Life in Pixels

haud ignota loquor

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  • Two Great Books for 2011

    Two of my favourite teen book series are winding to a close this year. While I am saddened by their ending, I am also content that their respective authors have the foresight and care to gracefully end the stories without succumbing to the scourge known as overkill.

    First up is the final book in the Inheritance Cycle by teen writing sensation Christopher Paolini. His début novel, written when he was only 15 years old – Eragon – went on to becoming a New York Times bestseller, and was made into a motion picture. Paolini decided midway through Book 3 in the series (Brisingr) that the envisioned trilogy would have to be a four-part series to do justice to the world, characters and plot. I didn’t complain then, and I’m not complaining now either: the thing with the Inheritance Cycle is that you either love it, or you hate it. Critics will label it a knockoff of popular and classic science fiction sagas (Star Wars) and the epitome of fantasy literature, JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. And while I recognize Paolini’s influence by these giants of modern writing and film, I still enjoy his series. There’s an unmistakable richness to the world of Eragon that draws me in every time I read it.

    Anyway, Book 4 finally has a name: it’s called, quite aptly, Inheritance, and it will invariably start where Brisingr left off. It’s difficult to speculate on the plot at this time, as with Paolini anything is possible. What us fans can look forward to is more swashbuckling action, daredevil flight sequences with Eragon and Saphira, and the introduction of another dragon – the mysterious green one. Being the final book in the series, expect the plot to be tied up – something I am both looking forward to, and in a sense dreading.

    Release Date: NOVEMBER 8 2011

    Another book I’m really looking forward to this year releases quite soon: Alex Rider – Scorpia Rising.

    Here’s an excerpt from the official website:

    Alex Rider wants his life back.

    But when you’re the world’s most successful spy, there’s only one way out. Alex’s final mission will be the deadliest of all.

    One bullet. One life.
    The end starts here.

    Alex Rider is written by one of my all-time favourite writers, Anthony Horowitz. In June 2007 I had the privilege of meeting Mr Horowitz in person at a book signing event in Durban. It was one of those defining moments that spurred my writing career and inspired many of my writing endeavours – even to this day.

    In Scorpia Rising, the infamous organization is back, and this time the stakes are higher. They’re hired to return the Elgin marbles to Greece, and their plan involves inception a false trail to Cairo, blackmailing London, and, of course, killing Alex.
    This will indeed be the final book in the successful Alex Rider series. Horowitz has confirmed that he will be writing a prequel to the series, called Yassen, that looks at how the young assassin came to be. It will not feature Alex, but will be part of the same universe, and will be the very final window into this wonderful world of teenage fiction.

    Release Date: 31 March 2011.

    What’s your thoughts on the books above? Got any of your own recommendation? Share them in the comments section below!

  • Greetings from the Other Side

    One term down. Only three to go. It’s frightening, really. I’m almost done with school, and next year I’ll be in university. Away from the security I’ve come to take for granted for thirteen years.

    You may have noticed my absence from the blogging world over the past few months. I’ve been immensely busy, swamped with schoolwork, assignments and trying to exist as a human. It’s tough times, my friends.

    But fear not; I’ve also been hard at work on some interesting things – notably a project I’ve been wanting to launch for over a year. Being a part of the Student Executive, the leadership platform at my high school, one of my promises in my initial manifesto was to introduce a new kind of student-run magazine to the student body. Well, this past week, my dreams were realised when we officially launched The Crawford Echo, our school’s first-ever student blog.

    In a future post here at Life in Pixels, I plan on offering a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes work of setting up a blog of this nature, the “road to release” and my future vision for this project. Look out for that soon.

    Today I began writing a new short story. I used my new Moleskine Pac-Man notebook; in fact, it’s the first piece of writing I’ve got in it. I haven’t had a chance these past few months to actually write in the book. I love the texture of the paper, and the entire experience of writing in the book is exceptional; it exudes quality and inspiration.

    I’ve also had quite a skirmish with Parker Pens recently. I love the pen brand, and I’ve decided to write this new short story longhand, before I transcribe it into Scrivener for digital editing, print a copy for my personal archives, and perhaps the chance to format the tale for the blog. I’m a long-time user of Parker; I’ve used the brand since I began writing in ink, almost eight years ago. The Parker I’ve used is the classic Jotter. So I decided to try a new model this time – and went with the Urban. It’s a beautiful writing instrument, but it was just too heavy for my liking. My friends and I have gone as far as nicknaming it “Thor’s Hammer”. I’ve decided to go “back to the drawing board” (or is that “writing pad”?) and purchased the new Parker Jotter Premium. And it’s beautiful. An amazing pen, it simply spells quality with a gunmetal black finish for the body, and a chiselled upper finish in silver. I’m thoroughly enjoying using the new Parker to write this story.

    I’ll keep you posted on any significant developments with the current short story. And look out for that post about the student blog soon!

    All for now.

  • A New Notebook for Writing

    I was in Cape Town this past week, and whilst browsing the Exclusive Books at the V&A Waterfront (awesome place, by the way), I cam across the limited edition Pac-Man Moleskine notebook range.

    OK, so this range of Moleskines aren’t that new – they came out around the latter part of 2010 – but being South Africa, we’re always last to get everything. Anyway, I had been contemplating buying another notebook. My old Moleskine, a small lined journal, serves as an “extension to my brain”. I basically store all my random thoughts in it. Ideas for blog posts are there (most have already been written now…). I have some sketches of designs I plan on some day developing further in Google SketchUp. There’s a few short stories in there (“Target: A Short Story”, based on the short film I made last year, was first-drafted in this very notebook.) And there’s also copious amounts of notes on my novel, including various maps, diagrams and outlines.

    Whilst I love that old faithful notebook, I’ve decided that to best serve my writing, I need a separate journal that can store my short stories, opinions and perhaps other creative writing. This leaves the small Moleskine to be specifically for my muses, untidy sketches and those copious notes for the elusive novel I’m trying to tame.

    The Pac-Man edition is awesome. It’s retro-cool, ultra-stylish, and carries the unmistakable aura of the legendary notebook that is Moleskine. I have yet to start writing in it, but I’ve already got two short story ideas (one of which has been in the works, off-and-on, for well over a year now), that I plan on writing out longhand in the new notebook. I’ll also have the full planning done in that. And then, of course, the amazing Scrivener will be used to draft it in digital form, and if I deem it fit for public scrutiny, these new stories will make their way onto Life in Pixels.

    You may wonder at my curious affinity for something as retro as a notebook, especially seeing as I’m a very techno guy (or so I’m led to believe…). Well, as I mentioned above, the legacy that Moleskine carries is in itself inspiration to write. Then there’s the wonderful freedom that writing longhand can bring, and I especially find that mapping out a story on paper is my best way of getting the tale started. Plus, Moleskine’s are super stylish. What more could I ask for?

    I’ll keep you guys posted on how the novel is going. I’ve had a great new development in the narrative, but there’s still a long way to go. I’ll also be pausing work on it once I get back to school, seeing as this is my final year. In the meantime, as always, you can follow me on Twitter: @RahulDowlath.

  • The Share Complex

    Early in 2010, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg took to the stage at the annual f8 conference in San Francisco to announce some major changes to the popular social network. Amongst them, Zuckerberg detailed the “social graph”, a concept created by the young billionaire and his team from Palo Alto where they aim to connect you and your friends across the web – and not only in the caged ecosystem of the Facebook site.

    Essentially, what Facebook aims to do is stake its presence across the web, and the first signs of this came shortly after the big announcement at f8 2010 when the emergence of the “like” web gadget appeared on blogs and other social sites. Upon clicking “like” next to a blog post, for instance, a short post is sent to your Facebook Wall and you have instantly shared with your friends the blog post that you liked. It’s the Palo Alto giant’s idea of easing the access of information and creating a neater way of sharing interesting content with friends. (Of course, this has been dramatically abused – if one can call it that – as ad-covered “like” sites have emerged). However, the concept is neat, and Facebook can take a bow for their attempts at connecting you to the world, and the world to you.

    But the “sharing” culture that defines this new generation of the web (Web 2.0 or the “social web”, as it’s known) has a sinister way of embedding itself in the subconscious. It starts to grow on social media users like ivy down the side of a building; it becomes a reflex of sorts and suddenly you’re wanting to share every tiny find, wanting others to experience the same thing you’ve just discovered.

    It’s a dangerous advent, a parasite of this wonderful new age. Now, I hate ridiculing the social media scene – in fact, I usually turn my head the other way when I hear uninformed critics lambaste the age of the web – but this “share complex” that comes with the democratisation and closer nature of the new web is an issue that can potentially harm one.

    We need to draw the line clearly as early as possible in our exploration of the possibilities that open with the progressing web, before the share complex can take a greater psychological control of our minds. The subconscious nature of the share complex can drive us to divulge information that shouldn’t be divulged; thus, greater caution should be taken in these endeavours online. A discerning nature must be adopted so that we may enjoy the new web in a way that a dark pest like this share complex may not deter us.

    But on the whole, I’m looking forward to what social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, and the others out there, have in store for us. It’s certainly exciting times to be living in.

  • 2011: It’s Going To Be a Great Year in Film

    In case you didn’t already know it, Planet Earth just crossed over into the year two thousand and eleven (so happy new year to you). And, as usual, it feels just like it was yesterday that it was 2010. Now, last year was a great year in film (as I’ve written about here) but 2011 promises a brilliant year of some tantalising cinematic experiences.

    Here’s a list of films I’m personally looking forward to. Below each film is the expected release date (as given by trusty old Wikipedia). Remember that the release dates in South Africa may vary for each. I’ve also included, for a few films, some of the actors/actresses whose performances I’m looking forward to seeing.

    Note: Films aren’t in order of release. Just thought I’d let you know.

    Captain America: The First Avenger

    Release Date: 22 July 2011

    Actor: Samuel L. Jackson

    Thor

    Release Date: 6 May 2011

    Actors: Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins

    Transformers: Dark of the Moon

    Release Date: 1 July 2011

    The Green Hornet

    Release Date: 14 January 2011

    Actor: Christoph Waltz

    Rango

    Release Date: 4 March 2011

    Voice of Johnny Depp

    Season of the Witch

    Release Date: 7 January 2011

    Actor: Nicolas Cage

    Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides

    Release Date: 20 May 2011

    Actors: Johnny Depp, Penélope Cruz

    The Hangover: Part II

    Release Date: 26 May 2011

    Actors: Zach Galifianakis (“the Hangover guy”), Liam Neeson, Bill Clinton (?!)

    Source Code

    Release Date: 1 April 2011

    Actor: Russel Peters

    Cowboys & Aliens

    Release Date: 29 July 2011

    Actors: Olivia Wilde, Harrison Ford, Daniel Craig

    The Three Muskateers

    Release Date: 14 October 2011

    Actors: Christoph Waltz, Orlando Bloom, Mila Jovovich

    Mission:Impossible – Ghost Protocol

    Release Date: 16 December 2011

    Actors: Tom Cruise, Anil Kapoor

    Sherlock Holmes 2

    Release Date: 16 December 2011

    Actors: Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law, Stephen Fry, Rachal McAdams

    The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

    (Hollywood re-make)

    Release Date: 21 December 2011

    Actor: Daniel Craig

    In Indian Cinema, there is just one film I’m looking forward to this year. It’s a black comedy film, something of an “arthouse”, and sounds to be a thoroughly good cinematic outing in the foreign language field – something that I consider to be true “Indian Cinema”, a distinct difference to the mainstream, run-of-the-mill “Bollywood” that plagues the screens throughout the year. It’s called 7 Khoon Maaf (Seven Murders Forgiven), and stars one of my favourite Indian-film actresses, Priyanka Chopra, in what’s been called her best performance to date.

    So that was my pick of films I’m looking forward to this year. What’s your take on the list? Got any films not mentioned on here that you’re looking forward to? Drop a line or two in the comments to let me know! Enjoy the films.