Many have questioned the validity of whether or not pigs can fly. This was put to the test yesterday at a top jet propulsion laboratory in Durham when a fearless test subject (pictured below) volunteered to jump from a staggering height in order to save its bacon (pun not intended!).
Unfortunately we now know that pigs can’t actually fly but that bacon tastes really nice when fried! Animal rights activists, outraged by this, pelted scientists with brussel-sprouts on their way home. None were injured.
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If you scare easily or are in the least claustrophobic there is one film that you should defiantly not watch, that is Dark Water. If you’re not any of the the former then you soon will be!
Dark Water (also known as Honogurai mizu no soko kara) is best described as a supernatural thriller. The film follows a single mother Yoshimi who moves into what she thinks is the perfect apartment with her daughter Ikuko. No sooner have they unpacked than strange things begin to disturb their new life. A water leak from the supposedly abandoned apartment above gets bigger and bigger, a child’s satchel reappears even though Yoshimi throws it away several times, and she is haunted by the image of a child wearing a yellow mackintosh who bears a striking resemblance to a young girl who disappeared several years before.
From here on things get pretty freaky. Nakata’s film works so cleverly with the idea of no safety in the safest places and objects that everything seems dangerous. In combination with the terrible emotional story at the heart of the film, the feelings of dread, despair and sadness reach almost intolerable depths at times.
I would highly recommend watching this one late at night with the lights off - should you happen to start hearing sounds in adjacent rooms I wouldn’t worry to much, its probably nothing! Its also worth noting that the yanks are remaking the film so you’d better watch it before its spoiled forever.
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Luckily most of this weeks horrible stuff is out the way now, all thats left is to finish of and submit the SEG Design document tomorrow. To put it bluntly the functional programming (Haskell) project was horrific. What should have taken little more than two hours (according to the lecturer) took me around twelve hours. I don’t want to think about pattern matching or recursive functions for a very long time!
My parents often accuse me of hoarding to much stuff but I thought I’d post a link to show them how good I actually am and how mush worse it could be! Take a look here (if you dare). I can only imagine that the person who the house belongs must have some sort of medical disorder, its pretty frightening to imagine how they manage to live in amongst all the mess.
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So begins the long week of work - First off we start with a small dose of Databases followed up by a shot of Function Programming then finishing off with a SEG Design deadline. Fun huh?! I doubt I’ll be having much time this week to review any more wacky films although I have a few queued up for download later in the week.
Had a play with quite a useful program this week, namely GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) which is basically the Linux answer to Adobe Photoshop. If you’ve ever used Photoshop then you should be able to pick up the GIMP fairly quickly and for a free open-source effort it’s excellent. It has many of the features Photoshop users have become accustomed to: the ability to create layers, add filters, feather, add text, and animate so is defiantly a viable alternative.
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Continuing with my season of unusual films I thought I might reflect on a trilogy of films which date back to before I was even born but which has only just concluded. The “Qatsi” trilogy began in 1975 and was the brain child of Godfrey Reggio, for a good potted history see here. First came “Koyaanisqatsi” (Life Out of Balance), then came “Powaqqatsi” (Life in Transition), and most recently “Naqoyqatsi” (Life as War - 2003) which I saw a couple of days ago.
By now you may be wondering what on earth I’m on about, but I’ll leave it up to the description off the site to explain:
“A motion picture experience beyond words, NAQOYQATSI merges the power of image and music to plunge into the heart of the hyperaccelerated, globally wired 21st century. Mesmerizing images plucked from everyday reality, then visually altered with state-of-the-art digital techniques, stream across the screen in synch with a hypnotic score by Philip Glass, featuring the passionate cello work of Yo-Yo Ma. Despite the film’s nonverbal nature, the ultimate effect of its starkly futuristic, computer-enhanced visual fabric is to get people talking about how technology is altering everything: media, art, entertainment, sports, politics, medicine, warfare, ethics, nature, culture and the very face of the human future.”
The films can only really be described as work’s of art. Their mesmerizing visuals are almost hypnotic and combined with a stunning soundtrack its a pretty incredible experience. The philosophy and ethic’s contained withing the pieces are so understated yet striking as a whole - this film really makes you think about society with all its flaws. A must watch film for anyone with an inquiring mind.
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