Letters From Iwo Jima

It's a Clint Eastwood film so I knew going into "Letters..." that the film was not going to be anti-American or pro-Japanese. Therefore, I was more interested in how the film would deliver on this promise. There are scenes of brutality and evil as well as honor and courage shown from both sides. By being in a state of horror and desperation, the best and worst of humanity is brought out. Yes, "war is hell" but it almost seemed like Clint Eastwood knew that we already knew this. Then the anchor of this film lies more with the "Letters." From the letters, it's not so easy to call the "enemy" a "savage" anymore. And maybe we are all not as different as we are led to believe. With that said, I never felt manipulated nor did I feel that there was any forced sentimentaility throughout the entire film..a testimony to the wonderful screenplay by Iris Yamashita and the skillful direction of Clint Eastwood. The emotionally resonant soundtrack stays with you long after you walked out of the theater and I loved the desaturated look of the film. It really added to the authenticity and atmosphere.

Tomorrow is Oscar night. The buzz has "The Departed" as the favorite to win (sympathy Oscar for Scorcese?) Personally, if I had to choose between the two, I feel "Letters.." is the better film. Too bad "Letters..." is a limited release. It's definitely worth the drive to a theater that is showing it. I haven't seen "Flags of our Fathers" yet but I plan to rent it soon.

The Good news and the Bad news

The good news is that I've dropped 8lbs to my pre-wedding weight with diet, exercise and tracking my calorie intake in Excel. Suh-weeeeeeeet!

The bad news is that I recently had a blood test and while my total cholesterol is well under 200, my HDL lowered, my LDL jumped up a lot as well as my triglyceride level. So even though I am eating around average of 1600 calories daily, percentage-wise I may be eating too much starches (pasta, bread, potatoes) and I am a fiend for Captain Crunch Crunch berries cereal. If with all my efforts, I had to give up what I eat now, I'd be in a real rut.

I started eating bean thread noodles (fun see) last night and it's very satisfying but I don't see myself putting marinara sauce on it anytime soon. I think I'm going to bring my spreadsheet to the doctor next time and see what he thinks at that point. For now I am making changes but I really don't want to be on an Atkins lifestyle or eat legumes (hell, I don't even know what legumes are).

Edit 2/27: Blymie! I compared the nutrition labels between the mungbean nooodles and spaghetti. It turns out that a 2oz serving of each both contain 210 calories. However, the 20z serving of spaghetti has 44g of carbs while the mungbean actually has 52g of carbs! How ironic!

My favorite television show

House MD is arguably one of the more satisfying and compelling dramas that I have watched in a long, long time (medical or not).

Hugh Laurie is a gifted actor. I never knew he was a Brit until I saw him host an episode of SNL. I love the cynical wit, the sarcasm, and the emotionally damaged-yet-truly-vulnerable-underneath-the-rough-exterior of his character Dr. House. A true misanthrope and yet you cannot help but be sympathetic. The supporting ensemble cast is also terrific and never in the shadow of Hugh Laurie's character. Each episode's plot as well as the medical mysteries are superbly crafted that allow each character to develop in a very subtle and organic manner.

It probably is not fair to compare to Grey's Anatomy but I will do it anyway. I certainly like Grey's Anatomy. It's a good drama and certainly has it's moments but when you juxtapose GA with House MD, the depth and quality of the writing in House MD becomes more obvious.

So proud

Every year the LLU Ophthalmology Attending physicians conduct mock oral board exams for all the Ophthalmology residents. The oral exam is the exact same for all the residents despite the different levels of experience & training. It's designed to assess current knowledge level and mimic the real Board Certification exam. Viks scored highest of all the 1st year residents and 3rd highest overall out of all 11 Ophthalmology residents! I was looking at the written eval and some great comments from all the Attendings such as,

- "Excellent - performed at 3rd year level"
- "Efficient in information gathering and processing"
- "Very good for her level. She stayed appropriately focused with her comments - didn't wander."
- "Very concise, quick. Excellent for first year."

Despite the challenges, I am happy that Viks is doing well at something she is passionate about. It motivates me to step up my game as well ;-)