Tonight I watched 是枝裕和's ワンダフルライフ (literally "Wonderful Life", although in the United States, it goes by the title of "After Life" (literally being more literally than normal in that the Japanese title is "Wonderful Life" spelled out in Katakana, the Japanese syllabary for spelling words of foreign origin)). I think I mentioned wanting to see it a few months ago - the premise is that after people die, their essense is shuttled off to an abandoned school where social workers take a week to help them choose and film a memory to take on to eternity (the idea being that they will forget everything else). The film is quite touching and the question it poses is an interesting one.

I think right now if I were faced with a similar situation, I'd choose the evening I first fell in love with my first girlfriend. I remember talking for hours while sitting on the beanbag in my apartment, and at some point she asked me why didn't I just say that I was attracted to her (or something similar - memory is slightly hazy), and afterwards we held hands and kept talking until the sun came up. I think we must've talked about everything in the world... I still remember that mix of fear, excitement, and hope.. I kind of regret that that was, all things considered, both my healthiest and most fulfilling relationship (not that the others didn't have their points, but they were both deeply broken in their own ways...). That night was very special to me... I doubt I'll have anything that nice again... Trailer is here and IMDB entry is here.

Still listening to a lot of rap, and still bothered by how stupid/repetitive the lyrics tend to be on a thematic level - there's incredible artistry in use of beat and matching of words (and the number of concepts alluded to are sometimes strikingly broad), but the general meaning of the songs still tend to reduce down to:

• If you make me angry or don't give me the respect I want, I will hurt you, possibly with the help of my gang
• I have a gang, and I think they're pretty awesome
• I have sex with lots of people, including your girlfriend if I want to
• I smoke marijuana, and I resent the police for enforcing drug laws (rather than, as I think would be more sensible, the people who support those laws)
• I sometimes murder people for various reasons, and I also resent the police for hindering my efforts to do so
• My ethnicity is awesome
• I am a pretty awesome rapper
• You are not a particularly good rapper

As usual, I shall thumb my nose at Christmas by going to work for half a day, then having Chinese (well, likely actually Japanese - Chaya or Sakura) food for lunch, and then probably a walk in Schenley or Frick Park..