Vakbondsactie

I'm going through the process of registering with the Antwerp municipality.

It begins with notifying the police that you are living in the area. They drop in to your place to make sure you live there. If, as in my case, you are in work at the time, they leave a note for you to come to the local police station.

Mired as I am in pop-culture, I found myself thinking of any instance in a film where going into/dealing with continental police ended well... In Kiss of the Dragon and Taken the cops were crooked; in the Bourne films they were patsies/cat's paws.⁰ I can't think of cases where they've come off well.

Needful to say¹, I was carried away with flights of fancy.² What actually happened was a cursory glance at my papers and I was asked to sit in the waiting area until I was brought to have a quick chat with a pleasant middle-aged woman.³

As it happens, on the same day, I had my internet connected. The technician that turned up was, I must admit, good looking and stylishly dressed – sporting a fashionable square-faced, silver-framed wristwatch. Coming from Ireland it was rather incongruous, where technicians generally have jeans or overalls with the company logo. As usual, I was thinking "spy."

It reminds me of the holiday I took in Iceland a couple of years back. Two of the most beautiful girls I had ever seen were selling hot dogs at a tourist trap called the Blue Lagoon. These, these blonde goddesses selling hot dogs... it made no sense. If they were doing this job in a film, there would have been complaints about suspension of disbelief or lack thereof. As usual, Shakespeare and Hamlet got to it a couple of years before hand:

Hamlet: Suit the action to the word, the word to the action, with this special observance, that you o'erstep not the modesty of nature: for any thing so o'erdone is from the purpose of playing, whose end [...] is, to hold as 'twere the mirror up to nature [...]⁴

Hamlet was cautioning against hamming⁵ it up, but I think my anecdote illustrates the "ham" line is farther away than we actually think. 

No doubt, everyone is having what amounts to the revelation at the end of The Usual Suspects with cup dropping and all when you pore back through your life and see these people that don't fit. But don't worry, it's normal.

In other news, I feel settled enough to focus on learning Dutch. I have started listening to vocab on the way to and from work. And I have a handy pocket dictionary, which I take out now and again for key words. It was really useful on Friday morning when I arrive to see that my bus wasn't at its stop....   vakbondsactie - or trade union action - means I wait 40 minutes for a bus in the morning and 60 minutes in the evening.

Anyway, I really think I am getting the hang of it...

Gellukig Kerstfeest!

*****

⁰Imagine those poor unsuspecting cops trying to get some vagrant off of a park bench; they were just doing their jobs, and they get their asses kicked.
¹I know that the phrase is needless, but that is an apparent contradiction, since I am writing and I have decided that it needed to be said. It's like that phrase - "it goes without saying." What is really being said is: "I do not trust you to figure this out on your own, so I am going to prelude the information with a lip service to my belief in your competence....  'no offence'ⁱ."

²"Sorry sir, your papers... they are no in order. I just have to make a call, if you will wait in this room." At which point two burley 6 footers in riot gear come in with tonfas/night sticks. But then I clean house, and someone walks by going,"are you a special forces guy or something?" And I am all like "I'm just the crystallization expert."

³One thing that has bothered me about English language films set in Europe is how native languages would be used intermittently for filler and minor developments. but plot-critical information is relayed in English, no matter what nationality the source is. A month living and working in Belgium has made this perfectly reasonable to me because I have yet to meet someone that could not tell me in clear English what I needed to know.

⁴Hamlet Act 3, scene 2, 17–24 - granted my editing has ruined the iambic pentameter...

⁵The words are unrelated - hamming comes from the first syllable of amateur. [ORIGIN late 19th cent. : perhaps from the first syllable of amateur ; compare with the slang term hamfatter [inexpert performer.] Sense 2 dates from the early 20th cent. - from my Mac Dictionary]

*****

ⁱWhich happens to be another doozy, for carte blanche insulting. I think the best outrage against these veiled maneuverings is Jack Bristow (Victor Garber) on Alias: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0qaIvb3bGA^a

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^aMy former "study buddy [one lab removed]", John, pointed out that I forgot about the gold standard in thinly veiled condescending insult: "With all due respect." 

365.25 days of Media: Part 2

Now films.

I used the wiki site to remind me of releases during the year. It is possible I missed some [un]deserving flicks since the link is based on US release dates.¹ It was a pretty good year for films, I think. Avatar gets an honourable mention for visually stunning graphics, albeit with a somewhat dull story line.²

Up - I was concerned that Pixar had gone off of the reservation with Cars, it was lame enough to be something from Dreamworks³... [Máirtin takes a breath repeating that he promised to stay in '09 and not mention by-gones.]... A poignant and enjoyable piece that had me close to tears at times. Not the all-round package that was the Incredibles, but a worthy offering.

Inglorious Basterds - When I first heard about the film, I groaned in distaste. Tarrantino's past work has been good, however I don't think he warranted the praises he garnered. The first scene of the film put me in my place. it is probably one of my favourite slices of film this year . The typical hyper-violence of his other works and deliciously paced dialogues/script. In my opinion his magnum opus.

Where The Wild Things Are - A film about a kid. Not necessarily a kids' film. Gandolfini's character, Carol, is very similar to his iconic Tony Soprano. Well shot, few wasted words and well imagined characters, but a bit too long at times.

In The Loop - Gandolfini gets a second mention in the run-down, in this sharply written black comedy relating the maneuvering and under-handedness that takes place in government offices on both sides of the Atlantic. Keep an eye out for Steve Coogan's cameo.

District 9 - A tremendous sci-fi. It has taken a place beside the Fifth Element as my favourites of the genre. An engaging concept, excellent special effects and great action set pieces. It did fell like two films. First a high-concept science fiction. Halfway through it changes up to the classic science-fiction-action-romp. Both parts of the film are superbly done, but the transition marks an artistic compromise of sorts for me.

Watchmen - The most mature and well conceived film based on a comic book. End of story.

Moon - I'm a big Sam Rockwell fan, it is largely himself and the creepy disembodied voice of Kevin Spacey. The special effects are subtly done and very believable. As a whole. similar to the first half of District 9, in that science fiction is a context for the story as opposed the focus.

Honourable Mentions: Monsters Vs Aliens & Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs - for being great non-Pixar computer animated features. A Serious Man - for the Coen brothers, producing a film that requires more thought that than even their usual fare. Gomorrah - for giving a stark look at life under-the-thumb of the Italian Mafia. Zombieland - For being a delightfully funny US answer to Shaun of The Dead, a good leading cast and a great cameo. Synecdoche, NY - the most abstract film I saw this year... although the Office Boy [Damian] has been raving about White Ribbon.

Now for the films that displeased me. They are by no means the worst films I have seen, except for maybe the first on the list, but films that disappointed me.

Year One - Jack Black and Michael Cera.On the whole, it wasn't funny.⁴ Jack Black is beginning to grate. Michael Cera should see about getting some range.

Wolverine - The first two X-Men films were about wolverine, I liked them. There were some good moments in this one, but it does not hold a candle to what had come before, but it could have.

Pirate Radio - A film about an illicit Rock 'n' Roll radio station, on a boat. It stars Bill Nighy, Philip Seymour Hoffman and the tall fella from the IT Crowd. It could have been a collection debauched mad-cap anti-establishmentarianism antics, it could have had the spirit of Animal House and its ilk. Unfortunately it was generally soppy and safe.
Edit: JC [What can I say, I have friends in high places.] pointed out that that was the American release name. To avoid it in Ireland and England, it is called "The Boat that Rocked."

The Men That Stared at Goats - George Clooney and Ewan MacGregor in a buddy movie about a journalist and an ex-Army Psychic. Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey co-starred. It had some decent moments, but my mate Neil and I agree that if it were not for Mr Clooney it would have been an obscure and beige.

Terminator Salvation - An adequate Summer flick. An adequate follow-up to Terminator 3. Grossly inadequate sequel to the first two films. Sam Worthington is pretty good in it, but I tire of Christian Bale's unnecessarily gravely voice and his typically intense and brooding character-type, I fear he could be getting type-cast.

So there is a run-down of TV and film according to Máirtín. In the next few days I'll take in Sherlock Holmes- I do like a bit of Robert Downey Jr, and Rachel MacAdams is as eye-catching as ever. In the coming months I wait in baited breath for the HBO pilot of George RR Martin's Game of Thrones TV series. Other than that, I am hoping that they don't make another season of Dexter- get out on top darn it.

Later jerkwads.
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¹As it happens, it included Taken in the '09 release... I was so very tempted to include it, I mean, people, it's freaking awesome.^i
2Possibly the best special effects ever stunningly applied. However, the "Dances-with-Wolves-in-Space"ⁱⁱ storlyline typically hung off of them like a sleepy toddler being carried to bed.
³Other than the first Shrek and Kung-Fu Panda, Dreamworks hasn't delivered as far as I am concerned.
⁴I ended up missing a salsa lesson for it. >:(
^{___________________________________________________________________________________
i}... well, after the first 30 minutes or so.
ⁱⁱI heard that description from Bob first.

Mairtin McNamara- Zombie Scientist

Apologies for the looooooooonng delay, folks; I decided on [does quotation gesture with index and middle fingers] me time (in an American accent) over blogging time.

So. Halloween.

Again.

This year I are mostly went as a zombie. Somehow, the idea came to me after a weekend of watching Zombieland and a zombie-themed episode of Smallville.

As some must recall, I used an LED in last year's costume. I latched onto the trope once more, since it was such an easy way to impress.
Long did I ponder on the to shoe-horning of the LEDs into the costume.* Luckily, we have the waxing zombie sub-genre: "Zombie _______."** Can I get a drum-roll please?

...

Two words: Zombie, Scientist, & Awesome.*** I did some sketches of before and after, to get details ironed out (right). While doing the drawrings,**** I developed a backstory for my costume (check it out here).

Initially, I was thinking of putting together LEDs from scratch with a circuit so that it could flash or something. Alas, time ran short. I had to skip out on that and decided on using LED christmas lights.

I found a link that went through modding christmas lights from mains to battery operation. I bought a set of flashing lights in Arnotts. Unfortunately, the circuit arrangement for the LED lights did not allow for a simple cut and splice in to a battery source. This was unusual, as most circuits use a rectifier to convert the A/C to DC and then do all that magical elecltronic stuff. In this case, the A/C must be used in the timing for the whole thing. It being the Friday before Halloween, I did not have the time to it open and see what's what.*****

So, as a hail Mary pass, I went in to town that evening. Some frantic strolling around later, I found what I needed in Debenhams, two 25 red LEDs sets run directly off of battery ["w00t!"]. I used a piece of cardboard to hold the lights in the lettered arrangement. I gathered my lab coat, some thick framed 3-D glasses- polarised type, not red/blue- and I was golden.

Hours to minutes before the kick-off of the Halloween party, Sarah sorted me out with liquid latex****** and oodles of blood for fake wounds . I think it worked out well.

I think next year I will stock up on liquid latex, maybe embed LEDs in it.
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*A zombie better have a damn good reason for having a doneup shirt let alone, working Light Emiting Diodes.
**The list is exhaustive, briefly: Uncle Sam, Nazi, Stripper, bunny, comic book heroes, and other fictional characters. Last week, I heard that Neil Patrick Harris went as an Zombie English Fop and one of the girls in the kung fu club went as a zombie Bavarian maiden.
***Much like water from hydrogen and water, awesome is produced spontaneously when zombies and science are set on fire- so it is a freeby and highly exothermic.
****I also say "liberary" and "nuculear"
*****That and I lack any qualification in looking at circuits beyond putting together PCs, soldering stuff under direction and knowing how a peltier works.
******The latex is dissolved in ammonia xP

Computer building and Clichés (Continued)

Due to some hiccups regarding conference registration, I was in college much later than expected. It followed that I started building the PC later, of course in my typically blind optimism I expected I could put it together and still make training. 80 minutes later, having put in the motherboard, 600W PSU, CPU and RAM chips, there was no chance I was going to make it..

Have to stop writing- fire alarm in the engineering block...

Fire alarm stopped... Either it was a drill , false alarm or the fire finally got to the alarm system circuitry.

Where was I....

Another hour of head scratching, manual rereading all the pieces I had for my PC were in it...
The next step was to hook up the monitor to its appropriate port. Some more head scratching and manual rereading and visual inspection showed I was lacking such a port. Next stop is procuring a video card- I am such a n00b :(

Regarding clichés
Sci-Fi

Were I in a space ship meeting or facing of against people in another space ship I would orientate my ship to 7 Degrees off of their verticle, I bet it would really irritate them!

The flavour of the week group of helpless people/under dog rebels etc that encountered our heroes in the tv series would not be led by a a strong yet attractive women who cannot but help fall for our main hero. Maybe it would be some kind of eunich to avoid the lead heroine falling for him, or any kind of kindred spirit for the supporting characters who may be the momentary spotlight of the episode.

When X gets a message about Y from their past being dead- Y better be dead.