Winding Down; Winding Up

The year ends; the year begins. Whee!

I'm excited. What does 2008 hold? What shall remain from 2007? I don't even have a clue. All I can say is, I'll need to set some good and concrete New Year's resolutions. And oh, read more books. I'm currently reading 4 simultaneously, time will tell when I'll be able to manage twice that number, maybe thrice.

Oh, and college is starting and I've got to write an application to defer National Service. Actually, I really want to go for the latter event, if only for the experience. Shooting guns is a unique thing to do, after all. Or even if I don't get to shoot guns, then at least I get to enjoy the sights and sounds of a mini multi-racial, tolerant community. Malaysia in miniature. Truly Asia.

Ooh, I'm starting to regain my sense of sarcasm. And I'm liking it.

Selamat Hari Natal

Yes, it's that time of the year. Gifts are exchanged, and children generally ought to be beaming with delight, eager and anxious to open those gifts under that tree (they would've shredded it open by now, of course).

Oh, I got some nice gifts. But I could be in a better mood. All I'm thinking about now is work to do. It is, after all, but a few days before a New Year. New troubles, new opportunites, and the like.

Should I be happy? I suppose so.

Ah well. Blessed Christmas, all. And let's not forget the real reason for our joy. =)

When I Grow Up...

Age 6: Astronaut

Age 7: Astronomer, after realizing I'm shortsighted (although technically, one can still be an astronaut, just not a pilot)

Age 8: Can't remember; probably still astronomer.

Age 9: Zoologist

~

Age 13: Meteorologist (I love the weather; what can I say?)

Age 14: Uncertain

Age 15: Uncertain

Age 16: Uncertain

Age 17: Guess.

I have to fill in the blank soon. I noticed how all my peers have something in mind; I don't. Well, if not a job, then they are at least studying a specialized course. And I'm doing business. So what am I gonna be? Entrepreneur? God forbid. But ah, I'm told it rakes in the most cash. It's just not me though. I'd rather get stuck in a library all my life, cataloging books and what not. Peace and quiet, tranquility I yearn for.

The Mystical Belief

From Dostoevsky's "The Brother's Karamazov", in which the lawyer Fetyukovich remarks:

"...there is another concept of fatherhood, and, according to that interpretation, a father may be a monster who treats his children viciously, but who must nevertheless always be respected as a father, because he has conceived his children. But that is a mystical attitude that my reason does not understand, that I can only accept on faith, so to speak, just as we are asked to accept many things that we do not understand, but that our religion orders us to believe.

Well, let the son face his father and ask him: 'Tell me, why should I love you? Prove to me that it is my duty to love you.' If the father gives manages to give him a satisfactory answer, it is a normal family, a family not based on some mystical prejudice, but founded on reasonable, responsible, and strictly humane premises. But if, on the other hand, the father fails to prove to his son that he is worthy of love, he does not deserve to be his father and the son is free to consider his father as a stranger or even his enemy."

Of course, this extends to mothers as well, and you have no idea how many people hold to this "mystical" concept. I still do hold to it in a certain form, but this is something worth thinking upon.

I Am Legend

We are already inundated as it is with vampire/monster/zombie shows already this year (28 Weeks Later, 30 Days of Night etc.) and out comes I Am Legend, the "biggest", apparently (with roughly the same budget of Transformers).

But seriously, it ain't that big. All that nifty special effects of an empty New York doesn't work that well. Heck, even 28 Days Later, filmed on a menial budget, had more atmospheric "empty city" scenes.

The creature designs don't work either. The CGI is unconvincing and ineffective. They don't feel like monsters or humans or anything in between.

Of course, it has its moments. Will Smith, the actor that he is, does a good solo job (actually, he does have a decent supporting actor as well). And yes, the plot does leave one a little intrigued. But there is still a feeling of been there, done that. And when two other characters are introduced, so also are a few rather random and puzzling elements.

Add all that together, and you have a massively underwhelming movie. And considering its budget and production firepower, it is a disappointment indeed.

The Golden Compass

Somewhere between the graceful heights of the Lord of the Rings and the mucky low of Eragon, lies The Golden Compass. To be more precise, it leans more towards gracefulness, but it certainly is not that great. But oh my, am I comparing movies here?

Perhaps so. Since a particular trilogy set the benchmark, movies have struggled to meet that standard. That's a little sad, since movies like The Golden Compass (based on Pullman's Northern Lights book) are mighty entertaining and a whole lot of fun to watch. Nonetheless, it still is very much flawed. And despite all the glitz, overall it could still do with a lot of polishing.

Everything is here: big-budget special effects, lavish sets, characters with British accents and uh, Gandalf. His voice, at least. But does it work? Not really. The movie itself is told rather jerkily: we are treated with one scene and then dragged onto the next, with no smooth transition whatsoever (this is my feeling, of course). When movie jargon is explained, its explained to us as in a lecture, like a dictionary definiton. Mechanical. (Unlike, say the Lord of the Rings, where terms where thrown around so nonchalantly that we accepted it just like that)

The ending is well, not an ending. Clearly we are to expect a sequel. The problem is, if this movie bombs then, uh, we will probably never see one. But it looks good and is entertaining enough for people to want to go. In fact, they ought to go watch it. It's one of the better fantasy movies out there. And to be frank, there aren't many "good" fantasy movies.

On a side note, a few of my (Christian) friends have called for a boycott of the movie. Too bad; I doubt if they have even read the book or seen the movie. I haven't read the books myself, but from the movie one can see that only Roman Catholics get some bashing here. That I don't mind. :P

Creeping Intelligence

Sometimes, it hits me how far I've come since I was, well, young. I was rather clueless only a few years back about most things, science, our country and anything else for that matter. Yes, I suppose reading did that. I read and read. Slowly but surely, I grew smarter. But I'm not sure if I'm any wiser.

On other matters, I'm writing another series of short stories. If you ever read them, you'd notice how unoriginal I have become. Of course, that comes with the territory; I'm experimenting. Learning's a process, lalalala.

Back, from a trip.

It was a strange one indeed. Some enjoyed it, others didn't really. Yep, our trip to Taiping and Bukit Larut (aka Maxwell Hill 2), was a mixed bag. It had its moments (really, it did), and from my perspective at least, it was great fun.

I'll let the pictures do the talking. (Okay, with some captions)

On the train.

Where we slept for one night.

Looking for food...

Food!!!

Up the hill...

The people, minus me, the cameraman.

Our accommodation. Looks rather...

Right at the peak. Notice anything (a few things, actually)? :P

Inside the bungalow. It's really old, despite a recent face lift.

How we occupy our time.

Heading down, going home...

And on the way down...

Waiting for the train.

Home!

And a short clip from an incomplete video log. I actually forgot about taking more clips. But oh well, this shall suffice.

Small Realization about Globalization

Something I wrote, in a moment of realization:

Likewise, more awareness and laws are required... to curb environmental abuse. The problem here is that globalization has been more rapid than the legal system, meaning that laws are unable to keep up.

Hmm. Is this true? I wonder. Thought and research required.

Busy a little.

Work has been piling up, bah. That leaves me very little free time to pursue my own interests. And no, my "free time interests" (if I may call it that) are not merely entertainment, they are also primarily knowledge based (the collecting of information, my favourite hobby).

Three more weeks before holidays. I'm counting the days.

Gawrsh.

I don't know why, but I'm feeling horribly lethargic. I can't seem to do anything properly, with concentration. I can't even enjoy listening to music. And I have to finish up a darned assignment. Darn.

Tried writing something, and I only came up with this post, a complaint. No creative ideas coming, no stories recently. Probably due to my late sleep time (never slept before midnight this week, and my regular sleep time is 10 or 11). Ah, allow me to whine. Possible solutions:

I need to relax, seriously.

Lot's of reading. (But my eyes hurt.)

Prayer, meditation, fasting.

Gym, walk, jog, intensive physical exercise.

Write (Irony, I know).

Arggh! Gawrsh. Late already, must sleep (perfect).

Nite.

Two Ghibli Classics: Totoro & Laputa

My Neighbor Totoro is the most calm and less intense of all of Miyazaki's movies. No Princess Mononoke action here; instead we are faced with a simple, short story about life in the country: with a dose of fantasy that at the same time feels so real. No antagonists here, except maybe the simple facts of life: illness and misunderstanding.

The scene where Mei creeps into the underbrush certainly fill one with a magical thrill, and the depictions of the Japanese countryside are indeed beautiful. Likewise, their encounters with Totoro, the titular character, which are funny, enchanting and relaxing.

But reality is still depicted fully here, there is no "escape" to a wonderland, only brief moments of peace there. But then there are also moments of peace found in the real world too.

***

Laputa: Castle in the Sky is certainly one of my favorites, even though it hardly comes close to the depth of Miyazaki's later films. It is a fantasy, it is an adventure, it is a mystery.

The plot is certainly intriguing (read for yourself), and Laputa could be perhaps compared to Atlantis: a highly advanced technological civilization that had been long abandoned, perhaps destroyed. The movie does answer why Laputa is no more, but does so in a poignant manner, an answer that is more contemplative than is merely a factual explanation.

I noticed how the designs on some vehicles in the film are similar to that of Howl's Moving Castle. Perhaps Miyazaki thought it fit to reuse them in Howl, but either way, Laputa makes for a much more interesting movie anyway. Some would feel that this movie is a little slow at times, but those "slow" scenes function as interludes that do not really serve to advance the story, but certainly do help build the characters (which is important too, no?).

There's A Party Going On...

It's not like I'm not invited, but my parents wouldn't let me go anyways. Sigh. It's always sad to watch rallies from the sidelines.

Up and About

Internet come to me...

Well, it has. My new home is now connected to the rest of the world, and I am satisfied. Ah yes. First thing I did was to browse Flickr. Wonderfully enlightening place, kind of like a shrine, a temple, if you will. A feast for the senses. Then again, it is very tempting to fall into visual gluttony there. Haha.

Time for rest, then college work. Bye.

Prescience Isn't A Good Thing.

Anxieties: 1a. painful or apprehensive uneasiness of mind usually over an impending or anticipated ill.

No, no, I have no foreknowledge of the future. Only a clue, an inkling of it, and I'm not liking it. It is not in my nature policy to take such a pessimistic view of my future (laugh at me, the self-proclaimed optimist, eh?), but I'm worried.

Oh yes, you might be wondering why. Hmm. I too, you know. I have no idea why I am so worried, even though there might be a few reasons. Perhaps it's because the paths I want to take are beyond my reach (Interpretation: Too lofty ambitions), or maybe it's because I don't know the future.

Then again, uncertainty, while unsettling, can be also liberating. You've just got to ride it, like a rollercoaster. Fear turns into, yes, euphoria. And even if part of me says that's crazy, so be it.

I wonder why I'm writing this. Perhaps it's because such things need to be said, once in a while. Pity the person who is unable to voice his thoughts.

A Note: Silence

I'm shifting to another home. What this means is that in my new place, there is no internet as of yet installed. Patience I must have. Perhaps a week or two, and all will be well again. Hopefully.

Animal Farm

It's quite unfortunate (or perhaps, unfortunate of Orwell's success), that such terms as "1984" has been bandied out rather often, and as such has become, for all intents and purposes, a cliche. Nevertheless, his books, while addressing issues that were current to his time, remain surprisingly relevant to this day.

Animal Farm can be described as humorous satire through and through, albeit a very chilling one. While on one hand it's a satirical take on Soviet communism, on another it's principles remain somewhat all-encompassing, making it seemingly describe events taking place even today. At heart is this: A revolution that is proclaimed on certain principles, which are eventually modified and thus replaced by other ones to make way for profits.

One of them goes like this: All animals are equal. Eventually, towards the end of the story, where the pigs (appropriately enough) take full control of the farm (and hog it's profits), an addition is made that totally invalidates the principle: All animal are equal, but some are more equal that others.

It can be said that contemporary readers find it relevant because they read into the text their own context. Which is why some people might find it relevant (depending on which country and which issues surround them) and others not so, an outmoded critique of a long falsified ideology.

Regardless, Orwell's simple yet hard-hitting work is worth a read. And despite being childishly simple, it references issues that even adults find it hard to deal with.

Black Lagoon: The Triviality & Meaning of Endless Gunfights

I've got to admit, being an intelligent person, I do not like to watch unintelligent stuff. Black Lagoon is most decidedly dumber than it admits (and it says it's quite smart, which I disagree). In between the cheeky Sartre and Heidegger references (and I loathe any show who tries to look smart by throwing about "deep terms" and smiling happily, thinking it's "serious"), we have the endless gunfights involving loads of blood (and a fair bit of gratuitous flesh displays) .

Ah, at least it is nihilistic both philosophically and morally.

Well, that's to say that it's consistent. Expect nothing but violence and deaths in between plots involving the mafia, yakuza and what not. (Even then, the plots are just a sideshow.) But I somehow found it entertaining. Yes, I like action. But action alone is all style and no substance. And that's how far the show goes, and that's how far you're gonna enjoy it, if you enjoy these things at all.

Yes, you'll be staring at them guns for quite a bit throughout this anime.

My final assessment would be less bright than my initial ratings (check out my Anime Seen account and the notes). I won't be changing my prior ratings though, I'm satisfied with it on a certain level, but this show does leave a rather unpleasant aftertaste. Yes, the taste of you having watched meaningless trash. For once I feel a sort of moral indignation.

_________________________

Note- This review covers both seasons of the anime series, Black Lagoon and Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage.

A Moment of Cynicism, If You'd Please...

A little girl dies and her face is plastered on the front pages of newspapers, proclaiming a terrible tragedy, perpetrated by cruel monsters, complete with graphs on how DNA testing is done or how to keep your child safe (as if we didn't need to know these things until now).

My first reaction when I saw these things was that of...what? I'm not sure. But it was along the lines of: I couldn't care less. Yes, I'm rather apathetic when it comes to these things. Perhaps I should be chit-chatting away about this constantly, considering that this has become a table-topic (quite literally) and people cry at this little girl dying, though they are not even her fifth cousin four times removed.

Alas, such inconsistent behavior is all too common. Quite recently I stumbled into a KFC outlet busy preparing half a thousand pieces of chicken for someone's party or something. The irony is quite evident here:

When one little girl dies, a nation cries. When 16,000 children die everyday from starvation, we happily gobble down 500 pieces of original recipe chicken.

Or as someone noted, oh so truly: "One death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic."

That's humanity for you.

Samurai Champloo, Or The Re-Imagining of The Samurai Genre in Anime

Our three protagonists: Jin, Mugen & Fuu

Samurai Champloo, unlike its cousin of sorts, Cowboy Bebop, did not make as much waves as the latter did. But this reviewer would contend that the former is much more stronger than the latter.

The anime shares many of Cowboy Bebop's features, obviously because they share the same creator/director. Even then, we find many similarities between the two: such as how in both the animes our protagonists tend to be always hungry, and looking for food.

Okay, comparisons aside, Champloo shares many similarities with that of, say, Rurouni Kenshin: such as intense swordfights and the fact that its set in ancient Japan (although both are set in different periods). But the similarities stop there, and the hilarity begins. Yes, its infused with hip-hop references, and one of the samurai protagonists fight in a style resembling breakdancing.

Graffiti (tagging), beep boxing and what have you abound. Watching the anachronisms, they do tend to make you laugh. And let the comparisons begin again: I found it as funny (if not, a little more) as Bebop.

And then there is the action, in which most of its strength lies. Champloo contains fluid and beautiful animation throughout the series, and it does not let up when it comes to the sword fights: they are meticulously animated and very intense.

Yes, it's funny, but it manages to balance itself out with moments of seriousness and not look aloof in the process. Again and again, it felt like watching Bebop, except something much better.

Sometimes things feel a little tenuous: like how all of the three characters manage to stay together despite having little to reason to do so. But all for the story, one supposes, and in the end it's not some mindless shonen anime with nothing but action in it, but contains well-thought out stories and characters. And yes, I find myself drawn to them.

Wonderful visuals and good music make up one of its many intense scenes.

Music? Yes, Shinichiro Watanabe has always recognized the importance of music to a show. Don't expect a Yoko Kanno score though (she's nowhere to be found), but there are many scenes where the music is simply perfect, and serve to drum up the suspense and intensity. Obviously, there's a lot of hip-hop tunes and beats involved.

While Champloo may have a "filler" feel to it (it's format is similar to, yes, Cowboy Bebop), nevertheless almost every episode contributes a little bit to the overall plot (with the exception of a few, bizarre ones that have no continuity to them) it still probably is one of the best in its genre I've seen to date.

And dare I say it? Samurai Champloo > Cowboy Bebop*. Yes, Watanabe's latest work is much more polished, much more thought out, and well, much better. Comparison of apples and oranges perhaps, and it's not like I have a vendetta against Bebop or anything, but I know a good anime when I see one.
___________________________________

*The author emphasizes that this is his subjective opinion, and recognizes that many will feel otherwise.

Beware of Legally Pirated Anime

Like a good lawful citizen that is supposed to obey relativistic moral standards, I bought probably my first original DVD, a collection of Studio Ghibli movies recently.

Of course, that sounds too good to be true, what with me being the notorious cheapskate that I am (my philosophy being: why pay money for it when you can get it for free?). Indeed, it is. I bought the "original" collection (complete with the "tulen" hologram sticker and all) from a popular bookstore (it's a pun, so you know what bookstore it is).

I dunno if I should blame our film censorship board (or whoever it is that hands out those "authentic" holograms), but they aren't doing their job well. The collection, which had a sticker on it saying RM 69.90 and "Buy Original", was being sold there at half the price. A steal. But too good to be true.

And how do I know it's a fake? Firstly, a quick check at the real Studio Ghibli collection will reveal that the box set comes with 7 Discs (my one has 5 discs). And it contains one movie that the one I bought doesn't have, namely, Spirited Away. Okay, so some small differences are possible. But load it up and lo and behold, I have come to witness the one of the most crappily encoded DVDs on earth masquerading as an "original" collection.

Besides the horrible resolution and the fact that the geek hired by whoever pirated this stuff (and managed to get a "tulen" tag on it) did not put any chapters whatsoever. And with 3 movies crammed onto one disc, it doesn't make for a pretty sight. Skip a chapter and you skip a movie.

Other giveaways: Spelling mistakes and other "Engrish" errors. Obviously.

By the way, I've also come across other legally pirated stuff, like a recent .hack//Roots DVD my friend lent me. It was nicely packaged in a box set, except it was totally necessary, because some genius decided to cram all 26 episodes of that anime into one DVD. A genius, I tell you. Not to mention other idiocies, such as a few episodes not having any subtitles for a few minutes at a time.

And yes, it had a "tulen" sticker on it, and was being sold at dear ol' Jaya Jusco. Whoever said you can't find pirated stuff in those places?

Yes, the Government folks here are either dumb, too lazy to do any research, or aren't paid enough. Regardless, this is why I still download free fansubs, which are leagues ahead in terms of quality than these China trash. And yes, they are free. Free is better, just as those Linux nerds tend to rave that Open Source > Microsoft.

Rant over. Bye!

Hey There Khalilah

As far as song parodies go, this is one of the most politically incorrect (somewhat; depending on where one lives). But it is also one of the most hilarious. Remember that extremely annoying song (heh, to me) by Plain White T's, Hey There Delilah? Here's a decent parody of it, one that's for once, not done by Weird Al.

A Nightmare Analyzed

I had a bad dream last night. Or was it this morning? Regardless of when I went into REM sleep, I still had a nightmare. And I woke up rather scared. Of any shadows or other lurking thing. I kid you not, I was scared.

So my bad dream was about demons haunting a place. Yes, as dreams go, it was rather real, and in my dreamlike state, I was really scared. But, I wonder why my feelings of fear carried over to when I woke up.

I'm quite sure, for most people, the feelings that they experience in dreams do carry over once in a while (especially if it is a particular vivid or striking dream). Perhaps the most vivid dream I had (of which I remained shaken and affected until the next day) was about...a cat. As for the details, well, from what I can remember, it was traveling along a road through the mountains (I think) amidst a thunderstorm. It may be a thin connection, but perhaps that dream made me like cats. I don't know.

By the way, do lucid dreams tend to maximize the possibility of feelings that are carried over into one's waking state? I'm not sure, and I have tried lucid dreaming (following a how-to guide) somewhat unsuccessfully. In my experience, I have only realized that I was dreaming only once or twice, and in those cases I could only "control" my dream in a somewhat shaky manner. Then again, I wonder whether I was merely dreaming that I could control my dream. Ah, how much clearer reality is. (And I don't want to get started on whether life is a dream, because all discussions on solipsism tend to be a dead end.)

Being not very well read in psychological and neurological literature, I don't know for sure. Perhaps I can offer one interpretation, which I gleaned from a study on "absent minded trangessions".

In a dream like state, feelings tend to remain into the waking state the same way emotions from one's waking state carry over day after day. For example, in reality, if someone close to you dies, feeling of sadness remain day after day, for quite some time. Likewise, if one experienced a particularly shocking incident, the feelings tend to linger for quite sometime.

Thus, in the mind (or should I say brain?) at least, dreams are as real as reality, and the feelings as such that occur in them linger as long as they do in one's consciousness from the dream state to the waking state, the same way impressionable feelings that are experienced in everyday life remain and linger.

What I Did Last Night

You know, I rarely ever write "what I did" posts for the simple reason that I am not optimistic enough to assume that people are going to care. There are, of course, other people who are quite confident that others will take delight in their narcissism, but not me.

But no, I am not going to write about what I did last night for the simple reason that it would be lame and very narcissistic of me to do so. Thus, I am going to leave it to the experts to do so. Good luck.

P.S.- If this was a useless, random, nonsense post that the kind narcissists put on their blog when they are bored, so be it. It's useless filler, but filler nonetheless.

Prayer Request...

My dad's van got stolen, along with his company equipment in it. Pray, please! =)

Update: Looks like a miracle happened. The van was found! Although with all the stuff in it gone. Still, it saved us the trouble of buying a new one. Praise the Lord. Hehe...

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

Said to be Studio Ghibli's very first film, Nausicaa immediately shows how impatient Miyazaki was to bring his themes and ideas forth. Perhaps you can compare it to say, Princess Mononoke. They both have strong environmental and pacifist messages. Except Nausicaa takes place in a post-apocalyptic world.

From there, we can see how it builds on, and how things quickly get chaotic, before we come to a sad and terrible climax to a surprisingly positive resolution. Have I told too much? Well, it's formula. Except this was the very first, so you can say it's original. Truth be told, I perhaps concur with the assessment that Miyazaki has outdone himself with his later films. True, they were much more concise and lucid. Nausicaa can get rather confusing at times, after all.

But for a first movie of sorts, it is great. Indeed, one of the greatest: having a depth hardly matched by Disney films at their golden age. And greatness is a hard thing to execute.

A Few Observations

If you don't know, I work part part part time as an office boy. Besides the typing and typing involved, I get to make calls soliciting information from company gatekeepers (usually operators or secretaries) about their bosses so we can inundate their inboxes with our e-mails. Sometimes I go straight to their bosses.

So here is a short, empirical account of what I've noticed:

• If the person picking up the phone is a Malay operator/secretary, he or she is more likely to divulge information about his or her boss than Chinese or Indians (the latter being the hardest group to extract information from, although this is slightly misleading).

• The degree of success of extracting information from the higher ranked members of companies (such as managers) can be categorized thus (from easiest to hardest, according to race): 1. Malay 2. Indian 3. Chinese (although I would say Malays and Indians tie for being the easiest, with Chinese being the hardest).

• Chinese managers are the hardest to extract information from. However, there is an interesting (if a little tenuous) correlation between the accent of the speaker to the willingness to divulge information (i.e. the thicker the "Chinese" accent, the more likely he or she is to share personal details). Of course, this is slight generalization on my part.

Update: Something I forgot to mention earlier- all my conversations were in English, although some (but very, very little) BM was used in some cases.

Do note that sometimes I am required to ask for e-mails only, and on other occasions actually find out (what I call, "from scratch") the owner of the business from lower ranked members of the company. The latter is not necessarily harder than the former, but it is a longer process.

Notice that I categorize people according to races, and directly imply that some races are more willing to share information than others. This is merely what I've noticed, and it is up to the reader to come up with his own conjectures. That said, Malays are still the nicest of the lot. =)

Well, this is from the top of my head. I should be writing this stuff down. Intriguing. Anyway, I'll share more with you once I collect more observations. Hehe.

Movies To See

So, the American Film Institute has released their list of Top 100 movies as of 2007. Since first posting it here, I've made some progress! Hopefully I'll see all of them by the uh, end of the decade?

I've another list here.

1. Citizen Kane, 1941.

2. The Godfather, 1972.

3. Casablanca, 1942.

4. Raging Bull, 1980.

5. Singin' in the Rain, 1952.

6. Gone With the Wind, 1939.

7. Lawrence of Arabia, 1962.

8. Schindler's List, 1993.

9. Vertigo, 1958.

10. The Wizard of Oz, 1939.

11. City Lights, 1931.

12. The Searchers, 1956.

13. Star Wars, 1977.

14. Psycho, 1960.

15. 2001: A Space Odyssey, 1968.

16. Sunset Blvd., 1950.

17. The Graduate, 1967.

18. The General, 1927.

19. On the Waterfront, 1954.

20. It's a Wonderful Life, 1946.

21. Chinatown, 1974.

22. Some Like It Hot, 1959.

23. The Grapes of Wrath, 1940.

24. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, 1982.

25. To Kill a Mockingbird, 1962.

26. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, 1939.

27. High Noon, 1952.

28. All About Eve, 1950.

29. Double Indemnity, 1944.

30. Apocalypse Now, 1979.

31. The Maltese Falcon, 1941.

32. The Godfather Part II, 1974.

33. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, 1975.

34. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, 1937.

35. Annie Hall, 1977.

36. The Bridge on the River Kwai, 1957.

37. The Best Years of Our Lives, 1946.

38. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, 1948.

39. Dr. Strangelove, 1964.

40. The Sound of Music, 1965.

41. King Kong, 1933.

42. Bonnie and Clyde, 1967.

43. Midnight Cowboy, 1969.

44. The Philadelphia Story, 1940.

45. Shane, 1953.

46. It Happened One Night, 1934.

47. A Streetcar Named Desire, 1951.

48. Rear Window, 1954.

49. Intolerance, 1916.

50. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, 2001.

51. West Side Story, 1961.

52. Taxi Driver, 1976.

53. The Deer Hunter, 1978.

54. M-A-S-H, 1970.

55. North by Northwest, 1959.

56. Jaws, 1975.

57. Rocky, 1976.

58. The Gold Rush, 1925.

59. Nashville, 1975.

60. Duck Soup, 1933.

61. Sullivan's Travels, 1941.

62. American Graffiti, 1973.

63. Cabaret, 1972.

64. Network, 1976.

65. The African Queen, 1951.

66. Raiders of the Lost Ark, 1981.

67. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, 1966.

68. Unforgiven, 1992.

69. Tootsie, 1982.

70. A Clockwork Orange, 1971.

71. Saving Private Ryan, 1998.

72. The Shawshank Redemption, 1994.

73. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, 1969.

74. The Silence of the Lambs, 1991.

75. In the Heat of the Night, 1967.

76. Forrest Gump, 1994.

77. All the President's Men, 1976.

78. Modern Times, 1936.

79. The Wild Bunch, 1969.

80. The Apartment, 1960.

81. Spartacus, 1960.

82. Sunrise, 1927.

83. Titanic, 1997.

84. Easy Rider, 1969.

85. A Night at the Opera, 1935.

86. Platoon, 1986.

87. 12 Angry Men, 1957.

88. Bringing Up Baby, 1938.

89. The Sixth Sense, 1999.

90. Swing Time, 1936.

91. Sophie's Choice, 1982.

92. Goodfellas, 1990.

93. The French Connection, 1971.

94. Pulp Fiction, 1994.

95. The Last Picture Show, 1971.

96. Do the Right Thing, 1989.

97. Blade Runner, 1982.

98. Yankee Doodle Dandy, 1942.

99. Toy Story, 1995.

100. Ben-Hur, 1959.

________________________________

Last Updated 20/2/2008

For Not Everything Is Beneficial.

I watched 28 Weeks Later a while back, and it truly represents a break from the usual kinds of movies I watch. You see, I hardly ever watch horror. Since almost all the ones nowadays are so cliched, that if you watched one you watched them all. Which was why I only watched 28 Weeks Later due to a good impression I had with its predecessor, 28 Days Later. Not that it was that good. It was just kind of refreshing, and certainly entertaining.

Then again, it does descend into visual nihilism. That is, there is
nothing else to expect but more blood, decapitation and what have you. It might prove entertaining, but it certainly brings one no good. This is what I've come to conclude.

I hardly, for example, ever watch comedy either. Of the Owen Wilson, Ben Stiller, Adam Sandler et. al. kind (and almost all of them fall into one category or the other). I dislike them. No, I loathe them. Yes, they make me laugh. But they leave a bad, bad aftertaste. Forgive my language, but crap don't taste good. On the other hand, some of them are sweet fluff. But too much cotton candy ruins the teeth.

But I'm a huge fan of (decent) action movies. Give me Transformers anytime. I lap it all up, eagerly. Lovely, they are. I get delighted by visual feasts, certainly. Even if they serve up no useful purpose, but entertainment.

So, how do I balance it all? The truth is, I console myself by writing reviews. Take for example, anime. I'm very particular. I shun the usual stuff everyone watch- like Naruto or Bleach. If an anime series does not impress me in its first episode, then it goes down the drain (or, as is usually the case, the recycle bin).

So, I have waded through a fair share of often fluffy (and sometimes, downright crappy) stuff. But all for a noble end, that is, to write a review, and warn others away. If anyone listens.

Is there a line I ought to draw? I do think so. I may not be that conservative when it comes to this sort of stuff, but I still hold a small candle to the views of, say Focus on the Family. Some shows I should not be watching (and to that end, I regretted watching them). And some, no one should. Even liberals like Roger Ebert agree that shows like Rob Schneider's are utter garbage. If not due to moral reservations, then due to the plain fact that some shows are not worth your time. Indeed, they are a waste of your time, and your life. Still, crap is crap is crap.

While everything is permissible (in a sense) not everything is beneficial. And considering the abundance of media we have today, there surely are some not too beneficial ones out there. And we as Christians, even more so, human beings who are endowed with reason, ought to shun them.

Last Exile

Almost nothing bad can be said about Last Exile. It has one of the highest production values for an anime that I've ever seen, and, along with a well thought out (and intriguing) plot with interesting characters, is certainly one of the better animes out there.

Well, I can wax eloquent about this anime all day, but in the end you have to see it for yourself to appreciate the depth of the show. Personally, the most important aspect was the well created world of Last Exile, characterized by the conflict between the nations Anatoray and Disith. And certainly the world is a bizarre one (check out the Wikipedia article to find out what I mean, and to spoil all your fun).

So...are there any drawbacks? Perhaps a few, such as the somewhat bumpy plot and often uninteresting detours. But, nevertheless, I can say that I was gripped from beginning to end. Hence why I finished the entire series in two days.

Regardless, this whole show is one big mixture of themes ranging from musket battles and Star Wars style airships to all-powerful antagonists and then some. And if that doesn't get you intrigued, well, tough luck.

Malaysia: My Inheritance

Malaysia: My Inheritance sounds a tad sentimental, if a little corny. Nevertheless, we have high hopes for it. And we are looking for contributors. If you are a youth (we have a flexible definition of youth, don't worry) and you don't mind writing a thing or two (they need only be simple reflections) on Malaysia, from your perspective, then e-mail me! We need contributors.

And lots of thanks to Crystal for her birthday wish (hehe). She's a contributor, too.

So, to use a well-worn motivational phrase, what are you waiting for?

I'm Not Always Disappointed

I watched the fireworks from a distance that could be best described as not-too-close and yet not-too-far. Yes, it was nice. But it was all for show.

So, let's get philosophical and pessimistic here. Malaysia, like the fireworks, is all for show. Besides the fact that we have the second (soon to be third) tallest building in the world, as well as other ephemeral billion dollar (not ringgit) symbols of the "Malaysia Boleh" spirit, what else can we boast about?

Our public transport? Education system? Infrastructure? Football team?

We are not world class. At least, not in everything that we claim to be. So stop with the lies. But then again, let the country without sin throw the first bomb stone.

Yet, I'm not always disappointed. At the very least, we do have people who care for our country. Who are bright, intelligent thinkers. Yes, visionaries, if I may call them. There is not a single country in the world that can do without constant reformation. Malaysia is no exception. We seriously need some changes.

But besides the people I've met, known and read or hear about who do provide me some hope, are there other things that give me cause for realistic optimism? Yes. It is hard to deny that Malaysia has gone somewhere since its independence, exactly 50 years ago. And it is hard to deny that we have changed for the better. But while we may have our grievances and grouches with the state of our country, I would say that things will change for the better. They always do.

This is not to say that change (of the good sort) is inevitable, hence we just ought to sit back and relax. Change needs a driver. And I can yell out "You!" right now, but then "You!" means you, and I can't control you.

Perhaps I can only tell you what you should be doing (although at this point it would be "do as I say not as I do", because I do not always live up to my own expectations, hehe). It is, in the end, your choice.

I don't complain. Well, I try not to complain. It's easy to run away from a situation you don't like. It's easy to complain and accept it grudgingly (you may not like it, but at least it doesn't cause you too much discomfort). But complacence is the enemy of change.

Forgive me for my sermon, but alas, this is my blog. Haha. If you've read it, and agree completely to the point of saying "duh!" then great. Do something.

I do believe we have much to thank our present government for. Their most priceless gift, so far, is peace (in the sense of having an absence of war). How many countries yearn for it! Why then, do people come here to work? Why do people come here to holiday, study and do so many other things?

Yet nevertheless, there are many things which we can start changing. I just named a few of our problems in the beginning, but of course there is even more. A lot of people have voice out their concern over the lack of freedom of religion and such things as the New Economic Policy and other racially biased policies and practices.

This is no perfect country, but that is no excuse for not wanting a change for the better.

As I wrote, if you agree, then do something. But if you don't, or haven't really thought about it...well, I hope this makes you think. If only a little. I am concerned and a lot of others are, too. A change for the better wouldn't hurt, right?

Selamat Hari Merdeka.

I Can Hear...

The fireworks already. It's still faaar from midnight. Malaysia is gonna be half a century year old very soon. Everyone is proud.

And no, this is not my Merdeka post. It's coming soon. Hehehe...

Cowboy Bebop

It's back! Anime reviews return, after a brief hiatus. I'll start with this, then more as time permits. Since I'll be having a one month long holiday which begins in a week's time, I will have the opportunity to clear up the huge backlog of unwatched anime (which I refer to as my "burden" hehehe).

Reviewing such a popular (and relatively old) anime such as this will be kinda pointless, right? So, I'll just throw in a few of my thoughts, and call it a review. (I'm not gonna do an intro here, just look at Wikipedia or something. Heh.)

Let's start with the bad parts of it. Firstly, the fact that there is very little continuity between episodes. Of course, this plays to its advantage sometimes, where it can jump to totally new and random stuff. But one gets a little lost, and tired. The plot only gathers up in the last two episodes. Obviously. Even then, the finale is lacklustre; too quick, too brief.

"Life is but a dream" is a common theme, though one gets confused whether characters like Spike (the main protaganist) holds it as metaphor or (ironically) as reality. Regardless, this theme is parroted often and not explained. Oh well.

The nice bits? Yes, there are quite a few. The humor tends to come in the right places, and the action is, well, good. I can only spout words like nice, good and great here. But never awesome or better, because (to me at least), it lingers in a pool of mediocrity that it only seldom gets out of. But when it does get out, it becomes way better.

Many people rate it as one of their best, which I don't get. Then again, people raved on the horrific FLCL, so that's subjectivity for you.

Ron Choong & Project Timothy

My friend invited me, yesterday, to a talk by Ron Choong on Job & The Gospels (at Community Baptist Church, PJ). Actually, it was more of him introducing Project Timothy and also a talk about worldviews and hermeneutics. It was interesting, refreshing and broad.

May I say it certainly challenged the conventions of quite many people there (which Choong said, was the whole point of Project Timothy). Indeed, this guy has done his homework. Hehe.

The exegetical methods and depth of scholarship of Choong (and of course, others, such as Carson, Wright, Witherington etc.) are much needed today. So it's quite sad they are often ignored by (at least) my church, where almost every sermon sounds like a page from a self-help, motivational book with "Jesus Christ", "God" and "The Bible" thrown in. Of course, a whole lot of other churches have similar sounding sermons. But I generalize, certainly.

I can't quite remember what he spoke on about the Gospels (hey, I have a bad memory, hehe), but I do remember how we put the book of Job in fresh perspective- interpreting him as a non-literal person would cast the book in new light. Choong added that the point of Job was about God, not him and his trials and tribulations.

He went on to discuss a few theological debates, such as the ordination of women and homosexuality. If I'm not mistaken, Ron is leans towards the egalitarian view (if so, Tim Keller wouldn't be too pleased, hehehe). He argues against the view that the biblical condemnation of homosexuality is merely cultural by saying that in all instances, the order of creation is referred to.

Which is ironic, because his view of 1 Timothy 2 as "probably cultural" (I paraphrase him slightly here) is somewhat at odds with Paul grounding his prohibition of women having authority in the order of creation. I'm sure, though, he has thought it through well. Hehe...

It was fun (if I may be permitted to describe it thus!) overall, though he didn't attempt (or perhaps forgot) to define the "big words". I had to explain what "epistemic" meant to my friend!

Ah well, this shows all the more the need for such projects.

Would have like to talked to him, especially about his views on creation (his specialty, I gathered), but time didn't permit me. Grrr...

Oh well, another time.

Tschus!

Young Writers Camp 2007

I'm so sorry, I don't have any pictures (or at least any decent ones). For that, I point you to Alicia's, Emily's and Sarah's (warning: Vanity! Hehe) blogs.

Thus, I've got to use some extra words here to compensate for the lack of pictures. Right.

As Ethan put it, this was indeed a trip with more familiar than unfamiliar faces (actually, there were more unfamiliar faces, but the feeling was that of familiarity). The bus came right sharp on (Malaysian) time, and everyone filed in.

So, everyone settled into their cliques right from the start. And me, despite my loathement (if I were to coin such a word, hehe) of cliques, fell into the JPS club who took seats right at the back.

Journey was longer than I imagined. I thought Bukit Tinggi was five minutes away from Genting (which was itself, 45 minutes away from KL, silly me) but it turned out to be longer than I thought.

Anyway, we arrived there and had to trek up a hill, then all the way down. A humorous moment: Jian Eu & co., in their haste to be the first, went up the wrong way at the fork. And me and Ethan, after finding out the right way, were the first to arrrive there. Hehe. As they say, the last shall be the first.

And so we were there. I rushed up to pick a bunk closest to the fan, as per my friend's advice to sleep on the bunk. It was the wisest choice- as I certainly wouldn't want to have a centipede sleeping with me!

The sessions began. We had a star line up of facilitators, from Alvin and Tricia to David and Kim Guat (the author of the Luke & Acts bible knowledge books, I found out to my surprise!). We also had Colin Kirton, from the Footstool Players. There were a few others, and I'm so sorry but I couldn't remember their names. Still, all of them were an inspiration, and the fact that we had such a high facilitator to camper ratio turned out to be extremely helpful.

Oh, and on a slightly sad note, I ruptured my eardrum after jumping from the very, very tempting 8 feet high diving platform there. A few stories about their experiences with it were written about it as well. Let's just say, I fell the wrong way into the swimming pool. Don't worry, it will heal.

David Tan handled a few "Writing to know..." sessions, which were somewhat enlightening, Tricia took us through the blogging sessions and Roshan Thiren (another speaker) brought out the activists in us.

In fact that was the most surprising part of the camp. Everyone became champions, in one short night, of freedom of speech, religion and other issues, such as education and er, sexual education. Okay, I generalize, but the vast majority suddenly became...vocal.

As I remarked to David later, if UMNO politicians were here, they would've cringed at most of what we have said.

"Haha...our nefarious scheme has worked out." he replied.

Oh yeah. The guest writers forums. Sivin Kit, and er...Wong Siew Li (if I'm not mistaken) as well as KJ John. Sivin is from Bangsar Lutheran Church, Siew Li editor of Kairos Magazine and KJ John columnist of Malaysiakini. Heavyweights, if I may so myself.

It was interesting to say the least. I asked Uncle John (as he was called by Tricia) whether he thinks Malaysia can truly be changed. He named a few people...Gandhi, Mandela, Theresa. Yes, people need to stand up. It wasn't easy, no it wasn't. Prayer, perhaps?

After that, I had an interesting discussion with Pastor Sivin. Asked him a few things, and it was really nice to hear from him. I liked how he spoke of us having our "theological journeys". Curious, because I have thought of myself as embarking on a "journey" quite often.

I had another conversation with Darren, this time on Calvinism. Colin Kirton joined in to, and it was quite frustrating, because I didn't have a Bible with me (I wanted to go back to the text). So we ended up having more of a philosophical discussion, which I'm not very good at. Hehe. It was enlightening, and Darren is a brilliant guy (and a year younger than me, at that). And it's good to know people take theology seriously as well.

Oh, did I mention Roshan moved us on to start our on projects to change the world Malaysia? Yes, my group (the Red Writing Hoods) chose to start a blog for youths to write their views (any views about any aspect) of Malaysia. We're looking for those interested to join in. Don't worry, we have a very flexible definition of "youth", but we are looking primarily for contributors whose age has a 1 in front of them. Hehehe...

And another curious incident happened. We were all asked to submit any idea to create change to be pasted onto the wall. As a joke, I submitted an idea for the S.A.D. help group (Sex, Alcohol, Drugs). People took it seriously. Okay, seriously in an unserious kind of way. See an account of the genesis of S.A.D. here.

How could I forget the campsite itself? Gracehill Lodge was a quaint, quiet place, close to nature and far from life. Many say they were inspired by the place, and I'm not surprised. The toilets could've been better though. ;P

And then there was the whole point of the camp, the Writer's Slam, where our writings got critiqued. No, actually, our writings got commented upon by people who would make the most optimistic person sound like a doom sayer, and who could find the faintest prick of a silver lining in a gargantuan fluff of pitch black clouds.

Hehe. Well, maybe I'm too harsh here. But most of the stories were very good. Some people are just way better than me. Oh well. =)

(As for my story, you can check it out here.)

Oh yes, Alvin helmed the Lectio Divina sessions. I found it disappointing though, as he did not instruct us properly how to go about with it. Reflect and let God speak to you is very ambiguous, to say the least. It's not that I have qualms here, but exercises in "What does God say to you?" and "Which particular passage of scripture speaks to you?", while they have their places at times, can sometimes descend into (improper) subjectivism if not clarified properly.

Were there other downsides? Well, Ethan and Jian Eu brought up the fact that the sessions involved more "telling" than "showing" (referencing Colin's session that the goal of a play is to show rather than tell). I think that telling has its place, however, and while some sessions may have been boring, at least they provoked us to some thought. At least, I hope they did.

So this is my two cents on the camp. May have sounded like a school essay, which Ethan has a particular fondness for. If so, then forgive me for my foible here, but great writing always I manage not.

Bye!

I'm Inspired...

I see that some of my friends have changed their layouts. No surprise. We are either starting new blogs or changing them, post YWC. Hehe.

Anyway, the above was a nice pic which I took and edited slightly. Note that its best viewed on a computer with a 1024 by 768 rez, else it will stretch past the screen. Anyways...

The story that I wrote there (if it can be called a "story") and my summary of the Young Writers' Camp will be up soon. Patience.

I'm Sad.

The collective weight of small burdens eventually breaks the emotional back, that is me.

Sorry, just a little sad. Selfishly so.

Don't worry, better days will come soon. They always do.

1 More Quick Gripe...

Before I continue my torturous session of report writing.

This behavioral science assignment is tearing away at my innards. Argh!

Groan.

Back...

It was the most intriguing camp that I went too. Seriously. But that probably means I haven't been to any better camps. So, I'm back from the Young Writer's Camp. The full report will be coming up. But I do regret some things there, such as not jumping into the pool properly. I landed right smack on my ear. Now my right ear isn't functioning properly; tinnitus, I suspect. Will see the doctor tomorrow.

Other than that, trying to get into the mood to begin my major assignment. Yes, Lord help me.

Read someone go on about how everything are hypotheses, beliefs indistinguishable. In context, he was speaking about how religious beliefs don't differ, i.e. they are different ways of conceptualizing a thing.

Of which I have no comment, except well, some people are just smarter than me. Or maybe they're omniscient. Heh.

A Break That I Didn't Really Need...

I got my major assignment coming up. And poof goes my weekend due to my wonderfully prescient choice of signing up for the Young Writers Camp. Yes, as Ethan said, it's filled with familiar faces.

Well then. I shall take it as time to chill out. For 4 days. Then it's back to sanity. Until then...

Happy Birthday to myself (I turned 17 on the 16th) and to my cousin Darleena and old pal Paul (both their birthdays are on the 17th)

&

Lord Jesus, please help me with my assignment.

&

Soli Deo Gloria

Good nite.

Woot!

I got picked for National Service. The best part? I'll probably get placed amongst the non-SPMers. Cause I didn't do SPM. Hehehe. Or as some put it, the "drop-outs".

I'm so happy. *Sarcasm*

Of course, since my college course extends till I'm 19+, there's always deferment, deferment, deferment. By then I'll be 20 something. And maybe I'll be more experienced then. Hehe.

The Simpsons Movie

I love South Park. And I found Simpsons to be funny (the series, that is). Not because of their satire (although sometimes because of that), but because of their jokes and visual gags. Yes, that's true. I don't watch them to make fun of people and ideas (although that plays a part), and to tell you the truth, while I enjoy both South Park and Simpsons, I have rarely watched any of it. Only a few episodes here and there.

Well, the movie has come out and I suppose it took them long enough. And it sure is one of the best Simpson episode to date (if it were an episode).

Of course, much has been made of its satiric content, but while it pokes fun at the environmental movement ("An Irritating Truth"...hehe) and Christianity (Homer flipping through the Bible: "This book doesn't have any answers!), it doesn't go as far as to seriously comment on them. Of course, that might not be its purpose, but just throwing the dirt here and there left me feeling that they could have done so much more.

Not to forget the typical slapstick humor and running gags among others. Spider-pig is a lovely example.

The movie does lag in excitement (may I say, gets draggy) towards the middle section, but it picks up, and soon we have a somewhat satisfying and quite funny movie. My comment? Good enough. Which is, suffice to say, good enough.

No Fair!

The Bourne Ultimatum is out in the US, and in these days of us Malaysians getting cinema releases at the same time (or even before them), I cry foul at the fact it's only going to be released in September.

And with it's current rating, and it being already compared to Transformers (better than, some say), I'm aching to see it.

Sigh. Guess I'll just have to wait.

The future for Malays is bleak indeed...

"The (coming) general elections is not about politics but the future of the Malays."

So says Mr. Jamaludin, adding about Anwar Ibrahim,

"Anwar is a puppet of the United States and the Jews, thus he must be hounded until there is no more place for him to run to."

Wow. Puppet of the Jews huh?

If two-bits like him can be the deputy chief of UMNO Youth (he'd be more suited for Al-Qaeda's PR Department), then the future for Malays is bleak indeed.

Source.

The Sweet Release, If Only For A Moment

The days and nights of toiling and laboring over my report and preparing for exam are finally over. My assignment: handed up. My exam: done.

Finally, I can rest easy once more. For...another two weeks. Or so I hope.

End Times. Now.

When I was 12, I started in Yahoo! a group dedicated to discussing the endtimes. At that age, I was decidedly post-tribulationist. Where would be the fun if we were all raptured? The group was, I think, not very successful. But it could've done worse. I don't know of its fate today.

Just recently a friend of mine asked me whether we will make it through the end times. That seems to be the concern of many a Christian, and I wonder why they're not learning survival techniques and storing up on baked beans by now.

The time is near, at least they think so. So did, uh, Herr Luther. Of course he's dead now, but he did believe rather fervently that Jesus was coming very soon.

I don't like to rant. I've ranted before. Believe me. But here it is again, and please bear with me for a moment.

Revelation shouldn't be interpreted literally. At least, I don't think it should. Yet we have dear Hal Lindsey's imagination working overtime in his "interpretation", and his (and others of his kind) legacy remains today. God forbid (indeed) Left Behind.

And, I don't think Paul was wrong when he said that Jesus was coming "soon". Now, "soon" has been extended to two millenniums by many folks. But our dear Apostles were not speaking from the viewpoint of God. Rather, they spoke from their viewpoint to (and this is most important) other humans. Ditto with Jesus in his Olivet Discourse.

So, when I say I'll give back your money soon, I don't mean to say that I will only give it back to you by the time your grandson has great-grandsons.

My dear friends, I hardly think the end is soon. But then again, maybe it is. And I'm not sure about everything the Bible says (I'm still caught between the millenialisms). On the other hand, people have been wrong for 2000 years. I don't think we'll be right anytime soon.

Date setters have never gotten it right. Even a youth pastor, teaching on the end times, has said that the end should've been at least one generation after the gathering of Israel (1947).

That means...uh...yeah, the tribulation should've started already. No, he said. We're living on "extra time". But such ad hoc adjustments only serve to notify us that it's a theory that clearly is lacking hard evidence.

So, the antichrist might already be here. But I shake my head and say, "not likely". Not because I'm certain it ain't true. But because I know that the methods in which people arrive at the conclusion are clearly dubious.

My closing words? There are other interpretations of the end times. I think the most persuasive one (a summary of which can be found here) is preterism. But most premillenial folk will reel in horror at such a suggestion. But I think it's the closest to what the Bible teaches.

I'm It.

Got tagged by Ian. Like him, I don't have anything to put on my blog either, hence why I'm writing all this.

1.Your name plus "ness"?
Daniel-ness

2. Two feelings at the moment?
Happy and jovial.

3. What are you listening to right now?
Some guy upstairs doing scales on a piano.

4.Done anything you regret so far this week?
Not having any ice cream.

5. Describe where you are right now?
In the Milky Way. It's kinda big, I occupy a small, tiny, microscopic corner of the galaxy.

6.The highlight of your week?
Me having to do my 7,000 word report all over again.

7. What are you craving to have right now?
Said report completed.

8. Who were the last people you ate with?
Bros, and dad.

9. What are you scared of?
The dark, and maths.

10. Last movie you watched?
Eragon. Cheesy, squirm in your seat kind of show.

11. Last songs you sang out loud?
Heartbeats, Jose Gonzalez. Or, er, was it Hikari by Utada Hikaru? Not sure...

13. Are you thinking of someone right now?
Now that you mention it, I am.

14. Who is the last person you talked to?
My mom.

15. Last thing you downloaded on your computer?
A journal on M&As (If you don't know what it is, trust me, you don't want to).

16. Have you changed much this year?
Time moves, change is inevitable. What kind of a question is that?

19. Hug or kiss?
Hugs can kill, but kisses can be deadly. Hence, neither.

20. Last time you cried?
When I had an epiphany, a beautiful religious vision, for lack of a better word.

21. Friends? or Lover?
Lover, no contest.

22.Who do you wish to talk to right now?
No one. I'm content by myself.

23. Who was the last person to text message you?
Jared Locke

24. Where was the last place you went to besides where you are?
Mamak store.

26. Do you speak any other language other than English?
Malay. And yes, a smattering of German, remnants of the days where I had nothing better to do.

27. Last thing you watched on TV?
Eragon, because I watched it on the TV. If you are really that particular, then...probably the news.

28.Do you dress for style or comfort?
Neither. I hate external imperatives, although sometimes they are unavoidable.

29. Name someone with the same b-day
as you?
Erm, Evanna Lynch, for those who watched The Order of the Phoenix.

30. Ever had a drunken night in Mexico?
Nada.

31. Whats the craziest thing you've done?
I have done no crazy thing, thankfully.

32. Favorite color(s)?
Purple.

33. What's your favorite cereal character?
The Kelloggs rooster. I thought it was chicken flakes.

34. What is your favorite Michael Jackson song?
Smooth Criminal

35. Who do you love?
Myself, God, Family, Girl, Myself etc.

36. Any plans right now?
Yeah, an incredible one.

37. What are your plans for tonight?
Sleep by 11 P.M.

38. What are you looking forward to tomorrow?
Nothing in particular.

39. Last time you were happy sincerely?
Can't remember. Maybe when I ate a chicken chop.

40.Last time you smiled?
Just now.

41. Who do you wanna be with right now?
Myself!

42. Last book you read?
The Great Gatsby

43. Your ambition?
Academia, hopefully.


44. Can you drive?
Not yet.

45. Last time you wore a cap?
Few months ago.

5 People I Tag:

The first five people to read this. You...uh...know how you are.

;)

Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows

Note: This is a spoiler-free review.

From the promptness of this review, I'm sure you can deduce about two things. One, that I was one of the eager first to snag a copy of the book right on its opening date. True. Second, that I read it rather quickly. Yup.

Regardless, the air was filled with excitement, and I could see a long, expectant queue. When the doors opened, everyone rushed in- some went against the escalator- just to be the first to get their hands on a copy. And that was just in Tesco alone. ;)

Well, it's here. The final chapter, as it were. Perhaps your interest in the series might have faded, but still, I'm sure a lot of people will be eager to know what happens to our hero(es) in the end.

And it is remarkably satisfactory at that. Despite Rowling's penchant for long, draggy paragraphs and a somewhat anti-climactic finale, the final pages of the book does leave one with a sense of contentment, that all is said and done.

But of course, if you were turned off by the last few books (I was especially by the previous one) you might not enjoy this one a lot. Still, as I said earlier, you should perhaps read it to know what happens. I noticed, however, the pace in this book is somewhat faster than that of the previous ones, and it did manage to keep me much more interested.

The plot is not as tight as in the first few books, but here, you still keep guessing (though I suppose parts of the ending could already be guessed if you paid attention to the last book, especially). And everything falls into place nicely.

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Innocence Is Whitewashed Ignorance

I think the thought came to me, while I listened to my neighbour (a gal of around 8 or 9, I'm not sure) go into deep detail about a perfectly true story- which was basically about a girl in a hotel meeting up with a particularly nasty ghost.

Completely true, she assured me, and as I listened to her German accented speech (I had more fun trying to detect her accent than listening to her), I couldn't help but shake my head.

But she is young.

Call it innocence or ignorance. I don't know which is which, but for all intents and purposes, sometimes innocence is ignorance. Of course, the young ones might have not had much time to build up their repository of common sense. But some others (who I've met) who are older than me still display a cringe worthy naive view of the world.

Is innocence really bad? Some would just wish we had it. I mean, what if our founding father and mother had not eaten that fruit? Or perhaps knowledge would've been better. I take the latter, for in this world at least, ignorance is not bliss. No, far, far from it.

But everyone (except the insane, although it is debatable as to whether we are the insane ones) expects the youngest, most innocent children to grow out of it eventually. If you are 2, your "innocence" is laughed at and adored. On the other hand, if you were 22, you'd be considered retarded.

My apologies if you had a much higher view of innocence, but I think it is merely ignorance- polished and all dressed up. And anyway, we lost that darn "virtue" a long, long time ago.

Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix

It's the fifth time round, and already some are beginning to suspect something lagging. It might be that the movie wasn't well made or (perhaps?) the source material wasn't that great. But then again, I did enjoy the fifth Harry Potter book rather much (as much as the previous ones) and so I don't think it would've been any problem there.

So why do I think that this is one of the lesser Harry Potter movies? Well, a few reasons. One would be its puzzling run time. At around 130 minutes, it is considerably shorter than, say, Chamber of Secrets (which clocked in at 160 minutes). Taking into account the fact that this had been the thickest Harry Potter book to date when it was released, it does tell you about how much had to go.

And a lot goes. Character development takes a backseat (or at least, only Harry and a few others get their proper treatment). Much of the story (and side stories) that gave the book much of its delight has been left out, unfortunately.

But I wasn't really all that disappointed. It still was adapted remarkably well, and certainly it did entertain. At least we got to see some proper duels, of which I wished there were more.

For the next show, I sure hope they don't make such short a movie. Then again, considering how slow Half-Blood Prince was, maybe it would be wise to prune out a few bits here and there and make something that's really interesting all the way.

We Are Damned!

Us Prots, I mean. All them Baptists, Presbies, Lutherans, etc. are not the true church. So says the Roman Catholic church. But, really, it's nothing new.

So why does this warrant any comment? Well, first thing is to solidify the fact that us Protestants have been anathematized by the RC church for the umpteenth time, since ancient history. One wonders why we are so sure of our salvation when, according to the one true church, we are gonna burn in hell. One wonders.

Not that I greet this with derision and ridicule. They obviously have put a lot of thought into this (and other similar theological issues).

Of course, this would pose a setback to them ecumenicals. I must pity the ECT folk.  But again, let me take this time to heap praises onto Pope Benedict XVI and how he takes his theology seriously. No compromise with him. Nothing but clarity and absoluteness. I like his stance. Hehe.

But as I wrote about here a lot of times, one can never hope for absolute truth (in certain things) to be found here. Least of all this issue. This has reinforced the fundamentalists' notion of the RC church being Satan's wife.

So they are damned, and so are we. Mutual damnation is not exactly a promising or exciting prospect, but the truth is that only one can be right (or both wrong). Who knows?

Hence why we gotta start finding out now. I make a small request that many others would make. Educate our laity on this issue. I find it how most (Protestant) people I meet either think the Catholics are: Mary worshippers and basically unsaved or that they are on the same bus, only in different seats.

Or at least, the church that I attend ought to be talking more about these issues (and not relegate it to "classes"). After all, Catholics are the largest Christian denomination on Earth. And their HQ says we are not "churches". Perhaps our dear clergy could why, to everyone.

Some People Just Don't Get It

Sarcasm, I mean. Take a look at this video I posted nearly a year ago. To date, it's (ironically) my most popular video. In a nutshell, it's a lame air-cover of Funtwo's rendition of Canon. The title is tongue-in-cheek.

But no. Most people just don't get it.

Here's a few (with some slight editing):

lol, it had to be a stupid nigger huh, go suck **** u piece of ****

do u have a retard holding the camera.. or is it one of yur kids? and
whered u get the guitar walmart?.. or did u steal it?.. eihter way
funtwo is a god guitarist .. so **** it

sad son of a ****

I have doubts myself as to whether they actually really were insulting the poor guy in the video, but I think that some of them actually meant it. If that were the case, then Youtube is (disturbingly) populated by more two-bit airheads than I thought.

On the bright side, I'm sure the guy in this video, Calvin Samuel- a rather popular guy his social circles- would be pleased to know that he was called a nigger. Yes, the geniuses who commented thought thus. A classic example of shallow thinking, as this guy is an Indian through and through.

But I say that he would be pleased to know that he had been a called a nigger for the simple reason that he prefers to be an African-American more than to be an Indian. He's a rapper (wow), too.

So yeah, good things. And bad things.

Transformers

I think the question that might be in your mind is this: Is this a good movie?

Well, yeah, an obvious question. But more to the point: Is this a good movie considering that Michael Bay is directing it? Let's clear some things here- I have nothing against Bay. That said, I'm no big fan of him either.

I thought Armageddon was nice (and in this movie, he has the privilege of referencing it too. Wow.). And Pearl Harbor too. They were entertaining. But they could hardly be called "solid" movies. Style, yes. Substance? Er...definitely not.

Transformers is a Michael Bay movie through and through. Style (and more style) meets, uh, little substance. But it's probably his best one, ever. Really.

This is no character driven movie with a deep, complex, meaningful plot. It's a movie that is defined by its action scenes. And that's the only reason you should go for this movie. The action. The fights. The excitement.

Yes, it's entertaining. Unless you're put off by this sort of thing (I know quite a few people who would fall asleep watching this show). It's a fanboy's dream. It's cool, yeah.

I must hand it to Orci & Kurtzman here: They worked up a screenplay that's ended up like more of a very long fight sequence than a proper story. This is its weakness, and its greatest strength. Let's just say, the, explosions make up for almost all of its inadequacies.

No question here, this is a show that the boys (young, old) will enjoy. But I'm puzzled and concerned: Transformers happen to be action figures that are targeted toward children (of course, this is not to say that all who play and enjoy them are young children).

They must have made this movie for those who actually grew up with Transformers instead: I'm talking about those who hark back from the 80's. Because this movie is very, very intense in some parts. Too much so for the young ones, I would think.

Yes, even the action sequences become unintelligible at times. But that's the way it should be sometimes: chaotic.
As for me, I'm not complaining. =)


The Relaxed Moviegoer: A

The Thoughtful Critic: B-

Minutes To Midnight. Slightly Ironic.

Linkin Park's album title Minutes To Midnight was intended as a "tongue in cheek" reference to the music industry. Inadvertently (maybe not?), it's also a rather ironic reference to that of Linkin Park.



Let me explain. They claim that their nu-metal sounds are completely gone from this album. That's quite true. Someo their songs are quite different (other, only slightly) from those found in their previous album. Chester's screaming is not so dominant now. But I find it ironic that their most successful single so far (What I've Done) is probably the only one that sounds like that of their previous songs.



You can find a guitar solo of sorts in the first track ,Wake and also a rap track in Hands Held High. Both, I think, are slightly out of place (and the latter belongs more in The Rising Tied than Minutes to Midnight, really). What I've Done and, perhaps, Bleed It Out are the two tracks I liked. The rest were too broody, slow, melancholic (to the point of annoying) and lacked energy. It got tiring and repetitive.



And they've also dumped their no-profanity policy (which means we now have f**k mentioned in their songs periodically). They are, after all, trying to be different. But I think (and many others, in fact) they fail. Again, irony prevails again here: Perhaps they should have just stuck to formula.

Why They Love To Make Love, Even Where There Is No Love

Forgive the title; my attempt at being poetic inevitably has fallen short. But I think it brings to light some problems inherent in pre-marital sex.



But then, I'm not going to actually discuss its problems, but why people want to do it. And why they- no- we want to do so. And what we're doing to discourage it. Because there is no way on earth we will ever prohibit it.



It's fun, isn't it? It's exciting. Or so I hear and am told. The most frustrating, yet paradoxically logically meaningless argument offered is that everyone does it: and why shouldn't you? This was basically Giselle Bundchen's argument, and while I must slap myself for actually referring to her, she still speaks for many- and many listen.



You can't argue against peer pressure, as much as you would like. You might have debates and maybe "win" them, but at the end of the day if the majority still don't agree, you've gone nowhere.



But while pre-marital sex might be widely accepted in other countries, it's still mainly frowned upon here, obviously. This might be a good thing and a bad thing, depending on how obedient you are to cultural or religious principles. Rebels to such generally will, uh, love to have sex.



This brings me to some thoughts I have on how we, the Christians, ought to make some difference. Beyond those limited abstinence campaigns (and they are mainly held by Christians, at churches, for Christians) and talks every week on the evils of premarital sex, I think it's time we started bringing our concerns out into the open.



Here is the problem. Our rejection (accurately, most conservative churches) of premarital sex stems from the fact that we see it add odds to Biblical command. That is the root fact, despite there being others (such as psychological and bodily damage).



So do we just go out to schools, colleges and universities handing out leaflets quoting scripture prohibiting such? As far as I know, no church does that.



Yet sometime such truths as why fornication is wrong require something else to comprehend them. I.e., the mind of Christ. Perhaps 1 Corinthians 2:14 applies:



The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.



So maybe we should be too surprised as to why so many don't get our idea. Hey, it's fun, that's why. Why stop? Or perhaps they are in a relatively secure relationship, and trust one another. Either way, while there may be actually no physical or emotional consequences, there might be spiritual ones (that is, sin against God).



How are we going to bring that fact across? Well, besides prayer (we should pray more about this fact, seriously), we have forgotten the most important thing precursor to all social and spiritual change. The Gospel of Jesus Christ. Obviously. And it seems in most cases, the presentation runs backward. First biblical truths that some may never comprehend. Then only the Gospel.



This is not to say that all social reform acts done are pointless if they are independent of the Gospel. But if they are to be done independently, we need a smarter plan, and we need to team up with the rest (as some have done in their efforts already).



Are we forgetting that we live in Malaysia, a supposedly Islamic country? We all know how conservative Islam (and Muslims) are right? So, I think, we can cooperate with them (be they Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, Taoists etc.) to bring forth the view that premarital sex is unnecessary. And not just unnecessary, but risky and dangerous.



And also, we as Christians know this as well: It's a sin. Simple as that.