nothing much.
written: 7:25 p.m. on Saturday, Jul. 03, 2004

Somehow I have forgotten to mention these two things:

1. NBA champions, 2004: Detroit Pistons. They beat the Los Angeles Lakers 4-1 in a best-of-seven series. That is, in recent history, completely unprecedented. Even I was surprised. I may hate the Lakers and wish death upon them but I still thought that they would be able to win, because I've never really thought much of the Pistons before. Like, Detroit? From the Eastern Conference? Who gives a shit about the Eastern Conference? All the talent and the stars are in the West. I mean, LA is in the West, SA Kings are Western Conference, San Antonio Spurs, last year's champs (I think), are also Western Conference. The only guy I think of when I think East is Tracy McGrady, formerly Orlando Magic, now apparently traded to the Houston Rockets. You know, Yao Ming's team. I like Yao Ming, mostly because he's Chinese, but I think the combination of him and McGrady could totally rival the Kobe-Shaq deal. Like, the Lakers are over and dead, thank you very much, now move off the top eight.

2. On the 17th of last month I caught a Taiwanese play, "Butterflies", presented by the Golden Borough Theatre, or something along those lines. In the nutshell, it was the most wonderful piece of shit I've ever seen. Honestly though, I think if I weren't with my mom, I would have enjoyed the play a lot more. The simulated sex scenes (one every other minute) made me very uncomfortable, as she was right next to me, and apparently, the feeling was mutual.

The dialogue was mainly in Hokkien/Taiwanese so I had to rely on subtitles. That sucked because half the time I was looking at the screen and not the actors, which was, well which was what I was supposed to do, so it all felt quite choppy, like I had to multi-task (or dual-task, whatever), do two things at once. Quite irritating.

It was okay. Found some bits over the top and the sex scenes a bit overdone and some characters annoyed the shit out of me but the acting was brilliant. I also liked the incest between Father and Daughter. Haha. I mean, it's sick and all but it was really poignant all the same, and I got the feeling that the "love" or whatever you wish to call it between them was the most genuine emotion in the play.

Yes, it's a fucked up play, a rather apt foil to this fucked up world, but I don't think I would want to do it again. I felt like I was raped at the end of it all, or something.

***

Note: The following part contains spoilers for Vernon God Little.

So I finished the book yesterday. Overall I think it's a great book, and that is understating it, but I have to say that acts four and five were quite a disappointment. It was like, Vernon just gave in when he was finally arrested for his alleged crimes, and most importantly, he stopped swearing.

I found that weird. It was like, I got to know this really great guy, this adolescent, really, on the brink of his coming-of-age, only to have everything fucked up by his unfortunate circumstances, and he is confused and full of angst and the way he chose to deal is to put on a tough-guy facade, completed with swear words, and I was very comfortable with him, until he turned all "found again" on me and stopped swearing. It was like he lost himself and I lost a familiar friend.

And Mr. Pierre, I'm sorry to say this but that stupid last-minute-pardon-just-seconds-before-he-was-lethally-injected plot gimmick was preposterous. In the first place, I don't even understand how Vernon could have been indicted for capital punishment when he was 15 at the time of his supposed crimes. Isn't there a law against dealing out the death penalty to minors or something?

And the reality TV shit was just retarded. I mean, I understand that it could very well be a lash-out at the reality-TV craze that has swept across the globe but honestly, I thought he was trying to juggle too much at the end, especially Act Five, when he introduced that idea, and the whole god thing. For a while there I really had no idea where the author was going with it.

So I enjoyed the book a lot and didn't really like the last two acts as much and thought some bits were dumb, but if I had to make a comparison between this book and The Catcher in the Rye, I'd still say that Catcher is definitely superior to Vernon. Catcher was more focused, more real, less sensational. I felt like Vernon betrayed me or something when I was brought to the death row.

I mean, what the hell? That seemed like it came from way left field, and evidently, somebody forgot to make sense of it.

Anyway, I'm now reading Zadie Smith's The Autograph Man despite my telling myself not to read because reading is a huge distraction. I think this book's gonna be a huge distraction as well, because I find it quite riveting so far.

Books are also another one of my weaknesses.

***

Nothing much to say anymore. Been feeling muted the entire day.

Linz is calling me the Appointed Bimbo, Abi for short, just because I'm carrying a pink Ripcurl sling bag to school.

I think she's just jealous of my bag lah.

(Appointed Bimbo, as in a twist on the Appointed Cynic, a.k.a Martha Cochrane, in Julian Barnes' England, England, which is a thoroughly brilliant novel.)

That's all for today.

before sunrise // before sunset


Previously:
- - Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017
I'm moving. - Sunday, Jul. 11, 2010
In all honesty - Tuesday, Jul. 06, 2010
What I want for my birthday... - Sunday, Jul. 04, 2010
On Roger's behalf. - Friday, Jul. 02, 2010