intraspace: the review lounge

2009-03-26T18:04:00.002+13:00

i rush to write this even before i've finished listening to all the tracks - nz electronic musician rhian sheehan's new album 'standing in silence' is a triumph.

i've long been a fan of ambient electronic music probably since it subliminally forced its way into my young subconscious via endless hours of my brother playing the likes of tangerine dream, vangelis, jean michel jarre and other synth geniuses.

anyway, in recent years i've developed a distinct taste for artists like m83, mogwai, sigur ros, mum etc often from the chilly climes of the northern hemisphere. i've always liked rhian sheehan too, but not this much...

his new release channels a whole lot of great stuff, and i can hear a bit of mum in there and sigur ros, maybe a touch of vangelis. it also reminds me of the soundtrack for the aussie film 'somersault' by decoder ring.

to make it that much more tempting, you'll find it on itunes for NZ$11.99 in a non-drm high bitrate form (also on emusic). 14 tracks of absolute goodness for 12 bucks!

black out!

2009-02-18T21:08:00.002+13:00

Batman 2

2008-09-02T23:33:00.004+12:00

This is a scattered review of the second most popular film of all time. The Dark Knight is that, a four out of five star exposition of the line society holds between order and everything else. Dark he is and becomes during the film, while still ending up as self-sacrificing as any good Knight should be. Over-archingly, it is about life today, at least in big cities in the USA. What does a society do in the face of reckless hate? Become as bad as Bin Laden? Torture etc? The conclusion sums this up perfectly as the Joker sets up an experiment like the one from the 70's where people were asked to shock eachother on command, and did.

How quickly will a white knight give in when senseless violence is metered out? How do you hold the line ... How do you combat forces that hold to no order or rules when you do?

There's alot of deaths, but then there are alot of characters, something which the film does struggle with (this is the curse of Batman films - notice the higher the sequel number, the more characters have always been included - and the suckier they have become yeah). Batman in TDK is really just a co-star with the Joker (as expected) - and Harvey Dent (unexpected) - and this feels a little strange, tho it is a bold choice. Several other supporting characters are important, but still there is the feeling that the central story gets a little overpowered.

The last third while brilliant, is spoilt by the mummy-like makeup on Two-Face. It certainly is out of a comic, and tends to downgrade all the final scenes where we watch Harvey's demise. And what happens to the Joker? Caught of course, but no proper resolution is provided. The reason I'm mentioning more negatives at this point than positives is that after waiting 6 weeks now to see it, and reading all the wonderful reviews, I was expecting a five star flick. But don't get me wrong, I'm eagerly awaiting my second viewing, and it is a worthy combination of Heat, the Untouchables, and Batman Begins.

M83 - Saturdays=Youth

2008-04-27T19:06:00.001+12:00

First couple of songs - I’m asking ‘why cross the line into making synthy 80’s pop?’. M83 has always used epic keys with an 80’s feel to underscore much of his work, but on this new album, well he really gets carried away. I guess the cover should have warned me. Kim and Jessie’ and ‘skin of the night’ really are terrible - two stars, which means they’ll be deleted shortly from my collection.

But then, I get to ‘graveyard girl’ and ‘couleurs’ and I start to dig it. Maybe I was just getting used to it, but these tracks were getting better - more instrumental and epic electronica without any particular decade-obsession.

Unfortunately, the next track ‘up’ douses this enthusiasm, though the slight Coctau Twins resemblance is something. The nicely titled ‘we own the sky’ is ok, and amps up towards the end, but again has too much chorus-ized singing. I’ll spare you too much more of my up and down review, but suffice to say its been quite a first-listen journey.

Late album is mostly 3 out of 5 star territory, until the final track, ‘midnight souls still remain’ - its nearly worth the price of the album itself. Just leave it on repeat for around 40 mins to make up for some of the others, something that sounds crazy, but please, try it.

Speed-the-plow at the Old Vic

2008-04-13T05:13:00.003+12:00

On Wednesday, Mim (my wife) and I went to see a David Mamet play called Speed-the-Plow at the Old Vic theatre in London. We'd never been to see a "serious" modern play before, and so we were a bit apprehensive especially as it only features three actors. Part of the draw was definitely the fact that Kevin Spacey (who's the artistic director at the Old Vic) and Jeff Goldblum were the two leads, giving us a chance to see a couple of brilliant (and famous) actors working on stage.

On the whole we were really impressed. The play is driven by snappy dialogue, and watching those two guys acting live made me realise just how good they are at acting. The sets were fairly minimal, and our seats had a slightly restricted view which sadly coincided with the exact spot where at least one character sat for much of the play! What really surprised me was how much I enjoyed the story (which I won't spoil for you - you can find a precis on Wikipedia).

I'd always been worried that I would find modern plays incomprehensible or boring, I guess in a parallel to the way in which I find a great deal of modern classical music impossible to engage with. But as it happens the play did such an enjoyable job of skewering the moral bankruptcy of modern film-making, that I am now keen to go and see some other modern plays. There were downsides - despite being a comment on Hollywood's corruption of art in the pursuit of making money, the play features some fairly offensive language and a liberal sexual morality, but I guess you could argue that the playwright was attempting to reflect the culture he was portraying - it would be ironic if he had included populist material in order to entice people to pay to see the play.

three for free

2008-04-12T12:03:00.004+12:00

when the internet is functioning at its best, stuff is free. here's a little round-up of three websites that made me say, "wow, i can't believe they are giving that away for free."

www.freedocumentaries.org - i can't remember where i first came across this site, but i think it's great. on freedocumentaries.org you can watch political / social documentaries for free, streamed through google video. there is a good helping of not so well known docos but also stuff by the likes of micheal moore. i'm not trying to endorse (or otherwise) these documentaries, but here's a little list of world-recognised films that you can watch for free on the site:

- an inconvenient truth
- bowling for columbine
- SiCKO
- the road to guantanamo (recommended)
- super size me
- born into brothels (recommended)
- enron: the smartest guys in the room

www.readymademag.com - ReadyMade is apparently a pretty well known magazine in north america - it offers all sorts of design projects that you can do at home. it's all class. and now they are offering their new issues in digital form for free. check out the latest version here. brilliant stuff.

www.bethinking.org - here's a christian resource for you. bethinking.org is a uk-based website that offers loads of mp3s of various academics etc talking about social and religious issues from a christian point of view. also preserved here are talks by the likes of schaeffer and rookmaaker. i'd spend a lot more time of this site if i had more time.

on the headphones: 'how can i be sure?' by dusty springfield, from the album 'the very best of dusty springfield'.

nz culture down ya

2008-02-15T09:12:00.009+13:00

it's time to get some new zealand culture down ya. here's a round-up of some recent kiwi dvds and cds i've noticed...

cd - liam finn: i'll be lightning. this has been out for a while now, but i hear it's being released soon in the usa. to the mention the usual patter first: liam finn is the son of crowded house's neil finn. even though this fact has been said a million times before, i think it is quite important. there is a musical heritage at work here - liam's uncle tim is also a key nz musical figure, having started the seminal nz band split enz. i have a photo book that came out in 2000 called 'once removed', essentially a behind the scenes look at neil finn's touring life. the young liam lurks in the background of lots of the photos in the book. he's been immersed in music all his life and this matures in 'i'll be lightning'. it's a brilliant, eclectic album, and i have a hunch that it will get pretty big in the states.

also, i need to mention the cover art for this cd which features liam's own very cool photography. given that he plays all the instruments on the album and also provides the artwork for the cover, we have one seriously talented kid here. check out the liam finn cnet in-studio appearance here.

cd - little bushman: pendulum. this is little bushman's second album. i'm not sure how to describe it. the band is the baby of former fat freddy's drop member warren maxwell, who is rapidly cementing a fine reputation in the nz music scene. while fat freddy's drop is a roots-dub experience where maxwell played the saxophone (i think), little bushman is a different kettle of fish. maxwell explores all kinds of musical styles but somehow manages to make it all gel into a unique style. the underlying rhythm tracks are incredible. a socially-conscious album with forward momentum and musical skill.

oh, and one dollar from the sale of every cd goes to unicef to help support gareth morgan's water management project in tanzania. gareth morgan is principally using the proceeds that he received from the sale of a little company his son started called 'trademe'.

dvd - out of the blue. in november 1990, the year of nz's 150th celebrations, the country was rocked when a gunman went on a murderous rampage in the quiet otago town of aramoana. that's only 17 years ago, and it's still pretty fresh in people's memories so it was always going to be a gutsy call to make a movie about it. if the subject had been treated with even a little bit of the sensationalism of hollywood movie-making it would have been a total failure - a completely tasteless and inappropriate project. i have rarely seen any subject handled with the tenderness that director duncan sarkies achieved in making 'out of the blue'. the film doesn't pull any punches but is completely free of sensationalism. even the soundtrack, a minimalist piano piece, doesn't attempt to stimulate the emotions of the viewer. karl urban in the role of the first police officer on the scene is brilliant - urban, in my opinion, is the finest actor produced by nz in the last 10 - 15 years. 'out of the blue' is one of the best films i've ever seen from anywhere in the world. as dominion post reviewer graeme tuckett said, "impassioned, dignified and damned near flawless."

dvd - flight of the conchords. and now for something completely different - from the other end of the nz cultural spectrum. i've talked about flight of the conchords before in my post about eagle vs shark. anyway, to recap, jemaine clement and bret mackenzie are two incredibly talented nz musican-comedians who, incidentally, just won the grammy for best comedy album of 2007. they were given a contract by hbo in the states to create a comedy sitcom based on their live act. the result is very good - not perfect - but very good. always entertaining and sometimes outrageously funny, the dvd of series one (yes, they've been given a second season) has just been released in nz. not a bad valentine's day present, thanks anna.

that's your nz culture round up for feb 08. get it down ya!

Death of Aussie Cricket

2008-02-02T19:22:00.000+13:00

(time to be controversial)

Well know that we in Aussie land have a new more touchy-feely, environmentally friendly (about time!) Prime Minister, it seems that our Aussie cricketers are no longer allowed to win at all costs. Yes, the hard-edged, never give up spirit of the displaced Aboriginals, early settlers, and Diggers is now suddenly out of fashion.

let's face it, in cricket, Australia had some lean years before Alan Border re-developed the gutsy never say die attitude that allowed moderately skilled teams to go on with later star bowlers (Ooh Ah and that spinner) to conquer the world. While the tough attitude was suitable and needed in Border's day, now that Australia has been on top for so long however, the same attitude has seen the team attacked from all quarters.

Apparently having fun is now supposed to be more important than winning. Sounds good - but as India just showed, when the team was forced to play a bit nicer, it started to lose... Does this mean the team must slide down the rankings for a while, suffer in confidence, and then be re-vitalised at some future point by the tough attitude again when it will be ok?

Personally, I think a high level, test-based competition should actually be tough. Otherwise, what's the point of watching a game where both teams are trying harder to be friendly than to win. Its the dare to win attitude that makes the game compelling in the first place. So say we all, except now that toughness is out of style. But we did sign Kyoto!

favourite websites of 2007

2007-12-22T10:18:00.000+13:00

i use mozilla firefox, and under 'bookmarks' i have a folder called 'daily'. every day i go to that folder and click on 'open all in tabs'. every day begins that way - with a bowl of porridge and viewing my 'dailies' before work at my desk.

at the moment i have 20 websites on that list that i flick through. i thought i'd give a bit of an end of year round up on my 20 daily sites.

the best ones

www.stuff.co.n z in my opinion stuff is the best news portal in new zealand. it contains the combined resources of the fairfax media newspapers. this year, stuff had a redesign and after a few days getting used to new navigation it all started working great. even though the information has its basis in newspaper material, the website is well thought out and presented. i guess my favourite bit would be the daily cartoons - especially the work of moreau, which i saw for the first time this year. he is easily my favourite nz newspaper cartoonist. another good innovation by stuff was introducing a whole stable of blogs on all sorts of subjects. i only wish i had had time to read more of them.

dra wn! this is an illustration blog based in canada. i can't even remember where i first came across this one, but it is really brilliant and has been constantly growing in popularity. i'm not an illustrator per se, but they serve up a great range of stuff that is visually inspiring. they also update very frequently which means that a daily visit is rewarded.

last.fm the online music networking phenomenon. i've already written about his one, so i won't go into too much detail. suffice to say that it continues to fascinate me and as of today i'm 4 songs away from hitting the 15,000 songs played mark. you can visit my page here.

dark roasted blend aesthetically, dark roasted blend is butt-ugly. but the content is fascinating. the writers trawl the internet looking for weird and wonderful material and presenting it daily based on a theme. mostly the material is visual - and in 2007 i've seen some crazy stuff on there.

stereogum this provides the bulk of my music reading. it has a north american hipster angle which can get a little bit tiring but all up i enjoy reading it and benefiting from free music downloads and staying up to date with what's happening in the world of indie music (as stereogum sees it).

boingboing subtitled 'a directory of wonderful things', boingboing (as i said in my other blog) would be the blog i'd choose if i could only read one blog. it is widely recognised as being a masterful example of blogging. the writers present an eclectic range of material on all manner of subjects and somehow 85% of it manages to be interesting.

ffffound! this is the newest addition to my daily website family. it is still in its beta form. it works by its users tagging images on the internet that they like. if more than a certain number of users tag a certain image, that image is displayed on the front page. the beta is closed, so i don't know how you become a member but it seems like the current members have pretty good taste. my only worry is that that will change, and the quality of the material will drop, when the site goes public and anyone can register. for a while, there was a bit of a spate of 'arty' pictures of girls with not much on, but that seems to have disappeared again - which is a good thing - i'd hate to see the site become one-dimensional. all up the images served up are an inspirational collage of excellent design, photography, illustration and ephemera.

y ahoo! mail where would i be without this one? i know there is competition from hotmail and gmail, but i've been using yahoo! for my email for years now, and it keeps evolving in the best way. this year they added unlimited storage and a very good interface. their work has kept me satisfied with using yahoo! as my main personal email program.

the good ones

conscientious a photo blog by jm colberg in which he makes posts about his favourite contemporary photographers. i don't know enough about contemporary photography to know how useful his selection is, but i use it as a way of looking at contemporary photography and hopefully staying a little bit up to date about what is happening.

b etter propaganda this is a rather good music marketing website. the reason i use it is to get free legal downloads from some pretty interesting artists, and i have discovered new material this way. i visit the new releases page every day but it looks like it only updates once a week. this year they introduced a new downloading interface that is supposedly an enhancement. truth be told it gives them another opportunity to display advertising and makes downloading a lot more of a hassle - i wish they had left it as it was. still a good resource though.

crave the cnet gadget blog. i read the american one - apparently there is a uk one as well (and an asia one too i think) and i've often wondered whether maybe i should read the uk one. but all up, it a good way to keep up to date on new gadgets and techie news.

ilovetypography i guess this is a fairly specialist blog, written for (as the name suggests) lovers of typography. it started this year and is run by john d boardley, an englishman in japan. the site is beautifully presented and has fascinating articles on type. the articles are fairly long and i have to confess to never having read one right through (not john's fault, just time constraints). but i intend to read a lot of this site over the next couple of weeks while i'm on holiday.

the others (maybe getting cut from the 'dailies' in 08)

lomography.com blog i love my lomo lca camera, i love the photos it takes. it has lived up to all my expectations (except for the fact that it just stopped working - shutter jamming). and so it was a no-brainer to frequent the official lomo blog. when i first started getting into the lomo i read a lot of criticism about how the lomo society markets what should have remained an aficionado's camera or (for some people) a camera relegated to a soviet trash pile. and since reading the blog i too have started to get impatient with the lomo society and its vast number of adherents. reading the blog you see a vast amount of photography taken by people using lomos and other odd cameras and the overwhelming feeling is that most of it is really bad photography dressed up with x-processing, expired film, lomo vignetting and light leaks. most of it is rubbish but because it has odd colours the lomo society holds it up as a great example of lomo photography. i'm really starting to rebel against this idea, because i don't want anything to stand in the way of my love for my lca and the idea that really beautiful and great photos can be taken on it. the lomography blog is going to get cut from my dailies.

damn interesting when i first discovered this blog, it truly lived up to its name. and it continues to specialise in mostly fascinating articles about all kinds of odd and obscure things. just make sure you don't visit the comments section. people are alarming anti-social and often not terribly smart in that area. there is also an endless supply of pop-atheistic commentary, and often embarrassing creationist rebuttal. and all in all i've lost my taste for the site. i'm cutting this from my dailies and maybe adding it to my email feeds list instead.

give away of the day this 'blog' got off to an exciting start. the premise being that everyday the site would give away a piece of commercial software available for that day only for free. users were abuzz with what free software might be offered. and for a while i downloaded quite a bit - including two or three utilities that i use very regularly (of special mention, glary utilities and fusiondesk - the second one has changed the way i work). but then it all started to get a bit samey and it quickly became apparent that no famous pieces of software were going to be offered, and that freeware alternatives were often better. i'm torn about what to do with this site - i'm worried about cutting it because what if i miss something really good? (so the hype still hasn't completely worn off).

ephemera this is a blog about the world of ephemera collecting - like collecting old sears catalogues and things like that - in effect the art of collecting stuff that other people throw away. initially i was intrigued about this. but i feel like the interest is waning - i guess looking at this blog everyday has made ephemera less quirky to me and therefore less interesting. a good blog though for ephemera collectors.

pulp of the day every day this blog displays a pulp fiction paperback bookcover. i'm really interested in the retro artwork on these covers and it is a pretty interesting blog to look at. they also run a daily caption competition where readers make up alternative captions for the covers. but only two or three readers participate so that gets a bit boring (i don't participate). like the ephemera blog, the novelty of this one is starting to wear out a bit.

horse latitudes a music blog based in the uk. really cool layout and the uk angle is nice. principally i added this to my dailies because it is jonathan's favourite music blog, so i figured if it was good enough for jonathan... in the time i've been looking at it it hasn't captured me too much but it can stay for now.

i guess i'm floating another music blog. this one tantalisingly offers tracks for download but so far hasn't offered anything i wanted to download. probably not a keeper for me.

book by its cover the premise of this blog is very cool - it shows samples from small press and home produced art books - usually hand-drawn stuff. it's quite interesting, and can stay for now.

so that's the round up - feel free to disagree and mention your own favourite sites in the comments - all two of you.

on the headphones: 'crumble' by calexico, from the album 'feast of wire'.

The Picture of Dorian Gray

2007-11-05T08:46:00.001+13:00

After reading almost exclusively non fiction this year I decided it was time to start reading some fiction. I had recently read about Oscar Wilde's the Picture of Dorian Gray in several places so thought this may be a good place to start.

The Picture of Dorian Gray tells the story of an extremely good looking young man who make a pact that enables him to keep his youthful looks throughout his life. Instead of him growing older the effects of his life and the effects of his sin are not seen in his body but in a portrait of himself.

Dorian under the influence of Lord Henry Wotton enters into a double life. While maintaining a respectable reputation within society he secretly begins a lifestyle in search of endless pleasures regardless of the cost. With each step further into a depraved life the only outward sign is the painting (that is carefully hidden in his house)becomes more and more aged and marred.

Wilde does have a way with words and their is some very clever and witty writing. At times I feel he gets a bit carried away with philosophical discussion between Lord Henry and Dorian. While some of these are quite amusing as Henry explains his hedonistic view on life, at times they are rather drawn out.

Overall this is a fascinating tale that looks at human nature, sin and the cost of living simply to pleasure oneself.

If anyone is looking to read this I highly recommend getting the Penguin Classic edition as it also includes some interesting articles written about how the book was received when it was released in the late 1800's

how to make an art gallery

2007-10-22T13:32:00.000+13:00

tauranga has never had the reputation for being a cultural centre. in fact, in the past there has been a noticeable lack of cultural activity. the city had a reputation, even 15 years ago, of being kind of a giant retirement village. i remember reading in frank sargeson's autobiography 'once is enough' a comment about 1950s tauranga that was something like, "the lights of tauranga had nothing to offer me but tidy gardens and pink flamingoes". it was, and still is, a suburban paradise.

over the last ten years small nz towns and cities have been getting themselves more culture, actively seeking out artistic activity to add 'flavour' to their municipal identity. recently this phenomenon has been catching up with tauranga. even in the time i've been living here (nearly 5 years) things have noticeably changed.

one such project is the establishment of a tauranga art gallery. incredibly, tauranga has never had one. the only galleries have been commercial galleries selling the kind of art that matches the sofa and looks nice in your beach house.

predictably, the project (which received council funding) was viewed with suspicion by a good sized chunk of tauranga's pragmatic rate-paying population. but a committed team has seen the project through to completion. on saturday, the gallery opened to the public.

as the building (designed by mitchell & stout) went up, i have to say i wasn't overly impressed with the external architecture. to me it looked a bit more like a cinemaplex than an art gallery and i was, and still am, worried that it will date ungracefully. but walking through the big glass doors, i was immediately captured by the interior space.

it is compact, but uses the space very well with a high ceiling in the entry area. this is also the first display space you enter. the ceiling height allows for big art pieces and alleviates any feeling that the gallery is cramped by its small size. for the opening, this area houses two-storey high works by tauranga-born mark braunias.

the ground floor has a number of intimate display areas including a small concrete-walled room that obviously makes use of the existing building - i really liked that room. in these areas, the gallery has pieces from its collection on display. and quite a nice little collection it is - featuring work by the usual suspects (hotere, mccahon et al - nz works). the wall space has been well utilised but it doesn't feel cluttered.

overhead there are semi-opaque aqua coloured panels which are part of the floor of the upstairs mezzanine. the shadows of people walking on these makes intriguing shapes when you look up at them from below. these panels are an excellent architectural feature.

the mezzanine is a nice space and has two film screening rooms at the end. on display was photographic work, and in particular the best images from 'world press photo 2007'. having that as the opening exhibit was a stroke of genius by the gallery staff: photography is a very accessible art form; the images were very emotive and you couldn't help being affected by them; it brought international work into the gallery.

actually, it was great to see how many people had turned out to have a look at the gallery. the place was packed. and it seemed as if people who had just come for a nosey, went away genuinely impacted by what they had seen. as far as art is concerned, that is the definition of success.

this is how you make an art gallery in a place like tauranga. i'm immensely proud that it is now a feature of our city. i knew having a gallery here was a good idea but now i'm completely sold. if you ever visit tauranga, make sure you visit the gallery. it'll only take you about half an hour to look around - unless you want to stay longer.

gallery site here. view the gallery space here.

on the stereo: '15 step' by radiohead, from the album 'in rainbows'.

war and peace

2007-10-22T10:01:00.000+13:00

i did it. i read 'war and peace'. my cunning plan of reading the 'books' of war and peace interspersed with other books (to keep up my interest) paid off, and about nine months after starting, i finished.

my pleasant surprise was that war and peace is actually a cracking good book. it is such a vast and masterful work of art - combining the society intrigues of victorian novels (by austen and hardy etc) with gritty narratives about napoleonic warfare.

to quote tolstoy (from an article that he published about the novel), "I have spent five years of uninterrupted and exceptionally strenuous labour under the best conditions of life [on this work]." tolstoy doesn't hold back, and he achieves a work of grandeur that succeeds in holding the reader's attention through action and character studies.

my tactic of reading other books in between probably helped, but i actually found that i was pleased to get back to war and peace.

for tolstoy the reason for writing such a book was not mainly to entertain his readers. he had a theory about history that he was evidently very committed to demonstrating.

tolstoy says that war and peace "is not a novel, even less is it a poem, and still less an historical chronicle" [although it quite clearly contains elements of all these]. "War and Peace is what the author wished and was able to express in the form in which it was expressed."

the concept that tolstoy wants to communicate is this:

"The movement of nations is caused not by power, nor by intellectual activity, nor even by a combination of the two ... but by the activity of all the people who participate in the events... Morally the wielder of power appears to cause the event, physically it is those who submit to the power. But as the moral activity is inconceivable without the physical, the cause of the event is neither in the one nor in the other, but in the union of the two." (from the epilogue)

this is why war and peace has a cast of over 500 characters. each of them has a role to play in history, actions have ramifications. but at the same time the characters are also swept along by the events of history - participants and victims, as it were.

the only time when the narrative really slows in the book is at the end when tolstoy puts together all his thoughts about history in essay form, just in case the reader has missed the point. this break from narrative is a bit of an anticlimax but i suppose it is necessary given tolstoy's primary aims for the book. this ending shouldn't stand in the way of you reading it if you're not a history student - it comes at the very end as an epilogue, so doesn't interfere with the narrative.

all up, brilliant. highly recommended.

read more about 'war and peace' on wikipedia.

warandpeace-o-meter: finished!

In Rainbows - that's how we can see the music world, thanks to Radiohead

2007-10-11T21:06:00.000+13:00

The Band of the 90's, was not short-lived Nirvana - but ground-breaking Radiohead. Written off as one-hit wonders after 'creep', they moved onto an album of perfect but un-heralded britpop ('the bends') before releasing the monumental 'ok computer', the album that brought rich desolation, rock and art to the mainstream. So good was it that they've been able to do what they like since - including the jagged electronic rock of 'Kid A' and 'Amnesiac', the lesser 'hail to the theif', and now their new album 'in rainbows' thats been released as a download first - its also a first for the music industry in that you can buy it for - whatever you like - whatever you think its worth.

I paid 1 pound actually! For this I got every track (Radiohead don't allow for the album to be bought as seperate tracks ala most downloaded music) at a just average quality 160kbps MP3, and without artwork. Like many, I expect I'll buy the real cd wth full quality tracks at a future date, but for now, being able to get the tracks so soon and try them out is brilliant.

So did I get what I'd paid for? No - I got a lot more - 4 stars for this one - beneath the 5 of 'ok computer', but it is really good - with a combination of their jagged electronica and desolate but rich rock - it has jarring moments, but they make the soaring ones so much better - particularly on 'weird fishes', 'jigsaw' and 'all i need'. Some parts sound like bjork, or even some other band doing 90's as the retro sound it'll be in a few years.

So why not drop them a pound yourself, even if just to stick it to the music industry big wigs. For more opinion on the album and its unique release, I'd reccomend the comments at my favourite music blog, horse latitudes, from where you can also find the link to buy the album.
Go here: http://www.horselatitudes.co.uk/

eyewitness accounts of a historic rugby loss

2007-10-09T10:44:00.000+13:00

it's been ages since anything was posted on intraspace. but i think apologies for that kind of thing are a bit lame, so i won't bother.

instead, i've asked a couple of my uk-based mates to pass on their thoughts about the all blacks' loss to france in the quarter finals of the rugby world cup.

a few days ago, my aussie mate jonathan (jnxyz) and i compared notes about who australia and nz were meeting in the quarter finals and matter-of-factly decided that we would be playing each other in the semis. i did, however, call france our 'bogey team' as they have a history of upsetting the all blacks. and i recalled aaron saying that the english might possibly upset the aussies.

on sunday morning, before i left for church, i checked the internet and saw that the aussies had gone down to england. i was about to fire off a quick email to jonathan when i suddenly thought - better wait until after the all blacks game before i do that... probably just as well in hindsight.

anyway, here is a match report from john butterworth, who was at the game in cardiff:

I actually felt sorry for the Aussie supporters as I watched their team lose while I ate lunch in the Cardiff pub. I thought how crap they must be feeling as they sat in their seats in the stadium and I tried to imagine what it must be like. It's a good thing that's unlikely to happen to us....

Earlier, the streets were filled with black. It was about mid-day and there were kiwi's everywhere. There was a smattering of Red White and Blue but I wondered where the French foreign legions were? A bunch of Maoris crossed the road from Cardiff Castle in single file dressed in black complete with gumboots - Cardiff was was one big New Zealand icon. Suddenly the French arrived. Brightly clad and gloriously noisy, their good natured but fierce support was inspiring and they made friends everywhere.

The stadium roof was closed and French songs filled the arena. Occasionally the All Black chant went up - you know the one: "All Blacks" clap clap clap. Childish, and pathetically delivered, it was each time drowned out by a magnificent chorus of French singing that could have made a Welshman proud (but probably not quite). Insert all sporting adjectival cliches here:___________________. This was the atmosphere. This was the greatest rugby stadium in the world. The view of the pitch from one of the worst seats in the house (if there are any) was more than good. The noise in the stadium - deafening and the rivalry between supporters though very real was very fun. It promised to be a great night for the All Blacks to win. Bugger.

A fairly sound first half you would have to say - and we dared to think it was in the bag. The AB's looked sharp and in control (sort of). The half time break disappeared and we settled down to watch the All Blacks gradually extend the lead and put their foot on the throats of the hapless french. The ridiculously high prices we had paid on ebay would soon be distant memories and we would return to London that week to boast to our English colleagues of how we will take them apart in the semi's - no more All Black choking this time mate!

Sometimes you wonder what a coach said at half-time. This was one of those games where you wondered what both coaches said. We watched unsettled as the French went to fourth and then fifth while the AB's seemed intent on coming fourth or fifth - or worse! Surely we would sort it and come back - the nervousness on the pitch - the complete and sudden lack of faith in their ability would only last for a bit and then everything would be all right again - yeah?

5 minutes to go - camped inside the 22. Righto, well done boys - drop goal time. Left it quite late but you're in the right place now. Just center up a bit and throw it back to.....to....who's freaking there?!! Drop goal guys - it's gotta be a DROP GOAL !!!!!!....... Yeah but wait on - not now - hang on to it now!, don't do it now!, don't.....

I can hear the laughter of the French supporters around me as - I only hear 'cause I'm no longer looking, I'm just waiting for the roar after the ball will be inevitably kicked into touch.

Kiwi blokes are actually in tears. Most of us just sit and stare at nothing in particular. Another monumental mental collapse - a sporting mind meltdown of the highest degree. I guess we kind of expect it now - maybe this team does too.

Oh well, as they say, c'est la vie. Bollocks it is!

meanwhile, luke and patrick were watching the game on a big screen in london:

I watched it at a venue called The Grand, at Clapham Junction in London. It's an old theatre and has a screen that is 40 square metres in area. Fantastic picture and great atmosphere.

Up until the final loss of possession a win was still very much a possibility, so it was then that it hit. I just put my head in my hands for a while. Patrick starting kicking things. I then suggested we leave. We went to the pub over the road for a two-hour de-briefing.

Oh well. It's very hard to swallow and you kinda wish you didn't emotionally involve yourself in the All Blacks success or failure.

the crime of olga arbyelina

2007-08-30T17:20:00.000+12:00

the crime of olga arbyelina, by andrei makine

the local library has a few andrei makine books. it was 'the earth and sky of jacques dorme' that first introduced me to makine and i fell in love with his writing style. 'the crime of olga arbyelina' was my second outing with his work.

it all starts off with a fascinating scene that unfolds in a russian cemetery in paris. an old man tends the graves and tells stories of the people who inhabit them. visitors come to the cemetery to hear these stories, furtively listening to the old man's words and fleeing when he notices them listening. and so, he tells the story of olga arbyelina.

the first scene is of olga sitting on a riverbank in a small town near paris next to the corpse of a middle-aged man. the suspicion of course falls on olga as the murderer - evidently this is the 'crime' that the title talks about. however, the narrative then flicks back about two years, and through suggestions and finally out and out revelation, we find out what olga's hidden crime really is. incest. (yikes!) sorry if i've ruined the story for you, but that all but ruined the story for me.

makine once again shows his genius for poetic writing, but at the point of the revelation, the story becomes a dark irredeemable tragedy that ends in olga's madness and leaves the reader feeling somehow sullied by the reading experience. olga's haemophiliac adolescent son (the other party in the said 'crime') is an unlikeable ghost-like figure who drugs his mother. so it becomes pretty hard going, although makine never writes about his subject in stark and brutal terms, no matter what his characters' crimes may be. perhaps this makes it more disturbing in a way. by being captured by his gentle poetry you feel somehow implicated in the story. you keep reading, hoping for that chink of light that might reveal some hope. none comes.

even though i love makine's poetic language, in this book it sometimes feels like this language is just filling space. a couple of times, i found myself thinking that the whole novel could have been quite an effective short story.

all up, do i regret reading this book? probably. 'the earth and sky' was so much more skillfully done in terms of narrative, structure and language. and because of that i haven't given up on makine.

warandpeace-o-meter: 876/981 (volIII, bookXV, chapVII)

eagle vs shark

2007-08-25T11:11:00.000+12:00

in the last few years, a comic force has quietly been brewing in new zealand.

in one corner we have 'flight of the conchords' - a couple of new zealand blokes - bret mckenzie and jemaine clement - who decided to sing comedy songs. they called themselves "new zealand's fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo". bret mckenzie is actually a pretty accomplished musician in nz circles - playing in the black seeds and having his own music under the name 'video kid'. apparently he was also in lord of the rings. so you see he's served his time in nz creative circles. jemaine clement did all kinds of stuff - including the voice-over for the l&p ads about life in nz (unless you live in nz, you have no idea what i'm talking about). anyway, flight of the conchords suddenly became very popular - world-wide. first in the uk, where the bbc did a radio documentary thing in 2005 and then they also got a slot on hbo in the states. they played all kinds of festivals around the place, and then i saw them live in nz last year when they supported bic runga. very funny. from there they ended up getting a sitcom series on HBO. this series has just finished in the states and they have been given a second season. the first season screens in nz soon. if you've never seen flight of the conchords in action - watch this.

in the other corner we have taika waititi. taika is a general creative jack-of-all-trades. he got quite a few awards (including an academy award nomination) for a short film called 'two cars, one night'. i saw him speaking at last year's semi-permanent design conference. very funny. he met jemaine clement (the guy from flight of the conchords who wasn't in lord of the rings - as far as i know) at uni in wellington and they formed a comedy act called the 'humourbeasts'. they did a show where they reinterpreted the legends of māui (unless you live in nz you have no idea what i'm talking about). taika got together with an actor called loren horsley (she was sieglinda in 'xena: warrior princess').

out of this fertile comic milieu sprang the film 'eagle vs shark'. it was written by taika waititi and loren horsley and stars jemaine clement, loren horsley and taika waititi.

last night, emma and anna and i went to see it. anna said, "i don't normally like nz films, but this one looks quite funny." it is in the vein of napoleon dynamite - "small town nerd humour"? and a number of critics have compared it to that film, although i have no idea if taika waititi was influenced by napoleon when he wrote and filmed eagle vs shark in 2005. there is something distinctly new zealand about the characters which overseas viewers might not differentiate from napoleon.

anyway, eagle vs shark was tremendously funny and very very good, and i loved it. it didn't do very well in the states but it has debuted at 4 at the nz box office behind 'live free or die hard', 'the simpsons' and 'i now pronounce you chuck and larry'. it grossed NZ$113,999 in the first week on 27 screens, not bad when you consider that all the other films in the top 10 were on at least 40 screens. now why the heck are nz cinemas not getting behind this film? it makes me mad. honestly people, it is right up there and well worth watching. the actors were great (no weak performances), the storyline was amusing - heaps of great nz culture. it even has a little miss sunshine-esque little girl. it has poignant moments wrapped in the humour, and a great soundtrack by the phoenix foundation. new zealanders! australians! brits! peoples of the world! get to it!

watch the trailer.

on the headphones: 'to the sky' by maps, from the album 'we can create'.

SP07: the review

2007-08-19T12:07:00.000+12:00

after last year's semi-permanent design conference i was adamant i'd be back again and i was. last year, i spent some of my time texting roly to tell him what he was missing out on - this year, he relinquished and came along. the two of us packed up and headed north, staying with my folks in kaiaua the night before and then into auckland for the conference the next morning.

here's how the day unfolded:

alt. "alt," as the sp07 book says, "is a multi-disciplinary design company based in auckland." last year, some of the designers that spoke were very unconfident in front of the audience and i was worried the same thing might happen when the guy from alt got up. but while he was clearly more comfortable in front of a mac than nearly 1000 people, his lowkey approach worked really well. he basically just showed us through some of alt's work and it was pretty interesting and amusing. he comes from a fine arts background so there is some nice interplay between art and design in their work.

umeric. "the studio of director ash bolland and designer/art director von dekker." umeric is a motion graphics outfit based in sydney. ash was the speaker and he is nz-born, so the lowkey approach continued. he took a while to get started and his windows-based laptop crashed a couple of times in front of the huge mac-using audience. umeric's work, once things got under way, was impressive - in particular the animation mixed with live action and a project they did for the mtv australia music video awards (pictured) - very cool. ash walked us through the process of creating a few of their projects.

3 deep. "founded in 1996 by brett phillips and david roennfeldt, 3 deep design has established a reputation for uncompromised design excellence, commitment, passion and design innovation." we wondered what the heck was going on when some aussie dude got on stage and informed us that 3 deep were getting a bit bored of presenting at events like this, and had asked him to help them present their work. he then went on to explain that he wasn't from 3 deep before proceeding to show us some of his own work. eventually, to our relief he invited the proper 3 deep guys up on stage. they had decided on an interview format, which didn't really work because the sound was terrible and the mics kept feeding back. their work was ok but i wasn't blown away by it. in the end i decided to go for a walk, go to the toilet and text my friends to meet up for lunch instead. roly left early to go and get some new tyres for his car.

glue society. "a creative agency based in sydney and new york, the glue society is made of 10 writers, designers, art directors and film directors." these guys presented an incredible array of innovative (and sometimes controversial) advertising work. their stuff was characterised by humour and strange twists on reality. faced with a limited budget, for example, for the promotion of an aussie tv comedy show, they hired billboards in about six really cheap locations around the world - including iceland and iraq. the publicity they got from this crazy venture outweighed anything they could have purchased with a bigger budget.

misery. "auckland-based artist, painter and designer of characters misery started out as a graffiti artist, but her many visions of where she'd like to see her art and characters applied have seen her expand into everything from fashion to toys." 'cutely disturbed' or 'disturbed cuteness' are the terms i would use to sum up misery - everything she does seems to exude this sense. she appeared on stage with a guy in a sausage suit playing a ukelele, someone in a fright mask playing one of those sticks with the bottle tops attached to it that you hit on the ground to create a rhythm, a guy dressed up as a mexican wrestler, and three people behind misery-styled masquerade masks. these last three she described as her "minions", pronouncing it with a french twist a la "fillet mignon". it was really quite fascinating although i have to admit that i was distracted by the sausage guy instead of watching misery do her painting demonstration.

made thought. "madethought is a london-based multi-disciplinary design consultancy working in brand identity and development, art-direction, packaging, print and interactive design." this is the one i remember least about. the work was very solid, and the client-base very impressive, but for me, nothing much to write home about.

uva. "london-based united visual artists work with led, traditional lighting and projection technologies as sculptural elements, with their bespoke software approach allowing them to use existing technologies in new and unusual ways." as with last year (when the event ended with taika waititi) the most fascinating speaker was saved for last. uva push the boundaries in what we normally think about in connection with design. while what they do is well beyond the budget or abilities of anything i will probably ever be involved with, they had me captured when they started talking about how they designed the album artwork for leftfield's rhythm and stealth, before going on to design all the stage lighting and special fx for the massive attack world tour and u2's vertigo tour - not only fascinating me with their flashing lights, but also working with three of my most favourite bands in the process. it sounds like these guys trawl the world for cool lighting and video products before combining them in crazy ways for very cool projects. some of their best work also included some public installations, including a couple at the v&a museum in london (pictured). far too cool for words.

thus the day ended, and roly and i cruised back home. main highlights for me: alt, misery and uva (also getting one of my photos into this year's semi-permanent book and scoring a particularly sweet-looking rangefinder camera for $5 at the markets in the square outside the venue). bring on SP08 which, they announced at the end of the day, is likely to be stretched out across two days and include more specialist speakers in the area of photography and illustration and stuff - too much fun.

on the headphones: 'urban getaway' by elemeno p, from the album 'love & disrespect'.

brief editorial interlude

2007-08-15T20:46:00.000+12:00

a brief editorial interlude at this point, my friends.

jnxyz's post on fatherhood signals the birth of new depths here at intraspace. we have all your needs covered: books, films, music, computer games, and tips about labour and babies. what more could you ask for?

skip my review of '1984' (which i inaverantly posted before i realised the magnitude of what had occured on the blog), and go directly to 'The Father's Voice (a semi-regular review of becoming a father): pt1' - if you dare.

nineteen eighty-four

2007-08-15T20:23:00.000+12:00

nineteen eighty-four, by george orwell

you tell yourself that you should read these classic books, and you put it off because even though they are classics you really have no idea what you are going to encounter. i think 'moby dick' has a lot to answer for in this respect. i started reading that book expecting to be absorbed by a rollicking tale of a captain hunting down a particularly nasty white whale. instead, it ended up being 'everything i know about whaling, by herman melville'. terrible tedious stuff with tiny bits of narrative thrown so that melville could claim it was a story. perhaps i've judged too harshly - i never did reach the end (although i intend to one day). but this 'moby dick' gives classics a bad name.

however, i'm into futuristic sci-fi movies and i had an inkling that '1984' was a predecessor to that narrative form. and one day anna was going down to the library and asked if there was anything i wanted. and i thought, "now, what were the books i was going to read?" and i remembered this one.

i started reading it immediately and was pleasantly surprised that 1984 is nothing like moby dick - in fact it is very readable (nearly 200 years of development of the novel form has clearly paid off). it was published the year before orwell died in 1949, and is one of orwell's two most famous novels - the other one being 'animal farm'. as is usual with orwell, the work is very political and allegorical, but that is carried along by good novelistic devices that make the story absorbing.

the book gets a little bit bogged down in one section and part 3 (the last part) is not quite so action-packed. that's all ok though, because the aim of the book is not really to entertainment, but to paint a picture of the distopia that could develop under a socialist totalitarian system. unfortunately the book doesn't have a happy ending, but that suits the story so is probably the best conclusion.

i wouldn't read this if you need cheering up, but if you're into narratives about the future (like me) then definitely get into it. the volume i got was the 'complete novels' and i think i might be back to read more of orwell later.

warandpeace-o-meter: 785/981 (volIII, bookXIII, chapI)

The Father's Voice (a semi-regular review of becoming a father): pt1.

2007-08-15T12:50:00.000+12:00

(or 10 of the things no-one tells you)

I became a father this week! Thanks for your congrats. Apart from the lingering feeling of amazement that comes from seeing your newborn being lifted up by the midwife and taking its first breaths of air, we feel like we've completed part one of a Doctorate in only 7 days. While nature does do its thing supernaturally well, its still a huge learning experience. Below is an overview AND a list of ten vital, important, crucial, essential things that NO ONE TELLS YOU!

07.08.07
1.10pm Penny calls to say she's having irregular cramps that feel like period pain - are these contractions starting?

1. Contractions actually feel like period pain, so will be familiar, and are centered in one spot, not all over.

4.00pm I arrive home from work. The cramps are still semi-regular, but Pen has to sit down when they come now. I guess they are contractions!

5.30pm Ring the midwife - yes come in when they are 5 mins apart. By this standard, we plan to leave around 7pm.

6.15pm Things are really moving! We leave instead at 6.30pm.

6.45pm We drive (fast!) to the hospital - imagining what we'll say if/when we get pulled over for speeding... “yes, we'd love a police escort officer”.

7.10pm We're here! Poor Penny pausing every few minutes from the car to the birthing suite. No prizes for guessing why we're here as people we pass offer us a wheelchair.

8.00pm After initially writing her obs on a paper towel, the midwife has now got Pen's chart and her contractions have slowed a little now where in safe hands. Nothing for it now but to let them take their course, maybe have Pen in the shower to help with pains, give her regular drinks and snacks, and as the midwife says, 'just breathe through it'. I support her in different standing and sitting poses to alleviate things a little...

2. Breathing is the number one key thing at this point! Pen just mostly figured it out - slow and deep - some extra coaching though wouldn't have gone astray.
3. There are some really good poses (wife's arms around your shoulders/neck) that help ALOT - ask your midwife to show/ describe them in good detail before labour starts...

10.00pm- Examination time. Enough said, apart from the fact that another one won't be done until 1:00am 2am - that's another four hours of regular pains now every 4 mins... The midwife came in every 30mins, just took blood pressure etc as you'd expect, but I was never sure what their role was - do they 'make' it all happen or just be there for an emergency? Maybe we were just naturally gifted so didn't need much help...

4. Ask the midwife exactly what her role is so your not disappointed when she disappears for stretches/ r annoyed if she's always in your face.

1:01am After a shower, and various poses to aid the growing pain (every 3 mins now), Pen starts to feel that something is changing. What? We don't know, but by 1:30am, things are really happening. Pen's pain has really changed and asking the midwife (who's still getting ready for a routine 2am examination) gets her thinking it may be nearly time.

5. There are 3 pain stages to labour - initial contractions, then it changes when bub is entering the cervix proper, then the pushing at the end is different again. Knowing it will change and knowing what this signals would have been nice! Its a bit hard for the wife to ask many questions at this stage!

08.08.07
1:30am Pen turns herself around on the beanbag as she feels thins are getting close. I support and talk to her.

2:00am Bub's head is crowning! The midwife gets Pen to feel the top of it - her hand comes away red but she seems to have renewed energy. Suffice to say (skipping past the gory bits) that the pushing stage commences and bub comes out fast! Only three big pushes (with long pauses in between actually) and the midwife holds up our darling, letting Penny be first to check its sex - a liitle girl!

6. You will cry. Spontaneous tears appear when bub does.

2.45am Helena Rose is here, and resting on mum's chest, alert as anything, gazing around, and only crying when Pen is in pain for a few more pushes (getting out the placenta) - maybe empathy will be a personality trait for her. She's strong too - grabbed and brought out some of the placenta membrane with her.

4:30- Time passes as a blur now. Some of it is Pen cuddling bub, me cuddling bub, etc. We 7:00am finally put on one of Pen's 'birthing' mix cd's - a classical one and all fall asleep for 20 mins or so. 7:30 we're off to the ward - its breakfast time - remember eating? That essential life action? We'd forgotten all about even basics like this!

Day 2
09.08.07 Amidst some lovely hospital visits by family and friends, there is the feeding. Its hard! Bub and Mum are amateurs really. Some midwives take time to help out and teach Pen different ways it is done. But regardless, it gets painful. A book or something mentions protectors that can be worn to help out. Right, that sounds pretty good, why didn't anyone mention it before things got sore?

7. & 8. Nipple protectors and creme are essential! They're the best gift you could ever get your partner BEFORE entering hospital. Use them early (especially the creme) and much later cracking etc can be avoided. Not like us, I mean I only got the creme itself after seeing it on the chemist shelf myself while getting the protectors... And get good thin protectors (Avent is good).

9. This is the most amazing bonding time for you and your partner - made poignant by the father having to leave the hospital overnight (maybe we'll go private next time).

Day 4
12.08.07 Home! Better and a little scary at the same time. My first night with bub and I wake every 5 mins to check I can still hear her. Its obvious that bub has only a few phases; sleep, feed, dirty nappy, and cry. Helping her arrange these in the best order is our adventure of the first week.

10. With help from my Ma staying over, we've worked out that if you must do something to baby (change nappy, bath etc) do it BEFORE a feed. She'll naturally drop off to sleep after a feed, but not if you then have to disturb her again. This will save heaps of angst and crying and desperation.

Oh and here's a bonus #11: be prepared for life in slow motion... its not entirely unpleasant to just sit and hold baby and next thing an hour is gone.

ps. The midwives were really good at their job! Just not so at communicating.

long player by hollie smith

2007-08-09T17:08:00.001+12:00

i guess this review is a little late in coming (the album was released a few months ago), but after a long wait i finally picked up this cd at the warehouse last night (thanks to a free voucher i got from answering online questionnaires).

without wanting to provide free advertising for the warehouse (a nz discount retailer), can i just say their prices are amazing for new releases - it looks like nearly everything is NZ$22.95. when i used to work in the music department at the warehouse back in the day, the normal retail price was $29.95 - and even that was cheap compared to other stores that wanted anything up to $33.95. i think this type of price drop is absolutely crucial in this day and age of the digital download, and if the warehouse can do it then there must be a margin, which shows you what the usual mark-up on cds is. with this album costing $17.99 to download on itunes, why wouldn't you fork out the extra $5 and get the cd art and drm-free music?

so anyway, back to the album. hollie smith is hot property in the wellington nz music and has been for quite some time. she released an ep a couple of years ago which was excellent. meanwhile, she engaged in a number of collaborations, most notably fly my pretties. apparently she also had pretty good success with an album of celtic music when she was a teenager (a fact that she is no doubt trying to forget, but you can buy that album from the online shop of historic scotland). after 'long player' came out this year she was promptly signed to a division of blue note records.

'long player' is an incredibly mellow album (maybe a tad too mellow?) that beautifully showcases hollie smith's abilities without overstating them.we have a mixture of 10 cruisey jazz/soul/gospel/funk infused songs. i haven't listened closely enough yet to be able to tell you what she is on about in her songs but it is definitely something soulful. musically, the only disappointment for me was that there is very little dub influence on the album and i love it when hollie sings on dub tracks. but maybe the nz scene has enough dub now (not that i mind - the more dub the merrier).

the album art is also understated but very nice.

'long player' comes highly recommend - great laidback vibe from a supreme talent. get it!

the great nz road trip (highlights package)

2007-08-08T20:30:00.000+12:00

[picture: andrew (left) and dave getting rained on while walking on a jetty, taupo. picture by rob]

over the weekend i went on a road trip with my two brothers - rob and dave. i think this was the first time the three of us had been away together on a trip like this, so it promised to be an interesting social experiment. back in the day, when they were roadtripping as younger men i was only about 10 years old. 20 years later we set about planning to drive down to the central plateau of nz to see what we could see. and it turned into rather a good trip. here's the highlights package...

day one: south of rotorua we went to a place called orakei korako (aka hidden valley) - a geothermal area that is supposed to be pretty good. we shelled out our $28 per person (tourist prices) and went across a catchment lake (part of the waikato river) on a little ferryboat to the other side. then we looked at sulphuris formations and various subterranean bubblings. the highlight was a big open cave surrounded by native bush with a blue tinted thermal pool at the bottom.

stayed that night in taupo.

day two: we set out from taupo and headed to the famed horopito motors. weatherwise this was exactly the same type of day as when lance and i went there earlier in the year, except now it was winter - so it was about 9 degrees colder. horopito is always good. and afterwards we took quite a lot of photos in the surrounding landscape. from there we headed to ohakune.

in ohakune we got a brilliantly cheap lunch from the bakery and drove up mount ruapehu. at the top of the road, dave's 'snow warning' went off in his car. it was 1 degree outside and raining/sleeting. well you can't not get out and touch snow when you're up the mountain so we braved the stinging rain for a few minutes. back in the car we decided that the only sensible thing to do in weather like this is to go for a bush walk.

we went down the road a bit and found a nice track to some waterfalls (the waitonga falls to be exact). being in the bush was ok - wet but not windy - until the track crossed open tundra that looked like the marsh scene out of lord of the rings, but colder and without the faces and lights. we got lashed with more sleet and had to concentrate on not getting blown off the boardwalk. back in the bush we descended into a valley. the path ended far too far away from the actual waterfalls for these kiwi blokes, so we bush-crashed up the valley until we were standing right beneath the main waterfall. so now we were being thrashed by the waterfall as well as the rain - refer to mention of temperature earlier to appreciate comfort level - but it was exhilarating and literally breath-taking.

after 2 hours of being out in that charming weather we finally got back to the car and cranked up the heater, which did a surprisingly good job of keeping us warm in our 1 degree celsius rain/waterfall water-soaked trousers.

stayed that night in turangi after driving north up the desert road.

day three: we drove north to a road that travels up the west side of lake taupo. we stopped at an old jetty and took more photos (pictured above), getting more rain on us and spying a picturesque village across the water with a waterfall and church with a high steeple. we worked our way around the lake until we came to the sign to waihi village - the place we'd seen. anyway, further up the road was a big handpainted sign telling us to keep out. before the sign were a couple of great-looking little 1950s holiday cribs which i had to photograph for my safe little world stuff.

standing on the edge of the grass in front of the places, i had taken a couple of photos when i heard a vehicle behind me. anyway, to cut a long story short, it was lady telling me off for photographing private property - the locals clearly sensitive about outsiders in this area. i explained to her that i wasn't doing anything wrong. she told me i had to ask for permission to photograph the buildings. i said, "can i photograph the buildings?" she said, "yes" and drove off. the old killick charm clearly paid off.

then we went further north up the waikato river, taking in a couple of quite impressive dams until we came to arapuni and the enormous swing bridge that i had forgotten was there. we parked the car and walked across the bridge feeling like it was going to collapse at any moment and send us hurtling into the rapids over 50 metres below.

that night back to my parents' place in kaiaua, then back home the next day.

a classic trip accompanied by dave's rather eclectic ipod library (everything from audioslave to hot chocolate and portishead); and apart from one 'discussion' about politics, no arguments...

on the headphones: 'the underdog' by spoon, from the album 'ga ga ga ga ga'.

max

2007-08-08T20:11:00.000+12:00

max (directed by menno meyjes)

this is one of those movies with an appealing-sounding blurb that gets negative reviews. admittedly, the only reviews of the movie i'd read were from fellow users of mail-order dvd rental outfit fatso.co.nz. but the blurb won me over and so did the fact that it stars john cusack; i added it to my wait list and it turned up a couple of days ago in the post - no one else wanted it.

let me recap the synopsis that made me want to watch the film: a jewish german named max rothman (cusack) returns from the front having served for germany in WWI. he was an artist before the war but having lost an arm, he sets up an art dealership selling the latest avant-garde modernist art in munich.

against the backdrop of germany's defeat and the severe reparations imposed by the treaty of versailles, rothman comes across a young artist who has also just returned from the front: a corporal by the name of hitler - adolf hitler. rothman tries to encourage hitler to express his angst more fully in his paintings. hitler, however, is also dabbling in oratory and politics, and is caught between struggling to be an artist (an occupation that he genuinely believes he has a calling for) and his obvious abilities for convincing oratory... well, history tells us which direction he headed in.

but this film is fascinating. cusack reminded me why it is that i like his acting so much - he is brilliant in this role - he had me hooked on his character within the first few minutes. the guy playing hitler (noah taylor) was also very good.

i suppose that it helped that i have an interest in art and history, but i found the character studies of this film riveting - both rothman and hitler are tremendously complex characters. and the film ends with a heart-wrenching and ominous conclusion. it is understated, but knowing what happened in actual history makes the film reverberate with meaning.

so, my fellow fatso members, i defy you. this is a great movie.

watch it my friends (especially if you are into modernist art or history).

on the headphones: 'reprise' by hollie smith, from the album 'long player'.

Giuliani Leadership - First things first

2007-07-31T14:44:00.000+12:00

I first read Rudolph Giuliani's book on leadership a few years ago and since then it has been a book that I never tire of. Giuliani was a two time mayor of New York and was mayor during the September 11 terror attacks. The book will not be everyone’s cup of tea but if you have an interest in politics (and leadership) then I am sure you will find the book very interesting. While I do not agree with Giuliani on some political and moral issues, I have come to admire him tremendously as a leader. The book is jam packed with fantastic leadership principles and examples of how these principles worked in changing New York City. So for the next few days I will discuss a different chapter of the book.

#1 First things first

"Every morning at exactly eight o'clock, I make my mother very happy. Throughout my childhood, she would lecture me on the virtues of finishing my schoolwork before I went outside to play ... That's why I've begun every single morning since 1981 with a meeting of my top staff"

Giuliani goes on to explain throughout the chapter that as mayor of New York City the task could be completely overwhelming. So to ensure he dealt with the vital things first he met with his key leaders first thing every morning. This would give the opportunity for key issues to be dealt with in a timely manner. He credits this meeting as one of the keys to his success as mayor.

While this may be leadership 101, in rereading the book it has challenged me afresh. Often I find myself getting drawn to what appears to be urgent rather then what is truly important. The other challenge is to avoid tasks that while important are not exciting and instead rush to tasks that are exciting regardless of importance.

As a Christian leader (or even just as a follower of Christ) the first things first principle means that time with God needs to be the first part of your day. One of the things I have discovered is that you never know who you are going to encounter on any particular day. As a Pastor, people will ask you for advice and they are hoping for more then just your opinion – they are looking for Godly wisdom. If I am regularly connecting with God and putting him first, there is a much greater chance that I will be able to have an informed perspective on a situation rather then just regurgitating cliché answers.

The first things first principle is all about living life according to priorities and doing the right thing at the right time. Jesus constantly lived by this principle – His life was driven by his mission, not the agendas of other people. In Luke chapter 2, Jesus as a 12-year-old boy goes missing and when his parents eventually find him he is in the temple. When they question him about where he has been he replies, "Why were you searching for me? Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?"

Later in John Chapter 4, prior to Jesus meeting the woman at the well, the Bible says that "Jesus had to go to Samaria". The interesting thing is that he was taking a journey to Galilee, which would not usually necessitate going through Samaria. The reason he had to go to Samaria was that he had to visit the woman at the well. His life was ordered by his mission not convenience, and he knew the principle of completing everything at its appointed time.

In John Chapter 11 Jesus finds out his friend Lazarus is sick, this seemed to be an urgent situation. It would appear that the first things first principle would dictate that you would go and visit your friend. However as Jesus knew what he was going to do, he knew that this was not the time to visit Lazarus. Instead he waited until Lazarus died and then visited. When Jesus arrives, Lazarus’s sisters say, "Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died". In other words, “If you had just put first things first then we would not be in this situation”. But Jesus was looking at a bigger picture than their agenda. Jesus wanted to raise Lazarus from the dead but to perform this great miracle he had to delay what other people deemed to be urgent. I am not suggesting we leave our friends to die! But the first things first principles does mean not being ruled by others’ opinions and agendas but always acting out of true priorities

A Tale of Two Kingdoms

2007-07-27T17:11:00.000+12:00

A Tale of Two Kingdoms is a point and click adventure game for PC computers. At one stage adventure games were one of the most popular genres for PC gaming however as computers got more wide spread the market for adventure games decreased and software companies began producing games aimed at a more mainstream market. After being snubbed by commercial companies many adventure game fans have started up their own projects either remaking old games with enhanced graphics or as in the case of Crystal Shards (the makers of ATOTK) releasing their own original adventure games. While most fan team start with great intentions and ambition they never end up completing their projects as it takes literally thousands of hours of work to make an adventure game. That is why it is so nice to see a project that has been followed through to completion.

I downloaded ATOTK (for free!) on Sunday night and was instantly impressed at the level of detail put into the game. It is amazing that people would put so much effort into making something simply for the enjoyment of others and for no monetary gain.

Graphics 7.5/10
The Graphics in ATOTK are fantastic! So much detail has been put into the background art and it is quite amazing how many extra animations they added into the project. They have settled for the classic adventure graphic style, which is VGA and is a retro 1995 feel to the graphics. While they may not be cutting edge technology they are still very easy on the eye and a great example of VGA background and sprites

Story 7/10
All adventure games need a solid story and ATOTK does not disappoint. The game is set in a fantasy land called Theylinn and you play the part of a mercenary solider who has come from another land to help save the kingdom from a goblin invasion. However things don't turn out quite as intended as the king is murdered and you are framed for the murder. One thing that makes many adventure games unplayable for Christians is occultic references and participation in dark magic. While ATOTK does have some magic it is played out like a fairytale and is far more tame then something like Lord of the Rings. So unlike many games that I either pass over or begin to play and then have to stop due to questionable material it was great to find a game that I was able to play and enjoy.

Gameplay 6.5/10
ATOTK has the classic adventure interface and it seems to work very well. The only negatives is that it opened up too much of the game at once rather then revealing piece by piece as the story progressed. It also had far to much dialogue, it can be frustrating for a player to read through so many different replies to questions. On the positive side it has several side quests and also some alternate endings which do add value to the production

Overall 7/10
Overall ATOTK is a good quality adventure game. It is amazing to find a full game that is completely free and so should be downloaded by anyone with an interest in storybased gaming.

Anyone who is interested in the project should check out www.taleoftwokingdoms.com

And for all those who didn't know I was a computer nerd .... now you do!!!

velvet elvis

2007-07-27T10:16:00.000+12:00

velvet elvis, by rob bell

i got this book along with 'blue like jazz' from mal and hazel for my birthday. i liked both books, but in a battle between 'blue like jazz' and 'velvet elvis', i appoint 'velvet elvis' the victor.

both books have a similar aim: the subtitle of 'blue like jazz' is "nonreligious thoughts on christian spirituality", 'velvet elvis' is subtitled "repainting the christian faith". in a world where 'christianity' seems to be becoming less popular as it is besmirched by parting ways with the culture of the day and the actions and words of unwise spokespeople, along with a healthy smattering of prejudice and media spin, books like these that try to get back to the essential core of christianity become increasingly important.

rob bell does an excellent, if not slightly controversial, job of refiguring christianity. he expects, and invites, controversy as a way of engaging with the big issues. i found that i warmed to his book more as it went along.

the man has a gift for communicating his ideas and it is easy to see why his 'mars hill' church has grown so quickly. he says things which at first seem controversial, but underneath this surface there emerges a brand of christianity that is actually quite orthodox. i guess i am going to cop out a little and not discuss any of his ideas in detail - it would be difficult to pinpoint one example in particular because the book is so wide ranging.

'velvet elvis' is nicely presented - interesting design, with ideas delivered in short paragraphs and one-liners.

so i recommend it as a way of looking at christianity that avoids a lot of negative baggage. by the end, i found 'velvet elvis' to be one of those books that you feel disappointed about finishing.

highly recommended.

warandpeace-o-meter: 785/981 (volIII, bookXII, chapXIV)

meanwhile, on the other side of the tasman...

2007-07-26T10:38:00.000+12:00

This is a review / overview of the journey taken so far by a little concept called 'The Everyday Beautiful'.

THE BACKGROUND: Over 540 days, two pals obsessed with the idea of capturing beautiful moments from everyday scenes have logged countless hours of digicam footage, watched small blue progress lines advance, and skillfully manipulated only 3 iMovie filters to create - 7 short films.

What all this means is that Jonathan Nalder and Nicholas Landbeck put on a party (finally) to launch this little project to a wider world. The Everyday Beautiful began as a concept among friends in early 2006 - flickr was making image sharing and collaboration possible and amidst constant terror warnings followed by tv ads to make you feel better, the idea of stopping at various moments thru-out the day to seek out the world's unnoticed beauty had a certain appeal.

A flickr group was started with certain rules - everyday beautiful images must not be photoshopped or adjusted beyond some brightness, contrast and slight colour correction. They must not feature people as their main focus. And the group grew - today it has over 90 members and 1000 images creating an amazing online gallery.

Taking the concept to a new dimension (the third actually!) the boys began using short videos to capture these moments also - be it weird shadows or clouds, or the striking movement of people thru a train station.

THE EVENT: So on 20th July, 30 friends gathered to watch some of the short films, eat, drink and catch up. The night featured 7 screens displaying films and slideshows - one even showing all 1000 online flickr pictures. Another screen featured the 'other beautiful' - a collection of images/videos that we have been inspired by that follow a similar theme (including works by Intraspace founder Andrew Killick).

NOW: Check out the group website at www.everydaybeautiful.info for a timelapse recording of one room from the party, or order a DVD if you dare...

by jnxyz

break-dancing, pop punk and the word of God: saturday night at church

2007-07-24T17:26:00.000+12:00

adolescent pop-punksters with all the right moves - 'a kiss goodbye' took to the stage under coloured lights. whose idea was it to bring back skinny jeans? but you have to admire the abilities of a guy who can high kick in those suckers.

our converted warehouse church building had the chairs pushed back to create a mosh pit and a space for the O2 dance crew up next. the lino floor is much more suitable for breakin' than the carpet on stage.

nathan, the sound guy, had come straight to the event from fishing, and allegedly smelt like fish. i never allowed myself to get close enough to find out. we did, however, share a moment of hilarity when i joked that he had spent the afternoon as a fisher of fish, but this evening he was a fisher of men (matt 4:19). hahaha! christian humour - priceless.

teenagers are hard to please, and pete the mc for the night gave a talk about crowd participation - "you only get out what you put in" he said.

the youth worship band invited people to come closer to the stage for a praise song and they moved quite quickly after pete's talk.

then, as promised, O2 busted the moves, unleashing a mash-up of street styles, and even staging a battle. youth pastor aaron was obliged to bring the moves himself and later confessed to me that dancing in front of people is his worst nightmare. which made me think, "mate that's a pretty easy worst nightmare". comparatively speaking, he obviously isn't phased by the thought of finding himself naked in front of an auditorium of people (a more popular worst nightmare).

with a punk band and a hip hop dance crew on the same billing there was always the potential for the event to turn into a brawl - how can you have guys with their pants so tight and guys with their pants so loose in the same room without creating ill feeling? however, that clash never eventuated. to be fair, the church setting and christian principles probably helped defuse that explosion. also this the 21st century - we are much more accepting these days...

after the youth band played some worship, aaron again stepped forward. this time he was ready to battle under his own rules, he was back in his element - he was preaching. his sermon was all about not letting your up-bringing (good or bad) be an excuse for where you are at now. it was replete with amusing asides and stories about punching his brother in the windpipe (and vice versa).

afterwards, everyone went out to the lounge and bought hotdogs and other nutritious snacks from the cafe, and pete put a hole in the wall by demonstrating his kick-flip abilities.

stephen tetley-jones, who is famous in nz church circles for a show he used to host on radio rhema, came to pick up his kids. he was rockin' navy-blue nike and wearing one of those head-stockings a la 50cent. he asked me what i was doing at a youth event and asked if i was trying to relive my youth. i pointed out to him that the event was in fact a combined event for the youth and the 18-30 group (but failed to mention that i only fit into the 18-30 group based on a technicality, i.e. that 18-30 means "up to and including 30").

and thus, the night wound up a great success. quietly, in the days that followed, aaron discovered that he had overcome his fear of dancing, and i was surprised the next time i saw him to find he was dressed like this:

[not actual photo of aaron and sarah]

transformers

2007-07-22T14:41:00.000+12:00

this is honestly one of the best action/special fx movies i've seen. lance and i headed out to see it a week ago. lance was making a last-minute pre-natal social foray - translated: he's expecting the birth of his second child any day now.

'transformers' is full of action, with very convincing special fx. as you'd expect it has a few cheesy lines, but what surprised me was how amusing parts of it were as well.

lance totally loved this movie, being an original transformers fan and something of a petrol head (car chases and robots!). here's what he had to say about the film:

i thoroughly enjoyed the movie.very good casting, with the two young leads holding their own for the length of the film, with other more experienced actors seemingly playing support roles.

i thought this was a good "re-make" even though it was nothing like the original animated Transformers film, and few key characters did not resemble their original vehicles.

The effects and fight scenes were very entertaining, and the dialogue retained the essence of the 80s Transformers, Good prevails over Evil, and the Transformers are (for some reason) eager to preserve humanity.

I personally LOVED the cars, the old Camaro seemed a great casting for 'BumbleBee' and Optimus Prime's Big Rig featured a stylie modern paint job. Chevy USA obviously threw a bit of weight into the film which gave a bit of 'bling' (for lack of a better word) with a number of Black & Chrome SUV's, trucks, and I even spied a yellow Holden Monaro (badged a Pontiac GTO in USA).

So in summary I loved it, great cars, great cast, fun action film that you actually can take your kids to.

on the headphones: 'never' by terranova, from the album 'b-sides and remixes'.

amazing grace

2007-07-19T11:59:00.000+12:00

a couple of weeks ago, aaron arranged a preview screening of the film 'amazing grace' for our church. this is a film about william wilberforce, who helped abolish slavery in england. it is a high-quality production with brilliant english actors. it stays true to the historical culture of the film by remaining british when the temptation could have been to make it more american for a wider audience.

i was particularly affected by the relationship between former slave-ship captain john newton (played by albert finney), who wrote the hymn 'amazing grace', and wilberforce (played by ioan gruffudd - 'hornblower' and 'the fantastic four').

here are aaron's comments on the film:

I turned up at the Amazing Grace movie and was so busy ensuring that our group of 80 knew where they were going and the process of tickets that I had given little thought to the fact that I was actually there to see the movie. Once everyone was seated I shuffled in and found my seat and was surprised to find myself stirred by emotion. The movie was just starting but I could already sense it was going to be a very inspiring story and so it proved to be.

The story of William Wilberforce’s battle to abolish the slave trade was very well told and it managed to capture the type of emotion and passion that drove Wilberforce. As the movie was telling such an intense story it needed a completely believable cast and in this case they exceeded expectation. Each actor seemed perfect for the role they were playing and you would be hard pressed to find a better example of character casting.

The only thing the movie did not really show was just how horrific the slave trade was. While it did make allusions to the type of treatment slave were subjected to I think it could have been even more impacting had there been just one scene that showed what the slaves had to go through.*

Overall was a most enjoyable movie, it is inspiring what change one person can make if totally committed to a cause.

* watch the film 'amistad' for this

the book thief

2007-07-03T20:19:00.000+12:00

the book thief, by markus zusak

i can't remember when or where this book first caught my eye, but i always thought i would like it. it is the story of a german girl living near munich during WW2. as the title suggests, she has a knack for stealing books.

finally i got hold of a copy when anna found it in the library at the school where she teaches. when i got it in my hands, it immediately disrupted my reading schedule and pushed other books that were more established in my reading queue further down the line.

i don't know why i thought i would like it, but i was right. i compare it to the book by andrei makine that i read earlier this year ('the earth and sky of jacques dorme'). both books have an alternative view of WW2 and are told in beautifully poetic ways with children in the foreground.

i find it hard to review fiction, because you always seem to have to give away part of the plot in the process. i don't want to do that, because it would be much better to let other people discover it for themselves.

the story unfolds in a wonderful way, making use of asides, definitions, and even some cartoons (you have to see it to really understand what i'm talking about). it's tragic, with moments of humour - the tragedy never overpowers the book or the reader but it never loses its significance either. surprisingly, markus zusak is an australian - so i guess that makes this book australian fiction but it is very european. the copy i read is beautifully designed inside and out - i think this is the australian and new zealand edition. it has been released with a different cover now (see below) which is nowhere near as good - i wonder if they have changed the inside as well. it would be a shame if they have.

i recommend this book very highly and wish everyone would read it. and i will return this copy to the library, but i really want to keep it.

warandpeace-o-meter: 669/981 (volIII, bookXI, chapI)

God is here

2007-06-28T11:06:00.000+12:00

God is here, by steve case

i've been a fan of 'the practice of the presence of God' by brother lawrence for about 7 years or so since i read it. it was, without doubt, a book that changed my life. the main idea i got from it (and the one that stays with me) is the concept that God is there continuously - it's just a matter of recognising that fact. we tend to see moments of our heightened awareness of his presence as being the only moments when he is there. in actual fact these moments are simply instances when our senses were turned on to his proximity. he is there all the time.

steve case's 'God is here' is a book that attempts to apply and explain brother lawrence's ideas for a contemporary audience. brother lawrence lived in the 1600s, so you can see why someone might think that his writing needs some interpretation in the 2000s.

anyway, because of my feelings about 'the practice of the presence of God' i approached this book with a couple of thoughts - 1. "this should be good, because it is about such a great book" and 2. "this better be good - the author better not get this wrong."

case does a reasonable job. as usual with american published books, i found myself frustrated with the american context - these books are written with the assumption that all the readers will be american - so we get endless references to 'krispy kream' donuts and such. let's talk about what i'd like to call the 'krispy kream factor'. this is about more than just an american cultural framework. i've noticed recently that christian authors in their anxiety to make their material culturally relevant, lessen the impact of their writing by constantly referring to banal illustrations. you end up with a kind of kitsch image of something profound - like comparing the kind of divine encounters recounted by brother lawrence to sitting on the backporch with a grande starbucks espresso and a box of krispy kreams on a sunday morning. american christian authors seem obsessed with coffee and donuts.

case is trying to apply the ideas in brother lawrence's book to my everyday life. but it doesn't always work because i was first impacted by the unmediated reading of the original (i didn't need anyone to explain it) and also because i don't really identify with the krispy kream factor.

that's my rave finished. all that being said, the book reminded me about brother lawrence and got me thinking about his stuff again. and some of the things that case pointed out were helpful to me.

and, i finished reading this book on the deck yesterday, in the sunshine - which was a blissful experience that proved a lot of what case was saying... enjoy the moments, know that God is there. and i did (without donuts and coffee).

warandpeace-o-meter: 669/981 (volIII, bookXI, chapI)

on the stereo 'to build a home' by the cinematic orchestra, from the album 'ma fleur'.

we were mel gibson

2007-06-26T10:10:00.000+12:00

a mel gibson-themed movie review slot for you today...

old 'blood n guts' gibson eh? i'm not a gibson-basher by any stretch of the imagination - he's been involved in some great movies over the years. and you could probably even argue that these are two of them (pictured) but a huge amount of the budget of his films must surely go to the make-up department - in particular for the purchase of 'blood supplies'.

in the great tradition of mel gibson films, blood gushes everywhere in 'we were soldiers' and 'apocalypto'.

the first is the story of a united states cavalry regiment (riding in on newly introduced iroquois helicopters) that goes straight into the middle of firefight with the north vietnamese army. needless to say, the americans are out-numbered about 1000:1 (an exaggeration, but you take my point) and fight for honour, holding out against incredible odds. this is apparently based on a true event. it is quite a good movie, but there are just so many 'firefight' movies about americans against the odds these days (i guess movies about the united states overwhelming lightly armed enemies wouldn't be as exciting. actually it is interesting to note that even though the main strategy of the u.s. military since hiroshima has been been to engulf the enemy in superior firepower, all the movies are about american individuals caught in tricky situations that usually seem to be the result of poor planning in the upper echelons and under-estimating the enemy). the battlefield action in 'we were soldiers' was nicely offset against a subplot about the wives of the soldiers in the regiment.

the second film, 'apocalypto', is set in the mayan world just prior to the arrival of the europeans. city-dwelling mayan folk are suffering from drought and pestilence, so they decide to go and round up a few jungle-dwelling mayan folk to offer up as sacrifices to their god. and so the carnage commences. the story is focussed on a particular jungle-dweller named jaguar paw who is taken prisoner and tries to escape so that he can return to his ruined village and save his wife and child. meanwhile, we are treated to an upclose portrayal of the mayan lifestyle that includes all manner of blood n guts. it is a rather harrowing film to watch, but i think it was worth it and i think i recommend watching it. as was fashionable at the time of the film's release, i recall that mel gibson was accused of racism against the mayans for his portrayal, and i have to say the film doesn't leave them looking terribly attractive - but if it actually is based on historical evidence then so be it.

a strong stomach or desensitised sensibilities probably required to casually watch these films. alternatively you could be prepared to be affected by them.

this american life

2007-06-25T13:12:00.000+12:00

podcasting is great. i mean, basically a lot of it is people doing amateur radio shows - kind of the radio version of blogging actually. but of course there are lots of 'official' podcasts as well - and some are by actual radio stations.

one of these is called 'this american life'. it is a radio show that has run on american public radio for over 10 years - apparently now it is also a tv show. but the part i love is that they release their weekly radio show as a podcast.

'this american life' is a very eclectic [liberal] show, but it has as its heart an examination of american culture. i personally think it is very useful for us non-americans to study the american culture in this way because it influences the rest of the world so much. i think it gives us useful insights into this dominant cultural force.

each week, 'this american life' has a seemingly random theme and then people are interviewed, tell their stories etc based on that theme. some recent themes include: 'road trip' (about the american road trip tradition), 'big wide world' (mainly about a young iraqi guy who works as a translator for the western media in iraq - excellent episode) and 'notes on camp' (people telling their stories about summer camp).

but the episode that inspired me to write this review was one about guantanamo bay. i really and honestly think everyone should listen to this podcast - whether or not you think you are interested in the goings-on at america's terrorist prison. the episode is somewhat mysteriously called 'Habeas Schmabeas 2007' (all will be revealed when you listen to the podcast). it is a rerun of an episode that 'this american life' aired last year (i think), with some updates. in this episode they interview some actual past detainees of guantanamo bay and some of the attorneys that are representing current prisoners. it is very enlightening.

the original episode won a peabody award - whatever the heck that is (oh, here we go). which means, that is it very very good. a quick hunt reveals that unless you were a 'this american life' podcast subscriber (free, through itunes, or by using this link http://feeds.thisamericanlife.org/talpodcast

Leadership Excellence

2007-06-22T11:05:00.000+12:00

Leadership Excellence by Phil Pringle

Having heard Phil Pringle preach and teach on numerous occasions I decided it was time to read one of his books. As I am currently trying to develop my leadership skills this seemed like the right title to start on.

I was really captivated by the first two chapters of this book, rather then giving me laws and principles of leadership it was hammering home the heart and character of the leader. This really challenged me on a personal level and led to some healthy self examination.

The rest of the book was very helpful, mixing leadership principles and character development. Overall it provided some good tips, pitfalls to avoid and some very sound biblical teaching on leadership.

One criticism is that the book is a little bit too long(276 pages). At times he repeated himself and also used too many motivational stories. It could have easily been condensed without losing its effectiveness.

However often the key with books like this is not trying to process the whole book but to pick up one or two key ideas that fit into where you are at and work on implementing them. So on that front it certainly succeeded in giving me the next step in leadership development

In closing here are a few quotes I enjoyed from the book

"When people join our church, we tell them they are now members of a house, not a hotel"

"The scripture tells us that 'Lot.... chose for himself. This will always be a poor decision"

"Sometime we want some thing more than the will of God. We are clever at cloaking this desire with the line 'God told me'

oceans 13

2007-06-19T17:53:00.000+12:00

oceans 13

i went to see this on the second day of its release here in new zealand.

by way of full-disclosure, i should say that i am an 'oceans' fan so am probably horrendously biased. i loved it. i went with a group from church and when the lights came on, aaron said, "it was better than 12". he might have been right, but i can honestly say i love all of them. i don't have a favourite - well, i suppose i'd have to say that 11 is my favourite because that's when the magic started.

[amusing aside: aaron is a youth pastor and when he told the youth group that he was going to oceans 13, one of the girls said, "i've seen oceans 11 & 12, but i haven't seen 1 to 10."]

13 displayed the usual goodness of quirky characters, clever plot devices (but without the major twists of the other ones), beautiful camera work and graphics, painfully cool music etc etc. julia roberts was missing - which jonathan said would be a good thing and i have to agree - as was catherine zeta-jones (which is a pity). they were traded in for al pacino. al pacino is a great actor but he plays a low-key, intimidating character best and i felt that he was overshadowed by the exaggerated characters of the rest of the cast. what i mean is, the al pacino character (bank) didn't stand out as much as the other characters.

a great movie. and while aaron said he thought it would be a good idea if this one was the last oceans movie, i found myself walking along the street afterwards wanting one more.

on the headphones: 'ma fleur' by the cinematic orchestra, from the album 'ma fleur'.

Aspiring Modern Creature

2007-06-15T15:32:00.000+12:00

(a commentry on being white, male, middle class, a father-to-be, geeky, and laid up after having wisdom teeth out)
14.6.07

In bath with iceburgs in one's cheeks.
A pause to mourn two unborn teeth,
a loss of wisdom, but in
a space-saving decision,
they had to come out.
For a few days I'm a vegetable
-eating pain in the ass,
a swollen headrive,
not talking, not contributing

Warm water love comes my way,
sympathy from one tap with
biotics from the other.
Around are surroundings honed to fit
this house, this peaceful place of us
with connections & screens, decks & views,
Chopin and Augie, BBC and Jerry.

I celebrate our bump, I plan, compose, aspire,
sleep, listen, rinse, play with icecream
wonder
good is bad:
in pain but get paid to rest it off
laid low but have the earth
& promises of heaven besides.
Others are washed away, or deserted by f*#%!^ up husbands,
disabled by age, or killed for not denouncing.

Blender starts & brings me out of this.
If you've been hesitating getting yours out,
& can count on the love of a good woman,
then book in today!
Winter is the time for soup -
This is me keeping you all in the loop.

the complete stories

2007-06-09T11:47:00.000+12:00

the complete stories, by truman capote

you may not know this - i hadn't clicked - but truman capote wrote 'breakfast at tiffany's', which was turned into a classic film starring audrey hepburn. a classic film which, while i'm mentioning it, you should watch. all this, by the way, really doesn't have anything to do with this review, except as a piece of trivia about truman capote.

reading short stories is probably a good way of getting a taste of an author. from a literary study point of view they also often reveal the development of an author, because short stories are sometimes written as a kind of primer for novels.

out of this book i discovered for myself that capote had an extraordinary gift for description, and wrote prose that flows beautifully. unsurprisingly, when you know that he wrote the book 'in cold blood' (which the film 'capote' is all about), many of his stories have a dark edge - something which is known as 'southern gothic' in american literary studies.

the stories date from 1943 to 1982 and find a series of characters in odd situations of 'everyday' life. the characters themselves are usually unsettled to some degree. towards the end of the book capote writes about three autobiographical stories which are quite touching - especially the last one - a perfect ending to the book i thought - all about a visit he made as a child to his birth-father's house in new orleans. this carries added poignancy when you consider that the story was the second-to-last thing of capote's that was published during his lifetime.

i think i'll be reading more by capote in the future. highly recommended.

warandpeace-o-meter: 600/981 (volII, bookX, chapXVI)

wimbledon green

2007-06-04T16:36:00.000+12:00

wimbledon green, by seth (gregory gallant)

this is the second graphic novel i've read in the last couple of weeks. this one wasn't overly brilliant - but it was reasonably interesting.

it is all about a mysterious comic collector named wimbledon green. it is kind of a character sketch of green and is told mainly through the recollections of other collectors who have had dealings with him. we find out that he's been involved in a number of scandals, no-one knows his true identity and he is a man of strange habits. the comic collecting world is divided between those who loath him and those who think he is a genius. the recollections of the collectors are presented in kind of an interview format - so panel after panel just feature the head and shoulders of the character telling the story. this gets a bit monotonous. occasionally there are narrative sequences and it's really a shame that the whole book isn't like this, or mainly like this.

it is nicely presented - i love it when graphic novels are enhanced by nice book design. this one has a green hard cloth cover with rounded corners and gold embossing - making it look vintage in style - i suppose to match the era of the comics that wimbledon green collects. seth, the author, is friends with chris ware - whose book design is always brilliant. the 'about the author' blurb cites seth as a book designer in his own right.

maybe this book would be more interesting if you were more familiar with the collector world. but somewhat enjoyable nonetheless. doing some reading on seth on the internet, i discover that he nearly always has characters who are collectors - "Collectors are interesting because they seek out things that no one cares about and find out the vital information regarding those items. They catalogue and interview related creators, manufacturers etc. They preserve important cultural items." Actually this is a pretty interesting article (interview).

on the stereo: 'all that can be' by fly my pretties, from the album 'the return of fly my pretties'.

Children of women

2007-06-03T11:01:00.000+12:00

Seems funny, but the film I'm reviewing here, 'Children of Men' is not in fact about men having children! That's right, but it is a smart contemporary sci-fi film about Women not having children, and then one who does. You might normally think that the terms 'contemporary' and 'sci-fi' don't match, but director Alfonso Cuaron (responsible for the absolute highlight of the Harry Potter series, 'Prisoner of Azkaban', as well as some darker Mexican films) has really mastered this strange juxtaposition.

Its England, around 2027. The place is now a police state overun by immigrants, and the youngest person in the world has just died. That's right, no one's had kids for 18 or so years. I will say no more on the storyline, except to say it really pulls out thru allegory some of the themes facing Britian and western countries right now, like illegal immigrants and the rise of a 'big brother' state.

Top acting from Micheal Caine and Clive Owen keep things very believable, as does the blistering camera work this film is known for - several continuous, multi-minute shots that stick like glue to the characters thru warzones and harrowing gang attacks. 8/10 my friends.

3 + 1 movies

2007-06-02T12:17:00.000+12:00

three excellent movies plus one that wasn't that great:

deja vu. an excellent movie. a time-shifting drama all about an investigator (denzel) who tries to stop a passenger ferry being blown up in new orleans. remarkably good acting and film work distracts from the usual questions and problems that time-travel films bring up. there are lots of nice touches - one of them was the fact that the film was set in new orleans and includes incidental footage of still-flood-devastated neighbourhoods. highly recommended.

capote. another excellent movie. very good. philip seymour hoffman does an incredible job of acting the lead role. all about how author truman capote came to write his classic 'in cold blood'. beautifully filmed. here's a screenshot:

although this film arrived randomly in the mail off my fatso list, the timing was fascinating because i'm currently reading capote's complete short stories. so there was a brilliant interchange between the two media. highly recommended.

little miss sunshine. less intense than the other two but still very good. the really strange thing about this film is that it would have been disney if it hadn't been for all the bad language, themes involving suicide and other random weirdness. an excellent comedy that parodies (i think) other feel-good family roadtrip comedies. highly recommended.

which brings us to the final film. i love sci-fi flicks - and there simply aren't enough of them coming out to satisfy my interest. so because i have already seen all the good ones (matrix 1, bladerunner, fifth element, minority report, brazil, space odyssey 2001, the island etc etc) i watched recent release, ultra violet. disappointing. storyline was ok. acting wasn't great. cgi was goodish (mostly) - but not enough to carry the movie. equilibrium, by the same director, was much better. and in the kickarse female futuristic comic-turned-movie stakes, aeon flux beats ultra violet absolutely hands down. both films were not well received by critics, but aeon flux was much cooler at every level. not very recommended at all (but do watch aeon flux).

on the heaphones: 'wake up' by arcade fire, from the album 'funeral'.

insights

2007-05-23T18:08:00.000+12:00

insights: new zealand artists talk about creativity, by gareth shute

blimin' gareth shute! first of all he keeps on writing books that i'm interested in. then when you read them, they engage their subject on a reasonably simple level, but you end up engrossed and not only that but inspired to go out and try what ever his subject was.

he did this to me with 'hiphop music in aotearoa' (which won a montana book award). i read that and, although i'm not a hiphop fanatic, i found myself wanting to go out and create hiphop, or at least some kind of music.

with his latest book, he hit me a lot closer to home. 'insights' features 52 new zealand artists from across all disciplines - including writing, painting, photography, music, dance (hey, i just realised, no architects or fashion designers). each artist talks about their process of creativity. when you are interested in creativity, all this reading about different people's creative processes drives you wild with passion! i felt like an alcoholic outside a pub (except i'm sure being addicted to creativity isn't so much of a vice).

what makes the book even more interesting is the fact that it is based in new zealand - another thing that i'm pretty keen on.

so, i'd have to say highly recommended. the book reveals the depth and breadth of new zealand art, and describes a scene where artists are creating innovative and interesting work despite limited resources. another thing that comes out is the variation in creative processes - each process is unique to the individual - no patterns or formulas are obvious.

well worth owning and reading.

on the stereo: 'live with me (alternate version)' by massive attack, from the live with me single.

warandpeace-o-meter: 553/981 (volII, bookX, chapI)

get a life

2007-05-21T18:43:00.000+12:00

get a life, by dupuy and berberian

with a hour to kill while i waited for my tyre to be replaced and wheels aligned, i wandered into town to visit the library. they're renovating the library at the moment and that day the entire non-fiction floor was closed. this meant i had to browse the fiction section instead of the usual art and design sections. fortunately, the fiction section contains a small but rather well-maintained graphic novel shelf. so i ended up leaving the library with two new graphic novels and a book of truman capote's short stories (reviews to come...)

the next day, having decided to take a morning off church, i got some extra sleep and launched into one of the two graphic novels - 'get a life' by french illustrator/authors dupuy and berberian.

i have two basic criteria for selecting graphic novels: 1. drawing style and 2. not too much moral debauchery. this one seemed to fit the bill - especially on the drawing style criteria. dupuy and berberian use a classic french style that reminds me of certain books i read as a kid - one was called 'dustman dan' or 'dan the dustman' or something.

anyway, this is the first time i have come across the work of dupuy and berberian, but apparently they are quite well known. 'get a life' is a compilation of shorter stories about their character monsieur jean - a moderately successful author who is on the cusp of turning 30. according to the introduction, monsieur jean is how dupuy and berberian work out their own angst at having to grow up and take responsibility.

jean's existence is seinfeld-like, but the stories are told with french je ne sais crois. despite the trials of everyday life (insomnia, a dragon landlandy or rather concierge, past girlfriends, current girlfriends, annoying old friends and book signings), jean manages to stumble through life in quite a charming way that stops him from looking pathetic and ends in a nice little happy ending.

recommended.

warandpeace-o-meter: 553/981 (volII, bookX, chapI)

joyeux noël

2007-05-21T17:29:00.001+12:00

joyeux noël, directed by christian carion

this is one of the best films i've seen this year - a bit of a tear-jerker but with edge and substance.

the story is based on the fraternisations that took place during WW1 between enemy troops on the front line. this is a fictionalised account of german, french and scottish troops coming together to celebrate christmas eve, thanks largely to a german tenor who sings 'silent night'. that may sound a little cheesy - but the juxtapositions between the hostility and violence of the front with the human kindness that eventuates is stunning. the film is beautifully shot and acted. one of the great things is that germans speak german, french speak french and scots speak english, which makes it more believeable and helps to immerse you in the realism of the film.

highly recommended.

modern art and the death of a culture

2007-05-19T16:57:00.000+12:00

modern art and the death of a culture, by h.r. rookmaaker

looking on the title page of my copy of this book, i see i have dated it 1998 - which means that it's taken me almost 10 years to get around to reading it. the daunting and critical-sounding title made me wonder if i wanted to. i'm glad i did.

the field of christianity and the arts is beginning to grow these days (both academically and in practice), but 30 years ago most christians didn't want to touch modern art with a ten-foot barge pole. into that gap stepped francis schaeffer and his friend hans rookmaaker (a jazz critic and art historian). 'modern art and the death of a culture' was rookmaaker's major work in this area, and the lack of other writing by christians on this subject at the time makes his book a seminal masterpiece.

the book was published in 1970, just as modern art was climaxing - by that year, virtually everything that you could do in art (barring technilogical developments) had been done. this of course included some extreme and freaky work, but even at the less extreme end, people (especially the majority of christians) found contemporary art to be distasteful and abhorrent - many of them were still 'coming to terms' with modern art that had come out in 1910 (some of them still are).

rookmaaker's masterstroke was engaging with the art world rather than condemning it. in this book he heavily critiques modern art, but he mines out what he believes is essentially at the heart of the apparent destructiveness of it - a sense of loss and despair. and again, rather than condemning this fact, rookmaaker examines that this is the natural result of the process of humanism and the enlightenment. and so, he says, modern art accurately represents where western society has come to as a result of the enlightenment framework. he doesn't dislike modern art at all - he simply wants it to have more hope and beauty.

he argues that bourgeois niceness is not the answer - it is equally as bad, if not worse, than the negative elements of modern art. instead he challenges christians to meet the modern world where it is, and offer alternatives.

there is so much in this book, that i couldn't possibly summarise it all here - in fact what i have just written is really only my take on what rookmaaker is saying.

for me, what i found interesting was examining rookmaaker's predictions about the future as he saw it in 1970. i'm not an expert in this, but i think some of rookmaaker's predictions have come true, and on the other hand, i feel that the art world has stepped back from the precipice it was on the edge of in 1970. the main reason is that there is nothingness over the edge. and so the art world has struck camp 100 metres or so from the edge, and stretches back from there. if this is true, then we can see what modern art accomplished as being a true revolution, complete with violence and harm but in the end creating significant freedom.

the other great thing about the book is the challenge it lays down for christians - the challenge, as i have said, not to retreat into bourgeois niceness but to get out there and engage. i believe there is now a definite christian arts movement under way - i can see it gathering momentum even since the late 90s when i was at university - and i think rookmaaker would have approved. but his challenge still rings true and relevant.

for it's on-going relevancy and its historical importance, i think 'modern art and the death of a culture' should forever remain a crucial text in the tradition of christian cultural study and practice.

highly recommended.

on the headphones: 'attack el robot! attack!' by calexico, from the album 'feast of wire'.

warandpeace-o-meter: 553/981 (volII, bookX, chapI)

6 films, 30 hours

2007-04-29T09:37:00.000+12:00

my body packed a sad at the end of this week and so i decided to embark on a movie marathon. armed with a 5 dvds for $5 voucher i crawled down to the local video store.

i didn't have any films in mind, so after 20 minutes of browsing and visiting the bakery for an apple turnover, i returned home to start consuming my movie smorgasborg.

straight into darkness. with a title like that, i have no idea why i started with this one... anyway, it turned out to be a good use of a low budget, but what an odd film it is. i can't decide if i like it or not. it's about two american ww2 deserters who end up walking through an almost post-apocalyptic landscape before joining a group of french partisans who are fighting the nazis. what makes this really odd is that this group is mostly composed of special needs children, led by an old couple. the entire film is set either in bleak winter conditions or at night and sometimes almost feels like a horror movie. however, the movie climaxes in a showdown between this odd group of children (aided by the old couple and the two deserters) and an entire german regiment assisted by a tank... what the?!

everything is illuminated. brilliant film! i wasn't too sure about watching a film starring the doe-eyed elijah wood, but the synopsis sounded good. an american jewish kid goes to the ukraine to find out where his grandfather came from when he fled from the nazis during the war. wood plays a very quirky character - jonathan safran foer - who obsessively collects mementos of the life of his family. the film is narrated by an america-loving ukrainian break dancer named alex whose family runs a rather shoddy tour operation that helps american jews find out about their ancestry. alex and his family (especially his cranky grandfather) are the highlight of this film. jonathan (or "jonfan" as alex calls him) engages the help of alex and his family, and an amusing roadtrip with emotion commences. this film was a true gem and i have no idea why it hasn't won awards.

EDtv. a bit of a movie classic that i'd never watched, all about an ordinary guy who signs on for reality tv show that broadcasts his entire life live 24 hours a day. it is all fairly predictable, with the main character (played by matthew mcconaughey - who i don't like because his acting always seems a bit soulless) who falls in love etc and nearly lets fame go to his head before realising what is really important in life and fighting the tv channel to get out of his contract and return to normal life, so that he can get on and be with the girl he loves. when this came out in 1999, the reality tv thing was the latest craze, but i think the movie has dated pretty badly - which of course is the problem with films that deal with current crazes and issues. quite entertaining though, so no harm done in watching it. the most touching thing about this movie is that director ron howard gave his old 'happy days' mate ralph malph a bit part.

the ringer. in the middle of my marathon, this dvd arrived in the mailbox from fatso.co.nz, and suddenly my 5 movie marathon had grown into 6. this is a mildly amusing comedy starring johnnie knoxville, about a guy who pretends to be mentally challenged so that he can win the special olympics, rig a bet, and thereby get enough money so that he can pay for an operation to have his lawnmower man's fingers sewn back on. of course, he falls in love with one of his carers - but will she forgive him when he confesses his ruse??? this is real film tension, people. anyway, it is what it is - light comedy entertainment. so, after two fairly entertaining and unchallenging films, i was ready for something a bit more interesting.

criminal. i can't really describe this movie too much without giving the whole thing away. it is another film about con artists, but it is really rather good. the cast is excellent. the main character is a hardened con man (not a very nice fellow at all) who takes a young grifter under his wing and suddenly finds himself confronted with a prime opportunity to make some extra money by selling a forged rare banknote. the film is nicely done and is a character study as much as anything, but it still moves along at a nice pace with good changes in the direction of the plot along the way. well worth watching. produced, i see, by george clooney - so it has a little of the oceans 12 about it but without the glamour - a lot more grit.

atanarjuat: the fast runner. and the most unusual film last. not that i'm unaccustomed to festival and indie films, but i've never seen a film quite like this before. the story is based on an old inuit legend and is set in the canadian artic 1000 or so years ago. it is the story of two brothers: atanarjuat, the fast runner, and amaqjuaq, the strong one. a shaman casts a spell on their group and evil intentions enter their clan. oki, the son of the camp leader, and atanarjuat come into conflict over a girl named atuat, and then later when atanarjuat offends oki's sister. however, oki tries to kill atanarjuat and his brother but atanarjuat gets away - by running butt-naked across the ice flow. well, this is a long and involved story, so i'll leave the synopsis there. the movie is filmed at a steady pace that seems to match the arctic landscape and the film runs (no pun intended) to 2hrs 40min. it is shot in almost a documentary style and it is the first movie ever made in the inuit language. i'm not sure if i like it or not - but i was certainly impacted by it. so i'd have to say that it is a good movie.

and so, with this marathon film, my marathon came to an end. not bad going when you consider i had a full night's sleep in that 30 hours as well - although my apple turnover only lasted for the first 5 minutes of the first film.

10,000 songs: last.fm

2007-04-28T13:24:00.000+12:00

i've been a member of online music network last.fm since may last year. just prior to reaching my 12 month anniversary, i hit another milestone: i have listened to 10,000 songs on my computer since signing up (an average of about 28 songs a day). i thought i'd celebrate this momentous occasion by reviewing last.fm...

the basic premise of last.fm is this: create an account there, then download a plug-in for whatever media player you use on your computer (i use itunes). the plug-in technology that last.fm have developed is called 'audioscrobbler'. the scrobbler plug-in sends the names of the tracks you are listening to in realtime to the last.fm server. last.fm then displays to the world what you are listening to, and creates personal charts for you - showing your top 10 artists for the week, month, all-time etc.

based on your listening habits, last.fm then matches you with 'neighbours' - people who have similar listening tastes. there are also online groups based around various themes, and you are free to start up or join any of these groups. each group comes with a forum and combined listening charts of its members.

so for example, it is possible to get combined charts for all the last.fm users who live in new zealand. as i write this, the most listened to artist amongst nz last.fm users last week was muse - followed by red hot chili peppers, radiohead, tool and the beatles. there are 4,358 last.fm users who live in nz (there are 326,421 users in the states, 100,115 users in the uk and 24,127 users in australia).

for me, the main attraction of belonging to last.fm is a bizarre and somewhat simple-minded fascination with seeing the songs i am listening to magically appear on the internet as i am listening to them... i can't even describe, much less convince you, how exciting this is.

the second great thing is seeing my weekly charts - i think i take them as a kind of summary of my level of 'cool'. although i realise this is very arbitrary, seeing as everyone thinks that the music they listen to is cool. my charts are also an indication of my musical taste identity.

the third reason i like last.fm is that i can see what my friends (the ones that are also members of last.fm) are listening to. it satisfies my curiosity, but it can also lead me to discovering new music because i know how my taste compares with my friends.

this of course brings me to the fourth reason why i like last.fm - i can discover new music. this is done by looking at my friends' charts (as i've said), by looking at my neighbours' charts and also through the music recommendations that last.fm offers based on your listening habits. last.fm also includes an online recommendations radio tailored to your taste (plus a range of other features) but i've never really got into this.

so here we have a very clever web concept which no doubt provides very valuable marketing tools and statistics to the music industry, but also provides a fascinating and useful user experience. when you consider the complexity of a system that is logging and processing stats to this level, the service works very well - there are occasional glitches but i think we can excuse them. in the time i have been a member the service has improved dramatically, along with growth which probably even took the site's creators by surprise. 10,000 songs later it gets a big thumbs up from me.

go and join up and when you do add hooseyfloot as a friend...

on the headphones: 'vertigo' by u2, from the album 'how to dismantle an atomic bomb'.

our sunshine

2007-04-27T16:00:00.000+12:00

our sunshine, by robert drewe

this, apparently, is the book that the film 'ned kelly' was based on. as is often the case though, i didn't notice too many similarities other than the fact that both were about ned kelly.

i picked this up as a quick read - a book that anna got at an op shop i think. it turned out to be quite good. the narrative style is almost a stream-of-consciousness approach - it has a poetic quality to it.

i think there is a connection here between the bush balladry of the likes of banjo patterson ('the man from snowy river' etc) - not that it reads like a ballad, but there is a connection in the atmosphere and feeling. perhaps this connection is merely a result of the australian setting, but either way, i think this is a very australian book.

the book presents the thoughts of ned kelly himself in a way that is almost dream-like and the narrative unfolds through recollections. despite the methodology, the narrative becomes coherent, and i think that this is the true skill of robert drewe in writing this book.

the main setting and climax of the book is the final showdown between the kelly gang and the police, and this climax is where the dream-like quality of the book comes to the fore.

drewe has used a lot of imaginative license with the story, but notes at the end of the book that this is fitting for a main character who is mostly known through legend.

good book, worth reading.

warandpeace-o-meter: 437/981 (volII, bookVIII, chapI)

Cricket, what else: a trans-Tasman conversation

2007-04-25T12:21:00.000+12:00

Possibly this is an appropriate posting for ANZAC day, an Aussie commiserating with his Kiwi mate...
----------------------------------------------

On 21/04/2007 at 2:51 AM Jonathan Nalder wrote:
re: the NZ vs Australia Super 8 game
- why you guys do a sri lanka and leave out 2 of your 4 best? I'm staying up and i want a contest!

On 21/04/2007, at 5:34 AM, Andrew Killick wrote:
- sorry - doesn't seem that you are going to get a contest. it is our trick tactic, let you guys win and then cane you in the finals.

On 25/04/2007 at 9:04 AM Jonathan Nalder wrote:
re: Loss to Sri Lanka
- commiseration's as I was going foR you guys in this one. Maybe patel and franklin need to bat higher up!?

On 25/04/2007, at 9:43 AM, Andrew Killick wrote:
- oh man, it is very disappointing - we were playing so much better than we did in those last two games - but everyone will remember the season by those game. class teams we lost to, but nevertheless...

On 25/04/2007 at 10:30 AM Jonathan Nalder wrote:
- sad about fleming too, tho 10 years is a fair while to be captain... in an interview at the bbc cricket site (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/6588767.stm) he talks about how well they did with what they've got - sad but sometimes true - however that kind of attitude, that there's always that excuse is bad bad bad i think - I mean with Oram, vitori, bond and styris all fit - thats enough to take anyone down and they should see themselves as world class, not happy with 3rd or 4th if they're gonna go further. My thoughts. Might put this conversation up on intraspace. J

the importance of being foolish

2007-04-18T12:32:00.000+12:00

the importance of being foolish, by brennan manning

this is a book i found sitting on a table at my mum's house and decided to take with me.

brennan manning is a franciscan priest best known for his book 'the ragamuffin gospel' (which i also have in my possession - review sometime in the future). faced with the choice of reading this book and 'the ragamuffin gospel', i decided to read this one because i like the cover design...

in the event, it turned out to be one of the most impacting christian books i've ever read.

manning begins by emphasising the toughness of the christian calling - as found principally in jesus' sermon on the mount. he notes that christianity has watered down the magnitude of what jesus has called his followers to. his point is that although jesus' teaching is a hard teaching, we should nevertheless still aim to fulfill what jesus has called us to, rather than making excuses for it.

manning goes on to describe the way in which western society is addicted to security, pleasure and power. he describes western christians as 'schizophrenic', and says that we have become expert at sharing ourselves between material concerns and our spiritual calling, rather than letting our spiritual calling consume every area of our lives. serving two masters, he says, leads to anxiety and stress as we are pulled in two directions, constantly trying to cater for both masters.

the antidote for all this, says manning, is an awareness of God's love and an understanding of the cross and resurrection.

when you condense manning's message down like i have here, it sounds a bit confrontational and judgmental, but he has a peculiar knack for being able to deliver straight truths compassionately (a character trait that he has no doubt learned from jesus).

the title - 'the importance of being foolish' - is a little misleading at first. this book is a rewrite of an earlier volume called 'gentle revolutionaries' - which, i think, is probably a more accurate title. there are a lot of verses in the bible that make it clear that foolishness is not really the way to go. but the 'foolishness' that manning refers to is the variety found in 1 Corinthians 1:22-24: "Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God." it is what manning calls "resurrection wisdom" - an inverted kind of wisdom that doesn't make sense unless there has been an experience of God's love and sacrifice.

protestants and pentecostals shouldn't be put off by the fact that this is a catholic author - manning is first and foremost a follower of jesus, and so his message is entirely biblical.

so all in all, an excellent and impacting book. for more info on brennan manning, go to www.brennanmanning.com. highly recommended.

warandpeace-o-meter: 391/981 (volII, bookVI, chapXXIV)

on the stereo: 'green grass of tunnel' by múm, from the album 'finally we are no one'. www.randomsummer.com

pocket symphony

2007-04-14T16:06:00.000+12:00

'pocket symphony' by air

it is really is true that no matter how into downloading music you get, there is nothing like having an actual album in your hand. it is a concrete thing.

i was pleased to recently spend some music vouchers i got for my birthday on the new album from french band, air.

over the last ten years or so, air have become the undisputed kings of down tempo lounge electronic music - despite stiff competition from zero 7 (but air came first, so they win). i'll get straight to the point and say that i think 'pocket symphony' is their second best album ever (after 'moon safari'). their previous album 'talkie walkie' had moments of brilliance, but i think this new album is all up a better thing.

a feature of this album is a zen minimalist approach that they have garnered from japan, so the whole album has a slightly oriental feel (in a good way). the best indicator from 'talkie walkie' about the direction they would head for their new album was the track 'alone in kyoto', which was featured in the film 'lost in translation' (great film). so this new album is very mellow indeed - it floats along rather nicely.

guest vocalists on the album (which is, by the way, mainly instrumental) include jarvis cocker. i get the distinct feeling that jarvis is quite popular in france (there is a definite touch of the moulin rouge about him). i personally think he is a bit of tosser (excuse the term) but i'm grateful for his appearance on the album because he does a good job and his style blends rather nicely with air's music.

another advantage of having guest vocalists is that it means the air boys themselves stay away from the microphone. our bonne hommes nicolas godin and jean-benoît dunckel insist on singing in english and their lyrics often verge on out and out silliness. thankfully all their vocal work on 'pocket symphony' is subtle - except on the track 'once upon a time' (which i think may be the single). a sample of the lyrics from this track:

i'm a little boy, you're a little girl, once upon a time
i'm a little boy, you're a little girl, once upon a time
time's getting on
time's over now

i ask you?! this is the only track i now skip on the cd. but air fans have become accustomed to this feature of air. afterall, their first big single ever was 'sexy boy' - not a song of tremendous lyrical genius. i also think that air fans have come to accept that the band has always trod a fine line between cheesiness and brilliance. fortunately for us, they come down on the side of brilliance far more often.

in this day and age of digital music, downloads etc, i think that any album review should cover the cd packaging and any bonus content that ships with the cd. the artwork on 'pocket symphony' is superb - the photography features resin figurines of nicolas and jean-benoît in different locations. for a feel of the artwork visit www.pocket-symphony.com.

the cd features 'opendisc' technology. you can rip the tracks an unlimited amount (it's not copy-protected), but inserting the cd into your computer rom drive launches a portal that allows you to register your copy and then access exclusive content online. this content includes two rather nice bonus tracks (including another one featuring jarvis cocker) and video material. apparently new content will be added over time - so they say. so, there is good incentive for buying the cd rather than just downloading the tracks.

all up, an excellent album that is well worth buying.

Review: Being 32

2007-04-12T17:41:00.000+12:00

[I just turned 32, so thought perhaps I could contribute to intraspace best by starting with something ultra-personal.]

Now that I stop and think about it, 32 does actually feel different. Its taken a couple of years obviously, and I honestly thought there was no such thing as a 30's 'feeling'. Let me explain. I've always believed in mind over matter, being able to choose ones attitude to oneself. After all, why get carried away with random emotoins when one can pick and choose? So to admit that forces not of my choosing may be shaping my life is a big step.

At age 32, you really probably have done a few things. You've got at least one of the major things you'd always wanted. Probably more. And this feels fulfilling, not totaly empty as full blown materialism does, but good, ok even. Maybe you've travelled, had girlfriends, got married, experienced highs and lows and actually got a bit of a grip on what life is like. Life as an adult I mean. its a time when you've nearly lived more years as an adult than as a child. You really do start to look forward a bit more - with a better idea of what should fill the next years. you know at lesat what you don't want ahead, as opposed to hoping you do.

At 32, all this certainty for the first time starts to feel like not a bad thing. Having things locked down, being locked down strangely is ok, even preferrable. Seeing as 40 is the new 30, you have many years left before needing that sportscar or toyboy. This is perhaps the beginning of the best years of your life, for even when challenges come, your relative youth, developing wisdom and financial stabilty will stand you in good stead.

So, at age 32, let's not forget to be proud, but to watch out for pride. And please feel free to give or take a few years when reading '32' in this post.
- So say we all, J

the dawn of a new blogging era

2007-04-11T09:35:00.000+12:00

some changes are afoot at intraspace! tired of just reading my own reviews of books that i've read, i've decided to open up the blog to other contributors and have also opened up the scope of the site.

so, now there will be reviews on all manner of things (books, films, albums, concerts... you name it) - well, that's the aim anyway. the majority of the authors will be christian in their worldview, although this won't necessarily be overt (sometimes it will be). we should end up with a rather interesting array of topics, opinion and content.

this is my first venture into team blogging so i suspect this will be an evolving process, including making a few adjustments to the site to make it more streamlined and suitable.

the best way to stay up to date with new content is to sign up to the automatic email feed on the right. when a new review is posted, it will automatically be sent to your email. don't worry, you won't be inundated - i'm sure all our writers have a better things to do than post endless reviews to intraspace! and, if you find that you are getting too much email, you can always unsubscribe later.

warandpeace-o-meter

2007-04-11T09:22:00.000+12:00

this is something i should have thought of setting up earlier...

about 10 years ago i bought a copy of 'war and peace' - complete and unabridged. as you probably know, it isn't a particularly quick read. but in my determination to read the thing i hatched a cunning plan. when i flicked through my copy i found that it is actually divided up into 'books' and 'volumes'. so i decided that i would read 'war and peace' by reading one 'book' at a time, reading something else between each 'book'. this, you see, panders to my short attention span.

the plan is working, and i'm actually finding that 'war and peace' is a brilliant book, and i'm always keen to get back to it.

i suspect that it will be the end of the year or maybe even later that i finish the entire tome. meanwhile, at the end of every post where i review another book, i will place a 'warandpeace-o-meter' that will show what page number i am up to in 'war and peace'... it will be riveting internet media, and 1000s of people will visit the site just to see how far through 'war and peace' i am. cunning eh?

the warandpeace-o-meter will show the page number i'm up to followed by the total number of pages in the book. in brackets following will be the volume number, book number and chapter number. advanced physics all up really.

blue like jazz

2007-04-03T19:59:00.000+12:00

blue like jazz, by donald miller

over the last few years, this book has become a bit of a 'classic' among 20-something christians (especially in the states). i got my copy from mal and hazel.

don miller is dedicated to cutting through the religious and cultural aspects of american christianity to find the heart of believing in jesus.

i have the feeling that in the american context this book would be hugely impacting and maybe controversial, and i would say that this is part of the reason it has sold so many copies. in new zealand it doesn't explode christian culture quite so much (because christian culture is different here), but it is full of great insights and thoughts.

don miller is very good at writing honestly - apparently saying exactly what he thinks. it is largely autobiographical (a kind of spiritual autobiography), but in it he manages to cover some of the main aspects of christianity and get the reader thinking. it appears that his original aim was to write something for non-christians so that he could offer christian spirituality without the unnecessary trappings of religion. but i found that it also stimulated me to think from different perspectives - not just accept the status quo.

definitely recommended.

no god but God

2007-03-26T17:46:00.000+12:00

no god but God: the origins, evolution and future of islam, by reza aslan

this was a book that mike recommended to me, and it just so happened that our local library had a copy.

i think most of us in the 'west', and certainly a good number of us christians, like to think we know a bit about islam. we hear about it in the news almost everyday, and we hear the rhetoric that comes from all sides. unfortunately, it is usually only sensationalist material that makes it to the news, and i have to admit that the same is probably true as far as what we hear in christian circles too.

'no god but God' is written by a muslim (albeit a reasonably 'liberal' one) of iranian descent. reza aslan is young academic living and researching in the usa.

he has set out to write a book that explains islam, from his perspective, to the western world. and i think he has been very successful. the book is very well written and accessible, and aslan manages to look at the issues fairly, without surrendering his own personal beliefs - although some of his comments about christianity, i felt, were a little ill-informed. all up, i found myself wishing that there were more books like this written by christians.

aslan relates the history of islam from the days just before mohammad, through the life of the prophet, and then into the subsequent development of the religion, with it's three main branches: sunni, shi'ite and sufi. he didn't mention much about the crusades, which i found a bit strange, but he picks the story up again strongly around the colonial area and in the modern age.

the overall premise of aslan's argument, is that islamic beliefs (as practiced by mohammad) were tolerant and inclusive. he says that, for example, mohammad welcomed christians and jews and was content for them to retain their own faiths. mohammad had a collective term "ahl al-Kitab", meaning "people of the book", to describe muslims, christians and jews. and under mohammad's regime, these people were considered "dhimmi", that is, protected by islamic law. mohammad considered the torah, the christian scriptures and his own revelations to be one complete work. aslan also argues that in mohammad's society, women were esteemed and protected - not subjugated as they are in a number of muslim cultures today.

aslan says that islam is currently in the throes of a reformation, much like the one that christianity went through a few hundred years ago. his point, if i understand correctly, is "if you think there's strife between western ideals and islam, you should see the strife going on inside islam". he believes that out of this strife (between the branches of islam, and more generally, between fundamentalist and moderate ideologies) will come a reformed islam. he says that if this reformed islam truly returns to its tolerant and inclusive roots, then such a thing as islamic democracy (a political and legal system democratically based on islamic morals) can exist and islamic people can be liberated from violence and tyranny. interestingly he sees islamic violence against the west as being an overflow of the internal violence. he does not see that the future of islam, and an islamic political system, lies in the hands of extremist groups such as the taliban, but in the hands of a moderate (and more genuine) brand of islam.

"...the image of the Afghan woman enveloped in the burqah and subjugated to the whims of an ignorant band of misogynists has become the symbol of everything that is wicked about the concept of Islamic governance, and such images are not easily supplanted by political philosophies." (p 259)

but

" When fifteen centuries ago Muhammad launched a revolution in Mecca to replace the archaic, rigid, and inequitable strictures of tribal society with a radically new vision of divine morality and social egalitarianism, he tore apart the fabric of traditional Arab society. It took many years of violence and devastation to cleanse the Hijaz of its 'false idols'. It will take many more to cleanse Islam of its new false idols - bigotry and fanaticism - worshiped by those who have replaced Muhammad's original vision of tolerance and unity with their own ideals of hatred and discord. But the cleansing is inevitable, and the tide of reform cannot be stopped. The Islamic Reformation is already here. We are all living in it." (p 266)

highly recommended.

your road map for success

2007-03-26T14:10:00.000+12:00

your road map for success, by john c maxwell

this isn't usually the sort of book i select for myself, but i got given this copy by my pastor at christmas time, so i thought i'd give it a shot.

john maxwell is a fairly well-known christian author, but this book is mainstream in its approach. it has lots of sensible advice on how to set and pursue your goals etc. i think books like this are written for a particular personality type, and i think that sometimes authors of books like this don't fully acknowledge the fact that everyone in the world isn't like them. the solutions offered by maxwell didn't really capture my imagination - i'd rather read something by john eldridge.

the up-shot of reading it is that i don't think i took anything in particular from the book, but i was left with a sense of wanting to break out of the mold a little bit more and see where it leads - so from that perspective it was worth reading.

i think this is probably a pretty good book in its genre.

silence

2007-03-18T18:03:00.000+12:00

silence, by shusaku endo

this was a novel i was inspired to read by reading about it in philip yancey's book 'soul survivor'. i got this copy from mum for christmas.

endo has been called 'japan's foremost novelist' and 'silence' (first published in 1969) has been called 'one of the finest novels of our time' by graham greene. endo is a catholic christian, and much of his work deals with the tension between his catholicism/christianity and his japanese culture. in japan, christianity is viewed as a foreigner's religion, but when endo went abroad, he found that he didn't fit into the western world either. so that's a bit of back story on endo.

this is a historical novel set in the time of the missionary endeavours that were undertaken by europe into japan in the 1600s. the samurai class became increasingly alarmed with the effect that christianity was having on traditional japanese society, and outlawed all western mission work. widespread persecution broke out against japanese christians who were tortured for their faith and forced to renounce or be killed.

the main character of this book, rodrigues - a portuguese missionary brother - is sent to japan to carry out christian work despite the new persecution and the fact that others who have gone before him have disappeared and are rumoured to have apostatised...

the samurai force christians to renounce their faith by placing their foot on a picture of christ. this is the position that rodrigues is put in when he is captured. the novel hinges on the ethical dilemma and crisis of faith that he faces about whether to recant, and thereby save the japanese peasants that are being tortured for his sake, or to hold fast to his faith and die a martyr's death.

an excellent and heart-wrenching book.

the assault on jerusalem

2007-03-17T19:53:00.000+13:00

the assault on jerusalem, by steven runciman

i'm still trying to catch up on a backlog of reviews that i haven't posted since my christmas reading frenzy. and now christmas has slipped a quarter of a year into history - but, soon i will be up to date.

this is a book that anna gave me for christmas. it is actually one of these brilliant condensed penguin volumes that were released to celebrate penguin's 70th anniversary. this book comes from a larger work called 'a history of the crusades' (published in 1965), and tells the story of the first crusade.

at 56 pages it is an easily manageable dose of history written in an easy-to-read style that is quite unbiased. maybe i'll even read the entire work one day. but i am definitely keen on these little penguin editions.

on the stereo: 'photograph' by air, from the album 'pocket symphony'. www.pocket-symphony.com

the house of strife

2007-02-27T15:25:00.000+13:00

the house of strife, by maurice shadbolt

this one came from the op-shop - anna was on her usual buying spree at the sallies, and i rescued this from the pile.

having studying nz lit at university i was well aware of maurice shadbolt - i probably read a short story by him or something. 'the house of strife' is part of a trilogy of historical novels based in nz around the time of the new zealand wars, in which european power sort to impose its will on maori tribes that didn't like the idea of colonial government.

i have to say i enjoyed this book immensely - it had all the hallmarks of a cracking good story without sacrificing an intelligent approach.

the narrator of the story is an englishman named wildblood who has made a name for himself writing pulp fiction about 'maoriland' from the safety of a london apartment. when a ruffian turns up with claims of plagiarism and threatening to kill him, wildblood flees on the next ship to the antipodes and finds himself experiencing new zealand firsthand - arriving just prior to one of the first engagements of the new zealand wars.

the new zealand he enters is more alarming and complicated than anything he has ever written about. and thus begins the story...

highly recommended.

on the stereo: 'when it happens it moves all by itself' by telefon tel aviv, from the album 'a map of what is effortless'. www.telefontelaviv.com

contemporary new zealand photographers

2007-02-12T17:59:00.000+13:00

contemporary new zealand photographers, by hannah holm and lara strongman (eds)

this is the book that won the illustrative section of last year's montana new zealand book awards - and that prize was richly deserved.

obviously the selection of photographers here is limited by the editors' choice, but the selection seems to be excellent. it is not just a treasury of photography but also writing on photography - the work of each artist is accompanied by an essay or interview.

it is a while now since i had the book out of the library - so my comments here are based on lasting impressions - fairly subjective. there are two things that remain with me about this book. first, the essay by gregory o'brien which i talked about on my other blog. as usual o'brien's essay was enlightening but also interestingly presented (complete with poetry in the body text). second, that image on the front cover - i can't remember which of the photographers took it - and i can't find out quickly. but that image has really stuck in my mind. the other day when i was on a farm, i couldn't stop looking at the poplar trees without thinking of that photo.

list of photographers in the book: Laurence Aberhart, Mark Adams, Fiona Amundsen, Wayne Barrar, Peter Black, Ben Cauchi, Marti Friedlander, Darren Glass, Gavin Hipkins, Anne Noble, Fiona Pardington, Neil Pardington, Peter Peryer, Edith Sagupolu, Ava Seymour, Marie Shannon, Ann Shelton, Deb Smith, Yvonne Todd, Boyd Webb.

on the headphones: 'walk in the sky' by bonobo, from the album 'days to come'. www.bonobomusic.com

photography speaks

2007-02-02T09:42:00.000+13:00

photography speaks, by brooks johnson (ed)

i'm getting a bit behind on my reviews... so this is a book i read a month or two ago.

i picked this up during one of my book grabs at the local library - i'm not sure what attracted me to it, but i suppose i wanted to know about some of the thought that goes into photography.

the book contains excerpts from the writings of 150 photographers talking about different aspects of their photography and photography in general. it is nicely set up - the text is one page of writing and one typical photograph from each of the photographers.

anyway, the book turned out to be very historical. it provides a good insight into the development of photography as an artform. much of the writing is photographers arguing that what they are doing is in fact art - highlighting a controversy that extended from the invention of the process until as late as the early 1980s. that controversy has now passed (although its effects are still felt in the art market), so many of the issues that these photographers contended with have now also passed. for that reason, the book didn't give me any insight for my own art - which is what i had been hoping for.

so, not a bad book - but more interesting for discovering the history of photography than anything else.

trade me: the novel

2007-01-05T11:52:00.000+13:00

trade me: the novel, by geoff vause

now, i should clear something up. the amazon ads at the end of each post on this blog might make it look like i'm reviewing books with an eye to profit. but i ain't. if i were - it isn't working... never mind.

i make this clarification because i present here today a book which i was involved in producing (in a small way). so there might be seen as some vested interest. and, i'm going to offer a link at the end of the review where you can buy this book.

geoff vause contacted me at castle publishing mid last year with a book idea that had already received some very positive comments. in the event, he decided to more or less self-publish the book, because the wheels of established publishing houses move slow.

i never actually got to read the manuscript prior to the book being released, as geoff undertook a clandestine operation to produce the book. anyway, just before christmas, geoff sent me a copy of the finished article.

'trade me: the novel' is a storming riot of a tale about the pitfalls and adventures of a group of new zealanders who use new zealand's answer to ebay - trademe. i should fill you in if you're unlucky enough to be living outside new zealand. ebay set up a branch in australia but took their sweet time coming to nz (they still haven't arrived). in their absence, an entrepreneurial new zealander by the name of sam morgan set up a similar (and some would say, better) concept here. anyway, virtually everyone in nz now uses the website. as i write this, there are 39,571 people online at trademe (in the middle of the day, and in a country that has a total population of just 4 million people).

there is obviously a cultural impact from such a phenomenon, and that is grist to goeff vause's narrative. through a series of events, the main characters in 'trade me' become intertwined to disastrous and humorous effect.

i sat and read the entire thing one day - it is very well written. it is also fully explores the lax moral standards of its characters - to the point of gratuitousness. but then this story was never intended to be anything other than an amusing charge through the twists and turns of its hapless participants.

you can buy a copy of the book on trademe itself. trying clicking here - and you should see a list of the current auctions that are running for the book.

taming the tiger

2007-01-03T13:33:00.000+13:00

taming the tiger, by tony anthony

as far as dramatic christian stories about conversion go, this would have to be near perfect in terms of the formula: really bad person (in this case, a kung fu expert who uses his skills to maim and kill people for money and retribution) goes to prison and then finds jesus.

i don't mean to come across as cynical in this - 'taming the tiger' really does have all the ingredients of a storming good christian story of redemption. truth betters fiction in a number of episodes in the book. we get to hear all about tony's rigorous training in china as a child, rising to be become a world kung fu champion, then a bodyguard, losing the love of his life and becoming angry. using his abilities in the service of the underbelly of the world. before the cypriot police catch up with him and throw him into one of the worst prisons of the world. he becomes a christian there and returns to england (where he was born). he gets married to a nice christian girl and then winds up in prison again after accidentally killing a woman in a road accident. that stint in prison gives him a chance for more self-examination, not to mention an opportunity to demonstrate good overcoming evil in the prison environment.

potentially open to criticism for being sensationalist (for the writing style as much as the content), 'taming the tiger' is well worth a read - very entertaining and easy reading.

the earth and sky of jacques dorme

2006-11-29T10:48:00.000+13:00

the earth and sky of jacques dorme, by andrei makine

this was a brilliant book. a novel written by a russian emigre to france. it tells the story (in first person) of a russian orphan who spends time with a old french woman living in russia. she tells him the story of a romance that she had with french airman during WWII. the pilot, jacques dorme, worked ferrying american planes across the siberian wastes to be used against germany on the russian front. in later years the narrator goes on a search to find out as much as can about dorme.

it is beautifully written (translated from french). makine weaves the recollections of the old woman in amongst his own recollections of life as an orphan in communist russia.

apparently makine is quite an accomplished writer and has written a number of prize-winning books. i'll be reading more of his work.

on the headphones: 'mistadobalina' by del tha funkee homosapien, from the album 'i wish my brother george was here'. www.hieroglyphics.com/artists/del/

illustration now!

2006-11-19T19:39:00.000+13:00

illustration now!, edited by julius wiedemann

another brilliant find from the shelves of the local library. this book showcases the work of 150 illustrators from around the world. even gives you their web addresses and email addresses if you're inclined to commission them for the cover of the new york magazine that you might be the editor of.

it shows a huge range of illustration styles and it's very inspirational no matter what brand of creativity you're into i reckon.

short and to the point review this. no messing about - no unnecessary phrases, metaphors, adjectives, adverbs, or other literary devices. no harping on just for the sake of creating enough words to justify doing a post.

on the stereo: 'gymnopedie no.1' by erik satie.

marvel 1602

2006-11-14T17:30:00.000+13:00

marvel 1602, by neil gaiman, andy kubert, richard isanove

now although i do consider myself a fan of pop culture, i don't think i'm overly obsessed with it, not a "fanboy" - i've never been to a pop culture expo or anything. and i didn't grow up reading many comics. definitely not marvel ones anyway.

i remember going to the school fair when i was about 7 and buying a comic for 5c that had a picture of a hand reaching out of a grave on the front. i don't know what i thought i was doing - one of my teachers (mrs bambury), who knew my mother, took one look at my purchase and said, "i don't think your mother will like that." i knew she was right. but i thought i'd try my luck. when i got home mum made me throw it away, but she did take me down to the bookshop to choose a couple of "more suitable" comics - walt disney ones.

so anyway the point of that giant digression was to illustrate that i have no real experience in the dark world of marvel comics. down at the local library the other day i was browsing the graphic novels (as i do) and came across this. i thought, well, i have to read a marvel comic sometime, and this one had the added intrigue of being set in 1602! i feel very interested in the colonial period at the moment for some reason. age of empires III has been my favourite game for the entire year, and i'm overly excited about the expansion pack that has just come out - but i'm digressing again.

i ended up really enjoying this book which is the story of some of the marvel legends appearing in the 17th century to save the world. of course not knowing marvel all that well i'm sure i missed some of the subtle innuendo, but i caught enough from the movies i've seen. it is brilliantly illustrated and drawn. and i highly recommend it.

on the stereo: 'que bonito' by jose refugio padilla, from the album 'ambient lounge vol 5'

the curious incident of the dog in the night time

2006-11-11T15:37:00.000+13:00

the curious incident of the dog in the night time, by mark haddon

this is a book that has had a lot of rave reviews and won awards. written by mark haddon equally for young adults and adults.

it is a first-person narrative written from the perspective of a 15 year old autistic english boy who discovers his neighbour's dog dead on the front lawn. in his inimitable style, our hero christopher sets about trying to find out who killed the dog and in the process finds out much more about his life than he bargained for - i won't tell you what in case you read it for yourself.

i think this is a pretty good book. if there is an emerging genre of fiction that is written from the perspective of people who relate to the world differently because of mental disabilities, then i have to say the other book i have recently read in that genre - 'the incredible adam spark' - was better. anyway, there are some brilliant bits in this book, and the way the story unfolds is excellent.

on the headphones: 'the night garden' by waldeck, from the album 'the night garden'. http://www.waldeck.at/

free of charge

2006-10-28T18:02:00.000+13:00

free of charge, by miroslav volf

this is a book that i randomly picked up after anna brought it home from the library. looked pretty interesting and was the archbishop of canterbury's official lent 2006 book - who could resist?...

miroslav volf is apparently a fairly well-known theologian who teaches at yale. this book covers the twin themes of giving and forgiving. the thing that struck me most in the book was volf's description of the common ways that people view God. with regard to giving, people often see God as either a negotiator or santa claus. ie, they either see God as someone you can strike a deal with in order to get what you want, or they see him as someone who just gives stuff willy-nilly. with regard to forgiving, people tend to see God as either an implacable judge, or as a doting grandparent.

that's a pretty good observation i think, and volf goes on to explain what the true God is really like. bearing in mind that this is a book by a theologian, it is quite long-winded and volf likes to answer any question that might arise. but apart from the rigor of that for the casual reader, there is a lot of stuff to pick up on, and it is nicely carried by examples and illustrations, so is not too difficult to read.

here's a good quote summing up the point of book, and the argument that volf makes for a God that defies most people's perception of him:

"You can sum up where we've landed in four simple sentences. The world is sinful. That's why God doesn't affirm it indiscriminately [like santa claus or a doting grandparent]. God loves the world. That's why God doesn't punish it in justice [like a negotiator or implacable judge]. What does God do with this double bind? God forgives."

subversive orthodoxy

2006-10-15T15:45:00.000+13:00

subversive orthodoxy, by robert inchausti

this book made quite a big impact on me (as partly witnessed by this post on my other blog). it wasn't always easy to understand - and when you can't fully understand something it is hard to fully ascertain whether or not you completely agree. that sounds like it might have been a major problem, but there was enough in here that i really liked to be able to say that i liked the whole book.

so that's the review in a nutshell. now for some quotes. in this book inchausti talks about a brand of christian orthodoxy that works counter-culturally (as true christianity is want to do) and is spearheaded by what he calls "the orthodox avant-garde":

"cutting edge Christian thinkers who, merely by expressing the contemporary moral and intellectual implications of their faith, have exposed the dogmas of modernism in the light of a more inclusive and liberating Christian vision of reality."

"not about new religious values so much as it is about the eternal freshness of the old ones. most of the thinkers examined here are religious traditionalists whose ideas challenge the assumptions of their secular colleagues. most are also important innovators in their respective fields, alert to contemporary circumstances, aware of changes in their disciplines, critical of dominant narratives, and yet still capable of drawing connections between their faith and the realities of the modern world ... each of them does far more than simply say 'no' to modernism; they bridge the chasm between our longings for spiritual completion and the technoscientific world within which we live."

on the headphones: 'nautilus' by loscil, from the album 'submers'. http://www.loscil.com/

a royal duty

2006-10-07T12:15:00.000+13:00

a royal duty, by paul burrell

i suppose i should start by explaining why i read this book. i can't really think of a good explanation other than the fact that i read the first few pages to see what a royal biography was like and ended up getting hooked. sucker.

i had also forgotten what a huge stink this book made when it was first released. paul burrell, former footman to the queen and butler to diana, was accused of all manner of things when it came out - betraying the royals' trust, profiting from the memory of diana - that kind of thing.

in actual fact i found that this was a very even handed account - only mildly sensational and other than that, just a really interesting insight into the way the royal family functions. the book notches up a gear in the final third with the death of diana and with burrell being charged with stealing diana's personal property.

all the while, the thing that emerges is a story of a butler who is absolutely enamoured with his employer, a man under the spell of diana's charms - to the point of obsession, and at the expense of his own family. burrell sees upholding the memory of the princess as his life's calling. and i think that is a believeable motive, despite the vast sums of money that he has made from the book. although, i have to admit that when i heard the other day that he is planning to release another book on diana soon, his credibility starts to slip. he claims that it is because people are starting to forget her. cynics say it's time to make some more money. i think it is more a factor of an obsessed man who knows deep down that his main importance is in association with diana - without that he becomes little more than an expert on royal etiquette.

i suppose that seems like a bit of mean assessment. when you read the book you sympathise with burrell, and it is surprisingly well-written. and i think it holds true that this book is probably the most crucial one available for anyone who wants to know what life is like behind the windsors' front door.

on the stereo: 'the mp' by the album leaf, from the album 'one day i'll be on time'. http://www.albumleaf.com/

the incredible adam spark

2006-08-28T19:26:00.000+12:00

the incredible adam spark, by alan bissett

it's amazing what you come across when you're not looking for anything in particular at the library. our library has a new book stand that i always have a look at. take a punt, and sometimes it pays off.

this is a story (in first-person) about a scottish down-syndrome teenager with superhero abilities. as the tagline reads: 'at last, scotland has a hero'.

adam spark, or 'sparky' as he's known, has all kinds of adventures and rides the waves of people's prejudice and the realities of a disfunctional family. it is brilliantly written in sparky's own voice complete with scottish dialect (a la irving walsh) and unique punctuation and spelling. everything is seen through his eyes. at times the harshness of life seems to wash over the hero, but the truth comes out in subtle ways.

and now, for some unforgivably lazy reviewing. i shall quote wholesale from the publishers blurb about the book:

Adam Spark. Eighteen going on eight-and-a-half. Fast-food worker. Queen fan. Last in the queue for luck. On waking from an accident in which he saves a child, he has the distinct impression that all is far from right. What are these curious lights that seem to surround people? Why are animals and machines trying to speak to him? And can he really control time? Is it just his imagination, or has Adam Spark been chosen to become Scotland's first, and only, superhero?

This, however, is the least of his problems. The local gang is luring him into deeper and darker peril. His sister and lone carer, Jude, is giving all her love to another woman. And if Jude abandons Adam - or Adam drives her away - all the superpowers in the world won't be able to save him.

ah- so there you have it. recommended.

the worth of art

2006-08-26T15:45:00.000+12:00

the worth of art: pricing the priceless, by judith benhamou-huet

this book caught my eye on the shelves of the local library when i was browsing the art section. it's a subject that interests me - how do you assign a monetary value to an artwork - and this book's nicely sized. a quick flick through showed that it wouldn't be too hard to read.

the original was written in french and the writing has an interesting quirkiness about it, partly because it has been translated but also because benhamou-huet writes with wit.

she outlines the elements that transform the price that an artwork sells for. these elements are: the buyer, the intermediary, the seller, the place of sale, and the artist. she explains how the circumstances of these elements bring marketability and value to the artwork. benhamou-huet describes a world of asperational buyers who collect for status and for investments that will pay off, wheelers and dealers, cunning auction houses and galleries, recognised centres of art and anguished artists who exude the 'romanticism' and 'tragedy' of the artistic life. fascinating stuff.

art collectors and auction houses come out looking pretty bad. there are some pretty tasty quotes about collectors and their hunger for status:

"From New York to Los Angeles, people with new money have a complex. Taking an interest in modern or contemporary art allows you to put a stamp of respectability, a hallmark of culture on the person concerned." - according to one quoted 'art professional'.

"Among the most famous examples of art buying of the last few years, we find the collection of Steve Wynn, the Las Vegas billionaire. Between 1996 and 1998, he spent sums estimated in the region of $300 million to amass a number of important Impressionist works. Wynn has become a driven collector, going so far as to tell an American magazine that 'I've never enjoyed myself so much before. For me, painting is beginning to mean as much as cash.'"

wow! as much as cash! can you imagine?... but the really great thing is that many of the works ended up being displayed in the prestigious bellagio casino, helping create the perfect atmosphere for high rollers to part with large amounts of money.

so there it is. highly recommended read this one.

orthodoxy

2006-08-12T13:23:00.000+12:00

orthodoxy, by g.k. chesterton

if you've seen my other blog, you might have noticed that i've been harping on about g.k. chesterton recently. i've finally finished reading his book 'orthodoxy'. it looks little, like a quick read, and then it isn't.

this book seems to have had a revival in the last couple of years. it's recommended by philip yancey (as you will see from the cover of my copy), john eldridge mentions it a lot in his writings, and relevant media (purveyors of christian cool) have just released a version under their imprint. i suppose it was also considered a 'christian classic' before this recent press - i've heard that it was instrumental in bringing c.s. lewis to faith.

the book was first published in 1908. there are aspects of it that seem a bit dated in 2006 (his examples more than his arguments). i found it a bit hard to get into for the first couple of chapters, but it took off after that. there were certain passages that were that kind where you stop reading for a couple of minutes because they are so powerful and they take some processing.

while chesterton's arguments are often quite compelling, i found it just as useful for stimulating my own thoughts and ideas. the book is in the same category as writing by c.s. lewis if that's your cup of tea.

on the stereo: 'everyday should be a holiday' by the dandy warhols, from the album 'come down'. www.dandywarhols.com

sharon osbourne extreme

2006-08-06T13:55:00.000+12:00

extreme: my autobiography, by sharon osbourne

anna got this from her book club, i think. i came across it when i was looking for something a bit lighter to read...

i suppose it's a bit of a "girl's book", but it's also a rather interesting insight on the music industry of the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s.

sharon osbourne is famous to most people for being the wife of ozzy osbourne, former lead singer of black sabbath. but apart from this significant accomplishment, she was also on the inner circle of the british music industry.

her father was an artist manager, and was responsible for bringing rock n roll to britain. he turned down management of a new band called "the beatles" because he thought the idea of british rock was a joke. instead he continued to focus on bringing american acts like chuck berry over to the uk. other famous artists he represented included ELO in the 70s (by then he had caught on to the idea of british music).

sharon became involved in the industry, and much of this book is about the corruption and criminal under-current of the music business. nothing girly about that! sharon herself was (is) a bit of a hard woman - not afraid (it transpires) to use her excrement (literally), her language and her fists to prove a point. before i leave off talking about the music industry bits of the book, i should also say - did you know that sharon once managed the smashing pumpkins? she ditched them because billy corgan was a royal pain in the arse.

the rest of the book is about her relationship with ozzy - enduring weekly beatings and his insane drug and alcohol addiction. she also talks about her kids and her fight with cancer.

so lots of aspects to this book - well worth reading for either the music industry stuff or for the human drama.

on the headphones: 'un bacio (ali n. baskin remix)' by ennio morricone, from the album 'morricone rmx'.

the stick: and other tales of our times

2006-07-28T19:32:00.000+12:00

the stick: and other tales of our times, by michael leunig

i don't think i've ever mentioned leunig on either of my blogs, but i have to say i'm quite a fan.

michael leunig is a cartoonist from the melbourne age newspaper in australia who has a knack of communicating whimsical and, at times, amazingly insightful (i use that word a lot on here) cartoons in an unrefined style. i have no idea if he is a christian or not, but his message is often startlingly spiritual and on target.

all leunig books seem to be good, and this one isn't an exception. the only thing i would say in passing is that some people might find his work overally naive, but even if it is, it sure helps balance out a lot of the cynicism that you can encounter in the world.

arthur and i once went and saw leunig speaking live. leunig was altogether unsure of himself on stage, looked like he was shaking with fear but won over the audience with his extraordinary honesty. he gave us a live demonstration of his drawing and finally managed to relax, before knocking over a very large flower arrangement on his way off the stage. poor bloke. but everyone loved him. and there you have his characters exactly - shakily drawn, reluctant characters, that are very honest and win everyone over by just being themselves - the fact that they sometimes make a fool of themselves only helps them make their way further into the reader's heart.

recommend checking some leunig out if you come across any.

the murder of roger ackroyd

2006-06-24T12:58:00.000+12:00

the murder of roger ackroyd, by agatha christie

anna is a huge fan of agatha christie and has read pretty much everything that aggie wrote. i, on the other hand, hadn't read anything by the queen of murder mystery.

it is pretty widely accepted that 'the murder of roger ackroyd' is agatha christie's finest work, so i thought that if i was going to read one it might as well be this. there's a book out at the moment called '1000 books to read before you die' and this book makes it onto that list.

obviously the story has all the hallmarks of 1920s, 1930s murder mystery - a rich murdered man, a suspect butler, a former british officer, a beautiful young woman and no end of household intrigues that act as red herrings to the main mystery. there are also the obligatory gatherings in drawing rooms to probe suspects and so on. the investigation in this story is carried out by agatha christie's famous hercule poirot.

there is no doubt that christie was an excellent writer. in this book she writes in first person from the perspective of a male doctor. that is largely convincing, but when people write as members of the opposite sex it doesn't always ring true.

it was a good book, and i really enjoyed it. i'd say it was a good option for my one big murder mystery reading. i won't give away the plot twist that this book is famous for - even if the story is nearly 80 years old.

on the headphones: 'bulletproof' by morcheeba, from the album 'the big calm'. http://www.morcheeba.net/

soul survivor

2006-06-08T18:07:00.000+12:00

soul survivor, by philip yancey

this is not my first review of a philip yancey book, and i have to say that they are all pretty solid. but the two i have reviewed on intraspace so far - the jesus i never knew and this one - would have to be my favourites.

i would seriously recommend this book to anyone who was jaded with christianity or anyone who thought they knew what christianity was about but hasn't gone in for it.

the book is subtitled "how my christianity survived the church" but that isn't really the theme of the book. instead yancey writes about the people who influenced his life and saved his faith (he started out life as a racist fundamentalist in the southern states) - everyone from martin luther king to dostoevsky. he writes a chapter on each of 12 different people.

yeah, so that's about the sum. i found it pretty absorbing and definitely want to check out more about some of the people he talks about. highly recommended.

on the headphones: 'anyway' by telepopmusik, from the album 'angel milk'.

the screwtape letters

2006-04-26T13:15:00.000+12:00

the screwtape letters, by cs lewis

cs lewis strikes again! not that i should be surprised, he is widely regarded as one of the best christian writers of the 20th century.

this book is the record of letters sent by senior demon screwtape to his nephew wormwood. wormwood is on assignment trying to turn a new christian away from God. the more experienced screwtape gives advice to the young demon. this in turn gives us an insight into the way humans are deceived and tempted.

it's astonishing when you take stock of lewis's total literary output to realise just what a genius this man was. he has left an indelible mark on christian thought quite possibly for all time. he was a man of incredible intelligence and insight.

and so, true to form, this book is really brilliant. and, unlike some of his books, easy to read. not least of all because of the subplot of the human subject that screwtape and wormwood are trying so hard to mislead. you get to know not just the demons' methods but also some of the character and backstory of the man. the individual letters are short and interesting, and perception altering.

i'll add this to my list of crucial christian books.

on the headphones: 'everyday' by the cinematic orchestra, from the album 'every day'. http://www.cinematicorchestra.com/

ss-gb

2006-04-25T20:04:00.000+12:00

ss-gb, by len deighton

and now, for something completely different. in need of a little light relief, i read this novel that anna picked up at an op-shop for a few cents.

len deighton is actually quite an established author and is known for meticulous research.

anyway, the interesting thing about this book is that it is set in great britain after it has fallen to the nazis in ww2. it is the story of a scotland yard detective who finds himself working for the ss police and trying to solve a murder that leads to all kinds of intrigue involving nuclear weapons development and falling in love with a leggy blond american journalist (as you do).

it ended up being a little bit too much of a murder mystery for me, and seemed to end quite quickly, the events not having the kind of impact you would expect them to. but nevertheless, i did get the entertainment i was looking for and the setting and premise was interesting. i suspect i'll end up reading more len deighton in the future - not least of all because i can see another four of his books sitting on the shelf here - they are very easy to come by for very cheap.

on the headphones: 'planet telex (hexidecimal mix)' by radiohead, from the 'high and dry' single. www.radiohead.com

visual faith

2006-04-25T19:34:00.000+12:00

visual faith: art, theology and worship in dialogue, by william a dyrness

three or four years ago there weren't a lot of books around about christianity and the arts. since my university days i'd been obsessed with the idea of a re-emergent arts movement in the church and it seems i wasn't the only one. in the last couple of years, a noticeable movement has indeed begun to take place. alongside that are an increasing number of books on the subject.

but i got this book when there weren't so many, and i aimed to get anything that came out. the rather drab title and the awful cover design put me off reading it for a long time - even the author's name sounds like "dryness".

finally, three years after buying the book, i finished reading it. and it turned out to be an excellent piece of writing.

dyrness begins by giving a historical survey of art and the church (interesting), talks about art in the bible (interesting), gives some theological perspectives (difficult), then talks about the challenges and opportunities for christians in the arts today (excellent). all up, a very good survey of the issues.

dyrness challenges protestant churches to pick up visual creativity and shows that it doesn't have to be at the expense of 'the word'. recommended reading for anyone who is interested in the application of visual media in the church.

on the headphones: 'all the time' by starflyer 59, from the album 'the fashion focus'. http://www.sf59.com/

bono on bono

2006-04-01T10:07:00.000+12:00

bono on bono, conversations with michka assayas

for a long time i've held a kind of ambition to meet bono. i guess that is a fairly cliche ambition, but there it is. a wave of excitement swept through new zealand a few months ago - U2 were returning after about 12 years of absence. people went crazy paying amazing prices for tickets on internet auction sites, queued through the night, and spent hours trying to buy tickets online. in the event, for now we have all been treated to a stunning display of anti-climax. the tour was postponed, and for a very good reason - one of the band members had a sick relative (the edge's daughter?).

part of my build-up to the concert was reading this book. anna gave it to me for my birthday, a couple of weeks before the st patricks day concert. so, in lieu of the certainty of actually ever sitting down with bono and having the kind of conversation that takes days (or even decades) to complete and understand, michka assayas steps into the gap. and can i say right now, this book most definitely makes its way to the top of the pile of books on U2 or bono you should ever bother reading. bono, that man of mystery, is best revealed through his own words. not that that makes him any more straightforward - he describes himself as "a scribbling, cigar-smoking, wine-drinking, Bible-reading band man..." our friend alex, who's also reading the book said, "I'm kind of surprised, impressed and disappointed in Bono's character all at the same time".

and so there he is. we all look for heroes - people who embody the ideal of what we believe. and after years of holding bono up as a hero (i've called U2 my favourite band since i was about 7) i'm learning to see him, and others, as people - complicated, flawed and open to acts of incredible stupidity and goodness. when you see that, you become more honest about yourself too i guess. so now i try to see bono as being bono, or better yet, paul hewson. and every time recently i've been tempted to see one of my heroes or friends as somehow removed from the harsh realities and complexities of life, the failings of humanity, the pitfalls of life, i think of biblical characters like king david - a shocking sinner and a man after God's own heart... crucially, david always admitted when he was wrong and developed some kind of real relationship with God, all the while acknowledging God as the higher authority. he was a man who undoubtedly knew the meaning of grace. and so, it seems, is bono.

as a christian i would have asked bono a different set of questions to those that michka assayas asked, and to be honest sometimes the conversation seems to get a little too hot in the spiritual kitchen for assayas, which can be a little frustrating. i found that conversations about bono's political involvements got a bit tiring, but i guess that's where things are at in his life.

anyway, this book is pretty addictive, the conversation style draws you in. this is easily one of the most crucial books (if not most crucial) on bono available. i hope there is another one in 10-20 years.

on the headphones: 'no more cotton' by sacred spirit, from the album 'culture clash vol 2'.

safe area gorazde

2006-01-28T10:23:00.000+13:00

safe area gorazde, by joe sacco

i guess you could say that the genre of 'graphic novel' is still young enough that certain artist/writers dominate the sub-catagories of the genre, and that new sub-catagories are still being invented. joe sacco is THE man when it comes to comic book journalism.

sacco goes to various hotspots and gets up close to the human side of the conflict. he collects stories and turns them into comic book form. having a comic of real human suffering probably seems inappropriate at face-value, but sacco is a master of it, bringing humour, humanity and realism to the stories he covers.

i had already read his other book 'palestine' and comparing the two, i have to say i 'enjoyed' this book better. enjoyment is definitely a relative concept at times - the book brings another meaning to the term 'graphic' novel, but the violence in this book isn't gratuitous - it is merely an accurate rendering of the true scene.

highly recommended.

on the headphones: 'hora' by oi va voi, from the album 'laughter through tears'. http://www.oi-va-voi.com/

hiphop music in aotearoa

2006-01-25T19:33:00.000+13:00

hiphop music in aotearoa, by gareth shute

here we have, for the first time, a history of the hiphop music movement in new zealand. to those of you outside nz, you will find this a pretty obscure topic, but in new zealanders the impact of hiphop has been extensive. in fact, in a wider sense, the whole new zealand music scene has undergone a huge revolution over the last few years - a fact which we new zealanders are immensely proud of.

this is an A4 landscape sized book, very visual, incorporating black and white photography and very nice design work. the book was nominated for a montana book award.

i'm not specifically a hiphop fan but i am known to listen to hiphop and i'm certainly a fan of music that has been influenced by hiphop - so there was plenty here to hold my attention. not least of all reading about aspects of my country's culture - a welcome respite from the onslaught of american pop culture. you know?

i'd recommend this book to anyone who wants to expand their knowledge about nz music.

on the headphones: 'riders on the storm / pink solidism' by yonderboi (not nz hiphop). here

quimby the mouse

2006-01-13T16:50:00.000+13:00

quimby the mouse, by chris ware

as you can see, the library had more than just one chris ware book - i found this one on a different floor to the graphic novels in amongst the books on illustration (i found 'in the shadow of no towers' by Spiegelman up there once too), so i got it as well.

so now, if you have already read the review of 'the acme novelty library' i just did, then you'll be asking yourself, "hang on, i thought he found ware a little bit too depressing." and you'd have a point, but i am so attracted by his artwork and book design that i can't help it, and i'm happy to annouce that quimby the mouse didn't leave me feeling quite so depressed. but it still has sadness in shovel-loads and my earlier comments still stand.

nonetheless, to reinforce my main opinion on ware - overall this is an astonishing piece of work. not least of all if you are just wanting to check out brilliant artwork - ware has an amazing ability to use both minimalism and pain-staking detail to striking effect.

this volume is a kind of survey of his early work (early 90s). the book looks back on two levels - 1. because it is a retrospective, and 2. because so much of ware's work seems to be dealing with his own childhood and past. but despite being a retrospective, it doesn't seem 'juvenile' at all, which shows that ware's been brilliant for ages.

on the stereo: 'don't look back' (wow, that's ironic) by telepopmusik, from the album 'angel milk'. www.telepopmusik.fr

the acme novelty library

2006-01-13T16:18:00.000+13:00

the acme novelty library, by chris ware

if you check out my profile you'll see that i have ware's 'jimmy corrigan' on my list of favourite books. i really like ware's drawing style and his use of bold outlines.

jimmy corrigan blew me away as being a thoroughly excellent post-modern novel quite apart from its being a graphic novel to boot. it deserved all the accolades it got.

so i was tremendously excited when i found that the local library had anticipated my request and already got 'the acme novelty library' in. hurrah!

the novelty library is a kind of annual, featuring a range of cartoons and all the usual ware graphical trappings that make his books so fascinating, and mean that his cartoons always take a lot longer to read than you thought they would. the novelty library is a brilliant example of graphical work.

if jimmy corrigan constantly verges on the tragic, then this book could be accused of wallowing in it. i must admit that i got a little depressed by the end of it. the main story that weaves through all of ware's cartoons (regardless of the characters) is about a little boy who got picked on at school then grew up to be disenchanted lonely adult.

maybe there is a high degree of authenticity in ware's work, but i can't help wishing that he would balance out the sadness a bit more. for me the balancing is in his beautiful drawing style, but at times i think that is overcome by the sheer weight of the tragedy.

i still think ware is a genius, but hope that his genius will be revealed more when he goes on to exhibit an ability to portray the hopeful, more beautiful aspects of life with the same accuracy as tragedy in future works.

on the stereo: 'hi-fi trumpet' by stephane pompougnac, from the album 'hotel costes vol 3'. here

the jesus i never knew

2006-01-10T14:51:00.000+13:00

the jesus i never knew, by philip yancey

this is a book i've been meaning to read for ages (probably nearly 10 years). at christmas i grabbed it off mum's bookshelf.

i'm glad i did - i'd put this book in the top 10 christian books i've ever read. yancey sets out to view jesus objectively, using the gospels themselves as his only source of information. weighed down by the baggage of a christian upbringing, this is a necessary quest but also a difficult one. how do you rid yourself of pre-conceptions?

in the event, yancey succeeds. he not only made fresh discoveries himself but succeeds in conveying these to the reader, meaning that i, too, got a fresh perspective on this revolutionary figure and saviour, jesus christ.

from a literary perspective, i believe that yancey is probably the best writer that the christian world has to offer in this genre at present. he has always utilised an excellent writing style that incorporates a wide range of quotes from, at times, difficult sources. but he communicates everything in a way that doesn't alienate the reader and holds your attention.

highly recommended.

on the headphones: 'waltz' by craig armstrong, from the album 'as if to nothing'. http://www.craigarmstrong.com/

the little world of don camillo

2005-12-31T11:58:00.000+13:00

the little world of don camillo, by giovanni guareschi

this is a classic work of italian fiction from the post-war period. don camillo is a catholic priest who goes head to head with the communist mayor, peppone. both characters are rogues who try to outsmart each other for the benefit of the church and the communist party.

the book has great humour and is really a rather cunning insight into human nature. don camillo has constant conversations with God, and these also provide some interesting insights.

this seems to be a very good translation and is very easy to read. i think it would make an excellent movie, and apparently it has been done a couple of times - the original italian one receiving the best reviews. it was done more recently in the 80s, but methinks some talented movie maker needs to pick this one up again and do it properly.

very worth reading.

on the headphones: 'verona' by elemeno p (wow, there is actually a slight link there), from the album 'love and disrespect'. www.elemenop.com

essential new zealand poems

2005-12-21T16:35:00.000+13:00

essential new zealand poems, selected by lauris edmond and bill sewell

it's difficult to really review a book like this. what can you say? for me, this was a pretty good selection of new zealand poetry and well worth reading through. all the 'stars' of nz poetry are represented and i think there is quite a good range. the book is targetting joe public so there is nothing very challenging here, but that's ok.

strangely, given the fact that i write poetry myself, i'm not a big fan of reading other people's poetry. what hope is there? if poets don't like reading poetry then what hope is there that poetry will ever be read? someone better sort all this out and quickly before poetry becomes a total freakshow as far as the average person is concerned. but my reason for not being a big fan is that i haven't yet found a poet that i can fully enjoy - don't get me wrong i believe in poetry but haven't found my favourite poet so far.

all that raving aside though, this book is a good introduction to nz poetry and easy to read. quite nice actually, i didn't have to force myself to read it, and i think that if people who don't normally read poetry read this then they might actually quite enjoy it. maybe this book part of the solution.

that hideous strength

2005-12-21T15:56:00.000+13:00

that hideous strength, by c.s. lewis

this is the last book in lewis's space trilogy - although this one never goes into space. the interstellar supernatural spiritual battle between good and evil visits earth itself. dr ransom again features as the hero, although not so much the main character this time.

in this book, lewis focuses on jane and mark studdock - a somewhat unhappily married newlywed couple who find themselves on opposite sides of the great universal struggle. an organisation known as N.I.C.E start taking over small-town england and hope to resurrect merlin (ie the arthurian wizard) from the dead. in the event, merlin does come back, turning this book into a giant mishmash of theology, legend, sci-fi and philosophy. not to mention a little romance thrown in for good measure. the book ends with creatures getting it on all over the place (slight queezy feeling here - but not as bad as seeing hobbits reunited and jumping around on a bed in slow-motion). to find out exactly how lewis manages to get the story to that point you'll have to read it for yourself.

there is some brilliant writing in this book - lewis at his best. he can never resist having his characters indulge in long philosophical discourses but we just have to live with that. lewis is surprisingly free in his discussions of sexuality and allows his characters to be quite gritty. there are some great moments of visual imagery and also some quite brutal scenes. i definitely recommend the entire trilogy.

the story of england

2005-12-07T14:17:00.000+13:00

the story of england, by tom beaumont james

just so that i can’t be pegged down by my review of the miles book, here is something completely different - a history of england. being of english descent myself, and always interested to hear what went on in that country, i wanted to get a book like this to gain a kind of background knowledge of england’s history. when i say ‘a book like this’ - i mean a book of less than 400 pages.

the problems with that are immediately obvious - our author (whom we shall simply refer to as ‘tom’) has had to leave a lot out, hasn’t filled in areas which might have been interesting, glossed over things, and assumed that we know things that we don’t.

not that there isn’t anything interesting in the book (there is) but tom is obviously a bit of a fan of archeology, and he wastes space talking about the history of that science, when he could have been talking about some of the more fascinating things that that science has found out.

nonetheless, this book did give me a bit of narrative framework on which to hang the things i already knew about england, writing and history. so it was worth reading and kept me pretty engrossed.

gladometer ('how glad am i that i read it?') rating: reasonably glad.

on the headphones: ‘hey son (flash harry remix)’ by the black seeds, from the album ‘pushed’ (not from england by the way). www.theblackseeds.com

miles: the autobiography

2005-12-03T10:26:00.000+13:00

miles: the autobiography, by miles davis and quincy troupe

this is a classic of jazz writing. and while i'm reaching for superlatives, can i also say that it is pretty much an essential read for anyone interested in jazz?

miles davis was apparently quite well-known for getting details wrong, but even if every detail in this book isn't entirely accurate, it still gives great insight into the jazz world he inhabited.

nearly every famous name in jazz was associated with davis at some point in their career, and his life spanned pretty-much every jazz movement from big band to acid jazz, although this account ends before the last couple of albums he did.

now, as for the writing itself, the text sounds like miles sitting down and rabbiting off his recollections (although i'm sure putting the book together was actually a bit of a nightmare for quincy troupe) and that works well. the book is somewhat famous for the way it liberated the word motherf****r - miles found ways to use it in every conceivable way. so if your ears burn, then this might be a struggle. not only that but miles comes across as a tiny bit racist and sexist - i'll leave it up to you to decide how much irony i'm using in the words 'tiny bit'.

gladometer ('how glad am i that i read it?') rating: pretty glad.

on the headphones: 'into the ocean' by evermore, from the album 'dreams' (not jazz by the way). www.evermoreband.com

intro

2005-12-03T10:03:00.000+13:00

this is my new blog. i've called it 'intraspace' meaning 'inner space' - an arguably pretentious title for a site where i'll review books, films and albums i've recently read, watched and heard.

you can check out my other internet offerings by using the links to the right.

new reviews coming soon...

on the headphones: 'godless' by the dandy warhols, from the album 'thirteen tales from urban bohemia'. www.dandywarhols.com