Sunday 29 April 2012

Cracks in red and orange

I knew when and where I was going, then I didn't. And then I did again. So if you were to look for the tangible remainder of the subtraction of certainty, and the subsequent addition of the same, there isn't much left. Except for that broken tail lamp. Which might have happened anyway...

I finally got around to watching the Hollywood remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I have to say, I wasn't expecting to be impressed in the least. I mean, come on! How could anyone possibly expect to top Noomi Rapace's Lisbeth Salander? Right?! I also wasn't expecting this one to stay quite so close to the storyline, if anything, even more than the Swedish production!

One of the totally awesome things, IMO, was the accent :). I mean, it wasn't in Swedish, (which is a good thing I suppose, seeing how I don't understand it, and I hate subtitles) but at least it kinda sounded like Scandinavians speaking English! Technically it sounded like a Norwegian accent to me, but then I can never tell the difference anyway. So full points for coolness there.

And then there was Rooney Maara's Salander. Damn! Well, put it this way, I am now quite anxiously looking forward to the sequels, whenever they do come out.

Amongst the other newish stuff I watched, Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes sequel was, well, mostly okay I guess. I still rate the first one better. Although my judgement might be a bit compromised seeing how he killed off McAdams nice and early :(. (Oops, sorry in case folks haven't seen the movie yet.) Haywire on the other hand, despite all those big names, seemed a bit like all fizzle and no pop to me. The last time an action flick had that many stars, at least there was something of a bang (I mean The Expendables, of course :P).

Right, by the looks of it this will be the last I can afford to laze around all day for a bit. Let's see if I can actually catch the Shwedagon Pagoda in the daylight on my way through Yangon to the boat tomorrow!

Currently: packed, well, when am I not :|
Listening to: Chicane - Santanas

Saturday 21 April 2012

Of cloud castles and houses of cards

How is it that the darkest dark and brightest light can so easily cohabit the same frame? Oh, I know how. I just wish sometimes that they wouldn't, that's all.

It's been a rather strange couple of weeks. Nothing I can quite put a finger on, just this feeling that I might have misplaced something in this while. Some part of me that makes sense of things effortlessly. I think. 

Or it might just be the travelling, and the waiting. The hiding behind the edges of conversations I don't want to have, with people I don't really know. And people who, I suspect, despite their every claim to the contrary, don't really know me.

Once every so often, I have these flashes of unwanted lucidity. A distinct image of myself from some long gone moment, complete with all those hopes, wishes, worries even. Of late the contrast between then and now seems sharper. And I wonder, does it matter, that who we hope to one day become as a wide-eyed (or squinting, or glaring, or whatever) kid and who we do eventually end up growing into should be so at odds? Most days I shake off the thought by blaming the naivety of youth :).

Well, I did finally finish with Notes on a Small Island! But now I find there's not a single encompassing idea I have formed about it. Which is not surprising, seeing how I kept bouncing through other books in between, stopped reading for prolonged periods and otherwise butchered the experience :). Although, I must say, sometimes Bryson seems positively rude! No? He's always good for a few laughs though.

Also, Chicane rocks. More to the point, he continues to...

Currently: uncertain, again
Listening to: Chicane - Thousand mile stare

Saturday 7 April 2012

The torched primrose and the broken catnip

Damn. But what is a happy ending, really? A foregone conclusion? A let down? Not heart-wrenching, certainly. Or something that shadows all else for a bit.

In the end it's all a matter of perspective I guess. But sometimes I think I could settle for predictable. For people with sunny dispositions that would work out great, wouldn't it?! But even for the rest of us, saves you from getting blind-sided like that.

I'm done with Mockingjay. I loved it, of course. Despite the kick to the gut. Which is not to say that I disliked the second book entirely. If anything, the last third of it quite made up for the slow beginning. And middle. Overall, I was beginning to think the action was quite the best part of The Hunger Games trilogy. And then the end changed my mind.

I suppose this is something I would have welcomed at the end of the Game World books. I know! I can never seem to quite let go of how much more I had expected out of those books, and how it all turned out.

I think I'm craving Gaiman right now.

Currently: should be packing
Listening to: A3 - Too sick to pray

Wednesday 4 April 2012

Rumblings in the dark

This feels like as good a time as any to indulge in a spot of random chatter. It started raining earlier in the evening. Finally, if you ask me! It's been pretty hot since I got here last week, not quite as humid as it gets, but then again, this is barely April.

I'm a big fan of watching the rain, as I may have mentioned. It's fun watching thunderstorms from windows, or doorways. From under an overhang of some sort even. Not so much from under trees :). Night-time tends to mess that up a little. But tonight the city lights went out, and the lightning came out to play! So I figured I'd go up to the terrace and watch!

One good thing with living near the airport is the limit on how tall buildings can be. And whoever built this apartment block hit the limit, or at least got closer than anyone else in the neighbourhood :). The result is a near all-round view of the sky. Tonight, that translated to a pretty awesome display. Gigantic electric forks descending on all sides, throwing brief blinding flashes of brilliance. Some close, some further away. Some hidden behind sheets of clouds that turned momentarily from brooding, inky black into translucent, seething white.

I was wondering if I should maybe get the cam when a stray gust of wind blew a flurry of raindrops around the corner I was hiding behind, right into me, quickly dispelling any misguided attempts at lightning capture. Tell you what though, none of this is quite as impressive as a proper thunderstorm at sea :).

Is it just me, or are there more sirens blaring around town these days? Mostly ambulances, would be my guess. I suppose that's a good thing. In that, sick or hurt people are probably at least getting somewhere.

No, haven't really been reading that much. For some reason, Catching Fire has started off a bit slowly for me. Maybe it's like someone says on the back cover, now that I know the characters a bit, I'm a little more worried about what happens next. Then again, I have been rather busy. What with that visa application. And there were the visits and pujas and such other things that have caused me to inhale altogether way too much holy smoke over the last few days.

Currently: House bound
Listening to: Gotan Project - Whatever Lola wants