Older blog entries for nutella (starting at number 182)

I recently watched 秦 頌. The English title is The Emperor's Shadow but this really loses in the translation as I think there is a play on words between the first character and 琴 (Chinese lute or guitar) which are both pronounced the same. The story could almost be seen as part two of 荊 軻 刺 秦 王 as it picks up from where that one ended but it is not from the same studio and the two films appeared in the wrong temporal order. The styles are also quite different as while 荊 軻 刺 秦 王 has a real epic feel, 秦 頌 relies on the characters with the events being more of a backdrop. I wonder what happened to Qing Xu as this was her second and last film. The other I watched recently was The Year of Living Dangerously which I had seen a long while ago. While most of the film is fascinating the Gibson/Weaver romance is too awkward and spoils things. I can see why Linda Hunt was the one who ended up with the Oscar.

Today the company treated our division to a trip to The Botanic Gardens which was very nice as the weather was perfect. We also had good food and drink. The Human Resources folk tried to organise team building exercises but made the mistake of opening the bar beforehand so participation was far from 100%. In the free period after lunch we actually did far more voluntary exploring than the pre-lunch exercise had requested. There wasn't that much in bloom so I'll have to pop back at a more suitable time of the year.

A good thing about the trip was that it dragged me out of the office to see nature and talk to people. I needed that as I am in a particularly introspective mood at the moment. I can identify a few causes for my disquiet but cannot do much about most of them. I have no idea what the future will bring and so should try and enjoy the moment rather than brooding and waiting for something to change. Thankfully work is pretty busy so there are plenty of real tasks to keep me occupied.

I was reading something recently that noted that in one Shakespeare play there is a stage direction;
Exit, pursued by a bear
and thought it was the coolest potential non sequitur I had heard in a long time. I then spoiled the mood by googling to find in which piece the phrase resided. Naturally a horde of mouth breathing innurnet users have already appropriated the text and thus greatly reduced the coolness value. At times like this I wonder if the writers of internet worms have the same mentality as the folk from the planet Krikkit. Maybe one day they surfed the internet and looked at the drivel, the anger and the home pages with nothing but pictures of cats. Then they finally decided, "It'll have to go".

So are trucking firms in this country run by religious (or quasi-religious) groups, or is trucking simply a sect unto itself? While on my travels I saw the usual Covenant and CRST trucks (often with quotes or tracts on the back) and now they have been joined by Bar-Nun and even G.O.D. transport firms. I can certainly see how extended periods on the road, often in the middle of nowhere, would lead to an instrospective and possibly spiritual frame of mind but the bias seems to be towards Christianity. Maybe there truly are no atheists in truck cabs.

lukas, sorry we didn't get a chance to meet up (and I realised too late that you might not know my real name anyway - how would the Hyatt react to someone ringing up and asking for "nutella"?). I'm under orders, by Anita and Sal and people I didn't get to see, to return in the near future. I didn't get to see my ex-landlord and family and didn't go to Rock Bottom so I have plenty to do.

Much work has piled up while I was away. I need a vacation to recover from this.

EAST COAST NOTES
Saturday: Left at lunchtime. Drove as far as Cranberry, PA
Sunday: On to the Washington D.C. area. Wandered Bethesda at night and marvelled at the amount of change.
Monday: At the meeting. In the evening drove past my old apartment and up as far as Gaithersburg. Even more change. Amazed I didn't get lost.
Tuesday: More talks. Met Anita and Salvatore in the evening and tried out a new Italian restaurant in Silver Spring.
Wednesday: Visited my old lab at NIH. Horrified by the omipresent tight security and terrible lack of parking. Impressed by amount and size of new buildings. Closed account at FCU. Metro downtown. Trains don't appear to have been cleaned since I left the area six years ago. Walked from Union Station to Washington monument. Visited Freer and Sackler galleries (tight security again) (struck by the small exhibition of work by Yayoi Kusama). Walked up to Chinatown then back around to Union Station. Back to Anita and Sal's. Watched À la folie... pas du tout (English title: "He loves me. He loves me not."). I haven't seen Amélie but I was still fooled.
Thursday: At Anita's suggestion I visited the live butterfly exhibition at the nearby Brookfield Gardens. Very peaceful until the parties of schoolkids arrived. Headed for the Virginia side of Great Falls Park and was pleased to see that the recent rains made for some good flows. Hiked my usual route along the cliff top trail to Sandy Landing and then back along the Matildaville Trail and Old Carriage Road. Trails in much poorer condition than I remember. Sushi at Sushi Sushi in Bethesda and then an early night.
Friday: Drove I95/turnpikes to Yang's in Groton, CT. Made excellent time until western CT which was at a crawl. Thankfully Yang had been delayed at work so we arrived almost simultaneously. Ate at her favourite Thai restaurant. Watched Babette's Feast.
Saturday: Breakfast at iHOP. Headed for Newport, RI. Toured The Breakers. Walked the oceanside trail. Big mistake as it was treacherous in places and Yang was wearing sandals. Made it to the end and toured Marble House which is smaller but more artfully decorated than The Breakers. Bus back to the car. Ate at the famous "Paul's Pasta Shop" in Groton. Watched The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition (or most of it before dozing off).
Sunday: Drove to New Haven. Train to NY Grand Central. Food at a nearby diner. Subway to Yankee Stadium. Watched humiliation by Tampa Bay. Subway back downtown. Visited The Frick Collection. Accompanied Yang window shopping on Fifth Avenue. Ate at Grand Central. Train and car home.
Monday: Up fairly early. On road by 7:00am. After about 1000 miles and 15 hours almost non-stop I was back in Chi town.

Okay, I am out of here.

lukas, if you want to meet up then give me a call at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Bethesda anytime on Monday or Tuesday. I'm potentially free Tuesday night through Thursday night although I'll be staying with friends in Silver Spring on Wednesday and Thursday nights. I aim to try out the infamous Rock Bottom while in Bethesda. Oh crap, I hadn't heard about this. I LOVED that place! Friday morning I head north. I should be back in Chi town on the night of the 15th.

elise, how was Mexico?

Attended an interesting scientific presentation at work. I asked a fairly detailed question based upon studies I had been involved with at NIH. This must have been noted as one of our scientific directors collared me afterwards and wants me to write some kind of review/proposal on this topic. I am flattered, interested but have so little free time it is not funny.

I am really looking forward to next week. I am so busy I didn't even borrow any tapes from the library last night(!). I returned 大紅燈籠高高掛 which I had first watched soon after it was released (1991). Knowing a little more about the background to the fillum I enjoyed it a great deal.

So, a Mozilla goes into a bar and asks for a beer. The barman naturally asks for payment, to which Mozilla replies,
"Put it on my tab."

(I'll get my coat...)

Beaujolais! I've had two replies from east coast folk concerning my upcoming trip. It looks as if I'll spend a couple of vacation days in Maryland before heading up to eastern Connecticut and then head home from there. I am beginning to get really excited about this. On the down side it looks as if work will be especially hectic before I leave.

Finished the Band of Brothers series. Watched Monsters Inc on Sunday. I forgot how darned good it is. I am a big kid.

Latest haul from the library included Girl, Interrupted (Susanna Kaysen's autobiography, not the film). Fascinating reading. Shades of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest but without the lighter side. Considering the spare and discontinuous style of the book I am impressed that a coherent screen script was the result.

Had the results from my recent physical at work. Still alive. I found out that the set of HepB shots I received back in London are not offering full protection so I have to be given a booster series. I was given the first jab before I could escape. My arm aches.