Ip Man: The Final Fight

A rash of biopics has come lately about Ip Man, the grandmaster of Wing Chun whose most famous pupil was Bruce Lee. Tonight I went to see "Ip Man: the Final Fight." Interested though I am, I probably wouldn't have gone to see the movie, in part because of high movie prices, but I won a pair of tickets through the blog Ashevegas by knowing the name of an obscure style (xingyi).

The movie is full of known names in the HK film world. It portrays the last years of Ip Man's life, from the time he arrives in HK and begins to teach (late 1940s) to his death in 1972. There's a lot of time spent eating and smoking and teaching, and there are a few set pieces of martial arts battles. The real purpose of the film is to impart Ip Man's philosophy of life, especially as a martial artist.

I enjoyed the film very much and thought the lead actor (Anthony Wong) did a really fine job of portraying the nuances of the character. As a recreation of a particular time in Hong Kong, it was excellent.

One jarring scene was when Ip Man met with "Bruce Lee" in a restaurant. This was after Lee had gone to the States and started teaching his own version of a martial art and also teaching non-Chinese. I don't know who decided that the guy they had playing Lee was suitable, but I'm here to tell you that he didn't look anything like Lee or move like him. In short, the whole scene rang false. But it was only one scene in an otherwise good movie.

Going to MARRS

This Wednesday I start as a volunteer with MARRS, the Mountain Area Radio Readers Service. Anyone who has trouble reading print can sign up to get a special radio over which they will receive the signal.

Different days have different focuses. I'll be reading news from 11.30 to 12.30, with another reader. We'll read everything, good bad and indifferent, no editorializing. We're not choosing what to like for our subscribers, just reading so they can keep up with news. Most of the papers seem to be local ones, Asheville, Black Mountain, Hendersonville, etc. If time permits, some national or international news will be read.

I like to read aloud so I think this will be a good fit. We'll see.

Sakeness

Finally got to go to the new sake brewery here in town, one of only four such breweries in the country. They had a kickstarter a ways back and I pledged but it didn't get funded. When they tried again, I couldn't afford to pledge, but I've been following their progress.

Last week they had their grand opening of the bar part (the brewery proper has to wait on official permits). Right now, they're serving about 50 different sakes along with small plates.

I went with Mary-Anne last Thursday. Our small plates were: pork gyoza, spicy tuna salad, and ginger "pesto" noodles with shrimp. All delicious.

We got a flight of four sakes to taste:
1. Asa Buraki Naburyu Junmai "Southern Stream" -- medium dry, smooth gentle flavors, cypress/cedar notes, rich round body.
2. Momokawa G Joy junmai Genshu -- barrel matured, nutty vanilla layered flavors reminiscent of fine rum.
3. Niwa No Uguisu Tokuetsu Junmai "Garden Nightengale" -- bold, rice forward, slightly sour, essence of dried autumnal fruits.
and
4. Kizakura "blossom of peace" Kyoto plum brewed ume-shu -- plums soaked in sake for three months, lightly sweet, round lush fruit flavor.

This is my preferred order (though #4 is definitely a dessert sake so we kept it for last). Mary-Anne's order is a little different but I can't remember it.

The total was $55 for two (includes tip): not too bad, I thought.

Blue Kudzu Sake
372 Depot St.
Asheville NC