Revisiting the oldies

Since the mood swing hippiefits in my last post I haven't been able to make a single entry that could sum up everything properly. The fact is that I have been dealing various exam-related stuff that I engage in, apparently bent on some manner of self-punishment, and on the side I have been on a wild nostalgia trip to the cinema. Also, I have been wasting my time on various computer games and finished off the last few episodes of Lost (3rd season) including a not so bloody extravagant finale.
The other two seasons had a razor-sharp ending, but that was not good enough for the writers who instead went out of their way to go all noir and additionally thought it was a good idea to make one of the main characters look like Leonidas from 300. Which by and large made it immensely hard to concentrate because I half-expected him to exclaim "This is Sparta!" at any moment.
Hopefully in 4th season they might explain a bit about the fabled smoke monster that has so far acted mainly as a Pwn Ex Machina whenever some character needed to get offed. When they do come with an explanation I will end up ignoring it in favour of my theory that the monster is the spawn of the massive amounts of marijuana consumed by the writers of the series.

So anyway, what this entry was actually about is the fact that I have been watching Blade Runner and all four Indiana Jones movies recently. Watched the original trilogy in a row and since then I have seen the 4th twice. You can go on and on about how special effects tend to overshadow some more important elements in today's movies, but in a film like Indiana Jones that is more or less the whole point. The storylines in those features do not make any sense so the entire thing might as well be beefed up with some overwhelmingly silly CGI that reflects the general mood of the movie. It is by far the silliest of the four, and while the villains in the earlier movies, though still a bit comic-book-ish, actually managed to be genuinely sinister, the villains in the 4th feature are so stupidly exaggerated they are almost likeable.
But like we all know, in movies like these it is not a question of if the protagonist survives. It is always a question of how. We are already aware that he will defeat his enemies and get the girl in the end. I do not honestly know if the movie had been more effective without all those silly moments to counterpoint the gravity of each cliffhanger. I think it is spot on to spend a lot of resources on showing just how tough and badass Indiana Jones really is. Like the fact that he can, while trapped in a fridge, survive being flung over a long distance by a nuclear blast.
And the most miraculous thing happened... Shia LaBeouf was likeable!

I don't declare my approval just to seem anti-pretentious. It really depends on what expectations you have when you go in. I expected something entertaining, but not revolutionary. That is what I got.

The future isn't nice.

Blade Runner on the other hand is a slower and much less action-packed 2-hour noir fest. And in its restored version, I gotta say, it looks nearly every bit as smooth as a modern day movie. It is the shooting technique and general feel of the movie that really reveal its age. It cannot be watched without a good dose of patience. When I first watched a DVD version I bought I was not very impressed, but on a second viewing - and in the cinema at that - it all made much more sense. Harrison ford is the sort of actor where you often know what to expect, but in a noir feature like Blade Runner he is right at home. It is also a movie that benefits from the fact that the city in which it takes place becomes a character in its own right.
It might not be for everyone because the pacing is so different from that of modern blockbusters. But even if it isn't your genre, it might be worth checking out at least once in your lifetime.

Skepticism; the blessing, the disease

It's a world full of information an misinformation. Skepticism is the natural reaction when you are used to filter false info and, as often called, bullshit. If people did not have that kind of filter, well.. the result is rather predictable. So we should be happy about skepticism, right?
Not always, I think... It seems to be part of internet culture to question everything, to point out every little detail about which there might be the slightest bit of doubt.
People who are skeptical about impressive accomplishments because they are too proud or ignorant to recognise the importance of these. People who will always focus on all the negative elements and never the positive. They will continue to repeat their state of being categorically unimpressed. It is an easy position to take if you do not wish to acknowledge life as it is and won't accept things that are beyond your own ability to comprehend. On the other hand it is far too easy to praise everything and forget to be critical. One of the most important things when you are a human being, in my opinion, is to find the balance between faith and skepticism. You need to be able to offer compliments where they are due, and criticism likewise. Offer an honest compliment and you may have made someone's day. Offer counter-productive criticism and you may end up causing more damage than you imagine...
Some people need a punch in the face - but sometimes it's enough with a gentle slap.

I'm not going to talk about chaos theory and Butterfly Effect...
But what I do believe is that every little thing we say to each other can have a much more profound effect than we think. The idea is not knew, and I have expressed it before... But it does not make it any less relevant.

Coincidental awesomeness

While searching for nothing in particuar - just music in general - I stumbled across some fiddle-work by someone named Ann Marie Calhoun. And no, it's not just because she's good-looking, she actually plays a mean violin and it sounds absolutely enchanting, so she's more than worth checking out.

Meanwhile I am bracing myself for the fact that I will soon have run out of Lost season 3 episodes... by then, since I have no TV channels on which the episodes are shown, I will have to watch streamed episodes from 4th season on the internet... Simply because I've become a Lostaholic like so many other people around the world. The creators of Lost sometimes show a mastery of suspense that really catches your attention beyond the ordinary, yet at times nothing at all makes sense an in spite of this you, as a viewer, just keep swallowing it all raw. Lost moves in mysterious ways, especially when they introduce things and charaters that they suddenly kill off and never indicate that they should have any relevance at all later on in the series... or their method of writing off a character that doesn't want to be involved anymore; there's always that blasted smoke monster thing to call upon or otherwise ordinary men who suddenly turn psycho and murder everyone. But it's a fun, blindfolded ride where you just hope that they will explain things eventually...

Either way by now I'm pretty sure the writers are great fans of Death Note

Fleeting

So I stopped playing the Age of Conan beta rather quickly. I don't think it's because it's a bad game; I don't think it is. I just think that the MMORPG genre and I are completely done for a good while. After my WoW cold turkey it's just not the same anymore. The games take way too much time and are more like a job to me than they're actually fun. Age of Conan did have very gorgeous graphics though and is pioneering in several areas. But I honestly think its success will be a bit limited by the release of Wrath of the Lich King. Some people may leave the WoW account base, but new people start playing it every day, and the lumbering behemoth that is Activision Blizzard will keep making tons of money.

On another note I've started listening to some old music. Not really old as in 19th century, but more like music from the 70s and stuff. I had heard about Led Zeppelin but not really listened to much of their music. When I started listening to Stairway to Heaven I couldn't see the point at first. Then I listened to it a few times more... And now it is more or less stuck with me.
There is a lot of more modern music that I absolutely love, but it does not change the fact that Stairway to Heaven is one of the most soulful songs I've ever heard. The fact that it took a little while for me to really grasp its meaning and beauty makes it even more significant to me.
It's not all about the coolest guitar solos or most fast-paced lyrics. One might point out solos that are more technicically impressive and complex than the one in Stairway, but I think there will always be a trade-off if suddenly a song focusses too much on one aspect; whereas in Stairway, as far as I see it, the timing is just right. Jimmy Page's long solo comes after a huge build-up; the song takes its time to place itself in the minds and hearts of the ones listening to it. Pressure is slowly building up and once the guitar starts screaming it is released in a way that is just full of soul and power. It fits into what seems to me a pure whole, whereas in some other songs I know the guitar solo is just there for its own sake.

I may sound pretentious and purist as hell, but I'm just saying what I think, and if someone wants to disagree, that's fine... but I just can't get enough of that song.

Hmmm...

I have these periods when I don't really know what to write. It's a combination of not knowing what to write and not wanting to write the things I should be writing. Not in the laziness sense, but in the not-wanting-to-face-reality sense. What made me think was... I don't know what it was, but the thought was this: I don't think you can contemplate suicide without being slightly fatalistic. Like, you think it's your fate; there is no manner of avoiding it, it has to happen. There are so many approaches to determinism and fatalism that it is nauseating; you can contemplate whether or not someone can be considered guilty of murder if they were destined to do it, but arguing about that is tedious and you are not likely to get a result. But as a key to understanding suicide, I think the discussion is much more relevant. If someone truly believes that suicide is the last resort, I imagine the very act of killing oneself might feel like realising one's destiny. It's a morbid thought, but it is the only approach by which I can understand it.

Welcome to Hyboria / Meet Iron Man!

In the warm Spring hours with Summer at my doorstep, what better pasttime is there than wasting hour upon hour inside at my computer monitor?

At the moment I am trying out a beta version of Age of Conan - mostly because I am just curious. I have no plans to fall into the whole MMORPG trap all over again, but it does still have some allure.
I have created a few characters so far, and while my current prime character belongs to the class Bear Shaman, he looks more or less like a hangman on a bad day.

Extravagantly clad in a loincloth and armed with a broken oar, you, a lowly slave who is the sole survivor of a shipwreck, goes into the jungle to give some pirates a good old beating.
Of course, if you are a female character (which tend to be strangely lithe and generally well-shaped) you'll find yourself wearing suspiciously dirty underwear, though I guess the developers are merely hinted at womens' value as slaves in a dark pre-medieval world where everyone's favourite hobbies are sex and violence (sometimes both at once).

Now I can't say too much about the combat system yet because my less than awe-inspiring level 5 character does not have a whole lot to add to this topic apart from the few simple combos he has gained so far. But I suppose I generally like this system a lot more than the one in, say, WoW and LotrO. It seems more real-timeish and feels more real. With the variety of combos and other abilities you can gain later on and the number of different classes available I think there is a fair deal of potential.
They still have to work on some framerate issues and loading times, but hopefully they will have that ironed out by the time the game is released (one can dream).
Still, I will file no complaints with the ones who designed the female models, and I am sure that female gamers won't be complaining about the muscular male avatars either.

Female demonologist at work. Too bad the flames conceal her boobies.

Now for something completely different. Iron Man the movie rocks. I know I mentioned it in my previous post, but I do not think it can be stressed enough: Unless you are an utter fanatical comic book deadbeat who incidentally has no sense of humour, chances are you will enjoy the ride, which is full of special effects, gadgets, bad guys that get knocked over and a very surprisingly sexy Gwyneth Paltrow who does a subtle and delicate performance.

Even if some of the elements in the movie are a bit ridiculous. Such as the magnet that is supposed to keep grenade shrapnel from his heart. I am not a science expert, but wouldn't a very powerful magnet painfully draw out the shrapnels rather than keeping them in check?
Still, it is one of those nonsensical things that you just accept because you don't want it to spoil the experience (like the battleships in Star Wars Episode III that behave like we are still in the 18th bloody century. Yeah, I even heard the commentary, they thought it was a good idea!).
Jeff Bridges did a stellar job as the evil industrialist who wants to keep the war machine going so he can profit from it even more. Even the computers that main character Tony Stark uses to build his gadgets have personalities of their own and caused enormous laughter in the cinema with their little quirks.

Terrence Howard, not that I know much about the actor, was however pretty unconvincing in his role. I don't know if he just had a lot of bad days, but it was like there was no enthusiasm in any of his lines. Other than that the cast consists mostly of anonymous arabs and slutty reporters who will do anything to get into bed with Tony Stark. But Paltrow still overshines them by far with her delicacy and grace.

Morning

Ah, morning. Well, noon actually, but morning has always been a relative thing to me.
I've slept genuinely well for the first time in a while after my little brother's confirmation party (it is a Christian thing). Not much of a Christian myself, but eh, any good reason to have a good old party should be embraced.

I had a dream last night, of which I can't remember much, but I remember that it was very vivid when I had it. It is strange because I rarely remember my dreams, but this one was quite definitely very long and very epic. Of course, it was interrupted when I was woken at 8:30. Dreams like that always have all kinds of random people that I know.. not always significant people. And it plays out like a mishmash of different experiences. If dreams have a meaning, I have no idea what my dreams mean - on account of their usual pitch black quality.
I know people who remember their dreams every night.. not sure if I should feel envious.

In the meantime the world has been knocked over by GTA IV, a game so serious in scope that even Hollywood has been fearing its impact on audiences worldwide. We've yet to see whether or not it actually has an influence on box office for the movie Iron Man, which, I might add having seen it a couple of days ago, is, in a word, awesome. They know they shouldn't take themselves too seriously and have thus thrown in a lot of welcome comic relief to spice it all up. Robert Downey Jr. is perfect for the role as a complete bastard because he is a complete bastard.

But back to GTA IV, I think it is safe to say that gamers all around the globe will be going out considerably less, provided they have an Xbox 360 or a PS3, (apart from one of my mates who has to wait because the postal service in his district is on strike - hah!), and will be slowly drawn into a black hole that will happily consume all their time. I haven't been exposed because I am a PC exclusive bastard. So I'll probably have to wait a year for a port.