It is time for the festive occasions again, and I am getting drunk more often than usual. The attraction of alcohol to me remains unaccountable, and I would probably need advice on its effect and usage, in order not to embarrass myself once and again.

 

In late November I went to a Belgian beer night event, and I was not following the order of percentage, i.e., from 7% to 14% when I was having strong Belgian beers randomly. The fact that I did not have any food before I took the beers aggravated my drunkenness, and after I finished five strong Belgian beers I was ready to knock on the bed. What was worse, or surprising as some would have perceived it, is that I performed somniloquy on the taxi back home with a female friend. I was not aware of this phenomenon when I was on the taxi, but was only kindly informed later by my friend. Who knows what I spoke of when I was half sleeping and half dreaming!

 

An English friend consoled me that I may be trying to overcome something inside my mind if I were to get drunk deliberately, and so fast. I think he may have just nailed it, but would need more evidence to prove it. Alcohol consumption, if overdone, could do harm to your body, but on festive occasions like these you are more inclined to consume it than not. Previously I transcribed part of Edward Said's writing on the status of soberness in sleeplessness, and I assume it is justifiable that there are times when you are sober, and there are times when you are drunk. But to achieve soberness in a state of drunkenness is an art that requires skills, strategy and the consumption of alcohol abundant, a very difficult task indeed.

Recently I participated in an NGO training workshop as an interpreter, and experienced a participatory approach in community work. We spent seven days on communication, cooperation and understanding behaviour. The subject matter of the workshop, however, may just sound a bit too heavy. It was HIV/AIDS, but things went well as we proceeded to a comfortable communal environment where trust and understanding were built up. As a somewhat outsider, I was able to feel how people from various walks of life shared their thoughts and knowledge on this sensitive issue, and at the same time learning the ropes of communication skills in this kind of setting. What matters most in the end, perhaps is that fact that friendships are built and values on HIV issues are shared. Through this experience I seem to get to know myself a little bit better. Life goes on, so does my vocation.

Today marks the 8th anniversary of the birth of Sculpting in Time cafe, a booming franchise for people in the know in Beijing to congregate and share their novel and noble ideas. I came to know this cafe about five years ago when I started my undergraduate life in the nation's capital, often exploring the tales of the city rather than the texts of the curriculum. Yeah, that is how I flunked my exames and got expelled to another country for an exiled life, though temporary.

 

I felt the urge to come visit this familiar place today, with the sheer purpose of doing some studies and reading in a cozy environment sheltered away from strong winds and deadly gases on the streets. Alas, here I am with the posters announcing their free cake evening (for one hour and one piece only), how can I possibly resist that temptation? So I began my indefinite stay with coffee Americano (eligible for one free refill) and random typing on my laptop, until I ran into Ryan, an American mate from my Leeds days and started to talk normal, well, not really. We exchanged briefly on our lives in different cities (Ryan in Chicago, me in Beijing) and concluded about ten minutes later since Ryan was yet to prepare for his Monday work while I was enjoying my sunny afternoon in a non-smoking area that somehow reminds me of, alas, I lost my word.

 

Anyway, we should get back to the subject, the Sculpting in Time cafe, right. I began my project on Italian cinema (nature not yet defined) naming it after the name of the cafe, hence Sculpting in Time Studio. As a freelancer, I enjoy my autonomy and my movable office. I am often inspired to write while sitting in S.I.T., and more often than not, lured to conversations with my mates online and strangers from various walks of life. The state of being idle seems to fit perfectly well into my idea of a free-thinking man. I will now return to my Studio, if I could fumble for my key to the door (of my office) and to the project.

Andrew Adamson's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is fully set to make a worldwide wonder when it is released on Dec 9th. This movie adaptation comes from C. S. Lewis's children novels, the first of the series. With the potential to transform all the seven novels into movies, the release of the first one is certainly the touchstone for the rest of the venture.

 

The Passion of the Christ (2004), as a newspaper article of the Sunday Times suggested, inspired a resurgence of interest in religious themes, not to mention earlier this year the release of Kingdom of Heaven. The boss behind the scenes of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is Philip Anschutz, who is an American billionaire who created Walden Media to reject a religious consciousness into the public's mind. An article from the recent issue of The Economist has revealed the Anschutz story, and you can read more details from the Economist perspective. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is very likely to bring forward the return of the Christian faith, or the fairytale, depending on how you look at it, to the world now inflicted by religious conflicts.

 

Compared to the not-so-old series of The Lord of the Ring, or the Harry Potter series, The Chronicles of Narnia obviously pays more attention to the controversial theme of religion, though in this new release special affects are as eloquent as, if not more than, the Lord of the Ring or Harry Potter. A 150 million USD production, The Chronicles of Narnia will bring a superb visual experience to the family audience in general and probably a new issue of debate to the religious community in particular. The responses to The Chronicles of Narnia are yet to be voiced, but the presence of the Lion is already prevalent.

I have begun to take a few weeks off from this past Monday, waiting for my indefinite interview with a new job. Life goes on, hey.

 

I also began my life as a forum co-ordinator with a website on studying in Italy, and I am responsible for the forum of Italian cinema, for my and other people's views on Italian cinema, please go to http://www.italianitaly.cn/ShowForum.asp?forumid=10 (in Chinese).

 

In the next few weeks, I hope to return to this Space with more thoughts on books, cinema, life and Beijing. I found it more and more alluring to live here with some great people, but the environment and traffic for the city remain a headache for everybody. Well, you can't get all the best of everything, can you?

 

Soon we will be greeted with the Promotion Campaign of the Christmas season, what do we do with our Sales Beijing? Not that religious really, I mean.

 

Thinking begins again for me, good to know the return of my being.

 

 

Sleeplessness for me is a cherished state to be desired at almost any cost, there is nothing for me as invigorating as immediately shedding the shadowy half-consciousness of a night’s loss, than the early morning, reacquainting myself with or resuming what I might have lost completely a few hours earlier. I occasionally experience myself as a cluster of flowing currents. I prefer this to the idea of a solid self, the identity to which so many attach to so much significance. These currents, like the themes of one’s life, flow among during the waking hours, and at their best, they require no reconciling, no harmonizing. They are “off” and may be out of place, but at least they are always in motion, in time, in place, in the form of all kinds of strange combinations moving about, not necessarily forward, sometimes against each other, contrapuntally yet without one central theme. A form of freedom, I’d like to think, even if I am far from being totally convinced that it is. That skepticism too is one of the themes I particularly want to hold on to. With so many dissonances in my life I have learned actually to prefer being not quite right and out of place.

 

 

Edward Said, Out of Place (London: Vintage, 2000)