26 October 2009

Darwin's Nightmare

I've had this movie on my “to-watch list” for such a long time that I don't even remember where I've had this recommendation... not such a surprise here in the forgetfulness department, but I digress.

This movie is a documentary; the action takes place on and around Lake Victoria. The reference to Darwin applies to the fact that the region is a cradle to mankind and Lake Victoria used to be a shelter for hundreds of species... Slowly, but surely, all the species inside the Lake are destroyed by the Nile perch, a fish introduced by man for a little experiment and that has become the number one economical activity of the area, and the local population is destroyed by... something... Some will call it mankind or indifference, others capitalism or cupidity, others colonialism or exploitation. The bottom line is it's probably all of the above.

To sum it up, I'd say it's the hardest blow against mankind I've had for a long time: seeing all the horrors that we (we as in "we, rich peoples in this world and our leaders", as in "Western powerhouses") make the people surrounding the Lake Victoria live through should make anyone an instant mankind-hater at first sight. Then, after the images have sunk in and you recover from the visual and moral shock, what happens? You've seen people working in filthy conditions, husbands die, wives driven to prostitution, children living in the streets by themselves, doing drugs, fighting for food, indifferent pilots coming in with weapons and ammunition and going out with Nile perch cargoes, people wishing for war, EU ambassadors spreading the "good work" word... It all makes you put in perspective all your petty day-to-day chores, but what happens next?

22 October 2009

Long time no blog - seems recurring

2 full months since my last entry, and always the same excuse, real life always besting web life, aka wife-kids-house-work versus leisure time ;) well, mostly it was work...
I have had a hell of a workload and have been working in the train, mornings and evenings, and even at home for 3 months... So I've been shamefully inactive on the reading front and I've had no time to read anything but mangas and comic books. I'll try to fix that in the next months, I can barely contain my hunger for a good book.

I've been playing catch up with my Nintendo DS lately and I've (at long last!) dumped my tank model for a better DS Lite one: the comfort of the backlit screen is such that I now wonder why I waited so long.
Well, lately, I played:
  • Sid Meier's Civization Revolution: not bad, but way too limited for someone who's used to Civ IV on a PC...

  • Space Invaders Extreme: Just a quick distraction for short distances, I'm stuck in the fourth arcade level

  • Anno: Create a new world: I've finished the campaign of this one... veeeeery good game

  • Professor Layton and the Curious Village: Finished this one too. Some puzzles are really challenging but some others are just plain simple or badly phrased so that the solution lies in actually understanding the vague meaning of the text... But otherwise real cute

  • Henry Hatsworth in the puzzling adventure: Real good blend of a platform game and a puzzle game; It's very cute, I love the graphics and the ridiculous way of speaking of the characters!

  • Dragon Ball Origins: At last a Dragon Ball game that is not a brainless fighting game. Truthfully following the early adventures of Goku and Bulma, this one is a gem for all Dragon Ball fans
OK, it does look like a long list but it's to be spread on about 6 months I think so it's not that bad.