I just got an email from International Festival of…
I just got an email from International Festival of Cinema and Technology. They’re interested in The Trick.
Whoa. My first thought is, why would anyone be interested in The Trick when The End is so much better? Even Coolishness was better than Trick, I thought. How odd.
Last night I went shopping at Tower Records and bought a couple of CD’s, including some Frank Sinatra and Red River by Knife in the Water. So far it looks like another one of those CD’s on which I only really like one song and sort of like some of the others. Nice countryesque/Alternative atmosphere, though. It would be good music for long drives across vast, deserted states.
Ally McNoying is wearing huge sunglasses in the office today. I’m waiting for her to bump into a wall. I know, I’ve been known to wear less-than-utilitarian things at the office, but at least I can see out of a fedora.
Last night I rode down to the big motorcycle shop on Jianguo near Ba-de Road. I go there every few months to look at the big bikes, the 400-600cc models I would like to buy and ride but can’t because there’s a law here against motorcycles larger than 150cc. This law was implemented in 1982 to protect the local scooter manufacturers/gang bosses from having to exert themselves dealing with any competition. Consequently, our streets are flooded with 50cc two-stroke scooters that have polluted the air far more than more powerful 4-stroke engines would have. This law is also standing in the way of our access to WTO. My friend Gavin wrote a piece about the whole issue in the newspaper.
The dealer guy said that we will probably get into the WTO early next year, and then they’d start selling the big bikes around this time next year. I’ve been hearing that sentence for a decade now, so you’ll understand if I’m a tad skeptical. Thankfully my current motorcycle has lasted this long, and it stands a good chance of lasting another year, but it’s a bit moot as I simply don’t have the NT$200,000 or so needed to buy the kind of bike I want, like a used Yamaha R6 or a Honda CBR600F4. So for now I’ll just have to be content with riding down to the big bike shop and leaving my biannual drool deposit.
