David & Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants

In the hope of distilling books down to their core tenets/lessons, I'm going to go through mostly non-fiction books after I read them.

David and Goliath is, according to its author, "a book about what happens when ordinary people confront giants..." He opens the book by talking about the biblical story, of how David the Israelite shepherd boy defeated a gigantic Philistine battle with a sling and a rock. Instead of recognizing it as the archetypal underdog success story, he reframes it as an extremely lopsided battle between a projectile warrior and infantry. Gladwell says that Goliath actually had almost no chance of success despite his immense physical size advantage and that society has a problem of not being able to see power when it manifests in nonconventional ways and not seeing people for who they really are (Gladwell believes Goliath was suffering from acromegaly - overproduction of human growth hormone).

Part 1: Advantages of Disadvantages and Advantages of Disadvantages

• When you're in a battle or fight and you have fewer resources or talent, unconventional or guerrilla tactics will give you a more than likely chance to win.
• As outsider, do not care what the establishment thinks - be willing to take criticism
• Vivek Ranadivé's full court basketball press
• T. E. Lawrence's assault on Aqaba from the desert instead of sea

• Inverted U-curve (easy to forget in practice though somewhat obvious in theory). Every positive thing  at a high level will have costs that outweigh benefits.
• Be unwilling to accept a trend that seems logical without data
• Small classroom sizes. The US spent a ton of money at turn of millennium to hire new teachers at public schools as prestigious boarding schools boast about small class sizes
• Parenting is very difficult with too little money and too much money! Arguments shift from you can't do something because of $ to you won't do something because of non-$ reason. 

• It's better to be a Big Fish in a Small Pond than a Small Fish in a Big Pond. Are the best institutions always the best for us?
• You can gain visibility and freedom from doing so.
• Your environment, not just your accomplishments by themselves, can really matter
• Impressionist painters deciding to host their own show instead of submitting to the Salon in 1874
• Ivy League v. non-elite schools - relative deprivation. The better impression you have of the people locally  around you, the starker the contrast will feel if you don't think you measure up to them.
• Students at top Ph.D. programs who are just above average or worse in their program do really terribly professionally... whereas the very students at the worst programs do better than the former group except for the very best there!
• Affirmative action! Can be very damaging due to this phenomenon. 

Part 2: The Theory of Desirable Disability

• Underdogs can excel because difficulties they face make them stronger 
• Instead of capitalization learning (working on strengths), they do a lot of compensation learning (working on weaknesses)
• Innovators have to be disagreeable, to take social risks and disrupt. High ability to deal with failure helps
• A lot of successful entrepreneurs have dyslexia, anecdotes with super successful movie producer and litigator
• IKEA's Ingvar Kamprad defying the Cold War
• Gary Cohn pretending to be an options trader  to get an interview and following up

• When a bomb (real or metaphorical) falls, there are people killed, near misses and remote misses. One event can really damage one group while benefitting another.
• Society needs people who have emerged from trauma for the actions they are willing to take
• People killed are done and near misses have their fear reinforced
• Remote misses make one feel invulnerable, excited and courageous or they force one to make virtue out of necessity 
• Expected reaction of Londoners during the Blitz
• Dyslexia, those who can overcome something terrible.
• A remarkable number of creatives and notables have lost a parent.
• Emil Freireich's lack of empathy and refusal to give up allowed him to aggressively experiment on children to cure childhood leukemia over many objections. 

The conquering of fear produces exhilaration... The contrast between previous apprehension and the present relief and feeling of security promotes a self-confidence that is the very father and mother of courage. 

• What is right is sometimes defined by those in power to close the door on others. 
• Martin Luther King and the photo in Birmingham.

Part 3: The Limits of Power

• When you have rebels or disobedience, it's more often an engagement or legitimacy problem on the part of authority than a behavioral problem
• Those with seemingly unlimited power have to consider the opinions of those they have power over. Law and order can only go so far.
• Legitimacy rests on the people feeling like they have a voice, the law being predictable and authority being fair.
• Joanne Jaffe's Juvenile Robbery Intervention Program with Brownsville. Thanksgiving turkeys for all juvenile families.
• British Army and the IRA

• Inverted U applies to crime and punishment too - California Three Strikes, so be wary of poor, overeager applications of power. 
• Many criminals not deterred by stricter punishment
• Consider collateral damage of taking fathers from families

Apparently, this book is widely criticized! Critics pan it for Gladwell taking something we already believe in and presenting it as counter-intuitive but logical given the evidence he provides and for believing that science, especially psychology and sociology, can offer a quick fix to many of the world's problems. I get the criticism. Parts of the book were a real slog to get through and some of the points he tries to make aren't actually counterintuitive. Still, it will encourage me to take more risks and try to be more creative whenever I'm in a situation where I'm put at a disadvantage and understand how tragedies and difficulties can help people when I evaluate them.

Graduating from College and Moving

Here's my two containers of ink that I have to spill on the subject. I went back to Shanghai, the city that I grew up in, for what feels like the last time. It was more than a week after graduating and it already felt different being back though I've been back a few times since I moved to Taipei.

The most mundane and meaningless things can take on intense nostalgic value when we see them refracted through time. A 2nd grade vocabulary workbook that was once homework that had to be slogged through now brings a wry smile to my face as the memory of the effort I put in springs in my mind. My viola reminds me of my being awful at playing the viola and having my teacher bring me to tears is pretty funny now and was only part of a process that built up my resilience. There are also other things that we see differently.

Letters, gifts, mementos that meant the world to you at the time that you stashed in a homemade treasure chest that was worth more than its weight in gold. I was rummaging through stuff deciding what to toss away as my family leaves the city I grew up in and found a folder that I used as one of these treasure chests. Though I wanted to open it and read through the items, I decided not to. I want some more time to pass by because I received things from friends whom I no longer keep in touch with and rifling through them will bring up memories and feelings I am not yet ready to face. I wonder if we all go through this phase where we want to reach out to these folks to reconnect. I have the usual worries: are they so wrapped up in their life that they don't have time for someone from the past? are the memories we share as precious to them as they are to me? I hope to reach out to them in a few years - one of them encouraged me to start me first blog in high school.

It's one of the peculiarities in life that while we may have those moments in our youth where we wished to grow up and take on real responsibilities and live out our dreams (to be an astronaut, or a diplomat!), we inevitably wish to return to those halcyon, carefree days when we're older. College and life teaches you that the problems of the world are so very complex and nuanced and people bring their conflicting perspectives that make working together and relationships quite difficult. With the negative comes the positives of love, entertainment, family, the times when you work together to actually create a practical solution and more. But we all have those times where we just want to crawl in our blanket and travel back in time to a simpler time. Ironically, I'm about to get a watch from my parents. It feels like it's now that I'm on a clock, that each moment matters in the real world.

It's after college that almost everyone is forced into a situation where they have to make friends without any institutional support and make a living for themselves without any guidance. The early 20s! Most of the friends and classmates that you see in the years to come will be seen in snapshots - reunions, chance encounters, weddings, birthdays. Can't really knock on someone's dorm door late at night just wanting to chat and dream about the future anymore. The truth may be that we're all terrified, even the ones that are cocksure and on the partner-track at a prestigious consulting firm, but that isn't quite as reassuring. Guess we just have to bravely take one step at a time into the future we were so certain we would fulfill when were young slowly has its impenetrable fog retracts. 

Skyrim: The Dragonborn Comes - Live Action

Here's this really cool fan-made trailer for The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim. I'm kind of obsessed with the game right now, with its gigantic open world, rich storytelling and STUNNING music. One of my favorite quests involved me being tasked by a servant to resucue his master, who's been trapped in a part of a palace. When I get there using a hip bone, I'm transported into the dead Mad Emperor's mind (!) and am left only with fine clothing to wear. To rescue the master, I have to treat the emperor's paranoia, night terrors and anger issues using this weapon I'm provided. It's got a very Alice in Wonderland twisted flavor to it as there's even a tea party!

 If you haven't played it, you should go check it out. Though if you're a gaming novice, you shouldn't because it can be overwhelming.

Chorus translation:

Dragonborn, Dragonborn 

By his honor is sworn 

To keep evil forever at bay 

And the fierce foe rout 

When they hear triumph's shout 

Dragonborn, for your blessing we pray

Free Comic Book Day (Part 1 of 2)

May 7th of 2016 was Free Comic Book Day! Yes, it was more than 20 days ago but between graduation and family vacation and dealing with necessary government stuff, it's been difficult to find time to go through all these comics. I went with my comic book club at the Claremont Colleges to A Shop Called Quest in Claremont early before noon. I was really pumped because I watched Captain America: Civil War the night before and really enjoyed it! I might put a review of that up after I watch it the second time.

Some background: I've read some graphic novels in the past which you can check on this list (link to be active soon), a lot in the past semester due to a class I took in college called Contemporary American Graphic Novels, but I didn't grow up reading comics. As such, my opinion on the following comics are informed by what I know of the characters and events from popular culture without any real experience.

I'm dividing this post into two parts. This got a lot more extensive than I thought it would but oh well! Here are the first half  in the order by which I find them compelling/would want to read more:

• Archie #1 (Archie Comics)

I remember reading Archie comics when I was younger and they were pretty funny but the comic equivalent of watching one of those syndicated half-hour sitcoms where each episode is pretty standalone and the stakes are quite low. That was before I grew to become obsessed with prestige dramas...


This all-new series is written by Mark Waid (Eisner Award Winner!) and drawn by Fiona Staples (SAGA <3). It's a lot less cartoony and uses shading and less common colors than the old Archie comics, an example of which you can see below. At the same time, it does feel like a modern revival and not something unrecognizable.

I didn't expect to like the story this much but a mystery in the first issue goes a long way to holding the suspense and having Archie break the fourth wall to talk to the reader makes the story a lot easier to connect to than the old Archies, which felt more fluffy and composed of stories that took place in another world. Can't wait to borrow the first volume on Hoopla next month!

• Civil War II Issue #0 and All-New All-Different Avengers #9 as flip-side (Marvel)

Inhumans (haven't read/seen anything with them) and the Earth Avengers team with a bunch of unfamiliar/non-MCU characters like She-Hulk, Ms. America, The Human Torch, Blue Marvel, Dazzler along with mainstays like War Machine and Black Panther to fight Thanos so that he can't get the Cosmic Cube. 

Thanos looks immensely powerful considering the amount of firepower the Avengers are mustering to fight him and the stakes look really high as two characters may be mortally wounded so I'm fascinated. The interracial relationship between Ms. Marvel and War Machine is cool to see also :D

• We Can Never Go Home and Young Terrorists as flip-side (Black Mask)

These two stories feel the most independent/edgy of the lot. They're rated mature. The former is about this outlaw guy and bulletproof girl but the issue is told from the perspective of a third person, a girl (Morgan) who just happens to witness the girl's indestructible nature. Apparently a lot of publications rated it as one of the best of 2015 and the little that I've read (a mere 9 pages!!!) suggests it could be. I like how organic and real the conversation and actions are and Morgan's quick wit. Teenagers, sex, drugs and superpowers has to lead to something great right?

The other story is about this girl who's been brutally trained by her dad to be intellectually and physically elite. It looks like the omic's going to explore her past, her father and the psychological trauma dealt to her based on the flashbacks to various parts of her life. I look forward to this for what it might have to say about society and family upbringing. The art is very difficult to look at for its gore but it gives the action a very visceral feeling.

• The Stuff of Legend (The 3rd World)

A New York Times bestseller! A dark version of Toy Story, as you might be able to tell from the cover. This book is kind of scary as it has a boogeyman (who you of course never see) kidnap a young boy and his toys have to band together to save him.

I really appreciate the art in this work. It's entirely black-and-white but the art goes beyond the panels and there's a very handworn, aged look to it. I don't think I could look at toys in the same way after.

It's obvious that a lot of care has been taken in crafting the story but it's so early on that I don't know where it's going to go (not somewhere predictable I hope). 

The following comics definitely interest me less than the above few.

• Suicide Squad #1: Kicked in the Teeth (DC) 

Gives you a taste of the backstory and character of the members of the Suicide Squad like Deadshot, El Diablo, Harley Quinn, Black Spider, Voltaic and King Shark. They are portrayed pretty distinctly with their own thoughts and backgrounds.


Thought they would match the characters in the movie more (SO MUCH promotion for it inside) but apparently this is from 2002 as part of the New 52, a revamp and relaunch of  DC's comic series.

• Steve Rogers: Captain America #1 and The Amazing Spider-Man: Dead No More Event (Marvel) as flip-side

Captain America has to deal with an ISIS-like Hydra using guerilla tactics with the help of SHIELD and they are hamstrung by congressional inquiry and lack of funding.

I like seeing the Captain work as part of a team with Sam Wilson as another Captain America, "Falcon" (Joaquin) and Sharon Carter as their commander. It's got a Agents of SHIELD feel mixed with real-life politics. The problem is one that the Russo brothers, directors of the last two Cap. America movies, had with Captain America. He's too square and I get that feeling here where in this first issue, he's too sure of what the right thing to do is and doesn't seem complex. I hope that changes. Pretty terrible art, which looks outdated and plasticky. 

SPOILER: According to news, Captain America is actually a Hydra agent?!

The Spider-Man story is intriguing because it features Spidey's enemies attempting to save their SOs - characters that are supposed to be dead. The main villain is this character with an Anubis mask and he has Gwen Stacy with him in a possible romantic relationship (she died in "The Night Gwen Stacy Died" and it looks like that's part of canon here"). Spidey is CEO of a major corporation and his new armor and gizmos. Definitely want to check this out when it releases. 

• One-Punch Man (Viz Media)

WHAT. A. RIDICULOUS. PREMISE. A person who becomes a hero for fun (he tells the villian this) and according to the synopsis, "he just can't seem to find an opponent strong enough to take on! He is the One-Punch Man!" The comic is irreverent (there's a schoolgirl who wears a sweater that says "SCHOOL CHILD") and self-referential but I worry that the humor of over the top villianry and the assurance that One-Punch Man will always win will die out after a while. Very curious of the direction the comic goes in the next few issues.

• The Legend of Korra (Nickelodeon)

A very short cute story about Korra trying to learn to waterbend and defy her parents' expectations as a young girl.

It seems like everyone I know in college has seen either/both Avatar: The Last Airbender and Avatar: The Legend of Korra. I think the comics may be targeted at an even younger age than the animation series so... pass.

• Street Fighter V (Udon)

Three vignettes about two fighters each from the popular videogame franchise. It's more interesting than you might think of licensed material but this series still seems like it's just for the hardcore fans...

Full-Metal Alchemist Live Adaption!

So I saw on Facebook Trending News that Warner Bros. is going to make a Fullmetal Alchemist movie that will come out Winter 2017! Fullmetal Alchemist is a Japanese serialized manga that ran in the 2000s that spawned two anime series. I read the manga and watched the second anime, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, and loved both of them. This manga/anime is one of those gateway ones that everyone loves and it was also one of my first forays into Japanese comics.

Fullmetal Alchemist follows a pair of orphan brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric, in their quest to find a Philosopher's Stone that will allow their bodies back after a disastrous attempt at resurrecting their mother. They get embroiled into a huge conspiracy and meet characters from around the world as they struggle to do the right thing as "state alchemists" - superpowered agents of the law. It goes to some pretty dark places, is whimsically silly and has a fair amount to say about themes like corruption and inequality. Definitely worth checking out. 

The movie is a Japanese production. Director Fumihiko Sori said, "I want to create a style that follows the original manga as much as possible. The cast is entirely Japanese, but the cultural background is Europe. However, it's a style that doesn't represent a specific race or country." This iI look forward to a faithful adaption that still allows the director to distinguish the movie from the manga and anime series!

On the American side of things, an adaption of Death Note is currently in the works. Warner Bros. was going to produce it before they dropped it and Netflix swooped in. I trust Netflix to respect the source material more + give more creative freedom to the directors/producers based on the Netflix Original shows I've seen. However, they are left with Warner Bros' baggage - the decision to cast the two main leads as white Americans. That rightfully stirred up a lot of controversy last year among fans though it didn't enter the public consciousness like what happened with Ghost in the Shell. Hopefully, Fullmetal Alchemist is distributed in the US and does well to show studios that consumers appreciate faithful casting and people of color can sell movies!

SAGA Vol. 1 Re-read!

While I'm away from the comics I got from Free Comic Book Day as I'm on vacation and haven't had a chance to finish them, I thought I'd talk about something else that I sprinted through and am now reading for the second time: Saga written by Brian K. Vaughn (Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina) with artist Fiona Staples (North 40, DV8: Gods and Monsters) and published by Image Comics. I'm reading Saga on hoopla through a local library after a very strong recommendation from a friend of mine. I'll talk about the first volume here which collects Chapters 1-6 and may talk about future volumes in a future date.

The ongoing series is about two people on opposites sides of a war, Alana from Earthfall and Marko from its moon Wreath, trying to raise their family as their sides sent bounty hunters and assassins out to get them. It's been called a hybrid of Game of Thrones and Star Wars which makes sense as it has both sci-fi and fantastical elements, features lots of death and political intrigue as well as really imaginative characters and a stunning range of planets and cities. It's a very personal story that has cosmic implications as it unfolds.


Story
The back cover calls this a "sexy, subversive ongoing epic" and you can see that from the starting block. We open with Alan giving birth to her child and talk of sex. Vaughn's decision to treat the graphic novel as the retelling of what happened in the past from the view of Alano and Marko's child is an inspired choice that captivates the reader, prompting questions as to what the state of affairs are in the present and what raising a family really takes. It's also a very organic way to give exposition.



In the panel to the left, the white lettering is written by Hazel at an indeterminate time in the future as we see her birth. As an example of the kind of questions you get, she says:

It's not like I grow up to become some great war hero or any sort of all-important savior...but thanks to these two, at least I get to grow old. Not everyone does.

The last sentence is imposed over a large image of her parents kissing so you wonder: DO THEY NOT MAKE IT? AHH.

Hazel's words also help transition scenes in a tantalizing and intriguing manner. They will directly apply to a current scence but also in the following scene in an unexpected way.

I really appreciate how lived in and mature the worlds and people feel despite them being so inventive and subversive. The bounty hunters have a union, you have investigative reporters who face difficult ethical dilemmas in pursuing their stories (in a later volume) and Alana loves this popular romantic book. This love of this romantic book is part of the meta-commentary that the author offers on the genre and literature that will continue in future volumes.

Overall, it's a very real, heartfelt story with serious consequences and great humor. There is one central mystery that never seems to be addressed throughout the entire story though that I hope is explored and not left to the reader's mind: the reason for the never-ending war. At this point, the sides are fighting because they've always fought. Hate for the other side is propagated and fomented with every opportunity.

Art
The art is gorgeous. The most noticeable quality to me is that there's a sharp difference between what's depicted in the foreground (usually characters and the objects they interact with) and the background. The characters are drawn with sharp lines with lots of shading whereas the background is a lot softer and amorphous.  It looks like Staples starts from a more sketchy, messy style before adapting to a more finalized, clean style at the end.

I really want some panels as prints on my wall in the future. You know what, I'm definitely going to get one or two!

Characters
My favorite part about the characters is how much we learn and sympathize with the "villains" and how flawed the two protagonists are. You have these really tender moments between our two main protagonists that are usually tinged with some bitterness because of the mystery of the state of affairs in the present and the trials and tribulations you expect them to go through.

I actually think the first volume is the weakest of the six volumes despite being amazing because of the need to set the story and world. Check it out.

First Post!

So I'm using this blog as a place to track my thoughts about things that I read, watch, listen to or otherwise consume. This will be mostly graphic novels and non-fiction to start out (including some pieces that I've read before and want to re-read from a more critical and mature perspective) with but I hope to learn to like and write about a appreciate a range of different things. Now that I'm about to graduate from college and have no immediate job prospects, I should have a decent amount of free time to check out stuff I've always wanted to check out.

I'll also use it as a drawing board for writing I do for fun or in the hopes of submission. The writing I do will probably be about political or social issues because those are the ones that interest me the most. Who knows, maybe I'll write about personal things too so if you're on this blog for some reason, hope you enjoy the ride.

If there's anything that you want me to check out, feel free to email me or leave a comment!

Hope you enjoy!