The block on LiveJournal has been lifted, but I have decided not to rush back to LJ in a desperate-to-post frenzy. This is mainly because work on nearly all of my projects has entered a hiatus whilst I prepare for my professional review in March/April.

I may resurrect this journal at some point in the future, which is why I'm leaving it up. For now though, consider it dead.

Otherwise, photography is still consuming a vast amount of my time. Providing you're able to access Flickr, you can view my photos here

Thanks for stopping by.

The revised first House of Cards story, Weekend Warriors, has been published at infinitewhite.net, at the following link:

http://www.infinitewhite.net/library/hoc01.html

The full index of stories can be found at http://www.infinitewhite.net/library/. The next story will be published on 1 July 2008.

The following text is taken from the commentary to the story, and should go partway to explaining what I'm trying to do here:

What is House of Cards: The Wide?

House of Cards is an ongoing fantasy series about a man who discovers a wider world. It is published on or around the first of every month at infinitewhite.net.

What is the idea behind House of Cards: The Wide?

House of Cards (or simply HoC) is the product of a couple of ideas that have floated around in my head for a while now, but have recently collided.

Some years ago, one of my fellow writers made an off-hand comment about using tarot cards to generate plot ideas. I thought this was quite a neat idea, but I never really got around to developing it beyond buying a deck. I got distracted whilst researching the history of tarot cards, which led me to research something else, which led to something else, and so on. The comment got filed away in the back of my brain, and forgotten about.

More recently, I have thought about writing a series of inter-connected short stories. I have always been fascinated by episodic fiction, be it through the medium of short stories, comic books, or even television shows. I wanted to try my hand, and so when my over-riding plot idea came to me, I thought about how I could develop this into a workable series.

I realised that I could use the cards idea. Not just for the generation of plot ideas, but for everything. I decided not to use tarot cards for this project, and instead bought myself a simple deck of playing cards. Each story, barring the first, would be generated by drawing a number of cards from the deck. Each card has a plot mechanism and a character and a place (as well as a number of other things) assigned to it. The outcome of each draw would decide what my story for that month would be.

I don't know how well this is going to work out. I'd like to think that I'm going to stumble on something great here, but you never can tell. If you've read this far, I ask that you consider this a writing exercise and nothing more. I hope that you enjoy what you read here, and I welcome any feedback you might offer.

Some time ago, I stumbled upon the Internet Movie Database's Top 250 movies. It was interesting to review the list and see what their reviewers thought were the best films ever, but then I began to wonder just how many of the top 100 I had seen.

I reviewed the list and was embarrassed. I had seen less than half (42 if I've counted correctly), and own less than a tenth. For someone who considers himself a bit of a movie fan, this situation was unacceptable. So, in order to remedy this situation, I have made the following resolution: To watch the Top 100 movies in order from 1 to 100.

Now, I realise that this throws up some challenges. Foremost amongst these is that the list isn't frozen. The list is based on votes cast by regular voters, which explains why Iron Man appears even though it has only been out for approximately 5 seconds. I have decided to review the list periodically and check that nothing has snuck whilst I was not looking. I will retcon my list to include these films as and when they break ranks, but otherwise I shall be watching these in order.

The other potential problem I see is that many of these movies were released 50 or more years ago, and may be difficult to track down. Even more so considering that I live in a cultural wasteland in the sand. Some of these movies might need to be begged, stolen^[1], or borrowed.

I'm starting the challenge on 7 May 2008 (incidentally my father's birthday), and the list on this date is ( behind the cut )

As soon as I can track down a copy of The Godfather (or the trilogy box-set), my challenge will start for real.

I'm not going to stop watching other movies - going to the cinema, watching the heavily-edited in flight movies on Emirates, etc - nor am I going to count movies if I view them ahead of schedule. All that means is that I will have to watch them twice. Let's just hope they are as good as their ranking would lead us to believe, eh?

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[1] Note: I'm not actually going to steal them.

Summary:
Edward Scissorhands goes rogue in olde London.

( The Demon Spoiler of Fleet Street )

Summary:
Tommy Lee Jones wonders why he has so little screentime, comparitively, in a film in which he is supposed to be the main character.

( No Country for Old Spoilers )

Summary:
Joined by his possible son, Ned, Steve Zissou and his team go on one last mission: to hunt and kill the jaguar shark that might have eaten his best friend.

( The Life Aquatic with possible spoilers )

A while ago a colleague had the music from this as his ringtone. It would get stuck in my head for days. Now, having watched this film again, it's back in my head with a vengeance.

Summary:
Out of focus, ill-defined shape rages and rampages through Manhattan. Godzilla seen cowering, crapping self.

( Cloverfield (possible spoilers) )

Summary:
More of the same in Sacred Heart Hospital.

( Scrubs, Season 5 (possible spoilers) )

Summary:
Two years after his swim in the Med, amnesiac Matt Damon finds out that someone is trying to frame him for a murder.

( The Bourne Supremacy (possible spoilers) )

See also:
Original thoughts on ...Supremacy
Original thoughts on Ultimatum
Rewatch of The Bourne Identity

It's a measure of how far behind I have fallen that I am only now publishing my Dubai Letter for August and September 2007. For those of you who have been waiting to hear from me, I apologise. This time round I'm talking about summer weather, and I feel I must apologise for this also; with it being typically cold in the United Kingdom, and unseasonably cold in the United Arab Emirates, the last thing many of you are going to want to read about is heat and humidity.

#

The city hides inside air-conditioned homes, cars, and offices. The journeys between these sanctuaries become mad but controlled dashes as one tries to find the right speed to not work up a sweat but also spend as little time outside as possible. Often the fast walk wins out, because sweat is inevitable.

Only the poor or the foolish stay outside for any reasonable duration. They huddle in the scant shadows at the bus-stops, or trudge the streets, unable to justify the cost of a taxi for anything but the really long journeys. Maids walk with handbags held up to shield their eyes from the sun. Labourers take their midday break sleeping wherever they can find a big enough spot out of the heat.

I become resigned to sweating every time I step outside, and try to ignore it. My contact lenses are nearly always in, because I always need my sunglasses. Clothes are only ever worn once. I walk rarely, spend more time in the gym.

I hear it is not as bad as last year was.

#

The full travelog can be read at the following url: [ http://www.infinitewhite.net/travel/dubai9.html ]

Alternatively, I've also placed the text of it ( behind the cut )

I'm endeavouring to be a bit more regular with my updates, and so I am going to commit myself to publishing something on or around the 1st and 15th of every month. As I will be in Bahrain on the weekend of the 15 February, the next Dubai Letter (#10) should be published on 17 February 2008. Feel free to give me abuse if it arrives late.

Until next time.

Summary:
Moist van Lipwig, saviour of the post office, has a crack at saving the bank.

( Making Money (possible spoilers) )

See also:
Reread of Guards! Guards! (July 2006)
Reread of Night Watch (June 2006)
Review of Thud! (December 2005)
Review of Monstrous Regiment (March 2005)
Review of Going Postal (January 2005)

Summary:
Fishermen find an amnesiac Matt Damon in the Mediterranean Sea. Turns out he can kick your ass with a ball-point pen. Who knew?

( The Bourne Identity (possible spoilers) )

See also:
Original thoughts on ...Supremacy
Original thoughts on ...Ultimatum

Summary:
That old classic: Boy gets girl; Boy causes death of girl; Boy travels back in time to save girl; Boy causes death of father; Boy loses girl to evil bald nemisis.

( Smallville, Season 5 (possible spoilers) )

Summary:
Fictional representation of the author talks about dogs' mess, has sex with some women.

( A Year in the Merde (possible spoilers) )

Summary:
Olifea wants to live with the fairies. Her stepfather, Capitan Vidal, tries to defeat the rebels hiding in the mountains. ( Pan's Labyrinth (possible spoilers) )

The first House of Cards story has been published at infinitewhite.net, at the following link:

http://www.infinitewhite.net/library/hoc01.html

By way of explanation, an extract from the commentary:

Weekend Warrior is the first in a planned series of stories. It is an experiment of sorts; I had an idea a while back for a series where the smaller, individual plotlines were generated by drawing playing cards from a deck. Including this story, there will be a second that will finish setting the scene and introducing the world, but after that it will be (mostly) all random. I have an overarching story that I want to follow at the moment, but if the series tries to take me elsewhere, I am not going to stop it.

I have no idea if this is going to work or not, and I am certainly not expecting greatness here. I post these stories merely as a way of charting my experiment as it goes. I have no plans to publish these elsewhere, nor to promote them all that heavily; please feel free to think of them as writing exercises or literary masturbation or whatever pleases you.

The next story will be published on or around 1 February 2008.

The show follows the exploits of Operation Good Guys -- an elite undercover operation set up to catch notorious London crime lord Smiler McCarthy. What set the show apart proved ultimately to be its handicap. The BBC found that many people didn't realise that it was a comedy -- this was before The Office awoke the public to the concept of the mockumentary, you'll have to remember -- and so, by Season 2, they had added a laughter track so that viewers knew when they were supposed to be laughing. Unfortunately for those of us who get it, there is no option to turn the laughter track off, so you just have to endure it.

Season 1 is the closest that the show ever got to a real documentary, with the silly kept to a minumum. The humour here comes from the characters and the improvisational skills of the actors. If it is a little less polished and laugh-out-loud funny than the subsequent seasons it's because the crew were still finding their feet.

The show really gets into its momentum in Season 2 which is, in my opinion, the funniest. Operation Good Guys has been terminated, and the team have been sent for retraining. The team has also been pared down somewhat from the first season, with the end result being that they feel somewhat tighter and closer than before. It's easier to keep track of people, with some of the ancilliary characters removed.

I've spoken before about the black-guy-on-demand in this season, so I won't go into again here. Suffice it to say that it is a lamentable blip in an otherwise fine show.

By Season 3 the show has truly entered the realms of the ludicrous; with the officers staging a Christmas special and being sent on a Survivor-style reality show. Still funny, but in my opinion not a patch on the first couple of seasons.

21 = The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly [review]
22 = The Deepgate Codex: 1. Scar Night by Alan Campbell [review]
23 = The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson [review]
24 = Lisey's Story by Stephen King [almost a review]
25 = The Runelords: 2. Brotherhood of the Wolf by David Farland [almost a review]
26 = World War Z by Max Brooks [almost a review]
27 = The Soldier's Son: 3. Renegade's Magic by Robin Hobb [almost a review]
28 = American Shaolin by Matthew Polly [almost a review]
29 = The Word and the Void: 3. Angel Fire East by Terry Brooks [almost a review]
30 = The Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko [almost a review]

I'm terribly, terribly behind on the books I've read in the last couple of months. Instead of trying to fully review all seven of them, I propose to write very short reviews of each.

Here goes:

Lisey's Story by Stephen King:
King's best non-Dark Tower book in several years. Written with heart and genuinely engaging.

Brotherhood of the Wolf by David Farland:
Follows on strongly from The Sum of all Men. Introduces some new characters, generally as strong as those in the previous book. Increases the scope of the series quite nicely.

World War Z by Max Brooks:
Brains, brains.

Renegade's Magic by Robin Hobb:
And it's no, nay, Nevare! No, nay, Nevare, no more,
will I play the wild rover. No, (nay) Nevare, no more!

American Shaolin by Matthew Polly:
Entertaining and well written. The bit about Iron Crotch Kungfu made me wince.

Angel Fire East by Terry Brooks:
Better than A Knight of the Void. Wraps the series up nicely.

The Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko:
Better than the film, which I thought was awesome in its own right. The cover-bound comparison to J.K. Rowling is unjust, really.

#

40 book challenge 2007:

1 to 10
11 to 20
21 = The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly [review]
22 = The Deepgate Codex: 1. Scar Night by Alan Campbell [review]
23 = The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson [review]
24 = Lisey's Story by Stephen King
25 = The Runelords: 2. Brotherhood of the Wolf by David Farland
26 = World War Z by Max Brooks
27 = The Soldier's Son: 3. Renegade's Magic by Robin Hobb
28 = American Shaolin by Matthew Polly
29 = The Word and the Void: 3. Angel Fire East by Terry Brooks
30 = The Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko