This week marks the arrival of the holiday, making work more frustrating. Even though I didn't have any expectations for the holiday itself, I have gradually grown tired of my current job and will 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
In the past half month, I have been feeling that things haven't been going well. Although I really wanted to go to Wudang Mountain to seek the Tao, considering that the entire country is crowded during the National Day holiday, I decided to consult the Cyber Sage instead.
I consulted the "Kun" hexagram, a notorious hexagram that actually fits my current situation quite well. I am in a state of poverty and difficulties, with numerous obstacles in front of me, as if I am constantly being restrained.
The hexagram "Kun" represents obstruction. It is auspicious, and the superior person has no blame. If there are words without trust, it is said: "No water in the marsh, obstruction. The superior person sacrifices their life to fulfill their aspirations."
Afterwards, I became lazy and didn't want to do anything. I'm not a graphic designer who is asked to draw pictures every day, so I picked a few particularly difficult ones and said that I couldn't draw them. My boss was understanding and said that if I couldn't draw them, I should find an artist outside.
Then I told my boss the price I received from the consultation, and it seemed to have a small impact on the market economy. Until now, my boss hasn't spoken to me.
I guess they found someone cheaper. Well, I don't want to take on this troublesome task anyway, and I have a feeling that they will lay me off after squeezing me dry this time, so I don't have any motivation.
The next hexagram after "Kun" is "Jing" (The Well). The "Sequence of Hexagrams" states: "When ascending without ceasing, one will encounter obstruction. Therefore, it is received as 'Kun'. When obstructed from above, one will reverse below. Therefore, it is received as 'Jing'."
Everything will be fine in the end.
Superstition
As someone who received a materialistic education since childhood, I am not very superstitious. However, when I was in high school, my desk mate and I discussed the meaninglessness of life, filled with a sense of determinism. In order to alleviate this sense of powerlessness, I dabbled in some supernatural things.
I remember one morning before self-study, I consulted the hexagrams for myself. The method was quite funny. I used six coins and tossed them together. Heads represented a yang line, while tails represented a yin line. I remember it very clearly. I consulted the "Li" hexagram with the "Xun" trigram below. My understanding at the time was to add wind to the fire, which would make the fire grow stronger.
That day, a fire drill was conducted without any prior notice. At that moment, I realized that everything in the world has cause and effect, and cannot escape the will of heaven.
Looking back now, it was quite foolish. 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 in order 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 "Kan" hexagram. It is said in old sayings that crossing this hurdle may refer to the "Kan" hexagram.
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 these four difficult hexagrams, the hexagram texts all contain auspicious signs, which is what I mean by the positivity of the Book of Changes. There are many different interpretations of failure in the market, such as when you fail, everyone will come and kick you, and so on. But the Book of Changes believes that things are in a state of development, and difficulties are only temporary.
Internet Myths
Q: What's so interesting about this thing?
A: It's spectacular.
Q: Then I can put 1000 lollipops on the ground, that's also spectacular.
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. Wouldn't that be both spectacular and artistic?
........
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (5-book series)
I always feel like I've read it before. I've read the beginning story at least 5 times, but I still haven't finished reading this book, let alone knowing that there are 5 books in the series! I really think Douglas Adams is a genius. I thought he was either a genius or a madman when I read his "The Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" before.
I want to read the physical version. Maybe I'll go to the library during the holiday and get a copy.
Extraordinary You
I usually don't 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. The general idea is that there is a group of people with special abilities who pretend to be ordinary people 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 declined since North Korea got involved. However, it is said that the portrayal of love and family by Koreans is far superior to that of the surrounding countries.
I particularly like the love story between the male lead's mother and father, which is the main storyline. The mother is cool and stylish, and the father is handsome and gentle. They both have good fashion sense, no wonder so many people love watching Korean dramas, who can resist that?
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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 later part is not as good when it gets involved with ideology and North Korea.
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Under One Person
As a live-action adaptation of a Chinese comic, it's actually quite good. It has special effects and a good plot. The only thing that may not be as good as the anime is the voice acting in some places, but overall, it's really good. I've watched 21 episodes, and I don't have much motivation to continue watching the rest since I haven't watched the later part of the anime.
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BBQ's subjective rating: 8.2/10 Very good, this rating doesn't include any bonus points for being a Chinese production.
Except for the slightly unattractive male lead (but his performance is still decent, so it can't be considered a deduction, after all, the original male lead wasn't described as handsome), Bao'er is quite faithful to the original, although there are some traces of acting in her temperament, not as naturally naive as in the anime, but that's hard 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 interweaves between the stories of Julie and Julia, and the story is actually quite ordinary, but fortunately, the tone and cinematography 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 Edge of the Past" 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 compared to before.
Although I haven't finished playing yet, I have had many thoughts while replaying these past few days, and there are already many people on TikTok who have spoiled the plot.
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 in the world, and in the end, went to blow up Arasaka Tower, only to live for another six months. Together with Panam and Judy, they searched for a way to live longer (which of course doesn't exist). It seems that they got what they always wanted, but it also seems that they lost everything.