Daily Archives: August 13, 2014

Japan, Society

Lauren Was Before My Time, But She Evokes Memories in My Life

Lauren and Boggie. That’s what most of us remember. But recollections of them together are framed by where we saw them on the big screen. And that brings back memories. . .

I think the first place I saw this movie aside from small-screen TV may have been an old theater In Takadanobaba, Tokyo.

Back in the 1980s Takadanobaba was a haven for students, local and foreign. Cheap dorms, cheap cafes, cheap bars and a dingy, cheap movie theater that ran amazing series of foreign films. The theater is likely long gone by now.

Oh, gosh, my mind is tickling at the answer, but it’s not quite there.

“Waseda Shochiku”? Something like that. Anyway…

I’d walk by the theater every few weeks and sign up for series of Bunuel and other Euro masters. Saw a lot of stuff in many languages that I didn’t understand, but the lighting, the photography, the acting remains in my mind to this day.

it was a perfect place to watch Sam play it again.

Hot damn, a Google search says it’s still alive? Hard to comprehend, but wonderful.

 

Books, Editing, Writing

Ya Gotta Know When to Put the Novel Down

OK, I’m wimping out.

I’m about three quarters of the way through a novel, and it’s 9:30 pm.

I figure one or two characters that I like are going to get killed in the next chapter or two, so that the hero can righteously explode into revenge, and I don’t want to have all that on my mind just before bed.

It’s a struggle.  Can I put it down? I hate putting novels down, if I’m into them.

But I also hate trying to fall asleep emotionally roiled.

Tonight I’m figuratively staring at the sinister muzzle of the 9mm S&W pistol pointed at me, and am complying with the order: “Put the book down, and step away.”

I will finish it tomorrow in the bright light of day.

Editing, Society, Technology, Writing

Tales from Spam Folder Subject Lines

Occasionally I like to skim through the subject lines in my email spam folder, and construct silly stories from them. It’s like being a kid and playing with those spiral-bound books in which you could individually flip sections to rewrite stories, often with funny results.

Here’s a mashup from my spam folder today:

“Explore Russian Dating Online” it’s OK because there is a “Frenzy Over Herpes Cure (Latest Discovery)” If things go bad, “Do THIS When a Gun is Pointed at Your Head” and if things go really bad “Many Threw Their Glasses Away After Seeing This”

🙂