The Oath review 行医 Singaporean medical drama
Dan WildIt would be very hard to make a bad show when the four leads are Christopher Lee, Jesseca Liu, Ix Shen and Ann Kok. I can watch Ann Kok and Christopher Lee all day. Lee has presence, attitude, charisma. Ann Kok is feisty, alluring and vulnerable, capable of playing a conniving witch, as in Bountiful …
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The Legend of the White Snake review (2019 TV series)
Dan WildI recently watched The Legend of the White Snake and it’s one of the best Chinese fantasies I’ve seen so far. At 36 episodes the length is just about right. It’s one fault – and something has to be done about this as it is also a problem in Ice Fantasy and Ashes of Love – is the …
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Breakout review 破天网 – Underworld Singapore drama
Dan WildSingapore’s acting scene is one happy family. I was led to Breakout (破天网, Pò tiān wǎng) (2010) by following the link for Jeanette Aw after watching The Dream Job (2016). As Yáng Niànqīng (杨念青) Aw plays jaded and unstable daughter of ruthless underworld figure Yáng Tiānwēi (杨天威). Yang is played with barely contained menace by Guō Liàng (郭亮) …
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Top 10 Mandarin shows on Netflix
Dan WildFor us Mandarin learners, TV on demand is a bountiful blessing. Now we can binge watch and not feel guilty, because we are learning Chinese! I’ve been learning Mandarin for three years, and the list below reflects my viewing journey. I also prefer crime, fantasy and horror so am more likely to watch these than …
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English country cuisine — Dorian Wild
Dorian WildFollowing is a guest post from none other than my father, Dorian Wild. He wrote this while holidaying in the English countryside two years ago. I found it while rummaging through my email archives in search of a backup for my third novel. I imagine Dad’s colourful satirical style is what won over readers in …
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Living in London
Dan WildI didn’t really know London until I’d been there about 2 years, just when I started getting homesick for sunny Sydney. The excitement of being in the big smoke was starting to wear off, the daily commute was becoming a grind. Despite world-class public transport, getting to work sometimes involves multiple changes. Each interchange means …
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Dublin: A Trip Down Memory Lane
Dan WildI used to have another blog. Technically speaking I still do. It has the rather Byronic name: Wild Dan’s Pilgrimage. For those unacquainted with nineteenth century poetry (and why would you be?), this is a reference to the long poem that had the author “wake up and find myself famous.” I affectionally reblog the post …
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Cosmogony 213: Proxima Centauri
Dan WildClosest star to the sun. Part of a triple star system. Several trading outposts orbit Proxima Centauri, drawing their power from large arrays collecting magnetic and solar energy from Alpha Centauri A and its twin. Proxima b, a tidally locked planet capable of sustaining life, orbits this red dwarf star. Residents live in perpetual twilight. …
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The origins of John Polidori and The Vampyre: Byron’s greatest work
Dan WildI really started becoming fascinated with the Shelley-Byron circle during my English honours year at the University of Sydney. My mother read me the poems of Shelley as a teenager and I had already encountered William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge at school. The first wave of English literary romantics were interesting enough. Wordsworth with …
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My mysterious origins
Dan WildI am often asked where I am from. I have lived in four cities now. Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and London. Or three and half cities, for those of you who don’t grant Canberra city status. I’ve learnt to say a variety of things depending on the situation, time of day, attention span of the questioner, direction …