My bookshelf

This is a truly unique form of expression, using jokes as a medium to paint a vivid, realistic scroll of local customs and human conditions. Cold jokes, puns, sketch comedy, and satire are used to equally mock everything. People with physical disabilities, the ignorant and arrogant, adulterers, pedantic scholars, common folk, government officials, wealthy merchants, all matters related to sex, and even Confucianism and Taoist immortals, are all made into jokes, gently pinched and quietly mocked. The atmosphere of the Qing Dynasty's street society permeates through these short jokes, encompassing the wretched human nature, ignorance, poverty, and the cunning that combines them in a person, as straightforward and essential as eating, in the clumsy directness seen in the eyes of both men and women. Reading it brings a wonderful feeling, a mixture of all flavors, breaking myths, and broadening horizons.

Exquisite acting, wildly eccentric, filled with a unique aesthetic style. The film offers a glimpse into the affluence of America in the 1970s, as well as the realities of crime and social psychology in an era before advanced forensic technology. The antisocial young man, despite committing detestable and outrageous crimes, is portrayed with a unique charm and innocence. As a case study dissected and analyzed, it teaches us a lesson on what freedom and social responsibility mean. Upon revisiting, I find that the film leaves behind many classic scenes, especially the ending duel between Alex and the minister. I don't care at all about the dialogue between the two; it's Alex's brilliant performance that captures all my attention. The unreserved exhibition of sexual violence is indeed quite avant-garde and bold.

via tw @morris Elon Musk said, if I could only take one book to Mars, it would be Hayek's 'The Road to Serfdom'. Hayek once said, we must admit that a world where the rich are powerful is much better than a world where one must be powerful to be rich. Beneath interests, one sees character; beneath right and wrong, one sees the law; beneath power and lust, one sees morality; in times of peril, one sees relationships. There are two things in the world one should not look directly at: the sun and the human heart; the former damages the eyes, the latter breaks the heart.

via tw @morris German movie 'The Wave', tells the story of a high school teacher who demonstrates to his students how a dictatorship can be formed through a social experiment, involving uniform clothing and symbols, collective titles and greetings, emphasis on discipline and order, exclusion of others, secrecy and exclusivity, common activities and goals, and the use of media and propaganda. The experiment eventually spirals out of control, leading to severe consequences and revealing the dangers and destructive power of a dictatorial regime.

via Twitter @小径残雪 A highly recommended book: China's Civil War.

The narrative level is so strong, coupled with the very good performances of the children, filled with a sense of youth. It is a youth marked by poverty that is unique to the Middle Eastern Islamic culture, different from the West and the East. The film transcends religion and the secular, becoming a modern work that can be universally accepted by different cultures and backgrounds. Unlike the usual perceptions of Iran, the Middle East, and Islam, this film stands on an advanced cultural and cognitive level. The people on the screen are no different from ordinary people, with moral and intellectual frameworks based on a modern secular society with Middle Eastern characteristics. The details are rich and the techniques are clever, presenting without criticizing, a rarity.

His youth is about running, taking care of the family, protecting his sister, striving to become stronger, excelling in everything. Her youth is about running, taking care of the family, being considerate of her brother, and being a sensitive girl who is competitive and sensible.

via tw @morgan The trick to surviving is: stay foolish, yet not know how foolish you are.

via tw @停云 A line from Amichai struck me for a long time: Those who leave completely//are brought back home in the evening, like found change. We were all once fresh, plump berries, serving day by day in this world, being peeled, juiced, discarded, becoming increasingly humble, useless. It's depressing to read, but that's the fact.

via Lex Fridman Podcast #438 Elon Musk: Neuralink and the Future of Humanity

American 'positive energy'—believe in light, love, kindness, effort, and perseverance, and ultimately, there will be a harvest. Fortunately, it's somewhat restrained, but still a bit tiring to watch.

A very wealthy female lawyer with an extremely fragile heart and strong empathy as a crucial plot pillar seems too ethereal and unconvincing? Working as an hourly wage server at Starbucks and Pizza Hut, living alone in a big house?

The performances in this film are quite good, whether it's Sam or little Lucy. However, using Lucy's unparalleled beauty seems inappropriate; she's too cute and too clever. On one hand, no one would want to send away a child who looks like this, making the story pointless. On the other hand, it also creates psychological pressure on the audience, questioning their own sources of empathy.

In summary, with the particularly hard-working acting, the story feels too cinematic, keeping the consciousness awake, realizing that this is a carefully crafted warm story displayed on the screen, and one cannot immerse themselves into it. Additionally, I'm not sure if it's due to the source of the film or the color grading itself, but the style is very outdated, making the colors somewhat uncomfortable to watch.