Capoeira Canal Christmas Roda

My capoeira teacher, Monitor Risadinha (Jacob is his real name, Risadinha is his Capoeira apelido - once you get to certain standard you get 'baptized' and given a nickname. Monitor is his 'grade') is on a plane to Brazil as I write, for a three week holiday and to train with an academy out there, and last night we had our final lesson of the year with him. So we decided to make it a bit of an occasion, especially as it coincides with the two year anniversary of the school, Capoeira Canal, which is a good achievement for Jacob.

The class followed a slightly different format to normal. Usually, we warm up together, then the beginners and intermediates split for the majority of the class, and we get back together at the end for a little roda. The roda (Portuguese for 'wheel') is the circle of people and instruments, within which two people play Capoeira. It is the whole point of Capoeira, really. Anyway usually we just have a little roda at the end of the class, lasting 20-30 minutes, everybody has one quick game, and that's it. Yesterday, however, as it was a special occasion, we had decided in advance to start the roda early and have a 'proper' one. So after a quick warm up we got the instruments out and started playing.

It was great. My capoeira has improved loads and now I feel confident enough to not embarrass myself, and I really enjoy playing the instruments and singing also. Towards the end of a roda the music speeds up, the capoeira speeds up, and the whole thing becomes really engrossing - especially when you're watching two really good capoeiristas play a game, it's spellbinding. It's also amazing how fast the time goes, I had barely had two games before I glanced up at the clock and realised an hour had gone and I was unlikely to get another, as time was running out. Ah well. Still a brilliant evening, which we discussed and washed down with a couple of pints afterwards. Very nice indeed.


So now I'm really enthused for Capoeira and, fortunately, classes are continuing, despite Jacob being away. For the next couple of weeks we have some intructors from our 'parent' school (i.e. Jacob's old school) the London School of Capoeira coming to take the next two Monday classes, so it will be interesting to see how their teaching methods differ to Jacob's. Cool beans.

Katherine Schirrmacher article

Katherine Schirrmacher, who recently recently has been signed up for the Moon climbing team, has written a short article for moonclimbing.com, "10 ways to revamp your climbing".

It is only a few hundred words long and yet I can't think of any other article that contains so much excellent information that is so concisely written and expressed.

https://www.moonclimbing.com/index.php?form_action=school&school_id=27class=

Portland sport climbing

It's been a busy weekend so I'm treating you to two posts in one day, you lucky things! Saturday morning found me loitering outside Hammersmith at some god-forsaken hour, waiting to picked up by Paul Mac on the way to Portland. We picked up Paul Mealor on the way, and after boring them to tears telling them just how good Casino Royal is, we met Darcy for breakfast in the Blue Fish cafe at Fortuneswell (nice place, incidentally, good food, though a little overpriced for what you get) at around 10.30.

The slightly late start suited us nicely actually, as it meant the sun had time to get round onto the Blacknor crags on the west coast (see pic), where many of the routes are a decent 28-30m long, so you really feel like you're getting your money's worth on every route. The last time I did any proper climbing was in the Wye Valley with Alastair in September, so it was good to get back on the rock again. I climbed with Darcy and we did several routes around the 6a-6c range, all very pleasant - yet the problem with this cliff is that all the routes follow the same pattern: 5m of heaving on dusty jugs, 10-15m of delicate conglomerate balancing, followed by 5m of really good clean limestone at the top. As a result the routes feel rather similar to each other, even though they are very good if considered individually.

So we spent a night in the old lighthouse (now a bird-watchers haunt) and got up bright and early (well, ish), and set off for The Cuttings, where the route of the day for me was The Cutting Edge, which I was quite chuffed to onsight, especially given that I've been off climbing for the last few months. Then I went and burst my bubble with a fall off New Saladin, though I wasn't too miffed as it was a juggy pump-fest, a bit more fitness would have dispatched it. So another good day was had by all. Special commendation should go to Macca who is a having a bit of a purple-patch at the moment, it seems that a summer off has done him good and he's come back with a vengeance. Oh yeah and props go to Paul Mealor who red-pointed his first 7a during his recent visit to Thailand!

And I'm really pleased because I had a brilliant weekend which has relit my passion and enthusiasm for rock climbing. Roll on some decent training over the winter, I'm looking forward to Easter at Pembroke already...

Casino Royal review

For some time, I have had a suspicion that the Sunday Times' chief film reviewer, Cosmo Landesman, doesn't actually know what makes a good film. Perhaps, if I were to be more polite, I would say that my opinion of what makes a good film differs from his. Either way, the fact is that I now have final conclusive proof that I am right and he is wrong, because the latest James Bond film, Casino Royal, is the best film I've seen all year, and certainly one of the best Bond films ever made.

Short of Tomorrow Never Dies, the more recent Bond efforts have been, if not completely pathetic, then largely forgettable. This is probably due to the fact that they ran out of Ian Fleming's books to convert to films some time ago, and so the films have relied on action and gadgets to get by. For Casino Royal, this isn't the case, because it is a remake of the original film, and based on the book of the same name - the first ever James Bond book. As a result, the film is very very different to almost every Bond film, with our hero being a slightly naive raw recruit (albeit one with an ego the size of Vauxhall Cross) who has just been promoted to his new title of 007. We get to see how the plot of the film moulds Bond gradually; tellingly, the famous Bond theme tune only appears right at the very end of the film, perhaps indicating that only then has transformed into the character that we have seen over the years. The scenario is given a clever twist by the film being set in the modern day, with internet, wireless communication and computers featuring heavily.

Daniel Craig is excellent in the main role, although I think he was lucky with the situation - the whole point of the film is that this 007 is very different to the more experienced one we have seen so many times before, so he had some license to stamp his own mark on the character. The rest of the acting is adequate, although it occasionally hampered by the slightly clunking script, which rather overstates the plot in case any thickos are watching and don't get it. In a way, though, this is a compliment to the plot which drives the movie at a relentless pace and high level of tension. Constantly twisting and turning, and with several factions all playing against each other, it is the plot that really raises this Bond effort high above the bar.

I haven't even mentioned the action sequences - - but quite frankly I needn't bother. Even if they were rubbish (they're not - one of them Djanira thought was the best chase scene she'd ever seen, the others all having you on the edge of your seat) it wouldn't really matter. Go and see this film, I can guarantee that you will enjoy it. Unless, of course, your name is Cosmo Landesman.

Viva date

I have received word for the date of my PhD viva - 2pm on Tuesday 30th January 2007. I'm not sure whether I'm happy/scared/excited/nervous/relieved or what. Probably a mix of everything. My fingers are sweating now just thinking about it!

New Zealand vs. the rest of the world

Just too good. I managed to catch the second half of the France/NZ game at the weekend, and to be honest it was really rather depressing. France are currently the number 2 team in the world rankings, yet they were completely and utterly outclassed by a New Zealand side that just does everything right. For 20 minutes, I saw France sit on the NZ 22, trying everything, using every trick they could think of to break the All-Black line. They might as well have been throwing pebbles at a concrete wall. A sea of black shirts soaked it all up, without appearing to make any effort, before quite casually stealing the ball and running in another try from their own half. If they can maintain this form for another 11 months, for the rest of us can only aspire to second place in the World Cup.

The rest of the weekend's rugby was more pleasant viewing. A second string Wales eased passed the Pacific Islands without actually playing a very good team game. Yet the signs are promising - if Gareth Jenkins can organize a strong and consistent squad, there's at least a semi-final place for the taking in the World Cup. The Irish gave the 'boks a stuffing, and nobody's ever sad to see that happen. The Scottish had a glorified training day, and poor old England got rolled over at home by a team of amateurs who'd had four days preparation. Personally I'm all for the Argies making the 6-nations the 7-nations. Wales has strong ties with Argentina, and they are only strengthened when they humiliate the old-enemy so!

But, dear-oh-dear, I'm really not looking forward to the 25th of November.

Barcelona and Montserrat **updated photos**

Last weekend Djanira and I returned to Barcelona (rapidly becoming our favourite place to be) for a quick holiday, and to catch up with a few friends. Dan (as in, Dan-I-used-to-live-with-in-Chalk-Farm-Dan) is still living in the city and appears as settled as ever. It was really good to catch up with him; we had some tapas for dinner before going out to meet a few mates for drinks. I still can't believe how cheap Barcelona is compared to London. Everybody out there thinks it's an expensive place, but when three of you can eat as much yummy tapas as you like and drink several glasses of beer/cava in a fantastic small place which has a great vibe, for €50 total, you know you're in the right place. Better still, when we left we got a free shot of any liquor we could see behind the bar - when I saw they had some decent 12y.o. Islay single malt, I very nearly fell off my chair. Awesome.

So we ended up in a bar down in El Raval, which is reknowned somewhat as one of the dodgier areas of the city, but one which is now 'up-and-coming'. In terms of character, it reminded me a little bit of somewhere like Hackney - still dodgy, but with enough cheap cool places opening up to attract a less-rough crowd. Incidentally, you can imagine my shock and disgust at having to pay less than 9 euros for a round of four bottles of beer. That's about £1.50 a bottle, exchange-rate fans. Sigh. Anyway we stayed there til about 1am (just as it was warming up), but felt that we had to leave because we had an earlyish start later in the morning.

So after not-enough-sleep and quick breakfast, we caught a cab to the north-east of the city to meet my friends Raquel and Ferran. I met them both in North Wales last spring, at the BMC international climbing meet, and they were kind enough to invite me and DJ over and be our guides for Montserrat. They are both so, so sweet; really friendly and outgoing, and they were fantastic hosts. Unfortunately my injured shoulder (and lack of fitness) precluded us doing any hard climbing, so we just did some walking, and one easy route.

Montserrat is an awesome place. It's basically one big mountain, 45 minutes drive from Barca; it's about the size of the Snowdon massif, but littered with enormous rock faces and (literally) hundreds of 'needles' - rock pillars anywhere from 20 to 200m high. It is a rock climbing mecca and, quite frankly, it puts all of the fuss we in Britain give to our small crags to shame. On saturday we took a 'grand-tour', walking along the whole of the north face, which is Ferran's home-from-home - he even runs a website dedicated to it, which has gradually extended to encompass ther whole of Catalan climbing - check it out at www.caranorte.com, though both your Catalan and Spanish will need to be up to scratch. Saturday night we walked up (in the dark) to some hermit's cave in the middle of the mountain - just big enough to sleep four people and with a breathtaking view out over Barca and the med beyond. Sunday we climbed an easy route but to my shame I backed off the lead on my pitch. The climbing was barely harder than VS but 'protection', such as it was, consisted of rusty old bolt heads that needed to be threaded with a nut. Needless to say, I couldn't spot any small, grey/brown dots hidden among the (grey/brown) pebbly rock and, between you and me, I don't like running out 30m without knowing where the next belay is, especially on unfamiliar rock and with a bad shoulder. So I let Ferran take the lead, which he of course made short work of, and we arrived at the top of needle, with brilliant 360 degree views. Amazing.

The only problem with the whole weekend was the fact that our return flight on Monday was cancelled - that's the third time in a row that this has happened to me! I couldn't believe it! Anyway, we still had a brilliant time, and I shan't imagine that'll be took long until we're back!

**UPDATE:**
DJ's and my photos are now on the web too, here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/alunthomasevans/Montserrat_Nov_2Alun



Raquel's pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/alunthomasevans/MontserratNoviembre06RaquelSPhotos

Injury

You will notice, if you look to the right, that the number one thing that Alun dislikes is injury. Why? Becuase it stops me doing the vast majority of things that I enjoy doing, which result in me being grumpy. All work and no play makes Alun a dull boy.

At the moment, Alun is a dull boy, because he is injured. Shortly after Capoeira last week, my back started hurting, and became increasingly painful as the week progressed. Fortunately it is now improving but I suspect it will niggle for a few more weeks. I went to see a physio the other day and she reckons it's all to do with posture, both while sitting at work and just in general. So we talked about how to improve all that, and then beat seven shades of shit out of my back. Ow.

Anyway I'm doubly worried because Djanira and I are going to Barcelona on Friday and meeting up with my friends Rakel and Ferran, who I met while on the BMC International Meet in Wales in April. They are taking us climbing in Montserrat, which should be brilliant, but I don't want to be in pain the whole time! Hopefully I'll be well enough to do some easy stuff.

The recent good news is that my cousin Meilyr wrote to say that his wife Catrin has given birth to Brychan. Llongyfarchiadau mawr!

E11 film review

Earlier this year, Dave Macleod, the Glasgow based professional rock climber, finally got to the top of what is now the hardest traditionally protected rock climb in the world, Rhapsody, grading it a mighty E11. The route takes pretty much the most direct line up smooth overhanging face of Dumbarton rock, a large basalt outcrop near Glasgow, and is undoubtedly the biggest thing that has happened in the British rock climbing scene for several years.

It is only right therefore, that there should be some sort of film record this effort - yet I wasn't expecting an entire flick dedicated to it! 41 minutes focusing on one climber and one route may not sound too exciting, but what the chaps at http://www.hotaches.com have done is not just document the story of how the route was conquered, but painted a picture of the determination and hard work required to reach this level. Most poingantly, we get to know Dave's wife, Claire, almost as well as we get to know Dave himself, and we see the strain that she is under - the strain that must affect the partners of all professional athletes who are completely obsessed with their goals.

As such this is a film that even non-climbers will appreciate - they won't even get bored during the section of actual climbing footage, due to the gut wrenching falls the Dave takes over and over again. They really are horrendous, if you don't believe me, go and download the trailer here.

So how does the film compare with other classic climbing movies, such as Hard Grit or Stone Monkey? Well it is different to both. Hard Grit is a classic becuase it defines not just a style of climbing, but also an era. Stone Monkey is a classic because it paints a portrait of one of the most influental British climbers of all time. E11 doesn't aim to do either of these things, yet it is undoubtedly utterly compelling viewing; it is the first film that really gives you some sort of inkling of what it must be like to be at the cutting edge of the rock climbing world - and in fact any 'small' sport (i.e. one that doesn't provide big bucks to it's participants). As such it deserves a place on the shelf of anybody who has more than a passing interest in climbing, and I suspect my copy (which has been watched twice already) will see plenty more repeat viewings as the years go by.

More reviews here, here and here.

DIRT - the classic MTB flick

A couple of days ago I bought Mountain Biking UK for the first time in several years. No, I haven't gone mad, nor have a I turned into a whining teenager. The reason I bought it was because it came with a free DVD which, apart from some awfully filmed 'modern' riding, has the first (and possibly only) digital copy of 'Dirt' on it, one of the original and best mountain bike flicks ever made.

It's basically Rob Warner, Scott Dommett, Dave Hemmings and the late, great, Jason McRoy pissing about on their bikes in the sunshine. With the exception of a guest appearance by 'Jumpin' Jez Avery, there is very little 'impressive' riding in it (and even Avery's section is ridiculously tame by modern standards, despite the orginal GT STS and green body-armour!), but then that's not the point. The point is that it perfectly encapsulates the spirit of going out and riding with your mates on a warm summers day. It harks back to a more innocent time (well, for me at least) when you didn't go 'downhilling' or 'XC' or 'street-riding'. You just went for a ride.

I still have a well-watched copy of the original tape somewhere but, given that I don't own a VHS and aren't likely to ever own one again, I though it was worth getting it on DVD, for posterity's sake.

The first six minutes of it are available to watch online at http://www.jasonmcroy.com/jmc/, go to the downloads section and press play. Classic stuff.

The Burgher

As proof of my recent transformation from 'dossy student' to 'dossy professional', this week I went on my first ever 'business trip'. A major part of the project that I am working on right now involves speech recognition, and we are lucky enough to be working with an expert in the field, Mike Lincoln, who is a researcher at the University of Edinburgh. I am doubly lucky in that he is a sound bloke who has a very similar outlook on life/work/getting-things-done as I do, and we get on well. So on wednesday I took the train from Kings Cross up to the 'Burgher, with the intention of working with him on establishing a framework which we can use to work remotely in the future to help get things working.

The train from Kings Cross to the Burgher is wicked. It took four hours and 15 minutes, and was very pleasant and relaxing. If I'd caught a plane from, say, Luton, it would have taken me an hour to get there (from Kings X), an hour and half waiting at the terminal, and hour's flight, and half an hour's transfer from the airport to the middle of Edinburgh. That's four hours in total, and rather than sitting in one place as with the train, you can never settle for long, as every hour you have to move about and walk/queue. So not only is the train more comfortable, it is just as fast, and it satisfies my inner eco-warrior by being better for the environment.

I feel quite at home in Scotland, for three reasons. One, the countryside is beautiful; two, it is usually raining; and three, we share a dislike for the English! As an example, on Wednesday Scotland were playing Ukraine in football, and I walked into the pub at a bad time - Ukraine had just sealed their win by scoring their second goal, a penalty, in injury time. The atmosphere was very morose. At that moment, the teletext service flashed up on the TV screen, showing the result of England game that had been played simultaneously. Croatia 2, England 0. An enormous cheer rattled the very foundations of the building, and I couldn't help joining in - I felt right at home!

David Cameron - all style, no substance

For several years now (in fact, almost a decade), one of the biggest complaints that the Tories have had about Blair is that there was too much spin, too much media focus, too much style. It is one of the few issues that they and I have ever agreed upon. Yet now that David Cameron is on the scene, they appear to forgotten all such criticisms, at least officially. www.webcameron.org.uk is possibly the most pathetic piece of 'politics' since Blair said "This isn't a time for cliches, but I feel the hand of destiny on my shoulder" or some such nonsense. It is a ridiculous site, trying to package 'Dave' to being a media-savvy, trendy, down-wid-da-kids hero.

Take, for example, his video blog that was recorded after his speech to conference. It is obviously set up. Everything that is said, from the 'summary' of his conference speech, the 'interview' with his web-tech geek, to his 'response' to the enormous amount of comments on the site, is so blatantly un-genuine it is laughable.

Fortunately, it appears I'm not the only one who's noticed the similarity between Cameron and Blair...of course, the irony in me linking to this video is that the chap who made this video is campaigning for UKIP!!

Children of Men review

About 30 minutes into Children of Men, there comes a moment when you realise that, unless you like cold-blooded murder in your films, this isn't going to be a particularly easy one to watch.

Filmed mostly with hand-held 'documentary-style' camerawork, this is a dark, raw, film set about 20 years in the future, at a time when the human race has become infertile, the youngest person on the planet is 18 years old. The majority of the world's countries have collapsed into anarchy, and Britain is the only place that has managed to hold itself together and keep a civilised society - although one which is effectively a police state, with closed borders and a paranoid immigration policy. Clive Owen plays the hero, a world-weary ex-activist who somehow finds himself in the position of having to protect the most important person in the world - a pregnant girl.

The problem with the film is that it doesn't know what it wants to be, or what it wants to say. Part semi-futuristic sci-fi, part-political commentrary, part-action thriller. Undoubtedly, it is as third type that it succeeds most. After a slow start the action and excitement is pretty non-stop, and anybody who's played the latter levels of Half-Life 2 will feel right at home in the last 40 minutes. In such all-out thrillers you tend to ignore any silly plot holes as your belief is already suspended, however that doesn't happen in this film as the director is constantly cutting back, as if he is trying to say that this is something that could really happen.

On that note it fails. While the futuristic world is intriguing it is not fleshed out enough to make it truly believable (mostly because of all the action sequences), and so when the action stops for a bit and you catch your breath, you're left a bit puzzled as to why this is all going on.

Djanira didn't like it at all, partially for the above reasons, but also becuase of the violence. Although actual moments of real goriness are few and far between, it is a violent and rather cold-blooded film, and I was surprised to see it only got a 15.

By contrast I quite enjoyed it, but left a little disappointed that more wasn't made out of the world and the scenario - it would have been a gamble to do so, as many of the action sequences would have to have been dropped, and perhaps that would have made the film a little too slow. But it might just have paid off. Incidentaly, it is an adaptation of a P.D. James book, so it will be interested in reading the book to see if it succeeds where the film stumbles. In conclusion, I would say that it is definately an interesting film that is worth going to watch, but perhaps a missed opportunity.

Capoeira at the Octopus Street Party in Notting Hill

This weekend my Capoeira school, Capoeira Canal, did a demo performance at a street party in Notting Hill, organised by the Octopus Challenge - a charity raising money for cancer research and support. We did a couple of shows, once early on, and once a little later - the later one was definately the better one because the crowd was a lot bigger (maybe up to a couple of hundred), they had drunk a bit more champagne by then, and us capoeiristas had a little bit of Dutch courage after a brief visit to the pub also! We were a little bit nervous before the first performance, because only a handful of beginners (including me) had turned up, and I was worried that our basic moves wouldn't do any justice to neither the school nor the game of capoeira - fortunately, just before we took the stage a couple of more experienced players arrived, so inbetween politely applauding the beginners, there were plenty of oohs and aaahs from the crowd when the flips, handstands and big kicks came out.

Djanira managed to make the second performance, and has video footage of me - looking like a rank-amateur, of course, but fortunately I didn't fall over and make a complete prat of myself. Unfortunately it's too big to put on here, and she didn't get any photos of me, so you'll have to wait for another day to laugh at my inabilities. However, here's a couple of photos of some more impressive play going on.

It's looking Wii-lly good

The other day I nipped into PC World to buy some paper, and grabbed a chance to a have a quick go on a couple of Xbox360 demo machines. The two games I played were MotoGP (a motorbike racing game) and Dead or Alive 3 (a beat-em-up). The first thing I noticed was the fact that, on MotoGP, the graphics were nigh-on video quality. I'll be honest, my jaw dropped - I simply couldn't believe how realistic and life-like the game looked. Dead or Alive 3 was more stylised (thus less life-like) but still looked breathtakingly beautiful.

Yet I eventually left the store rather unimpressed. Why? Because, once a certain standard has been reached, graphics just don't make much difference. Superbike 2000 had brilliant graphics, and when played with a joystick, was pretty much all you could ever want from a motorbike racing sim. Is Dead or Alive 3 really much better than Tekken 3, or Soul Caliber? I guess what I'm getting at is, is it worth paying hundreds of pounds for a new system, and £50 each for games to play on it, when the final experience you get isn't much different?

My current thinking is 'no'. Which is why, each time I hear a little more about Nintendo's console, the daftly-monikered 'Wii', I get more and more interested. It's now well-accepted that the graphical power will not be as high as the Xbox360 or the PS3, yet the new control system (which is based around the detection of motion of a wireless controller) opens up an entire new domain of gaming options. Fine, if it works well. Yet from reading reports on the internet (e.g. http://wii.ign.com), it looks like Nintendo, and the various developers who have working on the launch titles, might just pull it off.

In conjunction with the facts that the Wii is likely to cost around £150 at launch (under half the price of the PS3), the games will be around £30 (rather than £50), and many classic Nintendo games of previous consoles will be available for direct download for £5 or £10, Nintendo might actually have a chance of taking top-dog in the console market. Previously I have been a Sony die-hard when it comes to consoles, but unless Sony announce something really revolutionary with the PS3 (and drop the price!), my money might well be going Nintendo's way.

September the 11th

Today is the fifth anniversary on the attack on the twin towers of New York. Remembrance services are being held around the world. But are we remembering the right things? Today's newspaper had some interesting 'official death toll' statistics, based on worldwide activity since 11/9/01:


US citizens killed in terrorist attacks: just under 3000.
US citizens killed in 'the war on terror': just over 3000.


Worldwide deaths due to 'terrorist attacks': just under 5000.
Worldwide deaths due to 'the war on terror': >95,000.


So. While it is right to mourn those who died five years ago today, shouldn't we also be mourning the other 90,000 people who have died, mostly innocent civilians in Iraq and Afganistan?

And while Saddam Hussein deserves to be tried and punished for killing tens of thousands of innocent civilians; why isn't anybody being tried and punished for the deaths of nearly one hundred thousand people who have died thanks to military action that has occured since September 11th?

Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks

This is the second Iain M. Banks I've read, and I approached it with great expections after enjoying Consider Phlebas so much. It tells the story of Cheradenine Zakalwe, a human employee of the Culture who is basically used to do their dirty work - sent in undercover to change the political or military situation in a given location. As capable as Zakalwe is though, there is a secret buried deep in his past...

The manner in which the way the book is written is quite different to normal. It has two strands than run in alternate chapters through the book. The first is what could be called the 'real-time' thread, which describes the story of the current events; whereas the second thread is, in essence, a series of short-stories that describe aspects of Zakalwe's past. Crucially, the stories in this second thread are presented in reverse order - the later the chapter the earlier the point it describes in Zakalwe's life. It works quite well, as the events in the 'real' story reach a climax, so the timeline of the reverse story reaches a crucial point alluded to through the entire book.

There's no doubt that the book is an enjoyable read, Banks' style is very readable and there is plenty of meat to the book. I do, however, have a bit of a problem with the ending. There is a twist, of sorts, though to be honest it is less of a twist and more of a complete surprise. A good twist should make your mouth drop and get you riffling back through the pages to find half-remembered references and hints. The ending of this book does no such thing, it's just a bit of a slap in the face, with no explanation. Maybe I'm being a little harsh, but if so it's because I think the quality of the rest of the book deserves a good twist.

Nonetheless it is still a good read. Excession is up next and apparently that is more similar to Consider Phlebas, so I'm looking forward to it.

The berimbau

The most important instrument when playing Capoeira is the berimbau. It's basically a single string tensioned over a wooden stick, with an amplifying gourd at the bottom. There are only two notes (altered by pressing a stone against the string) but a variety of percussive sounds possible, and it is quite tricky to consistently play even a basic rhythm - let alone sing aswell! Djanira and her father Jorge have written an article about it, which you can find here.

I recently bought a new berimbau (from www.capoeiragem.com) because the one I borrowed from Jorge had...errr...an accident. Very embarrassing. Suffice it to say that Jorge is now the owner of a brand new berimbau, which I am borrowing on a long term loan. The biggest problem is that it is bloody impossible to string the thing! It's so hard to bend the wood and I don't want to try and bend it too much because they do break :(

Review: The Shadow of the Wind

Carlos Ruiz Zafon's novel, The Shadow of the Wind, is an international bestseller, and was recommended to me by several people. Furthermore, it also has the dubious honour of having been in Richard and Judy's book club, which of course makes it a must read!

Set in Barcelona shortly after the Second World War, it tells the story of Daniel, the teenage son of a bookseller, and his quest to unearth the history behind a mysterious book - also called the Shadow of the Wind - and its now-deceased author, Julian Carax.

It's hard not to like this book. It's an old fashioned mystery story, with goodies, baddies, a bit of violence, a bit of sex, lots of rain and plenty of dark alleys and creaky old houses. There's suspense by the bucketload and, despite it being quite a long book, I never once got bored.

Of course it is rather unrealistic - our hero Daniel frequently exhibits maturity beyond his tender years, before acting correctly for his age a few pages later. But such things have never stood in the way of a good yarn and, in my opinion, they never should do. Though I wonder whether the story appeals more to boys than girls? Djanira read the book before me, and enjoyed it; but Daniel tells his story in the first person, and thus the entire book is seen very much through a boy's eyes.

Anyway I thoroughly recommend it - although I must admit I'm rather pleased to have finished it. I have recently taken delivery of three more Iain M. Banks books, so now it's back to the Sci-Fi for a while...

Capoeira!

I'm not usually that good at starting new things, but after a few weeks of umming and ahhing a lot, I bit the bullet and started Capoeira classes. If you don't know anything about Capoeira, it's basically unique combination of fighting, dancing and music, that was developed by African slaves in Brazil as a method of self-defense that could be practised without their Portuguese masters punishing them for actually fighting - because while it involves lots of fighting-like moves (kicks, punches, headbutts, trips, you-name-it) there is actually little actual physical contact. It's all set to a unique Brazilian music, and you can find loads more info here.

It is phenomenally popular in Brazil but has now expanded worldwide along with the travels of Brazilian expats. London has several schools, and I decided to join Capoeira Canal, a small school which meets near me in West London - partially because it's so close but partially because it offered structured beginner classes, rather than the "beginners turn up to any class" attitude of other schools.

What can I say? I'm hooked! I love the combination of aggressive, purposeful movement, the strangely hypnotic music, and the fact that you don't really get hurt - although my leg muscles were aching for a few days after the first class! I particularly like the non-stop movement - many martial arts seem to emphasise rigid control and focus, whereas Capoeira encourages you to become absorbed in the constant movement and the rhythm of the music.

So far I've had two lessons and learned the ginga (pronounced in English: 'jinga'), which is the basic movement which underscores all of Capoeira, a few simple dodges (esquivas), and a couple of kicks. I've also learned two really important moves, the rolê and aú, which let you step and cartwheel across the ring (the roda) and to keep moving, which pretty much the central tenet of Capoeira.

It's great fun, I'm really enjoying it, so expect more updates as I learn new moves and how to play the berimbau, the main instrument. If you're lucky you may even get to laugh at a video of me falling over!