[DAY 1]
Home again.
NO SNOW FOR 3 WEEKS MOTHERFUCKERS
After I landed and caught up with my mom for 3 months worth of town gossip, I had 牛肉麵 (beef noodle soup) for lunch and went hunting for DVDs/albums. They finally released the DVD for Exit No. 6 // 六號出口. Kind of a MTV-Taiwan streetpunk comedy/romance, but it's the film that I have a lot of affection for. I'm willing to forgive its contrived plot, corny lines and blatant romanticizations of adolescent rebellion because it understands -- like no other movie -- how Taiwanese kids wish they could live. I first saw it over the summer at the Taipei Film festival and even got to take a slice of the original film reel from the director (it's taped into my sketchbook now). Watching the behind-the-scene interviews kinda brought back my best summer memories.
The guitarist from Sugar Plum Ferry also released a concept album/post-rock soundtrack for a locally-produced (hot?) lesbian-themed movie that won the Teddy Award at Berlin Film Festival. Listening to it right now; really chill, glad I got it.
---------------------------------------
[DAY 2]
『如果青春註定要不斷地向前跑，
他‧媽‧的 我的出口到底在哪裡？』
Went to the "West Gate"/Shimen district today at around dusk to explore the back alleys. I used to hang out around the main strip in high school because that's what high schoolers tend to do in Taipei. Plenty of arcades, karaoke bars, Japanese knicknacks, restaurants and cafes to bring dates to. Kind of like Shibuya district in Tokyo. But then I rewatched Exit No. 6 (六號出口), which focuses more on the afterdark youth subcultures of Shimen. I've been thinking about it for days and decided to revisit the place again.
Like Berkeley's Telegraph Avenue and St. Mark's Square in East Village, Shimen's one of those supersized, over-exposed pop culture meccas. And like those two other places, it's sometimes hard to like precisely because it's so hypocritical and aggressively young. When a Taipei yuppie wants to show how corporate/ martini-and-striped-silk-shirt he is, the first thing he'll do is bash the district in front of his friends. "I don't go to Shimen -- it's for high schoolers."
Anyway, walking around watching all the cosplayers, hip-hop geeks and pseudo-punks kinda allowed me indulge in wondering what kinda aestheticized lives local high schoolers and college kids lead on these streets. But of course it's a hoax: no one actually lives like that. And I'm sure you're all sick of my redundant identity crises, but I started thinking about what it'd be like to grow up in a local high school/college and hang around this part of town everyday after school.
I guess that's also why I liked Exit 6 so much. It's all projection on my part. I'm observing from a quiet distance, watching these impossibly idiotic, good-humored and charming Taiwanese street punks embrace the best years of their lives.
I think I'm gonna be one of those dorky (J.D. Salinger-ish?) adults -- if I ever become one; I still get mistaken for a high schooler a lot -- who never outgrows his fascination with youth culture.
---------------------------------------------
[DAY 5]
It was dark (6PM) by the time I'd finished watching National Treasure with Sherry. On the subway ride home, I stood near a window and stared out down at the streets as they zoomed past the rail track. The train made a long stop at one of the stations, and near the station was a park where a group of uniform-wearing high school girls were hanging out. I guess I looked emo enough standing near the window in the subway train, staring out into the night, so one of the girls stood up and waved at me. I fiddled with my earphones and kinda looked away, but the girl didn't give up. She got all her friends to stand up too and they all jumped up and down waving at me, trying to get my attention.
I think Will Eisner said something to the effect of: never trust anyone who smiles at you on city streets. This is perhaps true to Eisner's NYC, but totally not true here. Random kindness is still alive.
