Verdict: While the funny scene has gone stale, you can still watch it if you have nothing to do.

As the fourth instalment of Ice Age series, you can feel that the story has become tiresome.

With the story about continental drift (indicating global warming?), I hope this should mark the end of ice age (yes, I mean both the actual Ice Age and this movie series)

The problem is this: I don't really find the squirrel - Scrat, that funny anymore.

It is still cute as last time, but I somehow felt tired of watching it doing all the stuns/disasters.

Compared to Madagascar 3, it lacks some kind of elements that keeps you interested about the storyline.

Both talked about team work value, but in Ice Age 4, somehow I feel that they were doing their tasks separately (or maybe independently)

Both have villains - but in Ice Age 4, I thought to have a monkey as the captain of the pirate (ice) ship was not convincing at all.

Both have wishy-washy character (Madagascar 3 being the Vitaly the Russian tiger and for Ice Age 4 being the Shira, the sabre-tooth cat) that turnaround the outcome of the story - but I felt that Shira was wishy washy unconvincingly.

So end up, a movie that doesn't give you the 'wow' factor, but however, give you some occasion laugh - which is the main purpose of Ice Age series.

Rating: 5.5/10

If you wish to know if government has done enough for this country, compare these list of things with your experience five years ago

1) You need water filter to get cleaner water
2) You paid for road tax, but yet you still need to pay for road toll
3) In order to watch F1 or some football matches - you need to subscribe to a satellite TV station
4) With option 3, you can't watch the TV when it rains (Malaysia is a tropical country, just FYI)
5) You start to buy clothes from Thailand or Taiwan, cos you find that they are much more cheaper
6) You use public transport, less than 10 times in the past 5 years, and don't plan to use it in near future
7) You started cooking cos you find it will save hell a lot than dining outside
8) You regretted for not buying a house 5 years ago
9) You own a car, and you spent at least 1/3 of your net income on car loan, maintenance, road tax, fuel & car insurance - and you don't plan to stop using the car in near future
10) You trust online media more than traditional paper or even the police.

If you agree more than 5 points I had mentioned,

Perhaps you might wanna consider again, whether the government has done enough, and will do that enough in the next five years.

The fact that they treat such a big game like Olympics, worse than a warm up session..

 They deserved the disqualification.

You can watch the clip from 9th minutes onwards, to judge by yourself.

To me, election gives you the chance to choose what you need in life.

For example, my family has been eating Gardenia bread, but as the time pass by, we found that the bread's size has shrunk, and not as tasty as before.

Then we tried High 5 bread - not bad.
And lastly we found Massimo - even tastier at even competitive price.

We've been sticking with it since last year.

Every loaf of bread has its expiry date.
Finishing a loaf of bread is like giving you a chance to choose the brand again.

That's the same purpose of election.

Old doesn't mean gold - discover yourself with the news on internet, read them.

Anybody who can vote, should be mature enough to think independently, on which party makes more sense, and whether the party's pledge meets your needs.

Then, you should be able to choose who you want to vote.

Government is just a product you choose to run this country - you have the rights to choose/switch to a better product that suits your needs.

Well, this can be a long topic - but I'll cut it short.

Malaysia Proton/National Car policy (i.e. high tax on imported car) is a legacy, started almost 30 years ago.
USA's law that allows possession of guns, is a legacy started as far as 1792.
Apartheid was a legacy in South Africa, started in 1948, ended in 1994.
Malaysia's Social Contract were agreements made by the country's founding fathers in the Constitution - it is definitely a legacy to Malaysia.
Dynasties in China were legacy, until the formation of Republic of China in 1912.

One thing for sure - these legacies help to define how the country works, how it looks, and how people will live.

But as the world progresses - things change.
Legacy maybe important, but is not necessarily relevant to the present time.

Some, or even many, may have affection on the legacies - but let's look at the real needs of the people, you will know why some of the legacies that I mentioned above, has become history.

Two challenges before giving up a legacy:
1) How to convince people (or maybe the minors) that it is no longer relevant
2) What are the alternatives available?

Let's forget about PEMANDU/Police's report that crime rate has reduced.
Let's ignore what media has been reporting on paper/news, about robbery, murder cases etc.

Let's just face it - after so many years:
Getting security guards in housing area has become a necessity,
Hanging out after 9PM will get questions from friends or family that "are you sure you wanna go out this late?"
Public's perception that police will only work harder before festive season. (and on top of that, you know what I actually mean)
Tendency of public chose not to report criminal cases
Robbery or murderer cases has become near uncontrollable situation...
Government chose to apply high definition CCTV for those road offender (i.e. speeding/skip red light), instead of installing on streets to do surveillance on street crime (i.e. robbery,murder cases)

You can tell that the security level of this country has gone towards the wrong direction.

The thing about HK drama is that - it's a pretty stale factory productions - the story elements are easily predictable:


1) The fight between the ladies in the palace
2) Police/Firefighter/Doctors/Anti corruption stories
3) The fight in the family business


Today I observed some comments on FB about 护花危情's ending.


OK, it's not the first time that TVB disappoints audience.


So my humble suggestions, are pretty simple:


1) Watch the first and last episode (OK la, maybe the first 5 and last 5)
2) Watch Japaneses drama series which would normally end within 10 episodes


You will suddenly find that you have a lot of times to do other (or better) things.

If you look at the lyrics of Malaysia's 55th Independence Day theme song,


You will realise that the government treat their pure subsidy-based programmes as their 'fulfillment to requests by citizens of Malaysia"


If that's the case, it's very pathetic - subsidized services won't solve Malaysia's root cause of poverty, corruption or even the safety issue.


If rakyat is earning enough, living decent life - they won't need those subsidized services at all.


Is this what the current government can achieve, after 55 years of independence?
Is this what Malaysia has become (a subsidy-dependent country), after 49 years?


JANJI DITEPATI

Macam malam ikut siang,
Macam bulan ikut matahari,
Satu Malaysia terus berjuang,
Janji kita ditepati,
Kata kita dikota,
Janji kita ditepati,
Hidup rakyat dibela,
Masa depan diberkati,
Janji sudah ditepati,
Kini masa balas budi,
*Chorus*
Janji siapa ? Janji Kita,
Janji apa ? Janji Satu Malaysia,
Janji siapa ? Janji Kita,
Janji apa ? Janji Satu Malaysia,
( ulang dari awal )

RAPPING :
Ini janji kita, BRIM Satu Malaysia
Ini janji Satu Malaysia, Terima Satu Satu Malaysia,
Kata kita dikota, Klinik Satu Malaysia,
Janji kita ditepati, Kedai Satu Malaysia

Stage 1: Marinate the chicken cube.
Recipe:
400g of chicken cube
2 tablespoons of fish sauce
4 teaspoons of cornstarch (optional)
1 teaspoon of sesame oil (optional)
1 teaspoon of light soy sauce

After mixing all the ingredients, "spin" the meat like a washing machine. (until you feel the meat are very sticky)

You may then leave the meat a while.

Stage 2: cooking time (you may refer to the recipe at the back of Maepranom Green Curry paste packaging)

Pour one cup of coconut milk on the heated pan
As it boils, put the Maepranom Green Curry paste into it, and stir fry it.
As you see oil appearing, put the meat & another 2cup of coconut milk
Turn to medium heat.

Put 20g of kaffir lime leaves (daun limau purut/麻风柑叶）
Leaving it cooking for a while.

Done, you can eat with bread, rice or even spaghetti.

Verdict: A great trilogy, finished in Chris Nolan style.

So Chris managed to make the Batman movies, in his style

Though the movie is based on the comic, but movie would make you think - what if those crisis happens? It's freaking possible!

To start with, everybody should manage the expectation - the movie is flawed.

I can name two flawed scenes, that I could remember:
1) How Commissioner was easily found, after wounded
2) How could Bane unnoticed of Bruce Wayne's capture by his own army?

But comic-based movies are meant to be flaw - it's the same thing you'll be asking 'how come Tony Stark didn't die even if he's in the ironman suit? It can't withstand those hit by rocket etc'

OK, throw away those logic, let's move on with the script:

Dark Knight Rises is emotional - removing the superhero portion, it can be an independent story on its own, about what to choose in life, how to move on from pain etc.

Dark Knight Rises is deep - it is deeper than Dark Knight, as it forced even larger group of people to make choices during the crisis.

I thought the ending was good - but I strongly hope that the film company won't wanna extend the franchise of it (well, Chris has already said this will be the last of his Batman series)

It's lengthy - but worth the time.

Rating: 8.5/10

Verdict: Thought provoking with nice Swiss snowy scenery

It's always good to put low expectation on a movie - I did just that for this Spanish movie, and probably that's why I was amazed at its quality.

The story line was rather interesting - set in the future, it is about a man trying to invent a machine that can emulate the the human emotion, and react like a human.

In short, he tried to put emotion into a robot.

This film is emotional, especially the ending. But it is exactly the whole point - emotion is something that, perhaps, robot can't understand, respond, or even emulate.

Because, when one is being emotion, the person can't think straight, when the person can't think straight, the fella will do something 'out of the mind'

I love the futuristic computer interface design (it is somewhat superior than Tony Stark's robot design system in Ironman), I love the twist, I love the meaning behind and it leaves me thinking whether a robot should be a robot, while human should be a human.

(a totally random & separate note: Samsung Galaxy III phone is designed for human, inspired by nature. So the robot can't use the phone)

I believe emotion is something that is hard for robot to express or comprehend effectively, as robot is meant to be a very logical thinking machine.

Simply, emotion in most of the cases doesn't have absolute logic.

Rating: 9/10

Verdict: A French version of Taken. But a better one.

This is how an action movie can be - without the exaggerating action scenes which are common in American movies.

From the start till the end, the movie didn't bore me.

It is about how a nurse strive to save his pregnant wife, kidnapped by the bad guys.

He had to fight with both police and bad guys (or, "police or bad guys") and even to the extend of pairing with the "convicted" guy to achieve his objectives.

It's a French movie, but it is a movie that American can learn a lot - about the pace, about the movie edit, about the story line, about twist - etc.

I don't mind to give this movie an 8.5 - the only complain that I have is the ending seems to be overdoing.

Rating: 8.5/10

Music: 1999, 2008
Lyrics: 2008, 2012

Short notes: Plan to rewrite this song, so will complete the lyrics first.

Lyrics:
Nothing surprising,
Nothing colliding,
Nothing to save when it's all the same.

Nothing worth crying,
Nothing worth fighting,
Nothing to say when it's all the same.

(Yeah you're gonna say it again)

"Nothing's gonna change my name."
"Nothing's gonna change my faith."
Nothing's gonna fake my way
Nothing's gonna take my sane.

Nothing to think about,
Nothing to sigh about.
"Nothing to save" that's what you said.

Nothing to whine about.
Nothing to cry about.
Nothing to pray, when you've lost the faith

(Would you say it again)
"Nothing's gonna change my name."
"Nothing's gonna change my faith."
Nothing's gonna fake my way
Nothing's gonna take my sane.

Lalalalala...

1. Experts are clueless.
2. Customers can't tell you what they need.
3. Biggest challenges beget the best work.
4. Design Counts.
5. Big graphics, big fonts.
6. Jump curves, not better sameness.
7. If it works or doesn't work, that's all that matters.
8. Value is different from price.
9. A Players hire A Players.
10. Real CEOs can demo.
11. Real entrepreneurs ship.
12. Some things need to be believed to be seen.

Verdict: Great performance from all the actors + actress (with many of them, being first time acting), great presentation of Thailand's local music group. Great script writing to make this movie worth watching.

Many of us would have seen Thai advertisement - the funniness is no worse than HK or Japanese's humour.

Many of us would have seen Thai horror movie - many of us have perception of Thai movie = horror movie.

Try this movie - you will know that Thai movie industry is way beyond just horror movies.

In the past one year I have closer encounter with Thai people. So in a way, I would want to learn their language - the quickest way is to watch movie or listen to Thai music.

OK, back to the movie.

This movie tells how a group of young people, striving to succeed (hence 'suckseed') in the music competition.

I watched it with Jen and my dad.

All of us like it.

This comedy delivers what it should deliver.

I shared some same thoughts as my father:
i) The movie is all-rounded. It shows that Thai kids can act (the scene in the classroom - all the children acted naturally)
ii) The movie managed to introduced some Thai rock music groups - which, I believe, many of the non-Thai people won't know them before this movie.
iii) It is a movie with proper ending (many of the movies nowadays have 'strange ending', which you won't know what is it trying to say)

My personal view: I like how the movie shows the atmosphere when you listen to music - it really feels like someone is beside you, talking to you about how you feel.

The beginning part of the movie, which talked about their childhood - reminds me of Fan Chan, another well delivered movie.

As the walkman generation evolved into discman generation - then into iPod generation (yep, the evolution is 'subconsciously' shown in the movie): people grew up and have chosen different path to move forward.

I'll repeat what I had just mentioned earlier: By watching this movie, you will understand that why Thai people can produce funny advertisement, and their movie industries are definitely more than just horror movies.

I would definitely invite all of my friends to watch this movies.

Rating: 9.5/10

P/S: This post is dedicated to all my Thai colleagues whom I have worked with. Thanks and it is great to know all of you! One day we will definitely suckseed na krub!

昨晚忽然有靈感，寫出了這篇短篇故事：

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

過了五十年，他終於製造出了時光機，能讓她回到過去。

她步上時光機之前，很興奮地對他說：

等我完成了心願，我馬上回來找你。你就等那麼一下而已。

他說：你完成了心願，你的人生也會改變了。

我們也 不可能見面了。

她說：不會的，我心裡有你，這種感覺，是沒那麼容易毀滅的。

他說：好吧，能讓你開心，當然是值得一試的，不過，你能回去完成心願後，再把這個字條交給二十五年前的我嗎？

她說：好啊，那麼，你就得晚點才能見到我了，你以為我是超人阿，要休息也。

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

果然，完成了心願後，男女的記憶，都變了，他們也變得，不曾相見了。

唯一沒變的，是她手上的字條。

字條上寫著要送去的地址與年份，也寫著 - "一定要送去!"

女生按着資料，用時光機去到一個男生的家。

那男生，也正在製造着時光機。

兩個人，在本來以後的世界，是相愛的。

可是，現在，他們卻像陌生人一樣的打招呼。

女：你好，你在做著什麼啊？我也有這架東西也，只是我不知道它是什麼。我只是按照說明書，忽然間可以來到這裡。

男：嗨，你好，呃，這是時光機，我已造了25年都還沒造好。

女：啊？真的哦，我是過來傳這個字條給你的。

男：哦好。

女：你，就一直在做這個東西嗎？

男：是啊，我都有個心願，就是想回到未來，看這個時光機能為我做些什麼，看我活得怎樣。

男的看了字條，對女生說：

不過，我覺得，這樣子，對很多人都不公平，我們，去吃個午餐，如何？

女：好啊。

他們從此就這樣認識，拍拖，到結婚。

字條上寫的是

"傳這個字條給你的，是你的真愛，你別再浪費時間，研究時光機了"

"你已經浪費了25年，沒得愛她"

I think Malaysians are nowadays quite mature, if not much more mature than they are - 10 years ago.

So if you wanna say that the country's security will be affected by some opinion on air - hello,

I think those who think that national security has been compromised - I think they deserve to watch more Hollywood movie to see the real meaning of 'national security compromisation'

Whatever :)

More like, a lesson of the day - I'm reading an article about people management, and found this interesting, especially for my work:

“If you should try to understand me
Through the eyes of your experiences,
Your only understanding will be
Misunderstanding.
For we have walked different paths
And have known different fears.
And that which brings you laughter just
Might bring me tears.

So if you can learn to accept me
And the strange things I say and do,
Maybe through your acceptance
You will gain understanding.”

Scientist founds some unusual sea creatures around the Australian water.
via BBC