Song of the Bandits

Song of the Bandits | Official Trailer | Netflix
Netflix K-Content

It looks like a Western, but it's set in Korea, so does that make it an Eastern? The show has a bit of comic-book flavor, but that's okay, we don't really want to look too closely at what's going on here. In reality it's pretty awful, so we'll pull back a bit and let our focus be a bit fuzzy. We're in early 20th century Korea and we've got people wearing Western clothes, riding horses and carrying great big six guns. The landscape looks like the American west - wide open plains with mountains off in the distance. I suppose there could be places like that in Korea, but I haven't found any. Kind of reminds me of Clint Eastwood's old Spaghetti Westerns.

Japan invaded Korea in 1910 and occupied it until the end of WW2. The Joseon Empire that ruled the country collapsed at the end of the 19th century. Now we have Japanese soldiers roaming around the country shooting anyone they choose, and we have gangs of bandits roaming around the country shooting anyone they choose, and we have the resistance army roaming around the country shooting anyone they choose, and then we've got the peasants, who mostly just get shot. Very violent.

The story has more bad situations than any show I have seen since I don't know when. The story revolves around a half dozen Koreans. Two guys, a master and his slave, joined the Japanese army. The story starts with the slave heading north to make amends for previous misdeeds. He feels his just punishment would be his death, and he is fine with that. The man who he has wronged (by killing his family) no longer wants revenge, he is simply trying to preserve the lives of local villagers. The master is fully in thrall with the Japanese, even though he is still second class, his being Korean and all. He is disappointed in his slave, who had become his friend, but now that he has gone north, he is just one more rebel to be destroyed.

Then there is the black market arms dealer. A mature woman, dressing in the latest Western fashions, operating out of a brick, four story hotel in what looks like Topeka, Kansas in 1880. She keeps her inventory well stocked by sending her minions out to scavenge arms from the dead whenever there is a battle.

Another woman is a hitman, killing people for a price. She gets to display her talents in, I think, episode 2 where she goes all John Wick on an entire company of soldiers in a hotel.

Lastly we have a femme fatale, a real Mati Hari, who is in love with the slave, but pretends to be in love with the master to the point of marrying him, in order to get military information that can help the rebels. She has also wormed her way into the railway company's administration, so she is privy to all kinds of top secret info.

Korea Railroad Map
From a screenshot taken just after the eleven minute mark of episode one

The Japanese want to extend their rail line farther north. They want to use it to transport troops north to fight the rebels. To this end they ship 200,000 won (worth about $10 million in today's money) north via an armored car. Rumor gets out about this shipment and the colonel in charge wants to cancel the operation, but his subordinate (the master) wants to let it go ahead because it is sure to attract the bandits and when they attack he will be there to crush them.

Our girl assassin gets wind of this shipment and manages to locate the manager of the bank that will be shipping the money. She pays him a visit and tells him that the bandits are going to rob the armored car and since they will undoubtedly be successful, they should fill the strongbox with dirt and keep the money. The bandits will get blamed and the manager and the assassin will get off scott free. Clever, if all goes according to plan, but something tells me that's not going to happen.

Until I saw this show I had no idea what happened in Korea prior to the Korean war. My history education kind of missed that. As far as I knew, prior to the Korean War, Korea didn't exist. That they have managed to come so far since then is flat-out amazing.

One of the things that bugs me about Korean shows are the times someone laughs at something that is not funny. I don't know whether this is a common screen writer's trick to ensure that the audience knows that this character is an idiot, or whether it reflects actual behaviors. Pretty weird in any case.

Unbelievable

Unbelievable | Official Trailer | Netflix
Netflix

This show is a dramatization of a serial rape case. We start with a rape of a teenager in Washington State. The police can find no evidence of this rape, all they have is the teenager's word. They badger her until she recants. Now we move to Colorado where the police are investigating other rapes with similar circumstances. Eventually the cops in Colorado connect the two crimes, but not until the very end of the series.

Rape, in this show, seems to be more about the psychological trauma inflicted on these women rather than the sex or anything physical. It's the terror of being in someone else's power, someone who might choose to kill or seriously injure them at any time and not being able to do anything about it. The guy is basically a terrorist, your own personal terrorist. Women who are mentally stronger might not be affected as much, but someone who doesn't have a lot of self confidence, someone who has already been dealt a shitty hand by life, you can see how such a mental pummeling could collapse them into a whimpering puddle. For instance, one woman does manage to escape her attacker by jumping off of her balcony at the cost of breaking her leg. She might be mentally tougher than some of the others.

Much of the show involves the machinations of the police and the legal system. The police are not going to do anything until you file a charge, and then once you have filed a charge you are setting the wheels of justice in motion. The wheels of justice are big, heavy, cumbersome, and they have no consideration for the people who are involved. It's all about rules and regulations and procedures, and most of them are obnoxious if not downright odious.

This is because criminal charges are serious business, the government is going to be expending resources on your behalf. There is also the problem of obtaining a conviction - the prosecutor must prove his case beyond a reasonable doubt, and any flaws in the investigation will provide the defense with an opportunity to torpedo your attack. Therefore all your T's must be crossed and your I's dotted. Being a cop has got to be one of the most tedious, mind numbing jobs on the planet. I don't know how they do it. Faith in our criminal justice system, I suppose. Sure, our criminal justice has its faults, but making it better is going to mean spending more money, and we can't spend any more money on our local problems when we are busy fomenting war in half a dozen other countries. All hail Pax Americana.

Enough about the police. Here's a couple of mechanical tidbits for your amusement.

Amazon Basics Steel Home Security Electronic Safe

One of the Colorado detectives (played by Merritt Wever) has a gun safe right inside the door of her home. She comes home from work and the first thing she does is drop her gun and badge in the safe. It's a largish safe, too, not one of those that are only big enough for a single handgun. Seems like an eminently practical solution. This one from Amazon looks nearly identical.

1974 Ford Ranchero

Another one of the Colorado detectives (played by Toni Collette) drives an old Ford Ranchero. Kind of sticks out like a sore thumb, which is why we have it here.

Aconcagua

Crossing a stream on muleback

Aconcagua is a tall mountain in Argentina. It is the highest mountain outside of Asia. Tam writes about tough equipment and links to a New York Times story about a 1973 attempt to climb it.

The above picture comes from that story. I am amazed that the mules are able to keep their footing in that torrent of water. I don't think a person would be able to do it. Mules have relatively skinny legs compared to their body mass, and their hooves are probably better adapted to  stepping on jagged rocks and they must have an impressive circulation system to keep those legs from freezing in that freezing water.

Why do horses or dogs ever even obey people? Trust and food, I suppose.

Swan Island Water Slide

Carnival Panorama arriving at the Portland drydock
KetAwesomeness / Ketner Mizée

Older son noticed there was a cruise ship docked at Swan Island. He noticed it because he could see a water slide poking up above the warehouses. Swan Island is an industrial district, full of warehouses, train tracks and shipyards, so a water slide was definitely out of place. 

Carnival Panorama Water Slide

The water slide is perched on top of a cruise ship that has come to Portland for repairs. We were driving around down there Saturday morning and every so often you could catch a glimpse of it, but nowhere could you get a good view of it.

Near as I can make out, this ship operates out of Long Beach, California. They had some engine trouble and decided to send it to the Vigor Shipyard in Portland for repair. Vigor has only drydock on the west coast that is big enough to accommodate this ship. 

Carnival Panorama funnel
Notice scaffolding around the funnel

Before they could come here they first had to stop at Victoria in British Columbia, Canada, to have the top part of the funnel removed so the ship could sail under the bridges on the way up the Columbia River to Portland.

Bridges between Swan Island and the Pacific Ocean

Bridges between Swan Island and the Pacific Ocean

P. S. Most every web site about cruise ships is so loaded with ad-ware that it drug my computer back into the dark ages. Very annoying.

Quote of the Day

A good discussion in Zac's last night and I only had to stuff my scarf in my mouth twice to stop me saying something I would later regret. Probably. Must start wearing a scarf every week. - Liz Hinds

Machinist Puzzle

Free the Nut! (Not What You Think)
Inheritance Machining

Guy using a lathe and a milling machine to make a captive nut puzzle. Unlike some machining videos, this one moves along at a steady pace, no long shots of turning or milling a part, just short clips that are just long enough for you to get the gist of what he's doing. Plus it's a puzzle for the viewer. He shows you all the pieces, so you might be able to figure out how it works.

Merry Christmas

Wes' Last Minute Gift Ideas for Hopeless Nerds - Ft. Watch Wife Work
Watch Wes Work
Don't know if I need any tools, but I enjoy listening to Wes and I like tools so it's double good. 

I'm pretty much fully recovered from the hip surgery I had this summer though I am still learning how to walk. My hip joint deteriorated slowly over a couple of years, so the part of my mind that controls walking was slowly able to adapt to the problem. But then I had the surgery and now everything is suddenly better, but my mind is still adjusting. One thing I noticed is that I don't seem to be able to walk a straight line, I kind of weave a little. Of course now I'm wondering if I ever did walk in a straight line, and now I'm wondering about people in general. Somebody should investigate.

Anyway, since I am now mobile I can pick some tools and start fixing things around the house. But while my hip was deteriorating, I gave a bunch of tools over to Osmany's care. I talked to him about this and he brought (four) five-gallon buckets full of tools over and dropped them off. It's like 200 pounds of stuff. I have not even begun to sort it out.

Beside tools, Wes also mentions some books, which prompts me to wonder how many books I read this year. It seems to me I only read one book this year, A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge. Checking over this blog, it appears that I read about half a dozen books. I suspect the Vinge story seems like the only one because it  took me about four months. I finally finished it a couple of weeks ago. I mostly read it when I was waiting for someone, but that was okay because it's a complicated story. Each little bit that I read contained enough ideas and concepts to mull over that it would keep me occupied for a while. I did read maybe half a dozen other books this year. On my daughter's recommendation I have started reading Babel by R. F. Kuang. It looks promising.