Yet again the Christmas term is slowly drawing to a close and everyone is getting themselves sorted for the mass exodus from Durham around Wednesday this week. I for one will be pleased to be finished for the year (formally at least) as the past few weeks have been one big uphill battle involving much sleep deprivation and scratching of heads. Ironically enough I start my holiday job on Friday which will mean getting up at 6am and not getting back home until around 6pm so no rest for the wicked!
This weekend has been pretty good, the highlights in a nutshell being Chinese soup & pizza (yum), Weird anime, NetMeeting/GnomeMeeting (very cool) and the classic Die Hard. Of course this was all rounded off nicely with a smattering of work!
Here a few more cool design-type links I’ve come across recently:
While you’re at it also check out the new ‘Google Suggest‘ feature which searches as you type in real time - pretty handy actually. It never ceases to amaze me the stuff they come up with.
…and now for something completely different:
Can you count the number of black spots?
Wo hen gao xing. Zai jian 
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Had a project design review yesterday in which I had to give a short presentation about what I have been up to this term. I think I covered just about everything that was required and it seemed to go quite well. Much to my relief no one asked any horrible questions!!
In a sudden spurt of efficiency I managed to get my Christmas shopping finished today which is in sharp contrast to previous years when it has usually been a fairly last-minute affair. I wanted to get it all finished sooner rather than later this time round because I will be working non-stop when I go home up until Christmas-eve so wont have any time to do it then. I can heave a sigh of relief!
Contrary to my rather negative comments about my Canon PowerShot A80 last week Dan Washburn, an American journalist based in Shanghai, has a glowing review of it on his site along with a load of other cool (and not-so-cool) gadgets. Definitely worth a read.
On a slightly different note I came across this incredibly wacky Flickr group called ‘The squared circle Pool‘ which basically contains a huge collection of square photos of circular objects, self described as “a morphtastic slideshow extravaganza” which indeed it is! You can see for yourself here.
I’ll leave you today with a taster of things to come next week if I get the time. You could possibly think of it as somewhat of a visual exploration into the hyper-accelerated enslavement of the modern world (pretty heavy stuff I know!):
Look familiar to anyone? Think 1983 & Jean Baudrillard.
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Had a fun time in our last Japanese lesson of the term today learning a little song from a popular Japanese cartoon - Doraemon.
The cartoon was originally created in 1969 and follows a cat-like robot from the 22nd century of the future (how do they think these things up…!) who is sent back to the 20th century to help Nobita, a rather hapless school boy. It became one of Japan’s most popular and well-loved manga/anime series which has a cult following (just do a search on Google and you’ll see what I mean!).
You could almost see Doraemon as the equivalent of Mickey Mouse in the U.S. (but a lot less annoying). If you’re so inclined you can:
- Download the theme song here.
- Read the lyrics (with translation) here.
- Watch the opening video here (download here).
- Read an article explaining Doraemon’s history here.
- Visit the official website here.
Update (6th Aug 2007): Due to popular demand fixed links to mp3 and video!
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Stumbled across an interesting art project which looks at the ‘language of colour’ through a series of extremely cool little animations involving lots of different colored stick men!
Although to the casual observer it’s a bit of fun it does actually have a serious point (…I think!) about the colours we associate with words and what can be inferred by this. Strangely enough my favourite colour is blue and from what the profile on the site says it fits me quite well!
Take a look at ‘Color in Motion‘ to find see if any of them fit you!
If you liked that you may also want to take a look at these infinitely looping/recursive animations which can be found here and here - They’re pretty cleverly done and very trippy! If you feel like making your own here are the instructions 
Both found via [Hippoblog]
This all reminds me of the days in my youth (many a year ago now!) when I used to create stop-motion animations using Lego men. Of course mine were nowhere near as good as these but they do have a certain comedy value today, especially with the voice acting!
News flash…
Received word yesterday that Red Ted has made it to Tokyo safely so hopefully we should receive some photographic evidence soon! Unfortunately due to his heavy schedule he is unlikely to make it back to the UK before Christmas but is reportedly quite enjoying his visit. Apparently on his departure from Heathrow airport he was heard to sniff very loudly “So long, and thanks for all thanks for all fish” - quite what this means I don’t know but no doubt all will become clear in time…!
And last but not least I though I had to post this photo because it made me laugh so much - can you guess where it’s from?
Thats right - only in America!!
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Watched a very good film from Hong Kong last night called ‘Infernal Affairs‘ which is basically a crime drama but with a refreshingly original plot line about a pair of detectives leading undercover lives - one a triad who has infiltrated the police and another who has conversely infiltrated the triads. Neither know about each other but had both been instructed by their respective bosses to dig out the opposing moles in each organisation.
The film is extremely fast-paced and when trying to concentrate on subtitles even a momentary lapse can leave you reaching for the re-wind button to catch what you just missed! As opposed to what you might expect from this genre the gunfights are actually few and far between but thankfully the low action quotient is more than made up for with a great script and strong acting. The two main characters, Ming and Yan, despite being on opposite sides of the law, are very similar in that they both find themselves trapped by their circumstances. While Yan wants out after having put ten years of his life on hold to infiltrate the triad gang, Ming secretly wishes to become a real cop and leave his triad days behind him.
This makes for some compelling scenes of indecision and split loyalties which eventually leads to a rather unconventional finale. Unfortunately for release in mainland China an alternate (”politically correct”) ending was substituted. The less said about this sort of medaling the better. (Reminds me of this news article which appeared earlier in the week.) Luckily I had the Hong Kong version of the film with the original ending.
The quality of film was duly recognised at the 22nd Hong Kong Film Awards (2002), where it won all the major prizes (best film, best director, best screenplay, best actor…), and it is easy to see why. The only small things which could possibly let this film down are a number of contrivances and coincidences, plus a trio of almost redundant female roles that add little to the characters or the storyline. Whether it’s a morality tale masquerading as a thriller, or vice versa, ‘Infernal Affairs’ is furiously paced, full of drama, stylish, and as tense as an undergraduate receiving their exam results (!). Highly recommended - 9/10.
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