While the unorthodox conclusion to Wang’s investigative mystery both points to a fundamental difference between Western and Chinese thinking and suggests the crucial importance of what is absent (i.e. China itself, as the shots of water at the film’s end imply), the prime point of interest of Chan is Missing is not the conclusion to the search but the multifarious clues unearthed during the search itself.

multifarious (adj) : having many aspects [syn: many-sided, multifaceted] – source: Stranger than Paradise, p. 113

I don’t wanna be a journalist. I mean, my hat is off to the guys who go out there and do it every day under a deadline. They’re some amazing people, and I’ve come to be close friends with some of them, especially computer industry journalists – I don’t really know that many straight journalists. But given my druthers, this is good.

druthers (n) : the right or chance to choose [syn: preference] – source: Under Heavy Weather: An Interview with Bruce Sterling

Cunt: A Cultural History

I’m an author and I’m interested in free expression, and it’s only natural because that’s my bailiwick.

bailiwick (n) 1: the area over which a bailiff has jurisdiction 2: a branch of knowledge [syn: discipline, subject, subject area, subject field, field, field of study, study, branch of knowledge] – source: Bruce Sterling’s Speech to the High Technology Crime Investigation Association

Some would say it takes Robinson’s level of moxie to succeed in Hollywood.

moxie (n) : fortitude and determination [syn: backbone, grit, guts, sand, gumption] – source: Hack Your Way to Hollywood

He still had his Notting Hill flat, in which he ensconced his beloved Aunt Vera.

ensconce (v) : to cover or shelter, as with a sconce or fort; to place or hide securely; to conceal – source: What if…

As York observes, It’s not just the intellectual poltroons of the Internet who feign bravery by loudly saying what is patently stupid so that people a fraction dumber than them might mistake it for boldness and conviction.

poltroon (n) : an abject coward [syn: craven, recreant] – source: ”Bush=Hitler”

As long they could fulfill the public’s craving for purpose and the conservative’s desires to hold onto their pots, the fascists could rappel their way into power.

rappel (v) : lower oneself with a double rope coiled around the body from a mountainside [syn: abseil, rope down] – source: Who’s a fascist?

Even the eldritch ninja compound pales somewhat compared to the truly surreal area known as ”the raid-houses.”

eldritch (adj) : suggesting the operation of supernatural influences [syn: weird, uncanny, unearthly] – source: The Hacker Crackdown, Part Three

Members of the FCIC are obscurely proud of this fact; they recognize their group as aberrant, but are entirely convinced that this, for them, outright weird behavior is nevertheless absolutely necessary to get their jobs done.

aberrant (adj) : markedly different from an accepted norm [syn: deviant] – source: The Hacker Crackdown, Part Three