February in a flash.

Much time has passed since my last batch of posts, but I have not been idle.  In February, I've been quite busy at work; let that be my prime excuse for not getting much writing done (never mind the occasional video gaming :p).

Even though the chill of winter has lingered throughout England, I still found myself yearning to leave hibernation and get back to exploring the outside world a little more.  So, a couple of weeks ago, I got the chance to visit the city of York.

The Shambles of York.

It's been years since I last visited this city, and it is far bigger than I remember.  It is quite characteristic with its towering Minster and its wall that envelopes the city.  The city wall has a number of old gatehouses along with, with turrets and narrow arches.  Pedestrians still use it to traverse around the city.  The Minster is still quite an impressive cathedral; its exterior is so finely detailed and shows apt architectural prowess.  Its interior is no less impressive, with its immense space, its mighty stained-glass windows, and the occasional ornate carvings of stone.  We took the time to climb up the Minster's tower (well over two-hundred steps in a narrow spiral staircase; quite a draining experience), which provided an excellent bird's eye view of the surrounding city.  We also went beneath the cathedral to check out the crypt/vault.  It's not quite as creepy as it would sound; it merely housed some old pillars, statues, and a collection of finely-polished gold and silver artifacts.

Exterior view of the York Minster.

York is also home to a place called Clifford's Tower, which is an old round structure on a steep, tall hill.  It is the ruin of an old castle keep.  There's little more to it than a single empty courtyard and a wall to climb on, offering another fine view of the city.  I've always felt it was a cool landmark though.  It is especially noteworthy for its history, which is long and violent.

Aside from revisiting these interesting sites, I was also intrigued to see the Jorvik Viking Festival, which was occurring that week.  I would come to learn the the majority of shows/attractions wouldn't occur until the next day (on a Saturday, when it would be crowded as hell).  At best, we stumbled across a group of actors dressed as Vikings, showing off Viking wares and weaponry to visitors.  A few stalls in a tent provided some interesting wares and paraphernalia for sale.  It wasn't quite the rip-roaring affair I thought it would be (as it likely was on Saturday), but at the least, I managed to get this picture:

A Viking.

The fellow told us that the ship in the square was built in the same manner as a genuine Viking vessel, and they have sailed in it all over various rivers, oceans, and seas.  It goes to show that Viking ship-crafting was indeed something superior.

It was an exhausting day, and it led to an exhausting week all last week.  Work on my writing projects haven't been as fruitful as I want.  I am working on an exciting short story which I will probably post here when it is done.    So, stay tuned!

A tale of wee folk.

As expected out of Studio Ghibli, Arrietty is another cute and imaginative fantasy. It is quite charming to watch a group of wee people sneaking around and “borrowing” things. There isn’t much action or strong conflict in this movie, but as it is with Ponyo, the artwork, the imaginative concept, the characters, and the overall cuteness make the movie appealing.

The story is not terribly strong. It does a fine job of establishing the characters and showing how perilous their world can be. However, even though the film establishes the dangers, it rarely throws the characters into peril (you can find a lot more peril in something like Honey, I Shrunk the Kids).  Arrietty does set up some slight conflict among the characters, but it never reaches a critical point; the film overall feels safe (which could be good or bad). My only other major complaint about this movie is simply that it doesn’t feel as lively or imaginative as other Studio Ghibli films. Maybe this film will resonate differently with others, but I felt more spirit coming out of Ponyo, Spirited Away, Castle in the Sky, and others. Given these issues, you might think I disliked the movie; on the contrary, it met my expectations and was quite charming, it just didn't blow me away.

Fortunately, the animation quality is still top-notch. Backgrounds are nicely detailed and rendered. Movements are smooth. Character designs are pleasing, and designs for the settings and props are decent. The film has okay writing. Music is lovely.

Casually recommended.

4/5 (Entertainment: 4/5, Story: 3.5/5, Film: 4.5/5)

Strange noises?

Have I spoken too soon when I dismissed the 2012 phenomenon as a load of hype and hooey? No sooner did I submit my last post than I found some reports and videos on the Internet describing strange noises being heard worldwide.  From Russia to the US, there were was footage with strange metallic groaning sounds, humming, and other effects that resembled more sci-fi than reality.  And always with nothing visibly making the sound; no aircraft or anything

I read further reports suggesting that these videos could be fraudulent.  I certainly wouldn't be surprised if stock Hollywood sound effects could have been uploaded into some of these videos (especially since they sound so similar to the scary alien horn in 2005's War of the Worlds).  It certainly wouldn't surprise me if there's a singular party out there taking advantage of people's fears and anxiety by faking supernatural phenomenon.

Far be it for me to go around perpetuating the rumors of supernatural noises, it is an intriguing (and perhaps ominous) subject that warrants discussion.  But I wouldn't have given it any more credence if it wasn't for my own mother, calling me earlier today and saying that she heard a strange noise.  She described it as an explosion, and it sounded as though it occurred right next door, or in the back yard.  She heard a loud roaring sound, as if there was a blazing fire.  But there was no such explosion or fire anywhere to be seen.  Per the article linked in the text above, perhaps it was the sonic boom of a passing airplane.  However, she didn't seem convinced.  Having not heard the boom at the time it happened (in my safe concrete-laden office), I have no idea what to think; it makes sense to me that it would be a passing aircraft (which happens a lot around here, with thunderous roars that could shake all our houses).  But if this (perhaps all-too-convenient) explanation does not match up with the experience, then I must concede that it could be something unnatural.

If that's the case, what does it mean? Undoubtedly, jillions of other sites are probably carrying on about secret government conspiracies, contact with extraterrestrials, the coming of the apocalypse, and countless other otherworldly explanations.  I rarely believe in government conspiracies.  I do believe that aliens could exist, but I rarely give UFO sightings much credence.  And, of course, the world will end some day, I just never thought it'd be anytime soon (I'm also unclear as to whether or not the apocalypse is supposed to be gradual or sudden).

Regardless, it is rather disconcerting to wonder whether or not I'll wake up tomorrow and see fleets of alien spaceships in the skies, or a host of angels with all the powers of creation and destruction in their hands.  Or, dare I say, both as one and the same?

Regardless, I wonder what the arrival of such supernatural beings could mean for the world? Will it be total obliteration, as we all seem to fear? Or, as few suggest, will it be a peaceful transition from one era to the next, with the human consciousness turning into a different direction?

But in the end, I often question whether any of this is even real.  Human fears, paranoia, and hysteria make it seem real.  But if these videos are indeed faked, and the explosions heard in Yorkshire really are sonic booms from aircraft, and every other supernatural phenomenon in the world can be explained away scientifically, then that just leaves mass hysteria to blame.  I do find this a likely scenario, and I often wonder how much panic there will be when December 21st comes around.

Despite whatever skepticism I harbor, I do grow wary and anxious concerning all this phenomenon.  As Arthur C Clark wrote:

"Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying."

2012: The Beginning (...of the End?!)

New Years resolution #1:  blog more.  :p

Seriously though, it has indeed been a long time since I bothered to write anything down here.  November was fairly busy, but I managed to participate in the National Novel Writing Month challenge and produce a rough draft of 50000 words.  It's a nice accomplishment that reinvigorated the joy of writing fiction, and helped me see that a combination of perseverance and time management can allow me to squeeze more writing time into a day.

Unfortunately, my momentum was lost in December.  A lot of it has to do with me being sick during the holidays.  I must have had a sore throat for three weeks; it's the most horrid virus I've had in years, and it might actually be the sickest I've ever been.  It's not fun being sick during a time when one is with family, celebrating the holidays.  It's especially not inspiring for getting any writing done.

Thank goodness, the New Year has passed and my sickness has abated.  I haven't gotten around to writing as much as I should, but I managed to finally finish editing a manuscript I've had for years (a nice vampire novel with lots of bloody action), I've started a fun piece of fan-fiction (Star Wars with attitude), and I'm reaffirming my conviction to finding publishers and reaching out to them (unfortunately, such conviction tends to vanish as the year progresses, so we'll have to see if I can keep up the queries.  I'm getting half a mind to just make another print-on-demand novel...).

Although I haven't been posting movie reviews here, I still love the movies and enjoy writing about them.  With a number of thrilling new movies coming out this year (titles like The Hobbit, Prometheus, The Avengers, and more), I'll certainly try to stay on top of it and post my thoughts here.

So, as it is with previous years, I'm starting 2012 with the notion that I can be more productive and get some real stuff done.  My ambitions are overshadowed, however.  We all know that 2012 is a magic number of a year, for it is the year in which the Mayan long count calendar ends.  Many folks believe that this means it'll be the end of the world; I'll be expecting an awful lot of scare-mongering in the media, and perhaps some mass panic as 12/21/12 gets closer.

Do I believe that the apocalypse is upon us? Well, from what I've read around the Internet, scientists find no creditable threat to Earth.  Fanatics may claim that the Earth's magnetic poles will switch, or the galactic alignment will screw us over, or some other planet will swoop on over and snuggle up next to our planet...but scientists can discount a lot of these theories.  Just do a simple search, and you'll see the counterarguments.  That being said, these are still very disconcerting times.  Just recently, the Doomsday Clock was advanced to five minutes till midnight, meaning that we're slightly closer to the threat of a worldwide thermonuclear war.  Combined with the threat of global climate change (which scientists affirm is really happening), poor economy around the world, and continuing social unrest, I think chances are tragically good that the human race may be the cause of its own demise.  And who's to say that it won't happen this year? At the very least, this could be the end of one era and the beginning of another, meaning that massive social change could be inevitable.

Whatever happens, I just hope and pray that catastrophe doesn't befall the human race.  I have faith that we'll see 2013 the same way we passed through the years 1999 and 2000 without anything happening.

November has come.

It's hard to believe, but October has come and gone already (and with it, Halloween and a whole month's worth of horror movies).  2011 is quickly coming to a close.  The whole year has been an interesting mix of ups and downs.  There has been little progress in terms of writing, sadly, but I am finding the motivation to work on my projects.

In fact, I plan on taking a little exercise in motivation quite soon.  I discovered that next month is National Novel Writing Month, so I decided to accept the challenge of writing a new novel from scratch and reach 50000 words by November 31st.  I've already got a cool new idea in mind, with a notebook's worth of designs and ideas.  It'll be a spacey sci-fi novel, and it's current working title is Exodus.  When November 1st hits, I plan on starting it off!

To facilitate this, I will be spending the next week on holiday.  Nothing like a relaxing laid-back excursion to the highlands to do some writing.

When the NaNoWriMo thing starts, I'll be sure to start posting excepts and a word count.  Stay tuned for more!

All work and just a little play makes me tired.

The last couple of weeks have been rather exhausting. I’ve concluded that it’s a universal law, if not an outright curse or vex, that every time key personnel go on leave and an office is left to run on minimal manpower, all of the work just floods in, suddenly, and with unreasonable quantity. It’s generally felt like one thing after another, with lots of unusual demands from lots of unusual customers. Managing this without the aid of a supervisor has been a challenge on both the body and the nerves.

As far as writing goes, I’ve made some progress in various projects, then stopped. I’ve been too tired lately to keep up the pace. But chances are good that the next few weeks will be more laid-back, and I can find the energy again.

I have been focusing on updating my digital music collection. After reinstalling Windows on my computer, I’ve reconfigured the Windows Media Player to rip my CDs at 320 kbs, so I can enjoy my favorite songs in higher quality. It is pretty refreshing hearing familiar songs with clearer and crisper instruments and vocals. It’s also been a good chance to standardize, reorganize, and update old files. Of course, I’m also always exploring new albums.

But after a hard day’s work, I’d rather engage in an entertaining video game or a decent movie. In fact, I will probably be posting more reviews soon, so stay tuned!

"A weak man knows the value of strength."

Captain America: The First Avenger


With the imminent Avengers movie coming next year, only one hero’s origin story remains untold…until now. Falling in line with Thor, Iron Man, and The Incredible Hulk, Captain America showcases the rise of Steve Rogers as the title character. Unlike the other films, which take place in modern times, this one goes way back to WWII, showing the Captain kicking Nazi butt! With a lot of Wolfenstein style occult mystique and a slight Indiana Jones sense of adventure, this movie has a number of solid action sequences, and plenty of imaginative special effects and setpieces. With its references to various characters and concepts of other Mavel movies, it fits into the franchise really well. It might take some stretch of the imagination to believe that Nazis could be this futuristic, but for a superhero movie, it’s all good fun.

The story in this case is pretty solid. The main character shows strong development, and for most of the movie, you really root for him. There’s nothing more thrilling than watching the underdog getting the upper hand. As it goes on, much of the character drama and story development gets pushed aside by the action, but it still works. By the end, voila, we have the lead-in for the Avengers film.

If there’s any complaint for this film, it’s that there could have been more. Whether it needs a stronger action setpiece or a more invoking sense of drama, I’m not sure, but something seems missing, and nothing really makes this film stand over any of the other superhero films that have come out so far.

The film is competently made, with decent (but never exceptional) photography. Editing is good for the most part, but I am not a fan of the montage in the middle of the film that makes the entire war campaign whiz by. A couple of action scenes seemed a little sloppily-edited, but it’s hardly noticeable. Acting is swell; Chris Evans is surprisingly strong as the main character, and I enjoyed Hayley Atwell, Sebastian Stan, Tommy Lee Jones, Stanley Tucci, and Hugo Weaving in their roles. Writing seems pretty good. Production value is high, featuring lots of good (if not overly-slick) sets, props, costumes and special effects. Music is appropriately upbeat and adventurous.

In the end, I’d say the film met my expectations, but never fully exceeded them. But it, along with an all-too-short sneak preview after the credits, provide the necessary bridge to the Avengers film.

Recommended.

4/5 (Entertainment: 4/5, Story: 4/5, Film: 4/5)