Its Tuesday-Its Graph Day

I love me some graphs

Books

Films

As you can see I'm quite ahead of the curve for books and well behind for films.

BRICK!

Today I completed my first lot of Brick training. What is that I hear you cry? Its when you bike then run. The entomology is either from Bike, Run, ICK or from the fact your legs feel like someone has attached some brick to your lower legs. Either way its not a pleasant experience. I bike for 40 minutes (covering 17.5K in that time) then running straight after for 10 minutes which got me about 1.85K. I would have run longer but my training session only said to do that and I was in a rush to go see a shared flat. I didn't even have time to shower and change properly. So when I turned up wearing shorts, dress shoes and a monkey tshirt with Aviators perched on my balding head I'm sure you can imagine the odd sight it was. Off for that Shower now then to Tramlines.

Image found here

Frankie Boyle

My Shit Life so Far by Frankie Boyle

This is a simple review really. Do you find Mr. Boyle's Stand up funny? Then you'll like the book. Do you think he's a vulgar bully? Then you won't like the book. What about if you think he's funny, definitley vulgar but you're still sitting in judgement about the bully part? Then you'll enjoy it with the occasional nagging doubt that you shouldn't be laughing. If you're anything like me you'll shake off that feeling with the justification that humour is all about transcending boundaries, whether that be of taste, reality or social norms. Why is someone falling over funny? Its not the done thing in normal society so it is inherently ridiculous plus we're glad its not us. Why is Python funny? Its bizarre and the manner in which it doesn't match reality makes it ridiculous. Why are Frankie's jokes funny? They're past the boundaries of taste and aren't said in polite society. Its the same as the falling over. Its not the done thing in normal society and you're really glad this time that its not you involved in the joke. Just a quick theory of humour there, which I shall be looking to develop as time goes on.

Apart from the expected tasteless jokes about all and sundry I was also surprise by the warmth in parts of the book. I'm sure that this has snuck into the book under the radar but its there. In particular the part where Frankie is speaking about homeless folk. We're all only a couple of paychecks away from there ourselves and he suggests its this fear that we could so easily slip off society's rungs that leads to our fear and distrust of the homeless. He also says that walking past these folks every day is damaging our society. Its in our nature to have compassion and we are stamping it down on a daily basis. Quite some interesting thoughts there in amongst all the filth.

Even after reading the book I couldn't tell you anything particualr about his life. It seemed pretty uneventful, Even the hedonistic druggie days were kinda dull but the jokes surrounding it make up for it. The overall image of Frankie Boyle I get from the book is an angry guy, who wants to be seen as a misanthrope but deep down he cares for the little folk who get crapped on, even as he gets angry at them for letting it happen to them and for others for doing the defecating. Basically Frankie Boyle is Spider Jersualem but without the filthy assistants.

So after reading that my bookshelf position is 2687.

Image found here

Top 250-Inception

*May Contain SPOILERS

With the very first image from this movie I thought "Oh A Sequel to Titanic". Obviously its far from it but the sight of Leo Dicaprio face down in the surf looking half dead its easy to see why the connection came up.

Inception is currently Number 3 in the Top 250 and I'm sorry to say its not the 3rd best film of all time. (That would be The Big Lebowski, Planet of The Apes(1968) or Fight Club depending on my mood.) Its a new release though and any connoisseur of the top 250 knows that many films burst into the Top 250 only to disappear once more than just the fanboys have seen it. I think this one will hang in there but only time will tell.

I doubt you really want to read my ramblings about the figures and trends of the Top 250 and would prefer to read an actual review of the film. So where to begin.

In this world that Christopher Nolan, Cinematic Genius. has created its possible to get inside peoples dreams and to share them as a group. This has led to a group of thieves using it to steal secrets by constructing dreams which the target then populates with their sub conscious and their secrets. Even just writing that had increased my awe for this film. I've made it sound complex and confusing whereas the film manages to introduce the idea naturally and smoothly The intricacies of the plot get complicated later but the blocks that are used to construct the plot are not. You'll need to pay attention to keep up with what is going on and the way I found to do this was to concentrate on what had just happened and what was the current objective. This prevented me getting caught up in knots about everything else that was in play at the same time. The filmmaking skill would remind you of what was important and you needed to know as you went along.

The visuals were amazing and I've heard complaints that the dreamworld wasn't surreal enough. I thought this was a good move. Dream Logic is not narrative logic. If a dream logic had been adhered to then causes and consequences go out the window. So by keeping the dreams based in reality even if it is the hyper reality of a crime caper. It even explains why this creative decision was made via an inworld explanation.

Again I've heard that some saw it as overly expositional, too much tell not enough show. I didn't find this so. This was because of the strength of the actors doing the telling and how gripped I was by what was going on. It does show as well with some great action sequences like the corridor fight and some stunning imagery as dreams collapse.

My only critique would be that I wasn't emotionally enough invested in the characters. I did care but as one detached. Other films drag you in a make you empathise with the characters. You feel what they feel. With this one you know what they are feeling but it never impacts on you. Without this flaw I'd have given it a 10. It does for now get a 9.

Image found here

Inception, books and graph fail then Fix

Just seen Inception. Proper review to follow but it was excellent. Its in the Top 250 so that's another one off the list but it appears that something else I've already watched has dropped off. So the graph looks like this.

And although the chart looks lovely on my desktop I can't work out how to get it to post here. Edit: Bit more research solved it.




Also I've been reading quite a lot of books so that side is going well also. At this point you were also suppose to get a graph but its late and I'll work it out later.
Edit: Solved it



Edit: So make of those as you will for now.

Just got a New Camera

Just got a new camera and not alot to take pictures of in my living room at one in the morning. So here's a photo of the picture on my wall.

Mental Fortitude

I'm sure I'm not alone as a non sportsman that Its always seemed bizarre when sports folk have said that the failure was down to their mental state and their head wasn't in the game. Today it finally clicked however. As my head was not in the right space for my Gym session today. I was supposed to be doing a 30 minute run at 10kph. I made it through 15 minutes and had to slow down. I made it another 5 minutes and gave up. Why? I don't know now I'm sat here in my flat. My legs weren't too bad and neither wa my breathing. In my mind I just wimped out. I then tired going back on the machine after a few weight stations but again failed afte 5 minutes. I then headed home.

The problem was I'd already been dreading this session. I'd got it into my head that I wouldn't be able to do it. And then it all crumbled from there. Still another shot in the morning. That's the theory anyway. We'll see if I manage to get up in time.

Snake Meat

I chased up this via email yesterday and its about 60 quid a kilo for rattlesnake and 70 quid a kilo for python. Prime Beef is about 25 quid a kilo. So Snake is quite pricey. And my funds are looking a bit shakey at the moment so this will have to go on the back burner for a bit. Its a shame as it looked as if I'd found a couple of volunteers/victims to join me in my culinary experiments. It will happen folks just maybe not this month.

Kraken and Mine Ha-Ha

I've finished some more books today so here's a quick review of the two of them. Let's start with Kraken by China Mieville.

Kraken is the tale of what happens when a giant squid is squidnapped from the natural history museum and starts the countdown to the apocalypse. I was really excited about this book as I loved Mieville's previous book "The City and The City". I was less enamoured with this one it must be said but it was still a good read. The number of ideas in it were astonishing, as were the words that I didn't quite understand but could get the jist of in context. I like learning as I read. It loosely has the structure of a buddy flick mixed with a chase mixed with a mystery. Our hero Billy is the guy who bottled the Squid and his companion Dane is a worshipper of said squid. Once the squid goes missing Billy is seen as a Squid Prophet and all of London's underworld is out to get him to find out what he knows, which he claims is nothing. Mix in Occult Detectives, Body Hopping Egyptian grave slaves, Magical Unions, Chaos Nazis, Sea Embassys, a talking tattoo, human radios and more besides and you've got a potent mix for lots of trouble heading towards Billy and Dane. This book may be trying to say something about religion and belief but I think its just a bit of a romp as Mieville flexes his immense imaginative muscles. Be warned there are some gruesome parts such as a vicious poking to death. It doesn't sound bad when I write it but the proper text is horrific.

"Mine Ha-Ha (Or on the Bodily education of Young girls)" is a book where I think I've missed the point. It is definitely trying to say something but I'm not entirely sure what. 'll take a stab at what its saying later. In it girls are taken to a strange bordering school and trained to be very similar and to only be able to perform. They are then reunited with the boys they knew so well as little children and the story ends. I think its meant to be about, especially at the time, how women are conditioned to be seen and not heard and to only be pretty and feminine. This is achieved by making them seperate from boys. I didn't enjoy this book. Nothing seemed to happen. It was dull. The message that forcing girls into preset pigeonholes isn't a good idea is a worthy one as noone should be forced to conform against their will but the narrator herself didn't seem to see anything wrong with her treatment. It was her passivity which undermined the book. She is writing it many years after the events and even as a grown women seems passive and uninteresting. A book I don't know what to make of but at least it was short.

This has now put me up to 2737 on Living Social. One of the downsides of using living social is that if I don't read I drop back down the table as others are reading all the time. Still keeps me motivated.

Top 250-Metropolis

This is quite possibly the oldest film I have ever watched, the only one I can think of which may be older is Man With a Movie Camera and that was more a visual accompaninent to a concert. So I approached the grandaddy of Sci Fi with Trepadation. Its in Black and White. Not a problem. Its a foreign film. Not a Problem. Its got spoken words in it. Getting more difficult. Its an example of German Expressionism. Not got a clue what that is.

After viewing the film I do feel I have a better understanding of expressionism. I think its very melodramatic and focuses on showing emotional very obviously. I'm sure someone will tell me if I am wrong.

My intial thoughts were that the film was going to be a struggle. The pacing is slow comapred to even the most languid films today and the lack of speech made it hard at first. Something twigged about 20 minutes in though. Without any words I was able to impose on the movie more of my own ideas and feelings. The lead character is looking forlorn and his mouth is moving, its up to me to decide what he's saying. For this modern movie viewer it felt like a collaborative effort between me and the filmmaker and helped to draw me in. I must admit though I did cheat as I was reading the wikipedia overview as I watched but I excuse this as the same thing as watching an opera in a foreign language with programme notes.

The sets also helped to encapture me. They may be old but they were well done and the effects all work to tell the story. The general look of the piece is very ditinctive and I think this more than the story is what has kept it in legend for 83 years now. You can see its influence in films such as Blade Runner and even Superman's Metropolis. It set the template for the Sci-Fi City.

As for the acting very little acting actually stands out but the casting does. Rotwang, the mad scientist is very well cast as he does look deranged and creepy and Grot, the leader of the workers, could easily be Brian Blessed. For all I know it is.
The one performance that did stand out was that of Brigitte Helm who has to play two very different roles in this piece. I particularly like her take on the robot character of "False Maria" who unlike most future robots has no robotic charcteristics at all. Instead she is a evil prankster with a side of lasciviousness. This can be particularly seen in the part where she flips the switch to break the pumps. The manner in which she looks around grinning is puckish in its glee and malevolence. She also plays Maria ,who is the Union leader for all intents and purposes, this is a less interesting character and portrayal but it does highlight the fact that she is performing rather than being herself on screen.

I would recommned this film to anyone who is interested in the history of film and can cope with silent movies. I don't know if it'll make it into my own personal top 250, as it holds up as more of an important film rather that one I would go back to again and again or a moving film. Its final placing will depend on exactly what criteria I decide dictates a film worthy of inclusion. Still I give this an 8 at the moment with my hazy scoring system.