In Movies: L'attaque / The Attack

I know that amongst The Hobbit, Pacific Rim, and Thor 2, The Attack is perhaps not really the right fit. Nevertheless, it is added to this list of 'favouritEs' because of the way that it tells the story and profoundly affected my thoughts. Throughout the movie, there was only one moment where I detected a jump in the story that felt like a short-cut, a phone call that didn't make sense. The rest was the story of a man thoroughly impacted by the violent passing of his wife, labeled a terrorist by his resident country, Israel, and a martyr by his country of origin, Palestine. This movie was entirely spoken in Hebrew and Arabic, so in all likelihood will not be seen by the masses, many of which will also avoid it because of its subject matter. To the latter, I say that it is presented mostly in a human way, rather than through the lens of a bloody massacre. We see the aftermath mostly and there was only one scene where I turned away, even though even there it was shown in a mostly tasteful way.

It's a very difficult story to tell, because of the contrarian emotions felt by both sides. It appears to paint the Palestinian sentiment in a more favourable light, however the only sign we see of the violence that Israel inflicted on Palestine is in the way Palestinians react to the tragedy and a dust-covered piece of ruble, called 'Ground Zero.' Perhaps, I am not up to date on my history of that part of the world, and Ground Zero should mean more than it did to me.

We are introduced to familiar, human situations on both sides. Jewish and Palestinian friends and family sharing their pain over a meal, all seen through the eyes of the protagonist, who is forced to see his personal tragedy through the eyes of the victims, that of the perpetrators, and that of opinionated bystanders. On the Israeli side, we see the reactions in the aftermath, most of which are angry and hurt, directed at the protagonist and his terrorist deceased wife. On the Palestinian side, we see her elevated to martyrdom, posters of her hanging on every street. We also see friends and colleagues remaining loyal to him, even through 17 Israelis died, some of which he attempted to save on the operating table. And we see his family pushing him out in order to escape prosecution from the Israelis, as they suspect he is being followed as their only lead to understanding this crime.

The worst part is to hear her, his beloved wife, being referred to as a tool of war, or a weapon. As someone that helped her country, but otherwise was not important. Equally so, the unbearable idea that his acceptance into Israeli society as a prominent surgeon, was in fact a betrayal to all the Palestinians living in poverty and suppression, and that this betrayal may have been the cause of it all.

There are books and movies that I am grateful to have been exposed to. They increased my appreciation of the complexities of a situation; they painted it in a nuanced way, the way that most things really are. The White Band (Das Weisse Band) showed the roots of evil that lead to the rise of Hitler. The Road to Freedom showed the harshness of South African life in the early 20th century that lead to the new wave that was Nelson Mandela (I will miss him). The Attack shows, to a degree, that there is a price to pay for the mess that surrounds that area of the world, a price paid by not only both sides, but by bystanders as well. It shows us perhaps that in the end, perhaps not taking a side is the worst crime of all.

In People: 'Nelson Mandella' on The New Yorker Cover December 16th 2013

All Rights To This Picture Owned by Conde Nast / The New Yorker / Contributors

In Movies: High Definition 3D in The Hobbit

Let me start by saying that this will not be a review of The Hobbit 2, Desolation of Smaug. I didn't like the first one, nor the second one, and while I wasn't able to pinpoint why at first, HD 3D made it possible for me to tell you why: the script kind of sucks. I never understood how they could make 3 relatively good movies out of 3 fat books of The Lord of the Rings and now expect to do the same out of a tiny little book.

Anyway, this is about HD 3D, which is worth mentioning because it felt like seeing color for the very 1st time. I was glued to the screen because it felt like I wasn't watching a movie, but instead saw a live play.

Now there's a problem with that, because acting for a play is different from acting for a movie. In a movie, action flows and it's not just about human interaction (depending on the movie). In a play, the humans carry the plot and subsequently their acting is, how should I say, exaggerated.

The Hobbit features many "meetings" of characters, the dwarves mostly, and it looked so real that it was easy to spot bad acting. I know that's a strange comment to give on better than HD technology, but it was immediately apparent. Now, I can see plenty of positive things: the detail of the computer generated surroundings was tremendous, the dragon looked awesome, as did any orc or monster, and I really felt like I was there (the screen was not IMAX size though, sadly). But I just didn't like that movie and while I'll watch the third, because I am a huge Tolkien fan, I'll be glad when this trilogy is complete. 

Link-up In Music: Jay-Z's favourite albums ranked by ... Jay-Z

Arguably, Jay-Z is the smartest dude on the planet, a close second being Arnold Schwarzenegger, before he reached too high too early, but that's another story. So Kottke linked to this, hence I just re-link to him with some other comments.

Jay-Z's book, Decoded, is not the greatest ever written. It's no "Road to Freedom," but I read it because I do believe it's a smart dude. So, in his works, you could argue it's a piece of long-form poetry,  I would rank that maybe around Blueprint 3.

I came across him during Blueprint 1 & 2, as well as the Black Album, all of which were great and continue to be re-listens. I'm also, for some reason, a great fan of American Gangster (movie & soundtrack), which is kind of like a fairy tale of a gangster movie, where you root for the bad guy, even though you know the man's eventually going to get him.

Do I really think he's smart? Yes, absolutely. The smartest? It depends on context, but I do think he's got an empire state of mind (much like Arnold) and moves the chess pieces accordingly. So he deserves my respect for that.

OK, I'm out. 

In Sports: The Impossible Training for Climbing

I think that I tend to make choices on the basis of past learned behaviour. Perhaps many people do, perhaps only a few, I do not know, but I do know that this behaviour limits the scope. In my case, I've started my exercise trajectory with lifting weights and I generally tend to come back to it when I train for other sports. After weights, I did kickboxing, salsa, and competitive running for significant amounts of time. And since 2007, I discovered climbing. It's a sport that I love and hate for a multitude of mental, social, physical, and emotional reasons.

The mental...
Climbing is about planning ahead, it's about looking at a route (a series of grips and steps) and imagining yourself climbing through those, after which you hopefully manage to. The way it has transformed my life is that I have learned to see plenty through a similar lens. If you envision the steps that you take to reach a goal, you will reach it or get closer to it than if you don't. And (hopefully) nothing is impossible.

The social...
I've made tremendous friends since I started climbing, but I tend to make tremendous friends during many activities. The difference here is that you are literarily entrusting your life onto others, which is a bond that is as strong as family nearly. Because of this, I've also lost some friends, because the trust was not earned. But you tend to look at people in the same way in other areas of life as well. Is this a person that will hang on to me if I fall?

The physical...
I am not typically built for climbing, but I can say the same for running as well. Then again, every sport has sub-sports. In running, I was always better at sprinting because of the explosive nature of it and the way my body works. In climbing, your greatest advantage is not just strength or endurance, but also weight. And I tend to be a tall, rather heavy person. This is a battle I fight with every time I climb, particularly in areas where upper body strength (which is equally affected by body weight and technique) is required. Therefore my route of choice tends to be flatter, though there I like to do difficult flat ones as well, because they are more about puzzling and technique.

The emotional...
The hardest saved for last. What does it do to a man or woman to not win? What does it do to get older and see all the young ones passing you by? What does it do to be too thin & frail, too fat, too injured, or in some way incompatible, at least in your mind? And, what does it do to be afraid of heights or to do something that you never succeeded at before? It's a tremendous experience, climbing, and mainly because you have to face demons every time you do it. If you look at beginners or pros, there is always that new challenge, that unclumb route, that move that your body just doesn't seem designed for. You learn, tremendously, by experiencing, step by step, how to accomplish something. Your fingers hurt, your feet and knees can hurt, your core, your back... a lot of pain is the natural companion of sport, but the learning that you do is what keeps you going.

In my case, I mentioned my physical ability and how it affects my actions. But there is also the emotional part, the mental endurance and the fear of heights, both of which seem nearly impossible to train, but in fact just require trying and trying again in different ways.

The Impossible Training
Sometimes it seems like there is no way to train for climbing except by climbing. Here are the focal points:

• Get your strength to weight ratio right, meaning you need to have strength but keeping your weight low. The top-performers have lower than 5% body fat (source), but that's certainly not for the food lovers amongst us... In my view then, the only option is aerobic exercise to compensate for the increased caloric intake. 
• The type of strength is hard(er) to train for: grip strength, static (isometric) strength, core strength, and other muscles contribute to performance, but typically the more you train outside of a climbing environment, the more you build unnecessary bulk. 
• The mental and emotional strength is nearly impossible to train for outside of a climbing environment, just because much of it depends on exposing yourself to difficult conditions, that are not easy to replicate elsewhere. But you do need to train these, as much as everything else. 

So here a brief insight of what I spend much of my free time with. Hope to see you on the rocks soon :)

In Movies: Blade Runner - The Aquarelle Edition

Mesmerising. "This animation consists of 12 597 handmade aquarelle paintings, each painting is approximately 1,5*3cm in size. Together they form my [Anders Ramsell's] 35 minute long paraphrase on the motion picture Blade Runner (1982) by Ridley Scott."
‎

Via Coudal Partners.

In Movies: 'Cool Runnings' and the celebration of Failure

AVClub.com, one of my regular reads for mostly TV reviews, has an interesting article on 'Cool Running,' which was, incidentally, John Candy's last movie and one of Disney's most successful at that time (1993). From the article, what makes the movie so unique:

Cool Runnings employs failure not as a plot device, but as an ethos. The main character is Derice Bannock (Leon), a sprinter whose dreams of Olympic gold are shattered during the qualifying race when another competitor, Junior Bevil (Rawle D. Lewis), falls off the starting block, tripping Bannock and a third runner, the inexplicably named Yul Brenner (Malik Yoba). That’s right: Cool Runnings literally opens with the protagonist falling on his face. And the moment is played completely straight, not for laughs.

I imagine that most people have seen this by now, but if you want a feelgood movie that doesn't feel empty in point either, check out Cool Runnings! 

In Web: Beforethey.com (pass away)

Takes pictures of tribes that are sure not to be around if you believe in history believing itself. Currently, you can see galleries of tribe members in Ethiopia, Indonesia + Papua New Guinea, Kenya + Tanzania, New Zealand, Mongolia, Siberia - Yamal, Nepal, China, Vanuatu, Argentina + Ecuador, Namibia, India, and Siberia - Chukotka.

Click on the title or the link to see the site.

In Movies: Thor 2 - The Dark World, light-weight fantasy scifi 3D bashfest

Prior to continuing, I should mention that I "typed" the first draft of this using the dictation feature on my new iPhone 5s. Very, very impressed!

Movies are funny, because when you're in the moment or perhaps just out of it, you can feel drastically different to after a few hours later or after a rewatch. Thor 2 - The Dark World is that kind of movie. I loved watching it and was excited after watching it too. But after reflection, I don't actually like it because I felt cheated somewhat.

What are the basic observations? The action flow does really well. The script felt quite light. The acting was okay in parts. It was an interesting mix between Science Fiction (space ships and lasers) and Fantasy (Lord of the Rings elves and magic), which didn't really work, but isn't advanced technology like a kind of magic? There were also plenty of humorous parts, which carries a lot of the Marvel franchise.

So how did it cheat? Primarily, by making impossible or hard to explain things just work. Thor has impossible feelings for an earthling, but that pain is not really explored (thank god, millions of comic book movies sigh). Thor fights on a planet that looks like Dune and falls into a wormhole that allows him to continue the fight on Earth, with more stakes. Those kind of 'short-cuts' allow for the action to move fast and for the viewer to feel like they're on the Thor-ride.

The whole movie was a trade-off between depth and flow, constantly balancing on the edge of story logic. It was logical only to the extent needed to make us believe that up was up and down was down, and in many cases why down was up and vice versa. I know that sounds annoyingly cryptic, but the laws of physics are constantly defied in this movie and I just don't want to say how.

Bottom line: if you want non-stop action this movie is for you. And I imagine that's why most people went. If you want more mythology and depth, you'll be disappointed, though the movie compensates for that plenty with comedy.

In Hardware: the iPhone 5s, a future-proof computer and camera in my pocket

First, some bullet-point format observations:

Finger print sensor: I like it, primarily because it saves time over the code I would usually enter to unlock it, not to mention my Apple ID in the App Store. During the unlocking, I don't like that it immediately requires the fingerprint when I lock the phone, because I had it previously set for a few minutes after closing, which is not an option now. I do hope that changes, because it's still slower to unlock the phone then. 

The camera: haven't tested it extensively, but like the nighttime performance, the intelligent flash function, the launch speed of the photo apps I use, the picture burst mode, and the slo-mo, although filming is definitely not my métier. It's clearly better than the iPhone 4 camera, which is what I wanted. 

The M7 sensor: I'm excited about it, but haven't used it in an app yet. I hope Moves, which I recommended before, integrates it soon, providing that Nike Move doesn't sue it out of the water. 

The look & feel: it doesn't feel oversized and it's super light, but I found the iPhone 4 light enough. I did notice that the White iPhone collects dirt at the bottom edge, which annoys me to no end. 

The battery life: Houston do we have a problem? This battery does not last long, maybe 10 hours on light use, and I'm wondering if it's to do with that I'm still on 3G (T-mobile NL is supposedly switching to 4G in a few weeks) or because of the battery bug that I hear about. Or, because of some kind of software or background process problem. Frustrated about it. 

The apps: I started using Pages for writing, because it syncs so easily with my Mac and with Pages in iCloud (useful for Windows PCs). Not really using other apps, or not noticing big changes. I do enjoy making bad music with Garage Band though...

Other: light sensor is much better and I really enjoy using the phone in inverted colour mode (the contrast is much better now!). Siri works well for me, as does dictation (typed a blog post with it yesterday). 

CONCLUSION
The frustrating and good thing about Apple devices is that they are of such good build quality that if you already have an iPhone (4 in my case) and were already able to put iOS 7 on it, the iPhone 5s does not feel that new. My old phone is 3 years old. About 3 months ago, the mute switch and top volume button stopped functioning (I did drop it a lot), but other than being slower, which you get used to, the only reason I needed to upgrade was because it made financial sense with my provider. I'll probably get the iPhone 8 and 11 for that reason as well, because I'm actually buying something that works durably. With other brands, I never know if the build quality is good, if the software continues to work well, and if the apps are available. So, it's a pragmatic choice.

It's frustrating to no longer have that pink cloud feeling about Apple gadgets, but at the same time there are so many easter eggs contained within the software and features that I'm sure to enjoy discovering over the next 3-6 months, after which it will become a good companion.

If you care to support this Website, feel free to order an iPhone 5s on Amazon and give us a kick back!

Why not choose an iPhone 5c?
The simple answer is future-proofing. The iPhone 5 was a perfectly good phone (apart from some battery life issues on 3G) and the iPhone 5c is essentially the same one, with some improvements in the camera and elsewhere. Another reason for not upgrading to it is the plastic, which I feel is a bit of a downgrade from the Braun-inspired design quality of the iPhone 4.

The iPhone 5s feels more like it's designed for, well, a lot of interesting things to come. Apart from the camera, which is state of the art for a mobile phone (see a comparison with the new Nokia Lumia 1020 here), the fingerprint sensor seems like a step towards a lot of opportunity, and I'm really excited about the M7 sensor, as I exercise a lot and care about having good performance data.

P.S. I do believe something is wrong with both software and hardware aspects right now (particularly the battery life), which I will try to fix with their help over the coming weeks. 

In Food: Try this gluten-free, dairy-free chocolate cake

I came across this in the Evernote Food app, which lead me to this site with the recipe, and also to a book that this was sourced from.

First of all, easy-peasy to make, it took just about 20 minutes + time in the fridge (accelerate it by putting it in the freezer for an hour).

Second of all, delicious, very similar to mousse au chocolat, but without eggs.

Third of all, healthy, as there's no dough involved and good for the lactose-intolerant among us. It mentions Graham crackers, but the method does not actually involve them, rather it reproduces a similar effect.

I didn't change the recipe on the site, but would suggest losing very little salt as it quickly turns too salty. It does bring out the flavours however.

Check out the book here:

The Paleo Chocolate Lovers' Cookbook: 80 Gluten-Free Treats for Breakfast & Dessert

In Hardware: pre-announcing my iPhone 5s review

In the words of someone at Apple: Never pre-announce anything not yet here. But it will be here soonish and I will write about it.

Most excited about:

1. The camera
2. The camera
3. Did I mention... the camera?
4. Also the speed of it will be a nice improvement over my current model (4 ouch!)

My number one use case for the iPhone is definitely reading, followed by shooting pictures, and then writing. I'm sure that reading will be an improvement with a bigger screen. I know the camera will be and I'm very excited about the low-light performance. I don't know about it being better for writing, simply because I find it very uncomfortable to write on the bigger iPad screen. So we will see about the later.

In any case very excited!

In Food: Have a burger at Sävel in Helsinki, Finland

In short: good, friendly service, order at the bar, British pub vibe, great sekection of ales and beer, with recommendations for every meal on the menu, and the burgers have just the right mix of substance and sogginess, accompanied by done seriously hot chillie fries. A good place for a simply good burger in Heldinki! Check out their site here: http://www.kallionsavel.fi/

In Food: Sfäär Restaurant in Tallinn, Estonia

Don't miss this one (http://www.sfaar.ee/) if you're there! I think it's actually in some ways a better restaurant than Chef & Sommelier in Helsinki (my review: http://favourits.blogspot.com/2013/10/in-food-chef-sommelier-in-helsinki.html?m=0), but also a fitting complement to it.  Yesterday, we ate white fish & paste made out of Jerusalem artichoke, and another paste made out of carrots and (perhaps) honey, which was amazing and very similar to a course served at C & S, as well as another dish consisting of pork, gratin, and baked apple in a delicious plum sauce. All noted for inspired future home cooking! 

Truth be told, C & S served all excellent courses, and his just happened to be a competing one, but if you, like us, go to both Helsinki & Tallinn on your trip, don't miss visiting both restaurants. 

In Places: Fabian Hotel in Helsinki, Finland

I'm going to expand my reviews to hotels as well, as they play an important role in my appreciation of places. This is the latest one, but I'll also try to add past nice ones in Paris, Brussels, and Lisbon, Portugal, that I stayed at. Today, Hotel Fabian (http://m.hotelfabian.fi/en/index.html).

Location: the hotel is a little off centre, but everything in Helsinki is walking distance. Cab ride to the bus station the next morning was about 15 euro. 

Service: very friendly, they helped us with navigating the airco in the room, booked our restaurant, and were all smiles. 

Room: roomy, comfortable matras, quiet (On the 4th floor and ignoring the stormy weather), good bathroom facilities, free wifi. 

Breakfast: according my French girlfriend, the breakfast was the best of all hotels so far. I wouldn't go that far, but it was all organic, ranged from lots of cheeses, charcuterie, and salmon to choose from, to plenty of sweet options, from croissants and cakes to fruit salads and different types of cereal. The smoothies and coffees to go were a nice surprise. 

Clearly, my passion lies with food, which I don't choose at every hotel as an option, but in terms of overal comfort I would give this hotel an 8/10. 

In Food: Chef & Sommelier Restaurant in Helsinki, Finland

I like restaurants where the menu consists solely of individual ingredients and you don't quite know the outcome. Typically someone (skilled) comes up to you and says: "I got these two ingredients and I will use them to make something special for you." That's what C & S (http://chefetsommelier.fi/en/) was like. 

The four-course menu, which can also be three- to nine-course was selected from a handwritten menu and was presented in a two-ingredient format. I won't bother recounting the exact ingredients, except that it was predominantly root-based, fitting the autum season. They change the menu every 8 weeks, but it wouldn't surprise me that if I came back tomorrow, my two-ingredient dish would look and taste different. It's the mystery that I love, along with the unique combinations, and the excellent service, without it feeling to rigid or posh. 

I will mention one dish though that was entirely special, because it was a traditional dish assembled from entirely different ingredients. It resembled pasta with parmeggiano, but it was arctic turnip rasped into a thick pasta shape, cooked, and sprinkled with sage. Rich in flavours and very, very good (I wish I could reproduce it at home, but like my lobster cappuccino in Iceland (review: http://favourits.blogspot.com/2013/09/in-food-lobster-cappuccino-at-fririk-v.html?m=0) I probably never will...).

Great place to visit in Finland!

In Web: Could you escape a little planet?

File this XKCD research under valuable information for explaining kids the difference between The Little Prince and real life (hint: there is none):

"The escape velocity at the surface would be about 5 meters per second. That's slower than a sprint, but still pretty fast. As a rule of thumb, if you can't dunk a basketball, you wouldn't be able to escape by jumping straight up."

In Food: Leek - Sesame Soup at Gartine, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Ok, Gartine is probably my favourite place in the Netherlands right now, let alone Amsterdam. Amazing, delicate brunch, amazing, delicious high-tea, best jam that you can buy all around. Today, I had a Leek - Sesame soup for high tea, which was … too die for. It had a creamy texture with very subtle green flavours. 

So, I tried to replicate it. It wasn't a success, in the sense of it being the same, but for an experiment, it was still pretty good. Here's my recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 leeks, the white and light green parts washed & chopped
• about 4 large potatoes
• a thumb of ginger (you can omit this, it's too strong a flavour)
• 4 cloves of garlic
• slightly more than a teaspoon of dill
• (lemon) salt & pepper
• vegetable bouillon about 2 cups
• ca. 1/5 cup (2 table spoons) of sesame seeds
• half a cup of cream - semi-skimmed
• a table spoon of mustard

Steps:

1. I started with frying the leeks in the pan, for about 2 min, or until they turned very slightly brown
2. I then added the potatoes, (skip the) ginger, garlic, dill, salt, pepper, and bouillon.
3. Let the whole thing simmer for ca. 20 min or until the potato is tender enough
4. After 20 min, add the sesame seeds and cream (I actually fried the sesame seeds just prior to this, without oil, in a pan)
5. I added the mustard for flavour
6. Food process the whole thing, but not too strong, make it rough in texture.

Voila. It was delicious, would've been better without the ginger, but I'm happy with the attempt. PS, did I mention that you should visit Gartine? :)

In Software: Moves for iOS & Android (FREE, but it's not all good)

"The Best Camera Is The One That’s With You." ~ Chase Jarvis

I think that most of us smartphone owners probably heard that saying somewhere. Smartphones are amazing devices, whose computing power parallels the ones that made the second Star Wars trilogy, and cameras that are getting, to some extent, closer to professional cameras. But there is another trend that we need to bite into with these devices, the health and fitness market. We humans do not move enough. We sit too much for 8 hours a day and probably mornings and evenings too.

Smartphones have the advantage that they are always with you. Yes, you can buy Nike+ devices to attach to your shoes (...), various wristbands, and belt attachments, but the smartphone, our music player and Facebook crack all in one, is usually always there.

And so is Moves, which has been on iOS for some time now and was recently released on Android. Moves is free (I never get these business models) and tracks every kind of movement you make, as long as it's horizontal and not vertical (my climbing is not counted).

It comes with a number of features:

• it tracks running, biking, walking, and (public) transport (it's occasionally tricked by roller blading as public transport as well...)
• it uses Maps, which means that you can tell it when a destination was the gym (good!) or the McDonalds (bad!)
• it can show you distance, time, and calories burned
• it can send you daily, weekly, and monthly (?) notifications about how well you did, including new records
• I believe that it plugs in with other apps, which must be its business model, but I don't use them...

It just has one caveat, which is the new automatic updates on iOS 7. Because when you update Moves, it turns itself off. So you need to start the app again. But how do you know that Moves has been updated? You don't really, which is why I asked the developers to create custom notifications and/or just send me an email if the app is updated. Still awaiting that answer which is caveat 2: customer service must always be responsive, else it alienates users. So please join me in waking Moves up about this issue!

All that said, incredibly useful if you want to know how much you bike every day, how much you walked on your city trip, how much you ran on your weekly run, etc. It is your companion for Movement!

In Movies: Elysium

What I liked about this movie:
It was reminiscent of Neill Blomkamp's earlier movie, District 9, which was one of my favourite movies in 2009. Elements that were shared were the look of the technology, the darkness & chaos, which Blomkamp seems to be attracted to or inspired by. I also loved the character of Sharlto Copley, South African actor that has a Mad Max vibe to him in this movie. Well, the whole movie has a strong Mad Max vibe to it... Visually, another good note were the contrasts between Earth and Elysium, albeit it felt very 2-dimensional, there was not much subtlety to these differences.

I liked both the action, the comedy, and the flow of the story, which kept me engaged throughout, more so than Pacific Rim did for instance.

What I disliked (SPOILERS):
As noted, the 2-dimensionality was a bit problem, I thought. This was prevalent both for the characters and their motivations, and the overarching issues and reasons for why they existed. Unanswered questions include:

• Why did Elysium exist and why were they segregated from Earth?
• What were the reasons for Jodie Foster's character to stage the coup? There was some indication about her wanting to protect her family/way of life, but also just a psycho attitude to things.
• Just the general origin part of things was lacking.

Regarding origin, you can perhaps argue that this is just Neill Blomkamp's style; he didn't present much of an origin for the aliens in District 9, it felt more like a slice out of life / the madness. I remember feeling like I really wanted a sequel out of District 9, and for this one I could use a prequel or director's cut with more insight. 

Overall:

I like Science Fiction and consider this one B+ category in this genre. SciFi is about presenting a future scenario, an alternative scenario, or a logic to it. Arguably that last part is optional; if all things were easy, we'd behaving flying cars and reporting ourselves into space stations left and right...

In Movies: Pacific Rim

This movie is a slightly lesser guilty pleasure than watching the Fast & Furious series (I'm only watching it for the cars...). There are so many fun, visual elements to it, accompanied by a plot that feels quite light, maybe purposefully to let the story flow more freely.

Visually, there are so many influences that shine through. From whatever inspired the monsters--a combination of Godzilla and Alien perhaps--to the remote controlled robots--power rangers, very Japanese in any case :) ?--to the scenery--very Blade Runnerish, which is one of my favourite movies of all time.

I did not find the plot particularly captivating, but I loved the visuals, seeing scenes that looked straight out of Blade Runner, and found the characters somewhat deeper than they could've been. There is some corniness there--it sometimes felt like he had to make situations and people complex just to perhaps make us feel more connected to the characters.

I think that it's particularly challenging to have the human element compete with giant robots and monsters. But the movie achieved just that. I felt connected to the characters, I felt the romance, the pain, the competition throughout. While I can't stress enough that the plot was my least favourite element, as a whole this movie flowed just right and kept me engaged.

Well worth a watch, for Guillermo Del Toro fans, lovers of Blade Runner, lovers of oversized robots fighting oversized beasts from hell, for those that like dystopian science fiction, etc..

In TV shows: The Brilliance of Breaking Bad

So I'm here to talk about what makes Breaking Bad great, which is hard to put into words. I can easily say that the final episode was satisfying. I'm not left to wonder about loose ends, we know where we stand in regards to Walt, Skyler, Jesse, Saul, etc. We even know where we stand in terms of Heisenberg, which was quite an accomplishment. If you compare this to the Wire, another crime show, the ending was less satisfying because it's all a game that happens over and over again. There's only one Heisenberg.

But what was it that made the storyline work throughout these 5 seasons? Was it the acting, the story lines, the emotional touch stones? This show struggled at the beginning, but it got great during season 3, when Heisenberg became associated with Gus Fring and any clever plots Walter White came up with before to get out of trouble, just went into overdrive. The show got exciting then, because the incredible dangers the characters dealt with, because of the money that Heisenberg was making and the effect this had on his personal life. We had a love-hate relationship with it all, much like you have with an addictive drug.

Season 4 was pure drama and chaos and it was entirely amazing. Season 5 was Breaking Bad's version of winding down the story, which from as high as Heisenberg rose, was of course a very dramatic way to close story lines off.

Without giving away spoilers, the finale zipped it all up in a neat body bag and left me entirely satisfied with closing that chapter of my life. I don't need to see more Breaking Bad, but I'm sure glad to have spent time watching it.

In Movies: Blue Jasmine

I can't say that I loved this movie, but I certainly appreciate the skill of the director and the actors. I especially liked the moral of the story, which is a mix of.... HAVE YOU SEEN THIS MOVIE? IF SO, READ ON, IF NOT, DON'T. 

... A mix centered around webs of lies and how different people survive by them. Jasmine, clinging onto her past. Baldwin's character, to take advantage of others and Jasmine. Jasmine's sister, because of her self-confidence. Baldwin, aka M. (I can't spoil that), tells the greatest lies of them all, measured by their impact. Jasmine's sister is the opposite, hers are white lies to make her reality work for her. Jasmine makes me wonder if lies are a type of disease.

So, perhaps no wonder that I didn't love this movie. It is, like many good movies, something to watch only once and perhaps take a lesson from it. It had a strong impact, that's why it's here.

In Food: Flan di Zucca (Pumpkin Flan) at La Zucca Restaurant in Venice,Italy

This is an incredibly hard dish to make. The most difficult is the texture--this is my perhaps 7th attempt at making it and I got it wrong two times.

Tip 1: Don't use the food processor before cooking it. You can ruin the texture and taste by doing that. Tonight's version looked like scrambled eggs. At other times, because the pieces of pumpkin I chop are too large, before I mash it with a fork, the outcome is more of a post-bombardment-like flattened mess, though it does taste a LOT better!

Tip 2: Spicing. So far, I think you can make it with either nutmeg & mint, or with anise. Either however has drastically different flavouring outcomes. 

The biggest deal is the uncertainty, caused by the many Italian interpretations of this recipe out there, and the many possible Google translate errors causing you to mistake butter of cream or nutmeg for youdontwanttoknow...

So, why is this one of my favourites? It's simply an amazing texture and taste (when you get it right). I would recommend using this recipe, which uses nutmeg & mint, but perhaps switching it up with anise if you want a different flavour (though I wouldn't recommend food processing it before).

It's never going to look as good as what I had in Venice, I would definitely recommend visiting the La Zucca Restaurant for the authentic taste, not to mention all the other vegetarian food they make.

In Music: Nirvana

One of the most marking thing in my life has been the passing of Kurt Cobain in the 90s. I don't really know why this event was so important to me as a 17 year old. It was a man that died under questionable circumstances at the other side of the world—I was in the Netherlands at the time—but since music was such an important part of my life, grunge in particular, perhaps a decade passed before I listened to another Nirvana song.

When I read the letter that Steve Albini wrote to Nirvana about producing their last album, it struck a chord, particularly the phrase "If a record takes more than a week to make, somebody's f######g up. Oi!" Albini actually presses this point for most of the first two pages and it fits how I feel about Nirvana and about good music. It has to be spontaneous and raw, rather than over-produced and clinical, in order to really touch your soul. 

Even if you're not into Nirvana, I think that what Steve Albini writes is interesting and relevant to whole bunch more in life than just one band. So check that out.

I hope that I've stated my love for Nirvana enough. While it isn't a band that I listen to frequently, once a year would be generous, there are plenty of bands that are inspired by them and they did have that raw talent that is hard to reproduce. It was unique for its time, much like Bob Dylan was unique for the 60s (perhaps more on him at another time).

In Software: iOS 7 part 2 ... and what that means for Mac OS 11

For lack of a better space to post this, I can still clearly say that the Apple ecosystem is generally a favourite of mine where it comes to technology, design, and strategy. This post will be more about strategic thoughts regarding Apple's resource allocations after Steve Jobs passed away and Scot Forstall, former head of iOS, was removed from that position.

Company- and product building are not that different. Screws and bolts can be interchanged with people, buildings, skills, and activities. Apple is a collection of all four, combined with a strong, if not very secretive vision of the future, centred entirely around quality and "being different." It doesn't matter what Apple machine I've owned, iBooks, Macbooks, iPods, iPhones, or iPads, there's a logic behind all of them, both in "product - market fit" and in the construction of hardware and software.

iOS 7 has been called the "harkening back to the original coloured iMacs" days and you can perhaps recognise the initial playfulness, largely inspired by Johnny Ive's work, in iOS 7 (also under Ive's supervision).

 




Jonathan Ive's and Craig Federighi's collaboration for iOS 7 represent what I think the ideal state is for Apple, the perfect melding of hardware (Ive's territory) and software (Federighi used to be responsible mostly for Mac OS X, but now largely for both OS X & iOS 7). Good article on that here, but don't expect to find the answer to everything. I love this quote from Federighi:

OK, I’m a technology freak, but I think probably if someone mapped my brain, you would find that there were moments when I lit up the love pattern in my neurons in association with our products. I mean, literally, there is love, and I think that is true of many of our customers. I think when we build something we love and that others love, then we have done our job.

When I see the little tidbits in iOS 7, I see Love. When I see Game Center, I see playfulness. When I see the whole thing, I see logic that transcends individual apps, software, and even hardware.

Why this affects Mac OS 11...
Mac OS is the Apple device OS. Just because it's called "Mac OS" doesn't actually mean that it's the operating system for the Mac computer, but it's simply the software that Apple writes for its computers. So, Apple TV, iPod, iPhone, iPads, they are all computers. And the only reason Mac OS looks different is because the interface needs to be different and the hardware capabilities have (so far) been different. A laptop or a desktop will never become a "touch" device, it doesn't make ergonomic sense. But what we have to focus on here is the greater achievement of iOS 7 and devices like the iPhone 5C (color). The strengthened interplay between software and hardware.

Clearly a prediction, but everything suggests that for new computing devices this bond is meant to become stronger. Apple products are neither meant to be hardware or software, but tools that are useful, that we love to spend time with, and that don't get in our way. Apple is slow when it comes to changing things that work, so I don't believe that Maverick will do anything revolutionary to bridge the software - hardware gap. But Ive's & Federighi's collaboration is sure going to be applied to their "traditional" devices as well, which means that we will see more of iOS 7 (maybe not the visuals, but the ideas behind it) in Macs and Apple TVs as well.

In Software: IOS 7

Just a few titbits:

Speed: I love the little settings pop-up. Whether it's to adjust screen rotation, to quickly change the brightness or to turn airport mode on and off, it just so much more convenient and faster to do just that.

Usefulness: I love the look of the new notification pull down window. 1. It's a nicer way to read the weather in plain text as that's a more human way to interact. 2. it's well organised with the calendar and I appreciate it letting me know how busy I'm always the next day. 3. Thanks for shifting the notification to other, less used panels, those were just guilt inducers for me.

Hardware compatibility: Until I decide to switch or until this damn phone dies, I'm still using an iPhone 4. And while I thought the last update to IOS 6 made the phone slow already, it still feels plenty usable with iOS 7. I also noticed that multitasking is more responsive, even not recently used apps load faster when "multi tasked," and being able to quit running tasks quickly also speeds up this older phone by quite a bit. Apple could've chosen to make me feel antiquated, instead they breathed new life into this old dog.

The Look: it feels like a modern interface, I would primarily describe it as elegant with a lot of colour play. As I've heard other people say, I agree that iOS 7 makes iOS 6 feel outdated. 

In TV Shows: Scandinavian Shows Evaluated

Scandinavian TV shows have always had a particular aesthetic, different from e.g. German shows, not to mention French or British TV shows.Don't ask me why that is, according to my girlfriend, very talented photographer, it's the way they frame and film the scenes, but I think there's a cultural emotional subduableness, subtlety, and design aesthetic, not to mention very good story telling that makes Scandinavian TV shows special. In this piece, I'll shortly go through some shows worth watching.

The Killing

I think that this show is easily the second most famous one (after Millennium) coming out of Scandinavia. A strong female character, to the point that she doesn't work well with people, silent and determined to solve the different crime that each season is centred around. The 1st season is obviously the best one, the middle seasons feel like filler to me, but the show ends with a bang. Could not stop watching, it lead to plenty of woollen sweaters around the house as well. Don't watch the US remake, watch this!

The Bridge

Comes in part out of the team responsible for The Killing. Another strong, but sincerely messed up female protagonist, from Sweden this time (The Killing is Danish), teaming up with a Danish policeman to solve a crime that happened exactly on the intersecting bridge between Sweden & Denmark. Most entertaining is the interplay, the psychological derangement of the female character, the way it is shot (less dark than The Killing). The story itself was not as good as The Killing, but still pretty exciting. Don't know about the US remake, but this one is worth a watch!

Borgen

Completely different show, a drama with another strong female protagonist (!). This time the focus is a politician's rise to power and challenges in balancing being a prime minister with being a mother and a wife. Very relevant topic to today's society, but also compelling to watch. Looking forward to the new season if/when it comes out.

The Ones Who Kill

New show that I started watching, playing in Denmark, another (disturbed) female protagonist who partners up with a profiler to solve pretty gruesome crimes. It's well-filmed, but sometimes a bit too graphic for my taste. 

Bonus:

Millennium: infamous book and movie trilogy. I liked the Scandinavian film version of it, though this kind of story is better told across a season, rather than 3 movies.

Let The Right One In: thriller about vampires, great movie, more atmospheric than bloody. Liked it a lot.

Insomnia (1997 version): psychological thriller about chasing a killer during the 24 hour daylight that haunts some Scandinavian countries during mid-summer. Very haunting and effective. 

In Books: 1Q84 Trilogy by Haruki Murakami

This book was recommended to me by a friend, who couldn't stop reading it on a 24 hour road trip. I couldn't put it down either. It's the type of "unusual" book that I am attracted to reading, unusual in plot, world, and perspective, but clearly and simply written.

The story is about a Japanese man and woman, one a writer, the other an assassin, who are attracted to each other across different parallel realities. I'm afraid to write more, because I don't want to spoil it.

P.S. if anyone has read it and has tips on books that are equally enticing, long, and hopefully on a good intellectual level, please let me know!

In Places: Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA

It's hard to describe places in the short amount of words that I allow myself to write for this blog. I had 1 day in LA last Saturday and since I don't have a car or drive one, I started my journey on foot at Union Station heading towards Los Feliz, which I heard was interesting. It takes ca. 15 minutes of walking to get to Sunset Boulevard, passing through El Pueblo, an interesting, but highly touristic Mexican hotspot.

The nice if not magical thing about this street and perhaps LA is the random places you encounter on your journey. Everything is spread apart and I understand why people think it's a car city, though in fact I see LA best travelled by foot, bike, and/or metro (a subway or bus, which goes everywhere and frequently). 

Along this journey under roughly 33 degrees Celcius (ca. 91.5 Fahrenheit), I encountered many little "villages", featuring a flea market with a live reggae band, a farmers' market with the biggest strawberries I've ever seen, vegan places such as the one serving the aforementioned smoothie, bookstores, vintage/secondhand stores, and I even got to see the Hollywood sign as Los Feliz lies at the foot of the Hollywood hills.

My activity tracker told me that I walked 20km that day (ca. 15 miles), it was exhausting but pretty much an amazing experience. I'm so happy to have done it on foot, because I would've missed many of the small touches in a car, metro, or even by bike.

In Food: Lobster Cappuccino at the FRIÐRIK V restaurant in Reykjavik, Iceland

This one is a bit of a back flash to June of this year, but is still worth a note. I had tears welling up during a 3 course / beer tasting meal at FRIDRIK V, and this "Lobster Cappuccino" was the absolute top, along with some very good local Ales. I can't tell you the recipe, it had lobster, cream, quite some salt, all in a tiny cup. Worth a visit on your next visit to Reykjavik!

Oh, and I just saw that the restaurant lists a number of recipes on their site. The food was brilliant, cook it at home! 

In Food: Greena Colada Smoothie at Sage Organic Vegan Bistro in Los Angeles, CA

Ingredients from the website: Coconut milk, banana, pineapple, spinach, kale. That was a $9 shake but totally, and utterly worth it. On a 33 degree Celsius day (that's 91.5 Fahrenheit), it kept me fed for well over 4 hours.

In the absence of being in LA right now (very cool city), I'm going to try making this at home ASAP.

Oh, and it looked something like this:

In Food: BEAR FLAG BURRITO at Bear Flag Fish Company in Newport Beach, CA

How do I best describe this in one word: "Mmmmmmmmmh".

I should just leave it at that, right? Let's talk a little more about what made this work. I think it was the simple combination of having a white fish (yellow tail?) with cajun spicing, and avocado. I've never tasted anything quite as delicious in a while.

Ingredients mentioned on the restaurant menu: Grilled Fish of the Day, served with rice, black beans, avocado, chop lettuce, Pico De Gallo & Tommy Sauce. In the absence of being on Newport Beach, California, surfing the sunshine, try this at home! :)

Newport Beach, California, September 2013

In Film: Kings of Summer

This movie could best be described as a mix of Stand By Me and The Goonies. But with a strong comedic undercurrent, made possible by both the script and some very comical actors, in particular Moises Arias.

Laugh factor 8/10. Drama factor 6/10 (while there were dramatic moments, they didn't penetrate skin deep).

Definitely on my top 10 movies for this year.