I Won't Pretend to be Surprised

How sorry I am that an extremely long gap exists between my posts. Like many others, I must admit that this blog didn't have the dedicated author it deserved and thus joins the dust that clutters the blogosphere. My excuse is that my second year at university was too demanding to maintain two blogs.

That was not a typo. During my second year I applied to be a student blogger at Imperial College and was successful. Since October I have produced almost 50 posts, with pictures, videos and long rants about things from headphones to cinemas. I have no idea why I didn't advertise it on here, but anyone interested can have a look.

http://www2.imperial.ac.uk/blog/studentblogs/chris/

I may go back to this blog from time to time, but if you enjoyed my writing and am curious about me and my endeavours please refer to my page on the Imperial College Website.

Thanks for reading,

XmasRights

New House, New Attitude

This is going to sound repetitive and annoying: but I'm really sorry for not posting. These are usually the "famous last words" of a blogger, but I will try and arise from the ashes of my laziness from this point on.

Life has indeed been hectic this past week. I moved into a new house which I will be staying at during my academic year. As well as the crippling pain of going without internet for a week; I have spent all my time cleaning, disinfecting, arranging, rearranging, researching to save money and many DIY projects to get the house up to code. Today was the best day of the week in that my remaining three housemates moved in to complete the set of five. It's amazing how quickly a house suddenly becomes a home in these situations.

The whole process of renting your first house is both exciting and aggravating. I now know why estate agents get such appalling reputations. It also matures you very quickly when you find yourself signing contracts and calling internet service providers (Virgin!!!). The biggest challenge is finding a group of friends and having more arguments in that few months than you have in the past year you knew them. Even the nicest of people can have rather heated disagreements.

However, like all things good enough to work hard for, there comes a honeymoon period. When The fifth and final member began moving her stuff in, there was a sudden realisation that all the work and fighting was worth it. A new lease of independence hit and a great feeling of adulthood still lingers on with me.

This week awaits more arranging and rearranging for the others, and lots of assistance from myself. Feels really good helping those you can call housemates. It's been a great start to a very difficult year. Second year of any uni course has a horrific reputation, which one can only approach with caution and confidence. Hopefully, this feeling of adulthood will see me through.

Thanks for Reading,

XmasRights

Money ≠ Happiness??

I am at that point in my life where I can be defined by one word: Student. It's a word that sums up my occupation, my lifestyle and what the world thinks of me. A noun and an adjective in the modern English language. With this status comes a lot of optimism and hope for the future as well as many worries, magnified by their unforeseen nature. It is the first time we have significant and unavoidable issues. One of these issues is money.

In light of the recent antics of Derren Brown (correctly predicting the National Lottery numbers in the UK) my attention turned to money, to greed and to the quest for money. Millions of people leaned forward and stared at their screens as a man presented what they believed to be an easy route to a large sum of money. Impatiently questioning why the show was an hour long and why there were so many advert breaks. To me it was the greed inside all of us that shadowed the reality we were all aware of: the man talking to us is an illusionist, an entertainer and a trained magician.

So what is it about money that we all crave. Attached to money is power, a sense of dominance as well as the idea that one can do whatever they like: a much grander sense of freedom in which we are not obliged to work 9 to 5. The reason I personally crave some extra cash is security. The idea that I can carry on with university not having to worry about student loan payments, rent and bills. I can enjoy myself as much as I am supposed to at this age without having another worry to distract me from my studies.

That is the power of money: in it we all see our own personal unattainable dreams and hopes. It is certainly not a sin to aspire to these visions, but in doing so we do idolise cash. We've all heard and I think the majority of us agree that "money can't buy you happiness", but I can't see why it can't. Financial security allows you to do what you've always dreamed of. You can finally go on that round the world tour, be as philanthropic as you like, quit your day job and become an artist. This quest for money that we all see as greed is really a quest towards our own perception of joy. Money can't buy you happiness, but it can get you incredibly close.

Thanks for Reading,

XmasRights

P.s: If you liked this article, please donate to my paypal account at http://www.pay…

..…only joking!!

Sorry (Post: 1)

I am sorry!!

It seemed like my blog would soon become yet another failed attempt littering the internet, but I am still alive and ready to post. During the past few weeks I've been revising hard for a mathematics re-take exam for my university. I hope you all feel it's a decent enough excuse (even though failing that exam would lead to a more interesting blog).

So what's to come? I haven't watched any movies during that time, so expect a few more reviews. Recently I saw District 9, an amazing film that deserves a well constructed review. I also plan to write up my LG Viewty Smart (GC900) review (something I've promised for months). Moreover, I have just upgraded to Mac OSX 10.6 (Snow Leopard), so I can talk a bit about how the transition went. So it appears my blog is turning into a review site, as long as you and I enjoy it, that's fine by me.

Thanks for Patiently Waiting

XmasRights

Horsemen Review

I have watched a lot of films. No idea why, or how the time becomes spare, I just sit and enjoy. How I discover these films is by following actors. When I am engulfed by what these talented people bring to my screen for 120 minutes I have to find more and more. Johnny Depp and his effortless adaptability to any role; Clive Owen and the depth he

brings to his alpha-male characters; Audrey Tautou and her flawless portrayal of complicated women that you can't help but fall in love with.

Todays movie was a follow up of Ziyi Zhang: Horsemen.

Horsemen was indeed a suprise. It follows Detective Breslin as he tries to discover the story behind a series of grusome murders that have something to do with the Apocalypse. What stands out most about this film is the incredibly graphic nature of it all. This is indeed a goarry film, a genre I am certainly not used to seeing. Unfortunatly I chose to watch this movie on a pl

ane, so I can't imagine what the woman next to me must have been thinking!!

Breakng away from the big distraction the movie was quite inciteful. It explores the religious elements of the Apocalypse very well, though the sedistic nature of the killers and the psychology involved could have been more effectively portrayed. Throughout the film I was kept excited and interested in a very unpredictable storyline with many unexpected twists.

Tough the acting was good, it wasn't anything special with the exception of Ziyi Zhang. I am so used to watching her in brilliant Chinese cinema where she excels in both the martial arts and the culutral elements of her roles. This film, being American, would be

out of her comfort zone and she nailed

it (inside joke for anyone that has watched the movie). Her character was complex and incredibly dark and she remained belivable and produced a stunning all-round performance.

I can only sum up this movie by who I think would enjoy it. I can't recommend Horsemen to any of my friends as they may be quite stunned by the goar of it all and never speak to me again. Anyone who likes goarry films will love it for it's truly graphic scenes, but also appreciate it's complexity and the fact that it's not just a mindless bloody film. Any fans if Ziyi Zhang are indeed missing out by not watching this, but it's not one to watch on your own, on a plane or if you are feeling paticularpy feint or weak hearted.

Thanks for Reading

XmasRights

Happenstance Review

As I said from the start, there is no end to the randomess of my blog. Any of the few people who read my posts on Twitter and Google would be expecting another technology segment. However my thoughts have been provoked by a film.

"The beating of a butterfly's wings over the Atlantic can cause a hurricane in the pacific."

Happenstance (Le Battement D'Ailes Du Papillon) follows several individually interesting and contrasting people and their constantly intertwined stories. This is a formula that has been done many times before, but what puts this film above the rest is that it's French. I adore french films, and their intricate attention to detail. Characters are thouroughtly thought out and are portrayed by their minor quirks rather than their more obvious attributes. A good example is in Amelie where characters are described by their love of cracking fingers or skipping stones. This film stands out as the grand story is approached like a character. As we slowly pan away from the minor stories and see where they all link; we find it's the small details that join the stories together. This brings to life the idea that even the flap of a butterfly's wings can drastically alter fate for better and for worse.

The strands that make up the grand story kept me intersted throughout and definately make this a film worth waching if you wish to relax and think. Each story has it's own attractive flavour and the combination gels together perfectly. The actors themselves did a fair job. I was drawn to this film by Audrey Tautou being in it. Her performance was flawless as always, but she didn't have a big enough roll to really shine through. That can also be said for the other actors.

Overall I think this is an excellent film about the human condition and I am very pleased it was produced in France. It adds a very nice perspective to a frequently used technique.

Thanks for Reading

XmasRights

Difficulty of Maths over an Engineer's Lifetime