Challah

Per la vigilia di Natale

il dolce Ceco tipico è una treccia, fatta con un impasto lievitato dolce, con mandorle tritate, e uvetta.
La treccia che ho preparato aveva una base di 4 rotoli, una fila intermedia di 3 rotoli, e un top di 2 rotoli intrecciati.

Elisabetta

ho trovato la foto degli okonomiyaki su wikipedia:
Ciao Elisabetta e grazie per i tuoi post originali!
Oggi è una giornata speciale, e, visto che ho appena fatto un ordine di cibi giappo-nipponici (tè, sembei, pasta disidratata, e spezie), ho la voglia di piatti particolari.
Dal post di Anna, una corrispondenza dal Kazakistan sulla cucina di Tashkent, mi ha fatto capire quanto il kimchi sia comune nel sud -est (Singapore) e centro dell'Asia, con tutta una gamma di verdure e gradualità agrodolci.

From Anna's blog:
Bi bim bop is one of those "some assembly required" Asian dishes that allows you to personalize the dish to your own tastes. In addition to the large, sizzling stone bowl containing the egg, rice, meat, sprouts, and spinach, there was a number of smaller dishes of "salads" (as the wait staff called them) to modify the dish. Central to this was the homemade kimchi. It was very nice, but not overwhelmingly spicy.

2046, Milkway railroad, e le canzoni intelligenti

Ebbene sì, mi sono riguardato 2046, seguito di In the mood for love, di Won Kar Wai (trilogy starting with Days of being wild, followed by In the mood for love, with 2046 coming last)

Era uno scrittore. Pensava di aver raccontato il futuro, in realtà era il passato. Nel suo romanzo un treno partiva una volta ogni tanto per una destinazione misteriosa: 2046. Chiunque viaggiasse verso la stanza 2046 voleva riconquistare i ricordi perduti. Era un paese, una data o un luogo della memoria? Si diceva che laggiù tutto rimanesse immutato. Una supposizione, perché nessuno era mai tornato indietro, ad eccezione di una persona sola. Lui c'era stato, aveva scelto di andarsene,  Voleva cambiare.

Nel film 2046 viene ripreso il tema del viaggio in treno, nel 2046, che avviene lungo una sospensione temporale, nella realizzazione di una felicità che ci attendiamo, ma che ci viene negata, fino alla fine

Un tempo, quando uno aveva un segreto da nascondere, andava in un bosco. Faceva un buco in un tronco e sussurrava lì il suo segreto. Poi richiudeva il buco con del fango, così il segreto sarebbe rimasto sigillato per l'eternità.

Arc part I

In the future, a rail network connects Earth. Lonely souls try to reach a mysterious room called 2046; nothing ever changes there so there is never loss or sadness. No one has ever returned from 2046 except Japanese man Tak.

"All Memories Are Traces of Tears"

Returning to Hong Kong after years in Singapore, Chow becomes a suave ladies' man to cover up his pain from losing Su. On Christmas Eve, Chow meets Lulu and takes her home but accidentally keeps her room key. As he leaves, he notices that her room number is 2046. Upon returning the key, the landlord informs him that the room is not available due to renovations and offers the adjacent 2047. Chow later learns that Lulu was stabbed in 2046 the night before by a jealous boyfriend.

After finishing renovation of 2046, the landlord asks Chow if he wants to move in. He has now gotten used to 2047 and stays there.

Wang Jing-wen and Wang Jie-wen arc part I

The landlord's daughter Jing-wen moves into 2046; she is involved with a Japanese man that her father opposes. Eventually, Jing-wen breaks up with him, suffers a breakdown, and is institutionalized. The next tenant is Jing-wen's younger sister Jie-wen who seduces Chow to no avail.

A short time later, Chow runs into financial difficulties so he starts writing a series called 2046 about heartsick individuals trying to find the mysterious 2046. Nearly all of the characters in 2046 are based on people Chow has met, such as Su, Lulu, and Jing-wen.

Bai Ling arc part I

The 3rd to move into 2046 is Bai Ling, implied to be a nightclub girl and high-class prostitute seeking a long-term relationship. On the next Christmas Eve, Bai runs into Chow just after she is dumped by her boyfriend before they are to go to Singapore. He intrigues her with his experiences in Singapore and they become friends, but their initially platonic relationship soon becomes sexual. Chow wants to keep it strictly physical, continuing to pick up other prostitutes. To compromise, Bai makes him pay $10 each time he stays over. However, Bai realizes that she has feelings for Chow and asks him to stop seeing other women. Chow refuses so Bai breaks off with him, starts seeing men solely for money, and moves out of 2046.

Jing-wen part II

After Bai moves out, Jing-wen moves back in from the mental hospital but is still depressed over the loss of her ex. Her ex wants to reconcile with her but she refuses due to her father. Jing-wen helps Chow with his writing; he remarks that this is his happiest period post-Su. He develops feelings for her and makes some weak attempts but nothing develops since she still loves her ex.

One day Jing-wen asks Chow if some things in life never change. He answers by writing a story called 2047 in which a Japanese man falls in love on the trip home from 2046. While he initially tried to base the story on Jing-wen's ex, he realises that the story is ultimately about himself.

2046 arc part II

Tak (portrayed by Jing-wen's ex) tries to leave 2046 because he lost his love there. On the trip, he falls for one of the train's gynoid assistants (portrayed by Jing-wen), but it never responds to him. Tak realises that it is in love with someone else and finds the strength to leave the train and 2046. Completing the story marks a turning point in Chow's recovery.

Jing-wen part III

Next Christmas, Chow finds out Jing-wen still misses her ex so he lets her call him in his office. While he has feelings for her and could have taken advantage of the situation, he is happy that he did the "right thing." Soon after, Jing-wen moves to Japan and gets engaged.

While still depressed over the loss of Jing-wen, Chow runs into Lulu again as she confronts another woman for sleeping with her current boyfriend. Chow thinks Lulu is likely to forever remain in the past, though she seems content with her misery, and he resolves to get over Su.

Bai arc part II

Some time later, Bai calls Chow and they go out to dinner. She informs Chow that she plans to leave for Singapore and asks him for a reference and plane fare. Bai also asks where he was last Christmas, as she stopped by then, hoping to see him. Chow had gone back to Singapore to find another woman named Su Li-zhen.

Su Arc

Chow met the second Su when he first arrived in Singapore and was grieving over the first Su. The second Su agreed to help him win back his money so he could return to Hong Kong. They became lovers but unless he beat her in a "high-card" draw, she would never reveal her identity. After she won back his money, he asked her to go with him. She challenged him to a draw, which he again lost. Chow speculated that she also had a troubled past.

Initially heartbroken, Chow realizes after completing 2047 that the second Su did not go with him because he would have tried to recapture the past by looking for elements of the first Su in her. When Chow returned to Singapore to visit her the second time, he did not find her. He inquired about her whereabouts and theorized that she either returned to Cambodia or was killed.

Bai arc part III

The night before Bai leaves for Singapore, Chow dines with her again. She insists on paying for dinner after getting paid by a client and hands him a stack of money, each $10 bill representing a night they spent together. After dinner, Chow walks her back to her apartment. Grasping his hands at the door, she begs him to spend the night once more. He reminds her of a question she asked him, whether there was anything he wouldn't lend, and now he realizes that there is one thing he won't lend to anyone. Chow leaves in a taxi, staring emptily into space. He never saw her again.

ho il DVD, ogni tanto seleziono le scene e scorro da un punto all'altro,

imposto i sottotitoli in inglese, i dialoghi sono in cinese e giapponese

i dialoghi in una lingua differente hanno un effetto straniante, come se lo guardassi per la prima volta, attirano l'attenzione

Ebbene, sul numero del 25.10.2008 di D della Repubblica, ho trovato un articolo che può spiegare perchè 2046 ad alcuni PIACE.

Quel saltare tra diversi periodi, slittando tra il 2046 ed il 1969, diversi capodanni, diverse situazioni, e il rientro dal 2046 che si svolge in una sospesione temporale,

riprende il discorso della realizzazione di ciò che ci attendiamo ma che ci viene negata fino alla fine del film.

(P.S. lo spunto del treno e dello straniamento spazio-temporale è anche alla base di Ginga-Tetsudo No Yoru - Night train to the stars (Milkway railroad), di Miyazawa Kenji

Da D la Repubblica delle donne: Le note intelligenti (un buon CD è meglio del prozac. Rende felici e nutre il cervello. come un cioccolato. di Giuliano Aluffi)

"...Per molti di noi il potere della musica, e dell'arte in generale, di commuoverci è un fatto scontato, ma le ragioni per cui questo succede sono misteriose.

Eppure studiare le nostre reazioni davanti ad un concerto, una mostra, uno spettacolo, aiuta a capire di cosa è fatta la natura umana. ....

"tutto quello che si percepisce è visto, udito sullo sfondo di quanto stiamo già pensando"....

Il trucco dei Beatles: Ma come decodifichiamo una canzone? "la prima cosa è il rapporto tra le note (V. Tagliasco, L'esperienza, Codice Ed.). Nel caso della musica, il rapporto che è forma, e anche il contenuto prevalente della percezione.

Ascoltando un brano iniziamo un dialogo di attese e previsioni riguardo alla successione delle note - come quando indoviniamo il ritornello - che interessa la zona del lobo frontale collegato alle emozioni (Lehrer J, Proust era un neuroscienziato, Codice Ed). I compositori iniziano un pezzo introducendo uno schema (un accordo tonico o una melodia) e poi cercano di evitarlo fino alla fine. Più ci viene negato ciò che ci attendiamo, più piacere avremo quando ci sarà concesso".

 Insomma la percezione di una melodia, così come di un quadro, si fonda sull'astrazione, che permette al cervello di non essere schiavo dei particolari.

... la memoria musicale è incredibilmente forte. Anche tra i malati di Alzheimer, è l'ultima cosa ad andarsene."