Wither updates?

Yes, I know, I haven't updated for a few days. I'm tired and lazy is all. Heading back to Brussels again tomorrow, and then straight to a BBQ on Saturday that will probably run into Sunday. I'll write something soon, promise.

Praise be to the holy trinty. And to Pies

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SKIP TO THE FORUM.

What we teach our children

This picture and this one are further proof that as a species we are pretty much doomed.

Where the hell is Matt?

On a slightly lighter note, this is ace.

Censorship

So, I dropped an e-mail to boing-boing to see if anybody else had problems with Blogger in India and it seems that thing have in fact been blocked at the request of the government. As you can see, no reason is being given. It's worrying to see a country that is trying so hard to be a part of the developed nations suddenly restrict freedom of speech like this.

I suspect this has something to do with the bombings last week and tension is certainly mounting with Pakistan. Before heading to the G8 conference, the Indian prime minister condemned Pakistan for harbouring terrorists and this morning's Times of India carried an article on the front page quoting sources stating that the Pakistan secret service were behind the group responsible for the Delhi bombs.

I can post things but can't read any Blogger sites so I'll let you know what else happens.

Blogger problems?

Hmm, I don't know if it's just coincidence but since last Wednesday I can't see any updates to sites on Blogger, including my own. I know the updates have been posted correctly so I wonder if it's not some sort of government censorship since the bombings last week.

Unless it's just my browser screwing up.

Weekend again.

It's hit and humid here at the moment, interespersed with the occasional very heavy downpour. I seem to have spent most of the weekend asleep with the occasional break to eat. I actually slept 12 hours last night, I guess I needed it. Nowt much to report apart from the fact that I bought a few new shirts and went to see Superman Returns this evening and it was ace. Well acted, great effects, a good story with lots of heart, very good indeed. It's the first time I've been to the cinema her and I asked at reception if they could arrange tickets so they sent one of the boys physically to the cinema to get the ticket! It was a huge old cinema, numbered seats and and ancient ushers. But the screen was big and the sound good. Lots of families there so there was the occasional crying baby and people talking on the phone which is very annoying, but there weren't too many. All films here seem to have an intermission of ten minutes which gives you a good excuse to stretch your legs (the seats are not made for tall people). Cinema ticket cost 130 rupee and popcorn a massive 15....

Some of the guys in the UK had a pissup in Oxford and as I couldn't make it, they made a hand-puppet of me. Rumour has it that it even talked to some ladies. Typical, the puppet version has better luck than the real one... :-)

The Fountain

Requiem for a dream is one of the best films I've ever seen and I've been looking forward to Aranofsky's next one, The Fountain, for a while. Not that I've read this even more so.

Roads

With this working nights thing, I'm not getting out and about much so there is not a huge amount to report at the moment. I did find one good example of how things work (or don't) over here… A brand new stretch of road opened today that was originally supposed to have been finished in 2004. They then dug up part of it to install a tent for the opening so it had potholes in it before even being opened.

Bombs

So, yesterday evening there were seven bombs that went off in crowded trains during rush hour in Mumbai. At the moment there are no official suspects although earlier in the day eight tourists had been killed in Kashmir so it's quite possible that they may be related. Pakistan almost immediately condemned the attacks but the press is already speculating about terrorists based in Pakistan. This is to be taken with a grain of salt however as the press over here tend to blame everything on Pakistan, you will never see an article showing Pak as they call it, in a positive light. It is a little worrying when you see how quickly the Indians can overreact to things (I can't talk for the Pakistanis but I'd be surprised if they were very different) and both countries have nuclear weapons.

The attacks in Mumbai do not seem to have had much effect on things down here. Police presence has been increased at airports and train stations but life seems to be pretty much going on as normal. The local police have apparently been in touch with the IT and BPO companies here to ensure that they are taking adequate security measures. An attempt on one of them would be a big symbolic event and would certainly spook foreign investment but let's hope that doesn't happen. The bombs yesterday where certainly timed to have maximum impact and to be honest when you hear that the trains in Mumbai transport six million people a day, it could have been a lot worse that it was.

Coincidence

Last Friday I was still in Brussels and was due to have meeting all day with a guy from New York. I'd arranged to meet him at his hotel and then we'd head off to the office together. The meant that I could leave a bit later and as I stepped out the door into the entrance of the apartment building, Wouter, a mate of mine, was just pressing the doorbell for the building management company. He works as a plumber and was picking up the key of a flat he was due to work on. He didn't even know I was in the country (which made me feel a bit bad that I hadn't called him) let alone staying in that building. It was pure coincidence that we bumped into each other. We arranged to have a beer together when I get back and hopefully also see a concert of some sort. It was an odd way to meet though.

Mngggg

Gah, my poor old brain is confused at the moment. I'm working US time this week which means that my car picks me up at 16.30 and I get back to the hotel at around 3am.

The roads are eerily empty at that time of the night, the only things out and about apart from the occasional BPO vans driving staff to and from work, are packs of wild dogs who seem to take over the streets when everybody else has gone home.

I was pleasantly surprised to hear from somebody who used to work with me in Brussels and is now traveling in Asia. His blog is here and is much better written than mine, the bastard :-)

Right, must go, I need to polish my shoes and head of workwards.

Chink?

This headline from India Today, the local equivalent of Time or Newsweek, made me giggle. It's refering to the reopening of a mountain border post with China. I'm not sure if it was intentional or not.

Sunset

From my room you can see the sunset behind the buildings across the road. Lots of buildings over here have this unfinished look at the top, the rest of the building is fine.

Back in Bangalore

So, back at the Gateway Hotel, room 415 is my current home, I think it's one of the rooms that has been refurbished recently as it has nice wooden floors and new fittings.

The flight went fine, I think they should rename it 'geek air' as most of the people on the flight looked like computer geeks with little social skills (please note that I am not necessarily discounting myself from that group). A guy just in front of me spent 8 hours reading a magazine on model trains in great detail...

I dozed for maybe an hour or so which was strange seeing as I did not sleep well at all the night before. Jean-Paul served a great meal at his place with some superb wines, I couldn't really enjoy it to the full due to having to get up very early the following day which was a shame. Still, there will be more occasions to do that in the future.

Had a run for the first time in weeks, I see that the five weeks in Brussels resulted in me putting almost all the weight I'd lost (which wasn't much admittedly) back on. Right, well I think I'm going to go and read by the pool now even if it's a bit cloudy.

reminder

Calvaire

I've just watched a rather excellent Belgian film called 'Calvaire', the first feature length film by the very talented Fabrice du Welz. The english title is 'The Ordeal' but that simplifies things and remore the multiple meanings of the word in French such as Mount cavelry where Jesus was supoosedly crucified and also the name of stone crosses that can be found across Belgium and norther France. The religious symbolism is important as there is a lot that can be read into the film. Again, multiple potential interpretations are important as that is one of the things the film talks about.

It's difficult to describe this film but as a brief synopsis a travelling singer find himself in a small village in the Ardennes where a lonely inn-keeper called Paul Bartel (Du Welz likes naming characters after cult directors, see the Godin one at the end) is convinced that he is his wife who ran away but has now returned. The rest of the village are even stranger. The film involves a calf being, um, pleasured, seven dwarves in red, crucifictions, pigs as pets, the strangest and creepiest dance I've seen for a long time in the village bar, a man in a dress and a chase through the beautifully filmed Hautes Fagnes. Is it real? Is the singer just an open vessel that people see whatever they want to in? Is everybody mad? Maybe it's hell? Who knows and that is part of the fun of this film. It's playful and creepy like good surrealism should be. Du Welz also knows hos horror and aknowledges tributes to Deliverance, Texas Chainsaw, Straw Dogs, Psycho and Don't look know. But he makes this his own and leaves you with a film that has you thinking about it after the very end of the credits which have a little something at the very end to add yet more possibilities to what you have just seen.

The DVD also has his first short 'Quand on est amoreux c'est merveilleux' which is a very funny and quite melancholy little tale involving necrophilia. It's also very good and owes a lot to Lynch with an athmoshpere and use of sound reminiscent of Eraserhead. It also has the very lovely French adult actress Laure Sinclair in a small role and Noel Godin plays a character caled Fulchi.

Root of all evil

I'm just watching the documentary of the same name, presented by Richard Dawkins, who is a brilliant scientist and speaker. It's a fabulous documentary that basically says that the root of most bad things in the world is in fact religion. His proposition that teaching children in religious schools is tantamount to child abuse and that faith could be considered to be a virus will probably upset some people but then religious people shown saying the bible is true an scientific fact is rubbish, that abortion and homosexuality are mortal sins really gets me worked up. The guy defending his friend who killed an abortion doctor made me want to throw things at the screen.

Dawkins is an atheist and proud and his logical approach is the only way to view the subject. People should think for themselves and not credit everything that they do not understand to an invisible entity. The world has moved on, science and reason have replaced the need for superstition but a worrying amount of people throughout the world seem to resist this and keep those irrational beliefs alive through their children.

An excellent program, highly recommended. Yes, its biased but all documentary is, at least Dawkins is logical and passionate. And seeing him rip into some of the fundamentalists of various religions is a great pleasure. And he ends it on a positive note by reminding us that religion and faith actually stop people questioning things. Atheism means that we appreciate the life we have more due to knowing that our time is limited and that through questioning things we can truly enjoy the complexity of the universe and admire its elegance.

Another great weekend

Huzza for another great weekend! Was in Lux from Friday after work and had an excellent weekend. Stayed at Dougs and it's always cool to hang out, saw Steve again, spent some time with the always lovely Laura, spoke to a bloke from school who I haven't really spoken to for years, drank some booze, had a burger at Maybe Not Bob's (shame, Andy had the night off so didn't get to see him), philosophised with Doug at 2 in the morning, all good stuff. The weather was fantastic which made the train journey through the Ardennes very pretty indeed. I'm going to try and go down there again in August when I get back.

As always when at Doug's we watched some Scrubs which gives me an excuse to post a picture of the very lovely Elliot:

Superman

Scott Kurtz is always pretty good but on occasion he's just fantastic:


I think this captures how a good superhero film should make you feel. I think I really need to see Superman Returns.