Years of Poems and Spirits

Somehow came across the subject of “湘西赶尸“. A very elaborate tradition it is! How the profession selects apprentice, the rituals and the mirage of dead man walking, etc. Secular observers suspected it was a guise for smuggling or other “feudalism leftovers”. But just reminded me of another set of photographs I saw somewhere about another ethnic group (a very small group living mainly in the woods, Tong, maybe?) in the SW. They too have a very elaborate ritual of burying the dead. Amy Tam’s recent work in Yunan also yields stories along the same line (e.g. parents pick a tree when a child is born which is to be used as his/her coffin when he/she dies).

It appears that the death culture is rich and deep in the SW. Just fascinating. Has anyone traced it back to ancient times? Say 楚辞?

Moving swiftly in the first hours of free agency, the Washington Redskins opened their deep pockets and snagged perhaps the biggest name available: All-Pro defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth.

Thus reported morning news. My initial reaction was excitement–like any gamer would after acquiring a big gun. Then reason sets in and I know another few good years are slipping away from the team.

NONE of the recent champions, or any close contenders, made to the top by collecting big-name players only. On the other hand, the Skins have been doing so for decades but have little to show for. Danny Boy is supposed to be super smart–can’t he see this trend?

I guess Danny Boy figured out there is more than one way to make money in the league. One can do it the “old fashion way”, like the Krafts (the Patriots), or the Rooneys (the Steelers), who get their cut from winning. Or, one can do it like Danny Boy does–by keeping the fans entertained in other ways. He figured that winning or losing, in the end, is transient. People will get over it not soon enough. However, the promise of a good show will always be there.

I guess the last laugh is still on us.

I am not a big fun of continental Euorpean movies. Nor are the holocaust ones. But Au revoir, les enfants is an exception. A very moving movie indeed. Unlike many French movies, it is full of outright conflicts and tensions. Yet still has the attention to details that is so French.

In the end, it is a new drama about the age old themes of friendship, loyalty, betrayal and lost innocence. The story is told in occupied France during WWII, of a Jewish boy hidding among a group of privileged Catholic boarding school boys. However, the suffering of the Jews and the evil of Nazism are used only to prop up an universal, perpetual theme–not vice versa. And that is why I like it.