Saturday, 7 May 2016

The Capricious and the Charming.

I have computer woes. I was shut out of it yesterday by a technician working remotely from ten past two in the afternoon until one o’clock this morning. At 1am I wrested control back so I could watch some Japanese ghost stories on YouTube, since my patience has limits. Eleven hours was quite enough, and my addiction to Japanese ghost stories was gnawing away at me mercilessly. Anyway, the technician didn’t find the problem and now it seems I need a rebuild, which means I face the prospect of being locked away in solitary confinement for as long as it takes, probably on Wednesday.

Still…

The past week has been delightfully warm, sunny and dry here in Blighty. Today it remained warm, but was a lot more humid, and this evening we’re having thunder and showers in consequence.

Rain is one of those classic cocktail ingredients, the effect of which depends on what they’re being mixed with. Winter rain is miserable – cold, spitting, nasty and uncomfortable – but gentle rain during warm spells in spring and summer is quite charming. It smells good and freshens everything. I remember watching Jiri Menzel’s classic Capricious Summer once, and what I found most appealing about it was the charm of summer rain.

2 comments:

Madeline said...

My father used to scare the crap out of me by reading Japanese ghost stories to me. The ones I remember most vividly are the one in which a man is invisible except for his ears, and the one with a woman with long hair working at a loom. I'm curious as to whether they are the same type of ghost stories as the ones featured on YouTube.

JJ said...

Certain themes are prominent, including women with long hair, stories set in ladies' lavatories (I was impressed by one which had a woman with long hair crawling around the floor of a ladies' lavatory, but I'm a bit odd), stories set in high schools, and things-the-other-side-of-doors. I've never yet seen one you could really describe as 'Gothic', but I suppose Gothic is a European construct.

Maybe you should try a few; the shorts are usually only around 4-6 mins long.