FAMILIAR REFRAIN

The Top 10 Films of 2011

2012-01-23T16:13:00.001+08:00

Happy Lunar New Year to all of you.

I had wanted to compile this list a lot sooner, but I've been busy all month, and when I finally found the time, I was too burnt out to make the post. To top it all off, I'm having trouble sharing my blog posts on Facebook. Some technical thing with those idiots.

Anyway, let me start by saying I was underwhelmed by last year's offerings. My list for this year isn't as varied as 2010's list, and I feel it's because local film distributors here didn't do a great job in bringing some films over here. The best example would be screening Winter's Bone 8 months after the US, and long after the DVD had been released here.

So here they are, in order of view:

1. Black Swan

Technically this is a 2010 film, but only made its way here in February. Natalie Portman earned a Best Actress Oscar for portraying a ballerina who, in her quest for perfection after being chosen as the lead dancer for the new production of Swan Lake, suffers an emotional and mental breakdown. It is her psychological downward spiral that makes this film simply astounding. Kudos to Darren Aronofsky for directing such a beautiful film. In my opinion, this should have won Best Picture.

2. Battle: Los Angeles

There have been many alien invasion stories, but how many of them are viewed from a soldier's perspective? Battle: L.A. is a Black Hawk Down version of how humans fight off an alien attack. Aaron Eckhart shines as the aging Marine who must lead his men to victory despite being haunted by his past failure. Intense and adrenaline pumping, this film is a winner.

3. Fast Five

The Fast & Furious franchise was never going to be one filled with good performances and strong plots. What it does offer though are sleek cars and nonstop action. This fifth instalment does the impossible by topping all its predecessors combined. Vin Diesel and Paul Walker return with all their friends to pull a major heist in Rio de Janeiro, while being pursued by The Rock. The final car chase sequence is worth the price of the ticket. Bring on Fast Six!

4. Super 8

This movie is hands down the runaway hit of the year. I initially didn't think I'd like it this much, because I was of the opinion that adventure films driven by teenage kids had seen its last days back in the 80s. But I was wrong. J.J. Abrams pays homage to producer Steven Spielberg with Super 8, where a group of teenage friends attempting to make a horror film, witness a train crash that will forever change their lives. Heartwarming and terrifying at the same time, this film will remind the film fan inside you about why we love movies so much.

5. X-Men: First Class

I may be an X-Men comicbook fan for two decades now, so you may think I'm biased with this inclusion. But even regular moviegoers would love X-Men: First Class. It's fun, slightly campy (in a good way) and action packed. What's not to love? Director Matthew Vaughn directs a near perfect ensemble cast led by James McAvoy as Charles Xavier and Michael Fassbender as Erik Lensherr, as they portray Professor X and Magneto before they became rivals. Fine performances all around, and it wins the best cameo of the year.

6. Transformers: Dark Of The Moon

Nearly everyone hated Revenge Of The Fallen, because of dumb characters, inane humour and a slightly nonsensical plot. I enjoyed it where it mattered though. But thankfully Michael Bay learned his lesson well and made Dark Of the Moon much more enjoyable than its prequel. We have new robots, a better plot concerning Earth's first moon mission and a replacement for Megan Fox. I prefer Megan though. But the well filmed carnage and phenomenal special effects on display is the true star of this third Transformers film.

7. Captain America: The First Avenger

Out of the four superhero films of the year, this was the one that surprised me the most. I had thought that this film would be haphazardly done just to facilitate the upcoming Avengers film this summer. But you know what, Joe Johnston did an awesome job in giving Captain America a backstory and then moving him to the present time. Chris Evans is great as the meek Steve Rogers who gets a chance to serve his country as its first super soldier. I love the retro feel Johnston brings to it. It's just awesome.

8. Contagion

Director Steven Soderbergh collects an A list ensemble that includes Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law and Kate Winslet among others, in a film about a killer virus that spreads quickly and kills just as fast, and how it affects everyone, from people to governments to health departments and the media too. Soderbergh successfully presents a realistic view on what the world would be like if an outbreak were to occur, and it is downright scary. You might change your mind about personal hygiene after watching this.

9. Warrior

I was very fortunate to be able to catch this film, which is critically acclaimed though not financially successful. Set in the world of mixed martial arts, Warrior stars Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton as estranged brothers who take part in a fighting tournament for its huge prize money, each motivated by his own personal reasons. In between them is their father played by Nick Nolte, who is trying to atone for his past sins. The brutal fights may be the main attraction, but it's the personal drama at its heart that matters the most in the end. Everyone in the cast were superb in their roles.

10. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

Brad Bird, director of The Incredibles and The Iron Giant, makes his transition to live action in an explosive manner. He has successfully made the M:I franchise fun and relevant again. Tom Cruise returns as Ethan Hunt, who must lead his team to stop a terrorist from starting World War 3 and clear the IMF's name. Bird gives his audience some of the best action sequences ever, including one that takes place outside the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. This is arguably the best film in the entire franchise.

Films that deserve special mention for 2011 are Kung Fu Panda 2, The Muppets, Hanna, Real Steel and Insidious. Again, I have no candidate for a good comedy this year (though The Muppets is a comedy in a way). I skipped Bridesmaids, even when everyone said it's hilarious. I saw the trailer and wasn't impressed at all. My biggest peeve was missing Drive, that was yanked off its scheduled release because of a technical problem (which I don't buy at all).

So now I'm looking forward to 2012, which will be offering plenty of good stuff like The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises, Prometheus, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, Snow White & The Huntsman, The Amazing Spider-Man, Battleship, The Expendables 2, G.I. Joe: Retaliation and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. There's also the second part of Breaking Dawn, the return of Bond and more Paranormal Activity.

See you at the movies. Cheers.

CD Review: Marit Larsen's Spark

2012-01-04T23:34:00.000+08:00

Let me get a couple of things out of the way first. Number one: Marit's voice has always been her biggest flaw. She's a great musician and a skilled songwriter. But her vocals are not outstanding. I'm not saying she can't sing, I'm saying her voice has a limited range. Some of her songs benefit from it, others don't.

Number two: I'm not a fan of country music. I don't hate it, but I can't like it that much either. So my opinion on Marit's attempts to sound country on this album may be swayed by this fact. Okay?

Songs

From a writing standpoint, both lyrical and melodical, Marit scores a lot of points here. She writes great lyrics, I'll give her that. Her melodies, which shift from catchy in one song to slow and quiet the next, are well executed.

However, not all of them are good. Keeper Of The Keys is a quiet ballad, much too quiet actually. It was bold for her to start the album with this song, since most artistes begin with a fast number and save songs like these for the last. Bold, but ill advised. Keeper and the last track, That Day, suffer from the same quietness. When Marit tries to pair her vocals against low piano and guitar, it sounds like she's loudly whispering and drowning out the instruments. It'll probably work in a live setting, but I don't think it worked here.

Coming Home and Don't Move are the faster songs here, and unfortunately they sound almost the same. I know some of you will be able to distinguish them, but I'm having a hard time. Other than the lyrics and a few arrangement differences, they sound more or less similar. They do sound good though.

Me And The Highway and Last Night are my least favourite tracks, because of....yeah they sound country. I'm sorry, I just can't like it. I wish she had put more keyboard or electric guitar or synthesizer or something in them.

I Can't Love You Anymore is nice. It's a ballad that doesn't sound too sad. It's heartfelt and heartbreaking, but not mushy. Well written and well performed.

What If is the closest Marit gets to sounding different altogether. The verses are played with a touch of pop and R&B, but Marit goes back to her usual style when the chorus hits. With a bit more effort and daring on her part, this song could have been awesome. Right now for me it's just very good.

I think the two tracks I like most would be Have You Ever and Fine Line. The former is kinda like Taylor Swift's You Belong With Me in terms of concept, only Marit does it way better. Marit makes it sound very creative and fresh, I love that. The latter song is a nice ballad that goes straight for the heart. Nicely done.

Vocals

As I said before, Marit's vocals are her weakness. It's most evident on the quiet first and last tracks. Sometimes she even sounds like she's murmuring and I can't make out what she's singing. I know that's what lyric books are for, but I want to hear the words myself instead of reading them.

Inlay

One picture, one cover and a whole bunch of words? That's it? Whoever did this inlay is either lazy or rushing things. I certainly hope it isn't Marit's idea. I mean, come on. Give your fans some nice pics of yourself. It doesn't hurt to be generous.

Video

I saw the video to Coming Home a few weeks back, and I was sorely disappointed. Too many shots of the band and no creativity in it at all. Compare this video to If A Song Could Get Me You and you'll see what I mean. Like the inlay, this felt lazy and rushed.

Overall, I'll give Spark three out of five stars. I applaud Marit for writing some really good lyrics and some very neat arrangements here and there. But there is a lot of room for improvement. I feel like I need to see her play live in order to fully appreciate her music, when it should be me appreciating how the CD sounds like before wanting to hear the live version. Someone I know said she's too kitsch, I wonder if that's true.

Love Affair

2011-12-29T23:19:00.000+08:00

It's strange. Strange how no matter what I'll always return to them.

My feelings for the girls of M2M are strong, but for the longest time I had thought that my interest in them had waned. I stayed with them through the breakup, but the more time moved on from that point, the harder it was to stay the course.

Marion did a great job with the first CD, and it's still a favorite of mine. Marit on the other hand made things a bit more difficult, choosing to focus her career in her home country. A couple more albums, a judging stint on Norwegian Idol and no Marit in Asia, and I was starting to get tired of them both. Or indifferent.

Then today, I saw it. I saw Spark on the store shelf. And it automatically signaled my brain: Get it. Now.

And now I am an owner of Marit's 3rd album. Yeah, I know I had made it clear that I wasn't too excited about the direction Marit is taking this album to, but like I said: I can't just let her go. Or Marion. My love affair with them just won't end, regardless of what they do or don't do. My enthusiasm may be less than before, but my heart won't change.

I plan to write a review on this CD soon, so wait for it.

What's On TV: The Walking Dead

2011-12-04T22:57:00.009+08:00

This show has been on my mind all week. A rare feat indeed.

The Walking Dead had reached a mid-season finale this week, and it's a real whopper of an ending. I kinda ruined it for myself by finding out what happened before the episode screened here, but it was still awesome.

TWD takes place in a world where nearly everyone is dead. The dead have come back to life in the form of zombies and they walk the earth, feeding on the living.

In this world, deputy sheriff Rick Grimes struggles to keep watch over his wife and son, as well as the small group of people with him. Together they seek hope and refuge in the insane place the world has become. For them, it gets harder each day as the dead constantly hunt them down and the pressure takes its toll on them. Each person's priorities and feelings start to disintegrate and tempers flare, thereby increasing the likelihood of them becoming zombie food.

It's amazing that a show based on a graphic novel can be such a hit. Writer Robert Kirkman deserves tons of credit for coming up with an idea that entertains, thrills and tears up your heart at the same time. Sure, the show may seem like a war against zombies on the surface, but it's far more than that. It makes you question how to live in a world where the things you took for granted are now suddenly so important, and what you valued so much, like the internet, your job and money don't matter anymore.

As the show progresses, the characters start to change, some for better, some for worse. It's the dynamics of the show and its people that make me want to tune in every week. Some may say that it's been a slow season, but I've been having a ball of a time with this.

If you don't mind gore and blood and monsters, try making time for this. Trust me.

Travel

2011-11-19T17:57:00.002+08:00

I'm going away on a trip tomorrow. It's my third one this year, and out of all three, this is the one I am least looking forward to.

Why? Let's just say I was coerced into going.

Even now, I don't want to go, but I have no choice. It's done and set, so I can't back out. Deep down I'm still angry for the way this happened, but I'm doing my best to not kick myself over stuff I can't change at this moment.

The only thing I can do is try to enjoy myself, and who knows I might. One thing's for sure, when I get back, I'm going to do what I want, when I want.

I'll see you soon. My apologies for not updating here as often as I ought to.

Spark. Drive. Stuff.

2011-10-23T17:09:00.002+08:00

Once again, I'm gonna combine stuff to talk about in one entry. This is what happens when I have things to say but I keep putting it off to say them.

What you're looking at here is the cover of Marit Larsen's new album Spark, which will be released in Norway next month. As far as covers go, I think this is the best one she's done so far.

However, her first single Coming Home is just so-so for me. It's by no means bad, but it merely reinforces the fact that Marit hasn't changed her approach very much. I don't know if the rest of her CD sounds like that, but I am hoping that there are a few, if not a handful of worthy gems in it. I am counting on Marit taking a few risks every now and then and not sounding like her last two albums. Either way, if Spark makes it here, I'll get it. After all, she's still Marit, and I'm still a collector by nature.

That is the poster to Drive, a very critically acclaimed film starring Ryan Gosling. Gosling plays a talented stunt car driver who moonlights as a getaway driver for criminals at night. He gets into trouble with a mob boss when he takes on a job in order to help a young woman and her son square things with them.

I was looking forward to this film. Very much. And what does the film's distributors do? They pull it from the theaters.

AFTER they had screened it for the press. AFTER they had planned to release it last month. AFTER they had a free screening for lucky winners of a radio station's call-in contest. Their reason? 'A technical problem'. Right. Here's my response: Fuck you.

Technical problem? Why don't you explain to us what the heck that means? The censors blocked it? If so, you can just say that. Or is it because you don't have the balls to put it out there and have it compete against films YOU idiots think would do better than it? Is that it? You think audiences here would rather see Johnny English Reborn or What's Your Number or The Smurfs?

See, all you have to do is ask moviegoers if we want to see it. Have a poll, play the trailer in cinemas, find a way to ask us. Get your theater guys to put it on their Facebook page and gauge their reaction. Or better yet, activate your FUCKING Facebook page! How the heck are you supposed to know if you don't find out?

I know Drive is worth your trouble. It has an 8.3 rating on Imdb, it's the 133rd highest rated film right now. Any film within the top 250 is worth it. You bastards just squandered an opportunity to show audiences what may be the best film of the year. Last year The Town gets axed, this year it's Drive. I seriously hate film distributors here. If they don't have guts to risk their finances on something they are too ignorant about, the least they can do is be honest about it.

Lately I've been feeling rather annoyed by people. Mostly by people who think they're the centre of the universe, or they think their superbly lame jokes are funny, or they have this irresistible need to say whatever's on their mind, and most of the time it's not important at all.

I wish they would all just shut up. Seriously. I mean, how much inconsequential crap can you give every day? You know, the funny thing is, I actually thought for a short time that I had lost my sense of humour, which was why I found all of this so annoying. But no, I can still laugh, it's just that people don't care about good humour anymore. They just go with whatever they've got.

Like for instance, how many times would you laugh if people constantly put Rowan Atkinson's face on someone else's picture? First time, maybe. Second time, not really. Anything beyond that, and it's really fucking stupid. I'm on Facebook, and lately there's always some doofus doing this crap. Then it gets shared over and over, and even if you're not friends with this doofus, chances are one of your friends thinks it's cool. Really, I beg you to stop. Please. Get a life.

And for the rest of you, who have to say EVERY God damn thing in your head, shut up too. You got a job, you got a life, so do it and live it. I don't care what you ate yesterday, I don't care why you were late for work yesterday, I don't care when was the last time you slipped on the sidewalk, or what your nephew says to you when he sees you. Shut it. Whether you're online or in front of me, (or even if you're in front of others) stop it. Do what matters. Say what matters. Live your life by being a good person. Don't gossip, don't waste time talking about trivial stuff. Do what you love as long as you don't annoy or hurt others. It's not too much to ask, is it?

That's it. I'm gonna look for something to do. See you.

Angry Birds

2011-09-18T19:05:00.004+08:00

You must have heard about the Angry Birds game by now, even if you've never played it before.

I just gave it a try this afternoon, and I can see why it's so addictive.

The object of the game is simple: catapult a bird using a slingshot and take down the house that holds a bunch of green pigs that have stolen the birds' eggs. Estimating the trajectory and finding the weak spot of the house, which can be made up of glass, wood and rocks, are crucial to advancing throughout the game.

Apparently this game has become so popular that stuffed toys and T-shirts have been made for them. I hear they're making a movie based on this game to be released in 2014. That's just insane.

So if you're looking for some harmless fun, give Angry Birds a shot. Find it on Facebook or download it on your phone or something.

In Her Honor

2011-08-13T00:12:00.001+08:00

Wishing many happy returns of the day to Ira. This song is for her.

Douchebag Of The Year

2011-08-06T23:52:00.010+08:00

I came across this story a few days ago. There was an incident in a movie theatre in Texas, where a woman asked the man sitting in front of her to turn off his phone. He was texting at the time, and the light from his phone was distracting her. She merely tapped him on the shoulder, but he apparently got injured and threw a fit, then he called management and the cops showed up. In the end, she was fined $260 for assault. Because she lives outside of Texas, it would be more expensive if she had to come back and fight the charges, so she paid the fine.

The woman, Brenda Godwin, who is 136 pounds, said this:

"He had his phone out. The light was shining at me. I'm thinking, 'He's going to turn it off.'" But he didn't. 'OK, this is ridiculous.' So I reached over and tapped him on the shoulder. It was very bright. I was only trying to get his attention. He whipped around and said, 'Don't ever touch me.' I was a little taken aback. 'I wouldn't have touched you if you didn't have your phone out.' "He jumps up and whirls around towards me and says, 'I am charging you with assault,' and he flew out of the theater."

The man, 220 pound Dale Fout, had this to say:

"I got a text, and I responded to it because it was something important. It was something that was on a deadline situation, OK. I held it against my chest purposely where I could barely see it. ... I could text but hide the majority of the light coming from the phone. "She said something. I couldn't make it out. That's why I turned. She was probably saying something like, 'Get off your phone.' I turned, and she pushed. She just happened to push my neck at the time my neck was in an awkward position. Kinda like having a little fender bender, and you get a little whiplash in your neck, you know."

(I'm going to let you process the stupidity of this story for a moment. OK, ready? Now, here's my opinion.)

How does anyone let this superbly insane miscarriage of justice occur? Someone gets charged for assault for asking someone to turn off their phone when they're supposed to in the first place? What kind of world do we live in?

As a frequent movie theatre visitor, I'll be the first to agree that lights emanating from someone's phone is very distracting. It doesn't matter if they're in front of you, across the aisle or ten rows down. As long as you're behind them, you'll see it. It's a dark theatre, so there's no way you won't notice. And I hate these people, who think that it's okay to play with their phone while the movie's running.

Mr Dale Fout here is not only the douchebag of the year, but he's probably made of glass too, since a considerably lighter woman supposedly injured him. That's a load of crap. If he's injured, it's probably because he turned his neck, not because someone tapped him. He should not be texting in the first place anyway, and now because of him, an innocent woman is $260 poorer.

Why do people always come to the movie theatre when they don't really want to watch a movie? These people never fail to piss me off, doing the things they shouldn't do, like talking, kicking your chair, shaking their legs, bringing kids who aren't going to watch the film, answering their phone or texting on the phone.

What amazes me is how so many of them think that texting is okay because answering the phone isn't. Do these idiots think I'm blind, that I wouldn't notice? I mean, what is so fucking important that you can't turn the damn thing off for two hours? Mr Fout here claims it's important, a "deadline situation". So why is he in there watching a movie? Why can't he just sit by himself away somewhere like his office, his car or some fucking park bench and deal with it?

The worst part is, there are also people who text because they aren't interested in watching what's on screen, or they think multitasking in the theatre is okay. I am telling you, it is NOT. If you aren't interested in the movie, then walk out. It's that simple. You can do what you like, just not in the theatre. I'm not stopping you from texting, just don't do it in front of me. Is that so much to ask?

I still love going to the theatre to watch a film, it's still the best way to enjoy the movies. But these days it's getting harder thanks to people like Dale Fout. I sincerely hope the next time he uses his cellphone in the cinema, someone there breaks his neck for real.

Tragedy

2011-07-24T14:16:00.002+08:00

It's been a week of incidents, notably bad ones.

Firstly, as some of you already know, Norway suffered a terrorist attack and several people were killed. My condolences go out to the victims. I happen to know a few Norwegians and am relieved that they're all right.

Secondly, I heard last night that Amy Winehouse is dead. She was a talented singer who badly needed to clean up her act. But now, it's too late and she's gone. It's almost ironic that her hit song Rehab is about not wanting to quit an addiction even though you know you ought to. Some say that her death was just a matter of time, but it's still tragic nonetheless.

Allow me to post Amy's hit song here in her honor. RIP Amy, and to the victims of Norway's tragedy.

11.7.1.13.1.18.9.20

2011-07-01T20:08:00.001+08:00

Many happy returns of the day to Ms Larsen, a talented guitarist and performer.

Fargo

2011-06-28T21:24:00.001+08:00

I almost thought June was going to pass me by without something for me to blog about, and now I finally have something.

So last night I sat down in front of the TV to watch Fargo, a film by the critically acclaimed Coen brothers. These guys are known for making really quirky films that have dark and different interpretations to them. I have to tell you, this is the kind of thing I dislike the most about them, because it makes it harder to see their point of view. But critics in the US love them because of that quirky style.

Anyway, I only knew two things about Fargo: One, it's by these two brothers, and Two, it gave Frances McDormand her Best Actress Oscar. And like any movie freak out there, I was curious as to why. I figured, there had to be something worth seeing here.

No. There isn't.

It may have only been about 90 minutes long, but it was the worst way to spend 90 minutes, I can tell you that. Those are 90 minutes I'll never get back.

So let me fill you in on the plot. Fargo takes place in Minnesota, where a car salesman who needs money for some reason that is never explained, hires two dimwits to kidnap his wife so that they can get ransom money from his rich father in-law and split it half later. Being the dimwits that they are, they screw it up and end up killing three people, but they kidnap her successfully. The local police chief, Marge (who is pregnant) is on the case. She eventually solves the whole thing and arrests whoever involved that isn't dead by the end of it.

And that's it.

Now, this story could have worked. Really. I've seen films made out of plots even worse than this, and executed badly. So this doesn't sound too bad. But good God, this film was awful. Here's why:

- Other than Marge, there isn't a single redeemable character here. Nearly all of them are virtually unlikeable. The salesman, played by William H. Macy (who excels in playing characters like this one, and actually got an Oscar nomination for this) is basically a loser who has no balls to stand up to his asshole of a father in-law. If he had done so, his plan may have worked. Or better yet, get the two dimwits to kill the old man instead, maybe make it look like an accident, and his wife can pick up some inheritance. That seems more logical. Then there are the two dimwits (why do they always have to be stupid?), one talkative, the other looking too stoned to care. Why can't there ever be competent criminals in comedies? I don't get that. Even the salesman's wife is annoying, but not more than her asshole dad, which I would personally shoot in the head for torturing me in every scene he was in.

- Irrelevant scenes. The top one on the list is Marge meeting up with this Japanese guy who's an old friend. The guy still has feelings for her, and is embarrassing himself trying to get it on with her, then he breaks down when it doesn't work. WHY IN GOD'S NAME IS THIS SCENE HERE??? This bears absolutely no consequence to the main plot at all. This is the kind of scene that could have ended up on the cutting room floor, but here it is. Why? To make us laugh? I wasn't laughing, in fact deep down I wanted to punch somebody, anybody that looked like this man. Then there are the scenes between Marge and her husband, which only serves to make this look like some family drama made for TV, and again, does not serve the plot. And why does she have to be pregnant? If she wasn't, the film still ends the same way, I assure you.

- Accents. Apparently in Minnesota, they have a certain way of talking, which involves saying 'yah' a lot. Like someone asks Marge a question, she says 'Yah' and asks a question back, and she gets a 'Yah' too. This goes on and on and on. And worse, it doesn't even sound natural. It sounds ridiculous.

- Stupid lines. Like when Marge asks these two hookers on how a suspect looks like. One of them answers "he's weird looking." When Marge asks in what way, the hooker says "just the general weird." Marge asks the specifics, the hooker goes "can't really say...". Again, do you find this funny? Really? Listening to stupid people act even more stupid than they really are is funny?

As for Frances herself, I don't know why she won the Oscar. I really don't. I don't mean to say she's a bad actress, not at all. Her acting is fine. But there certainly wasn't anything outstanding about it. Nothing to indicate she went out of her way to be convincing as a police chief. Nothing to indicate she becomes the main reason to see this film. Not even a scene where she owns the screen is remotely present here.

I don't know, maybe I'll never understand the Coens (though I loved True Grit) or why the US film critics actually dig this stuff. This film was a damn waste of my time. I was supposed to laugh during this film, but I didn't, not even once. I can't believe I skipped the Hawaii Five-0 season finale to catch this piece of crap. Good thing that show has reruns.

I'm giving Fargo 2 out of 5 stars, just for Frances' sake. If any of you reading this ever consider seeing this flick, take my advice and go do something else.

11.5.25.27

2011-05-25T23:13:00.001+08:00

Many happy returns of the day to the most talented female singer on the planet.

Going South Part 4

2011-05-02T18:26:00.000+08:00

I woke up in Singapore on Saturday morning, and it's time to go home.

The good news was my fever finally died down, though I still had the diarrhea, but at that point, the worst was over. Me and my family went downstairs for some breakfast, and I ate some bacon. We took some pics of our hotel outside before going back into our room to finish packing. It was then when I told my mum that there was a certain DVD that she would be interested in which I spotted at Vivo City the day before. She persuaded me to take her back there, with our luggage, to pick it up for her, and then head to the airport.

So off we went. I simply loved travelling on the MRT, because it was so convenient. We made it there, picked up the DVD and made it to the airport in time for the flight back home.

By the time we reached KL, it was sundown. It was Saturday, so getting transport was tough. We decided to take a bus, but waiting for it was hell, especially since a hundred other people were waiting for buses too, and the bus drivers in this city are real inefficient and stupid, taking up the road space and stalling so much, thereby causing a traffic jam. You don't get that in Singapore.

And at long last, I was home. Tired, partially sick but happy. I would be happier if I didn't get sick then, but hey, I'm alive ;) In hindsight, there were so many places I didn't go to and stuff I wished I could get my hands on, but that's for the future. My mum is in no hurry to go back there, since it's expensive and all. But I vow to return someday. I have to.

More pics:

Going South Part 3

2011-04-24T22:47:00.000+08:00

Day 3 was a Friday. I woke up in the morning with that annoying fever still there.

The plan was to go to Sentosa Island. This place was Singapore's equivalent to Malaysia's Genting Highlands, where people could gamble and take theme park rides all day.

So off we went, taking the MRT to Vivo City, the shopping mall where we could board the monorail that will take us to the island. Once we got there, we started taking pictures of the place, but I was getting less and less enthusiastic. The fever sapped all my strength, and I just didn't have it in me to keep up with them. As a result, my sister couldn't go into Universal Studios as she didn't want to go in without me. The tickets were expensive and I didn't want to waste my money going in and then spending the time on a bench, so we decided not to go in at all. We got some souvenirs at a nice little gift shop, before I persuaded my family to let me take the train back to the mall so that I could find a place for lunch.

Once back there, I realized that I didn't have the appetite for anything, even though I was starving. God I hate it when I lose my ability to eat. So I decided to walk around a bit, and I found a DVD store ;) My one weakness. My heart skipped a beat when I saw the Fight Club DVD staring back at me as I browsed the shelves. I had been looking for this for years. I also found The Punisher and Steven Spielberg's Munich. Oh yeah, this is awesome. But I was still sick.

I found a Kim Gary restaurant to have lunch at. This happens to be a place I liked going to back in KL. However, the loss of appetite made it hard for me to finish my bowl of noodles. I tried my best though. After meeting up with my family again, I told them I wanted to go back to the hotel to rest.

So I got back, took some Panadol and slept for about 3-4 hours. It wasn't even a smooth nap, the fever kept waking me up. My mum was worried about me and wanted to take me to the clinic next door, but I told her it was closed at that hour. That night I could only eat some cakes for dinner, couldn't eat much else. And later that night, the diarrhea started. It got messy. Awful way to spend a vacation, but at this point it was almost over.

More pics here:

Going South Part 2

2011-04-10T13:08:00.000+08:00

Okay, now for Day 2 of my trip to Singapore.

We decided to go to Marina Bay, since that's where all the unique architecture is. We wanted to take pictures of everything near the bay.

So we took a bus and stopped at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel. Just as I had seen it on TV, the hotel is damn tall. We wanted to go all the way up, but decided to walk down the bay instead, towards the Merlion and take pictures of whatever that looked good there. There was a bridge designed after a DNA helix, a stadium on water, an opera house that looked like a microphone and a sphere like building that I can't remember what it was called.

But disappointment hit us when we arrived at the Merlion. It was covered with construction! Apparently they're building a temporary hotel around it, and it won't be taken down till May. Temporary hotel??? I have no idea what that is, or why anyone would want that. So there goes my chance to take a picture of the Merlion, and we had to settle for the smaller version.

Oh, the walk all over the bay was damn tiring, made worse by the heat. On Ira's advice, I wore a cap the whole time, since umbrellas weren't allowed on the plane. It helped a bit. But then I got hit with a cold (which is odd since it was hot), so that took half my energy off.

After that, we walked to Suntec City Mall, which was nearby. There, we heard about this Duck ride, a boat that doubled as a road vehicle, which would take tourists around the city near the bay, and goes into the river too. So we went for it, and it was quite fun. The view of all the landmarks earlier was much better from the water, and it was worth the money since the entire ride took an hour.

Then we headed via MRT to Chinatown, where my mum and sister wanted to buy souvenirs (My mum loves souvenirs). I bought a pocketwatch and a mini Merlion table thermometer for myself while I was there. By now, the cold I was suffering from went into full mode, so I had to take a pill, and take a short nap at a McDonald's nearby.

The good news was, when I woke up, the cold was gone. But bad news: I got a fever! The air-conditioning in the place must have had something to do with that. Rats. So I was feeling more miserable now.

We headed home, and I had some noodles from the same food court near the hotel. My appetite was off, and I knew my condition was about to get much worse. More on that in my next post.

Here are some pics from day two.

Going South Part 1

2011-03-27T19:30:00.000+08:00

I've been so busy in the last 3 weeks that I haven't had the chance to blog about my recent trip to Singapore.

The last time I was there was probably about twenty years ago, give or take. So yeah, it's been a long time. So I was understandably excited about this. To see what has changed, if any, and if there's anything worth writing home for.

It was a Wednesday morning when I flew there. Me, my sister and my mum. I never really enjoyed flying, but in this case I'll make an exception. We arrived at Changi airport just after noon, and the modernness and cleanliness of Singapore was evident the moment we stepped off the plane. It was just amazing to see.

At the airport, a kind old man gave us instructions on how to use the MRT train system to get to our hotel. Unfortunately for us, we got a bit lost and we walked quite a distance to reach the hotel. We had not realized that there was an MRT station right across the street from our hotel LOL, and we only discovered this a day later. Anyway, the hotel was only a 3 star, but it didn't matter.

With the morning gone already, we only had time to go to one place: Orchard Road. The shopping capital of the island. Now, I've seen big shopping malls in KL, but over here, it's fucking HUGE. You could walk into one and get lost in there. I kept walking and walking, and there was just no end to it. It took me quite some time to find a video store, because I wanted to look for film DVDs more than anything else, but I finally found one, and they definitely had more choice than the shops back home. I purchased four films: 28 Days Later, The Godfather, Let Me In and The Town. Damn pleased!

We took the bus home, and this is where we noticed how efficient their bus service was compared to KL. Basically, Singapore's transport system is close to perfect. It's so good that there is less traffic on the road compared to other cities, since no one really needs to own a car on this island.

There was a 24 hour food court opposite the hotel, so we ate there. Lots of variety, but the quality of the food was just so-so.

Here are a few pics from day one. I'll continue more about this later on. Enjoy.

Closer

2011-02-15T18:32:00.003+08:00

Happy Valentine's Day everyone.

But that was yesterday. Today in honor of those of you celebrating love, I wanna talk about a film I caught over the weekend. A film called Closer. I had wanted to see this for a very long time, and the opportunity finally arose.

The thing is, after watching this, I realise that the film does not celebrate true love, but instead the complications that exist amongst people in relationships. Complications which can be avoided actually.

Closer focuses on four individuals: Anna the photographer, Dan the obituarist and failed writer, Alice the stripper and Larry the dermatologist. These two men and two women fall in love with one another (or so we think), and the choices and actions they take affect each other greatly.

That pretty much sums up the plot. It's not much, but the beauty of it is the execution by director Mike Nichols. He basically focuses his camera on the four of them, and no one else. Their interactions drive the story, and the sharp and crude dialogue used actually makes the film quite fascinating. It's based on a play, so I guess that explains it. All four actors perform well, though Julia Roberts looked rather dull. She seemed like she could do her role as Anna in her sleep. Clive Owen and my favourite actress Natalie Portman were the better performers here, even though Owen is basically playing the same role he usually plays and Portman has been better in other roles.

So that's the good stuff. Now for the bad.

After watching this, I have come to the conclusion that all four characters are severely flawed, and not in a good way. All four of them are either liars, hypocrites or cheaters, or all of the above. This of course makes it impossible for me to empathise with any of them.

Dan, played by Jude Law, wants two women. He can't live without either one, so he cheats on both. So who does he love? Both? I doubt that. As Alice (Portman) says to him at one point: if he loves her, why would he hurt her by sleeping with Anna? The worst part of him is that he can't stand it when both women cheat on him later.

Anna on the other hand is somewhat of an idiot. She looks indifferent for the most part, and although she seems wise on the surface, she can't keep herself out of a love triangle/quadrangle, yet all she had to do was say no to Dan the first time. I find her similar to Dan in the sense that she doesn't know what love really is.

Alice seems to know love better than the other three, but she's too emotional and the biggest liar out of the four (you'll figure this out by the end of the film). She's smart but doesn't give herself enough attention or self esteem to fight for her man.

Larry (Owen) turned out to be the smartest of the four. He's obsessive, which is most evident after Anna reveals to him she had been with Dan while married to him. But Larry's obsessiveness fuels him and gave him the means to hatch a plan that allows him to win in the end. Yes, he cheats too. But at least he's honest when it counts.

My major gripe about this film is why the characters are portrayed this way. Does the writer think relationships are doomed to end like this every time, and that there is no such thing as true love? From my observation, whenever any of the four say the words 'I love you', it sounds meaningless. It's like me saying those words to random people for no apparent reason and expecting them to buy it. If any of the four loved the person they were with at the time, they'd do more than use words or ask for sex. They'd prove it. As it stands, none of them do the things they do out of love, they did it out of trying to win a war of some sort.

The other thing I didn't like was the use of Damian Rice's The Blower's Daughter during the opening and ending of the film. It's a nice song, but using it as the film moves in slow motion is stupid! It's as stupid as playing an action sequence in fast forward and having techno music blaring in the background. It's a fitting song, more than you'd expect, but it was applied wrongly here.

In closing I'd like to say that it's a good film, but not if you believe in happy endings to love stories. Even though I haven't really found true love, I still believe in it, which is why I disliked how the filmmakers of Closer approached this subject. Yes, relationships are complicated, but there are people out there who can work things out without doing foolish things. I hope none of you reading this will ever do any of the things these four individuals did in the film.

For the record, my rating for this film is 3/5.

Top 10 of 2010

2011-01-16T00:36:00.000+08:00

I had wanted to do this earlier, but I just didn't have the time. Now that I do, let me give you my top 10 films of 2010.

This list will comprise of my favourites of the year, and I have tried seeing as many movies as I could. Some films won't make the list because they had been banned or delayed, so bear with me.

1. The Book Of Eli
Set in a post-apocalyptic future, Denzel Washington plays Eli, a man on a mission to deliver a very important book to a location west of the country. As he walks through a small town, he runs into Carnegie (Gary Oldman), a gangster who is very interested in that book, and goes all out to get it. A battle ensues. Washington and Oldman deliver sterling performances as expected, with Mila Kunis providing some good support. A great film with a neat twist towards the end.

2. Clash Of The Titans
Most critics hated this film, but I actually found it fun. Avatar's Sam Worthington plays Perseus, the human son of Zeus whose foster family is killed by Hades. Hades threatens to unleash his monster The Kraken on the city of Argos unless they sacrifice their princess. Argos turns to Perseus for help. With a few brave men and a half-god, they set out to find a way to kill The Kraken. Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes step into the roles of Zeus and Hades respectively. The film isn't perfect, but I had a blast watching this.

3. Frozen
What would you do if you found yourself trapped on a ski-lift after operating hours are over, high above the ground and nowhere to go? That is the premise of this thriller. Three friends, Joe, Dan and Parker decide to take one last run up the mountain, but the operator, not knowing that there is still someone on the lift, shuts it down and calls it a night. The three, now stuck up there with no way down, suffering in the freezing temperatures and facing the prospect of being there till next weekend, start to panic, and desperate measures are taken, with very unpleasant results. Shawn Ashmore, Emma Bell and Kevin Zegers are terrific as the three kids, and director Adam Green deserves a lot of credit for his realistic direction of the film.

4. How To Train Your Dragon
This animated feature tells the story of Hiccup, a young boy from a village of Vikings. Unlike his fellow brethren, Hiccup isn't brave or strong. His father Stoick, is a brave leader as he rallies the Vikings in defending the village against dragons. Hiccup, in his attempt to prove himself worthy, manages to capture a dragon, but instead of killing it, he befriends the creature, whom he names Toothless. Together, they strike an unlikely bond and he learns more about dragons in the process. But trouble ensues when his dad finds out. The animation here is awesome and the story very engaging. One of the better animated films of last year.

5. Toy Story 3
Pixar's flagship film comes to a close at last, and what a finale it is. Woody, Buzz and the other toys face the prospect of being put away forever when their owner Andy goes off to college. Through a few mishaps, they end up in a day care centre, where the toys are run by Lotso, a teddy bear who seems nice at first, until he shows his true colours. If you have been following the Toy Story films, you shouldn't miss this. It has a great storyline and tons of funny moments, and the ending is just beautiful.

6. Inception
Christopher Nolan brings yet another masterpiece that everyone seems to call the movie of the year. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Cobb, a man who can enter other people's dreams and steal their secrets. A Japanese businessman, Saito hires Cobb to plant an idea into his business rival's mind. In order to perform this complex task, Cobb assembles a team of experts to assist him. And as expected, chaos follows. Nolan has not only succeeded in creating a brilliant story, but also manages to rope in the best Hollywood cast to make it happen. Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ken Watanabe and Marion Cotillard also star. In the end, Inception may be a bit too cerebral for mainstream audiences, but give it a chance and you might find it fun.

7. Repo Men
In this film, there are companies that manufacture artificial organs, and they offer them to needy patients for a price. But when patients don't pay their bills on time, they send over their men to repossess the organs by force. Jude Law and Forest Whitaker play Remy and Jake, two such repo men who are best friends. However, when Remy gets injured and ends up with an artificial heart, he finds himself on the run and learns what it's like to be on the 'other' side. This film may not make any statements worth saying about health care, but it does offer plenty of violent, in-your-face action, which makes it a lot of fun to watch.

8. Buried
Rodrigo Cortes directs this unique thriller where Ryan Reynolds stars as Paul Conroy, a truck driver in Iraq who wakes up in a box, several feet underground. He only has a lighter and a cellphone with him. For the next 90 minutes, you will see him do many things to try and escape, mostly involving calling for help on the phone, only to be denied time and time again from the person on the other end. The film is pure brilliance as it manages to sustain your interest for the entire 90 minutes without leaving the box. Now how does that not count as amazing?

9. Let Me In
Out of all the films I watched last year, this is probably my favourite. Based on the Swedish novel and film Let The Right One In, this film is about two young adults; Owen, a boy who suffers bullying at his school and feels isolated from his mother, and Abby, the mysterious girl that moves in next door to him. They strike an unlikely friendship, but Owen soon learns that Abby is a vampire, which complicates matters. Kodi Smit-McPhee and Chloe Moretz are simply fantastic in their roles, and I feel that they both deserve Oscars for this. The film itself deserves more attention than its getting, and that's just unfair. Never before have I seen a story that's so tragic, yet dark and beautiful at the same time. You should see this if you haven't yet.

10. The Social Network
David Fincher directs this very fascinating drama about the formation of Facebook, a site which I'm sure you're all familiar with. It chronicles how Mark Zuckerberg, a Harvard student, forms the site with best friend Eduardo Saverin, their involvement with Napster creator Sean Parker, the fallouts that followed and the lawsuits that came forth. Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield are great as Mark and Eduardo respectively. I think that this film would appeal not only to Facebook users, but also non-users who may end up joining the site. It's a phenomenal piece of work.

Some other films that deserve some mention (even though they didn't necessarily get the higher ratings on my review blog) are The American, Despicable Me, The Crazies, Kick-Ass and The Next Three Days.

So there you have it. If you need to know what to rent or buy the next time you walk into a video store, look out for some of these pictures. Bring on 2011!

Pesky Kids / Para-no more

2010-12-26T19:33:00.000+08:00

I'm going to talk about two things in one post this time, so that I don't have to make two posts, it's better this way.

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Yesterday morning, I was at my favourite restaurant having my breakfast. Near my table was a large family of six, which included two kids and one servant. The younger kid, a little girl who was about three years old, had an empty plate in front of her and a pair of eating fork and spoon. She used the fork and spoon like they were drumsticks and started hammering away on the plate. (I've seen this before actually, kids being given cutlery and then they start misusing them) After a while, the servant took the plate away from the girl, which subsequently made the girl dump the cutlery violently on the floor. Her parents put everything right back in front of her and told her to be quiet.

But of course, like all kids her age, that is NOT going to work. She went back at it again, hammering away like she was Phil Collins on crack. So this time they took the cutlery out of her hands, and she promptly took the plate and dumped it violently on the floor. And yes, that got everyone's attention, including the 20 other people there trying to eat. So they took everything away from her. The she started to cry. Loudly.

And this is where I thought "Oh, this is actually an improvement, because now she's making noise for not getting what she wants, instead of making noise because she got what she wanted." And for every moment she spent bawling her lungs out, I was celebrating inside, even though I hate it when kids do that.

I know this girl can't understand me right now, but I got this to say to you: I don't care if you think you're the next Zac Farro, Tre Cool or Rob Bourdon. You suck at drumming, and if you were my kid, you'd never leave the house again.

But I don't blame her, not really. I blame her stupid parents. Newsflash to you parents: if you have a kid below two, take them out by all means. They'd probably spend it sitting in their pram drinking their milk, or sleeping the whole time. But if your child is above two and not old enough to feed themselves, please for the love of God, keep them at home. Hire a babysitter, get your in-laws or a trustworthy friend to watch over them, just don't take them out. Don't you get it yet??? They don't know any better. They'll just do what they like, and they won't listen to you because they don't care. Why would you take them to places like the shopping mall, or the restaurant, or the cinema? Why? Especially the cinema. You think they'd actually fathom what they see on screen? I challenge you to prove that! You wanna shop for them? You can do it without them. You wanna feed them? Do it at home. Don't take them out. Please.

Later that afternoon, I saw this woman holding her crying son in one hand, and her cellphone in the other. He was crying because she wouldn't give him the phone, and he kept reaching for it. He cried over and over and over, but she refused to budge. Deep down I kept thinking "Yeah, you go girl. Don't give it to him. Let him cry till he's out of breath. Better that than him dropping the phone and you gotta get a new one." Yeah, I sound mean. But I don't want to abuse any kid, I just want them to shut up.

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Earlier this week I received news that Josh and Zac Farro decided to leave Paramore. That felt really surreal, since it was just two months ago that I saw them in action, live. And from the looks of it then, they never looked like they had any trouble within.

But I did remember Josh saying in an interview that he and Zac were tired of touring, so I thought maybe that was why. But then I dug up some dirt on the real reasons behind their departure. You can read them here: http://joshnfarro.blogspot.com/2010/12/josh-and-zacs-exit-statement.html

And well, it is rather shocking. To think that Paramore were always on the brink of splitting up because their formation was never smooth to begin with. I wonder now if Hayley is guilty of whatever Josh is accusing her of, or all this is just backstage politics that got out of hand. Either way, it's sad. It's sad because Paramore had plenty of potential. I didn't love them as much as M2M, but I still had hopes for them.

According to Hayley, she will go on with Jeremy and Taylor, but will it be the same without the Farros? Who knows. This shouldn't have happened, and now the fans will suffer. But I still wanna wish all five of them good luck, and hopefully things will work out better as time goes by.

Look Who's In Town

2010-12-04T23:31:00.000+08:00

For those of you who have known me since the existence of the M2M online community, you'd know Silvia Violante, or Silvy as we all call her. She was in KL for the past three days, and we had an opportunity to meet up today.

The first few things that I can tell you about her after meeting her in person are:
- she has a pair of really pretty brown eyes
- she loves playing with her hair
- she loves talking, and she admitted it too :p

But the best thing about her is that she's cool with most things. As I took her around KL a bit today, we did a lot of walking. We were both tired, but she never complained. At one point, I wanted to pay for her train ticket, but she wouldn't let me.

As we spent time together, she spoke about a lot of things, like meeting Patty (another one of our friends) in Monterrey, her life in Australia for the past several months, her family, her hometown, the guy she's dating now and travelling. She's just amazing, in the sense that she's very down to earth and very easy to get along with.

So now officially, she is the third M2M friend I've met in person, and the first one from beyond my borders. ;) Thank you Silvy, for your generous time.

For Anouk

2010-11-17T23:37:00.000+08:00

In 25 minutes, my dear friend Anouk will be celebrating her 22nd birthday.

I feel that out of all my friends, she is the most unique, and she cares about me more than I had realized. So Anouk, thank you for your kindness ;)

This song is for you. Happy Birthday!

Para-MORE!

2010-10-20T22:59:00.000+08:00

I'm about 24 hours removed from one of the best concerts I've ever been to.

As some of you know, I attended Paramore's live concert yesterday, and the first word that comes to mind is 'Wow', and the second word is 'awesome'. I gotta hand it to Hayley and company, they sure know how to put on a great show.

The crowd was massive, even Hayley was impressed. She said that she didn't expect such a huge reception, and that the band should have come to KL a long time ago ;) Not only was the crowd huge, they were very loud and loving every single moment of the show.

I got to the stadium just before 7 p.m., and everyone was already lining up to get in. It took me 20 minutes just to get past the gate. Then after a toilet break, I took a seat. It wasn't the best seat, but it sufficed. About 7.30, the opening act started. A local band called Y2K (never heard of them) took the stage and did about 5 songs. They were okay though.

Then at 8.25 p.m., everyone saw three MPVs drive into the stadium grounds and the screaming began. The lights went out, a big curtain came down on stage, a light came on behind it, and we saw shadows of the band taking their places (the screaming got louder and louder, I swear I was going deaf haha). Finally the curtain came down, and Paramore began with Ignorance.

Embarrassingly I must admit I didn't know some of the songs they performed, but it didn't matter. Hayley was awesome, even when the crowd drowned out her vocals many times. They also belted out Emergency, That's What You Get, Crushcrushcrush, Playing God and Where The Lines Overlap.

After 30 minutes, Hayley and Josh decided to slow things down and do acoustic. They performed Never Let This Go. Then Hayley got this huge sofa in the middle of the stage (saying she stole it backstage :P) and performed a few more slow numbers. One of my favourite moments finally came when they did Decode ;) I almost thought they wouldn't do this song.

Then halfway through Pressure, Hayley did the introductions: first the keyboardist (couldn't get his name with all the noise), then Jeremy, then Taylor (Hayley calls him the Justin Timberlake of Paramore :P), then Zac and finally Josh. Josh takes the mic and introduces Hayley (though it wasn't necessary because at that moment, everyone was screaming her name).

The best part of the concert came when Hayley asked all of us to take out our cellphones or anything that lights up, and hold it in the air, and wave it. Then they did The Only Exception, and EVERYONE sang along. It was a surreal moment, and I loved it.

For the encore, the band performed Brick By Boring Brick, before ending with Misery Business. The latter song had Hayley getting a guy from the audience to come on stage, and she got the opening act earlier to dance with her as well. They shot confetti in the air as the song ended. I tried videoing this on my cellphone, but the sound was bad because the people around me screamed a lot. (Rhea, I think you know what I mean :P)

Overall it was a great show indeed. Hayley has great showmanship throughout. She was like this big ball of energy that never burns out. She just kept moving and jumping all over stage, clearly enjoying herself and getting us to do the same. A couple of times she laid back on the floor speakers on stage and got big reactions for that. She's just awesome, what can I say?

I did try taking some pictures, but my camera phone can only zoom for a distance, and the pics don't look great. I haven't uploaded any yet, so when I do, and if I find any good ones, you'll see them. Unfortunately, I wasn't on ground level, I was one floor up at a distance, so yeah, that sucks.

I do have a few complaints, none of them are related to Paramore of course. There were smokers (why in God's name would you smoke when the band is performing? Get lost!) around. There was this girl behind me that kept screaming 'We love you Paramore!' at the top of her lungs, and when I turned to her she would look embarrassed haha. And then there were people selling Paramore T-shirts outside, they cost RM90! It had to be imported, I think. I wanted them badly, but decided not to buy any. I think there were cheaper ones made locally, but missed them.

Thank you Paramore, for coming and being awesome.

Eleven and Eight

2010-09-22T22:41:00.000+08:00

Eleven years since this was made. Eight years since they were gone.

I'm Doing This

2010-09-19T22:49:00.000+08:00

Okay, I finally have the time to come in here and say this: I have a ticket to go watch Paramore live in concert next month.

Exciting eh?

Mind you, I did not make this decision easily. At all. In fact, I had initially decided not to go. Not that I didn't want to see them. Of course I do. It's just that tickets are expensive and I didn't want to dig out my savings for it. But I asked some of my friends for their opinions, and everyone said I should go. Besides, Paramore is not going to any other Asian city besides KL, so I had a feeling they wouldn't come back after this. So I thought, okay. Let's do it.

I'm not a big fan of live performances, or going to concerts. I kinda dislike concerts because of the crowd. I hate crowds. When you're in a crowd, bad things happen. There's a lot of noise and a lot of uncivilized people to weave through. One unpleasant encounter during an M2M autograph signing session is proof enough.

But concerts can be good too. I haven't been to many concerts in my life, but the ones I went to were pleasant experiences. I've only been to three that I can recall. The first was Hootie & The Blowfish, which was so long ago I can't even remember what year that was. It was an indoor theatre, and the acoustics were excellent, so I had a great time. The band did very well then.

The second was Michael Learns To Rock, a Danish band known for sappy pop ballads. They're big in Asia. I remembered that the arena wasn't full that night, but they still played and put on a good show.

And of course, the third was Linkin Park. Oh yeah. Open air stadium. Big rock band. Thousands of fans. They're still one of my favourite rock bands, even more than Paramore actually. That night, I could barely see the band from where I stood, but the energy in the air was unmistakable. When you see thousands of fans jumping up and down at the same time to loud rock music, how can you not get sucked into all that? It was incredible. My heart was still pounding as I was on my way home after it was over. It was just awesome.

And now, I have a fourth one to look forward to. I had already passed on a few concerts before Paramore. I passed on Daughtry, Incubus and The All-American Rejects prior to this, so this time I think I ought to just go with the flow and see what happens. My only hope is that it doesn't rain on that night. It's an outdoor stadium, so I am praying I won't get wet, and that Hayley and company show up on time and give me my money's worth.

Hope everyone's doing great, keep visiting my movie blog please. Cheers ;)

TIFI

2010-08-13T09:13:00.000+08:00

Artwork

2010-08-08T19:18:00.001+08:00

Earlier this week, I discovered some really interesting designs on the net. It's artwork, but not the kind Ira Roslan is well known for.

You know all those movie posters you see every time you step into a cinema? Well, an artist called Olly Moss did some versions of his own for a certain set of movies to be screened for free down in the States. Take a look.

Robocop happens to be one of my all time favourites, and this poster is just magnificent. Notice how the visor on his helmet is in the shape of the gun he uses? Brilliant.
Rocky is action star Sylvester Stallone's famous film about the underdog boxer who eventually becomes a champion. In the film, there is a scene where he runs up the museum stairs as he trains, which is an iconic scene, hence the image on the poster.Dirty Harry is one of Clint Eastwood's iconic film roles. Look closely at the gun, it's Clint's profile on the right side of it.

In There Will Be Blood, Daniel Day-Lewis plays a man obsessed with finding oil, and he goes head to head with a misguided preacher over a land containing oil. This is interpreted in the poster with an oil digger in a shape of a crucifix.

I did some more research on the artist's work, and I found more movie posters he did which are interpretations of the film's characters or scenes. When time permits, I'll show you more in the future.

Happy Birthday Ms Arcilla

2010-08-06T13:42:00.001+08:00

Today is the 26th birthday of my dear friend Rhea. Have a great celebration, sis. This song is for you ;)

End Of July

2010-07-30T23:27:00.000+08:00

I almost let this month pass by without a post. And I finally decided it's a good time to shake things up, hence the new look of the place. Hope you all like it as much as I do.

I even added a chatbox just in case you want to say something, anything. So don't be shy.

I haven't got much to update you guys with, except to say thanks to those of you who noticed that I wasn't doing so good a few weeks back. I'm fine now. I really appreciate your concern. Rest assured it will not be forgotten;)

Until next time. Hope everyone else is doing good. Peace out.

Oasis

2010-06-27T20:37:00.001+08:00

For the past week, I had been looking for some new music to listen to, because the 50 songs on my computer were getting stale. So I went back to my old Oasis CDs, and it was a refreshing change of sound.

It's sad to note that after seven studio albums, the band has called it quits. Recently a greatest hits album has been released. I'm still trying to decide whether to get it or not, since I have half the songs on it already. Maybe I'll get it just to complete my collection, having bought only four of the seven albums so far.

This here is one of my favourites, which oddly enough, isn't on the latest greatest hits album. It's a lengthy seven and a half minutes, but it's worth every second. Enjoy.

Check This Out

2010-05-30T00:24:00.001+08:00

I discovered something today, and I don't know if any of you have already been aware of it.

You guys know the song Crazy In Love by Beyonce and Jay Z? It turns out this song was covered by British rock band Snow Patrol. I heard their version when I was spinning their CD at the record store today, and I think this is the best cover I've ever heard. Listen to this:

I've added a couple of new things on the side column. Nothing fancy, and it probably won't make a difference in the number of visits here, but what the heck. And look, Marion Raven has a blog now too. It's in Norwegian though, the link is in my column.

Peace.

Communication

2010-05-16T00:09:00.000+08:00

A few days ago, I read a friend's blog where she mentioned about communication. She talked about how she remembers from her father about the willingness to talk and listen. I now wonder if she truly knows what that means.

Communication is usually about getting the message across to someone. It doesn't quite count if the other person doesn't receive it, or isn't interested in the message. Herein lies the problem. You know, I balk at people who tell me that they know a lot about communication, or they have lectures and seminars about it, because quite frankly, communication is subjective. If there was someone who is so good at communicating, then why can't they get EVERYONE out there to listen to them? Even politicians can't get everyone on their side, so who can truly claim to be a master at this? I remember being confronted by someone at my workplace who was pissed off, and when I tried to tell him that I was merely following orders from my superiors, he said "don't hide behind that excuse. I know what you're trying to tell me because I give lectures on communication." Pfft. I wish I could ask him then that if I lost my job, can he save me with a lecture?

Lately, communication is becoming my problem. Not that I actually want it to be a problem, it's just that in our selfish little world, most people would rather talk than listen. I know I can be like that too. But really, there are certain individuals out there who simply don't understand the concept of 'less is more'. Or that bloody awful song that goes "you say it best when you say nothing at all." Take my colleague for example. She is a person that has a constant need to speak. To everyone. Usually to my other colleague across the room (you know, women). So I'm like, fine. But she has no limits to this, and guys like me, we can only tolerate so much. But being the nice guy that I am (well, sometimes), I can't tell her to shut the fuck up, right? I don't like making things ugly if I can help it.

But the worst part about bad communication is the fact that some people just don't get it. They don't 'get' it. Either they get it wrong, or they are so oblivious. Or they make an assumption and stick with it because it's more convenient than asking me why. I know people who fit in all three situations, and I just wish so very very much that I can talk some sense into them. If they only understood where I'm coming from, then maybe we can work things out and I'll be a happier person with less grey hair.

To sum things up, I'll admit that I can be a difficult person sometimes, but I'm not an impossible person. If you take the time to talk to me, you'll find out who I really am.

Ten Minutes

2010-04-16T23:44:00.005+08:00

I haven't had a good week. It's been a rollercoaster ride for almost every single day, being bugged by numerous things like Facebook failures, the hot weather, work and most especially, people.

Then I found something online to cheer me up, and I thought, why not share it with you. If you have ten minutes to spare (and some extra time to wait for this thing to load), check this out. I'm sure you all know who Arnold Schwarzenegger is, and if you've seen his films, this video is a real treat. Enjoy.

New Skin

2010-03-07T22:47:00.000+08:00

So what do you think of the new look? Cool huh?

Well, to be honest, it's not much different from the old one. Sure, the background is different, but that's about it. I actually wanted to change the whole layout, to something with at least 3 columns. But I had problems with pulling it off. It's a technical thing, and I only know two people who are qualified to help me with it. Until I can seek that kind of help, I'll just stick with this for now.

But that's not all. Check out FF, the sister blog. I changed it too. And again, not very different, but it will do for now. I was having problems with the last one, the background stopped appearing for some reason. Hmph. I really wish I was good at blog layouts.

I realized once again that I don't take the time to write in here anymore. It's frustrating. Things aren't the way it used to be. I'm not the same person I was back when I first started FR. Or maybe I am the same, but the world around me has changed. I was much happier back then.

Without some good people to converse with, all I have left is me. And that's not much. So why did this have to happen? Why does the world have to turn its back on me? Why leave me now when I am not ready to be left alone?

Questions, for which I have no answers. I pray that someday my sanity can be restored, so that the next thing I write in here will be more meaningful than being about the way this place looks.

And I pray for one more thing: Lord please get rid of the hot weather. Thank you.

R&R and Celebration

2010-02-13T11:32:00.003+08:00

It's disconcerting how long it has been since I've had the time to post anything in here. But I guess part of it is my fault. I've let other things like Facebook take up much of my online time that I've neglected my little written home here.

Besides that, the past 3 weeks have been super hectic down at the office. There has been a million and one things to take care of. That's what happens when your bosses want to get everything done before the Chinese New Year rolls in. And I've been nothing short of exhausted all the while.

Which is why I am looking forward to my time away from work for about a week.

Time to catch up on old pastimes. Time to get as much rest and sleep as possible. Time to celebrate the new year. Time to watch more TV because the stuff on show is just starting to get better.

When I think of a new year (even though I just have since 2010 has just started), I always think about the time that has passed. And I always think of the previous year, and how tough it has been. Sometimes I think about the tough times so much, I forget about the good things I have. So God, thank you for keeping me and my loved ones together, and I pray you'll help us make things easier for this new year.

There are still other unsettled business to ponder. Some of which I had wanted to post here, but never found the time to do it. Perhaps I'll do so in the next few days. I had a handful of good ideas to talk about, so we'll see.

Wishing you all Sin Nien Kuai Le;)

Tired

2010-01-24T12:27:00.000+08:00

I'm tired
of all the lies
the fake smiles
the broken promises
and the false reassurances

I'm tired
of being ignored
being left behind
left alone
watching the others go by

I'm tired
of the annoying voices
the never ending complaints
the loud noises
and the unsolved arguments

I'm tired
of losing friends
losing love
missing people
missing faces

I'm tired
of waiting
wishing
hoping
tired of the disappointments

I'm tired of not being free
tired of being me

The 10 of '09

2010-01-03T01:55:00.000+08:00

Happy New Year everyone!

As we say goodbye to the year that has gone by, we welcome a new one. My first day of 2010 was nice. I watched a splendid Chinese movie called Bodyguards & Assassins and had a great time. It was better than my second day of 2010, which can be best described as chaotic.

Just like last year, I will now be listing my top ten films for the past year. I have to say that this time, my list is a little less balanced than before. I'll get to that later. Here goes, in the order I watched them:

1. The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
This film won 3 Oscars last year, and stars Brad Pitt as Benjamin Button, a man who is born old and ages backwards. Based on the short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, it tells the story of a unique man and his adventures, and all the people he meets along the way. Pitt is understated but very effective, and well supported by Cate Blanchett, who plays his love interest, Daisy.

2. Watchmen
Yet another literary adaptation, only this time it's a graphic novel. And one that is critically acclaimed. Watchmen is set in 1985, in a world where America won the Vietnam war, Nixon is President and costumed heroes are outlawed. When The Comedian, one of said heroes who works for the government is brutally murdered, his former colleague Rorschach thinks a conspiracy is afoot and starts investigating, with the help of a few friends. But this is just the beginning, as Watchmen is a character driven piece with a morality tale attached. It's complex and lengthy, but worth the payoff at the end.

3. Taken
You want a no holds barred actioner? Here's one. Taken stars Liam Neeson as a former CIA agent who races against time to save his daughter from a prostitution ring in France. What I like about this film is its straightforward approach to storytelling. No excessive drama, no unnecessary comedy, no detailed subplots. Just flat out, in your face action. And Neeson gets to be a bad ass instead of being the mentor again. Awesome stuff.

4. Star Trek
Are you ready to boldly go where no one has gone before? Well, technically we've all been there before, on TV and in film. But this time, J.J. Abrams is taking us there. He takes the classic and much loved Star Trek franchise and gives it a much needed shot in the arm by making it more hip and energetic, which in turn makes it more accessible and not drowned in scientific jargon. Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto are commendable as Captain Kirk and Mr Spock respectively.

5. Transformers: Revenge Of the Fallen
I know many people have said that this sequel sucked, and Michael Bay is an idiot. But really, who watches Transformers to get a good story? Do you want to see shit getting blown up? Do you want to see alien robots kick ass? Do you want to see Megan Fox, especially if you're male? If yes, then you can't go wrong with this. It's like the first Transformers, only bigger and louder. Yes, there are some really annoying scenes and characters to put up with, but nothing beats watching Optimus Prime kick the crap out of every Decepticon he crosses paths with.

6. G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra
Another flick the critics would shoot down due to its loud explosions and paper thin plot. But I had fun with this just as much as the Transformers sequel. And G.I. Joe actually managed to get some character development going. Director Stephen Sommers did a great job in giving his characters some background, connecting them to each other and letting them all get equal screen time. I think this film was way better than his Mummy films, to be honest.

7. District 9
An excellent film from first time director Neil Blomkamp, who gives us a sci-fi alien tale that is parallel to the apartheid era in South Africa. Aliens have arrived in Johannesburg, and they are stranded with no way home. A man named Wikus van der Merwe is assigned by his very rich corporate boss to supervise the transfer of the aliens from their slum area known as District 9 to a new site. An incident happens which changes Wikus' perception of the aliens, and his life will never be the same again. Riveting, bloody and very memorable.

8. Up
Pixar does it again. This year they bring us a film about friendship, sacrifice and pursuing your dreams. Up focuses on Carl Fredriksen, an old man who ties thousands of balloons to his house and flies to South America for one last adventure. But he discovers much to his chagrin, that a young Wilderness Explorer named Russell has stowed away on board. Together, they brave the wild, make a few friends and learn the importance of friendship. It's beautiful and heartwarming.

9. Inglourious Basterds
Quentin Tarantino is back. He recovers from the senseless Death Proof and makes a World War II film unlike any you've ever seen before. Basterds stars Brad Pitt as the leader of a team of Jewish American soldiers sent to France to kill every Nazi they can find. Their paths are intertwined with a young Jewish girl who has a score to settle with Col. Hans Landa, who killed her family. Christoph Waltz is superb as the charming Col Landa, and is tipped for an Oscar nomination this year. The film itself of course is brilliant. It is one World War II film that isn't historically accurate, probably because Tarantino isn't aiming for authenticity, but for entertainment value. And he delivers.

10. Avatar
Twelve years after Titanic, James Cameron returns with a groundbreaking effects laden picture. Avatar is set in the future, and stars Sam Worthington as Jake Sully, a paraplegic marine assigned to infiltrate an alien race called the Na'vi on the moon Pandora, by using an avatar, a clone of the Na'vi which he controls while in stasis. His objective: to convince them to relocate so that his greedy corporate bosses and the military can mine a rare mineral on their land without resistance. However, Jake falls for one of the Na'vi as well as their way of life, and eventually has to choose a side. Storywise, it isn't original, but you have got to love the CGI on display. By using motion capture technology that would make Robert Zemeckis envious, Cameron succeeds in creating a whole new world on screen that before this, you could only imagine or dream about. It's a must watch simply for its visuals.

As I mentioned earlier, my list is less balanced. There weren't any comedies or horror films attached this time around. The one good comedy in 2009, The Hangover didn't make it here. It might have been on the list if I had seen it. I've heard nothing but good words about it. The only horror film I can recall watching last year was Drag Me To Hell, and unlike most people, I didn't enjoy it that much. Sam Raimi is seriously overrated now. He ought to go back to making low key films like A Simple Plan or The Gift.

Some other films worth mentioning that didn't make the list are Wolverine (simply because I am a huge fan of the character) and Zombieland (for making zombie films fun again). There are plenty of other films I had hoped would arrive on Malaysian shores, but didn't. Films like Coraline, Brothers, The Hurt Locker, Anti Christ (which is a huge longshot), The Road, Where The Wild Things Are and The Men Who Stare At Goats are all huge contenders for my list. I do hope I'll get to see these sometime soon.

Anyway, here's to another year at the movies.

It's The Season

2009-12-20T19:34:00.004+08:00

Christmas is just around the corner, and so everyone out there are jam packing the malls buying up stuff for themselves, stuff to give away, stuff for next year etc. It's hectic, it's chaotic, it's fun in some ways too. I myself have done a bit of shopping, and once my salary rolls in a few days from now, I'll be doing some more.

I love Christmas, even though I don't actually celebrate it. I love the decorations, the tree, Santa walking around the mall, pretty girls dressed as Santarinas (and I LOVE Santarinas lol) and the idea of getting and giving stuff. But you know what I don't like about Christmas? Christmas CDs.

Yeah, that's it. Christmas CDs. Like, why do recording artistes have to come up with a collection of Christmas songs to put on a CD and release every year? It's the same Xmas songs all the time. Either they sing the well known tunes everyone knows the words to, or they write new ones, which essentially has the same spirit of Xmas all those other songs embody.

So why do they do this? It's simple. Those recording studios want to cash in on Xmas. But do they really need to? They're already earning so much money from regular CDs, now they want more money? I think someone I knew once would call this commercialising Xmas. I recalled how much he hated it. Not the CD thing, the commercial thing.

I mean, does it make a difference if songs like Jingle Bells or Twelve Days of Xmas are performed by David Archuleta on one CD and also by Tori Amos on another? It's the same Xmas song, or different ones done by different people. It's Xmas, you don't have to suck every last dollar out of their fans just to stuff your damn stockings. Hmph. Good thing Marion Raven never made one such CD, though if she did, I guess I would get one. Maybe.

2010 is so close now. Another great year at the movies will arise. Just to give you a hint on what's to come, take a look at this trailer.

One

2009-11-29T00:19:00.000+08:00

So it's one entry per month now for me, it seems. Writer's block, or just too lazy?

My friends, I have but one request: Pick one.

That nagging medical ailment I've been having is more or less over. I went to see a specialist for it, paid a large sum and got some meds. At first I wasn't entirely convinced he knew what was wrong with me, but at least he knew what I wasn't having. So I'm better now. And I've been working hard to keep myself in good shape, except jogging. I just am not that type of person. But I walk a lot, so that is better than nothing.

I was just mentioning about Adam Lambert last month, and he recently made headlines again, thanks to his over the top performance at the AMAs. This is when I looked at my sister, who's a big fan of his, and said "This is why Kris Allen is the American Idol winner."

The Twilight craze is back. New Moon has been all over the place, on TV, newspapers, magazines etc. I've read several reviews on the film, and it's mostly negative. This is probably because most of them can't fathom the insane devotion from the book's fans over Robert Pattinson's hair, or Taylor Lautner's muscles, or whether Kristen Stewart is dating Robert or not. But I am going to watch it soon anyway, no matter what.

That girl I keep talking about, but won't reveal her name....well I finally added her on Facebook. I found out a few things after that. One, she's married. Two, she has kids. But you know what? I can tell that she's happy, and now there's a big part of me that is finally able to let her go. I do want to see her again in person, just one more time. But at least now I can afford to not think of her so much anymore.

It'll be December in 2 days. And that means Christmas is coming. That also means it's time to go shopping. It's gonna be fun. Don't overdo it, and tell me what you got later:)

Sorry Adam Lambert fans.....

2009-10-31T17:38:00.000+08:00

...but this is, in my opinion, the worst album cover I've ever seen. You can quote me.

Happy Halloween:)

What Do I Write?

2009-09-27T19:04:00.001+08:00

Hmph. There's nothing worse than getting writer's block when it comes to having a blog. Look at this. I've been going a month with nothing to post here.

But like I said before, it's not because my life is that dull, it's just because I don't really know how to put my troubles down in here. Times have changed, people have changed, and these days I don't really know if anyone even wants to hear what I have to say anymore.

From the way things look now, my life might be taking a harder road to walk down. I can feel that it's about to get rougher from here on in. But I'm doing my best to keep my chin up, and I keep praying to Him to help me get through this.

It's Sunday and I had to go to the office to get some work done. And what are most people doing today? Coming back home from the long Eid holidays. Speaking of which, how did you guys spend your holidays? Had fun? Good, but don't tell me about it, I'll just die of envy if you do.

I guess if there's one thing I'm happy about, is not being sick right now. I had a terrible case of dysentery last week, and I'm sure glad I'm all right now. Strange thing is, I had the same problem around this time last year. Gotta watch what I eat nowadays.

Anyways, a new week and month begin, see you guys soon.

Restless

2009-08-16T22:19:00.000+08:00

It has been one nerve wrecking week for me. None of you will even realize how anxious I was all week long. And it's not anxious in a good way.

The thing is, I have a health problem. At least I think so. As in maybe. It hasn't popped up in quite a while, and now suddenly it's back. And it had me worried. So, I'm gonna have to get myself checked out soon by a doctor. I'm hoping it's nothing and I'm getting all excited for no good reason. Just pray for me please. But I'm otherwise fine, so that's that.

And then came another reason to get excited. A good reason this time. The best way for me to put it is: I found her.

If you know me well, you might have an idea of what I'm talking about. It's not a big deal, and using the word 'found' is still inaccurate. I didn't really find her, but now at least I have something that I didn't have before. That's all I'll say about this for now.

I know I'm being really cryptic for this entry, but it's only because I don't want to think too much about the stuff that's going on in my life right now. I've been having trouble sleeping and it's making me tired at the office as a result. I can't afford that, ever. I'm probably just really stressed out, so I'm doing my best taking things one at a time.

Signing off for now. Adios.

The Obligatory Post

2009-07-25T23:59:00.000+08:00

I just noticed that I almost let July pass without posting in here. So let's see if I can find anything to say right now.

Healthwise I'm fine, although this morning I woke up with a headache. That's rare, because I usually don't get headaches, and today was the worst time to get one. I was on my way to go see Harry Potter's sixth big screen adventure, and I didn't want to be unwell before going in. Good thing my mum had some Panadol to spare.

The week was okay, except that I had to put up with my very, very, very annoying colleague. I've put up with her for two years now, and it just seems to get harder each day. I mean, how in the world do you deal with someone who's so oblivious? And she has such an excruciating voice, and she won't shut up when I want her to. Sigh. I think I'll stop complaining right now because talking about other people negatively isn't a healthy thing to do. I just need to rant sometimes, I guess.

Oh, there's another thing that's pissing me off. The local TV channel that's screening 24 decided to stop airing it, for no reason. In its place now every week is a movie slot. At first I thought this was temporary since their website still carries the show and states it being aired at its usual time, but this has gone on for a month now. If they had put the show at another timeslot, they ought to let us know. But they obviously haven't, or I would have discovered it already. I gotta ask: do these people even know that the season isn't over yet, and they should finish it before yanking it off the air? If this is temporary, shouldn't they tell us about that too? I've already written a complaint through their website last week, but they haven't responded. So guys, you better get your act together. You call yourself the 'feel good channel', but I am not feeling good at all. In fact, I am thoroughly agitated with you.

That's all for now. It's the weekend, and I think I'm going to try and relax a little. I know I need to. Dos vadanya.

The King Is Dead

2009-06-26T23:33:00.002+08:00

Michael Jackson died today. He was 50 years old.

I almost couldn't believe my ears when I heard the news on the way to work this morning. I had found out that Farah Fawcett, the actress passed away, (which wasn't surprising because she was dying from cancer) right before this piece of news came about. I was like, no way. The King Of Pop is gone? Wow.

Michael had sustained a cardiac arrest and fell into a coma, from which he didn't recover from. At the age of 50, it surely is too early to say goodbye to a musical icon like him.

Yeah, the last decade of his life were probably not the best years to remember him by. The child molestation charges, the divorces, the endless series of lawsuits (most of which were probably filed by greedy people trying to cash in on his dwindling fortune) and lots of other controversial headlines turned his life upside down. But there were still people who loved him, and remembered him for his music, which is still legendary and one of a kind till today. I consider myself to be one of those people.

The tributes have come pouring out, from fellow celebrities to fans, and even people I befriended on Facebook who aren't huge fans of his. Everyone knew who he was, because of what he has done. They all remember how special his music was, and they will miss him in some way, or at the very least, feel sorry for his demise. Radio stations have been playing his songs all day, even MTV played a series of his videos earlier tonight, as a tribute.

I wouldn't call myself his biggest fan, but I do love his music. My favourite song is Beat It. It's the one MJ song I can listen to over and over and not get tired. And there's Thriller, Billie Jean, Dirty Diana, Black Or White, Stranger In Moscow...the list goes on. I'm gonna have a different feeling every time I hear these songs now.

RIP Michael.

The Twilight Debate

2009-06-19T22:15:00.002+08:00

A few days ago, I read some comments by a couple of my friends about Twilight, the movie that has taken the world by storm, particularly teenage girls who are either in love with Robert Pattinson's good looks or die hard fans of the book. These two friends of mine didn't like the movie very much, for various reasons.

As a movie reviewer, and one who actually was able to appreciate this film fairly, I feel like I should stand up for it a bit. Not to say that I'm a fan of Twilight, I'm no Twilighter mind you. I'd just like to give my opinion on some of the stuff they said about it.

Here we go:

- The romantic relationship between the main characters is very superficial and not based on anything except good looks and mystery.
My friend argues that Edward is merely handsome and mysterious, and there's no reason for Bella to fall for him other than being intrigued. He comes off as rude and complicated, and she still wants him. The thing is, Edward was nothing more than a distraction for Bella, until the day he saves her life, not by simply pushing her out of the way of a speeding car, but darting across the parking lot at lightning speed and stopping the car with his bare hands! Now, if that doesn't interest anyone who is saved that way, I don't know what will. Naturally, Bella wants to know who he is, and more importantly, how he did that. And isn't that how most love stories begin? By curiosity about the other person? Even if in this case, it's not just about what they like or who their family is, but what they essentially are as a person. And he did save her life, so she has a somewhat good reason to like him.

- In "Twilight", Edward faces the remorseless choice of either turning his love into a vampire, letting her die, or CURING HER COMPLETELY.
So where's the drama in this, my friend asks. He was probably thinking, there's no sacrifice in this, so what's the big deal? Well, I think Edward had those choices to make and he had to do it instantly, and the second choice was obviously out. The first one is possible, but in Edward's eyes, it would not have been good. If you saw it to the end, you'll know that Bella wouldn't have minded at all being a vampire if it meant she could stay with him forever. But for Edward, turning her into a vampire may be risky. What if she couldn't be a vegetarian like him? What if she became wild because she was unable to control her thirst the way the Cullens have for years? And by being a bloodsucker, she'd have to leave her family behind. How would she explain to her father of what she has become? Bella wouldn't weigh so much on this perhaps, but Edward might have thought of it, being a vampire after all these years. It's probably not as pleasant as one might assume.
Which leaves the third choice, which Edward was wary of making, because it was a risk as well. If he goes too far in sucking her blood to save her, he might lose control and turn into the same kind of vampire he was fighting earlier. It wouldn't do him any good, nor his family or his love. It's that fear that highlights the tragicness of this scene, although I agree that some more mature viewers would say it's still superficial.

- Neither of them dies in the movie, so there is no particular kind of hurt either. The only kind of hurt seems to come from the fact that the girl eventually faces mortality.
There's only one reason they don't die. And that reason is sequels. Stephenie Meyer probably wouldn't be much of a writer if she killed them off so easily. Sure, she could have killed one of them and introduce new characters to fall in love with, but it may or may not have worked. But on to the hurt. The question about Bella's choice of wanting to be like Edward, and not getting it yet might put their relationship in jeopardy in the future. But stories like these tend to focus on the here and now, and not the eventual future. There was a potential hurting moment when Bella lies to her father and leaves him in order to save him, but they somehow resolved it at the end without touching on it, so that's a beef I sort of have with Catherine Hardwicke on that.

- Vampires here have no fangs, sparkle in the sunlight and actually walk outdoors in the day
Yeah, okay. It's kinda lame to have vampires who not only NOT burst into flames when they are exposed to sunlight, but they actually sparkle too. However, this story is targeted at a certain demographic. Like Harry Potter is aimed at kids with big imaginations, Twilight is targeted at young girls who love to look at the weird good looking guy at school. And if he's a vampire, even cooler. And in order to keep within the PG rating for stories like this, you'd have to make these vampires a bit more appealing on the outside and not so dark on the inside. What can I say? It sells, doesn't it? It's not going to attract people who've been fed on Bram Stoker, Anne Rice, Blade, Buffy and Thriller videos, but it'll give a whole new perspective to the younger generation who want some light fantasy thrown in.

I know how this movie will not appeal to those of us who want our stories a little darker, a little meatier and a little more complicated. But for me, as I've said in my review for this film on the other blog, it was entertaining. The story was given enough time to develop, and it wasn't dull at all. It obviously couldn't avoid being cheesy at some point, and it borrowed a few elements I've seen in other films, but all that wasn't enough to spoil the fun. It had a good soundtrack to support it, and the scenery was very nice too. It's by no means a perfect film, but it doesn't have to be.

I do agree that too much attention has been showered on the books, the film, the upcoming sequel and Robert Pattinson too. I know how all the girls just love him. As a guy, I don't see the big deal about him. I know how you feel, my friends. I do think that he's not superbly good looking. When I first saw him in Harry Potter & The Goblet Of Fire, I thought "Man, he looks so gay" LOL. And in Twilight, he looks even whiter than he already is. That, added to the supposedly cool looking messy hairdo, makes him look more strange than handsome. Ah, but then again, he's eye candy for the ladies, not me.

To summarize, I'll say that Twilight is a good way to spend time at the movies. It isn't worth so much of the hype it's getting (I'm still wondering how it won so many MTV Movie Awards, and yet lost Best Song to Miley Cyrus???), but it's memorable. I'll still look forward to New Moon in November, and from what I've seen in the trailer, it should be darker this time around.

P.S.: If you want a really dark vampire story set in the modern world, watch HBO's True Blood. It's awesome.

Show And Tell

2009-05-31T01:29:00.000+08:00

I'm doing a show and tell today, but it's not like the usual thing they do in school. Here, it's 'Show' followed by something completely different in 'Tell'.

My 'Show' is the poster you're looking at, the first teaser poster for New Moon, the sequel to Twilight. They got the mood right, but somehow it looks weird. All three characters don't seem to be looking at the right direction, especially Bella. Some say this picture is photoshopped, and I think they're right.

Now for 'Tell'. I went over to the Movie Carnival today. It's an annual thing where an online magazine organises a promotion on films and offers bargains and prizes. This year, it didn't seem too exciting. It looks bigger, but it didn't feel better. There weren't many things to be given out, and I think there weren't too many people paying attention to what's happening there. That's too bad, as I was looking forward to winning some freebies. But they just had a shooting game for kids, to win a toy gun no less. They need more merchandise giveaways, or I'm not coming back next time.

As you've read my last post, you know how insane the world is. There was an incident a few days back where someone was attacked by Manchester United fans because he was a Barcelona fan, right after Barcelona beat the Devils in the Champions League final. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought football violence only happens in Europe, not here. You Man U fans should be ashamed of yourselves.

Want more insanity? The news reported three guys being chained in captivity like dogs by money lenders because they couldn't pay. This is probably the worst thing I've seen happen thanks to loan sharks. My advice is to never trust a loan shark. Sometimes I still wonder why people do that. I know that there are times when we need money, but going to a loan shark to solve your problems is like digging a grave and jumping in yourself. Please don't do it.

How about tragedy? I got some. Well, it's more like a lesson on safety. A toddler was killed when he was run over by a reversing car. The driver? His mother. Damn.
A terrible tragedy, the one kind we'd hope to avoid from ever happening. This is the kind of tragedy, which if it happened to you, you'll never forgive yourself for, no matter how much time has passed. So the lesson is: be careful when it comes to kids. Their hyperactivity is difficult to handle, and if ignored, could be fatal. But that of course, doesn't mean you have to watch over them like a prisoner.

OK, time for something a little more positive. It turns out that Marit Larsen's new album The Chase is being marketed outside of Norway. So it's not really a miracle that I found it the other day. There have been local reviews about it, and they haven't been too great though. One reviewer actually said that somewhere Marion must be laughing. I wouldn't have been that hard on Marit, though. But I do disagree with this reviewer's comment that Marion wanted to be Norway's answer to Britney. Dude, they're so different that putting them in the same sentence is a sin.

By the way, I've been listening to Lady GaGa's music, and it's actually pretty damn good. I'm not a fan of dance music to be honest, but her material has got me hooked. Take a listen to it, if you haven't.

Before I go, I've got one last thing for 'Show'. Check out the following video. If you can actually remember this, then you're old like me :P Have a great June.

Hot, Crazy and Dangerous

2009-05-08T22:39:00.001+08:00

I don't know about you guys, but May is one hot month for me. It's scorching hot in the afternoon, and it carries on all day, right through the night. I start sweating even as I step out of the shower. It's insane, and it's not right. It's probably the global warming everyone's talking about these days. The end may come sooner than we think. I sure hope not.

The world is crazy as it is hot. Some Arsenal football fan in Kenya hung himself after his favourite team lost to Manchester United recently. Sigh. Someone who feels so passionate about football should hone his skills in it as a tribute to his team, not give away his life over a game lost.

And then there's the dangerous part. If you're a Malaysian, you'd probably heard about two snatch thefts occuring in a matter of two days, which took the lives of two pregnant women and their unborn child. This unfortunately, is the way things are over here. This is how crime does its worst and the innocents suffer. Sometimes taking precaution isn't enough, because shit happens and there are times when we're not ready for it, or the steps we took weren't enough to protect us from harm. These are the moments when I wonder if God had a reason for these things happening, and what it may be.

Lots of things to ponder and mull over, but I admit I don't really have the time for it. I can't let myself get distracted too much. I just wish the world would learn to get along and stop thinking of themselves or be so selfish all the time. Then maybe I'll get some peace.

In other developments, I've been looking high and low for TV boxsets for Dexter, but I just can't find any. I wouldn't have to do this if the local TV channel didn't suddenly decide to air Dexter at midnight on a weeknight. Morons. Do they actually think that people would sacrifice an hour's worth of sleep, or more depending on when your bedtime is, just to watch a TV show, if they needed to work the next day? Put it on a weekend night, is that so much to ask???

Oh, I wanted to tell you this earlier, but....I got Marit Larsen's second CD! Whoo! Imagine my surprise when I saw it at the record store last week. I was like, no way! I purchased it immediately, and now it's mine. I admit, I haven't played it yet, but only because I already have all the tracks on my computer (if you're reading this Anouk, thanks again!). I still want this CD though, it's like having a piece of Marit all for yourself. I just wish she would team up with Marion again and make another record. But those days may never come again.

I think I'll go watch some wrestling. Tomorrow it's a trip to the temple, and Sunday I'm going where no one has gone before, on Star Trek that is. Enjoy your weekend, and don't forget to celebrate your mothers while you're at it.

What's On TV: True Blood

2009-04-18T01:03:00.000+08:00

I had previously mentioned that I would talk about the stuff I've been watching on television in recent weeks. Today I'll start with the show I've just picked up last week. The subject: vampires.

Vampires have been talked about so frequently and featured in entertainment many times, yet the idea never gets stale. We've learned so much about them, but the air of mystery still surrounds their existence, and I think that's why making a story out of them always seem to work.

We've seen vampire stories revolve around teen angst and the collision of good and evil (Buffy, Angel), pure action and violence (Blade), tales of love and immortality (Interview With The Vampire) and modern day sleuthing (Moonlight). Vampires have also been portrayed as sleek killing machines (Underworld), campy bloodsuckers (From Dusk Till Dawn) and vegetarian types (Twilight). Though the last one isn't really about vegetarian vampires, it's a teen love story between a vampire and a mortal.

Which brings us to True Blood. What if vampires were allowed to live among us? That's the background of this series, where the Vampire Rights Act has been passed, which puts vampires on equal terms with humans. This is possible because the Japanese have successfully created a synthetic version of human blood, called Tru Blood. So vampires need not feed on people anymore, they can just buy this stuff at the store.

But of course, like real world racism, just because an act has been passed, doesn't mean the world readily accepts it. There is still debate on the whole idea. True Blood focuses on the fictional town of Bon Temps, Louisiana, in the deep south, where Sookie Stackhouse lives. Sookie is a waitress blessed, and maybe cursed by the ability to hear other people's thoughts. Every day she hears the ugly and sometimes demented things that goes through the heads of the people around her. Which is why, when vampire Bill Compton walks into the bar where she works one night, her life changes forever.

See, Sookie can't hear Bill's thoughts, which makes him unique to her. She considers him a godsend, if you will. The two are attracted to each other, and begin an uneasy relationship after Sookie saves Bill from a nasty couple harvesting his blood for medicinal purposes, and he in turn saves her from the same couple a night later. Sookie likes him, but soon fears him when she learns about his darker side, and the things he is capable of doing. At the same time, she has to contend with a serial murderer running around town, since her dumb ass brother Jason becomes the prime suspect.

Oscar winner and X-Men star Anna Paquin puts on a very convincing performance as Sookie, which earned her a Golden Globe. British actor Stephen Moyer is perfect as the brooding Bill Compton. Other key characters besides the above two and Sookie's brother Jason are Sookie's best friend Tara (who is as annoying as hell), Sam Merlotte, Sookie's boss and Adele, her grandmother.

What I like about it is the premise of the show. It presents a different view of vampires, and yet seems familiar. The love story might remind you of Twilight, but the whole idea of two different races living together under uneasy circumstances reminds me more of Alien Nation, an old TV series about a race of aliens arriving on Earth and living among humans, creating prejudice towards themselves for their differences.

Trying to get used to watching the Southern way of life on TV might be tough though. Southerners are portrayed to be loud, brash, unrefined and nosy in this series. But I think that setting is just the right one for the vampire-human premise. Sookie herself isn't that likeable to begin with, but she grows on you after a while.

Watching this hasn't been easy, since it comes on at the same time with some of my other favourite shows. Catching the reruns haven't been easy either, but so far I've been keeping up as best I can. If you have this show in your country, give it a try, especially if you like dark stories.

Bam!

2009-04-12T22:03:00.000+08:00

That was the sound I heard as I reversed my sister's car into a pillar when we arrived at the mall yesterday.

Yeah, I know. Very, very stupid.

I'd love to say that I was distracted by my mum, who was arguing with me at the time. But she didn't dent the car, I did. Thankfully my sister got over her anger pretty quick. And the damage was minimal, so I guess it's not as bad as I initially felt it would be.

Other than that, my Saturday was just fine. Watched a movie called Knowing, my review is up on you know where. Got a couple of things I was looking for, stuff to kill time with at home.

Speaking of killing time at home, there is a sudden abundance of TV shows for me to watch now. Even though Lost had just finished its fourth season last week (major bummer), I still got much more to look forward to. If time permits, I will talk about them in here. One at a time.

Later, guys.

Good/Bad Radio Stations & Random Stuff

2009-04-02T13:12:00.003+08:00

The Bad:

First of all, how was your April Fool's Day? It doesn't really matter, does it? But I am asking, for a reason.

See, yesterday while I was driving home, a local radio station decided to play an April Fool's prank on air. How, you ask? They played Kelly Clarkson's 'My Life Would Suck Without You' repeatedly for an hour.

Other than one obscure single, I've never liked any of Kelly Clarkson's songs. Especially this one, since it has such a ridiculous title. And this radio station played it for an hour, over an over. After channel flipping for a while, I realised that it's a joke, because of what day it was yesterday. The question that I have to ask is this: Do they seriously think this is funny?

Repeating a song for an hour is their idea of a prank? They even went to the extent of denying anything being wrong when listeners called up enquiring on why the same song was being played for an hour. Great. What a way to turn off your listeners who don't like that song.

You know, I'm pretty sure they chose that song because the annoying female DJ on air at that time likes it so much. But seriously, it's not really about that particular song being chosen so much as the act itself. Think of the number of listeners who would switch to another station just because they got sick of the prank, and even more who don't like that song. Isn't that a loss to them?

And please don't tell me I don't have a sense of humour. I'll laugh if I think something's hilarious. This was just plain stupid, not to mention childish. I mean, do you know anyone above 20 who still play April Fool's pranks?

The Good:

If you lived in my country, you'd realise that the chances of hearing Marit Larsen's music are pretty much from slim to none. That is, until this morning.

On the way to the office, a radio station that loves playing old and sentimental music played Marit's 'If a Song Could Get Me You'. I don't really listen to this channel, it's my sister that loves the stuff they play on air. And it's her car, so she decides. Anyway, hearing Marit's song on air was a pleasant surprise, because there is seriously no possibility of her solo work getting any attention here, considering how she has focused her career in Europe. If anyone here needs to know what Marit is up to, they'd have to Google her.

Lite FM, I still am not a fan of your music, but I salute you for playing that song today. And to be honest, that song was one of my least favourite Marit numbers, but hearing it on air today actually made me smile. Maybe I'll like it more as time goes by.

Random:

- Last week, a stray cat walked around my office in the afternoon. It didn't run away when I approached it, so I sensed that it was hungry. My colleague took a biscuit and put it on the ground for the cat, but it didn't take it. So I picked up the biscuit and held it for the cat so it could bite it piece by piece. It only finished half, though. This was probably the first time I did something like this, since I'm not really good with animals. People around the condo who saw the cat told us that the spirit of the guy who jumped off the building the other day (read previous entry) is in the cat. I don't know if they were serious or not.

- On Sunday I was walking out to dispose of some garbage when I tripped over the floor near the staircase. I went down hard. I lay there for a few minutes, trying to pick myself up. I wasn't hurt badly, just a big bruise on my knee. It's the same knee I bruised on vacation last month when I walked into the bed corner. Funny how these things happen nowadays when I'm usually not clumsy.

- I purchased a nice compilation CD over the weekend. 33 rock songs from the late 90s to 2002. For RM15! It used to cost RM47.50. The store must have been trying to clear old stock. But hey, a bargain's a bargain;)

- David Archuleta is coming to town. Ugh. Before you David A fans think I hate the guy, let me clarify that I do not. Yes, I do find him dull and his music suits young teenage girls who love boybands and Jesse McCartney. But I don't hate him. I hate the people who think the world of this guy. His fans have the nerve to call themselves Arch Angels. You gotta be kidding. Trust me when I say this: none of you are even close enough to deserve calling yourselves that. It's an insult to the real word. And I do believe with every fiber of my being, that if David wasn't that adorable, he wouldn't have this many fans drooling over him. I know you'll say he's a great singer, I don't doubt that. I simply doubt you'd love him this much if he looked like that kid from Superbad.

You guys have a great April, it's springtime.

Things

2009-03-20T23:32:00.003+08:00

I arrived at work this morning as usual, only to learn from the security guard that one of the residents in the condo had jumped off his 14th floor unit to his death. He said that the police were already inside to check it out.

So I went in and walked straight to the scene. They hadn't put up the yellow line yet, so I was able to step within 10 feet of the body, which was already wrapped in a body bag. There was almost no blood around, though I did see some red stains on the floor. After listening to a few residents talking to the security and police, I found out who it was that fell. It wasn't someone I knew personally, but I had heard of him. There were problems between the condo management and him, things I'm not allowed to divulge here. Anyway, this incident marks the first time something like this has happened here in the condo.

This underlines the way this world has been turning lately. Look at how terrible things have made us feel either unsafe or insecure. There are crazed gunmen shooting at innocent people in America, and there was a case like that in Germany too last week. There's a father who raped his daughter for 24 years finally paying for his sins after being convicted in court. There's the high crime rate, wars, riots, economic downturn.....you name it. It seems the older this planet gets, the crazier we become.

The thing is, I don't exactly have the time to dwell on it all. I've got my own matters to deal with. I must say that my life is looking a little better every day. If I try not to worry too much and focus on what's important (my job being one of them), things will work out fine.

Two weeks ago I was on vacation, as you would know, if you have been coming here. I had wanted to post some pics in here, but then again why bother? If you know me, you'd probably be one of my Facebook friends, and you can just go there to look at them. Besides, no one really comes in here anymore.

I watched Watchmen last weekend. Great movie. Review is up on the other blog. It's a thought provoking film about humanity and morality from different perspectives. It's not for everyone to enjoy, I know this film has its shortcomings on the masses. But if you have 3 hours to spare, give it a try.

I'm going back to the cinema tomorrow. Take care, everyone.

Fatigue

2009-03-01T01:29:00.003+08:00

I can no longer speak, or write this blog the same way I used to. Do you recall how I first started Familiar Refrain? It wasn't the best written blog there was, but back then I wouldn't hesitate too much, or be too lazy to put my thoughts down on it.

Now, what is there left to say or do?

Too much has changed. The status quo has altered. And what once was is no longer there. Even my readers have diminished, probably because I let them down, more so than this blog has. And because of that, I no longer have the enthusiasm to put my emotions into this thing, to tell you all what plagues my troubled mind.

What worries me is that my top concern at the moment refers to not being heard. I'd talk about that here, but no one will hear me, will they?

I'm so tired. Tired of the way things have become. And on top of that, I have so much to do, and every day it saps my strength. Takes me to the limit.

And there are still many people that I miss. I'm tired of feeling that way, but I refuse to let them go.

I have an upcoming trip in a few days. I doubt it will help change the way I feel now. At best, it'll distract me for a while. But there is only one cure for what I have. And it's beyond my reach right now.

Perhaps the only thing I can wish for at this point, is to have just a little bit of happiness that everyone else has. Then maybe feeling all this fatigue will be worth it.

What If?

2009-02-09T19:25:00.000+08:00

I'm going to let you all in on a little secret, but to be honest I'm not sure if I've already mentioned this fact to some of you who come here to read my thoughts.

As you all know, I'm the youngest of two children, just me and my big sister. But actually, I should have had two sisters. My mother gave birth to a stillborn girl about a year before I was born. If she had lived, I would be the third child, but still the youngest.

Today the thought of my late sister crossed my mind, for no reason at all. I woke up this morning, and suddenly I was thinking of her. I remembered that I was dreaming of someone, but it wasn't her. It felt odd somehow, that after so much time had passed since I last thought of her, and it happened.

And then I started thinking about what it would be like if she had been around, if there was another member of the family, if I had another sibling. So I came up with the pros and cons:

Pros:
- she'd understand me better. I know this isn't a certainty. She never lived, so how would I know what she'd be like? But then, if she had been born just a year before me, how different could she be from me? I know for a fact that my older sister is nothing like me. At all. She's four years my senior, so you do the math. My late sister might have understood how different I was, how I was the black sheep, and maybe she could protect me better from those who couldn't fathom me.

- less attention would be on me. You know, being the youngest has its disadvantages. You get treated like a child all the time. And I know that even if my late sister had lived, I'd still be at the bottom of the line. But at least my parents would have to divide attention among three kids, and a cake divided in three parts is still less than two.

- I wouldn't feel lonely. Sometimes you just can't hang out with the same people all the time, even if it's your family. You'll get bored. If she had lived, maybe I can have a best friend I could never really get with my older sister. There's a chance I'll get bored with her at some point too, I know. But deep down I feel she'd be nothing like my older sister, and even if she is nothing like me, I would get along with her a lot easier, and I could learn from her too.

Cons:
- another voice in the house equals more noise. It can get really noisy at home when the ladies start talking, and by that I mean my sister and mother. Add another girl to that equation....uh oh :P

- a bigger family would mean more expenses, and that would make things hard for our parents at some point. I'm certain all of you know about financial constraints and how it affects your everyday lives. I gotta tell you, I've been in bad financial situations before, and having an extra member of the family might complicate things.

- if she lived, I may not be here at all.

That particular last point may be the truest of all. I remembered when I first learned about my late sister, my mum said that if she had lived, perhaps I wouldn't be born. Strange to know that maybe she died so that I could live. In some ways, that is sad. But all of this is God's will. He made it happen. I am here, and she is not. I don't know why, but I'm certain He had his reasons.

Despite the cons I listed, I think having her here with me would be a good thing. I look at my friends, and most of them have big families (Anouk and Rhea, you're both exceptions lol), and I kinda envy that. Envy having a large family that gets to have a big reunion when we're all old, trading stories and sharing family members and making new ones. I wonder how big my family would be someday.

Ah, I dare not dream that last part. Maybe it'll still be just me and who I have now. Or more. Who knows.

The New Year

2009-01-27T02:13:00.000+08:00

And the year of the Ox begins. Happy Lunar New Year to all those who are celebrating.

The celebrations are finally in full swing. People are travelling, visiting, laughing and dining together. But for me and my family, it's a rather quiet affair. We're not the social kind, nor do we spend time with relatives much. However we celebrate in our own way, sticking to tradition still, albeit on a smaller scale.

For the past two weeks, everywhere I went I'd see stuff associated with the new year. Red lanterns, red decorations, new things, lion dances, mall performances, and the one thing I dread the most: new year songs! Why? Because it's all in Mandarin, and I'm not well versed in that language. On top of that, it's always the same songs playing again and again, and I'm sick of it. It's there everywhere I go.

But the idea of getting ang pow and welcoming some good fortune for the new year is still appealing in some way, so I do like this time of year. And the most important thing for me this time is to get some well deserved rest. It's my opportunity to get some extra sleep, since I usually don't get more than six hours per day.

I read my Chinese horoscope for this year, and it's rather mixed. I try not to put too much faith in these things, because I don't want to hope for too much. But I did say a prayer to God last night for what I hoped for the new year, and bottom line is, I want things to get better. I also prayed for those that I cared about, including those whom I am no longer close to.

I'll see you guys later, I have a date with tomorrow.

2009

2009-01-12T23:34:00.000+08:00

2008

2009-01-04T13:44:00.000+08:00

I'm not going to say much about the past year from a personal standpoint. Why? Because there's really not much to say. Some things changed, some didn't. Overall it wasn't too memorable. It's a slight improvement from 2007 though.

So what I'll do is sum up 2008 in a way I best know how: movies. Here are my top 10 favourite films of last year, in the order that I watched them.

1. Rambo
Now most people may not like this choice, perhaps because there's just too much violence in it. Women would most probably not like it, though I have heard of female audiences who absolutely enjoyed this film. But despite the fact that Sylvester Stallone is over 60 years old, he still shines as Rambo, the one man killing machine who has to go into Burma to save some missionaries from the military junta. There's blood, guts and limbs flying all over the place, and tons of action to feast on. And this fourth instalment has a neat ending to tie up the whole journey of the character.

2. Cloverfield
It's a monster movie from a first person POV. You know, like The Blair Witch Project. New York City is attacked by a mysterious monster, and we get to watch from the viewpoint of a group of youngsters having a farewell party. The camera movements may be too shaky for some (I hear it gives viewers motion sickness), but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was scary and realistic. Awesome stuff.

3. The Mist
Stephen King is the most well-known horror writer in the world, which is why many of his great works have been adapted for screen. There have been hits and misses, but the one person who has never failed to score with King's work is Frank Darabont. After succeeding with The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, he does it again with The Mist. The people of a small town take refuge in a supermarket when a mysterious mist surrounds them, and lots of horrifying creatures emerge to pick them off one by one. However, the real terror comes from the fear amongst themselves, provoked by a demented zealot in the form of a twisted God fearing lady trying to convince everyone that it's the work of the Lord. Great cast and dialogue, with an ending that you won't forget.

4. Iron Man
Finally Marvel comes up with something that will make us forget the excruciating Spider-Man 3. Robert Downey Jr shines as Tony Stark, a genius inventor who designs weapons for the military. He has a change of heart after being nearly killed by enemies using his own weapons, and invents a super suit that allows him to become a hero to defend the weak. It's smart, sleek and very charming. No over brooding Peter Parker type characters here, so it's totally entertaining indeed.

5. Kung Fu Panda
Most people would say WALL-E is the best animated film of the year, but not me. I prefer this, a story of a flabby panda who yearns to become a kungfu hero like his idols, and gets his chance when he is selected to become the chosen one to save the land from an evil tiger. Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman and many others provide the voices to a tale that is both action-packed and hilarious at the same time. It's so good that people in China wondered why their filmmakers couldn't come up with a film like this.

6. The Incredible Hulk
Who's Ang Lee again? That's the answer you should give to anyone who mentions his version of the not-so-jolly green giant. This version, a reboot by Louis Letterier has enough punch and drama to surpass the lengthy and overworked Ang Lee film. Edward Norton brings the right amount of pain and conflict to Bruce Banner, the scientist who struggles to find the cure to his condition: turning into a destructive green hulk when he's agitated. Tim Roth is perfect as the villain. Great movie.

7. The Dark Knight
Too many comic book films, right? Yeah well, I'm a comic book geek. But this film would be on everyone's list, for many good reasons. The best reason is, it's just that damn good. Batman Begins was great, but this is off the charts. Christopher Nolan and star Christian Bale bring to us a Batman who struggles to fight crime and not cross the line of vigilantism. The late Heath Ledger is the force of nature of TDK, as he makes The Joker the ultimate personification of anarchy and drives the caped crusader to his limits. Let's not forget the supporting cast who help bring the best Batman film to life: Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman. If you haven't watched this, shame on you.

8. Eagle Eye
I know most critics hated this film, because it was far-fetched and not very original. But I had fun, and was on the edge of my seat throughout the film. Shia Labeouf and Michelle Monaghan play two strangers thrown together by a mysterious female voice on a phone that seems to be able to control their every move. They are forced to do the voice's bidding, or bad things happen. It's a film where you don't have to think too much, and just ride with it.

9. Tropic Thunder
This is THE comedy of the year. And I never thought I'd give Ben Stiller this much credit, but he truly outdid himself this time around. Stiller directs and stars alongside Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr about a group of actors filming an expensive war film in Vietnam, but run into a dangerous group of heroin traffickers instead. Downey steals the show as an Australian method actor who continuosly stays in character of a black man, complete with dark skin, speech and mannerisms. Oh, and there's Tom Cruise in a fat suit. What's not to like?

10. Twilight
I'd call this the surprise of the year, for me at least. Not that this film was so great and without flaws, but the fact is, I was entertained. The story isn't that appealing, and the acting wasn't all great. But I loved the atmosphere, the pacing and the way everything played out. Kristen Stewart plays a young girl who falls in love with a vampire, played by Robert Pattinson, and how their unlikely romance leads to tension and danger. It's based on a book by Stephenie Meyer, and it's mostly for teen girls who love good looking guys like Pattinson. I know how some people expected the usual vampire flick and hated Twilight for getting otherwise, but try viewing this with an open mind, and you just might find something about it to like.

Oh sorry, I should have said this before I started this post. Happy New Year;)

In The End......

2008-12-25T22:32:00.000+08:00

everyone lets you down.

And all I have left is this song.

Things That Make You Go 'Wow'

2008-12-15T23:19:00.001+08:00

In case you haven't heard, or haven't watched the world news, George W. Bush was in Iraq, and at a press conference, one of the journalists took off his shoes and threw it at the former US president. Bush dodged the first one, and the second missed him by inches. Here, take a look:

HBO was playing this old Jean-Claude Van Damme action film called Sudden Death, about a fireman who takes his kids to an ice hockey game, only to run into terrorists who holds the US Vice President hostage there. There's a scene where Van Damme fights a woman who is dressed in a penguin suit. It looks kinda funny but is pretty cool to watch:

On another note, and I know some of you really don't give a shit about this because you're not a wrestling fan; my favourite star, Jeff Hardy has finally won the world championship, after numerous tries. It's about damn time, because I was starting to think he'd never be able to do it, but he finally triumphed. Congratulations Jeff (even though all this is scripted, I know lol)

You know what else makes me go wow? My current favourite song, Decode by Paramore. It's from the soundtrack to the film Twilight, and I know at least one reader of my little blog enjoys it too. If you haven't seen Twilight, go see it. It's rad;) Enjoy the song.

Role Reversal

2008-12-08T16:21:00.000+08:00

It's nice to see her smile again.

Mind you, this is something that didn't happen often back in the day. But now, I guess I can safely say that this person is more or less content with the way things are, and has found a significant amount of peace in her heart.

Unlike me.

To say that I am satisfied with my life is not accurate no matter which year you ask me of. But the good thing was, I was able to ignore it for the most part, and just accept what life dealt to me.

Now, it's different. I've got things on my mind. Things that I know I can handle. And other things that I used to not worry about, yet now I do. I'm still not letting it get the better of me, but it's not easy.

The truth is, everyone around you will disappoint you, sooner or later. Sometimes intentionally, sometimes not. And you have to learn how to handle it. Yet somehow, I still stand by the way I treat my friends. No amount of hell will change me. Call it stubbornness, call it undivided loyalty, call it blind faith. I don't care.

Anyway, I'm mentioning the fact that things have changed, better for someone, not so good for me. But that's okay. Just like someone I know, I'm not a quitter.

A new year is on the horizon. Maybe my luck will change again.

Patience

2008-11-26T23:14:00.001+08:00

So what's the world like today?

It depends.

If you mean from a meteorological sense, then it's just rain, rain and more rain. Every day, that's all I see.

If you mean in a general sense, then I think it looks a little grey; some things are good, some others not so.

If you mean from behind this computer, then the only word I have for it is 'slow'. As in, it takes forever for a friggin' webpage to load!

If I were to take into account all the things going on around me right now, it's really not so bad. The good stuff isn't really outstanding, but I'll take whatever I can get. The bad stuff isn't likeable, but it's nothing new. I'm sort of used to it already. I'll just have to be patient.

Patience. When I look at the world's problems, from the ones had by people I know, to the entire planet at large, I feel that it can all be overcome with a little patience. Everyone has problems. But it's the ability to ride the storm and survive that is most important. For that you need patience. Patience to think things through, and then realize that there are some things you can't change. And knowing that if you wait it out, you'll find the answers. The world isn't going to end tomorrow, so stop acting like it is.

I'm slightly agitated today, actually. I guess I'm short of patience myself. But that's OK. I'm still alive and kicking.

Finally

2008-11-02T02:16:00.000+08:00

It's taken me a long time to be able to say this, but finally.........my computer is virus-free.

It has been a torturous six months or so putting up with the severe inconveniences of having an unwanted entity in your PC. This thing did its worst by messing up my internet connection frequently, restarting my computer without warning and removing almost all my programs. When that last thing happened, I knew it was time to stop delaying and get it fixed.

And now, I'm back. Whoo.

And just in time too, it's November now. Halloween is over (not that I celebrate anyway) and we're now 2 months away from a new year. Are you excited? Well, if time actually means anything to you, then maybe, yeah.

But for me, a new year only means more movies to look forward to. Speaking of movies, I just watched Tropic Thunder, the review is up on FF. Check it out.

Anyway, I'm just glad to be back behind this computer again and feel good about it. Other than that, I've got no complaints. So I'll see ya, don't wanna be ya;)

The Top 10 List #2 - Opinions On Television

2008-10-08T23:30:00.000+08:00

The top 10 list regarding my opinions on TV shows are:

10. Grey's Anatomy really disappointed me. I mean, I was impressed with the first two seasons, showcasing the lives of doctors and interns in a hospital, focusing on the troubled but well-meaning Meredith Grey. (And by the way, I still prefer Meredith over that bitch Christina, whom every fan of the show loves because she gets the best lines, but I seriously think she's there just to be Meredith's opposite, and she's so two dimensional. Why in God's name did they give Sandra Oh an Emmy???) But I got really pissed when they started season three with (drum roll) a recap of what happened in the first two seasons! WTF? One entire episode to recap two seasons? What are you, nuts? Oh, this must be because you guys just won Best Drama at the Emmys, isn't it? So you guys probably thought "Let's remind everyone why we're that damn good." As Meredith would say "Seriously!" (And anyway, we all know Meredith and McDreamy are made for each other, you don't need so many seasons to tell us that.)

9. The best reality show on TV is The Amazing Race, hands down. American Idol comes a close second. TAR is interesting as they show how ordinary people cope through immense pressure and work as a team to come in first in a race around the globe. AI is entertaining, but only during the audition sessions. When they get to finalising the real singers, you'd have to pick a favourite, otherwise you'll lose interest. That's why I didn't follow the Jordin Sparks season. None of them impressed me.

8. I don't watch sitcoms anymore, though I tried being a casual follower of That 70s Show and Everybody Loves Raymond. The last time I really loved a sitcom was a decade ago, when they had one called Perfect Strangers, about two cousins, one a country bumpkin, the other an over-ambitious journalist living together in Chicago. Best comedy I ever saw.

7. My favourite medical drama is still E.R., even though House has become more prominent as of late. House is entertaining, playing like a medical version of CSI, but the show spends way too much time trying to get the characters to do something else besides saving lives as it progresses. I didn't think that was cool. E.R. on the other hand keeps things real, and there are plenty of suspenseful moments, and the characters are easy to empathise with.

6. Prison Break is the one show which I think that, although being very popular, should just end its run once the new season is over. If they stretch it any longer, it's going to start losing credibility. Lost on the other hand, fares a little better. They suffer the same problem, but J.J. Abrams is smart enough to not reveal too much, so he still has plenty of room left to play with.

5. Supernatural is the one show that doesn't need good actors to succeed. Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles aren't great actors, but they do well enough in a very fascinating show about hunting evil in the night. It sure beats Smallville. I mean, how long are they gonna stretch the idea of Clark not being able to tell Lana his secret? And why hasn't she figured it out yet?

4. 24 is my all-time favourite drama. Sure, they repeat the same formula season after season. But just put a troubled hero against dastardly villains and throw in the race against time element, and what you have is a story that never gets tired. At least not for me.

3. The only CSI worth watching is CSI NY. Why? Because out of the three CSI shows, NY is the only one that has characters who look like real cops. And I never understood why the labs in Vegas are so damn dark. And I hate Horatio Caine on Miami. He's a supermodel with a badge.

2. If you want a legal drama that examines exactly how the law works, watch Law & Order. And I mean the original one, not the spinoffs.

and finally.......

1. I love wrestling! Yeah, I know. You're going to tell me that wrestling's fake. Actually the correct term is 'scripted'. It's not fake when they really hurt themselves. Wrestling is like a soap opera with real violence. These guys were trained to take a beating, which is why they keep telling us not to copy them at home or anywhere else. I truly respect the things they do in the ring, though I admit wrestling was more entertaining eight years ago than it is now.

World's Most Amazing Crap

2008-10-02T22:52:00.000+08:00

There's this show on TV called World's Most Amazing Videos, which showcases supposedly amazing happenings, mostly how people cheat death. For example, there's a big car accident and some guy was just inches away from getting impaled, or there's a wild animal on the loose and someone barely survived on the receiving end, and so on and so forth.

I usually don't watch shows like this, because it's total crap to me. It's not entertaining or enlightening, and truly not amazing. Today however, I got a glimpse of this show as I was waiting for another programme to start, and I saw this segment of how this guy, who is a hunter, barely escaped being mauled by a lion.

Here's how it went: the guy took aim at the lion and shot it, but the lion did not die. Instead, the lion got up and charged straight for him. As it lunged at him, he fired again, and though the lion got hit, it managed to knock him down in the process. The lion then ran off but the hunter managed to shoot it again, killing it successfully. The guy then proceeds to tell in an interview on how close he was to getting killed by a lion, and then shows us that same animal, now stuffed, sitting in his house on a table.

And then I start thinking: what a load of bullshit this is! This guy shoots a lion, like a hunter would take aim at any kind of game, and now wants to not only talk about his close brush with death, but display his fallen prey so proudly? Is this the message the producers of the show want to present? That killing a lion that wasn't provoked is the right thing to do? I mean, aren't lions living beings too? It may be an animal, sure, but it had the right to live, and this guy just killed it, and gets to show off. If I were that lion, I'd attack him too if he tried to kill me. Damn, now I don't know who's the bigger animal: the hunter or the show's producers.

OK, now to show you something that isn't crap at all, the cover to Marit Larsen's new album;) I sure hope I won't get sued for putting it up here.

Happy Aidilfitri to all Muslims out there.

The Top 10 List #1 - Music Tastes

2008-09-26T23:28:00.003+08:00

The top 10 list in regards to my music tastes are:

10. Rock music is always good. Linkin Park, Nickelback and Daughtry are fine examples.

9. If you're the type of person who likes Fergie's music, please stay away from me.

8. David Cook is a better singer than David Archuleta. I don't care if anyone says or thinks otherwise.

7. If I hear Jason Mraz's I'm Yours one more time, I'm gonna fucking kill somebody!

6. Do NOT play a Celine Dion CD in my presence. Please.

5. You're never too young to listen to 80's music. There are tons of great songs from that era. Michael Jackson, Madonna, New Kids On The Block, Duran Duran etc. If you're not an 80's child, you may not realise it, so listen to me.

4. I'm really starting to get sick of Katy Perry. I can withstand the overplayed I Kissed A Girl on the airwaves, but when I saw the video to U're So Gay, I thought: that does it. I'm done with this girl. She's getting on my nerves now.

3. I prefer Marion Raven's music over Marit Larsen's music. To all of you M2M fans out there who've known me for a long time and think the opposite, sorry. I mean, I do love Marit, always have, always will. But Marion's music is still by far more accessible to me. And let's face it, most of you who dislike Marion now think that she's changed so much and thinks too highly of herself. Personally I think she knows she's good, and isn't afraid to show it. Ain't nothing wrong with that. And I think Marit is an awesome performer, no one can deny that. But this is how I feel.

2. In my humble opinion, the worst song ever written is All I Wanna Do (Is Make Love To You) by Heart. I've known this song since I was a teenager, and back then I didn't mind it. But now, after hearing it and listening to the lyrics, I realize just how stupid and twisted this song really is. A song about a one night stand with a person you picked up on the road, and the consequences thereafter? Oh God, please. And the damn lyrics.....who the hell wrote this crap? NOBODY writes crap like this anymore, and I don't think anyone else except this song's writers did back then either.

And finally....

1. M2M is the best band in the world, at least in my book. To me, the best band need not be a band that sells out the most concert arenas, or sells the most records, or has the most number one hits. The best band need only be capable of making music that stands the test of time, and give you warm feelings and bring your spirits up when you're down. M2M did that for me, and they still do. I sure miss them.

I will have more lists compiled for you in the near future.

There It Is Again

2008-09-17T22:57:00.000+08:00

I think sometimes I need to be reminded that being alone isn't always better. And today I got just that.

I was at the food court this evening. It's the fasting month, hence many people have settled down to break fast at that hour. And I noticed one thing about everyone: they're not alone. Couples, foursomes, large groups, Muslims, non-Muslims.....all together, not just having a meal but sharing good times and laughter. Some were even taking photos, as if they were meeting after being away for so long.

And watching all this reminds me of stuff. Old faces, old places, old friends, old memories. All of which I should have left behind but somehow it still stays with me. And that feeling leaves me rather sad. I know someone who would have felt so much pain being surrounded by so many happy people. And I remember telling her that it was all right for her not to be like them. Today I got a chance to be in her shoes at that moment.

But she is much better now, and so am I.

I guess it's okay to feel this way every now and then. The sadness, the pain, the disappointment. I think I need it in some way. I think it's what makes me feel alive. Sometimes, when you have nothing to go on with, you need this. Moments like this, to remind you that you're alive, and you should do something about your life. Or at least remember some things that mean a lot to you, because it's all you have.

Now let's see if tomorrow will bring me a reason to smile.

The Day That Wasn't

2008-09-10T23:05:00.000+08:00

I should have gone to work today.

It's a long story, but trust me, I should have gone to the office instead of taking the day off. If you insist on some kind of explanation, well...let's put it this way. If I had worked today, it would be less tiring, easier and cheaper too.

So I took today off to get some personal time. Me time. Time for me to do stuff that has nothing to do with going to the bank or collecting debts. And I don't know, I didn't enjoy myself as much as I thought I would. Hmph.

Anyway, it's the festive season. Aidilfitri, or Eid to some, is coming soon. And today I took the first step in making correspondence with some people I know in regards to that. There's also someone else I'm planning to write to. It's been a long time coming, and I want to do it as soon as possible.

I've got an update for FF, but I'm just too tired right now, so it'll have to wait. In the meantime, you guys play nice. And don't watch any TV show on the internet, unless it's on Youtube, in which case it's free.

I Type, You Read

2008-09-06T01:29:00.001+08:00

There's been a serious lack of updates here, I know. But you guys probably wouldn't want to hear from me anyway. There hasn't been much going on lately, so I'll just type out what comes to mind right now:

- There's a convenience store right next to the cafeteria near my office. Today when I walked by, I noticed they made a special place in the corner of the store for displaying traditional Malay dresses for sale, since Aidilfitri is coming. That was the first time I've seen them do that. Seeing those clothes reminds me of some people I know.

- I'm just healing from a bad back, which I got from lifting old newspapers about two weeks ago. The pain spread to my side and stomach, and though it wasn't excruciating, it sure was bugging me. The cold weather made it even worse. Thank God it's over.

- The Amazing Race Asia season three will begin next week. It's the reality show where teams of two race around the world for US$100,000. Unfortunately the teams selected this season aren't as interesting as last season. This time we have two teams from Malaysia, India and Thailand, and one each from Korea, Singapore, Philippines and Hong Kong, making it ten altogether. I wonder how Malaysia always get two teams in the race. Even more weird is the fact that both Malaysian teams this year has a famous actor as a member. How does that happen? The executive producer says that the chances of a team being chosen to take part is less than 1% due to the number of entries they received. So how do these actors get themselves on board? I for one don't find them entertaining, at least at first glance. I guess I'll be rooting for a non-Malaysian team again.

- Have you guys heard the new David Archuleta song, Crush? It sucks. Seriously. Archuleta is a talented kid, but really, this song sucks. It's boring and it makes him sound terrible. This is why I support David Cook. For those of you who still think Archuleta is a better singer than Cook, I pity you.

- Every morning on the way to work, I listen to this radio show, and right now it's probably the most excruciating radio show I've ever heard. But I'm forced to listen to it, because it's my sister's car and she loves the damn show! Well actually, she loves the on-air quiz where listeners have to fill in a blank and win cash. I don't mind that, but what I do mind are the damn f*cking DJs! Do you know what is one of the worst kinds of people in the world? The kind who think that they're funny and they're God's gift to comedy. They're pathetic, the way they play the game and try to be funny about it. There's absolutely nothing natural about their presentation. For example, when it's time for the quiz to start, they'll go "oh look, there's a big hole I'm going to fall into, it's time to plug the hole!". They have to say 'plug the hole' because that's what the quiz is called. But they say this whole line, or other variations of it with such artificial enthusiasm, you'd have to be under seven years old to laugh about it. I got so pissed about it today that when they said that I exclaimed out loud "Oh for God's sake get on with it!" I wish I could take the bus to work. Really. But I'll be late if I do. To the producers of the show (you know who you are), you're probably not reading this, but if by some chance you are, please get those two off the air. Permanently.

Last but not least, I just want to say this: I hate change. Why? Because change isn't always for the better. I know I've said it before, but I just wanted to reiterate it. I've heard people say that change is good, and just because things are different, doesn't mean it's bad. Well, no. Not for me. Most poeple who say that obviously never saw a situation from other perspectives. If things were fine the way they were, how does changing it make it better? Yes, I can accept that things have to change over time, but not everything. And change never really suits everyone concerned. Someone is gonna be dissatisfied. But I guess that's the way the world is. Everyone's too selfish to give and take a little. Even me.

To all Muslims worldwide, happy fasting.

A Little Something

2008-08-09T00:21:00.000+08:00

This past Wednesday was my good friend and online sister Rhea's birthday. I hope you guys remembered to send her your wishes, haha.

But from what I gathered, she isn't doing so well right now. She's missing someone, someone she holds dear to her heart.

There's very little I can do for her from where I am, so I'll just do my best in here. Rhea, this song is for you. I hope it will help you get through this. Take care.

Coming Soon

2008-08-03T20:17:00.003+08:00

What do you do when you have had a bad week? Me, I just turn to the one thing that I love most: movies.

To be perfectly honest, I didn't really have a rotten week, it's just that I felt really annoyed by the people around me. There are times when my mood just drops to a very low point, and the last thing I want is interference from other people. And that's what happened this week. That and stuff I discovered that just made me feel so envious of some really lucky people.

But enough about me. I wanna show some stuff I found on upcoming movies. If there's one thing I love about youtube, it's that they have tons of shit on anything. This is quite a list to watch, but you can choose not to watch some of these. Check it out.

Eagle Eye

Babylon A.D.

The Day The Earth Stood Still

Punisher: Warzone

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince

Twilight

Step Brothers

Watchmen

Terminator Salvation

When You Miss Someone

2008-07-26T23:43:00.001+08:00

How do you feel when you miss someone?
Do you constantly look for her face in the crowd,
Or find yourself saying her name out loud?

How do you feel when you miss someone?
Do you think of her every single day,
And feel your sanity slowly slipping away?

How do you feel when you miss someone?
Do you keep chasing her shadows everywhere,
Only to find nothing but air?

How do you feel when you miss someone?
Do you desperately hold on to your memories of her,
Out of fear of losing them all forever?

How do you feel when you miss someone?
Do you find yourself crying alone at night,
Reaching out for the one person that can make things right?

How do you feel when you miss someone?
Do you keep wishing that you will see her again,
Knowing that in reality it is all in vain?

How do you feel when you miss someone?
Do you dream of holding her close, right next to you,
And hear her say that she loves you too?

Alone Or Not?

2008-07-20T16:11:00.000+08:00

Is it better to be alone, or not alone?

A lot of times I wonder myself.

I think everyone has at some point felt that they didn't want to be by themselves, that they wanted to have some company. Someone they can share things with, be it material items or secrets, or opinions or thoughts, or feelings or things that defy explanation. They need someone to fall back on, to seek out, to spar against, to rely on, to love and maybe hate. No man is an island, and everyone should want to feel that someone out there understands them, and fathoms the world the way they do, or is able to explain what can't be understood.

Not being alone isn't just defined by physical company, because someone can still feel alone in a room full of people. It's about having an emotional connection with the living, knowing that someone is listening and understanding what you say and feel.

So it's actually good to have someone by your side, or at the very least, someone who is listening and feeling your heart, and if they're kind enough, to stop it from breaking. Therefore having someone close to you is so vital to keep your sanity from falling apart.

But really, do you think that not being alone is all that it's cracked up to be?

These past few days, I keep contemplating that question. I keep thinking about the definition of being alone, and in the right context, being alone is actually a good thing. When you're by yourself, the only person you need to look after is you, the person in the mirror. No one else to watch over, to follow, to worry over, to listen to, to take care of at your personal expense.

I think about this because when I get the urge to be away from the noise, to be away from all the things that test my patience, somehow the discord and disturbance find a way to seek me out. For example, at the office, I wish that my colleague would simply stop bugging me so often about trivial things. Half the time, it's my fault for not wanting to give her a chance, because deep down I just dislike her, but I take the blame for that because it's not her fault I feel that way, it's just the way she is. The other half of the time, she is just so damn oblivious. And I keep myself from wanting to snap, reacting with ignorance and indifference towards her instead. It's those moments that I tell myself it's OK, we're all human and I can act like that when and if the need arises.

Then there's my family, who never ceases to amaze me with their rotten timing. I want to be alone, and someone walks in with a request. And it's uncanny how I'm always the only one with the right solution to their problem. The best example would be when my mum can't seem to find the right channel for the TV show she's looking for, and I help her find it. In this case, I am basically the best answer to her problem because technical difficulties with the TV set is my specialty. And in reality, I don't mind doing this, it's just the rotten timing. I'd tell you about my sister's equally bad timing in invading my need for tranquil moments, but I've made my point already.

A lot of times, I just want to be alone. By myself. Away from the riff raff and noise. Just sitting there, wherever that is, doing what I want to do, with no one telling me I can't do it, or they need me to do something for them first. Mind you, I'm actually a pretty helpful guy. I'm usually the go-to guy for a lot of things. But a lot of times, I want to help myself first, before I go crazy inside.

So back to my question, is it better being alone or not being alone? A lot of times either choice is a double-edged sword. But in my world, either choice depends on the situation. When I don't want to be alone, the company around me aren't the ones I seek. When I want to be alone, the ones I need seek me out.

Perhaps this will all change when I have a significant other someday. When that happens, maybe I'll get a fresher perspective on the subject. Till then I'll just keep thinking.

On a side note, I visited an acquaintance's Myspace page and discovered an old song that I had forgotten, and hearing it again reminded me what a great song it is. It's a song by Roxette called Queen Of Rain. Check it out.

My Bad!

2008-07-04T23:55:00.000+08:00

Last Tuesday July 1st was Marit Larsen's birthday, and I totally forgot about it. How on earth did I let that happen? Geez. I only realised it when I paid a visit to the Old Dirt Road. It'd be unfair if I paid tribute to Marit's former partner's birthday and not hers. It's like celebrating George and Ringo's birthdays and ignoring John and Paul's, but you get my drift.

So anyways, Happy Belated Birthday to the wonderfully talented Marit Elisabeth Larsen. Gratulerer Med Dagen;)

Word is that there hasn't been any news on her for a long time, and I wonder why that is. There's probably no cause for concern, but I certainly hope we haven't seen the last of her on the music scene.

It's been a week of revelations for me. Some were small, some were familiar, some were not so pleasing to the eye. But it's all in a week's work for me. In the meantime I think I'm going to try and be a better writer for this blog. Wish me luck.

Back Home

2008-06-29T18:39:00.000+08:00

I had wanted to write this entry about a month ago, but time just didn't allow me to do so. On top of that, my PC still has that nagging virus problem which will just discourage me from being online long enough to do this. But I'm here now, and no matter what, I'm going to do this. FR needs an update anyways.

Last month I took a trip back home, to Malacca, my hometown. It's a small city about two hours drive away from Kuala Lumpur, where I live now. This place is kinda like the location where our country's rich history began. Our country's imperial ruling started here, and it went on for about 111 years until the Portuguese came and took over. Then 120 years after that, the Dutch conquered Malacca, and then later the British assumed rule. Our country finally gained independence in 1957. But the remnants of all three foreign forces are still visible in Malacca today.

OK, that's the history lesson. Much as I'd like to show you some historical locations of my hometown, I didn't take any of those pictures when I went back. Perhaps someday I will. But what I really wanted to talk about, was my life here. This was the house where I lived the first nine years of my life. It doesn't look like much, does it? I remembered it had a nice big yard in the back, where I would play catch with my cousin's dog. I think his name was Kester. I used to be afraid of that dog, even though he wasn't that big. I was always afraid he'd bite me. But he's fun to chase around sometimes. What amazes me about this house is that after all these years, the doors are still the same kind. It's the wooden slide type, which I haven't seen on any house in other neighbourhoods I've been to. I wonder who lives in there now.
This was my primary school, where I went to study when I was seven to nine years old. The name of the school visible on the wall there means 'Bandar Hilir National School, Malacca'. Bandar is the Malay word for town, and Hilir means downstream. On the day I took this picture, I stepped up to the front gates and looked in, and I vaguely remembered my days there. My mum looked in too, and she said she still recalled where my old classroom was.

This is a picture of St. Francis Institution, my secondary school. I studied here when I was sixteen and seventeen years old. (Yeah, I know there's a gap between my ages, that's another story for the future) This is an old school, as you can see it's over a hundred years old. I didn't quite have fond memories of this place. School life wasn't an exciting time for me, because I was one of a handful of kids who would spend their time studying while the other majority spent time picking on kids like me. I've been to five schools during my younger years, and in almost every one of them, I had trouble with bullies. Had no idea why they always had to pick on me, I guess I was an easy target. But the point of going to these places is to get a good education, and to some extent, I thank the good teachers who helped me get past my SPM exams and all in between.
This is our quadrangle, where we would line up for assembly every morning. You know, in retrospect, the way the teachers used to ask us to assemble made me think that we were in prison sometimes. Look at the picture, on the highest floor. See that door which is partially open? That was my classroom back then. I would have loved to take more pictures, but I was just fortunate enough to take these as the school security guard only gave me a short time to walk in.

I had come back to Malacca many times, usually to eat my favourite foods, which are only available there. But this was the first time in a long time that I went back to see where I had been over a decade ago. I only wish I had more time to take more pictures. Perhaps someday I'll get to show you more.

You know, there are times when I wonder if I had wasted my youth back in the day. Maybe I feel that way because most of my friends are younger than me, and they had accomplished so much already. I guess I need to learn how to let go and grow up a little more.

The Drive Home

2008-06-04T23:24:00.000+08:00

Today there was word going around that the government would stop subsidising petrol, which meant that the price was going to be raised, as soon as midnight tonight. So what does every proud car owner in KL do? They rush their car to the nearest petrol station to fill up, of course.

I don't know about you, but to me, this is just another example of kiasu-ism. Yes, it exists here too. (In case you don't know what kiasu-ism means, go read Stark Corner) I mean, even if you bought petrol today, it's going to run out eventually, and you'll have to buy fuel at the new higher price anyway. The difference is when, meaning if you chose not to buy fuel tonight, you'll have to refuel a couple of days earlier than those who did. What's a couple of days, huh? If you really wanted to save money, you can cycle to work, though I doubt most car owners would do that. Besides, are you telling me that because of the price hike, you'd be broke before your next paycheque if you didn't refuel tonight? Come on, you're car owners. You can afford the car, certainly you can afford the fuel too. Or are you unable to sacrifice the other things you spend money on? If this only affects poor people, then there'd only be old broken down cars lining up for fuel. This obviously wasn't the case, since I saw everyone, and I mean everyone line up at the petrol stations for fuel. And sadly, my sister decided to do it too, and worse, my mum was practically egging her on!

I tried to tell them that this was a silly thing to do, but as usual, no one is going to listen to me. Mum goes "See, everyone is doing it. We should too. It's the smart thing to do, buy while it's still cheap." Great. If everyone chose to jump into a lake, should I do it too? I think not. And my mum just goes on and on and on and on. She observes all the other people filling up and starts saying things like "Wow, he's filling up a lot!" Or "That guy's car must have a really big tank." Or the kiasu's favourite line, " Hurry up, get into that pump before that guy does!" And I'm stuck in the back seat having to listen to my mum go on every ten seconds.

I'd tell her not to do that, but why bother? She's not going to listen. It's my mum. She's a good person, but very kiasu.

When I think about it, I don't think anyone would listen to me. If I told everyone else my opinion, they'd scoff and say "Ah, but you don't own a car. You won't understand." Well, maybe. But everything in life comes down to choices. Even this. I for one, would not choose to line up with hundreds of other people at the station at ten o'clock at night just to buy fuel, when all I want to do is just go home and rest after being at work for nine hours. Hmm, I can almost imagine my sister telling me that I have it easy because I wasn't driving. Like I said, no one listens to me.

It's nice when people pay attention to you, I admit that. But it's better if they do so when you're right.

I could have ended the entry there, but I hate leaving without showing my readers something. So here's a movie trailer, a horror flick called The Strangers. Enjoy.

Year Six (And More)

2008-05-25T18:03:00.002+08:00

Today is the birthday of one of my idols, Marion Raven. Many happy returns of the day;)

But more importantly, today marks six years that I have known a girl from Philippines by the name Rhea Arcilla. She's the first M2M fan I've befriended online, and it is because of her that I am a part of the online world. Thanks Rhea, for making it a worthwhile half dozen years. Here's to another six dozen years;)

What I'm about to say in here hopefully will not overshadow the first part of this entry, but today is actually the best day of this week for me. At least I have a reason to celebrate this day, after the past six days of putting up with really annoying people and situations. I'm usually good at avoiding things like this, but sometimes it's beyond my control, you know? If everyone around me can try to be a little less oblivious and understand where I'm coming from, then maybe it won't be so bad. But I'm learning every day about the world, and the one thing I should try and remember is that it's not always everyone's fault when things get fucked up. (excuse my language)

"I love humanity, it's people I can't stand." - Gil Grissom, CSI

War

2008-05-17T00:47:00.003+08:00

(As I'm preparing to write this, I predict it's going to be one of the dullest entries ever. But I'm bored, so here goes)

I've been reading everyone's blogs today, and wow, all of you have so much to say. Why is that? You guys have issues? Or are you guys just very good at discussing the finer and sometimes not so fine things in life? You guys really dig thinking out loud and putting yourselves in deep thought. I admire that.

Me? I suck at this. Well, actually I do think a lot. But putting it in here? Not so good at it. I used to be good, but I lost it. I didn't run out of issues, I just ran out of a genius mind to spar with about them. I mean, I just read a comment on an entry that was good enough to be an entry on its own.

Anyway, there's a reason why I'm writing this. It's facebook, the new fad on webspace that is becoming more popular than myspace. It's like myspace, but it's a place where you can play thousands of games with your friends, and you can add people that can be total strangers without having to worry that they're some porn star trying to sell you their videos. You get that on myspace.

So on facebook, I get to have lots of fun. Now, for a 31 year old guy like me, it just doesn't sound right, does it? I should be at a point where this stuff is considered child's play. But hell, I mature too slow. There's a kid inside of me that still wants to play. Anyway, there's a particular game on facebook that is rather addictive. It's fun, but oh so very cruel. It's called Knighthood.

In Knighthood, you get to build your own kingdom, and get your friends to be your servants or soldiers. The best part is, they don't have to add the game to their profile if they don't want to. But if they do, they get a higher rank in your kingdom, and that gives you more power to play with. The task is to build your kingdom and rise to the top, when you reach a certain level, your rank will change from Knight to Baron, then to Viscount. You can do so by building your fort, marketplace and castle, and attacking other players and stealing their gold and kidnapping their soldiers to add to your own, thereby making you stronger.

This is the aspect of the game that is the hardest to control. The war against other players. Attacking never ends amongst us. That is the point, I realize that. But defending yourself and counter attacking somehow is nearly impossible. The rules make it hard to do so without a high cost. I am telling you that it's very frustrating to watch your kingdom come together, only to see others tear it apart. I've lost many soldiers already. Good ones too. The ones with ranks. And although I am in awe of the game and addicted to it in some way, I can see now just how much I suck at it.

I wish I could stop playing, but I don't know. I'm not a quitter, never will be. I want to keep fighting, and see how far I can still go. It's heartbreaking, actually. It's like wanting to forget a really awesome girl, but you can't.

Bored yet reading all of this? I'm sure you are, you guys have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about, or you just don't care. That's OK, right now I don't have any serious issues.

But I do wish I had something more meaty to debate about than a mere game. For that I envy the rest of you.

And Then There Were Four

2008-05-03T23:35:00.001+08:00

(If you’re not a fan of American Idol, or you despise the show, read no further)

This week, Idol bids farewell to yet another contestant: Brooke White. She was the one I was rooting for throughout the competition so far.

To be honest with you, I’m not exactly a die-hard fan of Idol. I had followed season 5 and rooted for the great Katharine McPhee, only to see her lose to the talented yet dull Taylor Hicks. After that, I almost completely ignored season 6, because I thought none of the finalists could hold a candle to Katharine. So after watching the hilarious audition portion of this year’s competition, I decided to watch the top 12 chosen for the finals. And I chose Brooke as my pick to win.

I am aware that Brooke doesn’t have the strongest vocals among the twelve. But she makes up for it by using her flaws to her advantage. She chooses the right song to perform more often than not, and knows how to tailor it just right to suit her. Being able to play guitar and piano is also an added benefit, plus she knows how to speak and sing from her heart. Unlike most contestants, who would simply frown when Simon Cowell puts them down harshly, she answers back with honesty and even confidence. It’s not defiance that she’s bringing forth, but more along the lines of candidness and humility.

I had a sinking feeling that she wasn’t going to win American Idol, and I was right. The two Davids, Cook and Archuleta, are much too strong. I didn’t expect her to beat either of them, even though my preference lies with her. It’s just that those two guys have been on a superb roll since they started, and are the ones to beat. But here’s what I don’t get. How is it that Brooke gets eliminated before Jason Castro?

Jason is probably the most dull singer among the top 12. Every song I hear him sing sounds just the same. With or without guitar, he sings almost exactly the same way every time. And he survives yet again? The previously eliminated Carly Smithson and Michael Johns could outsing poor Jason, and yet Mr. Castro sticks around. Hmph.

But I gotta hand it to Syesha Mercado for being the top female Idol this time, now that she’s the only female left. She has survived six eliminations despite being in the bottom two or three. She’s like the Terminator, isn’t she? But I’ll give her credit where credit is due. She can sing well, and certainly better than Jason.

So now my vote goes to David Cook, who is immensely talented, much like Chris Daughtry. I’d rather see him win than the scrawny David Archuleta, who in my opinion would be a lackluster Idol. Don’t get me wrong, the boy can sing. But he seriously has no personality. He’ll make a good record, but fans won’t remember him after a year.

Speaking of fans, this is the element that makes Idol so unfair. All it takes is for one Idol to build a fan base, and their journey through the contest is secure, or at least more secure than their rivals. It doesn’t matter if they sing badly one week, the fact that one song they did when they started out won over a large number of fans will build enough support for them to survive. In other words, this is what Randy Jackson said last week that it’s a popularity vote when Syesha and Carly ended up at the bottom.

This flaw enables less deserving contestants to stay and keep singing while their potentially more daring and versatile peers get voted out. This is the sad fact about Idol. Will America ever learn to vote with their minds instead of their hearts? Will they ever see the real gems amongst the glass? Will they ever pick the more deserving winner in a contest of vocal and stage performance?

Then again, it’s all a matter of opinion, isn’t it? I know a lot of people don’t like Brooke. You should read all the nasty comments youtube members keep posting about Idols like Brooke, Jason and even David Archuleta. But that’s OK. As far as Brooke is concerned, I think she can make it on her own. No, I know she can. She already has the tools to succeed; all she needs now is the will to pursue her dreams.

Good luck, Ms White, and never give up.

100

2008-04-27T12:32:00.000+08:00

This is officially FR's 100th post. It's a milestone for sure, but is it meaningful or memorable? Well, I honestly can't say. Out of the 100 posts I've written, most of them are crappy. Perhaps I'm more proud of the number than the content. And that's not exactly the right way to feel about your online diary.

Well, that's fine. If I can't say anything good about FR, then let me use this centennial post as an opportunity to say thank you to all the readers who have dropped by. Also, I'd like to address everyone reading to be good and more importantly, be thankful with what you have. We humans don't have a lot of time on earth, but we waste so much of that time doing the unnecessary or useless. We waste it being non-believers in ourselves or in God. We waste it blaming the world that's getting crazier every moment.

I guess I just want everyone in the world to be better people. Help others. Be kind. Be better listeners. Spare a thought for the weak and less wise. Think before you act or lose your temper. Anything to make the world a better place. You'll never know how your actions will change the things you take for granted.

If anyone needs to laugh, check out this movie trailer, which in my opinion is the funniest I've seen this year. See you in the 101st.

Happy Birthday

2008-04-10T12:55:00.001+08:00

I know she's not reading this. But it's her birthday today, so I want to make a wish, and dedicate this song to her. I hope she is happy and well, wherever she is.

Dreaming

2008-03-30T19:37:00.001+08:00

It's been a busy week. But I still had time to think of her. Still had her in my mind, though I know I should have forgotten her last year. I still dream of her face, her smile, her eyes....it's not right. I know it's not. But hell no, I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I don't want to forget her. No. I refuse.

But why? I don't know why. I don't know why she keeps appearing in my mind. I don't know why I keep making happy illusions of her and me in my head. I don't know why I keep looking for her face in the crowd. I just do. Call it a disease, call it a distraction. I don't know or care. The fact is, we all have to indulge in something. This is my indulgence. And I'll suffer alone if I have to.

Hmm, it may seem like I'm so alone. Well, I am. Always have been. Even from the time anyone who have visited this blog has known me, I've been alone. Perhaps it's my fate to be that way. And sometimes I embrace it. Sometimes it's good to be alone. But not all the time. And I think I've dealt with it quite well.

I just wish I could meet her one more time. This girl. This unique girl, who caught my attention the first time I saw her. The girl who matters, and yet does not, or shouldn't. I want to see her again, just to know who she really is. That's all.

On a different note, I just saw some amazing artwork on youtube. Some of the artwork I had already seen a few years back. A really classy presentation, I must say. Kudos to the presenter, she really is talented.

I've been mulling over an idea on making a third blog, but I'm still divided equally over going with it, and not. Rest assured, it'll be Familiar;)

Damn It

2008-03-23T01:30:00.000+08:00

It's been one hell of a week. First off, I got verbally abused by a condo owner on Monday, all because he doesn't understand how to read his statement (he is illiterate by the way). I've been verbally abused before during my job here at the condominium, but this is the first time someone used the F-word on me. But it's okay, because as long as he doesn't try to cause any damage or harm to anyone, I'm not afraid.

Then on Wednesday, a resident who had her water supply cut because her ex-husband didn't pay the maintenance charges threatened to burn the building down. Of course, we knew she wouldn't actually do it, but giving her back the supply doesn't quite solve the problem regarding the long outstanding debt. It's amazing how some people can just choose to disappear when they don't care about paying up anymore. But then, it's either fight or flight in our crazy world, so I get it. Really.

The worst part of my week however, is the existence of a virus in my computer at home. It keeps messing with my connection. So frankly, I don't know how long will it be before it gets cut off again.

That being said, I bid you farewell now. Happy Easter.

Differences

2008-03-16T19:32:00.000+08:00

You guys wanna know what I had to do today? I had to accompany my sister to her colleague's wedding. Why? Because she needed an extra pair of hands to take pictures. Geez. But not only that, mum wants me to keep an eye on her, just like I do every day when we go to work and come home together. We're going to look like a married couple if we keep this up. Sigh. And being at weddings like this, it's boring, especially if neither the bride nor the groom is a friend of yours. But I got a free meal when I was there, so it wasn't so bad.

Last night, I watched a film called Partition, which is a love story set in India in 1947, just after their independence was achieved. It's a volatile time, when Hindus and Muslims hated each other, up to the point where they would kill one another. The film tells the story of Gian (Jimi Mistry), a Sikh man who had just come home from serving the British as a soldier, trying to forget the nightmares of war and leading a peaceful life at his farm. One day, he rescues a young Muslim girl, Naseem (Kristin Kreuk) from people who wanted to kill her because of her religion.

He tries to hide her in his house, but soon his friends and neighbours learn about her and want to harm her. He protects her with his life, and soon she learns to fit in and eventually win over everyone's hearts. Gian and Naseem then fall in love, marry and have a child of their own. But she misses her own family, from which she was separated when they were attacked by Hindus while on their way to Pakistan. She finds a way to go there and reunite with them, but when Naseem's family learn that she has married a Sikh, they keep her captive. Gian then makes his way to Pakistan to get her back. But it doesn't end well, despite their undying love for each other.

Normally I wouldn't watch a love story, but I wanted to see Kristin Kreuk in a different light. Everyone knows her as Lana Lang from Smallville, but seeing her as a Muslim girl? Well, she did great. Her acting is definitely better here, though some purists will say that she doesn't look like an Indian at all. The acting in general was quite good, and the subject matter fascinating. It's disconcerting to see how the world was like back then, when differences in religion would make people hate and kill each other. At the end of the day, we're all God's children, and no matter who we are inside, or what religion we believe in, we should all learn to accept each other's differences and live peacefully together.

On a personal standpoint, I think the film should have been made into a miniseries, in order to allow more time for things to develop. The 2 hour time frame just wasn't enough. But it is a good movie, made by Canadians no less. I think the world today is more or less like the world in this film, and that's quite tragic, just like the film itself.

Just thought I should tell you about this film without putting it on FF. Have a good week ahead.

Messages

2008-03-15T19:22:00.000+08:00

Generally I think I've had a good week. Work is getting less hectic, had more time to do certain tasks. Some old debts for our management to collect had finally been collected, so things are looking up. It's good to put in a lot of effort and see it pay off, which is what we all basically want at the end of the day, isn't it?

Anyway, been looking at what everyone's been up to, which isn't much. And in response to that, I'll just leave a few words for them, reader or not:

To Ira: Happy dreaming. It's a nice escape from ....well, everything.

To Michael: I hope you find the answers you seek.

To Tom: You certainly have issues. But you'll be okay, I think. (Thanks for the Idol quiz, btw)

To Mayleen: You certainly are great with kids. If you don't mind me saying, being a nanny or pre-school teacher is more interesting than being a dental assistant. Good luck to you anyway;)

To Sue: Nice pics. I wonder what your SPM results are like.

To Rhea: Congratulations on your graduation. I hope you took lots of pics;)

To Anouk: Thanks for helping me download some songs online, and with the virus problem. I can only hope it won't happen again.

The trailer for The Incredible Hulk came out this week. Check out the awesomeness.

Etc

2008-02-23T23:45:00.000+08:00

I've been posting crap, haven't I? The last few entries have been very boring to read, I think. It's probably because I've got writer's block. When it comes to writing personal blogs like this, you don't get writer's block if you're depressed, pissed or had something really life-changing, be it good or bad, happen to you. And right now, my life is pretty quiet. Normal. Routine. It's good, because at least I know what to expect when I wake up tomorrow. But it doesn't help my blog writing skills at the moment.

So since I don't really have an issue to talk about, or complain about, let me just talk about stuff off the top of my head, some are opinions, some are about current events.

- Heath Ledger passed away a few weeks ago. I remember putting his picture up on this blog the other day, and now he's gone. It's unfortunate, of course, since he's well on his way to making a name for himself in Hollywood, with his role as The Joker in the Batman sequel. I'm now looking forward even more to The Dark Knight this coming July.

- I have a new manager in the office. What about the old one? Well, he's gone. Someone higher up the food chain decided that it's time for a change. And I welcome it. I don't really like talking about other people, but let's just say that my old manager wasn't very good at his job. I wasn't really into his managing style. The new guy is okay, so far. I hope it stays that way. After all, frequent management changes isn't going to look well for us in the long run, and he's the 3rd manager we've had in a year.

- The Amazing Race Asia is finally over. Congrats to Team Singapore for winning the prize. Damn. I was actually rooting for Team Philippines, but they stumbled at the last task and came in third (sorry to tell you this, Rhea). But I thoroughly enjoyed this season. If there's any reality show I love following, it's The Amazing Race. I'd love to be a part of it someday, though I don't know if I'll be good enough for it. Oh, congratulations also to Team Malaysia for coming in second. Well done, Pam and Van;)

- My Chinese New Year was quiet, but you know what? I actually got a lot of red packets this year. Haha! This is the payoff from working at a condominium. You get to meet a lot of people, you get to help them, and they remember you and give us something back. Well, okay. It wasn't that much, to be honest. But it beats working at the old office. I think this place actually is less stressful for me. And the people I work with are really nice, so it's been great.

- I am still thinking of that girl. Many times I wish I could see her again. I do know that it's unhealthy to miss her this much. And it's not good to hope to see her face in the crowd when I hang out at the mall. But I can't help it. I keep praying our paths will cross again. But I don't even know if she'll remember me.

- The past few weeks spent online made me discover that there are a lot of people out there with problems. Some write about it, some talk about it, some take out their rage on office equipment (man, that is insane). And as some of you know, some people just go and shoot other people dead. What's the world coming to? I mean, this is not because of what they watched on TV, because everyone watches the same thing, more or less. This is because of mental stress, or the inability to manage their anger, or just the complete lack of compassion and logic in their mind. There are a lot of people out there who need help. Seriously.

- I was really happy to talk to an old friend online last week. I missed her so much, and finally I got to speak with her. I realize that it will probably be a long time before I talk to her again, since she's so busy and all. But that's okay, I know she's always worth the time. She hasn't changed, and that's why I'll always have a special place in my heart for her.

I think that will do for now. It still doesn't sound like much, does it? Well, that's ok, I'm just warming up.

What Else Is There?

2008-02-14T22:28:00.000+08:00

That's the question in my mind that begs for an answer right now. What else is there to do, when there's no one left to talk to? Where is everyone? Hmm. I guess they're all busy. But that's ok, I've been busy too. Before and after the holidays.

So what do I do? One word: Facebook! Yup. The brand new fad that may replace myspace as the place to be. It's a lot like myspace, but it comes with lots of games and activities to keep yourself busy. I'm trying my best to not get addicted.

And then there's TV. I recently watched the Grammys, and the one thing that is evident every year

(this was when the lights went out, and the moment I realised we had a blackout, hence the sudden stop there lol)

So where was I? Oh, right. The one thing evident every year at the Grammys is the performances. They keep trying to top the previous year. Beyonce and Tina Turner took the stage together, while Alicia Keys dueted with a Frank Sinatra recording, then later with John Mayer, though John just played guitar. But it doesn't quite top last year's collaboration by Linkin Park, Jay Z & Paul McCartney. Brilliant.

I'd tell you more about what I'm watching on TV, but I think I'd better end this post before another blackout cuts me off. I'll leave you with this movie trailer. Happy Valentine's Day to you.

Current Favourites

2008-02-09T22:33:00.000+08:00

Song: Crushcrushcrush by Paramore

Film: Rambo

Pretty Faces

2008-02-02T23:30:00.000+08:00

Isn't she gorgeous? I think so. Her name is Maya Karin. She is a Malaysian actress, who has German and Malay parentage. I haven't actually seen any of her films (yeah, ignorance is my sin), but I do think she is talented. And graceful. Have I mentioned she's gorgeous?

You know, when I think of her roots, I keep thinking that Ira & Michael's kids may look like her someday. I think that's cool.

(Wow, I just used the word 'think' 5 times. I need to find a better word.)

Anyway, I seem to have a thing for pretty faces and good looks. Most men would, right? Not that we're shallow or anything. It's just the way we are. A pretty face would grab my attention almost immediately. Uh huh. But then, we all know and admit that it's what inside that counts. Good manners. Good attitude. The caring kind. The ones who will not break your heart. THAT'S real beauty.

Only God knows how few of them I've met in my 31 years of life. People like that are so hard to find, and more difficult to forget. That's the story of my life. Dreams that remain dreams.

OK, I'm done being pathetic. Moving on.

Speaking of faces, I went to the post office today. The one at the mall. I've not been to this particular branch in months, ever since I changed jobs. And the odd thing was, the lady behind the counter recognised me. Wow. I was aware that she knew me from the numerous times I had been there in the past, but the fact that she actually remembered my face after a long time was uncanny. Some people are blessed with good memory banks. And a kind soul too. God bless her.

Chinese New Year is coming in 5 days. Getting busy with the shopping, the cleaning and the preparing. And then there's the office work. No rest for the wicked.

I hope everyone else is in good health and spirit. Take care.

There Goes The Weekend

2008-01-19T22:38:00.000+08:00

Man, this is one hell of a week. The work just keeps on coming, and even though my office doesn't open on weekends, I had to show up this afternoon for some extra assignments. And I have to go back there tomorrow morning too, to wrap things up. Sucks. But the good thing is, there's a payoff for all this. So it's great that our sacrifices are not for nothing.

Watched another film today. Not bad at all, though I am itching to watch American Gangster next week. Denzel and Russell.....it's a combination that you wouldn't want to miss.

I had just finished watching another episode of Damages on TV. Its lead star, Glenn Close, recently won the Golden Globe for best actress, so this show is definitely more than promising. Anyway, there was a girl on the show, who looked so pretty, and she seemed familiar somehow. It was only after I studied her face and ran it through my mind again and again, that I finally realised she looked just like that girl I adored in my office last year. That face....it won't leave my memory ever. And oddly enough, I pray it never does.

By the way, in case you didn't know, American Idol is back. Get ready for yet another round of bad auditions and horrible singing. The initial auditions are always the best part of the season, because this is where you get to see America's worst wannabe singers perform. And Simon Cowell's comments are classic, honest and more importantly, brutal. Just the way I like it. I have this video of an audition I watched this week which is totally hilarious. Guaranteed to put a smile on your face, if not make you laugh. Enjoy.

30 + 1

2008-01-10T00:23:00.000+08:00

And another birthday arrives.

To be honest with you, I don't feel like my age. I still feel like I'm 25. I don't know if that means I still have some growing up to do. The thing is, I feel as young as I should be. Or old. Take your pick.

For those of you that come here to read my words over the past several months (and I know there are probably very few of you left, if any), you'd know that the 30th year of my life has been really tough. I'm not going to talk about it too much, I have no intention of repeating myself. Let's just say that many things took shape, and though it was a bad year, it wasn't a total waste. Just like Anouk, I don't believe the past year was wasted. It did teach me to be stronger where I didn't know I was weak. And also the fact that things must change or come to an end. And I'll have to get used to it.

So what's next? More changes, I guess. But this time, I hope for the better kind. The one with promise and potential. The one filled with opportunity. The one where I can make something out of something. The one where I can do something and feel good about it. Or even fix whatever that's broken. Perhaps a chance to use all those deep thoughts I keep having for a noble purpose. Anything's possible.

However, if I wanted to be more specific, I wish that things around the 'blog circle' would be back to the way it was. Now it feels like everyone's so estranged from each other. Everyone's minding their own business. Everyone's too busy to care. But it doesn't have to be this way. It really doesn't. All it takes is a step in the right direction.

I have several other wishes, but like the kind that you think of before blowing out your birthday candles, I'll keep them to myself. Anyway, surviving another year is what counts, and as long as I have one good reason to keep breathing, I'll live. And I have plenty of reasons.

By the way, Michael, if you're reading this, Happy Birthday in advance. Peace.

Famous Last Words

2007-12-30T19:11:00.000+08:00

We're just a little over 24 hours away from a brand new year. So before I step into 2008, I would like to look back on this year and sum it up somehow.

How was 2007? I think that it was arguably the hardest year of my life. So much has transpired, a lot has changed. A family member fell sick. I was forced to switch jobs (I say forced, because the circumstances left me no other option, and I really didn't want to at the time). I lost a few friends, and gained a few new ones. The girl that I adored so much went away, though I am glad I met her, and still remember her even now. So many different challenges took their best shot at me, and I prayed harder and more often than before.

And where did 2007 leave me? Well, I can't say for sure if I'm a stronger person now than before. Or wiser. But I am glad that I'm still here, writing in this little blog that I almost thought I had no reason left to keep.

I'm still not much of a writer. I'm still trying my best to express myself better, to experience more, imagine more, say more. Even for my other blog, I'm not much of a writer. But I find talking about films far more interesting. And learning that there are some people who visit FF. It gives me the will to continue on.

As far as films go, 2007 was the year of the sequels. Most of them missed the mark however. 2008 will see more film sequels come forth, The Dark Knight being the most hyped one. I am all excited about it already.

For the next year, what can I expect? Hopefully, not more of the same. I do realize that I want things to change, but at the same time not courageous enough to be more proactive. I need opportunity, and maybe a little more time. And more will power to do what's necessary. At the moment, where I stand in my life is quite good. The worst is over, but there is more coming. Not knowing what it is kinda scares me, but I'd like to believe that I can survive and make it better, with a little help from the man upstairs.

To all my friends, who are on the links list, who aren't on the links list, to those who've never heard of me, or cared, to those who just stumbled upon FF or this blog, to those that I love and care about who don't even know of this place, I wish you all a happy 2008. God speed.

Decorations

2007-12-25T16:41:00.000+08:00

Guess what day it is today. For those of you who aren't into celebrations, let me inform you that it's Xmas time again. Now, I'm not exactly the kind that celebrates Xmas, not being a Christian and all that. But I do love Xmas, and I do believe that Xmas has a place in everyone's heart, no matter what age, gender or religion. It's just a day to pass along some positive feelings and goodwill. Joy to the world, as the song goes.

I am aware of some people who aren't the celebrating kind, who would scoff at days like Xmas or other celebrations of the same sort. Some are of the opinion that Xmas has become much too commercialised, that it has somehow extended beyond tradition, and the only thing associated with Xmas these days are shopping, gifts and photo ops with Santa.

Well, who could blame them? It is true to some extent. And the world has changed a lot. People these days can get really disconnected from each other. They don't want to spend time with family and friends, exchange gifts, talk about the good old days and all that. Everyone wants to be alone, or are used to being alone.

It's a real pity, because the way the world is today, we need each other now more than ever. I am well aware that hardly anyone ever comes to this little blog of mine anymore, but anyone who reads this will agree that the world is a crazy place. Time is our greatest villain, it just doesn't stop bringing the pain in so many different forms. Crime, violence, hate. It's all out there.

And here we are, trying so hard to survive, and losing the good fight. Letting pride run our lives instead of common sense. What have we become?

OK, I should stop preaching. It's Xmas, not Oprah having Aung San Suu Kyi on her show or anything. The point is, we should all take this day and feel good about it. Celebrate it, for any kind of reason. If you don't believe in Xmas, then celebrate it as a day that you're alive and well. You skeptics would probably tell me that you can pick any other day to celebrate that. Well, I say, pick this day. You don't have to be with someone to celebrate. Just give yourself a nice treat and smile. Can't be too hard, now can it?

Anyway, feast your eyes on some of the pics I took over the past week at some shopping malls in my city. Great decorations, aren't they? I particularly liked the giant toy soldier here, really awesome.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Infectious

2007-12-15T22:07:00.000+08:00

People are an infection. You, me and everyone around you. Family. Friends. Colleagues. We're all an infection.

We infect ourselves and one another, just by doing what we do every day. We infect each other with emotions. Love. Hate. Sadness. Frustration. Despair. Anger. Rage. We infect each other with kindness. Jealousy. Fear. Envy. Happiness. Tyranny. Malice. Violence. We do this all the time.

But the most important and significant thing we infect each other with, is the need. The need for things. Need for companionship. Emotions. Love. The need for each other. More imperatively, the need to exist.

Because without each other, what are we? Who are we? If you were the only person left on God's green earth, who would you be? Who would know you? See you? Walk with you? Be with you? It is other people who define your existence. Of course, the right to exist lies with you, but if you existed for no one, what good is that?

We infect each other with the need to be with each other. It's something that isn't the basic need of human beings, if you really think about it. But we have come to the point where we need each other, and we can't have it any other way, or we will go insane. No man is an island. No one wants to be alone, even if they have the courage to say it out loud. We need people, to feel alive.

But at the same time, we have so much ability to hate one another. A lot of times for the smallest of reasons. I know this for a fact, because I've felt it so many times. I'm not proud of it, but that's the way it is. We hate the same people we need. We take them for granted a lot. We love them dearly, but we let them down again and again and again. And as much as we want, and as hard as we try, we can't hate everyone forever. Maybe it's because God won't let us. So right now, I don't know if the desire to be alone is worth keeping, because we're not strong enough to refuse reaching out for others at some point. Stuck between the need for company and the desire for isolation.

We are all messed up, aren't we?

Went shopping today. Picked up a few things that I was looking for, while nursing my badly bruised patience. I wish I had more of that. I wish more of us had more patience too. Then maybe we won't try so desperately to be alone while being surrounded by people.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

2007-12-02T16:53:00.001+08:00

Observations

2007-12-02T16:46:00.001+08:00

I was at the cinema yesterday, watching The Kingdom, a film about the FBI going over to Saudi Arabia to investigate a terrorist attack on Americans there. There's a scene in the film when forensic specialist Janet Mayes, played by Jennifer Garner, examines the bodies of the killed terrorists. When she attempted to take their fingerprints, the Saudi authorities supervising her suddenly started yelling at her, telling her she can't touch a Muslim because she's a woman.

This reminded me of that rule in Islam where Muslim women are apparently not allowed to touch other men. We have that rule here in Malaysia, but to call it a rule seems too harsh. I'd say it's more like the norm, because that's the way Muslim women were raised. In religious school, this is what they learnt. But the odd thing is, not everyone applies this rule. I know this because I've worked with Muslim women before.

I have tried, in the past, to shake a Muslim girl's hand when I greet them. Some of them have no problem with it, some merely extend their fingers to me, while some others will not greet me back. I remember once trying to shake the hand of a colleague, for Aidilfitri (Eid to some of you), and I noticed the hesitation on her face. I remembered the rule at that moment, so I asked her if it was okay. She said, we had better not. So I said "OK, no problem."

I'm okay with this regulation, actually. I am capable of respecting other people's cultures. But I am still baffled by how it is inconsistently practised by the people. Just like some Muslim women wear a headscarf during their day-to-day activities, and some don't. Most people would say the ones who don't are more modern minded, but it doesn't make them any less of a believer in their religion. I believe so too. But like I said, I'm curious. It's a thought that returned to me yesterday, and it has made me more fascinated with the Muslim community. I think I have developed a certain amount of respect and admiration for them.

From my observation, they lead a simple life, despite having to follow certain customs that may seem odd to some. But I guess they're lucky to some extent, because other Muslim countries have even more rigid rules on their religion which we don't practise here. But the question is, are we any different from them? After all, we're all human, and we're all children of God.

Check out the new posters for the sequel to Hellboy, opening next year. Awesome stuff. And by the way, if anyone knows how to use the Slideshow widget to post your own pics in slideshow form on their blog's sidebar, please contact me. Thanks.

Hahahahahahahahaha..................

2007-11-28T23:09:00.000+08:00

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, The Joker! That's Heath Ledger actually, in the guise of The Clown Prince Of Crime, for the upcoming Batman sequel, The Dark Knight, which is opening in summer 2008.

I still remember watching Jack Nicholson play The Joker in the first Batman film directed by Tim Burton. He did it very well, but it's scattered with the same Nicholson mannerisms you've seen hundreds of times in his films. So this time, what will The Joker be like? I for one, hope that Ledger can do just as good as Nicholson. He's got the look down pat, obviously, from the picture. But The Joker isn't just a comicbook villain, he's an icon of evil.

The Joker is psychotic. Sociopathic. Insane. Remorseless. Evil. From his small and skinny frame, you wouldn't expect him to be a threat. But he is truly dangerous. By the time you think you're safe in his presence, it may be too late. The Joker is one of a kind, because he doesn't need a reason to do whatever he wants to do. He just does it. And he does it with a laugh, an evil grin and a look in his eyes that you won't forget. Basically he is everything Batman isn't, even though both of them instill fear in others.

I guess you can tell I'm quite excited about this film. I am. Though to be honest, there was very little information and press on it prior to the release of this picture, save for a 59 second trailer (which was rather disappointing) and riddles guarding the official website. So I owe my gratitude to Empire magazine for this picture. It speaks volumes for Batman fans everywhere.

Here's hoping The Joker will outdo that bloody Liam Neeson in the previous film. Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Rebirth

2007-11-25T01:25:00.000+08:00

It took me a while, but I finally succeeded in revamping FR today. What do you think? I think it looks great, it has a certain dark aura that makes it more appealing, to me anyways. I added a few things too, though overall it still doesn't feel perfect. I know of only two people who can help me make it better, because they know more about HTML than I do, but they're unavailable at the moment. So I'll just have to make do with this.

As for FF, I'm gonna renovate that too, and hopefully it will look less bland than it currently does. It is FF that needs the most improvement, because I'm still looking for an audience for it. So I hope to make it look snazzier by this time tomorrow.

Lots of stuff has been happening, though none have been too important. Which is probably why FR hasn't been having much activity as of late. I remember how I started off this blog by writing about depressing things and things that would keep you up at night and rob you of your sleep. These days I'd rather not focus on that. Instead, I'll tell you about the stuff that I enjoy doing, like watching movies for example. Yeah, I know. You all will be going "Yawn" right about now, wondering if I ever talk about anything else. But I can't help it, it's a hobby of mine. Anyway, I watched 2 films today, one of the reviews is already up at FF, so feel free to check it out.

I'm also happy to note that one of my favourite shows of all time, The Shield, is back on TV. It focuses on a group of cops who sometimes have to resort to breaking the law in order to serve justice. And then they go too far and the shit hits the fan. Great stuff. It almost makes up for my disappointment over the local channels screening the latest season of 24 in the wee hours of the morning. What on earth were they thinking?

Past Tense

2007-11-08T18:58:00.000+08:00

Damn. I slept too long.

This is what happens when it's a public holiday. This is why I rarely take a break from work. It's because I'm so used to routine. Gonna be hell when I try to fall asleep tonight.

Someone I know recently wrote about how time has passed so quickly. I couldn't agree more. Here I was last night, in front of my computer, with nowhere to go. So I decided to go back to a few forums I had not visited in a long time. The good news is that some people I had known from back in the day were still around. The bad news were the changes, mostly negative, that I had found. Perhaps forums aren't the in-thing anymore. It used to be, but now times are different. I have changed too, though I barely realised it.

I don't really have much to update, so let me show you something instead. I recently discovered this cool song with a rather creepy video. The song is What's A Girl To Do by Bat For Lashes. Check it out and tell me what you think.

Aaron, The Debt Collector

2007-10-28T01:10:00.000+08:00

Yeah, I'm your worst nightmare. Pay up! Settle your debts now or I'll kick your ass. Well, okay. I'm kidding.

I'm not really a debt collector, whether it's the legal kind or the illegal kind. But this is the role I've been handed for the last two weeks. You see, I work at a management corporation for a condominium, in the accounts department, and my job is to collect payments from the owners and tenants. We don't collect rent, we don't own the units, we just collect payments for service charges and water. They all have 30 days to settle the bills or we charge interest. Sounds simple enough, right?

Well, no. Most of them do settle on time, but there are still a great many who do not, and they let their debts build up over time, which add up to months, almost a year and some over a year. This of course doesn't sit well with us, because it's their money that keeps our management corporation running.

So what do the peeps in the building's council do? They get me and my colleague to start calling up our unit owners and ask them to pay up. Which is fine with me, actually. Even though I dislike the idea of speaking to people on the phone about money and things like that. I've had my fair share of verbal abuse from people ever since I got this job. But hey, you gotta do what you gotta do. In the long run, it will help us too. Might help us get a bonus or something.

So I've been calling the latepayers up, and I get a variation of answers, from "Sure, I'll send you a cheque soon" to "Why don't you fax me an accounts statement and I'll get back to you". Good answers, but only if they actually pay up. Then there was this one guy I called yesterday who had apparently sold his unit 5 months ago and didn't even bother to tell us. Great. So I've been sending the bills to the wrong person. And he even got agitated when I asked him when he would come back from overseas, because that's where he said he was. Don't these people know I need concrete answers? You own a unit and you don't even have the responsibility to look after it.

But it gets better! There was a lady I called up, who only speaks Chinese. My weakness. So I handed the phone to my colleague, and when she hung up after the convo was over, she said that the lady asked us to call the other latepayers first, because she knew she wasn't the worst one. Haha. Ha. Very funny. Oh, did I mention the lady was angry when she said that? Weird.

So why can't these people be nice? Or at least pay up on time? I've met some really nice owners and tenants over the last 5 months working here. People who smile and thank you for giving them useful information about their account, or for helping them warn the tenant in their unit to pay the water bills, stuff like that. There are a few who even pay in advance. They give us a nice fat cheque that will settle their bills for the next few months, then they disappear and come back later when it's time to pay again. That way they never get charged interest. These are the kind of people who don't care about the money, they are not going to complain about the bills being too high. Fitting for a condo owner.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you can't afford to keep the unit, then sell it. No point owing a debt you can't settle. Sell it, and cut your losses. Most of these owners don't live in the unit anyway, they just want to own one, or just want to rent it out. It all comes down to whether they can maintain the idea of keeping one.

Was I complaining too much in this post? I probably shouldn't. I mean, I'm Aaron, The Debt Collector! I shouldn't be whining. Right?

The Mind's Eye

2007-10-21T18:12:00.000+08:00

Two dreams in two nights. Both very vivid, very real. It was surreal of course, like most dreams should be. But it left me weak, mystified, lost, confused. And craving for more of it.

When I was in it, I could even sense that there's no way it could be real. That's strange. Because usually when I dream, I just take it in, like it's reality, like it's actually happening, and I don't realise that it's all in my mind. This time, it's different. And what happened was so intoxicating, that even I have no idea how it came about.

Well, I'm not going to go into the details. You'd probably not understand it anyway. I couldn't fathom it either. But when it comes to dreams, none of us can really understand them, can we? It happens without warning, without meaning, without reason. I am aware that some people can interpret dreams and think of them as a sign of things to come. But the future is hardly predictable, so nothing is certain.

The second dream was of greater significance though. Someone I once knew, whom I have been thinking of the whole week, was in it. She was probably there in my dream because of that. But I always thought of her in the past, and this is the first time she was present in my sleep. What's even weirder is the fact that I thought I saw her at the mall yesterday. It haunted me so much I tried to get a good look at her to be sure, and turns out it wasn't her. But then again, I hadn't seen her in the flesh for 5 months now, so I wouldn't have known what to do if I was right.

Hmm, I am losing my mind. And yet, most of the time I am fine. I can do everything that is expected of me, all the routines, all the work, all the things I love doing. I am getting better at my job, getting along well with my colleagues, feeling more confident about my time and how it's being spent. But that weakness of thinking too much is still there. Maybe that can explain the dreams.

But it's good for me to dream. Because I rarely dream. And it felt good. I want more.

What's Showing?

2007-10-07T01:33:00.000+08:00

Watching movies is a hobby of mine, and I can say that I'm quite proud of it. This month is the one year anniversary of my movie blog, Familiar Fantasy, and I have written quite a lot of stuff there. Something to behold, although I feel that my writing can still improve. But really, it's the movie watching that I am happy to be a part of, more than writing about it. The experience of sitting through two hours of action, drama and thrills and what have you unfold on screen, be it big or small, is a real treat.

But if you lived in Malaysia, you'd realise how tough it is to be a movie fan. How hard it is to find good stuff to watch. How frustrating it is to see what's showing at the cinemas. How I'd wish some of the films I've heard about would make its way here.

Malaysian cinema suffers from a severe lack of quality movies to turn to. There are two main reasons for this: censorship and lack of commitment from local film distributors.

Let's start with censorship. Here we have a board, called the Censorship Board, that sees fit to decide what we can watch, and what we can't. They'll watch the movie, cut out some stuff they deem inappropriate, then let us see it. Or not. Sometimes too much is taken out, so they have to ban it altogether. What would they deem inappropriate, you ask? Sex. Violence. Religion. Sensitive political issues. The board sees fit to remove any content of such nature from the films they view. It's not a bad idea, though it promotes the notion that we Malaysians can't think for ourselves on what's appropriate or not. But the fact is, the board can be inconsistent at times. Some films are banned for violence, and yet other more violent films pass the test. Movies like 300 and The Hills Have Eyes 2 are screened here, but Kill Bill is banned. And then there are cases like banning Daredevil because of its title. Yeah, real silly, isn't it?

Then there are local film distributors who seem to lack in the ability to decide what's worth importing here and what isn't. That, and the fact that they take too long to bring the film over. I say there's a lack of ability to import the right films because of what we get to see here. If you know what films have been released by the Hollywood movie making machine lately, and also know what we Malaysians get to watch right now, you'd probably laugh. OK. Do you know what we get to watch in the cinemas for the past few months? Black Sheep (black horror comedy about mutant sheep). White Noise: The Light (horror sequel about the supernatural). Skinwalkers (werewolf film that got bad reviews). Whisper (B-grade thriller).

Now, granted that some of these films may actually be watchable. But why are we denied other films that hold so much more potential? Like 1408 (Stephen King horror film)? Or Daywatch (Russian fantasy film)? What about Zodiac, the film by David Fincher about the real serial killer called Zodiac? The Grindhouse films Death Proof and Planet Terror by Tarantino and Rodriguez? (OK, maybe the censors won't allow it anyway) Then there's Shoot 'Em Up, the action flick starring Clive Owen. Death Sentence, a revenge film with Kevin Bacon in the lead role. And the list goes on.

Local film distributors seem to think that these films aren't marketable here, so they don't import them, and hand the rights to the video companies, and the films get released on video later. So yeah, we get to watch some of them, but for a higher price, and on a smaller screen. That takes away so much of the movie watching experience. If you're into films, you'd know that the cinema is the best place to go, despite all the less than stellar experiences you get on occasion, like unruly patrons, screaming kids, technical difficulties and such. But all that has never stopped me from going.

And because of all this, it is the pirates that end up winning. The DVD pirates, who can basically get any film you want, will win at the end of the day. Dissatisfied Malaysians will turn to them to satiate their hunger for good films. I had done so in the past, but to be honest, I don't want to support something illegal, so I have bought legal copies of films as far as possible. But that will burn a hole in my wallet eventually, hence the importance of the improvement of local cinema.

I gotta tell you, I really wish I could go to Singapore. I read a monthly movie magazine published there, and I'm so impressed to discover the variety of films screened on that island. I think most film fans would be spoilt for choice there. Sigh. Malaysia and Singapore are practically neighbours, but we are so different in many ways. This is just one.

To all the people, the powers that be, who have a say in the control of films in this country, if you're reading this, please do something about this. You can beat piracy, you really can. All you have to do is pay attention to what's going on, and be more open minded. That's it.

Scattered around this entry are some of the promising films to arrive next year. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, though I don't know for how long.