On Talent

When I look around, I routinely see talented people who have their talents squandered. They're sadly neglected, and sometimes even undiscovered. Yet, I recognize the importance of skill and that skill can supersede talent. This fact makes some people neglect the importance of discovering and cultivating talents, and for others to think that talent is everything.

What is talent? By my book, talent is one's current propensity towards picking up a skill. To put things in gamer terms, that's something like having a one off XP boost and possibly XP gain buffs towards improving a skill.

Yet, I disagree with the view that talent is somehow innate to a person. I describe it as a propensity because talents can be cultivated by learning skills with synergy.This, I believe, is what people describe as "discovering" a talent. For example, I may be good with observing how people move. That can translate to a talent in learning the martial arts because they're in synergy with observational and mimicry abilities. In turn, the skill developed becomes an area of interest, and that links to other skills like say military tactics.

Unfortunately, I routinely see people being good at something and it seems to me that they are somehow talented at it. For example, some are very good at observing people. Yet, that talent goes uncultivated because they use it on a daily basis but make no effort to apply it elsewhere, like say a job with a spy agency or dance studio. As a result, the talent stays at whatever level it is that they originally had.

I think it is of vital importance that people recognize that they are good at certain things. When they discover what those might be, they also should not hesitate to find ways to improve what those talents might be. This is a good way to seek the sort of self improvement that maximizes one's abilities, and the constant stretching can only result in the development of a superior self.

A Great Weekend

I am writing this to commemorate a rather memorable and fulfilling weekend. Ordinarily, a weekend would be fairly routine, like going out to a movie, heading home and then having a gaming session into the wee hours before waking in the evening. That's usual and can get quite trite. This weekend was hardly like that.

10am wake. That's unusual in my weekend, because I'm a conscientious morning denier. So I pick up my camera from the repair shop and post some stuff. Sadly, these kinds of places close stupid early on the weekend, so I get roasted at midday. Then I have lunch and head home to nap till the evening.

Wake for dinner. Friend asks me out to watch Cloud Atlas at 11pm. This is fairly unusual since most of the time I get movies before that, but I don't turn down stuff at night. I watch it till 2am with my friend, then we stick around to chat till around 4am. It's funny that during that conversation there was a street procession with lots of shouting and cheering as people went to their temple festival, and that was delightful. It reminded me of the night festival I really liked last year. After that I get sent home.

I especially liked the conversation, considering that it's less than mundane. Frankly I'm rather bored by all the mundane conversations I keep getting. It's like I pretend to be engaged and can hold small talk as long as it takes, but frankly I gain little to nothing from that and go back feeling emptier than when I started off. It didn't happen this time.

After I got home I was doing some stuff on the computer and prepping for bed, then my parents wake and want to go to exercise. So I hump my kali sticks and go for a nice hour long stick swinging session. Tired, we head to breakfast and I pass out till the evening.

Overall this has been quite the fulfilling weekend. I may be a night critter, but staying up alone isn't necessarily fulfilling. I must have milestones and noteworthy moments to work with. Sitting at home playing games into the dawn is hardly that. Still, I am quite happy to have had this session, though I do wonder how I might get my weekends livelier.

Gangster Squad

I have a soft spot for the 50's and the years around it. Gangster shows of the era are hit that spot for me. This particular movie is about the struggles between gangs in the era, there remains something lacking in the movie that just prevents me from getting into it.

Cops going on a sting to help take down organized crime. That's the premise of the movie. Unfortunately, the writing, lack of character development and frankly lack of 1950's style just makes the whole gig feel like any ordinary cop vs organized crime film, albeit in fedoras, trenchcoats and Tommy guns. Even the gratuitous violence feels empty, lacking the style that one might come to expect in current films.

Overall a forgettable experience that makes the movie hardly worth the money put behind the popcorn to keep one going through it. There is little I can recommend it for, so I'm assigning a 4/10 for it.

Cloud Atlas

I'll start this off by saying that Cloud Atlas is not for everyone. If you prefer watching a movie where everything is clear and explanations are spoonfed, avoid this movie at all costs. For those seeking a mental challenge, this movie is a must watch.Preferably while you're wide awake and quite focused.

Cloud Atlas is basically an interconnected waffle of 6 storylines. The narratives are presented in a disjointed manner, zipping from one to the other without so much of a by your leave. Yet, each storyline is connected to the other by fine parallels to one another. "No matter where you are, everyone is always connected" comes to mind. The beauty of the movie's construction lies in the fine detail, from elements in a scene hinting at the future or other parallel events, to the appropriateness of garb to particular time periods. The devil's in the detail, and we have detail by the wheelbarrow.

Cloud Atlas seems to be a refinement of the Wachowskis' questioning of reality in The Matrix. It presents the audience with a take on interconnected realities, inviting them to interpret it as they will. This is probably where many will lose their way, focusing on the narratives instead. For those who see the waffle and those interconnecting pieces, there remains a single question (or many, perhaps): How would you like your waffles done?

It is fair to say that I am downright impressed by this film, and it stands shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Brazil and Suckerpunch (I know many didn't like it, but it's just that kind of movie). 9/10.

Les Miserables

Ordinarily, I do not like musicals. I find it silly that people should have to resort to singing their lines instead of just having a normal conversation. Seriously. People just don't do that in modern life. Regardless, Les Miserables is a strange musical. I cannot decide if I love or hate it, but I'll write anyway.

I think most are familiar with the Les Miserables narrative, so I shall refrain from belaboring the topic. There have been some re-imaginings of the characters, and frankly I'm not overly fond of the conversation songs that didn't come from the musical. I feel they could've been better composed.

Yet, despite its less than stellar performance as a musical (as I understand musicals), it still is a performance that is rather good at tugging on the heart-strings of the audience, taking everyone from the heights of euphoria and crashing down in utter despair. In fact, there have been many red eyes after the movie ended, so I think it fair to conclude that it was a moving experience.

Apart from its relatively poor performance as a musical, I do think the movie was fairly well put together and did its part to provide an emotional experience. 7/10