This week has brought the holiday, making work more annoying. Even though I didn't have any expectations for the holiday itself, I have gradually become tired of my current job, and I need to find something else to do after the holiday.
Autumn has arrived, but I don't know which rain brought it.
Seeking the Tao#
I have been feeling quite unlucky in the past half month. Although I really wanted to go to Wudang Mountain to seek the Tao, considering that the whole of China is crowded during the National Day holiday, I decided to consult the Cyber Taoist instead.
I consulted the "Kun" hexagram, a notorious hexagram, but it does fit my current situation. I am poor and in a difficult situation, facing numerous obstacles that seem to be blocking my way.
Kun. Success. Perseverance furthers. To be a great person brings good fortune. No blame. Those of little faith are afraid to trust.
The image of the hexagram is the earth without water. The superior person devotes their life to fulfill their ambitions.
After that, I became lazy and didn't want to do anything. I'm not a graphic designer who is asked to draw every day, so I picked a few particularly difficult ones and said that I couldn't draw them. The boss was understanding and suggested that I find an artist to do it.
Then I told the boss the price I got from the consultation, and it seemed to have a little shock to the market economy. He hasn't talked to me since then.
I guess he found someone cheaper. Anyway, I don't want to take on this troublesome task, and I have a feeling that after this wave of work, they will lay me off. I'm even less motivated now.
The next hexagram after "Kun" is "Jing" (The Well). The "Sequence of Hexagrams" says, "When one ascends and does not stop, they will encounter difficulties, so they receive the hexagram of 'Kun'. When one is trapped above, they will inevitably fall below, so they receive the hexagram of 'Jing'."
Everything will be fine in the end.
Superstition#
As someone who has been educated in materialism since childhood, I am not very superstitious. However, in high school, I had a discussion with my desk mate about the meaninglessness of life, which was full of a sense of determinism. To relieve this sense of powerlessness, I started dabbling in strange and mysterious things.
I remember one morning before self-study, I consulted the hexagrams for myself. It was a funny way of consulting, shaking six coins together. Heads represented a yang line, and tails represented a yin line. I remember it very clearly. I consulted the hexagram "Li over Xun," and my understanding at the time was to add wind to the fire, which would make the fire even bigger.
That day, without any prior notice, a fire drill was conducted. At that moment, I felt that everything in the world has cause and effect, and no one can escape the will of heaven.
Looking back now, it was really silly. Looking back at the Book of Changes (Yi Jing), it actually expresses the stages of development of 64 different things, or the laws of development. One should contemplate the corresponding hexagrams at different times to achieve the so-called "seeking good fortune and avoiding disaster." The Book of Changes is a very positive thing, perhaps because I interpret it positively now. The Book of Changes has four difficult hexagrams, all related to the hexagram "Kan." The old saying goes that crossing this hurdle may refer to the hexagram "Kan."
The four difficult hexagrams refer to: Water and Thunder (Zhen), which represents the difficulties at the beginning of all things; Kan, which represents numerous crises; Water and Mountain (Jian), which represents the exhaustion of resources; and Marsh and Water (Kun), which represents being at a loss.
In the four difficult hexagrams, there are auspicious signs in the hexagram explanations. This is what I mean by the positivity of the Book of Changes. There are many different explanations for failure in the market, such as when you fail, everyone will come and kick you. However, the Book of Changes believes that things are constantly developing, and difficulties are only temporary.
Internet Misconceptions#
Q: What's so interesting about this?
A: It's spectacular.
Q: Then I can put 1000 lollipops on the ground, it's also spectacular, right?
A: That's a panda!
Q: Then I can set up a thousand screens on the ground, each screen showing a live broadcast of a panda. It would be both spectacular and artistic, wouldn't it?
........
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (5-part trilogy)#
I always feel like I've read it before. I've read the beginning of the story at least five times, but I never finished reading this book, let alone knowing that there are five books! I really think Douglas Adams is a genius. I thought he was either a genius or a madman when I read his "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" before.
I want to read the paper version. Maybe I'll go to the library during the holiday and get a copy.
Extraordinary You#
I don't usually watch Korean dramas, but recently I've been seeing this drama everywhere and it seems to have good reviews, so I decided to give it a try. It's about a group of people with extraordinary abilities who pretend to be ordinary and go to school.
I originally thought it would be a dark superhero theme like DC, and I imagined several possible settings in my mind, such as Watchmen. But it's a pity that such a good setting is used for ideological propaganda. The quality of the plot has declined since the involvement of North Korea. However, it is said that the portrayal of love and family by Koreans is far superior to that of the surrounding countries.
I especially like the love story between the male lead's mother and father, which is the main storyline. The male lead's mother is cool and stylish, and his father is handsome and gentle. They both have good fashion sense, no wonder so many people love watching Korean dramas, who can resist it.
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BBQ's subjective rating: 8/10, it's okay
The plot is actually decent, but the portrayal of love and family by Koreans is really good, the special effects are also decent, and the characters' motivations seem reasonable. The problem is that it's not as good to watch after it turns into ideological propaganda and conflicts with North Korea.
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Under One Person#
As a live-action adaptation of a Chinese comic, it's really good. It has special effects and a good plot. Except for the dubbing in a few places that may not be as expressive as the anime, it's really good. I've watched 21 episodes, and I don't have much motivation to continue watching the rest because I haven't watched the later episodes of the anime.
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BBQ's subjective rating: 8.2/10, it's really good, and this rating doesn't include any bonus points for being a domestic production.
Except for the slightly unattractive appearance of the male lead (but his performance is still good, so it can't be considered a deduction, after all, the original male lead is not described as handsome), Bao'er is quite faithful to the original, although there are some traces of acting in her temperament, it's not as naturally naive as in the anime, which is difficult to portray, so it can't be considered a deduction either.
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Julie & Julia#
A very comfortable movie, I really like the pace and plot of this movie. After watching it, I want to get the book "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" and read it, hahaha.
The plot is about Julie's dissatisfaction with her job and her decision to replicate all 524 recipes in famous chef Julia's cookbook within a year. The movie alternates between the stories of Julie and Julia. The story is actually quite ordinary, but fortunately, the tone and shots are quite healing.
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BBQ's subjective rating: 8.2/10
A healing cake
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Cyberpunk 2077#
I really like the Cyberpunk Edgerunners anime. So when the DLC "The Day of the Street Kid" was released, I downloaded Cyberpunk again. It is said that version 2.0 has fixed many issues.
In practice, there are still quite a few bugs, but the smoothness has indeed improved a lot compared to before.
Although I haven't finished playing yet, I have had many thoughts while replaying these days, and there are already many spoilers about the plot on TikTok.
At the beginning, the middleman asked me, "Do I want to be an unknown person for the rest of my life, or do I want to become famous in the world?"
At that time, V chose to become famous, and in the end, went to blow up Arasaka Tower, only to live for another six months. They searched for a way to live longer with Panam Palmer (of course, it's probably impossible), and the afterlife would probably have a cocktail called V.
The DLC provides a new ending, where V survives but becomes an unknown person on the streets, Panam disappears (most likely gone), Judy gets married, Misty leaves Night City, and Old V succumbs to Zetatech. It seems like they got what they always wanted, but it also seems like they lost everything.