Friday, November 07, 2008

DVD Bonanza

It was poor-peoples' day at the DVD rental place(200 yen per dvd) so I borrowed a bunch of films.

"Mister Lonely" directed by Harmony Korine, "Modern Times" directed by Charlie Chaplin, "Coffee And Cigarettes" directed by Jim Jarmusch, "Naqoyqatsi: Life As War" directed by Godfrey Reggio and "The Sting" directed by George Roy Hill.

I watched Mister Lonely in the evening. The story is irresistible; a Michael Jackson lookalike living in Paris meets a Marilyn Monroe lookalike who invites him to live in a commune for lookalikes in the Highlands of Scotland. It's the type of film I could watch for the rest of my life. In fact, I think I will.

Thursday, November 06, 2008

Terrie Lloyd Talk

A businessman called Terrie Llyod gave a talk at the Tokyo PC Users Group. I love attending the meetings, it's like being in a Glengarry, Glen Ross. Everyone is so desperate. There was even a mineral water salesman. When he introduced himself he tried to sell mineral water. There were two clowns who claimed to be getting energy from hydrogen. It's all so funny yet so tragically sad, like Japan.

Llyod's talk was about starting software companies in Japan, then selling them to foreigners. Someone should tell him that there's already too much software.

Saturday, November 01, 2008

Before The Devil Knows You're Dead

The first of the month is cheap cinema day in Japan so I watched some cheap cinema in Ebisu.

Ebisu is a lovely place, close to Shibuya but very different in character. Before watching the film I went to Good Day Books. Although I have many books, I felt it necessary to buy some more. Buying books at Good Day Books is very unpleasant for several reasons. The books are expensive, their condition is poor and most of them are trashy novels which the dumb Americans here read. The main reason that shopping at Good Day Books is so unpleasant is that the owner is a total, utter, fucking cunt.

Despite the above, I bought "Secrets And Lies: Digital Security in a Networked World" by Bruce Schneier and "Call For The Dead" by John Le Carre.

The cheap cinema I watched was "Before The Devil Knows You're Dead", directed by Sidney Lumet. Good, but grim.