30 September 2007, 5:53 pm
The finnish entry in the Stay True to John Woo contest clicks on most cliches related to the director…
White dove: check.
Guns akimbo: check.
Insurmountable odds: check.
Slow-mo: check (but with clippy myspace video this may be unintentional).
Mexican standoff: check
And the game seems interesting as well. But the influx of shooting games may be its undoing this fall – competition is stiff from the likes of Halo3 and Bioshock. But for a spiritual sequel to Hard-Boiled, Woo’s last Hong Kong film thus far, there ought to be a cordite-drenched niche somewhere on the shelves.
29 September 2007, 10:39 am
Something for the unstable season – an umbrella that knows when it’s going to rain, and is able to relay the information via a pulsing light when it’s advisable to pick it up when going out.
Like Nabaztag, the first wireless data-bunny – this is a test run device and no ready for the masses (especially with the limited service and coverage), but nonetheless a harbinger of an even more connected future.
29 September 2007, 10:16 am
As the third movie of the ongoing Rakkautta & Anarkiaa- festival, saw Paul Verhoeven’s Black Book, his return movie from Hollywood to Holland.
And liked the movie a lot – the depiction of life in occupied (and finally, liberated) Hague is done well, and remains interesting for the duration. In spite of a clumsy start, the rest of the film rolls along, at times picking up pace to a blitzkrieg level – the twists and traps in the plot are laid on thick and deep.
This is indeed Verhoeven’s first dutch movie in decades, and it’s also the best Verhoeven in ages, let’s hope the next movie doesn’t take as long to be completed. The cast seems to be (based on the actors’ names) entirely local, and especially Carice van Houten as the lead actress ought to be destined to a bright future, her performance is nothing short of dazzling.
Impressive, and easily the best movie of the festival thus far. And likely to remain so.
27 September 2007, 9:57 pm
Something to spend minutes and minutes in a boring meeting – a great collection of Simpsons homages to movies.
In addition to the initial selection, the guy’s blog has more and more.
To the right – separated at birth: Bart Simpson from Treehouse of Horror III and Alex DeLarge from A Clockwork Orange.
27 September 2007, 8:29 pm
This week’s photo friday challenge is beach.
My take on the subject is the attached image, a scene from Point Tribulation, where two UNESCO World Heritage sites meet: the Daintree rainforest turns into the Great Barrier Reef via this beach.
27 September 2007, 8:23 pm
As the latest meme making the rounds through the Blogoslavia, here’s me according to Belbin: strong on the shaping and coordinating – less so in being a plant or a monitor.
27 September 2007, 8:10 pm
Call of Cowthulhu, the first add-on to Steve Jackson Games’ Munchkin Cthulhu is out.
The mix of farmyard and unspeakable horrors is… odd.
And apparently popular, since the second expansion, Unspeakable Vault has just been announced. The game dispenses with John Kovalic as the artist, and opts for a new direction with the french Goomi.
27 September 2007, 7:51 pm
This week’s photo thursday challenge subject is cursive melancholy. In finnish “kursiivinen”, instead of referring to slanted (italic) typography, means “continuous”.
My take on the subject is the attached image, a rainy street scene through a glass on which droplets are flowing. It definitely isn’t continuous, but the rain sure felt like going on and on.
(As usual, the full-size photograph is available by clicking the attached image.)
26 September 2007, 10:00 pm
Nah, on account of a really early morning, lack of sleep on the train and a not really late morning today, it sure was a good idea to abandon the idea of going to pick up nocturnally released goodies after midnight.
They were still available today.
25 September 2007, 9:00 pm
This blog is now two thousand entries old.
No calamities or worldwide chaos are expected on account of the barrier being broken.
EDIT: Yeah, originally this said 2000 thousand. Can’t be explained by a simple typo, but severe lack of sleep always works as an excuse.
25 September 2007, 12:22 am
Tomorrow night, there will be not one, but two night sales in Helsinki.
Both on items expected to sell no less than absolute zillions.
Halo 3 gets its european release a day after the american. Having never owned an Xbox, haven’t really played either of the two original episodes, their inclusion on this disc would have been a feat of digital archeology, but that didn’t happen.
Nightwish will release Dark Passion Play, their sixth studio album on the very same day. The first two singles Eva and especially Amaranth have been very promising, and Anette Olzon sounds like a very credible replacement to the long-gone Tarja Turunen.
Me? I aim to pick up both in one go, just around midnight.
25 September 2007, 12:15 am
The only sushi conveyor belt in Finland is now gone, with Eatz having turned to Texas, with a less than thorough redesign.
The Eatz kaiten was never a favorite, even among the meager selection in Helsinki. The selection was often very limited, and including bell pepper chunks in makis would be cause for someone to donate their little fingers after screwing up big time.
25 September 2007, 12:05 am
Been a Stephen Fry fan since the very first episode of Jeeves&Wooster I saw.
Him turning out to be a kickass blogger only increases his reputation. The premier entry, on smartphones, is impressive – length, content, language – it’s all there.
[ via many people, finally convinced to click by Sami. ]
24 September 2007, 12:59 am
The newest arrival in the United States bills redesign is, to quote Jason Kottke, nothing short of a typographic train wreck.
The purple big ’5′ in the lower right hand corner is the worst monetary eyesore in a long time. And the bills will be in circulation for an even longer time when they’re introduced next year.
24 September 2007, 12:50 am
The second movie of the R&A festival was The Trap, a Serbian thriller.
Sadly, the thrill was in short supply, and the movie’s pace pedestrian.
But it’s not all a disaster, though the financially split society is underlined way too prominently, the cinematography on Belgrade slowly recovering from bleakness is worth an extra star on top.
24 September 2007, 12:41 am
Watched This Filthy World as the first movie of the annual Rakkautta & Anarkiaa festival.
It’s a netflix-funded recording of a live standup-comedy session by John Waters, one of the original true cult auteurs.
The story nominally covers his filmography, but regularly strays to cover subjects such as Michael Jackson, capital punishment and sex. Normal standup fare, obviously, but executed perfectly by the man with the pencil-thin moustache.
Not a great movie (camera wobbles and cuts off Waters’ legs often), but great entertainment for ninety minutes nonetheless.
24 September 2007, 12:30 am
Helsinki enjoyed the annual no car-day yesterday, which was much appreciated.
But the future doesn’t seem too bright – instead of adding “congestion charges” on city limits like Stockholm, Helsinki is creating yet more parking spots. And that certainly isn’t going to cut down on the vehicles on streets.
23 September 2007, 12:11 pm
The annual Darts Association-cup was thrown yesterday, and I proudly can testify in having sucked worse than ever before. Dropped four ranks, but a much worse accomplishment was the utter inability to reliably throw.
Streaked nicely during the practice rounds, but choked when the competition got going, spending round after round trying to hit the lowest numbers.
Oh well, it can’t get any worse than this, dartswise, barring actual hurting someone with bouncebacks.
22 September 2007, 3:21 pm
One of the firm signs of the autumn is the arrival of a new novel by Ilkka Remes. Or actually two, since the author has taken to releasing two books simultaneously: the traditional annual technothriller and a more or less related kids book alongside.
This year’s book (based on a brief reading of the back cover blurb) is about german heritage in modern day Finland, with probably a good measure of eugenics and biological warfare thrown in for good measure. Hopefully the cover image (a nazi astronaut on the moon) bears some relationship to the content and is not just for show.
Incidentally, the main event is several euros cheaper than the much thinner young adults’ book, and the trend seems to continue amongst the older books – the kids books are rather expensive as paperbacks.
21 September 2007, 7:46 pm
What else but an encounter with the ubiquitous Murphy could result in first getting drenched in pouring rain, missing the right stop in a bus and then forgetting the umbrella in said bus.
Thankfully the rain had subsided a bit during the ride.
20 September 2007, 8:18 pm
The name and publication schedule of the seventh Harry Potter translation have been announced: Harry Potter ja Kuoleman Varjelukset will see daylight on the seventh of march next year.
Which reminds me that I still haven’t seen the latest movie, which is probably shuffling towards the exits in cinemas already.
20 September 2007, 8:00 pm
The third collected edition of Brian Wood‘s DMZ is out, and the five-issue trade paperback is highly recommended. Just like the two previous.
The war is now over, and the vultures, in the form of a thinly veiled Halliburton/Blackwater-analogy descend upon the gutted island of Manhattan. The plotline begins in media res, and never lets go.
Imagery is raw – even more unfinished than in the previous installments, but that, apart from a very conspicuous unfinished face, doesn’t really matter. New York in ruins is not supposed to be pretty, and this book continues rubbing the fact in. With steel wool and coarse-grained salt.
As an added bonus the single page introduction of the volume is strangely pointful – usually they are exercises in either vanity or the obvious, but Cory Doctorow manages to avoid either pitfall.
20 September 2007, 7:53 pm
This week’s photo thursday challenge subject is stones.
My take on the subject is the attached image, a pile of small stones picked up during the last two years – some from beaches and shores, but a majority (and all of the polished ones) from shops. Toyed with the idea of photographing a pile of Rolling Stones records, but decided against it.
(As usual, the full-size photograph is available by clicking the attached image.)
19 September 2007, 9:16 pm
The best-known emoticon, the first computerized smiley face, turns 25 today.
