Blade Runner remix

The Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) here in Brisbane is currently running a Science Fiction exhibition, called "A New Tomorrow: Visions Of The Future In Cinema", screening a whole lot of films that paint varying (utopian and dystopian) views of our future.

Tonight was a special event, called "Zan Lyons vs Blade Runner AV".

Here's the blurb from the GOMA website:

Zan Lyons vs Blade Runner AV
Fri 25 & Sat 26 February 8.30pm (75 mins) / Cinema A
Don’t miss this exclusive audio-visual performance by Berlin-based filmmaker and sound artist Zan Lyons. With an international reputation for his uncompromising recordings and live shows, Lyons will perform with viola, foot pedals and laptop while simultaneously remixing and reworking Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner 1982. Lyons has completely rewritten the film's legendary electronic score by composer Vangelis, and re-edited several scenes with his own visuals to achieve a dark and chaotic spectacle.

The PR/Marketing department at work was offered free passes by the gallery (free is always good!) so I called up Marketing and said I was keen. Having re-watched Blade Runner within the last few weeks as part of Double Feature SciFi Saturday, it sounded like fun.

Double Feature Sci-Fi Saturday

We had our 2nd DFSFS tonight. What with "The Adjustment Bureau" (based on a story by Philip K Dick) coming out in cinemas at the beginning of March, February is dedicated entirely to films based on his other works.

Tonight we watched "Blade Runner" (The Final Cut) and "Impostor". If you haven't seen (or read) Impostor, it's worth checking out. It has its flaws as a film, but it's a brilliant short story.

Next Saturday night: "Minority Report" and "Total Recall".

The week after that: "Paycheck" and "Next".

Not actually making the February PKD schedule: "A Scanner Darkly" which we can always watch when we have a run of animated sci-fi.

My top albums from the past few years...

The following are the albums that made me hit the play button once the last song finished. Narrowing each year down to 10 albums was quite hard at times.

 Lists such as these are always subjective. Through the eclectic mix of albums, you may notice a trend towards heavy metal, Christian rock, reggae, African musicians, and female singer-songwriters. You would be correct.

Last post from the US

I've been busy packing for most of last night and this morning. The Tetris-like fitting items into suitcases isn't the hard part. That's pretty easy.

The tricky part is that we have two large suitcases, two small suitcases, and a lot of new winter clothes to take home. So it's figuring out which heavy items are small enough to fit into the small suitcases, so that we can get as close to our baggage allowance as possible.

It's really close - the two small ones are currently weighing in at 40 and 48 pounds, while the two large are at 54 and 52 pounds. We're allowed two items of up to 50 pounds each. In the past, some airlines have disregarded a little extra weight if the 2nd bag is under-weight by the same or more. Hopefully they do so tonight!

We fly out at 7:40 or so from Seattle, and get into Brisbane at 10:35 Thursday. That's almost 21 hours, not counting travel to the airport here, or home from the airport once we get back. Such is the joy of Trans-Pacific travel.

Money

"What is it with wogs and cash?" - Darryl Kerrigan, The Castle

What is it with Americans and cheques? (Or "checks" as they spell it.)

Now, I know my parents have a chequebook, which they use to pay some bills and so on. But I don't have such an account, and can count the number of times I've needed a cheque on one hand. Getting my British passport was one such occasion.

Happy New Year!

We've just got back from the NYE party at the Hillerstrom's house.

My brother-in-law Ethan and his girlfriend Andréa just got engaged!

I turn 30 this year. (In 10 months time, but still...)

That's all the news for now.

Nearly a new year...

...in this time zone, at any rate.

I stayed up till 2am last night (30/12/10). There were two reasons.

One was that we were watching "Star Trek: TNG" on late-night TV.

The other was that I was waiting for the clock to tick over to midnight on Kiritimati Island, the first timezone to usher in 2011.

Can't wait to see what this year brings. It can hardly be worse than 2010, can it?

Snow!

We were woken up at 6:30am on the 29th to see falling snow outside. While it hasn't snowed again since, the snow is still on the ground. It's still very cold outside (35F today at lunchtime).

Front driveway.