Derek's Space

Christmas Lights

2008-12-20T10:26:00.001+11:00

You know those people who cover their entire homes in Christmas lights? I worry about them. Surely it can't be good for anyone to live inside that much electro-magnetic radiation. I wonder if any studies have been done...

-- Post From My iPhone

Oprah & the Kindle...

2008-12-19T13:25:00.001+11:00

So I'm watching Oprah spruiking the Kindle and all I can think is, 'Bloody hell, I want one!' Actually seeing one in the flesh (so to speak) has really got me interested. I always thought it had potential for students and academics...but now I can see why a general reader might find it useful. I can just imagine being on a long flight and having your complete library to hand...

Now, if only it were available in Australia...

-- Post From My iPhone

Well, now!

2008-12-16T16:27:00.001+11:00

This just might get me interested in my blog again. It's quite nifty and convenient.

-- Post From My iPhone

Another test...

2008-12-16T16:25:00.001+11:00

-- Post From My iPhone

Testing the Blog Press iPhone app...

2008-12-16T16:23:00.001+11:00

Just want to see if it actually works!

-- Post From My iPhone

Would you drop the bomb on Hiroshima?

2008-08-07T15:26:00.004+10:00

Over at BoingBoing there's an interesting post about the poll that was given to some of the scientists working on the Manhattan Project regarding the use of the atomic bomb they were developing. The Ptak Science Books blog is re-running the poll to see how the result compares to the original.

I went for option 2. All things considered I don't believe there was any other choice. Japan was not going to surrender, America was war-weary, an invasion of Japan would have been catastrophic for everyone. It was going to take some sort of overwhelming force to end the war. Option 2 allows for a display of that force without mass casualties. That's what I would have preferred to happen.

Technorati Tags: Hiroshima,Atomic Bomb,Manhattan Project

Gorillas in the Midst

2008-08-07T14:58:00.005+10:00

How astonishing is the news that up to 125,000 endangered western lowland gorillas have been found...living in the midst of the Republic of Congo? Very blood astonishing is the answer. It's hard not to view this as a triumph of Nature over Man.

I don't know if these colonies have survived simply due to being isolated or if they are the result of conservation and anti-poaching efforts. Don't know, don't care. I'm just glad that this planet can still offer up such remarkable discoveries and opportunities. Especially after the the recent faked 'lost tribes' fiasco.

I have to agree with John Scalzi who asks, "For God's sake, why did you tell people where they are?" It's a good question. Really, we don't need to know...just the knowledge they exist is surely enough.

Technorati Tags: Gorillas

'Rude Arsehole'

2008-07-27T21:39:00.003+10:00

That's what a woman called me at the supermarket this evening. I'm not going to bother writing about exactly what prompted her to designate me as such - except to say, she was wrong.

This was a few hours ago now and I'm still thinking about it. It was one of those situations when, after the fact, you think of dozens of snappy comebacks that you could have used to put someone in their place. And your mind just won't let go of the incident and you start to seethe a little bit at the memory of your own placidity and...

But.

I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to let this woman put the smallest dent in my own self-knowledge that I am a decent and polite person who is not a 'rude arsehole'.

Canberra Glassworks

2008-07-24T11:19:00.007+10:00

Last weekend I was in Canberra for a nephew's birthday. I had some time to kill (since certain Canberran friends rudely decided to absent themselves from the capital ;-)) so I went to the Canberra Glassworks for a bit of a look around.

I've always had a layman's fascination with glasswork. There's something about the fact that glass is so fragile but also so malleable that intrigues me. That a beautifully delicate vase is produced from within an inferno defies my imagination. The glassworks in Canberra is fully operational - artists are able to rent space and equipment and it's all on display to the public for the cost of a gold coin donation.

Visitors also have the opportunity to take part in classes. I didn't have a lot of time so I had a go at making a fused glass tile...

I know it's a bit...well, shit but I had fun making it. In fact, so much fun that I'm going to do one of the Glassworks' weekend schools for beginners. I think I'll do a Kiln Forming class first and then move on to Glass Blowing. So expect to see some more masterpieces by me on here over the coming months.

Clock of the Long Now

2008-07-23T17:35:00.003+10:00

The Clock of the Long Now (prototype pictured) is a project 'to build a monument scale, multi-millennial, all mechanical clock as an icon to long term thinking'. The project is meant to get people thinking about the future...the deep future. We all have such shallow perspectives about the future these days. Most of us can barely think ahead to next week let alone next year or beyond the span of our own life. The clock is a monument to humanity...one that may very well outlast our civilisation.

Th e Long Now Foundation has other projects under way - such as a library, gallery and orrery. The fact that there are people out there planning and making a reality the means by which human knowledge can be retained across eons is staggering to me. The Foundation has bought land in Nevada where the Clock of the Long Now will eventually be placed. I intend to visit it at some point in my life.

What has revived my interest in this project is the news that Neal Stephenson's new science fiction novel, Anathem, is inspired by the Clock. I would be buying the book regardless but now I can't wait to get my hands on it (although I'm dreading yet another 1000 page door-stopper). There's not much in the following synopsis to indicate the connection between the Clock and the novel but it sounds interesting regardless.

Fraa Erasmas is a young avout living in the Concent of Saunt Edhar, a sanctuary for mathematicians, scientists, and philosophers, protected from the corrupting influences of the outside "saecular" world by ancient stone, honored traditions, and complex rituals. Over the centuries, cities and governments have risen and fallen beyond the concent's walls. Three times during history's darkest epochs violence born of superstition and ignorance has invaded and devastated the cloistered mathic community. Yet the avout have always managed to adapt in the wake of catastrophe, becoming out of necessity even more austere and less dependent on technology and material things. And Erasmas has no fear of the outside—the Extramuros—for the last of the terrible times was long, long ago.

Wordle

2008-07-01T17:03:00.001+10:00

I love this tool called Wordle! It creates a word cloud for any text that you provide it. Below is the cloud for this blog. I don't think it's picked up the entire blog...maybe just what's on the first page but it's still interesting. Apparently I use 'really' a lot...

Technorati Tags: Wordle,Really,Word Cloud

The War and Peace Project

2008-07-01T16:20:00.003+10:00

I've started a new blog called The War and Peace Project that is about me reading Tolstoy's novel for the first time. I'm going to record my thoughts and reactions as I go. I thought it would make an interesting experiment to detail the process of tackling such a daunting book.

I'm not going to rush through the book...I'm going to really take my time. Actually, I think this will be a long project simply because I suspect I may not really enjoy the book at all. But who knows? Maybe I'll love it and race through the 1358 pages.

Technorati Tags: War and Peace,Leo Tolstoy

So the Governor-General doesn't think voters should choose the President...

2008-06-14T13:47:00.001+10:00

The Governor-General, Michael Jeffery, says a directly elected president would be a "risk" to political stability

Call me old-fashioned but I don't think the man holding the position that would be replaced in a hypothetical Australian Republic is really the one to be offering an opinion on this issue. I am absolutely for an Australian appointed Head of State. I don't particularly care if the position is called 'President' or 'Governor-General'. I don't really care if the position is parliament-appointed or directly-elected. I simply want the ultimate arbiter of Australian governance to be an Australian...and not a lackey of the Queen.

However, the Governor-General does make one point that I think is particularly important for Australians to consider before we rush head-long (again) into exploring the idea of a Republic:

"I think [our system] is taken for granted because it's worked so seamlessly and so effectively. Look at the seamless transition of power from Mr Howard to Mr Rudd and the lovely way it was done: the two families having a cup of coffee at the Lodge and handing over the keys … We have had 100 years of political stability and I don't think that's happened by accident. I think it's happened because checks and balances were put in place by our founding fathers, and citizens should understand what they are."

It would be stupid of us to ignore this point. We do take our political stability for granted. Is that worth giving up?

Technorati Tags: Governor-General,Michael Jeffery,Australia,Republic

Juvelen - Money Don't Talk

2008-06-14T13:24:00.002+10:00

Now this is how to write the chorus of a pop song. There isn't a proper video for the song since it's (at this point) an album track and not a single. It's by far the strongest track so I hope it gets a full single release at some point.

The album is called 1 and is pretty darn good. I can see it being one of my favourites for the year. The only problem I have is the vocal style used for a couple of tracks. He does this high pitched delivery that is really...well, fucking annoying to be honest! I don't know what it's meant to convey...some sort of overly distressed emotional torment I suspect. But all it conveys to me is the overwhelming desire to skip to the next track. It's a shame because when he sings 'normally' he gets it so right...as 'Money Don't Talk' displays.

(Does anyone know who produced this track? It sounds quite Calvin Harris-y to me...)

Technorati Tags: Juvelen,1,Money Don't Talk,Calvin Harris

The Happening SPOILERS AHEAD

2008-06-14T13:10:00.001+10:00

Well, that's it for me - I won't be seeing M. Night Shyamalan's next film in a hurry. I'd been looking forward to The Happening ever since I first read about it. I'm a fan of Shyamalan's work. I even liked The Lady in the Water for God's sake! I actually managed to avoid reading any spoilers for The Happening so everything I knew about it came form the trailers...and the trailers only made me anticipate the film even more.

But as we all know an intriguing trailer does not a good film make...and The Happening is about as far from a 'good film' as it is possible to get. It's really, really...really bad. I can't even convey just how bad it is. Nothing in the film works. The plot is stupid. OK, fine - the plants start releasing toxins to kill off people. I can live with that...it might even be plausible for all I know. But what's with the wind blowing in a seemingly controlled manner? The wind chases down victims...how? Why? It's just a dumb idea. And the old woman? Seriously, what was the point?

And the acting. My God is it atrocious. Is that really the same Mark Wahlberg who has a freakin' Oscar nomination? He's scary-bad in this film. Zooey Deschanel (who is usually a joy to watch) looks like she hasn't got a clue what movie she's in. There are a couple of scenes where you can almost see her thinking...'WTF am I doing? Where am I? Who am I?'...she's terrible. T.E.R.R.I.B.L.E.

However! None of this is really the actors' faults. Alllll the blame has to lie with Shyamalan and his script. Marlon Brando couldn't deliver these lines with any sort of conviction. There's nothing natural about the dialogue...because it all sounds like dialogue. Which, Mr Shyamalan, it shouldn't.

This is a career-destroying film. Don't see it.

Technorati Tags: The Happening,M Night Shyamalan,Mark Wahlberg,Zooey Deschanel

Fantastic stop-motion animated graffiti art

2008-06-11T15:40:00.001+10:00

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

This has been all over the place for a few weeks now but I couldn't resist posting it here. Every time I've seen it it just makes me smile and giggle. It's so whimsical and enthralling...while also being more than a bit creepy. I can't even imagine the amount of work that must have gone into pulling this off but it was worth it!

Technorati Tags: MUTO,BLU,graffiti,stop-motion,video,animation

Another proofreading cock up...

2008-06-09T18:06:00.003+10:00

I finally decided to bite the bullet and shell out US$150 for the limited edition of Ian Cameron Esslemont's Return of the Crimson Guard from PS Publishing. I was a bit surprised to read on the book's order page that there had been what appears to be a monumentally poor proofreading of the title. Given the price of the book - and the otherwise good reputation of PS Publishing for producing quality short run books - it's astounding to me that this could happen. PS are compensating buyers by offering a free back list title...which is very nice of them but also a bit useless.

So what is the cause of poor proofreading? My guess would be (and I'm not talking specifically about this instance but in general) that proofreaders are rushed and given limited time to do their job and/or paid poorly so the work itself is devalued. However, judging from the posts at the fan forum linked above, it seems like a lot of blame goes back to Esslemont. Perhaps I'm wrong about the process but I assume that the text file supplied by the author is the basis of the proof...the MS Word (or whatever) doc is simply copied and pasted into some sort of typesetting software program. From what I can gather on that forum the proof reading errors seem to be misspellings of character names and poor grammar rather than 'typos'. Which begs the question: how bad was Esslemont's draft? Did he not even spell-check it himself? I suppose there are lot of points in the process where it can all go wrong but the fault is surely not just that of the proofreader.

See previous post: Poor proofreading really ticks me off

Technorati Tags: Ian Cameron Esslemont,Return of the Crimson Guard,PS Publishing,proof reading

TED - Technology, Entertainment, Design

2008-06-08T21:00:00.001+10:00

TED is one of my favourite web sites. It's the online presence for the TED Conference that's held every year. As the web site says, 'the annual conference now brings together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives.' And boy do they. Below are two of what I think are amongst the most interesting of those talks.

In this video brain researcher Jill Bolte Taylor talks about the stroke she suffered and how she managed to study the effects as they were actually happening to her.

What starts out as a fairly interesting talk about the biology of as stroke soon becomes something much more as she discusses the spiritual and metaphysical aspects of her experience.

She's an amazing speaker and I defy anyone not to be moved by this talk.

In this video Joshua Klein discusses his research with crows. He's created experiments that show just how intelligent, and misunderstood, these birds are.

It doesn't sound like a very interesting topic, does it? But he manages to really engage the viewer with his passion for his subject matter.

He's not as out there as Jill Bolte Taylor but he also has a way of making you look at things differently.

So check out the web site for lots of other talks. I've found it pays off to click on links to the people and topics I don't think I'm going to be interested in. Inevitably it's fascinating and eye-opening. If you're going to stuff about wasting time on the net you might as well learn something while you're at it!

Technorati Tags: TED,Jill Bolte Taylor,stroke,brain research,Joshua Klein,crows

How NOT to reissue science fiction novels with new covers...

2008-06-05T12:35:00.001+10:00

I was just having a bit of a browse around Amazon when I came across the new UK covers for Peter F. Hamilton's Night's Dawn Trilogy. And I couldn't believe my eyes...

Could they be any more boring? I doubt it. They barely look like science fiction novels. And they're not a patch on the old covers...

The older covers told me everything I needed to know at the time I bought them. I can still remember seeing The Reality Dysfunction for the first time in the bookstore. I literally could not get out of there fast enough and get back home to start reading it. That cover just captivated me instantly. I don't think I even read the cover blurb to find out what it was about. I loved the cover so much (that small pic doesn't really do it justice) that I later spent a small fortune buying a first edition hardcover just so I could have it.

The new cover just doesn't elicit the same sort of response in me. I wouldn't even look twice at it on bookshop shelf. I'm sure there is a very good reason for reissuing these titles with new covers but why go with such an uninformative minimalist design? Science fiction books in general - and this series in particular - need whiz bang covers. The reissue artwork should have been done by someone like Stephan Martiniere but perhaps he is becoming too expensive and/or over-used. As it is they look like they were done by an in-house team on a budget...which is a shame.

Technorati Tags: Peter F Hamilton,Science Fiction,Covers,The Reality Dysfunction

Poor proofreading really ticks me off

2008-06-04T09:24:00.004+10:00

I finished reading Kethani by Eric Brown last night. Not a bad little book (really a collection of short stories with newly added linking passages). But. Some errors, presumably as the result of poor proofreading, really annoyed me. The fact that the first example appears on page 1 is, I think, very sloppy:

What was in my head as I drove from the village and climbed the narrow lane onto the brow of the moors, from it seemed the entire world could be viewed?

There's a 'where' or 'which' missing in there I feel (although...I am now wondering if this isn't some obscure example of Old English grammar that is now obsolete...)

Another example appeared on page 12:

We watched a succession of fazed politicians attempt the reassure their citizens that everything was under control...

Everything except the proofreading it would seem. I know it's only a small problem in the grand scheme of things but errors like this really drive me bonkers...particularly when reading science fiction. A novel like Kethani requires suspension of disbelief; it requires the reader to really invest in the fiction presented. When a proofing error is encountered...BAM! The reader is whipped out of the world created by the author and that process of investing has to start all over again.

Perfect grammar is clearly not one of my strengths but I'm not a professional writer with all the expertise of a publishing house behind me. Someone at Solaris should have picked up on these mistakes before the book hit the shelves.

Technorati Tags: Kethani,Eric Brown,Science Fiction,SF

SMS Scam

2008-06-03T08:42:00.001+10:00

So, there I was on watching Smugly Betty when my phone beeped its 'message beep'. Not wanting to miss a moment of Vanessa Williams I waited for an ad break before reading the message. Imagine my surprise when I read this:

"Welcome to CrushOMeter. Enter [code number] at funbox/com/aucrush. You will be sent 2msgs/wk at 6.60aud p/msg"

Needless to say, I hadn't signed up for any such service. Then another similar message came through. I didn't really give it much thought at the time - just assumed it was an error.

It took me a couple of days to realise that there was potential for me to be charged for the service. So I rang my telco (begins with a 'T'...ends in an 'A'). The people I spoke to were very helpful and understanding. Apparently this is a scam that many people are being hit with. Basically, if these companies can get hold of your mobile number they can sign you up and you have to opt out...and it's completely legal! The telco reps agreed it was a scam but there was nothing they could do about it except help me to block the service.

I've really got no idea how these people got my number. The only thing I can think of is that it was off some web form I've filled out at some point. I think I'll just supply a bogus number next time...

If you receive one of these messages, you should act immediately to put a stop to them. In most cases that simply means replying with 'STOP' but you should follow up with your telco and have the service blocked.

Review: Breath by Tim Winton

2008-06-02T13:15:00.001+10:00

This is a review I had to write for part of a university assignment. It's not really written in my style but I thought I'd put up here anyway...

‘How strange it was to see men do something beautiful.’ So thinks the young Bruce Pike upon his first sight of men surfing in Tim Winton’s Breath. It’s a statement that could just as readily be made of Winton’s achievement with this new novel. There is a muscularity to Winton’s language that is softened by his remarkable ability to evoke place and feeling. Breath is a short novel that manages to pack more into its pages than most novels double or triple its length.

In the opening sequence we encounter an older Bruce in his capacity as an ambo called out to an apparent teen suicide by hanging. But Bruce knows something is not right with the mother’s story. It is clear to him that the scene has been sanitised. The older bruises on the boy’s neck tell Bruce (bruise…Bruce) another story. Winton’s economy of language and description in this scene is remarkable. The descriptions are like watching a room lit by strobe. Brief flashes illuminate different aspects that come together as a whole. Bruce’s unspoken perception about the boy’s real means of death creates a distinct sense of unease. There is something in Bruce’s past that is awakened by this death.

And it is to the past that Winton next takes us. Bruce is now ‘Pikelet’ and the setting is a lumber town on the West Australian coast. Pikelet and his mate Ivan Loon, always called Loonie, play dangerous games in the local river. They dive deep, holding their breath until their vision blurs and sparks, tricking passersby into thinking they have drowned. The exuberance with which the boys play this game is only matched by their desire for something more daring to play at. They become parent-defying surfers. A chance encounter with the mysterious older and Christ-like surfer, Sando, sets up the rest of the narrative.

Make no mistake; surfing is the central activity and theme of the novel. But this is not a ‘surfing’ book. Even if you have no interest in the sport it is hard not to be captivated by Winton’s wondrous descriptions of the surf and sea:

Ocean and air seemed hyper-oxygenated; everything fizzed and spritzed as if long after the passage of previous waves there was energy yet to be dissipated.

It is through Sando that Winton finds his best voice for describing the heady feeling of conquering a wave: ‘Like you’ve exploded and all the pieces of you are reassembling themselves. You’re new. Shimmering. Alive.’ Winton’s great strength has always been this ability to take you into his creations by pin-pointing detail that invokes your own memories. The description of Pikelet’s school bus journey is bound to be familiar to many:

The smells of vinyl and diesel and toothpaste, corrugated-iron shelters out by the highway, rain-soaked farmkids, the funk of wet wool and greasy scalps, the staccato rattle of the perspex emergency window.

The journey from school bus to ambulance for Pikelet is the journey that defines Breath. As a boy he encounters the wonders of the surf - of being so scared of the power of the ocean and his own power to master it - that he could shit himself. And he encounters the wonders of love and lust and sex in the form of Sando’s wife Eva. It is the memory of Eva’s bruises that the older Pikelet recalls. The journey from boy to man is not an easy one for Pikelet.

Winton skilfully manages these difficult themes. There is a generosity in the writing about Pikelet’s worshipping of Sando - and his young man’s desire to usurp him - that makes the story painful but beautiful.
Breath is about men and boys being men and boys. In an age where masculinity is perceived as in crisis it is refreshing to read such flawed, dangerous and likable male characters. Winton’s men are not afraid of admitting their fears. ‘Denying fear, well, that’s…unmanly,’ Sando ministers to Pikelet at one point. Breath is about ‘daring to try’ despite the fear. It is about men surfing beautifully and about the beauty in men that is just as much a part of them as each breath.

Technorati Tags: books,review,Tim Winton,Breath,Tim Winton Breath

Some of my favourite tracks at the moment...

2008-06-02T09:04:00.001+10:00

These are the tracks that are currently copping a flogging on my iPod.


Liquido - Gameboy	Temposhark - Blame


Sam Sparro - Black & Gold	The Music - Strength in Numbers

Glorifying the low

2008-06-01T13:47:00.001+10:00

This Sydney Morning Herald article says, 'The hit television show Underbelly has turned the gangsters it is based on into cult stars.' I wish someone could explain this sort of phenomenon to me. I just can't understand why anyone would think it was worth their time to glorify these people. It's the whole Paris-Hilton-lowest-common-denominator celebrity factor that I don't get.

I suspect that, for a lot of people, there is some kind of irony at work here but really that doesn't excuse it in my eyes. When you worship the low you're putting them on a pedestal - and that means you are putting them above you. Which really begs the question...

Image of Phoenix hanging from its parachute as it descended to the Martian surface

2008-06-01T12:30:00.001+10:00

"Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera acquired this image of Phoenix hanging from its parachute as it descended to the Martian surface. Shown here is a 10 kilometer (6 mile) diameter crater informally called "Heimdall," and an improved full-resolution image of the parachute and lander. Although it appears that Phoenix is descending into the crater, it is actually about 20 kilometers (about 12 miles) in front of the crater. "

It just blows my mind that we are able to see this kind of pic. It makes the Phoenix mission seem so much more 'real' despite how unreal it is. This is what we as a species are capable of if we put our minds to it. But no, we have to spend obscene amounts of money fighting wars. According to sci-fi author Charles Stross we could have colonised Mars for less than the cost of the war in Iraq. Obviously the 'we' in this case is the US. $3 Trillion dollars have been spent on the war. The Phoenix mission cost about 1% of that. Which would you rather spend money on?

Bleak House - Charles Dickens

2008-05-31T09:59:00.001+10:00

So I've been reading (and reading...and reading) Bleak House for uni. It's taken me weeks to get through it and I still have about 100 pages to go. Not even Middlemarch earlier in the semester was this much of a slog.

I've come to the conclusion that I just don't like Dickens. I've tried...but I just simply don't. The 33% Rule (now The 25% Rule) would well and truly have been invoked in this instance if it weren't for the need to read this for my studies. I'll be glad when I'm done with it. And I'm glad I've decided I''m not going to read anymore Dickens. This feels like somewhat of a failure on my part (after all, I am about to graduate with an Eng. Lit. degree) but I...just...don't...care. Now, where's my copy of War and Peace...

Lost Tribes

2008-05-30T15:43:00.001+10:00

Various news sites are reporting the discovery of a lost tribe of Indians in the Amazon. Part of me is fascinated by this discovery and part of me is horrified by it.

Apparently these people were spotted inside an 'Ethno-Environmental Protected Area.' That sounds a hell of lot like a zoo to me. I think there is a very real ethical dilemma here. Should these people be left in their Stone Age existence? If so, should they then be treated as barely human curiosities? Observed from afar but not interfered with. I think a case could also be made for intervening and welcoming these people to the 21st century. Unfortunately, either action is patronising and debases the lives of these people. Personally, I think it would probably have been better if this tribe, and others like it, were simply left alone, neither protected or confronted.

Róisín Murphy - You Know Me Better

2008-05-28T12:20:00.001+10:00

Yes, another Róisín Murphy post. I should have done this one ages ago as it's about my favourite track on the album. First up is the video for the single...it's full of the usual Róisín quirkiness. The second video, of Róisín busking, is actually the more interesting of the two for me. After seeing her live in Sydney a few weeks ago I'm just so impressed by her singing ability.

Róisín Murphy - Overpowered

2007-10-09T13:42:00.000+10:00

I thought it was about time I did a post on some music rather than yet another book. So...

The album I'm most looking forward to at the moment is Overpowered by Róisín Murphy. She's the ex-lead of Moloko. This is her second solo album after Ruby Blue - which I found very disappointing. However, the tracks that have leaked from Overpowered have got me very excited. She's taken a much more straightforward dance/pop approach this time and I think it works a treat. There's some indefinable quality about these songs that really taps into what I want from music at the moment. Róisín is a fair bit kooky but also extraordinarily articulate. In some ways she's a one woman Pet Shop Boys, embracing as she does, the same sensibility that pop music can be about more than just falling in and out of love.

Overpowered	Let Me Know

Helpless - Barbara Gowdy

2007-09-18T11:38:00.000+10:00

The jacket blurb for Helpless has a quote from Carol Shields - 'She writes like an angel' - that I have to agree with. Gowdy's writing cannot be faulted. She is firmly in control of her tools and there is not one moment in Helpless that isn't well written. There is an elusive quality to her style that draws the reader in to the story. Helpless only has two settings yet it feels like a complete world. The main characters - Celia, her daughter Rachel, and the abductors of Rachel, Ron and Nancy - are all fully realised. The dialogue never sounds false. All these elements add up to a enormously competent piece of writing...

But.

Helpless, and Gowdy's last couple of novels, have veered so close to greatness that the fact they don't quite make it is disappointing. Plotting is Gowdy's weakness. As I reached the last ten pages of Helpless I thought she had managed to (at last) complete a novel without leaving me with a feeling of being letdown. Alas, not. The ending is rushed, makes no sense and undermines the rest of the novel. Given the subject matter - the abduction of a young child - and the manner in which Gowdy manages to elicit sympathy (of a sort) for even the vilest of her characters, it is frustrating that she loses her nerve at the very end.

Boys On The Side

2007-09-10T17:13:00.000+10:00

Boys On The Side is a movie I've probably watched a dozen times since it's mid-90s release. I watched it again last weekend and enjoyed it as much as ever. I have been thinking about why I like it so much. It's not a complex story that reveals additional layers on repeated viewings and it's not an 'epic' that sweeps you along. In fact, it's the antithesis of both those sorts of movies. It starts out as a road trip...then it morphs into a courtroom drama...then veers ever so close to disease-of-the-week territory...before correcting course and becoming an unusual love story. I think that what makes it so appealing to me is the core idea of making a family out of those people around you, those people who love you but aren't your biological family. The movie shows a path away from the sense of alienation and isolation that many people feel. That's something we can all relate to.

It occurred to me while watching Boys On The Side that it has a similar theme to another girls-only flick that I've also watched quite a few times. Leaving Normal is a fairly obscure film that deserves a bigger audience. It was released in 1992 and has stuck in my mind ever since. I haven't seen it in a few years because it's hard to get hold of (from what I can gather it's still not available on DVD). It's another story of misfits who come together to make a life together. It's a love story in the same way that Boys On The Side is. Love between friends comes to mean as much as the love between 'real' family.

The triumph of love - any sort of love - over disillusionment and loneliness is something I find inspiring. I wish there were more movies like Boys On The Side and Leaving Normal. And I wish there were movies like these that were about men finding some sort of platonic solace in the company of each other. Perhaps there are and I just don't know about them...

The 33% Rule

2007-09-07T22:10:00.000+10:00

Recently over at SF Signal there has been discussion about how much of a book you should read before deciding it's no good. This has resulted in the 33% Rule. Basically, if the book hasn't grabbed you by the balls and given them a good shaking by a third of the way through it's a dud and not worth pursuing.

If I had to guess, out of the 30 years or so that I've been a reader, I have probably only deliberately not finished less than half a dozen books. There have been plenty of books that I wanted to stop but out of some sort of perverse self-torture I've always forced myself to finish them.

Lately I'm feeling less inclined to devote the time to a book that I'm just not enjoying. Case in point: The Princess Bride by William Goldman. I really, really, really wanted to throw it against a wall. It took me forever to read. If it wasn't required reading for one of my subjects this semester I wouldn't have finished it. I hated it and every page was a real chore to finish.

That was the last straw for me. I've decided there's not enough time left in my life to give to uninteresting books. I'm adopting the 33% Rule as of The Ruins, which I started last night. It's not the sort of book - a mystery/thriller - that I read very often so I figure it's a good book to start with. It's only 319 pages so I'll decide at page 106 if I'm going to continue with it. I only managed 40 pages last night and I have to say it's a 50/50 proposition at the moment. I'm liking it but not loving it.

I don't really expect the adoption of the 33% Rule to radically change my reading. The vast majority of books I read are entertaining enough that I can't imagine chucking them in. The only difference now will be that I can give up on a book guilt-free. Strange, I know...

Rohypnol - Andrew Hutchinson

2007-08-08T12:41:00.000+10:00

You can never guess what another person will do. You can't bank on them catching you when you fall. So they can't bank on you.

Andrew Hutchinson's Melbourne-set first novel is an abrasive and bleak creation that demands much from the reader. He portrays a drug and violence-filled world you (hopefully) don't know and characters you simply can't empathise with. But it is also a world that you can't deny or turn away from. It's a horrifying setting in which young men routinely drug and rape young women. The men are quick to violently protect each other. And the women, some of them, are complicit in the attacks against them.

The combination of money, drugs, sex and violence invites comparisons to Bret Easton Ellis but there is only a superficial similarity. Ellis' characters, even the most vile of them, always seem to have moments of doubt, moments of moral uncertainty. Not so with Hutchinson's characters. They are uniformly nihilist, cold and brutal. There is no redemption in this Melbourne and none expected. These characters are self-knowingly morally damaged and there is no punishment-to-come that threatens them or compels them to change, to be otherwise.

Hutchinson's writing is sparse but full of carefully constructed detail. This propels the narrative along so fast that you are likely to read the novel in one or two sittings. It's visceral writing. The reader feels the lurching of a car racing away from a crime scene, smells the nightclub toilet, feels the kicks to the head. Tastes the blood.

Hutchinson was mentored through the final stages of his book by Christos Tsiolkas (author of Head On and Dead Europe) and the influence is very much apparent. I suspect that the biggest criticism that Rohypnol will face is that it's nothing more than Head On for straight boys. That would be a simplistic judgement but also an understandable one - it's hard to avoid feeling that Tsiolkas deserves a co-author credit. But another author like Tsiolkas wouldn't be a bad thing. The verve and audacity that Hutchinson displays, influenced by Tsiolkas or not, is much needed.

Rohypnol is an important book. It's going to be divisive and controversial. It's going to be remembered by those who read it and judged mercilessly by those who won't but would condemn its subject matter all the same.

The Margarets - Sheri S. Tepper

2007-08-06T20:07:00.000+10:00

Tepper is one of only a handful of authors whose new book gets an automatic pass to the top of my 'to read' pile. I haven't liked every one of her novels but I've certainly read them all. In some ways you always know what you're going to get with Tepper: she's an angry, issues-driven writer with a lot to say. On the other hand, you never quite know what she's going to deliver. She is a skilled writer - even at her worst she's better than most - who always manages to entertain even if her message isn't convincingly conveyed.

The Margarets has an unnecessarily convoluted plot that is spread out over far too many pages. The story is about the need for mankind to be able to learn from its mistakes via the intervention of a god-like entity. This involves a quest that, naturally, comes down to one person - you guessed it! - to succeed. The reasoning behind Margaret's role in this scheme is not adequately explained and the whole scenario seems preposterous.

Not that 'preposterous' is unusual for Tepper. At some point in just about all over her novels, usually when the reader feels most comfortable that they have a handle on the plot, she introduces a twist that flips the book on its head. That twist comes mercifully early in The Margarets. For reasons I'm still not clear on, Margaret splits off personalities from herself at various points. These are not split-personalities but living breathing versions of Margaret. Eventually there are seven different (but the same) 'Margarets' using different names on different planets, all initially unaware of the existence of the others. You will either accept this and just allow Tepper to take you on a journey...or you will throw the book down never to be picked up again.

I'm not likely to ditch a Tepper novel - the rewards for placing yourself in her generally assured hands are usually worth a bit of silliness...but not this time. The Margarets is a failure. The plot seems as though it has been made up on the run and the different 'Margarets' are poorly written. Tepper's message is lost in over-writing and the entire effect is underwhelming. I'll eagerly await Tepper's next novel...and hope it's a worthier book than The Margarets.

Time - Stephen Baxter

2007-07-23T08:08:00.000+10:00

Time has been sitting on my bookshelf since the day it was published in 1999. Over the years I've collected the rest of the Manifold Sequence and they too have gathered dust. Every time I thought about starting on Time I'd talk myself out of it. Baxter has a reputation as the hardest of Hard SF writers and I usually just want something simple and fun to read before drifting off each evening. What I always forget is that, regardless of how 'hard' Baxter is, he is always very readable. So I started the book and quickly became so engrossed I was staying up late just to read one more section...and then another. That horrible cliche - of not being able to put it down - became a truth.

Baxter's most impressive talent is his ability to take the reader on a journey through time and space that encompasses years and distances that are almost unimaginable. The story begins in the year 2010 on Earth but extends trillions of years into the future and out to the farthest regions of space and through a multitude of universes. Baxter's self-confidence in writing about such grandiose elements permits the reader to be swept along for the ride. All of this is done with a minimum of difficult detail - Time isn't really a Hard SF novel after all. There's lots of science but for the most part it deals with such esoteric and hypothetical situations that it might as well be fantasy. The artefact, found on a near-Earth asteroid, that allows travel through time and space, is in essence a 'magic gate'.

I don't think Baxter gets all of his story right. In particular, the way he portrays humanity's response to the Carter Catastrophe and the images from the Deep Future just don't ring true for me. Perhaps I just have a more optimistic opinion of mankind's ability to deal with monumental crises. One of the most common complaints about Baxter's works is that his characters aren't multi-dimensional beings - each is a cypher that represents a single viewpoint. This is still true in Time. The three main characters - Reid Malefant, Emma Stoney and Cornelius Taine - don't behave in rational ways and they certainly don't seem to be entirely human in their motivations. Strangely - and interestingly - the exception to this one-dimensionality is the politician Maura Della. She is the only character that even slightly reflects on the moral dilemmas she encounters.

This is Big Picture science fiction and the little people don't matter. Lives are taken. Morality is up-turned. Science is destroyed. Cosmology is reinvented. Humanity fights and loses. And wins. It takes enormous talent to right about these sorts of concepts and to make that writing enjoyable. I'll be starting on Space, the first sequel to Time, fairly soon. I want to know what happens next - and that surely is the best recommendation a book can be given.

Helix - Eric Brown

2007-07-03T13:28:00.000+10:00

There is so much wrong with Helix but there is also much to like. The central conceit of the story - that there is a huge, helical structure that houses thousands of cylindrical worlds - would lead one to expect a 'hard' SF novel but that isn't the case. The titular helix is a feat of imagination and not one of engineering and Brown clearly has no idea (or concern for) how or why it was built or even why the structure is a helix rather than any other shape. His characters are lazy constructions that rely on silly coincidences to generate personalities. The background stories pad out the tale to no effect. Pages of set up regarding Hendry's daughter all come to nought. The Kaluchek/Olembe dynamic is played out over 500 pages and then negates itself when the basis of their conflict is discovered to be false. These are all faults that could have been resolved with some editorial direction and the excision of a hundred or so pages.

The curious thing is that, even with all these gripes, Helix is enjoyable. It's fast paced, cinematic and wondrous. The reader is carried along at such a rate that faults are smoothed over due to the sheer speed of the narrative. Read as Space Opera (as opposed to Science Fiction) it is entertaining and engrossing.

The Unknown Terrorist - Richard Flanagan

2007-06-28T10:25:00.000+10:00

I was looking forward to reading The Unknown Terrorist until I came across a review on the Spleen blog that set off alarm bells. Surely, I thought, this blogger has got it all wrong...after all this is a Richard Flanagan novel we're talking about. But no, Jonathan Shaw has nailed it. The Unknown Terrorist is a disaster...and not just because of the sloppy prose and editing that Shaw points out. It's a disaster because it fails to accomplish what it sets out to do. Flanagan wants to raise the hackles of his readers. He wants us to be outraged by media and government manipulation of details and facts regarding terrorist threats. Instead, Flanagan's klutz-like manipulation of his story simply leaves the reader exasperated. It's hard to raise the ire of the populace with a novel that shows just how unlikely it is that the threat you posit will ever come to be. This novel is part of the same breathless disaster-porn nationalism that saw Australian reporters asking leaders of the Taliban if Australia was going to be attacked. Flanagan, along with most people, seems to have forgotten the dismissive laughter of the Taliban. When even the most vile of terrorists don't have any regard for you, what are you left with to write about? In Flanagan's case, you are left with a cast of cliches that you traipse about Sydney for 300 pages, making them do the most unlikely things to serve your agenda.

A much better attempt at this theme was made by Andrew McGahan with his Underground. McGahan's novel, with its over the top scenario, slightly science-fictional ideas, and dark humour achieves the outrage that The Unknown Terrorist strives for. It has a blistering last few pages that indict Australian society in a way that shames us all.

Still, I can't help feeling that no Australian author has yet captured the essence of our post-9/11 existence. Both Flanagan and McGahan have had to resort to what amounts to slapstick to cobble together their books. They shy away from authenticity. Is it because there is no story, nothing authentic about their themes? Is it because there is nothing to write about? I think so.

Feeling Your Pain

2007-06-18T16:42:00.000+10:00

Study may explain roots of empathy - Yahoo! News

Researchers have discovered that some people have an empathic ability to feel the pain of others. The brains of these people actually respond to the pain of others in the same way it would respond if it were their own pain. There is the suggestion that this ability is perhaps latent or underdeveloped in all of us:

"We often flinch when we see someone knock their arm, and this may be a weaker version of what these synesthetes experience," Dr. Jamie Ward, who led the research team, said in a statement.

You have to wonder what other capabilities the brain has that are yet to be understood. Is it really much of a step from 'feeling' someone else's pain to 'reading' their mind? Other studies have shown that 'knowing' the phone is about to ring is a real, if unexplained, phenomenon. There is more going on than we presently understand - that much is clear.

Kylie Minogue Online Communities

2007-06-17T17:55:00.001+10:00

The online community that bases itself around a shared appreciation of Kylie Minogue is centred on three main websites. The first is Minogue’s official website simply called Kylie and referred to within the fan community as Dotcom. The second site is LiMBO Kylie Minogue Online and its associated message board, SayHey! The Ultimate Kylie Minogue Forum . This site is referred to as SayHey. The final site included in this analysis is a message board called Togerland.com, which is usually simplified to Togerland. Each of these sites plays a different role within the online fan community and each attracts a diverse range of fans. The main resource for the fans at each site is its message board. A message was posted to all three message boards inviting members to participate in a brief survey regarding their use of the boards and membership in an online fan community. The online survey was made available for a period of seven days and there were 61 respondents. Considering that the combined number of registered users across all three sites is 19,401 (as of 28 May 2007) this response is not adequate to form any relevant statistical data. However, the survey was not intended to be used for a scientific analysis of the community in question but rather as a device to gather responses from concerned members of the community.

As it is the official site/homepage for Kylie Minogue, Dotcom is a natural first stop for fans. After a lengthy introduction the reader is transported to the homepage of the site where a list of the latest Kylie-related news is presented alongside advertisements for Minogue’s latest product releases. The news items that are supplied are highly selective and apparently of a more general and promotional nature as opposed to genuine news articles. The site menu has hyperlinks to other areas of the site such as, ‘Music’, ‘Media’, ‘Shop Kylie’ and ‘bLA, bLA, bLA’, which is where the Message Board is found. The message board is powered by phpBB open source forum software. The Board has three main areas: ‘Kylie Chat’, ‘Off Topic Chat’ and ‘Your Say’. The ‘Kylie Chat’ section has various sub-forums, but it is the sub-form also called ‘Kylie Chat’ that is the primary area of the site. Dotcom is the corporate face of Kylie Minogue and is, in comparison to the other sites that will be analysed, tightly controlled and moderated.

LiMBO / SayHey is older than Dotcom, having been established in 1997. Both site titles refer to Kylie Minogue songs from her 1997 album Impossible Princess. LiMBO acts as resource similar to that of Dotcom in that it also supplies updated news and advertising, a shop and discography.The news that is provided is written and submitted by readers of the site and is much more likely to include information that is not necessarily ‘official’. For example, the news article ‘Kylie Reveals Her Plans’ reports on a Daily Mail item about the accidental disclosure of some of Minogue’s upcoming business ventures. This information is not reported on the official site. The message board, SayHey, is the primary mechanism for community interaction. It is structured very much like the Dotcom board, with sections entitled ‘100% Kylie’, ‘50% Kylie’ and ‘0% Kylie’. Within the ‘100% Kylie’ section there are a number of sub-forums – ‘News Discussion’, ‘Trading Post & Ebay Watch’ and ‘Fan Artwork, Media & Mixes’. The latter is an area in which members of the community can present examples of their own creations that are based on Minogue’s works. The forum is powered by Invision Power Board software.

Togerland is a message board that is not specifically devoted to Kylie Minogue. It was formed in July 2006 by former members of the SayHey community. These members were disillusioned with the administration of the SayHey forum. The hacking of SayHey by disgruntled former members, and the subsequent disclosure of apparently private internal communications between the administrators and moderators of the forum regarding some members was also a factor in an exodus to Togerland, which is named after one of the site founders. The forum is divided into four areas: ‘Togerland.com’, ‘Music Source’, ‘Music Discussion’ and ‘Adult’. The ‘Togerland.com’ sub-forum ‘The Lounge’ is essentially the same as the ‘Off Topic’ sub-forums of Dotcom and SayHey. It is within ‘The Lounge’ that Kylie Minogue fans interact. The ‘Music Source’ sub-forum is used to openly trade copies of Minogue’s (and other artists’) music. Although Togerland is not dedicated to Kylie Minogue thirty-six percent of respondents to the survey noted the forum as their primary Kylie community (compared to only 13% from the larger Dotcom community). Togerland also uses Invision Power Board software to run the forum. If Dotcom is the corporate portal for Kylie Minogue, and SayHey the slightly more questioning facet of the fan population, then Togerland is the anarchistic component of the community. The forum is only sporadically moderated and virtually any sort of topic or comment is allowed. Music and video files are openly traded with no regard to copyright issues. The other forums discourage and police the use of profanity or inflammatory language and the posting of pornographic material but Togerland does not.

Members of the three online communities were asked, ‘As a Kylie fan who participates in an online community (Say Hey, Togerland, Dotcom) what are your major concerns regarding Kylie and the online communities?’ Responses ranged from no concerns to more detailed answers encompassing concerns for Minogue’s health and security and to issues relating to the attitudes and actions of certain members of the community.

Togerland member ‘Isaac’ has ‘No concerns... it's all in good fun.’ Another Togerland member, ‘Travel In Light Years’, says:

[My] major concern would be Kylie's safety. There have been several 'nutters' on the forums who have either made threats against Kylie or others, or have just behaved in a bizarre or obsessive manner…Obsessed fans of Kylie and other people often frequent the boards with an unhealthy obsession with their "star", and almost see them as some kind of religious figure.

This sentiment is echoed by ‘DoubleDelight’ of SayHey:

My main concern regards some fans' belief that they have 'ownership' over Kylie and her career. So much so that they criticise anything that doesn't please them and have a mind set that indicates that Kylie is there to please their own agenda.

Other responses touched on the very nature of online communities: member ‘nickipee’ from Togerland says, ‘official websites or fan-supportive ones tend to be sycophantic or overly-uncritical, which does not make for interesting discussions.’ The obsessive nature of some fans has caused a split in the community. Topics such as, ‘Why We Love Kylie’ on Dotcom are countered by Topics like, ‘Kylie is Shit’ on Togerland. This schism is centred around the self-styled ‘real’ or ‘true’ fans and those who refer to them as ‘Al-Kylieda’ (a word-play on the fanaticism of Al-Qaeda).

For most of the respondents the main reason they used the message boards and participated in the online community was to interact with other fans. ‘kyliegrace’ from Dotcom says, ‘I think it is great to talk about my favourite celebrity and share my views with other people.’ Other fans responded that they use the forums because they are where Kylie-related news is first reported: ‘Travel In Light Years’ claims ‘the forums are generally where news happens first.’ Some participants answered that they return to the forums even though being a Kylie Minogue fan is no longer their main motivation. ‘Chris_Sydney’ on the Togerland forum says:

It's the off-topic sections that keep me coming back. Initially it was about Kylie but now it's news about other artists / discussion topics. When Kylie releases a record or goes on tour, I'll venture into the Kylie topics.

‘Maggs!’, also from Togerland, has a similar attitude:

Despite being a Kylie fan, Kylie could be [the] least i talk about when i'm in the forums, pretty much because talking about the same artist over and over again would be boring, i go there to have fun, interact with other people from other countries and cultures, so it's fun.

When asked, ‘Are there any connections between your online presence and the offline world?’ the answers fell into three broad categories. Firstly, there were those who were appalled at the idea:

Good God no!........ Some of these folks terrify me over the cables
and pipes of [the] interweb, never mind the thought of meeting them. *shudder*

‘Usha_Uthup’, Togerland

Dear God, no.

‘Drew’, Togerland

The second group where those who had made offline friends as a result of their online presence but who no longer viewed the concept of merging the two worlds as desirable:

I generally wouldn't bother meeting someone from a Kylie forum today. From past experience, just because someone else is a Kylie fan doesn't mean you have anything meaningful in common with them.

‘isoboy’, SayHey

The final group consisted of those members of the community who maintained off-forum relationships that were mediated through other technologies. Respondents noted their use of instant messaging software and mobile phone text messaging as methods of keeping in touch with fellow community members.

While it can’t be assumed that the administrators of these forums would consider their sites queer spaces it is worth noting that sixty-four percent of respondents identified themselves as homosexual and eight percent as bisexual. Eighty percent of respondents identified themselves as male. Nina Wakeford’s assertion that, ‘Cyberqueer spaces may compensate for the social or geographical isolation of sexual minorities by operating as a medium through which contacts can be more easily facilitated’ would seem to apply to the Kylie Minogue online fan community. Some respondents mentioned their geographical isolation as a factor in their membership of the community and one gay man indicated that Togerland provided a space through which he met a boyfriend.

Members of the community were asked if they ever produced their own artworks that incorporated Kylie-related material. ‘JianVIP’ from SayHey has designed a magazine cover for a College assignment. Togerland member ‘OogieBoogieBoogie’ records acoustic versions of Minogue’s songs, videos himself playing them, and then uploads the videos to YouTube under the username ‘UltimateMrBoogie’. The SayHey sub-forum ‘Fan Artwork, Media & Mixes’ provides an outlet for members to showcase their efforts at designing CD covers or their fan remixes of Minogue tracks. ‘Ellectrika’ regularly creates her own remixes, uploads them as .mp3 files to third-party hosting sites, such as Rapidshare, and then provides links to the hosted file in Topics on the message boards.

The final question of the survey asked community members to convey their opinion regarding the issue of illegally trading music files. Responses indicated that eighty percent had illegally traded Kylie Minogue material. Most answers were a variation on the notion that, as fans they will buy the product when (and if) it is made available. The fans made a clear distinction between the trading of commercially available product, which was seen as unnecessary, and the trading of non-commercially available ‘leaks’ of unused material, which is deemed acceptable. The response from ‘DoubleDelight’ is typical:

The only tracks I ever dwonload [sic] are unreleased tracks. I purchase all Kylie singles/albums (sometimes in multiple format)/DVDs etc... I purchase merchandise at shows and go to many concerts. My personal feeling is that I have certainly contributed to the KylieCoffers [sic]. If there are unreleased songs that record companies can't keep posession [sic] of, then although I recognise the illeagality [sic] of it, I do not feel that it is equatable [sic] to downloading tracks from artists whose releases I don't buy...I do not approve of people downloading commercially available tracks.

Kylie Minogue fans use the resources of the websites Kylie, LiMBO / SayHey and Togerland to maintain an online community. Each of these sites has a message board that is the focus of the community. Individuals use the message boards to interact with other fans, to share their own multi-media cultural productions and to illegally trade Kylie-related material. The three sites represent different points on a scale of activity, degree of civility and acceptance of practices such as file trading. Fans tend to naturally reside on the sites that best fit their personal philosophies. Members of these sites were invited to answer a number of questions about their online experiences. The number of responses was low, compared to the overall membership of the sites, but still provided valuable insights into the functioning of an online fan community.

The Long Firm - Jake Arnott

2006-07-10T20:08:00.000+10:00

As some of you might be aware, I really like to read...or, more accurately, I really like to buy lots of books! The sad fact is I do buy more than I read...but that's not my fault: I can't help it if there's so much of interest out there...so many pretty book covers (yep - I definitely do judge a book buy it's cover. Most people do. No-one picks up a book because they're excited about what it will say on the back. They pick it up because the cover has caught their eye. It's nothing to be ashamed of).

What makes all this book-buying and non-reading worthwhile is those rare occassions when I read something about an author in a magazine or a blog that tweaks my interest...and then track down a book by that author, start reading and find myself thoroughly enthralled. Such has been the case with the works of Jake Arnott. I caught a review of his latest book in one of the weekend papers recently. Arnott writes about the London criminal underworld of the 50s and 60s. So what? Well, the thing is you see, his main character and central bad guy is a hommer-sexsual. So it's groundbreaking.

Now, I'm not such a sad old poof that I think a book is going to be good just because the main character is gay (given that Harry Starck is such an evil C U Next Tuesday there isn't much to celebrate or be proud of). The fact is, Arnott really knows how to write. I find myself wanting to read his work at every opportunity...the book seems to be near-permanently in my hand. I can't recommend it highly enough. It's gritty and unflinching. The attention to detail is amazing but never extraneous and really evokes the era. It's easy reading but not always pleasant. I wouldn't take it to the beach...but I would take it on a plane. Do you see the distinction?

Air - Geoff Ryman

2006-07-02T21:42:00.000+10:00

It's science fiction, Jim...but not as we know it.

'Air' is probably the most acclaimed SF novel of the last year or so. Ryman is the leading proponent of what he calls 'Mundane SF', a movement he started that seeks to take science fiction out of its 'Space Opera' renaissance and ground it in the everyday, the mundane. In 'Air' the only vaguely 'traditional' SF aspect is a new technology that is being introduced around the world that is kind of like the internet fed directly to your brain. Ryman places his story in a remote village in a concocted central Asian country. The coming of this radical technology to a village that doesn't even have a TV is the backdrop for this remarkable novel.

Fundamental - Pet Shop Boys

2006-07-02T17:09:00.000+10:00

This isn't going to be a typical review (you'll just have to accept that this is without doubt a brilliant album that anyone with even the slightest interest in pop music should add to their collection). What this is going to be is my attempt at explaining to you all just why Pet Shop Boys are the greatest pop band ever. I can already see some of you rolling your eyes and clicking on to the next web page...but I hope you don't. This blog has always been about showing you stuff about myself and, like it or not, this band has been an important part of my life.

Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe have never been your typical fluffly air-head bubble-gum sort of pop act. Their songs are about real things and, on this album, vitally important things. The first single from 'Fundamental' was called 'I'm With Stupid'.

It's a perfectly crafted pop song that is an anti-war track...and how many of those do you hear these days? The 'I' of the title is Tony Blair and (natch) the 'stupid' is George Bush. The B-side is called 'The Resurrectionist' and it's about men who would steal bodies for the anatomy schools of 19th century London. The track is apparently inspired by the The Italian Boy by Sarah Wise. It's a high speed bit of dance/pop that total belies its subject matter.

My favourite track on 'Fundamental' is called 'Integral' and it's the most stridently political and scathing song the 'Boys have ever done. The proposed UK national ID card is the target:

If you've done nothing wrong
you've got nothing to fear
If you've something to hide
you shouldn't even be here
You've had your chance
now we've got the mandate
If you've changed your mind
I'm afraid it's too late
We're concerned
you're a threat
You're not integral
to the project

In case you're not sure: Pet Shop Boys don't like the idea. Neil Tennant's vocal on this track conveys all the despair and anger that you can read in those lyrics.

Are you beginning to see the picture? This is a band that creates pop music...synthesised, bleep bleep, thud thud, doof doof pop music that you can listen to on a superficial level and enjoy it for that alone. But it's not disposable pop: it has heart and depth. The Special Edition of 'Fundamental' (do you get it? Fundamental...gay band...up your...etc) has an additional disc (called 'Fundamentalism') that contains the mind-blowing track 'Fugitive' - an incredibly daring and risky song about the 9/11 terrorists. The lyrics are about how they are going to miss each other but will be together again in heaven. It's almost a love song. My jaw just drops at the audacity of it.

In an age when we are encouraged not to think, to pay no attention, to care for no-one, to retreat into ourselves but never actually look inward, thank god for bands like Pet Shop Boys who push us to go deeper.

In Cold Blood - Truman Capote

2006-04-06T20:05:00.000+10:00

Convention requires us to discriminate between the writer and the writing but it is particularly difficult to extricate Truman Capote from In Cold Blood. Like Schrodinger’s Cat, the events depicted are changed by his observations and involvement. The relationships he develops with the characters and the influence he has over their destiny can’t be denied their place in any review. The recently released film ‘Capote’ – which tells the story of how the author came to write his most famous book - makes it timely to review the ‘nonfiction novel’ that made the Capote’s fortune and altered the landscape of non-fiction publishing.

When Helen Garner writes of “the dangerous and exciting breakdown of the old boundaries between fiction and non-fiction”, it is easy to imagine that Capote would have taken those words to heart had they been written prior to November 1959. Back then, the boundary wasn’t old at all but Capote had taken it upon himself to destroy it completely. A brief story in The New York Times reporting the brutal murder of a family in Kansas caught his eye and set him on the difficult path that would end six years later with the publication of In Cold Blood. This landmark book was a bestseller upon publication and cemented Capote’s place in American literary history. It was a departure from his accomplished but decidedly less ambitious fictions: prior to the publication of In Cold Blood his most famous work was Breakfast At Tiffany’s.

The story of the murder of the Clutter family would seem like an unlikely topic to interest Capote. Although he was born to small-town America by 1959 he was every bit the sophisticated urbanite. Decamping from his Brooklyn Heights home to the western Kansas village of Holcomb seems a strange move for the petite and effete Capote. He was searching for something to write about that would be more truthful than his fiction. Biographer Gerald Clarke quotes Capote as saying, ‘I like having the truth be the truth so I can’t change it’. Clarke goes on to write that Capote was restless and unable to concentrate on his work and had realized he was ‘in terrible trouble as a fiction writer’. The convergence of this artistic stalemate and the brutal slaying in Kansas spurred Capote into action and he set forth for Holcomb practically immediately.

Time hasn’t blunted the impact of the violent murders of the Clutter family nor has it made Perry Smith and Dick Hickock, the perpetrators, seem any less monstrous. It is, unfortunately, a timeless story of greed and murder and the search for comprehension. Viewers of popular crime and forensics TV shows will appreciate Capote’s investigative skills and eye for detail both of which illuminate the crime and it’s consequences for the survivors and the murderers facing the hangman’s noose. Readers of modern crime fiction will enjoy the non-linear narrative that convincingly constructs the crime and its aftermath, as well as getting a more visceral experience knowing that the events portrayed were real.

The ascendance in popularity of non-fiction over fiction shows that readers are interested in narratives that purport to tell a truth. Scandals in recent years involving non-fiction works being uncovered as either exercises in stretching the truth (James Frey’s A Million Little Pieces) or almost entirely fabricated (Norma Khouri’s Forbidden Love) may have dented the confidence of some readers. But now, forty-odd years after the events portrayed, it’s not hard to see why those readers will be drawn to In Cold Blood.

Capote coined the term ‘nonfiction novel’ for his book. He wanted to write a book that was reportage told with the flair of fiction. While the term itself is illogical it is clear what Capote meant and how he achieved his goal. From the opening lines the symbiosis of factual reporting and the tools of fiction are evident: “The village of Holcomb stands on the high wheat plains of Western Kansas, a lonesome area that other Kansans call ‘out there’.” We are simultaneously given the hard, geographic facts of where Holcomb is and the unsettling impression that what we are about to read is out of the ordinary. It’s a technique that doesn’t always work: “And Perry, hanging up, had felt ‘dizzy with anger and disappointment’.” The necessary use of quotation marks jolts the reader out of the narrative, reminding us that this isn’t a work of fiction. Perhaps that is Capote’s intention: to use the techniques of fiction to lull us into a false sense of understanding of his purpose only to shock us back to the truth, the reality of his story.

It’s hard to quibble with the blurring of that boundary between fiction and non-fiction when Capote seems to be so in command of both aspects of his narrative. And besides, some of what he writes seems so beyond the reach of any fiction writer that we have no choice but to accept Capote’s version of events. When Perry describes his victim thus, “I thought he was a very nice gentleman. Soft-spoken. I thought so right up to the moment I cut his throat.”, it is a moment of stunning authenticity and one we suspect no writer could have concocted.

One of the most interesting and successful aspects of In Cold Blood is Capote’s ability to invoke a type of sympathy for his protagonists. The horrific nature of their crimes and other perversions is never glossed over and never explained away as aberrations. They are hardened criminals with little or no remorse and yet Capote never dehumanizes them. When the narrative finally reaches the hangings of Perry and Dick, Capote assumes an omniscient voice and enters the mind of Detective Alvin Dewey:

“…he had never had much use for Hickock…But Smith, though he was the true murderer, aroused another response, for Perry possessed a quality, the aura of an exiled animal, a creature walking wounded, that the detective could not disregard.”

The intrusion works solely because of Capote’s skill with his tools. He turns what could have been an error into a triumph of lyricism and language, of image and intent.

The major flaw of In Cold Blood is its final section. Years of trials and re-trials left Capote with no ending. The immediacy of the murders faded and nothing happened for years at a time. Capote, his biographer reveals, knowing he had a bestseller in his hands felt tortured by these delays. In this section he is left to reproduce pages and pages of correspondence and statements. Capote’s voice all but disappears from the narrative. He becomes trapped by his own hubris and it’s not interesting reading.

Capote may not have achieved his stated aim of creating a new genre – as Clarke puts it: ‘In Cold Blood is a remarkable book, but it is not a new art form’. What he did achieve was an intriguing treatise on the nature of crime and the search for truth. Perry, Capote’s ‘dark shadow’, is a fully realised creation and his making and breaking, like the author’s, is owed to the events of November 1959 in Holcomb, Kansas.

Brokeback Mountain

2006-02-02T18:05:00.000+11:00

LOVE IS A FORCE OF NATURE

It's probably the most discussed movie of recent times but that isn't going to stop me having my say. This is a story that's very dear to my heart (and I don't care how soppy that sounds). I first read the short story by Annie Proulx that the movie is based on in 1999. The effect it had on me was devestating: for days I couldn't get it out of my head. The wrenching closing scenes just penetrated me to the core of my being in a way no other story ever has. The writing is sparse and almost rudimentary - potential faults that are its greatest strength. So much is conveyed with so little. I've re-read it numerous times since then and it never fails to move me just as deeply.

I had been following the progress of the movie adaptation for a number of years so my anticipation had well and truly peaked by the time I finally got to see Ang Lee's film. I'm not going to go into detail about the storyline (if you don't know it already then the movie probably isn't for you - i.e. you're not gay/friendly or a movie fanatic). The movie is terrific with outstanding performances from the entire cast. Heath Ledger is simply superb (who would have thought it possible?) as Ennis del Mar. He conveys the tightly wound core of a tortured man in a way that is 100% believable - you stop seeing 'acting' and start seeing 'being'. It's a triumph of film acting.

Ang Lee manages to maintain the sparsity of the original writing through a langrous pace (slow but not dull) and lingering shots of the spectacular mountain scenery. It was an immense relief to feel that I was watching the work of a director who thoroughly understood the source material and, somehow, brought to life my vision of the story. I walked out of the screening feeling as though I'd just read Proulx's story again - and that's the greates praise I can give the film.

The Milky Way Galaxy & Me

2006-02-01T21:58:00.000+11:00

This is an infrared mosaic picture of the center of the Milky Way Galaxy (that's our galaxy) taken by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. If you click HERE for a link to a NASA article about the pic (and HERE for a truly amazing 30mb version of the pic). From the article:

The region pictured here is immense, with a horizontal span of 890 light-years and a vertical span of 640 light-years. Earth is located 26,000 light-years away, out in one of the Milky Way's spiral arms. Though most of the objects seen in this image are located at the galactic center, the features above and below the galactic plane tend to lie closer to Earth.

I look at a picture like that and just feel such a sense of awe. The scale is brain-freezingly massive. I wonder how anyone can look at it and still think we're alone in the universe. There are billions of stars in that galaxy (our galaxy need I remind you again) which is only one of billions of galaxies in the universe. The Milky Way is, effectively, only the local neighbourhood of humanity. It's ludicrous to think we're the only life, let alone intelligent life, in all that enormity.

I look at that picture and know I was born at the wrong time. Ever since I can remember I've had this pervasive feeling that there had been a mistake, that I wasn't meant to be born for another thousand years. The future is where I want to be now. Pictures like this and the feeling of displacement I've always had are why I read so much science fiction. All those imagined futures feel like home to me.

The Real Thing - Gwen Stefani

2005-07-20T11:51:00.000+10:00

It's good to know that even with its glory days seemingly behind it the pop music industry can still manage to produce gems like Gwen Stefani's 'The Real Thing'. It's the best pop song this year you haven't heard - you're not going to hear this on the radio...it's never going to be a single. There's an equal measure of 80s synths with 90s beats and 'noughties' attitude. 'The Real Thing' is a perfect pop love song that celebrates its sentimentality. And I like that very much.

I've seen your face a thousand times
Have all your stories memorized
I've kissed your lips a million ways
But I still love to have you around

I've held you too many times to count
I think I know you inside out
And we're together most days
But I still love to have you around

And you're the one I want and it's not just a phase
And you're the one I trust, our love is the real thing

Don't go away
My love (my love)
I want you to stay
In my life
Don't go away
My lover (my love)
I'm happiest when we spend time

You're a salty water, ocean wave
You knock me down, you kiss my face
I know the storms will always come
But I still love to have you around

Heavens knows what will come next
So emotional, you're so complex
A rollercoaster, built to crash
But I still love to have you around

You're the one I want and it's not just a phase
You're the one I trust, our love is the real thing

Don't go away
My love (my love)
I want you to stay
In my life
Don't go away
My lover (my love)
I'm happiest when we spend time (it's only you and I)

It's you there when I close my eyes
And you in the morning
I never thought you'd still be mine
Or I'd really need to have you around

Don't go away
My love (my love)
I want you to stay
In my life
Don't go away
My lover (my love)
I need you, you're my love supply

Don't go away
My love (you're my love supply)
I want you to stay
In my life (every day, every night)
Don't go away
My lover (you're my love supply)
I need you, you're my love supply

MOVIES: My thoughts on some recent fillums

2005-07-05T11:16:00.000+10:00

Batman Begins
Any movie directed by Christopher Nolan is going to be worth a look. It's dark and intense and not at all what you think it's going to be. Forget the old Batman movies - this is nothing like those. Christian Bale is Batman (and a great big hunk of spunk). It's grounded in reality (as much as a superhero movie can be) and Nolan treats the 'origins' storyline with a such seriousness that it's impossible not to take it seriously. Put aside your prejudices and have a look at it. 'Batman Begins' is the best of the Blockbusters (so far) this year.

Mr & Mrs Smith
It's young, dumb and full of...spunk. You kind of want to hate it simply because it's Brangelina...but you can't. Director Doug Linum infuses his film with a playfulness and humour that sweeps you along for a couple of hours. It ain't brain surgery (it stars Brad Pitt for god's sake) but it is a great way to waste $15. I'm not even going to explain the plot to you - it doesn't matter. Only the actions scenes and jokes matter - and they're good enough to keep you entertained.

War Of The Worlds
This is a deeply flawed film - and that's coming from a fan of Spielberg's much maligned 'A.I.'. I so wanted to love 'War'. It had everything going for it: Spielberg, budget, storyline etc...yet somehow it didn't work. It's a war between worlds that still manages to be cute, that still relies on ridiculous co-incidences to sustain the plot. There are set pieces that are stunning and terrifying but these only highlight how good the movie could have been if only Spielberg had been brave enough to follow through - it's blockbuster porn without the money shot.