White the Wife and Son are away....

Jenny and Tony will be back on Tuesday. Jenny tells me Tony is not used to her parents' place out in the Beixing (near Taixing) countryside. I asked if he wasn't eating but she told me that wasn't the problem. I will find out when they get back, I presume.

Wuxi Tony Update Not is being uploaded as I type this entry.

As soon as the maid left, I went to downtown Wuxi. I took the electric bike because it looked to be a nice day.

But before heading downtown, I made a quick trip to the bridge afar that I mentioned in a previous entry. I took photos which you can see here. It turned out that the bridge was more interesting to visit at night. The other bridge in Hui Shan, which I cross all the time, is much more interesting. But, I did have the experience today of taking my electric bike up and down 100 feet of ramp at the bridge. As I got to the bottom, the bike was pulling me. Taking the ramp up, I used the bike's power to go up but found I was giving the accelerator a little too much power.

Near the bridge is the White House which you can see in the previous entry. There is a dilapidated shack near the White House that can make for a great photo if you can get both buildings together in an image. As it was from the road, the White House and the shack were too far apart. I am thinking of venturing into the field where the shack is located to get this shot but there is a bog there.

Downtown, I had to quickly drop into school to pick up the recharger for my mobile phone. I wish I hadn't even dropped in. More things to deal with when I come back on Tuesday. But on the bright side, I did receive a package from my parents in Canada. They sent me The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama. Now, I know that my very rare readers will wonder why I, after having nothing good to say about Obama, would want to read his book. I have heard thatit is well-written and the source for many Obama believer's enthusiasm. I hope maybe the books can provide some understanding.

From the school, I went to Nanchang Temple market and to my favourite DVD bin in the city. If you see Wuxi Tony Update Not, you will see the DVDs I bought but I will list them here. I got: Shall We Dance with Astaire and Rogers; Laura starring Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews; Summertime directed by David Lean; David Lean's Great Expectations; Holiday Inn starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire; The Ladykillers starring Alec Guiness; Petrified Forest Starring Leslie Howard and Bette Davis; The Wizard of OZ; Sherlock Holmes' The Women in Green Starring Basil Rathbone; Going My Way starring Bing Crosby; Back to Bataan starring John Wayne; and The Man in The White Suit starring Alec Guiness.

After the DVD purchases, I went to Parksons and the Baoli Carrefour. As it turned out the purchases I made at Parksons, should have been made at the Carrefour. I originally had not planned to go to Carrefour, it being Sunday and so probably packed to the gills with shoppers, but I needed picture hooks and I could not find them at HOLA, aka the House of Living Art. Carrefour seems to be the place to get most of the things I need for the household. I was even able to buy a hammer there to put the hooks into the concrete walls with. And now that I have a wife and a son and a hammer, I can claim to be a real man. No more is Andis a Wussie Expat.

I needed the hooks and hammers to put up Tony's one year birthday portrait. You will see the portrait when you watch Wuxi Tony Update Not. I remember someone at work criticizing the portrait saying that when Tony gets older he will hate his parents for having had it on the wall for so many years, and so embarrassing him. I think that opinion was harsh and immature. I find myself wondering how I looked in nude at Tony's age. And so, I envy Tony for having the portrait. Some people have to be parents or in positions of responsibility before they can truly understand.

Because of the rift between the wives Drummond and Kaulins, I couldn't borrow the Drummond hammer and hooks. Shame.

From Carrefour, I rode back home around 230 PM. Though it was sunny, it wasn't very warm. And the wind was fierce. I could feel my long frame and baggy clothes being a drag on the electric bike as I rode into the wind.

Before I went home, I drove to the Yangqiao vegetable market where I got three medium-sized potatoes and a small onion for 2.3 rmb. I don't think they ripped me off. But I will have to ask my wife first before I can say for certain.

Back at home, I have watched two DVDs so far. I first watched Anatomy of a Murder starring Jimmy Stewart and directed by Otto Preminger. The movie had all the elements to be great for it had Jimmy Stewart, George C. Scott, and the sexy Lee Remnick starring in it, and music by Count Basie. But it had a few failed performances including the actors portraying the Judge and the D.A. I then watched Shall We Dance with Rogers and Astaire. The movie follows the same formula as the others Roger-Astaire movies I have seen, but it is a formula I can't get enough of. I love the music, the humour, and the performances of the co-stars including Astaire's bumbling sidekick and the British butler. Fred Astaire is an aristocrat - that is the best description I can come across to convey the star quality he had.

After I publish this entry, I will watch the Laura DVD I just bought today. I wonder if I will that song that Frank Sinatra does. "Laura is the face is the misty light....."

I wll then go to sleep with the Obama book.