Month: March 2001
We did it! It’s beautiful! We have a movie!
“My electrician and chief builder was Henry. He was 62, had lived in the tunnel for five years and knew one or two things about getting by on the town’s supply. With no apparent regard for the dangers of massive voltage, he prised open a large silver box which ticked sinisterly and set about splicing…
Coca-Cola commercial solves globalisation and cultural issues, apparently
“One, there has been no attempt, as often happens here, of casting ladies who are so fair as to pass for ‘local oyibos,’ which means that this particular casting manager/art director is not plagued by the much talked about colonial mentality. Secondly, we are not confronted with your usual tall and thin ladies who answer…
Is this based on abject opportunism or deep-seated personal prejudice?
“The Royal Mint melting down pound coins as the euro notes start to circulate. Our currency gone forever. The chancellor returning from Brussels carrying instructions to raise taxes still further.”
Ladies and gentlemen, the president of Indonesia
“He leads the world’s most populous Muslim country, but he prays only occasionally. He is a cleric who knows the Koran by heart, but he loves to crack risque jokes. He meets visitors at 5 a.m. dressed in tight plaid shorts and a striped polo shirt, scratching his bare feet as he talks. He falls…
I worry about categories. Tell the sales force it’s Moby-Dick in Manhattan
“The amount of money publishers were willing to pay him for subsequent books became less and less until, when Stewart knew him, he was reduced to living in a tiny New York apartment creating several meals out of a few pieces of chicken. In 1992 he earned $25,000 from his writing. Helping out in a…
I’m the biggest developer in New York; I understand building as well as anybody
“The UN may look like a dwarf next to your tower, Mr. Trump, but its role for our future is gigantic. Your tall, dark and handsome tower, as you call it, is something of a symbol of the unparalleled economic growth that your country is now experiencing. At the same time, it casts a shadow…
The antithesis of the spoiled Shanghai lady, they work in the rain, wind, heat
“We work hard for our money. We don’t steal and we don’t cheat. Why should we be ashamed of what we do?”
China says US is a major root cause of sabotaging world peace and stability
“The US judicial system is extremely unfair. Thirty eight of the 50 US states carry out the death penalty. By 1 July 2000, there were 3,682 people on death row in the nation, more than 90 percent of whom had been victims of sexual abuse and assault. Most of them were poor, attained low educational…
The realization of a mind committed to the hardness of its own truth
“When there’s a terrible murder, people who are interviewed say, ‘This has always been a quiet neighborhood.’ That is so dumb and uninformed! The earth is not a quiet neighborhood. There isn’t anyplace that’s a quiet neighborhood. People are asking themselves how to stay neat in the cyclone.”
Getting a law degree signed his death warrant with the major record labels
“In the mid-1970’s, if you wanted to make a record, you went to a record company. The pop labels had tons of money, and, if the stacks of vinyl that arrived in my mail every day were anything to go by, they signed virtually anything that moved. But they did so under strict conditions, using…