Argo (2012).

Yeah it's been a while since I've seen a movie in a theatre, but this one somehow got my attention like the way King's Speech did to me back in 2010. As today marks the second day of its opening, I couldn't resist not seeing it- and what a fantastic film it turned out to be!

Putting all the impression into one sentence: Argo was a flawless historical film with tight-knit screen play and impressive cinematography. Although most viewers probably knew how the story was going to end in the end (Since it was based on a real historical event), the director Ben Affleck did such a great job on sending the viewers into the world of late 1970s and put them right in the middle of the tension of Iranian revolution.

I've been always interested in Ben Affleck's work since 'the Town' and this film allowed me to see his potential to bring fresh perspective on real life events- finally something beyond of Boston or street crime. His idea beneath the Iranian embassy hostage crisis, Carter administration, and big-shot hollywood have came visually vivid and thought intriguing manner.

Argo was an excellent film overall. I won't be surprise if this movie gets nominated for the upcoming 85th Academy Award. "Argo Fu** Yourself"- I will never forget this quote from the movie.

Fall Into Nature.

A family walk along the Nassagaweya Canyon- Crawford Lake Conservation Area

Part of the Niagara Escarpment with its distinct dolostone landscape

Thanksgiving Dinner.

Home away from home- thanksgiving dinner with my aunt's family in Guelph, ON

Moosehead Lager.

Brewed and Bottled by Moosehead Breweries Limited, 

Canada's Oldest Independent Brewery located in Saint John, New Brunswick

Someone should've had really warned me that it's not sane to carry 28 bottles of beer...

...but 5 bucks off the regular price seems like a too good deal to be missed. 

Cheltenham Badlands.

Some geologists and ecologists now believe that we have entered the new geological era called 'Anthroposcene'- due to the human activities causing significant impact on the Earth's ecosystem. It is no doubt that human are the major cause to alter the environment; Canals can be built in few years where as rivers takes hundreds to be formed and the new land can be easily created by relocating debris into an ocean.

This location is not really an exotic scenery of nature, but rather the evidence of detrimental anthropogenic influence on nature. In the pre-1930s era, this land used to be part of a farm that grows crops. However, too much usage of synthetic fertilizer has caused the positive feedback of soil erosion and underlying Queenston shale has been exposed. The formation is red in colour due to exessive iron oxide deposits.

일부 지질학자들과 생태학자들은 인간이 지구 생태계에 미치는 영향이 증가함에 따라 새로운 지질연대기에 들어섰다고 생각한다. 몇백년이 걸리던 강의 생성과정은 인간의 힘으로 의해 몇달안으로 사라질 수 있고, 기계의 힘을 빌려 물이없는 육지에 수로를 낼 수 도 있다. 인간은, 경제적 필요성이 존재하면 바다를 간척해서 새로운 땅도 만들어낼 수 있는, 신적인 능력을 가졌다.

사진에 보이는 모습은 자연의 이국적이고 경의로운 모습과는 다소 거리가 먼, 인간의 무분별한 생태계 개발의 결과물이다. 이 곳은 원래 농작물을 기르던 농장이였으나 지나친 화학농약의 사용으로 인해 토양침식을 가속하였고 퀸스턴 셰일층이 노출되었다. 이 지층이 유난히 빨간색인 이유는 산화철(iron oxide)이 공기와 닿아 화학반응을 이르키기 때문이다. 

Bruce Peninsula National Park.

Coast of Georgian Bay- Tobermory, Ontario.

One of the core sites of the UNESCO's Niagara Escarpment World Biosphere Reserve.

Look at these straight-cut joints of dolostones and the clear- emerald colour of the lake.

I've never thought there could be such a place in Ontario.

MS Chi-Cheemaun.

Aboard MS Chi-Cheemaun (meaning 'big canoe' in Ojibwe language)

 Heading South Baymouth from Tobermory through the edge of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay.

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This particular scenery reminded me of the paint called 'To Prince Edward Island' by a Canadian wartime painter Alex Colville. I remember just standing infront of this work hanging in the National Gallery of Canada and stayed in awe for its unique colour contrast and composition. 

Espanola, Ontario.

Looking for the sedimentary intrusion at the Clear Lake.

There ain't no major like Environmental Geoscience (:

Parry Sound, Ontario.

 
The first night of the field trip was spent at the Comfort Inn just outside of the Parry Sound, Ontario- a small, beautiful township with population of 6,000. When the dusk of the night started to set, A group friends and I walked into a 5 Pin Bowling place called Georgian Lane.

Being in, perhaps, one of the few stores in the town that were opened in that evening was definitely a new thing for me. There were several groups of locals- variety of age groups- enjoying bowling on a saturday night. On the next lane to ours, there was a family with a teenaged daughter. On the couples of lane next to ours, there was a young boy playing bowl with the store clerk. On the farthest lane from ours, there was a group of three girls in their early 20s. With old pop music on the background, everything I see came so different and fresh in this place; maybe it was because I lived in cities through all of my life.

The best part was when I went to get two bottles of beers for myself and a friend. It was my first time to make a choice of drink in a bar and show my ID to proudly prove my age of majority. When the store clerk of the bowling alley checked my ID and realized that I've become 19 not so long ago, she just gave me free- 'on the house' drinks (:

Pancake Island.

[N 45.340613°  W 80.294270°]

3 hours drive towards North of Toronto.

Inhabited island of the Georgian bay, Ontario.

Around a billion years ago, these metamorphic rocks were the bottom portion of some 20 kilometre high Grenville Mountains (In other words, there was a mountain range higher than Himalayans in this very spot!). The formation of Grenville Orogeny was driven by the tectonic collision between northern part of Southern America and the Eastern part North America. Erosion of the mountain range has occurred ever since its creation (Mesoproterozoic; 1600Ma-1000Ma) and now their deep roots are exposed at surface due to isostatic rebound- and provides important key to understand the geologic past.

믿기 힘들겠지만 약 10억년전, 사진에 보이는 변성암들은 해발 2만미터 상당의 그랜빌 산맥의 최저층을 구성하고있었던 암석들이다 (이는 히말라야 최고봉 에베레스트산의 고도 7천미터를 훨씬 넘는 산맥이 바로 이곳에 존재하고있었음을 말한다). 그랜빌 산맥의 조산과정은 현재 남아메리카의 북쪽지방에 포함된 판과 북아메리카의 동부지방이 포함된 판이 함께 충돌하면서 생겨났다. 산맥의 침식은 생성된 시기 (중원생대; 16억- 10억년전) 부터 시작되어 현재는 그 높은 산맥의 흔적은 사라지고 지각평행을 통해 지상으로 올라온 그 뿌리만이 남아있으나- 쉽게 접근할 수 없는 산의 최저층 암석들이 지상에 노출되어 있기때문에 지질학적인 가치가 높다. 

Roy Thomson Hall.

September 27, 2012. Toronto Symphony Orchestra

Peter Oundjian as the conductor and Joyce Yang as the pianist

Kati Agócs. Shenanigan

Sergei Rachmaninoff. Piano Concerto No.2 in C Minor, Op. 18

Modest Mussorgsky. Pictures at an Exhibition (Orch. Maurice Ravel)

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This was a very special concert featuring two of my important classical pieces from high school memory. 1) I played a solo intro of the Pictures at an Exhibition with bass clarinet back in grade 10- pretty significant moment for a boy who had no interest in music to start contributing and taking own time off to practice the single melody line. I've always thought that the majestic-ness of this piece is that of Brahms'. 2) Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No.2 was the very first classical piece that I've went to listen with the girl whom I liked back in grade 11. That concert at the National Art Centre was one of the many ones that I was going to see with her in that season.

무소르그스키의 '전람회의 그림'과 라흐미나노프의 피아노 협주곡 2번-- 고등학교의 기억이 베어져있는 두곡을 토론토 심포니에서 다시 들을 수 있는기회가 있었다. 1) 교외활동으로서 특정한 열정없이 참여하던 오케스트라에서, '전람회의 그림'의 유명한 프롬나드 도입부분을 베이스 클라리넷 솔로로 맞게됨과 동시에 클래식음악에 흥미를 갖게되는 큰 계기가되었다. 이 후 '베토벤 바이러스'를 통하여 더욱더 이분야에 빠져든걸로 짐작된다.

Noranda Earth Sciences Library.

One single library dedicated to the Department of Earth Sciences

지구과학과를 위한 도서관

97 St.George Street.

Expanded part of the Rotman School of Management

역사적 보존가치가 있는 건축물에 모던하게 덧붙치는거- 이게 토론토 대학 및 도심 곳곳에서 흔이 볼 수 있는 건축양식인거같다.

Constructing a new building over a historical architecture seems like a quiet popular method that is being used around the university and the city in general.

X for Pedestrian.

2012 Fall Semester.

All of these are my required readings for this semester- so technically I would 

already gone through  all of these at least once by the end of next couple of months. (o.0)

EESB04H3 Principles of Hydrology: I already love this course just because professor Carl Mitchell, my favourite lecturer from the freshman year is teaching. I can't say that hydrology has been my subject of passionate interest, but it apparently has been for the professor, and it's going to be an interesting small- interactive class (~80 students).

EESB15H3 Earth History: Two field trips are already on schedule. This course is pretty much an extension of the introductory course that I took last year, physical geology with professor Nick Eyles. By the way, he has recently received AAPG Geosciences in the Media Award for his journalistic achievements and contributions toward the public understanding of geology. The documentary series from CBC, Geologic Journey, became one of the most watched scientific series in Canada and now part of the high school science curriculum.

STAB22H3 Statistics 1: They said it's similar to Data Management course from high school and yes it is. They also said things aren't going to stay the same after the midterm, so I'll definitely watch out. I couldn't find out much about this course until the first lecture, because the instructor posted the course syllabus on his own website instead of the main course management site  *sigh*

CHMA10H3 Chemistry 1: When I finished high school with shameful Chemistry 12 mark, I didn't feel bad because it was going to be some subject that I'm not gonna look back. Well, that attitude had to be changed as my career goal slightly shifted over the year. I'm already putting much 'efforts' and 'devotion', so hopefully the feedback would be good.

BIO120H1 Adaptation & Biodiversity: It was a bit intimidating to take because I never took biology course in my life. But thank god this course is a offered by the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, not the Department of Cell & Systems Biology). I don't have to know what 'Eukaryote' or 'Oligosaccharide' means- instead I focus on evolution of species and effects of environmental biomes .

Lecturers, Professor James Thomson and Professor Spencer Barret, both from the states, seemed like very interesting people. They both love outdoors and enjoy doing field research around the globe- how cool is it to show pictures of cottage in Colorado where he spends summertime and do research! Too bad the course is too big (1400 students on afternoon lecture and 350 students on evening lecture) and I won't get a chance to talk to them. #UofTProblems

September 20, 2012.

Today marks the 19th year of my birth; time to leave behind the adolescence years and enter the new phase of my life. Or perhaps the transition has actually been happening and today is just an another- fully lived day of my life. 

I'm just grateful for what I've achieved so far and what I have at the moment- the supports from my parents and my close family including my uncles, aunts, and grandparents. As much as I'm grateful for the 'present', I can hardly share my level of excitement on the upcoming years of my life that are yet to come.

Being a bilingual with cross-cultural mind, with the ability to live and think independently, jointly together with my desire to pursuit and discover my passions and interests will come handy in the near future, which won't be so far away.

(Oh yeah- now I'm also legal to drink and buy alcohol from LCBO!)

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생일. 내가 태어난지 벌써 19년이나 지난 오늘이다.  한국 나이로는 이미 스무살이 된지 꽤 됬지만, 만 나이로는 아직도 열아홉이라는 사실이 반갑고- 또 다행스럽게 느껴진다. 나이가 어려서 좋은것중 한가지가, 사회생활이나 커뮤니케이션에 미흡한 점이 있어도 많이 이해한다는것이다 (혹은 그만큼의 기대를 하지않거나). 노마드적인 성장과정 ㅋㅋㅋ 때문에 인연을 오래 지속하고 대인관계를 활성화 하는데 주력을 하지못했었는데, 앞으로는 그런 점을 고쳐 나가고 싶다.

원래 이것이 생일날 하는 전통(?) 인지는 잘 모르겠지만, 한국에 계신 부모님과 조부모님 그리고 세계 각국에 퍼져있는 가족분들한테 감사하다는 말씀을 드리고싶다. 어렸을때는 몰랐던거지만 참 가족분들을 사랑과 관심을 항상 많이 받고 자랐고- 지금도 그 사랑이 변함없음에 많은 용기를 받고있다. 특히 부모님이 주신 교육적/경제적 기회는 나의 발전을 위한 중요한 밑거름이 될것임을 의심치 않는다.

아 ㅋㅋㅋ 진심을 다해 쓴 문장이긴 하지만 표현의 방법이 그런건지 한국어가 그런건지 참 어색하다. 마치 어렵고 생소한 용어들로 가득찬 아빠의 박사학위 논문에, 맨뒷페이지에 한국어로 실려있는 감사의글과 흡사한 느낌이다.

Varsity Stadium.

Home to the Varsity Blues, athletic teams of the University of Toronto

September 18, 2012.

무엇인가 되고싶다는것- 지금까지는 막연한 머릿속 상상으로만 있었지만- 내가 이분야쪽으로 더 나아가고, 이분야의 직업이 갖고있는 라이프 스타일을 원하는 마음이 점점 커지고있다.

아직까지는, 아니 당분간은 내가 이분야가 딱 내것이라는 확정을 지을 수 없기에 어떤 분야인지 공개하기가 꺼려지지만, 꿈이 생긴것같다.

생각 하는것만으로도 심장이 쿵쾅거리고 모든걸 해낼수 있는 이느낌, 정말 좋다.

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These thoughts have been roaming my head for a while and I finally admit it: I think I have new sets of long term goals- including a dream career and life style that I desire.

It would be hard to reveal the details anytime soon, but I can say that, in terms of academics, I'm already on the cruise control towards where I want to head.

The idea makes my heart beat faster and gives meaning to wake up early in the bed. I love it.

College Fashion.

What a big, semi-enforced purchase.

I try not to buy clothings in Canada because of the expansive price, but this is an exception.

This thing better protects me from corrosive chemicals during a lab session.

Bus Entrance Only.

Off-Campus Living.

$450. Located next to the campus. All utilities included with free internet and laundry.

New ground for the new academic year- this is going to be my home for next 8 months!

College Essentials.

Using free delivery service from Wal-Mart and choosing Danby product for its price... 

seems like the summer is over and I'm back to being a college student indeed

Loading Bay.

We all spend longer than we would like waiting around in airports.

Cat Tub.

(= ･ ｪ･=)  "어.. 자네 어디 가나?"

 멀리 가는데 이런 아쉬운 마음도 못알아주는 얄미운 녀석..

나 없으면 같이 숨바꼭질이랑 우다다 할 사람도 없잖아 

(= ･ ｪ･=)    "응 그래. 잘다녀와"

Seoul Museum of History.

"Seoul, Now and In The Making... 서울, 오늘 그리고 내일..."

Evolution of Seoul as a capital city from its prehistoric period to the megacity it is today.