Another year will soon past (it's 11:45 am in Newcastle at time of writing) and a new one will come bringing yet another promise of a good life, or will it?
Now what exactly is 'a good life'? Is there a definition? Does it make you a cut above the rest if you have a definition? Is your definition of agood life truer than the definition for the man next to you? Is it even necessary to have a definition? The rambling goes on and on.
Which one are you? Are you the kind of person that will always work your hardest to get the kind of good life you've been wanting? Or are you the kind of person that lives the life you are given as fully and just be happy about it? I saw this saying somewhere: You can either live the life you like or like the life you live. Are you the 'journey' man or do you aim for the 'destination'?
You need answers? Don't ask me. I'm still looking for them; kinda like you.
Anyway, I'm goiing to do this reccap thing that people have been doing all over the blogosphere. They list down all the things that has happened to them for 2009 and write about why they're most significant to them. Kinda cliched but hey, the only reason why some things are cliched is because they are true! So I'm gonna be a copycat and do my list =)
1. Honesty is the best policy
This year, I have chosen to live my life the way I've always wanted it. It's kinda like my resolution for 2009. To chase what I want without looking back I've spent the good 20 years of my life thinking and evaluating most of my actions and choices (not that it's a bad thing) but in 2009, I've decided to just live life as it comes rather than holding myself back. They say people normally regret for those things they don't get the chance to do rather the things they did and I don't want to be like that. Some of you might not agree with it but hey, It's my life! (jump up and down singing It's my life by Bon Jovi)
2. A ship in harbour is safe but that's not what a ship is built for
I told the person I had the biggest crush on my feeling. This was really funny. The feeling was bugging me for a good long time and because of my decision to adopt no. 1 (look above) attitude, I decided to tell the person. It didn't work out because the person didn't share the same feeling but hey, I worked up my courage =)!
3. Trippin'!!!
Eurotrip!!! The first one ever in my life. I went to Holland, France and Switzerland. Good times, good friends =) And I also got on my first ferry cruise for the night from Newcastle to IJmuiden.
precious =) this was taken at Chateau de Chillon. Someone was 'busy' in Lausanne =p
scenery while in the train journey to Lauterbrunnen
I passed first year med school and got into second year!!! Yeah, lame. I know. Hundreds have done it before me so there's nothing special with it. But hey, I worked hard for it so I have the right to be happy. And 2nd year is a lot better and I really like it now.
5. Life in pen and paper (well, not technically)
I decided to start blogging again. I began end of 2007 on Friendster (God knows what happens to that shiz) and I started using blogspot only mid-2008. I deleted that blog because my family began reading it when they were not suppossed to because most of the entries were about me bitching about them. Haha. Well, it has been revived and this is the one. I don't know whether they know about this one or not (they probably do. They'll do anything to spy on my life!!!) but whatever. No running away from my real life =)
6. A-dull-hood
I turned 21. A year older, a year wiser; at least I hope so. Well, I wrote an entire entry for that here.
My father was warded for two nights for TIA (Transient Ischaemic Attack). Easily put, it's minor stroke. Well, not really but it's New Year so I'm not exactly in the mood of elaborating. Suffice to say that, so appropriately-timed after around a month of my 21st birthday, I kinda understood what it meant to be an adult and a fully-fledge man with responsibilitie. Dear mother was so worried it was left to my brother and I, with my uncle, to remain calm and rational to handle the whole thing. Lots of things went through our heads but we remained together and prayed for the best. We went out of the ordeal pretty much unscathed and I learnt a lot from that experience. And I finally understand what my brother has been going through all his life. That awesome guy pretty much sacrifices his teenage years being a responsible brother to let his siblings enjoy theirs.
8. Market Street
I got a taste of my own medicine. Well, sometimes God works in the most mysterious way. You need the hardest slap to be reminded of the real worth of your life. Enough said.
I found it and I lost it again. To situation. To circumstance. To distance. To impatience. To arrogance. To time. I finally found one person that I kinda really like who shared the same views and ideas I have but it's not going anywhere now. It's none of our faults but we just lost it.
There you go. 9 most significant events in my life in 2009. I'm sorry I have to be a little vague on certain stuff. Let's hope for a better year in 2010, whatever that's suppossed to mean.
To be fair, I don't read the novels. I remember downloading the e-book but I never bother reading it so it has now been deleted into virtual nothingness. Somehow, the comic shrewdness of Hercule Poirot of Agatha Christie marvels me more.
So yeah, the movie. Directed by Guy Ritchie (yup, the Guy Ritchie, Madonna's ex-husband), it deserves only 2.75/5. I don't remember ever watching any of his movies so I'll keep my mouth shut about his capacity as a director.
Since it has just begun showing, I won't reveal much about the storyline except that there's nothing new about it. Year in year out, you will probably see numerous hollywood movies with pretty much the same story one after another. Suffice to say that Holmes and his loyal sidekick, Watson, are hard-pressed to solve the many mysterious murders by someone who comes back from the dead who happens to be using black magic. Helped by a professional and sensuos (suppossedly) internationally-reknowned criminal Irene Adler, they have to go through series of riddles set by Lord Blackwood (appropriately-named!!!) who intends to conquer the British parliament (bluerrgh!!!). They succeeded and the world is saved yada yada yada...
Acting wise, only Jude Law impressed me. Not really knowing the kind of person Watson is in the movie, I have to say I like his portrayal of the medical practitioner who happens to share 221b Baker Street with Holmes. Rather than just a mere sidekick who has to do all Holmes bidding, he plays more of a sane person that watches and cleans up after Holmes and his ridiculous antics. Anyway, the role of a sidekick has always tempted me more than the real protagonist.
Downey Jr. failed to impress me. It's not that because he was bad. Watching him deciphering through the clues and making those clever deductions, I was strongly reminded of Tom Hanks playing Professor Robert Langdon. Somehow I think Hanks can pull the character off much better, or maybe Hugh Jackman.
As for Rachel McAdams, she should just remain the typical silverscreen sweetheart as in The Notebook and The Time Traveler's Wife. She's a good actress really but somehow I kept on thinking that Scarlett Johanson could play the sensuous kleptomaniac Irene Adler much better. I kept being reminded of Johanson's role in The Prestige all throughout the movie.
Pretty bad huh, so far???
Well, one has got to be honest. But there are thing that I really like about it. The movie has some pretty good visual effect with regards to the exploding bomb scene but that is just not enough to make it an A-rated movie. I also like the scenes where Holmes will visualise how he's planning to attack his opponents and the kind of damage those attacks will cause. Other than that, it's just a plain average hollywood movie given much hullabaloo simply because of the A-list casts and the famous franchise it's based on.
Watch it if you have some money to waste. But if you're badly-affected by the recession, just wait until it goes online.
This movie is certainly one of the most heart-wrenching I've ever seen!!!
It wasn't the best, though, but definitely touching and will make you shed some tears.
To be honest, the only thing that attracted me to watch the movie at the very beginning was Abigail Breslin. Seriously, after being charmed by her portrayals of cute and quirky young girls in Family plan (alongside Tory Spelling) and Little Miss Sunshine (for which she was nominated for Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress), I wouldn't want to miss out on her playing a serious role (I got tired of her acting in movies that only waste her big talent for childish tales), alongside Cameron Diaz nonetheless. Another reason was the fact that the story is about a girl trying to get a court order for a medical emancipation from her parents so that she can decide what she wants to do with her own body. Being a medical students, that perked up my interest as doctors will be directly involved in matter such as this but it's such a geeky reason so lets forget about it.
Back to the movie, Jeremy Leven made a good decision by changing the screenplay to make it different from the novel in which it was based on to come up with his own ending. I have yet to read My Sister's Keeper (I bought it last July in anticipation of the movie but there never was time to read it) and to be honest, I never really think much of Jodi Piccoult. Not that I think she's not a good author. I've never read any of her works so I would be doing a serious injustice to say so. It's just that I have this weird habit that I will only read novels by new author and I will follow them from there as if I'm in a journey with the authors and Jodi Picoult has written way too many books I kinda feel like I'm too late to follow her on her journey.
That being the case, I wouldn't be able to say whether the movie is better than the novel or the other way around. Suffice to say that, on it's own, the movie is certainly a good one with a near-perfect storyline. Instead of focusing on the legal battle between Anna and Sara Fitzgerald, Jeremy Leven downplayed that subplot to bring the suffering and regrets of Katie Fitzgerald for causing the whole family to stop living their lives centrestage and I think that was a genius decision.
Directed by Nick Cassavetes who directed The Notebook (god help you if you don't know this one), he did a pretty good job in bringing the suffering of Katie and Sara Fitzgerald to life. Even so, there are times when I think he didn't take all the opportunities he had to make some scenes (like the death of Taylor, Katie's love interest, or when Sara found out about the legal suit Anna had made) even more tragic or emotional to bring more tears to the audience. Rather than capitalising on emotional dialogues that would have made the scenes more profound, he chose to put background musics and I personally think that that was such a waste.
With regards to acting, instead of being mesmerised by Abigail Breslin as Anna, I was simply charmed by Sofea Vassilieva' portrayal of Katie that was plain stunning! Not that Breslin wasn't good. She acted out her parts very well except that her parts were pretty insignificant now that the story has been manipulated differently. I'm sure the character Anna must have had more substance in the novel. As for Vassilieva, I've never heard her name before but I'm sure her acting of a dying girl full with regrets for causing her whole family to stop living their lives would surely bring her more major roles in the future. The scene where she flipped through her journal would certainly make you cry.
As for Cameron Diaz, she did a splendid job playing a serious role after having played funny and comical characters one after another. She succeeded in playing the emotional role of a mother whose undying love for her daughter had caused her to do anything to save her daughter from dying apart from preventing her from accepting the fact that there's nothing can be done anymore. Her devastation was made worse knowing her other daughter had filed a suit against her. Watch out for the scenes where she tried justifying her actions in the courtroom and another where she screamed at her husband to send Katie back to hospital.
Other than that, Joan Cusack and Alec Baldwin delivered some very good and cool performances in the courtroom to bring some laughter in between the sad scenes. Evan Ellingson also did a fairly good performance as the abandoned brother who's often paid less attention as the parents were too preoccupied with his sick sister. Watch out for the scene where he came back after getting cold feet from his plan to run away from home in which his disappearance was unnoticed by the parents.
This movie is one of the finest family movie ever made. Not only is it about love and sacrifice and staying together when in trouble, it's also about accepting death as part of our borrowed lives and also of letting go when the time has come for it. Last but not least, it's about appreciating those moments you have with your family and your loved ones, no matter how short or insignificant, for you never know when those times will be taken from you. 3.9/5
I didn't really know much about this day that people has always associated with the date 26th December. One explanation I got from my friend several years ago is that it's the day when those who celebrate Christmas open their boxes of gifts they received from their family and relatives, not on Christmas day itself. While they normally gather on Christmas day to have meals together and exchange gifts, the boxes are normally open the next day in order not to offend the giver lest one doesn't like the presents they received. Therefore, they will go through their boxes of gifts on 26th December (away from their family and relatives) and that's why it's called the 'Boxing Day'.
I guess it's not entirely true.
I woke up this morning and I saw some people asking the question and reading the responses, there's more to it than simply just about opening boxes of presents.
Some say it's the day when rich Lords of olden days in the UK were obliged to give boxes of goods to their servants in return for working with them for the entire year.
Other say it refers to the day when a special box of fund belonging to churches is opened so that the content can be shared among the poor in the village.
There are many other versions of how the day has come to be called the 'Boxing Day' it's actually really fascinating to read about them. Click on any of the links I've put if you're interested to know more about it or you just can google for it yourself =)
If you're lazy, you can always stick to my father's version of it:
It's the day when shoppers (mostly women) start boxing each other in the face, fighting over sizes, in their bid to get the best deals during the 'Boxing Day' sale. Stores are having a clearance sale after Christmas to make room for new items for the new year and prices will be beyond cheap.
On a different note, I'm a little surprised to not see any single news or reference about the Tsunami that happened 5 years ago on this particular date. Not that I want to open any old wounds. I guess the lack of news could only mean a good thing where survivors are now back on track building their lives. My condolences and prayers remain with those who had lost their loved ones in that tragic event and may you all find new love and live as happily.
It has been 10 SUCCESSFUL YEARS and this award-winning musical is still going on strong.
With no signs or news of stopping, this musical will keep on running for years on and on to continue bringing delight to kids across the world and honestly, I don't think adults who've grown up knowing the franchise, animation or musical, would want it to be stopped because they would want their kids to see the show that has once inspired them.
The beauty of The Lion King lies in Simba's passage of time growing from a much-loved and spoilt rascal into a grown tortured soul for a crime he never committed to finally evolved to become a full-fledge man (well, male lion) who learns to fight for his right and for those he loves. Alongside Simba's journey, TLK also portrays the destructive power of greed and thirst for power that has blinded Scar and turned him into a traitor of his own people (species, I mean). Rich with moral values and the questions of search of identities, parents will want their kids to watch it in any form to make sure their children knows what it means to grow up into becoming adults. In fact, the first CD my parents ever bought for us to watch on our then 'new' PC was TLK Disney Animation.
camwhoring in front of Lyceum Theatre
Staged in Lyceum Theatre in West End, London, this Disney Theatrical production boasts everything a musical should have; great singing, great costumes and background props, great choreography. With music by Elton John (he received an Oscar for 'Can you feel the love tonight', the signature song for the show), the audience will be totally mesmerised by the feast of colours and dancing animals galore that brings live to not only the stage but also the entire theatre house. The coreography by Garth Fagan was absolute stunning for they did brought the animals and the way they move to nothing short of real.
Being familiar with the storyline, it does not leave much impact on me but watching the performers singing and dancing to mimic the movement of the animals they played certainly brought the enjoyment to a whole new level. Rafiki the baboon is certainly a character for you to watch out for. Played by Brown Lindiwe Mknize, her (yes, the character is female in the musical) sharp voice rang the entire house with magnificent clarity that will lift your heart with joy. The most-loved character for the show must certainly be Pumbaa and Timon who brought laughter to the audience with their carefree and 'hakuna matata' way of life. As for Scar, George Asprey did a good job to portray the evil and cruel uncle to who spent the whole day thinking and scheming of how best to get the throne for himself.
With regards to the main characters of Simba and Nala, credits have to be given to the young talents that, I believe, brought the characters to live better than their adults counterpart. I somehow thought that Andile Gumba who portrayed adult Simba did not do a perfect job to show how tortured and guilty he felt after being blamed for his own father's death. I mean he's not bad but the moment was just not there. As for Gloria Onitiri who played adult Nala, she did a good job portraying the one lioness that tried her best to keep her tribe together even if they have useless Scar for a king.
The one aspect that I was most amazed, of all the amazing things in the musical, was the costumes and the background props. Julie Taymor must have had a tough time coming up with costumes that will not only function as pieces of clothings but also as extensions of the performers who were portraying animals. My favourite is the headpiece on the lions and the hyenas that can be taken off to mimic how cats extend their necks during a fight. The costume for Timon was also amazing and the giraffes and elephants were beyond cool. As for stage props, kudos to Richard Hudson who amazed me by the revolving Pride Rock and the 'dancing grass'. My favourite of all was the scene where Simba was chased by hundreds of hyenas coming down a hill and Hudson was a total genius for being able to pull it off.
the final scene - Simba & Nala on Pride Rock
curtain call for Zazu
curtain call for Timon and Pumbaa - they received the loudest cheer, well-deserved!
curtain call for Mufasa
curtain call for Simba
the entire cast ensemble
All in all, it was a great privilege to have the chance to enjoy this magnificent tale of life and if you're a musicals enthusiast, do go to Lyceum Theatre (if you're in the UK) to experience it on your own. You won't be disappointed!!!
This is a must-watch for you people out there who love horror flicks. It was not entirely original, as in being similar to The Blair Witch Project found-footage style movie, but I prefer it a lot more than TBWP.
Written and directed by Oren Peli, the movie was actually made in 2007. I don't really have a clear idea why it was released in 2009 only with limited screenings. I'm sure I could find the reason but it's Xmas so I'm not exactly in the mood of googling things up so go find it yourself =).
Anyway, the movie follows the lives of the couple, Katie & Micah, who has just moved to a new house. Micah decides to buy a video camero to record any paranormal activity (naturally) as Katie has revealed that she has been haunted by an entity ever since her youth and the entity is now also in the house following them (I guess that thing wants a change of scene as well). Typically (no surprise really), the entity is starting to make noises and rackets and start disturbing the couple. Katie decided to call a psychic to help solve the whole shiz but apparently he's feeling soooo much hatred form the entity (well obviously!!!) he has to get help from another friend who is more of an expert but too bad he's away somewhere (LAME!!!), so the couple has to deal with it on their own.
Like I said, there's nothing original with the storyline. It was all pretty typical and you could guess how it's going to end and the acting was just average with not much character development. TBWP was better in this aspect as it portrayed how easily the students were mentally and psychologically affected by the thing that were scaring them in the wood. However, there are some pretty good (and by that I mean actually scary) scenes that did send shiver up my spine. To spoil it all to those who haven't seen the movie, the scene where Katie was dragged out of the bed by the entity across the landing gives me goosebumps now and again before I go to sleep.
All in all, I would say it deserves 3/5. Actually, maybe it deserves 3.5/5 since it creeps my housemate out so much she went to sleep to our other friend's house when I vanished for a day to London without telling her. Plus, ever since watching the movie, we've been associating every noise we heard in the house (footsteps, metal signs I have on my door falling on the floor) to some paranormal activity even though we know full well it's just our neighbours (but then again, our neighbours are actually scarier. You can never know what happens behind their closed door).
So, go watch it if you have some time to waste =).
the conspirators - having breakfast in Pret-A-Manger
I totally had a great time vanishing off to London on Monday night. Taking the night coach at 11:45 p.m. with Java, we left without telling my housemate (I left a note in my room but she was too honourable to go into people's room without telling so she didn't see the note at all). We arrived at the early hours of Tuesday morning and went to have breakfast at McD and Pret-A-Manger.
At around 9 a.m., we went to Victoria Underground Station. Since it was still early, we thought of getting lost in London by following some random stranger going wherever he goes. We already picked our guy but Java was too mcuh of a coward to do it ao we went straight to Oxford Street, the shopping heaven of the UK. It was still too early so we walked around and got lost. Well, not really but we didn't lnow where we were. So we're kinda lost. Anyway, we found the tourist information booth and we asked for direction to the theatre showing The Lion king because we wanted to watch it.
the second cafe we went for our second breakfast
After getting our tickets, we went back to Oxford Street and the spree officially began! As it was Xmas time, all the stores were doing this massive sale (it gets better after Xmas and during New Year!!!) and the prices were sooo much cheaper. We went from one store to another checking out good deals. It was sooo much better shopping on this street because you can find many other stores you can't find in Newcastle.
I couldn't find the jacket that I wanted in Zara so that was a disappointment but I ended up buying some really good stuff from Uniqlo. This brand is totally the best. It has so mony colours to choose from and it was a Japanese brand. So yeah, Asian for the win!!! Sorry River Island, Uniqlo has claimed the top spot now! Such a sad thing that you can find neither Uniqlo or River Island in Malaysia. I guess Top Man and Zara will have to do then!
I bought this because I realised I have wayyyy to many red in my wardrobe...
the best thing I've ever bought!!!
this just adds to my collection of Red!
saw this in GAP - made in Malaysia
After spending some time shopping (and sooo much money =p), we went to have lunch at a Korean restaurant called ASADAL. It was reasonably priced (that means it's not really cheap but still worth paying for hard-to-find delicacies) but too bad the kimchi wasn't hot and spicy enough. Oh well, the English knows nothing about spicy food so I guess the restaurant has to tone down the hotness a little.
ASADAL
Jave excited with her food
After lunch, we went to watch the matinee performance of The Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre. I won't write much about this because I'll be writing a review on another post but suffice to say that it was a totally good show. Good songs, good choreography, good costumes, good props and backgrounds. Totally magnificent.
Lyceum Theatre
Our very own special box
the cast ensemble of The Lion King
Posing with the poster after the show =)
It was dark by the time the show ended and we walked clueless until we saw a beatifully decorated Xmas bazaar. We only know we were at Covent Gardent upon reading the sign there. After looking around and buying some Xmas gifts for our friends, we went to see a street performer doing a really good show that involves juggling blades and a chainsaw. It was a really good (and deadly) show but he was all cool about it and what's more, he was only wearing a pink boxer brief. I had no idea how he could stand the cold but he sure deserved all the money he got.
P.S.: Apology to my friends, especially Pina (she's such a sweetheart), who were worried wondering where I've gone to. It was all Java's idea and I think we should kill her for keeping it a secret =p.
I’m sorry it didn’t last long, It saddens me to be the knife that shortens it, Too great a burden to keep my regret at bay, I wonder if this might be the time to succumb beneath its dark clouds
I’m sorry commitment was premature, Distance seems too strong and fierce a rival, And Separation, temporary it might be, sneers victoriously, And, again, I’m too weak to confront those two evils
I’m sorry my conviction fails the test, Lies (if they are) will never win a stand against time, So long have I harboured this trust, I must have drowned, confused, between what’s true and false
Sorry as I am to let go of the rope so quick, But blame not on me all the fatal flaws, For you, too, hold on to the other end of the rope, And maybe you never gave me my end to begin with
The faults are not yours for I have erred too, For scared we both are; You, a past you have yet to leave behind, I, the unknown I have yet to stare in the face, And Distance remains a laughing opponent with its strong ally; Separation
Where does this leave us I do not know, Salvation seems an end beyond my means, Do we part ways without any says? Or does the silence suggest another hope on chance?
Across the seas and All the continents, Boys and girls; the young and the old, Cards sent and flown; wishes greeted; The Dawn is here; a new one, a new beginning
End of the last End of the past, for Forward is the route he seeks to travel, Great and massive the choice he shall make, Heavy-hearted; dogma, just like a dog, is a man’s best friend
Isolated and far; this man is a free Island, Jovial, there’s still a Joy in his face, Kaput, an old-age stance he used to stand by, Long-sought, a Love the name he dares not speak
Must two roads diverge when destination is one? None too sure if one travels better; Nor safer, Nor happier, the Old spares no room for the new, but don’t Past and Present share one common root?
Questions arise; easy ones, right ones, Random thoughts roll into dreams and nightmares, some can be answered, some has Solutions, the rest; Time will tell for Truth shall stand the Test
Undeterred, Views are set, inner Voice encourages, the Whole Wide World; is for him to explore, is for him to prove to, Xenophobics, this is not for your ignorance to judge
Yours is your life; for You reap what You sow, Zealots, your extremity won’t cower my Zest!
I first heard about the whole crap during lunch today. It was soooo hard to believe it I just listened and commented by saying that the whole idea was not gonna work. Curious with the actual news, I looked it up and found it. Reading the first few paragraph, I could sense some witty sarcasms thrown to make fun of the 1Malaysia policy the new Prime Minister just launched few months ago. After I finished reading the whole article, I thought about it as a really good laugh but the joke doesn't stop there.
There were 118 comments to the article and reading those is even funnier that the parody article itself. Some people were soooooo gullible that actually believed it for real and started bashing the Prime Minister for coming up with such a stupid idea. Some even took the advatange to use it as a platform to criticise the ruling government and began campaigning to vote for the opposition in the next general election. Funnier even was the fact that even after the writer of the article already explained that the whole thing was a parody, some still failed to see the funny part and kept on bashing and commenting despite persistent explanation from other readers who get the joke and were light-hearted enough not to take it seriously.
Some of the comments include how angry they were at the exorbitant amount of RM850 trillion to fund the project, calling the government stupid (and many other swear words), saying that the money would be better spent to improve the education system. The way I see it, yeah, the money would be better spent to educate those gullible people who believed the article right after reading it at face value without even thinking straight. And yeah, it might also be a good idea to teach them a little manner and some common sense.
I'm not THAT excited really; not that I'm NOT excited.
Anyway, holidays and term breaks don't do well for me because while I enjoy some times to just chill and relax, I still would want to be on the go and continue doing something. So it comes as no surprise that after revelling the beginning of my winter break, I'm already kinda bored. Bored enough to watch 3 movies in 24 hours.
An extremely good one. A riveting and heart-rending story of a 16-year-old obese black girl, Precious, who have to go through a tough live in the dark alley of Harlem in New York. Not only is she pregnant with her second child, her first daughter is Autistic and the dysfunctional household she lives in is not helping at all. Suspended from her school, she attends an alternative school to get her GED where she meets other girls in predicaments much like hers. Inspired by the teacher, Precious learns to read and write to take care of her own family away from her sadistic abusive mother who hates her because her husband, Precious's father, loves Precious sooooooo much he chooses to 'make love' with Precious! Precious's two kids are by her own father, if you can't read between the lines.
Directed by Lee Daniels, the movie debuts Gabourey Sidibe as the lead role. She was supported by Mo'Nique as the sadistic mother who takes pleasure in throwing stuff (pans, pot plants and a TV) at Precious; Paula Patton as Ms Blu Rain, the inspiring and caring teacher at the alternastive school; Mariah Carey who plays the social worker who tries to solves the problem between Precious and her mother (she looks really weird with dark hair, she should just stick to blonde); and Lenny Kravitz in his debut performance as the male nurse who seems to have a soft spot for Precious.
Given the numerous awards the film, along with the casts and the director himself, has won in numerous festivals, I kinda smell some Oscar nods for this one. In a way, this movie does have the 'Slumdog Millionaire' air to it. Whether they receive any nominations or not, it's definitely worth watching. 4/5!
This one is not really Oscar-worthy, unless you talk about special effect category which this movie seems to be full of.
Typical Apocalypse movie where you see one man was plunged in a sudden catastrophic destruction and he tries to do everything he can to save his family while a group of government-funded scientists tries to hush it all up and pretending everything is hunky dory while all the so-called VIPs are being shipped to safety. Nothing really original and you wouldn't really miss a lot if you don't watch it. The way I see it, the action scenes are notriveting enough to keep me keep watching; I stopped halfway to do my laundry and wash my grapes to eat while watching the movie half way through.
One thing that made me continue watching, apart from not having anything else to do, was the ethical polemics and human maganimity portrayed by the characters. On one side, you have a party who is against the very basis of the evacuation secret project which includes assasinations of those who slip their tongues, the selection process of the evacuees by geneticists that decides the correct gene pools needed to rebuils human civilisation (seriuosly, who gets to decide this???!!!), and the sale of the tickets for seat on the spaceship which means only the rich can get them (the Russian billionaire even has seats for numerous branded cars). On another, you have the so-called important people who think they have the right to be the first to be saved because they are politicians or royals of some important country. One distinct character is Carl Anheuser, White House Chief of Staff, which resembles Briton infamous racist Nick Griffin. I'm sure Nick Griffin would be happy to carry that role in real life, leaving all foreigners in the UK to die in the Apocalypse while saving his own people.
It was pretty draggy here and there but there are some interesting scene where the President of the United State (incidentally of African-American) chooses not to abandon his sinking ship to stay with his people stating that the new world will need a good scientists than 20 old politicians. Will Obama do the same? No pressure there, Mr President =p. Interestingly enough, Africa becomes the highest land after the flood has passed due to the tectonic crust displacement.
Watch it if you want because I'm pretty sure the movie was made simply to capitalise on the catastrophic Apocalypse and the use of CGIs and the special effects which are pretty cool to say the least, not the lessons you can learn. It would be better if you can learn some thing from it as, despite not being original, I think we need movies like this to remind us all what it means to be good and evil, the importance of making the right choice over an easy choice, and the true essence of humanity which includes the good and the evil. As whether I believe it or not, that remains to be seen. I work my ass to get into med school so I would want to see myself graduating from it and even if I couldn't, I still have exams in January next year and since next year is 2010, I better finish this entry quick so I could hit the library to start on my intense revision (so geeky =p). 2.75/5
This fictional World War 2 movie is kinda hard to describe. With an air similar to some gorish graphic novels, it tells a story of two parties hatching a plan to assasinate the infamous Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler. One party is led by a French-Jewish girl, an owner of a cinema where a Germany propaganda movie is to be premiered, whose family was murdered by a Germany colonel and another party, comprised of American-Jewish soldiers bent on creating as much fear among Germany soldiers by scalping those they killed or carving the swastika on the foreheads of those they let to live, was led by none other than dashing Mr Brad Pitt. He looks old though in the movie.
I don't really know whether I like the movie or not. The gory and bloody combat scenes of this movie, which reminds me of the same cruelty portrayed in The Pianist (although in Inglourious Basterds both sides are equally cruel and ruthless), are spread out in between long coversations and various schemings, something that my friends consider boring and draggy. I, however, like them as they make the whole bloody shooting scenes bearable and I've always liked watching cunning and sly people planning secret plots.
One character to watch is Colonel Hans Landa portrayed by Christoph Waltz. His excellent portrayal of the cunning mastermind of a schemer in his attempt to save his ass of his war crime after the war is over and his betrayal of the Fuhrer has earned him Best Actor Award at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.
If you have been following Quentin Tarantino, it's worth watching even if this movie doesn't seem to have a moral bearing since both sides are plain vindictive and murderous. Other than that, I kinda like the cinematography and how he makes it looks like pages taken from graphic novels. 3/5
Announced on 9 October 2009 (I wonder what I was doing on this date to have missed the announcement), Barack Obama became the fourth President, the first in his first year of presidency, of the much glorified United States of America to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
For a recognition of such magnitude, I'm not gonna embarassed my insignifant self by commenting on whether he deserves it or not. I am not exactly an avid follower of his career.
I remember changing my Facebook status to say I supported him during the election; I remember watching and being inspired by his inauguration speech on Facebook; I remember buying his two memoirs, Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance and The Audacity of Hope, both of which I have yet to read (blame medical school for that!!!). Other than that, he is simply another President of the USA (who will always makes the front page anyway!) apart from being the man touted to bring America out of the dark clouds of George Bush's aministration and the whole world world peace simply by having the audacity to hope.
I am hardly aware of his policies; foreign, health or economics. The little that I know about him comes from chopped up press reports about policies and actions I rarely have the time to follow, nor the intellectual capacity to understand. 'American History' might be the most famous oxymoron but in that short period of time, a lot actually happened that to understand America's politics one would actually need to dig really deep and interested as I am, I have zillions of names of muscles and bones and nerves and blood vessels to understand and memorise. Not having known the man himself, nor being familiar with his stance, I will not comment on his winning.
In his presentation speech in Oslo yesterday, Thorbjørn Jagland, Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, announced that the President was awarded in recognition of '...for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples. The Committee has attached special importance to Obama's vision of and work for a world free from nuclear weapons...' and Obama does appear to put a massive effort in terms of getting in touch and closing the gap with the international community, even if the citizens of America chose to go berserk when the President bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia and the Emperor of Japan.
Based on Alfred Nobel's will, the Peace Prize was created to recognise '...the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.'
In defending their decision and answering to the many voices questioning Obama's too early of a recognition before any achievements are seen, the committee argued that '...the Nobel Prize had not just been used to honour specific achievements, but also to give momentum to a set of causes,' stating that the Prize represents 'a call to action.' The committee also responded that many previous winners had won even when their struggles were still in their infancy, acknowledging that Obama's presence (whether in the ceremony or as the President) as an evident of how much Martin Luther King Jr's dream has come true, a dream that won him his very own Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
Interesting of all is his acceptance speech, or the so-called Nobel Lecture. Entitled 'A Just and Lasting Peace,' Obama, with 'deep gratitude and great humility', received the honour and defended 'just wars' in pursuit of 'just peace.' Read the full text here to make your own conclusion as to what he intended those terms to mean.
The way I see it, his speech made a really good sense; that we need wars to bring peace but the battles need to have a fair cause and sound foundation; that the means in which they were executed do not cross the line of human rights; and that the fruits, while they might take a long time to ripen, are sure to come and more importantly, worth the labour.
Touching on economics, religion, human rights, climate change and lots others political mumbo-jumbos, I am still glad that his speech is full of realisation that the award means he has a lot of unfinished business and responsibilities to carry and the fact that he acknowledges them and declares that he is ready to deal with them does make me heave a sigh of relief.
Of that lenghty speech, these paragraphs are the ones that I like most:
'We do not have to live in an idealized world to still reach for those ideals that will make it a better place. The nonviolence practiced by men like Gandhi and King may not have been practical or possible in every circumstance, but the love that they preached - their faith in human progress - must always be the North Star that guides us on our journey.
For if we lose that faith - if we dismiss it as silly or naive, if we divorce it from the decisions that we make on issues of war and peace - then we lose what is best about humanity. We lose our sense of possibility.
We lose our moral compass.'
There is valid truth in his speech and it's comforting to know that one of the few men who has the right vision and aspiration is now, finally, in the position of the ultimate power that has, most of the time, been abused and misused.
Well Mr President, may you receive the help you truly deserve!
It was the last weekend before Christmas Holiday started so we all decided to get together to celebrate the twins and Gloria's birthdays. We also played Secret Santa so the night involved lots of good food and presents and gifts and good friends and there's nothing better than that.
GOOD food that will do NO good to your health - biryani, mashed potato, yaki soba, friend rice, onion soup, strawberry trifle, mango pudding, chicken jelfrezi and madras, shortbread, potato wedges =)
people chatting after a good dinner
December kids - the twins Pina and Kev (29/12) and Gloria (10/12)
cutting the cake - carrot and almond by Sharon
the kids unwrapping their gifts
Pina hiding behind her GAGA canvas print =p
Kev and his architecture book
Glo smiling with her new and flashy clutch
the highlight of the night - trashing Ayana's room =)
P.S.: too bad there are no photos for Secret Santa but I loveeeeee my gift from Pina (a tiara???? and a polaroid camera=)!!!) and Pina, I know you love my present soooooo much too. Gosh, I hope the crack on my ceiling won't get any worse =p!!!
It was organised by Friends of MSF (and that stands for Medecins Sans Frontieres a.k.a Doctors Without Borders) Newcastle, the night started with 3 speakers talking about their own lives as they struggle to live a normal life after being diagnosed positive with HIV. It was certainly riveting to get to listen first hand how those people keep on soldiering on and not bogged down despite all the stigma they have to face, apart from the daily medication they have to endure.
After that, we watched The Positive Ladies Soccer Club documentary made by Medecins Sans Frontieres about a group of ladies diagnosed with HIV in Zimbabwe who formed a soccer team to prove against all odds thay they can still take part in any normal daily activities despite the stigma and prejudice. Watching those women, I realised that all the problems I have to go through on day-to-day basis are just tiny and insignificant compared to the constant worrying they experience about their health and the lack of medication and their courageous determination to keep on living was enough to make those who give up easily embarassed at their lack of fighting spirits.
During that night, I came across this booklet with questions about AIDS and HIV and browsing through it, I felt a little embarassed because there were questions that I don't have the answers to (and I call myself a medical student!!!???)! It was embarassing to realise how ignorant I have been and how I tend to take important information that can help stop the stigma towards HIV and AIDS sufferers for granted. I really thought the booklet addressed some really crucial infromation everyone should know and for the benefit of all of us, here are scanned pages from the booklet:
do you???
can you answer them all???
the misconception
live a healthy life =)
the constant worrying
the answers
credits: Blue Sky Trust, The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle City Council, Pfizer Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Limited. Design by: http://www.foundrymedia.co.uk/ - I hope this is enough to prevent any legal suits.
Red & White Party
It was organised by Newcastle University Afro-Carribean Society. At the cost of 4GBP, we got free lollipops and condoms, not to mention the chance to keep a child alive as all proceed went to charity. It was a great night where everyone wore Red (my favourite colour =)!!!) and came together to be reminded of what terrible things HIV and AIDS have done to many unlucky people and what all of us can do collectively to fight back. We signed the petition scroll to support Patent Pool to make access to medication easier, quicker and cheaper, especially to sufferers in third world countries.
at Tup Tup Palace
the consultant invited to talk about AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa
