Hey ho, my computer is busted, I am writing this from… I am writing this from someplace besides home, a place that has a working computer, a warm, safe place. Yes, the computer has been acting up for months. Recently it has been freezing up in mid-boot, requiring 5-10 attempts before it is up and running. Friday night was the last time that worked. Now it just gives me a black screen. Two weeks ago I told me neighbour that I was thinking of getting a new computer since that one had been acting up, I guess it overheard me and is shutting me out. Oh well. Good news is that there is a new iMac coming out that looks really yummy, I think it might be a good time to make a switch… Luckily most of the data has been backed up, except for maybe a few photos that I have taken recently.
What happened? Saturday we did major cleaning all mornign, Zen took a nap, and then in the late afternoon we went to west coast park. What a cool place – a huge playground with all sorts of climbing things and obstacle courses and rope pyramids for kids to climb and jump around, slides, swings, see-saws, sand. Great. We walked around, saw the kites flying, the fishing boats, the campers. Very nice, but a little on the small side perhaps. Took a cab back to have a satay dinner at the food court near our house and drink beer. Yummy. Sunday we went shopping in the morning, and I played guitar all afternoon while Naoko watched her TV dramas on VCD and Zen slept. In the evening we watched Love Actually, or something like that. Monday was a frustrating day. Lots of work all day long, then missed my bus by seconds in Clementi, then other things. Yuck. Watched the first half of the Searchers, an old John Wayne film. Tuesday was an OK day, did an interview, got some work done, hung out, ate, drank, was merry. In the evening watched the second half of the Searchers. OK. Checked out a few Cowboy Junkies tabs, and found out that it is pretty easy to play Misguided Angel, Blue Moon Revisited, and To Love Is To Bury. Nice. Wednesday was a bit of a frustrating day – new things keeping me busy in the morning, not getting that much work done, called in to comment on the TV, tried to prepare but then there was a long meeting called, did the interview but it wasn’t so good. Oh well. Got home at 9, finished dinner by 9:45, got Zen to sleep by 10, and I watched the rest of Godzilla vs. Mothra. Sleep by 11:30. Finished reading Ugly Americans, so I can get back to A Man In Full, that well-written but dreary book. Now it is Thursday, let’s see what the day holds in store…
Zen’s Top Ten:
1. Happy Birthday to you – traditional
2. I’m A Little Dinosaur – Jonathan Richman
3. Thank you, Mr. Bus Driver – traditional
4. Sunday Monday… – traditional
5. ABC song – traditional
6. Starfish and Coffee – Prince
7. Spiderman Theme – the Ramones
8. The Wheels on the Bus – traditional
9. Down at the station – traditonal
10. The Man in Me – Bob Dylan
11. Dead Flowers – the Rolling Stones
Book Review – Ugly Americans: A book about a football guy who goes to Japan to work at a hedge fund. Not knowing anything about the financial industry, he graduates from a blind button pusher to a guy who figures out how to make half a billion dollars on a hunch. Yeah, right. Told in a quick style, it quickly covers all the bases but never really convinces – his evil boss is a little too creepy, or maybe not creepy in a very convincing way. The book is supposed to be factual, with the names of all the players changed to protect their identities, but actually I think it is more like a work of fiction than anything else. Still, the writer is a good writer on a technical level and he knows his craft well, painting a nice picture of stuff that he definitely didn’t witness, and probably just dreamed up in his head after reading a few articles and talking to a few people. Nice portrait of Nick Leeson too.
DVD Review – the Searchers: John Wayne as a cowboy who searches for a kidnapped girl, a girl who grows up to be a young Nathalie Wood. Fascinating portrait of the wild west of the time and all of its human tragedies, but ultimately pretty weak in plot with a terrible ending. Not sure how much of it is savage reality (they were tough times) and how much of it is pure racism against native Americans, but with hokey “read-out-loud letters to catch up and all that. Nice performance from the decrepit mystical waiter from Dale Cooper’s dream sequence in Twin Peaks, Hank Worden, this time a much younger old man (at age 55) than he was in Twin Peaks, a rambling geezer called Mose. I last saw him as the decrepit trailer manager in Every Which Way But Loose.
DVD Review – Love Actually: An omnibus film that follows the lives of a dozen characters. Well scripted, great performances, an interveaving of stories that are strong and weak, funny and sad. Hugh Grant is OK as the prime minister, Colin Firth is not bad as a man whose heart was broken, and then there is Kimberly from 24 showing up as a sex kitten. Great use of Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now” in the superior Alan Rickman/Emma Thompson passage. And then there’s Mr. Bean… Score is a bit obnoxious, thoug.
DVD Review – Godzilla vs. Mothra: See Godzilla, see the Mothra twins, see Mothra, see the Mothra caterpillars swimming across the ocean! Rediculous early Godzilla movie is still loads of fun, especially for the hooded brow and the static eyes, and the close ups of the legs – you get a great view of the rubber suit. Corporate greed is investigated in this one, and there are funny red-painted “islanders.” This DVD is the flip side of King Kong, and at the end there are funny previews of other Godzilla films. Godzilla’s Revenge looks good – King Ghidra, and Godzilla Jr. to boot!!