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Monday, December 29, 2008

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:

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).

hamlet-2-poster2.jpg

Saturday, December 27, 2008

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.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

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.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

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.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

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.

Friday, December 12, 2008

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…

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

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!

Sunday, November 23, 2008

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.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

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."

Sunday, October 19, 2008

In TV-shows: Mad Men's Cigarettes

TV Scoop_ Mad Men cigarette count_ one every minute.jpgI'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!

Saturday, October 18, 2008

In people: my Twitter quotes of the day

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)

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

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

The elements of style—required reading .jpgIf 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.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

In software: 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.

Monday, October 13, 2008

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.

Timeline (Phil Gyford_ About me).jpg

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.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

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.

Monday, October 6, 2008

In film: Jean Arthur, everyday heroine


There's nothing particularly special about Jean Arthur, except that she's funny, she's got spunk, and she prefers to be photographed and filmed on her left side—ever since I found out that fact, I've been paying attention and it's true.

She's famous for three films mainly, in which she's not the quintessential "hot" actress that everyone expects a leading lady to be. Rather she's the everyday heroine, but what a heroine she is.

3 great movies she's in:
Enjoy!

Friday, October 3, 2008

In Music: best Beck songs


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