MOTD

I have to admit that it is a good while since I purchased furniture polish. However I was surprised to find that the local supermarket no longer stocks my favourite in the squeeze bottle. The only choices are aerosols or some kind of pre-soaked rag. Since my polish supply was running critically low I bought what I thought was the nearest alternative and today I put it to good use. What I hadn't anticpated was that the orangeness was something on the overwhelming side. I realise that associating lemon with polish is as arbitrary as linking pine scent with disinfectant but orange polish is too much of a reach. The other weird aspect is that it has oil in it. At first I thought that this was some kind of marketing ploy - the oil attracts more dust so you have to buy more oil etc. but then I realised it was a natural adaptation to the marked dustiness of the region (yes, crackmonkey, even more dusty than the peninsula) as the oil traps the dust on the furniture allowing it to be harvested. For that I am willing to forgive having the room smell like some kind of bizarre Mediterranean cocktail.

Curiosity bade me pay a fresh visit to the Expensive Tripods store across the street from me as, hidden among the Sliks in the window I had spotted what looked like a direct replacement for my old Quantaray that had been injured in my Welcome-to-Illinois car crash and had only survived Nigel's wedding by being strapped together with wire and a bootlace. The Promaster (which is clearly from the same factory as the Quantaray) was actually about $10 below the average web price so I snapped it up before they realised. Just to repay this affront to expensiveness I noticed that they had an old second-hand Pentax ME body on the shelf and when I asked how much they wanted for it the shopkeeper told me $160 (!). At least he had the decency to look sheepish.

I finished Choke in short order. "Weird" isn't the right word, but it's the first word that comes to mind. I have no idea (and probably don't want to know) where Mr. Palahniuk gets his ideas. Very good. Somewhat more like Fight Club than Lullaby. Same kind of rhythm. Ending still not as good as it could be. One aspect I like is that he isn't afraid of having a minor character enter from stage left and mess with the narrator's mind, in this case it was a monologue from Mrs. Tsunimitsu. It reminds me a little of Shakespeare. Maybe I'm actually ready for Shakespeare now. Having had the man's work ruined by being forced down my throat in English Lit classes maybe now's the time to check him out again. Ran is a great film but I should really get to know the actual Lear.

I watched 《一个都不能少》, a recent acquisition by the library. I had thought it was going to be like 《我的父亲母亲》 but it turned out to be a cross between 《凤凰琴》 and 《秋菊打官司》. Zhang Yimou raises it a little above yet another social study by basing it upon a true story and using the actual people instead of actors.

Time for a refreshing glass of fruit juice before bedtime...