Things that I've been doing lately.

So when it comes to all those things that I've been doing during the last couple of months, it has to be said that I've been pretty busy with my projects. I've tried my best to keep my routines going so that I could get things done and accomplish my goals. 

Indeed, since I have had all kinds of 'artistic' projects going in addition to me studying and working part time, that hasn't been an easy equation to solve. I've needed to keep myself in a good shape both physically and mentally so that positive things could happen.

In any case, when it comes to me studying and working, last week I started doing morning shifts at school as a teacher's assistant (requirement for my degree). This, I thought (lasts 5 weeks) would be very tough and something that might cause me some problems. 

After all, considering that I would now do 9 hour shifts (4 hours at school, 5 hours at the afternoon club), it would be difficult to get everything done during the day. I wasn't confident that I would have the energy to do stuff like write or play piano after work.

Fortunately, the morning shifts have been easier than I had expected. Unlike in the afternoon club that can be a nightmare, here the kids (no special needs kids in my class) are much nicer and the teacher (very good) is the one who is primarily in charge of things.

So when it comes to those other things I've been doing, piano-wise, I've been actively practicing every single day. I've added some new songs to my 'catalogue' (video killed the radio star) and have tried to relearn some of the older melodies that I had already managed to forget.

Instrument-wise, it has to be mentioned that a couple of days ago I bought myself a new piano. This electric piano (Roland fp 60x) is a solid instrument that not only sounds good but has weighed keys that feel authentic and help improve my overall technique.

Writing-wise, I've also been really busy lately (hence no updates here) and have been rewriting my WW2-based adventure book that I've been writing for over a year now. I finished the first draft in early December and have been rewriting the book ever since. 

Not surprisingly, the rewriting part hasn't been that much fun. At least in my case, I get tired really fast, and considering that I initially wrote the first two chapters as a 50% novel / 50% story-based game, I had more than enough stuff to rewrite.

Fortunately, even though I have had to add content to the first half (word count up by 10%) and I've had some things that I've had to fix (pacing), it hasn't been that impossible to do. I have just needed to take things one day at a time and not worry about the project too much.

In that sense, when it comes to things as a whole and how my projects + life are going at the moment, I guess it can be said that things are going relatively well. I have stuff to do that I find to be interesting and that keep my mind busy during the day. 

After all, it cannot be overstated how much meaning and purpose these projects keep giving me. It's genuinely great that every day I know that as long as I keep my routines going and don't give up, I'm going to get better and even get to finish something potentially solid stuff.

Still, once I'll eventually get this rewrite finished (likely one more month to go) and am ready to send the manuscript to the publishers, I hope that something good is going to happen. I hope that all the hard work is going to pay off somehow.

After all, even though it's hard to predict how things are going to go, I think I have created something solid here. The book is rather entertaining and since it has aspects in it that others usually find interesting, it should have a chance of becoming a success. 

So I managed to write a 400 page adventure book.

So when it comes to my projects that I've been working on lately, I can finally say that I managed to succeed on the biggest one. I'm about to get the first draft of my historical WW-2 adventure book finished, which is something that has taken a lot of hard work and effort. 

Indeed, the reason that I haven't been updating this blog lately is because of the project. I wanted to make sure that I would spend all my energy on that project and that during this time I would not think about anything else that might distract me. 

In practice, what this meant is that for the last five or six months, I've been writing every single day. I haven't taken any days off, even though there have obviously been moments when I haven't felt good or that I would be able to meet my daily writing quotas.  

By that I mean is that every single day I have managed to write at least one full word-pad page. This translates to roughly five hundred words per day, which is something that I found to be a good pace in order to progress with the project fast enough. 

So when it comes to the story and the story beats that I've been working on, I have to say that I think I managed to come up with a plot that is fairly good. There's a lot of material in the book that is well thought out and that makes sense structure-wise.

Story-wise, the last time I updated the project on this blog, I was already working on the latter half of the story. I had written five or six chapters and was at a point where it was crucial that I had managed to come up with ideas that were solid. 

One of these ideas that I came up with (since stories & plots in general tend to get slower after the midpoint) was that I added famous people to it. I saw that having a famous person as a character instead of some random artist would give the story momentum (Henri Matisse).

In the chapter after that, I thought that based on this idea it wouldn't hurt to find a 'real person' who was a mathematician and also a resistance fighter. It didn't take a lot of research to find 'Emil Borel', a world famous math guy who fit the part well enough.

So once I had solved the 'story slows down' part, I still had to come up with a finale that would be interesting and that would feel like an actual climax. I had to write something that would make the reader feel satisfied when we'd reach the end of the story.

Fortunately, I managed to come up with a sequence of events, in which the girls prevent the Germans from delivering the stolen art from Montpellier to Paris. This is a finale that takes place in a train and was something that took a lot of creative effort. 

Challenge-wise, not only did I need to set up the chapter well and motivate the characters to take a big risk, the execution part had to be good too. I couldn't just autopilot the stuff and think that it wouldn't matter that much how I would write it.  

Thankfully though, once I managed to write the chapter and make some changes to it (better exposition, pacing and more content), I think it turned out pretty well. The stuff is fairly well written and should likely keep you entertained. 

In that sense, now that I more or less only need to write the epilogue to the story, I think it's safe to say that - perhaps against the odds - I managed to finish this project. I managed to write a new book, even though I was fairly sure that I wouldn't be able to do that.

After all, once I my previous book didn't get published, that didn't make me feel optimistic about my chances. I didn't think it would be realistic that I would be able to come up with an idea that had enough potential and that I would actually spend all that time writing the book. 

In that sense, considering that the book is twice as long as the last one and is easier to sell, things look pretty good. Things look solid and even though there are no guarantees about anything, I think there are at least some chances that something good might finally happen.

Update to my ongoing projects.

So when it comes to things that I've been doing lately, during the last month or so, it has to be said that I've been rather busy. Once my job started again in August, I've had much less spare time than I did during my summer vacation. 

Indeed, when I was on a vacation for 10+ weeks, it wasn't that difficult to progress with my artistic projects. Since I could slack most of the day, I didn't have a strict schedule about when I needed to write or when I needed to practice playing piano. 

So once my work was about to start again, I wasn't that confident that I would be able keep my artistic projects going. I wasn't sure that I would find the energy and the time to practice playing piano at least one hour per day and also write every day for an hour.

Fortunately, having now been back to working for roughly a month, it can be said that I've managed to keep my routines going. I haven't been slacking at all, even though I also started studying to get a degree on the side and that I've been having a cold for some time. 

Music-wise, one of the big things that happened was that I asked some of my colleagues whether they wanted to hear me play some songs of their choosing. I thought that this way I would have to challenge myself and not play it safe all the time. 

Naturally, once one of my colleagues wanted to hear 'Clocks' by Coldplay, that turned out to be a real challenge. This intermediate to advanced version of the song was pretty difficult to master and I had to spend at least 50 hours on the song to be able to play it well. 

Technique-wise, the way you have to move your hands is so demanding that it felt like I had to learn play blindfolded. This song has greatly improved my basic technique and it's clear that it was a good idea to let others choose songs for me to learn. 

Writing-wise, it can also be said that I've been rather active with my book project (WW2 adventure story). I've managed to write every day too, which has meant that slowly but steadily I've progressed with the story and have reached new chapters. 

After all, even though I had my doubts, I've managed to write at least one full wordpad page per evening. This has been a pace that is good enough and doesn't require too much of my attention especially if I'm not having a good day. 

Quality-wise, I obviously can't make any promises, but this relaxing pace has given me time to assess things and come up with new ideas. I've been able to come up with ideas that I think have been pretty solid and have made sense both thematically and structurally.   

In that sense, when it comes to the rest of this year and things as a whole, I think things are looking pretty good at the moment. I've managed to find some much-needed balance in my life and these projects have helped to keep me relatively happy lately. 

After all, even though playing piano and writing a book do take a lot of your energy, I don't get too obsessed with either of the projects. They kinda even themselves out stress-wise, so when I have met my daily quotas, I don't have time or energy to worry about them too much.

Still, when it all is said and done, there's no guarantee that the book is going to be that great or published, but it looks it's going to be finished. That alone will be a solid achievement, so whether it's good enough to be a success story or anything else, that is almost beside the point. 

Things that I've been doing this summer.

So when it comes to my vacation and my activities, I have to say that project-wise I've managed to be rather active this summer. I've managed to surpass my expectations that I had with my book writing project and me becoming a better pianist.

After all, once my vacation started in early June, I wasn't feeling that confident that I would manage to do these things. The idea that I would start writing every single day and that I would also practice playing piano was not something I would necessarily bank on.

Yet, as I'm about to get back to my 'real' job in less than two weeks, I can say that I managed to do both these things surprisingly well. My book project progressed considerably and it can be said that my piano playing skills got better too. 

So first, when it comes to my book writing project, in my last update I had only written the first chapter and was starting to write the second one. I had gotten my character on a journey that took her out of the 'starting zone' in Paris to the countryside. 

Currently with the project, a couple of days ago I started writing the fifth chapter in the book. This means that story-wise my protagonist and her partner have already managed to experience quite a few interesting things in their adventure. 

At the same time, story-wise, just because so far I've managed to write 180-200 solid pages, that doesn't mean that I'm close to finishing the book. I still have probably 150 more pages to write before we're done with the story (might even be a series of books). 

Another thing to keep in mind is that since I haven't structured the story beforehand, I don't know how the whole thing is going to end. I still have to come up with tons of story ideas and beats (chapter by chapter) that are hopefully character based, organic and plausible.

Music-wise, even though playing piano is not as important as writing the book is at the moment, I've also found time to keep my routine going. Over the course of the summer I've managed to learn to play some new songs that I've found to be worth my time.

Indeed, these new songs and melodies include stuff like Queen's 'Don't Stop Me Now', 'Uncharted', 'Blinding Lights', 'Transformers' movie theme and 'Mission Impossible' theme song. There's been a lot to work with these songs and they've kept me busy.

Progress-wise, the good thing about many of these songs is that they have helped to improve my overall skills. Especially when it comes to playing octaves, 'Blinding Lights' and 'Mission Impossible' have been really useful at making me better. 

In that sense, when it comes to this summer and my activities as a whole, I have to say that things have gone pretty well. I can't say that 'artistic-wise' I could have realistically speaking done that much better than I've done over the last eight or so weeks.

After all, even though the total amount of time that I have spent on these activities hasn't been more than maybe 2-3 hours per day, that's not all there is to it. That kind of daily routine requires consistent effort and isn't something that should be taken for granted.

Still, especially when it comes to the book project and considering that luck plays a part in the process, I hope that I continue to get lucky. I hope things go well, because in the end, writing good stuff isn't easy and isn't something that you can completely control as a writer.

Amazon Prime's 'The Terminal List' review.

Last week, after seeing some ads for a new action series called 'The Terminal List', I have to say that I got somewhat excited. Since I didn't really have anything better to do during my vacation, I knew that I was going to give this miniseries a chance. 

After all, even though I had read that the series hadn't gotten particularly good reviews from the critics, the fact that it had Chris Pratt in it was enough for me. There was a good chance that I would be able to enjoy the series and not be too critical of it.

Having now watched 'The Terminal List', a series about 'a navy seal veteran avenging the deaths of his team mates', I have to say that I have a bit mixed feelings about it. The series managed to be rather entertaining, although there were some problems with it too.

So the premise here is that Pratt's character is on a covert mission in the middle east trying to kill a terrorist leader. However, as they try to infiltrate the premise where the leader resides, his team gets ambushed, which results to most of his platoon getting killed.

Later on, as he returns back home, it doesn't take long before he notices that something more sinister is going on. The surviving team members end up dying under suspicious circumstances, which makes him think there's a conspiracy to eliminate him too.

Not surprisingly, as things get worse when he gets framed in a incident in which his wife and daughter are murdered, he's out for blood. He thinks that those who were behind the conspiracy must be punished, so he comes up with a 'terminal list' to eliminate them.

Quality-wise, when it comes to the overall quality of the series, I have to say that story-wise, the first two episodes are easily the best in this eight episode miniseries. This is when the episodes are full of suspense, easy to follow and the focus is on the main character. 

However, as we get to episodes three and four, we're introduced to a whole list of new characters, that doesn't work that well story-wise. More or less out of nowhere the series changes its focus - to bad guys - which leads to the story losing pretty much all of its momentum.

Indeed, as the series 'reinvents' itself, I had difficulties in being interested in what was going on. The fact that series also gets needlessly violent at this point and that Pratt's character's kill list targets aren't well explained bothered me quite a bit.  

Fortunately, as we get to the latter half of the season and we get to know what the 'big picture' is about, the focus comes back to our main protagonist. This is when I got interested in what is going to happen and the story is more entertaining again.

After all, as Pratt's character goes survival mode and flees from law enforcement & special forces (episode 6->), you can't help but to root for him. This part and the finale episodes, in which he unravels the conspiracy successfully is something that is worth watching. 

In that sense, when it comes to the season as a whole and whether I would recommend the series, I guess I can't deny that there were a lot of solid aspects about the show. There no question that since I managed to finish it, it cannot have been that bad.

After all, among other things, the series admittedly looks pretty good and does have solid production values. The cast is also pretty high quality and even though people have a lot of opinions regarding Chris Pratt's acting abilities, he does an okay job here.

Still, in the end, the real issue with the show has to do with its writing, that especially in episodes 3-4 is questionable at best. The poor exposition in these episodes, the lack of focus and the excessive violence is something that cannot be completely ignored. 

In that sense, whether one is going to enjoy the series as a whole depends. There's a solid chance that you'll find 'The Terminal List' watchable and enjoying, but there's also a chance that these flaws are too much and prevent one from liking the show.

'Cobra Kai: Season 4' review

A couple of weeks ago, when I didn't have anything better to do, I decided to do something that I wasn't actually supposed to do.  That is that, I went to Netflix and for some weird reason started watching the fourth season of 'Cobra Kai' series.  

After all, after I had finished watching the show's lackluster third season, I was pretty sure that I wouldn't give the series any more chances. The third season was so poorly written and had so many things that didn't make sense, so I thought I couldn't take it anymore. 

Yet, having now seen the fourth season, I have to say that I'm almost glad that I managed to come back to watching the series. This latest season, even though flawed, is without a doubt better and more coherent than the third season managed to be.

By that I mean that the biggest problem with the third season was that there was no real purpose on the show. The series lacked focus and real overarching plots that had meaning, which lead to the episodes and the season being all over the place.

Indeed, especially when it came to the completely unmotivated and out of nowhere group fight that took place at Daniel's home in the final episode, that was just embarrassing to watch. I just couldn't believe how awful and honestly insulting the 'climax' for the season was. 

Fortunately, now that we got to the fourth season, this time the series has managed to breath some new air to the storylines. We don't have to suffer from all those side plots and detours that we had for John Kreese, Daniel LaRusso (Japan Tour) and Johnny Lawrence.

Indeed, as Terry Silver from Karate Kid III makes a return as a rich businessman, this brings a real villain to the series. Silver joins Kreese's Cobra Kai and this time brings unlimited resources for the dojo to beat the crap out of  Miyagi / Eagle alliance - which story-wise works.

Quality-wise, the good thing about the season is that there's a fairly straightforward plot that keeps things interesting. Silver is a good addition to the show and his ulterior motivations and big plans - as a cultured man who is also ruthless - is good stuff.

Another good thing is that the fights are better motivated this time. Gone are most out of nowhere physical altercations that are this time replaced with the all valley high Karate tournament that has stakes + competent fighters (the actors are finally capable fighters).  

On a negative side, there's no question that the fourth season still suffers from having too many 'soap opera' moments. Scenes that look like they might go somewhere character-wise reset really fast and don't really go anywhere (= lots of filler).

After all, especially when it came to the Johnny / Robbie family drama, this 'plot line' just kept going on and on and on for way too long. It significantly made the episodes less entertaining to watch, even though in the season finale we finally got a resolution of a sort.

Still, despite these issues that I had this season, when it comes to the season as a whole, I have to say that altogether the fourth season managed to surprise me positively. There was enough good stuff that kept me watching and made me come back for more.

In that sense, if you haven't watched the fourth season of 'Cobra Kai' yet and are hesitant based on the third season, you should give it a go. You should watch it, because even though there are some issues here and there, the season as a whole managed to be fairly watchable.

'The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent' review.

So when it comes to watching movies that star Nicolas Cage, it's not exactly a secret that not every movie with 'the Cage' in it has been great. Especially when it comes to the last 20 years or so, there haven't been that many good movies starring him.

At the same, even though most of his movies nowadays have been pretty bad, there are exceptions too. Every now and then - like in the recent 2021 film 'Pig', he manages to be in a film that has solid script, so the end result turns out to be a fairly good movie.

Naturally, when I heard that his most recent project, 'The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent', in which he plays himself, had gotten good reviews, I had to give the film a shot. There was a good chance that I would actually end up enjoying the film. 

So having now seen the movie, I have to say that I wasn't at least that badly disappointed with the quality of the film. The film turned out to be fairly watchable, even though as a writer I had some issues with its screenplay that in my opinion need to be addressed. 

Premise-wise, the film deals with Nicolas Cage as Nicolas Cage, a former star actor who in the story hasn't managed to deliver lately in films. He as a fading star isn't able to get the roles that he wants and its seems that he's in some sort of financial distress too. 

Catalyst-wise, the story gets going when a Spanish billionaire Javi - played by Pedro Pascal - offers to give Cage a million dollars for showing up at his birthday party. This is an offer that he - since not in that great shape financially - can't refuse, so off to Majorca he is.

Story-wise, as he arrives in Spain, it won't take long before he notices that his task isn't that simple. Javi as a wannabe film maker and a super fan seems to be part of criminal enterprise involving a kidnapping / coup plan, that the CIA is trying to solve / prevent from happening.

Not that surprisingly, as 'Cage' is having a good time and bonding with his super fan, it turns out that his skills are needed by the CIA. The agency forces Cage to be an undercover agent, which leads to all kinds of twists and turns that eventually leads to our star saving the day. 

Quality-wise, when it comes to overall quality of the film, I have to say that the film is pretty well made. You have solid production values and the story is rather creatively built around both mocking and admiring Nicolas Cage as 'Nicolas Cage the actor'.

Indeed, among other things I liked how well the film utilizes Cage's career. We see things like a younger 80s Cage talking to the current Cage, there's excerpts from his movies (like The Rock) and since 'Javi' is a super fan, we even get to see movie props (like the VX gas prop).

In hindsight, the only real problem with the film has to do with its screenplay that especially in the first half of the second act felt a bit contrived. I felt that the beats weren't that well written and the film being a bit of a self-parody didn't excuse these script problems.

Furthermore, when it comes to the finale of the film and its ending, I didn't like the transition from real life action to movie action. I felt that it came too much out of nowhere and didn't give us a satisfying ending to a sequence that otherwise was rather well made.

Still, when it comes to the film as a whole, I have to say that 'The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent' was a watchable movie and managed to do what it promised. There's a lot of self awareness / mocking in the film that works well and is to be applauded.

In that sense, if you're a fan of Nicolas Cage and haven't seen the film, you should probably give it a shot. You should watch it at some point, because even though the movie isn't necessarily 'great', the fact that it doesn't take itself too seriously is something that works in its favor.