Clockwork Technology

Builders

2009-11-07T11:04:00.001+01:00

There are builders outside my window laying new paving. My thought: Why must most pop music be so terminally average?

Angels and Demons... and Lancia.

2009-10-04T12:19:00.005+02:00

The other night I watched Angels and Demons on DVD. It was quite a pleasant surprise after The Da Vinci Code. Whereas its predecessor was an overcomplicated, leaden affair only really worth watching for Ian McKellan's excellent villain, the newer film is a simpler, more straightforward, thriller and all the better for it.

Much of the film is spent with the protagonists chasing across Rome in a sleek black Italian car, racing to get to the next plot point on time. The sleek black car in question being Lancia's rather lovely new Delta model:

This car features very heavily in the film (succesful and presumably expensive product placement by Lancia) and was of interest to me because, while I'm less interested in cars than I was when I was younger, I'm still a big fan of the Lancia marque - despite its dismal history in recent decades.

In the first half of the 20th century, Lancia was an ultra-luxury brand that competed with few others to build the best motor cars possible, irrespective of cost. In the 1950s they combined pioneering technology (including the world's first V6 engine) with beautiful, innovative styling in the Aurelia B20 coupe, to create an entirely new class of car - the Grand Tourer:

If I had to pick one car as my all-time favourite, this half-century old coupe would be it. It has everything: A great history, competition succes, innovative mechanicals and one of the most beautiful shapes of any car - with room for four adults inside. The Aurelia B20 was astronomically expensive when new; it was what you bought when you wanted the best and cost was no object. I can't think of any other car I'd like to have more.

Later on, in the 60s and 70s, Lancia (now owned by Fiat) moved downmarket and built cheaper, more mainstream cars. At first, this was a succes - producing compact gems like the Fulvia, the coupe version of which is car number 2 in my dream garage. In the longer term, however, the rot set in. Despite the odd exceptional product like the famous Delta Integrale (one of the most succesful rally cars in history) in the 1980s, Lancia had fallen from making the finest cars on the planet to making badly-built, boxily-styled rebodied Fiats like the Dedra and Thema (though the latter was not entirely without charm). In export markets, Lancia's sales plummeted. Right-hand drive versions for markets like Britain were cancelled entirely. In recent years, Lancia have only sold well in Italy.

The new Delta pictured above is Lancia's attempt at a real comeback. It's being marketed heavily and they're even being reintroduced to international markets long since abandoned, like Britain. Though mechanically related to a model from parent company Fiat, the Delta is a quite different beast - longer, sleeker, roomier, better finished and equipped. All petrol models are turbo-charged and even the most basic version sprints to 100km/h in less than 10 seconds. The initial road tests of the car are positive and it bristles with interesting details like the elegant LED lighting. Far more importantly however, having seen examples of this car driving around several times now, I can confirm: It looks like a Lancia.

Musical serendipity

2009-10-04T12:07:00.002+02:00

While in Madrid, I bought this CD on a whim - wanting to sample something 'local'. I had never heard of the group Vetusta Morla or this, what turned out to be their debut, abum En dia en el mundo ('A day in the world'), but just picked it up as it was in the Spanish top 5 and had a cool cover. Occasionally, such randomness can make for a nice surprise, but more often than not it leads to disappointment.

In this case, I needn't have worried: This CD is a delight. If you ever wondered what really good Spanish indie music sounded like, this is it. Particular gems are the subdued and lovely tracks Copenhangue and Al Respira. Very strongly recommended.

2010

2009-09-27T23:50:00.004+02:00

Random DVD choice from the archives this evening: Though overshadowed by it's predecesor, this is a good film with a fine cast; and it's great to see HAL return.

Nespresso - the truth

2009-09-24T19:11:00.003+02:00

I have been the happy owner of a Nespresso coffee machine for almost a year now. It was bought partly on the strength of a recommendation from a coffee expert who told me that, because the coffee grounds are sealed into the little capsules shortly after roasting and grinding, they retain their freshness and so the quality of the resulting coffee is both high and very consistent.

I had certainly found the above to be the case and was delighted with the machine... until today a colleague casually dropped a bombshell by telling me he'd heard the capsules do not contain fresh ground coffee at all, but liquid coffee extract as used in some coffee machines in offices. Naturally I didn't believe him, but that didn't stop me wanting proof:

So there you have it: Nespresso OK!

The International

2009-09-21T00:07:00.002+02:00

On Friday I watched the thriller The International on DVD. I meant to see this in the Cinema but didn't get round to it in time. It's a solidly entertaining film (though, goodness, it'd be nice to see Clive Owen playing something other than an incredibly scruffy-looking hero type) and has some very good performances indeed from the supporting cast. The use of architecture as another 'character' in the film is thouroughly succesfull and the gunfight in the Guggenheim is every bit as impressive as the reviews suggest, but the film seems to lose its way slightly after this, rather incredible, interlude. Though entertaining, The International isn't quite sure whether it wants to be an action thriller or something grittier, more realistic and morally ambiguous. As a result, elegant ending aside, it isn't quite succesful as either.

Madrid

2009-09-17T18:38:00.006+02:00

Back from my second trip to Madrid. Fantastic city.

Dance is not for wimps

2009-09-07T19:26:00.002+02:00

Just in case there's any doubt about this in your mind: Should anyone tell you dance is for wimps, they're full of shit.

Yesterday morning, I attended a jazz dance class for the first time in my life. Today, I have muscle pain in places I didn't even know I had muscles. Though the lesson was very fast-paced and quite difficult, I thoroughly enjoyed it and will be going back. :)

Satyricon

2009-09-04T22:36:00.002+02:00

This week went to see Fellini's 1969 film Satyricon. Googling the film will bring up terms like 'classic', 'visually inventive' and 'spectacular'. I'll grant the 'visually inventive', maybe even 'spectacular'... but in the way filming a bad LSD trip might be considered spectacular and visually inventive. We walked out after about 20 minutes.

Avoid.

La Roux

2009-09-03T19:00:00.002+02:00

Little else has been in my CD player since this arrived. I don't think you can read it in the above photo, but there's a label on the CD cover with a quote from the NME review of this album: "The final word in the synth-pop generation".

Quite difficult to add anything to that.

Los Abrazos Rotos

2009-09-01T01:13:00.002+02:00

Went to see the new Pedro Almodóvar film in the cinema this evening. While I don't feel it's up there with the very best of his work, it was an enjoyable couple of hours. The story builds quite slowly and (as my neighbour commented) there's less hysteria than in most of his films - take that as you will. ;)

Uitmarkt

2009-08-30T23:22:00.003+02:00

This weekend was the Uitmarkt in Amsterdam - the opening of the new cultural season, with a large programme of cultural events from Friday evening until Sunday. For me, this started badly: Friday evening I had drinks-related plans and Saturday I failed to make it to a single performance; oweing to a combination of the hangover from Friday evening's drinks-related plans, a full hall where I tried to see some modern dance and torrential rain in the evening.

On Sunday, however, I did much better; taking in a theatre show and three dance performances. It was great fun to dash between the different venues, trying to see as much as possible. For me, the highlights were the solo performance of a young dancer in Dragon Production's We have soul with a capital S (I was less impressed by the three other dancers in the show - but it was a try out) and the sneak preview of RUIS from Conny Janssen Danst. Only a few weeks into rehearsals, this ensemble of young (still studying) dancers fizzed with energy and verve; and the choreography looked great. When the full show comes to Amsterdam in October (at the Bellevue theatre) I will definitely be in the audience.

Tell No One

2009-08-29T22:14:00.003+02:00

How many layers can a thriller story have? Alot, apparently.

This French adaption of the American novel is complicated fare but, in truth, all the better for it. In a running time of over 2 hours, it never fails to keep you gripped - and guessing. The action comes in measured doses, and overwhelms neither story nor acting, but is brilliantly done; the hero's escape over the motorway proves all over again that one thrilling, realistic, moment is worth a thousand expensive CGI effects.

In addition, a song in the soundtrack that is simultaneously an important plot development made me realise something that has somehow escaped me up until this point in my life: I like U2.

Recommended.

The Hermitage Amsterdam

2009-08-28T20:07:00.002+02:00

Today I visited the new Hermitage dependance in Amsterdam. I had been looking forward to this since attending a talk about the renovation project shortly prior to the opening and had waited for a weekday when I was free to visit (knowing how busy it would be in the weekend). I was excited to see what they would have done with all that exhibition space.

What a huge disappointment.

The impression that stays with me of the Hermitage in Amsterdam, is one of wasted space. There are tons of empty halls and corridors while, just next to them, huge paintings are crammed into tiny rooms where it's impossible to get a good perspective on them. Some of the wasted space is very nice - like the hall where you can sit and look out of the windows onto the canal outside... but it's still wasted space. In addition, there are about a hundred different museum shops and restaurants. I have absolutely nothing against museum shops and restaurants, they can be very nice, but should they really take up more room than the museum itself?

Meanwhile, the organisation of the place is a disaster - the entrance hall would have been a huge space too, but it has been filled with confusingly arranged cloakroom, ticket and audio guide desks. Hereby they've managed to turn the entrances to the exhibition spaces themselves into cramped little corridoors where people congregate and block each other. This is not the most heinous design mistake however: That honour is reserved for the direction signs, that are often confusingly placed, mix Dutch and English together in a manner that would make them difficult to read under the best of circumstances and, wait for it, are mostly printed in white... on a white background. I have better than 20/20 vision (thanks to LASIK and a show-off surgeon) and found them very difficult to read. Someone with poor sight wouldn't stand a chance.

The Russian court exhibition itself had some interesting stuff but (oweing to all the wasted space) far less content than you would expect. I was outside again pretty quickly.

Still, the restaurant looked nice.

Holiday in retrospect part 2 - Shropshire, England

2009-08-25T22:21:00.003+02:00

Holiday in retrospect part 1 - Barcelona

2009-08-25T22:00:00.006+02:00

Sinead O'Connor live

2009-08-21T21:51:00.002+02:00

I've always been a fan of Sinead O'Connor and on Sunday, thanks to an attentive friend, I got to hear her live for the first time at the Paradiso in Amsterdam. While I don't think I've ever seen an artist wander onto stage looking quite so scruffy, her voice was in tip top condition. It was a small, intimate concert that suited the music and the, very sparse, accompaniment. She played a nice mix of well and less known numbers - including a sneak preview of a song from the album she will shortly be recording.

Highlight of the evening was probably the beautifully quiet unplugged version of 'Nothing Compares 2 U'. Yes, like everyone, I'm still a sucker for that song.

Unmade Beds

2009-08-20T20:16:00.003+02:00

Alexis Dos Santos' second film is a vibrant, youthful, innocent, playful and nostalgic (in a good way) look at the lives of two young people who arrive in London from abroad. The Spanish Axel and Belgian Vera are each looking for something, but don't seem very sure about whether they really want to find it.. Accordingly the film is about their journeys, not the destinations.

While some scenes are self-indulgently long, there's real skill in the film making here - and superb use of voice-over to invite us into the inner lives of the two main characters (in their native languages, happily). Recommended.

Summer in the city

2009-07-26T16:58:00.003+02:00

After some very changeable, stormy, weather recently, today dawned bright and sunny. I went to Foam (one of two photography museums in Amsterdam) and on my way back, happened to look up at the spire of de Oude Kerk (the Old Church - in the middle of Amsterdam's red light district and surrounded by prostitutes' windows). This is what I saw.

I love summer.

All About My Mother

2009-07-15T20:09:00.002+02:00

More appealing oddness from Mr Almodovar - and one of his most praised and prize-winning films to date. He's incredibly good at making you care for the disparate characters that populate his films; that he also manages to make a story composed primarily of thoroughly tragic circumstances feel like something positive is more than admirable.

Volver

2009-07-12T18:23:00.004+02:00

Pedro Almodovar's ode to the women of his home town is a strange, intiguing film that draws you in to its story and makes you care about the people it portrays. The story itself verges on the surreal but is presented in a highly realistic fashion and the acting is of a consistently high standard. Recommended.

Er...

2009-07-12T18:03:00.006+02:00

I didn't go out to buy shoes, I went out to buy a Spanish dictionary. These just kind of, happened...

Viva Espana!

2009-07-07T21:03:00.002+02:00

Yesterday evening, I had my first Spanish lesson. It was great. Many might regard my attempting to learn Spanish as a foolhardy enterprise - it is fairly common knowledge that the two languages I alreay speak stretch the limited available room in my brain. However: Madrid is lovely, I want to go back there; and they don't speak a damn word of English.

So, viva Espana! (how do you get that weird accent above the 'n'?) ... and now, homework. :(

Rembrant: Een jongensdroom

2009-06-23T23:18:00.002+02:00

Translating roughly as 'Rembrant: A childhood dream', this was the title of the exhibition I went to see on Sunday at the Frans Hals museum in Haarlem (a beautiful provincial city close to Amsterdam). The Frans Hals is famous for its collection of 17th century masters anyway, but the exhibition was special in that it put an entire private collection (the property of a Dutch couple called the Kremers) on display - something that doesn't happen too often.

There were some very impressive pieces among the collection but my favourite was a small, oddball, portrait that didn't fit in with the rest of the collection (being 16th rather than 17th century). Depicting an unknown young Spanish nobleman, it was thought to be the work of the Antwerp painter Adriaen Key when it was bought. Recently however, research on the painting has show it not to be the work of Key but of some other, unknown artist. A beautiful painting of an unknown man, by an unknown artist - I like that.

Yes, Pet Shop Boys

2009-06-20T18:17:00.002+02:00

As a kid in the 80s, I was a huge fan of the Pet Shop Boys. My enthusiasm stayed with me through the 90s and studentdom. At the beginning of the 2000s, my interest waned somewhat - with the treading water excercise that was Nightlife and the not-entirely-succesful sidestep Release. In 2006 however, I was delighted by the return to form that was Fundamental, an album that would have been great even without its finale Integral; a diamond-edged, vitriol-coated switchblade of a pop song that was at once a career-high and perfect example of what the Pet Shop Boys do best.

Three years later and the successor to Fundamental is here: Yes. This is a far more 'pop' album that its darker predecessor, opening with the eminently danceable hit Love etc. and continuing with the same disco sensibility for most of the album. Though I like the Pet Shop Boys best when they're all bitter and twisted, that's no bad thing and Yes still finds room for songs with a little more depth, like the wonderful The way it used to be. Besides, even at their lightest, the Boys still make most modern pop groups look like puddles; as the aforementioned Love etc. notes, they don't have to be beautiful - but it helps.