Rainy days and old umbrellas

Well, the blue-sky marathon came to an end at 4am this morning when the clouds rolled in and began their day long dump over the city. On the way to work on the cold bus i was tickled by what i saw out the windows as we rolled along JinShan Rd in the jamless traffic (one bonus of starting work so darn early). It's been approximately 2 weeks of blue smiling skies, so when people left their houses this morning and grabbed their dusty umbrellas i doubt they thought about the functionability of them. 90% of the pedestrians unfortunate enough as me to be up so early (or maybe they were heading home after a night of parties - but i sincerely doubt it) had umbrellas in various states of decay; bent, broken, unattached to the frame, on the verge of flying inside-out. It really was quite a spectacle, and i was selfishly comforted by the fact that my umbrella was pristine..well my room-mate's umbrella... guilty!

The nice thing about the rain arriving, is that it justified going to a movie. I went to a really strange theatre that i've never had the (a-hem) pleasure of experiencing. The stairwell had a really low ceiling. So low i had to bend my head sideways to walk up it, it was strangley claustrophobifying (that's really a word- like sensical and strategery). The seats were also really close together so my legs were a bit cramped. Anyways. I saw Crash. I sort of had NO idea what it was going to be about or who would be in it. My co-worker suggested it..ok, has been dropping hints for a week to go see it, but the weather was always too nice. And i didn't know anything about it. And it sounded wierd. What kind of a name is that?

But i really liked it, in a way that made me appreciate the lack of discrimination here in Asia, and also the absence of violence and rage that seems so alive in America. People drive really badly here, but everyone is so patient and accepting of it, that it's pointless to fly into rages. And when it comes to people, i was feeling very alienated for a while because some people stare at (what we're called) foreigners, but at least there's no apparent anger or racism.

People-issues are so complex in the States, and it makes me wonder what the motivation behind the decision to legalise guns was..??? If anyone has an answer, i'm all ears. Population control maybe?

Ok, on another beat, i have a pic from when my friend from korea came to visit. We sort of stumbled across this statue near taipei main station, and a friend of my friend needed to pose with it.


I should send it in to Rove Live (Aussie variety show). What the...?

Freezing a bit.