Believe it or not, this is a shop in a big, fancy, expensive mall. Most of the shops look like this - empty. The big, fancy, expensive mall isn't. It's a big, fancy, expensive white elephant. Luckily, it has a nice movie theatre in it, with 10 or 11 screens, that shows cheap matinees.

Speaking of cheap matinees and deceptive appearances, as I mentioned yesterday, I went to see the new Jean-Claude van Damme movie today. Contrary to expectations, it was good. A lot of fun. And a nice little exploration of today's theme - deceptive appearances. And von Damme actually acted! Fairly well, at that. So, go see it. You'll be surprised.

I also got my copy of "Annie Liebovitz at Work" yesterday. It's not a bad book, especially if you are, like me (and Ms. Liebovitz), of a somewhat advanced - though not yet decrepit - age. There's more text in the book than photographs, with the text telling the stories behind the photos, and those photos trace the cultural events that formed the background of my youth - Nixon, the Stones, Hunter Thompson... The prose is far from deathless, apparently the product of a series of interviews which were later transcribed and edited by an actual (sort of) writer. I got the feeling that a straight-ahead literal transcription would have been much more interesting as the few hints of Ms. Liebovitz's personality that made it through suggest a much more forceful, possibly abrasive personality. Still, it's really the photos that matter, and she does do great work.