TEAM DEF WEEKEND REPORT 07.28.08: BOOK AND BATS

So what did Team Def do this weekend?

1. Pillaged the Hong Kong Book Fair

An annual tradition for Team Def is going to the Hong Kong Book Fair, which started off many moons ago as a trade exhibition for the international book industry but has since morphed into a giant Borg bookstore that opens for one week a year, sells everything at 20% off and you have to pay admission to shop there.

The bridal unit and I went for free. Because KT knows The Right People. As usual, she scored more books because (1) 90% of the books on sale are Chinese, and (2) the other 10% are written by Stephen King, J.K. Rowling, Jodi Picoult and Donald Trump. Well, not really, but apart from the Page One stand, it is pretty much limited to pop fiction, business/self help type books and – this year – the collected works of Barack Obama.

Me, I came home with a decent handful of book booty, the most noteworthy being a hardback copy of Dai Sijie’s Mr Muo’s Traveling Couch for HK$30. Plus, I have Naomi “No Logo” Klein’s new book and Max Brooks’ coverage of the recent zombie wars. Result!

2. Saw The Dark Knight

And I’m still not sure what to make of it. In many ways it’s great, and in others it’s a little sloppy (for a start, the Nolans don’t seem to know that much about Hong Kong extradition laws, and I’m not convinced the bits with the bank raids makes much sense either). For all that, though, I find it interesting that the movie isn’t afraid to dwell on the flaws of Batman’s MO – so much so that KT declared the film “100% bullshit”. As for Heath Ledger’s Joker, it’s such a radical interpretation that I may have to do a separate post on that. I worried that he looked too much like The Crow in the promos, but thankfully the resemblance ends there.

Anyway, I found it engrossing. And I have to give good marks for any superhero movie that (1) challenges my expectations and (2) has Gary Oldman in it. And extra credit for the Blackmail Scene.

And so much for the weekend, the remainder of which was spent assembling chairs or sleeping. Naturally.

To the Batmobile,

This is dF

ASK YR DOCTOR ABOUT GETTING YR GENOMES SCANNED TODAY

ITEM: The Economist reports that genome chips – computer processors that can detect 1 million or more specific genetic variations in an individual’s DNA at a time – are getting cheaper and cheaper. Decoding a genome cost about $3 billion in 2003. Today, it costs about $350,000. By 2014, that could come down to $1,000.

What does this mean to you? For one thing, it means that you can have your DNA scanned for markers associated with specific diseases, and analyze yr chances of actually being afflicted with them, more cheaply than ever. A genome screening today might set you back $2,500. In a few years time, it could be around the price of an iPhone.

Potential benefits: increased life expectancy and personalized medicine.

Drawbacks: The technology is advancing faster than health regulators can form policies around it, which is problematic because genome scanning isn’t an exact science for most diseases:

The fact is, no one knows for sure how many of the genetic tests being pushed for various conditions are actually useful. Some may be misleading or worse. The potential for false positives, needless surgery and untold anxiety is enormous.

And what about those who score below average for critical conditions like cardiovascular disease or diabetes—and then abandon healthy ways of life because they think they are immune? The potential for false negatives is no less acute.

This is worth knowing, because you know that as soon as these kind of tests get cheap enough, you’ll be seeing TV commercials hawking genome scanning the same way they do for prescription drugs like Celebrex, Ditropan, Zoloft and others where they spend the majority of the commercial rattling off the list of possible nasty side effects. And they’ll probably be just as honest.

Would I lie to you,

This is dF