The Reader

January 19th, 2007 books

The Reader shouted my name over workstations, under lamps, loud and flat, as though a roll call. I suspect him of being my age, his high forehead, thin hair brushed into a tall curry puff and weariness made him out as older, possibly once divorced man. A new girl at the office deigned to kiss him at the Christmas party and was caught on film. It was daughterly and a chaste meeting on the cheek and very little was made out of it.
“Hello-oops,” said I. “I left your book at the office.”
“Wild Sheep Chase. Do you like it?”
“It’s alright – he’s not my favourite. How’s your day?”
The Reader barged on. “Who else do you read? Anything I can borrow?”
“Greene, Gunter Grass, Peter Carey. Or that chap who came and did a book signing…what’s his name – Theroux.”
“He came to Singapore? Recently? Was it in the papers?”
“I read it in a blog.”
“Power of the blog,” he said – noises without meaning is a speciality of sales persons.
He pouted and shook his head.
“What are you looking for?”
“Something mysterious or,” suddenly his voice dropped into a rasp, “sexy.”
“The Stranger at Plazo something,” I suggested more of the sex than mystery.
“What is it about?”
It is unsuitable to say sin and lust at the office. I hemmed and hawwed and came up with, “Difficult to say.”
He nodded, “No one understands.”
I nodded solemnly and went back to my work.

Shows to look forward to

January 8th, 2007 music, screen

My Fair Lady
I shrieked with joy when I saw the advertisments for the musical. I plan on watching it twice.

Forbidden Chestnuts
Jonathan Lim broke tradition by having it at this time. I was rather looking forward to the usual Chestnuts performance during Christmas season. The having of a legal consultant promises too much fun.

Everything But The Brain
Sounds promising.

The Pickle King
I enjoyed the Candlestickmaker and Krishnan’s Diary.

Secret Love In Peach Blossom Land
I remember gurgling like a child watching this film on television. Am pleased I got tickets for it. Not sure if it’s great enough to watch it twice.

Movies Recently Seen

January 6th, 2007 screen

Over a period of the weekend holidays, I did some work and watched all the good movies of 2006.

The Queen
It wasn’t a portrait of the Queen the advertisements led me to believe, nor one of Blair in his early days. It was more a carefully observed inside gossip made up with fictional dialogue. We don’t know what the Queen personally thinks about the whole affair but that is how she had behaved. Where there is fiction, it sits uneasily with the rest, badly imagined. (The bit about the stag, for instance, is sweet but feels like a foolish and out of place sentiment.) It was to me a documentary and the treatment of all in it, fair and sympathetic.

Ahem, found sgfilm.com where others more intelligent say something else very complimentary about the stag bit.

Confession of Pain
HK movie industry churns out fantastic stuff about police and thieves and this is one of them. High drama the way I like it. I was squeezing my bag in joy over this one. How I love the denouement, the inevitable conclusion and the inordinately apt English title – so many Chinese movies have bad titles. (The Chinese title Shang Change was less suitable due to its grandiosity.) The presentation of the problem as a detective story and the investigation dragged the story but it is only a blot in the dark horizon.

A curse upon yer paper houses

January 2nd, 2007 Uncategorized

Disgusting. One use to be able to whinge for hours, moaning about the lack of nice paper, be like birds about the parcel that’s coming any-time-now from half way around the world, or trawl through the seaweeds of google-groups for journal paper. Just 2 or 3 years ago, to find writing paper, one has to purchase from luxury shops, now they are popping up all over the place. Gone are those days one hungers about Rhodia, Miquelrius, Clairefontaine, Paperblanks, etc. What’s next? Pen Shows?

Remaining calm

January 1st, 2007 Uncategorized

I feel like the cartoon tonsils of lozenges advertisements. Aaaah…much better.

Recording passages in a log is something I think I can do.
Buying shelves, maybe if I figured out how to sneak it in without notice and chuck out my father’s never once referred reference books.
Twenty minutes to think – a bit difficult once one gets into the office: the urge to attack the enemy’s email pilings becomes strong and irresistable.
Resolving to read more books and magazines is luxurious habit for one who prefers to purchase than loan books, but yes, yes, would do that.
Reading correspondence – think a log on a blog serve the same purpose.