Penny Dreadful - The Vanessa Ives Origin Story

Just watched episode 5 - Closer Than Sisters.
Wow!
This whole episode was essentially the back story of the psychic Vanessa Ives. As one of the original characters of the series, the previously mysterious femme fatale is now fleshed out as a tortured and possessed woman, ruined by a single act of lust and betrayal.
It captures, I think, the quintessential feel of a Gothic novel: dark romance, hedge mazes, rampant colonialism and the terrors of Victorian medicine. Eva Green is utterly brilliant in this episode, her psychotic episodes convincing, her facial and bodily contortions painful to watch.
This series gets better and better!

Penny Dreadful - It shouldn't work... but it does.

So, there's going to be this TV series with Frankenstein, Dorian Gray and vampires...

When I heard this I thought it was going to be awful. It sounded more like an Abbot and Costello movie, or a straight to video Scooby Doo extravaganza from the nineties.
What an amazing surprise. The writers have manage to fuse these disparate Universes in a most believable way, creating a story that is as dark as it is sensual. This is no Dracula, with its picture of Victorian England which included aristocratic ladies in low cut dresses showing far too much top-boob, let alone their ankles. The London of Penny Dreadful seems authentic; grimy, illness-ridden, poor, over-crowded and filled with real seeming people. And the effects that form the backdrop of this scenario are top-notch, on a par with the likes of the latest Sherlock Holmes movies.
If the writing creates a believable Universe, it the the quality of the actors that brings it to life. Notable mentions include the venerable Timothy Dalton as Sir Malcom, a seasoned explorer and adventurer whose daughter, Mina, has been taken by a coven of vampires. Eva Green is icily commanding as the psychic Vanessa Ives, and Josh Hartnett is a refreshing addition as the swarthy Ethan Chandler, a token, gun-toting American.

The acting cannot be faulted, and the there seems to be a twist at the end of each episode that leaves me genuinely agog. We've just had the end of episode 4, and lets just say you had better stay off the absinthe if you want leave with you masculine purity intact.
This series is an absolute must-see for horror fans and lovers of drama alike.

Joyland - Another Stephen King Triumph

I only just got around to reading this. This is very late for me; I normally jump on the latest Stephen King within hours of publication. I actually think it was the cover that put me off. I am by no means saying that I am one of those people that thinks King is all about the horror, and can't bare it when he starts raving about baseball.
Far from it.
Stephen King is all about the writing, and Joyland is yet another magnificent piece of work. With themes of serial murder and prescience, it is a coming-of-age tale set in an entirely believable world of  the Joyland Funfair in North Carolina. Littered with carny-talk, the character led story is impossible to put down. The suspense gradually climbs; from the tumult of new love and break up, through the shivers of a ghost-story, to a classical climactic ending, worthy of Hitchcock.
I am clearly biased. I am a huge SK fanboy. But this is one of the best.
Read it now!

The Fall

I recently caught up with this excellent series from the BBC.
A serial killer and Gillian Anderson - what more could you want.
The Fall is a gritty BBC police drama set in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Gillian Anderson takes the lead as Stella Gibson, a Met Police Officer drafted in to evaluate a failing murder case. She soon ends up running an investigation to catch a serial killer. Anderson, as always, is brilliant in the role.
We meet the perpetrator of these horrible crimes right from the start. Jamie Dornan (of Once upon a Time fame) plays the sociopath in an unerringly creepy fashion. We see him trying to exist in his normal life, and also what he gets up to in the middle of the night. I dare you to watch this series on your own with the lights off, and not check that the doors and windows are locked tight afterwards.
Themes of how society judges women run cleverly throughout this series. Stella is assertive and sexually dominant, and is strong enough to challenge the male assumptions she encounters. It is also central to the way in which she approaches her work.
The Fall is well worth the watch. Anderson yet again shows her versatility, and brings us a character who knows she is flawed, and accepts it. Traditional detective plot-lines are mixed jarringly with serial killer psychology; this is done in a way that will leave you feeling dreadfully uneasy, and yet wanting more.

The Science Delusion

After stumbling around the web (as we all do) for perhaps too long, I came across a post regarding talks that TED had self-censored! Yes, I think if any sentence deserves an exclamation mark it is that one. Without knowing a lot about the TED organization, I had always enjoyed watching the remarkable and innovative lectures, and assumed that the ethos of TED must be one of open-mindedness and inclusion. And yet, this video had been retrospectively removed form the general TED feed:

Apart from the fact that this has sparked incredible levels of debate and outrage, the content of Professor Rupert Sheldrake’s is intriguing to say the least. He argues that Science has become bogged down with dogma, closed-mindedness and a fundamentalism which is akin to a religious belief. He had, of course, written a book on the subject. His examples sparked my curiosity, and a flitted over to Amazon and was reading his tome within minutes.

The Science Delusion (or Science Set Free in the US) expounds on Sheldrake’s idea that Science has been stifled by the belief that we already know how the Universe works. He goes through ten main tenets of modern Science, breaking them down step-by-step with convincing arguments based on published papers and testable hypotheses.

Here is a small example. In one chapter, Sheldrake challenges the idea that so-called Universal Constant always have the same value. Indeed, it turns out that between 1928 and 1945 the measured values of the speed of light (‘c’) were lower than they should be by 20 kilometres per second. Some scientist speculated that the ‘constant’ may be fluctuating, but the consensus was that such occurrences were done to ‘intellectual phase locking’. In 1972 the embarrassment of this episode was expunged as the value of ‘c’ was fixed by definition. In 1983, the standard unit of length, the metre, was redefined in terms of the speed of light. So, if any fluctuations of ‘c’ were occurring, it is now impossible to detect as the length of the metre would also change!

Sheldrake has theories which are far more outré and are classed as parapsychology. However, I challenge you to read this book. If you find yourself offended by the ideas he is putting forward, then perhaps you hold a belief regarding how Science, and the Universe, works.

And I would ask you, “Shouldn’t science be free of the dogma of belief?”

Chromebooks - why they might be awesome.

So, two weeks ago I bought a Samsung Chromebook. It was slightly on a whim; I had used one at work the day before for about five hours straight, and I suddenly understood the point. And now, after using it at home, at work, and on the train I can honestly say that it might be the best piece of tech I have ever bought.
Now, those of you who know me will know I do not say that lightly. I tend to be a bit of an addict when it comes to the next shiny new thing. I am a big gamer, so my main computer at home is a PC. I have never bought into the cult of Mac (so expensive, and marketed towards people who don't know any better...don't get me started) but I do own an iPad and and iPhone. After much experimentation, I just think that these are better that the other tablets and phones on the market at present.
And now, I have a Chromebook. I was so excited after I made the decision that I got good old Amazon to deliver one the very next day. For those of you who don't know, a chromebook runs Google's ChromeOS. This is basically just the chrome browser. That's it. Everything you do with the computer has to be done over the internet from within the browser. You can't install applications, and if you are not connected to the internet there is little point. But as long as you fully immerse yourself in the Google way of things, it is surprisingly easy to get things done.
So, firstly a few major plus points

• it starts up in less that ten seconds.
• it is about the size of a piece of A4 paper.
• it is very light.
• the battery life is about 8 hours.
• closing the lid puts it to sleep securely, and it starts up instantly when you open it again.

I had initially bought the thing to use at home for writing, but I soon found I was carrying it to work with me instead of the iPad. I can tether it to my phone, so even if I am on the train I can be connected. And a lot of the applications that run through the browser can actually work when you are offline. This includes Google Docs (the office replacement).
I will finish with a list of things I can't do on a Chromebook.

• Play games (apart from the very simple HTML5 games out there.)
• Draw / Paint. The apps do exist out there on the interwebz, but I have yet to get to grips with them.
• Access my ftp webspace.
• Not much else.

I feel more posts on the Chromebook and its apps are inevitable. It goes without saying that for most people it wouldn't do just to have a Chromebook as their sole computer. But as a laptop replacement, even an iPad replacement, I have been very pleasantly surprised.

The Killing (Forbrydelsen) III - it's freaking awesome!

I just spent a delicious day watching the whole series of The Killing III. For those of you who are unaware, you have got to watch this brilliant creation.
Yes, it is Danish. Yes, it is subtitled. I think there is a general feeling that watching anything with subtitles is 'too hard' by the unenlightened. Obviously you have to concentrate. You can't half watch the thing whilst trying to cut your toe-nails. And once you get used to it, your brain seems to take over. Especially with a few hours of a TV series. It gets to the point where you don't realise you are reading at all, and you are left with the notion that you have somehow learnt to speak Danish.
As for the programme itself, it is as gritty as a B-road. The whole series follows a single murder investigation, but tied in with some high level politics as well. The main protagonist is the painfully dark detective Sarah Lund, played amazingly by Sofie Gråbøl. The police woman displays an almost Vulcan level of emotion, content to push people away rather that deal with any form of intimacy. Coupled with the demands of her job, this had left her estranged from her family.
It leads to one of those characters you love, even though she is damaged beyond repair. And of course, no one else looks quite as good in a chunky patterned jumper.
The serpentine plot twists and constant cliff-hangers leave you wanting more. Suspicion jumps from one player to the next until you don't have a clue where the end may be. It is, without a doubt, one of the best TV shows out there.
If you have never partaken, don't go for the weak American re-make. And if you are American, try and get hold of the Danish original. Start from series 1 (obviously) and witness the long decline of Sarah Lund for yourself, whilst revelling in Hitchcockian story lines and well-filled knitwear.
Go on. I dare you to watch something with subtitles.

The Hobbit - it looked odd to begin with...

I saw The Hobbit on Saturday. I was very excited, being a huge Tolkein fan, and I have have to say that I was not disappointed. I thought that the Lord of the Rings trilogy was superb, and they remain some of my favourite films to date.
I had seen a few of the reviews about the new technology. People were saying the 48fps thing took a lot of getting used to. Regardless, I went in to the 3D version with my hopes and expectations way up.
First of all, let me just talk about the film. I loved it. There has been a lot of criticism about Jackson turning such a short book into three long films. However, he has tweaked the story in just the right way to make it into a proper prequel to his three previous films. Content has been added from the appendices to Lord of the Rings, and from the Unfinished Tales, but I loved every last bit of it. I always thought that the Necromancer story arc in the books was underplayed. Now we get to see the comedy wizard Radagast (played by the incomparable Sylvester McCoy) investigate the dark goings on in Dol Guldar.
I even liked the meeting of the White Council in Rivendell while the company are there. It all leads to a brilliant foreshadowing of 'future' events which I intend to appreciate fully in 2014 when I (with a group of like minded friends) watch the entire 6 films in one go!
Now the technical bit. I have to say that the increased frame rate really threw me at the beginning  It really did look like I was watching badly produced TV at first. Startlingly so. But then you seem to get used to it. By halfway through I had forgotten that I was watching a film, and was fully engrossed. it is true that you see and notice so much more than usual. People blinking, for instance. I am not sure if I have ever noticed anyone blink in a film before (I must have done) but you can really see it here. And the action sequences are remarkable.
I did some research on it when I returned, and I include the links here. It is interesting to remember that a movie is one big optical illusion, fooling you brain into thinking it is seeing motion, and the passing of time. The experts say it is just a questions of getting used to the increased frame rate, and to be honest I think it is an excellent idea.
'The Hobbit' at 48fps: Frame Rates Explained