Murders in the Rue Morgue

I just finished reading a collection of Edgar Allan Poe’s poems and short stories. I was already acquainted with Poe’s poem “The Raven” and his short story “The Pit and The Pendulum”. “The Raven” I have always liked for its brilliant rhythm and pace as well as its fascinating insights into the mental state of the main character. I came across “TPATP” in the introduction to an Historical work I was reading on the Spanish Inquisition and it has long been a favorite of mine especially Poe’s descriptive work.

I am going to go out on a limb here and say that I did not rate his most famous piece “The Fall of the House of Usher” as highly as some of the other collected works. To be true it is a beautiful and haunting descriptive work but I felt unable to engage sufficiently with the characters.

I was pleasantly surprised however to find that Poe had in essence invented Sherlock Holmes before Arthur Conan Doyle in his recurring character Dupin. There is a series of 3 stories containing this character of which the title of this post is one and which I thought was a thrilling engaging read written in a radically different style to what I expected. “The Purloined Letter” the 3rd in the trilogy was my 2nd favorite and I think is the first example in literary work of what we would now understand as a detective story.

I have glossed over Poe’s poetical works in this short critique because I do not feel adequately equipped in literary terms to do more than say which I like and which I don’t. However they are well worth the time to read through as they all have at least some merit to them.

In my world of tech this week I have managed to do quite a bit. I have a twitter account which is highly addictive and potentially might be causing some mental instability (see the feed to the right for numerous examples).

I have redone my desktop to make it cleaner and more efficient and set up a flickr account to post photos of said innovations so that if I want to return to them I have a record and also so that people can actually see them properly.

I have added to said desktop a program called Launchy which I would highly recommend if like me you prefer to use a keyboard to clicking through a ton of stuff with your mouse. Also in the same vein I have added Ubiquity for Firefox which is brilliant and also customizable so that i can now browse for and post stuff quicker and therefore kill off my desire to procrastinate quicker.

Also if you are like me a torrent addict you might want to check out this article. It’s a very useful way of being able to torrent download without using company equipment to do so. I managed to get it working first go so I would count this as very simple to set up.

In film land I have not got around to watching The Departed yet because I haven’t really had a spare 150mins plus to sit down and watch a film. I have watched movies but they have all been in the under 2 hours bracket recently. A lot of James Bond going on recently because Gemma hasn’t seen any of the old ones so I am educating her in why Sean Connery was the best. Having said that I thought Christopher Lee was the best bond villain and that was in a Rodger Moore film.

Also I have recently discovered this site which is well worth signing up to if like me you have watched most obvious mainstream movies you would like and are after finding something that you might not think of. These guys are the same ones who power Netflix’s search engine but the advantage here is that you don’t have to sign up for a Netflix account to get the recommendations. As a result currently on my list for getting hold of are Kontrol, Re-animator and King of the Ants. All slightly freaky and left field so we shall see if the movie matchmaker lives up to expectations later on.

Music:

As threatened to various people I am adding in a video of one of my own songs this week. I apologise in advance for the poor quality of the recording but I think it gets across the idea of what I was trying to achieve with the piece.

I call this one “Under Dark Waters”

Under Dark Waters

Back in the hood

I am back in Hong Kong and as such normal blogging service can resume. With the added bonus of my Twitter feed being included in the top right of the screen now. So now you get even more of my irrelevant ramblings for your pleasure.

Also have just finished re-reading Magician by Raymond E. Feist which is one of my favorite books by the author who is my guilty pleasure (I own all his books). If you haven't read I would heartily recommend it whether or not you are a fan of the Sci-fi/Fantasy Genre or not. There aren't many books that cover such a wide variety of people over such a lengthy period of time, character development is extensive and detailed and the plot isn't half bad. Unfortunately I forgot to bring back my copy of the follow up Silverthorn so re-reading that will have to wait.

In the meantime I have bought Elephant's on Acid, not literally, its another book this time by Alex Boese. I have a very disturbing interest in all these weird experiments and was thinking of ways that I would have changed the experiments to make them better or more interesting. My favorite experiment so far has been the infamous dog head transplant that resulted in several two headed dogs. I was thinking how this could have been much improved by the addition of a modern day stem cell research into spinal column regrowth and then realised what I was suggesting and put the book down for a bit.

I have almost finished re-reading the Watchmen comics in anticipation of going to see the film sometime in the next couple of weeks. I am going to go see it at the IMAX cinema in Hong Kong because I feel that a film of this visual magnificence deserves the best. I have heard some very bad reviews of the film and some outstandingly good ones. One reviewer for The Times loved it, another for the Sunday edition hated it, so this should at least provide some interesting debate with whoever I go to see it.

As a side note I have not got round to watching The Departed yet but intend to do so sometime this week now that I have it downloaded on my laptop, so my next blog maybe all movie reviews.

Music:

As a change this week and because I felt like doing something to distract myself i recorded myself playing the Guitar and have decided to throw it out there for the world to mock. The song I am covering is YYZ by Rush, which is my favorite Rush instrumental and in my top 3 Rush songs. Enjoy... or don't!

All over the place

It has been an interesting weekend to say the least. I had a great time at Sarah’s party on Saturday night. I haven’t been to a house party since I have been over here, mainly I think because the chances are that if you have more than about 5 people round to most homes over here you quickly run out of space. Not the case with Sarah’s apartment, which is the biggest I have been in since I came to HK. For one person it is almost too big, got to be about 2,500 square feet if it’s an inch.

Any way the party was good fun plenty of booze, lots of good interesting people to talk to. Lots of people who hadn’t met me to freak out by turning my false leg backwards and walking around with it like that! I have also discovered that Jack Daniels, Coke and chocolate brownies do not mix well. I had two JD and Cokes which had given me the alcohol munchies (well that and the two glasses of red wine, and 5 beers I had had by this point). Anyway I ate two brownies in quick succession and felt instantly ill and ended up puking up the brownies and JD and Coke, luckily we were getting ready to leave anyway hence why I ate the brownies too quickly. I am going to blame the eating too quickly as that is not enough alcohol to make me sick, I am sure a couple more JD and cokes would have been getting close to that. I was at least able to walk away without any assistance which was some comfort.

As you might expect I woke up late on Sunday, 2pm to be exact and was shocked and please to find that Gemma was still asleep as well. This is something of a rare occurrence as she doesn’t sleep well and even if she has been up very late doesn’t usually stay in bed past 9am. We got up had a snack and headed out to have some food at the dog of bulls in Lan Kwai Fong for our Sunday Funday with friends. That’s about where the good part of the weekend ends.

As we were heading into Central I got a call off my dad on my mobile. This is an event in itself as he usually never bothers me at the weekends and its also damn expensive to call a mobile over here from England. I got one of those feelings when I heard his voice on the phone that something was up, because we work for the same company I was expecting it to be some problem there. He told me that Gemma’s Grandfather, Harry had passed away very suddenly that morning and that I would have to tell her.

I don’t know if any of you out there have ever had to tell somebody some bad news like that, but its not pleasant and this is the second time I have had to tell someone some news like this. Losing a Grandparent is difficult enough, especially when it happens for the first time. However in Gemma’s case Harry was more than just a Grandfather as she had lived with her Grandparents since she was around 10 or 11 years old. They raised her during those years and in many ways made her the woman I know and love today, the decency and sense of family pride and duty that they instilled in her are qualities that I admire and respect in her.

Harry was a truly great chap, someone who was never short of an opinion or a view, but never opinionated. He had a sharp whit and could disarm you very quickly with it and was never afraid of poking fun at himself as well. My deepest sympathies will be with his wife of over 50 years Brenda, and all their children and grandchildren, especially Gemma.

I find it difficult that he is gone and I think I am finding it harder to cope than I thought I would, because in many ways he reminded me of my own Grandfathers who I lost several years ago and whose passing pains me greatly still. I will hold Harry in my mind in an equally high regard and although they never met when I think of one I am sure I will think of them all.

I will be heading back to England probably sometime late this week or early next for the funeral. Normal service will be resumed then.

Infernal Affairs

It has been pointed out to me that although I am a movie buff in real life my online persona appears to have failed to carry this enthusiasm over. It is therefore high time I rectified this and I am going to start by giving you my top 10 films, in no particular order as that changes depending on what mood I am in!

Godfather (Part 1 & 2)

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Police Story

Fight Club

The Good The Bad and The Ugly

Spirited Away

Return of the Dragon (aka Way of the Dragon or Fury of the Dragon)

Rashomon

Airplane

Infernal Affairs

That last one is a new one and brings my top 10 up to half Asian cinema and kicked Pulp Fiction out (really started to date that film). For those of you that don't know Infernal Affairs is a Hong Kong made film starring Andy Lau (who is worshipped like a God over here, and no matter what he thinks can't sing!) and Tony Leung (who you might know from Lust, Caution by Ang Lee). This is a cracking piece of cinematic work and has one of the best storylines I have seen in a movie, with unexpected (but explainable) twists that throw you off guard. 

Tony Leung plays Yan who has been an cop undercover in various Triad gangs for the best part of a decade. He is promised that this is his last assignment and that he will go back to normal life after this. Andy Lau is Inspector Lau, a rising young star in the police force a man who is clearly consumed by ambition to get to the top. Unbeknownst set to his colleagues he was inserted along with others into the police force by a triad boss, the triad boss who Yan now works for. Beyond that I am going to say very little about the plot as it gets very complicated and I would probably give away lots of spoilers.

The highlight for me was Tony Leung's performance as Yan where he carried an air of resignation and whimsy to a character of could have been very one dimensional. Andy Lau was reasonable in his work, I have never been a big fan of his but I thought this was possibly the best thing I had seen him in. The real cinematic joy of this film was in the portrayal of Hong Kong as the flashy neon lit city it is with the element of grit and grime tucked not very far below. As many people who live here will know you only have to scratch lightly to see it.

As an added side note to how good this plot was, this film was remade in Hollywood as the multi award winning The Departed. I will confess to not having seen The Departed yet so I will probably post a comparative review on here once I have done so. I will be surprised however if it lives up to the original.

Tired... but getting better

I would like to start by apologising for the huge gap between posts again. However I have a valid excuse... my boss has been over... and he is the only person in the office who sits behind me and can see my computer screen. I therefore feel bad if I start writing my blog which I do in about 5min bursts whilst waiting for people to e-mail me back over the course of the day. Also the fact that he has been here for two weeks has meant me pulling some very long hours and is the main reason for my title.

Things are looking up however, I finally managed to shift a persistent cold/bug that I have had for about a month (in all probability it was actually several different bugs that happened to follow on from one another). My fiancé Gemma is also back in HK now after being absent for two weeks to finalise some wedding plans, woot!

I am now another year older probably not a lot wiser but I certainly feel like I have been round the block a few times at the minute (note to self: get to Gym more often). I can foresee that I might not get much sleep on account of the fact that one of my birthday presents was Little Big Planet. I have heard that this game is fascinatingly addictive and as you can create virtually anything has an almost infinite lifespan as a game. An example of the possibilities in this game is the infamous calculator someone created. I have not picked up the game yet owing to the fact that I am still playing Metal Gear Solid 4 which could take a while seeing as I am only on Act 2 of 5. I have one thing to say about this game... best ever (its like being in a movie its shockingly good).

However in the spirit of creation and customization that Little Big Planet brings I have done some tweaking with my work desktop today to make it look like this

There is a point to the layout it means I don't have to browse to anywhere else to look for the weather, news updates, blog updates, my cpu usage or a calender. This is a modification of the Enigma desktop that was featured on lifehacker.com follow the link if you fancy trying something similar. This is helping with the tiredness as it makes me more efficient which hopefully means I should be able to get home at a reasonable time and get some better sleep.

Music:

Because I have been tired recently I have been reverting to comforting or relaxing/ambient music. So I thought I would give you an example of each. Unfortunately the main example of the ambient music  is very difficult to find online and I had to order the album direct from the artists website. The whole concept is basically that it is a music soundtrack that uses ambient noise instead of conventional instruments, its very relaxing.

I have also been listening to some punk again, particularly Rancid and for some unknown reason this song. I hope you enjoy as much as I do.

I think I like this song because its about being in a band and wanting to succeed so much... but it not working out. I know how he feels, and I always get chills whenever I hear that opening base line because it reminds me of how much I wanted to succeed like that... but also didn't.