nao. Jiko knew how Haruki #1 hated war, the government and its bullying politics of imperialism and capitalism and exploitation. Thus, I assume that Jiko wanted Nao to be peaceful person as Haruki #1 had wanted to be when she knew bullying toward Nao. She felt similarities among them. Nao also gave the letters since she wanted his father to understand how how he was coward unlike Haruki #1.

Reading these parts made me think about a lot of things such as war, , September 11 attacks, suicide, a natural disaster, nuclear, and bullying.

[ Death ]

In this reading part, it mentions about earthquake, Tsunami, and nuclear power  accident in Japan a few times.

“I have lost everything. My daughter, my son, my wife, my mother. Our house, neighbors. Our whole town.”(Ozeki, p.111)

“Nuclear power is energy for a brighter future! The correct understanding of nuclear power leads to a better life!”(Ozeki, p.141)

It was time for me to face death too. TV programs reported us horrible situations there all the time, and everyone talked about it all the time. I thought of it all the time too. The number of deaths were getting more and more.  The death was not only things that people lost in Japan. It was also the death of hope. They lost places to live and work, and neighbor communities and properties including memories such as photos. Nobody could foretell it happened then. As the second quotation says, ironically, Nuclear power station in Fukushima was hope for the population in this district… It made a lot of businesses and subsidies there. However, that accident made a huge impact on the world. As this book talk about that, people should never forget about fear of Nuclear.

Moreover, death is related to both Nao’s existence and Ruth’s feeling. Nao got held her fake funeral by classmates.

“I was already a vengeful ghost, haunting the living, so it didn’t really matter if I lived or died, and anyway…..”(Ozeki, p.131)

Ijime against Nao was too much awful…  I really had difficulty reading these part. But, I think these cruel ijime sometime happens in Japan, so it became a social problem.

“It was true that compared with Manhattan, there wasn’t a lot of excitement on their island, but how much excitement did you need if you were dead?” (Ozeki, p.142)

It is interesting to see similar feelings between Nao and Ruth at the same. Ruth kept reading Nao’s diary it happened in the past as if she was trying to sort out her feelings again.

The meaning of “Masala”

It says that Masala means a bunch of hot spice in the film. Mina was born as Indian in Uganda. But, she is familiar with American culture more than both Indian and Ugandan because she spends most time in America. On the other hand, Demetrius is a  black American. Thus, their love is such a cross cultural thing like Masala spice.

intergenerational conflict in immigrant communities

In order to explain this topic, I can use an example of relationship between Mina and Jay. As I says before, Mina identifies as American. In contrast, Jay was born in Uganda and spends most time there until his family is expelled in the 70s by Amin. He really resents for it because he identifies himself as Ugandan, so he has a complex about his color and Mina’s parent has  a grudge again black community a lot unlike Mina.

I was really impressed by Jay’s lines, “My home is where my heart is.” Even though he had obsessed with returning to Uganda and reclaiming his property from Uganda’s governments, I assume that he realized that his heart was with Kinnu in America after his visit to Uganda again. Okelo has already passed away and the environment where he used to be has changed too.

The scene when Jay’s family is expelled from Uganda reminded me of exclusion against Japanese American during WWII. Both Asian groups in Uganda and America were distinguished by not nationalities they identified as but their races or colors.

To tell the truth, I couldn’t finish reading this chapter The reason why it took long time to read and why I couldn’t read everything was because I hadn’t know about Kung Fu well or I hadn’t been interested in it before I read this book. Without the knowledge of Kung Fu, it was difficult to read this book. Even I am Japanese and I live in the same area with the origin of Kung Fu, I didn’t pay attention it. Until I read this book, I thought I already had enough knowledge of Asian American culture because I found a lot of new things. However, through this book, I felt it might be impossible only for one quarter that I could know all of Asian American popular culture. Even only about Kung Fu, there were so many things we had to study. We need to study not only Kung Fu but also other influences relating with it like movies, music, and so on. At the first class in this book, we discussed about the connection between globalization and popular culture, and at that time I thought globalization made popular culture in this world. Now, I’m clear that globalization affect many kinds of popular culture, and I’m more interested about the connection between globalization and popular culture. I’m sure I’m going to be back this book again after reading the last book.

Nao, the main character in A Tale for the Time Being, is forced to deal with many losses which have happened during her teenage years. These losses include her father’s mental and financial stability, her old life back in Sunnyvale, California which included her high status in school, loss of direction for her future, an emotional loss of family, loss of identity, and perhaps her own loss of mental stability. Connected to last week’s theme of death, Nao uses death as a way to cope (or to not cope) with her losses, and then later (around pages 168- 195) begins to use her great-grandmother’s symbolism of comfort and her techniques to emotionally cope instead.

After realizing Jiko’s powers in getting her to open up, Nao begins to accept and cope with her anger issues. ”Try it. Go to the water and wait for the biggest wave and give it a punch. Give it a good kick. Hit it with a stick. Go on. I will watch” p. 193- Jiko to Nao. “I got to my feet and attacked again and again, and each time the water crashed down on top of me, grinding me against the rocks and covering me with foam and sand. I didn’t mind. The sharp cold felt good, and the violence of the waves felt powerful and real, and the bitterness of salt in my nose tasted harshly delicious. Over and over, I ran at the sea, beating it until I was so tired I could barely stand” p. 193. In regards to this particular technique, Jiko is teaching Nao how to release her anger in a safe, healthy way. And it seems to be having a positive affect on Nao.

Towards the end of this weeks’ reading, Nao expresses her love for Jiko; which shows a massive improvement in Nao. “I was still thinking about what she said about waves, and it made me sad because I knew that her little wave was not going to last and soon she would join the sea again, and even though I know you can’t hold on to water, still I gripped her fingers a little more tightly to keep her from leaking away” p. 195. The only other person Nao has ever truly loved is her father. And when her father’s mental stability went out the door, she felt like what’s the point in loving someone if there just going to go away. But with Jiko in her life, a person who represents all the good things the world has to offer, Nao’s heart is softening and she both unconsciously and consciously comes to care deeply for her (Jiko).

The film Mississippi Masala is categorized most popularly as a romantic comedy. Should this really be the case though? Maybe it’s just me, but I didn’t find the film that funny or light-hearted. It’s interesting to see that Wikipedia and many other internet pages describe the film as a romantic drama instead. First let’s look at the difference between these two categories.

Romantic Comedies:

1. Usually has some sort of conflict or funny barrier keeping the lovers apart, normally solved near the end of film, and thus the characters can then be together.

2. Are known to have lighter content, and audience is rarely ever put in the position of worrying about the characters feelings. These films normally have light happy endings, where everything works out.

Romantic Dramas:

1. The obstacle keeping the main characters apart isn’t always solved, or even if it is, characters may never reunite.

2. Contains emotionally heavier storylines, such as affairs or life threatening illnesses, and are overall darker. Sometimes one of the main characters does not get a happy ending.

Ok, so after going over the differences between romantic comedies and romantic dramas, I would say Mississippi Masala does not fit into either category. And let me tell you why….

1. Yes, the film had some funny moments to it, but the storyline seemed a bit heavy to be considered a romantic comedy… Like Mina’s family along with the rest of the Ugandan Indians/South Asians being kicked out of Uganda (despite the film wanting and not wanting sympathy for them), the problems separating Mina and Demetrius were a mix of racism, gender relationships in communities of color, effects of post-slavery/emancipation experience, and post-colonialism (just to name a few); does that sound funny or like a light issue to you?

2. Similar to a romantic comedy, the main characters solved the conflict near the end of the film, and fortunately no one died or had a tragic ending. But on the other hand, the main characters didn’t exactly have a happy ending. Demetrius’s cleaning business and reputation was ruined, therefore he had to start from scratch, and both Mina and Demetrius felt forced to leave their loving family’s behind.  Yay, they got to be together, but was it really a happy ending?

So what do you think? Do you think Mississippi Masala was a romantic comedy, a romantic drama, or neither?

On several occasions Nao refers to trees as Time Beings. Ruth lives in Canada and mentions spruce trees. Playing with the idea that a tree– in this case a spruce– here is a look at how a tree can be a Time Being.

To put the reading into the context of my blog—guitars are made from trees—and not just any trees; many are built from those found in old-growth forests, 350 – 400-years old. These trees have survived storms, fires, droughts, wars, and humans… for hundreds of years. Some of these Time Beings have continued their lives as musical instruments capable of healing people, crossing political and cultural barriers, and creating social change; they have become guitars.

Consider this; that Sitka Spruce top on your favorite acoustic guitar, or the mahogany neck and back on your new electric is from a tree roughly 400 years old. What significant events have those trees lived through during that time? To put this into context, subtract 400 years from 2013 and our Sitka Spruce timeline begins in the year 1613:

1613
- Galileo observes Neptune but fails to recognize what he sees
- Russian Empire elects Mikhail Romanov Tsar of Russia, and establishes the Romanov Dynasty, ending the Time of Troubles
1623- 11 Dutch Ships depart for the conquest of Peru
1633- Astronomer Galileo arrived in Rome for trial before Inquisition for professing belief that Earth revolves around the Sun
- Charter for Maryland is given to Lord Cecil Baltimore
1643- First recorded tornado in US (Essex County, Mass)
- Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut & New Harbor form United Colonies of New England
1653- New Amsterdam becomes a city (later renamed New York City)
- German Parliament selects Ferdinand II king of Austria

1663- Great earthquake in New England
- King Charles II of England grants a charter to Rhode Island
1673- Regular mail delivery begins between NY & Boston
- Dutch battle fleet of 23 ships demands surrender of NYC
1683- First settlers from Germany to US, leave aboard Concord/ 13 Mennonite families found Germantown PA.
- Austro-Ottoman War: Battle of Vienna— the Ottoman Empire defeated
1693- Dom Perignon invents Champagne
- NYC authorizes 1^st police uniforms in American colonies
1703- St Petersburg (Leningrad) founded by Peter the Great
- Great storm hits Southern England, 1000s killed, Royal Navy losses 13 ships & 1500 seamen
- Tokyo Earthquake; about 37,000 die

1713
- French residents of Acadia are given one year to declare allegiance to Britain or leave Nova Scotia, Canada
- King Frederik Willem declares war on Brandenburg-Prussia
1723- After a lasting siege and bombardment by cannons, Baku surrenders to the Russians
1733- Georgia founded by James Oglethorpe, at site of Savannah
- Joseph Priestly invents carbonated water (seltzer)
- France declares war on emperor Charles VI
1743- Comet C/1743 C1 approaches within 0.0390 AUs of Earth
- Coordinated scientific observations of the transit of Mercury were organized by Joseph Nicolas Delisle 
1753- 1^st official St Patrick’s Day
- English parliament grants Jewish English citizenship
- George Washington becomes a master mason
- 1^st steam engine arrives in US colonies

1763- Treaty of Paris ends French-Indian War, surrendering Canada to England
- Charles Mason & Jeremiah Dixon begin surveying Mason-Dixon Line between Pennsylvania & Maryland
1773- Big tea party in Boston harbor (Boston Tea Party) 
- Scottish settlers arrive at Pictou, Nova Scotia (Canada)
1776 - US congress proclaims the Declaration of Independence and independence from Britain
1783
- Hostilities cease in Revolutionary War/Treaty of Paris signed ending the war
- Earthquake in Calabria, Italy kills 50,000
- W.A. Mozart’s Symphony No.36 is premiered in Linz, Austria
1793- 1^st US fugitive slave law passed; requires return of escaped slaves
- Volcano Unsen on Japan erupts killing about 53,000

1803- Ohio becomes 17^th state / US Senate ratifies Louisiana Purchase
- 1^st performance of Beethoven’s 2^nd Symphony in D
1813 – 1^st pineapples planted in Hawaii
- Battle of Thames in Canada; Americans defeat British
- Battle of Dresden-Napoleon defeats Austrians
1823– R.J. Tylers patents roller skates
- “Home Sweet Home” 1^st sung 
1833– Re-establishment of British rule on the Falklands
- Boston Academy of Music, 1^st US music school established
1843– Mt Rainier in Washington State erupts
- “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens published; 6,000 copies sold

1853– Transcontinental railroad survey is authorized by Congress
- Olympia forms as capital of Washington Territory
1863- US Civil War continues 
- Emancipation Proclamation (ending slavery) issued by Lincoln
- 1^st military draft by US (exemptions cost $100)
1873- 1^st US postal card issued
- Indian Wars: Col Custer clashes for the first time with the Sioux. Only one man per side is killed.
- San Francisco Cable Car service begins on Clay Street 
1883- Buffalo Bill Cody’s 1^st Wild West show premieres in Omaha
- Brooklyn Bridge opened by Pres Arthur & gob Cleveland
- US Supreme Court decides Native Americans can’t be Americans
1893- Gandhi’s first act of civil disobedience
- 3^rd worst hurricane in US history kills 1,800 (Mississippi)
- Great stock crash on NY stock exchange
- Tchaikovsky conducted 1^st performance of “Symphony Number Six in B minor

1903- Pres T Roosevelt shuts down post office in Indianola Miss, for refusing to accept its appointed postmistress because she was black
- Two New Yorkers buy Baltimore baseball franchise for $18,000 and moved it to New York
- New bicycle race “Tour de France” announced
1913- British House of Commons accepts Home-Rule for Ireland
- Brooklyn Dodger’s Ebbets Field opens
- The US introduces an income tax
1918 - World War 1 ends/ Armistice Day (11am on the Western Front)
1923– Union of Socialist Soviet Republics established
- 1^st “Reichs Party” the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP) forms in Munich 
1933– Work on Golden Gate Bridge begins
- “Lone Ranger begins a 21-year run on ABC radio
- Adolph Hitler named German Chancellor

1943- Canadian Army troops arrive in North Africa
- Hitler declares “Total War”
- 1^st transport of Jews from Amsterdam to concentration camp Vught
- 1^st US air attack on Germany (Wilhelmshaven) 
1953- 9 “Jewish” physicians arrested for “terrorist activities” in Moscow
- Flooding in Netherlands, kills 1,835
- Joseph Stalin suffers a stroke and collapses. He dies four days later
- North Korea & UN sign armistice
1963- CIA Domestic Operations Division created (pretty scary!)
- USSR launches Luna 4; missed Moon by 8,500 km
- Beatles meet Rolling Stones for 1^st time
1973

- President Nixon signs Endangered Species Act into law
- OPEC oil embargo begins
1983- Wayne Gretzky sets NHL all star record of 4 goals in 1 period
- Final episode of M*A*S*H airs; record 125 million watch

1993- Sears announces it is closing its catalog sales dept after 97-years
- Gun battle erupts at Waco Texas between FBI & Branch Dravidians
2003- Space Shuttle Columbia takes off for mission STS-107 which would be its final one. Columbia disintegrated 16 days later on Re-entry
- The US Department of Homeland Security officially begins operations
2013- Canadian power-trio Rush finally inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

2014 Ruth Ozeki “A Talke For the Time Being” is reviewed by Passion Bass-ics

“And it occurred to me that a tree is a Time Being…” ~Nao (p24)

“On all sides, massive Douglas firs, red cedars, and big leaf maples surround them, dwarfing everything human. When Ruth first saw these giant trees, she wept. They rose up around her, ancient time beings, towering a hundred or two hundred feet overhead. At five feet, five inches, she had never felt so puny in all her life.” (p59)

“The home is where heart is.”

I was really impressed by Jay’s words at the end of the movie. This movie made me consider where their homes were. Everyone in this movie was very complicated. I should say people not only in this movie but also in America. However, thinking about these words, I found that hearts were important to know where their homes are, and it doesn’t matter if they knew the place. This is because the heart makes the home. In the last part of movie, even Mina’s family separated from each other, they still had their home with their connected hearts. Before I watched this movie, I only tried to find which place they identified as being from. However, now I assume they are thinking about their hearts as the best way to find their identities. In my analysis of this movie, Jay’s heart was in Uganda because he was born there and he had his best friend there. Kinnu’s heart depended on where Jay went to, because she loved him. And, Mina’s heart was in nowhere. She would find or create the place where her heart was. The identities was in their hearts. In other words, the identities move anywhere their hearts are. Now, my heart is in Japan, because I’m Japanese and proud of my identity as Japanese. However, I don’t know the future. Nobody knows where my heart is going. And more, I assume my heart isn’t the only one. I’m finding another heart in believing that the heart will exist somewhere. Thinking like this, I believe my life will be more amazing. When Mina decided to do travel with Demetrius, I found the movie wanted to say that the life is like a journey to find the heart.