The End Of The World?

Tidal waves, fuckin Tsunamis, earthquakes,....thousands of people perishing world wide...Did Nostradamus get it wrong by a few years?! Having watched Day After Tommorow just last week, the eerie similarities of some of the events in the movie and what's going on right now in many parts of the world creates a feeling of dread. Half The world might not go into ice age, killing millions like it was depicted so dramatically in that movie.But the prospect of doom that threatens to destroy the life on our world, maybe in the next 100 years is sad and frightening. The great majority of us may escape the brunt of nature now. Our descendants though maybe the ones who suffer the cruel fate handed out by destiny. Only time will tell.

KUNG FU POWER!

it's been about a week since i viewed this 'classic' in the making. I have been wanting to write about it, and i've delayed it till today. Kung Fu Hustle is quite simply the best movie i have had the pleasure of viewing this holidays. It's simply exceptional! In a holiday season, where i have watched good movies( The Incredibles), promising movies( Saw, Ocean's Twelve), tolerable ones( National Treasure, Casshern) and one truly awful movie(Blade Trinity), Kung Fu Hustle stands out as the ultimate blockbuster! It was a pleasant surprise, cause this was quite literally the first ever mandarin movie i watched at the theaters. And i came out bowled over by its marvellousness. The caste, direction, cinematography, action, special effects, quite simply every aspect you would find in a movie is top notch. The stylishness and zany humour(even if its typical of Stephen Chow) is a breath of fresh air. In one of the rarer occasions in a high budget movie, the money was actually well spent to produce an unforgettable movie going experience.

I have been watching a few HK/mandarin movies the past month. Hero, Young and Dangerous series, and the Infernal Affairs saga. I must say that i have discovered plenty of gold where i never bothered digging. When it comes to Asian cinema, i usually only pay attention to Japanese Cinema. I have always been enthralled by Akira Kurosawa(Rashamon) , samurai movies(Zaitoichi), Horror(Ring) and Anime(Akira, Ninja Scroll). So i was pleasantly surprised by the high level of quality that can also be found in Chinese Cinema. Especially the above mentioned Kung Fu Hustle! Hopefully, by the end of my holidays, i'll have completed watching the whole of Young And Dangerous series and House of Flying Daggers.. ho hO HO!

Tales In My Head 4

part 2

There were twenty of them. It had not rained like it did that day, for as long as they could remember. The winds blew furiously, and many trees that had survived the test of time succumbed collapsing to meet bitter ends. Far away behind, thick smoke rose to meet the heavens above further darkening the already pitch black sky. Their leader, the most devilish of the lot, Gabriel, sensed something was amiss. He knew he had nothing to worry, having just annihilated an entire tribe of their worst enemies. Nevertheless, he instructed his men to be on guard, and to be prepared for anything.

At that instant, he heard a terrifying scream. The “Outsiders” were afar too slow to react as they fell dead one by one. Gabriel was stunned. Only he remained. His warriors had all been annihilated before they even knew what hit them. He scanned his surroundings rapidly. His eyes searched in vain for the invisible attacker. He sensed a presence behind, and immediately turned ready to hit back. The attacker was an individual adorned in black from head to toe, carrying a shot gun in one hand and a long bloodied spear in the other. Gabriel immediately knew that this was the man known as the ‘Bounty Hunter’ who had been responsible for the death of many of his clan people. His eyes reddened with rage. He reached for his gun in his holster, only to find himself lying on his back the very next moment, excruciating pain filling his chest. The ‘Bounty Hunter’ was far more accomplished with his weapon than he was with his. The human walked up to him, his weapon held high, and chuckled in a manner so vile that it would have made ‘Hannibal Lecter’ proud.

“You ‘Outsiders’ aren’t as tough as they claim. Not the kind of challenge I anticipated. It was way too easy!! Hmm ... You seem a bit different from your fallen comrades!! You’re the leader of this pack aren’t you? I’ll relish taking your life.” the ‘Bounty Hunter’ ridiculed.

The ‘Bounty Hunter’ pointed his shotgun at Gabriel. Gabriel said his prayers, knowing that he was approaching his end. His heart was at his throat. He shut his eyes tight, awaiting the sound of the trigger to be pulled, the cold grip of death to envelop his being. There was only silence. He waited…….and he waited. He waited a while longer, and then slowly but reluctantly opened his eyelids. He was astonished by the sight of the ‘Bounty Hunter’ lying dead with his throat maliciously ripped open. Gabriel scanned his surroundings, and he could not believe what he saw standing majestically atop a boulder. It was the old man.

“I observed him as he slaughtered your men. But I couldn’t let him take you as well. That would be too easy a death for you, you murderer. You will pay for the innocent lives you took away at Aria. I will not kill you with my bare hands. Instead, I will simply leave you here to starve and go straight to hell.” the old man said with great hatred expressed in his voice.

“You! ...you are supposed to be blind!” muttered Gabriel weakly.

The old man smiled mockingly at Gabriel. Imadil’s cries stopped ringing in his head. He turned and walked away

“Come back…..don’t leave me here. Please. I beg you.” cried Gabriel in vain.

Gabriel knew that his time had finally had come. But he was not worried by the prospect of death as much as he dreaded being outdone by the old man. A cruel taste of his own medicine. At that moment, the clouds above parted and the stars revealed themselves once more shining brighter than ever. Gabriel smiled, tears rolling off his cheeks.

The End

Well...3 days more to Christmas... Only God knows how that's going to turn out. Pray for me my friends that nothing disastrous happens...or you could simply come and visit me when i get warded at Tan Tock Seng after a failed attempt at suicide(yeah my life is punctuated with failures)...Nah i don't think so...I am not going to hand a christmas present to individuals who would wish for misfortune and suffering to befall me (i estimate that's about half of the people i know...if i'm lucky)

American Literature Exam will be this thursday...and i have yet to get started revising. I think one day should be more than enough. I've been at home the last couple of days doing the usual(watering the plants, feeding the fish and the parrots) Found out this morning that one of the fish died...Haw Haw! Not sure what i'm gonna tell my dad...Maybe i shouldn't have fed him with the leftover twisties...oh well. Everytime my parents go on an overseas trip, and i have to do the chores at home, something just has to go wrong(or in other words, something has to die)! The last time, a couple of plants died(ok maybe i didn't water them properly..one can get pretty sloppy when you have the luxury of a a water hose). The previous time last year, a couple of fish met with premature deaths(Though it wasn't my fault they were getting poisoned by the paint peeling off the sides of the ancient fish tank). So i guess,...i am keeping up with tradition. I hope my brother's plants do fine. I had to water his plants cause he's overseas as well...arrggh!

New Asia was fun last saturday. Though it didn't seem to be as happening as the previous time, when i got wasted! I was there with the Lord, Afzal, vikram, Aziz and a couple of others. Messy Haired Guy aka Kavin couldn't make it unfortunately.Came across familar faces like Siva, Ranesh and Jeffrey. The highlight of the night was surely when the Lord got wasted. He apparently puked, and then fell asleep at the couch near the gents(that's what happens when one tries to be like me)....fuckin schmuck...fancy laughing at me getting wasted the previous time..Haw Haw! Well, we didn't let that spoil our night as we continued setting the dance floor on fire as the Lord was sound asleep..He woke up just in time, when it was all over(how considerate) Not sure when we'll be heading to New Asia next, cause i've had enough of it for now... Next year i guess!

Watched alot of movies recently,... most of it on DVD,..and the worst of it has to be National Lampoon's Dorm Daze, which is quite possibly the worst teen comedy i've ever seen. Just when you think they couldn't come up with something worse than Eurotrip, you get something as idotic as Dorm daze fed to you which completely redefines the genre of 'dumb teen comedy'. Anyway, i also watched Young and Dangerous 3, and i thought it was actually better than the original(surprise surprise). So i guess it is still humanly possible to produce a sequel superior to the original. So why is it we still get movies like Blade Trinity stinking up our cineplexes!

Tales In My Head 4

part 1

The night sky was magnificent. The stars of distant galaxies shone and radiated ever so brightly. Each of them glowed with a different colour from the other. It made it that much easier to tell them apart. The red one was Kadabi, the furthest of them all, where the gods were to said to reside, watching over the rest of the universe. The orangey spiked shaped orb was Ithacca, the most fascinating one, where the answers to the mysteries of the universe were said to be waiting, to be discovered.

The old man raised his head, which rested upon his tired shoulders. Tears filled his blind eyes. He could not see, but he could sense the beauty of the heavens above. How he wished he could be instantly teleported to one of those faraway stars, to a land that promised much more than the wretched death plagued scum infested golgotha that he was unfortunate enough to be associated with. At his feet, lay Imadil, his best friend, and the brother he never had, gone to ‘ancestral paradise’. His head lay crushed, and his guts strewn across the rocky ruins of Aria. An entire tribe had been massacred.

The old man was not one of the tribe. But he was one of them in spirit and the camaraderie that they shared. His heart aggrieved at the thought of what he had lost. These people had treated him as one of their own. He lived with them, hunted with them, sharing in their sorrow and happiness. The marauding ‘Outsiders’ that had been responsible for this tragedy did not share the same opinion, sparing his life. They shunned his pathetic pleas to spare the life of his best friend. Imadil was cold bloodedly murdered right before his eyes. His screams still rang in his head, haunting him.
Dark clouds gathered. The brightness that was scarcely present dimmed, as the last remaining light from the stars above vanished from the bloody surface of Aria. Drops of water came down, and with a few ear shattering cracks of thunder, it began pouring like a bunch of spears being thrown by angels above. Akuma, the deity of the tribe carved from the giant oak stood in intimidation, rooted to its spot, as it had been for a thousand years.

In an instant, a devilish lightning struck the statue, and it split in two right at the center and burst into hellish fire. Sparks flew, and hit the old man smack on his forehead. His eyes widened. He blinked. His eyeballs shifted left, right, down, and above. He could see!!! But the old man was not filled with a sense of wonder or awe that one might expect of someone who has not seen the world for much of one’s life. He was brimming with wrath and hatred and at that moment, the only thing that filled his mind was a strong cry of vengeance. Imadil’s screams echoed in his head.

To Be Continued

Everton

Due to Dhino's grumblings recently that i've failed to mention Everton's phenomenal run in the EPL,..i've decided to dedicate today's post to well... Everton. Yeah, this is unexpected magnanimity on my part,especially since i don't usally give a rat's ass about Everton...But after today's win over Liverpool,..i feel it's pretty much deserved. It's quite unbelievable,..how a team made up of a bunch of untalented wankers have a been able to grind the right results week in week out to climb to a position as high as 2nd above Arsenal,who still by the way have a game in hand. Well,...the only explanation can be tactics(credit goes to David Moyes) and what is rather used too commonly these days,a term known as "team spirit". I guess it's easy to say that Everton possess plenty of this "team spirit"... Question is,...does that mean that the teams they play and get results against have any less of this "team spirit". Perhaps. Otherwise, what could explain a team like liverpool, which showed great grit and heart in scoring 3 goals in the 2nd of their champs league game to secure a place in the latter stages, or a team like Bolton wanderers , who have a great reputation of being giant killers, to succumb to this little blue team from mersey side... I guess the only explanation is a lack of motivation or drive on the part of these teams against a lesser team... Harsh? pethaps. But this theory is further enhanced by the Liverpool lineup that played against Everton today...which in the eyes of many Liverpool fans especially was a utter and complete joke considering the importance of tradition concerning a derby match. Could it be that, as well as Everton are performing,...even their great merseyside rivals could not be bothered enough to field a half decent team...hmm..perhaps. Maybe this just goes to show that, as well Everton do in the league, why they could even win it,.... they will always remain a small time club,...And going by evidence,..will not be shown any more respect than they've already been given . I'm just hypothesizing here....But i do ask myself this question. Why is it i don't give a fuck or bothered that Everton are currently second and most importantly above United,..and is supported by a "3 quarter Ryan, 1 quarter Seth" wannabe who never fails to diss United every chance he gets...really,....i have no other explanation... I will leave the football inteligentsia to ponder over this,..atleast till something significant comes along, like the Chelsea- Arsenal clash tommorow.

Yeah i know...it's been awhile since my last entry. yeah and i know, i have no excuses either since the exams have been long over...but damn i have either been pretty busy occupied with things to do or i've been feeling plain lazy to type anything. Christmas will be in a few weeks , and i'm looking forward to it... for certain reasons. Anyway,...the last couple of weeks have been spent performing a simple routine of attending my General Elective lessons on mondays, wednesdays and Fridays(American literature..yes i still can't believe that i am actually doing it...and i'm feeling no more arty than i was 2 weeks ago), and otherwise spending my time watching countless dvds and downloaded movies on vikram's comp(Paths Of Glory was the best of the lot ..Stanley Kubrick goes up one more notch on my estimation), playing X box(it doesn't matter if toshiba come up with a new game console and hundreds of new games..we will still be playing Winning Eleven..the best football game ever), going to the movies( Saw was bloody), football, ..oh and chilling out at Vikram's place with The Lord on friday/saturday since his parents aren't in the country...Haw Haw Haw! The unspeakable activities carried out in his humble condominium abode will not be revealed on this entry,...especially the highlight which involves the Lord and a certain Sonic the hedgehog....i will not even start on Vikram's one eyed lion...these pages will be visited by youngsters and adults alike..and i wish to keep it clean of any filth that might play upon young innocent minds.

Speaking of things ive been up to....i've been spending the last week watching downloaded episodes of the first season of The OC (yes it's that addictive,...even to a jaded tv viewer like me)... cough cough...to all doubters and sceptics alike,...let me just put it across to you that 'The OC' isn't the worst tv drama series ever made(that' would be CSI...kidding), and it's not new millenium version of Beverly Hills 90210(which was obviosly crap) nor is it just a sappy teen drama about group of teenage wankers falling in love, breaking up, and sleeping with one another till all the possible combinations of couples are used up...ok mybe i'm wrong about the last bit...but it's definitely not a typical teen drama,..cause rest assured i wouldn't be caught anywhere near it otherwise. The most interesting thing about The OC is the focus on the adult characters,...and though that bit might play abit like a soap opera,...it's still well handled and well acted... As for the teenage cast,...well...the most surprising bit is all the main chacters are multi dimensional and not some caricatures that we usually associate with teen dramas and dumb teen comedies... Anyway,...as addictive as The OC can be....it's still not in the same class as my all time favourites,..which are the first few seasons of X files(the haunting theme music is timeless)and Chicago Hope...which will forever top my all time list of favourite tv shows... Tv shows these days can't hold a candle to those classics...

New Asia was fun last week....till i got wasted! yeah completely wasted (caution...Black cat is not meant to be downed like beer, especially in large quantity)... out of control on the dance floor, struggling to maintain my balance as the music pounded in the background(the music was absymal..but when you're high...everything rocks..yes even Britney spears..ok maybe not),swearing(as i am led to believe by my companions,..like i don't otherwise!), good ol fashioned vomitting... the whole works. Thanks to my friends who must have loved the sight of my wasted self, and hated me in equal measure for ruining their 'clubbing experience'... my sincere apologies to Vikram, The Lord and especially Kavin aka Tanjong Pagar Gopi for sending me home and who had to bear with my incessant whining and sobbing during the entire journey back on the taxi....Haw Haw Haw! Hopefully,...this debacle won't be repeated on the 18th when we set foot on New Asia again...And this time i'll just stick to beer...yeah right...

United Just walloped Southampton at home,..and i must say it's the best i've seen of them in a long long time. The swagger and the quality of football on display was magnificent and reminiscent of the treble winning era... Giggs,Scholes, Ronaldo, Rooney...fuckin magic! But alas one cannot get carried away, as Chelsea and Arsenal both register convincing wins as well. I guess it's up to next week's crunch tie between these london rivals to ensure United cut the lead between themselves and either,or both of these clubs...i pray they both draw with long term injuries or suspensions to both sets of key players.. (in Chelsea's case...that includes everyone on the bench as well)

Parents going off on a trip to Egypt(yeah...i know the the word in your head at the thought of this rhymes with 'clucking bell'),..and i can't wait to have the house for myself...oh and did i mention my stupid brother will be away to Australia and i'll have his house too(and i have a good excuse being there since i'll have to water his fuckin plants)..Haw Haw Haw..I'm spoilt for choice!