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Ang Lee's film LUST, CAUTION (色，戒) with Tang Wei Posted 12/3/2007 3:35:50 PM (0) Comments

Black Friday: An American Ritual Posted 11/27/2006 7:41:03 AM   Well, today is Black Friday -- the day after Thanksgiving and the official start of the Christmas buying season.  Reputedly the busiest shopping day of the year, it has become a sort of game between retailers seeking profit and consumers who love a great deal. (Actually, it is not really the busiest shopping day, as the Saturday before Christmas, and Christmas Eve are busier, if last year's sales figures are any indication...)  Here is how the Washington Post describes the phenomenon: Black Friday is the symbolic start of the holiday shopping season, when retailers showcase door-busting discounts on everything from plasma TV sets to Barbies as they jockey for customers and, perhaps more importantly, buzz. A successful day can give a retailer momentum that will last until Christmas. Midnight openings are the latest craze, luring shoppers before they have barely digested their turkey. But back to the sporting nature of this crazy day for shoppers...   Many of the stores used to open at 7 a.m. for the early-bird "doorbusters" as they are called -- amazingly low priced merchandise that is advertised to get people in the stores early so they will pick up the clearance items and fill their shopping carts with lots more while they are at it.  Another term for these items is "loss leaders" as they sometimes are priced below cost, just to attract shopper attention and potential loyalty.  That 7 a.m. start was last year pushed back to 6 a.m.  And this year, many of the stores opened at 5 a.m.!!  Best Buy, that favorite electronics, music and appliances store even had a notice this year that tickets for the 5 a.m. opening would be handed out at 4 a.m.!!!!  Before long, the stores will have people sleeping nary a wink before the bargain action begins.  Actually, BJ's Wholesale Club was open on Thanksgiving Day and CompUSA had some doorbusters Thanksgiving night beginning at 9.   So today I rose from my warm, comfortable bed at 4:20 in the dark of night and headed off for CompUSA's 5 a.m. opening.  The line had already formed when I arrived at 4:40, but there were only about 100 people in front of me, so I thought my chances of getting what I wanted were reasonably good.  The girl behind me (who I noticed had her pajamas on under her long coat) was after an external 250 GB hard drive for $50 after rebates.  She was either freezing from the cold air or quivering from the excitement of such a great deal, I didn't ask which (although we did have a few laughs talking about the nonsensical ritual we both found ourselves involved in).  Five a.m. sharp and the doors slid open and I made my way quickly to the memory counter, where I picked up an additional 512MB of PC2700 DDR ram for my desktop computer (doubling the amount I had before) for $35 after rebates.  This was a very good deal, as the best Internet prices I could find were in the 60-70 dollar range.  My other purchase was a notebook Wireless G home networking adaptor (PCMCIA card) which after three rebates I will own for a scandalous $1.99!!!  Yup, two bucks for this little goody, and I finally got it working on my laptop about an hour ago, smooth as silk.  The normal price is between 45 and 50 dollars, so I was proud of this dirt-cheap acquisition.   Then I headed off for Staples, to buy a wide-screen 19-inch Samsung LCD monitor for an advertised price of $130 after rebates.  But the line was so long when I drove into the parking lot (at 5:40), I decided to give up on that baby.  I knew everyone in front of me was going to be after that same monitor deal, so I drove home to warm up, eat breakfast and read my Washington Post. Black Friday is lots of fun, mixed with some agony and disappointment. but for the hearty and persistent, it can be a shopper's paradise, too. (0) Comments

The Sneaker Gods Posted 5/31/2006 12:38:12 PM Do you believe in shopping fate? Listen to this -- last fall I bought a pair of knock-off Asics running shoes for 100 RMB at Silk Road in Beijing. I loved these shoes... they got me through Beijing, Xi'an, and Guangzhou in total comfort... and when I got back to the U.S., they have been my favorite walking shoes for my daily morning forays into the woods adjoining my home. They started showing signs of wear. To be honest, they were falling apart. I have been looking for an Asics replacement for the past several weeks. Today, the sneaker gods told me to go to Marshall's, a place I almost never shop... so I was curious why I was being directed there. The photo above answers the question -- my new Asics shoes, not a copy, but the real thing... and at a sale price of $18.00. I am very happy. (0) Comments

Peabody Concert Orchestra Program Posted 4/30/2006 11:14:35 AM Attended a superb concert tonight at the Friedberg Concert Hall on the Peabody Institute (Conservatory) campus. The Peabody Concert Orchestra, under the baton of Edward Polochick, performed four works that were perfectly selected to show the great range and versatility of this young orchestra. The evening opened with Three Dance Episodes from Leonard Bernstein's "On the Town" which was bright and brash, and set the tone for the excelllence that was to come. This is a huge orchestra performing in a medium sized concert hall with terrific accoustics, so when they crank the dynamic up to full throttle, it literally fills you with the glorious sound of these competent (mostly) young conservatory students. Hayden's Symphony No. 103 in E-flat (the "Drum Roll") was a joy to listen to -- one of those often played symphonies that I listen to on my favorite classical radio station, but to hear it live in the hall --- wow, there is so much more going on that a CD recording does not capture! Concertmeister Joy Lee showed her capable virtuosity in a brief violin passage in the second movement. Is this a future star in the making? Following intermission, the group got very serious with Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings." Incredible dynamics here, and the unusual yet seductive Barber harmonies reached a crescendo that was followed by one of those endless pauses that enables the audience plenty of time to thoroughly absorb what they have just heard before breaking into enthusiastic applause. Finally, Respighi's "Pines of Rome" was played to total audience delight, as the room again was practically shaking with the full sound of this terrific orchestra. A secondary brass ensemble was perched in the center rear balcony, which added to the full spectrum of the listening experience during the final bombastic and richly rewarding "Pines of the Appian Way" movement. Sorry I missed the earlier concerts in this series, but I will probably return next week for some other promising classical offerings. (0) Comments

Julius Caesar Posted 1/28/2006 5:41:07 PM The following quote has been widely distributed on the Net and attributed to Julius Caesar: Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so. How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar. (0) Comments

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