So many things going on in the world like a global health crisis spreading to new countries by the day, the Bernie Sanders "Feel the Bern" campaign taking over the Democratic party, Sprint and T-Mobile merger finally happening, the Tokyo Summer Olympics possibly being canceled in what would be an unprecedented move, but ere I am only thinking about sharks. The Chinese word for shark, by the way, is one I've never had to write out and always thought was "killer fish," which is part of the reason I've always associated them with brutality and savage tendencies, but apparently the word is a combination of sand and fish. Hmm.
Sharks are fascinating creatures and probably has the widest range of villain-hero perceptions in common culture. It's known for shark attacks at various beaches in the US during the summer, so much so that there's a "shark week" every year on the Discovery Channel, there's "Jaws," but then there's the cuteness angle with the "Baby Shark" song that's spreading throughout the world with the notable YouTube video being that of people in Turkey singing the song to a baby to calm him during a traffic jam. MJ had a phone cover case in the shape of a shark that strangers and friends alike commented on and gave a thumbs up to, there was the Left Shark dancer at the Super Bowl halftime show with Katy Perry, and our dodgeball team even had a Shark Halloween theme one year. Most animals usually tilt one way towards being a hero/underdog (see gorillas, pandas, cubs, dogs, mice, small birds, chipmunks) or are strictly villainous (snakes, vultures, hyenas, etc.)
Sharks may be on my mind due to the recent surge of warmth in L.A., reminding all Angelenos that summer's never that far away in Southern California and can start essentially any time. It also makes me long for spending long summer days and nights on a tropical island, with waves washing ashore and brilliant sunrises and sunsets fading into the cool summer night. MJ loves urban locations, as do I......most of the time. But something about the isolation and being at one with nature is alluring about an outdoor barren paradise is primitive for humans, until I realize there'd be no or limited cell phone service, and probably little contact with other humans. I've become a very noncommunicative human recently, going to work, sitting at my work, doing a brief lunch run, and then coming back from work, barely talking to anyone in the process. Forget speaking other languages to work on conversational skills, I don't even speak English to people anymore. It does take a toll on my psyche and overall urge to want to speak to other human beings, as human animals.
And that's kind of why Survivor is so fascinating, as it has been for 40 seasons (Yes, inevitably as Survivor expected I, like many other Survivor fans, just had to tune into this latest all-winners season, even though I'm a little jealous and snarky that some of these players have gotten 4 or 5 chances to win 1 million dollars and keep getting more chances the more and more they're on, in a neverending cycle, and one will win an additional $2 million on top of the $1 million they've already won at the end of this season for essentially being on a TV show and living their lifelong dream of being on Survivor, once again). Incidentally, in the latest episode there was a shark getting trapped in a trap set by Sandra who gets viciously dragged out by Tony, and I felt for that shark.......just minding its own business, trying to navigate the ocean that is life, and then as fate would have it being forced to become lunch for human beings that just came onto the island to film a TV show and to try to win money. Anyway, my point about Survivor is it's a game of human interactions and communication and trust, played on a stage where normally there would be no humans, or where there might be one human stranded and cut off for civilization.....but instead on these islands very human things like greed, betrayal, trust, deceit, and conquest happen. Quite a show, and I've been sucked in for 20 years.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
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