On Friday I went on Critical Mass. I captured some footage on my phone and spent a few hours at weekend editing it. I uploaded it to Vimeo on Sunday evening, and on Monday found the top referrer to the video was a Portuguese language cycling blog.

The blog accompanied the video with a paragraph that meant nothing to me. After I put it into Babel Fish it meant everything to me. I saw the video as akin to a doodle, but the broken English it provoked was brilliant poetry.

I do not know well what it originated this tension. I read some opinions however but that they seem to divergir. In the critical mass it has participants. Each individual integrates it with its proper idea. It is not alone for bicycles, to the times has skates, skids, chairs of wheels and other ways of locomotion human being. They are about people and is the number that makes of the movement its force. It does not have organizadores, does not have gliding scripts. It has joy, celebration, freedom. In more than 300 cities around of the world it happens when sets of ten, hundreds or thousand of ciclistas if congregate to occupy its space in the established streets and to more create a counterpoint to the half ones of urban transport. We are transit.

Gliding scripts! Have you ever heard a more inspiring description of a map? If a map was ever meant to provoke exploration and possibility, then “gliding script” is the first time its name has matched its potential.

I’ve read millions of words of English done “right”. Few of them have been this entertaining or interesting.

Directed by: Neil Burger
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Abbie Cornish
2nd Viewing: DVD

“And then I began to form an idea. Suddenly I knew exactly what I needed to do. It wasn’t writing, it wasn’t books, it was much bigger than that. But it was going to take money to get there.”

Edward Morra, Limitless (2011)

What was Edward Morra’s idea? Doesn’t matter, that line is there to imply he has a masterplan. He doesn’t. If he did, he wouldn’t have been later pondering his destiny like an over-praised schoolboy. “Maybe [I'll become] president. Time someone shook up the free world and get things done.” In the end, Morra’s fate seems to be poltics as he is last seen trying to become a Senator. But in what way would he change the world? Edward Morra’s actions in Limitless suggest the answer to this question would be pathetic.

Since utilizing the nootropic wonderdrug NZT, Morra has answered the film’s premise (What would you do if you were 20 or 30 times smarter than anyone else on Earth?) by making money and getting laid. Big whoop. As if to highlight the character’s epic underachievement the film climaxes with him fighting a small time hoodlum. Maybe if it was a reflective scene questioning the limits of abstract intellect versus the brutish realities of physical force, then maybe it would have value. But it’s not. It’s just a ruckus with some goons. A goon ruckus.

Ok, so maybe the events of the film were just teething problems while our protagonist got to grips with his new abilities. After all, he’s super smart not infallible. Nonetheless, the choices he made in the course of the film still give us insight into his instincts, his personality, who he really is.

NZT makes everything 2 f-stops brighter with a warmer white balance.

Edward Morra was introduced to us as a writer. Maybe if we understand what it is to be a writer then we can better understand what Morra wants.

Writers aspire to share their experience, viewpoint and ideas, they also want to show off their ability with words, they enjoy the process of writing and mixed up in all of it is a desire to be praised for their work and prove they have talent. It’s a mixture of ego, creative aspiration, an imperative to connect, to educate, to entertain, and simple enjoyment.

Morra rejects writing after he finishes his first book. He sees it as beneath him as evidenced by his “something much bigger” comment. It would be safe to say then that Morra’s original desire to write was overwhelmingly ego-centric and not one of cathartic or creative need.

In fact, throughout the film all of Morra’s creative activities confirm this. He learns to play the piano but doesn’t write music or explore any of the possibilities that such knowledge and skill would offer. For almost everyone music resonates on an emotional level. If Morra had even the most basic appreciation for music then wouldn’t his heightened sensory perception make it even more powerful? It appears then that music was merely a puzzle to solve. Just like languages were. Morra learnt languages, not to connect with different people and learn about alien cultures rich in history and ideas but to charm waiters and fuck women.

Morra did not persist with anything creative. He didn’t write mind-blowing books filled with revolutionary ideas*, he didn’t write heart-breaking songs nor paint beautiful pictures. He didn’t invent new technologies or even advance existing ones. Instead he made money by speculating on money markets. In essence, he took up gambling. The smartest man in the world contributed nothing of any value.

Now, you might say that at the end of the film he is twelve months older, he could have grown, and that his Senate run is part of some kind of masterplan to bring a lasting global peace, or maybe just organise the world’s food supply so that those enduring famines might eat. To that I would say, coconut horse bollocks.

Remember that brief conversation with his campaign manager about the second overflow fundraising dinner? Well there you go. He’s soliciting donations. We know he can get all the money he wants, so why is he accepting donations? There’s only one reason he would begin his political career entangled with big business: because he wants what businesses want. There is no conflict of interest. Look at him there, with the same old glib slogans and shithead haircut. So much for shaking things up.

So in the end Edward Morra is just a blank-minded consumer capitalist monkeyboy. With all his knowledge and insight he still lacks inspiration and fails to transcend the mediocrity of his society. Instead, he wholeheartedly subscribes to its most lamentable elements. The smartest man in the world is a provincial conformist.

*Yes, he wrote that one book but that was at the beginning of his new mindset. Most of it would have been based on his old views and it was probably some trendy bullshit anyway, like those bores Little Dicky Dawkins or Malcolm Gladrags have written. And I bet it included yet another tedious retelling of the Kitty Genovese incident. Arseholes love telling that story because they think it bestows upon them a profound insight into human nature. Besides, the fact that he abandoned writing demonstrates that Morra undervalues the power of ideas and the importance they hold in changing the world. Not that he has any ideas on how or why the world should be changed, the slob.

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Other thoughts:

• While Edward Morra is undoubtedly a schmuck, and Limitless woefully under-performs when it comes to its premise, there are some good things about it: It rushes along its 95 minute run time in a frenetic, exciting way. There’s energy in its camera work and editing, and an inventiveness in how intellectual pursuits are depicted -the infinity zooming effect is excellent.

• In the long term, what would the world be like for a person on NZT? Would you come to find everyone else tedious, feel alienated, feel lonely? Would you look at your partner and think they were an idiot? Would you treat them like a pet? I think you’d end up a bit like Dr. Manhattan, might even feel a bit blue.

• “With Verne’s cash combined with an unprecedented surge in motivation I was able to complete the book in four days.” What the hell kind of fallacious reasoning is that? What’s Verne’s cash got to do with writing a book? Nothing. Bloody idiot.

• When John Travolta in Phenomenon gets mysteriously endowed with super-intelligence and telekinesis, he sketches out new car park designs and farming strategies so that his friends might benefit. He also gets Forest Whitaker laid with a Portuguese maid. He’d get my vote.

• When I saw it in the cinema last year, Limitless seemed longer. This time it was as if they decided to just stop the film, nothing seemed resolved, only established, like a too-long act 1 or a TV pilot.

Directed by: Steven Soderbergh
Starring: Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, Lawrence Fishburne, Jennifer Ehle, Jude Law, Marion Cotillard, Bryan Cranston, Demitri Martin, Elliot Gould, John Hawkes

Spoilers everywhere. Watch first, read later.

I’ve often wondered what a film would be like if it were entirely populated with top actors. Contagion has a good stab at answering that question. Anyone who’s seen Breaking Bad will know what a truly great actor Bryan Cranston can be. Here, he’s pretty much an extra, playing an unremarkable army bureaucrat in three brief scenes. How opulent this film is to cast an actor of such talent in a role so inconsequential. Same with Elliot Gould, same with Marion Cotillard. Kate Winslet has a leading role but only for half the film, taking early retirement to a mass grave.

A good question would be “why?” Why fill your movie with famous, and therefore expensive actors, especially in roles that don’t really matter? Of course, there are obvious business answers to this. Steven Soderbergh is a director who can handle both big budget Hollywood (the Ocean’s series, Traffic, Erin Brockovich), as well as indie/experimental features like Ché and The Girlfriend Experience, and often mixes these sensibilities to great effect; so who wouldn’t want to work with him? Also, big names help sell the movie and are an investment. And for the actors, working in a big budget all-star production connects them with other successful players thus elevating, or at the very least, maintaining their status. But the most interesting reason lies in what kind of film Contagion is and what its relationship is to the viewer.

Contagion depicts a global pandemic. It’s a disaster/apocalypse film. As such, there are bunch of different characters in all sorts of places all over the world. Despite their cosmetic differences -ethnicity, language, culture –they all retain ‘everyman’ qualities. The characters are broadly drawn, ciphers, foils to our common human fears, hopes and concerns. And their lack of complexity isn’t a problem because we’re bombarded with so many of the prosaic folks that we don’t have time to notice. So perhaps, just maybe, the decision to employ all these brilliant actors in roles that don’t come close to testing their abilities has something to do with their familiarity to the audience. For the global pandemic to be meaningful, we’ve got to not want it to happen and for that we’ve got to care about the people in peril. But if we’re bouncing across the planet and only spending a few moments with each character, it’s tricky to care, no matter how much you highlight their universal humanity.

So did I care more because all these big and little roles were filled with actors that I know and like? Not really. I will say this, it was a fun distraction. On a metatextual level, there was a giddy uncertainty as to what fate would befall these characters simply because we meet them in roles that show a rare disregard for an actor’s perceived value and status. What other film would snuff out Winslet at the half way mark? Other than that, humanity could have died out and it would’ve been fine by me.

Luckily for Contagion, the main character is actually the disease and as it turns out they’re pretty interesting. As the film plays out the global pandemic from beginning to end, there are all sorts of issues that are raised, from little background mentions like that of law enforcement absenteeism being at 25% while looters raid peoples homes, to debates over what is more dangerous: the disease or the fear of it. Pedestrian as the characters may well be, the nitty gritty of the disease and its effects are enough to keep us entertained as we enjoy the vicarious thrills of a worldwide catastrophe.

Having said that, for a genre that thrives on spectacle, Contagion is notably low-key in that respect. Yes, there are mass graves, sudden deaths, stampedes, but such events are in the minority. This film is about the process of the disease. It aims to give a realistic picture of what would happen if such a disease were in our world. I think it succeeds in this but along the way there are a few missteps.

Other than the disease, the only other villain is Jude Law’s character, Alan Krumwiede, an Australian (when Jude can be bothered to maintain the accent) who claims to be a freelance journalist but is really just a blogger, albeit one with a big following. Alan fakes contracting the MEV-1 virus and claims to his readers that he’s been cured with Forsythia, a homeopathic product that Alan has a financial interest in and subsequently makes $4 million. Strangely, Alan is the only character that brings the internet into the story and as he’s a venal scumbag and his readers are contrary conspiracy theorists. By association, the internet is dismissed as an irrelevant, negative side show. This is incredible. At one point “social distancing” is advised. That is, no shaking hands, physical contact, etc. In such a world where physical contact could be fatal, wouldn’t the internet become an even more important part of people’s lives? Contagion has made itself look old-fashioned by not thinking about what role the internet would play. And when you consider how careful and accurately the film uses epidemiology, it’s all the more disappointing.

Contagion’s other boo-boo is its obstinate desire to remain apolitical. Again, this weakens the verisimilitude by ignoring the fact that governments would be an incredibly important factor in how things went down. As Contagion tells it, the US Government-run CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention), with a little help from the business world, manage to tame the disease, and FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) more or less do ok helping people. But this is all based on the massive assumption that governments are basically trustworthy and capable in times of extreme crisis. Perhaps, it was best that they didn’t get bogged down in politics, admittedly it could have been very boring, but Contagion’s lack of scrutiny towards its authority figures, the vilification of its sole dissident, and the dismissal of populist medium The Internet, leaves a sinister aftertaste.

Nonetheless, Contagion is a good film. The techno-political follies are only noticeable because the rest of the film is so well conceived. It lacks an emotional kick but works well as a brain tickler. I’m glad I’ve seen it. I think others should see it. I’m going to bed.

• Other Contagion Reviews

Series 4, Episode 11 and Episode 12
“Crawl Space” and “End Times”

This rambling article is a look at, and celebration of, the antepenultimate and penultimate episodes of Breaking Bad Season 4 with a eye on what they tell us could happen in the season finale and beyond.

“Crawl Space” was like any other episode of Breaking Bad, which is to say it was brilliant. However, it earned its kudos in a different way. For the first two-thirds, it was Breaking Bad as we know it. There was the conclusion to the Cartel massacre with all our guys surviving thanks to Fring’s fastidious preparation. Not only did he set up a field hospital but staffed it with a medical team fluent in our guys’ medical histories, from lifestyles to blood types, and included the blood. There was also some Coen Brothers-esque escapades as Ted went from greedy business man to dead idiot by tripping on his rug while running from  two goons who weren’t even chasing him. Still, that rug, it really tied the room together, did it not?

These scenes were  hugely different in tone but that’s to be expected in Breaking Bad. What made the last part of the show so exciting, so terrifying and so different was the sudden acceleration in pace.

In the course of fourteen minutes screen time the following happened: Walter White cooked a batch of crystal meth in his superlab. Walt realised Jesse, his former partner was also using the lab to cook meth, and rightly concluded he was no longer of use to the organisation. Walt begged Jesse for help and was denied it when Jesse repeated back to Walt the vicious and heartless words he had recently said to him. Walt was then kidnapped. Walt was taken to the desert and he was sacked by his boss, Gus. Gus told Walt that if he caused any trouble, Walt and his family (infant daughter included) would be killed. Gus also told him that Hank, his DEA agent brother-in-law, was going to be “dealt with.” Walt then drove back to Albuquerque, visited Saul, his crooked lawyer and obtained the phone number for a man who would help them start new lives. Walt also instructed Saul to call in an anonymous tip to the DEA, warning of the hit that Gus was going to put out on Hank, and thus knowingly invited Gus to carry out the murderous threat on his family. Walt then returned home to find that the majority of his earnings were gone, which meant he and his family’s only chance of escaping was gone, and to top it off, the money had been taken by his wife and given to Ted, the man she cheated on him with.

He was doing his day job and then he, and everyone he loves,  stood a very good chance of imminent death. Fourteen minutes.

Breaking Bad S4 Ep11 'Crawl Space

When Walter had Gale murdered, it seemed inevitable that Gus would try to kill Walt. But likewise, it seemed unlikely that Walt could live without Gus being dead. Someone had to go and as Walt’s the star of ‘Breaking Bad’, it wasn’t going to be him that would die, was it? Then somewhere around the middle of Season 4, Gus started becoming a much more sympathetic character. First off, he gave Jesse the respect that we hoped Walt would give him. Sure, Gus was being hugely manipulative, but we couldn’t deny he saved Jesse from the destructive, nihilistic guilt that Gale’s murder had instilled in him. Second, we had a Gustavo Fring: Super Villain origin story in which we saw Gus witness the senseless execution of his friend, Max by Don Eladio’s cartel. Gus paid for and supported Max to get his doctorate and now he was dead and it was all for nothing. Who can forget the terror on Gus’ face? This man knowingly walked into sniper fire and now here he looked like he was going to cry in his lovely little brown suit. Finally, we witnessed Gus enact his twenty-years-in-the-making revenge on Don Eladio and his gang. Who amongst us wasn’t in awe of Gus at that point? What a champ!

And so, for almost eleven episodes, rather than build up the animosity between Gus and Walt for an end of series reckoning, the show relegated the beef to a background hum, everyone got on with other stuff, and the audience got to see a nicer side of Gus. Gilligan and co. made him likable. They spent screen time fleshing out the character. Why do this for a dead man walking? Could all this mean a resolution to the conflict that didn’t mean death? ‘Fraid not.

The moment Gus said “infahnt dorta!” in his death threat to Walt, I’m sure images of Victor’s throat flooded our collective memory. That’s who we’re dealing with. The other stuff, ‘Crawl Space’ puts that into a proper context. Whether or not Gus survives, we are in no longer in any doubt about who he is.

‘End Times’ builds on this. What we learn here is that Gus has been using Jesse all this time, not only as a way to get a loyal first class meth cook but as a way to finish Walt off. Here Gus activated his ‘Manchurian candidate’ in one of the most convoluted ways imaginable: Walt created the ricin poison for Jesse to use on Gus, who knew about it through covert surveillance, then secretly had it stolen from Jesse and given to Brock, predicting Jesse would notice it was missing and think Walt, who, to Jesse’s knowledge, was the only other person to know about it, had used it on the child to get back at him. Gus is, and this might be the first accurate use of this phrase, an evil genius.

Breaking Bad S4 Ep12 'End Times'

Predictions and Expectations of Breaking Bad Season 4 Finale.

‘End Times’ left the story wide open. Plot-wise it could go almost anywhere. If I were to make guesses, I’d soon run out of steam as I got overwhelmed with unknowns…

Walt blows the car any way. He knows the ABQ DEA are on a state of high alert because of the hit out on Hank. He knows Hank suspects Fring but can’t find proof. Walt detonates the bomb on Gus’ car so Hank’s suspicions are taken seriously, and therefore Gus will be jammed up with police attention. This may also be perceived by the DEA as being connected to the hit on Hank and so the police protection might continue a little longer and thus keep his family secure. After that, who knows? Mike returns from the Mexican Shed Hospital and…?

It’s easier to think about the future of Breaking Bad in terms of its themes and characters.

This battle with Gus will be total chess game. This battle will not be ended by the likes of Ted’s deus ex machina rug. Walt’s intellectual ability/pride will be put to the test. Even if he vanquishes Gus, it may not be a happy ending for Walt.

Skyler is currently pacing around Hank and Marie’s, bumming cigarettes off armed security, and finally coming to realise that not only is Walt’s criminality a lot more dangerous than he made out, but that he has put every member of the family in mortal danger. Will Skyler stay complicit, does she have a choice?

For Walt, his smackdown from Jesse and Jesse’s skill in the lab, may humble him. As we saw when he was stoned on painkillers and booze, Walt genuinely cares for Jesse. Were Jesse a stranger, Walt may get threatened and nasty. But his affection for Jesse may see Walt transfer some of his ample pride on to his protégé.

Walt’s pride means he’s not one to talk with others about his hopes and fears. That is, unless he’s been beaten senseless by his surrogate son and is stoned on painkillers and booze in front of his actual son. At that point, we hear he is terrified of seeming helpless and pathetic. This was how he remembers his own father who died of a debilitating illness. Perhaps Walter Jr.’s acceptance of his tears will give Walt the confidence the open up a little more.

Gus. He lives. Or dies. Breaking Bad has never been a show to drag things out. Similarly, I can’t see Gus going off somewhere to live to fight another day. I think the character would cast a shadow over everything that would keep the audience’s mindset in that battle. Gus waited 20 years and established a drug empire to get Don Eladio. Now he’s minted he could surely hire someone to kill Walter and everyone else. So one way or another I think there will be a final resolution to this sooner rather than later.

Beyond Season 4

During its run, Breaking Bad has taken great pleasure in snatching away justifications for Walt’s actions. The cancer came and went. Money used to be an issue, it was needed to keep his family going in the event of his death. They became millionaires a while ago and now they own a successful car wash business. Walt was teacher and cooked meth on the side, now he’s a straight up criminal. Walter is a man inclined towards self-delusion but he’s continually running out of places to hide. All this considered, I think Walter’s outing as a drug producer could happen long before the show wraps. Who would Walt be if he’s family knew he made drugs. sold drugs, made bombs, killed people? Would the pride that he takes in those achievements still have value?

I was walking through Trafalgar Square back in the Summer and stopped to film this guy for 10 mins. The sound is rubbish, the shots aren’t great, but he was a good busker and I didn’t want to simply delete the footage. So I took an hour and chopped this together. For me, it’s editing practice, post-game elucidation, and a reminder of a peaceful Summer moment. For you, I should think it’s a shrug-inducing distraction from sorting your laundry or background noise to a nose pick. Enjoy.

On Saturday 20th August 2011, Sophie and Jeff got married!

If you want to know how they made it look so good, read Sophie’s blog: sophiekingogetsmarried.wordpress.com/​

Btw, you see those birds? Sophie hand-made them all. And the best bit is, the guests got to choose their favourite and take it home. Easily the best wedding favour I’ve ever got.

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Video Prattle
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I could only bring one lens out with me and so I chose my Nifty Fifty. I know this can make framing awkward, but I like the imperfect composition. Because the images it gives are so sharp and noise-less, it always seems stylish to me. The lens served me well on the day and was priceless in the darker, evening light. I don’t regret choosing the lens for an instant. However, without a tripod or something like in-lens Image Stabilization I have had to spend a few extra hours in the editing process to steady the footage. Still worth it though. Also, After Effect’s Warp Stabilizer is brilliant.

This is some rough footage I captured during the London Riots on the night of Monday 8th August 2011. I’ve written up some notes on the Vimeo page (click the Vimeo logo on the video embed). Please view it there. I realise this isn’t the best footage, tis very shaky, but I think with the notes it gives a good sense of what the scene was like.

Back in April 2011, when Jesus was getting up for his Easter eggs and the Great British Monarchy were busy accepting the lowly daughter of a party supplies entrepreneur into their ranks, national holidays were plentiful, and so we fled London and went camping.

We were looking for somewhere quiet, near the coast and with beautiful views.

We’d flirted with the idea of wild camping in Dartmoor, as it’s the only place you can legally wild camp in England. That would have taken care of the peace and scenery but not the sea. So I scanned a map, and went along the coastline looking for suitable spots.

And so we found Maker.

Maker is on the Rame Peninsula. The campsite sits high on a hill and with amazing views all around. It was the Easter school holidays , there was a heatwave going on, and yet the site was incredibly peaceful. We had planned to stay for a couple of days. Instead we spent the rest of our holiday there.

http://www.makerfestival.co.uk/Camping-at-Maker.htm

Thursday 26 May 2011, London:

This evening I got on my bike to ride the usual 5.7 mile journey home. It was raining heavily when I started and a few minutes later I was attacked… by ice! Hailstones, some call ‘em. Others call them solidified water pebbles or frost balls. I call them painful and blinding. Here’s the story in tweets, blogged for prosperity.

1

That cycle was the best! I was riding over Battersea Bridge. Every gust made it feel like buckets of water were being thrown over me. Then…

2

it turned to hail. Pebbles of ice dashing my headpiece. All the riders took shelter. There was none. We pressed against buildings…

3

One guy shouted above the rain “I’ve got a brainfreeze! I haven’t been eating ice cream!” A girl told me she had to get to Forest Hill…

4

and rode off while we all silently wondered if she was crazy or we were cowards. The hail turned back into heavy water. The shivering…

5

compelled me to move. Soon I hit 1ft deep lakes and even a taxi driver gave me space. I made it to top of Latchmere Hill and seen…

6

Forest Hill girl toottling along with determination on her heavy Beast. By Balham the rain had eased…

7

Every traffic light on the CS7 cycle highway was a 2min social club for cyclists where stories were swapped and excitement shared…

8

and so, riders left the pack, numbers dwindled and then it was my turn. I rolled down my street alone, remembering, and did a fart. #end

Follow me, @truphtooph

I shot this while out with some friends on Saturday night at Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium.

I installed this version of Magic Lantern earlier in the week and this was the first time I played with it. So that’s my first excuse for the fluctuating quality of this vid. Second is, I was a wee bit tipsy. I didn’t try to ride the dogs, but I’m not going to lie to you, I gave it serious thought. Third, I didn’t shoot enough footage. There are shots in the final edit that aren’t great but are needed to bridge gaps. They’re not too noticable but I’ve learned my lesson: shoot plenty, you can’t have too much coverage. At the track, there were loads of little objects, signs, scenes, all that good stuff, that would have made the difference. For example, I regret not getting shots of these two girls wandering around in flat caps. I didn’t even get a good shot of the trackside bookies doing their animated shenanigans. I can see now how those sort of portraits lend a film some character.

What was good was how the DSLR camera hid my video antics. People were definitely less conscious around it. I had no trouble carrying it, or with the bouncers when getting in -which has been a problem in the past with video cameras. Also, I’m still not over how beautiful the whole ultra shallow DSLR depth of field thing is, even if it meant the low light and medium tipsyness made it very hard to get a sharp focus. I tried the Focus Assist function on Magic Lantern but, like a granny in a goth shop, it wasn’t up to the dark scene.

Conclusion, next time, more shots of more stuff, and less swigs of less grog.

Here’s Pooch Night on YouTube, if you’re that way inclined.