I do indeed love the ever evolving vampire archetype. I like how it hints at something immortal and parasitic buried deep inside human consciousness.

So it's quite enjoyable to see how vampires seem to be over-running the cultural landscape lately. I have no interest in seeing _Twilight_...mainly because I'm not 14. But I don't condemn it. 14 year olds should be allowed their version!

And I haven't really been reading any of the other books...or been watching any of the other recent television shows and movies. They'll be there later if I want them.

It's just cool that it's out there!

Watching the news earlier...

It seems that Australia has way too many kangaroos. The reason? They usually sell kangaroos to Russia because the Russians eat them. But Russia has banned kangaroo meat because a lot of it is "bootleg" and doesn't meet their health guidelines. So now there are too many kangaroos.

Russians eating kangaroos. Not something I would have thought of!

If you're so inclined and you actually celebrate any of them :)

Myself...some obligatory family stuff...so I'll see you back here in a couple of days.

It was on the news today that the Islamic militants that my country is fighting in Afghanistan and Pakistan were able to monitor the robot drone planes that they use...using software they bought for 26 dollars. Supposedly it's harder to break into satellite television than it was to do this.

Perhaps we should outsource our war to the satellite and cable television companies.

There's also a bit of uproar because Afghanistan made a deal to let China run a huge copper mine instead of an American company. The usual "How dare they do that to us after all we've done for them" crap. But really, should the US want long term business interests in Afghanistan? Let China have it. In another 15 or 20 years it's probably going to be their turn to invade that place anyway. Might as well get a head start.

Just want everyone to know I'm still reading their entries...things have just been busy. So I might not reply to anything for a little while.

Happy Holidays!

It seems that this Adam Lambert is pissing people off. He made out with a guy and did a bunch of S&M stuff during a performance on ABC. Supposedly ABC is really pissed off.

Finally somebody from that over-rated and over-hyped talent show they call American Idol did something worth talking about....for a couple of minutes.

Then there's Twilight. Lots of people seem to loathe it. But what's the point of hating something designed for 14 year olds? I'd rather see kids getting into vampire stuff than most of the crap they push on kids these days...like Hannah Idaho, or whatever her name is.

Well, I was watching the news and they started talking about how many men in Korea wear special shoes that make them seem much taller. Then the story moved on to discuss the obession that Korean parents have with making their kids as tall as possible. It seems these children are being subjected to all sorts of strange devices, medical procedures, acupunture, hormone shots, etc.

Then they interviewed some of these children, boys and girls, who feel inferior for being short and don't think they will have as much of a chance in life. One of them had to be 10 years old or less.

At the end one of the doctors presiding over this circus made the interesting observation that the best way to grow tall was to be happy and not have a lot of stress. Hmmmmm.

Perhaps if Koreans want taller children they should be mating with Norwegians?

I was walking down a sidewalk in Berkeley the other day. Two homeless people were talking. The first...a grizzled old guy with a beard says to the second, a woman hunched down sitting on the cement..."It doesn't matter anyway, we're all global now!" The woman replies by screaming "Shut up! Shut up!" and then making some squawking and sputtering noises.

It was like a European talking to a Bush voter.

I haven't been on here so much lately because I've allowed myself to be...distracted.

I'd been reading Japanese novels in French and Italian for a few weeks and slowly but surely I was pulled forward by the desire to look at the Japanese language itself. So I found a couple of books...thinking it wouldn't hurt to take a look. So complicated...two different and difficult "alphabets" as well as at least 1500 Chinese characters...and a language structure so very different from anything I've ever seen before. This would be the Mount Everest of languages!

So I've started climbing that mountain. I might fall off a cliff, give up, or burn out. But for now I can't resist that temptation.

Two weeks just to learn 3/4 of the first alphabet! By contrast, when I was flirting with Russian, it only took 2 or 3 days to get that alphabet.

We saw an Italian restaurant called "Cibo".

For some reason I've been attracted to Japan lately...so I've been watching some movies by a Japanese director named Takashi Miike.

The latest was a film called _Graveyard of Honor_. A very brutal film (be warned!)

But very interesting to watch. Miike's style reminds me of Kubrick on a certain level...it has that odd "objective" quality...but combined with a very good sense of action. (It seems he's friends with Tarantino...even having Tarantino play a role in one of his other movies).

_G of H_ also fascinates because the main character is so impulsive...and so stupid...you can't help but watch all the disasters that happen in his life...all because he never thinks...never reconsiders.

I haven't been on here much this week...been out trying to enjoy the last days of California summer...and reading.

But now it's 2am and I feel like doing some minor babbling.

First...found out on-line tonight that Ryu Murakami's books _Miso Soup_ and _Coin Locker Babies_ are being made into movies. _Miso Soup_ should be a Takashi Miike movie, but instead it's going to be an international effort...with William DeFoe as "Frank" (I assume). As long as it's not some watered down PG-13 American crap! No details on _CLBs_ yet...and I still have to read that one!

Second...for Spanish I couldn't help picking up the translation of _Drood_, by Dan Simmons. The funny thing is that for the Spanish edition they called it _La Soledad de Charles Dickens_. His last book, _The Terror_, they called _El Terror_....so why not _El Drood_! :)

Third...today they revealed on the TV that according to a survey only 23% of high school students in Oklahoma knew that George Washington was the first President of the USA. "Well, what would you expect of Oklahoma?" someone who knows anything about Oklahoma might ask. But how much better would any other state do? As I wrote in someone else's journal...America is 50% stupid!

Roberto Bolaño's _2666_ is finally out in Spanish. Which is odd, since it was originally written in Spanish.

It's over 1000 pages long. Quite a commitment! Makes me think of the time when, for no good reason, I read _Atlas Shrugged_. Why did I read that thing? I finished it...so it must not have been totally awful. Never figured out what the big deal was though...why people love it or hate it so much. I got the point, but it was so heavy-handed and exaggerated. It reminded me of those Doc Savage pulps from the 30s and 40s...but those were shorter and more fun.

Of course, B is a much better and more interesting writer that Rand!

...well, maybe something that would only disturb me.

I've started reading Ryu Murakami's _Ecstasy_ in French. So far...very interesting. But the thing that bothers me is that the original Japanese edition was published in 1993, yet it wasn't translated into French until 2003. And it hasn't even been translated into English at all!

That makes me wonder...How many other wild and interesting books remain concealed from me behind the high walls of incomprehensible languages?! Books that may never be translated into a form that I can read?

Well, today I finally finished the Clive Barker book and the Natsuo Kirino book. 1400 pages total of French and Italian. Need to pick shorter books for the next round!

Since most of my active friends don't live in the US, I thought I'd toss this out into internet land...

US television is heavily saturated with advertisements. I doubt it would be untrue to say that sometimes for every 10 minutes of actual tv show there will often be 3 or 4 minutes of commercials. A show that takes up 60 minutes on tv is usually only around 40 minutes long when you buy the DVD.

How does this compare to other places in the world?

Also, I find that most commercials make me less likely to buy a product or use a service because they are so stupid and annoying. The only exception might be advertisements for movies that look interesting to me.

Anybody else just hit the mute button?

District 9---the movie was much darker, had a lot more gore, and was a lot more frustrating than I would have thought based on the tv commercials. If you like sci-fi I would say see it...especially if you want something a bit different. Be ready not to like the main character!
Also, the film was made in South Africa...which I didn't know going into it.

Inglourious Basterds---I assume people will know if they want to see a Tarantino movie or not. But some things about the film surprised me. First of all, Brad Pitt is not the main character. Several characters get much more screen time than he does. Also (at least for an American) he is the only really big name actor in the film...it's almost a distraction when you do see him in it. Second...most of the movie is in French and German! Once again, I would say see it if you think it would be to your taste.

Just a good line I want to remember...from a Cuban-born writer named Daína Chaviano. I might write more about her later.

"Tal vez ya estemos muertos, pero al menos nuestros orgasmos disimulan la presencia del infierno"

(Perhaps we are already dead, but at least our orgasms conceal the presence of the inferno)

My appetite for books exceeds my capacity to consume them!

Recently I've entered a phase where I want to read modern Japanese literature. OK...no problem. I'm not hurting anyone :)

But, of course, I want to read them in the languages I've taught myself to read. So that makes it harder.

When guiltyquilty told me that a Ryu Murakami trilogy doesn't even exist in English I suddenly wanted it. Because I always get extra pleasure out of reading something that has yet to be translated into English. Never mind that I'm already reading something in French...the Natsuo Kirino book. And never mind that the exchange rate is MURDER right now! And I couldn't help but toss in a copy of _Les Bébés de la consigne automatique_.

But at least I also scored a Spanish translation of a Banana Yoshimoto book on-line today. I have openings for Spanish books right now!

For the Italian I have another Haruki Murakami in reserve. But I am enjoying the Clive Barker book right now.

I never thought this would be my hobby. I was a failure when I had to take languages in school!

I was looking through my CDs trying to find something I hadn't listened to in awhile...and I came across Frank Zappa's first album, _Freak Out!_.

Damn...1965...that album is more than 40 years old! A strange blend of 50's style rock and roll, psychedelia, social commentary, and experimentation.

It's amusing to hear lines from going on half a century ago like "...Mr. America walk on by, your schools that do not teach" or "Mr. America, try and hide the emptyness that's you inside" or the parts of the song _Trouble Every Day_ with its criticism of the media's obsession with getting the most sensational stories as quickly as possible.

The more things change...