Let it snow, Let it snow...

SNOW in Niigata
Cold air of 36 degrees below zero (Celcius) has filled up Japan's sky of around 5000 meters (16000 feet) high and snow has fallen heavily throughtout the coastal areas of the Japan Sea. Snow has especially concentrated on the grounds of the earthquake-hit Niigata area with snow of around 3 meters deep in some areas.
I've never spent my life in a heavy snowfall area. Maybe living in Long Island of New York State was a little close to it. I remember having snow fights with my brother in the yard. There was a blizzard in Feb. 11, 1983 (My dad told me he couldn't come back home from a business trip for two days!). After that, having fun skiing is the only memories of heavy snow. I'm really sensitive to the cold, and I'd rather stay in a warm climate, but watching the snow fall in the city has some sentimentality. Not bad, if it's not an everyday event!
On today's papers there were news that film box-office revenues hit a record high last year. The analysis was that the Japanese films has helped the boom. This time it was not only because the animation film by Hayao Miyazaki had made a fortune as always. But films like "Sekai No Chushin De Ai Wo Sakebu" (literally "Shouting Love in the Center of the World") , a film about pure and innocent love of a school boy to a girl with a deadly leukemia, have had record setting revenues. Cinema comlex becoming popular has been reported as another key. But... I haven't contributed on any of the box-office records as I haven't been to the cinemas in Japan for a real long time. I always go to the movies when I travel to the U.S. because there's always someone to go with. Last August, I saw Collateral with my friends in LA. I went to see 60 seconds with my sister several years ago. In Japan, it's not unusual to go to the movies alone and many of my friends and colleagues do so. But I just can't stand going to a cinema alone, without the enthusiasm to talk about impressions of the film right after the show. After quitting to go to the cinemas, I found out that watching them FREE on TV wasn't that bad. Talking about impressions was not necessary. Watching it on TV seems to make it an everyday event. I used to watch tons of films on HBO when I was a teenager and this habit wasn't so resisting. But as I've done so in those days, I also know that going to the cinemas with friends and of course with your sweetheart is much more satisfying. Just to ask someone out to see films may be something I should start to enrich my private life...