I’ve been in a really lazy funk recently and not motivated to do much of anything. My GR sits in my pocket with an empty SD card. No photos taken. Anyway, Golden Week is coming up. April 29th, May 3-5 are National Holidays so I’m going to take May 1st and 2nd off and have a whole weeks vacation. According to Wikipedia, from 2007 April 29th has changed from Greenery Day to Showa Day while May 4th is changed from Between Day to Greenery Day. They realized that Between Day was a lame name so moved Greenery Day to that day and changed the 29th to Showa Day since this was originally the Showa Emperor’s birthday but was renamed after he died in 1989. Actually, Between Day is only the English name. In Japanese, it’s called Kokumin no Kyujitsu which translates to “Citizens’ holiday” so I don’t understand why they use Between Day. There’s an explanation of the reason behind this nonsense on Wiki.
I was planning on a road trip to Hokkaido but all the ferrys from Sendai or Owarai were fully booked. I’ll probably just end up hanging around Tokyo because as everyone who lives here knows, Golden Week is one of the few times that Tokyo is rather empty. I also started reading the Da Vinci code (against my better judgment) because I figured I needed some mindless diversion and the film starts next month.
The Da Vinci Code is not that bad a read, as a work of fiction. And I am really looking forward to the movie, with Tom Hanks.
Do you actually not have to work on those public holidays?
I read Angels and Demons and was not impressed. I stopped after the first 5 chapters.
Yes, I don’t have to work during Golden Week. Why do you find that so hard to believe?
Roy, I know my 先生and other Japanese I met during sightseeing assured me that most offices close during Golden Week. But I am still haunted by the look on the engineer’s face. The look of sheer happiness when he was granted 1 Saturday and Sunday off (the week after Golden Week ended) to go back to his hometown, after returning to the office every single day of the Golden Week.
But of course, not all bosses are like that.
Well, the fact is the average American now works more than the average Japanese. I think I read somewhere that the Japanese are around 5th in the world in terms of working long hours. And the truth is staying long hours at the office doesn’t equate to producing good results.
Here it is:
http://www.economist.com/printedition/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=4424689
While it is true that there are a fair chunk of people who are worked to death (true everywhere), the 1980s stereotypical Japanese salaryman never going home isn’t as applicable these days, IMO. I mean if you walk around Tokyo at 6pm you’ll notice that there are tons of people everywhere who have just gotten off work.
I liked the book “the Da Vinci code”. Do you know when the movie will be in Tokyo? Already during Golden week?
The movie starts 5/20 in Japan. I’m looking forward to seeing it as well. There’s been a real slump in good films lately.
I will be curious to see your comments on the Da Vinci Code book.
As far as the movie goes I’m rather ambivalent. The book didn’t strike me as being something a movie should be made from. It’s too dense with facts. Unless Tom Hanks spends a lot of time explaining things in exposition, much of what is interesting in the Da Vinci Code is going to be lost. I once read that only short stories make good screenplays because they both have to be efficient. It’s the rare novel that totally works as a movie.
Happy Invention Day! I had a chance to be on a patent but the engineer I worked with forgot to appy the paper work. Oh well…
“I once read that only short stories make good screenplays because they both have to be efficient. It’s the rare novel that totally works as a movie.”
What about “Lord of the Rings”?
I understand the appeal of the Da Vinci code but when I read Angels and Demons there was something about Dan Browns writing style, like the way he would put in little facts, that seemed too purposeful and pretentious. After a while it got on my nerves and I felt like I was being patronized. You know, like he had to explain everything, all the history, assuming that the reader is an idiot or something. I kept rolling my eyes as I read it until finally I had to stop out of anger. I found the writing to be rather poor and the characters flat. I hope the Da Vinci code is better.
I’ve been burned before reading books that everyone else says is “must read” that’s why I wrote “against my better judgment”. E.G. Bridges of Madison County (barf) but I have a more open mind these days…
Lots of classic movies from novels
i.e. Gone with the Wind
plus:
Shakespeare plays
Tolstoy novels
Alexander Dumas novels
Raymond Chandler novels
Dashiell Hammett novels
Jim Thompson novels
Agatha Christie novels
so on and so forth
Well I did say ‘rare’ book. ‘Lord of the Rings’ is, amazing, one of them. ‘Jurassic Park’ I thought worked well too but then again Micheal Crighton basically writes screenplays instead of novels! I think the point was that short stories can be almost completely translated to the screen where a novel can not. It must be trimmed or retold to fit the time constraint of movies. What is even more interesting is the growing use of graphic novels as screenplays since they fall somewhere between a short story and a full novel.
I agree with your assessment of Dale Brown’s writing. Intriguing subjects but with bland characters and average to below average writing.
I should add that I’m the very last person on Earth that should be critical of someone elses writing!
hehe me too. :P
I ran across this day. The 50 greatest book to movie adaptations. I have to agree with the list although some are quite different from the orginal books. Just because the movie and the book were both good doesn’t mean the adaptation was exact.
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/films/articles/22346804?source=Evening%20Standard