Leap Year (2010)

Riyan told me to check out the trailer for the American film Leap Year, sometime ago. It's set to be released in 2010 - I'm presuming sometime in February. (Ok duh, leap year).

Once I told him I was done watching it, he exclaimed, "It's so bad, isn't it? It feels like I'd just finished watching the entire film."

Go watch the trailer and you'll get the point. :D

Swiss bans Minarets

Completely unnecessary and even deemed extremely racist poster of the campaign banning Minarets in Switzerland. Photo of a Muslim woman in a Burka' with a Swiss flag and minarets in the shape of missiles.

The right-wing party claimed "Supporters of the proposed ban say minarets represent the growth of an alien ideology and legal system that have no place in the Swiss democracy."

Well, 'democracy' does not mean promoting stigma against any one religion or culture and breeding intolerance. Democracy does not mean cornering a minority and threatening to destroy their way of life.

"Alien ideology?" This alien ideology or simply put, Islam, has been around much longer than the modern people of Switzerland. "Banning minarets is as good as banning the cross on a Christian place of worship. They're just symbols", a friend of mine said.

"Posters have appeared in many Swiss cities showing a dark, almost menacing figure of a woman, shrouded from head to foot in a black burka. Behind her is the Swiss flag, shaped like a map of the country, with black minarets shooting up out of it like missiles.

The cities of Basel, Lausanne and Fribourg banned the billboards, saying they painted a "racist, disrespectful and dangerous image" of Islam. The United Nations Human Rights Committee called the posters discriminatory and said Switzerland would violate international law if it bans minarets.

Alan Fisher, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Switzerland, said that there was a political message behind Sunday's referendum.

"The reality is, as was described to me by a Swiss resident who is not a Swiss citizen, this is the right-wing Swiss People's Party sending out a message to Muslims: 'Know your place in Switzerland'," he said. "They believe, the right-wing People's Party, that if the Muslims get their mosques and their minarets it will follow on that they will want, perhaps, separate schooling and there could be a campaign to turn Switzerland, of all places, into a place that practices Sharia."

The Swiss government and business leaders have opposed a minaret ban, saying it would be harmful to the country's image abroad and disastrous for the Swiss economy."

-Al Jazeera English.

I wonder how much of an economic bloom Switzerland expects from this. And who's the one being the 'extremists' in this case?

ENG: http://tinyurl.com/yl3coo7
DE: http://tinyurl.com/yf9nugu
FR: http://bit.ly/7dxhQo

2012

'Hollywood bullshit has won over Bollywood bullshit in the form of 2012' - A status I saw on my Facebook live feed a couple of days ago. A bit harsh, I thought. I've since understood what he meant.

I don't even need to include spoilers to prove his point. Watch the film's trailer and you'll get a gist of how overtly dramatic and preposterous the entire film was. Evading the town in a cramped car in spite of the earthquakes, and escaping two collapsing buildings on a small jet - You have to be some sort of a modern day Moses to be able to escape that extent of wrath Mother Nature has showed. There were too much fancy schmancy going on in the film that they forgot to instill realism in what was happening. Or maybe that was the style that director Roland Emmerich was going for. Perhaps it was his subtle way of conveying his amusement at the silly concept of 2012. Who'd know.

What I do know is that director Roland Emmerich was the man behind Independence Day (1996), Godzilla (1998), The Day After Tomorrow (2006) and 10,000 B.C. (2008). What they all had in common were the over-dramatised effects, and a world destruction plot. So perhaps, Emmerich was getting a tad too comfortable with his overused recipe for world destruction on film.

Obviously the movie title doesn't even deserve to be named '2012', seeing that the Mayan belief of 2012 was merely briefly mentioned and the entire film afterward was nothing more than a major visceral thrill of effects which incurred about US$200million or more in costs.

So sit back, and enjoy the film merely as a visual rollercoaster but don't expect too much on the concept of 2012 itself. For the latter, you're much better off watching a documentary.

If anyone were to think I'd be able to believe any of the occurrences in the film, I might as well go as far as to believe that due to the extreme tectonic plate shifts during the entire course of world annihilation, Republic of Ireland ended up being next to Singapore.

M.I.A.

Technology is Evil

I'll probably be missing from this space for awhile. Or won't be updating properly anyway. My laptop of 3 years have died. Well, the external hard drive rather. No more warranty and no point sending it for repair or such at the state it's in now.

Hopefully I can start at a job soon instead of people getting all wishy-washy on me again. Sigh. And then half of my problems would be solved just like that.

Can't really use the netbook I've won either seeing it's for minimal use and I can't really work on the small screen for editing and stuff. So in the meantime, please keep letting people know about this netbook, so I could get some cash off it to last me for abit. - Click Here

I was pretty upset initially. I knew my laptop was going to die on me soon but I expected to have started this job by then and so I could save up for a new one. Alas, it died before my 'dreams' could materialise. And I was doubly upset about how the job's been wasting my time for quite a bit. It's like I don't even matter (which I don't, probably). Just my luck, I've not had a chance to meet a company which appreciates me and my capabilities. And I was triply upset, realising I won't be able to go on Skype with Riyan properly, complete with the webcam and the mic. Suddenly, my long distance relationship became far too long.

Well, sucks to be me at this moment.

Wish you all well and better luck!

France VS Ireland - Thierry Henry saga

Watch the videos on the left of the article for comments by Irish MP Dermot Ahern and former French player David Ginola's comments on the matter: Ireland outraged after French handball nixes World Cup hopes

In the Irish national soccer team's most important game since October 2005, the Boys in Green saw their World Cup hopes dashed when the prolific French striker used his hand to control the ball near the goal -- not once but twice.

The ball appeared as if it might go out of bounds, but Henry palmed the ball to his feet and then flicked it with his right foot to former Arsenal teammate William Gallas, who buried a header and stamped France's ticket to the 2010 World Cup.

Irish goalkeeper Shay Given ran to the referee, pleading emphatically that Henry had cheated. Such cries -- from players, fans, even from the Irish justice minister -- only grew louder after the game.

"I will be honest. It was a handball, but I am not the referee," Henry said after the match at Stade de France in Paris. - CNN

A bit more objective view on the matter: Link

Gigs

"READ THE DESCRIPTION:
MUSE was forced to play in playback during an Italian TV show about football "Quelli che il Calcio".
So they decided to exchange their instruments and positions. The singer became the drummer, the drummer sang and played bass, and the guy who usually plays the bass played guitar and keyboard.

Nobody (in the audience) noticed the difference.

Futhermore at the end of that fantastic performance, the host interviewed the drummer that was still acting as the singer, and even talked about his friend, Matthew, at the drum (he's the real singer)."

Hahaha absolute geniuses. I'm grinning to myself just watching that. The things they get up to. I really missed seeing them live here in Singapore. It was great to be able to work during the concert. It's almost like the chance will never come back again. Why didn't ___ bring down more of my favourite bands like Keane, Snow Patrol, Travis, and...The Killers back when I was working with them. :(

Oh job, where art thou? I don't like borrowing cash from people for something so expensive. It's too much of a risk for me to take lest I don't end up with that job. Sigh.

I know MUSE will be promoting their latest album, The Resistance, this time around so it's definitely going to be different from the previous gig they had here. But at the very least, I saw them live before. As for The Killers... I can't believe I'm missing them! Can't fucking believe it. Of all the bands, I can safely say the highest amount of merch I've bought from a band is The Killers. And, I'm not getting the best merchandise - those darned tickets. Unbelievable. I still remember the pains of not seeing Keane live after I have waited for them to come to Singapore for so long! Keep missing their gigs in Ireland too.

There's something quite screwed up with the relationship between my schedule, money, and bands coming down.

Fire

An acquaintance of mine blogged about her apartment being covered with soot from the fire in her neighbour's apartment, two doors away. The incident happened near midnight on Nov 7. (So technically, I'm a bit late). Just saw the video and I have to say, it's definitely quite eerie listening to the cries of help, especially the one from the maid who happened to be trapped. She's rescued and safe. Apparently, that's the maid at 8:20 onwards in the video. You can hear her screams earlier in the video. The loudest was around 4:30 in the video.

Incidents like this remind us of how important our home team is. The firemen and police officers who dedicate their lives to keeping us safe, and rescuing us when we're in need. Bless them.

Link

little thing in the sky

This space has been quite empty. Anyway, I sort of changed the layout of my blog to the new. So now, the addthis button works better for every single post. And some little other changes. I still liked a simplistic white only background so I'm glad that stayed. I can't seem to find a way to move my comments back to Haloscan though so all my old comments are stored on the Haloscan site but can't be viewed here. Le sigh~

Anyway, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday was spent with Shera and Sharil, with Ron joining us on Saturday. Very cheap lazy meet-ups. No money spent on food since we ate home cooked food for most of the time, lounging around in Sharil's or Shera's apartments, watching dvds, or just talking. And yesterday was spent with me trying to do up Shera's CV and just talking. Who would have known years ago when we first met, that we would be this close many years on. Having known one another through a faceless virtual world in a forum, to our first meet up, and subsequent special little meets four times a year, to our very regular meets. And them being 4 years older than me, their experiences seem to prepare me for what's out there. Perhaps the reason I've always been so rooted to my beliefs and careful about my own future, can be accredited to them.

Anyway, yesterday night, was one of those unexplainable nights where I just felt defenseless and weak, and succumbed to my tears. It's the first time I came close to crying since I got back from Ireland. It hit me that my future is so vague and it might be a few long years before I get to end this long distance for good. And I just felt tired, last night. Tired of waiting for the days, hours, seconds to pass us by before I can say "This is it!" - This is the moment we've both been waiting for. Gra Anois Agus Go Deo.

I realise that life is more about time than money. Money can be earned, but time passes us by. You can buy money with time, you can't buy time with money. Once I start working, if I do start at all, I'd have no time to head back to Ireland to visit the friends and new found family I've grown so attached to. Not in another 2 or so years, at least. And that made me cry. A long distance relationship is difficult enough. Add to that, the long distance friendships and families. I guess I'll always have people to miss, wherever I am.

Still selling ASUS netbook. So do spread the word: http://www.phing.com/listing/263421-BNIB-ASUS-Eee-PC-900-SD

X'mas

Christmas lights and decorations are already up in the streets of Singapore. I went around yesterday night snapping photos of the different christmas trees. I take forever to upload photos though, so... we'll see when we'll actually see them on this page. I was telling Riyan about the beautiful Christmas lights and he expressed his amazement at how quick they were put up here. And I actually thought the Christmas decorations came a bit later than usual this year. -shrugs.

He told me he hasn't seen anything remotely christmasy in the Dublin city centre yet. Or maybe he hasn't looked hard enough. And I thought having a Catholic majority in Ireland might have sparked off more enthusiasm on the decorations than in Singapore. I guess we can tell that Christmas is a highly commercialised holiday when the most enthusiastic response you receive for it comes from non-Christians. ;)

Seeing that it was a pretty wet day yesterday, it almost felt like winter. -shifty eyes- Okayyy, maybe not. But it did spark off the whole White Christmas vibe. (Oh look, even the ads on the page are about White Christmases.) I do miss winter, despite always feeling like I'm almost freezing to death. It's the only time you can wear knee-high boots, wooly sweaters and coats without looking like an utter retard or a melting piece of icecake.

Another time, perhaps.

So anyway, the weekend's here. Riyan's going to be busy at work. He's got his hands full with the Ireland VS France World Cup Qualifier's on Saturday. Apparently, it's going to be pretty hectic on Sunday too with the rugby Australian VS Ireland match. And all we have in Singapore at the moment is APEC and Obama. Now that's a different group of 'celebrities' altogether.

What a day

Cranky morning, random call. More waiting. A Karang Guni man kept honking away while blatantly expressing his Rag & Bone services in a sing-song way. So you know, times are still pretty bad when the Karang Guni man in your neighbourhood is so desperate for junk, he just refuses to stop honking away for the past hour. That was in the morning, and it's 4.30pm now and I can still hear him faintly from another carpark.

I got on facebook and I saw two new friend requests. One from an old friend's mother, and the other from a distant older relative I've never really spoken to. :O

Facebook is full of interesting things these days. I just saw a friend updating his status announcing that he's growing a moustache to fight against prostate cancer and men's depression. Imagine that. The first thought that entered my mind was "So you gonna donate your facial hair for wigs?" Perhaps not.

Well, I believe it's for a good cause anyway so support him and the rest here.

A hole in the heart

It is strange to think, I haven't seen you since a month. I have seen the new moon, but not you. I have seen sunsets and sunrises, but nothing of your beautiful face. The pieces of my broken heart are so small that they could be passed through the eye of a needle. I miss you like the sun misses the flower; like the sun misses the flower in the depths of winter. Instead of beauty to direct its light to, the heart hardens like the frozen world your absence has banished me to. I next compete in the city of Paris, I will find it empty and in the winter if you are not there. Hope guides me, that is what gets me through the day and the night. The hope that after you're gone from my sight, it will not be the last time that I look upon you.

With all the love that I possess,
I remain yours,
The knight of your heart.

- A Knight's Tale

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Social Ineptitude.

It annoys me, greatly. And I'm not afraid of saying it. It seems like my actions of keeping mum and giving off a light smile everytime someone says stupid things, has led people to believe that I actually agree with their opinions. No, it's not a given that I'll always agree with you. I just like to think that most things are subjective and I don't enjoy aggressively fighting off someone else or having to be answerable to anyone else for my own thoughts. I avoid tension by giving a light smile and I expect that to be enough to conclude everything and agree to disagree. (I mean even the term 'social ineptitude' would have very subjective definitions) Anyway, what I've realised is that the way I've been reacting to people I dislike, somehow seem to have resulted in me making more acquaintances of the same kind!

And these people seem to feel that it's okay to express thoughts from their fetid minds to me, thinking "she can handle it". My expanding social circle is starting to look a bit warped and the socially intelligent crowd is diminishing.

It annoys me when someone who doesn't know what to say, says something anyway and let it backfire in their faces - All the while, vehemently fighting for a 'lost cause' that started from not knowing anything about the subject. Arrogance in ignorance really doesn't do it for me. It is OKAY to admit that we don't know what is going on and to admit that we are neutral to the issues. It's like building a case on nothing at all. What is the point and what is it you seek? It's perfectly normal not to know some things and okay not to have an opinion on something.

And I find myself increasingly intolerant of people whingeing about things that have obvious solutions laid before them. Once again, I tend to just nod away and hope they'd stop talking about it. But I think this method has ceased to work. Because people do not take subtle hints anymore. These days, it's all about being 'in your face'.

The arrogance of certain people who think everyone wants to hear about them and their thoughts. Keep your thoughts to yourself unless you're being asked for them. Do not butt into a conversation you know nothing about and lastly, practise a little thinking before speaking lest you make a fool out of yourself. Save people the awkwardness of pretending it never happened afterwards.

I know we can't help meeting people that annoy us once in awhile, but we certainly can choose wanting not to keep a close friendship with them in future. And I'm not saying we should constantly change for someone else and lose our identities either (which are ever changing anyway), but rather, be conscious of your actions and words and if someone chooses not to like you, so be it. Don't indulge in a blame game. Nobody owes you anything. He or she is as much a jerk as you are. You are just not the right person he or she wants to befriend and move along, instead of whining. At the end of the day, I'm sure you still have others who love you for "who you are", it just might not be me.

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ASUS Eee PC 900SD

So yes, this is the netbook I've won from the contest by KLM / AirFrance. The reason I've decided to try sell it is because, I'm too used to a Mac to go back to using a PC for leisure. No, I'm not a Mac evangelist. It's merely a personal preference. Plus having to redownload all the programmes on a Windows OS just doesn't seem that appealing to me. :( So yes, I'm selling it off and for your information, the box inclusive of the charger and miscellaneous items has not been touched and meddled with ever since I got it from the KLM AirFrance office.

The tape on the box is still intact and I didn't even open it to take a look inside. I've kept it pristine and untouched for whoever wants to purchase it. So it's as new as can be. Oh yes, it's apparently retailing at about $600. Let me know if you're interested and state your price offer. Again, I'd like to emphasize that I have not used it at all, neither have I even tampered with the box. So if you are offering a lower price, please let it not be too unreasonable.

***Comments are moderated and those containing personal information will not be published.

ASUS Eee PC 900SD

Operating System	Windows® XP Home (*Pre-installed with Microsoft Office Home & Student 2007 60-day Trial) GNU Linux
Display	8.9" Display, 1024 x 600 resolution
Intel CPU & Chipset	Intel® Celeron M 353
WLAN	Built-in 802.11b/g
Memory	XP: 1GB (DDR2) Linux: 512MB (DDR2)
Display Card	Intel UMA
Hybrid Storage	8GB Solid State Drive 10GB Eee Storage *Eee Storage service is complimentary for the first 18 months. Please register account information for 6 months extension (depend on country)
Camera	0.3M Pixel webcam
Audio	Hi-definition Audio Stereo speaker
Storage Cards	SD/ MMC (SDHC)
Input / Output	1 x VGA port (D-sub 15-pin for external monitor) 3 x USB 2.0 ports 1 x LAN RJ-45 2 x Audio jack: Head phone / Mic-in 1 x Card reader
Battery	Li-ion Battery XP: 4 hrs* LX: 3.5 hrs* *Operation lifetime subject to product model, normal usage conditions and configurations. Learn more about battery life
Dimensions	170mm(L) x 225mm(W) x 20~33.8mm(H)
Weight	0.99kg
Colour	Shiny White

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The Clearing

Do you love me?
Yes.
Then I have everything I need.

That was the only bit I caught from the movie as I switched on the television set. And that was enough to make me feel sappy. And I searched about it online and discovered it was loosely based on Gerrit Jan Heijn. Which sounded like a pretty sad story to begin with. But I didn't read too much into it so... I don't really know what that old case really revolved around.

The movie though included an extra marital affair to it which kind of made the situation suckier. I mean, imagine the day your husband or wife got kidnapped, you found out he/she continued to cheat on you. That must suck knowing your partner is going to be less keen to pay for the ransom for your release. What's even suckier is when you're dead before she could even pay the ransom so the last living thought you had was regret. Sheer regret. Now, that has to suck bad.

Popopopopokerface

Christopher Walken


Jude Law


Eric Cartman


So which version do you like best? Hmm. Pretty tricky to decide isn't it?

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Michael Jackson - This Is It

It was fantastic, and I believe so, even for people who aren't fans. I guess the emotional aspect only came near the end when you realise "Okay, you'll never get to see something like this again". Don't expect a story or a plot behind it. Just watch it like you're watching a brilliantly pieced together concert from different days.

Which only means one thing. There won't be 'plot spoilers' in any reviews, you can read them all you want. What I really loved about the movie was how brilliantly executed the choreography and the visual effects were. AND I loved the parts when the 3D remakes of Thriller, Earth Song and Smooth Criminal blended in perfectly with the live performances.

I also appreciated how I could finally see what really goes on in the production of a Michael Jackson concert (though, of course, a slightly under 2hours film isn't going to show you much, and only the bare minimum. But it's better than nothing.) I liked how MJ's passion for his live performances came through and his perfectionism showed. He was extremely detailed and specific in the entire choreography, the dance routines, the way each sequence fuses into the next, and using the exact right tempo and style in music to create the most appropriate dramatic effect for the performances. He was a creative genius and I don't think people realise how heavily involved and how much creative control he actually had in the performances he has put out there.

The film "imbues the King of Pop with a humanity that all the photos ever taken of him could never hope to replicate" - http://bit.ly/4dJBeQ

His apparent child-like demeanour is quite moving, to say the least. Physically though, he looked frail and far too thin. One of the saddest things from this movie was the realisation that for these very talented dancers and musicians who have trained their hardest and looked forward to a chance at achieving their dreams by using the concerts as a stepping stone to their future, would have had their dreams dashed alongside their grief for a new friend made.

And it is also quite sad, of course, to know that in reality, MJ might have loved performing so much because that's probably the only thing he was really good at...that aside from showbiz, he was probably one of the loneliest things in the world. People around him probably never could see him beyond all the fame and money (or lack thereof in the past several years). Except children, of course, which deeply endeared him to them. Now that might spark you guys off a totally different topic altogether. I'm choosing to keep as mum about my own opinions on them as the dead man himself.

Back to the movie, it definitely produced a different feel than anything I've watched at a theatre. Probably because it's one of the only movies where I realised I was surrounded by crying girls and GUYS at the end of the movie (Signs you're actually surrounded by fans or people who are very in touch with their emotions. -shrugs) and one of the first where almost everyone stayed in their seats patiently till the credits rolled to the end. I really can't say more. I don't know where the money's going to and whatever, but try watch it anyway. And just enjoy the last performance by the late King of Pop.

Oh right, on the topic of credits. You should wait till the end because, there are additional clips right at the end. Don't say the internet didn't tell you!

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Untitled

You know when a post is untitled, that it's either going to be a meaningless self-pitying post, nothing worth putting a title to, I can't be bothered to find a title for it, or in this case, all of the above.

I feel like I've been suffering the effects of Murphy's Law ever since two weeks ago. I literally saw almost everything turning 180 degrees from the way people expect them to be. Family matters, friends, work or the lack thereof, and money.

My low self esteem has dipped probably. Not giving up just yet, just, hoping my luck would turn back up. And winning that laptop was just to hush me up about everything. Meeting Neil Gaiman and meeting John Lindqvist was just a climax of the week given to me just so I could fall all the way back down when life drops me with a bomb. I woke up to this Monday feeling the most shit I've ever felt. Cramps. Money is seriously depleting. Dilemmas. Job waiting on another job. Someone got into serious trouble. And someone called to tell us, my granduncle passed away.

Add to that, I feel like a total shut down, dead weight.

Just one of those posts, I'd hate to see on my post but well, there you go. Some lessons derived from this post about me... Nura's having some bad few weeks, and she has an ability to whinge about. Not exactly lessons I want people to discover about me but hey, I'm too bothered about everything else to screen my words and keep people guessing about my situation. It's easier being honest and then shut it all off altogether.

Hoping it'll get better but not having high hopes on it. It will get better eventually, but I don't have the whole life to wait for it.

Neil Gaiman & John Ajvide Lindqvist

Neil Gaiman

for those still without tickets on the day




Book-signing




John Ajvide Lindqvist