Wednesday, March 16

Book or Movie?

   The internet has spoken: the book is almost always better than the 
   movie:
     <http://www.vocativ.com/news/245040/the-book-is-better-than-the-movie/>
   'Vocativ analyzed Goodreads and IMDb ratings for 800 books and their 
   movie adaptations ranging from "Harry Potter" to "Hannibal" and 
   discovered that the book had a higher rating 74 percent of the time. In 
   fact, books are considered "much better" on our scale than their movie 
   adaptations in 51.8 percent of cases.'

   I recently watched "The Martian", and I agree that the book is much 
   better than the movie. While I enjoyed the movie, time constraints meant 
   a lot of the story had to be left out. For me, the major attraction of 
   the book was all the geeking out on chemistry, botany, physics and 
   orbital mechanics. The rescue story was a given. The movie did geek out 
   at times, but I accept that the general public would prefer more visual 
   effects. Another issue with movies is the baggage associated with major 
   stars. Personally, I don't have a problem with Matt Damon playing the 
   lead character. But when reading the book, I would not have had him in 
   mind. So, should you read the book or watch the movie? I'm going to make 
   an exception in this case and only recommend the book to readers who 
   like plenty of scientific details and the process of problem solving. 
   For everyone else, the movie is good enough.

   For another movie, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens", I saw the movie first 
   and read the novelisation later. I would rate the movie much higher than 
   the book. In such cases, where the movie is always intended to be the 
   primary and canonical medium for a story, you would hope that the movie 
   is better. If a novelisation turns out better, then the movie has 
   clearly been botched. This is especially true if the director was also 
   involved in writing the original screenplay. Knowing this, why would 
   anyone bother reading the novelisation? In my case, as a long-time Star 
   Wars tragic, I wanted to get additional background information, which 
   the book successfully delivered.

   Related Links:
   * "6 Reasons The Book Is (Almost Always) Better Than The Movie"
     <http://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/6-reasons-the-book-is-almost-always-better-than-the-movie/>
   * Love Reading: "Books Vs Films" infographic
     <http://visual.ly/books-vs-hollywood>

Wednesday, March 9

Adelaide Writers' Week 2016

   Being a keen book reader, I've always been curious about Writers' Week. 
   Unfortunately, work and other commitments have usually prevented me from 
   attending. This year my schedule was clear and I was able to go to six 
   sessions. This post provides a brief overview, with some notes and 
   observations of the sessions I attended last week.
     <http://www.adelaidefestival.com.au/2016/writers_week/Adelaide_Writers_Week_2016>

   1. Overview

   Writers' Week 2016 spanned six days, with fourteen hour-long sessions 
   per day. It was held in the Pioneer Women's Memorial Garden, between 
   Government House and Victoria Drive. All sessions were free and open to 
   the public. Most of the sessions covered one or two books, with the 
   authors on stage answering questions from an interviewer/facilitator. 
   Authors gave a brief reading from their book. Some sessions were more 
   general in nature, covering various aspects and styles of writing. 
   Towards the end of each session, audience members were invited to ask 
   questions. After the session, authors were available to sign books 
   brought by attendees or purchased on site.

   Attendance was high for most of the sessions. Despite its name, the vast 
   majority of attendees were not writers at all. Personally, I think 
   "Adelaide Book Week" better reflects the nature of the event.

   Overall, I found all the sessions interesting and worthwhile. Lots of 
   topics were covered, and all the panelists did a good job. I picked up 
   suggestions for at least three books to read, and I reevaluated my 
   opinion of a book I read last year.

   2. Sessions Attended

   Here are some observations and notes from the six sessions I attended. I 
   didn't take any formal notes, so I'm relying on my memory when 
   attributing the notes to the sessions.

   "New Worlds"
     <http://www.adelaidefestival.com.au/2016/adelaide_writers_week/New_Worlds>
   The panel featured two overseas authors whose latest books were about 
   20th Century migrants.
   * Stories are often based on actual events, with one or more elements 
   embellished/tweaked and taken from there.
   * Extensive research can lead to comprehensive backstories, most of 
   which never makes it to the finished novel (in one author's case, he 
   ritualistically destroyed those original drafts).
   * For marketing purposes, publishers want to start promoting a book long 
   before it is finished; experienced writers learn how to manage info flow 
   to hide lack of progress or prevent being locked into specifics too 
   early.

   "Fairy Tale"
     <http://www.adelaidefestival.com.au/2016/adelaide_writers_week/Fairy_Tale>
   The panel featured two overseas authors whose latest books incorporate 
   some elements of fairy tales.
   * Authors don't always start out with a specific theme in mind, and nor 
   do they always set out to preach.
   * Novels can incorporate genre elements to connect characters and to 
   help with storytelling.
   * Can't rely on inspiration alone; in fact, most stories grow 
   organically.

   "The Making of a Writer"
     <http://www.adelaidefestival.com.au/2016/adelaide_writers_week/The_Making_of_a_Writer>
   The panel covered the general topic of how one becomes a writer.
   * The panelists re-emphasised the point that writers are readers first, 
   and should continue reading as widely as possible to get new 
   perspectives and refine their own writing.
   * Writers can be very superstitious, which is reflected in their work.
   * Even successful authors fill in time by working "day jobs", such as 
   editing or teaching creative writing.

   "Undermajordomo Minor"
     <http://www.adelaidefestival.com.au/2016/adelaide_writers_week/Undermajordomo_Minor>
   A Canadian author was interviewed about his third and latest book.
   * A book can have multiple editors, in different regions or for 
   different publishers.
   * Editors of the featured book asked for ending to be rewritten, and the 
   author agreed.
   * The author finished writing, but didn't have a title; one of the 
   editors ended up suggesting the title.
   * Writing is often a very isolating endeavour.
   * One audience question was about a controversial scene in the book, 
   which the author knew could be divisive but he ultimately decided to 
   leave it in.

   "Telling Tales"
     <http://www.adelaidefestival.com.au/2016/adelaide_writers_week/Telling_Tales>
   The panel featured two female Aussie authors discussing their recent 
   collections of short stories.
   * Authors can tire of their own characters; some characters can sustain 
   author's interest for a short story, but not an entire novel.
   * Some promising stories hit the wall, while others may start appear 
   unpromising, but can grow steadily to novel-length.
   * Reiterated that stories are not usually meticulously pre-planned in 
   advance.
   * Some creative writing courses, particularly in the US, churn out 
   writers having the same unoriginal and formulaic styles.

   "Under Cover"
     <http://www.adelaidefestival.com.au/2016/adelaide_writers_week/Under_Cover>
   A veteran editor provides some behind-the-scenes anecdotes about 
   writers' festivals, authors and publishing.
   * Publishers can be sloppy, with the interviewee describing how a whole 
   chapter was left out of a novel by a popular author (Peter Carey) and 
   nobody noticed until months after the book was published.
   * Patience is required, as it can take many years to get a book written 
   and published.
   * Even experienced editors need to have their books and chapters 
   restructured.

Monday, March 7

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

   "'Last Week Tonight with John Oliver' is a half-hour satirical look at 
   the week in news, politics and current events."
     <http://www.hbo.com/last-week-tonight-with-john-oliver>

   The show is hosted by a UK expat comedian/actor, now living in the US. 
   HBO posts the shows to a YouTube channel after they're broadcast:
     <https://www.youtube.com/user/LastWeekTonight>

   A recent show applied a blowtorch to Donald Drumpf/Trump. Unfortunately, 
   for viewers outside the US, there is a delay before shows become 
   available. You might be able to find unofficial uploads if you search 
   for it on YouTube ;)

   Here's a selection of videos from last year...

   * Daylight Saving Time - How Is This Still A Thing?
     <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=br0NW9ufUUw>
   I agree, it should be abolished.

   * Nuclear Weapons
     <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y1ya-yF35g>
   Cold War kids may have thought the collapse of Communism in the USSR and 
   its satellite states made the world safer. Perhaps not so much. This 
   piece is both funny and scary at the same time.

   * Drones
     <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4NRJoCNHIs>

   * Miss America Pageant
     <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDPCmmZifE8>

Wednesday, March 2

Piano Illuminato + Qatsi Trilogy

   1. Piano Illuminato

   Last week I went to see and hear "Piano Illuminato", an audio-visual 
   concert featuring Adelaide-based pianist and composer, Rich Batsford:
     <http://www.adelaidecitycouncil.com/whats-on/event/piano-illuminato>
   "... a unique fusion of live music and dynamic, visual art exploring 
   themes of peace, love, truth and beauty with take the stage on Thursday 
   25 February. In collaboration with Zero, one of Illuminart's animators & 
   visual artists 'Piano Illuminato' is a one off audio/visual experience 
   featuring performances of original music along with selections of the 
   wonderfully melodic music of perhaps the world's most famous pianist 
   composer, Ludovico Einaudi."

   The obvious attraction for me was the opportunity to listen to Einaudi's 
   music, albeit performed by someone else. As it turned out, only three of 
   the fifteen pieces played were Einaudi compositions, with the rest being 
   original instrumental pieces written by the performer. Fortunately, I 
   enjoyed those minimalist and jazz pieces as well. After the show I 
   bought a copy of one of Batsford's CDs, "Valentine Court".

   The other drawcard was the visual component. Images were projected 
   behind the pianist onto the back wall of the room, pre-programmed by a 
   member of Illuminart. This is the team responsible for lighting up the 
   faces of various buildings on North Terrace during the Adelaide Fringe:
     <https://www.adelaidefringe.com.au/news/fringe-illuminations>

   The imagery and lighting complemented the music quite well. This 
   included kaleidoscopic elements, oversaturated photography, plus other 
   pictures and effects in keeping with the themes and mood of the music.

   2. Qatsi Trilogy

   The combination of images with the minimalist style of the music in 
   "Piano Illuminato" reminded me at times of the experimental documentary 
   films of Godfrey Reggio, in particular, the "Qatsi" trilogy, which all 
   featured soundtracks composed by Philip Glass.
     <http://www.qatsi.org/films/film.php>

   Here's a selection of iconic clips from those documentaries:
   * Koyaanisqatsi: The Grid (Part 3)
     <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwPDFeXEMs4>
   * Koyaanisqatsi: Finale
     <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJrtROuQFfk>
   * Powaqqatsi: Video Dream
     <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbK9U0jFDJI>
   * Naqoyqatsi: Opening
     <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgM46I-ZryM>
   * Naqoyqatsi: New World
     <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PalrLLffceI>