1984

Thoughts

From: Torture memos reveal brutality of US imperialism

*Use of insects. A memo authorizes agents to place an insect in the “cramped confinement box” of a prisoner who interrogators noticed had “a fear of insects.”

[…]

The media generally joined Obama in studiously avoiding use of the term “torture” in describing the CIA’s methods. The New York Times referred to the acts of torture as “brutal interrogation techniques.” For its part, the Washington Post ran an editorial hailing as wise and courageous Obama’s decision to protect “government agents who may have committed heinous acts they were told were legal.”

This “just-following-orders” defense is also commonly referred to as the “Nuremberg Defense,” as it was so commonly used by Nazi defendants in the war crimes trials after World War Two. The American and British officials who set up the Nuremberg trials established the vulnerability of this defense through Principal IV, which states, “The fact that a person acted pursuant to order of his Government or of a superior does not relieve him from responsibility under international law, provided a moral choice was in fact possible to him.”

Putting insects in a man’s cell because he is afraid of them? If you’ve read 1984, this should make you shiver. (And so should the rest of this stuff. These are the tools of fascists and dictators.)

With a little help

Misc

A couple of my friends are maintaining blogs that you might want to check out:

At Q0nd0r W3ary, my good friend Ivo writes about everything that ignites his enthusiasm, with an emphasis on books and music. His mind is a fascinating thing: always ready to examine everything intensely and seriously, while often looking at things in a way that is quite different from mine.

My old and dear friend Julian is keeping his blog in German; but if you happen to speak that language, check it out. He’s currently writing about his experiences working as an intern for the Linkspartei in Berlin; I’m hoping that he will keep on writing once he’s done there. Julian and I have been fighting, arguing and agreeing over everything from socialist theory to Battlestar Galactica for many years now, and I’ve always enjoyed his thoughts – even when I don’t agree with them.

The Gravel Road

Film / Music

The first two minutes of “The Gravel Road” from the soundtrack of The Village are amongst the most stunningly beautiful pieces of music I have ever heard.

I should write more about that movie – it is deeply misunderstood, it’s depressing. It’s possibly the most touching film about love that I have ever seen.

Knowing

Film

I wasn’t certain whether I was going to like this movie. On the one hand, Alex Proyas directed Dark City, one of my all-time favourite movies… but on the other hand, he also did I, Robot.

I shouldn’t have worried. Knowing isn’t as good as Dark City, but it’s an interesting and well-done science fiction film. Its themes and ideas aren’t 100% original, but they’re thoughtful and well-executed, and in the end the film does dare to go to same places other films wouldn’t.

The biggest flaw, to me, was the score by Marco Beltrami. Now, the guy’s written a couple of excellent scores (Hellboy comes to mind, and Max Payne was also quite good), and this score isn’t bad, either… but it doesn’t soar. And it needed to. I would’ve been crying my eyes out at the end of the movie, but the music didn’t manage to take me there.

Another slight flaw is that the movie looks too… movie-ish. The lighting is beautiful, but not realistic. If this was a painting, it would look awesome, but with this movie’s plot it would’ve helped to ground things in reality a bit more. Every now and then the movie goes into shakycam mode, as if realizing that it needs to pull the viewer in more – but as with 99% of all cases, shakycam just alienates the viewer even more.

Still, all in all it was a well-made, thoughtful film.

Link: Roger Ebert’s review of the film

You’ve got to know whom to bite.

Thoughts

And now it makes perfect sense that I never liked South Park.

South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker still can’t believe a signed photo of Saddam Hussein U.S. Marines sent them is for real – but they hope it is.

Legend has it the troops screened the duo’s 1999 film South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut before the former Iraqi dictator was executed in 2006.

In the film, an animated Hussein is depicted as Satan’s gay lover.

Stone says, “We’re very proud of our signed Saddam picture and what it means… I have it on pretty good information from the Marines on detail in Iraq that they showed Saddam the movie over and over again, which is a pretty funny thought.”

Because as much as I disliked Saddam Hussein – and I really did – his trial was a sham and the man was murdered. That’s not something to be proud of. And when you’re an idiot with not the slightest bit of political understanding, your “satire” tends to fall flat.

(Edited to add text of the article, since IMDb is so primitive.)

Progress!

Projects

Just made a couple of important alterations to Phenomenon 32, which took down the overall size of the game (in MB) by something like 40%, while simultaneously giving me some cool new options. Yay!

I’m also working on adding more features that wouldn’t have been in the contest version. I want this game to be detailed and fun. As usual with my games, it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but to those with the right mindset it should be a lot of fun. (And yes, it still has a real story.)

So – new game soon. For now, have a nice Suspiciously Pagan Holiday.

Man, oh man.

Thoughts

So there we were, out in the garden…

happily playing with our little monster…

when all of a sudden this huge motherfucking stone slab comes down from the roof with a crash, hitting the ground where we had both been standing not too long ago, making a huge hole in the ground.

That’s how easily you can go. From one moment to the next, your life can be ruined by a piece of masonry falling from the sky.

I’m thankful that ours wasn’t.

Still around, still working

Projects

This has been an incredibly busy week, which is why I haven’t managed to update the blog. I have made a great deal of progress with Phenomenon 32, and added quite a few neat things that weren’t in the original plan. I hope to have it finished tomorrow.

I also spent an incredible amount of time looking up potential agents for Verena (legit ones, that are also interested in the right kind of material). We’ll be submitting queries soon, and hopefully getting some positive responses.

All of this has reminded me just how much I love writing and directing. As soon as I’m done with Phenomenon 32, I will continue writing my novel and finishing my damn film. And maybe start a new project.

Argh, blargh and gnargh.

News

I had been planning to spend all of yesterday working on Phenomenon 32. Instead, I was so incredibly ill that I spent the whole day in bed, incapable of eating or driking. I swear I haven’t felt this bad in years, if not decades. It was awful. Even when my body decided that it was time to throw up (which usually helps with this kind of situation), there was nothing to throw up. I’m better now, but I still feel rather messed up, and my back hurts.

The cat, interestingly enough, spent more than half the day lying in bed with me, only getting up when I did. It was most cute.