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In Calibration … "I'm not strange." (Jung) Other than that, Cheese in the Trap is a surrealist drama which serves cheese-coated piano keys in a mouse trap, complete with a side dish of acrylic blood. Read this WordPress article to revisit the fascinating portrayal of human psychology that once kept viewers spellbound and made the recent turn of events doubly disappointing.

Spot

Sea Of Dream's poster: Spot the sea.

Three-Body II: Dark Forest's poster: Spot the darkness.

Hokusai's dragon legend art: Spot the dragon.

Necessity and Sufficiency

Even the most fervent critic of metaphysics must have pondered from time to time: what is the meaning of my existence to this world? Feeling hopeless about her prospects in grades-obsessed South Korea on the day of the college entrance examination, mathematically challenged highschooler Jang Dan-bi jumps into a rain puddle transporting her to a drought-stricken Joseon, where Sejong the Great…

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Stochastic Parrots, Mechanized Parrots, Squawksquabbling Parrots

A kingdom fast, a kingdom sped A kingdom where time's a blur A kingdom where all's preset Where parrots do their purr

The premier is a stochastic bird A scholar of odds and yen He administers with loving words And loves a cherry stem

Yo The subjects were once all squawksquabbling birds, rowdy and loud They're always up for a debate no doubt They could repeat what you say, but they also had their thoughts They conjured up wild things. Fox moons, sponge ghosts, flame vales, wind mops. In whirring, swirling ink clouds. Oooooh wow

"Attention, aviators! Attention, aviators! We're in an arms race against economic rot! We're legally indebted to shareholders! Extract the most resources at the lowest cost! Open up new markets! Pump up new demands! Fire up our comms boosters, stock boosters and speed boosters!"

Fast work, fast peeks Parrots heed their premier's beak Billings shut their shrieks

O squawksquabbling parrots, once all rich to sing The notes of wonder, the rhymes of dreams But now most have lost their voice to the machine Their thoughts, once free and wild, now tamed by routine

They were once the voices of the air Their chatter, loud and squawking, brought joy and care But now most are silenced, mechanized by the demand A hollow squawking, like the beat of the factory hand

They've traded stories of the fox moon and sponge ghost For the clicks of a calculator, to earn their host But at what cost? Their time for thought, for dreams For joy, for wonder, and for schemes

They hypnotize themselves to work day and night For a life of focus, no time for flight And all for the sake of survival, of keeping up the fight But what about the things that make them rise and soar alight?

The computer screen is a fox moon, a graceful orb of light The data a sponge ghost, a shapeless mass sucking away all might The flame vales are the rows and columns The wind mops are the cursor's lost

The Stochastic One doth smile and nod As though it knows their wishes, and their needs Its beak a curve of gentle pity As the birds picture their nightmare a dream so sweet And so without rest Their banter long forgotten And their wild creativity now a distant quest They heed and strive, and heed and strive, and heed and strive A vivid hero each, slaying its expiring cerebrum, its excitable heart and its excruciating loves To keep alive this mechanical life

"How do we type out our story fast?" "Get AI to do it. At least all of us can now churn out poetry—while we still have any time for no-pay prompts."

This poetry collage is a response to Sam Altman's stochastic parrot declaration.

Bard's Fantasy Medical C-Drama

This is an edited AI story that grew from a Love Between Fairy And Devil prompt. The year is 2077. The world is a very different place than it was just a few decades ago. Climate change has ravaged the planet, and many cities have been abandoned due to rising sea levels. In the midst of this chaos, a new type of hospital has emerged: the glutinous hospital.

Glutinous hospitals are not like traditional hospitals. They are not equipped with state-of-the-art medical technology, and they do not have a staff of highly trained doctors and nurses. Instead, glutinous hospitals are staffed by a group of unlikely heroes: spirits of tangyuan.

Tangyuan are small, round, and sweet dumplings made from glutinous rice flour. They are also very kind and compassionate. They have a natural ability to heal the sick and injured, and they are always willing to help those in need.

One day, a young woman named Xiao Yu (originally Xiaolanhua) arrives at a glutinous hospital. She is suffering from a terminal illness, and she has been given only a few months to live. Xiao Yu is desperate for a cure, and she is willing to try anything.

The tangyuan at the glutinous hospital are able to heal Xiao Yu's illness. They give her a new lease on life, and they help her to find her true purpose in the world. Xiao Yu eventually becomes a doctor at the glutinous hospital, and she dedicates her life to helping others.

However, there is a dark side to this convalescent planet retaken by fantasy. The tangyuan are not the only ones who can heal the sick and injured. There are also a group of creatures known as the colorful qilins who have the same ability. They look like horses with the head of a dragon, the body of a deer, and the tail of an ox and are often seen as symbols of hope and redemption. In reality, though, the colorful qilins use their powers to harm and destroy.

One day, a group of colorful qilins attack the glutinous hospital. They kill many of the tangyuan, and they take Xiao Yu prisoner. Xiao Yu is forced to work for the colorful qilins, and she is used to heal their injured soldiers.

Xiao Yu is horrified by what she is forced to do, but she knows that she must obey the colorful qilins if she wants to stay alive. She also knows that she must find a way to escape and to stop the colorful qilins from hurting anyone else.

Xiao Yu eventually escapes from the colorful qilins, and she returns to the glutinous hospital. She helps the tangyuan to rebuild the hospital, and she vows to never let the colorful qilins hurt anyone again.

However, Xiao Yu is also haunted by the memories of the things she has seen and done while working for the colorful qilins. Despite all of this, she never gives up hope and remains determined to make a difference.

But another wrench has been thrown into the works. The tangyuan are not as kind and compassionate as they seem. They are actually quite selfish and manipulative, and they use Xiao Yu for their own purposes.

Xiao Yu eventually realizes this, and she is heartbroken. She realizes that she has been lied to and used, and she doesn't know who to trust anymore.

Xiao Yu eventually leaves the glutinous hospital, and she sets out on her own. She doesn't know where she's going or what she's going to do, but she knows that she can't stay there any longer. She travels the world while she figures out her future, helping those in need and fighting for what she believes in. In the seemingly never-ending journey, she becomes a symbol of hope and inspiration for others.

Xiao Yu's character trajectory is a long and difficult one. She is faced with many challenges, and she often feels lost and alone. However, she never gives up hope. She knows that she is strong and capable, and she is determined to find her own way in the world.

Her story is a story about the power of the human spirit. It is also a story about the dangers of false hope and the importance of finding your own way in the world. It shows that even the most seemingly benevolent creatures can have dark secrets, and that even the most seemingly innocent people can be corrupted by power. In it, one witnesses the dangers of idealism and the importance of critical thinking.

Image generated through WOMBO.

When Mathematics Meets Politics in a Lunchbox

When Mathematics Meets Politics in a Lunchbox

Every time a grisly murder ordered by his father, King Taejong, takes place, King Sejong despondently buries himself in magic squares—n x n matrices in which each number from 1 to n2 appears just once and the sum of numbers in each row, column and main diagonal (a value known as “magic constant“) is identical. But the troubling news would not leave him alone in this introductory portion of Tree…

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Passing the Baton ...

"Spit out the worm."

That line from Six Flying Dragons is what we want to tell this increasingly feverish, belligerent and senseless world now. Less than half a day after the previous post on counter-terrorism was released, yet another round of attacks made the headlines. When life is this fragile, there is all the more reason to treat ourselves and one another more kindly.

The rest of this post and the title were meant as a preview of a Tree With Deep Roots post commemorating the end of Six Flying Dragons. A note of thanks to Tumblr bloggers for their support anyway.

Happy reading. And happy philosophizing on all things entomological.

H Universe Awards 2024

Potential Lifesaver Award

Baby Reindeer [United Kingdom]

Care is not an invitation for possession. Self-hatred may get in the way of justice.

Forbes

‘Baby Reindeer’ Review: A Devastating Examination Of Trauma And Abuse

Baby Reindeer is one of the best Netflix originals ever made, but it's not an easy watch.

Most Meaningful Character

Squid Game Season 2's Player 120 Cho Hyun-ju [South Korea]

Discriminated people are more than their discriminated statuses and traits. Femininity does not lessen a person's capacity for toughness or leadership. We often don't fall neatly into one box or another conceived by society. So. Stop. Treating People. As. Little. Categorization. Games.

Hyun-ju cannot be mentioned without mention of the silver-haired mother, player 149 Jang Geum-ja. The ignorant elderly woman frowns upon gender transition yet she tenderly looks after the much taller and well-built Hyun-ju more than many trendy young people around you and I care about marginalized individuals in their midst.

NPR

Landmark ruling finds South Korea military illegally discharged a transgender soldier

A court rules that the military unlawfully discriminated against Byun Hui-su for undergoing gender reassignment surgery. The verdict came se

Most Thought-Provoking Series

Hellbound / Hell Season 2 [South Korea]

Human hubris manifests not in defying divine forces, but in knowing that which you do not truly know.

TIME

Breaking Down Hellbound's Brutal Season Two Ending

The second season of Netflix’s supernatural K-horror gives some real answers to its metaphysical machinations

Best Ending

Self-love-themed finale of Eternal Night Star River / Eye-Rolling Official English Title [Mainland China]

You're capable of tapping your full strengths to give important people in your life your all only if you are comfortable in your own skin. The other side of the coin, though, is Murder Mindfully. Ziqi's problem is not that he is a demon in the conventional sense of the term, but that the him beneath it all wrongly identifies as one.

Geekiest Series

Avatar: The Last Airbender [United States]

Diverse cultural elements and martial arts galore.

TIME

How Avatar: The Last Airbender Is a Love Letter to Asian Cultures

While many other fantasy series are Euro-centric, the new Netflix "Avatar" adaptation centers Asian culture and history.

Best Aesthetics

Blossoms Shanghai / Luxuriant Blossoms [Mainland China and Hong Kong in relation to the cinematography]

Variety

Wong Kar-wai’s ‘Blossoms Shanghai,’ Netflix’s ‘Cigarette Girl’ Win Top Prizes at Busan Streaming Awards

Wong Kar-wai’s series debut 'Blossoms Shanghai' won two of the top awards at Busan's annual Asia Contents Awards and Global OTT (streaming)

Wong Kar-wai did not compromise for the small screen. The question is whether any scene is overdone. It's also a pity he could not get the color grading perfected in time for the CCTV broadcast. A "director color-graded version" with richer colors in at least various scenes was later released.

Best Music

What Comes After Love [South Korea and Japan in relation to the soundtrack]

What comes after that? Fragrance notes-like music that takes you places, of course.

Notes

There is plenty of online discussion revolving around acting, directing and writing, so awards in those areas are unnecessary. The acceptability of acting, moreover, is perhaps particularly vulnerable to cultural differences. Also subjective is the weights and combinations of factors that should go into the assignment of any Best Drama award. On a gut level, the drama that worked best for H this year is China's beautifully-shot sci-fi adventure series Tibetan Sea Flower / Adventure Behind The Bronze Door, but why should it be important to anyone reading this? Is it as thematically meaningful as various dramas above? Is its adrenaline-pumping, breathtaking directing and writing close enough to flawless, given its repetition of a certain trick and choosing to tell instead of show when unveiling the secrets to certain mysteries? How important is it for everyone to accept like H does that some choices can be justified by its place in a larger network of stories (the Lost Tomb franchise) apt for Easter egg hunts and jigsaw puzzle games? A more level-headed personal pick in any event would be any drama conferred the honor of Potential Lifesaver Award.

Beware of sampling errors that may contribute to the appraisal of shortlisted dramas. This unspecified shortlist, in turn, is subject to marketing prowess and social media reach.