Recently I took a Japanese language - national exam. The kind you would do if you studied the language in High School in the UK. I knew the results were out on Thursday just gone but I wasn’t sure where to pick them up. I studied at two different campuses and couldn’t remember exactly which one was the one putting me in for the exam. Well I’m glad that I didn’t go look because neither campus had the results. A brown envelope was waiting for me when I got home from work today, from another campus, the one where I took the exam (but didn’t actually study at). I nervously ripped into the envelope expecting something quite average since I crammed the kanji study in a month before the exam not realising I would need to learn so many to get through it and also the crazy fact that I couldn’t read the last question on the writing exam (the most marks one), so had to guess some sort of answer based on the kanji I could make out. Well was I shocked! I got an A! I got over 3/4 of the total marks. I’m very happy right now.

Wong gok hak yau (One Night in MongKok, Hong Kong, 2004) is a crime drama set in the most densely populated place in the world - Mongkok. The police are looking to prevent a triad war by tracking down and stopping a hired killer.

I really liked this film due to the atmosphere created and the gritty script. The film portrayed busy life in Mongkok excellently. It’s filmed with cameras on the shoulders that created almost a kind of documentry feel. The characters on either side of the law are neither portrayed in black or white but somewhere inbetween. There is a nicely worked relationship between the hired killer and a prostitute he is forced into friendship with after saving her from some thugs. The cops are an interesting bunch, doing whatever they can to get close to the killer. They all come together in some brilliant action/chase scenes. Definitely worth a watch.

Face (Korea, 2004) is a crime thriller filled with supernatural elements. Hyun Min works for the police reconstructing faces from skulls of various victims. His daughter has a heart problem that is difficult to treat. The worry this brings causes him to lose interest in his job. One day a girl knocks on his door asking him to be his assistant and delivers a skull that is supposed to be his next project. After reluctance and a series of visions of a distraught women, he takes the project on. The police meanwhile, are finding victims with their hearts removed and the bodies burned with acid. At a nearby hospital a doctor is taking seemingly anonymous heart donations and using them in transplants. Hyun Min’s daughter has received a heart with ‘beta allergy’ a heart disease the donna must of had. Is there a link between the murders and the hearts the hospital are receiving and what are these supernatural occurrences?

I went into this film expecting it to be a horror and the early scares suggested this was the case. However, the film gets more complex and becomes a crime thriller. The plot is complicated and eventually falls into place after a number of twists and other elements to keep you guessing throughout. The lead characters are acted out well and the cinematography isn’t bad at all. However, I felt the early scares were a little cheap and unoriginal relying on the music to cause the “jump” rather than the imagery. Overall, I liked the film as it was a bit different from other crime thrillers and wasn’t scared to use the supernatural elements to advance the story.

I hit up a party tonight. My friend has just turned 18 so his family decided to rent out a room for him and his friends. I have to be honest, I was bored out of my mind. I knew the people but they just weren’t the type of people I can relate too. I did try and mingle though. I decided to head outdoors and sit on one of the beer benches. A couple of girls and a guy I know joined me. They seemed a little bored too so we decided to just hang out there. Conversation was okay, if a little bitchy.
Later on I saw a friend and his fingers were gone. He had an accident in work and it took them clean off. Apparently the doctors attempted to sew them back on but they were rejected by his body and died. Unfortunate. Just before that I also learned a friend of mine died recently. He was goal-keeper for a five-a-side team I used to organise. I can’t believe he’s gone. I haven’t seen him all year and now he’s gone. Yeah, my evening sucked.

Last night was fun. I went to a friend’s gathering. I caught up with some friends, had a few beers and some vege-burgers. It wasn’t any old gathering though, James Black and Mia Riddle are driving around the UK touring together. They were there to play some songs with a 3/4 scale acoustic guitar in a candle lit garden. It was awesome. James has meaning within his songs and plays fairly simply but it’s catchy and enjoyable. Mia has a beautiful voice and I was totally captivated by it. She obviously loves singing and performing and was a joy to watch. I picked up her and James’ CD before heading back early since I had to wake early this morning to drive my parents away. I also picked up Mia’s other project called Miss Mandible. It’s a studio created project turned live band with poppier production than Mia’s solo work. It’s also quite enjoyable though; electronic sounds, punchy bass, quiet-loud parts, and beautifully confident vocals.

We have uniforms in most public schools in Wales. I think the point of them is to make all students equal in appearance to stop the divide between the poorer and richer students. This does in fact seem to work. I was talking to a girl I work with who is still in High School. She said for the final two years of school the students are now no longer required to wear uniform. Great she first thought but then realised it might not be so good. She’s scared she’ll get bullied for wearing the same clothes two days in a row by the kids who have a wider selection of clothes and more money. Two of her class mates also work in my work place and those two are terrified of what people will think of their clothes as well. My initial reaction was will people really care what you wear? They then reminded me of what high school was like. People separate into groups and then attack the other groups verbally with whatever fuel they can find. This is normal in high schools in Wales. By having no uniform the groups have more reasons to attack each other. The funny thing is once you leave high school and go to University the group vs. other groups thing all stops. No one is trying to be cooler than anyone else or actively seeking out people to intimidate to boost popularity in their group or whatever else drives them. This topic reminded me how vicious high school was and helps explain all the angst of teenagers these days.

I need to start scheduling my free time. I’m trying to get a lot done but over time in work, spontaneous going out with friends, training at strange times etc. are getting in my way. So I need to sit down and say right, when I have got some free time I need to do this, rather than wonder what to do first and end up doing very little. Tasks on the go right now include a redesign of Keikaku (which I feel bad about because I haven’t shown the team anything yet but I am working on stuff), a meeting with a client about designing a website for a motor group, two languages on the go, designs for a few pages in an experimental local design/music magazine, tee shirt designs for a new tee company (hitting you in October) and a few cycling missions. So yeah safe to say I need to organise this all somehow.

The photo is of a new bridge in my city. It saves me half an hour off my cycling trips and avoids narrow roads with cyclist hating cars. I can use that extra half hour to go further away or just to chill at the destinations.

Yeonae-sulsa (Love in Magic, Korea, 2005) was the bit of light relief I needed lately. Ji-hoon is a magician and uses this to his advantage to get all the girls he can stand. He takes them to motels and has his fun before dumping them when he’s had enough. One day his manager is browsing the internet for hidden camera shots of people having sex when he comes across Ji-hoon and one of his conquests. Ji-hoon is worried this will damage his career. He decides to find the girl he was with (Hee-won) and tell her the news. He finds her at her job as a teacher. She is terrified by this news and knows it can’t get out or she’ll lose her job. They decide to skip going to the police and decide to hunt out the guys who filmed them. The film follows their trail of the motels they have slept together at and also the interference of Hi-joon’s and Hee-won’s other relationships.
The film is suitably fun and the actors play off each other well. Some of the jokes are cliché and at times it’s like you seen the film before but it still manages to entertain. The locations were nice, particularly the motel rooms with a good range of design styles. I enjoyed the film mostly but I felt the ending scenes were a little bit over the top at times. Worth watching for romantic comedy fans.

So today we decided to do something late in the afternoon. “Why don’t we climb Twmbalum?” a friend asked. “Why not?” I replied. So off we went. We were waiting for another friend but he was taking his sweet time coming back from another city. Anyway after he got back we eventually drove out of the city and found our way to the bottom of the mountain. A guy who worked there said we had to leave the mountain by 7pm since we were driving and he was going to close the gates of the car-parks. It was 5pm by then so we decided to drive half way up and climb the rest from there. We eventually made it up to the peak after a surprisingly easy climb but couldn’t stay there long. It was fun though and the Welsh scenery really does get taken for granted by us a lot. We took a bunch of pictures of the views and us messing around on the top, which you can see here.

I caught some great acoustic acts this week. First up was some dude I didn’t catch the name off (Big Dan I think) but he played only a couple of songs. His voice was rough but worked. He began without the guitar and then slowly built up the music until he was trying something different at the end using repetition of a couple of lines. It was actually really good. Next up was The City on Film. This guy had an amazing voice and played really well. It was mostly upbeat stuff. He’s from the bands Braid and Hey Mercedes of which I also enjoy. Finally up was Owen which is Mike Kinsella’s (of Owls, American Football, Joan of Arc etc) solo project. Wow this guy had awesome guitar skills. He was picking tunes really well and I got lost in his sound. He was quieter and more laid back than The City on Film so the diversity of sound in the evening was welcome. Really enjoyed them all. Go check out the samples at their sites and be sure to check them out when they tour near you.