HOLIDAY WEEKEND

Memorial Day in the USA, remembering the fallen, or at least paying lip service, nothing in TV except war movie marathons, and no traditional orgy of eating or drinking to soak up the time, so I actually decided to take a day or so off, and so, before this moment, I had not opened the lid of the laptop for almost thirty-six hours. I kinda felt I was entitled. Recent recall has, to say the least, been hectic, and, except for one or two highly notable pinnacles, it has been that worst of all possible hectics – the relentless pressure of the mundane.

I did, however, finally manage to see The Return of the King, and, as Larry Wallis might put it, was mightily impressed. “Now this”, I muttered, as Aragon cut his deal with the Army of the Dead, “is what you fucking call an epic.” Gollum just gets better and better and in a perfect world would have his own TV show. I was kinda choked up by the fate of the pachyderms of Mordor. I mean, it wasn’t their fault they were on the wrong side.

I’ve also pretty much burned out on CGI battlefields, and grow nostalgic for the days when epics like Waterloo or Lawrence of Arabia made use of the entire Yugoslav or Moroccan Army. They had a real tactical ebb and flow.

I knew up front that the Hobbits’ final encounter with Wormtongue – and what the ever-reactionary Tolkien made sound a whole lot like post-World War II Brit socialism – had been cut, but I still hope it will show up on the extended DVD that will undoubtedly be released in time for Christmas. All in all, however, I was well pleased, and will avidly watch it all again before the disc goes back to Blockbuster.

It’ll probably be months before I get round to seeing the big weekend movie, The Day After Tomorrow, and get to liken it to the way George Pal drowned New York in When Worlds Collide, but I have been catching all the Republican indignation that anyone dare suggest that the indiscriminate burning of fossil fuels is anything but the best possible way to treat the planet. I also discovered that we who are not flocking to Kerry, but are determined to see Bush out of office, have been given a name. We are the Bush-Haters. Hardly slick or original, but it does give a boy a sense of identity.

FROM THE EMAIL

Yukiko sends a climatic note for the other side of the Pacific, indicating I am not alone in my unease over global weather patterns...

We had the second typhoon of this year last week and about 40+ are expected by the end of October. As in L.A., the temperature keeps going up in Tokyo as well. The scientists have discovered recently that, if the buildings in Tokyo have a garden with trees on the roof, it will effectively lower the temperature in the city by 2-3C. Accordingly, some new enterprises have begun to develop the soil that weighs less, new plants that need less water, new watering system, etc. and more buildings have rooftop gardens now. A few years ago in a rural area, some toxic tropical mushrooms grew up in the forest due to the unusually hot weather. Since they looked exactly like the harmless ones that the locals usually eat, a man picked it up, ate it at home, and died. It's amazing how creative the nature can be to take its revenge on the human being.

CRYPTIQUE – Gojiro!