Perspectives...Change...

Change was on my mind for a huge part of yesterday.

Met up with J to catch The Hidden Blade at GV Grand, Great World. I kicked up a big fuss on her taking a cab down as she was late. I thought catching a $9.50 movie was extravagant enough, to add another few dollars to it certainly din make sense. Moreover, the movie will be on screen for another week at least. But..i guess I spoilt the atmosphere. Me and my anal-retentive ways were on screened too.
The movie by Yoji Yamada was a tad too bland for me. The love story between Masatoshi Nagase and Takako Matsu was sidelined in the midst and then highlighted at the end, din like that; poor development. Masatoshi was competent as the lead, though J wouldn't have much impression of him now as he was not eye-candy material for sure. I wouldn't say the same for Takako. She provided the much needed eye-candy, but I thought she lacked a certain coyness of her character, a kind of subtlety i hoped to see. She "looked sweet in a kimono, and sounded sweet with her edo-style japanese"(Kev). That, she was very competent. The film reflected a kind of nostalgia for old Japan, perhaps. The bushido(samurai spirit), the hierarchy, class divisions---are they still relevant in Japanese Society in the contemporary world? Japanese history is indeed interesting, especially the transition period from Edo to Meiji---how 250 years of feudalism give way to modernization. Change is inevitable for survival indeed.

After dinner, we walked up the red-carpeted stairs of the Victoria Concert Hall and indulged in an evening of music courtesy of the Tadashi Yoshida Memorial Orchestra. They played a huge repertoire of classical and pop pieces. Within the short span of 1.5hrs, we were treated to music from the 40s & 50s, classical: Tokyo Symphony No.4, transported to America: Moon River, Paris: Autumn Leaves, Korea: Winter Sonata and back to Japan: theme from Howl's Moving Castle. I would say the orchestra was deserving of the roaring applause from the almost fully-seated audience. The conductor, Yoshinao Osawa, was casual and spoke in jest whenever he had a chance to introduce the pieces. It was entertaining.

On our way home, I told J that although I was looking forward to these 2 events even before the exams, it did not derive as much happiness as I had thought it would have. I guess it was tainted by my less than happy mood. While sending J home, I figured that change is looming. Changing myself, my perspectives of things. Stop being so picky, certain things are pretty trivial, and even if they are serious, do I have to be so affected? I must change and be more receptive? accomodating? If you can't change something/someone you wanna change, y not change yourself?