In Music: Ute Lemper Live in Dublin

Just before we went into the concert, my sister told me that it would be ok if I wanted to leave early. I told her that this would only happen if the artist was very, very bad. OK, let's flash back a month before. I received an SMS from my sister that she had booked tickets to Ute Lemper, yay! (paraphrasing). I kind of forgot about it because I had never heard of Ms. Lemper.

Back to last night. Ms. Lemper starts her music with a story, a story of 'Le petit Piaf" (Edith) that had to find her way in the world, in Paris, until she was finally discovered while singing on the street. I think the first song of the concert was "Ma Vie En Rose," a movie I still have to see, and the second "Padam… padam!" (see Piaf's original performance below). Which brings me to the conductor of the symphony, Mr. Robert Ziegler.



Now as much as you can say that Ms. Lemper has got style, she's got flair, Mr. Ziegler is clearly her equal in as far as conductors can have a presence on stage. From the moment he appeared in his more colourful attire than you would normally expect, you knew this guy was different. And he was! Which you noticed most of all in Piaf's Padam. If music is a wave, it was as if his entire body was a ship floating through it. It's hard to describe, but he had this way of keeping rhythm and tilting his heels ever so much when a musical climax was to occur. Oh, and if you didn't know who Robert Ziegler is, he conducted the music for "There Will be Blood" and collaborated with Radiohead.

"Padam… Padam" was easily a master-piece, but it didn't stop here. Ute Lemper took us on a journey through the 30s, 40s, and 50s, interpreting German and French artists that sometimes sang as if it would be the last sound to pass their lips. She told us about the hidden cabaret that formed a not so silent (but hidden) outlet for people when WWII was the worst. And even that was not to last. All this emotion could be felt clearly in her words and in the music.

Something about Ms. Lemper herself. Apart from being an established singer, she's an actress and a painter. I haven't seen her latter works yet, but her acting skills manifest herself in her presence. From Marlene Ditriech's "They call me naughty Lola" to the sad 'hidden cabaret' ballads like "Die Ballade vom Wasserad," she impersonates that artist in all its might and plight and it's powerful, like you're really there. Next to that, Ute Lemper is a beautiful woman and knows how to dress in style.



Why I knew I would enjoy the concert most of all was because she would be singing a number of Jacques Brel's songs, such as "Amsterdam" and "Ne me ne quite… (pas)." You don't know this about me, but I grew up with hearing Brel on my dad's record-player every weekend and he is to me what to some people is The Beatles. So I loved it!

The concert finished with Van Morrison's Moondance. She received a standing ovation, after which she came back for one more untitled song, after which she received another standing ovation.

One of the greats!

I warmly recommend buying her music (e.g. here) and even more seeing her live. It's likely to be an experience you'll never want to forget.

In Music: Thievery Corporation live vs. Massive Attack live

About five years ago, I watched the band Thievery Corporation live in Cologne. Last night, I saw Massive Attack in Luxembourg. The cycle is nearly complete. All that is missing is the Future Sound of London, which I grooved to on the way back.

T.C. and M.A. have similar styles of performing. Both use a lot of live instruments, more so Thievery, and both use a lot of different (styles) of singers. But if I had to compare the two, they are completely different. Compared to Massive Attack, Thievery Corporation is like the happiest sound imaginable. Massive Attack on the other hand, seems literally (see Nicolette's performance at the end) like a sad clown. Case in point: "Splitting the Album"



While the crowd was quite energetic in this video, the Lux. crowd was (typically!) more lullabied, the band too seeming in some kind of undead trancey mood.

Let's contrast this with a video from a live performance by Thievery Corp.: "Warning Shots"



Completely different kind of energy!

Perhaps it's to do with Massive Attack being around for such a long time. A lot of hits were being played last night and while the crowd ate it up, I'm always reminded of Adam Sandler in the Wedding Singer, regurgitating the same song over and over again. The clown makeup that the female singer, Nicolette, was wearing, not a smile on her face, didn't help either.



All in all a great concert, don't get me wrong. From the light show flashing messages in the background, from what drugs would be good to take right now (pcp?) or how much it costs to sponsor a nurse in Africa (2.500 per year), vs. buying a diamond iPod (39.000) or paying the Lehman CEO (somewhere in the millions). To the different styles of singing, lullabying vs. energizing, from psychedelic reggae to rock to techno. Everything was in there and it was an amazing experience.

In Films: The Country Road movie: Whispers of the Heart (1995)

This is one of the few Studio Ghibli Films I haven't seen yet and you can see elements of many of their other films in it, from 'Porco Rosso' (on the clock), to 'Castle in the Sky,' to, I'm sure, plenty more.

At the same time, it shows life in Japan in an entirely unglamorous way, a family living in cramped quarters, the school system, teenage life, etc. It reminded me of 'the Girl that leapt through time' in that respect, another anime film that is definitely worth watching.

Rating: Good

Ah yes, and expect to hear the song Country Road over and over again, except in sung Japanese. It grows on you…

In Music: 88-Keys' "The Death of Adam" and Mixtape

According to my iTunes smartlist (called 'Rate these?'), I should mark every track on their official album, "The Death of Adam," as at least three stars (That's how I remember what I like and don't on my 'pod). Actually, I can tell you exactly how that is calculated:

The tracklist:

• "Morning Wood" - Played 16 times
• "Nice Guys Finish Last" - played 18 times
• "The Friends Zone (feat. Shitake Monkey)" - played 15 times
• "Handcuff 'Em" - played 12 times
• "Stay Up! (Viagra) (feat. Kanye West)" - played 13 times
• "There's Pleasure In It" - played 11 times
• "(Awww Man) Round 2?" - played 15 times
• "Dirty Peaches (feat. J'Davey)" - played 17 times
• "Close Call (feat. Phonte)" -played 14 times
• "The Burning Bush (feat. Redman)" - played 11 times
• "Ho' Is Short For Honey (feat. Kid Cudi)" - played 11 times
• "No. I Said I LIKED You" - played 15 times
• "M.I.L.F. (feat. Bilal)" - played 9 times
• "Another Victim" - played 16 times

This is of course just statistics, which only tells you so much. Add to that that I've had it for a month, that the total album time is 45.7 minutes, and the average number of times I played this album is at around 12.8 times, that's approximately 588 minutes of playtime. Spread over a month, that's 19 minutes a day! If that isn't love, I don't know what is.

My favourite track is, according to my own rating system, "Stay Up!" (see vid. below). According to the number of plays, which is random, it's "Nice Guys Finish Last." Perhaps, I'm trying to tell myself something… o_O



Just to give you a taste, the mixtape, "Adam's Case Files," can be downloaded for free here. I haven't listened to it that much yet, but it's not bad.

Featuring Kid Cudi, Izza Kizza, Tanya Morgan, Guilty Simposn, Grafh, Mr. Bentley, Serius Jones, and more. Adam’s Case Files is the precursor to 88's first solo album release The Death Of Adam, hitting stores this October on Decon Records and executive produced by Kanye West.

In TV-Shows: The rules of 'The Prisoner'

• Rule 1: You do not escape from the village
• Rule 2: No. 2 is in charge
• Rule 3: In the village, you are just a number
• Rule 4: The red phone is in charge of No. 2
• Rule 5: If you run, the white ball will probably get you
• Rule 6: If you don't get mindf*cked every single day, something is probably wrong
• Rule 7: No. 2 is replaceable
• Rule 8: Appearances can deceive, especially those of your fellow prisoners
• Rule 9: If you reveal your secret, you will be retired
• Rule 10: Everything is possible, but most improbable things are probably attempts to mindf*ck you.
• Rule 11: You do not escape from the village

My favourite episode of 'The Prisoner' is the one called "Many happy returns," in which No. 6 find the village to be completely deserted and escapes. The show, which was made in 1967 and only had 17 episodes, is a classic and has inspired plenty of other science fiction, including 'Lost' and 'Battlestar Gallactica,' as well as countless of other shows and movies, some of them probably presenting you with the main character waking up to a deserted environment. Every episode presents you with a new opportunity to see No. 6 being tricked into revealing his information, as well as, originally, a new No. 2 to worry about. Every No. 2 has a different personality and maner or dealing with No. 6, and each of them is, equally originally, introduced towards the end of the 3 min. long introduction to the 45 min. show. Slightly different from 'Lost,' it's most apparent cousin, where the intro takes… a second?

The attraction of the show is three-fold, I think. Most obviously, its lead character (and creator), Patrick McGoohan, is a charming hero. Second, it is a battle between human nature and "the system." And third, that, like in 'Lost,' nothing is actually revealed of the plot (or the point), which makes you want to see the next episode and the next.

In Film: 'Cinema Paradiso'

Strange, how time flies. I've had this film lying around since 2006, and somehow put off watching it until today, a day spent lying in bed, slightly feverish, and watching film after film. This method appears quite effective, together with eating a lot, I'm sure I'll be well tomorrow.



So 'Cinema Paradiso' is several things, but most of all the story of a boy called Salvatore, growing up in a village. He falls in love with cinema and becomes one of those person's in the back, rolling the film for everyone. It's the kind of job, if you ever worked in a cinema, that everyone there dreams of doing. His father is lost in the war, but he is semi-adopted by Alfredo, the original projectionist, who teaches him the craft. And things ensue from there.

Some great conversations in the film, such as when Alfredo tells him about how places change after you come back from a break.

Living here day after day...
you think it's the center of the world.
You believe nothing will ever change.
Then you leave for a year or two.
When you come back, everything's changed.
The thread's broken.
What you came to find isn't there.
What was yours is gone.
You have to go away for a long time...
many years...
before you can come back and find your people.
The land where you were born.
But not now. It's not possible.

And a great romance, with a moment which is definitely inspired by all the classic romances in the world. But, I'll leave you to find out about it…

In Music: The last track of 'Six Feet Under'

The last track of the show was a beautiful piece of ambiance while the final scenes of the show were shown. So sad! I wrote before how I wondered whether this show, which is about death, desensitised you from the death-experience. I think that it does the opposite, that you become more sensitive to it, but that ignoring it is worse—you have this constant shadow hanging over you, especially when you get older. I didn't realise that Alan Ball, who also wrote and directed 'American Beauty,' had done the same for this show. A marvellous piece of art and I feel privileged to have been allowed to see it (as I feel with many of HBO's shows).

Enjoy the track!

In TV-Shows: Thoughts on "Six feet under"

My first thought about this show was, what is people's fascination with death? Then I realised that we are all fascinated with death, which should make anything to do with that topic an instant blockbuster. Of course, the latest show on this topic, "Pushing Daisies," was just cancelled, so even death can't save your show all the time.

There are three big themes to "Six feet under." The first is clearly death. The second is homosexuality. The third is the insanity of the Fisher family, the main focus on this show. The Fisher family runs an undertaking business and one of the members is gay, which is the way that all relates.

Let's start with death. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about that part. Every episode starts with a death (with the exception of one or three). Some deaths are normal (i.e. of old age), some deaths are odd, some deaths are horrible, some are comical. I'd like to say that watching this show desensitises you to death, but I luckily haven't been in the position to test that out yet. What I can say is that you get the feeling that death is something rather natural and that we all cope with it somehow.

Let's continue with homosexuality. There are a lot of gay scenes in this show, as one of the characters comes out of the closet and tries to live a normal life. I think he succeeds, and through it you develop a better understanding of the battle (both in the gay person's head and in his environment) and feel good when that battle is won.

Let's finish with the insanity. I've thought a lot about it and I think that situations in the show end up becoming insane, because people constantly play off other people. E.g. in an effort to become closer to another man, a woman joins a cult, and insanity follows. Or, because one man finds out he's dying, but keeps it from his girlfriend, she feels alienated and starts sleeping around, which creates more tension. There's some seriously "fucked up shit" (a phrase often used in the show), that's happening, but it can all be explained by reacting to the actions of another person. It kind of feels like no one has control over their own choices, which is a semi-true parody of real life and explains why not everything is nice and logical or orderly.

Kick-ass drama. If you can get past the death-part, it can be enjoyed by all I think.

In Film: Why "Frost / Nixon" was made at this time

Why? Read this article.

About 31 min. into the film.

Frost: Well what is it that you want to achieve
Reston: I'd like to give Richard Nixon the trial he never had.
Frost: Of course, we'll be asking difficult questions.
Reston: Difficult questions… the man lost 21 thousand Americans and a million Indochinese during his administration. He only escaped jail because of Ford's pardon.
Frost: Yes, but equally going after him in some knee-jerk way, assuming he's a terrible guy, wouldn't that only create more sympathy for him, than anything else?
Reston: You know, uhm, right now I submit it's impossible to feel anything close to sympathy for Richard Nixon. He devalued the presidency (emphasis mine) and he left the country that elected him in trauma. The American people need a conviction, pure and simple. The integrity of our political system, of democracy as an idea entirely depends on it. And if in years to come, people look back and say it was in this interview that Richard Nixon exhounorated himself, that would be the worst crime of all.
… (actual silence)

You see a little bit of that conversation in the trailer as well.

To me, this film was one of the best of 2008, and yet Nixon was never convicted, so was it a victory for democracy?

In Film: Appaloosa

I've never been into Westerns, and this film isn't changing my mind about it. Growing up with John Wayne, aka the most boring actor in the world to me, there's just something about this genre that puts me off. I'm not sure if it is the idea of crossing long dusty environments, the rather too formal women's clothing, or the accent. I just don't know.

That's not to say that there haven't been great Westerns! "The good, the bad, and the ugly" for one, or any other Sergio Leone flick for that matter. But looking at the IMDB top 50, those are pretty much the ones that stand out, quality wise, with as an honourable mention "Tombstone," for Val Kilmer's performance as Doc Holiday alone.

Therefore, I can't speak as highly of "Appaloosa" as I would like, though I do think that had some interesting angles to it, such as the legal aspects of society, which did play a strong part, the power-play between men and men and men and women and how both dealt with it, as well as the finding of meaning in a career, a personal struggle that I observed in several characters.

Most memorable moment for me was a conversation that Ed Harris, as Virgil Cole, has with Viggo Mortensen, as Everett Hitch:

Cole: Everett, we've been together now a while, can't exactly say how long, but long. Ain't anybody I'd rather do this work with. As good as anybody I've seen, except maybe the Shelton boys, I mean. The reason you ain't as good as the Sheltons or me, ain't got nothing to with steady, with fast, or fortuitous. The reason the above named folks are better than you is because you got feelings.
Hitch: Well hell Virgil, everybody's got feelings.
Cole: Feelings get you killed.
Hitch: You got feelings about Ally don't you?
Cole: I care about Ally in town and I care when I get her back. But right now there's something running, and we're trying to catch it.

In retrospect, it's a strange movie, this one, one that I'll have to see again in a few years and reform my opinion about. Ed Harris is incidentally also the co-screenwriter and director of this film.

In Film: The King of Kong

Continuing my documentary trail, The King of Kong is either the saddest or the coolest movie, you ever did see. Cool, if you like games / the 80s and 90s scene / games / mullets. Sad, if your world is just that or you realise that their world is just that.

I think that this film had very little to do with the game of Donkey Kong, which may have been for the better, but more to do with ego. There's nothing wrong with ego, it can bring you to great heights but it can also turn you blind / make you proud / make you high. I didn't have sympathy with any of the characters in the film, not Billy Mitchell, who reveals himself quite boorishly here, not Steve Wiebe, who is made out to be the martyr, until you realise that we are talking about Donkey Kong.

That said, it was a good laugh, all the way through.

In Film: Pop culture documentaries

In anticipation of Objectified, a brief thought-piece on pop culture documentaries. Not being an avid watcher of documentaries, I can list the ones I've seen on one hand:

Good Copy, Bad Copy
You can watch this one for free online. It's all about mashup culture and how the way we perceive copyright is really a western, capitalist notion (duh!). I don't remember the exact details, except I think that it goes through Brazil, India, some mashup-artists in the US, and interviews a whole bunch of (critical and non-critical) authorities in this field. Check it:


Hayao Miyazaki and the Ghibli Museum (Google video link)
A really obscure flick, and you'll be lucky to find it (with English subtitles!), I think. I remember watching this some time ago and being quite excited about it too. I'm a big fan of Studio Ghibli films and consider myself lucky to have had the opportunity to watch "Howl's Moving Castle" in the cinema, on the big screen. To me, anime has been part of pop-culture for some time, which is why I include it. In this flick, you can see some of the creatures in the Ghibli films come to real life.

Check out a full review here.



24 hour party people
I have to confess that I would've probably never watched this, if I wasn't forced to. This was, ironically, the first video shown for my entrepreneurship master at the Rotterdam school of management. Is it entrepreneurial? It's about a movement and, if I remember correctly, looking at the part of one man in it. Having lived in Manchester for some time, and having an unnatural fascination with things that no longer exist, I like the idea of looking at the city through the lens of the 70s and 80s. If you dig the Sex Pistols, Joy Division / New Order, and the Happy Mondays, chances are you'll like this too. Ah yeah, and the main character is Steve Coogan, who rocks.



That's it from me! I'd love to hear some more suggestions!

In Films: "Slumdog Millionaire"

This film is very alien, dealing with a culture, a world that many of us don't understand. I remember, as a kid, reading "In 80 days around the world," and being scared when I read about the travels through India, where someone got burned alive (if I remember correctly). There's several parts in this film too, with a type of cruelty that doesn't quite fit the Christian morale, perhaps any morale.

Seeing the first part mostly through the eyes of a young child, adds to the adventure-like nature of the film, very similar to "The boy in the striped pyjama's," which I reviewed before. That kind of perspective makes it both more ok, I would guess, and induces a respect in the viewer for how brave kids can truly be. This is not a comedic film, though it has its moments!

A nice transformation from young boys to teen after the train-scene! Also, M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" is kind of the theme-song to this film.



End-conclusion: it wasn't really my taste of film. There were some elements of "City of God" in it, the scary parts, and elements of very-very romantic movies—nothing comes to mind right now. Still, since it has by some been called the film of 2008, it should be watched and mentioned.

In Books: "The boy in the striped pyjamas"

This is, to my recollection, the first book that I've finished and where I cried. I had started reading it on the 31st of December 2008, on my way to the party in Cologne. I finished it after partying hard and sleeping all day, on the way back, in 2009. I accidentally sat down in first class, I was all alone. And when I closed the last page of the book, I felt sad, helpless, like there was a pain that had to come out. The conductor came shortly after, breaking me out of my trance. I had just read a book that told an awful story about something that really happened in Germany and it felt surreal to see this man in a uniform, speaking to me in German. I had to mentally pinch myself into today again.

"The boy…" is a book where you probably already guess what is going to happen from the first few pages. I had actually already listened to a review of the film a few weeks before, and hence knew a little about it. Looking at the book, the author, an Englishman, wanted to keep it a secret however, he said absolutely nothing about its content on the back-cover. Perhaps, perhaps, I would have been better off not knowing.

If you are going to read the book and feel more comfortable not knowing, perhaps you should stop here… I don't think it will really matter, but by all means, do.
…
…
…

OK. The story plays in 1940 Germany, which is seen through the eyes of a young boy, son of an officer in the army. They move away from Berlin to a place that seems depressing to him. There's soldiers all around his house and through his bedroom window, he can see a fence, and in the distance, people walking around in striped pyjamas. I won't go any further, these are plot-points, you'll learn in the 1st 20 pages anyway.

My sister sent it to me for Christmas, telling me that she didn't like it herself (she does this all the time, in case you're wondering). The boy seemed too smart for his own age (9), she thought. What frustrated me was that it was painfully obvious what was going on, but they dumbed everything down. It makes sense as you finish the book, but it frustrated me.

Worse, you know something bad is happening at the time and something worse will happen later. A sense of dread built up in me and I remember telling people how much I hated reading the book because of it. But it finished quickly, aimed at children of 12, I would guess by its style. Towards the end, I was hypnotised, hoping that what I expected, wouldn't happen. And when the book ended, I cried.

The end.

In 2008: a year of media

My media memory only goes back so far, but the great thing about the human brain is that it's self-selecting, automatically dismissing that which isn't noteworthy.

Memorable this year were a few things in tv-shows, films, and music.

The year in TV-Shows:
My highlight this year is definitely finishing "The Wire", which I managed to do over the period of several months. A genius piece of writing and it made me a big fan of HBO, which, as I recently found out, stands for Home Box Office. A great name!

Another gem that stood out was "Damages," with Glenn Close, which never let up in the tension. I've only seen the first season and can't wait for the rest.

Comedy-wise, I've been left pretty disappointed since Seinfeld and the early Friends, but I can warmly recommend "How not to live your life." It only aired a few episodes this year, but it was laugh-out-loud funny British comedy.

The year in Films
Last Christmas, I actually made it my resolution to focus on the classics in 2008 and beyond, and can't really recall any brilliant films coming out (of course, I'm wrong, but my brain only holds that much space).

Classics that stood out were:

• The Public Enemy, which I liked because it's the oldest thing I've ever seen and I'm fascinated at the idea of looking through a window into life when my grandparents lived.
• Rebecca, which was also tension non-stop.
• A few Jean Arthur movies, whom I've developed a mini-crush on.
• Lawrence of Arabia, which just seems like the optimal adventure movie to me.
• And Casablanca, which is just a classy flick.

I'm trying to strain my brain for some more recent films, perhaps you can suggest some. Did Juno come out this year (no), in which case, that's worth a watch, as well as Mongol (the life of Genghis Kahn).

The year in Music
Similarly, I think it is hard to form a valid opinion as to an album is great, when it has only recently been released. Thinking back at 2008, only two albums stood out:

• 88 Keys - Death of Adam, which is the story of Adam, told in bits and pieces.
• M83 - Saturdays = Youth, which is a trip down the 80s.

Everything else, I still have to think about.

In Film: Hamlet 2 is a piece of ridiculous genius

Man, I'm glad I watched this movie. You know, the type of film that's really painful to watch, until at some point, it all makes genius sense. Hamlet 2 is very similar to Napoleon Dynamite, in the way that you don't understand what the movie is all about, until you witness the end-result.

Until you get there though, you have to see Steve Coogan do some pretty embarrassing shit, prove to everyone that he is an artist, even though he's been pretty much "raped in the face" since he was a kid… or something. In any case, if you like South Park, same writer as that movie and the show, chances are you'll dig this too (a lot of gay jokes).

In People: You'll love Russell Peters as a global citizen

Russell has a way of insulting half the room and making it all better by insulting the other half two seconds later. If you somehow cannot take jokes about your race / culture, you'll probably hate him.

In films: "I'm not there"

"The smile is contagious, I was born to love her"—a random lyric from the end-titles of "I'm not there."

I felt like blasting this picture up there and writing no words at all.

Detachment is the word that most comes to mind to describe the film. 6 actors, of which Kate Blanchett was the biggest surprise, because I just couldn't place her, each of them apparently portraying a stage in Dylan's life.

But he's never there and you get this real guessing game going about what's going on.

I like the film, it felt like it went through some important questions about the meaning of life. Do we have a responsibility to change things or just report them? Why don't people revolt more? Is there ever a point to revolting? I also had an good discussion about the phrase "Plus ca change" during the film, essentially meaning: the more we change, the more we all become the same. And vice versa.

And I realised that when we truly listen to ourselves, we all become aliens to everyone else. And when we try to be different, we end up listening too much to others and become like them. It's sort of related to the film, but not really.

"I'm not there" cannot be described as anything less than a piece of art. Which makes it, by nature, difficult to digest. You never know whether you're being taken for a ride or whether there is a great lesson there. But, the acting, the music, I had a good time for 2 hours.

Oh, and I think it's probably best to read some kind of summary, before watching the film.

In Film: Mickybo and Me

"Mickybo and Me" is a feel-good film in the setting of Angela's Ashes. It plays in Belfast, 1970, through the eyes of two young boys, Mickybo and Jonjo. 90% of the film is an adventure, inspired by the classic "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," and leading to some pretty mad situations.

It was a pick by my brother, who chose it in the spirit of "Purely Belter" and "About a Boy." Chances are that if you like those two (the books are even better), you'll like this one as well.

In Pics: walking the line

No words.

In Web: Stephen Fry's Twitter poetry

Meant to be read upside down:

But NOT Vista and OS X. Non posso. Unmöglich. x about 2 hours ago from Tweetie
Coke and Pepsi. (Coke and Ecstasy for that matter ...) x about 2 hours ago from Tweetie
Bach and Mahler x about 2 hours ago from Tweetie
Carbs and protein x about 2 hours ago from Tweetie
You can like iPhones and BlackBerries x about 2 hours ago from Tweetie
You can like Dickens and Austen x about 2 hours ago from Tweetie
You can love Mozart and Wagner x about 2 hours ago from Tweetie
It's possible to like the Beatles and the Stones. x about 2 hours ago from Tweetie

By Stephen Fry.

In Games: "Portal" and "The World of Goo"

These games have two things in common. They're short and portray a fairly cynical view of the world. In Portal, you play as something, probably some kind of artificial creation (well, it is a game-character), that has to play a series of games to get out. You are guided by a voice that encourages you, while subtly saying that you really mean nothing. You are test-subject that exists only to test the game, or perhaps to test your resilience to a game that is trying to kill you.

In the World of Goo, you are an observer that manipulates pieces of goo. Little tiny bubbles, which you can stick together, until a way out is found through a vacuum. Each level has a message from the Sign Painter, who again tells you what the purpose is, while also subtly pointing out that this is just goo, that, perhaps, we are all just goo, working together to find a way out.

The target audience for both games would be between 12 and 99, I would say. I would raise that up a little higher. Sure, life is a cynical beast and we are its beastmaster, but to pump our kids full with this message… I'm not sure what the pedagogical value of that is. Of course, if you win, well, then it makes more sense.

Time to finish one of these games: probably a weekend.
Quality of game-play: challenging, solid games that stay with you.

In Film: 12 angry men

One by one…

12 angry men is actually a misnomer. The film start when the public trial ends and the jury convenes to decide the fate of a young man. If guilty, he will die. If innocent, he will walk. In the jury of 12, one remains calm. He, Henry Fonda, is the one that votes not guilty, while everyone condemns the accused, without deliberation.

The film is about the nature of facts and how they can be twisted into what you want them to believe. And it's about logic.

A must-see for anyone that's ever argued a point. So everyone…

In Film: "Steel Magnolia" — a chick flick

Steel Magnolia is a chick flick. If you don't believe me, observe how much the women speak, as opposed to the men. Men are just fillers in this film, filling in the gaps between the colour that the women bring to the scene. But I'm not bitter, far from it.

The Magnolia is a flower, but stands for woman in this film. Women that go through both happiness and tragedy and stand straight, as in made of steel. The film is quite extraordinary that way, in the sense that instead of exaggerating happy moments, like a wedding, or dramatic moments, like a kidney-transplant, it just jumps ahead right after you start feeling the emotion. A woman's style, I think, is to feel the emotion beforehand. Doing your best that an event is felt for real, that everything has been done that could be done, and not looking back after the moment has passed.

Great acting by Sally Field, Julia Roberts, and Shirley MacLaine! A chick-flick it is, but one that can be enjoyed by all!

In Film: "Depuis qu'Otar est parti"

I'm way too tired to write about this film, but I just want to note it as a favourite.

"Depuis qu'Otar est parti" is centred around the life of a family of three women in Georgia and how they deal with the death of another member, Otar, who left for Paris to find his luck.

What I liked about the film: it started with a lie and when the person that is being lied to finds out about it, she decides to invent her own lie. But it's also about grasping for ideals and making the best out of a situation. I came out of it, feeling refreshed and ready for what the next week will bring. That kind of films, there's way too little of.

In Film: "The beat my heart skipped"

It's been a while, mostly because I'm busy with other things + diligently updating Tech IT Easy.

Why I like this film is because it places the antagonist between two sources of pressure, his father's business and his mother's art. Since my own home-situation was similar, it hit a note. From Wikipedia:

"The Beat That My Heart Skipped (French: De battre mon cœur s'est arrêté) is a 2005 French film directed by Jacques Audiard and starring Romain Duris. It tells the story of Tom, a real estate thug torn between a criminal life and a wish to be a pianist."

Btw., Romain Duris is the actor that played in one of my favourite films of all time: "L'Auberge Espagnol."

In TV-shows: Mad Men's Cigarettes

I'm not sure what I like about Mad Men. There's no real action in it, but I guess it gives a glimpse, a stylised one, into 1950's and 60's society in the US, and I'm always fascinated by how people used to live before I was born. Of course, it's usually better to watch a movie from that time for that, or read a book.

In any case, things to like about it are:

• the marketing—the industry was just getting started and it's interesting how things worked and have evolved since then.
• the fashion—it's pretty stunning how people are dressed in that show, elegant certainly, and not quite mass-produced elegance either.
• gender-relations—the rise of feminism, the machismo of men
• the vices—the constant smoking, drinking, and sleeping around… in and outside of work

I think there'll be cigarette-counts released as soon as season 1 has ended. But in the mean time, I found out that at least one show featured the lighting of 42 cigarettes—that's one every minute! That alone makes it a fascinating watch; I wonder if they're real!

In people: my Twitter quotes of the day

Twitter.com/vincentvw

I've been collecting a number of quotes over the last few months, not many, but enough for this post.

• "A simple rule dictates my buying: Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful." (Warren Buffett)


• [about starting a company] "The truth is boring: the state of the economy doesn't matter much either way." (Paul Graham) http://bit.ly/3rtGG7


• "I only report what I know to be true. This is not some sort of high standard. It is basic journalism." (John Gruber) http://bit.ly/1gE0YN


• "Think about the things that don't change in the next 5-10 years." (Jason Fried).


• "find an editor you can trust, one who is working at the highest possible level of professionalism" (Simon Roberts) http://tinyurl.com/4phbo8


• "How much of human life is lost in waiting…?" Ox, Indiana Jones, 2008


• "Truth be told, I like getting my ass kicked because it makes me angry, motivated and focused." @jasoncalacanis on the downturn


• "When things go bad nowadays, you get yourself an Ism, and you're in business" (M. Vanderhof 1938) http://tinyurl.com/2f56yw


• "Risk Aversion is the single biggest innovation killer" (@KathySierra), via @ceciiil http://tinyurl.com/6x9933


• "He who looks outside, dreams; he who looks inside, awakes." (Carl Jung quote from an AVC comment)


• "what A-list twitterers are doing with their 1000s of followers is turning it into mass-media again."(@Matthias20)

In music: Spoon & The Black Keys

Two albums I liked today:

Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

Favourite track so far: The Ghost of You Lingers



The Black Keys - Attack and Release

Favourite track so far: Lies

In books: The Elements of Style

If you're a writer and, apparently, a coder, you can't go wrong with "The Elements of Style." As Roger Angell writes in the foreword:

Writing is hard, even for authors who do it all the time. Less frequent practitioners—the job applicant; the business executive with a Faulkner assignment; the graduate-school student with her thesis proposal; the writer of a letter of condolence—often get stuck in an awkward passage or find a muddle on their screen and then blame themselves. What should be easy and flowing looks tangled or feeble or overblown—not what was meant at all. What's wrong with me, each one thinks. Why can't I get it right?

Well, if that's how you feel about writing, then this delightfully thin book is certainly for you. The book ends with a number of sage advices, such as:

• Place yourself in the background.


• Write in a way that comes naturally.


• Do not overwrite.


• Do not overstate.


• Avoid fancy words.

And much more, all of which should be read and reread. You can get it for free online or here. I got my brother the illustrated edition before he left for his studies in creative writing, but I personally prefer the non-illustrated kind—keeping it essential and portable. Though the other kind makes for a nice gift.

In Mac: favourite official & unofficial Mac-plugins

Check it on Tech IT Easy.

In TV-shows: How to not live your life

My favourite British sitcom, which does narrow it down a bit. But it's definitely laugh-out-loud brilliant.

Not safe for work and if you can't get your hands on it, be creative.

In music: Ziggy Marley's "Beach in Hawaii"

Somebody in my street blasted this song this morning and woke me up. I'm sure that makes me biased, but I liked it. That said, Ziggy M. has the artistic bandwidth of my left foot: always the same rhythm and always the same theme: love.

In web: Phil Gyford’s website

Gyford.com

Design:

• I first noticed the nicely categorised lists at the side: currently reading, the recently listened to tracks (changes to most listened artists when you click on a post, which I prefer).
• I liked the choices in rss-feeds: writing only, pictures only, links only, or a combination of the above.
• The picture feed at the top is very subtle.
• And I love, love the time-line view of the things he's done. Best I've seen so far.

Content:

• The time-line view, once again, is excellent and shows a well-rounded background, which should also translate into better writing.
• I can mainly judge the article I originally fell on through Kottke, entitled "Graphs that lie," which makes for an interesting point.
• The video he acted in, called Manicato, is very nice though!

1st impression: I like.

In events: Wine-tasting Klassiek Europa, Noordwijk

Note to self: use the camera on your phone more, like at least once.

Yesterday, at the Klassiek Europa event at the beach in the Netherlands, I met a lot of cool wine-affectionados, a number of wine-professionals, and drunk a lot, too much wine. Rule 101 of wine-tasting is really to spit out the wine—it might look disgusting, and you won't get drunk as quickly, but you'll still get drunk.

Good countries that I remember (note to self: take pictures of bottles):

• A red wine from Italy—yum, fruity!


• A white dry wine from Spain—yum, dry!


• A white Riesling from Germany—yum, dry!


• A white quasi-Riesling from the Netherlands—omg, I've never tasted anything so horrible in my life.

Was hoping to track down a white German whine that I tasted in Luxembourg and was the best I ever had, but I didn't.

In places: Christies Auction-house, Amsterdam

Note: not all things I write here are favourites, just things I want to remember.

What is there to remember about Christies, Amsterdam? Not much to be honest, not even worth a picture. It's outside of Amsterdam-centre, in a nice neighbourhood, close to the museum-quarter (of course). It's burgundy flags welcome you from a distance and when you walk in, you are confronted with some art-work. The receptionists look like female flight-attendants. There's art-brochures in the waiting-area and that's about it.

I was met in a tiny office on the ground floor, in contrast to any majestic expectations you may have had. It's important to remember that Christies is only a mediator and not a curator of art.

In film: Guess who's coming to dinner (the original)

I don't get how this film was remade the way it was. The original from 1967 was meant to provoke, well, I don't know how the world worked in 1967, but it certainly presents a new concept to the characters in the film. And that concept is nowhere near comparable to Ashton Kutcher coming to dinner.

GWCTD (I hate repeating long titles) is about race, it's about a black man coming to meet the parents of his future white wife. And it's not really a comedy, though the characters, Sidney Poitier as the husband to be, Spencer Tracey and Katherine Hepburn, playing the parents of the bride to be, are comedic at times. The premise of the film is that the parents have to approve of him, and they have to do so by dinner as he has to fly away that night and they want to be married in a week.

There's a moment in the film which illustrates what this film (and really any film is). Tracey asks Poitier whether it's really fair to force this decision on them in so short a time. And that's what the film does: it asks you to pass judgement in two short hours on whether black and white people are equal, whether black people are worthy to be married to white people (and vice versa). And, of course, Sydney Poitier represents the best that any man, black of white, could wish to be: charming, educated, good looking, what more do you want?

There's a myriad of characters that appear in the film and show a rich picture of what groups of people would be confronted with this issue. The parents represent the older white generation. Poitier's parents that show up for dinner as well, represent the older black generation. And him and Katherine Houghton, as the daughter, represent modern society (for 1967). The black cook represents black lower class. There's even a priest, who is the most chilled out guy in the film.

There's a great scene in the film where Poitier says:

"Dad, you're my father, I'm your son. I love you, I always have and I always will. But you think of yourself as a coloured man. I think of myself as a man."

I think we can envision ourselves as having a similar conversation with our father at one point or other.

A fascinating film, and I wonder, I really wonder how they could have remade it. Maybe we should have seen a gay couple. But a Kutcher-flick!? Seems more like devolution than evolution.

In web: favourite bookmarklets

Definition: A bookmarklet is an applet, a small computer application, stored as the URL of a bookmark in a web browser or as a hyperlink on a web page. The term is a portmanteau of the terms bookmark and applet.

• Del.icio.us — bookmarks


• Printwhatyoulike — remove unneeded graphics & blank spaces before printing.


• Send to Twitter (alternative: send to FriendFeed)


• TinyUrl it (or bit.ly it)


• Translate.google.com — the key to multilingual web-browsing.


• I ♥ Twitterkeys