On the PeiRoll..

We went to see Spidey 3 the other day.. it was good, if you took it completely as a 'comic book movie with little or no resemblance to real life situations'. This review was totally spot on!

Speaking of which, I've started reading blogs from economists (they are so incredibly fascinating!) after getting hooked on Freakonomics, which I bought and read on the train to Brussels the other day. I will do a sort of series bloggy thing on it one of these days but what lead me here was the Macroeconomics of Superman. A hilarious read.

On a separate note - this comic strip might offend some, but I just thought it was pure genius from Ctrl+Alt+Del (which I've spent hours on going through archives from the very first strip)



Posted at 10:46 AM
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We watched 300 the other day. It was incredibly enjoyable and very watchable. I love Frank Miller's work, and rate 'Sin City' as my all-time favourite movie... purely for the artistic filming that brings comic book art to life in such a dynamic way. Ok, they are pretty violent - but that's what the genre is, and to take that away would be like taking away what makes a comic book a comic book.

As soon as I discarded 300 as a fantasy based very loosely on history (aside from basing the characters and historical reference to ancient greece) with no resemblance to anything remotely factual, I enjoyed the wanton and gratuitous (but beautifully filmed and shot) fight scenes.

The plot line is a simple one - bad people trying to subdue the good people by sheer number of fighting forces. Good people are beautiful looking, with shiny rippling abs and pecs married to stunningly gorgeous greek women, fighting for 'liberty, justice, honor, truth and the Greek way'. Or something like that. You get the meaning. The vastly outnumbered Good guys hold out as long as they can, slaughtering as many of the enemy as their spears and broadswords can reach.

Yes, I thoroughly enjoyed it - sex, violence and all. No excuses. What makes it so much more interesting is that now that I've been listening to lectures on Greek and Roman history, I now about how the politics have evolved from kingship to shared 'democracy' (with elected councils) and the pros and cons of each model.

As mentioned in my previous blog, I am just finishing 'Alexander and the Hellenistic empire'. It is quite interesting how the Greeks have evolved, through expansion of their empire and how they view other people and cultures. It is also interesting how they have conquered so much and yet, they have not left a more distinct mark of their reign on the people they have ruled for those years (Alexander's generals and their descendants carved up his empire after his death and held on to their 'kingdoms' for about 300 years or so until the Romans flicked them off the world stage).

I've got a few more topics on Greece and Rome that I am looking forward to getting through - they will give me a better idea of that fascinating era which seems to be the basis for western civilisation today.

So as I said before, kingdoms and empires rise and fall. The only thing that is constant is change. The problem is that if we do not expect it and embrace it, then we will always be at its mercy. I think that's really the key to taking charge of your life. Perhaps what's better than that is to be the one who initiates the change, at least this way you can direct the outcome.

Hmm. My life needs a change. Perhaps we should uproot and move to Alaska! :)

Posted at 13:01 PM
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Tonight I watched the last ever Enterprise episode. What will I do now that the Star Trek series has ended? I don't consider myself a hard-core Trekkie but I do enjoy the series , and I love the way the characters develop over the years.

I did not catch the first Star Trek series, with Capt Kirk and crew, mainly because I lived in Sabah (or North Borneo to you whiteys) during that time, and we only had about 3 terrestrial channels - RTM 1 and 2 (RTM stood for Radio TV Malaysia) devoted to Islamic teachings and awful local dramas, and the other one showed a few western sitcoms and shows, all heavily censored of course.



ANYway, when we moved to West Malaysia finally, and had access to TV3 and NTV7 and the like, a whole new world opened for me when I came in contact with Picard. Oh he was sexy. That bald head, that British Accent (I am such a sucker for that!)... soo ... soo unbelievably sexy.
pictures here.

Unbelievable I tell you. Hadn't realized how many sites where devoted to Trekkies out there - not until I logged on to find out what the last episode was about (I missed the first bit because I was preparing dinner). Suddenly saw Riker (a bit fat and old looking) along with Deanna Troi (who was showing her age, although I thought Betazed's weren't supposed to age that quickly).

ANYway. What am I going to do now that it's over? Well, I do have CSI. All two spin-offs and the original (I think Gil Grissom is a cutie pie!). And Law and Order is always entertaining. Other than that - I guess I will have to live on my staple of Spongebob Squarepants and the Fairly Odd Parents. Bah! Not the same!

I tell you. My life is officially over.

Posted at 23:25 PM
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I watched the show with my geeky hubby, who was surfing and reading about electronic specifications on processors (man, I really married a geek) and sister in law.

Great episode on CSI tonight - series 5 finale, with the storyline that was as gripping and thrilling as they come. The last bit was a Tarantino classic - Nick observing his own autopsy.

I didn't like Kill Bill 1 (2 was great though) and I think this was great. Ok I run out of words. Me geek. Me like it.

Posted at 00:10 AM
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Weekend was a bit of a blur. Finished up Wealth Dynamics on Friday - learnt a few more things but I thought the most valuable was the Value x Leverage bit and the Internal values thingy. Have to think about it a bit more.

Anyway, helped Wassim to half-move in (he re-installs himself at our place this weekend)... and had a whole bunch of stuff to do to get ready the room like tidy up boxes, move the beds and futon etc. Oh, and watched Batman Begins with Christian Bale. He's so yummy .

Was a bit dark and gritty, but I really liked it. A lot more than the others, but since I hadn't watched them recently I can't quite remember how much I really liked them. Anyway, liked this one.

Today and tomorrow, I am going to Milton Keynes to see a client's network set-up. Normally Jeff does the client visit (I do the other bits in the company) but since he has left me ... I have no choice but to go alone .

He was really good though, spent all of yesterday setting up test systems for me, and walking me through some of the more complex stuff (not really complex, but as I haven't been very hands-on recently, I am just unfamiliar with them).

So there you go. Will be fun!

Posted at 07:24 AM
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Just got back from watching the movie. Had a bit too much hype, but didn't disappoint... too much. Well it was pretty good - what with Brad Pitt - and you can't go wrong with him... *swoon* and Angelina Jolie, comedy, action packed storyline about assasins whose marriage had lost its zing.. until.. well, I won't spoil it for you.

Had sort of the right amounts of everything, and I did enjoy it. But it was sort of like a slightly deflated feeling. They were beautiful, glamorous, cool, sexy, the way hollywood couples would be expected to be. But it's like hmmm. Ordering the creamed profiteroles because they were fabulous the first time, and having the anticipation of the mouth-watering deliciousness and then realizing that it wasn't as good as the last one.

Can't quite explain it. But it was a good 2.5 hours spent, well entertained and you can't ask for more. Although I suppose we audience have been treated to amazing special effects (think Lord of the Rings), mind blowing story lines, creative filming (Sin city), loads of sexy eye candy, and great entertainment be it for children or adult (Finding Nemo and The Incredibles) that our expectations might possibly be set at an unrealistic level.

Every new movie that comes out need to be funnier, cooler, more amazing and entertaining than the last. I wonder if we are all jaded? I hope not. I do love movies and I think that this form of escapism is very welcome in most people's mundane life, to get away from it all for a few hours, to enjoy fantasizing what it would be like to be "her" or "him", wearing those cool clothes(or having that buff bod), driving that cool car, or bagging that cool hunk/sexpot.

I guess the next stage up is "living" those fantasies, be it in Virtual Reality or online gaming where the pimply, fat, homely, unsexy, bored, or otherwise normal populace and pretend to be a knight in shining armour, or the kick-ass elf druid with magical powers to save the day and protect the weak.

I know I enjoy it ! In my case, I am a shit-hot, ass-kicking, magical, no-nonsense gnome mage by the name of Bigfella. Which gets the denizens of Azeroth chuckling when they cross my path.

But just wait until they mess with me - I just zap them with my firebolt and they go a sizzling. Just levelled up to 31 by the way, but I won't play anymore for awhile as I have a few things to do.

Health diary: Breakfast - weetabix with soya milk, Lunch - half a box of takeaway singapore noodles, Dinner - the other half of the noodles.

Posted at 23:24 PM
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...is about the most awesome movie I have seen so far, bar none.

Very Pulp-Fictionesque, VERY VIOLENT (MONDO MONDO VIOLENT) like loads of blood, gore, beheadings, even more than Kill Bill 1 and 2 put together. BUT SO COOOOL. Ok I don't rave about movies normally, but this had me on the edge of my seat the entire time from beginning till end.

I hadn't realized that it was made from a comic but once I accepted the film noir/comic book feel, it was a roller coaster ride from beginning to end. I went because of Bruce Willis (he's my one true love... after Tom and Brad and Keanu and Russell... oh and of course Jeff!) and I hadn't seen any Bruce Willis movie I didn't like (heck, loved all Die Hard movies, even Hudson Hawk was ace!)



And Miho and her deadly martial arts action just makes me want to take up Ninja-ism, Kung Fu and whatever else just so I can be like her! And Jessica Alba as Nancy is the icing on the cake, although she didn't do much of her "Dark Angel" kick-ass routine (which is a shame, because she's really good).

I cannot remember another movie I enjoyed so much. X-Men and Lara Croft came very close, but hmmm. I now have to sit and think.

What I loved about it was the sub plots (like Pulp Fiction) which had a strand tying them all together, 3 mini-stories in one, and 3 climaxes. Where can you get that for the price of one movie ticket?

Basically, if you like comics, action, suspence and Bruce Willis, go. Go and watch it. Ooooo and don't forget Frodo Baggins Elijah Wood dude in a freaky character ... and see how he ends up.

Posted at 00:37 AM
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I saw the movie last week. I am generally anti-Bush with regards to his policies, and was looking for more in-depth discussion about a lot of things, such as how he went to war without the UN, what he had planned to achieve in the long run in terms of the Iraq war and why he thought he could get away cleanly.

But this movie seemed to be very geared at Americans (trying to get them to vote out the Republicans), and only discussed issues which are important to them - I thought it very "inward-looking". Instead of showing the effects of the Bush administration on the world as a whole, it focused on what he did to the Americans (although there is nothing wrong with that - I was hoping for something more "meatier")

Although each fact in the movie might be correct (he has purportedly offered a reward of $10,000 for anyone finding a factual error in the documentary) , the "leaving out" of many other facts have made the documentary very one-sided. I gained a lot of respect for Michael Moore after the "Bowling for Columbine" movie, but that has now changed signifcantly. He has not proven to be an objective reporter, and is too one-sided.

Of course, I am also not siding Bush, but I would have preferred a more balanced story. Here's a critique of the movie, but although the words are a bit strong, they have a point - Unfarenheit 9/11. You know, I felt like my intelligence was being insulted by the way the facts were presented. But perhaps that's because the movie is not aimed at the International community.

It's certainly caused a big stir and discussion in our household - would be interested to hear thoughts out there.

Pei

Posted at 23:19 PM
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