Review: Hostel

I watched Hostel last night and was disappointed. I am a horror fan and also a big fan on Tarantino so imagine my excitement when I heard that there was a movie combining both. I do feel though that this excitement and hype built up may have biased my view but not to a large extent. I’ll try not to give too many spoilers. The basic story is that two american college (UNI) mates set off on a backpacking trip through Europe to gain exciting travel memories. They hop from hostel to hostel chasing the dream and end up in an out of the way hostel in Slovakia. There they enjoy some exotic beauties and find out that the hostel is not all that it seems. The movie started actually much like a documentary and with some weak dialogue which was surprising. And then the movie struggled along not really adding much to the characters for another hour and the half. Following this the gory part starts and you start wondering why are the characters doing what they are doing? Granted in a classical horror movie you question why after escaping the killer, the damsel in distress goes back in the house (and you start shouting at the screen) but this was questioning the actions of the killer. After the explosion of what I would call comedy horror like Scream and I know what you did last summer I was eagerly awaiting the return to classic horror and welcomed movies like Saw, the grudge, the ring, the village etc but hostel just did not deliver. Granted there were the classic Tarantino dialogue and action which sometimes made we wonder whether there was an action movie raring to burst out but the ending just did not justify the movie. Had I not seen the interview with Eli Roth and how he come upon the idea for the movie I totally would not have understood the movie. So for this I’ll give 6.5 out of 10 for its underdeveloped characters and plot. It’s very gory so not for the fait hearted and I recommend you wait till the DVD goes on sale at HMV in the 3 for £20 or ex-rental at blockbuster before you try.

Wireless Not Working

I’m not an IT worker but consider myself to be a techie because I am an engineer. So when I hit upon a problem when I moved house I thought cool shouldn’t be a problem. When I moved I ordered broadband internet and realised that there are some parts of the UK (more specifically in London) that don’t get more than 1Meg download speed not matter what Internet Service Provider (ISP) you decide to go with. So much for Wanadoo’s 8Meg. After battling with BT customer service in India for 4 days I finally get broadband working. I could go on about call centres but we’ll save that for another post. I realised then that I had want to go online with my Xbox but my modem/router was upstairs and Xbox was downstairs. Simple solution I thought. Either I could run ‘Cat 5’ cable (sorry but that’s what the cable is called) downstairs or I could go wireless. Seeing that I had experienced the ‘plasterboard effect’ when running cables, Wireless seemed the better option. So I scoured around Dixons, Curry’s, Comet and PC World to find the right solution only to realise that some of the so called experts that work in these stores don’t have a clue. I hopped on the web and a few forums and opted on the Netgear stuff pictured DG834GT wireless router and a game adaptor WGE111. The wording on the boxes read “Easy setup- Smart wizard gets you connected in fewer than 5 clicks” and “Get you LAN party underway in minutes”. And I was sold. I hopped on to Amazon (cheapest) and ordered. They arrived last Wednesday and Friday night I had some time and decided to set up. And there started my problems. Not only could I not get the smart wizard to work the manual was no bigger than an A4. It actually took me a total of 18 hours altogether to get the whole LAN setup. I even tried connecting to the neighbour’s internet because I could see their LAN and not my router. Had it not been for the fact that I had internet access and a few helpful buddies on forums it would have taken me much longer. And the solutions to the installation problems were no where to be seen in the manuals. Only as a result of trial and error has some people found out the pitfalls and gave helpful hints to others. But why does it have to be so complicated? Why can’t our manufacturers be more accountable? So many people had tried emailing Netgear but with very little success. People had bought the goods, opened the box, couldn’t get it working and when they tried to return it they couldn’t because the box had been opened. I recon there should be a health warning in the boxes.

Growing Older

When I was younger in my teens there was nothing I wanted more than to grow older. To get to that magic 18 when you where an adult, could vote and buy alcohol. To get to 21 when more doors were opened for you. After that you realise there are no more happy doors to go through. There is 30 when women start realising that time is running out for making babies. 40 when men start their mid life crisis and buy the two seater sport car and then 50 which is a major mile stone and one to start going on cruises.

If like me you are way past the 21 but not yet in a mid life crisis, the news this week would have made things even gloomier. The documentary on the treatment of old people on Monday sent shock waves down my spine. Standards in care homes are falling, Care is getting more expensive and choices are becoming limited. What’s going to happen when I retire and need care? Already I know my pension ( See pension strike 28/03/06 here) would be pittance because one just can't afford to save more when student loans and credit card debts are calling now and household bills are rising at shocking rates. So I’m a left thinking I got to do something about it or else I will find myself later in life in a care home suffering from abuse and neglect wondering how did I get here?

Revenge is sweet...

South Park's creators Matt Stone and Trey parker got the last laugh on the whole scientology saga surrounding Chef aka Issac Hayes last wednesday. Not only did they get to apparently kill off Chef in specatacular fashion they also managed to do so with the highest rated aminamted series season premiere since 2002.
Revenge sure is sweet.

Demise of social interaction?

I was on my way home today when I was approached by a girl canvassing for some data collection agency. She was apparently collecting data to canvass opinions on train travel and effects of winter on travel. One of the questions on the questionnaire stuck to mind. The question was "How would you feel if someone greeted you (say a fellow passenger) when you got on the train?" There were several options including you'd think it was strange and it would make your day. I choose I'd think it was strange because that was the first thing that came to mind.
As I was on my way home I pondered upon the question. Is it so strange for people to say hi on the train? Is society so insular such that we don't interact with people we don't know? Has the growth of the ipod and other mp3 players lead to the demise of social interaction? Do we prefer to go online and talk to people rather than do it in person?
I looked around the train and no one was smiling. Were we all so fed up we've also lost the art of smiling? Just then the annoucement came over the loud speaker "We are sorry but the train has developed a fault and will be terminating at the next stop". Now that wiped the smile off my face...

Commuter Madness

The news of the day is the overcrowding on trains. Apparently on some morning services into London trains can carry up to 185% of people to the number of seats available. Come on Department for Transport tell us something we don't already know. I don't think most of us can remember time when we actual sat down on a train in the morning rush. We suffer the crowded train every morning, gritting our teeth as we hope there is space to squeeze in because the next train isn't going to be any better.
There are a few things about the journey that really takes the cake making the journey just that little bit more unbearable

1. Sally Jane. Sally and her like minded mates like to read the newspaper (usually the metro) or a book on the train. Fair enough I have no problem with that. But in a crowded train there is literally no space to move. So poking me in the side with spine of your book or slapping me with the paper as you change pages while the train rocks from side to side is not going to going to make me happy. So when I stare at you or ask you to keep your book to yourself don't look at me like I asked you to dip your hand in hot oil.

2. Joe Bloggs. Joe thinks that sharing the contents of his stomach including last nights curry is fun. On a cold winter morning like the ones we have been having all the train windows if indeed there are any are shut. More than likely the train's air conditioning is either not working or pumping out freezing air. The train is packed, everyone is up close and personal, then you get a whiff, you put it out of your mind thinking it just passing but it lingers. Everyone starts looking around like who could it be. You know its you but you join in the looking. Why Joe why? Couldn't you just wait till you got off? Instead you stand there looking innocent.
3. Jacks Pratt. Jack and his school mates have just bought the latest ipod. Fair enough you prefer not to listen to the train screech and squeak as the driver spills his coffee and applies the brakes hard round the corners. Why do you feel then you have to share you music with us? We don't want to know what you are listening to? It doesn't even sound that good because we can only hear the high notes of the song. It so loud sometimes so loud I cant even hear my own mp3 player. Back in the day you could have gone up asked Jack to turn down the music but these days for fear of attack we just stand and grit our teeth.
4. Polly Pru. Polly a regular commuter thinks she knows how long it takes to get to her stop so she either falls asleep or starts day dreaming. Fair enough each to their own. We get to Polly's stop and she is still day dreaming or sleeping. The doors are about to close when Polly wakes up."Oh what station is this?" "Plumstead" a voice replies. "Shit" cries Polly as she barge everyone out of her way so she can get to the door holding up the train in the process as her bag is stuck in the door.
After all this hassle on the daily commute is it a wonder the workforce is not increasing productivity? Why do these people have to get my train???

Catch Phrases to songs?

The metro london reported today that Chico, X factor reject was knocked off the number one spot in the UK charts so my question is how the hell did he get there in the first place. We all know he can't sing and the song was created out some useless catch phrase "Its Chico time". What is the world coming to? What topped it all for me was when I turned over to the dancehall charts and found out that number one was "Bad man forward" by Ding Dong. Firstly who the hell call themselves Ding dong? Secondly the song is literally made up of the lyrics "Bad man forward, bad man pull up" and that's it. The phrase is reapeated for another 2 minutes and that's it. A whole song made up of some stupid catch phrase some 'mans' must have uttered in a 'dance' under heavy influence of substances and the next thing we know it's number one on the charts. What's next? A song about frogs? Oh wait we already have the crazy frog both a dance and reggae version.
I came home today and saw the video for Pink's new single Stupid girls and though it was really inspirational. Im tired of watching the same old themes in music videos; scantily clad women, heavy bass and nonsensical string of words put together and called a hook. At last some song that has a positive message for women out there...

Should I stay or should I go?

Every day when we wake up to switch off the alarm clock, especially on monday mornings, the famous old question of should I stay or should I go comes to mind. For most it is an easy decision. The thought of mortgage or rent payments, car payments, the recent hike in gas and electricity prices and the fact that there are nine months left in the year to take sick days spurs us to spring out of bed and get going. For a select few however the question has an entirely different meaning.
First up is our dear old teflon Tony. Another scandal "Cash for peerages" yet again threatens his already lame duck post as prime minister. The economist in its friday print issue is already calling these is the last days of Blair as he looses support in Britain. Even Tony himself must be wondering how long his teflon is going to last.
Second up is Tony's old mate Silvio Berlusconi. Italy's richest man and prime minister is facing re-election. Already trailing in the polls and facing corruption charges he is now facing mutiny within his own camp. He must be thinking to himself "Should I stay or should I go".
Running a close third is Met chief Sir Ian Blair. Still dogged by the shooting of the innocent Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes and then the secret recorded messages of conversations with the Attorney General, its now alledged his office misled an inquiry over claims he had known much earlier than he professed that the shooting was mistake. "Should I stay or should I go"
In fourth place is Iraq's Shi'a Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari. Facing pressure from the West to curb the increasing violence in Iraq and from a government, non of which has been or seem like is going to be achieved in the near future he said he was willing to withdraw his nomination for a second term. No doubt then that he has pondered the question.
Finally is a suspected international terrorist identified only as "A". A was jailed without trail for three and a half years and recently freed on bail conditions such as staying at home for 22 hours a day. A's other option was to head home to Algeria where he would face persecution and Algeria is known for its poor human rights record. So A, like me, woke up this morning and pondered on the same question. Only he didnt have anything to spur him out of bed.

WELCOME

Welcome to the Dark Perspective.

What is this blog about?

It is a social commentary about the things in life that I come across. In life we all take different journeys which may or may not cross at some time and I feel I’d like to share my journey with others. Also I feel that my perspective or take on life is slightly different and may interest some people. I want this blog to be interactive such that if someone gets my point they can write in and say so and if they disagree they can write in too. That way I may see another perspective and maybe change mine…who knows?

Why this blog?

I feel that this blog gives you personal perspective that you can’t get anywhere else.

A few things from the papers this week

Friday’s Headline in the Metro: US launches largest air assault on Iraq since the start of war. The article goes on to say that there were troops from 7 brigades, 200 tactical vehicles, more than 50 helicopters and around 1500 troops. The result? More than 40 people captured, non of which were “high value targets”. Definitely a show of force. I can’t help feeling that had Bush called Jack Bauer to sort this out by now he would have several high ranking Al’Qaeda suspects in custody and still had another 10 hours till the end of the day.

Soul Singer Isaac Hayes is to stop providing the voice of Chef in South Park. Apparently My Hayes objected to the “inappropriate ridicule” of scientology the church to which he belongs. Now correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t South Park the show that takes a no holds barred attitude to ridiculing anything society has to offer from George bush to Mormons? Yet Mr Hayes objects to when his church get gets blasted. Some how this smells of double standards. Shame on you Isaac.

Download
I came across this small gem from the lifehacker website. Lifehacker recommends downloads, web sites and shortcuts that actually save time. I admit the website has a geeky feel and for those of you not really bothered exploring then go straight to the download.
The gem is a small program called Desk task and works with Outlook to pick up all the appointments for your week and display it on the desktop. If like me you don't use outlook for your email and but use the calender for birthdays, payday or payment alerts or its to-do list then having them all displayed on your desktop is brilliant.