Before we are writers, musicians, and artists, we were readers, listeners, and spectators.
Here are a list of works I've recently encountered.

Back to the main page

Some books I have read lately (comments and approximate finish dates in brackets):
JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy:
1 The Fellowship of the Ring (Good! jul. 2001)
2 The Two Towers (Even better! sept. 2001)
3 The Return of the King (My favourite of the series, Oct. 2001)
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (interesting if not boring at times)(Oct. 2001)
The White Hotel by D.M. Thomas (grade-A mind fuck)(Early Nov. 2001)
Hyperion by Dan Simmons (A sci-fi writer trying to write something epic but failing miserably.)(nov. 2001)
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (at 110 pages long, everyone should read this)(dec. 2001)
HMS Ulysses an epic voyage on the Russian convoys. (Mid Jan. 2002)
1984 by George Orwell (He drops the bomb on you in the last half) (End Jan. 2002)
Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong (Translated by Moss Roberts) Imported from China and labeled "NOT FOR SALE IN NORTH AMERICA" I am a proud new owner of the finest English translation available of this epic story spanning some 30 years and containing some of the most famous characters in Chinese history. 4 Volumes, 2340 pages, and fully annotated with maps and references. (Finished as of Oct. 15, 2002... started in May 2002. I have this empty feeling inside!)

Conquest of Happiness by Bertrand Russel (Time Magazine says that this is the modern day substitute for the bible. Screw religion, philosophy is the way to go. It is a little out-dated but still relevant today in our broken society.) (began in mid-August 2002, finished by early sept. 2002)

Flatland, by Edwin A. Abbot: Written over a hundred years ago, this has got to be the first guy to send people into other dimensions... quite literally. It is a dazzling tale full of simple little geometrical arguments about the short-sightedness of thinking we exist in a world with only 3 dimensions. (October 2002)

I am a Cat, by Soseki Natsume (December 2002). It's a tuttle classics anthology of one of Japan's greatest literary works of the Meiji era. It is such a diametric opposite to Three Kingdoms that I felt it was the next natural progression. Three Kingdoms was 2000 pages, this is 1000. Three Kingdoms was Chinese, this is Japanese. Both are considered literary masterpieces of their respective culture... Three Kingdoms is a historical fiction piece about brutal warfare and delicate statecraft, whereas this book is about the musings of a cat and his observations about humanity!

I AM CURRENTLY WITHOUT A BOOK. I CAN'T DECIDE!!! Send me suggestions!

---

Some Music I've gotten hold of lately:
My Generation Deluxe Edition by The Who (I love these guys)

Sea Change by Beck (puts me to sleep... and well executed at that.)

Richest Man in Babylon by Thievery Corporation (I wasn't going to buy it... but when I sampled it in store it was pretty good)

Foundations of Dub: King Tuby & The Aggrovators I while ago someone introduced me to King tubby and the world of 'dub'. If you don't know what this is... it's good.

Light & Magic by Ladytron (I've heard some rumblings about this group so I decided to check out their new album. It's pretty good 2000's electronica (dark and moody as opposed to lighter things like Air and Zero7).

Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd. My best purchase of 2003 so far. I had been listening to my roommate's mp3 version and I HAD to get the CD. A great 40 minute ride unlike any other.

Led Zepp I & III: why 1 and 3, you ask? I already have 2, 4, and houses of the holy, and I used that HMV sale to help me round out my collection. Immigrant song! ahhhh

Premiers Symptomes by Air. Again, this is another collection rounder. I have moon safari and 10,000Hz legend, so I had to go after this one. Definitely one of my favourite EPs.

---

Some Movies I recommend:
Igby Goes Down starring that Kieran Caulkin, Claire Danes, Jeff Goldblum and company. Post-modern American comedy in the vein of Wes Anderson, but well done nonetheless. Burr Steers is the director (pulp fiction, res dogs)

Punchdrunk Love is possibly Adam Sandler's finest achievement. Great cinematography that really creates interesting visuals. Bravo, PT Anderson! (Magnolia, Boogie nights).

In the Mood for Love (Criterion Double DVD) hmmm are we on a love theme here? Perhaps it's because these are the kinds of movies with slowwww, pannninggg, musical sequences that really captivate me. Wong Kar Wai is one of my favourite Chinese directors (Ang Lee, Zhang Yimou, and Fruit Chan notwithstanding). Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung are a dream team.

The Ring an american remake of a low-budget Japanese horror film, this is definitely one of the most tension-filled movies I've seen in a long time. Well done, without being excessive in any department. Great cinema and decent acting (careful not to shit your pants).

Solaris by Tarkovsky. It's being remade by Steven Soderbergh and James Cameron at the end of the month, but I really don't see how they can top this 3 hour monster of Russian space-mind-fuckery.

Vertical Ray of Sun by Anh Hung Tran. realy slow, confusing story, but the camera work is incredible. I understand why people walk out on this film, but it was still worthwhile. I must say, a French colonies are much cooler than the regular ones. (except for Hong Kong bwahaha)

Yi Yi by Edward Yang. This was a free screening at Innis college... but so many people were coming in past the start time. How annoying is that? This one clocks in at 3 hours, and is a rather depressing story about modern life in Taiwan. There are a lot of deep themes involved, and amidst all the darkness there are moments of a very pure kind of happiness.

Gangs of New York by Martin Scorcese. BILL THE BUTCHER! BILL THE BUTCHER!

Lord of the Rings: Two Towers Oh yes... what more can I say?

Dark City, written and directed by Alex Proyas. Another free Innis screening! The crowd was much better behaved, and the movie was a serious does of fantastic Sci-fi. Interestingly enough, a lot of people talk about this movie and then talk about how the Matrix happened to steal a lot from it. I think the main difference between the two is that one is more of a classical sci-fi (telepathy, giant machines) and the latter was an exploration of the digital era that the human race has created. Much applause to both pursuits.

Volcano High is a crazy Korean martial-arts movie that wowed a lot of people at the Toronto Film fest last september. I had the pleasure of viewing it for the first time a few weeks ago on VCD and it was amusing. The ending was poor, the art direction was a bit shoddy, but this is a martial arts film!

Bend it like Beckham. So as you can tell I've been seeing a lot of Asian and/or arthouse flicks lately, and I tell you, I am sick of them. So I decided to go see this movie. It would have been better if I were a teenage girl, but failing that (by a long shot) I merely enjoyed the film as a good happy-go-lucky interlude between serious films. Besides, I like soccer and England!


...my days have been a dream...