José Saramago, The Grapes of Wrath, Doctor Who and more stuff

José Saramago, the world famous Portuguese writer and Nobel Prize winner died two days ago, at the age of 87. He was a very controversial figure in Portugal, admired for his books but not so much for some of his political and religious views. After his book O Evangelho Segundo Jesus Cristo (The Gospel According to Jesus Christ) wasn't allowed to compete for the European Literary Award by a very conservative Portuguese government, he decided to leave the country and went to live in Lanzarote in the Spanish Canaries. In spite of these events, another of his works, Memorial do Convento (Baltasar and Blimunda) one considered by some his masterpiece, became part of the Portuguese Language study program in highschool. I have tried to read the novel but his writing style with little respect for rules and its subject had me give it up. I have plans to read something from Saramago, especially Ensaio sobre a Cegueira (Blindness), Ensaio sobre a Lucidez (Seeing) and O Ano da  Morte de Ricardo Reis (The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis), but I don't know if I'll ever be able to retry the one I gave up on, I usually don't. 

Although I can't give a substantiated opinion on the writer, I can still say that I agreed with some of his views on how the Portuguese people seems resigned and with some of his anti-catholic opinions. I must emphasize he disagreed with the Catholic Church having the one and only accepted interpretation of the Bible and I like the idea that as a book written and organized by people, limiting it's understanding to what one group with a very specific agenda say seems quite senseless.


With all that said, I am currently reading and enjoying The Grapes of Wrath and I won't be over soon. I can advance that I have read there some of the best book chapters I've ever put my eyes on. Before and even while reading it, I've finished reading some other books that deserved their own reviews here, ones that I couldn't elaborate for lack of time. I hereby leave a honourable mention to Mighty Avengers: The Unspoken Premiere HC, Serenity Vol.1; Those Left Behind and As Incríveis Aventuras de Dog Mendonça e PizzaBoy.

I'm also following George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, have now read the first two books, here in Portugal translated into four volumes: A Guerra dos Tronos, A Muralha de Gelo, A Fúria dos Reis e O Despertar da Magia. The part I preferred was the end of The Game of Trones, it left me baffled and I felt like running to a bookshop and buy all the other books, which I ended up doing and I am now excited about the TV series being produced at the moment.

One other subject I want to speak about eventually is Doctor Who. It was presented to me by a friend who told me his favourite episodes of the previous series. I enjoyed them so much that I am now following the series with 11Th Doctor. My favourite episodes of the David Tennant era were Blink, Silence in the Library and Forest of the Dead (yes, Steven Moffat) and I would recommend watching them to anyone even if not following the series, they are worthy on their own. Matt Smith is taking over quite well, helping create a new image and personality while not severing ties with what fans have seen of the Doctor all these years. Expect more comments from me on this.

Free Comic Book Day Editions

As I said in my previous post, I went to Mundo Fantasma during the free comic book day event and bought some comics. With them, as a part of the event, you receive three free comic book day editions of your choice. I got Fractured Fables: "Red Riding Hood"; "Rumplestiltskin"; "The Real Princess"; "Raponsel"; "Hey Diddle, Diddle", Iron Man: Supernova (plus The Superhero Squad Show: "The Hulk in the Fixit") and Mouse Guard: "Spring 1153" (plus Fraggle Rock: "Boober the Doozer"; "The Birthday Present").

Fractured Fables is a compilation of jokes based on a few known children stories. I particularly liked the illustrations on "Red Riding Hood" by Camilla d'Errico and Edison Yan and on "The Real Princess" by Christian Ward. "Hey Diddle, Diddle" left me completely puzzled and speechless.

There isn't much to say about Marvel's free comic I but that Iron Man: Supernova was quite uninteresting and that "The Hulk in the Fixit" made me laugh out loud in the end.

Last but definitely not least, I must comment on Mouse Guard by David Petersen. As I know nothing about Mouse Guard, this small edition left me curious about the whole story and the art is so beautiful I am considering looking for and buying some of the author's works. If anyone wants to know more about him, here is a link to David Petersen's website.

Arcanum by Brandon Petersen

I bought this book on the Free Comic Book Day celebration at Mundo Fantasma, the one shop here in Portugal I still buy comics, if not for the price, which in Portugal is quite expensive compared to buying at Amazon.co.uk for example, definitely for the people working there, really helpful and and knowledgeable and to support the effort of maintaining such a business in a country with so little love for comics (yet, I hope). I knew nothing of Arcanum apart from the author, Brandon Peterson, from some of his Marvel works but the description of a story with magic and avatars always piques my curiosity.

SPOILERS WARNING

Arcanum has a good original beginning, with an Avatar running from others being accused of murdering one of them as you find they are all trying to find a new Avatar who´s own power is just awakening and scaring her. The plot in then developed as a pyramid, with the reader finding out there is a worse villain each time he thinks he has seen it all. It is interesting to see the story from the new Avatar's point of view, as she actually doesn't know a thing about what's happening to her. Eventually we learn that the good guys' leader is brother of the bad buys' apparent/initial leader, and this is the first of many clichés that plague the story in my opinion. Readers find that the Avatar of Darkness is being manipulated by a human wizard that has been alive for 800 years and wants the power of gods. Then we find that there is an even bigger villain, Death, who seems to see everyone's death as the one way to end humanity's and his own suffering and has been manipulating every Avatar to that end. As the Avatar of Life, the new avatar, exposes Death's plan, the Avatars run with their power through a portal to the god's plane and Death and a now powerless wizard stay behind with their plans frustrated. One point in favour of the story was keeping Death initially as an accepted neutral being and having an Avatar of Life without an opposing Avatar of Death (Death is described as a cursed immortal man, different from the Avatars) even though in the end it's Life that exposes Death's machination. 

NO MORE SPOILERS

I must say I enjoyed reading it, even while feeling the story was told too fast, finished hastily and was cuffed to some clichés. It was still quite interesting to learn the mythology created, the development of each group's relationship and the way the Avatar of Life reacts to her power, stands out for what she believes and ends up having a definite importance to the whole plot. The illustration is very good, adding a lot to the story and to help understand the characters' personalities.

Ratings(1-10):
Style - 7
Creativity - 5
Entertainment - 7
Relevance - 3
Overall - 6

I am still reading The Grapes of Wrath and I feel it's going to take me a while to finish it and I might read something else while I'm at it.

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

I became curious about Ernest Hemingway after my visit to Cuba, where I saw the place where he stayed and wrote while he lived in Havana. I know little of Hemingway apart from him having lived in Cuba, his work as reporter during the World Wars and others, that he ended up committing suicide and of course, that he was an awarded writer. I chose to read The Old Man and the Sea because the author himself described it as the best he could ever write and also because of the general acclamation.
Hemingway writes with a simple style, short sentences direct to the point and plain dialogues that contribute to this dichotomous sense of the story. Though I liked the whole text, I was specifically amazed at his accuracy and realism in describing a person thinking and talking to herself. This book consists of a small story about an old fisherman, a boy that helps him and fishing. As simple as this might seem, and the story is told in a straightforward way, the message that it is capable of transmitting is far from obvious and direct. For roughly the first half of the book, I was thinking about fishing as a habit and as a craft, about elderly men working for a living and imagining a community around them. After that, and as I came closer to the end of the story, I started trying to grasp what the story could imply, what Hemingway could be saying while describing the lives of the Cuban people he knew and observed. And it was then that I understood how the man fishing can be interpreted as much more than a report, as a metaphor for life itself, how working the skiff, the lines and the bait can be a person's effort towards the giant fish, the dream, the purpose, how sharks can be trouble, unsolvable problems, failures, how a fish's head can be such a small part of an objective that it can be given away, how the spine can be just a memento of what has become unreachable. I should also say that this is all but one interpretation and the story probably allows for much more.

This is a quick interesting book and I would recommend it to anyone that enjoys reading and looking for different meanings and messages from the author. Overall, I'm glad to have read The Old Man and the Sea although it didn't make me feel very enthusiastic, perhaps for being so short and fast or perhaps for having read it while travelling.

Ratings(1-10):
Style - 8
Creativity - 8
Entertainment - 7
Relevance - 7
Overall - 7

I am now reading The Grapes of Wrath by J. Steinbeck and will also start Arcanum as soon as possible.

Muse - Uprising

I'll see them on the 27th in Rock in Rio-Lisboa. I've been a fan for a long time, and although their latest work is not my favourite, there are still some musics that hit the spot, and Uprising is surely one of them.

Sir Ken Robinson: Bring on the learning revolution!

I've been complaining about the school system for years now. I always believed it to be linear, forceful and completely incapable of helping anyone less adapted to our society's actual paradigm. It is definitely worth listening to Sir Ken Robinson as he explains how inadequate this system is at the moment and why, to change it, we need to transform it completely. Would love to see his ideas developed and materialized into a true plan.

Stop 4 A Minute by David Fonseca

Here is the latest music video by the Portuguese artist David Fonseca. His work has always called my attention, ever since I heard his first songs with the Silence 4. He has a solo career as a singer/songwriter, plays various instruments, studied cinema and worked as a photographer. Also of note was his participation in the project Humanos.

Random Stuff

First of all, I'm happy to share Felicia Day's news on Facebook yesterday:

PREVIEW: Felicia Day Brings ‘The Guild’ To Comics 

As a fan of the series, I know I'll end up buying the comics for sure, further increasing my to-read book list.

I also felt like showing a video from Penguin's YouTube channel, originally prepared by the UK branch of Dorling Kindersley Books on the future of publishing: 

And now another video, this one I learned about at Pharyngula, and I almost "rolled on the floor laughing" when I first saw it:

Will be checking NonStampCollector's YouTube channel later!

Alice in Wonderland

I should start by saying I (at least to this day) like all things Tim Burton and I also have very good memories of all those classic Disney films as Alice in Wonderland. So, even having never read Lewis Carroll's original story, I couldn't help myself but go watch Tim Burton's 3D take on the Wonderland. I wasn't disappointed. It is visually compelling, entertaining, and has a very good argument.

SPOILER ALERT

This is a sequel to Alice's first trip to the (after all called) Underland. She's now 19-years-old, has been having the same dream about that trip since she was a little girl and believes to be dreaming once more. As had happened for the first time, Alice meets the usual characters: the White Rabbit, Absolem the Blue Caterpillar, Chessur the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter and the March hare, etc... and eventually comes to meet the Red Queen again playing cricket. While she can't remember her first trip almost to the end, Alice comes to find out this dream seems quite real and that she has an important part to play on the destiny of this land. She saves Underland, allowing the crown to be returned to the White Queen and the exile of the mad Red Queen and then decides to leave to her own world. She comes back a different Alice (the old Alice, as Absolem would put it) much more decided and sure of herself, says no to a marriage proposal, sends some advices and warnings to all those trying to control her life, and sets of to follow her deceased father's footsteps working with her "almost father-in-law to be".

NO MORE SPOILERS ALERT

Alice in Wonderland is a good film from almost any point of view, congratulations Mr. Tim Burton. The visual effects are marvellous, the 3D in well achieved and it all adds to what could otherwise be only just a sequel. The argument is also very nice, clear but still maintaining some of the mystery behind the land and its characters. The one thing I can criticize is the haste in the last scene, when Alice talks to the oppressing people in the party, and the unnatural lack of answers to what she says. The story progresses at a very nice pace and kept my attention for the whole 108 minutes film. And last, but not even the slightest least, there is the acting issue. Johnny Depp's Hatter is astonishing and another unique character creation out of the renowned genius. Helena Bonham Carter is as amazing as I'm used to, she becomes the perfect big-headed lunatic Red Queen. There are others that can't be forgotten, Alan Rickman does great voicing the smoking caterpillar Absolem, and then there are those characters that we still owe Lewis Carroll a lot for coming up with them as the Cheshire Cat that is still uncanny or the March Hare who can always get a good laugh out of me. I also enjoyed Anne Hathaway's White Queen with her eccentric marionette pose. Mia Wasikowska ended up being the least sparkling character in the Underland, though I can't say she did bad. How could she call attention to her being the normal little girl, as special as Alice may be, in a land of impossible wonders?

I do recommend this film to all who enjoy fantasy, specially those who have seen and liked the Disney animation from 1951 and mostly for Tim Burton's, Johnny Depp's and Helena Bonham Carter's fans.

Ratings(1-10):
   Style - 8
   Creativity - 8
   Entertainment - 8
   Relevance - 5
   Overall - 8

Wandering

Date: 05/11/2007

Camera: Casio EX-Z70

Photoshop: edited contrast, levels and added frame

This is a path by the river Odra in Wrocław, Poland, near the student resident I stayed during my 6-months Erasmus Program in 2007. Of all photos I've taken myself, this is definitely a favourite. I was in a dark, thinking mood.

Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-men: Utopia HC

Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-men: Utopia is probably one of the best built Marvel HC collections I've read. It includes Utopia by Matt Fraction and Dark Reign: The Cabal, Dark X-men: The Beginning and two numbers of X-men Legacy. 

Even for one who knew nothing about the "Dark Reign", this was a very good start, being a great take on the theme, showing the X-men's role and Norman Osborn's scheme to take care of the mutants. It allows the reader to peek into Osborn's mind, to understand his behaviour and his plans for the humanity he somewhat and somehow leads. I was amazed by Emma Frost's part on the whole creation of the Dark X-men, her secrets from everyone, even the reader, her aims and preparations, and with how it all connects with Cyclops' program for the mutants he leads. 

Matt Fraction's Utopia is, in my opinion, the best written and the most engaging part of the book and Dark X-men: The Beginning was probably the least integrated part (unavoidably, given it consists of small takes on the recruiting of different characters), although still very important to understand some motivations behind those mutants that seem to follow Osborn and to see how he comes to surround himself with so many powerful people. 

I recommend this for any X-men fan and for all that enjoy reading about the Dark Reign arc, mainly for those who are curious to understand how the mutants came to be where, who and how they are now.

Ratings(1-10):
   Style - 6
   Creativity - 8
   Entertainment - 7
   Relevance - 4
   Overall - 7

I'm now planning to follow the Avengers and the X-men as much as possible, and I'll keep an eye on what Matt Fractions writes, he seems to know what he's doing quite well. And I expect this new turn on the X-men's destiny doesn't come to be another "history repeats itself" moment. I've read Mighty Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Premiere to get me started on the Avengers though I didn't enjoy it as much as Utopia.

New blogs and new books

While surfing the web earlier today, I came across 2 blogs I plan on following hereafter.

One of them is Pharyngula, a science blog consisting of "evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal" as stated by the author, PZ Myers, a biologist, associate professor and a "militant atheist". The first post I read, Sunday Sacrilege: It rhymes with reflex, convinced me to keep an eye on the blog and to share it in my own. I seem to have some views in common with him, but he does look much more assertive than me (and perhaps even radical) defending those views. But even though he may have a somewhat radical speech, it still amazes and disgusts me that people send him porn by mail trying to offend him.

The other one, Thoughts Arguments and Rants, I'll have more to say after I read for a while longer. I have already downloaded his paper/post on Easy Knowledge and Other Epistemic Virtues and plan to read it this week.

I have also ordered a 18 of books from Amazon.co.uk, 12 of them for myself, from Marvel comics to Seven Days in the Art World, Utilitarianism by Mill and Bentham and even The Book With No Name.

For now, I'm reading and really liking a Portuguese translation of Camus' The Outsider.

Ethereal labyrinth

Ethereal labyrinth by ~Feantur on deviantART

A reminiscence from the past, when I used to experiment with fractal software. I had just read this tutorial on disk fractals by Joel Faber. This was one of my favourites, made me quite proud of myself by then even though it is not nearly as elaborated as I would like it to be (alas, I was/am just a beginner). 

(don't ask me about this: UGGBEUVJTU2W)

O Décimo Terceiro Poder by Madalena Santos

I decided to read this book not only because I know the author personally, but also because it seemed the kind of fictional historic and political novel I have become fan of.

The book follows a part of Neferlöen's life, the 15-year-old adopted daughter of the ruler of one of the so called Terras de Corza (portuguese for Lands of Corza), the king of Levionda. She comes to play a major part in the changes happening in those lands, related to the formation of a new Power (as the different states are called) and to the attacks of an organized group of mercenaries of whom all we know in the beginning is that they wear black and have a typical tattoo on their chest. 

Neferlöen is a well developed character, I found myself capable of befriending her halfway through the book and considering how her problems might be solved or guessing what she would do now and then. The geopolitical context is also very interesting, created from scratch, middle-age like, where nobles fight for power and catapults are state of the art. A striking difference with our middle-age is that women's rights in some of the Powers are already somewhat understood and respected. 

My main issue with the book was the writing. Madalena Santos was 15 years old when she wrote O Décimo Terceiro Poder, and it shows on the grammatical formality of her writing, mainly during the first half of the book, where sometimes I felt I was reading a text composed for a Portuguese examination. By the end of the book this is fairly less notorious and does leave me interested in her later books.

O Décimo Terceiro Poder is a quick read, but, nonetheless, the story, characters and political emphasis were enticing. I believe the book exists only in Portuguese, so I recommend this for Portuguese speaking readers that enjoy fiction/fantasy and politics.

Ratings(1-10):
   Style - 3
   Creativity - 6
   Entertainment - 7
   Relevance - 3
   Overall - 5

Fractal Art

Today I decided to talk about fractal art. I came across some examples of this at deviantART some years ago and, knowing absolutely nothing about it, it piqued my curiosity. For those who, as myself at that time, don't know what I'm talking about, I'll tell you what I found out about it in the web.

Fractals are objects or quantities that display self-similarity, meaning that in all scales it has the same type of structure. To put it simple, the parts of the fractal closely resemble the whole. Perhaps the most typical example of the fractal structure in nature would be snowflakes and broccoli. You can see examples with pictures at webecoist. This has a probably obvious mathematical interest, and the functions behind fractals have been studied at least since the 17th century. (for a more elaborated definition and historical review you can check Wikipedia or just google it and look for maths websites for a technical explanation).

The development of computer graphics allowed for fractal functions to have a visible translation and that led to what is now called fractal art. The objects created based on these functions, using them to define shapes and colours, are not only visually appealing, but also "technically engaging", as the viewer will feel curious and try to understand the pattern that led to it. Fractals have been represented as images, animations or music and recently 3D software brought new possibilities.

At deviantART (but I hope it has been happening at other art communities) fractal art has grown to have its own place and value recognized, and there are dedicated artists achieving true marvels using software as Apophysis or Ultra Fractal. Two of my favourite examples are Pasternak's 070509 (above) and Microcosm by trystianity (to the right). I have seen a lot of really good works by these and other authors, and I'll keep sharing them if I have their consent. I've tried both Apophysis and Ultra Fractal some time ago, and I might share some here when I feel like it, but if you feel curious about what a layman can do with them, you can check my gallery.
I just found out about Electric Sheep, a project to create a collaborative abstract artwork founded by Scott Draves. The idea is to have fractals as your screensaver and then voting on your favourites, which will influence the time they are alive and reproducing, generating new ones subject to mutations and cross-overs, in a biologically inspired system. The name was inspired by Philip K. Dick's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, that I plan to read this year.

Introduction

Hello!

I decided to start this to post some ideas, opinions and mainly to talk about any subject I consider interesting enough. I don't want to create a strict purpose for the blog. My initial idea is to write book and film reviews, share some things I find on the internet as for example other blogs, videos, photos or music and I might even comment on my travelling experiences, if I find anything captivating.

Feel free to comment, talk about the same subjects or bring up some stuff related to what I posted.

Thanks for reading.