2010 to 2011

NOTE: I wrote this on the 28th of Dec and shall be edited for the next few days (or past few days if you view this from the future POV) .

2010 has been pretty eventful for me.

I’m going through my posts for this whole  year and figuring out what mattered to recap the 10th year into the new millennium.

January

Random Conversation slice, Teen Ink

February

Serena’s Birthday/ WYD meet up, My first ever trip to MPO, Singapore-JB trip

March

‘Love Never Dies’ released!, Bookish Ideas, Discworld Book, Rae goes to Oz, SPM results, Uncertainties, Final Decision

April

The Witness

May

Passed Driving Exam

June

Jess’s Birthday

July

me gloating, Best movie of the year

August

Kitty Kat’s Birthday

September

Fiona’s Birthday, Doggy Rescued, Sherlock, QI

October

Hobbit announcement, Doctor Who, Mel’s Birthday, Adam Lambert Concert!!!

November

Little Big Drama, Suan Li’s birthday

December

Dream Evil (I couldn’t resist), Meet Up with Mel & Jess, Meet Up with Jess and Rae, Christmas one, Christmas two, Christmas three

Nothing that important huh? I did change my blog layout a bit here and there during the whole year so that’s new. I did grow in many ways. I got to see my American Idol live. I was literally forced to babysit a bunch of children for the first time of my life. I’m a bit older than I was a year ago. I am better. I do not regret some silliness I’m sure you’ll find in the links above or even in the archives. I get that we do stupid things and we act in ridiculous ways a lot. So, yes I’m taking what I’ve learned in the past years and I’m moving forward.

I wonder what 2011 will be like. I already it’ll be busy with the chaos of A-LEVELS. But to think of what it will be during the months of slaving away. I am excited and scared of the new year. Tally-ho 2011!!

beginning at the end

today is the seconds last day of the year and I don’t know how I should feel. Hrm. Next year is a LOAD of work just barreling towards me and I’m pretty nervous. What if I completely flake out? What is the pressure gets to me?

Grin and bear it I suppose. I feel 2010 slipping away like the tide retreating back to the sea. Slow and tremulous.

beat

Gosh I am EXHAUSTED. SUCH A LONG DAY.

My mom decided to send my relatives off. And the drama of that. We got lost on the way from Serdang to LCCT (my mom was freaking out. FREAKING OUT and apologising to her brother’s family who weren’t even in the car at that time cos we took two cars. yes i am badly explaining this) , so we arrived 20 mins before the flight time (3pm). When we got there the flight tickets has issues. My uncle and his family were stranded there until 6 something. I was stuck babysitting the 4 of 5 creatures (one was a 3 week old baby so she couldn’t walk yet, THANKFULLY) in LCCT. Imagine.. I’m in wedges, chasing after 4 kids running in 4 different directions. @@

THEN my mom decided to take the 2 boys and the baby and my aunt back home. THAT was 4 something. Then my dad called cos his car got stalled on the way back from work. So we had to go get him. Dad with his fever called every few minutes shouting WHERE ARE YOU? DO YOU KNOW WHERE I AM? HOW LONG MORE? bla bla bla. and he demanded the AIA number for towing cars. My mom didn’t have it on her so we called Aaron. AND then the drama of finding where the number was (that took ages), getting the AIA people to pick up (a LONG timeeeeee) and then dealing with the number of holds. Gosh.

My dad was pissed when we picked him up. My aunt and her 3 kids along with me were squeezed at the back trying to be insignificant. Such a crappy ride home. My mom was miffed at my brother’s incompetency at home, my dad miffed at my mom.

argh… the drama drama drama. I am SICK of drama drama drama.

THEN I see the HORRIBLE PUNYA timetable I am facing next week. I do not want to go back to class. I want to sleep for the next few years. Can someone freeze me up ala Abigail in Doctor Who: A Christmas Carol.

blue blue Christmas

My dad is having a fever so my mom, brother and me left Tito Boboy’s Christmas party early. Its just us four and the dogs at home now and it feels weird after having small humans running about. I kinda miss them. Not them .. more of her. The little cousin of mine who’s only one year old. She’s really cute and entertaining. Haha. 😉 That’s the ONLY kid I enjoyed spending time with the past three days. Her brother I could do without that little scamp. Sure he’s only 4 but I cannot stand him. Brat.

I’m loading the Doctor Who: Christmas Carol which is the special DW episode for the year. EXCITING!!!! 😀 😀 😀

I miss the little girl so much. My aunt and uncle are staying over at Tito Boboy’s house tonight before flying off tomorrow and my mom is not going to the airport to see them off (Air Asia airport people.. need I say more). So this is the last time I’m seeing the baby this year. 😦 what a bummer. I wish I could keep her. hehehe.

Yesterday I had 20 people in the house at the same time. And a new dog. Yes it was that mental. My youngest aunt and her 3 kids came with her friend. Then my uncle and my other two cousins. Then my uncle’s friend. We already had my other uncle and his wife with their two kids staying with us. And my grandmother. And then my aunt’s brother and his wife and their cousin. And the dog. And my brother’s girlfriend. And then the normal 4 people who actually live in this house (my dad, mom, brother and me). With our dogs.

it was insanity. I didn’t know half the people who were here. Its the first time we’ve had people come over for Christmas. Once in a blue moon, my mom and I would go to Tawau for Christmas but this time it was them (well just 4 of them. which is a few when you think about it.. believe me, there’s a lot of us. A LOT) coming to us. It was fun I guess but at that time I was at the breaking point. So my brother took me to watch Tron. I felt MUCH MUCH better after that.

Having family over was nice. I liked it when the 5 kids were not shouting. The 3 week old baby didn’t cry as much and the little girl I mentioned above was cute… but the three boys.. @@ I boleh gila. My dad loved it cos he loves kids (which is why he should have gone into pediatrics). My mom was just glad to have family here for the first time. I wasn’t glad about anything. But looking back, this is the most memorable Christmas I’ve had in years.

Family is fun.

Except when kids are crying and shouting and being a pain.

Tron: Legacy

WARNING: a little bit of spoilers thrown in.

and get over the fact that I went to watch a movie on Christmas Day

If the producers were going for “let the people want more” once the credits roll, they succeeded.

I was left feeling a little confused once the show ended. My apprehension began before the show started cos I paid for the tickets for my brother and I (RM10 on a weekend while its only RM7 on a weekday. what a rip off). But hey, he’s spent on me before so its my turn right?

Back to the movie.

Visually it was great. Animation wise and the camera work was superb. They know how to capture scenes really well so kudos to the director and camera guy. I was impressed. However I was also left with the impression that the writers expected people to do their homework in watching the movie. Elements that were touched on were not fully expanded and left the viewer feeling “@@”. (i HAVE to use an emoticon because I cannot think of how else to get the point across. How about ‘perplexed’? Perplexed is a good word. Fine, I was →) perplexed. Halfway through the movie the I was asking my brother what was what and how stuff happened and poor Aaron was just as confused as me. Its Aaron people… he’s usually better at this stuff. Hewson’s short and apt review expressed the same thing.

Watching the show we’re introduced to Sam Flynn who was supposedly abandoned by his dad. BUT hey, when he gets in the Grid, he seemed to know what the heck he was doing. Come on, where is his “confusion”? In Avatar at least, Jake Sully was confused half the time and we learned what was going on through his questions instead of being left to wonder for ourselves. Perhaps, if I had watched the ORIGINAL movie I would have understood better. Perhaps. Sam isn’t suppose to know whats going on.. his dad never showed him the game and all the stuff. So how does he know everything? Does it get downloaded into them when they become part of the system? Writers of Tron: Legacy, EXPLAIN!

Sam gets saved by Quorra and the best part is he DOES NOT ask her who she is and how she knows his dad UNTIL they’re about to “save the day”. Its as though the writers forgot that the viewers didn’t know yet and shoved it in the end. I’m sorry but that does not work. And the storyline of Zuse and Quorra was left hanging. You’d sit there and wonder what the back story of that was. Maybe that’s what the writers were going for… the questioning of the characters so they can make a sequel.

And about our hero; he is the TYPICAL brooding guy who gets ditched by his dad. He roams around like a daredevil and messes with his dad’s company every now and again, UNTIL he returns from the game and decides to take over his dad’s company with the help of an old family friend… kinda sounds Batman-ish right? I guess that’s what every boy wants to be: rich, brooding, owns a really cool bike. Really people. VERY cliche. And the “you find your dad only to lose him in the same movie” is overused. but here, I’m guessing it was necessary for the show.

But his dog is AH-dorable. I’m a sucker for French Bulldogs so I’m biased.

Another thing was the Tron/Rinzler. First he was good. Then he became bad after trying to save Kevin Flynn. Then SUDDENLY he became good after he sees Kevin for basically a slow motion-ed second and sacrifices himself.  The writers should have expanded on that more. It was way too sudden. Actually, the whole movie was little too rushed. If it was better paced with better explanation timings, it would have improved the storyline.

There was a scene where Clu (the bad guy) made an army which reminded me VERY much of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, the scene where the Chancellor Palpatine is basically showing off his new toys. -_-  SADLY the internet lacks pictures of the scene for me to show you guys to compare. But you can see what I’m talking about in TRON at 0.24 of the clip below.

look familiar?

yes yes, its a bad comparison. Damn the internet for the lack of proper screenshots. but those who know what I’m babbling about will get it.

All in all, it was a great distraction. Watch it if you’re into sci-fi. Its probably still nice even if you’re not. Its not a must watch in my books but a “if you want to, its not bad”.

bored on Christmas?

Here’s my top movies to watch for Christmas. Its for those who do celebrate Jesus’s birthday and for those who don’t. Entertaining yet meaningful. So if you have no where to go and just want to curl up with hot cocoa in your bed, watch these movies. I’m sure you won’t regret it.

Nativity

Having given up his career as a frustrated, under-achieving actor, Mr Maddens (Martin Freeman) has become a frustrated, under-achieving primary school teacher. Each Christmas, his school and that of his long-time adversary, Gordon Shakespeare (Jason Watkins) of the posh independent school up the road, compete for a 5-star review of their respective nativity plays. To no-one’s surprise, time after time, the privileged Oakmoor students thrash the underdogs at St Bernadette’s. Maddens is resigned to this. His kids are hopeless and losing is the story of his life. Since receiving a vicious review from the local drama critic (Alan Carr) for his last production, he refuses to have anything to do with the annual festive fiasco. Besides, he hates Christmas. Five years ago his girlfriend, Jennifer (Ashley Jensen), dumped him under the mistletoe and left for a new life in California.

Maddens’ headmistress (Pam Ferris), however, has plans of her own. She wants a proper Nativity in her last year before retirement, and she wants him to direct. He is still thinking of ways to wriggle out of it when he runs into Shakespeare at the garden centre. Goaded by his rival’s arrogance, Maddens makes an idle boast: not only is St Bernadette’s preparing a barnstorming Xmas Xtravaganza but their production has already attracted the attention of Hollywood! Jennifer the hotshot producer is coming back to Coventry to make a movie starring his pupils! The lie is overheard by his puppyish classroom assistant, Mr Poppy (Marc Wootton), who has no gift to distinguish truth from falsehood no matter how preposterous.

Overnight, Maddens finds himself at the centre of a perfect storm comprising the Mayor (Ricky Tomlinson), the media, a posse of pushy parents, and an army of pint-sized potential Marys and Josephs. All St Bernadette’s is floating on a cloud of stardust and the children are bursting with Christmas spirit.

But can Maddens possibly persuade Jennifer to bring Hollywood to Coventry and make their dreams come true or will his tangle of lies finally catch him out?

Its laugh out loud funny so do watch. 🙂

Its a Wonderful Life

The film stars James Stewart as George Bailey, a man whose imminent suicide on Christmas Eve brings about the intervention of his guardian angel, Clarence Odbody (Henry Travers). Clarence shows George all the lives he has touched and the contributions he has made to his community.

Its known to be the BEST Christmas movie ever. Touching and beautiful with the right amount of humour and drama. It’s a classic that can be enjoyed by anyone.

A Charlie Brown Christmas

The shortest movie on this list but I think its the most straightforward one.

Charlie Brown is depressed because Christmas lacks meaning to him, He sees Lucy and Snoopy obsessed with presents and decorations, Schroeder obsessed with the Christmas pageant, and everyone else focusing on Christmas Cards and letters for Santa, and all this causes him to question the true meaning of Christmas. Charlie has become disgusted by how commercial the Holiday has become. When the gang agrees to give Charlie the task of picking out a Christmas Tree for the pageant, he picks out a lonely, scrawny little tree that, along with a touching speech from Linus, helps everyone to ultimately understand the true meaning of the Holiday.

The story touches on the over-commercialization and secularism of Christmas, and serves to remind viewers of the true meaning of Christmas: the birth of Jesus Christ. It doesn’t get in your face or shove theology down your throat but brings it in with the simplicity of children.

A Christmas Carol

A classic book made into a musical that you’re sure to appreciate. Its Charles Dicken’s classic with music. I’m sure you’re all familiar with the movies or the book so I need not say much. My brother loves this version for its music score and it is a fun watch.

I pray you have a beautiful Christmas in any way you can. You don’t have to have the biggest tree or the best decorated house. You need not have anything to celebrate. Just remembering what today is and being grateful and happy about it is good enough. Hey, the first Christmas was in a smelly, dirty stable with the poorest of the poor.

Hallelujah

Have a blessed Christmas to all my friends and loved ones. 🙂 May you keep Jesus the highlight and the center of tomorrow.

+++

 

On another note, spending a day babysitting a 3 (or was it 4? I just asked him and he has no idea. great) year old and a one year old baby, I am quite sure I am never going to be a mother or a good aunt. Really. Just a day and I’m spent and annoyed.

My mom says “think of baby Jesus” but let’s face it, God was a bundle of joy and not a bundle of harum-scarum.

Christmas Cheer

My babies that you should be familiar with. haha. 🙂

 

Tiny (yes creative much :p)

Maximus Claudius Aurelius (after Russell Crowe's character in Gladiator)

iTunes TOP 10

I saw something really thought provoking on LifeTeen today. It WAS posted a few days ago but its still worth a read. Its basically a take on the top 10 songs on iTunes for 2010, dissecting them and seeing what the songs really say. Here’s some snippets:

1. “Hey, Soul Sister” by Train

It seems like the guys in Train know how to make a really a

wesome song two years after people forgot about the band: Meet Virginia (1998), Drops of Jupiter (2001), Calling All Angels (2003), and now, Hey Soul Sister (2010).

By now you already have an opinion about the song Hey, Soul Sister. Either you love it or you used to love it but now you hate it because they won’t stop playing it on the radio.

In spite of some odd lyrics (untrimmed chest? what?) the words HEY SOUL SISTER define a song about guy in love with a girl. Given that most of the other “love songs” on the radio are about lust, it’s refreshing to hear the words “soul” and “sister” together on the radio. It may not be as profound as Matt Maher’s Set Me as a Seal, but on pop radio Soul Sister this just be as good as it gets

2. “California Gurls” by Katy Perry

From my blog earlier this year:

California Gurls sound like a peppy and carefree song about young love in

California. The meaning within the lyrics, however, are mindless and kinda creepy. The whole song is about girls trying to look hot to grab the attention of guys. And if the guys notice you, then you’re mission is accomplished. This song is no different than every other Snoop song over that last 20 years that objectify women, except this time Katy Perry thinks she’s awesome–yay me!–because she celebrates her role as the object of lust.

“We freak
And we’re cheap
So play the songs on the stereo”

Girls, be careful when you sing along because this is precisely what you’re singing.

This cheapness, in the words of the Prophet Snoop, is all he’s looking for and therefore he likes Katy Perry: “Cause you representing California.” I could quote him more, but it’s all nasty.

This song just beams with stupidity

4. “Airplanes” by B.o.B.

This song has two simple themes: hope and nostalgia.* Hayley Williams from Paramore sings the hook about wanting hope amidst disparity:

Can we pretend that airplanes
In the night sky
Are like shooting stars?
I could really use a wish right now

In the verses, B.o.B. gets nostalgic about the simpler life he had before he was troubled by the politics of Hip Hop and burden of the glamor:

I could use a dream or a genie or a wish
To go back to a place much simpler than this
Cause after all the partyin’ and smashin’ and crashin’
And all the glitz and the glam and the fashion
And all the pandemonium and all the madness
There comes a time where you fade to the blackness

Given the empty songs elsewhere in the top ten, B.o.B.’s Airplanes glows with substance.

So yes, if you want to read it, here’s the LINK to the article. Its actually full of common sense. 🙂

 

Semangat M’sia!

The reality of Malaysian subtitles (in cinemas people, not necessarily cetak rompak DVDs).. sad but OH SO true. We’ve all been there right? 😀

Something SAD about Malaysian subtitles…

I was watching NCIS (which stands for Naval Criminal Investigative Service) and naturally it was about the Navy. There was a line that went something like this : I’m sure the returning vets years ago (something something). The ah-mazing translations were “Saya pasti doktor haiwan yang pulang tahun-tahun dahulu…”.

REALLY.

you’d think the translator understood that “vets” was short for “veterans”. honestly! The funniest one I’ve ever seen was the THS on Heidi Klum where the narrator mentioned she went on to work for Victoria Secret. The translation went “Dia mula bekerja untuk Victoria Station“. HAHAHAHAHAHA… who knows? the guy may have been dared to type that. 😀

I am proud to be Malaysian. right.