The question is, do I settle for consistency? Or do I spread my online representations across a variety of fields, interests, or aspects of my personality?

Being something of a new media fiend, it's understandable and mostly accepted that I have several accounts at several different social networking sites. In the past, I've often settled for a mix of photos to represent me, as my avatar, if you will. But often I consider finding the one true photo or graphic or symbol that truly represents me, and posting it as my avatar across all these different sites.

Throughout my uni course, we've constantly spoken and debated and researched about new media and its effects on social interaction, self-perception and self-portrayal. I can't say that I've ever really tried to portray myself any differently online as opposed to the real world. You constantly hear stories about shriveled-up little Dutch boys transforming themselves into super-powerful, big-breasted, leather-clad warrior-women on World of Warcraft, and you have to wonder whether it's just because the character is powerful and will be respected, admired, lusted after, or whether it's because the player themselves feels unsure about their sexuality, the reactions or jibes they get from their peers, and so on.

The Internet has provided many avenues for people to reconsider their current appearance or personality and portray something new, different, 'better' online. But consider that twenty years ago (even more, now; the Internet will need a zimmer frame, soon), people just had what they were given. There were few opportunities to create a new persona; even fewer to do so and still retain one's original identity.

I think it says something about the youth of today - of which I am a member; of that there is no doubt - that they are constantly searching for new modes of expression, new ways to put forward their ideas about the world and about themselves. The rise of blogging and online journaling; citizen journalism, sometimes over-imbued with editorialisation; chatrooms, newsgroups and forums; massive multiplayer online gaming. All these things allow, at least in part, for the portrayal of new identities.

People spend so much time online now that the lines between who they are and who they are online are becoming blurred. It pays to switch off every now and again, to look outside, have a wander and take some fresh air into your lungs.

So I guess my avatars for MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and Blogger will just remain as they are for now. I'm going for a walk.

Until next time...

Archaic massage oils of Domestos

My latest filmic offering:

Until next time...

Pebbles and notepads, my table

Star Trek was... an interesting experience.

As many of you will be aware, I am, very much, whole-heartedly, a card-carrying Star Wars fan. For me to go and see a Star Trek film, in an actual cinema, is somewhat tantamount to blasphemy.

However, as this film, a reboot of the entire Trek franchise, was directed by one of my favourite all-time directors/creators/creativegodgenii, J.J. Abrams, I couldn't really pass up the chance.

And I have to say that I really enjoyed it. There were moments that were beyond, in the words of my good friend Shwa, cheeserific, and self-indulgent, and in-jokey, but as a sci-fi nut, I enjoyed it.

The plot was fairly straightforward, but it propelled the agenda of the reboot forward in a very innovative and exciting way. A whole pseudo-Back-to-the-Future subplot helped this a little, but for the most part it was the interesting backstories that writers Orci and Kurtzman came up for each of the characters, and the dynamics that set up their relationships as Enterprise crew members, that really drove the story, and, most importantly, kept us all interested.

Notable cast include Chris Pine as the impulsive, rough-and-tumble, never-tell-me-the-odds Jim Kirk, Zach Quinto as the meant-to-be-emotionless Vulcan Spock, and the inimitable Simon Pegg as tech officer Scotty. I'm of the opinion that Pegg could star in anything, no matter how crap or flimsy, and make it awesome. Star Trek was already cool. And he made it just that little bit cooler.

And, of course, Leonard Nimoy was outstanding as 'Spock Prime', as the role is called on IMDb. I won't say anything else here, to avoid spoilers, but Nimoy was great. Live long and prosper, indeed.

I will, though, admit to a lapse in my Star Wars devotion. A chink in my stormtrooper armour, as it were. I have watched almost the entire series of Enterprise, that attempted jumpstart of the Trek franchise that aired between 2001 and 2005, starring Scott Bakula, Jolene Blalock and Connor Trinnear. I found the dynamic of that particular Enterprise crew - the first, or among the first, in the canon, if I'm not mistaken - to be engaging, funny and somewhat informational as a writer.

But, Mr. Abrams, you've done well, sir. 3 and a half out of 5 for me.

Until next time...

Fruit salad brings out the mobile solarium in everyone

Well, this week I've managed - somehow - to find time to attend various events at the Sydney Writers' Festival, around work and some personal stuff that cropped up at the last minute. The events I went to were diverse, and I gleaned many fascinating insights into the craft and some of its practitioners.

What I found perhaps most interesting, though, was the writing festival 'aura'. I guess this can best be described as a combination of the general atmosphere, the people and the intellectual air of the place. You have many of your standard holier-than-thou artiste types - those who think that the best way to reach your inner writing soul is to be an aloof prick to all but yourself. You've got your 55-and-overs who come along because they love reading and want to see their favourite authors speak - mostly they're fine but occasionally you'll get a pair of 45-60-year-olds who insist on conspicuously nodding or 'mmm'-ing their approval or assent to every seemingly valid point the speaker makes. What fun.

The writer's gait is an interesting aspect of the festival too. The odd writer, usually middle-aged, perhaps into early old age, will have developed a kind of lumbering almost-waddle, carefully nurtured by years of sitting at desks or tables surrounded by notes or feverishly, desperately glaring at a blinking cursor or empty page sitting ready in a typewriter, sipping whatever is close at hand and more alcoholic than water, eating microwave meals straight from the microwave. And in contrast you have the young, fit, cool writer type fresh from uni or SoHo - you can usually never tell which.

Overall, though, at writers' festivals there's a creative energy that permeates the atmosphere and the spirit, punctuated by an air of superiority that at times can be bitter, at other times selfishly satisfying to be a part of. I felt like I fit in there, and that's a nice feeling.

I went to a few talks, and heard from David Dale, Hugh Mackay (completely by accident; I went to the wrong talk!), Catherine Therese, Jennifer Mills, Gary Bryson, Alex Ross and Graeme Blundell. I ended up buying books by Bryson and Blundell - Turtle and A Life In Parts, respectively - both signed by the authors, with each of whom I was able to have a lovely, albeit brief chat, after their talks.

I guess there's something about hearing an author speak about their work, or read some of their own work, that inspires you to investigate further, to make a purchase. And I think that goes beyond hearing them discuss story or method, inspirations and the like. I guess it's that when you read their work, you can almost hear their actual voice in your head, and that can convey so much gravitas and meaning that would otherwise be lost on you, or at least remain undiscovered. This is particularly true of Gary Bryson for me, who I'd never heard of before. Turtle is his debut novel, and it is a very dark, grim story that I would probably never have picked up had I not heard him read some of it in his slightly Australianised Scottish brogue. Hearing it in that accent made it darkly funny, ironic and witty, but also deeply melancholy. So it was that I was compelled to purchase. Odd indeed.

The Writers' Festival in Sydney is usually great, but it was most grand this year. Bring on 2010!

Until next time...

De-shelve your insolence

So that last post was a bit pointless. For some reason I just got hooked on the super-incestuous notion that I could 'blog' my 'tweets'. And it's something that I'll probably never do again. I just feel dirty in a kind of hyper-new-media-geek-overload kind of way.

Many things happening, some grand, some not-so-grand. Writers' Festival this week, which I'm super-excited about, some travelling to do, some writing to do, much uni work to do. Hopefully next week I'll find a new place to live, as uni accom's driving me batty, and I'll never get my thesis written if I stay there.

Anyway, that's it for now, more later mayhap.

Until next time...

Untoward attractions leave stipends broken-elved

Tweets from 17-18 May 2009:

• 22:26 Oh, God. *smashheaddesk*. #
• 23:07 Wine from a coffee mug. That pretty much sums up the situation. #
• 23:20 @sybylla84 Oh no! Are you okay - to all of that? #
• 23:26 @khali_blache @ceruleanbreeze Can I come? I has wine. #
• 23:38 @khali_blache A clash or coalescence of the life-view of Edgar Allan Poe and the rustic rivet-bound aesthetic of the Industrial Revolution. #
• 23:45 @khali_blache Wish I could pull 13500 words of that together for my damn thesis. #
• 23:49 @khali_blache Boo indeed. Epic boo. And mid-October, though I have to have a first draft by mid-late-June. #
• 23:49 @cartoonmoney Yay for ugly coneheaded alien warriors! #
• 00:01 @khali_blache Life, work, influences and legacy of Stanley Kubrick. #
• 00:01 @khali_blache Out of curiosity, what was your 9yo thesis about? #
• 00:13 @khali_blache It has been/is. There's just a tremendous amount of personal/emotional/and now medical stuff going on that's halting progress. #
• 00:13 @khali_blache That sounds stunning. #
• 00:16 @khali_blache Wanna bet? *smiles dazzlingly* #
• 00:17 @khali_blache Oh so true. #
• 00:20 @khali_blache You bet ;) #
• 00:24 @khali_blache Why Norway? #
• 00:35 @khali_blache Indeed! Now for a bit of Spooks before bed. Night! #
• 00:45 @khali_blache @nocturnalie Daniel Jackson? #
• 00:54 @khali_blache @nocturnalie God it's been ages since I watched Stargate of any stripe. SG1 was a thurs night tradition after piano lessons. #
• 00:55 @khali_blache @nocturnalie Then I got hooked on SGA. Sigh. Should get some out from work. #
• 10:39 @ramblelite Could be worse; could be coffee. #
• 10:44 @ceruleanbreeze I have eps 1-4 of #Castle, will probably have 5 and 6 by tonight. Will give you that plus #Ed and #Dollhouse. #
• 10:49 @ceruleanbreeze Lol I know. #
• 10:56 @squirrelyTONKS RE: Your Angels&Demons vlog - yes, read the book. Movie was pretty good, book is horribly written but blasted good fun. #
• 10:59 On a completely random note, my thesis currently stands at almost 70 tweets in length. #
• 11:21 @calyndra Still in one piece? #
• 11:43 @calyndra Lol worse things could happen. #
• 11:52 "Now, Dmitri, you know we always talked about the possibility of something going wrong with the bomb. The bomb, Dmitri. The hydrogen bomb." #
• 11:56 Arg to happy, bubbly, giggly receptionists. *slap* #
• 12:10 Right. Get off Facebook, Dan. #
• 12:19 @ceruleanbreeze Lol no, but it looks an awful lot like Lord Byron. #
• 12:24 @ceruleanbreeze Indeed :) #
• 12:25 I wantz to play Starfy yayz: bit.ly/173evs #
• 12:59 Trailer for 'Nine'; new film by maker of Chicago; Kidman, Cruz, Dench, Day-Lewis, Ferguson, Cotillard - tinyurl.com/ofs5cs #
• 13:08 @ceruleanbreeze Yeah that was a freaky episode. Burrrrrgh. #
• 13:08 Oh. So Deathly Hallows got split in two for filmic purpose. Huh. #harrypotter #
• 13:10 Half-Blood Prince looks scary as shite. bit.ly/4WwKr #harrypotter #
• 13:15 YAY! I love it when a trailer makes me cack myself: bit.ly/Xf9Qj #
• 13:16 xD #
• 13:22 @ceruleanbreeze One or two. #
• 13:23 Just heard voices outside. Looked around and saw the back end of a horse walking past my door. Talking horses. Sheesh. What next? #
• 13:39 Ooooh. I might leave my earbuds next to the heat release vent on my laptop more often. What a pleasant sensation that is. #
• 13:51 LOL @ Dara Ó Briain. YouTube him. God command ye. I love how the Irish say 'feckin'. Hilarity indeed. #
• 13:52 'For those of you not familiar, "The Lord's Prayer" was written by Jesus himself. The major themes are bread... and trespassing.' #
• 13:57 CURSE YOU, YOUTUBE! Give me those two hours back you fiend! #
• 14:13 The host of Never Mind The Buzzcocks reminds me of a guy who works in the building where my prod company is. Maybe just cos he's British. #
• 14:16 Yay - Jess Hynes is back in new series of Doctor Who. #
• 14:34 Christmas Special. Not new series. She's in the Christmas Special, working title "Adios Tennant." #
• 14:50 Smile Eminem. Just smile. It's not hard. SMILE. #
• 14:54 Barrowman on @wossy's show: bit.ly/caqFA #
• 15:22 LOL - Barrowman was in Shark Attack III. Awesome. #
• 15:35 Amazingly I still haven't seen that. Despite the fact that Robbie's in it. Might get that and some Stargate from work tonight. #
• 15:35 Last was @squirrelyTONKS. #
• 15:39 @squirrelyTONKS He was great in The Producers. #
• 15:39 @squirrelyTONKS And very blonde, if I remember correctly. #
• 15:47 Yay for Torchwood. Very slow completely-legal-acquisition rate. #
• 17:05 @ramblelite Despite the fact that it's a photo of tea and toast - the least offensive photosubject EVER - you still have the option to flag. #
• 17:05 @ramblelite Hilarityness. #
• 17:07 Almost absent-mindedly put earbud in mouth. Awkward. #
• 19:15 The HMAS Blargity Blarg has well and truly set sail. #
• 19:36 Dear Kelly Clarkson: my life wouldn't suck without you. In fact, I think my quality of life would improve noticeably. #
• 20:11 @ceruleanbreeze Da, comerade. #
• 20:19 - feeling oh so bleg. #fb #
• 20:25 Yay at teh Slezy... not: twitpic.com/5f4nv #
• 20:31 @ceruleanbreeze Oh tis. Apart from one guy who's been in here for almost an hour and is now browsing the porn. #
• 20:45 @ceruleanbreeze Yep. He just left. And yeah Minotaur and Borders and Mag Nation and the Dymocks on Collins St. #
• 20:47 @ceruleanbreeze Tis at about 0.3%. #
• 20:49 Oh, Clark Gregg. If I ever write the faithful FBI/NSA/CTU/CIA/Secret Service agent, I'd cast you and Eric from 24. You're awesome. #
• 20:49 @ceruleanbreeze It's McMassive. #
• 20:50 @ceruleanbreeze That's true. See how I go. #
• 20:53 @ceruleanbreeze Lol at Robbie reference. Win. #
• 21:10 "And I'm thinking you weren't burdened with an overabundance of schooling, so why don't we just ignore each other til we go away?" #
• 21:11 If you're happy and you know it DON'T watch Revolutionary Road. #
• 21:24 @ceruleanbreeze @khali_blache I too think I shall partake of some Firefly upon my return home. That, Castle, Spooks or the Stargate movie. #
• 21:25 @Glinner Kelly Clarkson. On the monitor at my work. #
• 21:37 Is it just me or does Rob Pattinson look constipated in the Twilight trailer? Makes you wonder what a diet of blood does for the bowels. #

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A family-brewed recipe printed in the house of apricots for generations

Angels & Demons. The book was better than The Da Vinci Code in so many ways. Secret societies and a riotous romp across Rome and the Vatican. The female lead was sexier in literary form, and Robert Langdon was younger, more naive, and more active than the later book.

I never really understood what any of the fuss was about with the religious response to Angels & Demons. If either book can be taken as somewhat true - which is a ludicrous notion that I'll indulge only to make a point - The Da Vinci Code has the greater ramifications for the Church, in that it posits that Jesus was married and had children, spawning a line that survives to this day. This is a hideously radical notion that undermines Catholic teaching throughout the millennia.

The premise of Angels & Demons, however, is that of a Church trying to find its place in the modern world, and one man's quest to revolutionise the world's perception of the greatest institution in human history. Enter symbologist Robert Langdon, and the mysterious - and later to become love of his life - Vittoria Vetra, some shifty Swiss Guards and a dead Pope, and you're set for a grand and rollicking adventure.

The book was better-written than The Da Vinci Code, for starters. And The Da Vinci Code necessitated a lot of explanation, so its translation to the screen, therefore, also got bogged down with trying to explain, via long expository scenes, the hidden meaning of The Last Supper, for example. Angels & Demons, though, is just one huge chase sequence, with a short stop here and there in each of the churches to explain another piece of the Illuminati's history. This translates a lot better to celluloid.

Ron Howard is a wonderful director, and he's proved this in films like Apollo 13, A Beatiful Mind, and his latest stellar offering, Frost/Nixon. But I think with The Da Vinci Code he failed to reproduce the book's energy, instead trying too hard to explain every last detail. With Angels & Demons, screenwriter David Koepp was brought on board, no doubt to accelerate the pace of the action, and truly adapt the book to the book's benefit, rather than work against Dan Brown's original intentions, as The Da Vinci Code adaptation unfortunately did. Koepp has a killer writing portfolio, including all the first two Jurassic Park films, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Panic Room, among many others. And his influence can clearly be seen in Angels & Demons, with the plot dipping and weaving deftly and smartly through thousands of years of history and the alleyways and boulevardes of Rome and the Vatican.

Performance-wise, Hanks pooped all over his own performance in the last film. His offsider this time was the gorgeous Ayelet Zurer, of Munich fame, who actually proved a foil for Langdon (as it was in the book) instead of a hindrance to plot and protagonist, as Audrey Tautou's Sophie Neveu proved to be in The Da Vinci Code. Ewan McGregor was inspired casting as young camerlengo Patrick McKenna. I won't spoil anything here but McGregor's performance was outstanding. Equally as good as the foil for McGregor's character, was the sinister Stellan Skarsgård as Commander Richter of the Swiss Guard.

The other point of interest was the suave time warp Goldsman and Koepp pulled off by setting Angels & Demons after The Da Vinci Code. The implications for the film continuum are good, in that Vittoria Vetra will possibly return, depending on where the third book goes.

Overall, Angels & Demons is highly enjoyable popcorn fare. This time I will definitely be buying the DVD.

Brown fans have to wait till September for the next book, though, unfortunately. Not to worry, plenty of good flicks coming out between now and then!

Until next time...