The short story "Waldo", follows James Stevens and the circumstances which lead to his meeting with Waldo.
Waldo is a reclusive genius who is contracted to discover why a piece of standard technology continues to fail. In his research he discovers that the source of magic is another dimension. Upon this discovery he repairs the technology, creates access to clean and free energy and heals his body of its genetic muscle weakness.
Upside
The descriptions of technology are very vivid, especially the waldoes and Freehold
The description of the science and the analogies used to describe it are easy to grasp
Downside
The beginning is confusing
For some reason I found it hard to keep the names straight for quite a while
Saturday, 18 February 2017
Tuesday, 7 February 2017
Nightfall - Isaac Asimov & Robert Silverberg
"Nightfall" is based on a popular short story of the same name published in 1941. The novel is broken into three parts: Twilight, Nightfall, Daybreak.
Twilight begins introducing all the main characters separately and their individual discoveries. Slowly the characters begin to meet and share information at the University which leads them to believe that their world of Kalgash with six suns will experience darkness on a global scale. This understanding leads the characters to Nightfall a year later and together for the event that will change the planet's understanding of the world. Never having experienced night the planet had never seen stars. In the darkness people panicked but the appearance of stars brought the population to madness. Daybreak is the experience of the characters as they regain sanity and move about the planet in a new society governed by crazies.
Upside
The premise of a whole planet experiencing night for the first time together and discovering the existence of stars
Sheerin is just an enjoyable character
It is really fascinating Sci-Fi as there isn't any Science that doesn't already exist on Earth
The forward by Asimov and Silverberg explaining that it is an alien planet but the translated to English terms so it would be easier for the reader to understand
Downside
Nightfall section lost momentum when it jumped nearly a year in time
The names are so different it really took me a while to get the characters straight
The reveal about Mondior at the end didn't have as much punch as I am sure it was supposed to just based on the fact I have read other similar reveals recently
Twilight begins introducing all the main characters separately and their individual discoveries. Slowly the characters begin to meet and share information at the University which leads them to believe that their world of Kalgash with six suns will experience darkness on a global scale. This understanding leads the characters to Nightfall a year later and together for the event that will change the planet's understanding of the world. Never having experienced night the planet had never seen stars. In the darkness people panicked but the appearance of stars brought the population to madness. Daybreak is the experience of the characters as they regain sanity and move about the planet in a new society governed by crazies.
Upside
The premise of a whole planet experiencing night for the first time together and discovering the existence of stars
Sheerin is just an enjoyable character
It is really fascinating Sci-Fi as there isn't any Science that doesn't already exist on Earth
The forward by Asimov and Silverberg explaining that it is an alien planet but the translated to English terms so it would be easier for the reader to understand
Downside
Nightfall section lost momentum when it jumped nearly a year in time
The names are so different it really took me a while to get the characters straight
The reveal about Mondior at the end didn't have as much punch as I am sure it was supposed to just based on the fact I have read other similar reveals recently
Monday, 23 January 2017
Moana (2016) !Spoilers!
Moana is Disney's latest animated musical. I suspected it would be over-hyped like Frozen but I really enjoy it.
Much like Frozen, Moana follows a girl on a musical journey with a travelling companion and an animal. Moana, as the daughter of the Cheiftain is meant to be the next village leader. She is not satisfied staying on her island and wants to travel the ocean beyond the reef that protects the island. Her Grandmother encourages her to be different and follow her heart because following her head is frustrating. Moana discovers that her ancestors used to voyage and explore but no longer do because the boats stopped coming back.The darkness that was beyond the reef finally reaches the island. Moana realizes that something needs to change for anything to get better, she decides to find the demi-god Maui to get him to stop the darkness that he started by returning what he stole. Of course this isn't simple and things happen on the way. Even as she lay dying, Moana's Grandmother tells her to go to the ocean and find Maui.
The music is very powerful. Similar to Frozen's "Let it Go", these songs feel like they belong in a Broadway musical; this make sense with Lin-Manuel Miranda writing a few of the songs. After watching the movie I had the music in my head until I bought the soundtrack and was able to listen to it again.
Upside
The short before the movie
The music
The unique locations - the realm of monsters was especially cool looking
Downside
This is yet another Disney movie where a character dies-this time to come back as an encouraging ghost.
The pet pig that was so often in the trailers didn't really have anything to do
Much like Frozen, Moana follows a girl on a musical journey with a travelling companion and an animal. Moana, as the daughter of the Cheiftain is meant to be the next village leader. She is not satisfied staying on her island and wants to travel the ocean beyond the reef that protects the island. Her Grandmother encourages her to be different and follow her heart because following her head is frustrating. Moana discovers that her ancestors used to voyage and explore but no longer do because the boats stopped coming back.The darkness that was beyond the reef finally reaches the island. Moana realizes that something needs to change for anything to get better, she decides to find the demi-god Maui to get him to stop the darkness that he started by returning what he stole. Of course this isn't simple and things happen on the way. Even as she lay dying, Moana's Grandmother tells her to go to the ocean and find Maui.
The music is very powerful. Similar to Frozen's "Let it Go", these songs feel like they belong in a Broadway musical; this make sense with Lin-Manuel Miranda writing a few of the songs. After watching the movie I had the music in my head until I bought the soundtrack and was able to listen to it again.
Upside
The short before the movie
The music
The unique locations - the realm of monsters was especially cool looking
Downside
This is yet another Disney movie where a character dies-this time to come back as an encouraging ghost.
The pet pig that was so often in the trailers didn't really have anything to do
Saturday, 14 January 2017
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
I am admittedly behind the times to only watch and review this film now, but I am not a big fan Wes Anderson and therefore put it off. What a mistake that was.
The Grand Budapest Hotel is a fascinating film that must be studied to be properly appreciated. For example, I noticed immediately the first time the frame ratio changed but not that every time period had a unique ratio until looking at it again. Also being set mostly in the 1880s the old style iris effect was used to end some scenes and focus on a single character. The way the camera moved was usually quick to lead you toward what was important rather than focusing on every detail.
The story itself is straight forward but the way it is told is not. The story is in four times; a young lady visiting the memorial of an author and remembering his book; the author explaining how he got the idea for the book; the author listening to someone tell him the story; the story. Each of these time periods are visually distinct with colour palette and frame ratio as well as set and wardrobe that match each period.
Up Side
I enjoyed this movie as a visual experience and a study in editing. I liked the characters and enjoyed the little visual jokes. There are matte paintings, illustration/animation shots to push the style of the whole film.
Down Side
A lot of swearing and implied sex, also a naked women art piece and out right talk about sex. But it is rated R so that is to be expected. Also there is a dismembered head at one point, it is shown briefly and doesn't look too real.
The Grand Budapest Hotel is a fascinating film that must be studied to be properly appreciated. For example, I noticed immediately the first time the frame ratio changed but not that every time period had a unique ratio until looking at it again. Also being set mostly in the 1880s the old style iris effect was used to end some scenes and focus on a single character. The way the camera moved was usually quick to lead you toward what was important rather than focusing on every detail.
The story itself is straight forward but the way it is told is not. The story is in four times; a young lady visiting the memorial of an author and remembering his book; the author explaining how he got the idea for the book; the author listening to someone tell him the story; the story. Each of these time periods are visually distinct with colour palette and frame ratio as well as set and wardrobe that match each period.
Up Side
I enjoyed this movie as a visual experience and a study in editing. I liked the characters and enjoyed the little visual jokes. There are matte paintings, illustration/animation shots to push the style of the whole film.
Down Side
A lot of swearing and implied sex, also a naked women art piece and out right talk about sex. But it is rated R so that is to be expected. Also there is a dismembered head at one point, it is shown briefly and doesn't look too real.
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