Path Dependency

I think the single most important thing about our lives...is the past. Much as how many of us will undoubtedly have regrets about how the past went, well I think where we are today is a product of exactly that. For better or worse anyway.

I'm thinking back about all the shit I went through when I was younger. To this day, I still think it's shit and I'm not happy about it. You can have that on the record. Then again, when I think about the alternatives, I realize that I wouldn't be who I am today, doing the work I do, had things actually went better for me. In fact, I'd most likely be in a line of work that gives me way less satisfaction. It is interesting that my life today is indeed literally the product of a series of unfortunate events. Hmm. Of course, the rest is how I deal with those events, which is another story for another day.

While we're on the topic, I'm meditating on what I know of as path dependency. Simply put, where you were will help determine where you'll go. It's an unfortunate fact of life, and it does make me wonder just how much of the world's population is victimized by this, whereby they aren't given fair opportunities at the early parts of their lives, resulting in their not having a fair chance at life when they grow up. I look around me and think...a heckuva lot. For me, it was a happy accident so far. But for many others, I can only wish them all the best.

Space Battleship Yamato

Yes, the anime series and the animated movie's way old. It's a cult classic. And if you don't already know the storyline, you've probably been hiding under a rock somewhere. Now, I won't mince words in saying that I'm partial towards this particular show, because it's something from my younger days, and really...I do tend to like over the top narratives. If it's going to be a movie, I don't seriously expect realism and coherent storylines.

This particular rendition has some differences from the original anime, especially noticeable in the romance sequence they've thrown in. It seriously annoys me, how the makers of these shows are so fond of throwing a romance in to increase viewership. Sex sells, but really...that's just unprofessional aboard the Yamato =p

Jibe aside, the over the top of self sacrifice, xenocide and reasonably dramatic space battles is everything I expected. Granted, the special effects aren't quite top notch, but it's clear that the creators made some effort to provide some iconic scenes from the original anime. I appreciate that very much. Overall, however, the look and feel remains somewhat plasticky and seems to lack the high budget realistic oomph that I've come to expect. Of course, that could be due to a creative decision, but that's how it comes across to me.

Narrative is...well...every bit as strong/weak as the original, with the invariable weakness of romance thrown in. For some reason, whenever there's a crisis, the lovers invariably embrace and talk sweet nothings while the fate of the world is at stake. It annoys me, and note this for the record. Guys, get a room. You can always make out after you get home from the suicide mission which you people invariably survive anyway.

Overall I'd say the movie gets 7/10 from me. Marked down for the romance, though I regard the plot holes as part and parcel of a live action movie that at least tries to stay faithful to the original material. The movie's not bad, but I'm pretty sure it's really for the old faithfuls.

The Naturalized Politician

There's something that constantly bewilders me about people. Some people are pretty middling when it comes to social relations. Others are quite withdrawn. And yet others are what I regard as naturalized politicians. By naturalized, I mean they've become social to the extent that it's essentially a normal part of their personality.

I have difficulty differentiating between someone who's actually really social and friendly by nature, and someone who's doing it for potential political gain in the long run. Another thing I've been wondering is whether there's any practical difference at all. Obviously, someone who's friendly by nature is in it for some sort of gain. At the very least self satisfaction. It's also a natural side effect that they wind up ingratiating themselves with others and that ideally positions them for political maneuvers. Simply put, I'd just regard social people with suspicion at all times, simply because of the nature of these relationships.

Undoubtedly, there is power to weak ties. And some people do excel at creating massive networks of weak ties. While I understand at an intellectual level that it is prudent to maintain such ties and that there is nothing intrinsically wrong with doing so, I have the nagging (guilt?) that actively pursuing the creation of weak ties is a form of weakness simply because it makes one reliant on others. Undoubtedly, no individual is an island or self sufficient, but then I'm the sort to prefer cultivating stronger ties all around. It commands loyalty, and I feel less like one who's getting to know others just for the gain obtained in the relationship. Sure, it's less than efficient, but I guess it works for me.

Suckerpunch

Once in a while, a truly unique movie comes up. It makes you go WTF, and really is not something that's readily understood. What's better...it masquerades as an action flick. Suckerpunch is precisely that movie.

There's a word to describe Suckerpunch, and that word is "disjointed". At first glance, the story appears to be incoherent, and from what I've seen it seems that the movie's been badly panned for precisely that reason. Whoever thinks that is the case has totally missed the point. The movie doesn't attempt to be, neither does it serve as, a challenge to Inception. It's not the kind of narrative that is convoluted, while attempting to tie up all the loose ends. It's a unique narrative, to me. A narrative that works by sheer omission: It tells you everything but what the story really is about.

I find the narrative-by-omission to be a stroke of genius, because the premise is about a rich heiress who is politicked into a mental asylum and is basically losing the last dregs of her sanity (and from a procedure that will not be named in the avoidance of providing spoilers).

As I've said, the movie attempts to masquerade as an action flick, and flashes erratically between the dreary reality of the real world, the sordid dance club with its garish colors, and the earthy drama of the fantasy combat realm. I find this erratic jumping to be a perfect representation of the breakdown of the psyche, and is in itself fantastic. What's better, each scene in the combat realm is completely unrelated to one another, yet maintains some aspects of the dance club realm. Yet, the unrelated combat scenes manage to throw in every over the top pop culture trope in bizarre action sequences. The references alone make the movie worth watching.

I've said much, and perhaps I've spoiled it for some even for that. Regardless, I think much remains for personal interpretation, and it's really up to the reader to decide just what the whole thing is about. For me, I'd buy the dvd (or bluray) just to watch it over and over again. 9.5/10.

Earth Invasion: Battle Los Angeles

Cheesy title. If my colleagues didn't ask me out to watch this with them, I would've passed on it on general principle. But now that I've watched it, I don't think I regret spending that time.

BLA is Hurt Locker meets Independence Day. As with sci-fi type alien invasion movies, plot holes are not only expected...they're probably encouraged. Ok really, I can think of a bunch of ways such technologically advanced aliens could've done things more efficiently. As in with much less loss of alien life and ordnance.

That said, the movie manages to capture the paranoia and drama of battle, specifically the knowledge that death may well be lurking around the next corner...after whole swathes of peace and quiet. The movie manages to get by with a surprisingly low tech art style for the aliens, and really I do think it's refreshing to see ghetto atmospheric thrusters and alien machinegunnery instead of the usual slick laser toting variety.

Not much can be said about the story in general, though I note that it doesn't attempt to shoehorn a romance into the narrative and that's always a plus. I'd say...8/10. I like the action and the desperation the show manages to portray. I don't care for the storyline though IMO it's not a big deal in such flicks. That's all.

The Invisible Killer

I think there are few things as frightening to mortals as the idea of an invisible killer stalking them. Of the many invisible killers stalking mortals, ionizing radiation is pretty salient at this point. Specifically the ongoing meltdown over at good ole Japan. Lovely.

Right, then. There have been reports of radiation leakage at the nuke reactor, and the Chinese are understandably concerned about the situation. What's interesting is how the people at risk will grasp at straws to ensure that their continued health is maintained. In this case, there was a run on salt, because a rumor went around that consuming salt (presumably iodized salt in this case, because of the iodine content) would safeguard one from radiation related ailments.

Indeed, it seems to me that this is a really good way to manipulate the masses, by putting them in fear of their own well being. A good way to achieve this is to create an invisible enemy that everyone must band together to fight. An invisible killer that only the leadership can see for sure. Of course, that also demands the peoples' absolute obedience to the cause...

Love The Night

I've recently rediscovered my love for night photography. In general, I don't feel much like shooting at night because it's primarily about shooting the city lights. Which isn't necessarily all that awesome. Or original.

Then I decided that hell...if I was in a city full of tall apartment buildings with public access, why the heck am I not taking advantage of the readily available sniper perches. As a bonus, it's all happening at night, precisely when I don't feel like I'm having my face burned off. Sounds like a win win situation for me.

Well, so far I've been having a ball. The perspectives are fresh, and soon they shall be stale. It is then that I shall be forced to innovate again, and that is where my skills shall improve. Or not. Whatever. It's fun =p

On Iodine And Fallout

Mom received a hoax SMS saying that exposure to fallout was imminent and that everyone should stay indoors and stock up on iodine. Alarmed by this "notification", she proceeded to inform dad and he went to buy some rubbing iodine. Lovely. I do so love misinformation, especially in uncertain times.

I think it is highly irresponsible to send out such alarmist messages when it can cause a run on the iodine stocks and ultimately does everyone not one whit of good. Seriously, folks, the iodine you want is potassium iodide tablets...which, incidentally, are not readily available around these parts as of the time of this writing.

I find it interesting that everyone's so alarmed about it, when in all probability any fallout that comes all the way is likely to be greatly dissipated. In the event that sufficiently high levels arrive as to call for distribution of iodine tablets, I think radiation levels in general are going to be hazardous enough to seriously consider leaving the region for a time.

On Japan

Japan is facing a tragedy of proportions that rival WWII. Huge swathes of the island are currently waterlogged and large numbers of people have been swept away by the waters of the ocean. Yes, I think it is the perfect time to send out alarmist messages of the imminent end of the world, and to scare everyone into becoming religious. Or just scared in general.

The thing that pisses me off the most is not religion itself, but how people are warping religions purported to be about love into something that's built on hatred. I care not for the good intentions undoubtedly behind whatever it is that they're selling...I paved the road to Hell with good intentions quite some time back. And messed with their cooling systems, but that's another story for another day.

Anyway, if there's anything that can serve to aid me in losing my nonexistent faith in humanity, this is most certainly a part of the deal. Along with all the other stuff that people do that're just galling. Much as I don't like humans in general anyway, I still wish Japan all the best...if only to spite the hypocrites.

The EPL1

I finally sucked it up and bought myself an EPL1. Now, I've had an issue with my ageing compact camera for some time. Primarily, the resolution leaves much to be desired, while the image quality is passable only in the best lighting. After being spoiled by dslrs for so long, I've come to realize that I really do find it unsatisfying to shoot with a compact, however convenient its portability is. Not to mention I'm something of a control freak, which doesn't help...much.

That said, I find that the EPL1 fits the bill of compact camera replacement pretty well. It's heftier and noticeably larger than my compact, for sure. However, it's got effectively the same imaging capability of my dslr in exchange for greatly lower weight/bulk but sacrificing sheer speed. I find that to be a reasonable tradeoff in everyday carry. Never again will I have to grumble to myself that I didn't bring a more serious camera out to shoot a lovely scene that just decided to show up.

Now, that doesn't mean that the new body is a replacement for my dslr. Not at the moment, anyway. I'm sure its descendants would achieve that at some later date, however. In the meantime, when I go on dedicated photo expeditions, I'll be sure to carry my more robust and speedier body. But for day to day casuals...the EPL1 is hard to beat.

A Courageous Exit

I just got back from the funerals of two of my aunts. That is not to say that either death was unexpected considering their advanced ages. Unfortunately, it seems that my favourite aunt bought it this time, so I guess I'm a bit less than happy about the whole affair. Then again, I've never really viewed death as an entirely bad thing, so I'm not overly bothered either. It happens when it happens.

To me, she's managed to finish her life with an aesthetic that I would love to emulate were it possible. First, she was cogent throughout her life, and never did go senile. In short, she was of sound mind even on her death bed. Now, I generally find it unsatisfying when one dies a straw death. Undoubtedly, that's how she went. But what's most important is that she went to it with her eyes open. Even when she was critically weakening, she was stubborn enough not to want to go to the hospital. When her body was failing, she did not flinch. I like that. It's probably as close to dying with a sword in hand as it gets, in the modern day.

The background here, is that she was not in the best of health, and really only lived this long because of some invasive medical procedures. In fact, she did not want those back then, but they were pretty much imposed on her. Now, given a second chance to skip the medical nastiness, she finally found her exit. There were indications that she did not expect her end to be this near, and relatives who visited scarce days before found her to be greatly improved from back when she was ailing. Regardless of the outlook at the time, I think it sweet that her children chose to honor her wishes this time round, and let nature take its course without rushing her to hospital and forcing her to continue living a half life. My aunt, I honor you. Rest in peace, and know that your exit was thoroughly graceful. See...that's why she's my favourite =p

We Are Few

The eldest two of my paternal aunts died today. One in the morning, and one in the night. When I say that I am running low on relatives, I sure am not kidding. Well, that's not to say that I didn't see this coming. I had a feeling they were not long for this world, which is why I took an unusually large number of photographs at my last visit nearly a year ago. The foresight seems to have been of some use this time round.

I keep an album of the pictures of relatives who've passed on. I find there is little purpose in dwelling on their deaths. Big deal. Everyone does that sooner or later. What's more important is to celebrate their lives, and to document their finer, happier moments in photographs and video recordings. To me, that is the superior way to honor their lives, and, come to think of it, it really is a sort of digital immortality. Where the photographs of old immortalized static images of ages past, the videos of today preserve a moving snippet of their lives. I like the idea.

Hmm...and nobody make a joke about how my camera sucked the souls out of them. Though, of course, as a photographer I do think it is my job to capture souls in images... It brings them to life =p

New Year's Haul

I was looking at my red packet loot, and realized that my haul has been shrinking by the year. In fact, it's reached an all time low this year. Strangely enough, the individual amounts have not changed much, so there should be little reason for the overall yield to be lower...right? Wrong. I failed to factor in mortality.

Note to self: ensure that red packet givers are immortal, to ensure consistent yields. After some thought, I realized that my haul can be attributed to the shortage of currently-living relatives. In fact, I'm currently short of 3 of them at the moment. Hmm. And not recently...I just failed to take note over the years. That'd also explain the comparative freedom during the new year period, since there are fewer family members to visit. Eureka!

On a related note, I found that the red packet amounts are a generally insignificant amount of my overall current salary, which may explain my lack of notice of the change in amounts. *checks relatives list* Darn...a bunch of them are getting old alright...

On Luck

The Chinese New Year is full of superstitions regarding how one may optimize one's luck in the coming new year. Of course, that's also confounded by the year's predictions of probable luck outcome, so the cosmos kinda sets an upper limit on how things will turn out.

Being someone fascinated by systems, I figured I'd try to break down how the things work and perhaps find a more efficient solution to the whole issue. Unfortunately, it seems that the thing does have some contradictions, so it does complicate the matter somewhat. Simply put, it does seem awfully hard to min max such an inconsistent system.

Take for example the year's forecast. Say the forecast is somewhat adverse. One tried and tested (according to hearsay) method to improve that is to clean out the house. It's supposed to remove old luck to make way for new luck. Most excellent. Except when the forecasted luck is supposed to be worse than the previous year's. Hmm...wouldn't that make it somewhat risky to let fresh luck, seeing as how it may be rancid before the year even begins?

Yup...good reason to get lazy about spring cleaning =p

Ultramarines

Warhammer 40k. Space Marines. Ultramarines in particular. Dan Abnett as screenplay writer. What could possibly go wrong? ... right? I think you know how things did actually go. In short, the movie sucked bigtime.

First let's talk about the quality. Visual quality. I am generally willing to overlook poor quality image post processing (even though that's not expected anymore nowadays), but there were too many problems with the visual quality. The composition (and camera work) was atrocious, with fog covering up what little detail there was in the predominantly featureless landscapes, and perspectives that keep the viewer from appreciating the grandeur of the architecture or hazardous landscape. For example, the characters are fond of kicking bodies off precipices, only to have them fall through a fog down a bottomless pit. At the very least they could've had the bodies bounce off the sides. The animations of the Space Marines leave much to be desired. To top it all off, the pacing was terrible, with oodles of travel time and battles that felt more like skirmishes than anything else. As any WH40K fan would know, skirmishes will not suffice in a universe of epic fights.

Then comes the narrative. It's weak at best, and I have a hard time believing that Dan Abnett was behind it. I really do wonder what was going on. Sure, there was a deployment to a planet, some Chaos scum was there...eliminated. Typically, you'd expect them to be doing more than sitting there waiting to ambush some Space Marines. Like...doing some sort of Chaos ritual, for example.

I guess the sole saving grace of the movie would be that the visual quality and action improved quite a bit towards the end, making me think that the crew was learning on the job in addition to having a rather low budget. I have little else to say in favor of this lousy flick. 2/10

Amplification Through Simplification

I was recommended Understanding Comics by my boss, and truly, it is a good read. It is pretty unusual in actually reading a comic book about comics. But what's more interesting is that the book is really on quite a serious discussion of what comics are about and how they work. It's also quite a treatise on how design in general works, and how the human mind processes it.

I find it quite clever, choosing the medium of comics to present the content of a formal book. As they say, a picture paints a thousand words. But in this case, it helps to greatly summarize what the author is trying to say, without having to go through the linguistic gymnastics in order to precisely explain concepts and their nuances. Anyone who's written documents for others would know how hard that can be, without using images.

I especially liked the suggestion that comics worked through amplification through simplification. Design in general does do something of the sort. By cutting out the noise in the message, the key features left emphasized are the ones that the audience will tend to notice first. Which is why most photographs need to have a very prominent subject matter, so that the correct feature of the photo is presented to the audience.

I have not finished reading the book just yet, but overall, I do think it will be quite an enjoyable read.

Where The Wild Things Are

Once in a while, you get a movie that's pretty heavy...in the emotional sense. Where The Wild Things Are is one of them. Now, I do vaguely remember reading such a tale when I was younger, but I am pretty sure it wasn't presented quite the way this one was.

Now, there are often tales of young kids (usually boys) running off to some great adventure, meeting fantastic creatures and then coming back to reality with unique experiences. Most of the time, however, they take the form of a coming of age story, whereby the protagonist comes back all mature and better for the experience, while the characters in the magical land end up happy and contented. Not so, in this one. In short, it really is more of an end of innocence story. Everything starts off on a high note, then gradually goes south till everyone ends up miserable.

Now, some of my friends do say that I feed and grow fat on misery and despair...they're probably not wrong. This is the sort of story that appeals to me, and I find it to be a refreshing twist on an otherwise common childhood genre. 8/10

Empathy For Cloth

I just realized that I do have a tendency to have empathy for objects, and more often so than I would with people. I have this handkerchief that I owned for quite a while. It's soft and really quite nice to handle. In fact, I handle it so much that it's gone somewhat ragged.

That's normal enough wear and tear, of course. I can no longer bear to use it now, however, since every new tear in it makes me feel as if an old friend's being hurt. And of course, I'd rather that my friends didn't get hurt. So basically, it's in retirement now.

The thing is, on further analysis, I find that that's also why I would not use certain things, because their inherent beauty or some other positive attribute of them would wear out...and I'd feel their loss. It is a strange thing, and I am not sure why that is so, but that's basically how my brain works I guess.

On Lock Picking

I got my lockpick set today, and of course the first thing I did was try it on some locks I had lying around from my trip last year. Now, lockpicking was something I've intended to do for a rather long time, but I've never managed to get my grubby hands on a set before.

Naysayers like to point out that Hollywood movies show people picking locks as if they're using keys, opening locks mighty swiftly using a simple pick set. Obviously, such techniques are highly unlikely when one's faced with a high security lock. But I only had my cheap travel locks at hand, so I tried my hand at those. Being a complete newcomer to the lockpicking business, I was shocked and frankly quite alarmed that I could open those locks within around 5-10 seconds of picking them. Clearly, cheap locks aren't just vulnerable to the lock cutters of thieves: they're also easy pickings.

The next step would be for me to try out higher end padlocks, to see if they're as easy to bypass. I expect them to be more of a challenge seeing as how budget padlocks tend to have a rather limited number of pins and the higher end stuff just makes it that much more difficult given their higher level of sophistication and increased complexity in their mechanisms. As someone who's crazy about figuring out systems, this is something that should occupy me for awhile.

Making A Stand

I always believe that we should make a stand for what we believe in, even if sometimes the consequences for doing so can be quite...unhealthy. Today, I got a chance to prove myself, when my family and I were at a food court. After waiting for a long time, there was a table that was clearing up. A couple was sitting at the far edge and we needed another seat to allow everyone to sit together.

I looked over and noticed that one of the seats was taken up by a pair of bags. Knowing what this normally meant, I asked the nice fella if the seat was taken. His response was that no, but he had to put his bags there. Things went south pretty rapidly when I asked him if he could move them. Clearly, this was a fella who was unwilling to give up the seat taken by his bags, and was perfectly willing to be nasty about it. It's common enough that the blow by blow account can be passed on. I only wish I had enough self control that I didn't have to resort to flipping him the finger, which I do feel to be a rather unintelligent way to present a point in an argument.

The point is that I'm pretty sure he thought he was in the right for hogging the seat, and I thought he was wrong about it. Perhaps it was my bad for not asking him nicely enough, perhaps with a few kowtows thrown in (no, sorry...don't do that). Either way, it was a rather vigorous verbal agreement and I was at the limit of my self control. It's been awhile since I managed to let myself slip up like that.

Anyway, the good thing about it is that I managed to stand my ground without completely losing it and ripping his throat out (or something similarly unpleasant) even though I think I was visibly shaking by that point. Ultimately, I hate being shoved around, and I'm sure he feels the same way. Nothing personal. I am, however, proud of the fact that I was willing and able to stand firm even though he was clearly trying to strong arm me into backing down. After action review would suggest that I be less sleep deprived, however, so I don't cut things so close with my self control.

On a related note, I find the physiologic changes quite interesting when the aggression comes on. For one, recognizing the changes and thinking "Calm down" have little to no effect. The heart beats so much faster and harder. The muscles tremble. Everything appears so much brighter than it used to be. I do wonder if I filmed myself getting pissed, would I actually see my pupils dilating? Hmm...