Thursday, December 25, 2003
Opened Christmas presents. Patrick got me Neal Stephenson's Quicksilver in hardcover from Books Inc. I got him a spider-catching device (which I think I wrote about previously but decided to give to him for Christmas instead). The device is from Australia—it's a long pole with a gun trigger at one end and nylon bristles on a mechanism at the other. When you pull the trigger, the bristles fan outward. When you release the trigger, the bristles join in the center, catching the spider. The device claims that you can catch spiders without hurting them and release them outside—perfect for animal rights activists or Buddhists! We haven't tried using it yet. I also got Patrick his favorite chocolates—Ferrero Rocher (only three: everything in moderation)—as well as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon on DVD and a gift certificate to Kabuki Springs for a Javanese Lular massage and rose water bath. Sam got us a giant popcorn tin decorated with dalmations with cheese, butter, and caramel popcorn. After opening gifts, we took Sam to the airport—he's going home to New Orleans—then we went to Harbor Village for dim sum. We'd arrived just in time—within the next hour the place was full with dozens of people waiting for a table. We got a great window table with a view of the ice rink. $32.10 before a $4.00 tip. After brunch we attempted twice to see Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: We went first to the AMC Van Ness on the way back home from dim sum but the first showing had already started and the next one wasn't for 3 hours so we ditched there and tried Century 20 in Daly City but although they had many showings they were all sold out until about the same hour—3ish in the afternoon. We didn't want to wait around or go home and then come back, so we just didn't bother seeing it. Instead we came home and napped, then made Christmas boboli pizza (red, orange, and yellow bell peppers with basil and red sauce) and watched Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. We started with the commentary but Ang Lee's Engrish was very hard for me to understand and we both agreed that neither of them—James Schamus in particular—had very interesting things to say. They should have done the commentary with all the women!—Michelle Yeoh, Ziyi Zhang, and Pei-pei Cheng. Had trouble with the computer; will do brain surgery on it soon.