Some of you might know I am a avid film watcher. I enjoy good movies. Movies are a great art form, almost the most complex art form. It is so difficult to get it right since there are so many variables that affect the experience of watching a movie. It is no wonder good movies are hard to come by. Given that a lot of cost is involved in making a movie, there is a strong urge to make it profitable at the expense of one or more mediocre (or at the least, formulaic) mechanisms to make it easy for the audience to consume. A bunch of predictable gags, plot twists, mundane music etc…

Film festivals are an opportunity  for people to showcase experimental works or try different ideas and experiment with the audience. Sometimes they work and other times they fall flat on the face. And that is the risk of watching shows in festivals. I have had pretty bad experiences before and have suffered very substandard (pseudo art) and have been generally disappointed. So much so that I avoid watching unknown shows – Couple that with the fact that local festival movies are priced much higher (10 bucks a pop compared to a 7.50 for a regularly distributed show).

But I decided to watch a couple of shown in the recent Animation Nation. I needed to watch at least 2 to increase my chances of catching a good show. Well the outcome was neutral but I am happy that one of the shows was really spectacular and the other was bordering on down right crap (though it had some really awesome sequence that made it reasonable to sit through). So what were the shows:

Musashi: This was the first one I watched. The synopsis mentioned Great music, and ‘inventive’ animation. I should say that the music was great in bits, especially the traditional japanese bits. The rest was rubbish. The animation was superb during the Samurai sequences and utter crap in the rest of the movie. The bits that were great were handled by the same guy who did the O-ren Ishii sequence in Kill Bill, Vol 1. The style shows through. But apart from the 20 minutes of those sequence, dispersed in bits and pieces throughout the movie, the rest was absolutely annoying. If I can extract out those 20 minutes, I could watch that without any audio and just enjoy the beautiful animation. Overall, not recommended to spend time on the show though.

Mary and Max: This, on the other hand, was a brilliant show. Stop motion animation with a lot of attention to detail almost in the cadre of Aadvark Animation shows (recall Wallace and Gromit). The movie is great, a very gentle movie dealing with lonely people becoming pen pals. The voice acting was great especially Max (I found out it was Philip Seymour Hoffman), the music was brilliant, sets were nice and the story incredible. I guess makes me start looking for the next film festival Watch it if you get the chance.

I guess the gamble paid off this time though I should look to increase my chances by careful scrutiny next time.

Well, if it does not make any sense, check this screen shot from the apple store.

k’Naan is probably my favorite Hip-Hop artist. Originally from Somalia, he represents today what Hip Hip originally represented. Though not educated in English, he writes great songs. And even though his music is not as catchy / radio friendly as others, I think his song writing makes up for it.

If you have not heard of k’Naan before, I highly recommend you pick up his recent album, tourbadour, and take it for a spin. You wont be disappointed. I am sure he will be getting more attention given he is getting publicity on apple store.

I am in the process of building a SON based wheelset and was hunting to find more use for the Hub than lighting. In the short term, I am not interested in using the dynamo power for lights and have been lookout for some solution that can allow me to store the energy to charge other electronics, specifically the iPhone and some AA batteries.

I came across the site for PedalPower+ and since I could not find much info online on the product or about the company, I called them to clear some of the q’s I had. I spoke with the son (Nicholas Kidd Jnr) of the Inventor / boss (Nicholas Kidd Snr) and it was a pleasant. I liked the fact that he was able to answer all my q’s technical and otherwise and after debating with myself, I decided to get the Universal AC cable and a set of adapters. they also sell batteries and the V4 seems like a good one to have especially with its 5600 mAh capacity. I have a Solio and so decided against the battery purchase for now.

I will state some initial impressions here and once I have an opportunity to use the product for an extended period, I will do a follow up to this review.

1. First off, what impressed me was the fact the the product is not built as a proprietary solution, the output from the Universal AC cable can be fed to any device directly. This includes batteries like the Solio. Though pedal power sells batteries too, they do not force the sale on to you. Which is neat in my book. Additionally, since each of the product can be purchased separately, it makes for a slightly higher pricing. I paid 92 AUD for the AC cable and an additional 16 AUD for the additional set of adapters. They are a bit steep in my book but I have nothing to compare the price with. B+M is expected to sell a similar product called E-Werk which has a posted price of 140 Euros, which seems to be the same price as the Pedalpower’s universal cable + the V4 battery. Given that E-Werk is not available yet and the flexibility offered by PedalPower+, I decided to try the Ac cable option.
2. Dealing with Pedalpower was very pleasant. I called, then we discussed, made payment through paypal and received the product in 2 days. I would have preferred a cheaper shipping option, but I suppose it is something you can discuss with them.
3. The packaging is simple, though they took the effort to make sure it arrives safe and bubble wrapped.
4. The AC cable seems waterproof because the electronics are held in a moulded case and the input and output cables are also mounded into the sides. However, the ends where you are expected to connect the Hub and your device do not have any shielding from the elements. It would have been nice to provide a silicone or rubber enclosure at the ends to protect from accidental splashing. If it can be made waterproof, that would be perfect.
5. The finish does not seem to be of the highest quality and not sure how it will endure persistent rain and sun. The cable shielding are plasticky and I would have preferred a smoother overall finish.
6. The best part of the AC cable is the fact that the connection to 3rd party system is very flexible. The end hat connects to the dynamo is simply 2 wires. I will have to get the proper cable that connects to the SON (or any other dynamo). This is a good idea since they do not force you to buy their dynamo. The output from the AC cable (I presume the electronics do the job of converting AC to DC, high voltage cutoff etc…) is also pretty much open ended. They provide a standard (properly polarized, I presume) jack that connects to all their mini adapters. At first glance, the pin looks to be the same one as in the Solio’s Output,  I will have to check to confirm though. But the quality of the Output pin is something I might be concerned about. Extended use is the only way to find out if it indeed is robust.
7. The adapter set supports a variety of devices and I found ones that I might need, one for the iPod, a Mini USB, A Female USB etc… The problem is that they still do not support the latest iPhones (which require a cable with embedded electronics), but I was assured that they are working on a solution for that too.
8. The Input cable for the Universal AC is about 60 cm and probably long enough to fix it permanently in the fork. The output cable is a coiled wire  (like in old telephones) and seems to have reasonable reach. The idea seems to keep the V4 or your devices on your handlebar to charge. I might not use it this way and may need to find a better solution to install on the bike and keep it safe from elements.

Overall, I believe the product has great promise. The openness in the connectivity and the ability to pick up the product in smaller chunks makes this very appealing for people who might already have some of the products (in my case, the SON and Solio). On the flip side, I believe the cost of the AC universal cable can be lower and the build quality higher with more protection from the elements. I suppose I will have to use it over an extended period before making a call on the real life issues.

I have yet to use it, am still waiting for the SON to show up and my wheels built. As I write this, the inventor Nicholas Kidd Snr, is showcasing the product in Eurobike 2009. I have not seen any reviews for the PedalPower+ products and I hope anyone interested will benefit from these observations.

When I was in the US of A, I picked up a copy of the “Confederacy of Dunces” from Powells. Powells is a great book shop and if you in Portland, be sure to visit one of their branches. I am sure you will end up with books that you always wanted to buy but could not find easily anywhere. The nice bit is that the pricing is pretty comparable to Amazon and you also benefit from the large collection of used books that they sell.

Anyhow, it has been a long while since I read a paperback and was looking forward to reading the book since I got good recommendations and the blurb was all praises. The book indeed was good and I was thoroughly enjoying the first few chapters when I reached Japan. I read a few more pages and got to about 150 pages when I decided I will save the rest of the book for the flight, I planned to keep awake to get rid of the jet lag.

Unfortunately, when I checked out of the room and reached the airport, I realized that the book stayed back in my room. Doh.

The story thus far was very light, very Woodhouse’sque, but set in more recent America, specifically 70’s New Orleans. There is actually no story, the fun comes more from the witty descriptions of the places and characters rather than the plot. A bit different from the typical Wodehouse fare but I am not sure if there is a more subtle plot that builds up and climaxes at the end.

Guess I will have to buy one more copy to figure that out. If anyone is in the lookout of a good read, take the “confederacy of Dunces” as recommended.

I visited the Bike Friday Website today and was shocked. They changed their site. It was a good idea to change their site, since the old one was nearly a mess and difficult to navigate. But it was a bad idea to change it to what it is now. it is really a mess now.

Starting with the color and the background graphics, it looks pretty silly to have a silhouetted imagery. Everyone knows their bikes. If some one does not know, the graphics does nothing to educate them on their products. FAIL.

There are 3 Menu systems on the front page. Count 3. I think it is totally unnecessary. I prefer their original One menu system. Colors are selection is outrageous. white fonts on light green? Who chose that? FAIL.

Menus respond to Mouse over. in an eagerness to embrace Web 2.0, there is way too much javascript enabled automation. I don’t care for fancy graphics, I need the ability to know where to find things. Menus overlap, I am lost. FAIL.

Some sections in the front page are collapsed – By Default. Why put it up if you want to save space I ask? Some sections cannot be collapsed. Why? Inconsistency is the cornerstone of bad user Interface. Please take a leaf from Apple. FAIL.

Menu Hides under Images. FAIL.

I thought I was out of the era of Flickering Graphics. What do I get on the Front page? A rotating set of customer images. I preferred the previous version showcasing one image in the front page. It is easy to randomly show images whenever the page refreshes like RBW. This flashing images is making me disoriented. FAIL.

The cloud on Top right is silly. Please remove it. If you want to highlight some dealers, put it in a more structured location. FAIL.

I understand what BF was trying to do. I suspect maintaining their website was very manual and laborious and decided to jump to a database driven platform to ease their process. But what they have ended up with is a mish-mash of badly implemented ideas with no sense of design.

BF is an engineering company and I do not expect their website design to be aesthetically pleasing. At the least they should strive for usability. The old site was a bitch to navigate but I suddenly miss it now.

Please do something.

You know I write about movies now and then, especially when I watch one that catches my fancy. I watched Gran Torino Recently and it is one fine movie that I think most of us should watch.

The more I watch Clint Eastwood’s movies, the more I realize movies are an epitome of art medium and sometimes the most restrained art strikes the best chord. The more I realize the whiz bang high budget Hollywood show biz is not art but entertainment and should be consumed as such. But when great movies come along, one should savor the moment (or the show) and hope more of such movies should be available for general consumption.

I want to watch Gran Torino expecting Clint Eastwood would be at his bad ass best since his spaghetti westerns and in a manner of speaking, he was at his bad ass best. But in line with his relatively mellow and personal movies like Mystic River, this movie ambles along at a very comfortable pace until the final showdown. There are relatively few movies that talk about the end of life issues of old farts (as a figure of speech). A couple come to mind, About Schmidt, Million Dollar Baby are really fine movies. it is difficult to keep attention when our ‘Hero’ is a septuagenarian with all the irritability that comes along with age and even more difficult to keep us interested in their future, but these movies do a good job.

Getting to the point, Walt (clint eastwood) is a tough old man with issues and is increasingly living in an alien neighborhood. His neighbors slowly befriend him and over time he gets closer to them than he ever got to his own kids. He takes care of the kids in his neighborhood in his personal style and when one of them is brutally assaulted, he takes the fight back to the gangs (also in his own style). It is difficult to say much more in terms of the story line. What is really nice is the building up of the drama till the final ’showdown’. In his directorial style, the movie is very restrained in terms of the music and also the minimalist lighting and pace. But they come together well to build to the ‘climax’.

What was a let down was the acting, the kids were pretty shoddy unlike the supporting cast in Million Dollar Baby or About Schmidt. Well, I didnt really care much, the young girl was cute and dont give a damn if she can act or not, heh.

To me the best part of the movie was the meditative pace in which he builds up to the ’showdown’. Cleaning out the guns, pausing for a smoke, a nice chat with his dog etc… It is like stretching a rubber band slowly until it snaps, it is pretty brilliant.

Another ‘Old-Farts’ movie I watched recently (I recall on in-flight shows) was the Bucket list, which incidentally had some brilliant actors with a shoddy ‘Hollywoodean’ premise and was something I don’t bother talking about. But in this case, it was a brilliant movie with some shoddy acting. I don’t mind that at all and think along with the Reader, is probably one of the best movies I would watch this year.

I know he watched this too, and if I guess right, this is probably his kind of movie too. Wonder what he thought of it.

There was a recent TED lecture I watched where Don Norman described his ideas on Design. Some products are designed for utility, others for aesthetic appeal. Be it something you want to show off or something that brings a smile on your face, the design to appeal to ones emotion is kind of an important component of design as an art form.

Sometimes, designers may get so caught up with the idea of aesthetic design that they may overlook utility. Apple as a company is extremely well respected for their industrial design and striking the amazing balance between emotive design and an utilitarian product. And once in a while some products come along that is designed so well that people will ignore the lack of features and be willing to pay more money too, Think of the iPod.

A couple of days back, apple released a cool new iPod. The new iPod shuffle.

Notice that Apple is breaking its very successful click wheel / circular button layout with this iPod. You might also notice that there are no buttons on the surface, except for the tiny notch that is visible on top (You might want to visit apple to check out how it works).

Breaking a well established user interface is a great gamble to take. I am supposing that the design engineers, once they convinced the marketing and managing bosses, had a field day designing the product.

When I saw this shuffle, the first thing is stuck me was this:

Am I the only one to see the resemblance? Even the dimensions of the product match up approximately. The dimensions of the monolith is supposed to be 1:4:9 (squares of 1,2,3) and I see that the iPod shuffle (ignoring the clip) is about 5mm X 18mm X 45mm (almost a 1:4:9). I surely don’t see this as a coincidence, but a deliberate design choice. I can imagine the marketing insisting the need for a clip and the designers having a fight over removing it and finally a user group voting for having the clip, sigh.

To keep the design monolithic, apple seems to have decided to keep the surface totally blank except for the apple logo (pity about that too), but they put it on the clip

Not reading too deep on the corporate message that apple is passing, but I think it is not very subtle and we can expect brave new directions / products from them:

It is really cool to see a company not sitting on their successful products and designs (when was the last time creative changed its software interface) and bravely walk into unknown territory. Apple has the financial might to not worry about the failure of the shuffle but I don’t think that’s what drives them to innovate. If you look at the history of the company under Jobs (sometimes others too), they were highly innovative and not worried much about the implications to the company. As consumers, we benefit from their successes and failures and should be thankful that someone is looking out to push the boundaries of design innovation.

So, I watched Madagascar take 2. I recall watching take 1 and not feeling very good about the show.

The characters were cute, actors were great (Chris Rock can have a strong voice presence as Eddie Murphy) animation was nice and visuals (background drawings) were spectacular. But the movie like the original lacked punch. The story was bland, gags were predictable and timely, dialogues were corny and editing and flow if the movie was patchy.

As is typical with studio run shows, they take the average of what works with test audiences and string them together. Throw in some spectacle and hope it works. I suppose it does work for a certain (large) portion of the paying public, else they would not be making money.

Enough bitching, the movie is worth watching for the sake of sidekicks – the penguins did their thing and the Meercats were good. There was a sequence where king Julien does a lovely monologue about how be will negotiate with the rain god. Oh well, take a look.

The movie runs like a Sitcom with a sequence of gags punctuating a nearly non existant storyline. At least for the $, you get very beautiful animation.

In case you were interested, you can check out some of the visuals in the Art of Madagascar book.

Rarely do movies strike an emotional chord in me. I love watching movies and have set up a good collection of movies over the years. I can summarize my need for watching movies under three umbrellas, entertainment, technical / artistic merit and lastly to tickle the emotions. A number of movies are able to satisfy the first 2 aspects for me but rarely do they indulge my emotions. It could partly be because I couldn’t care less for on screen emotions when there is shit going on around in the real world.

But then there are movies like “Nights of Cabiria” or “The Bicycle Thief” that are simple in their premise but extremely poignant. I suppose it is because they revolve around events in one character’s life while the world goes on as usual around them. I guess the normalcy of the environment keeps the distractions away and gets me more involved with the story at hand. Rarely do movies achieve this. To achieve dramatic effect, people tend to push the surroundings selectively to conspire for or against the story being told. This distances me from the story and I merely become an observer unwilling to believe the situation the characters are in. Drama is good some times, I am not arguing against it, it is just that I don’t get involved when things are dramatic for the sake of being so.

Recently, I watched Hotaru no Haka (Grave of the Fireflies), it blew my mind.

Some spoilers in the following passages: The movie deals with the side effect of war and focuses on the life of two kids. As a result of the war and frequent air raids, the kids lose their home and family and consequently suffer for the basic needs of food and shelter. Nii-Chan the brother is the strong one. He faces up to the adversities and does everything possible to protect his sister. When their mother dies, he keeps it to himself and tells tall tales to keep his sister amused (she is a little girl and want to go back to her mother). But he cannot restrain himself when Setsuko casually remarks, while clearing bugs (fireflies) from their shelter, how their mother is in a similar grave. The movie jumps from such a strongly emotional moment to a very light poetry like passage full of giggles and laughter – they are still kids after all…

At times, the background turns entirely transparent, we get so used to the war in the background that we become de-sensitized. Much like how I feel when watching footage of bombings and murders and deaths on news networks. After the opening sequence, the war never bothers you any more, it is the story of the kids that draws you in. The animation is not spectacular (at-least not by today’s standard), but that is really not the point, it hits home when it matters. I nearly cried watching the movie (and I don’t mind admitting that) and I am glad I watched the show.

P-Funk were in town. To be honest, I have never heard of P-Funk or George Clinton or Parliament or Funkadelic a week before. A friend of mine introduced me to their music a week back and and it was pretty easy to get hooked to some of their rhythms. Kind of interesting that the music is dated 20-30 years but still sounds pretty fresh. It is easy to pick out some Motown influences in their music but they also had enough neat melodies and rhythm. Of course some songs were down right weird. But that is cool.

So I decided to go down to the concert and we got the cheapest tickets possible. That meant the seats were really far in the balcony (I recalled pat metheny’s concert and decided to bring my bino’s too). However, as Singapore turned out to be far less funky than imagined, the concert hall was less than half full. And we got upgraded to much better seats.

They played a number of cool tracks and padded it with great improv on guitar and sax. The band was pretty polarized with some really old chaps (George Clinton is almost 70, Garry Shider is 60+ and wears a diaper and only a diaper. Really) and some very young fellers (Greg Thomas – Sax, the guitarists were pretty young too). But the band held together pretty darn well and the energy was pretty high throughout. I am sore after screaming, jumping and dancing.

Acoustics were pretty high standard as usual (esplanade is great) but the concert hall is probably not the best place to have a funk concert. What is needed is probably an outdoor venue with lots of beer. Well I suppose it is not common to have funk bands visiting Singapore and I suppose I should be glad instead of finding fault with the venue. But even then, it would have been good to have more space to groove with the music. Oh well.

As for the bino, it was pretty useful to get a close up view of the band and some of the dancing girls too