The edge of the present

Last Saturday I  finally had time to catch a screening of The Edge of Tomorrow, the new Sci-fi Movie starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt. Here's the poster:

Now, if you haven't seen this movie yet,

WATCH 

IT

NOW. 

  The movie is the Hollywood take on a Japanese light novel titled All you need is Kill, by Hiroshi Sakurazaka:

I read the light novel a couple of years back, by happy accident, in Japanese. Taking into account Hollywood's long record of not being able to adapt Japanese material in a "proper" way, I really didn't have high expectations for the movie. 

  How could I've been so wrong?! (cue Thorin-meme jokes here). 

The film is great, perhaps one of the best Sci-fi films I've seen in a long while (Talking Hollywood-made films). The story moves forward at an adequate pace, with well-done action sequences and neatly balancing these with the exposition ones.

It doesn't repeat itself, get boring, or underestimate the viewer -for which I am really thankful-, making the experience into an enjoyable ride, with awesome high-tension moments (specially towards the third act's climax). It is, indeed, quite good; I'd wouldn't mind seeing it again at the cinema. 

It's delightful when works like these one come to put the Sci-fi genre's bar high again.

  Now onto the latest findings: 

On the Design Front, the Guardian has unveiled a neat new site Called the Seven Digital Deadly Sins, located at  http://digital-deadly-sins.theguardian.com/#/Grid

The site works as an interactive documentary. The theme? Well, it's on its name. I found it well designed, and interesting, and found myself guilty of a few of those sins. It deserves a visit.

  A few days ago I came across a Korean animation series titled Ghost Messenger (고스트메신저). I was rejoiced while watching it, it's a good animated series, well-crafted on the technical side, and most importantly, it's Korean. Also, the soundtrack is wonderful. Here are the opening and ending themes,

The Opening Theme, Outsider-Connexion:

The Ending theme 

(and this one is a marvelous jewel: emotional, well-crafted and perfect for the series), 

이소라-Track9 (Lee Sora - Track 9):

  Though Korea has a big deal of experience working as production house for other countries' animated works, it ironically lacks good material of its own. There are a few things, great things (Such as the movie Wonderful Days), but in general, nothing of the scale of the neighboring country's main cultural export, anime. 

  Ghost Messenger is a series targeted at a 12-14 year-old public. Inspired visually and story-wise by some bits of the Korean traditional lore. I'm really glad that Korea's finally taping into its potential for productions like this one. It's something I think is long overdue. 

Nevertheless, even though I'm not comparing the series with the big-scale anime works of Japan, I found some things a little off-putting, like an overcompensation on the technical side.

Some of these were the transformation sequences, the character design, some of the limited animation, and the over-use of the smartphones as a weapon/plot device/sword/whatever-you-can-think-of-nobody-cares-anymore kinda thing. Anyhow, I reaffirm my belief that this is a good step for the industry here.

  Now onto the musical findings. Besides the two, great songs above, I finally got my hands on the new May'n single, and as expected, I wasn't let down. Here you can listen to the TV-size version, acting as the M3: Sono Kuroki Hagane opening theme:

Leading us in with a smooth guitar arpeggio, the song treats us to a soft, emotional experience, without getting boring. This one is quite different from the energetic pop/trance stuff that May'n has us used to, and for me, is greatly welcome, making it one the best songs of this season.

M3: Sono kuroki hagane is one of Shoji Kawamori's latest affairs, and, up until now, something I'm pleasantly following.

  From the commercial, mainstream side of things, I snatched the new Imagine Dragons single, title Battle cry. An epic, drum-lead work, it really gets your blood pumping, specially thanks to the work of Daniel Platzman (the band's drummer), the catchy melodic lead, and the assistance of Hans Zimmer, which comes to life in the orchestral bits. Too bad they wasted it on a Transformers movie, it'd have been put to better use on something else, anything, really.

Even so, I'm also quite fond of the previous theme for the saga, Iridescent, made by Linkin Park: 

******

 On a different topic, finals are over around here. I have finished level 5 of Korean language (Intermediate 1 - 중급 1), the exams were kind of hard, but I managed to pass them all, with pretty good scores as well. I must really say a great deal of me being able to do so might be thanks to our teacher, she's an awesome educator, and I bet she could so much more, were she not bound by the university's restrictions, many of which I think fall right into the non-sense category.

Now I'll go up to Intermediate 2, and closer to the level I need to achieve in order to do well at TOPIK and get at least level 3. It's been a fun ride, being in the class I've been, and I'm grateful it wasn't any other way; our class has such great chemistry (both socially and academically) that the teaches label it as the best class in the whole group of our Intermediate level. It's sad that we'll have to part ways from the summer class on, if it came to my decision, I wouldn't like for it to happen.

And finally, onto some musings. 

  Lately I've been reflecting on what being afraid to fail makes you do, and I came across the realization that I'm inside one of the best examples of an Atelophobia driven environment. A lot of the people studying through my scholarship program worries about failing, some studying to the point of exhaustion, others trying to come up with methods to learn faster, all of them stressing out about the worst possible outcome inside their minds, and all of them missing out on the good things going around them. I don't agree with a system that pushes you like this (though it can be subtle in its ways), hurting you in the process, even if that's not visible at first sight.

While out with a friend I commented on the idea, and she replied 

- "Well, look around you. Where do you think you are? Look at everything that has accomplished!" 

And then again, came the realization that I was, indeed, inside a bigger atelophobia driven environment (even if it is just one of the many different factors that make the system tick): South Korea itself. 

Normally, I'm all in for the "The end justifies the means"- Machiavellian approach, but when it comes to something like this, I have mixed feelings. It's true, sometimes you can get amazing results, but What are you willing to sacrifice for those? And is it really worth it losing yourself in the process?

Finding balance is hard, but necessary,

Anyway, write you later,

On Farewells

 How are we supposed to react when someone who has been around us, all of a sudden, goes off the map, for good?
What could be called "appropriate behavior" for when someone passes away?

 A few days ago, a friend found herself in the right place, just at the right time, but not for the best.
How is it that circumstances conspire with one another, planning ahead, and getting all together for a marked instant, in which fate is decided, and things change completely?

 If I'm absolutely honest, I wouldn't say that I had a deep bond with this particular person. But she was a classmate of mine, and I'd like to think, that, even if the time we spent together was short, we became friends.
 It's an out-worldly feeling, the one you get when you arrive to a place to keep up with the routine, and then, you find out that a person you took for granted won't be there, anymore. At least, that's how it is in my case, there's a sort of chain reaction inside me, born from the fact that reality was forever changed in just a few decisive instants.

 This kind of events plunge me into deep thinking, and it takes a while to get back in touch with the real-world everyday routine; such an unfortunate string of overlapping variables, fulfilled one over another, could happen to anyone of us. Being hit like a tidal wave by the realization that anything or anyone we take for granted could just vanish in seconds, has the power to shake you and make re-evaluate a couple of things in your life, to say the least.

Blinded at first by feelings, it seems so unfair that such a young soul, cheerful, lively would have all of her remaining time here by the whimsical desires of destiny, but such is life and we have to keep on moving.

  A while ago I was just reflecting on how ceremonies and mourning are for us, the ones left behind, and constitute a symbol through which we can give some logical shape to our feelings about the matter, and the changes in our reality, though if one really thinks about it, it wouldn't really have any meaning to the person herself as he/she is already gone.
Or would it? Because memories and history are also a thing, part of our everyday lives and the fuel for many of the choices we take...

All in all, I hope she finds herself in a better place now, and we'll remember the happy bits, which I think is the best way to go forward and the best we can offer to her.

Isolation by technology

 

(Feel free to use the previous picture as you wish)

(The following is an explanation of sorts for the previous image, a sign that I think it's become a necessity in some places): 

In matters of a randomly themed post, I think it's easy to come up with a few ideas, but this is an issue that's been bothering me for while now, and I thought I'd let it loose here.

  Recently, I keep seeing the same thing over and over around many public areas in my town. Mainly, shopping malls food courts, and, of course, places with free, open wi-fi available.

  There's been a recent boom in the acquisition of tablets in my country; almost anyone has a tablet, one way or another (not necessarily a fancy, shiny iPad, or a Galaxy, but other low-priced Android tablets).
Ironically, the number of people who posses a smartphone, is not even close to a third of the number of people in possession of a tablet.

  I'm not against technological evolution, in fact, I consider myself a huge technology geek --I've got a 7" tablet myself--, but when technology messes up your human interaction, that's a different matter.

  Lately, if you go to the places I mentioned above, you're going to find self-absorbed people, incapable of the most basic human interaction, such as saying "Hello". Don't even try asking for any help, in any matter; these specimens seem incapable of even giving directions, I guess it's because their attention span is just around 3 or 4 seconds tops.
If you were looking for help, or just a few words, you'll leave the place frustrated --after a few attempts--, with anger oozing out trough your pores.

The next picture summarizes my feelings, kinda:

  If this phenomenon keeps going,  it'll have several ugly consequences, such as one I've christened "Language graphic substitution disorder", I'll write about it in a later post, meanwhile, I think every place where people go to immerse themselves in their devices should have a special area for them, and an accordingly placed sign, like the one at the start of the post

  On other news, In terms of creative work, I've been kind of down lately; too much of my time is being sucked by a tedious project, the end of which I just can't wait to see. I hope I'll be able to post more frequently, and write much more, so that I can finish a few things before Xmas.

Anyway, write you later,

  

De facultar y prescindir

[An awful lack of updates; Been busy trying to finish a work project, hopefully I'll be free from it soon, meanwhile here's a little poem, written in Spanish, so if you can read it: enjoy]

[Una de las tantas piezas que se encuentran por hojas de papel en los lugares más inesperados de mi espacio]

"De facultar y prescindir"

Déjame,
Deja que me ahogue en tus formas,
marea esporádica que surge de tu tempestad,
noche indómita que limita sus caricias de arena,
dirección que no conoce corrientes.

Deja que los chacales escriban su parte en el juego,
que el marco carente de vista conjugue nuestros ocasos,
que la soledad brinde al compás de las crecientes,
y los estrépitos de tu sentir caigan sobre mi nuca;
Golpe acogido,
Golpe certero.

Que el venir se torne en conspirar,
y el seguir,
devoto de estas notas,
se torne en prescindir.
Marcado el suelo por donde habitan tus vestigios,
desflorado el andar de mis retazos de papel.
Que mi conspicuo pensar residual prosiga con el alivio de mis entornos,
que no nos falten pequeñas dósis de pesares.

Y déjame,
deja que te sumerja en las estrategias de los borradores y los conscriptos,
que una noche te asfixie en la comprensión de mi contacto,
que se libere el desierto,
que el cantar no necesite más de tí.

Out of town

One is beset by the weirdest --most varied-- thoughts when on a road trip. 

First of all, that this kind of thing is not for everyone; you're not suited for it if:

1. You have no patience 

2. Your body is not able to be in the same seating position for a long time 

  Even if you're the most road-ready person in this world, this two aforementioned things will take you down --after an 8-10 hours roadie, you tell me--, promise. 

  If by any chance you happen to travel in a public transport -a.k.a you're not driving- there's not much you can really do, except for reading a good book, or draining on your iPod's battery for as long as you can. 

But it is this specific thing --hopeless, forced inactivity--, that works like a charm when, just sitting there, the only thing left is thinking. 

  The thoughts, those that only have several milliseconds of your full attention when in town, take a step into the show light. Full-front and feeling self-important they take up your whole mind for a long time each.

You have the chance to develop them further than when in the busy environment of urban life, and, let me tell you, they keep you company well.

(This goes on in Ecuador's roads)

  Looking out of the window, several dragons made of concrete extend throughout the country. 

Gigantic, monstrous things, so alien to humans, so useful to them. Lush forests, high mountains covered in solid and unendurable milky white clouds. 

The country gives birth to many stories. It doesn't reveal itself, it wants you to unravel it, to discover what it hides on its insides. 

  What lives on those hills? What creatures, what demons, what magic exist there? 

Who controls it? Who is master? Who is victim? Who is reaper?... I discovered that I still haven't lost the ability to surprise myself and rejoice in simple things; my last road trips were really boring to say the least, and I thought I'd lost some kind of inner spark, but this one has been different.

I'm really happy of still being able of turning the most simple things --a fire in the woods, a lonely plain, an empty silo-- into something full of wonder and magic inside of my mind. 

  I've finally decided to finish writing and publish my first novel. I can't say much, except for the title, which will be "On the new gods and expectancy". Nevertheless, I want to finish writing and publish a few other things first, mainly short stories; in the process of revising some, I've read them again and I think I will have to rewrite them... again. Hopefully, I'll be able to do so, soon. 

Ok, now off to sleep, and I'll hit the road again tomorrow night.

Short Story: "Y qué más da..."

(A little fiction writing piece, by me, paying homage to a great writer, the short story is written entirely in Spanish, the next ones will be in English, and perhaps, I'll try to translate this one as well, someday)

"Y que más da…"

(Un pequeño fragmento de ficción, de mi autoría, con un homenaje intertextual a un gran maestro de la palabra)

El sopor y el calor la habían sumido en una especie de letargo; no estaba dormida, aún así, no se podía llamarle a eso “estar despierta”. Era consciente, de su frente apoyada contra el caliente y granuloso polietileno del volante, del sofocante calor producido por el tapizado del asiento, y hasta creía ser capaz de sentir las partículas de polvo flotante, visibles gracias a la intensa luz que ingresaba al auto a través del parabrisas.

¿Por qué había decidido retornar ahora? En efecto, si bien era cierto que debía volver a aquel lugar, no tenía razón para haberlo hecho ese preciso día… no quería.

****

La lluvia corría a torrentes por la cara externa de los cristales. A través, se divisaban las siluetas desenfocadas de edificios, casas, y muchas luces. Ella  las observaba con desgano, acostada de lado en su cama. Miles de ideas transitaban por su cabeza, la mayoría de relevancia nula; tomaba una, la masticaba por un instante, y la desechaba.

Al cabo de un corto tiempo, juntó fuerzas para levantarse y se dirigió a la cocina. Mientras bebía un sorbo de su café, contemplaba la desolada sala de estar.

¿Cuándo fue la última vez que un ser humano, que no fuera ella, había transitado por ahí?

“Y que más da…”

No dejó que esta inquietud progresara: si había alguien responsable de esto, era ella misma.

Se vistió rápidamente, recogió sus llaves y tomó el ascensor de bajada. Era aquel momento del día, en que éste se detenía en cada piso, abriendo sus puertas para recibir cuantas personas fuera posible a cada momento. Bocanadas de gente, una tras otra, eran inhaladas y exhaladas por la criatura. Ella no hacía esfuerzo alguno por ocultar su hastío, sin embargo, le era imposible evitar el contacto físico con las otras personas allí enlatadas. Un vaho casi insoportable llenaba los espacios que la gente no podía, era reemplazado en cada parada por aire nuevo, que a su vez se tornaba en vaho a segundos de su llegada. El trayecto duraba siempre los interminables instantes, de veinte pisos en bajada.

Llegó a la planta baja y se dirigió a la salida. No dejaba de llover y había olvidado su paraguas. No le importaba. Era preferible sentir el frío azote de la lluvia, a repetir el trayecto en la caja metálica. Caminó con prisa, apenas rozando con la mirada a los otros transeúntes, arribó a la estación del metro, y descendió las escaleras. Cientos de personas corrían desesperadas, como escapando de la bestia, para alcanzar el metro de las 7:35. En su trajinar, ni se percataban de que iban propinado los más diversos ataques: un codazo por aquí, un golpe en la sien por acá, un rodillazo, un ataque a las costillas, tan bien dirigido que parecía, casi, intencionado, un empujón… la tenían sin cuidado, “Y que más da…”. Hace mucho que su interés por el resto de aquella ciudad se había desvanecido. Se movía por una incesante inercia. El impulso inicial de cada mañana la mantenía en pie todo el día.

Llegó a la plataforma de embarque, y se colocó en el lugar donde se abrirían las puertas del siguiente turno. Recorrió la plataforma con la vista, y, de repente, como un tirón que la sacó de la rutina, la vio. Otra chica, que aparentaba una edad similar a la de ella, se encontraba a cierta distancia sobre la plataforma. Algo presente en su rostro captó su atención… su mirada. Sí. Era la de alguien que había logrado cruzar la línea que ella era incapaz de cruzar cada mañana. Como por instinto se precipitó corriendo hacia ella, sin embargo, estaba algo lejos. El siguiente tren se aproximaba… la chica dio un ligero brinco hacia adelante… 

****

El abrumador sonido de varios bocinazos superpuestos la arrancó de su letargo. Puso en marcha su dauphine, solo para detenerse unos metros más adelante. “¿Para eso tanto escándalo?”, meditó. Volteó su cabeza en un ademán casi mecánico, y logró vislumbrar a un hombre que la saludaba desde un 404….



_________________________________

(I might find a better place to publish my short stories, someday, but meanwhile, I think the point is letting them out into the world, and this seems as good a place as any. Suggestions, tips, questions, everything is welcome: leave me a comment)

opening up

And ... I was finally able to set up my online portfolio page a little while ago. I've been meaning to do so for quite a long time now, but I never had the time (or so I kept saying to myself).

If you want to get a fast look at my work, here you go: the creative spark page

Is still under construction, but it has some of the things I've done on display.

Is also has a blog section, but it will be destined to work-related topics, while this blog, on the other hand, is more of a personal journal on many things.

I will deposit here all my art-related ramblings, in any form: music, writing, novels, personal demons ... pie ... whatever I feel like at the moment.

By the way, may you have some spare time, then you're in for a treat: 

If you go here: REM Gaze then you'll be delighted by a great mixture of images and words (all made by myself), it's a really personal thing.

If you go here: hzewlf's tumblr then you will find more of my nonsensical rambling, but with a lot of references to other animators, illustrators, and some freelancing advice.

Finally, I'm active in other places (140, too little you say?), and you can connect with me here

I will pump some post through the veins of this thing soon, and at least once a week.

See you around

(Suggestions, tips, questions, everything is welcome: leave me a comment)