Random Poetry Post: E.E. Cummings - 'pity this busy monster, manunkind'

'pity this busy monster, manunkind' pity this busy monster, manunkind, not. Progress is a comfortable disease: your victim (death and life safely beyond) plays with the bigness of his littleness --- electrons deify one razorblade into a mountainrange; lenses extend unwish through curving wherewhen till unwish returns on its unself. A world of made is not a world of born --- pity poor flesh and trees, poor stars and stones, but never this fine specimen of hypermagical ultraomnipotence. We doctors know a hopeless case if --- listen: there's a hell of a good universe next door; let's go E. E. Cummings Make the most of this Friday, and every other day. illustration by Evan Robertson

Peeping Tom

I always had a thing about looking to see what's in other people's private spaces. The inside of bags, the inside of houses, the inside of their heads... I guess it's a natural curiosity. So, I was pretty thrilled when I stumbled upon Freunden von Freunden.

As they put it in their own words, We are an international interview magazine that portrays people of diverse creative and cultural backgrounds in their homes or within their daily working environments. 

This, in very simple terms, means hours of fun and inspiration. Flats in Berlin, lofts in New York, houses in London and everything inbetween. 

Here are a few of my faves (pics taken from the site):

  

Study time!

Time to take care of unfinished business.

http://unlike.net/berlin

http://wikitravel.org/en/Berlin

http://www.xlr8r.com/files/magazine/pdf/XLR8R_101BCG.pdf

Club der Visionaere 

Berghain

(edit from the future: no photos of Panorama bar exist, and rightfully so. You should see it to believe it)

Tresor 

(photos look great but they're not mine)

Love is a struggle

 Truly beautiful video and sounds from Soulade.

 (warning: not really suitable for work)

A glimmer of hope

Saschienne are such a breath of fresh air. Their sets come from the heart and are the opposite of calculated. Yes, the songs complement each other, but some of the choices are unexpected and that's what makes them so unique.

  Saschienne's Clubberia Podcast by Kompakt

Music to travel to

...either mentally or physically.

Moderat - Rusty Nails

Beautiful music, beautiful video.

I can't wait for Bloc.

So long, djay (for iPad)

I have a feeling this is going to be a good one: http://djworx.com/musikmesse-2012-mixvibes-cross-for-ipad/

Just another Friday night in London

Soundtrack for the weekend 9.0

Haven't posted one of these in a while. And, although it's grey and miserable outside, I am tanned and carefree. It's time for the weekend and I'm listening to this piece of genius.

Mellow times

Spring is here, though it doesn't really feel like it (thanks, England). At least we always have good music to keep us company.

Play and Eat

We went to see Zach Braff's All New People at the Duke of York's last night. Our seats were great (second row, Zach himself literally spitting on us) apart from the parts where scenes projected on a screen which meant our chins were pointing to the ceiling for short-intervals. They didn't last too long, though, so all in all it was a highly enjoyable experience. I will not ruin the plot for anyone, so all I have to say is: Go watch it.

Zach Braff wrote, directs and plays in the whole thing. Like he did in Garden State. Which is one of my favourite movies, ever. This doesn't reach that particular high, but it's still fresh, modern theatre with a plot and themes that almost anyone can relate to. The rest of the cast is great too. If it's not sold out, go watch it.

Being in the West End meant that theatre, naturally, was followed by dinner. We headed to Hix Soho, which I was very excited about. Sadly, it failed to meet my expectations. Oh well, at least pudding was nice. I might go back there to visit the bar or have wine and oysters.

(photos not mine, I was too busy watching the play to take pictures and the food was not worth remembering)

Good ol' Jack

This man is like fine wine. If he could ooze cool in bright red outfits, there's not much that can be said about him now.

Somebody stop me

I keep thinking it's Friday. This is a problem because:

a) I tend to be unproductive on Fridays

and

b) It's Thursday.

The problematic nature of point b) is self explanatory. Point a), on the other hand, means that I tend to do a lot of browsing when I'm being unproductive. Having recently joined Pinterest, I thought I'd start using it. What's better to 'pin' on your board than a bunch of wonderful(ly expensive) things you'd like to own?

I've already ordered 3 pairs of Knockarounds (I hope they arrive before my trip to Marrakech) and I'm having epic handbag cravings. Must. Resist.

Knockaround Chocolate / Amber Premium Sunglasses, $14

On their way!

Prada Tote, €1,330

Definitely not on its way.

Gastrorgasmy: Burger & Lobster

I finally made it. I have been to exclusive London clubs, I have been to expensive London restaurants, but I have never felt a place to be so close and yet so far away from me. The monstrous waiting times (my first attempt at going was cut short when the lady at the door told us we'd have to go back 3 hours later - and that was at 8pm) and the fact that I have a full-time job meant that I would probably have to wait for weeks, maybe months, until I'd make it.

Patience is a great virtue though, and so is willpower. Armed with these, and a good friend, we went, we put our names down, and headed to the pub. We were told we'd have to wait for at least an hour, so after two hours and two glasses of wine had passed without receiving the telephone call we were so desperate to get, we took our chances and headed over. Luckily, our table was just getting prepared for us, so we sat down straight away.

There is no food menu; just one for drinks, with a good selection of cocktails, spirits and beers, and a rather limited selection of wines. I was a bit disappointed with the small choice we were given for wine, especially given Goodman’s amazing wine list. You can only famously eat one of 3 things (or all of them if you feel like it) once you’re in – burger, lobster or lobster roll. We went for a lobster roll and cheeseburger, split in half. They were great. Good food makes me happy. I was definitely happy once I started eating. The food also arrived very quickly, which kind of made up for the two hours wait. The burger was fantastic, although my bun was a little bit crunchy and I would have preferred it softer. The lobster roll was delicious and highly recommended. Looking back, I’d say go for the lobster or lobster roll. They feel a little bit more ‘special’, plus you can get good burgers in many places around London, with about a quarter of the waiting time.

The wonderful lobster roll

The sexy burger (with the slightly crusty bun)

There's always a little 'but'. Despite the food (and atmosphere) being fantastic, waiting for two hours when we were diplomatically told ‘at least one’ was a bit frustrating. What was more frustrating, however, was that despite the service being excellent and our waitress being very friendly, we got the feeling we had to get the hell out of there as soon as we finished our meals or else we’d be getting kicked out. Pushy yet polite, our waitress gave us the dessert options and when we said we didn’t want any she brought us the bill because our table was about to be given away. This meant we spent two hours waiting for one hour of dining, which was not disastrous but it made the experience feel a little bit less special, which is a shame.

Was it worth the wait though? Definitely? Would I go again? Of course, but I’d give it another week. I need to hit the gym now.  

Food: 9/10
Atmosphere: 9/10
Drinks List: 8/10
Service: 7/10

Overall Rating: 8/10

Looks like originality isn't dead yet...

No need for intros, just watch:

Happy Pancake Day

Fuck that. Bring on Burger and Lobster.

In other news, I've decided to bring my tumblr back to life. A photo a day shouldn't be too hard, right?

Stay curious

The Future Belongs to the Curious from Skillshare on Vimeo.

A bit of hope on a Monday morning.

Random Movie Review: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Had this lying around for a while, but I want to get into the habit of writing them, so here goes:

Before I ventured on my regular Sunday night cinema session, I had come across a number of different views on The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Having deliberately avoided critic reviews, I only had friends’ opinions and an IMDB rating of 8.2/10 ‘polluting’ my intention to view the film from a purified viewpoint. It was one of those rare occasions where I had not read the books (which I am ordering right now on Amazon), but, given the obsession of today’s film industry with converting books into films, it was kind of refreshing to be able to watch a movie without thinking about plots gone wrong, missing characters, cheesy scenes being added and things not going quite as I had imagined.

The movie kicked ass. Yes, it was slow at times, yes, it could have ended 20 minutes sooner, but this was a movie of subtleties as much as it was in your face. Apparently faithful to the book and the original, the plotline remained interesting despite the villain being quite obvious from the beginning. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is a good, somewhat familiar story being retold by an excellent narrator.

Fincher is a notorious perfectionist, and you can see that in every scene. His direction of Mara, in particular, is astonishing. Her character is communicated in an ever so subtle yet decisive manner. In her sex scenes with Craig’s character, Mikhel, she is always on top, and makes it obvious she is there with her own satisfaction as the end goal. Rooney Mara herself has given an award-nomination-worthy performance, communicating a lot by saying very little. Lisbeth Salander’s character is disguised in a veil of mystery, and Mara’s performance lets you see through that; sometimes. We never find out where the dragon tattoo came from – there are only fleeting glimpses of it, and Blomvkist’s comment that he likes it after he spends the night with Lisbeth. We know it’s there, but most of the time it’s concealed beneath layers of black fabric and leather. Fincher only lets us look at it once every now and then, but he won’t let us get too close, in the same way that Lisbeth does not let anyone get too close to her. The only person she shows some affinity to, apart from her guardian, is Mikhel. He happens to be the only one who sees and comments on her dragon tattoo.

The soundtrack? Well, I am biased, since over the past few years Trent Reznor slowly reached a godly status for me. So, yes, the soundtrack is great. I only wish it could be louder at times, like the amazing hacking scene in The Social Network. But, given how many layers of production this movie is lying on, the music eventually is part of the whole, merging with the sounds of the whistling wind, the dialogue and the dark colours that have been cast on the snowy landscape. Apart from the stunning opening credits, of course, but everything's been said and written about them already. It's worth paying for the ticket just to walk into the theatre, salivate over them and walk out.

As the film finished, I was left feeling bittersweet. I enjoyed watching the movie, but what seemed like wrapping everything up at the end suggested that Fincher may not be coming back to direct the next two movies, if they still stay in the pipeline.  

Overall rating: 8/10

Breaking rackets

A great article was sent to me by a friend on Friday:

Of Baghdatis, the pain of losing, triumphalism and destruction

You need to watch this first, if you haven't already. In case you weren't aware of what happened last week in the 2nd round of the Australian Open, fellow Cypriot and mildly crazy person Marcos Baghdatis broke four tennis rackets in less than a minute, in a manic frenzy of anger venting.

What I would disagree with is that Binoo K John, the writer of the article above, overlooks another key point - that it's not just about winning and not losing. It's about not knowing what is going wrong, not knowing how to fix it, not wanting to take the blame and putting the blame elsewhere. Being lost in a particular moment where resignation is not yet an option but it can very soon be the only possibility.

Resignation, according to British philosopher Bertrand Russell, is not to admit defeat, but to recognise that your personal efforts can have no impact on certain events whose development and conclusion lie beyond your control and powers. No matter how much he has been criticized for this, it has been overlooked that he finishes everything off with a smile. After escaping the Bacchic frame of mind that he temporarily entered, Marcos returned to his normal disposition which is what made him one of the most likeable tennis personalities of recent years. He wins the next set but goes on to lose the match. He does what is within his powers, and then he resigns.

Thierry Henry and why going back to the past is not a bad thing

Thierry Henry proves that returning back to past is not always a sign of a retrospective acceptance of current failure. Actually, maybe that's exactly what it is. But it also shows a sign of bravery to accept that you were once happier and more successful than you are now. And you'd like to go back to that, and you accept that.

Happy New Year

 Let's sit down and reflect.