Looking for some extra income by renting out your living room as a parking space, but don’t want to hire a pesky construction expert? No problem!

Actually, this house was sideswiped by a sidewalk-project, and the owners are no doubt looking for ways to turn wall-lessness lemons into parking-lot lemonade.

Yesterday was spent at a large collection of bars and restaurants. After work Kirk and I had lunch at the Italian Curry place next to Grandma Nitti’s. It wasn’t bad; I’d say it was on par with Pasta Mio behind Dan Ryan’s, but I like the environment at Pasta Mio, which has cats, better. After lunch we went for crushed ice on Yongkang Street, and then to the new Rainbow-flagged bar near Shi-da, where Kirk and I scavenged each others’ iPods for stuff we liked. Then we went to a place Kirk described as a lesbian bar. The decor reminded me of a 60’s hippie cave, complete with what appeared to be bongs decorated with fuzzy, ornate fittings. When we ordered, I said I’d have some kind of fruit-based cocktail, and Kirk ordered the same, with a Mango bong on the side. Apparently you can smoke fruit. I had no idea. After our orders arrived I sampled some of the Mango bong, and found it was quite nice. All the time we were there an orange cat kept escapting and being brought back in by various members of the staff. Or it could be I imagined the cat. You just never know when you’re smoking a mango bong.

In other news, I added a few more photos to my photo page while I was going through and removing Counted links from all my pages. I have over 150 photographs up here now. The site needs a major overhaul, not just the occasional tidying-up I give in now and then. Perhaps some time when I’m feeling more interested in the general revamping of websites.

My shoes appear to still be strong enough to fend off typhoons, as Mindulle seems to be veering off, just as every other storm that was supposed to hit us has, despite expert predictions to the contrary. Any evil scientists out there interested in changing the world’s weather to suit some mad whim? Let’s see some checkbooks. Quick, before it starts raining.

Typhoon Mindulle is currently knocking around the ocean, looking for a way past Taiwan’s typhoon shield. I’m convinced that this shield is generated by the incredibly-waterproof Nike Air Pegasus shoes I bought a couple of years ago after literally months of solid rain. Apparently Nike did such a good job of waterproofing these shoes, they actually repel water to such a degree that even typhoons are forced out of their normal, predicted paths and away from circumstances that would adversely affect the dryness of my shoes. Therefore, ever since I bought those shoes, Taiwan has experienced unnaturally dry weather, with every single typhoon veering away and long droughts every year resulting in severe water shortages. If Mindulle gets through, it will be the first typhoon to do so since I bought the shoes, surely a sign that my shoes are weakening in their old age and will not hold up under severe weather. Well, they are over 2, which is 112 to you and me.

No word on the housing situation. At the very worst I can just pay more rent for the next year. I had wanted to get a new computer but it looks like that will have to wait.

Dean and I met up last night at Bob and Dave’s for some cider-tasting and conversation. We’re working out the script for the sequel to Clay Soldiers, and I have to say I’m pleased with what we’re coming up with. Whether we’ll be able to pull it off is another question entirely, but at least we’ll have fun trying.

前幾天發現我的那隻貓在隔壁棟院子裡

“You shouldn’t let that cat out of your apartment,” the lady who lives upstairs told me. “I don’t like cats; they’re vermin.” She was concerned about Mrs. Underfoot using the stairwell for a bathroom. I told her if she ever found evidence of such behavior to tell me about it, as I knew Mrs. Underfoot spent most of her time outside and not in the stairwell.

I suppose I should have taken my neighbor’s advice, though. The other day, after I hadn’t seen my cat in a few days’ time, I went looking for her. Eventually I climbed over the wall into the yard of the empty house in front of my building, where I often saw her lounging around. There I found her, dead, apparently for some time.

I didn’t know quite what to do, so I called up Sandy’s wife Jojo, who had a friend with a ladder. Together we got the body out of the yard and put it in a garbage bag. We called the vet, who told us to call the animal disposal service, run by Buddhists. They said they’d be there soon. Jojo’s friend, refusing a red envelope with money to thank him, said he had to go, as did Jojo.

I didn’t want to leave the body in the alleyway, so I sat there waiting for almost an hour next to the garbage bag. Mrs. Underfoot was such a sweet, polite cat; it was hard to see her like that. Eventually the guy arrived, and I had to answer some questions as he filled out a form. “Cat?” he asked, followed by age, color, sex, etc. Then he said “Name?” and I nearly lost it. “Jiaoxia Taitai,” I said. “Are you done yet?” He said he was. I told him to remember to take off her pink flea collar before they cremated her, and he said ok. Then he was gone.

The apartment feels a lot bigger without her around somewhere. I gathered up all her stuff and gave it to Sandy, who has several cats roaming around the Sandcastle. I was thinking of moving rather than pay the increased rent, and Mrs. Underfoot’s passing has only convinced me more that I should move…we’ll see what I can come up with by the time my lease is up. I’d like to stay in Hsintien, but I would consider other areas if they’re relatively nice and cheap.

In other news, yet another typhoon came and went, veering off at the last moment. I used to refer to this phenomenon as our typhoon shield, but it’s getting uncanny how often this has happened over the past several years. Has anyone examined the typhoon paths for every storm since Nari? It might reveal an interesting pattern.

In still other news, The Hawaii International Film Festival has solicited Clay Soldiers for consideration. They waived the entry fee and gave me free Fedex shipping, which was nice of them. Dean may also submit his Bunun film, now that it is nearing completion. Since I enjoyed cutting a trailer for Clay Soldiers, I went ahead and made trailers for The End and Coolishness, though they’re still a bit rough.

My site counter, Counted, has ditched its free service, so I need a new one. If I’m going to pay for a site counter, I want it to involve Matrix-style immersion into a virtual world with real-time portrayals of all visitors, including present location, motives, eating habits and a comprehensive report of their various psychoses.

The latest Annette Lu says something completely daft story comes from San Francisco. Something tells me we can’t just treat her like this guy.

A smallish typhoon is on its way here from just west of the Philippines. So far this year’s weather has been pretty normal, in contrast to the last few years of crazy weather.

In other news, a sample of the new ID cards is out. What’s with the trend to make everything uglier? The new money has consistently been far uglier than the bills being retired, and now this weak-ass ID design to replace a perfectly good original design. Sure, update the security, but why make it uglier? When will Taiwan’s asthetic sense recover from the tailspin that started in the 80’s? Sure, martial law sucked, but at least it wasn’t tacky.

I’m renewing my passport this afternoon; hopefully it won’t come back with bright orange-and-purple striped cover or something, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it did.

我的房東終於把我的房子賣掉了. 新的房東願意再租給我, 但是她想吧房租提高兩千元. 我跟她講不行, 這樣絕對付不起, 太貴了. 她說她會商量一下, 同時叫我自己也衡量一下. 那麼貴的房租的話, 我就可以住好宅. 再說, 搬家費用很高, 還有一隻貓要考慮. 真是傷腦筋的事情.

I went out to dinner on Friday night with some of my old Tunghai roommates. After 15 years, it was like nothing had changed: Tong-ah, with whom I had actually gotten into fights with before, is just as annoying today as he was then, and Fu-wen, our other roommate, kept trying to stay neutral during our heated political debates. One thing that has changed is that neither of us take our political stances as seriously as we once did.

After a coupon-provided dinner at a fancy all-you-can-eat restaurant on Guangfu North Road, we headed to a bar at the top of the Death Star Mall called That 70’s bar. It was almost empty of people, but full of 70’s paraphernalia such as those plant-like things that light up and pulse to the music, in this case modern rap music that didn’t seem very authentic considering the theme of the place.

Sitting in an alcove trying to look cool and shit got kinda old, though, so we met up with another old Tunghai alum and drove to a Taiwanese karaoke bar just off Xinsheng North Road. Tong-ah and Fu-wen knew the hostesses, who were relatively subtle with their fawning. “You need to relax, pick a few songs, have another drink,” Tong-ah said as we sat down.

“What, like that guy did?” I said, pointing to a comatose gangster hanging off a nearby sofa.

“Yeah, just like that guy.”

We talked, argued, drank watered-down whiskey, ate sliced fruit and sang songs until about 4am, when the bar closed. I got to bed around 5.

At 8am, there was a knock at the door. It was the realtor, who had someone over to see my apartment, so I had to stand there and try not to fall down while this woman and her kids roamed wandered around looking at all my stuff and wondering about leaks. I was so knackered I didn’t even give them the song-and-dance about how they’d come on a very quiet day, to watch their heads for falling plaster, what interestingly shaped bugs I’d found recently, etc. This was probably a mistake, and I felt uneasy about the whole thing as I went back to sleep the moment they left. For good reason, as you’ll read in the post below.

We have a new Watson’s store on Wenzhong Rd., near where I live. Watson’s slogan is “I swear!”, usually uttered by a young woman with her hand in the air. “I swear…we have the lowest prices!” the posters read. To promote the grand opening, they were playing a recording of this message over and over again, and signs were everywhere. If I lived or worked next door to such a cacophony I’d be pissed, but the guys operating the vegetable stalls out front seemed to be taking it in stride. “I swear,” one of them shouted, “if that taxi doesn’t move from in front of my stand I’m gonna kick his ass!”

“I swear,” another retorted, “if you keep up with the ‘I swear’ jokes I’m gonna kick your ass!”

I love my neighborhood. Which was why I was dismayed to learn this weekend that my landlady has sold my apartment. “But it’s ok!” the realtor told me after relaying this news. “The new owner is willing to keep renting to you!” The catch, of course, is that the new owner wants to increase my rent by NT$2,000 a month. This is out of the question; I just can’t afford it, and I told her so. She said she’d reconsider, and that I should as well. Which means, I suppose, that I should start yet again looking for an apartment. I’d like to stay in the area, but I doubt I’ll find anything as good in the immediate vicinity. So, unless my new landlady comes to her senses and realized that she’d lose more money during the time she’d need to find a new tennant than if I just stayed there and kept paying rent, you’re going to be reading soon about the further househunting adventures of TC. Good thing I got rid of the comments.

I noticed a new Land Rover up on a pedestal at the corner of Nanjing East Road and Dunhua North Road yesterday, and it caused me to wonder what was fueling society’s need for these kinds of vehicles. Surely our practical need for them hasn’t increased in the last decade. If anything it’s decreased, due to people being able to do more at home via the Internet.

But if you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Even people in the 70’s didn’t look like they were able to handle much, what with the clothing styles, long hair and post-flower-power trappings, but when it came right down to it, they had to slug through their days gathering information and dealing with life manually because they had no other choice, and they knew they could deal with it. It was much the same even the 80’s, when BBS’s started popping up. But when the Internet came into popular use in the 90’s, suddenly things began to change. People began driving SUVs, for example, and the rugged outdoor theme came into vogue. Musicians began spurning electric sounds and raw grunge music became popular. Much has been made about how TV changed the lifestyles of people starting in the 50’s. TV provided easy entertainment, but it didn’t provide much aside from that. The Internet, however, did.

Today, more people stay at home more often, at most commuting between the office and a home in the suburbs, and getting a lot more of their daily chores done online. If I want to know something, instead of going out and asking someone or going to the library, I google it. Send a letter? email. Watch a movie? Download it or watch a DVD. Find a certain item? Look on eBay or Amazon. So many tasks that used to involve actual physical effort, engaging the environment directly, i.e. going out and looking, today only require sitting at your computer. We hardly have to even pick up a phone any more, and with the rapid pace of technological advances, our lives are only going to get easier. Is it any wonder that we as a society may be looking to shore up our collective self image? As people become more obese and out of shape due to increasingly sedentary lifestyles allowed by the ease of life provided by automated systems, we naturally begin to doubt whether we’re really capable of dealing with life ourselves, and this doubt manifests itself in our urge, nurtured from a childhood watching commercials telling us to buy ourselves out of our insecurities, to purchase the trappings of capability, e.g. SUVs with fake bullet hole stickers. Presenting an outward image of competence is how we’ve been trained to make up for the unease we feel when we realize, deep down in the bottom of our brains, that without any of what our ancestors spent millions of years considering challenges, there is no adaptation, no evolution, no room to grow and no future. So in defense we just pretend we’re ready.

Not that I have anything against the Internet; I think it’s great, and perhaps even a pivotal point in our evolution rather than a herald of its end. I simply wonder whether it’s just a coincidence that its arrival mirrors the rise of the SUV craze and other apparently self-reliance-related trends.