Film: The Accountant 2

I found the first Accountant (2016! Yelp) to be a great film. It was tight, multilayered, as much of a puzzle as the themes were in the movie itself and was actually a pretty decent bit of outreach for autism.

The sequel was not great. They laboured the autism and even went as far as making brain damage a Marvel-esque super power origin story. Affleck did his best with a script that made a bit of a clown show out of the main protagonist and his brother, and the plot appeared to be window dressing for a couple of okayish set pieces.

I'm more upset that this film tarnishes the memory I have of the first rather than because it's a bad film itself. Either way though this is one to skip.

ELSC London Fundraiser: Solidarity Forever

Although I was already planning to attend this, I was looking forward to it even more as a counterpoint to a recent comedy gig I attended. The link of course was Palestine, but whereas Sundeep was a new voice on the scene (and doing a job), this was a fundraiser which for me made it more authentic and of a greater depth than previously. Of course Aamer Rahman was the main ticket but I was also looking forward to the "variety show" line up it promised.

And on that it delivered. All the acts were great, educational and moving - albeit in different ways. It had Rebel Music vibes, where you could enjoy the material at whatever level you wanted (or were ready for). Aamer Rahman stood out of course - but in a lot of ways his higher profile made him seem a little out of place with the rest of the ground roots being laid. Of course, that didn't take anything away from the power of his content.

Which brings us to the ELSC. We were told a lot about the charity and its work, and it seemed very important to support during the days in which we find ourselves living. Knowing that this was all in support of that greater cause made the evening even more special, and I hope they managed to hit both their fundraising and word-spreading targets.

The evening ended at 10.45pm which made it quite the long night, and indeed some acts did feel like they were overly long. Otherwise it was a great evening out and I'm glad I got the chance to attend.

Frankfurt, Day Four: Frankfurt

Between needing to catch both Jummah and our flight home today, we didn't hold much hope for our activities today. That said, given some careful planning we could have optimised and made the most of staying in Frankfurt, but it turns out that even after having a dead morning in our hotel room waiting for prayers there was ample time in the afternoon to wander around and soak in a little of Frankfurt.

There seems to be two sides to the city - the skyscrapers (of which apparently it has the most of in Europe) and the Romer area (essentially the old city). So yes, another cathedral and more distinctive German architecture - by this point I had realised why I was so familiar with it, the answer shamefully being my overdosing of certain boardgames over the past decade or so.

My initial impression of Frankfurt being a great place to live, if not visit, held and I was glad that we pivoted from one road trip (with a full day in Frankfurt) to the two that we eventually did. The second thing I realised was that actually Hahn wasn't as far as we thought it would be and the cheap-flights-with-rental-car option worked quite well with us (and at a push we could have done that day trip after all).

But as first proper German exposure goes (I previously dipped my toe in during a trip to Austria), this trip was pretty good, and left me realising just how close and accessible Europe is.

 

Frankfurt, Day Three: Wiesbaden and Mainz

After yesterday we decided to keep things a little closer to home and spent the day thirty minutes away in Wiesbaden. This was yet another quaint city (as well as the capital of Hesse, the German state we were in), and between having seeing a lot of the same yesterday and the atrocious weather we took it easy on the walking around and itinerary stuffing, and even stopped for a coffee at one point. Apart from the casino, the Neroberg offered some things to see, including a view of the city.

As we were time rich, we decided to squeeze in a look at Mainz across the river from Wiesbaden. This had a couple of quick wins, including wooden beamed buildings (you know the type) and even some Roman ruins embedded in a shopping mall. It was just the thing to tidy over the day as we headed back to Frankfurt.

Frankfurt, Day Two: Heidelberg

Having a car meant that we could go on day trips, and there were a few options given our base in Frankfurt. We settled on Heidelberg as a good solid choice - it was only an hour away and seemed to have enough for a day.

And it did seem to have everything you would want from a quaint German town - some great hilly views, a rustic bridge over a river surrounded by beige and brown buildings, a cathedral and a castle.

The castle was a pretty decent deal. A combo ticket would get you a trip each on two separate funiculars, the middle of which had a castle to explore. Apart from the views of the town there was a couple of interesting things in the castle, including a Museum of Pharmacy and a (literally) big barrel.

The second funicular took us up to 500m, although our luck with the weather had run out by that point, resulting in us being stuck up there during a thunderstorm. The view was still decent given that.

Given the turning of the weather we decided to have a final quick look at the bridge before heading back to Frankfurt, where we rewarded ourselves for having such a busy day with some comfort halal pizza (served to us by a Karachite no less).

Frankfurt, Day One: Getting In

Given that a couple of relatives had moved to Germany recently we felt it was our duty (you know, as existing and veteran European citizens) to see them and let them know that "we're there". However in what is a great real life example of scope creep, our cheap and quick same-day £35 return to Frankfurt grew to a three night jaunt, which in hindsight was a little long for a city break really. Due to us flying into Hahn (remember: £35 return), we needed to hire a car to get into Frankfurt proper. This in turn changed the nature of the trip as a whole... but more on that later.

Our first day was orientation: checking in, finding the boys, doing an Aldi shop. There wasn't really much time for any sightseeing after that so we grabbed dinner in town at an Afghan place which was pretty wonderful given how generic it was. Chai was then had at "Taste of Pakistan" which made me chuckle a little.

First impressions of Frankfurt though: a bit boring but in a way that seemed positive for these guys.

Film: Sinners

Although well made and acted, Sinners suffers from some structural issues that stop it from being a brilliant movie. It's a shame because even though it doesn't really push the genre much further than, I dunno, a certain Tarantino flick from the 90s, there was enough basic ingredients and class here to really have produced a class act. This is definitely a film with more hype than substance.

It is fun and scary I guess, and as a timepass you could do much worse. But its a film that I ultimately wish I had saved for a cosy home viewing (if only so I could use subtitles).

Film: Drop

Although I was disappointed that the main gimmick of the movie - the airdropping by an unidentifiable blackmailer - ultimately doesn't have any impact, Drop was a great example of a closed room mystery that doesn't overstay its welcome.

Apart from the thrills, the dreamy chemistry between Violet and Henry elevates the film in that way contrasting tastes do. The upshot is that even though there's not much originality here, it does manage to scrape up some novelty.

Fun, thrilling and engaging, Drop comes with a recommendation here.

Ceasefire! By Sundeep Bhardwaj

Okay full disclosure: I didn't know who Sundeep was before I accepted the invitation to go see him. I am not ashamed of this (well, not at this basic level) as I quite like how I've begun to miss various social media hype trains over the past couple of years or so (and as an aside, I'm not quite sure what I did to achieve this but I hope it remains).

But the tickets were cheap, and of course the theme was important and overall we had a great night out (I may have laughed the most unreservedly from our group). Sundeep had some great bits, and some not so great bits: this was as demonstrative of being "hit and miss" as you could get. It was also quite raw at times - and not in the way stand up is supposed to be.

Going to a pro-Palestinian gig did make me wonder exactly how much Sundeep has monetised his (clearly authentic) take on the issue. I understand that this wasn't a charity or fundraiser, but anyone could see how empty the room would have been if Sundeep didn't have such a strong position on things.

To be clear this is a comment on my own position and the ways in which I can show support for this (or any) cause. It's a mild struggle and I've landed on the conclusion that any kind of show of solidarity ultimately counts, as long as the stronger gestures aren't compromised for the smaller ones.

Overall though it was Sundeep's energy and charisma that propped up the show the most - this is clearly someone on a bigger journey and I hope I get to see it as he progresses. 

Film: A Minecraft Movie

To qualify: I do not understand Minecraft. It feels like the ultimate sandbox, like MS Paint but 3D. I'm happy to put this down to my own ignorance, but nevertheless I had misgivings about this flick before we stepped into the theatre.

There's a subtle difference between this, "A Minecraft Movie" and another hypothetical film called "Minecraft: The Movie". It's almost like that producers of this film knew that their source of inspiration was as shallow as the film they were going to make. That's a long paragraph to say "I was right". This wasn't a painful film, but it was pretty shallow. No, worse, it was devoid of much substance at all.

I guess everyone turned up and played their part, and if I'm being charitable some of the effects were pretty cool and cutesy. It wasn't enough to save it for me though... but then again this wasn't a film for me. You'll know if you'll have to take someone to watch this or not. If you're lucky you'll get to catch a nap or two during its runtime.

Film: A Working Man

Sometimes the worst thing about watching a bad film is having to relive it while forcing yourself to write about it. If that's burying the lede, well tough, because frankly the longer I can put off actually writing about A Working Man, the better.

There was a time where I thought anything Statham did would be solid on a fundamental level, but this film makes me wonder just how the movie industry works in a way that produces such tripe. It was just bad.

I actually left the cinema bummed and disappointed. Please avoid.

Belgium, Day Three: Brussels

As convenient as the Eurostar is, I blame exactly that for mistaking our return to London this day. Where I though we would have to wrap up at around 2.30pm for a 4pm departure, we actually had a 6pm train to catch. Two hours might not seem like a long time, but given how empty our list of things to do was I was a bit worried that we'd be loitering around. I guess subconsciously at least we decided to make this a bit of a chill day. And on that note we started the day with breakfast as ZouZou's, a cute (in the insta sense) Moroccan run food place in the heart of Brussels.

That's not to say we were lax in the sightseeing at all - I made sure we passed by the Cathédrale Saints-Michel-et-Gudule and Grand-Place on the way to our next stop. The cathedral was worth checking out in it's own right, but it was the Grand-Place that really gave me a unique impression of Brussels, and quite possibly Belgium as a whole.

Was it gaudy? Gothic? Or maybe it just reminded my of some of the board games I've been playing, but it all captured my imagination in a way that the other sights across Belgium didn't quite.

The Grand-Place was also where we got our first exposure to the chocolate tourist trap. Although we made a committent not to bring back Pricey Easy Chocolate™, we ate too much offered free chocolate to refuse. Great marketing that.

Our actual target was - yes - another indie coffee shop a fair walk away in the north-west of town. Not that I minded the walk; it was just the right way to explore the city with the time that we had. Now I'm not a coffee person even though I drink more of it now that I ever have, but what we got at Wide Awake Coffee really was something else even by my layman standards. So much so I even took a photo (for shame).

After offering noon prayer at the mosque around the corner (because they seem to be everywhere in this country), we made our back back to the centre proper, grabbing eclairs and Belgian fries (which apparently are a thing).

A substantial addition to today's itinerary was to follow one of the three available Comic Book Trails dotted around the city. It was an another excuse to walk semi randomly but with purpose, and some of the art was genuinely good and even by artists I had heard of.

After our second coffee break of the day we started to make our way to the Gare Du Midi to catch our Eurostar back home. On the way we stopped off at the Palais de Justice, known for having been one of the tallest buildings in Europe at one point. Unfortunately it was closed by the time we made it there, so we missed out on what was supposed to have been some decent internal architecture. But the views of the building and indeed of Brussels itself from there were a good consolation prize.

Which then brought us to our departure time - all in all a great day of walking, eating and gup shupping with a side of sightseeing thrown in. I guess in many ways that sums up the past 2 and a bit days - I can't say that Belgium is my favourite country in Europe but this was a great little treat to have had just before Ramadhan kicked off. Case in point - even though our train arrived at 7pm I was home by 8. That's just something you can't pull off when travelling by plane or boat.

Belgium, Day Two: Bruges and Antwerp

Our B&B was comfortable and very cute, and I agreed with the host's claim that we were staying for far too short amount of time. Still, well rested we set off to check out the town (for me, the first time during the day).

It was very rustic, villagey and reminded me a lot about some of the university towns we have in the UK. The town market was in full swing and although much of it wasn't really relevant for us, we did take the opportunity to tick Belgian Waffles off the check list.

 

My travel partner was a coffee head, and so visiting independent cafes was always going to be a part of this trip - not that I minded given how short my lists of things to do in each place was.

 

The star of the show however was the Belfort, and although entry to climb the tower wasn't the cheapest we decided to go for it as the thing to do in Bruges. I'd say it was worth it, not only for the views but for the climb itself. The bells were in full song, with us even catching a rendition of Killing Me Softly. 

Possibly due to the train strike we didn't have many options for our ride to Antwerp, and so we had to take the 1300 train. Although this sounds like we had to cut short our time in Bruges, we were both satisfied by what we got to see and do, and so in some ways the timing worked in our favour.

 

One of the top things to check out in Antwerp is the Central Station, which is lucky considering that's where we arrived. It was definitely something and easily worth the few minutes wondering around.

After stashing our luggage in the lockers, and grabbing a quick lunch, we realised that we were up against time (not really a surprise given the ambition on this trip), so had to prioritise the rest of our time in Antwerp.

It probably says something that an Illusion Museum is cited as one of the top things to do here. Yes, it was cheesy and yes definitely a bit of a tourist trap. But we had a fun time going through the various illusions and it was an okay (albeit expensive) way to spend 45 minutes.

After the fun and games we had to make a beeline to the MAS Museum in the north - I had heard that it had a free viewing platform that was worth checking out. It was... okay, although that's more the fault of Antwerp's uninspiring skyline than the museum itself.

As it hit 5pm we were out of time for attractions that required entry, although some may say it was lucky we had to leave the Chocolate Museum behind. That left Antwerp itself, and we spent the rest of our time here walking around the historical centre, taking in hot drinks and vibes.

Our final sight to see was the Sint-Annatunnel, a pedestrian foot tunnel that traverses the Scheldt River underground. It was a fair bit more interesting that the London equivalent (and certainly less smelly), the wooden escalators alone making the tunnel quite the curiosity.

As we were once again bound by train times, that marked the end of our itinerary for today, and we made our way back to the Central Station to catch our train to Brussels, the city where it all started. After checking into our hotel we went for well deserved burgers close by.

Belgium, Day One: Ghent

I've always wanted to visit Belgium, although that's mostly because I knew it was only ever a train ride away. Apart from popular references to certain films and chocolate it wasn't ever on my list. But the nudge from a friend to have a cheeky pre-Ramadan trip was enough to get me on the Eurostar today.

I may have written about this before but the dissonance us islanders get by riding a train to a different country is real, and although the Eurostar is decades old now, leaving the country in a manner other than a plane or a boat never quite gets old. That it connects capitals, can take liquids, and is super fast just add to the overall novelty.

So two days and two nights was supposed to be an easy going couple of days in Brussels, but of course we also had to go and see Bruges. Rather than day trip it, we decided to book our first night in the latter and go straight there after arriving, and spend the last day in Brussels, close to our Eurostar back. But of course this being me and with my particular relationship with travel (trigger warning: it's overrated), the plan ever expanded.

All this preamble is to say that after learning that a train ticket to Bruges (or anywhere) allowed us to stop off at any stop as many times as we wanted to on the way, we figured it would be a good opportunity to see Ghent - we had some concerns that the week long train strike would force some of our options but it says a lot about the resilience of the train system here (or in Europe?) that we didn't even notice anything.

So, Ghent then. We got into the town around 5pm, and immediately made a beeline to a masjid to offer our daytime prayers using a tram and our legs to get there in good time. On the way we were (unreasonably it seems) surprised to see the odd halal kebab shop and "Free Palestine" sticker, so the vibes were definitely on.

 

Otherwise what we had was a quiet pretty town centre, maybe a bit dead, but worth the stop.

Getting into Bruges at around 8pm, I thought it was a bit too early to call it a night so took the opportunity to check out the deserted centre at night. Okay, fine, I was actually looking for some food and although I did manage to, it became clear that Bruges was going to be even more limited in options than Ghent was.

Karachi 2025

By my most recent standards, this trip to Karachi has been a long time (okay, maybe a month or two) coming. Four weddings (as in four different couples) lining up across three weeks made it an easy date to fix, even though these three weeks would be more than the usual two we tend to come for.

Of course each wedding had at least three events, with some pushing it to four. It seems we now have Nikkah Parties separate from Rukhsatis, and I even attended a Qawwali Night (although admittedly that wasn't the first time for me). So opulence abound, but it was all good fun.

Well until the stomach bugs got me. I guess wedding food over here is like playing Russian Roulette, and I was bound to pay for attending twelve-plus events at some point. Thankfully (?) I was taken out earlier than later (yes, that's both ends), and I like to think I came out stronger for the remainder of my trip.

Speaking of food, it seems that Karachi just keeps getting better and better when it comes to the social food scene. I have mixed opinions about this, given it both relies upon and is an indication of the widening inequality... but it's still kind of impressive to see I suppose. What's also great is how well local brands and businesses seem to be doing - no one goes to KFC anymore, choosing to spend Rupees at Kababjees Fried Chicken instead.

So another good trip, if a bit too long and busy. Oh and yes, sadly there was also a funeral... in case you were wondering.

Book: The Sunlit Man, Brandon Sanderson

If I ever had a complaint about The Cosmere, it's that Sanderson refuses to help us out with his world. He teases and baits, but very rarely tells. Some people dig that, but my school homework days are long over and sometimes I just want to be told what's going on.

The Sunlit Man tells us a lot. I might even say too much. I promise that this isn't an obvious case of never being happy, but more because the novel is set so far in the future that any exposition it provides does more to confuse even more - I think I now have ten more threads in my head to juggle.

Getting over that though, Sunlit is a great novel in the line of the other Cosmere novels, and as such I can't stay mad at it for too long. It's certainly more essential that the last few "secret projects", not that that gives it more value, but the contrast is definitely welcome.

Book: Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, Brandon Sanderson

The real genius in Sanderson lies not just in his ability to create rich worlds, but to do so tremendously concisely. This isn't just a good thing on its own - I actually think it makes for far more wonderful books, particularly in the Cosmere. It's not surprising that Elantris, Warbreaker, Tress and the other standalone novels are my favourite in the franchise - as impressive as The Stormlight Archive is (so far) there's just so much of it that it sometimes falls under its own weight.

Yumi is another great example of this effect. In just 500 pages we have yet another planet in the Cosmere, with a rich yet easily accessible system of fantasy and lore, and characterisation aplenty - all wrapped up in a decent romance to boot. There really is little to complain about here.

And yet it doesn't quite reach the upper rankings, not because it's not good, but more because it's not as good. That's no mean feat for sure - make no mistake, I enjoyed Yumi a lot, it's just not my favourite. Otherwise it's just the ticket to tide me over till the next book in the Cosmere... coming up next.