So it looks like the MPs expenses scandal will run and run and run for the foreseeable future, with the Daily Telegraph releasing information on a drip-feed basis. Good. It really is quite astounding how angry people are about this, but it's an anger which is justified, long overdue and, needless to say, shared by yours truly. When Stephen Fry gesticulates on television about a "journalistic made-up frenzy", he fails to see that many people regard this the final straw. We've reached the stage where people can no longer contain their anger against their political leaders.
While there are admittedly legitimate concerns about the state of democracy, such as Parliament not able to fully function while this saga continues, as well as a protest vote causing some very unpleasant parties like UKIP or the BNP breaking the 10% barrier at next month's EU elections, I suspect these problems will only concern us for the short term. In the long term, we should hopefully see more transparency in Parliament, and while not necessarily a death knell to the concept of- then at the very least less acceptance of career politicians; the sort who, through their avarice, opportunism and lack of political conviction, helped put British democracy into the calamitous state it is presently in.
Plus we are now looking at the very real possibility of the next General Election causing a major realignment in British politics not seen since 1918, with Labour relegated into third place and the Liberal Democrats replacing them as the main progressive force in Parliament. Which would be a very positive development, especially when taking into consideration that Labour have been anything but progressive since Blair was elected party leader, what with their embracement of neoliberal supply side economics/Thatcherism, their clamping down on civil liberties, their increasingly autocratic and authoritarian behaviour, you name it. Oh yeah, and wholesale incompetence. That too. Now the recession has well and truly kicked in, the middle income groups which Blair charmed in the 90s have fled back to the Conservatives wholesale, while Labour's once-core support, the working classes and the poor, are so unbelievably pissed off with New Labour's illiberalism that they will vote for anyone but the party that has taken them for granted for too long. If anything, the expenses scandal is one of many nails in the coffin, which is why Labour are currently hovering round the 20% mark in the polls, with the Lib Dems closing in, and while a change of leader might help avert total catastrophe for Labour, given that Brown is possibly the most unpopular PM in history, I doubt that anybody in the party's file and rank would currently want to hold the poisoned chalice of guiding his party to a surefire landslide defeat.
But coming back to the expenses fiasco, there's something journalists have not looked at in enough detail, but really ought to, namely the fact that MPs like Hoon, Darling, Burnham and Blears were able to purchase property using taxpayers' money, renovate them using taxpayers' money, and then sell them off at a profit, while the very same government they belonged to introduced deregulatory policies that caused the biggest housing bubble the country had ever seen. In 1998, the average house price was 3 times the average national salary, in 2008 it was eight times that. Which is all you need to know about New Labour's legacy in introducing "fairness and equality" to Britain. It's fairly obvious, to me at least, that far from being blinkered to the situation, New Labour deliberately didn't do anything about the housing bubble because they were enrichening themselves on it alongside estate agents, buy-to-let landlords and other assorted parasites.
Of course not much will happen to major players like Hoon or Darling. The fall guys will continue to be junior ministers, backbench MPs and other bit-part-players who are easily expendable, while cabinet members can simply wave a cheque and say sorry for something that would land the rest of the population in court and quite possibly prison.
1. Rename it "swine plague" for added histrionics. 2. Hand out a free copy of 28 Days Later with every paper, "to prepare for these difficult times". 3. Have "WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE" flash up during news broadcasts every ten seconds. 4. Run a top ten list of "other horrible diseases that could will kill you". 5. Show archive images of people running in panic that have nothing to do with the pandemic, but should hopefully whip more people into a frenzy. 6. Continue reminding people that if swine flu won't get them then the terrorists, nuclear weapons, climate change, or some other disease most certainly will. (Oh, and don't forget, we're all gonna lose our jobs and homes and starve during the recession depression). 7. Most certainly continue running comparisons to the 1918 epidemic, as if things hadn't changed an iota since then. Like, we still have outdoor toilets and haven't discovered Tamiflu, right? Right?
I'm not saying this may not be a serious issue, but... come on.
12:23 am It's very difficult to keep a clear head during this recession, this being the first in an era where the internet has enabled pretty much everyone and anyone with a modem and the ability to type to add to the mass discussion that has come to accompany it in the form of blogs, discussion fora, you name it. Not only has this created an utter cacophony of sheer, unrelenting commentary, it has also democratised discourse* to such an extent that one can no longer tell the amateurs from the experts (especially since a lot of the "experts" have, in the run-up to this crisis, proven utterly useless - I was having discussions about the impending recession, and how the house price bubble could only cause economic disaster, in 2004/05 when the likes of Greenspan were still singing the praises of the now-finally-empirically-proven idiocy of trickle down economics).
Thus it's difficult who and what to believe. Apparently, this will be the Great Depression II. Or this will be the worst depression ever. No, this will be over by 2010. Obama is making a mess of it. Obama is sorting it out. Obama should sack Geithner. Obama should keep Geithner. Britain is entering hyperinflation. Britain is entering deflation. Britain is entering stagflation. Gordon Brown has saved the world. Gordon Brown is the worst PM ever. House prices are rising again. House prices are still falling. Britain will see riots this summer. OMG BIRTAIN WILL SEE CIVIL WAR!!!11 We will all be eaten by a giant albino dragon called Steve.
I would add my own two cents or pence or whatever, but my head hurts too much at the moment, though needless to say that I'm inclined to subscribe to the "Gordon Brown is a f***ing idiot and has totally sold this country down the river"-school of thought, Not that the Tories will make a jot of difference in government, either way this country is completely and utterly rimjawed, though not to the extent that some of the doomsayers on sites like HPC are suggesting (ie. we'll all be stabbing each other for food and queing up for £10.000 loafs of bread this time in 2010). Neither will we turn into a Social Democratic paradise, humanity is simply too dumb for that.
Yeah, my head hurts just a little.
*No bad thing in and of itself, but democracy in its purest form can be pretty chaotic (QED). Swings and roundabouts.
This is quite frankly one of the best films I've ever seen. Since it's anime it will probably find itself plagued with geekboy magnet status instead of getting the accolades it truly deserves, and that means resting alongside Citizen Kane and 2001: A Space Odyssey as one of cinema's great milestones, but that's history's loss, not mine. At the very least this is a highly enjoyable piece of work.
Alright, so it's only as "script reader" for a minor feature, but it's a start.
I'm still pestering Christine to get "Star", which I edited (as well as audio-mixed and colour-graded), up on IMDB to ensure I have something slightly more impressive by way of a credit, but from what I'm told they're being awkward (the title is "too generic", apparently) so I'm not holding my breath. I may still defy her by putting it up on Youtube and sharing it with all and sundry, though, so keep your eyes peeled, watch this space etc etc.
09:26 pm - Updateupdateupdateupdate! I guess an update of sorts is in order, and since we're just in time for the end of the year here's a little retrospective to fill the void.
One of the reasons I haven't updated this LJ in yonks, aside from good old-fashioned lethargy, is that, basically, a lot has happened. There's the fact that I've been all over the shop this year - Poland, France, Germany (twice) - which was definitely a positive. All in all, I did not anticipate travelling so much this year at all. Cannes was a highlight, as was Markus's wedding in Hamburg, not to mention meeting Sima's parents in Mayence (awesome little town, by the way).
Also, things on the job front improved dramatically. At the beginning of the year I was working for a tiny two-bit company in Acton whereas now I'm an assistant at The Mill, one of the biggest and most definitely coolest post production outlets going (click here for an example of some of the stuff we get up to). That's also a positive.
Then there's Sima, who I won't say much about apart from the fact that she's great and lovely and cuddly and sweet and kind and everything I could hope for in a woman.
Oh, and of course there's the small matter of a reasonable human shockingly voted in as US President. I had quite a hangover the following morning, and I suspect I'm not the only one. Generally the highlight of the year (Obama's victory, not the hangover).
However, while 2008 was a wicked year all around, I'm rather more pessimistic about the prospects for 2009. Actually, that's an understatement. Like a lot of people, I wonder whether my job will survive the oncoming recession, which I believe will turn into a depression; and, if the response of the British government is anything to go by (headless chicken doesn't even begin to describe it), could well result in hyperinflation in the UK. I also worry about the wider social consequences this recession is going to have - crime is already a big problem in London and I anticipate it getting worse.
But who knows. In any case, if I get round to it you can expect more lists and such, perhaps I'll also muster the will to make a little list of my favourite albums and films of 2008 (a pretty good year for film all around, and yes Jesse, No Country For Old Men DOES count as a 2008 film in the UK ;-) ). I won't, however, continue the 100 films list for the simple reason that since starting it I have seen so many new films that could easily quality for the top 20 or top 50 that I feel it's a little self-indulgent of me to create a "definitive" list like that when I haven't even reached my 30s. I may well wait until I'm old and grey before endavouring something like that again. Ho hum.
In a cheap headline-grabbing stunt, Boris Johnson decides to ban drinking on public transport. Londoners decide to protest by having a massive party on the Circle Line the night before the ban takes effect - resulting in the worst drink-related chaos ever seen in London's stations and trains.
We're only one month into Boris's tenure as Mayor, lord knows what the next four years have in store.
This is what is apparently expecting me tomorrow afternoon. In any case, wish me and our short film, Star (official entrant in the Cannes Short Film Corner, no less) best of luck for the Cannes Film Festival, and I hope to see you all again in a week's time.
It's decided. More or less. After much toing and froing, the May 6 results in Indiana and North Carolina have made it mathematically impossible for Hillary Clinton to overtake Obama's delegate count and win the Democratic nomination (barring her desperate ploy to count the biased votes in Michigan and Florida succeeding, which is looking increasingly unlikely), thus all but confirming Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee to face John McCain. Phew.
Additionally, ABC News suggest that Obama at present has 267 superdelegates confirmed compared to Clinton's 265 - give or take a few superdelegates here and there, this adds to Obama's tally of 171 required "regular" delegates to Clinton's 328 (Source); and so the debate turns to Obama's potential running mate: the Guardian suggests Clinton, while I personally think it will be one out of Bill Richardson, Bill Bradley, Jim Webb and Kathleen Sebelius - Claire McCaskill's name has also been touted, but I doubt she lacks the necessary experience and gravitas, whereas John Edwards (another oft-quoted name) would make a fine Attorney General but doesn't necessarily add enough balance, specifically with regards to his and Obama's background - they're both lawyers, both could fall prey to cheap charges of 'elitism' in spite of their working class origins. An Obama/Clinton ticket also strikes me as rather unlikely - it would be the equivalent of Ford picking Reagan in 76 or Eisenhower choosing Taft in 52; a nice unity/reconciliation ticket in theory but in reality there's simply too much animosity between both candidates and both sets of supporters. Though I am free to be proven wrong there.
So it’s done. Boris Johnson has been elected mayor of London, and from this point onwards Londoners no longer have a right to make condescending jokes about George W. Bush, since we have proven just as capable of downright gullibility when confronted with a “likeable” right-wing buffoon whose apparently endearingly ridiculous demeanour masks some unpleasant reactionary views and an unashamedly Thatcherite agenda.
As a matter of fact, it’s really quite ironic that, just as the people of America now appear at the very least willing to elect an unashamed progressive like Barack Obama into office, Europe’s overall voting pattern has become increasingly reactionary and right-wing, as witnessed in Italy recently (Berlusconi making yet another unfathomable comeback and Rome electing a Fascist as Mayor), and now in the British local elections, in which the Tories took 44% to Labour's quite pathetic 24% (one percentage point behind the Liberal Democrats).
In the light of what is currently happening in Zimbabwe, here's what will hopefully turn out to be a historic parallel: Ceausescu's last speech and the moment his despotic regime fell apart. At the start, the crowd are still cheering his name, no doubt aware of the implications if they don't; however, halfway through, frustration and anger finally give way to booing and jeering and a more widespread protest that would eventually kickstart a revolution and Caecescu's eventual execution a few days later. The look on Caeucescu's face, when he realises what's happening, is priceless.
"Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life? Friends, meet Jon Arbuckle. Let’s laugh and learn with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness in a quiet American suburb."
A lot of people who know me are probably aware that I'm a firm supporter of Barack Obama's presidential campaign (as much as one can be a firm supporter when you're a mere onlooker from the other side of the Atlantic). There are various reasons for this, which I'll get into later; though there's one which has been accurately picked up on by Jonathan Raban in an excellent commentary he wrote in today's Guardian (and which I hasten to add is worth reading in its entirety):
"[In the] Nevada caucuses, Obama narrowly lost to Clinton because he failed to carry Clark County, site of Nevada's only big metropolitan city, Las Vegas, with its enormous population of Hispanic voters. But in more rural counties he beat Clinton decisively - 63% to her 37% in Elko, 51% to 34% in Humboldt, 50% to 40% in Washoe. [...] Obama's victory over Clinton in rural Nevada says something important about his ability as the apostle of national reconciliation. To win against Clinton in Elko County (black population: 0.8%), he had to convert not only white Democrats, but a large number of independents and people who had voted Republican until caucus day; a feat he pulled off with dazzling facility. Any Democrat nominee who can do that, deep in Republican country, is likely to gain the presidency; and Obama has proved that he can. Clinton, laden with the moral, cultural and political baggage of the 1990s, is likely to fare as badly in Elko County as Kerry did in 2004, when he collected just 20% of the vote."
However, Raban also mentions how race unfortunately (but perhaps somewhat inevitably) has become an issue in this campaign, and to some extent I predominantly blame the Clinton campaign, particularly the ways in which Bill Clinton has gone out of his way to indirectly portray Obama as the "black candidate", by drawing comparisons with Jesse Jackson's campaigns in 84 and 88 (pointing out that Obama's win in SC didn't matter because, hey, so did Jackson), and thus attempting to undermine Obama's attempts to portray himself as a "post-racial" candidate, ie. someone who can appeal to all parts of society, no matter what their ethnicity or social origin. It probably goes without saying that Clinton's rhetoric is somewhat counterproductive since it merely serves to undermine a progressive agenda which he and his wife, supposedly, profess to be a part of. Which brings me to another point:
Remember how I said that Control was the best film of 2007? Well, skip that, because I hadn't yet seen Paprika at that point. To think that an anime with a goofy name would not only turn out to be Satoshi Kon's best film since his debut Perfect Blue (another benchmark anime with its forays into realism and psychoanalysis), but indeed arguably one of the definitive films of the decade. For the sake of being rather malodramatic, Paprika might not be widely celebrated at this moment, but I suspect it will eventually come to benefit from that I call the "Blade Runner/Donnie Darko-effect": a film that is largely ignored upon its initial release, only for word of mouth to grow and, give or take a few years, to be regarded as an all-time cult classic by all and sundry. This film is simply too good to be seen as anything else.
An early contender for best film of the year, Persepolis is the autobiographical story of Marjane Satrapi's childhood in 1980s Iran and her subsequent exile in France. It's already out on limited theatrical release in the United States and on general release in the UK on 11 April 2008.
Y'know, I've just come to the realisation that, for all the reviews (for want of a better word) I've written in this here LJ, be it of films, albums or video games, most of them usually end up gushing fanboy appraisals which are about as subjective as, well, a gushing fanboy essay can be. I guess it's high time to redress that imbalance and write an open critique of what was, to me at least, one of the most painfully disappointing experiences not just in my life, but indeed the history of all humanity - the third instalment in the much-lauded Tomb Raider series. Click on the link below for an uncharacteristically scathing review... and some pretty pretty screenshots too. How can you possibly resist?
Huzzah! (It's my word of the month.) Now that I finally am able to upload the pictures I took during my brief but worthwhile stay in Gdansk, I can take the opportunity to reminisce and draw back on some of the observations I made during my stay there.
First things first - I did not spend enough time in Gdansk. My flight there on Friday was ridiculously early at 6am, but even that only left me two whole days to spend before leaving again on Sunday morning. The flight itself was smooth, and I do suspect that I am now so used to flying that it simply doesn't freak me out as much as it used to (knock on wood).
Anyway, the arrival in Gdansk was slightly confusing (I'm always confused when I've just come off a plane), but smooth. I took a cab, paid 50 Zlotte (cheap by Polish taxi standards, apparently - a Scottish fella I met at the hostel told me that they initially wanted him to pay 130 Zlotte before he protested enough for them to put it down to 100), and as soon as I arrived at the hostel, I made my way into town to explore, but not without having something of a minor panic upon realising that my mobile phone did not work, did not connect to the Polish equivalent of 3G (at least not until the day after, as I was to discover), thus making contact with my friend Asienka, to tell her that I've made it safe and sound, impossible. This caused me to hurry to the nearest phone box, whereupon I realised that you can't just insert your credit card, dial the number, and off you go, oh no, you had to get a special Polish phone card (called telefonaska karta or something or other), which you had to buy at the post office. I did so, paid my 20 Zlotte whilst politely telling the lady in the queue in front of me who, while waiting in line, pointed at me, smiled and said something in Polish, that unfortunately I could not understand a word she was saying. One thing I did find about people in Poland, generally, is that they appear very glum and depressive at first, but once you've scratched the surface a little, they are, without exception, extremely friendly and polite. While I'm aware that I only had a brief period by which to achieve such an impression, and therefore it may not be entirely accurate, I am purely speaking from my experience, and it was a positive one in that regard.
Gdansk itself makes up part of what is called the Tri-City (or Trójmiasto in Polish) - the three cities of Gdansk, Gdynia and Sopot, which adorn the Baltic coastline and have more or less grown together over the years (comparable to the Ruhr Valley in Germany or British metropolitan areas like Greater Manchester or Greater London). Gdansk is the historical anchorpoint while Gdynia is more modern and affluent and more or less dominated by the new Polish middle class which has emerged since the days of the Walesa Presidency. Sopot, the smallest of the three, is a seaside resort in the vein of Brighton, with a similarly popular nightlife, but not much else going for it from what I could gather. I found that, on average, people in Gdynia tend to be a lot younger and more affluent than in Gdansk, and there was a confidence about the place that seems to sum up most of contemporary eastern Europe in this day and age.
I've noticed that there are three dominant styles of architecture prevalent in Gdansk - there is the Hanseatic style, mainly dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries; the Brutalist style of the Communist era; and the more modern style that is prevalent in most western countries. Most of these styles sit very uneasily next to each other, but it's illustrative of the fascinating history of the place. With regards to the Hanseatic style, my friend Asienka noted that the buildings look very similar to Hamburg, which kinda makes sense when you consider that both cities belonged to the Hanseatic league and did much trading together over the centuries. I guess it bears mentioning that you’ll encounter a similar architecturial style in other erstwhile Hanseatic cities like Lübeck or Stralsund. As much as anything, Gdansk is a testament on how central European cultures have fused and amalgamated with each other over the centuries (as well as knocked each other senseless in more wars than one would care to mention, of course).
Saturday was spent walking around Gdansk, taking lots of pictures (briefly taking time out in one of the restaurants to have an absolutely delicious cray fish soup for the bargain price of 13 Z, which is something like £3 - well, it's a bargain by London standards), while in the evening I met up with my friend Asienka. We walked around Gdynia and checked out the nightlife before visiting her grandmother, who lives nearby the city centre. She's an absolutely lovely lady who went out of her way to provide me with some delicious Polish homemade pancakes and rather potent Slovakian herbal liquer. Since she spoke perfect English we managed to have a lengthy chat about the history of Gdansk and Gdynia, the second World War, the historic Solidarity movement of the early 1980s (which started in Gdansk and was arguably the onset of the anti-Soviet struggle in eastern Europe which, in a rather extended domino effect of sorts, culminated in the 1989 Leipzig demonstrations and the fall of the Berlin Wall), as well as her family (part of her family lives in the States). The 1920s apartment she lived in was absolutely astounding; massive rooms with beautifully adorned high ceilings, just the way they were built in most of central Europe during that period (it actually reminded me of my old flat back in Hamburg). Me and Asienka then spent the rest of the evening watching Bicycle Thieves before I made my way back to Gdansk by taxi. The next morning it was back to London. Alas.
As I mentioned before, I definitely did not spend enough time there, and I intend to return at some point in the New Year, time and money permitting. On a final note, I wish to thank my friend Asienka for showing me around and taking the time off her busy schedule. I had a really lovely time.
Huzzah, here’s what the entire world has been waiting for - my favourite movies of 2007! I promise to carry on with my top 100 movies list next year and give the baying hordes at my gate, screaming in woe to find out what my top 20 favourite movies of all-time are, finally what they want, but for now you will have to contend with some more retrospective posing on behalf of yours truly.
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