Tech Talk - Ipod Classic

Its my birthday coming up and I've used this opportunity to replace the ipod that was stolen when we went to phuket (see previous post).

It fits nicely in the the Bose speaker dock and thus truely portable music has been restored to the Snell-Soto household once again.

NZ Vs Australia - Four Nations Rugby League Final

I'm still buzzing this morning after an incredible performance from the Kiwis in the final last night.

The boys were under the pump for the first 30 minutes and were not playing well. Australia will regret that they did not put more points on during this period. The aussie commentators were continually trying to write the kiwis off (Phil Gould - tosser) and just after him making the comment that the kiwis were " out on their feet", the winning try was scored with time up on the clock.

In Benji Marshall, NZ has a champion player and leader and last night he really showed that.

Now come on All Blacks, the Kiwis have showed you how to do it in the big games. Get it done next year!

Book Review - The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS EXTREME OVER ANALYSIS AND MAY BE PRETENTIOUS TO SOME READERS.


This novel was first released almost 10 years ago to significant critical and commercial success. ‘The first great American novel of the 21st century' is one example of the many plaudits that have come its way. Following his latest release, ‘Freedom’, Franzen adorned the cover of Time magazine, an extremely rare event for a fiction writer in this day and age.

The Corrections is the story of an American family. The elderly parents live in a dull mid western city and their three grown up children have moved away. The matriarch of the family wants to have one last Christmas together as a family and the narration follows their history both individually and collectively. Along the way Franzen weaves socio-economic, medical, racial and sexual issues and in doing so makes a hugely powerful statement on the state of not only the modern family, but society on a broader level.

It’s an incredibly ambitious novel and when released on 11 September, 2001, it was at the forefront of an increasing critical introspective examination within popular culture of the dysfunctional behemoth that is the US of A. Expanding further on the historical context that applies here, aside from 9/11 and the can of worms that opened, the watershed movie in American cinema, American Beauty had recently won the best picture Oscar. These 2 projects explore similar themes; however Beauty didn’t go far enough in challenging the facade of the American dream enough to be judged a masterpiece. The Corrections does. It lays out on the table the themes and characters of this family tale, then picks each up and dissects it under a surgical strength lamp.

Nothing escapes Franzen’s microscope. He delves into the dark moral crevices between our comfy sofas to such an extent that only a saint would not blush on occasion when what he finds is a little too close to home. And it’s all carried out with plenty of humour and use of metaphor and imagery that challenges and interests on every page. As for the characters, we care, despite all there faults. For all its heavy themes, it’s a novel with heart. Masterpiece.

Book Review - Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War by Karl Marlantes

No other war (or police action to be precise) has been more dramatised in fiction in modern times than the Vietnam conflict. We’ve all seen the movies and heard the stories of this war that, like so many before and since, have appeared such deadly exercises in futility. Despite this being a well mined field (pardon the pun), Matterhorn takes it to a higher level. Written by a decorated Vietnam veteran over 35 years, we follow a young Lieutenant, who, unlike the other grunts he charges over, is well educated and not obligated to be there.

This novel has an incredibly sincere quality and is consistently powerful. There is no doubt that Marlantes really knows what he’s writing about and the peripheral issues such as race relations and politics within the marine corp are tackled head on. This is war literature of the highest order and the raw emotion captured is, at times, quite simply breathtaking. Its no boys own adventure but equally it is not portrayed without humour; there is much of the gallow variety here.

The writing is superb, telling it like it is; and without pretention. This novel has reached a wide audience, including no doubt those whose previous knowledge of Vietnam was limited to Oliver Stone movies and China Beach. It’s clearly a project of passion and deserving of all the accolades it has received.

Tech Talk

On a previous post I have talked about my aversion to things of a modern, technological bent.

No more.

I have just returned from Singapore with this wonderful gadget, a surprise gift for Lina. Its fresh out of the box so it has'nt been given a test run but I'm sure its going to be a handy device.

Isaac turns 4

On a previous post I have written of the ultimate kids birthday party that were, to me at that time, a curious and unfamiliar Malaysian phenomenon.

Love a country - love its customs. Last weekend we laid on our Kiwi version of the Malaysian Birthday Extravaganza when we celebrated Isaac's 4th birthday. Dinosaurs was the theme and for another perspective on such parties in this fine city see this post of a fellow expat KL blogger (and no this was not quite the extravagance of our sons party; although it was pretty close).

Perhaps it's an unusual perspective on my part, regardless, I am firmly of the view that a children's party should also be cause for the adults to leer it up as well. It's difficult standing around at a kids party, clock watching, and longing for the a boredom numbing beverage, whilst the ankle biters are busy having all the fun. With this in mind, in addition to the pass-the-parcel games, chocolate fountain, and fairy bread, we laid on an adult food spread and beers.

So here is a snap taken that day, with more to follow later. We hope the party was enjoyed by young and old alike. Lina and I certainly enjoyed putting it on, and Isaac...... well the picture speaks for itself.

Back in my day.........

Oh no!......I must have been in Malaysia for a while now because I am commenting on 'the good old days'.

Our local neighbourhood is a traditional pocket of KL's satellite city, Petaling Jaya, more specifically the unimaginatively named, Section 17. We actually live in a neighbouring suburb called, you guessed it, Section 16, however 17 is where we go for food, marketing, and other life essentials. Massages for example.

The central point of Section 17 is a park square which is ringed by open drains, Grandma/pa shops, noodle houses, and hawker stalls that have seemingly remained unchanged in living memory. Well, at least for the 5 months I have lived in this hood. In more exotic locales around the world it would be called a plaza. Section 17, as could be presumed from the name, is not exotic, however this should not detract from its unique and particular charms.

The charm is certainly not historical in nature. Petaling Jaya, at most, 50 years old, is an example of post WW2 (sub)urban planning, Malaysia style, as people branched out from the KL inner city to the wide western expanses. The charm lies in sitting down for a bowl of pan mee spicy soup with pork innards and ikan bilis in a open air night market perched on a plastic, backless chair, elboes rested on wobbly plastic table that you share with several other strangers, sweat dripping down your forehead as a result of the 30 degree temperatures, 95% humidity and an additional chillispice factor of 10 degrees for good measure. It lies in nipping down to the kopitam on the square corner by 12 on the dot to get the best char siew in PJ. The owner who looked well past retirement is legendary in these parts and his wares sell out by 1230.

Last night I passed the aforementioned kopitam and was horrified to see it gone. In its place was a monstrosity. A most heinous affliction that is without doubt threatening Malaysia's cultural heritage.

A franchised kopitam. Its name escapes me, suffice to say there are several big names around who are apparently proving successful in spreading their evil scourge on the Malaysian landscape.

These places are hideous, with their pristine photos of old style kopitams adorning the walls. Generically uniformed staff with notepad and pencil to write your order. Chairs so comfortable that people were dozing in them. Jets of spray sending a soothing mist over the patrons as they sip kopi ice, for which they were charged twice as much as the previous establishment. And the scary thing was that the place was full. To the rafters. Malaysians are undeniably aspirational. They want gleaming, shiny, modern things. And places such as these are meeting the demand. What happened in the old days was that the old man owner would pass the business on to his children. In this day and age, the children would rather work for investment banks then slave away in a coffee shop - of course. So in steps the franchise.

Where are my pipe and slippers!