This week is going to be mostly rain. Part of walking around during the rain is seeing the umbrella casualties that didn’t make it home or the trip to work. Some umbrellas look genuinely messed up, others look like they could’ve made it. Clearly not everyone has mastered umbrella-fu. My umbrella has one broken joint, but I rather enjoy manipulating my umbrella during sudden changes of wind direction.
When I got home on Thursday I couldn’t help but notice FLIES EVERYWHERE. Okay, maybe not everywhere, they were mostly huddled around the nearest light source which happened to be above my desk. I think I have very good hygiene and even though I cook I’m good about not leaving food out. That being said, maybe there was a fly getting freaky on some trash that I waited a day or so too long to take out and this was the end result. Seriously though there were maybe a dozen flies, it was gross.
At first I was just trying to get them in the air which I did get at least five or so midair. The easiest ones were the ones that landed on a flat surface which were quickly dispatched. I have no direct way of measuring, but I’m pretty sure since I’ve been taking kung-fu for the last year that my reflexes are better and aided me in my quest to rid my apartment of the fly infestation.
Though after some initial struggling I turned off most of my lights except for my halogen floor lamp and they sort of flocked there leaving me alone. I even opened all my windows but none of them seemed to want to leave. The halogen did manage to fry one of them like I thought it would and when I went to sleep I think a few had flown out the window. Last night there were maybe four or so, as I write this there’s one left which I’m looking to fix before I go to sleep.
If you read my Livejournal then you already heard this story (I need to learn to pace how I share my stories/turn them into comics). This was the scene when I went to the Regal Entertainment theater in Union Square to see “Kung Fu Hustle” (which was excellent by the way). Someone had taken the time to set up stands with scenes from the movie complete with painted Chinese characters and some banners that hung around different parts of the theater.
Next to the line to get in was one of those guys you see all over Chinatown, Times Square and any other tourist area that paint your name with some kind of design. The woman taking care of the line handing out the cards sounded so excited that they had this special treat for the Kung Fu Hustle screening. It’s just so odd to me because anyone who’s lived in New York for just a few weeks know that these guys are everywhere and they clearly aren’t reflective of some deep Chinese tradition. I often wonder where the school is where these guys are taught how to paint these name things. I can see a big classroom full of people learning to paint the exact same things and then given an assigned area of Manhattan.
I find it funny that people feel so obligated to really play up Chinese stuff when given the opportunity. Kung Fu Hustle is a great movie, but it’s also tremendously commercial, but because it’s Chinese it’s kind of exotic so that means that it’s treated with a kind of reverence that equally commercial foreign films might not be.
Another thing I find funny are the ExploreChinatown.com ads that you see in the subway talking about the rich history of Chinatown with its temples and antiques that you can go there to see. Looking at the photos there reminds me of photos from an NYU pamphlet where every single picture is centered around Washington Square Park. My view of Chinatown is really dirty streets with small crowded sidewalks, weird smells, bootleg anime, cheap DVDs and horribly touristy gift stores.
Chinatown is so driven towards tourists that any attempts to play up its culture just make me laugh. Maybe if you’re idea of being immersed in the culture means going to a restaurant where they don’t give you chopsticks because you’re white, then knock yourself out. Chinatown is at its most commercial during Christmas when all the policemen are at home which means ten times the amount of people selling fake Rolex watches and knock off Louis Vuitton bags are on the street.
I saw this martial arts school that was basically the same thing as this. They have the word “Champion” in their school name and a lot of trophies in the front. It’s seems like a funny image to me. Though I realize that it’s probably because the master of the school has won some competitions and is displaying his awards for all to see. Doesn’t sound like the best martial arts school to me. Though I’m inclined to believe the better ones would be less flashy with small classes in some out of the way basement that the master lives in. Plus to gain entrance you probably have to stand outside of the building for three days without food or water before they decide you’re ready to train.
For my Valentine’s Day I pondered a few things all meant to be deliciously contradictory for the holiday. First one (most likely candidate) is to go to work, go to hapkido class and then go straight home, eat leftovers and watch anime. The second was going to see a brainless action film just to observe how empty the theater is. Though the latter has more potential to be depressing so I’m just going to go for the first. It’s my hard earned right as a single person to have absolutely no obligations on this day so I’m taking it dammit!
And for those who are on the fence about “Hitch” I’ll tell you now that it’s actually a good romantic comedy in my humble opinion. I hate most romantic comedies so when one comes along which I can sit through and even take something out of when I leave the theater then I feel obligated to mention it. Kind of like with kid’s movies that don’t suck for adults.
I love the film “Shaolin Soccer” for many reasons, but the best idea it presents is the idea of a utopian society where people use kung-fu to aid them in real life events and problems. I think that film has one of the most gratifying endings I’ve seen in a movie before. Stephen Chow really knows how to pull the strings to entertain the audience, which is why I’m so excited about “Kung-Fu Hustle.”
I almost fell down on my ass today when I left work because the sidewalk was particularly slippery. Fortunately I didn’t fall down completely and managed to catch myself so that I could avoid complete and utter embarrassment, and wet jeans. I think I need some boots. Even as I type that sentence, I can hear my mom emailing me.
I saw a guy on the subway with a bootleg copy of “Hero” which of course had come out about two years prior. I was really really hoping for his sake that it was a DVD rip. If not, those video bootleg guys seriously must’ve paid someone too much to camcorder shoot the movie.
I’m proud of the drawing of the cart in this strip.
I still take martial arts classes, but I opted not to do comics about it in case someone there finds my website which is very easy to do if you just know my name.
Uh, I didn’t do this. No one can prove that I did this. Why on earth would I do something like that? That’s just dumb. Why are you staring at me? Don’t look at me that way. No I’m not sweating, don’t say stuff like that. I didn’t do this! This is not based off of fact! There’s no way in hell this could possible be true! I’m not yelling, don’t tell me to be calm! I’m CALM!!!
Okay you got me, I did do this and incidentally Aoi’s style is Aiki-Jiujitsu. I ended up taking hapkido which is similarish ’cause it has the grappling style with circular defense motions and breaking of arms and limbs if needed.
I so wish I could fly like Li Mu Bai from “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.” But only if I was the only one who could fly like that. If everyone could fly then there’d just be a host of other problems to deal with. I wonder how people would react if you just jumped over them like Tony Jaa in “Ong-Bak” if they were walking to slow.
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