Mrs. Smith, ladies and gentlemen of the press corps, Mr. President and first lady, my name is Stephen Colbert and it’s my privilege tonight to celebrate our president. He’s not so different, he and I. We get it. We’re not brain backs on the nerd patrol. We’re not members of the fact (police). We go straight from the gut, right sir? That’s where the truth lies, right down here in the gut. Do you know you have more nerve endings in your gut than you have in your head? You can look it up….I know some of you are going to say I did look it up, and that’s not true. That’s because you looked it up in a book. Next time look it up in your gut. I did. My gut tells me that’s how our nervous system works.
3 May 2006, the wee hours
Shadow Company was a very cool film. The movie is all about the privatization of war. There are interviews with a slew of interesting people, including several mercenaries, a lobbyist, various intellectuals, and the creator of the A-Team. Over the course of the film, the entire private military industry is explained: how the industry came about, how it operates, who these mercenaries are, etc., etc. The film is thorough, and refreshingly spin-free. The film-maker really makes an effort to present both the good and bad aspects of the private military machine. The mercenaries that speak about their profession are actually surprisingly likable. The movie itself is very slick; it’s probably the best put together film I have seen at the festival thus far. It obviously had a fairly big budget behind it. This is a movie worth watching if you are at all interested in war. I suspect it will get a wider release.
The official Shadow Company web site.
Movies
2 May 2006, the wee hours
The Ants was a very impressive film. The audience watches as Mr. Okumura, a former Japanese soldier, tries to expose the fact that the Japanese government ordered some of their soldiers to remain in China after they had surrendered to the US; these soldiers were to continue to fight the Communists and keep Japanese imperialism alive. The rest of Japan believes these soldiers volunteered to stay behind. Now 80 odd years old, Mr. Okumura and other veterans fight to have the record set straight on this matter. More than this, Mr. Okumura wants to truly understand the war, everything about it. He feels he only saw a small part of the ugliness that was Japan’s invasion of China. He travels to China to get answers to everything that is troubling him. The movie is at times very moving, and at times very intense. Mr. Okumura discusses quite frankly the things he did during WWII, and the things he knew other soldiers did during the war. He meets Chinese soldiers in his travels through China and talks to them about the war and its effects on them. Mr. Okumura meets a Chinese lady, a grandmother now, who was gang-raped by 7 Japanese soldiers during the war. The interaction between this old soldier, and the people he would have known under the most horrid of circumstances 60 years ago is truly amazing. The friendly rapport he has with the Chinese people he meets in the film is remarkable. I suppose it is true that time heals all wounds. I suppose his strong sense of shame and regret plays a strong part in how people react to him. His drive at 80 years old is what really gets you though; he refuses to let the setbacks he and the other veterans face stop him. He is a very strong and committed man. The last dialog in the movie between him and the cameraman is excellent. The Ants is well worth watching.
Movies
1 May 2006, late evening
Foot Cred was a pretty entertaining, funny, short film on hip-hop running shoe culture. The movie feels more like a music video than a short film—although I suppose all music videos are just short films. Foot Cred was an entertaining six minutes. If you can find it online you may as well watch it, what’s six minutes out of you day.
Shadya was surprisingly good. I honestly hadn’t expected the film to be as interesting as it turned out to be. The film is about a young Israeli Arab, Shadya. Shima, Riadh, Sanaz and I went to see the film because Shadya is a black-belt in Karate; there is no way Shima would miss a documentary about Karate. Now it turns out the film isn’t really about Karate at all, it’s a Women’s story, one I think many girls may be able to relate to. Shadya’s life is complicated by the fact she is a fiercely independent girl growing up in a society that expects her to marry and become a housewife—which she does during the course of the movie. The film is really good. I can’t stress that enough. It’s playing again next Sunday.
After the film, Shima, Riadh and Sanaz sat around chatting about Karate with the man behind the film, Shadya’s Karate coach, Hakim, who is an interesting fellow in his own right.
The official Shadya web site.
[1] Movies
1 May 2006, lunch time
American Fugitive: The Truth About Hassan is a film about the Hassan Abdulrahman. He is probably most well known for killing the Ali Akbar Tabatabai, the former press attaché for the Shah of Iran, at the behest of the Iranian government — and presumable Khomeini himself. Hassan then fled to Iran, where he has been living for the past 25 years. I first read about his story in the book The Rose Garden of the Martyrs, where he gives a short interview about what led him from America to Iran. The movie is a much more thorough examination of the man, and to a lesser extent the circumstances around the murder.
I found the film a bit muddled. As a movie looking into the heart of Hassan, trying to discover who he is and why he killed, I would argue the film is actually quite shallow. You leave the film with a strong empathy for Hassan; It’s hard not to as he is a very intelligent and thoughtful person. It is clear he has reflected on what he has done in the past, and reconciled the murder he has committed as best he can. The film humanizes his side of the story. Still, at the end of the day, there is another side of this story that involves a widow and girl without a father; this side of the story is largely ignored. People are not just the sum total of their words and thoughts; our actions and deeds play just as important a part in defining who we are. The film dances around the murder, without actually taking a hard look its true effects. I think that if the audience doesn’t understand the net effect of the murder, they can’t hope to understand Hassan and why he did what he did. Film maker Jean-Daniel Lafond interviews Tabatabai’s brother, but his time on camera is spent discussing conspiracy theories. We only learn of Tabatabai’s wife and daughter in passing. (Abdulrahman’s family mentions that Tabatabai’s family has fallen apart after his death.) It’s not Lafond’s job to be fair in making a film; this isn’t a movie about Tabatabai, someone else can make such a film. However, I do think that by leaving Tabatabai out of the story as much as Lafond has, we can’t hope to understand what drives a man such as Hassan to murder. The film wastes a lot of screen time talking about conspiracy theories around the murder, and the relationship the Republicans may have had with Iran’s regime. This is all interesting, but really belongs in another movie. This time could have been put to better use. I think Tabatabai’s wife and daughter on screen would have made the film more interesting.
If the film is good, it is because Hassan Abdulrahman is a very interesting man. The movie is probably worth watching just to hear him speak.
An Aside: The beauty of Hotdocs is that if you have questions about the film you are watching you can ask them, which is what I did: “Did you make any attempt to contact the victim’s family?” Lafond looked at me like I was an idiot; so did the host from Hotdocs. I thought they hadn’t heard me, so I asked the question again, louder. Their looks didn’t change. The crowd murmured. And then someone yelled out, “The brother was in the film.” To say I felt like an idiot would be an understatement. I tried to clarify my question, “No, I meant his daughter, his—”, but by then I think people were annoyed I had wasted all their time. Sucks. Shima and Patrick both had questions they had wanted to ask, but were too embarrassed after my gaff.
[4] Movies | Hot Docs 2006
30 April 2006, late afternoon
Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story was the first film I watched at this years Hotdocs festival. The movie is about Japanese nationals who were kidnapped from Japan by the North Korean government during the late 70s. The Japanese were to be used to train North Korean spies. The movie focuses on the youngest victim, Megumi Yokota, who was just 13 years old when she was taken. The families of those who were abducted, once they learn that their loved ones aren’t dead, but are in fact trapped in North Korea, begin a long fight to get them back. The film is quite moving at times; it’s a very sad story so it’s hard not to affected by it. The girl sitting next to me started crying half way through the film, and didn’t really let up till the end. The film is good, but I think it does have a bit of an amateur feel to it at times. One problem with the film was the sound, which was quite horrible at times. Still, I enjoyed the film and think Abduction is well worth watching.
[1] Movies | Hot Docs 2006
29 April 2006, early evening
Dave turns 26 today. To celebrate a few of us went to Medieval Times last night. Medieval Times is strange; it’s a dinner and show, the show being a medieval tournement of sorts. Everyone working there is in character—for the most part—as some sort of person you would find in the middle ages: squires, knights, wenches, and what have you. You cheer for your knight as he does the sorts of things knights used to do. It’s so ridiculous it’s hard not to enjoy yourself I suppose. The place was a lot more packed then I had imagined it would be. The food was alright, but I guess you aren’t really going for the food. It was an expensive night out, but one that will be hard to forget. Huzzah.
[2] Life | Restaurants and Bars
28 April 2006, the wee hours
I am really big Britpop fan. When I was in grade 9 Portishead’s album was getting some press here in Toronto, as was Elastica’s. Now, this was back when I was broke all the time, so I couldn’t get myself both albums. I ended up buying one album for myself, and one album for Dave, for his birthday. In hindsight, I should have kept the Elastica album, and given Dave the Portishead one. (Dave ended up selling me the Elastica album a few years later.) I think both albums are great. I spent the next few years listening to lots of Britpop, basically till the whole movement imploded. I waited patiently for Elastica’s follow-up album, and when it became clear it wasn’t coming, I started listening to electronic music: trip hop and jungle mostly. Most of that music also came out of the UK.
The film Live Forever tracks the rise and fall of Britpop. There are a fair number of big name rock stars interviewed, but I thought the breadth of interviews seemed a bit lacking; Oasis, Blur and Pulp were not the be all end all of Britpop. I would have preferred more people were interviewed. I’d be interested to hear what Elastica and Menswe@r would have to say of the phenomenon, since I like them both a lot, and they both sort of came and went with movement. There are a ton of bands that really didn’t last after ‘97 passed; it would have been good to hear from them. Robert Del Naja from Massive Attack makes a few appearances in the film, which are entertaining if only for being so out of place. There is an interview with the editor of Loaded talking about all the cocaine he did to get the issues out. There are a slew of really great lines in the film. The movie ends with Pop taking over Britain. It’s a bit sad really.
Music | Movies
27 April 2006, mid-afternoon
I watched Lucky Number Slevin last night with Steph. The film looks to be a modern day take on the classic film noir genre. The movie is violent, full of twists and turns, and has some really strange (but enjoyable) dialog. This is the first movie in quite some time that I didn’t know anything about before watching. (Well, I did know who some of the people in the cast were.) I think that’s the best way to go in to a film such as this. Lucy Lui is quite cute in the film. The movie is definitely worth checking out.
The official Lucky Number Slevin web site.
[1] Movies
25 April 2006, lunch time
Yesterday, after work, I picked up a copy of the Warcraft III Battle Chest, which has the original game, the expansion, and some strategy guides for the two games. I had played through part of the game with my cousins while in Sydney, and thought it was pretty fun. I hadn’t played Warcraft in a long time. Warcraft II wouldn’t run on my 486 (with 4 megs of RAM). There is this whole of computer games I missed out on since I replaced my 486 with a Powerbook 5300cs. I think my iMac looks like it could be a good computer game box, were it not for the fact it’s a Mac. Mind you, Bootcamp may change the Mac gaming landscape — by letting Mac users revel in the Windows gaming landscape. I digress. I was quite impressed with how well the game ran on the iMac, despite it not being a Universal Binary. (Mind you, the game is 3-4 years old now.) I can run the game with all the video settings maxed out, and at my screens native resolution of 1680 by 1050. The game play is very smooth. I have noticed one hiccup, however: In most (all) cases so far, switching from the game to a video works, but you can see the finder flash in to view; switching from a video back to the game leaves the game in windowed mode, not full screen mode. Despite this, the game runs great, and has been fun to play thus far. Anyone else have Warcraft?
Update Jan 23rd: As pointed out in the comments below, a new patch lets the game run natively. You can get the patch by logging into BattleNet, or from Blizzard’s FTP site. (You will want to download War3TFT_121a_XXX.bin, where XXX is the language you want.)
[4] Intel iMac | Video Games
24 April 2006, lunch time
Back at work and I’m looking at bugs. I couldn’t remember my password, or the code for the security system here. It’s funny how fast your brain will forget random sequences of letters and numbers. I’m not sleepy yet, which is a good sign.
Life
23 April 2006, early morning
I’m typing this up at just before 6:00 in the morning. I still can’t sleep through the night. I don’t know why I get such bad jet lag when I fly. I’ve been playing the demo of Warcraft III on my iMac for the past hour or so. (The game is a lot of fun, and plays incredibly well under Rosetta). (I’ll probably buy it before the week is up.) I have to go to work tomorrow. I’m not sure how exactly that is going to go. It feels a bit strange being back in Toronto after being gone for the past 3 weeks. The holiday felt quite long. My hope is that I remember what it was exactly I did at work, and that I don’t pass out in the middle of the day.
[2] Life
Shyness is nice, and
Shyness can stop you
From doing all the things in life
You’d like to
So, if there’s something you’d like to try
If there’s something you’d like to try
ASK ME – I WON’T SAY “NO” – HOW COULD I ?
—ASK by The Smiths.
21 April 2006, mid-afternoon
It took my mom and I about 24 hours or so to get from Sydney to Toronto. That’s a long time to spend flying. The trip back didn’t feel as long as the trip there. I feel tired.
Life | Sydney
16 April 2006, early morning
I met Shannon on Thursday in the city. I was sitting with my cousin in front of the bathrooms in Central station, waiting for Shannon’s train to come in from Wollongong. She was coming in to the city to see Hawksley Workman perform at the Manning Bar in the University of Sydney with her friend Heather. After a few SMSes I found Shannon, and my cousin split. The three of us trekked from Central station to the university, which is a fair walk. The weather was warm and a bit sticky. We had to wait a short while for Workman to come on so we bought ourselves some expensive-as-sin cokes to cool down. Workman’s show was quite good. The rest of the afternoon was spent trying to find an affordable cafe to eat in: a surprisingly tricky endeavour.
I met Cathy on Friday in Bondi. The area is quite pretty, as are the people loitering around there. The two of us had lunch at a cafe just off the beach. Baramundi is a tasty fish. We made our way from Bondi to Bronte (from one beach to another). We stopped midway to sit and enjoy the view. Upon reaching Bronte, we walked back. It was quite dark when I made my way back to Homebush, after drinking coffee, eating cake, and enjoying some sushi served on a conveyor belt.
The weekend has been quiet. I’ll be back in Toronto soon.
[2] Life | Sydney
10 April 2006, terribly early in the morning
I was sitting with my cousin in a shop called Max Brenner eating chocolate waffles covered in chocolate and strawberries, drinking a hot chocolate, all the while helping myself to my cousins melted chocolate “drink”. I haven’t had that much chocolate in a while.
The past weekend was spent at various bars and night clubs in the city. Sydney seems to have a night life much like Toronto’s, only there isn’t a proper last call here. We were at a dodgy little club called Brooklyn till about 2 or so in the morning, and my cousin Arjuna told me the place was licensed to serve alcohol till about 6.
I’ve watched all of Prison Break while here in Sydney. (That is, all of the current season.) Prison Break is amazing. I feel like I’m living during some sort of television Renaissance. There are so many great television shows on the air right now. I think it all started with the Soprano’s. My only fear is that all these shows I love will turn to shit, much like the X-Files did. Let us all pray.
[2] Life | Sydney
6 April 2006, the wee hours
Windows running on a Mac is like Windows running on a PC. That means it’ll be subject to the same attacks that plague the Windows world. So be sure to keep it updated with the latest Microsoft Windows security fixes.
What the blood? Now, I am sure there are plenty of Mac users looking forward to playing all sorts of video games on thier Macs now; I can’t imagine another good reason to run Windows XP on a Mac. Apple’s stock jumped at the news this is going to be built into Mac OS X 10.5. Strange days lay ahead my friend.
[4] Apple Computers
5 April 2006, terribly early in the morning
A queer Sri-Lankan lady has released a book of poems. That’s not all too common I would imagine. Three Times sounds like a cool film. You can stalk Natalie Portman from the comfort of your own home. That’s a great use of Google Maps. I never repair permissions when I upgrade OS X. I don’t do much of anything when I update. I’m not sure who these people are whose computers are constantly breaking when they update their system, but I do feel sorry for them. Digg still sucks. CD’s in Sydney are damn expensive. Pirate that music people. George Bush is Scandalous. I guess you already knew that. Being a girl in India still sucks. You probably already knew that.
Interesting Links
5 April 2006, terribly early in the morning
It’s a balmy thirty degrees here in Sydney. The air is hot against your skin; I love it. I met my cousin and aunt downtown for lunch. We went to a sort-of-Italian cafe called Jet. Lunch was nice. My aunt headed back to work, and I sat with my cousin and had a cold ice coffee mocha. It was no mocha frappacino, but it was still pretty tasty.
I bought a SIM card for my cell phone on my way downtown. I was impressed that I could travel half way around the world and get an Australian telephone number. Shame my phone is locked such that only Fido SIM cards will work with it; sons of bitches. I’m using an extra phone another Aunt had laying around. Cathy was the first person I called with my phone. There is something cool about talking to someone you know from one side of the world on the other side of the world.
I read Sonny’s Blues again on the train ride back to Homebush. That’s an amazing story.
Life | Sydney
4 April 2006, terribly early in the morning
I was two cousins shy of seeing all my cousins this morning. Bored, I went downtown to kill some time. I walked from Central station to Darling Harbour. Sydney has a beautiful downtown core. (I would say Toronto looks like someones butt in comparison.) I walked around, snapped some photos, and then decided to make my way back home. Heading back north towards Town Hall station, I bumped into my cousin Arjuna. He was probably as shocked to see me as I was to see him. He was just finishing up lunch with some friends; I waited with them, and then walked with him back to his office. On the way there, the two of us bumped into my eldest cousin Sai and her husband. Sydney’s downtown must be smaller than I think it is.
Life | Sydney
2 April 2006, late evening
So I’ve been in Oz for about 3 days now. (It’s 9:30 in the morning as I write this.) I haven’t really done much of anything just yet. I sleep early in the evening, and I wake up far too early in the morning. For example, today I woke up at 6:00 in the morning, and decided to watch Lord of War. When you wake up so early in the morning, it’s like you get an entire bonus day to enjoy before lunch. I have yet to see all my cousins, though I have seen the majority now. After two proper days into my trip and I am reminded of my last stay in Sydney: I wake up at my Grandparents home, brush my teeth, eat some toast, walk to my aunts home, where I can check my email. I need to start eating Coco Pops; then this trip truly would have been worth the excessive air fare. If you haven’t had Coco Pops before, then you haven’t had the greatest breakfast cereal of all time. My stay has been relaxing thus far, but I can see doing nothing getting boring fast. I need to start thinking about how to spend my time better. The weather here is amazing. I hope the weather is just as nice when I get back to Toronto.
[2] Life | Sydney
30 March 2006, lunch time
I am going to be in Sydney for three weeks. I leave for the city with my mom in a few hours. Expect infrequent updates for the next 3 weeks.
[5] Life | Sydney
30 March 2006, the wee hours
I watched No More Tears Sister again tonight with my parents; I bought them a copy of the DVD. The film is about the Tamil human rights activist Dr. Rajani Thiranagama, who was murdered by the LTTE in 1989. The movie is a pretty good introduction to the conflict in Sri Lanka, although its focus is always on Rajani and her sister Nirmala, who was also a fairly famous activist. (Nirmala was the first female political prisoner held by Sri Lankan government. My parents remember when she was broken out of jail by the LTTE in the early 80s; It was quite the news in London.) There are some brilliant photos of the LTTE cadres featured in the film. I am curious who took them and where they came from; they really are quite amazing. Much of the story in the movie is told by Rajani’s family: her sisters, husband, and daughters. It is pretty touching at times, and this gives the movie a very human feel. Rajani’s youngest daughter plays her in various flashbacks during the film. I imagine this must have been very hard for her daughter to do—in particular filming the shot where she is laying in the street dead. How does one participate in the reenactment of their mothers death?
My family is from Jaffna. My mom remembers Rajani from there. Apparently she would ride a boys bike around town. Women riding bikes in Jaffna was scandalous back in the day; I’m not entirely sure why. (I might be generalizing here: I suspect it’s just my family that was particularly purantical but I suppose I’ll never know for sure.)
I saw this film at the Hot Docs festival last year. I enjoyed it then, but didn’t feel like writing about it at the time. Even now I don’t know what to say about the film. I think it’s well put together, and is something people interested in Sri Lankan politics should definitely watch. The movie paints the LTTE in a fairly dark light. (The movie is about how the LTTE killed this particular woman, so clearly they aren’t going to come out looking nice.) My (Tamil) friends who watched the film the same night I did were not as impressed with the film as I was. Sometimes I feel like Tamil people feel obligated to hate anything that points out the uglier side of the LTTE.
The official No More Tears Sister web site. The movie is being discussed at Samudaya , Film Gecko, and the BBC. The name of the movie comes from a chapter in the book Rajani co-wrote called The Broken Palmyra.
[2] Movies | Politics
And i’m reminded
Of the time that i was blinded
By the sun
It was a welcome change
From the sight of you hanging
Like a willow off the arm of yet another visionary
Prophetess East Van. punk
—Painter in your Pocket by Destroyer
29 March 2006, terribly early in the morning
I usually email Shima a picture of me from Photo Booth everyday. I don’t know anyone else with an iSight, so I don’t really have much use for the thing beyond mucking around in Photo Booth.
[3] Intel iMac | Apple Computers
