Daily Archives: August 8, 2010

Slightly Insane

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I bought this yesterday.  To be more precise, I pre-ordered it a month ago and picked it up yesterday.

Yes, it’s an Albert Einstein action figure.  Comes with an extra set of hands clenched into fists.

Okay, it’s an Albert Einstein doll.

I know.  But I like it anyway.

I got this in my last order from Amazon.  The Godfather Family Album, published by Taschen.  To give you an idea of how whomping huge this book is, that’s the Blu-Ray set next to it on the right.

It was previously a limited edition of just 1,000 and those now sell for upwards of US $3,000, at least the first 200 in the series, which were autographed and numbered.   Now there’s a “general release” version, listing at $70 and selling for $44 on Amazon.  At that price, I couldn’t resist.

You can guess the impact of this book with such great pictures in such a large format.

There’s a bunch o’ words in there as well.

Most days, if forced to choose, I name Godfather as my all-time favorite film.   So I’m extremely happy to add this book to my library.

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Stop Them Before They Destroy Hong Kong

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Buried in the “In Brief” section of the SCMP a couple of days ago was a notice that the Urban Destruction Renewal Authority has now bought up 90% of the property on Fa Yuen Street in Mong Kok, popularly known as Sneaker Street because it’s a street filled with shops selling, yeah, you got it.  Now that they have more purchased so much, the laws of Hong Kong, which favor developers over individuals, make the sale of the other 10% of the properties compulsory.  The owners have to sell, whether they want to or not.   And Buddha help us, we will be getting “a themed shopping mall selling sportswear and sports equipment.”   In other words, the Urine Recycling Authority is set on taking away any trace of character or individualism that the street already naturally possesses and will give us a shopping mall that resembles the other 1,000 shopping malls already here.   Three cheers for progress.

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