The City I Live In

The past week has been a busy one, hence the lack of posts on this blog. I shall attempt to make it up to you by talking today about the city I live in: Edinburgh, and how I relate to it.

Although I wasn't born here (I come from London and grew up there), I feel this city is my true home, and what a glorious home it is.

I moved here in 2005, at the age of 18, for university. I attended Heriot-Watt, which is on the outskirts of town, and stayed in the Halls of Residence there. During the first year, much of the city of Edinburgh was a mystery to me. I had almost everything I needed on the university campus so rarely ventured forth into the city, perhaps for trips to the cinema, shopping, stuff like that.

After first year, I moved with my boyfriend (who had come up with me from London), and with two friends, into a three-bedroom apartment in Leith, which is in the North-East corner of the city, right on the coast. Leith had a bit of a reputation for being somewhat 'soiled', and I discovered that a fair part of it is.

One night I was walking to get a take-away dinner with my friend Mike, I was discussing the reputation of Leith with him when a dirty, obviously drunk homeless man walking along just ahead of us started swearing and cursing, saying, "Leith, Leith, Leith.. sick a' hearin' folk ta'kin' crap 'bout Leith! It's nae tha' bad!" He proceeded to go on like this for some time in his state of drunken moral outrage, only getting louder and ruder, thereby possibly proving that Leith is, in fact, that bad, with drunken old homeless guys shouting swear words in the street.

Of course, it was quite some time before I found the prettiest parts of Leith. It is not such a bad place - down by the shore, it is rather lovely, with some great places to eat and explore.

After two years in that apartment, we moved out of the city again to share a house with our friends way out in East Calder, some considerable distance from the city. I do love how the countryside is so accessible there - it is a small town, barely more than a village, and nearby are fields, a country park and a river with some really stunning spots to relax in. In fact, on the walk home from the bus stop past the leisure centre, there was a field on the right hand side sometimes full of horses. One sunny day I stopped there a while and meditated, just standing looking at the horses and up at the green leaves of trees over the path, glowing from the sunshine, and had my first ever truly enlightened, peaceful moment... but that is another blog post.

After I graduated university, my boyfriend and I eventually moved into a two bedroom apartment in Dalry, near Haymarket station. This is about the point that my love affair with the city properly began.

I came to appreciate the subtle beauty of the buildings, the history of each road, the way the city had evolved and spread like an organism. Even on a rainy day, the place is still magical, with many fantastic areas to find.

Dean Village is one of my favourite spots. Set in a valley right in the heart of the city, it is a sparkling oasis of green just a short walk from the main city centre.

This is the view from the bridge leading into the village, looking down the river. The church you can see here is actually at normal street level in this area of the city.

This is the view from the bridge by the church in the picture above, looking down on the village. I feel this picture gives a good idea of the scale of the valley and the lushness of the flora within.

Here I am looking back along the river, towards the village and the church. A good chunk of the river here has a developed bank and path and is a great place to walk or cycle.

I feel so lucky to have come to such a beautiful, historic city.

This is the Scott monument on Princes Street, the main shopping street in Edinburgh. Just look at it. The detail is phenomenal. You can go up inside the columns and get a view from the top, which we haven't got round to yet, but plan on it soon. Fun fact: It is the largest monument to a single author anywhere on Earth.

Examples of architecture like this are common all over the city, with buildings here ranging from Gothic and Victorian to Georgian and more modern ones, every building has a story and a character all of it's own.

There are too many amazing parts of Edinburgh to list in just one post, I may describe some more another time. I have to admit, I feel a connection to this city, far deeper than anything I ever felt when growing up on the edge of London. Sure, the UK capital is a fabulous city, but I think it is just too big. Edinburgh is great: You can walk all around it in a couple of hours, it has everything you could possibly need here, the people are friendly (mostly), bars and clubs have great atmospheres, and most importantly for me, the city is in touch with nature - there are so many green leafy corners to enjoy, and they are so well maintained, you can almost forget that you're in a city of over 450,000 people.

I simply cannot imagine a more perfect place. It would take somewhere very, very special to convince me to move away from here.

Freedom Fighters 101

It is hard to escape what is happening in Libya at the moment. After a stalemate that seemed like it would continue in a bitter civil war for years, the rebels have broken into Tripoli and captured much of the city after a blistering advance through seemingly phantom resistance. The NATO strikes to eliminate the Gadaffi regime's heavy armor and air assets seem to have done their bit, leaving nothing but the odd sniper and truck in the way of what is undoubtedly a brutal tidal wave of uprising and rebellious spirit.

Good for them, it's about damn time they got rid of that nutter.

In any of these situations, there is always one weapon you see being waved around, fired around a corner or into the air, or brandished triumphantly over the burning remnants of a truck, tank or torso.

The AK-47.

Here it is in Libya:

It is hard to find a better, more complete symbol of freedom and rebellion anywhere else on Earth. How did such a thing come to represent so much?

Partially due to the simplicity of the design and the wide-spread availability of the AK-47. Cheap and easy to construct and maintain. It is simple to use, packs a powerful punch and will work pretty much anywhere: deserts, swamps, jungles, you name it.

It is the natural choice of governments, groups and individuals looking for maximum reliability for minimal cost. There are tens of millions in use around the world today, more than all other assault rifles combined.

The AK-47 was always used by the 'bad guys'. After WW2, it was used by the Soviets, including the Vietcong, and in all manner of Middle-Eastern, Asian and African wars, in which cases it was sometimes being used against NATO or Western powers, traditionally seen as oppressors and overlords to many of these people. The AK-47 was their path to freedom. It has become part of counter-culture, the fight against 'the man', the weapon of choice for the down-trodden underclasses who desire nothing more than taking their destiny into their own hands.

It represents hope and power in the hands of the underdog, where previously there was none. I have a hard time imagining any other man-made thing that represents such an all-encompassing, unifying and yet divisive and destructive ideology.

Guns aren't exactly cool... but they are still awesome and inspiring.

A Movie Review - Rise of the Planet of the Apes

This movie has a pretty ridiculous title. You feel it could have been made far snappier and more catchy, but, if you wanted to include the term 'Planet of the Apes', what else could you call it? I'm not here to review the title, though, so let's get on with it.

That handsome fellow is Caesar (played by Andy Serkis, who was Gollum in Lord of the Rings), a chimp with massive intellect and ability, thanks to experimental brain-enhancing research carried out on his mother by brilliant, if slightly goofy, scientist Will, who is seeking a cure for his own father's Alzheimers.

I'm going to start by simply saying that I didn't really care too much about any of the humans in this movie, or their stories or their motives. For me, it really is all about Caesar. He has more character than anybody else in this film put together - he is the star, and to see it all from his perspective gives you a unique view of how an intelligent chimp would view humans. His touching bonds with members of Will's family are gradually eroded by what he perceives as repeated betrayals, and the abuse he suffers does nothing but strengthen his resolve, making him an entirely lovable and supportable underdog.

Every step of the way, you are cheering for Caesar, and it is made that much easier by the simply stunning visual effects that went into creating him, along with the motion-capture-fabulouness of Serkis. You can feel his emotions, his feelings, his defiance and burning desire for freedom and you empathise with him completely, something that is very rare in cinema these days among human protagonists.

I have seen many comments on various other reviews that say things like: "Oh yeah, come on, like, we'd totally just shoot them all."

I had a similar question going into this movie: How are the apes even able to overpower us?

But rather than just dismiss the possibility that apes would even have a hope against the tooled-up residents of the United States and call the movie a pile of nonsense, I actually went to see it, and I feel my question was answered entirely successfully and this movie somehow managed to create a scenario that you could certainly call plausible... apart from maybe one tiny detail, but in order to describe that, I would have to post spoilers, and that is not my business.

Just go and see this movie, you will be very pleasantly surprised. I expected it to be average at best, yet came away very satisfied and actually wanting more.

Allow me to summarise my review with a helpful set of bullet points.

Pro's

• Fabulous effects
• A lovable underdog
• Great build up of tension
• Excellent action sequences
• Intense, memorable moments
• Satisfying and surprisingly believable story

Con's

• Humans are nothing more than plot devices - even James Franco is a bit feeble
• Perhaps one tiny unlikely detail, but it can be explained away
• No explanation of what would happen to other animals

I'd say this movie was a very solid 8/10 and definitely worth going to see. It is much, much better than you'd expect.

Aural

After yesterday's somewhat grumpy tirade, I feel I should lighten the mood by speaking about something that everyone loves: Music.

When I talk about music, naturally, I will speak about the genres or songs that I personally enjoy. I often hear people say 'oh this song is shit, so is that', but can you qualitatively prove such a claim? Is that song really that bad? What makes it that bad, and is it a fact or just your opinion? Simply because you don't particularly enjoy a piece of music, does not make it bad; the opposite is true: music that is demonstrably talentless, tuneless and aggravating to everyone around you can be the best thing you have heard in ages. It all comes down to opinion, which by definition, cannot be ultimately correct or incorrect.

People pour so much love and feeling into the music they listen to, they feel the need to defend their choice to the death if necessary, whilst simultaneously attacking everyone else's preferences in order to validate their own. Hey, come on guys! It doesn't matter, does it? Music is music and it is all brilliant in some way.

So what is brilliant about it? In a technical sense, the ability of a mind to formulate lyrics, arrange them into a pattern to fit notes played on a, quite frankly, bewildering array of instruments, and then for the singer to match those notes and produce something that your ears can deliver to your brain as a torrent of information and stimulation, thereby generating feelings, emotions and euphoria... is simply astounding. The processes involved are as complex as anything else humanity is capable of.

Of course, you can just press a button and make a machine do it for you. That may reduce the perceived talent within the piece, but it does not render it invalid, terrible or worthy of hatred. You can simply say "No thank you" and listen to something else rather than launching into a twenty minute barrage of bile-flecked vitriol about how the singer is a jerk, a talentless moron and produces nothing more than soulless money-vacuums for the music industry. All of that may be true but as long as there is at least one other person out there who disagrees with you, your opinion remains just that: an opinion, not fact.

This is, hands-down, my favourite song right now:

I like fairly poppy punky rocky alternative stuff, I guess. I would say the above song is brilliant: It drags me in and gives me such a fantastic feeling every time I listen to it. I love songs that sound unique, fresh, different. Even a single line or solo in a song can get me hooked on it, purely because, to my ears, it sounds so perfect.

However, if someone insulted that band or song, how would I react? I would feel personally attacked, as if someone was questioning my judgement, my values, my integrity. Then I would remember that they were simply trying to have their opinion pose as fact and as such it is not worth being offended by what they have to say.

Accents are another thing that I adore about some bands:

People sometimes ask me how I find new music.

First of all, I listen to Last.fm sometimes, which will recommend and play songs for me that are similar to what I already love. I also talk to friends about what they are listening to, if they have discovered anything good recently. Youtube suggestions are helpful as well - for instance, this song is by a band I love, I looked up one of their songs to put in here and it suggested a new one I hadn't heard before:

You can find music everywhere you go. Some of my favourite songs I have heard while in a bar or club, found out from friends what they are, and now every time I listen to that piece of music, the associated good times come with it:

I told you in my first post about how I adore visions and ideas that are epic in their design and albums are a fantastic place to discover worlds and concepts beyond our own. A Thousand Suns is Linkin Park's latest album, and at first listen, it seems pretty okay. Then as soon as you learn that the album 'theme' is nuclear war and devastation, it makes perfect sense and the album is now one of my absolute favourites of last year. Watch this in 1080p, fullscreen and allow it to totally absorb you:

A Thousand Suns was a big departure from Linkin Park's usual stuff. Many people hated it, purely because they hadn't done something similar to their first couple of albums. However, my personal feeling is that they have evolved. They've done the nu-metal thing and have gone so far now that I'd be inclined to call this album it's own genre. It is such a mix of things and crafted with such devotion and commitment that I cannot help but love it.

Another band that has created a recent concept album and reinvented themselves, to a greater degree than Linkin Park, are My Chemical Romance.

This was them a couple of years ago, from their Black Parade album (which was also a concept, really), a wonderful compendium of energetic and violent anger, misery, hatred and no small amount of brilliant tunes to shout along to when in a bad mood; I adored it:

... and this is them now, from their latest album Danger Days:

What the hell? Yet still, I love it.

It's Quite Difficult...

... to come up with subjects suitable for blogging - mostly because you have to make them interesting.

Or at least, thought-provoking; but how can you stimulate discussion and opinions when the chosen subject is generally considered quite dull?

I feel that the key is to find a way to relate the subject to the reader - they need to understand how this thing, this person, this event could affect them. Then they can decide if they like it or not, form an opinion, discuss and defend it and insult anyone who thinks otherwise.

I spend lots of my time talking to informed, educated and intelligent people, so when I come across someone who has not formed an opinion of, or even has no knowledge or care over, a well-known event, I can get a little flustered and indignant. Mostly, this tends to revolve around politics. The apathy of many people boggles my mind. The sheer ignorance of some makes me want to commit horrific acts of violence in the name of education and information.

I met somebody once who didn't know how many days there are in the year. She was in her late teens. When I told her, she asked how I managed to remember it.

Remember it? I don't remember it. I've known it so long that it is carved into my head in eighty-foot high letters, like some vast primitive human's cave doodle on the inside of my skull. The other little cavemen in there dance around a fire, chanting the number over and over again, along with figures such as my own birthday, the first few digits of pi, the number of days in the week, my PIN number, the temperature of absolute zero and so on. We all have certain things inside our head that are ingrained, carved, plugged into us, that we just know, without taking the effort of remembering. For someone to lack something so simple is just.. beyond comprehension.

I think the problem is that this situation is only going to get worse. I don't know about you but I have noticed a massive deterioration in behaviour and education in younger generations. I think the recent rioting across England is a symptom of this. Don't worry, I'm not here to talk about those, enough drivel has been spouted concerning them the past few weeks.

Ignorance is not bliss, it's stupid. It'll ruin your life and those of your children too, if you let them go down the same moronic path. It is a waste of potential, of effort and of energy. If you are not willing to make the most of your short stay here on Earth by learning as much as you can, making intelligent, informed decisions and passing that knowledge on, then what is the point in existing?

The Beginning

It was suggested that I create a blog to showcase some of my writing talent and to provide me with something to do between my regular forays into the darker recesses of the internet in the search for jobs, entertainment and terror.

So here we are. A little about myself:

My names is James;
I am 24 years of age;
I am educated to degree level;
I live in the glorious city of Edinburgh, Scotland;
I am an atheist, perhaps 'secular humanist';
I have a fiance, and he rocks my world.

Each of the above points will likely get a more descriptive and elaborate post of their own as I struggle to come up daily with topics and ideas for discussion. I have written blogs before but often lost interest, perhaps I can keep it up a little longer this time.

Does the name of my Blog have any meaning?

Well, as you might be able to tell by now, I can be a little odd. I am frequently grasped by epic, surreal concepts, the more fantastical and outlandish, the better, and this, I think, is one of them.

If you wanted to start up a daily newspaper to be distributed throughout the Galaxy, across hundreds, if not thousands, of worlds and species, what would you name it? Well.. this is my idea.

'The' would be a common concept to many intelligent races: A definite article, something implied, or discussed or familiar to all. It exists, it is solid and definite. THE Milky Way. THE Earth. THE White House. There are many 'white houses' on Earth, yet there is only one White House. Such it is for many newspapers today, actually: The Sun, The Times, The Guardian. 'The' lends them a certain gravitas, a sense of solidity and definite purpose.

'Galactic' refers, of course, to a single Galaxy, something that any species familiar with the concept of an interplanetary newspaper would hopefully be familiar with. I rather like the word; it brings images of vast, sweeping spirals and dense, bright clouds of beautiful stars and nebula to my mind on every occasion. What privileged beings we are to be able to look up at the little dots of light in our night sky and know that they form part of a structure that could potentially  be home to millions of worlds such as our own. I can think of no grander ideal than the concept of peaceful co-operation, communication and travel between those worlds.

'Radiance' is a measure of light emitted from a certain area, and as light has a constant speed and presence, we can possibly assume it is a fundamental aspect of complex, intelligent life everywhere in our Universe. I am in no doubt that life may exist out there that has no relation to light, no dependence upon it - after all, the creatures that live around Hydrothermal vents right here on Earth gain their fuel entirely from chemicals released by the vents without relying on the Sun for any energy whatsoever.

Light is also information. From the simple repeated flash of a torch to signal in Morse Code, to the nanosecond pulses of coherent LASER light fired down optical fibre cables, to the humble lightbulb that allows us to read at night, the stellar constellations that helped guide sailors throughout history, and the tiny blinking LED that tells us whether an appliance is off, on or on standby, humanity relies almost entirely upon light for the majority of information it consumes.

So there we go. The Galactic Radiance: A source of information accessible to anyone or anything with the time to browse its pages. I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoy writing.