I started a New Blog

Hello to all who have made it here and are paying attention to this blog. I started a new blog at http://videodramareview.com for posting reviews of my favrorite Asian dramas. Sadly this means I will no longer be maintaining this blog. Maybe I'll continue posting at a later date when I have more time.

Thank you to all who visited and left comments. See you around.

New Traffic Signs on Ngong Road making driving in Kilmani complicated

One thing I've always liked about living in Kilimani is the multiple ways there are to get around the area. Lately the new traffic signs on Ngong Road have been making driving around Kilimani complicated. It started earlier this year when it no longer became possible to turn into Mucai Drive from Ngong Road when driving in the direction of the CBD. Mucai Drive is a road that connects Ngong Road and Ngumo Estates. This road is very convenient especially when trying to avoid the traffic on Mbagathi Way. Lately there have been even more traffic signs popping up on Ngong Road restricting travel through it. It is now not allowed to turn into Menelik Road from Ngong Road when driving towards Adams Arcade. I can understand why the powers that be have decided to do this. They are trying to reduce the congestion on Ngong Road thereby making traffic flow smoother. What this means for those of us that have been used to multiple routes through Kilimani is being forced to take the long way round to get to some areas.

Ngong Road has always been a source of traffic jams. I remember some years ago there were rumors that Ngong Road was going to be expanded into a four lane highway. The space is certainly there for such construction to take place. Instead all that happened was the that the sidewalks were paved and small concrete blocks were placed on the curb between the road and sidewalk. These concrete blocks have served as a menace to the tires of many drivers including myself, One day I was trying to swerve away from an encroaching bus and grazed one of those blocks which caused me to get a puncture on my left front tire. I have been very wary of the curb on Ngong Road ever since then.

There is usually a lot of traffic on Ngong Road except for late at night and on Sundays. Anyone who has ever been on Ngong Road when an accident has taken place knows how bad it can get especially when a truck or other heavy vehicle is involved. Maybe the new traffic signs will reduce the traffic a little but in my opinion the best course of action would be to make Ngong Road a four lane highway once and for all.

Sense8 - Sci-fi Netflix Drama partially filmed in Nairobi, Kenya.

Sense8 is a TV series about eight people around the world who wake up one day and find themselves sharing their minds. These people include a cop in Chicago, a Finnish DJ in London, a trans woman hacktivist in San Fransisco, a Kenyan driver, a gay Mexican actor, a South Korean businesswoman, an Indian chemist and a German gangster. The show takes us through their lives and the impact that sharing consciousness has on each of them. The show appealed to me immediately when I realized from the opening credits that one of the eight Sensates as they are called was in Kenya. As a Kenyan it feels good to see Kenya and other Kenyans on TV knowing they will be seen across the world. I was surprised to discover the character playing the Kenyan Sensate is actually a British actor.

I found the show quite interesting especially the originality of the show's premise. In most cases stories of this kind often involve only two people sharing thoughts but having eight different people share thoughts, feelings and experiences makes this show quite unique. The greatest thing about this show was how they dealt with portraying the lives of the various characters around the world. I can't tell about the other characters but the Kenyan character was very realistically portrayed. I had fun recognizing the various places where scenes were shot in Nairobi. There is a lot of sex in this show which might deter some viewers but otherwise I really liked it. The action scenes were quite intense.
I don't want to go into much detail about the show because I think everyone should watch for themselves. I have included a link to the official trailer.

I wish they can make a second season especially since a lot of plot lines were left unresolved by the end of the series. It must have cost a lot of money to make this show given all the locations it was filmed in around the world. Hopefully the producers will be able to recoup their investment. Sens8 was created by The Wachowskis famous creators of The Matrix.

Xianxia - My newest Addiction

"Qin Yu from Stellar Transformations"

Xianxia means immortal hero in Chinese and refers to a genre of fiction where the main characters are interested in becoming immortals through meditation and other techniques. Xianxia stories involve a lot of fantasy elements like magic, gods and demons. I found Coiling Dragon on the site Wuxiaworld one day and was immediately hooked. After reading up to Book 13 within two days I took a break and started looking for more. Most of what I could find has been translated from Chinese by wonderful people online. I cannot say how much I appreciate those who translate Xianxia for avid readers like me. Most Xianxia available online has been published as web novels in China. These web novels are usually quite long and I would advise anyone trying to start reading Xianxia to be prepared to spend a lot of time reading these enjoyable and fascinating works of fiction. Coiling Dragon which started me on this voyage is currently translated up to Book 16 Chapter 16 and there are a total of 21 books spanning over 800 chapters.

Apart from Coiling Dragon I am currently reading Battle Through the Heavens, Martial God Asura and Stellar Transformations from the Wuxiaworld site. There are a number of other Xianxia books I am reading on other sites but the greatest collection of Xianxia in my opinion can be found on Wuxiaworld. Another site prospective readers may be interested in is the Wuxia Translations thread on SPCNET.TV which can be found here. I don't like this site as much because navigating it can be cumbersome and the translated chapters of the books are not well laid out. What most translators have been doing is creating blogs and sites to post the books they are working on. I would advise people looking for Xianxia to read to be patient in their search because you never know when you might discover the next gem.

It can be frustrating waiting for the next chapter of your favorite Xianxia book to come out but after you've read it you can't help but want more. That's why I call it an addiction. My greatest hope is for translating software to become so good that I can get the raw books from the Chinese sites and translate it for myself. I know that is something that won't happen for some time so until then I hope those Chinese translators currently working on Xianxia can keep up the good work. Thank You.

Fifty Shades of Grey - A Good Movie Adaptation

                                       
















I finally managed to find a clear uncut copy of the Fifty Shades of Grey movie online. I gave up expecting to see the movie in theaters here in Kenya because of its erotic content. At the same time I am not a big fan of watching movies with erotic content with other people around; it can get very awkward. I read the book many years ago as well as the sequels and I liked it. Not that I would put it in my top ten best books but it was definitely interesting especially given how popular it has become. There are many books available with explicit erotic content but very few have managed to reach the level of success of Fifty Shades of Grey. I was completely shocked last year when my cousin told me she had read the first book. I didn't exactly know how to respond, I still remember watching her growing up and I quickly changed the subject so I didn't have to discuss the book any further.

The movie in my opinion was great, well worth the hype. Fans of the books have been clamoring online for years for a movie adaptation to be made and finally it came out. Before the movie came out I actually watched a few fan made trailers for a Fifty Shades of Grey movie on Youtube. The cast was great especially the leads. I found myself getting immersed in the story even though I have read the book before and knew what was coming. The movie was so good the cliffhanger ending came as a surprise. After finishing the movie I actually read the second book again to get rid of the suspenseful feelings the movie generated.

The only issue I had with the movie was that they did not show as much of the written exchanges between Christian and Anastasia which in my opinion are a major part of what makes the books great. There were a few other discrepancies but I didn't feel they made that much difference to the story. I am looking forward to Fifty Shades Darker next year in March.

Daredevil - Reborn on TV

I spent last weekend watching all 13 episodes of the Daredevil television series produced by Netflix. I had been anticipating it for a while and had watched the trailer a couple of times. I am glad to say I was not disappointed, in fact I was amazed. I have always found Daredevil to be one of the most fascinating comic book characters in existence. Daredevil's powers are not that over the top and he is not some wealthy billionaire playboy.
For those who may not already know it, Daredevil is the story of Matthew Murdock a lawyer turned vigilante who was granted enhanced senses by an accidental chemical spill as a child that also cost him his eyesight. His father was a boxer killed by gangsters for refusing to take a dive in a boxing match. Daredevil is situated in Hell's Kitchen a neighborhood in New York city
I loved the Daredevil movie with Ben Affleck but its lack of commercial success made people label it a flop. In my opinion it also had one of the greatest movie soundtracks I have ever heard. The problem with the movie is that they made Daredevil out to be a tortured and tragic hero; which he is but people are often more comfortable witnessing mental and emotional torture than the evidence of physical torture. In the movie Daredevil required pills and a sensory deprivation tank to sleep at night in order to survive. In the recently released TV series they addressed these and other issues in order to portray Daredevil as the great but conflicted hero he is.
The TV series takes us through Daredevil's rise as a hero through conflicts with his nemesis Wilson Fisk more commonly known in comic books as the Kingpin. The TV series is set in the same Marvel Universe as The Avengers and Iron Man in the aftermath of the Battle of New York so the people are already used to vigilantes and super heroes. However Daredevil starts out in what can only be described as an economy class costume which he confesses at some episode that he purchased online. Despite the lack of high tech or specialized gear; the story line and action sequences are detailed enough that you can't help but accept the circumstances that force Daredevil to be the way he is.
The supporting cast are definitely a major part of what makes this show great in my opinion. Vincent D'Onofrio as Wilson Fisk is probably one of the greatest portrayals of a villain in television. The other characters like Foggy Nelson and Karen Paige also add depth to the story line.
I thought it was great that they made Ben Urich an African American which added a dose of ethnicity to the story which like most comic books is predominantly white. They did this in the Daredevil movie by making Wilson Fisk an African American as well. The comic book industry has been changing over time to reflect a wider range of characters which hopefully will broaden their appeal to their audiences.
One thing that did not change from comic book to movie and now TV series is how conflicted Matthew Murdock is about the actions he takes as Daredevil and how far he is willing to go for his brand of justice. Daredevil is a deeply religious Catholic and as such goes to confession which gives us an insight into how he thinks about himself and his actions which is hard to discover with other cinematic heroes. Something that did change was the lack of Elektra Natchios though there was some mention of their dating in college.
The show ends with Wislon Fisk going to prison and Daredevil finally donning the traditional devil costume he is famous for. However there are a number of unresolved story lines remaining so hopefully Netflix is planning for more seasons of Daredevil to be released. I for one am highly anticipating where the story will go next.

Online Novels - A Great Reading Experience

My first foray into the world of online novels was in 2004 when I read The Tower of Sorcery by James Galloway (Fel) on a website. I was instantly hooked and read the entire book online. This was the first time I experienced reading a book that was updated week to week. The Tower of Sorcery is the first book in a fantasy series that spans eight very enjoyable books split into two series namely the Firestaff Series(5 books) and the Pyrosian Chronicles (3 books). I've read and re-read these books over the years and I can still remember frequently checking Fel's website for updates to the books. Since then he has written other books most notably the Subjugation series which is a science fiction series about the occupation of the Earth by aliens in the future. All books by Fel can be found here.
Over the years I have read many books online and the hardest thing is to sift through all the books available to find the true gems. Websites like webfictionguide.com and topwebfiction.com are really helpful in this regard. You have to be prepared to invest a lot of time when it comes to online novels because by their very nature they are very long and there is no indication on when they will end. It all depends on the particular writer and their level of creativity. I am currently reading a number of online novels and two of the best among them in my opinion are Legion of Nothing and Brennus.
Both novels are about superheroes but each is very different in tone and subject matter. Give them a try I guarantee you won't be disappointed.
A subset of online fiction is fan fiction. As the name states fan fiction are books written by fans based on their favourite books, TV shows, movies and even games. The amount of fan fiction available is quite amazing and most if not all can be found online. Fanfiction.net can help to navigate the wide range of reading material available.
Online novels are popular around the world, especially in China where popular web novels garner a wide following. A number of popular Chinese online novels have been turned into dramas like Boss & Me and the recent My Sunshine.
Apart from the regular online novels, a lot of what I read online are translations of foreign books I would otherwise have no access to like light novels. Light novels are novels published in Japan with illustrations, and through translations by websites like Baka-Tsuki and Japtem I can read these novels in English online. There are quite a number of translated books available online. Some that I would recommend to read include Legendary Moonlight Sculptor and Arifureta.
If you have written what you consider to be a good book or have an idea for a great book and don't think you will be published, posting your writing online is a viable alternative to give readers access to your work.