a week off

Finally, some time off work. The plan has been mostly just to do as little as possible which has meant doing some of the obvious things, like video games and olympics watching, but I've managed to get some other stuff done too. I went for a walk from Edale up Mam Tor on the Monday, which was very wet and a disturbing reminder of how unfit I am at the moment but very enjoyable. Had a good view of several kestrels hunting from the top of the ridge.
Zak's sister is staying with us at the moment which makes the apartment feel pretty small. So on Tuesday I went to help my dad clear out the carpet from the spare room and leave the car there to save having to find somewhere to park it every day in Manchester. On Wednesday Crystal and I met Zak for lunch at the Manchester City Art Gallery. It was full of kids for some summer event but I broke off to go and see a new exibition and Crystal spent some time looking at paintings. I left her there and went home to watch Election 2. That is an excellent film. It's got some pretty nasty bits in it but overall is a bit less ott than the first film and less shocking. It is still a good look at the triads in a pretty unglamourous light and confirms Johnny To as someone to watch. Which is nice because when looking at the Cornerhouse web site I saw that another film of his, Mad Detective, was on this weekend.
Mad Detective was a really interesting film about Bun, a mad detective. He may be psychic or he may just be mad. Unlike the average film in this genre it doesn't shy away from the fact that Bun really has no grasp on reality, whatever his talents might actually be, and is a real danger to those around him. Bun's visions are brilliantly realised and the acting quality throughout is superb. Films like this, and the Election series, show just how good Hong Kong film making can be.

Nearly two months since the last post. Been very busy with work, not feeling too good about that but things look set to get better. Bt then they always do and yet seem to manage to get worse. I've taken a week off work, which I really need. Hoping to get out for some walking, as well as doing some writing and other stuff. Didn't do my gr-sf piece last week which is bad, but this past week has been pretty disrupted as Zak's sister is staying with us now.
Went to see Wall-e and Batman recently. Wall-e was very good, as good as most other pixar films. The robot does look a bit rubbish in the pictures but when you see him animated it's a completely different story. The animation is gorgeous. The only thing wrong with the film is when the humans get involved. They aren't that engaging and that kind of spoiled it a bit for me. But, it's a kids film and it has a message and that needs humans, not a peculiar romance between to robots.
Batman is also excellent. Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker has gotten a lot of comment and it is a great performance. It evokes the best of the best comics; Dark Knight Returns, Long Halloween, Arkham Asylum and creates a serious film out what could have been just another action film.

Indiana and the Manchester Museum

Bank holiday weekend. Nothing much to do except read more of The Yiddish Policeman's Union. So decided to get out and do something.

First we went to the Manchester Museum. I've been meaning to go there for a while as I haven't been since I was a kid. My interest was piqued by the Lindow Man exhibition as I did not see it on any of the previous times it has been in Manchester. Unfortunately it was an incredibly disappointing exhibition. Things are laid out in a confusing manner with very little real information beyond what is in the leaflet. There is also a pointless aside as a whole bloody section about a woman who, as a girl at the time the Lindow man was found, was in hospital and got a Care Bear. And apparently Bros were popular at the time. I don't mind have the discovery put into cultural context but found it ridiculous that it overpowered the exhibition to such an extent. There is also a big fuss about showing respect for human remains but when you get to the case with the body in it there is nothing - no label, no explanations, nothing at all that would indicate that this is something you should pay attention to, let alone pay respect to. Everybody involved in putting the exhibition together ought to be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.

The rest of the museum, though, is definitely well thought-out and there is a lot to see. The Egyptian exhibition is entertaining, informative and interesting. The exhibition of stuffed animals is very much as I remembered it and still a little creepy. And there was more that we didn't get the time to see, especially as the normal entrance to the dinosaurs was blocked although the exhibit is apparently still open. Interestingly the bodies on display in the Egyptian section are all covered up with cloth and there little notices to say that this is an attempt to show respect to human remains and is being done as part of an attempt to stimulate debate on how we should treat these bodies and whether it is right to have them on display. However it all smacked of hypocrisy with the Lindow Man exhibition just downstairs.

Link to Manchester Museum.

And so, on to the next relic on show: the new Indiana Jones film. Like everyone else with a fondness for the first films and the burning rage of the Phantom Menace still too fresh in my mind I did feel a little nervous about going to see it. I re-watched Raiders of the Lost Ark on Friday. Cautiously I peeked at reviews to try and get a sense of what to expect without reading any spoilers. A mild optimism encouraged me to get it over with and so we went last night. I enjoyed it. It's an Indiana Jones film. Sure, it isn't as good as Raiders or the Last Crusade but it's still thoroughly enjoyable. I want to stay away from giving any spoilers but it really does feel like an extension to the other films. Like someone you haven't seen for a long time and then meet up with again, it's a bit awkward at first, and there's a few more grey hairs, but it's still the same person. I read somewhere someone say it is the third best Indiana Jones film and that's probably about the best summary I could think of.

Went to see Grindhouse last night at the Cornerhouse. It was the full thing - two films by Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino bound together with fake previews of trashy films and missing reels. I did not see either film when they were released separately but I'm glad I had the chance to see them together first. It was an intense few hours with a lot of gore and comedy on the way. The two films work well together as a complete experience but I don't know if I would be so impressed if I'd seen them by themselves or without a cinema full of expectant fans.
For me I think Planet Terror was the slightly stronger film with more of a plot and a typical Rodriguez sense of enjoyment over common sense. Death Proof was almost a relaxing romp afterwards with a simple two act structure, dialogue instead of plot and probably some of the coolest "real" car stunts I've seen in a long time.
It was the total cinema experience - fun films, good audience and uncomfortable seats. We laughed together, groaned and winced together and came out of it wondering if they ever will make Machete, probably the coolest trailer ever, into a full length film. I hope so.

As my last post hinted at my efforts towards Nanowrimo this year were slowly failing and I stopped writing anything towards it a couple of weeks ago. In between work, stress, illness and the demands of being creative something had to be left behind and that story was it. Which is a shame because I was enjoying it. I have written over 15000 words and I'm quite happy with what I want to do with the story now so at least it has put me in a strong position to write the novel at some point. A time that I hope will be soon.
Work has been very busy, with long hours, lots of stuff going on and it has left me feeling exhausted and very tense. I have done the occasional nice thing, though. It was good to see Soo when she came over for a writing weekend a couple of weeks ago. It was a very focused and non-boozy weekend but we also managed to go and see Beowulf in Imax 3d. I've heard rumours that 3d is supposed to be the next big thing, with James Cameron looking to release his next film in 3d, but after so many attempts I guess I felt a bit cynical about it all. Beowulf was not the best film I have ever seen but the use of 3d lifted it to be something more than the interesting but shallow film that it is.
Yesterday we went to see Ratatouille which surprised me more than I expected and which I enjoyed more than I expected. It is fairly standard modern kids fare but is greatly helped by a good story and a slightly subversive feel generated by the way that the rats always remain rats - they are not really anthropomorphised in the way of most Disney films so when, as happens a couple of times, you see a large number of them on the screen at the same time you do see them as rats. And despite that you still prefer them to the humans.
The other good thing that I did yesterday was get hold of the Black Dossier, a new League of Extraordinary Gentlemen book by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill which comprises variously of histories of various members of the League, details of an alternate history of the world that might just be true, a comic story of how the dossier is recovered by a couple of old members, related paraphenalia related to the fascist Big Brother government of IngSoc and a 3d adventure extravaganza at the end. I've barely started it and I already love it. It is something perfect for the coming dark nights over the next week. Assuming I can get home at a reasonable hour from now on.

Been a very GTD heavy week. Really enjoyed listening to the podcast with Merlin Mann and David Allen mentioned a couple of posts back and have now tricked out my filofax for proper GTD use. I'd never really gotten to grips with how the filofax could be organised and it's been a very organic process. Still not entirely happy with it but it's definitely getting there. A couple of interesting comments that pinged in my mind were that can take two years for GTD to really take hold. The other was to remember that it's as easy to fall back on to GTD as to fall off.
The other GTD-related observation I have for the week is in the use of place labels. That is, organising next actions by location or person: Stuff I want to ask my boss goes on an @boss list. I started consciously doing this a few weeks ago because I need to be in regular contact with several people who are not based at the same site as me and it was a convenient way of organising. Of course, this is not some new GTD thing, it's always been there but I just never had a great need to do it before. And now that I've recognised it I can start implementing this in other ways. So if I have a bunch of phonecalls to make they go on an @phone list, or websites on an @internet list.
Went to see Pirates 3 this week. It was all right, better than the second one. I feel about it much as I did Spiderman 3. It's a fun film, not art. Bad reviews come along because it's supposed to match some ridiculous artistic ideal that it's not really striving for. The main problem with it is that it's just a bit too silly and the macguffins are generally poorly explained and come across as just plot devices we're supposed to suck up without questioning. Which is ok unless you're remotely tempted to ask yourself, erm, why did that just happen?

No blog posts recently as I moved into my new apartment a three weeks ago and it has taken me this long to get broadband set up. My own fault for going with BT who have been rubbish. You'd think it would be easy to do something that they specialise in and do hundreds of times a day. They messed up setting up my phone line too. Now they want to charge me... I didn't know whether to laugh or to cry but have decided to wait a couple of days before calling to discuss everything with them again. Although what's the point? They don't care about their quality of service.

Which has been a major grumble for the past few weeks but also about my only one. Work is going well, the new apartment (just near Picadilly station) is very nice and things are trundling along nicely. I even managed to install Feisty on my laptop, despite more than a few problems with my ATI graphics card, and have now got it all more or less setup how I want it. (verdict - the ATI card thing is a real pain, some things are a bit easier but overall not a great deal of difference from Edgy, especially as I already had many of the new features already installed).

So, quick rundown of what's been happening: Went to Leeds got drunk, came back, went to Leeds again to see sister, work, work, work, work and saw Sunshine at cinema, work, Soo and Ant came over and we got drunk, felt terrible, parents came over for roast dinner, work, work, work and saw Spiderman 3, work and watched Pan's labyrinth on DVD (thanks Soo!).

Work is going well and I am enjoying the job. It's quite nice to be able to get my teeth into some of this stuff again and the feedback has been positive too. Sunshine was pretty good, really enjoyed it and glad I went to see it at the cinema because the vision of the sun is religious in the way it is used. There's a bit of a shift in tone at the end away from character that is a little disappointing though. Spiderman was better than I'd expected from some of the reviews and basically no better or worse than the others in the series. Pan's Labyrinth is really cool. Hard to believe it's from the same director who brought the world Hellboy (a film I enjoyed but came out of the cinema with no desire to see again. Feel maybe I should now, just to check).

Seasons Greetings!

I had originally intended to do a short podcast for Christmas but I've had a pretty bad cold and feel that listening to me cough and splutter over the internet probably won't be the kind of fun experience that anyone would really want to listen to.

Last week we had the school Christmas party. That caused a pretty hectic week with something of a clash of cultures as the Chinese teachers took it far too seriously. The would basically take the kids out of mine and Ann's classes without permission and then argue when we complained that we actually wanted to teach them, or maybe even prepare them to do something for the party ourselves. They also got themselves into a very wound up state - one was practically throwing up with the stress she put herself under - shouting at the kids when they got the slightest thing wrong, pretty much taking any fun to be had out of the event and hiding it far away beneath the needs of their own egos. It was bizarre, disappointing and frustrating to witness.

Despite all this the party itself worked out fine with good performances from the kids and the parents seemed to enjoy it. Mr Cai, the head of the school, was there for a short time although more than one parent commented that it was strange how he could come to the Christmas party but cold not be bothered to attend proper meetings with parents. He also disappeared pretty quickly too. After the party Ann and her partner, Joop, came back to our apartment where the other foreign teachers came along for a few xmas drinks as well. Friday the kids and the teachers felt we deserved a rest after a very difficult week so we took it easy.

Saturday was Christmas shopping. Going into Ningbo any weekend is like Christmas shopping and Christmas itself made little difference as it is not observed here except as an opportunity to decorate the shops. We got in and out early enough for it not to be too difficult. In the evening Zak and I went to the Web school Christmas party at the Sheraton. Although neither of us has worked for Web for a while we helped bring the number of foreigners up. It was a fairly formal do, mostly in Chinese, and the food was a little disappointing. Still, there was plenty of free wine and all the smoked salmon I could eat so I can't complain. Afterwards we went to Le Cargo and then on to some smaller bars on the other side of town.

On Sunday we decided to visit Wanda World, a new mall that has opened up next to the school. It's a mall, so there's not a lot to say about it. Of course it's nice to have some restaurants and shops near the school as otherwise it would remain a bit of a wasteland around here but it's just a mall. I started feeling a bit ill while there though and by later in the afternoon my cold had come on in full force. Sore throat, sore nose, sore head, sore ears. I managed to get out to the Indian Kitchen for their Christmas buffet which was nice but a bit of a waste as I couldn't taste very much.

Christmas day we opened presents (for the record: an 80GB USB hard drive, a 2 GB memory stick for my phone, some incense and a bottle of whiskey) and I slept. In the evening we headed out to Josh's, a new Web teacher, for a Christmas party and by then I was starting to feel a little more human. Had some great food - pasta, dip, potato salad - and then came home as I was shattered and Zak had to work.

Watched A Scanner Darkly the other night. Really good film. Pretty much captures the book (at least it does a better job than any other PKD adaptation I've seen, wonder if they'll do Valis next? LOL) . The rotoscope effect works really well to give it a timeless feel. It could almost be set back in the sixties/seventies or in the future. Sometimes it is a little jarring to go from almost photo-real images of the outside world to the very cartoony indoor scenes but in a way that feels like part of the point. Importantly the story retains the power to shock, too, as it hints at the effect of Substance D on society - not just on the users but those who would exploit it for their own ends and power. It's a film that has all the bits but doesn't make it easy for the viewer. Intelligent, well made SF. It's a rare thing and should be treasured. I am also really looking forward to The Fountain.

Yesterday did not do very much at all apart from reading and some writing. Today is Zak's birthday so we are out for a meal tonight. My cold is still with me, my head is still bunged up and I spent what felt like half of last night coughing, but I guess I'm on the mend.

Watched a recent Hong Kong film called Election yesterday. The story is about the fall out within a triad from its election of its new chairman and the battle between the two candidates to gain control. It was really good. The film is very naturalistic, with no guns, so is very different from the normal HK fare. In fact the triad leaders spend most of their time in the film locked up as the police try to force them to work out a truce while the gang's factions fight amongst each other to deliver the baton of the chairman's authority to the leader they support.
It does have some faults. Some of the themes and characters aren't developed quite as well as they could have been, including the main theme of the battle between tradition and the need to "modernise" their gang activities. There is an Election 2 which apparently isn't quite as good, or at least is really just a kind of re-run of the original but it's supposed to be still watchable. If I see a copy with english subtitles I think I'll get it.
Today is the school's open day in preparation for the start of term next Friday. I get to meet parents and give a speech which is all a bit scary. I probably shouldn't have had tha second tequila last night but actually I feel fine. This lunchtime I listened to Just a Minute to help me relax.

Went out Friday night which was greatly helped by getting paid for the tutoring I've been doing although the Shamrock was full of businessmen and LBBs full of idiots so came back reaosnably early anyway.
Saturday morning went to get Zak's bike fixed and had a look at some myself. Looks like I can get a pretty reasonable one for cheap so I may look into that this week. Getting around locally isn't difficult but a bike would just make everything a bit quicker and easier. I also bought a couple of plants. One is on my table in the main room which is really nice, kind of cheers the place up. The other is a bonsai which I've put on my balcony. Total price less than 3 quid.
Watched Dog Day Afternoon in the evening, which I haven't seen for years, and is still a really good film. Had to get an early night though as we were required to be up for 7:30 to get a tour organised by the school to a local festival in a town called Hengjie. It was a kind of food competition so got to try lots of different tasty things - although it did keep raining. I guess local festivals are the same all over. After that we went for lunch although I was still pretty stuffed so couldn't eat much. Then we were supposed to go climb a mountain and pick bamboo (the area has a lot of bamboo) and Nick wanted to go panda spotting. Of course there are no pandas but it gave us something to talk about. Unfortunately the narrow streets of the town meant that the bus got trapped by another bus that had broken down and we ended up just sat on the bus for an hour. Then we came home.

Got woken up this (Sunday) morning by John Zhu telephoning me. Apparently a parcel has arrived for me. Yay! But I really could have waited a couple of hours to find that out... Especially as drinking to the wee hours last night with Nick and Ardon. Well, 1am, which counts as pretty late in these parts. So it goes.
Weekend has been pretty quiet. Zak set off for HK yesterday to try and get her visa sorted so we went to the Indian Kitchen in Ningbo on Friday night. Had the All You Can Eat buffet for 78 yuan. Kind of expensive but it was really really tasty. Nice to have a proper curry again. Only managed about 3 plates, though, including starters.
Yesterday mostly just lazed around but got some GTD stuff sorted and did some writing. Watched an old John Woo film called A Better Tomorrow starring Chow Yun Fat. Good fun but pretty ludicrous. Then everyone started congregating at my place in the evening.
Found this article in the China Daily the other day. The China Daily is the official English language newspaper in China. Serious topic. Made me chuckle.

Guidance needed to prevent teen pregnancies

2006-03-18 07:01

They were 16-year-old classmates, studied together regularly and were clearly attracted to each other.

One afternoon, they were in the girl's bedroom with no one else at home doing their homework.

A brush of limbs, a touch here and there, then kisses, leading to the "forbidden thing."

O, yeah, for those of you looking for love Google is branching out...

Had a pretty good week of teaching. After a couple of my classes the Chinese teachers even came up to me and said they thought they were good lessons. Now I just need to think up something for next week.
Overall things have been pretty quiet. Probably this is partly due to a need to watch my spending and partly as I got a cold on Thursday. It wasn't a bad cold or anything it just tired me out and I'm still a bit bunged up. Yesterday the weather was warm and sunny so went for a walk around Moon Lake again with Zakiya and took some pictures. In the evening we went to one of the local market and had noodle soup where you pick what stuff you want to go into it and put it in a basket so it can be cooked. The chef then puts it into a small wire basket in boiling water with several others to cook it for you. Pretty tasty for 6 yuan. Also watched a pretty cool film by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean called Mirrormask.
O well, back to lesson planning...

Went to a local temple, the Seven Pagoda Temple, on Saturday afternoon. It was a very nice, small and peaceful place not too far from the centre of town. Lit some incense and then later ruined all my good karma by drinking wine and playing poker. Sunday was mostly a wasted day of hanging around waiting for things to happen but I did go out for a nice Korean bbq in the evening when Noah finally resurfaced from his weekend and met up with Thomas and Jade.
Watched "The Promise" (Wuji) last night. It's a new(ish) film by Chen Kaige who made Farewell My Concubine (which I haven't seen) and several others that I have. Generally I have found his films to be good but not great and this is about the same. A lot of it looks gorgeous, in an over the top kind of way. The CGI can be a bit ropey in places but is used consistently so that it doesn't jar and adds to a very dream-like film. Some of the fantasy stuff is a lot of fun and there is potentially a good story there except that it occasionally gets muddled. It's certainly a fun action adventure in the line of HK comic books and worth seeing - I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected.