3 August 2010

computers

Posted by admin @ 19:54 pm    categories: tech/web

I can’t think of a better forum to ask this question: What computer should I get?

Background: I’ve always used Windows; I have no desire to be a Linux man on my personal computer (although I like that sort of OS for fun); I like Macs and am pretty comfortable with them, but am wary of their price tag. My computer is dying, slow, and a bit more than five years old; it no longer plays video that’s high quality, it seems to have some issues with its USB ports, and so forth. (Wooh! Some issues with parallel construction, there.) In short, I’m ready for a new one. This one’s ready for retirement.

As I see it, I could buy any of six main types of computers:

  1. A nice desktop computer.
  2. A desktop computer that I build myself. I might like the building; I have folks in Miami who could help me if I have problems.
  3. A Macintosh desktop computer.
  4. A netbook computer.
  5. A new laptop running Windows, probably not Dell. If I went this option, I’d need to look into what manufacturer I liked.
  6. A mac laptop.

Some of these would need to be bought in conjunction. If I were to get a desktop computer, I’d probably want to get a netbook as well, so I could be portable. Similarly, I wouldn’t get a netbook on its own. The other two laptop options (Macbook or Windows laptop) could easily stand on their own. Obviously, I could also buy a normal laptop with a desktop computer, but that seems to verge into the “prohibitively expensive” category. So at the end, I essentially could combine any of (1), (2), or (3) with (4), or go for (5) or (6).

Any thoughts? Anyone want to suggest something? Manufacturer suggestions also accepted. Feel free to email me instead.

I’m not going to say anything about what I’m leaning towards; suffice to say that any of these seem like good options at least until I consider prices.

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Prague, Czech Republic (ii)

Posted by admin @ 11:02 am    categories: images • traveling

This post is a continuation of several previous posts, recapping my travels of the past month.

St. John Under the Cliff monastery

St. John Under the Cliff monastery, near Srbsko, Czech Republic

Saturday, 10 July. Prague.
Woke an hour later than I would’ve liked — at a bit past 09:00 — and dressed, breakfasted, and left. Caught the 10:09 train to Karlštejn, and saw the castle there — it’s about 40 minutes away. I didn’t go into the castle, though, although I was kind of curious — I just started off on my hike, recommended to me by this Czech girl named Lucie who I met in Madrid. I figured it wouldn’t be too difficult a hike, and would be well-marked; I was right. It was pretty, too, although hot even in the shade. I’m sure there are prettier hikes, and it was pretty easy as these things go, but it was nice to be out in the hills and the forest. Also, I’m pretty sure I was the only native English speaker out there. The hike went from Karlštejn to Svatý Jan Pod Skalov (St. John Under the Cliff) Monastery, where there’s a chapel and, below it, Ivan the Hermitt’s creepy caves, with relics and a crypt, and a light that didn’t work, meaning that when I walked under to the crypt, I (a) got wet since it was after all a cave, and (b) was in the dark for a moment until I got around the bend. (Another picture.) That was somewhere between 8 and 12 km from the castle. From there, another 5-8 km to Srbsko, where I ate at a super-touristy restaurant that still only had Czechs, and then caught the train back to Prague. It’s kind of fun to be surrounded by Czechs, eh? Scary, too. I don’t know if the language is really so hard as people claim it is, but it’s just so foreign to me.

In Srbsko, at the train station, this Slovak guy saw me playing with my camera and started talking to me in his broken English. Nice guy, but very odd; I think he was stoned. He wanted me to come with him, and told me he had marijuana. Before, he asked to see my camera, and with some misgivings I let him look at it; he used it to take several pictures of me and told me he was a photographer. He was with two friends; all of them had awful teeth. They got off after only a few stops.

I’m writing this from atop Petrin Hill, where Tereza dreams that Tomaš has sent her to die in The Unbearable Lightness of Being. Which, I should add, is one of the reasons I came to Prague. It’s beautiful up here, although there are many people. None of them have guns.

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movies I’ve seen in the last month

Posted by admin @ 10:39 am    categories: Uncategorized

Kick-Ass (2010), dir. Matthew Vaughn
I had read some reviews of this movie before I saw it, and was suitably prepared. Which is to say, I knew that the main fun of the film would come from the foul-mouthed little girl who plays Hit-Girl. It’s ostensibly a super-hero flick, but it’s intended to be half-joking and mostly-ridiculous. Which it is. I saw it in theatres in Madrid, original audio though, with my friends Emily and Derek. I think it was just us three? Anyway, a fun movie, although not one worth an awful lot.

The Illusionist (2006)(repeat), dir. Neil Burger
I saw this movie soon after it came out, but watched it again one night in the hostel I stayed in when I was in Prague. (Which is weird, since it was apparently primarily filmed there, although it takes place in Austria.) It’s a great film, with Edward Norton the brilliant magician-cum-con-man. I hesitate to say anything much more about it, because I think it’s worth seeing without many preconceptions. Definitely recommended, though. Amazing.

Clash of the Titans (2010), dir. Louis Leterrier
This was a shitty remake, that makes little sense and follows few myths that I know of. It wasn’t awful, but it wasn’t really worth much. Although I guess I made it through it without falling asleep. Saw it in Copenhagen.

The Boat That Rocked (aka Pirate Radio, US and Canada)(2009), dir. Richard Curtis
The better of the films I saw in Copenhagen. A quite funny British comedy about an imaginary pirate radio station broadcasting to the UK from the North Sea, and the young man who comes there. It wasn’t amazing, but it was quite funny, and quite enjoyable. A bit ridiculous, like any good comedy. Pretty feel-good sort of comedy.

Young People Fucking (2007), dir. Martin Gero & Aaron Abrams
This one I watched in Sweden. It’s a lot less inappropriate than it sounds, actually. It’s sort of like someone took Mumblecore and then grossly distorted it — it’s got some of the same ideas, which is to say it focuses on the relationships between young people, but at the same time it’s a comedy and not graphic at all despite being frank. It wasn’t hilarious, but I did enjoy it overall. (The plot: five groups are followed through the lead-up, act, and aftermath of sex.)

Up (2009)(repeat), dir. Pete Docter
Still wonderful the second time. I don’t get why people don’t like this movie. Watched it with Jacob and Bri in Italy. (Original review.)

From Paris With Love (2010), dir. Pierre Morel
Things that made this movie good: the fact that it has Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who I like. Things that made this movie bad: the script, the plot, the problems with the story. Honestly, it wasn’t boring or uninteresting, but it just didn’t feel coherent to me. Totally appropriate for watching on a trans-continental flight, which is why I didn’t mind.

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010), dir. Chris Columbus
Honestly, more fun than From Paris with Love. Also watched it on my flight back to the States. I do like children’s fantasy, although sometimes it’s a bit silly. This is silly. It, again, breaks way too many of the stories of Greek mythology. But the story is really just a journey story with some bildungsroman and some quest story thrown in.

Shutter Island (2010), dir. Martin Scorsese
I liked this a lot more than I thought I might. Also watched it on the plane, and surprisingly similar to Inception, weirdly. DiCaprio in quite a similar role. I spent most of the time wondering which story it was going to follow: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (dir. Robert Wiene) or The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether (Edgar Allen Poe). I won’t ruin anything by telling you the answer. I found a lot of issues with the story, but on the whole I found it creepy and attention-holding, and didn’t really worry about the plot holes until after the film. I also really loved the very end.

The Princess Bride (1987)(repeat), dir. Rob Reiner
William Goldman’s novel is brilliant. The film adaptation is, also. I first read the novel in elementary school, and mostly believed Goldman when he claimed that it was an adaptation of a novel by S. Morgenstern. I only found out about the film years later, and instantly knew I had to see it. Unlike many such circumstances, this one ended well — the movie is similarly a masterpiece of comedy and drama. Mainly comedy, to be fair. I own it; Blake and I watched it on Saturday. Worth every re-watch.

Inception (2010), dir. Christopher Nolan
I am glad I saw this in theatres. It reminded me in certain ways of Paprika (2006), a crazy anime film about a machine that allows its users to enter into others’ dreams. That film is in some ways the opposite of this one — in Inception, dreams are almost always logical. It’s received quite a lot of criticism, some of it perhaps warranted, other parts not at all. This is a film where I did not entirely like the ending, but on the whole I thought it was truly excellent. The acting is good, and some of the issues people seem to have with the script may actually be brilliant. Depending on how you view it. I loved the use of “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien,” random but beautiful; I loved the apparent incongruity of Ellen Page and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as action film stars. Okay, so there are problems with the film. The logical nature of the dreams is odd. There are lots of questions that arise. But you know what? Those questions have answers, or possible answers. And I like that. Definitely like that. I would definitely recommend seeing the movie. Perhaps without reading too much more about it. I’m not even going to try to summarize the plot; just watch a trailer and then go out and see it.

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2 August 2010

Prague, Czech Republic

Posted by admin @ 16:53 pm    categories: images • traveling

This post is a continuation of several previous posts, recapping my travels of the past month.

Luke, Alice, and Mike; in Prague

Three Australians I met in Prague — some of the coolest people I’ve ever met in a hostel

Thursday, 08 July. Prague.
After dinner, I went to the hostel, showered, and walked to the clock tower in the center of Prague where I decided that, yes, I would go on their goddamn organized pub crawl, as stupid as I think that might be. It was fun, to my surprise — not because of the bars, which were pretty awful, or because the people were great, which in general they were not, but rather just because I did end up meeting two groups of people whom I really liked. First, I met these French kids: Olivier, who I mostly spoke to, since his father was Spanish and we could speak Spanish; Pauline, who spoke excellent English and was fun, and their two other friends. All of them were 20, friends from Paris, on vacation in Prague for a week. Honestly, I think they liked me because I tried to speak to them in my shitty French and because everyone else was much worse than I am. I liked them for sort of the same reason — it was nice to hang out with someone who was neither American nor Australian (the sheer numbers of Aussies is astounding). I wish my French were better. Like I mentioned, I talked with Oli most of the time, until the point where he went and tried to get with some American girl who he had trouble speaking to. (Kept telling me “I don’t understand ANYTHING. What is she saying?”) But clearly some things don’t change too much.

At which point I befriended these three Brits, whose names escape me. They were nice guys; I really thought two of them were a couple for most of the night but ended up concluding that I was probably wrong. We ended up walking back together from the bar, getting a bit lost and crossing the train tracks (not quite legally) of the main train station, ending up in some abandoned train yard, and so forth. But then figuring it out, so no mishap.

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1 August 2010

dresden, germany

Posted by admin @ 17:39 pm    categories: art • images • traveling

This post is a continuation of Friday’s, which began to recap my travels of the past month.

The Albertinum Museum, Dresden, from outside

Tuesday, 06 July. Dresden.
Near the Elbe is a museum called the Albertinum. It’s part of the Staatsliche Kunstammlungen Dresden (Dresden State Art Collections; Kunst = art). The museum was badly flooded in 2002, but rebuilt; it’s quite nice (if sort of expensive). There was supposed to be an audio guide that came with the ticket, which would’ve made it less so, but although they advertise it in English, it’s only currently available in German. For the most part, it’s a modern art museum, although they go back into the early 1900s. To be fair, I like modern art.

The lower floor has a sculpture museum, including this cool piece by Birgit Dieker, “Captor of Souls,” a ball made up of life saver rings (as in, the kind you use on a boat) and mooring roaps, reminding me of that Japanese video game where the objective is to roll everything in the world into a big ball, Katamari Damacy (you can see her piece here). Upstairs there were these amazing giant sculptures of the kind I really like, “Giants” (2007), by Martin Honert — literally giant human-like figures, quite realistic. (Reminds me of Ron Mueck) Two men, dressed in normal clothing, but towering a good meter or two above me. There were also a few really cool Otto Dix pieces, on the floor above, including “War” and the super-cool “Family Portrait (The Family of Dr. Fritz Glaser, Lawyer” (1925). Also some paintings by Paul Klee, some cool upside-down portraits by George Baselitz, and this piece, “9 Upright Standing Panes (879-3)” by Gerhard Richter which did surprisingly intriguing things with repeating reflections in glass.

After, I sat outside by the Elbe for a bit. Windy and actually vaguely cool. It had been raining all morning, but stopped to be nice to me.

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