Song Zhi-guo, aka "Uncle Song", aka my old landlor…
Song Zhi-guo, aka “Uncle Song”, aka my old landlord from the last time I was living in this neighborhood years ago, invited me over today to chat. I’d been holed up in my apartment all day trying to get Premiere to actually edit clips without including, seemingly for its own amusement, little black frames with red X’s on them at random points in the footage. Also the girls at the Bossini store downstairs had fired up their amplifier so that they could harangue the entire block concerning the wonders of buying their merchandise. I went in and asked them to turn it down, and they did, but as soon as I walked away they turned it up again.
Uncle Song introduced me to his new wife, a small, lively woman from mainland China. They got married two years ago. In her late 40’s, she’s only two decades or so younger than Uncle Song. I sat down and looked at the tea and watermelon seeds that had been brought out in honor of my two-block trek over. My old room was in the back, a tiny place just big enough for a twin bed and a small desk, plus a bathroom barely large enough for one person to stand up inside. The one window looks out on someone else’s window, across the alley.
Uncle Song had two reasons for wanting to see me. One was that he has an empty room available and wants me to live there. I told him that I had already signed a lease and couldn’t get out of it without losing my deposit, and in any case I don’t think I’d want to live in that room, not while I’m still employed and can afford something better anyway.
The second, and far more disturbing reason behind the invitation was that Uncle Song and his wife knew “just the person” for me to marry and settle down with. She’s apparently a computer animation programmer in her late 30’s, living and working in Shenzhen, although she is from Henan originally. Her only problem, I was made to understand, is that she is too tall for most of the men there (she’s 175 cm tall). This was pointed out several times as an extremely attractive asset for me. “She’s really attractive and tall, much better looking than her picture. Did I mention that she’s tall?”
I told Uncle Song that I wasn’t really in the market for a wife just yet no matter how tall she was, but he insisted I think it over and give him a call if I changed my mind. I bade them farewell and made my way back home, stopping by Mr. Fish for a “Comparison Dinner” featuring both chicken and fish. The fish won. Then I walked back around the corner, catching the Bossini lady red-handed as she screamed into her microphone, causing passers-by to wince in pain. As soon as she saw me, she dropped the mic and shoved the amp behind a pillar with her foot and continued her haranging in an unamplified manner. I leaned against the wall and waited until she lost her voice, after which she got another girl from the store to come shout at people. This one lasted a bit longer. Going downstairs to hang out on their doorstep every time they fire up their loudspeaker’s a bit tiring; perhaps I should invest in one of those sniper rifle laser sights so I can harass them from the comfort of my living room, just across the park.
I’ve begun watching Band of Brothers, and I have to say it’s one of the most incredible, amazing shows I’ve ever seen. Great stuff. I’m looking forward to seeing the rest of the series, although I really should be filming the last shot for Alphadogah and finishing that up. All I need is one more shot, some software from Paul/Norman to clean up the audio, and it’ll be time for the next one, whatever that is. Oh, and work tomorrow. As I get more into the filmmaking frame of mind it’s easier and easier to forget I have a regular job. One of the days I’m going to forget to go in to work; it’s only a matter of time. I should prepare a list of excuses beforehand, just in case.
I’m thinking now that I don’t really like the shaved head of the little guy running across my masthead. Perhaps a crudely drawn hat is in order. I’m usually found wearing hats, especially when the weather’s cold, as it is now.
