I decided that I was going to take this weekend easy. Last night, I didn't do a thing. I tried to stay awake to read a school book but that was it. I've been feeling sick (stuffy nose and sore throat) so I put any plans on the backburner this weekend and put my rest and recovery above all else.
However, after one night of recovery, I woke up feeling great this morning. After breakfast, my housemates and I headed to the Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center. They have a special exhibit there right now called, "Taken: FBI." It's all about the rounding up and detaining of innocent citizens during WWII due to racism and fear, focusing on the Japanese Internment Camps. However, they did an excellent job of tying the past to the present with relating what was happening then to our post 9/11 fear of terrorism which all too easily translates into racial profiling and racist attacks against Arab Americans. They even brought up the recent FBI framing of a youth in Portland who was plotting to blow up the Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony after coaching and encouragement from the FBI. Not surprisingly, we're making the same mistakes.
My next history lesson of the day came in a four hour, forty eight minute epic. Dave, my co-worker at the internship, has been talking about Red Cliff for a while now. Since I knew I was taking it easy this weekend, I rented it, figuring it would be good to fall asleep to. However, this saga about Chinese history was captivating and stunning for the full time. It seemed like I had been watching TV for a while by the time it ended but at no time during the movie did I think, 'I wish this would just end.' John Woo created a masterpiece. I was warned off of the theatrical version because it had been too edited down. I don't regret it at all either. What a great movie!
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