I liked Iron Man 2. It was like nerds duking it out in real battlesuits and not in Halo.
But I probably need to start by saying: I am also a shameless blockbuster movie fan. Six years of studying literature in academia and I still have no qualms about punting a declared modern classic of autobiographical drivel for trite, Hollywood-fueled extravagance. Which is *not* to say I have no standards — the recent remake of Transformers, for instance, tried my patience harder than the original 80s movie cheese. But Iron Man 2, I have no problem.
Contrary to current popular votes of expectations against it, I’d even go as far as to put it on par with the first Iron Man movie Favreau’s team made. And why not? As a banter-loving explosion aficionado, I laughed where I was supposed to at all the superficial literary references and giggled whenever a character made a snappy comment. (e.g. At the description of a missile so advanced, “It will make Ulysses look like it was written by a child in crayon; and then read it back to you.”)
I do enjoy a good, silent villain, and Mickey Rourke’s Ivan Vanko was nothing but terse and hardworking. It was refreshing that the villain didn’t feel a need to run around killing people all the time or shooting things in order to be evil. He did his bit, beat up Iron Man, and then spent most of the rest of the movie sitting around looking smart w/very stylish glasses on his nose. It was like, “Yeah, we already saw you half naked earlier, so your badass credentials are good.”
Pepper Potts and Tony Stark’s bickering crescendo showcased the two actors’ chemistry at its best. Neurotic, insistent, and yet charmingly familiar, their sputtering, non-canon romance underscores an interesting dynamic of two people who know each other’s habits all too well, and yet seem to know nothing about the other at all.
Scarlett Johanson, playing her “stony face” siren role (wait — does she have any other?) rocked the Black Widow leather as secret S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Natasha Romanoff, and to the choreographer and director’s credit, they gave her several a semi-realistic scenes of combat wherein she actually takes down a her opponents in several short, blink-and-you-miss them moves across the floor. Admittedly, I still can’t figure out why the hell she needed to be in this movie at all, but it was nice to have some real curve candy on screen instead of Gwyneth Paltrow’s skinny, shapeless butt.
I did miss the amiable face of Terrance Howard, however, who fell out of favor with the movie because of a contract dispute and was replaced by Don Cheadle. Replacing Rhodey took away from the established familiarity of the characters, and I couldn’t help but picture him instead in Cheadle’s place. (Don Cheadle, you will forever be to me Hotel Rwanda, so get out of my heartless blockbuster movies, already!)
Some people complained about this movie having too much going on, and I agree, but in the darkness of the theater , the pacing and story unfolded just right. And at the end of the day, it comes to this: can you, or can you not enjoy the adventures of a megalomaniacal narcissist who claims, “I have successfully privatized world peace”? Because I can.
Been meaning to write a quickie blurb on this show for the longest time and never seem to get to it. It’s definitely full of oddball charm and slightly stoned adorableness starring two out of work flat mates who can’t quite decide if they’re really too much alike or just meant to be together for life. Those who have seen Shaun of the Dead will recognize the trademark twitchy camera and kinetic close-ups but might be surprised by the show’s sci-fi focus and self-deprecating depth. It’s a fun romp and ought to be subscribed to as part of the geek repertoire.
Wacky side characters kept me coming back to the show even when the female lead, Daisy, annoyed me to pieces. She eventually grew on me, but it’s characters like Brian, the indie artist, and the desperate land lady that really made the story fun. But watch out for the Phantom Menace jokes.
Feb 9 — Leave SFO for Taiwan Feb 10 — Arrive 11PM in Taipei, Taiwan Feb 15 — David arrives around 10:30PM in Taiwan Feb 18 – Leave at 11PM for Bangkok, Thailand Feb 19 — Arrive at Bangkok hotel at 4PM; later that day, boat canal tour of Bangkok and visit Si Lom night market
Feb 20 — Arrive in Mumbai at 12:30PM, take really rickety taxi cab ride to hotel; am appalled by living conditions Feb 21 — Wait at Mumbai airport for 10 hours for departing flight back to Bangkok; do not want to go back into city Feb 22 — Hop back onto plane to Escape from Mumbai at 2AM in the morning Feb 22 — Arrive in Bangkok, Thailand and readmitted to lovely city at 8AM
Feb 23 — Change hotels to the Shanghai Mansion Feb 24 — Take tour of Ayutthaya and change hotels to The Aspen Suites Feb 25 — Change hotels to FuramaXclusive and take dinner cruise of Bangkok river Feb 26 – leave Bangkok to return to US
Traveler’s Notes: Prostitutes in Bangkok
Prostitution is a prolific and openly practiced profession in Bangkok. Women in high-cut skirts and shorts line the major streets along tourist-heavy areas.
Sitting in front of The Landmark Starbucks, I watched several foreigners field solicitations from prostitutes, and at least two depart the area with a new female companion at his side. One charming girl in a t-shirt and short shorts begged an older Caucasian gentleman by clasping her hands together winsomely before pointing at the expensive five star Landmark hotel and turning her hopeful eyes on him. He shook his head several times while she repeated the ritual, and he finally agreed and they walked off together with her following slightly behind on his right side.
Prostitutes in Bangkok are available wherever you are, and given the careless drift of conversation overheard between Westerners, seem to be regarded as part of the consumable pleasures of the city—like the scenery, or the food, or a casual trinket purchase from a night market stand. Most non-native looking men will be solicited by prostitutes, and walking down the streets at night (or even day) can be a challenge in its own right. Bring a female companion of your own with you if you wish to avoid any unsavory entanglements. Be sure to practice safe sex and take every precaution if you choose to engage with one of these ladies of negotiable affection. Some hotels also require registration and a surcharge for additional companions accompanying you to your room. Check with your hotel for their policies and regulations.
Prostitution is a prolific and openly practiced profession in Bangkok. Women in high-cut skirts and shorts line the major streets along tourist-heavy areas.
Sitting in front of The Landmark Starbucks, I watched several foreigners field solicitations from prostitutes, and at least two depart the area with a new female companion at his side. One charming girl in a t-shirt and short shorts begged an older Caucasian gentleman by clasping her hands together winsomely before pointing at the expensive five star Landmark hotel and turning her hopeful eyes on him. He shook his head several times while she repeated the ritual, and he finally agreed and they walked off together with her following slightly behind on his right side.
Prostitutes in Bangkok are available wherever you are, and given the careless drift of conversation overheard between Westerners, seem to be regarded as part of the consumable pleasures of the city—like the scenery, or the food, or a casual trinket purchase from a night market stand. Most non-native looking men will be solicited by prostitutes, and walking down the streets at night (or even day) can be a challenge in its own right. Bring a female companion of your own with you if you wish to avoid any unsavory entanglements. Be sure to practice safe sex and take every precaution if you choose to engage with one of these ladies of negotiable affection. Some hotels also require registration and a surcharge for additional companions accompanying you to your room. Check with your hotel for their policies and regulations.
For more about traveling abroad, check out the full Vacation in Asia blog entry.
Getting away from the airport in Mumbai is confusing and uncomfortable. The airport seems to be of an old design, and they make you run around quite a bit just to get to immigration, and then back to your baggage, and then there is a screening check through customs; none of which are streamlined, so there is some doubling back and forth trying to find your way. The passages are barely air conditioned, with large, portable air conditioners lining the hallway valiantly fighting the force of the Mumbai sun, and failing.
The exit of the airport is also a disappointment as there are no duty free shopping venues lining the hallway with colorful store displays and fresh decorations. Great for those who want to get right to the point, terrible for those interested in sightseeing and pleasure spending like a proper tourist. Instead, you get a few sorry looking stands offering taxis, tours buses, and a really poorly informed staff at the Indian Tourism Ministry station.
Getting on a taxi in and of itself is an adventure, as the slightest misstep could get you into bed with an unsavory pair of tourist predators. The government provides monitored taxi services at officially marked “Pre-Paid Taxi” counters in the airport building. On your way there, many higher priced taxi drivers and taxi scam artists will attempt to solicit you and tempt you to their rides. Don’t fall for these unless you have money to burn and really want to pay some 300 to 400 times the actual cost of your ride. The rate for pre-paid taxis are calculated and agreed upon in advance by a third party, who accepts the payment and also hands you a receipt stating the destination and total cost to pay to the driver—hang onto the receipt and show this to the driver. An authorized pre-paid taxi driver will take the receipt and use it to get clearance from the airport, then return the customer copy to you on the trip. There is no additional payment to the cab driver needed, but you can choose to offer a small tip of 10-20 Rs. The rates are only apply to black and yellow taxi cars of dubious make showing a certain antiquity: any other vehicle that claims to be “pre-paid” but which do not have the right markings is likely a tourist scam trying to get you onboard to gouge you for further services once en route. With no air conditioning, openly exposed wiring, and barely-there steering wheels, the yellow and black taxis are like a throwback to an earlier era for the intrepid traveler, but otherwise serviceable enough, though small, and probably—probably—won’t explode beneath you despite the exposed gas tank in the trunk.
As you would expect in any well-developed ecosystem, predators in Mumbai have evolved a highly complex form of camouflage and solicitation to dupe prey into believing that they are helpful and cost-effective guides that will get you where you need to go. Most will attempt to get your money by claiming to be your taxi ride, shanghai you onboard, and then ask you to pay additional money for their services once you are on the road and unable to disembark.
There are a few tells that you can look for which will give these scam artists away: most tellingly, each solicitor will immediately tell you to put your pre-paid taxi receipt away as you’re boarding, because the security is looking. That’s because the security guards are there for your protection, and the scam artists are not. But amidst all of the blurred English and slurred words, it can sometimes be easy to let this one slip in the confusion. For reference, the exposed receipt is how they identify you as a tourist, and what you should do with it if you correctly identify the situation is to show it to the security guard onsite and get directed to the correct taxi service instead. If you do somehow get roped aboard a fake taxi, there may be an additional passenger/”guide” who will climb aboard who will give the scam’s identity away. Ask to get off immediately and refuse to pay anything to the driver or his bedfellow. They will show you a laminated card and point to the additional rates for traveling in Mumbai and may even tell you that the pre-paid service only covers the cost of parking where you are going, all of which is bullshit. There is barely a concept of paid parking in Mumbai as most drivers just drop you willy nilly at whichever gap in the street is most convenient. Always go with your gut feeling if you have a bad vibe about a taxi ride situation. Better to be paranoid than sorry, and in Mumbai, they really are all out to get you. (Nothing personal.)
Taxi drivers in Mumbai can be booked for a day for the rate of 1600-1700 Rs. This is for an air conditioned cab, all day, but depending on the season and driver, rates may be negotiable. I don’t want to say this is definitive, as I’ve only asked one driver for their all-day rate, but it’s a good baseline for judging how much to pay a driver, and how much they’re trying to make off of you in the process.
For more about traveling abroad, check out the full Vacation in Asia blog entry.
Rental rides in Thailand fall into several categories. At the high end are chartered buses and cars which you can arrange for at the airport or through a travel agency in town, the latter of which will be better priced, especially if you shop around the many roadside travel agencies available and compare prices. Next come “cool cabs” which are also advertised as limos. These look and feel the same as regular taxis. They just have a fancier name and cost more. Regular taxis cost 35 baht to start, and the cost goes up by increments of 2 baht. A trip from the airport to downtown Bangkok costs anywhere between 350-700 baht, depending on your taxi driver and the type of roadway. Highways are a paid service in Thailand, so be sure to check with your driver beforehand whether the quoted price is inclusive of these fees if you are going by a set price, or be sure to have change ready if you are using a metered service.
Generally, it is in your best interests to use a metered taxi cab service in the city, because Bangkok is not that big a place and many an unscrupulous driver will try to part you from your money by quoting an outrageous price at the end of your ride if there is no meter to check him. More than one driver will likely try to take advantage of your by deliberately not turning on his meter as well, so make sure that the rate is clearly visible before you get taken off on a ride.
On occasion, you may want to ask a driver for a flat rate to a certain location, depending on the time of day and the traffic level. These prices are always open to negotiation, but may possibly cost you more for the trip, although the reassurance of a set price to a more distant destination that you are unsure of may be worth the extra fare. Ask a native to negotiate for you whenever possible, such as through your hotel concierge service, or a tour guide. The native will likely know the actual price of the ride, and the driver will be less likely to try and cheat you.
The last two types of rental rides in Bangkok are the tuk-tuks (pronounced too-tookes) and motorcycle taxis. The tuk-tuks are basically three wheeled motorcycles with an open air cover, giving it larger seating space and carrying capacity. Motorcycle taxis are identifiable by the bright orange vests that the drivers wear, and seating is limited to one person behind the driver. These mostly seem to be used by the local travelers trying to get quickly to and from neighborhood destinations.
For more about traveling abroad, check out the full Vacation in Asia blog entry.
Winter is a time for bundled layers and hot, steaming beverages. In Eastern Asian tradition, it’s also the perfect time for one of my favorite dining experiences: the hot pot!
Hot pot dining in Asian culture is different from the Western versions of this dish. (I recently learned about a Lancashire hot pot that looks delicious!) The basic equipment and ingredients are a burning tabletop stove, a pot of hot stock (usually chicken and often embellished with herbs for flavoring), and a selection of finely cut thing meats, veggies, and seafood.
Asian hot pot, for me, is a powerfully visceral experience. Taste, smell, heat, texture… all of these things blend together in the pot as you drop each raw item, one by one, into the steaming stock. You pick out each item to eat as it cooks and floats to the top. In Taiwanese versions, it’s also tradition to set aside satays and other sauces on the side for dipping your boiled tidbits when the cooking is done. An egg is often cracked to add to the soup, which is consumed at the end of the meal as a rich, flavorful stew.
The premise of Fable never seemed to lend itself to a nuanced story-based game. But its smooth graphics, fluid combat control, and extensive world-building earned it both critical acclaim as well as fans around the globe. In its upcoming release, it seems that adventurers in the land of Albion may have a whole new feel to look forward to: a world that is darker, a landscape that is more complex, and a mood heavy with consequence–both because the setting and the player’s actions (current life and previous).
The story starts roughly 50 years later with the descendant of the original hero from Fable II living under the heel of an unforgiving lord. In that time, Albion has jumped from its medieval days to the beginnings of a technological Renaissance. Ancient magic and science struggle in the background, and the player has the opportunity to rise from the coals of obscurity to free the land of oppression, or rule it as a tyrant. Under the auspices of this new aesthetic, the development team has hinted at dramatic changes to the original Fable formula. Unlike the first two titles, the second half of Fable III will deal with the challenges and decisions of the story’s hero as a ruler. Players who may have panned the sequel for not experimenting and pushing far enough in terms of the immersion and game play may be in for a treat. “I think there’s something fundamentally wrong with RPGs like Fable,” says Fable creator and industry leader Peter Molyneux, “It’s a mechanic that’s been there since the eighties. I’m going to take that foundation stone and throw it away.”
All in all, Fable III seems a game to look forward to–a combination of a proven action RPG and with a new game genre of RPG simulation from the man who brought us Dungeon Keeper and Black & White. With the dramatic new changes developers are promising, it might be easy for developers to overlook the elements that made Fable I & II such hits, but this writer has faith that Lionshead will live up to the hype. And of course, I hope they keep the dog.
Before you dismiss it as some kind of fancy Chinese dancing, consider how difficult it is to send a grown man flying in a way that graceful so as to make said man (victim?) seem weightless. Look, ma, no wires!