Emancipation

Movie Review: Johnny English: Reborn

2011-09-18T23:38:00.000+08:00

It's been a while since an entry. It's an even longer while since a review. But somehow I feel obligated to write a review for this movie, since our country had the privilege to see the movie well over a month before the US audience.

Heck, we get to see it 3 weeks before it's even released on its home turf!
(P/s: Malaysian release date of the movie is 15th Sep 2011, just like Singapore)

Here be the review of Johnny English: Reborn.

Look at that funny face that leave people in stitches. In this movie; literally.

Before I begin, let me start with a bit of history. This movie is a sequel to the original Johnny English that is about a clumsy and hopeless secret agent of the British Intelligence named MI7. The original movie was released way back in 2003. The movie was very mediocre and received an average score of 5.8 on IMDb.

The main draw of the movie then and even now is the Rowan Atkinson, or better known throughout the world as the incompetent Mr. Bean. In the real world he's a highly educated professor who has a great understanding of people. He is also a motorhead to certain extent, which explains the presence of a sweet Rolls Royce Phantom Coupe with a V16. The only kind in the world. On related news, he was also involved in a motor accident recently with a freaking McLaren F1. Oh it's just a small little car that only is one of the most exotic car...... in the world (read in Jeremy Clarkson's style).

This is very hard to watch... At least he survives. So he can buy another one.

On to the actual movie review. After his failure of maintaining the security of the Prime Minister of Mozambique that was assassinated earlier when it was under his eyes, his knighthood was revoked together with his status as a secret agent. After a rehabilitation with the Chinese monk in the Himalayas, he was reassigned as a secret agent for another critical job. The second movie follows the (mis)adventure of secret agent Johnny English through his mission to foil the plan to assassinate the Prime Minister of China.

I thought they were supposed to be bald

The usual incompetency of the character is present and it's back in full force. He is now paired with an assistant named Agent Tucker played by Daniel Kaluuya. Personally I think he played his part brilliantly and is a very suitable pair to be with Johnny English. Through further investigation, English found out that the plot of the murder was backed by a criminal organization called Vortex.

o_o

The rest of the movie is riddled with the usual elements of an action flick. You have the on-foot chase scene, vehicle chase scene, dramatic fight scene, so on and so forth. Of course sprinkled with comedy throughout of the speech and slapstick variation.

Now, the first way to look at the movie is to compare it to the first movie, naturally. Personally, I think it is a huge step up from it. The movie seemed to be far better directed with significant increase in production quality as compared to the 2003 prequel. The plot, although still not very believable, is stronger and more acceptable against the predecessor. The action scenes are better, the dialogues are better, the cinematography is better; an overall improvement.

Check out my kicks! Literally and figuratively!

That being said, the first movie didn't set a high bar itself. It's the kind of movie that does not take itself seriously. What can we expect anyway? Although imperfect, it has a good amount of both action and comedy for you to keep on watching until the end of the movie.

There was a running gag of a killer cleaning lady that was funny the first couple of times but gets tiring and too unrealistic that pulls me back from the movie a bit. It might be entertaining for the little kids though.

I think the movie is being safe. It does not take any risk from any angle and provides the audience with more of the same Johnny English. Not an entirely bad thing to begin with. It's a good movie to watch and have a laugh or two but it's forgettable and doesn't have much to it. Except if you're a motorhead then the V16 Phantom Coupe is sure going to make you wipe your mouth afterwards. I take it for what it is, but it is NOT a perfect god-send movie that some people might take it as.

Well, not much to be said for a movie that does not bring much new to the plate to begin with. By no means however, that it is a bad movie.

Good laugh. Especially with good friends. Go see it. I give it a 7/10.

Image source: IMDb.com

From P license to C license in Malaysia

2011-06-21T21:09:00.002+08:00

Prior to writing this entry, I have realized that there was no official instruction, or at least not one that can be found easily, within the JPJ website about upgrading your PDL (Probation Driving License) or better known as "Lesen P" to CDL (Competent Driving License) alias "Lesen Penuh".

Hopefully this entry will help with that.

What you need

For the probation period of the PDL to be over.
Your original P license
Your Identification Card (I/C)
1 License size photo*
RM 30 for each year of CDL (maximum of 5 years at once)

*Be aware that the license size and passport size photo is different. License size photo is much smaller. If you have accidentally brought a passport sized photo however, do not worry as they have a cutter that will crop and cut your photo to license size. But now your new license will have your whole round face on it. I learned this the hard way.

Where you can upgrade

There is a lot of JPJ offices all around the nation but I will only list the ones around the capital.

Setapak

Lot 14264
53300Setapak
Telephone: 03 40241200
Faks: 03-40236599

Maju Junction

Level 2 Maju Junction Mall
50250Wilayah Persekutuan
Telephone: 03-26989572
Faks: 03 26989470

Cheras

No 1, Jalan Permaisuri 8,
5600Cheras
Telephone: 0391727461
Faks: 0391727343

You can look for other JPJ offices around the nation here.

How to upgrade and how long it would take

Depending on the day and branch that you went, the number of people varies.
I suggest that you go on a weekday and avoid weekends and public holidays if possible.
I went and did mine on a weekday and the whole process took about 15 minutes.

Get a number, wait for your number to be called.
Go to counter, meet and greet nicely.
If counter attendant is awek cun, turn on your suave. Bonus points if you manage to get phone number. If you are a lady, skip to step 4.
Tell the counter attendant that you want to upgrade your PDL to CDL.
Present your PDL to the counter attendant. I/C as well if required.
Pay respective amount according to the requested CDL validity period.
Your new CDL will be issued on the spot.
Congratulations! You are now a CDL certified road user!
~~Cry alone in a corner because you don't have your own car.~~

The whole process is really easy and could be done in a single afternoon. The problem is only that it does not have clear instructions. Hope my experience may help many.

Kahwin Cara Melayu Stereotaip

2011-06-02T17:16:00.002+08:00

(Nukilan asal oleh: Syahmi Yem)

Perbualan antara dua orang makcik;

"Wah, hensem la anak Kak Limah tu kan? Lama tak nampak dier."

"Uish, tu la. Nak je aku jodohkan dengan anak aku si Aishah tu."

"Keje ape budak tu? Nampak macam pandai je."

"Haa tu la ko tak tau Enon oi, budak tu dulu belajar kat Amerika ko tau."

"Amboi, jauhnye. Mesti gaji besar tu."

"Tu lah aku cakap, kalau Aishah tu kahwin dengan budak tu, cerah la mase depan."

"Aku dengar adik beradik dier semua pandai-pandai, kak Siti bagi makan ape la agaknye budak-budak tu."

Sebulan selepas itu,

"Eh, Nab, aku dengar anak Kak Siti yang baru balik oversea tu datang rumah kau merisik si Aishah. Betul ke?"

"Haa ye lah tu. Lega aku dapat menantu pangkat besar."

"Habis tu Aishah terima ke tak?"

"Alah kau ni, Aishah tu dengar je gaji besar, seronok sangat la dier."

"Ha'ah yek. Untung kau Eton. Dapat menantu orang kaya."

Hari berbincang pasal urusan perkahwinan,

"Haa macam ni lah Sudin. Makcik nak sangat korang kahwin kat hotel. Buat besar-besar sikit. Makcik tumpang gembira je."

"Oh, tak ada masalah makcik, tapi saya tak berapa setuju nak berbelanja banyak untuk urusan kahwin ni. Membazir."

"Eh, membazir apa pulak. Sekali seumur hidup je ni."

"Nantilah saya fikirkan macam mana. Jadi, makcik, pakcik dah berapa mas kahwinnya?"

"Oh, pasal tu. Kami dah bincang. Makcik letak RM15000 je. Sudin okey je kan?"

"Amboi, mahalnya makcik. Mana nak cari duit banyak tu."

"Eh, Sudin kau kan dah ada jawatan tinggi, gaji besar. Takkan la tak mampu."

"Saya baru je habis belajar la makcik. Bukan dah berbelas tahun kerja."

"Eh, takkan la tak ada simpanan langsung, Sudin. Ni sekali seumur hidup je ni."

"Simpanan saya, saya dah beli rumah sendiri, beli kereta. Habis."

"Alah, Sudin. Tak kan la kau taknak Aishah tu."

Kahwin.

Ape lah kahwin sebab duit. Susah nak cari orang Melayu yang tak pandang harta. Yang sederhana, nak hidup senang. Yang dah sedia kaya, nak tambah harta.

Time aku nak cari calon nanti, jangan harap aku nak cakap aku ni belajar oversea. Jangan harap nak cakap aku kerja apa. Jangan sampai kahwin sebab harta.

Heh. Bajet aku ni kaya la nanti. Ceh. Berangan kuat.

Tapi tu lah. Stereotaip Melayu buat majlis kahwin. Apa salahnya bersederhana.

Balik Malaysia bulan depan nak kahwin lah. jk

Okey babai.

Salam alaik~

(Sumber: http://www.syahmiyem.com/2011/05/kahwin-cara-melayu-stereotaip.html)

Wrestling with reason

2011-05-08T20:34:00.000+08:00

This is an opinion entry and should not be taken for granted.

Reasoning is a skill. It is not something you are born with. It's something that is accumulated with time. As an example, we all believe that decisions we make today are better than the decisions we made many years ago since we believe that we have accumulated more reasoning skill. Reasoning is also a process that needs to be done when dealing with an issue. It has to be paired with rational as well.The further I think, the more I think reasoning can be broken down into.

At school, we are not told to reason any further than the sections of the religious studies (if any) and science subject inferences and hypothesis. We were told why these issues are reasoned with certain ways but that is that and it is not expanded. The expansion of reason is only there if the person took the initiative. Otherwise the reason pretty much arrived due to suggestions by teachers and books.

For me though, reasoning always needs to be expanded, cognitive and critical.

Good reasoning should:

1. Understandable
What good is any reason if whatever is said could not be understood even. Misunderstanding of a reason also falls under a weak reasoning system. Miscommunication is most prevalent when the information is conveyed through text in which intonation is absent. Punctuation helps to accent the reason but may still be misunderstood through the order of the words that are arranged together that might have ambiguous and unclear target, which brings me to the next point;

2. Order
A good reasoning should be broken down in order, of either incremental or decremental. An incremental reasoning is where you state the specific reason while working your way up to why you arrive at such conclusion. A decremental reasoning is where you cover up all the basics of your idea which brings you to the said conclusion. Without order, the reason may fail to to be made at all.

3. Source inclusionThis is a big hassle. I agree, it is hard to look for sources to every single thing that needs to be said but for saying something like, "Hey I saw the Wall Street Journal state that...." or something in the vein of it in the beginning of the reasoning is considered as citation still. In this day and age, well actually since ever, there's no way to definitely say that the source is correct, but it definitely helps with getting to a more solid point of reason that could be backed up. This brings me to a sub-component:
i. Good source citation
In order to cite, it is also important for you to know what kind of place you are citing from, believable source of information. Don't go citing Wikipedia all the time. Although some of the information is relevant and usable, that site is a free to edit site in which anyone can add information. Cite from interview, research papers, books written and produced by credible people, good websites, educated personnels and other of the same quality. Don't cite from quotes, as they for the most are just words arranged in a poetic manner. Don't cite from your own website too.

4. Be fair
Be fair when reasoning. Don't arrive to a reason just because you used to take sides. Take it as this, after the reasons has been shown and whether it's wrong of right has been proven, accept it. If it's wrong, it's wrong. If it's right, it's right. Don't defend what is wrong and don't bash what is right because you take sides. For example, you are a fan of even number. When I have proved to you why 2 + 3 = 5, just because you don't like 5, don't go around saying I'm biased in making decisions. The reason has been made and it's been shown. Don't defend it anymore. Before making any reasons, don't put attributes to neutral things, sentences, etc. Take it neutrally and reason fairly. Sometimes the reason may fall under the grey area, where its neither completely wrong or right, then take it as that as well. Take it neutrally. For example when I say don't go right, doesn't mean I want you to go left. It might just mean I want to go straight. A lot of things stay in the grey. The Muslim prophet Muhammad (PBH) once said, "Moderation is perfection". What was said was based on the truth that anything in an excessive amount is bad.

Here's an ironic truth:

Other than numbers, everything is not absolute although "everything" is absolute in itself.

5. Avoid emotions
Emotions is like fire. They are friendly when controlled. When initiating reason, don't include emotion. Use logic. Emotion leads to reasons of which only the reasoner understand. This in turn is advocating the usage of rationality. Nobody looks up to people who make reasons with emotions alone. Emotion leads to impulsiveness and outbursts. When reasoning it is important that we keep calm and make sure not to lose our heads. Think before saying anything. Think of what and who it may affect. It is much easier to say things that you feel since its urging but for the most part it will only benefit you in a short term (emotional outburst is satisfying, no?) but harm you in a long way. Also, when reasoning with someone you have bones with, avoid being emotional. Although hard, it is the optimal path.

6. Think terms
If possible, when reasoning, include short, medium and long term goals. State why this is your reason in all of the term goals. This will help the people listening to your reason understand the intuitiveness of your reasoning structure. These goals might require additional reasoning that needs to be stated as well.

7. Explain in a way that even your grandma understands
When reasoning, don't expect people to quickly understand it. Their mind may work differently than yours. To make sure that your reasoning is idiot proof, imagine you are the dumbest person in the world and try to make that dumbest person understand. If you explain it in the way that you expect that to understand, and then they don't, there's nobody else but yourself to blame. Also check that your reasoning is understandable by anyone of any race, religion and cultural difference. If you look at your reason and see that it can only be understandable by a certain kind of race and a certain kind of religion, then your reasoning is a failure. Don't blame them for not understanding, blame yourself for having a one track mind by excluding diversity of thought.

8. People have different opinions
Other people have other ideas. Respect them still. Just because they don't agree with yours, don't dis them. The bigger thing to do is to accept them and think why they have such different opinions. Respect the fact that they have different point of views that you might even learn to see from; benefit from someday. Don't hate people that don't agree with you. It is unfair to let something as innocent as a relationship between humans to be affected by this.

There should be more actually. I don;t really have them in my head now. At the time of writing, I'm also a bit under the weather, which explains to dumb sentence structure and for that I am sorry. Might fix this entry in the future.

As a final word, I wish that reasoning among us all will rise in quality. This will allow everyone to learn more about everything all the time.

Timeless love

2011-05-05T22:49:00.004+08:00

Masa ni la bilik aku nak berhabuk kan. Ish kene sapu nih. Mana penyapu aku letak...

Update

2011-05-04T03:39:00.001+08:00

It's been over a month since I posted anything. Got a few drafts but never got the chance to finish them since I've been thinking about ways to portray my opinions without actually offending anyone. Further thinking has lead me to believe that no matter what I write, somebody, somewhere will be offended. Whether because the inability to accept different perspectives or things are too radical that their mind rejects without analyzing further first. Like for example, the last sentence I wrote will definitely prove my point anyway. Got a few drafts on some social issues I'd like to address but it's not easy to come with neutral stuff.

Yes. Neutral is actually difficult.

Also I need suggestions on stuff to write. These days I've got ideas, but not the effort to come up with sentences.

Here's an unrelated picture:

LOL

2011-02-24T00:02:00.000+08:00

“I am very happy as I have never won anything before and the prizes are really cool.”

Stupidest answer ever. Haha.

The Genius of Mamat Khalid

2011-02-15T03:43:00.002+08:00

Before treading any further, know that this is an opinion blog. I am entitled to my own opinion and so does all of you.

To me and some of my peers, the Malaysian film industry isn't too terribly interesting. I don't call gossip interesting. There's nothing to look forward to much. Lots of the stuff churned out are all of the same thing for quite some time. Fresh ideas are something that don't come along the industry much. As we can see much of the films are love story, senseless comedy, films with messages, ghost stories and pure drama; maybe a mix of more than one element. But that's it. Many of the movies in one genre is typically the same with little variation on character, time settings and storyline. The turns and twists of most movies are so tried and exhaustive that, really, it's not surprising nor entertaining anymore. Everything is so predictable its funny. In fact, all of the movies in any genre can become so predictable that all movies are pretty much a comedy in my book. Some saving grace may come from good acting from a few select actors but rarely that ever happens. Having said all of the former, there are a few directors that are well known in the industry. Albeit, name is fame. By no means popularity measures the ability and creativity of a director. All these mundane movies makes me sick and I don't really go to the movies to watch Malaysian movies. I mostly wait until its officially out on DVD and borrow from friends.

The Malaysian movie industry however, have a few gems of its own. Enter; Mamat Khalid.

Award winning Malaysian film director

Commercial name: Mamat Khalid

Real name: Mohamad bin Mohamad Khalid
Date of Birth: 6 April 1963

Place of Birth: Ipoh, Perak

A confession, I have only seen 3 of his movies, namely Man Laksa, Zombi Kampung Pisang and Hantu Kak Limah Balik Rumah. That said, I have heard good things about his other works. Although I have only seen 3 of his work, it was enough for me to leave an impression to him. Quickly, name me just one other director that would some how and some when at any point think of making a movie about zombies? In Malaysia? Exactly. It was completely uncalled for.

Mixing up tried formulas with fresh ideas

Where other Malaysian movies is busy milking the safe and uninspired formula of movies in Malaysia, he took the risk and went out of the way to create something completely new and unproven. He risks of being alienated with ideas so radical and somewhat weird; something that Malaysia audience might not be ready for within the local scene. He also did something else; not underestimate the Malaysian audience. Where other directors only did safe work to guarantee a controlled amount of profit, he puts aside profit for love of the art. He did such movies because he wants to, not because he wants the maximum amount of guaranteed income. To the typical audience that are not ready for such insane idea, they shun it. Calling it a piece of crap. Calling it bonkers and illogical. But hey, for me you go to the cinema to get entertained, not to nitpick about how unrealistic stuff becomes in movies. I watch movies to escape from my daily mundane life. For as long as I had fun with the movie, it's a good movie for me. It does not necessarily need to make sense. And Mamat Khalid's movie did just so. Owh and let me get into his kind of humor because it ain't run of the mill.

Who would've thought we would have our own zombie movie one day?

When we talk about comedy there's a few kinds of them. There's the slapstick comedy where the humor comes from ridiculous physical acts. This is the kind of comedy that is done by the 3 Stooges. There's also the word comedy where hilarity ensues from the stuff that is said and implied. Another is the situational comedy, where the condition that the characters are placed sums up to something funny. Mamat Khalid however, is different. He may have the other types of comedy in his movie but he also have one other comedy that I don't see all that often; cultural comedy. That said, it might be lost in translation if the movie is viewed by foreigners or even Malaysian that are not well devised in their own culture. Frankly, I'm not big on local culture myself but I know enough for me to still call myself a Malay. Enough for me to understand and appreciate the cultural humor in his movies. A kind of humor where not many director has guts doing probably due to their mindset of underestimating the audience and mostly just to play it safe. Where many local movie stray away from cultural values of Malaysia to maximize marketability, Mamat Khalid celebrates it. He even dare to incorporate Malaysian cultural values to what seemed to be a western idea. This is apparent in his movie Rock, where even though it is about a bunch of guys trying to chase their dreams being a rockstar, which is typically only portrayed in the west. This movie tells a story of being a rockstar from a Malaysian point of view and is not ashamed to do so. Zombies came from the west. It was popularized by George A. Romero and even Resident Evil video game. It came here to our shores in the form of our movie and was lovingly crafted with our own culture for us to call our own movie. The common value of togetherness among Malay people is portrayed well in this movie, where the local villagers are seen to be gathered together at a community center for safety in numbers. This element is largely played in his movie Man Laksa. This movie does not shy away from celebrating the Malay culture of togetherness by throwing a carnival in order to raise funds for someone from the village hit with an unfortunate luck. The movie successfully portrays how Malaysians improvise with the many hurdles along the carnival. Some of the improvisation technically is not funny, but when we watch it, we laugh at ourselves because of how much it reflects our moderate people. I may not be a kampung boy that are much familiar with such local mindsets, but I appreciate them always.

Showcasing the spirit of togetherness in rural Malaysia

I hail from the city. I like electronica and house music. I surround myself with gadget and technology. Honestly I don't go to the cinema to watch Malaysian movies. I think it's a waste of money because there's nothing much to be look forward to. Compared to western movies, you are bound to see something cool due to their high budget. Big stars fill the name and movies entertain us with modern-ness and current trends. That said however, Mamat Khalid's movies brings out the Malaysian in me. I am humbled by my origins. I learn to love it. I look at it from a different perspective. Appreciate how unique and even beautiful my country is. His movies speak to me in a way no movie does. His movie does not pull away stuff that it think I might not be familiar with, but rather asks me to give it a chance. Try to see why its done as such. Try to understand the mindset of these characters with given limitation as a rural citizen in his works. His movies asks me to appreciate and be grateful with all that I have. His movies are the kind of movies that brings identity. He's not trying to copy anyone. His movie is being itself. His movies portray Malaysia in a way few movies has ever succeeded. His movies make me, a city boy, actually appreciate -- even love my own culture.

To director Mamat Khalid, I don't think you'll ever come across this insignificant entry of mine, but if you do, I want you to know that I love your work. You actually make me feel like the local film scene actually have something going for itself. Keep doing what you do best, and to you sir, I salute.

Sincerely,A fan.

All images property of their rightful owner.

Sounding off

2011-02-03T04:34:00.001+08:00

Life has been ok. Nothing too interesting. Although recently I have been developing a new interest. I'm in love with trying to blow my speakers with bass heavy songs. Actually its more of a lame excuse for me to give to myself to get a new set of speakers. Hah. About time I guess. My current speaker is an old Sonic Gear Evo III. Bought it for around RM90 about 2 years ago. It still works and with the right settings it can still sound pretty if the volume is kept under 40%. Though since I've developed an interest of blowing them to bits, naturally I put them over the optimal limit and it sounds flat. Struggling like an animal being chocked to death. Morbid I know. I also notice with songs that are heavy with the bass, the sound is just muffled and doesn't sound like bass anymore. It just sounds like its all made of one low note even though they were actually many. Since I also game, a good speaker can be essential in having the most immersive gaming experience. This is most apparent in Dead Space. All of the ambient and necromorphs that come outta no where has to be heard in order for me to be able to react to them accordingly. Also a good pair of speakers just increases the possibility for me to shat my pants as the developer intends to.

Daaaaamn yooouu Dead Space!!!!!

I have also developed an interest towards Electronica and House music. The beats of it, the bass of it, the combination of all of them, shake 'em all good and you got yourself some sweet tunes. I'm particularly in love with deadmau5. Their music has to be heard to be believed. Listen to some of their singles in Flac with a good pair of speakers (or headphones, whatever floats your boat), and you're in for a treat. These kind of music just begs to be turned on loudly. That'll shake the foundation of your building real good. But hey as much as I like loud music, I don't turn 'em on loudly when there's people around. I just cannot go a day without listening to deadmau5. My favorites particularly are Raise Your Weapon, Ghosts 'n' Stuff, Sofi Needs A Ladder, I Remember, just to name a few. You know it, why don't you go and have a listen to their song yourselves. You might even like it. Make sure you have a good pair of sound devices to properly enjoy their music.

Best mouse ever since Mickey

In order to cater to my new hobbies, I have taken the plunge to actually get myself a good pair of 2.1 speakers. I'm not really into the 5.1 bandwagon since I live in a small room and I don't really have the space to accommodate all of those speakers. After extensive research and a reasonable budget, I got the Logitech Z-2300 THX certified speakers. Yeap, this baby can actually produce sound the quality of George Lucas' standards. The subs on this thing is 7 inches and it resonates at the power of 200w on average. A typical PC speaker is usually <10w average. Imagine the power. Not exactly over 9000 but say, enough to shake up the rooms of the whole building. I realize these are actually older speakers. The successor to it is actually the Z623 but personal research has shown that the successor is actually just half as powerful as the older brethren. I paid good money for this, I ain't gonna sit around being skimped for the money I forked out. Got a hold of these (limited) units. Haven't actually unboxed it yet. Going to do so after the CNY holidays since I'm going to Penang. Can't wait.

Shake it!!!

P/s: Attention neighbors who like to max out your cheap speakers, get ready for some serious firepower.

Run

2011-01-17T20:57:00.000+08:00

And run and run. As far as I can.

Wishlists

2010-12-21T02:48:00.001+08:00

A wishlist is simply put it -- a list of stuffs (or events) that you wish you would get or happen. It consists of a list of stuffs/events usually in no particular order you want -- hence the name a wishlist. This is a typical culture in the west where there are festive seasons that are exclusively about this commercialism themed celebration. Everyone is usually obligated to give gifts to those that they are closest with to indicate a feeling of appreciation and endearment. With wishlists, the giver will skip the hassle of having to guess what the recipient might be interesting of having. All they have to do is check the wishlist, look for any items they are interested to get for the said person and they'll be zero risk of the recipient not liking the item. This makes for a more pleasant (and effective) shopping experience. The giver, the recipient; everybody wins.

Now onto the conflict that wishlists might concur -- especially in our community.

Perasan - most people that are aware of a person's wishlist might reflect the person as a person that is perasan (I've no idea what that word is in English). They would think of things like "Hey you inconsiderate asswipe. Who in the world would want to give you those things? Who do you think you are? The PM's son?"
Materialistic - The person might be reflected as someone who is materialistic -- having to measure people's endearment by stuffs that people give to them. People will think that the subject wants these stuff more than the presence of these people at the first place.
Obnoxious - Wishlisters will be applied with both of the properties therefore building up to the ultimate translation of that person is a complete jerk. Usually, people with more than one "morality issues" (usually just 2) will be reflected as "having lots of moral issues" due to the mass generalization that is at large. This will cause the subject to be treated poorly until when-when.

Truth of the being; a wishlist is not something that people (should) shove onto other people's spaces. It should only be made available and accessible to anyone that is interested to give anything at all to the subject without wanting to risk giving something that the subject might not like/already have. It is optional. I repeat, OPTIONAL. No one is forced to look at it and/or even give a flying hot chocolate mousse about the list. It is there for convenience. Just like a lot of other product research that we do, we tend to put stuffs into lists to make it easier and more efficient. The same property applies here. You wanna know, you look at it. You're curious, you look at it. You wanna look at it because you have nothing better to do, go ahead. You are not forced to do anything. But say if the list is just there and not forced to be read (or showed off) but you still judge about how inconsiderate the subject is, then you are currently being very ironic to yourself.

Also, like everything in life that does not interfere with you life directly -- don't be so easy to pass judgement. Be an observer. If you really think the matter at hands should be given extra attention then be courteous and approach with the most effective and non-offensive method possible. Not drop charges like it's hot.

For those of you interested to start a wishlist, visit Wishlistr.

Here's my stupid wishlist.

Don't uninstall Steam using CCleaner

2010-12-12T04:01:00.001+08:00

I was doing some housekeeping for my primary HDD recently when suddenly my Steam client got corrupted and unable to launch games. So I did the same as with many problematic applications that I have; uninstall and reinstall it. As usual, I uninstalled it with CCleaner, as how I uninstalled everything on my PC. Took longer than usual but it uninstalled. Which come to my surprise when I realize that all of the games in my Steam folder was also wiped out. Nooooooooooooooo! Well, too late to regret. Checked on a few forum on the net and they said there were an option of what to uninstall when removing Steam but it didn't prompt when I uninstall it using CCleaner. So there you have it, wiped out around 25GB of games that now needs to be redownloaded. Luckily all of the save game files are stored on different parts of the PC and it is safe and also lucky it was on Steam so it can never actually be lost since I still own the game on Steam. Lost all of my Non-Steam games shortcut though. These are the games that I lost and need to be redownloaded. Games in Italic are games that I haven't even played or played less than one hour as of yet:

Alien Swarm
And Yet It Moves
Borderlands
Devil May Cry 4
DiRT 2
Doc Clock: The Toasted Sandwich of Time
Eufloria
Gish
Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2: Deathmatch
Half-Life 2: Episode 1
Half-Life 2: Episode 2
Half-Life 2: Lost Coast
Iron Grip: Warlord
Jolly Rover
Left 4 Dead 2
Overlord
Overlord: Raising Hell
Overlord II
Peggle Extreme
Portal
Puzzle Agent
Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale
Red Faction: Guerilla
Team Fortress 2
VVVVVV
World of Goo

Note to self: Backup game when uninstalling Steam.

Upgrades and such

2010-12-11T02:51:00.000+08:00

So earlier this morning, I excitedly went to the Pos Laju Centre at Bangi to pick up my parcel. Got there as soon as the place opens. Since I'm guessing they'll be posting the parcel to homes today so I'll have to be quick before they actually load up my stuff to be sent. If this happens, it will force me to wait for an indefinite amount of time. This is the waiting time that I cannot afford to take because I've been waiting for this package for over a week now so naturally I'm pumped! So pumped that punctuations are getting less and less in my sentences. Ordered some bargain stuff since its the Black Friday and stuff and I've saved quite a lot and got stuff that aren't available here in the country. In retrospect, the stuff I ordered was an upgrade of some sort to me.

Graphics upgrade
I was running an outdated graphics card before. Just an Nvidia 9500 GT. It was ok 2 years ago but it gets old quick. A lot of electronics stuff gets old quick nowadays. Ordered up an EVGA Nvidia 450 GTS 1GB that I got for just $80. The manufacturer's standard retail price (MSRP) for this item is actually $130. So I saved $50 there. Been targeting just as far as the 250 GTS but at this lucrative price I might just as well jump the gun since this'll be the maximum card my current motherboard and power supply unit can handle. I not throwing away my old 9500 GT 512MB though. It is now my dedicated PhysX processing unit. A lot of forums been saying that its too slow to be a PhysX card though but I'm gonna try it on a few games first and see how it goes. As for my new primary weapon; the 450, its rather a large card really. Quite heavy too. Had to move my secondary HDD to make space for the card. Installation was very easy. Although since I'm running an older monitor, which forced me to use the DVI to VGA adapter, the image comes out a bit... how do I say it.. funky. Ain't sharp as usual. It has that HDTV feeling to it. I dunno. But it doesn't look bad though. Not a deal breaker. Tested a few games and so far have been able to run a lot of games on maximum without any hiccups. Well I don't have that big of a monitor to being with though. Just a 19' sporting 1440x900. Now I can go nagging about this for quite a while but I don't want to. Gonna stop here for graphics card.

Wallet upgrade

My old wallet was in a very very worn condition since... well it been worn so its suffering from wear and tear, more so than usual since it's not water resistant but has been exposed to water several times already. Not only it was ugly, it was breaking the card in it. Had to change it. Got the wallet at a very special price. Also Black Friday deal. Its uh Calvin Klein if I'm not mistaken. Black. Leather. Smells like PVC though. Removable ID compartment. I can't find an image for this but hey its wallet what could it possibly look like.

Humor upgrade

Well its not that my sense of humor thats getting an upgrade. I don't think thats even possible. Rather I got the Cyanide & Happiness books, both of them. The self titled and Ice Cream & Sadness. Only been taking glimpses at both of these books. I thought it was a hardcover but it wasn't. It's also white in color so I'm going to find a plastic cover for it as soon as possible. Also on sale for the Black Friday. Got both of them at a special price. As for the contents themselves, well what can you say? These people are comedic geniuses.

Problem upgrade

Actually I also order a Creative Vado HD (2nd Gen) since I've been wanting to have my own pocket HD camcorder.But luck has it that its not my time yet to have one. I received a defective unit. It cannot be turned on. Checked out the site, went to the forums and saw a lot of people having the same problem as me. In fact, its the most viewed thread in the whole section. What does that say about the quality of their product. Now I have to return it to Amazon waaaay out there to Lexington, KY. Thats gonna cost even more money. Not to mention how much I've already spent shipping it here. I'm never gonna buy anything from Creative again. First experience with their brand and already problematic. I hope they can give me a refund. I wanna get something other brand. This camcorder sucks. No wonder they're very cheap.

There are some other stuff as well. Even free gifts. Don't feel like writing about them. Let them be them. Spent a lot on stuffs I've always wanted to buy. I don't regret buying them. Black Friday's discounts are very kind towards electronics and I took advantage of it. That is all.

Grabbin' Deals

2010-11-27T11:30:00.002+08:00

Bought some awesome stuffs during the Black Friday sale. At the time of writing they are still shipping. In short I bought an HD camcorder and a new graphic card. That's right I bought a new card after wanting to upgrade for a year! Also some stuffs from the Steam sale. They always offer awesome sales during these holiday seasons.

Will update later with further detail. Maybe even more than texts. Can't wait!

PC Upgrade Checklist

2010-09-30T02:07:00.000+08:00

New Graphic Card
Current target: Nvidia 1GB 250 GTS
Brand: Any (preferably BFG or XFX)
Current best price: $90 for BFG (refurbished)
Note: To be set up as primary graphic processor. Current processor will be set to render physics exclusively to take the load of the primary card.

Faster Primary Storage
Current target: 32GB Solid-State Drive
Brand: Western Digital/Samsung/OCZ
Current best price: $78 for OCZ
Note: Current system files will be transferred to this faster drive for faster boot-up and system processes. Games will remain on HDD.

Research done at: google.com/products
(you're awesome Google)

*will be updated and bumped from time to time*

This is how a nerd distracts himself from the real world.

Thanks

2010-09-19T15:37:00.002+08:00

For all this privilege and honors.

The Future

2010-09-15T15:28:00.000+08:00

Is not a linear progression, just because age is. Occurrences are based of cause and effect. There are multiple branches of multiple outcomes, in which branches into even more outcomes itself. Anything today is not necessarily tomorrow. What is tomorrow, might not be what tomorrow should be. Past events are unalterable but won't progress linearly in the future. The present is the past when today is yesterday. A condescending personnel is tomorrow's defeat, today. Stand for today believe for tomorrow. Then tomorrow will come one day.

Gagal

2010-09-05T18:11:00.000+08:00

Aku gagal dalam menulis sebab aku tak reti luahkan apa yang aku betul-betul rasa. Aku gagal dalam berkata-kata kerana aku lebih lemah dalam meluahkan apa yang aku maksudkan. Aku gagal memberi kerana semua yang aku beri selalunya tak cukup bagus. Aku gagal menerima kerana aku sering kelihatan seperti aku tidak menghargai. Aku gagal berusaha kerana aku tak berusaha cukup kuat. Aku gagal bersabar kerana rasional aku terlalu lemah. Aku gagal meluahkan apa yang sebenarnya sungguhpun ia sangat-sangat bermakna.

Aku gagal. Menjadi lelaki yang baik. :(

Censorship in Malaysia

2010-08-26T13:08:00.000+08:00

A few days ago I went to watch The Expandables. You know, that movie with a star-studded cast of stars? Yeah that one. Now even before watching we know it's going to be a violent action movie. They won't compile that many action stars in one movie to film a chick flick now would they? While queuing to get tickets, I noticed something. The movie is rated "18". Now not that it's weird or anything but movies in Malaysia so far has been subjected to be rated using either "U", "PG13" (this rating has only been enforced since the last few years), "18SG", "18SX", "18PA" or "18PL". The rating for this movie however was just "18". Looking around other posters, any movie with adult content is also rated with just an "18". Looks like they're simplifying the ratings with just an "18". They're also now more strict with minors trying to watch 18+ movies. I saw the lady in front of me being halted by the ticket receptionist to make sure that she's over 18 because she looks like she's not. Luckily she was. Now, before this, the censorship in Malaysia was pretty strict. Any kind of cursed word is usually cut out except for "damn" and "shit". But the thing is I think it was ran by careless people because they censor out all of the F-bombs but if that word is infused with some other word, it was allowed to pass. Hilarious I know but true.

With the new simplified ratings system enforced, I would love to see if it was just a simple ratings change or was the censorship board has a new kind of approach to censoring. Now before getting to my point I would like to say that I think ratings are important. It's a tool for parents and guardians so that they won't allow the children under their care to view inappropriate content. This applies to all sorts of media be it movie, music, video games, books or anything at all. The only downside of it currently is that all of this ratings is being disregarded by some parents and guardians who would then lead to blaming the government for "weak enforcement". Parent and guardians, I know by all means I am not in the position to say defy you but the government is not the parent/guardian to the child under your care. It is not their responsibility to completely monitor what they are viewing. To these few ignorant parent/guardian, clean up your act and step up to the plate.

Now, onto the movie. I can gladly say that this new rating system somehow is up to the par of many other censorship board around Asia. The F-bombs are not censored (well, at least initially) and can clearly be audible in the movie. The violence is there for the most part. Violent gunshot blood squirt and dismemberment are aplenty in this movie and they seem to be left out untouched; though most of the violence in this movie is so fake and unconvincing, at least to your truly. There are a few parts of the movie that has been noticeably left out, in which I predict the scenes were of obscene vulgarity in words. They might be still a few parts that was left out but not that I notice any. The censorship in this didn't break the movie. They were few and insignificant to the media. I would say the current censorship is heading the right way.

Before some of you go guns ablaze on me, I would like to say that I am not for violence and profanity. But I am all for dynamic thinking. I think the new censorship guidelines are heading the right way because it's not trying to babysit the viewers. They have been informed earlier that the movie will contain adult content and if they happen to disregard the remark and still bring the minors to watch it (or be it the minors went themselves), every single social impact is to be carried along on their own. By not censoring the movie to a certain degree, the movie will be conveyed closer to how they intended to be viewed by the creators of the movie and the viewers won't feel like they're being monitored about all the time. Adult viewers should uphold to their own responsibility as an adult and be responsible about what they are viewing by not condoning it or even try to imitate it. The new censorship board expects the viewer to be smart enough to take care of their own well being. Well, unless you are not then you might need to bring a few friends that are, just in case. How do you measure whether you are or not is up to you. The censorship board are also being smart because they know no matter how much they censor every mundane scenes in the movie, they are still accessible to other media by anyone of any age. It'll be better if they just leave it as it is in order to preserve the authenticity of the movie because, like I said, the viewers were informed of the adult content. Just don't watch it if you are just going to complain later.

This is the internet age where media are spread easily around the net. For every single sexual, violence and profanity content that are on the movie, a similar level or maybe even worse; far far worse are accessible on the internet. I believe that at the end of the day the success of censorship is governed by the parents and guardians themselves and how they enforce it to their young lings. All of this adult contents will be around permanently. It ain't nice and I'm not supporting it but we know there's nothing we can do to prevent it from being here. Be a smart viewer; a smart citizen and evaluate everything that has been presented to you, not just media but everything. That way no matter what is the issue at hand it can be evaluated as optimal as it should be.

*Everything here is purely my opinion and everyone has their right to object conditionally. There might be mistakes here and there but I am human after all.

Web Comic

2010-08-19T15:59:00.001+08:00

Cyanide and Happiness gotta be my favorite web comic there is. All the random unpredictable jokes. My gosh these people are creative. I used to spend hours just clicking on random to read on random strips. Gets me everytime. Not for kids though.

Check the link out for more!

Good Night

2010-08-05T16:09:00.001+08:00

Good night sleep tight
No more tears
In the morning
I'll be here

And when we say good night
Dry your eyes
Because we say good night
And not good bye

We say good night
And not good bye

Why do we say 'good bye' anyway? What is good in a bye?

No Title

2010-07-09T01:57:00.002+08:00

Still trying.

The S word

2010-06-30T16:42:00.004+08:00

It does not fix anything.

I'll be

2010-06-22T00:21:00.000+08:00

When the time comes once again

I'll be where I was

When it happened once before

For the things that I had at all

They don't help

2010-06-03T23:47:00.007+08:00

Caffeine

didn't help me stay up

Paracetamol

didn't rid me of my headaches

Painkillers

didn't rid me of my chest pains

Sleeping Pills

didn't help me sleep

even

Anti-Psychotic Drugs

didn't help me relief my anxiety

Why do I even bother consuming them. My body just don't work with these things. Nothing is helping. Never had even the slightest fever for 2 years before this.

"Look at the bright side. At least nobody cares anymore. You have nothing to lose."

2010-06-01T02:32:00.001+08:00

Tiada siapa yang tahu.

takpelah.

Happiness

2010-05-21T04:43:00.001+08:00

That smile was filled with it.

Nightmare

2010-05-18T14:05:00.003+08:00

Do you know what it feels like to wake up and knowing it's not like what it used to be?
It's terribly sad...

We are the most vulnerable when we wake up from sleep... Our hearts are at its weakest state... I wake up questioning myself,
"What have I done..."
"Why did I do such things..."
The feeling of security, confidence, and joy that I had felt before is void from my heart...

That's why I don't go to sleep sometimes. I just can't bare the pain when I wake up. Waking up to your own tears is an ugly sight. Especially for a man.

I wake up to feel that the nightmare that I had last night, was better than the reality that I am in.

I can't take it anymore... I can't...
This sorrow is killing me...

Dear security,
Dear confidence,
Dear happiness,
Come back to me... I want to be better... Without you I can't... I couldn't...

Terima Kasih, Tuhan

2010-05-14T03:03:00.003+08:00

Terima kasih kerana memberi aku peluang hidup...
Terima kasih kerana memberi aku kesenangan hidup...
Terima kasih utk segala nikmat dan rezeki...
Terima kasih kerana menjawab doa hambaMu ini...
Terima kasih kerana menyayangi hambaMu ini...
Terima kasih untuk segala kekuatan yg Kau berikan padaku...
Terima kasih untuk nyawa ku ini...
Terima kasih untuk hati ku ini...
Terima kasih untuk anugerahMu ini...

Hari ini aku tersangat gembira dan tersangat sayu...
Atas anugerahMu yg membolehkan aku utk mencintai hambaMu...

Aku bersyukur...
Kerana Kau memberi aku nikmat kegembiraan dan pilu kesedihan...

Terima kasih kerana memberi aku kekuatan...
Terima kasih kerana menjawab doa ku...

Dan sungguhpun aku sayu seribu kalimah...
Aku bersyukur Kau masih menyayangi ku...
Walaupun aku masih begini...
Sekurang-kurangnya ada hambaMu yg gembira...

Subhanallah...

Layout change

2010-05-06T23:11:00.002+08:00

My previous layout was too happy.

Why Video Games is my favourite past time

2010-02-04T22:48:00.000+08:00

First of all, forgive me (yes, all 3 of you) for not updating my blog for a very long time. There are no more movie reviews simply because it has been a while since I saw a movie. At the time of writing I have yet to watch the current all time highest grossing movie, Avatar. But I have the intention to do so. In 3D. That is if I would. I don't know already. Had a surprise of surprise advanced birthday celebration on the last 31st of January. Thanks for those who has made it possible. It means sooo much to me. That's the best gift I can ever get.

Now, onto the topic.

There are a lot of hobby to pick up. Being a boy there are even more hobbies to choose from from stamp collecting, reading books, err.... well you get the idea. I am born in the 90's. The year where pop music, mohawks and Y2K jokes are famous for. Back then video games weren't as big of a market as it is today. Back then it was a niche thing. Only a certain number of people knows what it is and even a smaller amount of people can afford to have one. Games arcade was at large back then but it had a bad reputation as a place where kids would skip school, gamble and all sorts of negative things. This made video games as a hobby a difficult thing back then because it was the same as being addicted to gambling and such. Console games are available but here in Malaysia it very hard to come by and its usually expensive. Mine was the time for Sega Saturn and Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) but my hobby only started on the next generation of Playstation and Nintendo 64. I've no idea what Nintendo 64 is until later where I have more access to information about video games from sources such as magazines and later internet. Playstation was dominant. I always see these things around the shops in the capital and grew an interest towards it. Having to play it in my friends house, I asked for my very own and got my first console ever after scoring 5A's in the UPSR. I was also into a hobbies magazine known as Gempak for about 100 issues before stopping from buying it since when I bought it, the section I'm looking forward to the most is the video games section. So, I thought, rather than wasting my time buying the magazine, why not look for something more directly about video games. That didn't happen until later in my life when I decided to buy GameAxis which was also a temporary poison. Back to my Playstation, I spent countless time playing all sorts of games on it, Crash Bandicoot, Metal Gear Solid, Nascar Rumble, WWF Smackdown 2, Final Fantasy VIII and all sorts of games before it was stolen a few years later in which I teared its lost. It was the closest thing I have in my life back then. A few years later, I got a Playstation 2 (which is 2nd hand by the way since a new unit is expensive and still is today). I spent my time playing even more games. In my free time, I like to surf the internet. Guess what sites do I go? No, not porn sites. I went to even more video games site and looked for even more video games related news and videos. It's like I'm doing my own thesis considering the amount of information I take up all the time. And I still do it up to this day.

Now the question is, why? I have been telling the backstory of my hobby for the earlier parts of this post. But why? Good question. Why? I'm not sure. But what I can say is, video games has helped made me to a man I am today. I used to have very average English language capabilities before I discovered video games. And after I discovered it, my English has started to improve gradually day by day. How is this possible you ask? Well, video games back in my earlier years, has very little to no voice overs. It was all text and writings if you want to know the story or anything, you have no choice but to read. Of course I will stumble upon word I have no idea what it means. Because I don't want language to be the barrier of my hobby, I took the initiative to look up what it means. This indirectly helped me learned new words and sentence structures. Video games from the adventure, action and racing genres always test your reflex. In other words, playing video games can improve my reflex towards things. I became more aware of the situation around and learning to act fast with what comes up next. Strategy games like Final Fantasy and sneaking games like Metal Gear Solid on the other hand, sharpen up my ability to quickly strategize and make quick decisions of the situation. This also helps me with my leadership skills. Thanks to these video games that had helped me with these values, it had made me a good enough person to be the leader of many groups and organizations at school that actually does work. I don't want to be arrogant but I think it is safe to say I didn't do the worst job. Video games has also nurtured my interests towards technologies. I should say that it is the contributing factor on why I chose to further my studies in computers. I am just fascinated by these technologies.

Video games was, still is, and will always be my favourite past time. It's the kind of hobby that is not only topical but helps hone all sorts of quality in a man. Qualities that I think is important and helps us as a person. Video games are no more a nerd's hobby to me. More people are exposed to it than ever before. And to be honest, I have lots to say. But this could take forever and I am sooo lazy to type. This is my hobby. This is my passion. This is me.

Apa yang Lelaki Tahu tentang Perempuan?

2010-01-10T03:27:00.002+08:00

[Article extracted from a blogger guy named Magenta. Stop by his blogs sometimes. He has some rather quality posts.]

Pernah jumpa buku bestseller ini?

Buku ini bertajuk 'Everything Men Know about Women' dan mengandungi 128 mukasurat kosong.

Dalam semua-semua majalah atau buku yang aku pernah baca dan pengalaman yang aku pernah lalui atau cerita yang aku pernah dengar, dua perkara ini yang paling banyak membantu aku memahami perbezaan antara lelaki dan perempuan:

1. Kenapa lelaki tak akan mendengar jika perempuan mengubah topik.

Perempuan ada lima ton suara. Lelaki hanya mengecam 2 daripada 5 ton itu. Jadi kalau seorang perempuan menukar topik dan ton suaranya ketika sedang bercakap, lelaki itu takkan ada clue perempuan itu sedang bercakap tentang apa.

2. Otak lelaki dan perempuan berfungsi dengan cara berlainan when it comes to love and sex.

Otak lelaki memproses cinta dan seks dalam dua kawasan otak yang berlainan, manakala otak perempuan hanya ada satu kawasan untuk kedua-duanya. Jadi, secara saintifik, lelaki boleh meniduri perempuan lain dan masih mencintai kamu, tetapi perempuan tak boleh membuat perkara yang sama tanpa emotional attachment.

Aku rasa banyak masalah hubungan timbul dari fakta ini. Lelaki biasanya mahukan seks dan perempuan tak mahu, tetapi perempuan itu masih lead him on.

Bagi lelaki seks itu sesuatu yang fizikal. Bagi perempuan ianya lebih kepada emosi.

Bagi perempuan, ia lebih kepada mahu merasakan dirinya dimahukan dan cukup seksi. Sebab itu sudah mencukupi bagi seorang perempuan jika lelaki itu selalu memberitahu perempuan itu sangat hot dan selalu memujuk wanita itu untuk have sex. Lelaki pula selalunya mahu go all the way.

Aku rasa kebanyakan perempuan tahu juga tentang perkara ini. Sebab itu ada perempuan tak kisah membuat oral seks, lantas memberi harapan palsu dan lead on lelaki mereka gila-gila sampai lelaki itu tak tahan dan merayu-rayu, lepastu berkata,

"Sayang, I’m not ready yet."

takpun tiba-tiba,

"I penat lah/ sakit kepala lah. Kita sambung esok je lah."

Tak baik dowh. Tak baik lead on laki macamtu semata-mata nak rasa berkuasa dapat memanipulasi nafsu lelaki. Mentang-mentanglah kita ada banyak nafsu dan nafsu mereka hanya ada satu dan tertumpu atas perkara itu.

Aku juga tak suka lelaki yang memanipulasi wanita untuk mendapatkan seks. Aku tak suka lelaki yang mendera mental wanita dengan menggunakan reverse psychology dan membuatkan perempuan itu rasa tak cukup seksi kalau tak buat seks dengan dia. Tak pun lelaki yang mengambil kesempatan atas wanita yang dikaburi emosi dan mengugut bahawa kalau tak buat seks dengan dia, akan ditinggalkan.

Bukan salah lelaki dicipta untuk menjadi visual dan terlalu dahagakan yang fizikal. Bukan salah perempuan dicipta kadang-kadang terlebih emosi dan selalu perlu tahu mereka mencukupi.

You don’t have to do what you don’t want to do. And don’t start something you can’t finish.

Sambungan…

3. Kebanyakan lelaki tak boleh multitask dan perempuan boleh.

Aku perasan lelaki biasanya tak boleh membuat lebih daripada satu perkara pada suatu masa. Perempuan pula boleh membuat 3 perkara pada masa yang sama. Dan aku rasa semua orang pernah dengar pasal contoh perempuan yang tak dapat divert attention teman lelakinya yang sedang menonton perlawanan bola sepak.

Aku rasa ramai perempuan tersalah anggap bahawa ini sebab boyfriend mereka lebih berminat tentang bola sepak daripada mereka. Tapi aku rasanya penjelasannya lebih mudah. Point nombor dua aku mengatakan lelaki ada bahagian otak yang berlainan untuk perkara yang berbeza. Aku rasa begitu juga dengan perkara-perkara lain.

Perempuan pula lebih mementingkan details dan connectivity. Mereka suka mengaitkan segala perkara dengan each other.

Kiranya macam otak lelaki ini umpama almari yang ada 10 laci, otak perempuan adalah almari dengan 1 laci besar yang tersusun.

Sebab ini juga perempuan suka mengungkit dan cepat terasa. Kalau sesuatu couple itu bergaduh dan si lelaki mahu bermanja-manja pada malam itu, kemungkinan yang perempuan masih akan marah kerana teringatkan kejadian siang itu.

Yang lelaki sudah melupakan hal itu kerana fikirannya sudah switch off kejadian siang tadi setelah pergi kerja atau jumpa kawan-kawannya. Kiranya mereka sudah tutup laci siang tadi.

Perempuan juga lebih banyak bertutur manakala lelaki lebih bersifat monosyllabic. Perempuan secara umumnya akan maintain eye contact yang lebih lama daripada lelaki, membuatkan lelaki berasa seperti mereka sedang diperhatikan di bawah miskroskop. Perempuan pula akan berasa bahawa seperti tak berapa diendahkan kerana lelaki akan jarang memandang mereka ketika mereka sedang bercakap.

4. Perempuan Suka Buat Benda Beramai-ramai.

Aku rasa kebanyakan perempuan memang suka travel in packs. Kalau pergi tandas pun kena pergi sama-sama. Kita pun dah expect perempuan macamtu. Lepastu wujud pula stereotaip lelaki perlu masa untuk bersendirian dan tak suka dikongkong. Memang kalau lelaki makan di restoran sorang-sorang, orang tak hairan. Tetapi kalau perempuan berbuat begitu, mesti akan dapat pity looks. Dan pada pemerhatian aku, perempuan ini suka berpuak-puak, manakala lelaki boleh get along dengan semua lelaki yang lain, cuma tinggal rapat tak rapat saja. Tapi kalau aku perhatikan betul-betul, memang ada tanda-tanda kalau seseorang lelaki tak suka lelaki yang lain, cuma lebih subtle. Dengan perempuan lebih terang- senyuman terpaksa, ayat-ayat sinis, jelingan tajam dan suara yang tinggi. Rrrrriaww!! (bunyi kucing mencakar).

Of course, semua ini tak apply pada semua lelaki dan perempuan. Sebab aku sendiri tak suka buat benda beramai-ramai (rimas) dan tak pandai multitask. Aku juga sangat aware tentang kewujudan perempuan seperti Samantha dalam Sex and the City (aku suka watak dia sebenarnya) dan lelaki yang terlebih banyak bercakap (so unbecoming for a man!- pada pendapat aku lah). Cuma point nombor 1,2 dan 3 kononnya sudah dibuktikan secara saintifik. Jadi aku rasa, hubungan yang berjaya mesti terdiri daripada pasangan yang pandai berkomunikasi.

[Reference: http://magenta-made.blogspot.com/2008/10/apa-yang-lelaki-tahu-tentang-perempuan.html]

2012 Review

2009-11-14T22:02:00.001+08:00

Again, my mom got some free tickets to watch this movie. If not, I don't think I'm going to watch it because I'm not keen to really watching it at the first place. It's not that I don't like Roland Emmerich's work, it's just not my cup of tea. Anyway, my movie starts at 10.30am which happens to be the first show of the day. So I had to wake up early to go to 1 Utama which is pretty far from my house in Kajang. Prior to leaving the house, I saw a review on the movie so I had my expectations set for me. Actually it's the same expectations that I had even before I saw the review. I also knew that the movie was 2 and a half hours so I prepared myself for that stretch of time without being able to go to the loo.

So for those of you not in the know, the movie is based on the Mayan myth that the world is going to end on the 21st of December 2012. That date was speculated because it happened to be the last date on the Mayan calendar. Whether it's true or not, nobody knows except our God almighty. And just a fact to slip in here, the Muslim believes that End of Days will happen on a Friday, and the 21st of December 2012 IS a Friday. The movie starts with some scientists in the year 2009 predicting a massive solar explosion that will disrupt the gravitational balance of the Earth, causing drastic movements of the tectonic plate hence utter catastrophe. In simple English, its a bad thing to us. But of course, who would believe them. As the year goes by, the theory gets more true and the superpowers of the world gets ready for it. Fast forward to the year 2012 and the catastrophe strikes and chaos is everywhere. The story is not very heavy on story although its 2 hours and 30 minutes, but for the story it has, it touches all of the moralities that we expect to see during a mass chaos. Directed by Roland Emmerich, which is the guy who also did the American version of Godzilla, or known by the Japanese just by the name of Zilla. He also did Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow. See the similarities? Yes, he likes destroying stuffs. Therefore expect to see top notch world destruction effects in this movie.

In my opinion, the movie was a big ride. Huge effects and there's lots of em. All of the famous places in the world gets destroyed except for the holy land in Arab because the director was smart enough not to anger the Muslim community who takes serious respect to our religion. But the places which got destroyed really got destroyed good. The usual suspense you would come to expect from this kind of movie is also present. Overall, a good movie although I think 2 and a half hours was pretty long. Go with your friends, this is a friend flick for the destruction parts. Owh it's actually a family flick too. Some family values slipped inside it. And a pinch of humanity lessons. Nothing really groundbreaking although there literally are (pun intended). For a feast of top notch Hollywood visual effects, have at it. If you're a fan of Roland Emmerich, you would instantly be familiar with this work of his.

End of the world is rated 7 out of 10

To tell you the truth

2009-11-10T18:07:00.003+08:00

I really, really don't like to blog about emotions, people, society and all of this trivial life stuff. Don't know exactly why.

Maybe and just maybe I don't like to use my free time online to make myself more stressed at life. That's why you don't see me blog a lot about people, only sometimes so that I can have a wide audience.

But as always, each men (and women) to their own.

3 kinds of people

2009-11-06T01:03:00.000+08:00

Admit it, the internet is filled with people who is not very bright and like to say things only to make other people upset. But amidst the sea of those people, there are a few people who makes sense. That few people who does inspired me to write this post.

I do a lot of thinking. Sometimes too much that I strayed into things that are way too deep. Anyway after much thinking I've manage to categorize people into a 3 categories. Note that in no way I am saying this is what it should be rather it is my personal opinion.

Believers

We aren't living under anarchy. Our lives are determined by a more superior body usually known as the government. I am not trying to talk about politics here, I'm talking about people. Living in this day and age, we have a a lot of source of news and knowledge around such as the radio, television, internet, books, and so on.

Also note that not everyone in the world put out news because it's true. Some wicked minded people in the world use these kind of media to trick them. believers are the kind of people who believes these kinds of thing. The usual trait to these believers is that whatever makes sense to them, or sometimes even whatever that is so complicated (or sound complicated to them) and due to the attitude of "wow these things are so complicated it must be true" they end up as the believers. Believers also most of the time don't have a clue in what they believe in and on some instances even made up stories about the thing that they believe in due to the ignorance of themselves. Doesn't mean that everything that the believers believe is wrong but rather what they believe in is not given much thought into.

Rebels

These are the kinds of people that are the opposite of the believers and usually have a very aggressive and hasty kind of mind. They tend to just repel whatever news or knowledge that is just not to their liking. A part of the rebels are also the people who just like to see something successful to plunder. The rebels usually despise what is believed by many people just because they want to. Not to say that all rebels are wrong, but rebels usually spear without a true purpose. Just like the believers, what they have in common is they don't have a clear idea of their goals and does it for the fun of it. And because of the personal loathe towards what is believed, fictional news and knowledge are also made up to make themselves feel more secure and a sense of accuracy into what they're rebelling against.

Thinkers

Thinkers are people who don't just gobble in what they heard or instantly reject what is known. Their reaction is based on proper thinking and rational reasoning. Right of the bat, the news or knowledge that is fed to them is analyzed and proven its truth. Thinkers are the people the world is lacking today. A kind of person that thinks about everything, constantly, relying on reliable sources and later deriving their own net of understanding on a given subject. Problem is its not easy being a thinker. You cannot force yourself to be a thinker, you have to train yourself to think and make it a habit to constantly look for the logic and maybe even make rough predictions of what to expect. Thinkers lead a more organic life. They live on what they personally believe and what they personally rebel. They don't follow people, they lead. They are made up of leader material. But sadly they aren't many of them today. They are the optimum person. If we have a goal of change that we need to have, it'll be to be a thinker.

Hook ups vs. Relationships

2009-10-31T18:13:00.000+08:00

Now before I proceed, I have to be honest that I do have a couple of reviews for movie that I haven't done but God knows I am so lazy to type them. The movies are Gamer featuring Gerard Butler and a local film, Papadom featuring Afdlin Shauki. Long review short, Gamer sucks, 5/10 and Papadom is pretty good, 8.5/10. Now, onto the pressing matters.

Before continuing to read on this post of mind, keep in mind that these are merely an opinion and you are open to an intellectual argument with me on the mentioned topic. Also keep in mind that I have nothing against one or the other since nowadays it seems that it's all a matter of choice and preference.

Hook ups
Hook ups are when you agree to be in relationship with each other, but it's in a trial period. Just like a lot of shareware out there where you are given a specific amount of time to try it out, extend the trial period if you did something in particular but all in all, will expire within a certain amount of time. People get involved in hook ups because they can skip one major feature of a relationship; devotion. While in hook ups, they're allowed to date other people and they are not limited to spend time specifically garnering the temporary relationship. Hook ups also give reason for both sides to have reasons to end it early say if a problem appears. It seems to be a very popular choice among youths nowadays since devotion is a very heavy thing to handle and needs a lot of time to have it. Hook ups also allow these people to be able to experience a lot of different people and the multiple hook ups that they have gives them the upper hand of knowing what various problem that can occur once they seriously want to start being in a relationship.
This culture is practiced widely in the western world and is now catching up quickly with easterners. Hook ups are also practiced mainly by youths since they say that they have a long life ahead of them and want to utilize the time to try hook ups and experience multiple person while they still have the time.

Relationships
Relationships are long, devotion-driven connection between 2 people that will stay that way until marriage or death do them apart. People in relationships are stuck with the person of their choice for the rest of their romantic lives. Relationships don't have an expiry date and it is usually bound by a promise to stay with each other. Relationships are the less popular choice of today's youth since devotion is a difficult thing to practice and also they don't have the chance to be with any other person anymore. Any free time for both of them will usually be utilized with bonding and ways to strengthen their connection. Relationships are less popular too because the major arguments and disagreements usually happens in relationships and they have no choice but to look for solution(s) regardless of the difficulty of the situation. Relationships obviously are much, much harder to maintain and having to put up with the same person everyday is a tasking thing. The plus side of it however, in relationships, love exists and with much effort the love will be more than you can handle, which is a good thing by the way. There will be also time where anniversary celebration is held and to achieve that milestone and feel a kind of happiness that is truly a gift from God. In relationships, you too will have a much better idea and perception of the person. In simpler words, relationships are something you go into because you love a single person and want to improve everything together.

If you ask me,
I would prefer a relationship over hook up on any given day. Yes it's difficult, yes it requires a lot of patience, yes it require a lot of guts, but the satisfaction and the feeling of happiness and security that result from it is far more beneficial and leaves a greater and longer term impact to your life. True, I'm 19 and might still be too young for it but to me it is best for us to learn when were young instead of using the free time to experiment. And I never know how long is my future, so I don't want to waste it experimenting. It's not exciting compared to hook ups, I know, but the rewarding feeling that came from it is worth all the effort.

Don't make a promise you can't keep.

Stop being rebellious all the time

2009-10-30T22:13:00.000+08:00

If you are to spend your life rebelling, when are you going to fail and learn life as it is?

We are humans. We are not perfect. So wasting time trying to be perfect is just not human.

We are humans. We should learn to fail sometimes.

Is the 360 holding the PS3 back?

2009-10-30T22:11:00.000+08:00

When games like Uncharted 2: Among Thieves come along, you have to question why so few games push the boundaries of the PlayStation 3 so far. With 360 versions of multi-format titles regularly inching out their PS3 counterparts, are developers justified in blaming Sony’s tools for their troubles, or is it just a symptom of curtailing coding to work on the 360’s older architecture?

Look at the screenshots of Uncharted 2 we’ve taken. Look at the amount of detail in each. Look at how sharp the textures are, and how good the lighting is. Amazing, isn’t it? And there’s a lot more that these screenshots can’t show, like the animation and Uncharted 2’s physics – which are both excellent. It is the best showcase of what the PS3 hardware can do, when given the chance. And While Naughty Dog must be given a lot of the credit for this, it’s also hard not to look at Uncharted 2 as proof that the 360 is now holding the PS3 back.

Look at the recent multiformat releases and compare them to Uncharted 2 – big difference, right? This isn’t surprising. The PS3 has a hard drive and it has a Blu-ray drive, two things the 360 doesn’t have as standard. The hardware itself is also more recent. As Naughty Dog co-president Evan Wells confirmed in a recent interview, these things were instrumental in making Uncharted 2 the game it is:

"We’re fortunate that we get to work on a system that has a hard drive and uses Blu-ray for storage. Without these things, Uncharted 2 would have been a very different game. What we were able to do with the Cell processor allowed us to achieve a density of polygons and a fidelity to our effects that would simply not be possible without it.”"

Wells adds that had Naughty Dog not had the talented staff it does “we wouldn’t have been able to take advantage of the hardware and achieve the results that we did”. But the hardware issue can’t be ignored, and leads you to wonder how many multiplatform titles have suffered because of the 360’s spec. Modern Warfare 2 is a good example. Would we now be looking forward to a MW2 that renders in 1280x720 or even 1920x1080 now – and not 1200x600 – if the 360 was better equipped? Infinity Ward is one of the world’s leading developers, so it’s not a question of ability. Therefore, you have to look at the hardware involved.

This theory is supported by some recent 360 exclusives. ODST is a reminder that Bungie has been unable to make a 360 game engine that can do respectable levels of detail and ‘proper’ HD visuals. And then there’s Forza 3:

"Yeah, it’s pretty special. When you see it running for the first time, the detail and smoothness of it all is quite something. It’s such a step up from previous 360 racers. You just can’t believe that Turn 10’s been able to drag that kind of performance out of a four-year-old console.” "

This is what a journalist who has reviewed the game for a UK 360 magazine told us. And he’s right in the sense that it does things with the 360 hardware that should be impossible. And perhaps they are. Disappearing roads and other glitches are an example of this. And the extra content disc is proof that the DVDs used by the 360 are no longer up to the job.

But because the 360 is every bit as popular as the PS3, third party developers are still required to ensure their multiformat games work just as well on an Arcade spec 360 as they do the PS3. This means that although the PS3 has Blu-ray and a hard drive as standard, most multiformat games released for it will struggle to take advantage of the additional storage and hard drive caching these features offer – especially when the 360 version has been the lead version.

This won’t stop such games being good games. But whenever a developer like Naughty Dog gives you a glimpse of what the PS3 is truly capable of, you can’t help by wonder how much better third party games could be, were it not for the 360.

Article extracted from www.gameswire.net

[http://www.gameswire.net/news/opinion-is-the-360-holding-the-ps3-back_422.html]

My history of Social Networking

2009-09-08T21:18:00.001+08:00

As a kid, the internet was a very strange thing for me. For some reason, after entering some keywords into the address bar, I was able to go to site filled with things of my interest anytime and know any kind of information I wanted. Awesome stuff. I was exposed to the internet as early as 6 years old. Later in my life I was just using the internet to get information on all sorts of things and that's that.

As I get older, When I was in my Form 3 to be exact, I heard of a little thing called Friendster. It is a website that allows you to have your own profile and connect with your friends. Back then, I really don't see what's so fun about it but since it was a fad at that time, I registered myself an account anyway. After a while using it, it was getting kind of fun for some reason. I don't have anything specific that I do there but I just find it fun to be there. Sharing pictures with people, writing testimonials about friends; maybe those are the things that I find joy in doing.

Then came along another new and more deep social networking site known as MySpace. It was getting a lot of attention since it gives you the ability to fiddle around with the HTML and CSS of your profile, which means (for advanced user at that time) you can make you profile look anyway you like. One thing that doesn't attact me to use it at the time is because of the complexity of it. On Friendster, there are very little things I have to manage, such as pictures, friend requests and the occasional testimonials. But here there are many other things to manage such as music, videos and other multimedia things. As I grow older and getting more proficient in HTML, I registered myself a MySpace account. I found joy in making my site as flashy as possible and adding as much people as I can into my friends list; regardless whether I know them in real life or not. Commenting on other people's profile was a blast and fiddling with the elements of my profile was a lot of fun too. I had a lot of things to do and the depth of this social networking site, paired with the (kind of) large friends list that I have, it was something to be proud of back then. And I've also met a lot of interesting people that end up being my good friends up to this day.

Then, came along yet another new social networking site, Facebook. Not many of my friends are there so earlier I just stick to MySpace. Thinking that this thing might be a new fad, I registered myself an account there and just leave it. You know, in case if MySpace became outdated, I already have an account there. As I grow older, MySpace gets kinda boring to me. More and more of my friends are getting on Facebook and so what is the purpose of social networking of you don't have any social to network with. After trying on Facebook for a while, I got hooked on it. It was far more simple, neat, and manageable. It was also very presentable and the profile of other people are much more accessible and systematic. I also liked how it gives us the ability to comment on anything that the person has done; befriend with another person, liked something, changed status and much more. And as I grow older too, MySpace becomes so obnoxious to me with all of its sparkly, blinky, seizure-inducing profiles. Thus, I moved onto Facebook and kept using it until now.

I also have a twitter account. I used it kind of late because to me, it's like another way for people to be able to stalk on you, but then when I think about, who wants to stalk on me anyway. Plus I intend to only update on things that are not really significant. It's a new kind of social networking so it doesn't compare to 3 of the earlier ones.

I think I'm not the only one with this kind of experience though. And I'm still thankful that I had registered on all of those social networking sites. Although the 2 earlier ones are now a pain in the neck for me, I still have them standing, on the brink of deletion of course. They have thought me a few things that I treasure up till today.

Friendster - early exposure to social networking, picture sharing with friends
MySpace - thought me HTML, thought me to befriend strangers, a site where comments are the currency of your profile
Facebook - neat, easy and accessible social networking although with a lot of application notification spam that gets on your nerves

I have nothing against any of the social networking sites if you have to know. Those were the times.

I'm only active on Facebook and Twitter now. Feel free to be my friend on Facebook but I only accept requests from people I know in real life. As for twitter, you are free to follow whoever you are.

FB - Rayza Ridzuan
Twitter - rayza_ridzuan

Compensating for lost times

2009-09-02T00:09:00.002+08:00

Ok

I know it's been a long while since I've added a new post. If you think I was being lazy, well, that's because I am. I have a new problem now; the inability to do anything productive. Haha. Anyways, I saw 2 movies while my blog was in vacation, therefore I will review those movies as brief as I can. Sorry to keep you waiting. Well a handful of you anyway. People don't read my blog.

Hello? Hello....?? Echo.. echo.. echo.. echo..

Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince

To cut to the chase, I don't really find this movie as engaging as the previous movies. Keep in mind that I didn't read the novel so throughout this movie I was struggling to relate and figure out what am I really looking at. The actors were tremendous don't get me wrong and the post effects were top notch. It's just because I didn't read the book. The previous movies were lighter but because Harry's getting older and so does everyone else, the story gets heavier and a lot more people kept dying. Not a bad movie for the readers I guess, but for the non-readers, I guess you'll be in the same boat as I am, dazed, confused and wondering. Owh the movie was almost 3 hours too. So, go to toilet and empty your bladder and bowels before hand ;-)

For me, it's just a 6/10

The Proposal

Ryan Reynolds, gotta love him. He plays Deadpool in the recent X-Men movie and he have a great sense of humor too. I loved the movie, so much that I went to watch it twice. The movie was intellectually funny and it was very interesting to watch the progress between these two unlikely couple. The movie was not over 2 hours and is just nice for people with weak bladder such as yours truly. A great romance/comedy movie.

The odd couple gets 9/10 from me

Those are the two movies that I've saw before this. Sorry for the short reviews. I will do full fledged reviews after this. And non-review blogs are also coming. Maybe later. Right now I'm pretty busy with my games. Wow, Rayza you're a student, you should be studying. Ouch. I know.

Later peeps.

Public Enemies Review

2009-07-10T04:38:00.000+08:00

This was an unplanned movie experience. I was actually going to college to get the results for my previous semester but thanks to the effectiveness of the college, we had to wait for the schedule to be released after lunch which is after 2pm. I got at the college around 11.30am so after taking my results and registering for my next semester (which is Pre-Degree finally!), I still have a lot of time to kill. Luckily I was with a few of my friends. Went to a restaurant and had lunch there and went into the hostel area to hang out with some other friends while waiting for after lunch. There, one of my friend invited us to go watch this movie so lacking of a better thing to do anyway later this day, we agreed. After taking my schedule at 2 something and taking my cheque at 3.30pm, we head for KL. There were 6 0f us including me, going by 3 cars with 2 peeps in each. Parked the car at Berjaya Times Square and then walking to Pavilion for the movie. Since I bought the ticket late, I had to sit on the third row from the screen with Anas. Bought a large popcorn & a couple of soft drinks since we were starving anyway.

The story is about John Dilinger, played by Johnny Depp who is a head honcho of a notorious bank robbing crew who are John Hamilton, Baby Face Nelson, just to name a few. There are very good at what they are doing and they will only rob the bank's money and put away the customers' money. But of course no crime is without it's fighter. With the rise of crimes in the 1920's pf Chicago, a talented police is extracted on the case for Dilinger named Melvin Purvis, played by Christian Bale. Earlier through the movie, Dilinger has also a love interest in a girl in which I don't remember her name in the film nor her name in real life. But she's a big part in the film. Through the course of the film, we see Purvis and his Investigation Bureau chase down Dilinger who is very hard to locate due to his strong influence around his company. I was told that it was based on a true story, and that this particular John Dilinger is the reason why there is FBI today.

I'll tell you earlier, this movie is not for people with ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder - the disability to concentrate on something for an extended amount of time) since it is full of story and it is 2 hours and 15 minutes. Yes I know movies nowadays are mostly around 2 hours. Nothing in this movie is improbable as it was based on true story anyway. Therefore for people who's looking for some fabulous hollywood post-effects won't find it here. It's pure movie all the way. The first half of the movie is honestly pretty slow and I admit I am struggling to try to understand what is happening. It's the second half where the first half of the movie really make sense and things becomes interesting. As the law enforcers gets closer to Dilinger the drama heats up and becomes more personal on both side of the party. Gangster life has never been portrayed like this before -- well not this proper at least. And to my favourite part of the movie, the gunfights. They are nothing like you've ever seen in a movie before. If you think you know how a gunfight looks like well watch this movie and get it redefined. They were nothing short of astonishing. it really steals the show. Both sides weren't just spraying bullets as it was absolutely free of charge but rather with a very realistic kind of gunfight. The gun sounds were loud, which is how they supposed to be. And usually during these firearms engagements, there are no background music to give the fake environment. It is pure environmental ambiance in the background. It's the movie with one of the best gunfights I've ever seen anywhere. Every single shot fired in this movie has one thing in which I don't see in many movies, existence. In most movie, they put more attention onto the quantity of shots fired, but in this movie, it's quality, and sometimes both. Johnny Depp was great, Christian Bale too. Great actors as they are. Keep in mind though this movie is not for everyone. It's not the normal action flick you see out there. This is not an action film, it's a gangster drama. And I kinda like it.

Gunshots still ringing in my head, 7.5/10.

One Sentence Opinion

2009-07-07T04:22:00.000+08:00

Out of thinking too much, I've thought of giving out one sentence opinion of the things surrounding our lives. Might update if I feel like it.

Religion - guidance
Knowledge - drive
Mind - gift
Money - necessity
Social - companion
Men - perpendicular
Women - complicated
Courage - boost
Time - medium
Food - fuel
Rain - forgiveness
Heat - torment
Hatred - weakness
Love - madness
Hugs - embrace
Kiss - exclusive
Lies - diversion
Truth - reality
Hypocrisy - cowardliness
Drama - unnecessary
Life - redemption

Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen Review

2009-07-01T23:55:00.000+08:00

Just for the record, at the date of writing, I've already saw this movie twice. Initially at the Berjaya Times Square and the next at KLCC. My review will be based on my first experience since the second time I saw it, I fell asleep for 10 minutes not because the movie was boring but because I had a long and exhausting day before.

This movie was waited by everyone. Waited so much that the GSC website that offers earlier bookings crashed that they had to divert it to another simplified site for reservations. Even then you will be lucky to be able to book anything before midnight. Holding to that fact, I've decided to book the one on the 10th floor of the Berjaya Times Square. Thank goodness there were still an ample amount of seats available. Probably because not many people know about the place. It is actually a better experience there compared to the conventional cinema because the screens are bigger and all the seats hand rest are retractable. The sounds were also blasting loud but the right kind of loud. Bought the ticket one day earlier. I got a nice view of the movie. Unfortunately I came in about 10 minutes late. So I missed the opening but I could only hope that I didn't miss out much. Since I was kind of thirsty, though I had breakfast at Old Town White Coffee Cafe at Pavilion, I bought a large Coke. The place is big so it is a while before I reach my seat.

The movie, from the beginning should be concluded with one word, colossal. Right from the beginning you could see them getting the bad guys with no excuse to the environment around them, blowing up with anything that is possible to be blown up. The movie is mainly about the hunt for the last shard of the Allspark and the Decepticon's attempt to revive the ancient Prime that went rogue in search of Energon (power source), The Fallen. The quest was littered with battles among them in the most flexible battle I've seen between hundreds of tons of metal. It is kinda hard for me to follow to since most of the Decepticons have very dull colours compared to the Autobots. All the Transformers stay true to the first movie except for Megatron (and another one in which I will not enclose here) in which as we seen in the first movie was terribly damaged, in which he got his spare parts from another Decepticon. This time he's a semi-tank-semi-jet but still pretty much the same. There were also a few goofy Transformers thrown in the movie to slow the movie down since when it is not slowing down, something is blowing up or metals are clashing. The Transformers were so big of a part of this movie that the rest of the human characters that are not Sam & Mikaela seems so puny. And should I say the designs of these Transformers were astonishing. Looking at made me wonder how long did it take to do all that. The details were just eye popping. If you really want to see what they did, it's either you see it at the movies a lot of times or wait for the High Definition version of it is sold to actually see it. There are also a lot of Transformers now and some in which is a lot bigger that the Transformes themselves. Always a sight to behold. There were also so many Transformes that it is not very easy to keep track of. Not that it's a bad thing, I'm just mentioning it.

Well, what more can I ask. Great action, incredible effects, long duration. Great. Just what the doctor ordered, a real action CG movie. Aside from the fact that there is one Decepticon that shifts into a human female that I do not agree as it is already been done by The Terminators, the rest were just beyond words. As a kid, most of us love Transformers, boys especially. Having to see them duke it out on the silver screen with over the top effects is just a dream come true. It's like a little kid walking into toy land. It's that kind of feeling that you get when you this movie. An incredibly tall recommendation from me for those who haven't seen it. Wonder what was all the craze about this movie? Well because it is good and people know it. If you haven't seen it, well you better be soon. Epic.

0.5 shy of a perfect score due to the cameo of a Terminator. [9.5/10]

Remembering birthdays

2009-06-15T16:03:00.001+08:00

Today in a time where almost everyone has a social networking account, access of one's info has been anything but tasking. This includes birthdays. In social networking, often that the birthday of your friends are reminded to you up to a week earlier. Not necessarily a bad thing, at least the people who knew can think of something to say or maybe even something to give. For people who likes to receive birthday wishes (and presents) this is a welcomed feature as it gives the ease of informing her/his friends without having to tell them physically.

But aside from that, that will actually give the reason to not really remember the actual date of one's birthday. Just like the number of other people in your phone, if you don't have your phone, you wouldn't know the number of others unless you opt to memorize them or write them down somewhere else. Here is the age where even friends of friends can be able to know and wish someone on their friends list a happy birthday without having to memorize or even have met the actual person in real life. Although that sound great on paper, how about the thoughtfulness and the heart and genuine care that comes with the wish?

Once, before the boom of the social networking sites, birthdays are often remembered, therefore only friends, close peoples, or loved ones who really cares would remember the date of one's birthday. This way, we can really see actually gives two cents about us. We could really see if someone genuinely cares or if someone is merely trying to impress. Birth dates consists no more than a series of 6 digits placed together forming a specific date in a year with the year born indicating how old one will be on the given time. Having a lot of friends would mean it'll be difficult to remember them all but for that, it is excused. It's for the select few of the people that needed to be memorized their birth dates, for acquaintances or other usual friends, it is not a must to remember them but even if one do remember them, it wouldn't be much of a problem.

Having social networking helps in reminding one to others birthday unable us to actually know if someone's wish is purely based on his/her memory or whether on of check, therefore eliminating the hard work. Like I said, not necessarily a bad thing or maybe even something not necessary, but for something that comes once a year, the sincerity, love and care in a birthday wish is truly none of the quality it used to be.

Or maybe I'm just over-analyzing. Haha.

Night At The Museum 2 Review

2009-06-03T22:30:00.000+08:00

Since I watched the first movie, I have always wanted to see more of this movie. And now it's out, and I went to watch it of course. I actually saw this movie last Monday (01/06) with my regular movie partner. It was the starting of the school holiday and as expected the line for the movie tickets were long and it's coiling. Having to be one step ahead, I've reserved some tickets, which require us not to queue at all, only for an additional RM 1. I haven't got my lunch and since it was just quarter past 2, we went to the nearest food court to have lunch. I had the Dory Fish Pasta at the western corner there and guess what, it was pretty good. The fish were succulent and the pasta was moist and flavorful. You should give it a try if you want a breath of fresh air of all of the usual chicken rice, hot plate, claypot, mixed rice affair of many food courts. Window shopped around the area to kill some more time before the movie starts at 4pm. Weird thing though the only kind of window shopping I enjoy are games, computers & gadgets. Hehe.

The movie starts with Tim Daly the (once) guard of the Museum of Natural History now off having his own career of inventing stuffs such as a glow in the dark torchlight. Long story short, some events made him required to present at the museum as the artifacts in the museum he used to work in recognizes him. Some artifacts needed to be moved to the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC, which is the new "playground" for Tim. He's not an official guard of the museum but as the story goes, it doesn't really matter. The Tablet of Akhmenrah, the artifact that brings the creatures to life after sunset was unintentionally moved to the Smithsonian which happened to be the largest museum in the world. With some of the artifacts from the Museum of Natural History meeting the Smithsonian artifact should produce some interesting meet ups, and that's pretty much what the rest of the movie is about. Artifacts with attitude.

Simply put it, it's just like the first movie. If you have saw the first one, this is a very similar movie with the difference only being the setting and the repertoire of living artifacts. If you liked the first movie at all and wanted for more, this movie should fix you up, but if you're looking for something fresh and innovative, you're not gonna find any in this. This movie is like a haunted train ride; the first time you get on it, all the scares worked and you did get scared for your money, and this movie is like taking the same ride, albeit a little more variation. This movie was very average for me, probably because I was expecting too much from it. Probably because there were so many characters that they want to feature, the focus of story-telling has really suffered from that. If you haven't watched the first one, don't be afraid to straight ahead and jump into this movie. Past knowledge from earlier movie will only give you some neat things to pick out but nothing crucial to the story. The jokes were average, best be watched with your closest peeps so that you can laugh along with it. This is probably because during the first movie, you really had no idea what was going to happen but in here everything were quite predictable. All and all, this movie is not to be taken seriously. If you have some time to kill with your friends and you really can't come up with anything ingenious to do, maybe you should watch this. For the peeps who've watched the first one, be prepared to ride the same ride again. Not a bad movie, just very average. For me.

This movie scores a low 7/10 for me.

How I believed in love at first sight

2009-05-20T22:37:00.000+08:00

If you've read my review on the Star Trek movie, you would've known that I went to Pavilion last Saturday to watch the movie. After the movie ends and after my lunch, me and my movie partner is still strolling around Pavilion, which is as we know it, a place where no typical everyday man (or woman) could afford from or maybe only buy from once in a while. After our lunch, it seems that our wallet is empty. Yes even the food court that we ate at is somewhat more expensive than a typical food court that you would find in any other average shopping malls. Pavilion and The Gardens are the two of the luxurious shopping mall in the capital which I know. All I can afford here is window shopping (and some stuffs from shops that have branches) and the boutiques around here will have us laughing out of the store after looking at the price tag. Well, at least that's the case for me. Ok, I'm going far out of my context here. I'm going to tell you how I believed in first love. When we were going to EON Bank to draw some money from the ATM there, we had to go past by a parking bay (with valet service nonetheless) where I laid eyes on probably the most awesome creation the motor world has to offer...

And I was mesmerized. Mesmerized as if I've forgot everything I've ever had. Mesmerized like I never had been. It's an honor to lay eyes on such radiance, such sophistication, such contained wilderness... I never believed in first love, but this machine proved me wrong. Looking at it, I forgot to breathe for a while that my face turned pale, stunned by its resonating beauty. Under the spotlight of the bay, this machine shines it's beauty into the eyes of its looker. It is said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But this kind of beauty is universal, and the kind of beauty that language is not required. I was in disbelief. I lost to my own belief, my own stand of "love at first sight is not love". My stand was shattered but I am glad, because my love at first sight is this Italian tailored madness under an ivory armor;

Lamborghini Murcielago...
I bow down to your supremacy

Star Trek Review

2009-05-18T21:00:00.000+08:00

Yes at first glance, even I thought this is not a good idea to watch Star Trek. I've watched Star Trek: Nemesis before (Google it). The movie was Boring with a capital B. I tried so hard to like it because Star Trek is a big franchise but I failed to and fell asleep almost halfway through. But that was Star Trek: Nemesis which was still in the original canon of Star Trek. This movie however is a reboot to the canon. Hollywood tries to make it accessible not only for nerds, but also normal people alike. And the movie reviews I saw all over the internet says it was unexpectedly good. This time around, I watched the movie with my regular movie companion at Pavilion in KL, just for a change. We've been to other places before. Our movie starts at 12.15pm. Had our breakfast at Oldtown White Coffee: Signature there and their toast are one of a kind. The price was reasonable too. You should try it once in a while instead of the normal fast food restaurant breakfast. Walked around the Pavilion a little before going to the cinema for the movie. And I must say the air-conditioning in GSC Cinemas has been less cold. Probably because there has been complaints. Anyway at least it's cozy.

Being someone who never saw or liked the actual movie, my hopes wasn't really high for this one. The movie starts with the U.S.S Kelvin, which is one of the mega-spaceships like the Millennium Falcon in Star Wars. It stumbled upon one of the Romulan (a race in the Star Trek universe) ships and it started attacking. The captain of each ship decided to make truce with the captain of the U.S.S Kelvin boarding the Romulan ship. George Kirk was appointed as the captain of the ship while the original captain went and board the Romulan ship. The U.S.S Kelvin lost and also does George Kirk but he got the chance to name his son, Jim Kirk. The story then proceeds about the story of Jim Kirk and also Spock, a half human half vulcan and their story in the institute and the U.S.S Enterprise.

I know this is weird for a Star Trek movie but everything is understandable. Yes. Everything is! Including all of the intergalactic warp space time travelling thingys. The movie was action-packed, sprinkled with some comedy and drama. In one word, it was Epic! This movie has changed my whole perception of the Star Trek universe and if they decided to make a sequel for this, I'll definitely watch it. The new actors are nothing short of amazing. Kirk with his rebellious nature, Spock with it's logical explanations, have them as a team and you got yourself one heck of a duo. Much like Starsky & Hutch but they're in space. A very very good movie. If someone invites me to watch it again, I might just accept it because it was really good. Nothing short of amazing. "Dif-tor heh smusma" (which is "live long and prosper" in vulcan).

This epic movie is worthy of a solid 9/10

X-Men Origins: Wolverine Review

2009-05-13T22:32:00.000+08:00

As usual, my reviews are not usually up at the same day I watched it but better late than never. Saw this movie at Mid Valley (again! I know I'm getting bored myself) with a friend of mine. Saw the first show of the day. Had my breakfast first at the nearby McDonald's while waiting for the ticket counter to open. Oh I forgot to mention that I got at Mid Valley around 9.30am. I just like being early for no particular reason. Had some good ol' Big Breakfast. Did you know that Big Breakfast is the MOST unhealthy menu in McDonald's? Yikes. I can't eat them often. We had booked for it at the first place but since my partner has conveniently forgot to copy it and the line was still fairly short anyway (because it's still very early) we decided to just queue. The lines here move rather quickly despite of its length so I wasn't really complaining. Plus we save RM1 on the booking surcharge. Ehem. Got the tickets, killed some time by window shopping and entered the cinema 5 minutes before 11am. The theatre was only half full though. Or was it half empty? Hurm. You decide.

The movie started with the child life of Wolverine and his elder brother Sabretooth. Living in a family full of conflict he Wolverine eventually killed his real father after his real father shot his fake father. The claws coming out of his hands at first were made of his own bones and he used them to stab his pops. Starting from this moment on they lived as vagrants, trying to survive by using their best skills, killing. The opening montage shows that they have participated in various combats in history from the American Revolution until The Vietnam War and they haven't aged a bit. This is to show that these brothers are practically invulnerable and that they had a very long lifespan. This movie also feature some of the other heroes from the X-Men canon such as The Blob, Bolt, Deadpool, Gambit and some other early appearances from the juvenile X-Men heroes to be. The movie was action packed, the story was easy to understand, the plot was straight forward, and there was very little dull moments along the movie. I love watching the double katana wielding Wade Wilson or later Deadpool in action and I'm really interested to see more of him. Heard news that there is going to be X-Men Origins: Deadpool too but I don't know because I also heard about X-Men Origins: Magneto. So whichever comes out I'm still going to go watch it nonetheless. But he is probably my favourite character in the movie after Wolverine and just like Stryker said, "If it weren't for his mouth, he'd be the perfect soldier". And also Hugh Jackman is incredible as Wolverine and I really can't see anyone who can do it better. He has the charms and the looks. Very good lines and very convincing and quality acting. I was also very eager to see Gambit actually since this is the first time that he ever appeared on the big screen. Sadly there were very little scenes with him and few of which is key to the story. I want to see him fight more. Maybe against Deadpool. That'll be awesome. And as everybody knows, Wolverine has adamantium skeleton which are ores from outer space. And he has regenerative properties. He is just entertaining to watch because his fighting style is so different than most superheroes that evade from attacks, Wolverine just goes to it head on. Sheer excitement and a sight to behold. He's someone you'll never want to mess with I'll tell you that.

Overall, it was a great movie. Better than my expectations actually. I was thinking I aws going to see another comic book franchise going to milked and rehashed but certainly I was wrong. My partner loves it too, and this partner of mine don't like films easily. That's good I guess. At least this partner of mine is happy and thinks it's worth it. Well so do I. I give you high recommendations to go see it. It's an entertaining movie and whether you like X-Men or not, just give it a try. You might like it afterwards.

This movie deserves 9/10

He's Just Not That Into You Review

2009-04-30T23:05:00.003+08:00

By the time of writing, I saw this movie yesterday (29/4) at Mid Valley with some of my friends. This movie has been out for a while now, about a month I guess. But only recently that I had a chance (and a group of friends that are willing to watch it). This day was a normal day with classes until afternoon but I headed for Mid Valley right after. The movie started 10 minutes after I arrived, and thanks to my friend who have bought it for me, I don't need to queue. Bought a small pop corn and a medium coke before heading in since I haven't got my lunch yet. According to the internet, the movie was 2 hours long. Probably that's the reason it took me a while to decide whether to watch this too long because I'm not a fan of sitting in a refrigerator for 2 hours. And since I'm kinda too thin, I get real cold real fast.

For those of you who didn't know, this movie was based on a 2005 self-help book of the same name by Greg Behrendt, Liz Tuccillo, and Lauren Monchik. Due to that, the movie was separated into 4 subtle parts if I'm not mistaken, started by the interview of some people on the topic. And this movie was star-studded. The idea of the movie came from Drew Barrymore herself after reading the book, and she stars in it as well as some hollywood hot shots which are Ben Affleck, Jennifer Anniston, Jennifer Connelly, Kevin Connolly, Bradley Cooper, Ginnifer Goodwin, Scarlett Johanson and Justin Long. That's a combination that comes once in a blue moon. The movie actually revolves around a few people which are connected indirectly. There's a desperate woman, a married couple with problems, and a happy couple with problems of getting married. This is mainly a chic flick but anybody that are even remotely interested in this movie from all fuss you heard about it should go and check it out. Especially those with relationship problems or not, or a woman who's having difficulties getting a men. This movie has a lot of messages for the ladies but mens, go watch it too and see what hollywood has to say about us. Characters in this movie was predictable again, but then again it's not easy to make it not. Convincing deliveries of the characters by the actors and actresses in this movie made it a worthwhile too

Overall, it was a great movie. There's nothing much I can say about it because there's nothing that you haven't seen but why fix something that is not broken anyway. Since the movie has been out for quite a while already, the showtimes for this movie is not much anyway. For those who haven't got a chance to watch it, go ahead do yourself a favour and go watch it. Higher recommendations from me to people that is going to be, still, and was in a relationship. This movie had messages so subtle that some people that might be in some situations might get influenced by this movie too. But hey its hollywood peeps. You do the judgement. Great movie. That's what I think. I don't think it's going to be shown any longer than another two weeks from now at most. Go ahead.

This movie gets 8/10 from me.

Dear Lulu

2009-04-22T23:58:00.000+08:00

Dear Lulu,
You are very busy;
And sometimes also you are clumsy;
When it comes to food you are very choosy;
But I'm not complaining my little daisy;
Because that's just who you are my only lady.

Dear Lulu,
You are filled with passion;
And you always know all your action;
Currently you're chasing your ambition;
I hope I'm not slowing you down by any fraction;
Because I want to be your helpful companion.

Dear Lulu,
I love you;
What I can't get you is very few;
All the time I want to do things for you;
And although you told me myself would do;
What I did was just an extension for the word I love you.

Dear Lulu,
You love me;
You always find some time for me;
I lack so much but you told me let it be;
Although somethings look very hard to me;
You'll do it regardless because you love me.

Dear Lulu,
I wonder how are you;
I wonder how do you do;
I wonder if you miss me cause I miss you;
I wonder if you're happy with me cause I'm happy with you;
Eventhough I'm not the man of your dreams that's true;
Baby I'll try to be, for you.

Dear Lulu,
Now you're away at a place I can't say;
Where it's not possible for us to contact;
And although only for a while that you're away;
I can already feel the impact;
Because you mean so much to me;
Please come home I need you badly.

Dear Lulu,
I miss you.

Confessions of a Shopaholic Movie Review

2009-04-21T16:28:00.002+08:00

I saw this movie at Mid Valley on the 19th of March. I was really lazy to put this up early for some reason. But better late then never. This movie has been out for a while by the time I saw it, I know, but it wasn't on my movie checklist anyway because none of them are currently viewing. The film had quite a promotion I see. It was also based on the book with the same name by the famous chic lit novelist, Sophie Kinsella. Many movies nowadays are adaptations of something, books, comics videogames, even anime & manga. Not many new ideas get through. Maybe it's because of the recession in which they were trying to play it safe by makinga movie that already had followers from the material it was based on therefore they know that it will be watched by some people no matter how bad the reviews are. Or maybe even if it wasn't adapted, the original movie was made a sequel. Playing it safe all the time. Even hollywood is not recession-proof.

Ok enough about my rants on the recession topic, going on to the movie. Since I had a friend that had read the whole Shopaholic books, I had this person to accompany me to watch it. We saw the first show of the day which was at 11.30am. The movie was 1 hour and 45 minutes. The movie was about Rebecca Bloomwood also known as Becky among her friends, who had an unhealthy obesession towards shopping (thus the name shopaholic) until one day she had her debts getting back to her. Up to a point that even a debt named Derek Smeath was chasing her around to get her to pay her debts. She was living with her friends who are getting married later. She came to New York to work as a journalist. Having her expertise in shopping, she applied for a spot in the infamous Allete magazine only to be turned down and later working on another magazine that was under the same publisher. She works in Succesful Savings magazine which is the complete opposite of what she's capable of doing. Here is also where she met her benevolent editor Luke Brandon. The story goes on as she's trying to learn to overcome her shopping habits and at the same time trying to avoid the debt collector. A chic flick that everyone can enjoy.

Now, having someone who has actually read the book to accompany me, this person told me that the movie was loosely based on the book. For example in this movie, Becky stumbled upon Brandon for the first time at a hot dog stand which he payed for Becky's hot dog, instead in the book, they met for the first time on a plane, where Becky exposed her unhealthy shopping habits to Brandon, which will be her future editor of Succesful Savings. But even when the movie was loosely based on it, and this person being a true follower of the series, this person still says the movie was pretty good, which was saying much since usually people who had read the book would detest againts changing so much from the original material. That was a good sign. Personally, I think movie makers had to change it because if they had to take everything, or a major part of the book onto the screen, it would be a very lengthy movie and it wasn't suitable for movie goers. This movie I think was made this way so that it was suitable for both the novel readers and the movie goers. The movie goers had another chic flick and the novel readers get a rough idea of what Rebecca Bloomwood is in real life. No clever twist whatsoever in this film but that was ok and not necessary. The film was pretty ok. I don't really watch chic flicks but this movie made me think twice if I should shun the genre upon view. It was pretty good for a chic flick. Everything is in order and nothing is not understandable. The comedy was ok too. You should go see it if you haven't.

I give this movie an 8/10

Fast and Furious 4 Review

2009-04-13T12:56:00.005+08:00

As you see, this movie is in my list of movies to watch this year, so naturally I have expectations towards it. Planned to go watch this with my friends or something similar but since my mom got a hold of some free tickets (don't ask), of course I grabbed it. There's not many free things that I refuse. Who does?

Anyway, the movie was going to be in Mid Valley, on a Saturday (11/04/08). Coincidentally, I have class going on earlier that morning. So no choice, I had to attend it. The class ended about 30 minutes earlier and thanks to a friend of mine, I got sent to the nearest Komuter station without having to take a taxi. He saved me RM10. Thanks dude. The movie was a 4pm but I arrived in Mid Valley at about 11.30am. There are a lot of things I can do here of course to kill time. Had my lunch at McD's having the McValue Lunch of Double Cheeseburger. Walked around the mall, stopped by computer shops, stopped by MPH, before my mom called me to join the family for a meal before the movie. Guess what my mom got me? A McValue Lunch of Double Cheeseburger of course. My body must've been screaming like crazy if it could with the amount of fat and sugar I take in today. As you know, the movie is 18+ so my mom only got 2 tickets for this movie in which I had to watch it with my dad while the rest of the family get to watch Confessions of a Shopaholic. My movie starts at 4pm while the other one starts half an hour later. Got into the theatre and it was freezing cold. After the Transformers 2 movie trailer which was an eye candy and some booze commercials, the movie starts.

The movie starts and one of the company that works in this movie is Dreamworks, which specializes in digital special effects, which made me think, oh boy this isn't good. They're relying on some animated cars rather than the real ones. Unlike the earlier 3 movies to this series which starts with a race, this movie doesn't. This could be wrong or might be right. It's good to see Vin Diesel reprising his role as Dominic Toretto but Paul Walker hasn't yet to be seen. As in the trailer, it starts with stealing some oils and at the end of this scene was some obvious digital effects. Which was very cheesy and corny. Paul Walker appears later as the Brian O'Conner which is now working with the feds again. The movie mainly revolves around revenge that Dom was seeking to people who murdered her girl, Letty. And Brian was looking to bust the head honco of a drug smuggling gang. And coincidentally for both of the characters to reach their goals, they had to do some driving. Yeah nothing innovative but nothing wrong with that. Ok, now. What is it that made us so attracted to watch this movie franchise? Of course for the hot cars and racing action. Well, here's some spoiler for you, triple click in the white space to view it:
[Spoiler start]
there are only 2 races if I'm not mistaken throughout the whole movie and the rest of car scenes were just driving dangerously.
[End of spoiler]
There were only a handful of cars and even they don't appear much and even if they do only for a brief amount of time. This was not the Fast and Furious we have learned to like. Driving in this movie was just something that the characters had to do instead of what they like to do. Unlike in the first movie where there were drag races, races around the town in the second movie, races around a construction site in the third, all of which was done entirely by the protagonist's will purely for some good time. In this movie, such driving scene doesn't exist. It was either driving for someone or something. And there were also quite a number of death in this movie too, some which are very intense, which is not very fast & furios, which only have some deaths. This movie was more about a drama of revenge and gang busting starring Vin Diesel and Paul Walker with some hot cars in it. I don't think it deserves to be called the 4th movie because this one has so much less than what I expected because it's losing it's fast and furious factor. There are too little cars and too many dramas for a Fast & Furios movie. Still can't believe what I said? Go watch all of the previous 3 movies and then watch this one. Be honest with yourself. Newer doesn't automatically makes it better. I would say this as the worse entry of the franchise so far and if you have saw the first 3 movies, go watch it if you want to see a story progress. For newcomers to the movie, I suggest you watch any of the first 3 movies. And for movie goers and that doesn't have a problem with watching anything in the cinema, I think there could be other movies but you could still watch it if you're curious. For me personally though, I was kind of a let down. It wasn't a bad movie but it was ok. Just ok. There might be a sequel but I don't know.

I give it 6.5/10

What will you do?

2009-04-05T18:46:00.001+08:00

If you feel like you're the one who's causing problems among other people and that things were perfectly fine until you came along?

My Driving Lesson: Part 5

2009-03-25T23:04:00.000+08:00

This will be the last entry for this episodic content. If you're interested to follow my story from the very first day, use the keyword "jpj" to look for these kinds of posts. Now, on the the post.

Again, I had to skip class for the second time this week in order to attend the test. I've submitted my special leave letter to the respective lecturers but aside from attendance, I'm also missing out on my studies. No choice. I went home on the Tuesday afternoon, but stopped by Nilai for a while to take care of some business. After all that's done, I head home using the "oh-so-efficient-and-always-arrive-on-time" KTM Komuter. I unintentionally slept in the train while sitting in a vacant train coach. Probably I was too tired from the usual headache and an uncounted for flu. Woke up a station before Kajang (UKM). I didn't remember when I doze off though. Fetched by my mom. Settled everything there is to settle, grabbed a comic, read it in my room and went to sleep.

On the Wednesday of my test, I woke up 5 minutes late. But I still took my time knowing that today is going to be a very long day with a lot of waiting. Ate breakfast and went to the centre. There was a large number of crowd there which means only 1 thing; longer wait times. So there was 3 colours (each representing a group). White for repeats, yellow and green for first timers, with the only difference is yellow is limited to 60 person. The green bunch that day was 122 person. That sucks. I hate waiting. There's a Malay saying that goes,"waiting is a torture" in which I agree wholeheartedly.

My first test was part 2, which are the hills, parks and turns. I was kinda nervous for the hill as out of all the 3 things, hills were where I failed the most. My wait wasn't very long for this. Got a car with a damaged gearbox since it produces this weird shifting sound no matter how hard I press on the clutch. And the gears itself wobble at its place. Meh. What can I do anyway. With the holy "Bismillah" coming out of my mouth, I stepped on the clutch, changed to the 1st gear and lowered the handbrakes... slowly, I lift my left foot from the clutch... the car moves and by the time the car was stable enough, I tip toed the accelerator, the car moves up the hill, my heart pulsate faster, by the time before the sidemirror is alligned with the poles, I hit the brakes, leaned outside the window to see the front wheels are perfectly in the yellow area. 1 thing is done. Now to the difficult part. After raising my hand to indicate to the JPJ Instructor that I'm done there, I repeat the process of moving, and the car moved forward without a little reversing. Thank God!! Passed the difficult part. Now the rest should be a cakewalk. Did the other 2 things well. Haha that's a little dramatic story-telling from me.

Now on to the part 3, on road. All of the peeps from group yellow and green were waiting for their turn around if I'm not mistaken 8 cars. That is 60 yellow + 122 green = 182 peeps with average of 10 minutes each = 182 peeps x 10 minutes = 1820 minutes required divided with 8 cars so 1820/8 = 227.5 minutes + around 30 minutes of the JPJ officers lunch break which now brings us to a total of approximately 257.5 minutes which is roughly 4.3 hours of maximum waiting time for your turn. And this isn't Alaska people, Malaysia is a tropical country that is very generous (sometimes too generous) with their sunshines. I was one of the last dozen people. Which sucks. I doze off multiple times because I was so freaking tired and bored of waiting. If only I had a PSP at that moment. Not to mention also thirsty, but because I'm afraid that my number is called when I went to the canteen to get a drink, I didn't buy anything. The numbers were called out randomly too. If it was called in some sort of order, at least I can do a little bit of timing to do something else to kill my boredom. So when there was very few people left there, finally my number was called out, but I still have to wait for the instructor to test another guy first.

I had Jalan 1 for my test, which is the one going near the school. Aside from a few law breaking citizens of Malaysia, there wasn't a problem. When I got back to the centre, guess what? More waiting! Yay!! If I subtract all of the waiting that I have to do, I think it'll take up no more than half an hour. So right now I had to wait for my blue card from the instructor who hasn't gave it to the person in charge of redistributing all of the cards to be kept by the driving school branch because he doesn't like to come out of his car very much so he keep a number of them before giving it back. Which made me unnecessarily wait. What an uneffective protocol.

Whatever it is, I passed them all. I got my license. My real P license I will receive this Saturday so I would only be driving by then. Which I thinki I would. Anybody want to volunteer? Hehe.

My Driving Lesson: Part 4

2009-03-23T21:50:00.003+08:00

This event happened on a Monday of no particular holiday, which means I had to skip classes no choice. Why I did so? Well, my driving school here only has JPJ tests on Wednesday. And prior to the test day, they provide you with a final lesson before the actual test day which will determine whether you fail or pass. I think a lot of other driving school does this but which one I do not know.

So, because I had to skip class for Monday of March 23 and Wednesday of March 25, I've written a special leave letter to my lecturers pledging that my attendence will be registered as absent with reasons instead of just absent. At the time of writing I haven't submitted the letter but I have attained the initials from the driving school to prove that I really do have lessons on that day. I was planning to leave college for home at 8 in the morning because of my intelligence of not resetting the clock after the Subuh prayers, I woke up by myself at quarter before 10. The lesson starts at 1pm actually but the reason I wanted to get home early is so that I can do my laundry earlier and have some time to relax thus not rushing for the lesson. Now because I'm late, I can't really take my time doing things. As soon as I arrive in my neighbourhood, I walked straight to the driving centre branch to get their initials. Got home, warmed up my lunch, get my laundry done, had lunch, had dessert (a slice of Choc Indulgence which happen to be in the fridge) and right after I finish hanging my laundry, the instructor came.

My usual instructor can't make it today, so I had a lady instructor. I don't want a lady instructor. Not that I like men, I just wanted my first driving experience with a lady is not with an instructor. Maybe someone special. Hehe. Well I'm being honest la kan ape salahnye. And the usual cycle of the part 1 technical driving and part 2 on road repeats. Nothing really interesting today. I had less engine stalls. Getting pretty confident now. The only problem today was it was blazing hot. I could barely stand it. Added with the fact I cannot switch on the air-conditioner during technical driving to stabilize the engine didn't make it easier. 3 hours of training today. Drove home.

My real JPJ test will be on this coming Wednesday (March 25). Again I would have to skip class and from what I've heard, I'll have to wait for my turn to take the test. Urgh. I don't like waiting. But most importantly, I have to pass and get my license. Wish me luck.

I wish THIS is my first car...

Watchmen Movie Review

2009-03-19T00:04:00.005+08:00

Actually I have watched this movie back on Friday the 13th of this month but it is only now that I have the mood to finally write this down. It's been a while since the last entry. Here is my review.

Prior to watching this movie, I have been trying to catch up with the graphic novel which consists of 12 issue of graphic goodness by Alan Moore. It is one of the most celebrated comic book of all times and the only comic book to have made it in the Times Magazine 100 Best Book of All Time. Sadly I have only read up to book 4 to the day of the movie. I went with someone else to Seremban's Terminal 1. The movie was 6pm and my last class was supposed to end at 4.30pm. Luckily my class ends at 4pm and I called a right away which arrived around 15 minutes after which is still late considering I have a train to catch which is usually also late and someone to meet to tag along which will also cost valuable time. Thankfully by the time I got on the train, so does someone arrive at the station. By the time we got to Seremban, it was already 5.40pm. Got to the cinema, bought our ticket, and we had 10 minutes to spare. As usual I buy some popcorn and coke. The movie started as soon as we got the seat. Well, what can I say, one of my most anticipated movie of this year. And just like in the book, The Comedian gets murdered initially, which the story revolves around who did it. Watchmen are a group of people in costumes that controls the peace of New York City having that it had no police. The story is about the second generation of Watchmens which the first generation is known as the Minutemen. Some of the the Watchmens are continuation from the previous Minutemen bearing the the initials "II" which is two in roman characters in thier name. The rest of story is very complicated yet very rewarding if you really get a hold of it. I recommend you to read the book first before watching the movie as it will leave you jaw dropping to the floor with how much similarity it had with the book. Even if you haven't read the book, just go see it for a great cinema experience. The story unfolds very neatly and sticks very nearly to the book. Almost everything about the book is portrayed in this movie except for some smaller scenes and the ending of the movie was changed too but that just gives you the reason to experience both the book and the movie. All and all, I really have nothing to say about the movie aside that although it was 2 hours and 30 minutes long, there wasn't a single dull moment. The highest recommendation for this movie from me. If you have the time, go see it. Don't think twice.

Keep in mind that the comic book was more than a decade ago and it was told by many comic experts as a comic that is impossible to be filmed. Zack Snyder hit the homerun. Also thanks to David Hayter (voice of Solid Snake!!!) and another guy for making this movie on the dot. And just for fun, I want to show you some similarities from the comic to the screen. And these are just from the final trailer, not the whole movie. The movie is like a Deja Vu if you've read the comic. But a good Deja Vu of course.

For more small details and similarity of the movie go to the official website of the studio here or some other guy's research here.

Oh for the rating, I'll give it a full 10/10.

Tagged by Zafree

2009-03-08T01:26:00.002+08:00

Terima kasih la Zafree. Aku tau aku nye jawapan nanti tak lari jauh dr kau tp takpelah kau suruh aku bwat la. Kang nangis aku gak yg kene pujuk. Haha!

TO ALL MY NON-MALAY SPEAKING MALAY FRIENDS: This post will be in Malay and subtitles won't be available. If you don't understand this I suggest you start brushing up on your mothertongue language and bitch-slap yourself as hard as you can. I shall begin. Answers are not in any particular order except for the 1st one which is in descending order.

Senaraikan 5 hadiah yang anda impikan:

* PS3 (byk sgt game yg aku suka kat konsol ni)

* X-Box 360 (walaupun aku sebenarnya anti skit dgn konsol nih)
* Wii (sbb ade No More Heroes, Umbrella Chronicles & MadWorld)

* Video kamera cakera keras 120GB [Sony SR-12E]

* TV LCD 50 inci Samsung (kalau LCD tv aku rasa Samsung lg lawa gambar dia. Maaf Sony!)

Alasan terhadap pilihan tersebut:

* sbb hobi dan aku mmg peminat Sony

* sbb ade game yg best yg takde kat PS3

* sbb ade beberapa game yg best

* sbb suke rekod memori hidup sendiri

* utk dimainkan dgn konsol2 yg diberi

5 Impresi terhadap orang yang diminati

* memahami

* penyayang

* bekerja keras

* sensitif (tp sensitif yg elok la)

* cantik

5 Perkara hebat yang pernah dilakukan

* berkawan dgn kawan yg terbaik pernah aku mintak

* menang tempat ke-4 dlm esei bahasa inggeris anjuran kompeni nasional

* belanja org lain

* menjadi org optimistik

* agak terer gak la dlm sesetengah game. haha!

5 Ciptaan yang paling disukai (tidak semestinya melibatkan teknologi)

* alam semesta dan isi-isi nya

* komputer (tak kira PC atau konsol game)
* duit

* pai epal McDonald's

* kereta sport

5 perkara yang dibenci

* penipuan

* mungkir janji
* org yg tak tepati masa

* org yg tak bertanggungjawab
* org yg berlagak pandai

5 orang yang hendak ditag

* seperti biasa semua pengikut blog aku (tp tak diwajibkan)

* pastu sesiapa la yg dah kehabisan idea utk blog

* sesiapa yg belum penah kena tag tu, buat la tag ni

* sesiapa yg perlukan perhatian org lain pun silalah buat

* sesiapa yg ade mase utk dibuang, buat la

baru korang tau BM aku camne! haha!

What my non-biological sister think of me

2009-03-07T23:06:00.000+08:00

Here's the post. Do leave a comment.

Bangga btol ade org blog pasal aku. Haha!

Movie Checklist 2009: Part 1

2009-03-05T00:23:00.004+08:00

These are the movies that are confirmed for this year and I am looking forward to watch them all if I had the time. Even if I don't have time, I'll maybe wait for the DVD and buy it. All the movies listed here is released in the first half of 2009. The next half, I will do later. In order or release:

Inkheart (didn't watch)

Synopsis: Based on the book by Cornelia Funke, "Inkheart" is a timeless adventure tale of imagination that centers on Meggie, a young girl whose father has a secret ability to bring characters from books to life when he reads them aloud. But when a power-hungry villain from a rare children's fable kidnaps Meggie's father to bring others out of the boundaries of fiction, she and a disparate group of friends both real and magic embark on the kind of adventure she has only read about in books to save him and set things right.
Why yes?: The ability to bring up any characters from any book is very interesting. And I know in the real world, if a girl has this power, she will surely bring up Edward Cullen.
Why not?: Brendan Frasier is famous for starring in B grade movies so this most probably will be a B grade movie.

Street Fighter: Legend of Chun-Li (had bad reviews, didn't watch)

Synopsis: Chun-Li is in the quest of his father's murderer by joining the interpol. And of course working her way up the criminal world she has to confront various criminals that features some of the other Street Fighter characters. Played by Kristin Kreuk, the star of Smallville.
Why yes?: Well, I love videogames. And Street Fighter was one of the first game I'm exposed too. And all time favourite fighting game of the world too. I'm also a big fan of Smallville. And Lana Lang @ Kristin Kreuk is in. I don't care is Chun-Li doesn't look chinese but Kristin Kreuk could just be the reason why I want to watch it
Why not?: This is a videogame movie. There hasn't been a single videogame movie that really settles as a real movie. And eventhough it's cool to have Kristin Kreuk as Chun-Li, there are more chinese hollywood actress out there they could choose.

Watchmen(watched, 10/10!!!)

Synopsis: It all begins with the paranoid delusions of a half-insane hero called Rorschach. But is Rorschach really insane or has he in fact uncovered a plot to murder super-heroes and, even worse, millions of innocent civilians? On the run from the law, Rorschach reunites with his former teammates in a desperate attempt to save the world and their lives, but what they uncover will shock them to their very core and change the face of the planet! Following two generations of masked superheroes from the close of World War II to the icy shadow of the Cold War comes this groundbreaking comic story - the story of The Watchmen.
Why yes?: David Hayter is the writer of this movie. And it's deemed as one of the most accurate rewriting of the movie based on the comic so far.
Why not?: Well, my expectations might be too high and if the movie doesn't perform I wouldn't like it. Hopefully it doesn't. I've been waiting for this movie for a year.

Race to Witch Mountain(no time, didn't watch)

Synopsis: For years, stories have circulated about a secret place in the middle of the Nevada desert, known for unexplained phenomena and strange sightings. It is called Witch Mountain, and when a Las Vegas cab driver (Dwayne Johnson) finds two teens with supernatural powers in his cab, he suddenly finds himself in the middle of an adventure he can't explain. When they discover that the only chance to save the world lies in unraveling the secrets of Witch Mountain, the race begins, as the government, mobsters and even extraterrestrials try to stop them. "Race to Witch Mountain" is a fun and thrilling adventure featuring incredible special effects.
Why yes?: I've always been fond of the movie played by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. And it's a Disney movie too so it is usually interesting.
Why not?: The story might be not interesting and they're just looking for an excuse for action scenes.

Monsters Vs. Aliens

Synopsis: When California girl Susan Murphy is unexpectedly clobbered by a meteor full of outer space gunk, she mysteriously grows to 49-feet-11-inches tall and is instantly labeled a "monster" named Ginormica. The military jumps into action, and she is captured and held in a secret government compound. The world learns that the military has been quietly rounding up other monsters over the years. This ragtag group consists of the brilliant but insect-headed Dr. Cockroach, Ph.D.; the macho half-ape, half-fish The Missing Link; the gelatinous and indestructible B.O.B.; and the 350-foot grub called Insectosaurus. Their confinement time is cut short however, when a mysterious alien robot lands on Earth and begins storming the country.
Why yes?: Dreamworks so far has been prducing splendid animated movies and I haven't saw one that's not good one. An easy pick
Why not?: I have no idea why not. Maybe time constraint if it came. Or maybe even nobody to watch with.

Dragonball: Evolution(bad reviews, didn't watch)

Synopsis: "Dragonball is adapted from the manga created by Akira Toriyama; the work was also turned into a Japanese anime series that played all over the world. It tells the story of an alien sent to destroy Earth, who has a change of heart and decides to join the humans in their fight against various aliens and bad guys. Justin Chatwin is starring as the hero Goku, while James Marsters will play the villain Piccolo in the sci-fi adventure.
Why yes?: Who does not know Dragonball? With over the top fighting and humor, this one gives me all the reason to watch it, solely based on the manga and anime.
Why not?: You have seen the trailers and screenshots haven't you? And we all aren't impressed with it and it wasn't what we were expecting to get. This movie almost is surely to suck and adding Evolution to the title is like adding an excuse for it when it doesn't make sense.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine(watched, 9/10)

Synopsis: Leading up to the events of "X-Men," "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" tells the story of Wolverine's epically violent and romantic past, his complex relationship with Victor Creed, and the ominous Weapon X program. Along the way, Wolverine encounters many mutants, both familiar and new, including surprise appearances by several legends of the X-Men universe.
Why yes?: Undoubtedly, Wolverine is one of the more interesting character in X-Men. Regeneration and adamantium claws. What more can you ask for. And the trailer is pretty cool too that finally has Gambit in it!
Why not?: This may just be another X-Men movie if the focus wasn't given enough to Wolverine. Not that it will be bad, it will just be inappropriately titled.

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian(watched, 7/10)

Synopsis: In the sequel, the Museum of Natural History is closed down for upgrading and the exhibits are put into storage at the Federal Archives in Washington, D.C. Amy Adams will play an undetermined historical figure who has a crush on security guard Larry (Stiller).
Why yes?: I saw the original Night at the Museum and it was pretty fun. I kinda like Ben Stiller too.
Why not?: This might be too giberrish and plotless as they try to balance the actual story of Night at the Musem with the battle of the smithsonians.

Terminator Salvation(had average reviews, maybe not)

Synopsis: In the highly anticipated new installment of "The Terminator" film franchise, set in post-apocalyptic 2018, Christian Bale stars as John Connor, the man fated to lead the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators. But the future Connor was raised to believe in is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a stranger whose last memory is of being on death row. Connor must decide whether Marcus has been sent from the future, or rescued from the past. As Skynet prepares its final onslaught, Connor and Marcus both embark on an odyssey that takes them into the heart of Skynet's operations, where they uncover the terrible secret behind the possible annihilation of mankind.
Why yes?: Christian Bale is The Terminator now taking over place of the Californian Governor. Terminator was a great movie back then and it will be great to see another one, especially how it will look without Schwarzenegger.
Why not?: Christian Bale may not be as good as a Terminator as Schwarzenegger was and the thing with sequel is, it usually doen't get any better.

Fast & Furious 4(watched, 6.5/10)

Synopsis: Vin Diesel and Paul Walker reteam for the ultimate chapter of the franchise built on speed— "Fast & Furious." Heading back to the streets where it all began, they rejoin Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster to blast muscle, tuner and exotic cars across Los Angeles and floor through the Mexican desert in the new high-octane action-thriller.
Why yes?: I love cars. Especially those which are tuned. Which is what this movie contains. What else can I say? Owh and Vin Diesel & Paul Walker are both in this movie. That's going to be sweet.
Why not?: They have done tuned, drift, what else could there be? Muscles? I don't know what's in now. They might be doing some tunes that might not be interesting to me. Who knows. Let's just wait and see.

Trasformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen

Synopsis: Continuation of war on Earth between two robotic clans, the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons, leaving the fate of mankind hanging in the balance.
Why yes?: The movie in 2007 left me hanging for more Transformers. With all of the Decepticons dead except for Starscream, it would be interesting to see how he comes up with further plans to get rid of the Autobots. I can expect more effects and more robotic brawls with the word awesome written all over it
Why not?: Well, you know how sequels tend to be less good than the original. Other than that I've practically no reason to not watch this.

My 3rd Semester Final Examination Results

2009-03-04T18:31:00.000+08:00

I am not going to display it here because I'm too lazy to do so and it wasn't so good anyway. So if you want to know it, personally ask me about it. And if I feel like it, I'll tell you. And if you're really lucky, I'll be honest about my results :P All I can say is, it's above 3.0 and it's the lowest I've got so far. Not sure if I should blame myself but hey, who else is there to blame?

I think I want to blame my economics lecturer but everyone will say I'm this and that so... oh well. Whatever.

At least I didn't fail anything and therefore I'm still grateful.
All good things come from God, and all bad things come from yours truly.

Movies I'm interested to see in 2009

2009-03-04T02:31:00.003+08:00

This is a long post. Take your time readers and feel free to comment! As long as you like.

Akira

Based on the anime of the same name. I didn't really read the manga or watch the anime but I know it's a big franchise and it has a big fan base. It would be interesting to see an anime being made into a movie.

Astroboy

Another movie based off an anime and this one is undobtly one of the biggest names in the anime world. It has Nicholas Cage in it. Wow. Well, big names need big actors I guess. As long as this doesn't suck I don't really mind if it's canon or not. Because I don't really follow the original work anyway :P

Atari

For all of you who knows about videogames and the history of it, the title would've ringed a bell. If you're not, Atari is one of the earlier consoles in the 80s that made mark in the videogame world. Would be interested to see what this story could be about. The main character is the leading actor in Titanic. Go figure.

Bioshock

OMG OMG OMG was the first reaction I had when I heard this movie was going to be released this year. Bioshock is a great game (although I haven't played it) and the story is very indulging as well. Steampunk all over Rapture City and Big Daddys and Little Sisters! Owh I just hope it doesn't suck like ~~all~~ most videogame movies are.

Castlevania

Another movie based on the popular game by Konami. This one is written by the director of the Resident Evil movie trilogy which wasn't completely terrible. This could actually be quite a good movie.... IF Paul W. S. Anderson does right of course and doesn't stray too far from the canon since this one is quite mainstream.

Emily the Strange

Most people recognize it as a gothic fashion icon but how many of us actually knows that Emily is actually a comic by the Dark Horse comics? Yes it it people. Still untold whether it will be real life, animated, or even Tim Burton style stop motion, but when it does come out, it will be worth checking out for me.

Game

Played by Gerald Butler who all of us know from the viral 300 movie by Zack Snyder. The movie about an online gamer in the future who gets stalked by millions. He's like "TeH 1337" so everybody wants to know about him in which he struggles to get his identity back. Hurm don't know what it will become but hey, it's Leonid... I mean Gerald Butler.

Gears of War

Another movie adaptation of the 360 hit. The storyline isn't nothing new really. Aliens tried to control earth and so on and so forth *cough*waroftheworlds*cough* The action should be pretty awesome too since that was what the game was about pure cover-shooting-headshot-saw action. and it's gritty as hell as well. The movie should be nothing less than an M rating. And yeah, Cliffy B., the creator of the game is going to be in this movie. Haha this should be fun and it sure will be in the GoW canon as the creator is in it. It better be. I'm dead serious.

Kane & Lynch

Based on a videogame by Eidos about an accused homocide suspect and a crazy dude. Don't really know about the game but from the reviews I saw it's all about story in this game. Not that the gameplay sucks but they were trying to focus on story. And the game was generous with it F bombs too. Hope this wouldn't go too far into the story that it became just another story about mentally sick homocidal peoples.

Lost Planet

A game by Capcom which was one of the release title for the 360. A very good game. Hopefully that will make it a good movie too. And this has a brighter hope to it as the writer of this movie is also the writer of X-men & Watchmen, just to name a few, and the voice of our beloved beloved beloved Naked Snake, Solid Snake, & Old Snake, David Hayter. Love this guy. He's got talent.

METAL GEAR SOLID

IF THIS MOVIE COMES OUT THIS YEAR I'M GONNA JUST GO BANANAS. WRITTEN BY HIDEO KOJIMA THE CREATOR OF THE GAME THIS HAVE TO BE AWESOME IT MUST BE THERE'S NO OTHER OPTION. ENOUGH SAID.

Ronin

Based on a comic book by Frank Miller who is an infamous comic book writer, it's about a disgraced samurai fighting for his... well, grace. Nice idea but will it be a good execution? Frank Miller's comics are great and with the proper director and crews, this will be great.

Spy Hunter

Based on another game. This has already been filmed. In pre-productions and waiting to be released. Actor? The Rock. Should be a good one. Another Paul W. S. Anderson work.

Tekken

Who does not know this fighting franchise? By Namco. Hopefully this isn't another Street Fighter movie.

X-Men Origins: Magneto

Now, we know about the Wolverine origins is going to be out this year, but so does rumor says, Magneto. This would be very interesting. It's a big franchise. I don't think I have to explain much.

Wow I'm pathetic. Almost all of the movies I listed have something to do with videogames. Well, that's what I like. What to do. And I'm pretty sure not all of these will be released this year. Just take it as the movies I'm looking forward too; whenever it is that's going to be released.

My Driving Lesson: Part 3

2009-03-02T18:17:00.001+08:00

My last official driving lesson before my JPJ test. Let's start with the fetching. I was supposed to be fetched at 1 pm but as usual I know it won't be punctual. Usually he's 15 minutes late so I waited. Now he's 30 minutes late. I'm getting pissed off. For your information, I don't like people who are not punctual. 5 minutes is still excusable but 10 minutes tops. I waited for him until I fell asleep on the stair of my house. He came an hour later at 2pm. Yup I waited for 60 minutes!! Curse you!!! I hate people wasting my time. He apologize because he's the one who read the schedule wrong. Well, there's nothing I can do to turn back time anyway. So he said insted of 1 to 5, it will be 2 to 6 today. Ok I'm cool. Stopped by the Imkeda branch near my house to pay for the rest of the lesson.

Drove myself heading to Imkeda but he said I should do Jalan 1 first which is the road around SMK Bandar Tun Hussein Onn. My engine stalled muliple times on the traffic light there which is a humiliation since I had no problems before. The instructor was laughing out loud beside me. After completing it, went to Imkeda and did all of the normal hill climbing, side parking and 3 point turns. A couple of engine stalls at the hill climb and no problems for the parking and turns. Went to Jalan 2 and my engine stubbornly stalls again for a few times! Why is this happening!! Don't have this problem before! And right after that, the instructor told me it's time for the pre-test. I was kinda nervous because for some reason I have been stalling engines.

For the pre-test, I was given the old Kancil. And personally I liked it better. The clutch was much shorter and the steering was easier to turn. The gears are much more softer too. The instructor told me those were new parts. Did Jalan 2 and that's all. My engined stalled again a couple of times. He said, 3 engine stalls during the JPJ test and I fail. Hopefully that doesn't happen. I passed this pre-test but hopefully I won't be stalling any engine during the real JPJ test. Did some more hills, parking and turns before going around Jalan 2 again before heading home.

On the way home, we suddenly started to talk about games! Now this is more like it! My pressure driving the car was gone! It was like I've been driving for years that I didn't even notice that I went over the speed limit. Talking about games are fun. It just is. Turns out he does play games and occasionally watches anime too. If only we talked about this earlier my diriving would have been a whole lot stress free.

The lesson today has been shortened to 3 hours and the extra 1 hour is brought forward for the last additional 2 hour lesson a day before the JPJ test so now it's 3 hours. Haven't set the date for my JPJ test since I had to look at my college's current semester schedule before I can make any appointments. I'm going to get the schedule on Wednesday together with my 3rd semester results.

My Driving Lesson: Part 2

2009-02-26T11:38:00.002+08:00

This time around, my driving lesson is at morning, which is 8 to 11 to be precise. Had difficulties waking up but hey I woke up anyway. I had an outing yesterday so it was a little tiring maybe that's why but it was worth it because yesterday was like a dream. Anyway, after eating my breakfast, which is Milo cereal with milk if any of you wanted to know, I waited at my house's bench for the instructor at 8 on the dot. What a fool I was. I should have known he would be late. Sat there for 15 minutes before he came.

This time, I was asked to drive the car straight from my house to the centre. No problem I guess. Got there and did was I did yesterday, nothing new. Still having a few engine stalls but not as frequent anymore. Did all of the stock hill stop, side parking and 3 pointer turn. Still some mistakes at the hill but the parking and 3 pointer turns, I had no problem. The instructor spent his time talking about stuffs such as, he likes to do this thing because he get to look at girls, asking me not to stall the engine in front of girls and so on and so forth. I just sat there and laughed uninitiatively.

Went around the highway a couple of more times, which is known as Jalan 2 and went around SMK Bandar Tun Hussein Onn which is known as Jalan 1. Drive here drive there no problem. My problem was, I sometimes forget to flick the signal, in which the marking criteria writes as instant failure. Wow. I need to pay attention. Come on Rayza you can do it!!!

After all of that same thing over and over again, I was asked to drive home again. No problem. Got home safely. My next lesson will be on the 1st of March which, at the time of writing, is 4 days away. I will also be having my pre-test on that day. Hopefully I don't do any silly mistakes and most importantly, I won't mess up. Wish me luck everyone. It will help.

P/S: My lucky ring helps me a lot when I'm driving I guess

People who wished me a happy birthday

2009-02-24T21:50:00.008+08:00

Frankly, I don't really celebrate my birthday. But these few people wished me and actually took the effort to do so. And even though a lot of the wishers said I am getting old, they still wished it nonetheless. I'm so thankful. In order of time, here's who they are:

Syazlin Azmi
Wished me during a Yahoo! Messenger session on a fine day. It was early but hey, a wish is a wish

Sumithra Mahendran
Sent me a message through Friendster wishing me good luck and good happiness.

Marie Amira
Sent me a MySpace comment past midnight wishing me a happy birthday.

Wishes on the 24th
=================

Alyaa Abdullah
Gave me a quick call singing happy birthday to me at exactly 12 am today and said I'm getting old.

Raihan Airil
Sent me an SMS and said I'm getting older.

Ridhwan Firdaus Ramli
Sent me an SMS and said I'm old. Haha but I'm glad he wished anyway.

Diniy Md Shah
Sent me a Facebook wall-to-wall happy birthday.

Zafree Zaharidan
Sent me an SMS around 3am saying I'm old but not as old as he is and called me pak cik

Anas Afifi Sazali
Sent me a Facebook wall-to-wall saying my birthday is the same as his father's.

Zulaikha Halim
Sent an SMS and said I'm so old.

My mom
Called me and sang me the birthday jingle.

Maly Fadzil
Sent me a straight and simple Facebook wall-to-wall message.

Fahmi Fairuz
Another Facebook wall-to-wall message and called me abang

Parvinaa Nair
Sent me a short Friendster message.

Jason Choo
Sent me an SMS saying I'm old so he's happy.

Fatimah Zulkepli
A random pedestrian blog passer by.

Aaina Bahry
Thorugh the comments here in this blog

Farha Ghouse
Sent a Facebook wall-to-wall wish

Syazlin Azmi & Farish
Another wish through SMS through Alyaa since she haven't got my number

Syahirah Jamaluddin
A wish at 11:59pm today

Thank you guys! This means so much more than gifts.

My Driving Lesson: Part 1

2009-02-24T18:32:00.005+08:00

So if you have been following my blog, you would've knew that I'm only taking my D class license. So today is the day where I'm taught how to drive, with an instructor. Have tried driving before this but that was using an automatic, power steering, NGV fueled, executive, Naza Ria which was very easy and driver friendly.

As appointed, I am to be fetched from my house at 2pm. But this is Malaysia so punctuality is just a concept. Anyway, the instructor came about 15 minutes past 2pm. It's ok because I was on the phone anyway. So he came with a Perodua Kancil (whaddya expect? Renault Clio V6?) and not being a mute or deaf person, I talked with him of course. First of all, I was glad that my instructor was a male because I don't feel comfortable sitting beside a lady, and it was a small car that our elbows touched a few times. Told him this and that, blablabla...

And not long after, I got to Imkeda, where I'm taking my license of course. As soon as we arrive he asked me to take the wheel and so I did. What happen on the few first tries? The engine stalls and die and it was shaking like it was earthquake but of course, as a normal human being that is still learning, mistakes are part of the process of learning. But after about 5 minutes I understood the use of the clutch and the 1st gear and could already drive with only the clutch pressed and the 1st gear. Right after that, I learned how to climb a hill. Engine died only a couple of time before I got it.

After that, the instructor brought me to a shop area in Bandar Tun Hussein Onn to practice on gear changing and speed bumps. The usual engine stall, and quakes but after 20 minutes being around, I got used to it. There was this particular rich dude driving an SLK 350 that I almost hit as he turned to enter a parking without signalling first. What a dumb guy. Can't you see the freaking L on the windscreen or are you illiterate? Right after that, he asked me to drive back to the center myself. I was sceptical at first but as I calmed myslef down, it wasn't as difficult.

Back at Imkeda, he stopped for some evening drinks but I had none. I wasn't that hungry. Continued the lesson with on the hill stop, side parking and 3 point turns. All of them wasn't very difficult I think. Well at least to me. Made some mistakes at the hill but for parking and 3 pointers, there wasn't any problem. Circled the place a few more times before I was asked by the instructor to drive home! Through the highway! At first, again I was unsure but after a while, I got used to it. Almost ran over a motorcyclist who didn't obey the red light. Imbecile. but aside from the 2 close calls I had today, everything else was smooth.

My next lesson will be on the 26th of this month, which, at the time of writing, this Thursday. I'm going to kick back and relax tomorrow. Driving is fun I guess. But I really can't say anything for sure.

This is a Perodua Kancil for any of you that doesn't know or haven't heard of it

This is a Renault Clio V6 that is awesomely fast and costs as much as a B class Mercedes

100 Truths

2009-02-23T20:51:00.004+08:00

I went around some social network sites the other day and found this which was quite interesting and isn't as difficult to do. I want to do it so that I can ask other people to do it. Hehe. And I know number 41 is missing but it was inappropriate. So technically there's 99 but 100 is a more commercial number. Hehe. Anyway, here they are; 100 things about me!

001. Real name -- Rayza Ridzuan
002. Nickname(s) -- Ray, Za, Iwan, munchkin, masham & hunny
003. Zodiac sign -- Pisces the fish!
004. Male or female -- pure XY Chromosome Male
005. Elementary School -- hurm some chinese kindergarten from 3 to 4 years old. Tabika Rukun Tetangga for 5 and 6 years old
006. Primary School -- SK Sri Mega & SK Sg. Kantan
007. High School -- SM Amminudin Baki & SMK Saujana Impian
008. Hair color -- black with a dashing strike of silver :P
009. Long or short -- either way for as long as it's maintainable
010. Loud or Quiet -- quiet! silence is gold. but I'm normal too so loud is ok too sometimes ;-)
011. Sweats or Jeans -- neither. I wear anything comfortable (and decent)
012. Phone or Camera -- phone for now, but camera is good too
013. Health freak -- wanted to be but so far God has given me excellent health :-)
014. Drink or Smoke -- neither and I'm anti to both
015. Do you have a crush on someone -- crush? haha don't think so
016. Eat or Drink -- who doesn't do both?
017. Piercings -- naah. uncool
018. Tattoos -- haram! but even if it's not, i won't get one anyway :P

HAVE YOU EVER?
019. Been in an airplane? -- yup! A long time ago
020. Been in a relationship? -- haha not gonna answer that
021. Been in a car accident ? -- yes but nothing serious
022. Been in a fist fight ? -- no. not yet maybe? haha

FIRSTS:
023. First piercing -- none
024. First best friend -- some chubby guy named Ashraf Nordin
025. First award -- hurm let's see. got 1st in exam?
026. First crush -- haha not sure
028. First big vacation -- erm. never been on a big one. just similar small ones

LASTS:
029. Last person you talked to -- Lulu (bukan nama sebenar)
030. Last person you texted -- Lulu (bukan nama sebenar)
031. Last person you watched a DVD with -- my friends I guess. can't recall
032. Last food you ate -- nasi goreng ikan masin at Village View restaurant last night :P
033. Last movie you watched alone -- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
034. Last song you listened to -- Love Song by Taylor Swift
035. Last thing you bought -- hurm a large slurpee at 7-11!
036. Last person you hugged -- hurm. not sure if that's considered a hug so I'm not sure. haha!

FAVES:
037. Food -- hurm. anything that tastes good I guess. hehe
038. Drinks -- depends on what my throat says :P
039. Clothing -- any casual wears like Snails, Camel Active, Polo, Suave, etc
040. Flower -- I got an inclination towards tulips. don't know why
042. Colors -- black! and now trying to like chocolate. hehe
043. Movies -- Transformers, Dark Knight, 300 and some other
044. Subjects -- hurm anything IT related

In 2008, I....
045. [ ] kissed someone
046. [ ] celebrated Halloween
047. [x] had your heart broken
048. [x] went over the minutes/texts on your cell phone
049. [ ] someone questioned your sexual orientation
050. [x] came out of the closet
051. [ ] gotten pregnant
052. [ ] had an abortion
053. [x] done something you've regretted
054. [x] broke a promise
055. [x] hid a secret
056. [x] pretended to be happy
057. [x] met someone who changed your life
058. [x] pretended to be sick
059. [ ] left the country
060. [x] tried something you normally wouldn't try and liked it
061. [ ] cried over the silliest thing
062. [x] ran a mile
063. [ ] went to the beach with your best friend(s)
064. [x] got into an argument with your friends
065. [x] hated someone
066. [ ] stayed single the whole year

CURRENTLY:
067. Eating -- nothing
068. Drinking -- also no
069. I'm about to -- play some games. love my PC :P
070. Listening to -- my PC's fan noise
071. Plans for today -- games and that's all
072. Waiting for -- a few 25/2 and 1/3
073. Want kids -- yeah of course some day!
074. Want to get married -- definitely. looking forward to it :P
075. Careers in mind -- hurm something related to IT that pays well

WHICH IS BETTER WITH A GUY/GIRL?
076. Lips or eyes -- can I have both? haha anyway either is good but lips are kinda interesting to me
077. Shorter or taller -- shorter without a question! taller girls intimidate me
078. Romantic or spontaneous -- a balanced amount of both
079. Nice stomach or nice arms -- ahaha! what a funny question. I would say healthy stomach and arms would do
080. Sensitive or loud -- sensitive at the right time and loud at times too :P
081. Hook-up or relationship -- relationships for sure
082. Trouble-maker or hesitant -- I'm not a trouble maker but does that make me a hesitant? I dunno

HAVE YOU EVER:
083. Lost glasses/contacts -- yes I've lost my glasses before! I'm on my 2nd set
084. Snuck out of your house -- erm... yes actually. haha!
085. Held a gun/knife for self defense -- held some steel pipes a few times. murdered that rat in my house
086. Killed somebody -- yes! lot's of people! but only in videogames. NEVA in real life
087. Broken someone's heart -- yes. multiple times due to my foolishness
088. Been arrested -- no. hopefully never :P
089. Cried when someone died -- naturally, yes..

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:
090. Yourself -- haha not really. which is a problem
091. Miracles -- I can't seem to have an explanation for it but it had happen a few times before
092. Love at first sight -- no I don't think that's love
093. Heaven -- yes it exists
094. Santa Claus -- haha there are some people that are actually named Santa Claus but doesn't deliver toys on X'mas. does that count?
095. Sex on the first date -- NO
096. Kiss on the first date -- NO

TRUTHFULLY:
097. Is there one person you want to be with right now -- yes. all the time...
098. Are you seriously happy with where you are in life -- yes I am for the person who cares for me
099. Do you believe in God ? Without a single doubt, YES

100. Post as 100 truths and tag 12 people

12? This is my blog so I'll just tag whoever I want. Anyway, the tag is going to:-
~everyone that follows my blog especially Alyaa (cause you tagged me before!)
~anyone at all interested in doing this, be my guest

Suddenly, I'm off to Sunway Pyramid

2009-02-19T23:57:00.006+08:00

It was another Thursday morning when I woke up. At noon I suddenly got a call from Shaizuan my college mate. He invited me to tag along to go around Sunway Pyramid for fun with him and Anas. I, having nothing better to do agreed on their invitation. Anas came almost an hour after that to fetch me and we went to Uan's house first before proceeding to Sunway Pyramid for the Zuhur prayers. After fetching Uan's UniTen friend named Fikri if I'm not mistaken (correct me if I had his name wrong) we head for Sunway Pyramid. First up on the menu is looking for a place to eat. Waffle World was the first suggestion but we went to Carl's Jr. which is a suggestion by Uan. And since I've never been there at the first place, I thought why not, though I know the price there is not as average as many other popular fast food restaurants. So nevermind that. Had our lunch and it was very filling indeed. The burger is as big as it says and that really suits my appetite. Hehe. Some of us even have difficulty finishing them. But I finished my food as usual ~~sbb tak baik membazir kawan setan~~.

Whaddya mean it's gonna get messy? That's like something straight out of a mob movie! Or maybe they meant it's going to mess my cholestrol level? I dunno. But it's as filling as it is expensive

After that we went around ~~tanpa hala tuju~~ window shopping ~~konon2 mcm terer shopping la~~ to look around many interesting clothes ~~dan berasa tertekan sbb sumer mende tak mampu nak beli~~ with great deals. Oh well it wasn't the sale season anyway. Soon after ~~lps diriku bosan sbb tak reti window shopping~~ that, I suggested that we go play bowling. When we got there and looked at he price table, it was RM 8 per game which is mighty expensive ~~dah rase menyesal lak cadang td~~ but there is actually a student rate which is RM 3.5 per game. Now we're talking! And luckily all 4 of us brought our student ID and got those special rates. We played for 2 games. Out of the 4 people, I got 2nd for the first game and downright last ~~ye la sbb dah lame tak main~~(alasan!). After the game, we got hungry again. Well, not REALLY hungry but there's now space for more food. Went to Waffle World as I suggested earlier. Running under a budget, we decided to share our food. 2 sets of food shared among 4 people. I shared with Anas and Uan shared with Fikri. We had waffle and drinks.

The bill that was splitted equally among me & Anas. Yup, wherever you go, there will be tax, whether it's govt. or service, you will get tax'd somehow

After the meal, time to go home for me. Since I'm not getting sent home as I was fetched when I came, I had to make my way by myself back home. I was worried about the crowd ~~sbb nanti ade byk variasi bau badan~~ because it is peak hours but I was lucky that there's not as many people as I thought. I even got a seat on the bus. Took the bus to Mid Valley to catch a Commuter to Kajang which is, by the way, the fastest way to go. As usual the train gets delayed for some unannounced problem but it got there on the next schedule. Again I was afraid of the crowd ~~mengalahkan kapal angkut pendatang haram~~ but luckily it was also not as full. Had to stand but it's no big deal. At least I don't have to be in a crowd ~~dan bertukar-tukar bau antara satu sama lain~~ and after a few stations I even got a seat. Got home before 9.30pm. What a day.

P/S: sorry Raihan aku pakai style strikeout kau tanpe kebenaran kau. harap2 tiada sebarang saman terhadap pembayaran royalti

Define:Miss

2009-02-16T17:15:00.001+08:00

The word miss has many meaning in the English lexicon. Type exactly the title of this post on Google and you will get it's many definition. But the one particular definition that I'm blogging about today is miss; the kind of feeling that you get when you are away from someone (or something). I personally don't know the explanation for this phenomenon. But on my opinion, this is what "missing" are:

What?
Missing someone (or something) is a feeling that is involuntary and need not any effort for it to happen. Missing is the kind of feeling when you want to scream, cry, weep, or any other method of suppressing your feeling. Some people might have other weird and peculiar ways of expressing their feelings of miss towards someone -- or something. some of them may resort on distracting themselves by keeping themselves busy by doing other things that doesn't remind them of the person (or thing) that they are missing. Some people even go as far as lying to themselves that they're not missing that someone (or something) in which, in my opinion, is not healthy because sooner or later they are going to get a personality conflict.

Why?
Well I don't know. We were created to be that way, that could be the simplest answer I guess. The amount of love, affection, attention and attraction you have towards someone (or something) doesn't affect if you will miss the person (or thing) or not, rather the slightest interest can make you miss the person (or thing). This however does give an impact of how much you will miss someone (or something) and for how long you will be in the situation. The absence of the person (or item) even for a while could make us miss them. Since we think that the person (or the item) completes us and that weren't whole if it wasn't for them.

How?
Like I said this phenomenon happens probably because we were created to miss someone (or something). The absence of the someone (or something) we love and care about will make us think a lot of them. How are they doing, are they well, are they with someone else, are they thinking of us, do they even miss us a little, and all sorts of other questions. Questions that may sound a lot like selfishness if spoken out loud. Most of the time missing happens to people who doesn't have anything to distract them from it. It seems that even hobbies aren't enough to cover up the feeling of missing.

When?
When you notice that something is just isn't right without the person (or thing) around. You feel as if everything you do is wrong for some reason and that for some reason you always get distracted from the real case at hands. Also when the event of "missing" happens, you tend to wish to stumble upon the person (or thing, but in this case it's just ridiculous) you miss anywhere you go. The feeling of missing is also amplified when you're in a silent place and lonely. That kind of atmosphere just seem to suit for missing someone (or something).

Where?
Everywhere! The feeling of miss isn't specific at a place. But like I said, being in a lonely place, silent place and even at night will amplify the feeling.

Who?
Every single human that isn't heartless will at some point of their lives miss someone (or something). Perfectly normal. But it's how you tackle those situation of missing is the one that differs you from other people. Whether you go bananas due to extreme case of missing or you keep your cool on hopes for better chances of curing your "missing" is totally up to one person. And not necessarily the feeling is mutual between two person though. Very subjective stuff.

Why I write all of these? I dunno I guess I have too much spare times on my hand and I've been thinking too much. I need to slow down.

Maybe I do miss someone

Tagged by Alyaa

2009-02-08T01:22:00.009+08:00

I've been tagged at last. I could deny to do this anytime but hey I don't have anything to lose right? Thanks Alyaa for tagging me. Here's my reply.

A) People who have been tagged must write their answers in their blog.

B) Tag 8 people to do this quiz. (Those that are tagged cannot refuse)

C) Continue this game by tagging 8 other people.

1.What have you been doing recently?
Completed all of my assignments

2.Do you ever turn your cell phone off?
No I can't if not my hp data will be lost! But I still turn off the cellular line during exams and when going to mosques

3.What happened at 10am today?
I'm still sleeping

4.When did you last cry?
Can't remember. Even if I did it's classified information

5.Believe in fate/destiny?
Most of the time

6.What do you want in your life now?
More time

7.Do you carry an umbrella when it rains or just put up your hood?
I carry an umbrella.. ella.. ella...

8.What's your favourite thing to do on the bed?
Sleep like everyone does

9.What bottoms are you wearing now?
A blue lined black track bottom

10.What's the nicest things in your inbox?
My hp inbox? A particular message writing "Anything 4 u"

11.Do you tend to make the relationship complicated?
Haha I guess not

12.Are you wearing anything borrowed from anyone?
No! I've never done that

13.What was the last movie you caught?
Twilight

14.What are you proud of?
I'm proud to be a Muslim and I'm proud of my PC. Hehe.

15.What does the oldest text msg in your inbox say?
GPRS telah aktif. Utk bantuan konfigurasi GPRS, layari www.hotlink.com.my atau hubungi 1-300-820-120 (caj dikenakan). Pengguna Nokia/SonyEricsson lihat SMS #2

16.What was the last song you sang out loud?
Postman Pat

17.Do you have any nicknames?
Ray, Za, Iwan & munchkin

18.What does the newest text say?
"Okeh."

19.What time did you go to bed last night?
Around 3 am.

20.Are you currently happy?
Definitely yes!

21.Who gives you the best advise?
My best friend, my close friend, and Lulu (bukan nama sebenar)

22.Do you eat whipped cream straight from the can?
I don't eat anything straight from the can

23.Who did you talk on the phone last night?
Lulu (bukan nama sebenar).

24.Is something bugging you now?
This intermitting internet connection

25.Who was the last person to make you laugh?
Lulu (bukan nama sebenar)

The 8 people who is going to be tagged is:-
-you
-him
-her
-them
-your mother
-your mother
-your mother
-and then your faaaather!!!

New look!

2009-02-07T17:13:00.003+08:00

I've just updated my blog layout. Check it out! Neat huh? Leave some comments and suggestions. Will be blogging more soon. Right now I have my finals in hand. Hopefull I do well.

Thanks for dropping by!