Strange Tales

Strange Tales or Why I’m missing the SPAM
I thought I would never live to say that I’m missing SPAM but I am. Verizon.net must have an excellent SPAM filtration program. I used to get dozens of SPAM emails a day when I was using the Earthlink.net service and now I hardly get any.

On the other hand, my Yahoo.com email address get 7,500 to 8,000 SPAM emails a month. The obvious conclusion that one can draw is that Yahoo is not too much on filtration I guess.

I miss the ads for male baldness and erectile dysfunction and Viagra; not that I ever needed any of those products. I even seem to have dropped off of the Nigerian email letter scams.

The Verizon.net filter, of course, doesn’t stop my friends and acquaintances from sending me the same Internet joke or scam or the latest urban legend. I wonder if some of my friends read who sent them a joke. I have one dear friend who resends me the joke I just sent out.

To me, SPAM is a validation that I am still alive and that people want to contact me. It is one form of reality in the Internet world. It also reassures me that people exist out there as well.

Oh well, tomorrow, my email in box will be buried with SPAM based on my karma.

Woman of the Moment
I spent some time on Labor Day and reviewed the photos I have yet to post. All of the photos seem to be from the end of 2004 and 2005.







RIDING ALONE FOR THOUSANDS OF MILES
RIDING ALONE FOR THOUSANDS OF MILES was the one movie that I saw that I really liked this past weekend. It is not likely to be regarded as one Zhang Zimou’s great films like RAISE THE RED LANTERN. Nevertheless, I still really enjoyed this film and I would recommend it if you have a chance to see it.

There are no explosions; there are no gunfights; there are no martial arts or dancing across roof tops on wires; and there is no CGI.

This is a character driven film that is as rough and colorful as the countryside in western China that it was filmed in. None of the characters is without flaws. There are conflicts over the needs of the parties and time is always a present reminder that all things must end.

The resolution is not the usual Hollywood one. You should be prepared for a disappointment if you are expecting an “everyone lives happily ever after” film. I was satisfied with the ending.

The film revolves around a Chinese folk drama called a mask opera. The mask opera is about an event in Chinese history that was recorded in The Three Kingdoms. Because I read the books last year, I knew about the story of how Lord Guan rode alone for thousands of miles to rejoin Lord Liu after he escaped from the captivity of Lord Cao Cao. That was a minor distraction for me. Unless you are familiar with Chinese history, it won’t much matter to you.


Be well and stay happy gentle readers.