Smoking clarification

I mentioned that not being able to smoke in a bar was ridiculous and argued against the ban. However, I should add that if a place of business wants to declare itself smoke-free, then that's fine with me. Their house, their rules. It's the city passing a ban across the board, regardless of each individual place's preference, that I happen to disagree with.

On a related note, I listed "all the usual reasons" for why I was agianst smoking. However, "smoking's not cool" isn't one of them. I think that smoking is one of the coolest-looking things in the world. Roll up some paper with a chemical in it, put it in your mouth, light it on fire, inhale, and blow smoke. I love that. The image of guys sitting around a poker table with smoke hovering above is fantastic to me.

By the way, somebody on the EACT channel really likes me. They just showed Shaolin Soccer (though regrettably dubbed, no subtitles. Subtitling has gotten good enough the last few years that it doesn't take away from the movie for me anymore). Now they're showing the first Once Upon a Time in China with Jet Li (as Wong Fei Hung) and Rosamund Kwan (as Aunt Yee, or Aunt 13. I asked my friend Leon why she was called Aunt 13. He said that in rural parts of China, the families got really, really big. She is literally his father's thirteenth sister, so even though she's his age, Fei Hung calls her Aunt 13. Though in this dubbed version, it appears they've got him calling her "Cousin Yee" instead).