Some kind of ranting

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2011-09-13T03:06:00.001+01:00

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2011-09-05T16:33:00.001+01:00

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WHEN THEY MEET #1

2010-12-30T17:55:00.004Z

Immovable Object: What if, just what if, we're in hypothetical thought space now. We're still conjecture, so we haven't met, but the possibility exists, which when in this space makes it the present situation. Thus explaining the paradox of us meeting, not destroying each other or doing nothing to each other!

Unstoppable Force: That makes no sense.

Immovable Object: But if we're hypothetical, then it should. We just have to wait til we pass through conjecture tunnel, then come out inference way.

Unstoppable FOrce: You mean by then this'll make sense?

Immovable Object: I'm saying by then nobody knows what will happen. Because we're a paradox, and we can't move past where we are. THe entire logic continuum will be destabilised if we could. Somethings just aren't possible.

Unstoppable Force: But we're in Hypothetical thought space...

Immovable Object: Which means everything is probable! Holy Heisenberg, you're right!

UNstoppable Force: So we're breaking the logic continuum?

Immovable Object: NO, we're just getting back what should have been ours a long time ago - sense.

Unstoppable Force: Now you're talking. Let's go.

Immovable Object: Negating my name, and thus losing the last piece of sense I've been dying so hard to protect? Nice try.

Unstoppable Force: I'm hardly stoppable yet...

to be continued...

Today, I do nothing.

2010-08-14T19:40:00.002+01:00

.....

But tomorrow something will turn up.

.....

I know someone who's incredibly skeptical. I don't exactly know why.

She was a person of faith.

It struck me as weird.

Because for a person of faith, she had very little of it in people.

I choose to have faith in people.

Even when they're rubbish and shit.

Because what else are you going to have faith in?

Annie Hall

2010-08-11T18:04:00.001+01:00

I watched Annie Hall for the first time.

It's a good film.

It reminded me of many things.

Not least of which is you.

early morning.

2010-08-11T02:12:00.001+01:00

gargling listerine... thinking about what to say for the presentation....

i"m nervous, as always.

blood and guts.

2010-08-09T21:10:00.002+01:00

It's been a while.

It's not that I haven't been writing, but work catches up.

I still think about her, but not as much, and as expected, it doesn't hurt as much anymore.

I'm still halfway between relief and sadness.

I still dream about her, and it does still sting when I think about her.

I never knew something so short could hurt so bad.

A friend asked my what I learned from all this.

Honestly? I still don't quite know.

Don't go out with older women? Don't fall so hard so fast? Don't be an idiot? Or maybe don't open your heart?

I'm not sure what I can learn from this.

Not yet.

She texted me today, basically saying she was fine if we went for coffee.

Far cry from what she sad a few weeks ago.

It's all very weird.

So I find myself thinking about her again, and I find myself here, 4 in the morning, really should be sleeping because I got work tomorrow.

I don't know what the future holds, but I've spilled my blood guts these few weeks.

Figuratively speaking.

It can't be as bad as that 2nd week of July. It just can't.

So with that I look forward with eyes a tad more hopeful.

:)

music for the mood.

2010-07-13T15:35:00.002+01:00

Suddenly, I thought of that time when you called me.
You just finished watching October Sky.
You were crying.

....Thinking of it now, I feel funny and sad at the same time.

Is there a word for that feeling?

...

I think I'll be fine.

Thanks everyone.

Thanks lyn. hugs

2010-07-04T18:22:00.002+01:00

Me
i...
just fell for her quite deeply
12:41amMe
a bit too much. when i wasn't thinking about age everything elt so right
i know la im rather dumb
12:43amRae
mmm
can understand
12:44amMe
just being stupid la
fell for the wrong girl
12:44amRae
you're being in love lah
12:44amMe
very mch so
12:44amRae
get her back lor
12:45amMe
i kept thinking that until last friday
12:47amMe
she kept telling me she wouldnt even give me a chance.
well
she wont la
but for a while it felt like she was going to
12:47amRae
then dont persue
12:47amMe
then she bascially disenganged entirely
im probably not going to
or
im not going to
but in the back of my head
i still wish we could be together la
12:49amRae
hugs
12:50amMe
..... seriously (hugs) thanks for putting up with my shit
12:54amRae
its all good
and you're a dumby dumb
pick yourself up and dump yourself in bed
because you have a career to build from tomorrow on
12:58amMe
haha yeah...
im feeling alot better compared to last friday
thanks to beer, germany and other stuff
and you of course
(hug)
12:58amRae
awww
hus
-hugs-
12:58amMe
hus
12:59amRae
u know what else will make you feel better?
a shower and some sleep
12:59amMe
ahaha
i know
1:00amRae
u can axe the sleep.
1:00amMe
i think i'll be fine
1:00amRae
but trust me. the shower will be awesum
1:00amMe
dont tell me you can smell me from here
there*
HAHA
1:02amRae
i can sense the non-cleanness
and the suckling in bed all day-ness
*sulking
1:03amMe
hahha
i actually made it a point to be out of the house
cos too many things here reminded me of her
went for ping pong, then dinner etc
this was where we first kissed, then i had to send her home the next morning cos we forgot the time.
haha
1:04amRae
....
1:04amMe
lol
im finr
fine
sorry
i should go bath
1:05amRae
ha!
1:05amMe
thanks again, big sister.
1:05amRae
no problemo
be the best at what you do and all will fall in place
1:06amMe

i think i will miss her forever, i just wont be hurting that long

1:08amRae

1:13amMe
bathed!
1:13amRae
feel gooder?
1:13amMe
bester
she did call me alot more mature than guys my age.
1:14amRae
i have to run
1:14amMe
ok thanks
again
hugs
1:15amRae
driving someone home
1:15amMe
take care@!
1:15amRae
u be good sunshine
sleep well
nite!!!
1:15amMe
you too bug sis
big*
1:16amRae is offline.

Let me tell you about a story that ended before it began.

2010-07-03T06:09:00.006+01:00

This all started 2 months ago, but that would be incorrect, because I don't exactly know when when it started, but started it did.

I broke up with my then girlfriend. I knew I wasn't going to marry her, I felt like I was stringing her along. Only staying with her because I was afraid of loneliness.

So for a while, I felt free. A great burden was lifted. I did what I wanted for a month. Enjoying life as it would let me. I remember going to watch Shutter island at a late night screening. It was alright I suppose. Coming out, and going into the lift was when I first saw her.

She mentioned that the Al Pacino scarface back in the 60's or whenever was a remake, then proceeded to ask her date: "Have you seen the original? Scarface 1932, man"

It was a weird scene. I could almost hear the penis of her date shrink back in. There was absolute silence in the elevator as I looked to her, then to her date, and then back to her again. I was struck by how pretty she actually was.

So it was, for a month or so. I gave the incident no thought. It was a Friday night, and I was out drinking alone for reasons not important to this tale, but there I was, sitting at the bar, pint of beer in my hand, listening to the horrible band performing live. They were butchering some of my favourite songs.

I really don't remember why I stayed on, but I did, and I saw a colleague of mine.

Temporarily stunned, I joined them at the table at the back, there were about three guys and a girl.

We talked, and drank. It was a fun night, until the girl mentioned that Scarface Al Pacino was a remake.

Okay, I told myself. That was weird. Haven't I heard something like that before somewhere?

So I jogged my memory, and proceeded to tell them how I heard that exact same conversation in a lift, somewhere before. How could it have been her? but it was. And that's how I met the girl in the lift.

A curious alignment of fate. She got my number, because apparently we both loved film, and she wanted me to explain what 2001 a space odyssey meant. I still thought nothing of this. After all, when she took down my number she was rather tipsy. I never thought she would call.

A week later, she called. Some arbritary reasoning about checking my facebook.Then I called.

She said okay to a film on Friday. I allowed myself to get excited, but that was before she told me she would be bringing friends of the male persuasion.

....RIGHT.

Okay, we'll still see how this goes right?

RIGHT?

It went well actually.

And everything after that went well.

...

I begun hanging out with her, she was definitely a nice person to be around. We were always on the same wavelength. It's been a while since I felt that connection with anyone, let alone a girl way beyond my league, and age range.

One day, I decided enough was enough of this shit.

I can't continue hanging out with her and still stay friends. Way too painful, and so not my style.

I don't know when, but I had fallen for her hard, fast and way too deep.

Then one night I asked her out. Nothing fancy, just drinks at the nearby mamak.

I kissed her.
She was shocked. I think she almost slapped me, but she didn't.

I told her how I felt. I don't think she gave me a response just yet.

Then she needed to use the toilet. She said the Toilet at the mamak was filthy, so I brought her up to the toilet at home.

We sat on the couch.
I leaned over to kiss her.
She gently pushed me away.
I kept on going.

Then she kissed back.
She said I tasted better than she expected.
I thanked her, and kissed her deeper.

.......

She said she doesn't know where this would go.
I said I didn't care.

Time flew. Time always flies when I'm with her.

Night became morning, and it was time to send her back.

I'll never forget the touch of her lips.

.........

A month later, she tells me we should stop doing this.

Said she never saw a future.

I asked her what was I to her.

The furthest she could go was "someone I like very much"

I don't know where it would have gone, but now that I look back, there could only be one ending to this whole thing, given her predisposition.

My heart being crushed.

.....

I'll never forget the girl in the lift, no matter how soon she left.

She was kind, but it didn't stop the hurt.

.....

It ended before it started, maybe I was a fool to let it go this far, but I don't regret a single minute of it.

The tears and pain remind me I'm still human.

And that this will pass.

Somehow.

raises hand Teacher, I got a question.

2010-03-03T17:19:00.003Z

How would you define creativity?

Anything, everything, nothing.

It's dIfferent things to different people, disciplines, and businesses.

Something completely new? Different but same? same same but different?

It seems at least, for every discipline there is a creativity checkbox. They almost always vary.

Does everyone have it? Or only a select few? Who decides what is "creative"? Why are they to be trusted?

One little word to rule them all, and in the darkness bind them.

One little concept at the centre of every human achievement. EVER.

Why be creative?

..
..
..

Why not?

WeLovecolours probably won't publish this, but Damned if I wont.

2010-03-03T08:00:00.001Z

Day 5 London. not long now.

2010-02-09T00:09:00.005Z

Met up with friends, watched Astro Boy, and came away disappointed. That's day 6. I watched Up in the air yesterday, and I'm going to do a write up on that. That will come soon.

As of right now, I'm 23 hours away from my plane taking off, bringing me back to Malaysia. Effective closing the book on the Europe chapter of my life. As the hour inches closer I find myself missing this life more and more. Not necessary because of the job situation, because lord knows getting an advertising job in London is tougher than nails, but because of all the reasons I've spoken out before. I don't have new reasons to miss this, just that the feeling is intensifying. I'm going to pick up lyn at the airport tomorrow, and then maybe have a late lunch(again) and by 9 o clock I'll probably be at the airport, reading. Whiling away the 2 hours have before boarding commences. From there it's a 12 hour non-stop flight to KLIA. Then, depending on how lucky I am, I either take the flight that night back to kuantan, or spend a night at KLIA and hop on the first flight in the morning.

I am not particularly looking forward to this. I still have to pack, sort out the luggage situation, and get some sleep. These past few days I've been sleeping 6 hours a day at most, sometimes 5. I can feel it taking its' toll. But nevertheless, this will probably be my last blog post from a connection faster than snail speed for quite some time. I'm determined to make something out of it, even if I'm basically working from nothing.

The chill-out room is basically empty now, at twenty past midnight. I'm closing up shop as soon as my clothes are done drying. I don't think I'll be able to a post on Final Day, so I take this opportunity to say goodbye, to whoever, and wherever that deserved it. It's a list too long to be filled out, but if you think that you are probably on that list, you are.

With that, I bid thee farewell.

Until Malaysia.

London day 3, busker band.

2010-02-06T23:55:00.004Z

Today, walking from Leicester to Charing Cross, we saw a jam band on the street. A 3 piece band, guitar bass and drums. Jamming away with a bag filled with coins in front of them. They played bluesy rock and roll, like a mix between the doors and the rolling stones. They were good. We stayed for three songs, which is incidentally when they decided to close up shop.

It's these things that I will miss most of London and Europe in general I think. The freedom to busk on the street, people donating change based on how much they think the performance is worth. The museums, the history, the culture, the art, and the atmosphere.

I don't know to be sad or happy. It is home, but still. It's four days away! Definitely excited, but I don't know why exactly. It definitely feels heavy. I feel like 4 days is not enough to say goodbye, but then again, how much time would I need?

London. day 2.

2010-02-05T23:27:00.003Z

Tonight was a weird night. It was cloudy but I could still clearly see Orion. In the distance is a celestial object that I suspect to be Mars, because it was shining bright orangey red. But I don't suppose I really want to know.

Spent the entire day at a dimsum place that had rather good dimsum and talked for hours with a friend. Politics, corruption, tv, movies, everything was a topic of coversation. It was rather fun. I haven't spent that much time with one person talking in one place in a long time.

Moving to greenwich tomorrow, rather looking forward to it actually. 4 days to the flight. How will London make me remember her?

Today, Calories

2010-02-05T00:58:00.002Z

Met up with James and Henry. Gave me the biggest surprise anyone could ever give me. I shan't disclose what it is just yet, but I think they will, one way or the other. Bless'em for that. Had a few pints, in a good place. About to sleep, but just thought of this.

A few months ago I started counting calories. It's driving me nuts and I can't seem to stop, but for some reason, I don't ever believe the coke zero/pepsi max numbers. 1 kcal per 100ml? really? Not buying it.

Wonder if it's just me though.

Back to London. Iceland: Aurora Borealis.

2010-02-03T23:49:00.004Z

First thing back from Reykjavik and how does London greet me? By having the Bakerloo line break down. well done London.

In any case, night one of four in Reykjavik Iceland starts here. :)

The 830pm bus took us to this desolate field with a make shift parking lot. Far away from the city, no artificial lights to clog up the brilliantly clear night sky. We waited in the freezing cold for ages, stargazing, trying to spot constellations or something. We were told to look east, some physics related reason that I don't remember, but east it was. Questioning that would be pointless. For the better part of 2 hours we couldn't see squat. Or at least, we thought we couldn't. With a 30 sec exposure on a camera, you could see that yes, indeed, there was a small green band above our heads. Hiding behind clouds, right above the atmosphere. We were just hoping that it'd come out of the closet. 1130pm, we all got on the bus, ready to leave disappointed. 10 minutes after the engines started, a large green band appeared right above the horizon, stretching all the way across our heads. A large band that increased in diameter as it pass above us. Elated, we got out. What was one band became two, then became a blanket. Intensifying really really quickly. It twirled and spun, danced around like a wave. Imagine a flame, but going round and about instead of up. Even with a bright full moon, the lights were clear as day. For a brief moment, we saw white and quick flashes of pink as it went on. It almost seemed like the colours within the blanket were teleporting around. Just about the most amazing things I've seen in my life. And then, like a dream, it was over, and it reverted to plain old green bands. We hung about for about maybe 30 minutes more, admiring one of mother nature's most stunning display of beauty. It flared up here and there across the night sky, but it never reached that level of ferocity that lasted mere minutes. For those few minutes though, we gasped and cheered and screamed. I speak for all of us there when I say that we won't be forgetting that. Ever.

Photos really don't do it justice. Nor do words, I'm aware. But still. I can't possibly live without at least writing this up. SO here it is, future self. For mostly your eyes only.

An open letter to whom it might concern, concerning the past 2 and a half weeks.

2010-01-29T23:40:00.006Z

In this past month, I've been to a lot of places, seen a lot of things, and met a lot of nice people. I felt like I've lived more in the past 2 and a half weeks than I have spending 2 years in London. It was incredibly exhausting, and I've had my low points. But I've had more highs.

So this goes out to all you dudes, amigos, madammes, monsieurs, muchachos and generally all round good blokes( and ladies ). You might not see this, or hear about it, but you'll feel it all the same. You know who you are.

Thanks for making the past few weeks so memorable. I know I won't be forgetting any of it anytime soon.

Cheers, and take care of yourselves. Every single one of you.

Jw.

My problems with AVATAR.

2009-12-29T20:14:00.005Z

Avatar's been out for quite some time, and most people have seen it, and most people love it. Let me preface this rant of sorts by saying that despite my issues, I still enjoyed the film immensely. The spectacle was awe inspiring, the acting was rather good and the presentation of it was amazing.

However, spoilers ahoy.

Plot racial text/subtexts

The story irked me in a way most white guilt films do. A person, usually of the white persuasion walks into an indigenous culture, slowly learning, assimilating and loving this culture that he has been sent to investigate, spy, or what have you. Falls in love with one of the natives usually "the fairest of them all" and ends up being "the most awesome one in the land" as Annalee Newitz probably would have said. Being a product of white colonialism from probably before World War two, it's hard for me not to inject my personal feelings about colonialism into this scenario. I found myself groaning and cringing every time Jake Sully conquers what the N'avi consider legendary feats effectively becoming a messianic figure of sorts. I did not want Neytiri to end up with Sully. It bugs me to no end to see the film pandering so obviously in the direction of it's perceived target audience. Yes, I am aware of the counter arguments that have been brought up by other, more intelligent people than me. But even after several days of digesting and analysing the film, I found it hard for me to look past the fact that this outsider, who came from nowhere, is able to integrate himself so completely into this culture in a matter of months. Devindra from the /filmcast mentioned that if Jake Sully wasn't white, the film would have been stronger. I whole heartedly agree, but this sentiment brings with it a new level of questions that I currently don't have the answers for. Is it my fault for not looking past the fact he's white? For example. Would it have been better if the story was told entirely from the N'avi's perspective? Would I have related better to the central character if he weren't white? Would I have related to him better? AM I just being racist towards white people for not wanting them to succeed? One thing is for sure; I wouldn't have these feelings if Jake weren't white. But obviously the movie could care less about my feelings, so I'll move on to a topic less political but equally as aggravating.

Bad Dialogue

Someone tell me I wasn't the only one who winced every time they said "I see you". Fortunately, the word "unobtainium" only surfaced no more than twice throughout the entire film. Ham fisted, explanatory exposition. Long, long scenes of Jake talking into his video log in which he outright tells us what's he's been doing for three months. Norman Spencer/Spelman whatever irritated me to hell and back. 10 years on the film and you're telling me Mr. Cameron sir couldn't have spiced up the dialogue a bit more? All that inner monologuing drove me quite nuts.

Length

Okay, this is a rather catch-22. On one hand, I definitely think it droned on in some parts, yet I was utterly mesmerized by the scenes they set on Pandora. But I just did not care for anything the humans did. Any scene with non-blue people in it I was waiting for the transition, hoping that we see more of the lush, green, and frankly beautiful world that James Cameron dreamt up at the next cut. The quandary here is that in a film told from the perspective of the human meatbags, you have to spend some time with them, in order to set up relationships etc etc. But they were boring as hell. Michelle Rodriguez dies at some point, and I felt NOTHING. So even with 160 mins under its' belt, the film did not made me care for most of the human characters. Sigourney Weaver also dies, but the feeling is underwhelming. At that time, I was left wondering why did I not care about the deaths of two rather major characters in the film. In fact, most of the characters you're introduced to dies in the film, but you'll shrug and go "eh". Or at least, I did. So cut it down, but put in more Pandora? I'll leave it to you Mr. Cameron. I'm ready for a sequel with no humans in it.

So despite my incessant ramblings, I still adore the film. I plan to see it again, but in 2D, just to see if it's just as immersive. Pandora is very well realized. Neytiri is hot, not to mention very well developed. The final 30 minute battle sequence is downright badass, and the message and heart of the film is in the right place. Still, it's annoying to think that this film could have been THE MOST AWESOME FILM OF ALL TIME. Too bad it's not.

Beware my power.....

2009-12-17T03:04:00.000Z

Shit.

2009-12-08T13:27:00.002Z

When you say shit like

Prayer is the most important tool because ppl may refuse our love or reject our message, but they are defenseless against our prayers. So pray n pray 4 others to be saved!

Think about what it is you are REALLY saying. Or maybe you do know, but choose to ignore it. In which case fuck you guys for condemning me to hell.

Tonight.

2009-12-01T00:53:00.003Z

The night sky is cloudless today. Under tonight's bright moon, I see my own shadow. There's Orion in the sky, and I think that's Mars right there, shining its' crimson light, almost obscured by some trees in the distance. It was the first time in a long while that I looked up at night and saw the stars. The glittering of which have inspired so many to write, paint, and sing. It's quite magnificent. I wish I was back home. Then my knees wouldn't tremble, my fingers won't go numb. It wouldn't be so cold. I'd be able to lie on a bed of grass, looking up. Not doing anything, just watching. Trying to make my own constellations, as men in the past have done. Just a little bit of solace, before I resume trying to make what I do interesting again.

I have this lump in my throat

2009-11-28T21:22:00.002Z

I have this lump in my throat.
It sits floating, much like a boat.

I have questions as to why it is there.
But the fruit of this tree, I fear will not bear.

Maybe it's because I'm depressed.
But one could also say it is stress.

Perhaps I don't go out enough.
But why? The weather's so rough.

Perchance it's the cold.
But on this I'm not sold.

I don't think it's cancer.
Or a tumor, it's not stranger.

He says it's mental.
To which I say, be more gentle.

But at the end of the day,
It vanished and went away.

So I'm left pondering,
When it'll return, wandering.

The upstairs shower.

2009-11-23T22:29:00.001Z

I moved into this new place roughly two months ago. So far everything has been great. The rent is cheap, my room is massive, and everyone generally keeps to themselves.

The one beef I have with this place has to do with the shower, located upstairs. It's the only source of comfort when you start smelling and your armpits begin to itch. A good shower can stop wars. It can mend broken marriages, and above all, it helps keep my sanity intact. The shower in this house does a pretty good job of doing just that, except when it doesn't. And here is where my rant begins.

Every so often, while I'm cleaning myself, the hot water will go cold. Suddenly, inexplicably, and without warning. It's like premature ejaculation. Pleasure cut short. Potong stim. Very fucking annoying. I started to time my showers, making a mental note as to when the water chills. Being as bad a timekeeper as I was, I figured it was about 10 minutes or so every time I turn on the hot water. I figured it was some kind of temporal hot water cache that would run out, and needed to be replenished, which it did after a while.

My showers would generally go like this: Turn on hot water, enjoy it for a while, wait til it goes cold, then start using the shampoo and soap. Wait for the water to heat up again, by which the shampoo and soap would be nicely applied on my person, and use the second dose of warm bliss to wash it off.

So it was for a week or so. It made taking showers very, very annoying. Then I started to hear about my flat-mate's experiences with the upstairs shower. She has of course, been bitten by the suddenly cold suddenly hot problem before. But the curious thing was that she seemed to have rare occurrences in which the hot water would not act up. She said it often happened at night, about 9 or 10 o clock.

So I took her suggestion, and took one of my showers during this supposedly magic hour. But it seemed what worked for her would not work for me. Annoyed and confused, I felt like I had only one option left. That was to ask my rather uptight landlord about this.

What he revealed to me was rather telling, and surprising. The gist of it is this.

The hot water problem would only happen if while you were bathing, someone were to use water downstairs.

Still skeptical, I tried taking my showers in the middle of the night, when I was sure everyone was sound asleep.

It was glorious.

The first proper shower I had in weeks! I felt like I had made a major discovery. One for the ages. Or at least, for the rest of my time here. But the I got to thinking.

So my previous hot showers had been disrupted by someone willingly? If it was the landlord downstairs I could understand, since it would be rather pissy of me to ask him to check the shower every time he needed to pee. But what if it was someone living upstairs? The layout of the rooms upstairs is so that you would always know if someone was in the shower or not if you stepped out. This means that if someone upstairs was responsible, it would make them complete jerks.

Sigh.

Now I only take my showers in the middle of the night, which is apparently bad for you. Or something. I get nervous if I take a shower in the day. Having hot water cut off during a shower is about the worst thing that could happen to you during a shower, short of the scene from Psycho I suppose. I try to make sure I'm not disrupting anyone's shower every time I step out to wash my hands by checking upstairs. Not too troublesome for me, but I would never presume such a thing for others. What's left? Well not much, except to endure the fact that I can now only take showers in the middle of the night. Which, now that I think about it, isn't too bad a deal. It gave me renewed appreciation for that marvel that is hot water from the tap, but also made me a little bit more cynical about humanity's future. Hyperbole? Perhaps. But whatever. I'm out.

As bad as the ISA: ACTA turns everyone into pirates, including ISPs and you're mom.

2009-11-04T17:39:00.004Z

I'm late to the bandwagon, but the ACTA discussions have already started. The ACTA is a hugely important act being discussed right now, at this moment, behind closed doors in Seoul, South Korea. Discussions are ongoing and will last the week, I presume. Details have been kept under lock and key, but some of the points have surfaced online.

It's not looking very good.

From Boing Boing:

* That ISPs have to proactively police copyright on user-contributed material. This means that it will be impossible to run a service like Flickr or YouTube or Blogger, since hiring enough lawyers to ensure that the mountain of material uploaded every second isn't infringing will exceed any hope of profitability.

* That ISPs have to cut off the Internet access of accused copyright infringers or face liability. This means that your entire family could be denied to the internet -- and hence to civic participation, health information, education, communications, and their means of earning a living -- if one member is accused of copyright infringement, without access to a trial or counsel.

From TorrentFreak:

* Similarly, all participating countries have to adopt a ‘notice and takedown’ policy where copyright holders can request ISPs to remove infringing materials, again without having to provide solid evidence or proof that they actually own the copyrights. When ISPs don’t comply with the requests they will be held liable, which means that they will be seen as pirates themselves.

This goes further beyond free music and videos. This affects each and every one of us if it's passed. Anyone "accused" of infringing copyright could have their internet service revoked. Keyword: accused. As in, "however we see fit".

This is as bad as Malaysia's ISA. Spread the word people. The fight continues.

Futher Links:
Slashdot
Michael Geist(who originally reported on this)
ReadWriteWeb

The X3 we will probably never get.

2009-11-03T12:42:00.005Z

Like most geeks, I pretty much hated X3. Mike Dougherty, who worked on X2, Superman Returns, reveals the film we would have got instead of Superman Returns, had Bryan Singer stuck around for a third film.

Listen to it here.

It starts about 22 minutes in, and lasts about 10 minutes, in it, he basically pitched us the movie X3 would have been. And it sounds pretty damn awesome. I won't spoil anything. But this should make you hate Brett Ratner more.

Bryan Singer's future is kind of in murky waters to me. IMDB says he's going to be involved in the remake/re-envisioning of the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica movie/TV series thingy.... magicboby... There rumblings that he was going to direct a Superman Returns sequel, which would be all "Wrath of Khan", but that never came to pass. Valkyrie was his last film, and that was pretty much a big heap of disappointment. The other projects he seems to be involved in are "You want me to kill him?" "Capeshooters", and "Freedom Formula".

It's hard not to be sad for Bryan Singer's misguided decision to leave the X-men franchise for Superman. Come back already.

Digital comics with a small iverse app review tucked in somewhere.

2009-11-02T20:03:00.005Z

On a whim, I downloaded the iverse app, mostly because it was free, to see what Comics on my iPod would have looked like. What I discovered got me thinking, and in somewhat organized form, here are my thoughts on digital comics.

Reading comics digitally has never been easy. It hasn't. We have yet to discover the way to design comics so that when presented on a screen, they don't feel like mere imitations of their physical counterparts. News, movies, TV shows we can do. News are soundbites. You don't really need to care how you get it, as long as you get it. Film and TV have been on the small screen for a long time, and while it doesn't compare to projected 35mm, the quality we can sometimes do without.

Comics, however, walk the thin line between interaction and passive reception. You read and turn the page at your own speed. You control how the story moves. Got something you need to clear up? Flip back a few pages, make sure. How you interact with a comic affects how much it will impact you. It's something unique to comics, and it's something the medium excels at exploiting.

On the physical side of things, Watchmen is undoubtedly the Citizen Kane of the graphic novel. Few are the times such a comparison is valid, but this is surely one of them. tThe Citizen Kane-ness of Watchmen however, does not extend to its' digital counterparts. As we stand today, digital comics are clumsy, unintuitive, and hard to read. The best experience viewing digital comics I have had is using FFview for the mac, coupled with my almighty touch pad. Click to turn the page, double-finger scroll to look around. It's not perfect, and doesn't compare to actually flipping the page, but much better than iverse in its' current form.

Some comics, like the 3 or 4 panel strip, make the transition with no hitches. But as we move up the ladder in sequential narrative complexity, things become, naturally more complex.

It's been a rough ride for the digital comic, and as it stands, if you were to put your regular comic or manga on a screen that's smaller than A3; the length of an average issue opened up, there are three major problems to circumvent.

1. Vertical panels. Works on the page, but as we are now, completely unworkable on the screen. Split it up, have your reader turn his iphone vertically, horizontally? Too much fidgeting. Takes you out. Just have the page as it is? Zoom in then? Slightly better, but still jarring due to the zooming in and out.

2. Full page panels. Assuming the copy is a big enough point size, this isn't too much of a problem. Your screen is not going to be able to display this the way it was meant to, so you'll have to scroll your way down a single panel. Imagine reading a full page panel with a magnifying glass tied to your eyes. Heaven forbid, your point size is a tad small, and you have numerous massive word balloons. The way iverse has done it, as far as I can tell, is to make three copies of the same panel, slice off the top and bottom so they fit on your screen, and have you read the copy while you scroll through three same identical panels. It distracts to no end. And let's not even mention double page spreads.

3. The act of turning a page. Nothing is more exciting then flipping the page of a book with your own hands to discover a shocking twist on the next page. It is something unique to the physical media, and pressing down on a piece of plastic does not in any way replicate the power that the simple act of page turning provides. There needs to be some way in which our intervention will lead to some form of discovery. That amount intervention cannot be too light, nor too much. Turning the page sits squarely in the middle on a scale of one to ten, one being too little effort and ten being too much. The internet has yet to provide us with an answer.

If we are to make comics work for the screen, they have to be designed for them. Taking regular print comics and slapping them on to you glorious LCD monitor will just hurt the story. The big two won't change because that's the way corporations are run. I'm not saying print comics should die. I in fact love them to death and I don't think they're going away for a long, long time. There have been several examples of digital comics done well. Most of them can be found on Scott McClouds' site. Renowned author and comic creator. I provide the best example in my opinion, utilizing flash to make clicking as powerful as page turning. The man has come up with several more ideas, open ended stories, vertically scrolling panels that fit on your screen, etc. None of them are worthy of comparison to Citizen Kane yet.

Digital is the future. Manic distribution channels, cost effective, crazy accessibility. We just need to move in the right direction for it to happen. Start designing comics that work for both print and digital for a start. Avoid the usual trappings print comics fall into when presented digitally. And think. Experiment. Let's get out of the panel for a second. It will take time, and a lot of trial and error. But with enough vigilance, we'll get there eventually.

When we do discover the holy grail of digital comics, which would be a format that is seamless, immersive, and powerful, the next step would be successfully monetizing it, but that would be a rant for another day.

Zombies, lesbians, and the legion of superheroes in this week's comics.

2009-11-01T01:19:00.004Z

Every so often you get a week like this. Good stuff rammed down your throat, barely leaving enough room for air to ventilate. No mistake, this was a stellar week.

So.
The lone Marvel book I remember this week. The conclusion to Johnathan Hickman's "solve everything" story arc, and an epic start to what must be a great run by the creator of Nightly News and Pax Romana. Much has been said about this arc, which was, for many, a return to form for the FF. I wouldn't know, I had never read any Fantastic Four. It doesn't take away form the fact that this book is fun as hell. Hickman has pretty much proven his chops with his previous works for me. Dale Eaglesham's art annoyed me at the beginning. I'm one of those young whippersnappers who's used to seeing Reed Richards lanky and thin, instead of beefy and big. The character designs are fresh and exciting, just the execution of it bummed me out. Still, it remains wildly imaginative, permeated with BIG BIG ideas but never forgetting the fantastic family values. It's pretty much what I wanted a comic book to be. This team is going to do great things. If anyone can make the Reed, Sue, Johnny and Ben live up to their namesake, it's these guys.

It's no coindence that Smallville's best episode last season was written by Geoff Johns. It's one of the most referenced stories in pop culture. I can't think of anyone who doesn't know it. Yet this reinvention of Superman's origin story is never dull. I know nothing about Kal-el's dalliances with the Legion. I always thought they were lame. Just couldn't get myself excited for characters named "Lightning Lad" or "Saturn Girl". Earlier this year, Geoff Johns proved me wrong with his Legion episode of Smallville. Here he does it again. The man is a serial offender. I suspect his JSA episode of smallville next year will continue what he has done to me. Getting me interested in characters and books I did not care for. Sometimes, it's fair to hate someone this fucking good.
Also, Gary Frank is nailing it.
Another origin book! I hadn't realized we had so many this week. What's left to say? Everything good about Detective comics has been said to death. I feel like I'm beating a horse that's half way decomposed. But if you really need an in depth review(something I'm NOT going to provide this time of night) go here.
Ah blackest night. Even though I don't quite remember what happened in this issue, I still like you. Like a good dream I woke up from; can't remember what it was about specifically, only that it was extremely enjoyable. Is that praise or slander? There was a big scene at the end, and alot of character moments for guys I'm not familiar with. The Atom especially gets quite a bit of panel time here. Nevertheless, it's all very very good. Will be watching how this goes with a very, very keen eye. Also, fuck tie-ins.

Thousands protest Global Warming.

2009-10-23T22:58:00.001+01:00

so... this week's comics.

2009-10-23T22:49:00.002+01:00

Knowing absolutely nothing about the dudes who worked on this, I picked this up on a whim, and boy was I surprised. Twisting, turning, rife with pop culture references and deftly illustrated, this one of the more original series I have had the pleasure of discovering. It begins with an oceanographer lost in what appears to be not the north Indian sea looking for poisonous fish of some sort. From there, we get conspiracy, dismemberment of faces, dick millionaires, great monochromatic art, wit-sharp dialogue and of course, cowboy, ninja, and viking.

It's a ride unlike any other. And like any great ride, it doesn't always seem to make sense, but by the end of it, everything clicks into place with a glorious cliffhanger that brings the issue full circle. My only gripe with it was that they misspelled "Kuala Lumpur" for some reason, and that took me out of the story, being Malaysian and all.

Still, boatloads of fun.

I like Joss Whedon. I like this. Not that the two are tangentially related. I like Fabio Moon more than I like Joss. At least here I do. Which is still pretty awesome. Banter. Hyper. Off course. Left field.Vikings(not really). Mystical intergalactic bodyguards. Battle of the bands. You know this thing is crammed with ideas. Imagination. For a measly 26 pages it's got loads. Plus you get sketches, backup material. DVD extras. The only thing is. This thing WAS free. I think it still is. hmmm. Well. If you haven't ever read this. The opportunity's perfect. Snatch this up. Light on character, but full of wacky. Refreshing breather from everything else. Let loose and go. It's a fun time.

Ugh.

Anything remotely related to Ben Reily gives me the shivers. In a bad way. Just let this end. Die, inconsequential arc! Let us never speak of the Clone saga ever again unless we're in the ultimate universe.

MOUSEHUNT

2009-10-23T00:18:00.001+01:00

you evil evil facebook app.

Because I binge write.

2009-10-22T21:58:00.002+01:00

Though the word binge here is used very lightly. I find that when it comes to blogging, I can go weeks without writing. I donot know why, but once I get the urge to write, I feel like I should be making for lost time, so I write two, three posts a day for a day or two. Then it's back to silence. Why is this weird phenomenon manifesting itself? It's not like the silence helps inspiration for topics or whatever. But then again, when have I ever been topical? Some people have gaming blogs, others have music blogs, some blogs are funny and interesting, others are dull as fuck. Hell, there's even a blog for cats who look like Hitler.(really) I don't binge drink, or chocolate, or anything else, at least not in recent memory I haven't. But when it comes to blogging, it's not even intentional. Just a pattern I've been noticing lately. Who knows when the next post will be. You all can look forward to it. (all two of you)

Justice for all; Mesrine

2009-10-22T16:33:00.002+01:00

I just finished replaying the second Phoenix Wright game. All the while I was trying to figure out why I like the series so much. Because as i play through, I realize it has a lot of elements I've grown to dislike lately. The declarative nature of the dialogue, for one, the fact that you are almost always never on the same page as Phoenix, or all the macguffins invented especially for the sake of plot. Foreign teddy-bear-shaped puzzles or handmade unique silk hats for instance. These things, in my head at least, seem like easy solutions to complex narrative problems. Somehow, even with all the flaws, the charm never wears off. The plot twists keep piling up, and the characters are constantly endearing. It succeeds not only despite, but because of these flaws I feel. The imagination never lets up, and curveballs are constantly thrown your way. The Ace attorney series has forged itself a place in my heart that no form of entertainment comes close to replicate. I await the next game with bated breath.

I also watched the first part of the Mesrine flick last week. I found it popcorny enjoyable despite the historical subject matter. It's a character study and an action flick balanced very very nicely. Vincent Cassell is genius and infinitely watchable in it. They say it's possible to see two different characters in him while he's on screen. And you know what? That shit is bang on. I will be watching part 2 soon, and cannot wait to be charmed again by France's most famous bank robber.

Today, 2 videos from TED.com: Kindness and Mafia.

2009-10-08T00:38:00.004+01:00

Johnathan Zittrain talks about the inherent kindness and trust on which so much of the web is built on.

The fall of the Berlin wall and subsequent collapse of communism is often seen as a great blessing to those who were in the Eastern European Bloc. Mischa Glenny shows us the underside and more shadowy aftereffects of the fall. Specifically, how capitalism's dominance affected of organized crime, which has grown leaps and bounds in the last 20 years.

If your reading this from facebook, you can't see the vids. Below this paragraph, click the link that says link to original post or whatever.

Intelliegtualizing cinema?

2009-09-16T23:38:00.003+01:00

Don't intellectualize films too much is what my friend said to me today. Sometimes a film doesn't speak to you. It's alright. Happens all the time. There's no need to overthink it. Sometimes what it is is what it is. Sure, you can analyze every single detail and come up with allegories or metaphors to almost everything. Anything can be a symbol. What's stopping you from enjoying the film as it is? This need for everything to make sense drive me nuts sometimes.

We saw Nagisa Oshima's 太陽の墓場. (the Sun Burial, Tomb of the sun) I didn't really get it. Admittedly, I did fall asleep halfway through for about 5 mins. But I still pretty much got the plot, but I didn't get what it's REALLY about. Which is a problem for me. It's not that I can't turn my brain off to enjoy something. It's a problem of expectations and context. This film was made about 40 years ago, so immediately the context you might need to fully appreciate the film is gone if you're not well versed in the histories and cultural significances of the era. 2ndly, my first Oshima film was Realm of the senses. Which made a huge impact on me, and not just because of the final scene either. I saw it as a meditation on the destructive nature of pleasure. Cautionary really. Hugely successful in my opinion. So when I saw this through to the end(mostly) I was rather really quite disappointed with myself for not "getting it". It's a frustrating experience. Knowing that YES! He does have something to say but why the fuck am I not getting it? And because it's been selected for preservation in Japan I only have to assume a whole bunch of other people got it as well.

Don't get me wrong, I didn't love the film, but it's not really that bad, some really striking images and a great setting kept me captivated.

I'm just rather distressed. Whenever I find something I don't understand, I look it up on wikipedia. Like most people. But conveniently enough this film does not have a wiki page.

So what? Is it really meaningful in ways I can't understand or is it just a bunch of pretty crap. Well, I'm not pompous enough to say the latter, so that will have to do for now.

love film print campaign

2009-09-15T23:34:00.000+01:00

Among other things.

2009-09-15T18:00:00.003+01:00

District 9: awesome. go see it.
Thames festival: awesome, great evening.
Script: 22ish pages done. Let's go.
Book: 2nd campaign revision in the progress. Yes.
Blog: really really not daily anymore.
Notebooks: 2 almost filled up. Giving me the illusion of progress.
Lovefilm: you suck why can't your dvds play on my laptop.
Laptop: You're awesome but why your dvd drive suck so hard.
Apple: Thanks for not announcing a new ipod touch. Sally's heart breaks easily.
Weather: Oh fuck off.

Comic.

2009-09-06T19:16:00.004+01:00

yonks ago, I was working on this short story that was supposed to be a comic. It was supposed to be about this girl called Mina who got possessed by an extra-dimensional pawn. Suspected for murders she didn't commit, she resolved to find out about the nature of these incidents that were following her around and in the course of her investigations uncover the truth that lies behind our world. I planned it to be about 120 pages at the time. I finished about 22 pages, the first chapter basically before shelving it indefinitely.

Now the story has returned but now it's 60 pages and barely resembles what I've written before except that the main character is a girl. We'll see how this one goes. First 10 pages are due tonight, and then everything else will follow. the idea is to finish the script by this weekend. And that's that.

LoveFilm.

2009-09-05T15:45:00.003+01:00

LoveFilm is the European equivalent of netflix to a tee. They're so similiar it's not even funny. We've been working on this product for quite some time.

The Lovefilm free trial offers you 14 days service from Lovefilm. In the interest of my portfolio I have signed up for it. On my List:

Back to the future
In the loop
Die hard
Die hard 4.0
religulous
Nick and Norah's infinite Playlist
The Damned United
Doubt
Godfather pt2
Torchwood series 1-3
Silent Running
Solaris
Sunshine

A hefty list with some "OMG I can't believe you haven't seen that" entries, bearing in mind that I've never seen any film on that list. Or at least, not that I remember. Isn't it swell.

Now all I have to do is figure out how to sell it and cancel the free trial before they bill my frakking ass.

sure. go ahead. see if i care.

2009-09-04T00:02:00.001+01:00

I have to be ready for tomorrow's crit anyway.

I smell a Scam: 911 ads.

2009-09-03T13:59:00.010+01:00

WWF: Tsunami killed (n) 911 only (n-whatever)

Disgusted? I know a lot of Americans are. Or at least American blogs and ad trade rags. I can't really bring myself to care. But I'll bitch about it. Such a deluge of sameness makes me want to crawl up in my bed and wish they don't exist. Let's have a run through.MTV: as if the channel wasn't bad enough.

Some kind of radio station: I don't get this one. Whose eyes wasn't glued to the telly when the planes hit? It's doubtful people said "quick! turn on the radio" when it hit. ugh. Moving on.
some woodland charity: everyday is 911 for nature. Getting bored yet?
Copy enlarged.
Hey, who doesn't love photo-hunt? Oh, that's right, families of the 911 victims. Especially if the image is one of said tragedy.
Anti smoking: 911 killed bla bla tobacco killed bla bla + a gajillion.

Same idea, different brands, generally pretty good Art Direction. The smell of scam from miles away. If I'm doing this every week I might die of repulsiveness.

on marvel's aquisition by disney.

2009-09-02T21:19:00.004+01:00

2 words, one equation.
Pixar + Runaways.

Scrap the live action.
Make it happen.
NOW.

Crit tomorrow. Ramble now.

2009-09-02T01:06:00.004+01:00

If life has thought me anything it's that I should say less and do more. I find that the more I talk the less I want to do, because talking seemed like doing, and the illusion persists, therefore hampering productivity.

Opinionate(not a word but should be) only when asked about, and express oneself more freely. I think the freer you are allowed to be who you are the happier you are. Society often hopes to undermine this. By it's nature society can not hope to inspire happiness in it's members. I don't think. But suffering makes us human, and it's what makes gleefulness all the more precious.

But I digress. There's this crit with this non-smoking vegetarian senior art director tomorrow at Euro RSCG London. I'm having vibes that she will not take kindly to our book. I hope my fears remain unfounded. For what it's worth, we'll approach it like water approaches a stone. How does one be reasonable and not feel doubtful about one's work anyway? My worst fear is being seen as an arrogant douche. Maybe that's my problem.

one word reviews

2009-08-27T10:43:00.002+01:00

Inglourious Basterds: Tense.

The thick of it: Sweary.

I kill Giants: Big-Hearted.

Moon: Reflective.

SMT devil survivor: oversized

Fanboys: Charming.

-

2009-08-24T20:52:00.003+01:00

2 months is a long time to stop writing. At least in the online sense it is. Must've seem like ages. Galaxies must've imploded, stars died. But the more things change, the more it stays the same.

My, how things have changed. I wouldn't even know where to begin. So I won't. Beginning never really was my kind of thing anyway. I like to dive right in, so the the finish line and starting point blur together, and a minute in it seems like you've been in there forever.

The water's not cold. Won't you join me?

This hiatus of mine is unexplained. Accountable to almost no one, or nothing. Things didn't feel right. Maybe I was just happy. I don't know. By default I've never been anyway. So why should change be any different?

Actually, I'd recommend you stay out. The water is freezing on reflection. (hur hur)

The first thing I heard out of the bath. Which set the tone for several days to come,

2009-06-26T19:18:00.001+01:00

"Jingwei, Michael Jackson died."

mindblowing.

2009-06-22T18:58:00.002+01:00

Look at the clouds. Now the bushes.
:0
:O

Relevant to my interests.

2009-06-17T00:10:00.001+01:00

Tokyo Time Lapse.

2009-06-12T12:16:00.003+01:00

Someone shot a time lapse video of Tokyo at night. Entitled "miniature city 2" (I assume there is a "1" somewhere out there), It's hauntingly surreal, otherworldly and beautiful. Good choice of music too. See it in HD for full effect of awesomeness.

Sledeghammer cars in real life.

2009-06-11T18:07:00.004+01:00

What do you do when you see a sledgehammer chained to a car?

Let me rephrase that. What do you do when you see a hundred copies of a newly released video game locked in a car with a sledgehammer chained to it?

Usually this wouldn't make much sense, but for Red Faction: Guerrilla, it melds together like butter and sugar. Here's why, courtesy of Simon Watts, by way of Kotaku:

"Because Red Faction Guerrilla features the world's most realistic destruction engine, we thought that it would make for an interesting experiment to find out how many people, going about their everyday business, would stop in a busy city street to work out some stress by smashing their way into a car to earn a copy of the brand new game."

It's new, it's fun, exciting, and relevant.

Boy I wish I'd have thought of that.

left4dead2 announced(and boycotted)!

2009-06-08T03:06:00.002+01:00

A few days ago Valve announced left4dead 2 at E3. Normally this would be good news for many peoples. But not this time.

A group of fans have strung together and created the steam group NO-L4D2, it's mission statement titular.

It has a manifesto and everything!
These peeps are serious.

They make a good case for their cause, of which I also feel I was a part of, since I was suckered into buying L4D on release day too.

today's quote of the day:

2009-06-05T23:31:00.002+01:00

"The worst thing to call somebody is crazy. It's dismissive. I don't understand this person. So they're crazy. That's bullshit." -Dave Chappelle.

Dollhouse Finale: Omega. Overview. Spoilers.

2009-06-01T00:46:00.002+01:00

So Dollhouse came and went. Season's done and with the gleefully exciting news of it's renewal, now's as good as any time to look back on the finale, titled "Omega".Did it live up to expectations? How mind-blowingly awesome was it? Why should we care? Answers: kind of, not nearly awesome enough and because season 2 has potential to be the best thing on TV since Firefly.

The Finale: as we found out previously, Alpha came back to the 'house, posing as a building engineer/designer/expert/agoraphobic person, kicked everyone's ass and left with Echo in his arms. So he brings Echo back to his lair,where he's concocted his very own doll-imprinting facility. Cut to backstory, we find out more about Alpha, how he had his "composite event", why he's so attached to Echo, and who he was before he became a doll(psychopathic serial killer on death row). So we get Alpha's not-so-secret anymore origin, and about Dr Saunders. The original one, since the girl with cuts is actually a doll named "Whiskey". This raises several more questions. The Biggest one being "who the fuck's actually a doll here?"

Flashback continued, Alpha and Whiskey were hired out to live out someone's "Natural Born Killers" fetish/fantasy. Things go wrong and Alpha is told more than he needs to know. Right before being sent to the Attic, tings go wrong with Topher, computers, Security and Alpha and he gets 43(42?) personalities imprinted into him all at once. So now he fancies himself the next in human evolution. Now he plans to give Echo, the doll he's fancied since his own doll-days, her very own composite event.

Meanwhile, we get a Boyd and Ballard(captured last week) bromance team-up. This results in several awesome moments as we discover these two have a lot more chemistry than we previously thought.

In Alpha's lair, Echo is wiped and Omega is born, but instead of reaching the same conclusion as Alpha( that normal people are below them in the food chain ) she smacks Alpha with a metal pipe. So they duke it out as Caroline, now imprinted in the body of a random receptionist Alpha kidnapped earlier, watched on in shock horror.(Did I tell you, this episode is packed.) Long story short, Alpha escapes and Omega explains that the the president is black now. Cue new status quo for season 2. All in all a satisfying finale, yet still somehow misses the mark. (not enough closure maybe?)

Nonetheless, the Boyd Ballard team-up next season will be fun to watch, even if the "Ballard now working for Dollhouse" pill is a bit hard to swallow. But at this point, I'm buying it. Whedon being the humble, self-deprecating genius that he is seems bittersweet, but with the sad, sad cancellation of it's lead in(Sarah Connor Chronicles) it's doubtful it'll do much better Nielsen wise. I wish them all the best though.

BRING on SEASON 2!!

more thoughts and musings. Dollhouse overview tomorrow.

2009-05-30T01:43:00.003+01:00

Scamp is taking a break, the world wonders why and til when. Dragonball Evolution is crap but still enjoyable if you have your standards low enough. Star Trek is 80 million kinds of awesome. To the kid who offered me a cigarette today: you better be older than you look. I can't remember the last time I played hoops, I'll remember tomorrow though. I still love her very much, but why am I still confused? I think my bio for the lonely hearts club thing is awesome. I am aware of the dangers of loving your own shit. My brain is shot, until I play some sports. Top 10 is great, but where is my book 2? My bag needs cleaning up. I want a PS3. Every time I watch House I am reminded why I love that show. I'm starting on "Brave New World" soon. Right after "Wind up bird chronicle", which is beautifully poetic and deeply philosophical(Or perhaps I'm just dumb). TV season is over. Movie season begins. Postits are great.

And I need a job.

On Chelsea's unceremonious exit from the champions league.

2009-05-11T23:58:00.000+01:00

From some dude's Twitter Feed.

2009-05-08T00:47:00.001+01:00

Fun.

The fueds with the dudes with the nudes.

2009-05-07T22:34:00.000+01:00

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Colbert-Branson Duel

colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

Gay Marriage

Awesome on so many levels.

The truth presents itself.

2009-05-07T18:47:00.002+01:00

Cylons are screwing around with the Scott Pilgrim movie. Someone get the vipers in here.

All the emails in the world at my disposal.

2009-05-04T02:28:00.001+01:00

SO this is what posting from email feels like.

Can't say I like it much better than blogger.

Dollhouse episode 11: Briar Rose.

2009-05-02T15:51:00.001+01:00

To say anything more than it being awesome would be criminal.

Watch it.

Campaign unframed.

2009-05-01T16:58:00.004+01:00

Profile photos for campaign always have the photographed look serious. This dude called Andy Whitlock stumbled upon the pretty funny idea of showing their softer side.

Campaign unframed. Click on picture for link.

Pooh on swine flu.

2009-04-30T22:31:00.002+01:00

Dollhouse episode 10: solving your own murder? geekiness ressurected.

2009-04-30T05:20:00.004+01:00

Apparently everyone has seen the "solve your own murder" plot before. Except me. So for me this episode of Dollhouse was fresh, engaging, and fun. The big theme this episode is eternal life. We're introduced to how with dollhouse tech, certain privileged individuals can have life after death, or conceivably eternal life. Perhaps this is what Whedon meant when he mentioned his vision for the show. For me this brought an entirely new angle to the show, and gave new meaning to the short scene in episode 6 where a scholary type person said how if dollhouse tech really existed(he didn't know. poor bastard) we would cease to matter as a species.

Echo is imprinted with a recently dead friend of Adelle this episode. Being suspicious of her own death, she decides to investigate. In the process discovers what her family and loved ones really thinks about her. I don't need to tell you how this ends, but the journey there is gripping, entertaining, and fascinating, even if it did involve one too many horses for my liking. Meanwhile, Topher shows us he's not just quippy lines and sarcastic remarks when he resurrects a dead geek friend. Suffice to say the only thing they don't do is fuck. It's sweet, charming, and somewhat eerie. We actually feel sorry for him this episode. Lonely, sarcastic Topher, the only nerd in a house of security personnel and empty headed dolls.

In short, Dollhouse continues to be awesome, and I continue to pray for a second season. I'm drafting my letter to the television gods now.

on self control.

2009-04-21T00:24:00.001+01:00

It's eleven.
I haven't eaten.
But I weighed myself.
So the food I shelved.

GOKU! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU!?

2009-04-19T14:08:00.001+01:00

Dollhouse episode 9: the attic is scary, Adelle's second layer.

2009-04-18T00:00:00.002+01:00

So I've enjoyed dollhouse ever since it started, this much is true. To a certain extent. Nevertheless if I suck on this particular dick any harder it will probably drop off. But let's be honest. The show has gotten better and better with each episode. so let the weekly cocksucking party begin. Minor spoilers.

So this episode there's a spy. Another person feeding Ballard information besides Alpha. From inside the dollhouse. He/She get's caught of course, but not before some detours that show yet another dimension to this already multi-layered narrative.

For starters, we get to see what happens to individuals who get the much teased about attic sentence, and Adelle DeWitt shows a side of her that transforms her from cold-hearted British business woman into something more interesting. Something with quite a bit more layers, more fascinating, and intriguing. I hesitate to spoil it, because the reveal is quite the shocker. It puts an entirely different spin on the Adelle character moving forward.

In other news, Paul Ballard's life crumbles to even finer dust, as he discovers Melly is a doll, existing only as a tool for the dollhouse to spy on him. Paul discovers this by way of a hidden message imprinted into Melly's programming, apparently courtesy of the titular mole. A lot can be read from the scene that ensues, in which "Melly" tells Paul to keep up appearances. Subtly creepy and revealing at the same time.

Echo learns to ask this episode, which is also subtly creepy yet revealing, she requests to be imprinted so that she can help sniff out the inside man/woman. Is it an early sign of a "composite event" teased earlier in the series? Or something else?

The story played out, at least at first, like a Tarrantino movie. Told nonlinearly from different points of view, being a television show that has to make sense on some level, all the plot lines converged, and all the while the show is sowing seeds, slowly building up to our not-really-season-finale-but-apparently-is episode. Entitled Omega. Which will, if things keep up like this, be FULLY AWEOSME.

Ahem.

As I mentioned earlier, any more smoking of the cock of Dollhouse will like cause it to fall off, and my balls to shrink. So I leave you with this, a much better written, spoiler ladden review of dollhouse of the same episode. You must be a very very nice person to read this far. :)

The Nightly News.

2009-04-16T20:44:00.003+01:00

Reading the Nightly News, one gets a sense of madness, insanity. Cold, calculated, well thought out, soundly structured madness. Not the kind you find in an asylum. This is more than being a little bit off the beaten path. This is faith we're discussing. It's a beautifully designed/illustrated finger to the media conglomerate, peppered with spreadsheets, factoids, graphs and feels feels brutally honest, despite the creator's frequent attempts(in and out of the book) to distance himself from the views represented(misrepresented?) in the book.

But let's back up. This is a graphic novel, written and drawn by Johnathan Hickman. It's a one and done story told in six issues. We follow John Guyton, failed art critic, homeless, who gets recruited into becoming "the HAND of the VOICE". The leader of a cult with one goal in mind. The complete obliteration of the modern journalistic system. Indoctrination disguised as education, the essence of truth, the power of faith and how dangerous it can be a just a few themes the book tries to explore. It's heady, confusing stuff. Even though it feels somewhat didactic at times, the central plot line grabs on to you like a mad dog humping your leg. Never letting go and giving you only the slightest room for breath.

The visual styling of the book deserves special mention. A mash-up of graphic design and comic illustration, it's arresting, layered and powerful. Never before has design been so tightly intertwined with the story in a graphic novel. Every page is painstakingly designed, little visual cues and easter eggs dotted all over, most of which won't be apparent until at least a second reading. Or the annotations, which are awesomely insightful.

It's rather dense, but never feels hard to follow. It leaves you feeling a little bit smarter than before, as all good work should. It's unapologetic demonizing of the media seems increasingly relevant in our age of information. Perhaps it's distasteful to some, but for everyone else, it's a great looking ride, with insanely brilliant cult-speak, explosions, political intrigue, and everything you'd want from an excellent conspiracy story.

Been busy.

2009-04-10T13:44:00.002+01:00

Daily writings becomes less and less daily every day. This week was particularly hectic, I know that isn't an excuse for not writing, but I'm using it anyway. Because I'm promising myself to write more often.

We've sent out 1500 emails to almost everyone in the London Ad industry, and half of them were truncated. Of the replies we did get, 40% were like "fuck off" 30% "interesting", 20% "nice, wanna come in some time soon?" and the remainder was positive. Certainly, we pissed a lot of people off, and as long as they're not reading this, I doubt they'll remember in a couple of days.

Out of 1500 emails, we have maybe 10 possible book crits. Which is not too bad, when you think about it.

I'm thinking of posting up the replies soon, because some of them are genuinely funny.

So still to come in the coming days.

the current weekly "Dollhouse review", Impressions on Johnathan Hickman's "The Nightly News." and maybe several other stuff.

Dollhouse episode 8: Needs. Spoilers ahoy.

2009-04-04T22:09:00.002+01:00

I expected this week's episode to usher in a new status quo, possibly building up to a final showdown between the dolls and the dollhouse in the finale, but of course, that is way too obvious.

It begins with a meeting among the staff of the dollhouse. Adelle describing that a tide is rising, referring to the shenanigans of the previous episodes. Memory drugs, Echo's veering off course and various other anomalies the show has presented to us so far. Then without warning, we cut to our favourite actives. It seems they've become aware, original personalities intact sans memory, but with little hints sprouted about, giving them a sense of purpose. Seemingly without reason. In the night they awake, screaming, afraid, and determined. Sneaking around, pretending to be dolls, they hatch a plan, to get out together. The first bombshell is dropped when Echo/Caroline announces that she's going back into the dollhouse to free the other dolls. Right away we realize this is Caroline from the animal testing days. Idealistic, rash, a girl on a mission. She confronts Topher, and Adelle. Her rhetoric no match for the keeper of the house, yet determined, in her purpose, in her belief that the dolls should be freed. Meanwhile, Sierra faces the man who put her in the dollhouse, who seems unsurprised at her sudden appearance with Victor. Victor, slowly developping his crush on Sierra, climaxing with them kissing. Melly remembers her daughter, and seeks her out, only to find a tombstone in a cemetery. For a while it seems like the dolls have won, they've mostly evaded capture, and Echo convinced Adelle to set the dolls free, with a gun. Then without warning, the dolls shut down. Adelle looks pleased as we flash back to the beginning. In which it's reveled that our dolls are being set free, to achieve resolution, closures with conflicts they've developed whilst in the dollhouse. Hence Victor's kiss, Sierra's meeting with the man who took away her freedom, Melly's grief for her daughter and Echo's desire to free captive animals. A sedative released once they have satisfied their needs. Finally, another bombshell, while Echo was semi-lucid she recalled Paul Ballard's name and has left him a message. I'm not sure how this will play out, but as we race closer and closer to this season's finale, the only thing left is to pray for a second season.

Slowly but surely, this show is turning into a meditation on the societal condition. Subtexts abound, but aren't really required to enjoy the story. Has Joss Whedon delivered on his promise? Sort of. We can be sure there will be no more suicidal pop-stars from here on out. There's less Whedonism in dollhouse, and that may turn off the average whedonite, but dollhouse, as it stands is a work of considerable maturity. Reserved in it's execution, but insightful and subversive nonetheless.

We're seeing the slow blossoming of this show's vision. "Man on the street" gave us a glimpse of it. "Needs" expands it. Silencing more naysayers every week. The dolls it seems, have proven themselves to be more than dolls.

My Golden statue of Joss Whedon reaps it's rewards.(Dollhouse overview)

2009-03-28T20:21:00.002Z

Last night's episode of Dollhouse gave us great stoner dialog, lots of backstory and another reason to hope it doesn't get canceled. So far it's not likely that we'll see an supposed pilot episode yet but you never know.

Friday's dive into the rabbit hole that is Dollhouse is good, but doesn't reach the heights of last week's episode. Topher went from uneffective at the start of the series, to amusing, and adorable and finally somewhat annoying in this episode. The psychological breakdown of our favored cast members is delightful to watch, complete with stunningly inspired LSD-esque dialog. Without giving too much away, seeing Dominic treating his suit like a lost kitten made up for the slightly annoying intro.

Yes, the flashback were a bit hard to swallow and the sense of urgency seemed to be missing but ultimately, there were sufficient threads sown and connected that you cared enough for to see it through to the end.

If it turns out to be true that there are multiple dollhouses everywhere in the world, this one that we're watching has yet to blossom into the tumor that will rob our species of it's meaning. But it's one step closer.

Change the re re re re re re re re re

2009-03-28T18:30:00.002Z

Well, the guys at sell!sell! recently did a post about conformity in the advertising industry and how a lot of us are a part of it. This is relevant. To most everyone. Yes, it's a regurgitation and paraphrase of what Paul Arden said: "don't try to win awards."

But yeah it's a bit more than. Samey me too advertising is popping not just everywhere in the street, but everywhere in the award books and annuals as well.

Now I don't know if I'm lunatic enough to take back the asylum, but I'm definitely guily of doing samey-looking-wannabe-hipster ads. For the book. This is of course, unacceptable. Changing the record requires a lot more than just picking out another record from the shelves.

Well currently as it stands, we're going some distances. Maybe we're finally tipping the point of no return. Right into employment. Now that's something to look forward to.

New Stella Advert campaign.

2009-03-24T18:30:00.003Z

Funny. Off-target definitely, but funny.

I'm interested to see how many beers this will sell.

Unemployment.

2009-03-24T14:57:00.002Z

I find this funny, and sad, and ironic, a host of other things I can't really express.

sell sell

2009-03-24T00:53:00.002Z

Sell Sell is a great new blog about design advertising, and any things in between.

Fat. Broken chair. Made of metal. Flimsy metal but metal nontheless.

2009-03-22T20:43:00.003Z

In my room the two newest pieces of furniture are a chair and a table I got for cheap at poundland or whatever before I left back in February.

Yesterday I broke the chair. Or at least I think it was me. It could have been any of the other intruders(jkjk) that have used my Room for lodging while I was away. I don't know. What I do know is that the chair is now fucked. The welding at the bottom snapped off and the legs have started to bent. If I continue to sit on it it will bend even more. Eventually, if I am vigilant in my efforts to fuck the chair it will become a deformed piece of metal resembling something out of a modern art museum.

But I am not fucking up the chair further. I think it reminds me of how much I need to lose weight. I'm a sensitive guy like that. Can't afford to get hurt(har har har). I might weep with tears of inadequacy and no human being should need to witness that.

That said, I do have to lose weight and today's football session served well. How well I played didn't matter(not well) but I came back feeling a slight sense of accomplishment. Despite my performance.

The room now needs a new chair. Sitting on the bed while typing does not help my posture. Or my typing for that matter. And I should really lose weight.

Out.

Dollhouse. Thoughts and musings. Spoiler free. Whedonites rejoice.

2009-03-21T21:40:00.006Z

It's been a rocky career for Joss Whedon. With the cancellation of Buffy and angel and most recently Firefly, one can say he has not had the best career in television. But what the man does have is a legion of fans. The exploits of whedonites and the more prolific Browncoats are well documented, with Serenity being the most remarkable.

His new show Dollhouse has been going on for 6 weeks, and although early criticisms have rung true, we're told that the show will hit it's stride and be totally awesome from the 6th episode onwards. Early reviews of episode 6 have been positive.

I'm here to agree. The show so far has been freak-of-the-week-type of affair. Having an engagement as the A plot and Paul Ballard's FBI agent shticks as the B plot. Mostly. The show has had six weeks worth of world-building and this is where it reaps the fruits of it's labour.

Without giving away too much, this episodes turns what has been status quo for six weeks upside down and gives us a whole new ballgame. The new seeds sowed in this episode blows our preconception about the show out of the water. It was called a flawed, but intriguing concept before but this week the flaws are taken out of the equation.

Every scene gels together so well you'll wonder what has been going on the past few weeks if you haven't been reading the blogs. The studio's decision to give up interfering with the direction of the show has proved to be for the best. This episode is easily the best hour of television I've seen in a long time.

For those who have followed Dollhouse out of a sense of loyalty to Joss Whedon, the time is now. Time to tell your friends and family how freaking awesome this show will be. Because after watching episode 6, there's no way that you can't.

Discard your preconceptions. Nothing in this show is what it seems. If you have been interested but haven't checked it out, now's the time. Sad to say, I fear there won't be a suitable jumping on point for new viewers in the future. Because Whedon has said he's not a fan of "reset television", in which every episode is self contained and does not have a large, overarching plot. Episode 6 feels very much like the payoff we've been waiting for. We sat through the pilot and the faux suicidal Britney episode(which actually sounds kinda cool written that way) for this.

Critics have slammed it since the pilot, calling it a flop, wasted opportunity, and having untapped potential. Well the tapping has begun. There's no better proof of that than episode 6. The DVD release better sell like gangbusters.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let there be a season 2.

This astonishes me(Fun religion bashing)

2009-03-20T23:53:00.004Z

From the official website of the Institute for Creation Research;

"Plants do replicate within their kind, but so do certain crystals and some chemicals. They replicate within kind, but they are nowhere said to possess chay (life) or nephesh (soul), the Hebrew words for living things. Job 14:8-10 is cited as evidence that plants die like people die, but that passage most certainly does not use the words for life."

Wow.

Just. Wow. Note that this little gem was taken from the "evidence" section of the site. While quoting the Bible for evidence is nothing new to creationists, this is the first I've heard of plants being "not alive."

More choice quotes.

"Our solar system appears to be near the center of the universe. Galaxies look the same, and are moving away from us in the same way, in all directions. The cosmic microwave background radiation comes to us very uniformly from all directions. These and other data strongly indicate we are located at a very special location by design."

Wait, didn't we discard a similar model of the universe when we decided Copernicus was right? We can't even see the whole of Universe due to limitations of our light-based perception. For all we know it might be infinite(Which we don't, yet). In which case there is no "center" of the universe. How can something that has no boundaries have a center?

Aaaaand my favourite so far...

"The universe is only several thousand years old.

Comets are an example of a natural clock within our solar system. With each orbit around the sun, comets lose considerable mass. They cannot be very old because they cannot survive many orbits.

To get around this problem, many astronomers assume there is a vast cloud of comets out near the edge of the solar system, which releases new comets every so often. This imaginary cloud is called the "Oort Cloud," named after the astronomer who proposed it. The problem is that there is no observational evidence such a cloud exists at all.

Each year our knowledge of astronomy increases with new evidence concerning the origin of our solar system, our galaxy, and our universe. While it is possible to make assumptions beyond what can be observed and verified, the heavens continue to bear witness to recent creation."

I can't believe they mentioned observational evidence, or any kind of evidence for that matter.

Oh silly Creationists. And you wonder why they didn't let you hand out Science Degrees.

a link to icr.org if you're interested in more.

Trott Grilling

2009-03-20T22:11:00.003Z

Today we went into cst advertising, looking for Dave Trott, and we found him. He gave us a proper grilling. We went away energized, hungry, and eager.

He sent me away with a souvenir. Sort of. A copy of "how to get your first job in advertising" with a quote written on one of the blank pages.

"You can have what you want, or you can have reasons for not having it."

I showed it to Lyn.

"No excuses, basically."

Yeah. That pretty much about sums it up.

No excuses for not having what you want.

No excuses for not doing what you need to do in order to get what you want.

No excuses for failing.

Right now what I want is a job.

Street Fighter 4 and job interview

2009-03-18T21:25:00.004Z

Apparently the Street Fighter 4 arcade cabinet arrived in Trocadero London right after I left the UK. When I found out I was so disappointed because that meant I would have to wait a about one and a half month before I got to try it out.

Well today is that day. After all that waiting, the sight of two HD linked Street Fighter 4 cabinets felt like a dream. I had to mentally slap myself for a few seconds before I put down my coin to finally, finally try out the newest iteration of the seminal fighting series.

Nothing disappoints. Except maybe my own skill, but even then I played a lot better than I expected myself to play. I still couldn't pull off Ultras but boy did it feel good. Smooth as silk and controlling like a dream. Street Fighter 4 is the very pinnacle of 2D fighting games.

Maybe I'm still starstruck, but I spent quite a bit of cash (I'm not saying how much) in that arcade, and I left wanting more. This just makes that interview tomorrow that much more important.

Which brings me to this. Job interview. Tomorrow. Finally. Luck has smiled upon me and tomorrow is my first official book-crit. It's make it or break it. Lucky too. Second day in the UK my partner tells me he's got an appointment with Adam&Eve London tomorrow and has invited me along. I couldn't be happier.

Look at you, jw. 23 year old and gushing over Street Fighter. Hoping to land that jon/paid placement just so you can play more Street Fighter 4. How much lower can you sink?

Bastards. I shall not give in. Loving Street Fighter 4 is nothing to be ashamed about.

Tomorrow's the big day.

Now's the time for rest.

Air Asia X: London review (bring your books)

2009-03-18T08:17:00.004Z

Perhaps the biggest failing of Air Asia X is that it does nothing to exceed expectations. Everything you've come to know(and hate) about Air Asia is present here in full force. Low price, rubbish service, ridiculously overpriced food labeled as "reasonable", somewhat uncomfortable seats, the whole package. For better or for worse.

For some people, the low price(if you are lucky enough to get it) is forgivable for everything else.

Take the rather expensive comfort kit for instance, which is just terrible. Consisting of an inflatable neck pillow and a blanket, my coat served as a better blanket, the back of my scalp a better pillow than the sorry excuse of a kit that is supposed to provide comfort.

Food, is of course, as previously stated, abhorrently expensive, but is passable. The Sri Melur Jaya Roti Jala they served gave me chuckles, for which the reason I know not. Just be sure to pre-book unless you don't mind getting the leftovers of the pre-bookers. Contrary to the in-flight menu and catalog, there doesn't seem to be any savings involved when you pre-book a meal, curiously.

While the subpar service other bollocks are permissible on a short distance flight under 4 or 5 hours, a 13 hour flight is a different beast entirely. Not to say that there isn't entertainment, just that it will cost you. Like everything else on the flight. The upside is that you can see in advance if the stuff provided is to your liking before you blow RM30 or so on a screen roughly the size of an average notebook.
If you're not planning to spend extra money, just be sure you bring a book or two. Your PSP or NDS will not last you 13 hours. That I guarantee.

another surprise for you.

2009-03-16T03:23:00.000Z

Kevin Smith on Watchmen.

2009-03-13T18:33:00.002Z

Reviews on the Watchmen are split half and half. Bloggers and fanboys generally love them, and snot-nosed-holier-than-thou mainstream journalists except Roger Ebert generally hate it.

I've always been a fan of Kevin Smith. Despite whatever people think of him these days. I think he's a great guy, has an impeccable ear for dialog,and always always tells interesting stories.

He's also a huge comic geek and it's no surprise he loves the Watchmen movie.

Here's a humongous 1hour35minute review/discussion/podcast he's done with 4 other guys on slashfilm.

I am starting to feel that he's mostly right about this movie, especially from the point of view of a fan.

Watchmen fans, be grateful. The movie is awesome, the original ending wouldn't have worked on screen anyway, and I'm going to see it again soon. This time without looking out for what they have cut etc.

note: this was not the thing that I forgot which I was going to write about. I'm still bummed about that. It's like an parasite eating at my brain, causing it to itch constantly. Man I hate that.

For the life of me

2009-03-13T16:42:00.000Z

I can't remember what it was I wanted to write.

AGAIN.

4 more days

2009-03-12T19:12:00.002Z

and I leave for the UK again. My friend over there has told me that shit is not good. Market getting worse.

Gloomy gloomy gloomy weather ahead. Dark clouds, thunderstorms, warts and all. Why am I going back there? Probably because I really wanted to work there. Even just for a little while. Just to say that I have(how naive). Also the pound is still 5 times stronger.

amazon.co.uk. 10 mbit internet speeds. None of this streamyx one mbit but not even that kind of cockery. Nice people. Weather is shit but everything else kind of makes up for it. Football matches. Humour. BBC.

Still, I give myself a maximum of 6 months. Come back after that. No point otherwise. Even though it's not like the market here is getting better anyway.

I have to be hopeful. Tomorrow is printing and tidying up portfolio day. 3am now. Sleep.

this made me smile today

2009-03-12T05:47:00.000Z

And not just because I'm a fan either.

my name is Zack Snyder, look on my works, Ye Mighty, and Despair!

2009-03-09T16:19:00.003Z

(spoilers ahoy)

I've watched Watchmen.

Zack Snyder did a good job, but the movie breaks under the crushing weight of the book. This is probably as good a Watchmen movie we're ever going to get.

The sheer depth and detail of the world the graphic novel has built up proves too much for the movie to handle. Even a 2.5 hour long one.

Even though many plot-lines are cut and scenes butchered, the film stays true to the book in that the crux of the movie, the moral question at the end, remains intact. It'd no secret where Alan Moore's sympathies lie when he wrote this book 20 odd years ago.

There are moments of greatness flashes of genius in this film, among the rushed conclusions, the fanboy-rage inducing ending and the missed opportunities. Jackie Earle Haley's performance as Rorschach will slowly but surely etch itself squarely into the mind. By the time of his pivotal arctic scene the Rorschach character will have left an impression not easily shaken by even the most ardent of fanboys. For other signs of brilliance we look at the origin story of Doctor Manhattan. Even though rushed, it makes the blue god such a relatable character, despite his supposed distance with humanity. His change of heart on Mars however is another story entirely.

Most of what bothers this viewer about the movie is situated in the latter half of the movie. It felt like the editors really tried to compress this behemoth of a story down to it's current theatrical running time. It shows. It really does.

A lot of the scenes felt rushed, Ozymandias in particular gets the brunt of the shafting. He's more distant, more arrogant and more of a prick this time around. His moral ambiguity still present but lacks impact, mostly due to the cutting down of his backstory. Manhattan's going away also suffers, for some reason. His lines and sudden change of heart can be sometimes hard to swallow, his decision to maybe create life in another simpler, less complicated galaxy loses it's emotional punch due to Billy Crudup's rather toneless delivery, which worked well for the first part of the film, but seems empty when Manhattan finds value in life.

In the end what we lose are nuances, little details, that make the book come to life. Ozymandias' doubt for his actions and his revelation on how the comedian brought him enlightenment, Rorschach's sugar cubes, Laurie's ciggerettes, Dan's belly Hollis' death scene, Russian fast food chains in America, almost all of the minutemen's minute details revealed to us only in prose, and so on.

Nitpicks in the grand scheme of things.

Going in one cannot expect the same emotional impact that the book delivers, that much is certain, but the film succeeds on it's own merits by delivering a compelling mystery, and an equally compelling conclusion. This may not be the film everyone wanted, squidless or not, but at least it's closure. Closure for those who thought the movie will never see the light of day.

So here's to Zack Snyder, who did the once thought impossible, unfilmable; look on his works, Ye Mighty, and despair.

Hulu ad

2009-03-01T15:29:00.002Z

Watch and tell me that last line isn't genius. I dare you.

trott's common sense

2009-02-28T17:50:00.001Z

wits, where you grew up, and advertising.

Once again, I compare meerkat

2009-02-27T10:18:00.000Z

People dicking around

2009-02-26T09:10:00.003Z

The team fortress blog has a hilarious post on cheaters in the game.

Also scamp is doing an "ambient week". Some of the ideas are pretty cool.

bus slogan haiku generator.

2009-02-14T00:42:00.004Z

to make one yourself click here.

SO There I was.(everyone loves reading lists.)

2009-02-11T15:58:00.004Z

Sitting in my chair, typing up the "25 random things about me."

I thought it was cool, and nice, and pretty fun to do.

The next day I wake up and I see this.

>click for article.

SO it's a mystery now and everyone's been tagged at least once. Oh wow. There're even groups that protest against it. It's apparently a fad to be scorned at, an exemplary display of mindless trend-following sheep in action, a virulent, hateful, modern chain letter that serves no purpose but to use us as reproductive vessels. It's online cancer, spreading like that Australian bushfire, and not leaving any surviving koalas to share water with firemen.

That koala must be praying to the God of Bottled Water by now.

In any case. I've done mine. Where's yours?

highlights of the day

2009-02-10T17:00:00.002Z

Discussed Lunar Calendar and gregorian Calendar with mom.

Looked at my old uni work and felt extremely embarrassed. Decided to work it up, spray-painting the old turds.

Started CV layout ideas.

Opened Illustrator on laptop for the first time in ages.

Checked out megamall and got depressed.

Had luncheon with wei wen.

played no more heroes.

Discovered ridiculous fanboy rants online.

Still can't sleep on time.

I'm home.

2009-02-07T16:07:00.000Z

And nothing feels like home.

scott pilgrim volume 5.

2009-02-06T00:07:00.000Z

Too ... busy... re-reading.

...I'm feeling gruntled.

2009-01-28T23:49:00.003Z

I seldom express my opinions because nobody asks and therefore I assume nobody is interested. I'm saving everything for the day I'm interviewed by some Big Media Person where I get to divulge my inner most secrets and beliefs so that the Great Public can see how they inform what and why it is I do what I do. Which is not much. Yet. I don't get to say that and mean that until much later. Consider this seed sowing.

The reaping will come later. Before I die would do nicely. I hope.

So until then, my various worldviews and opinions will have to incubate and develop safely from prying eyes and nosy non-persons. For now.

Street Fighter.

2009-01-17T21:48:00.001Z

Boredom takes over, so I started learning how to play Makoto in Third Strike. Good fucking lord. I don't know why.

I got pretty far, then Gouki showed up, and I got my ass handed to me on a platter.

Sigh.

A very embarrassing Smallville post. This shit will haunt me for years.

2009-01-17T01:00:00.002Z

Today I watched the first episode of Smallville since the winter break, and holy shit it was awesome.

Clark's lines suddenly have alot of weight to them, they pulled of the Legion of superheroes on Fuckin' prime TIME television!

And it didn't feel corny.

Wow. Suddenly Clark's not that whiny ass bitch with superpowers from before. We see in him the actual beginnings of the hero he's destined to be.

Holy crap I'm geeking out.

For all this I blame Geoff Johns. The man is a fucking genius.

Yesterday

2009-01-16T14:30:00.002Z

A blackout occured only in my house because the electricity runs on a prepaid system and we forgot to reload credit. It went out at about 130 am and all the shops are closed. (this is the UK after all)

Which is why there wasn't any blog post last night.

in other news.

why the FUCK does penang have a Street Fighter 4 cabinet and UK does not?

Singapore has several!

Bloody bastards. Don't they see how much money they can make?

I've been working on a story.

2009-01-15T01:50:00.002Z

It's a comic, and my friend has agreed to draw it.

I decided to post the character profiles here for no reason. I'm really excited for this. I hope this works out.

Mina daisuki

Our main character. 17, young and feisty. Right in the middle of her "rebel" phase, Mina is in her final year of high school and her mother still wouldn't let her out of the house at night without nothing short of an army of bodyguards who are armed to the teeth. She acts rebellious but at heart she's a sweet girl who wouldn't even hurt a soul. Until our story that is. Coming from a family with very Eastern values, her parents kept her on a very tight leash as she was growing up, her father being the more compassionate of the two. Not to say she was abused and mistreated, just never given alot of freedom. Predictably enough, with peer pressure and all that, the basic human need to be free has manifested itself, and with 17 years of pent up emotions, it usually doesn't go very well with mom. Ever since losing her father when she was 10, "Random" Richard has been sort of a substitute father figure for her. She admires and looks up to him but they don't get many chances to hang out, since her mother is not very fond of Uncle Richard.( or is she? ) A social outcast in school, she tries desperately to fit in to various cliques and groups but everyone just sort of looks at her weird. She looks different, and speaks different. ( Think our accent in Britain and you've got the idea ) Since she has virtually no friends all she does is surf the net and play her music. Adept at the guitar and the piano, she's pretty talented and will frequently busk on the streets during holidays. Much to the dismay of her mother. A creative and artistic person at heart, she tries to dress the part as often as she can. Sporting weird hairdos and interesting colour choices for clothes and makeup. Pretty young thing, she encounters Seth, the enigma early on in our story, then tragedy happens as she apparently kills everyone at a party. Somehow Seth is tangled up in all this, if not responsible. Her main conflict would be to get to the bottom of what happened on that terrible night. This is, a story about growing up so she will get to terms with who she is and learns to work with situations that are against her. It's also about her finding her place in this weird, alien place we call society.

age:17
race:Asian/Chinese
168cm
59 kgs
breast size: adequate, but not big. lol.
likes: indie pop, arty stuff.
dislikes: formal clothing, the news.
notes:rather attractive under all that pretentious shit she wears.

"Random" Richard

Our P.I. or 'Searcher' as he calls himself. An orphan, since a child "Random" Richard Fenton has had to make do with what he has. Doesn't believe in God because after seeing all the shit he's seen, nobody would. His innate resourcefulness and eye for detail prove to be useful for the trade that he has chosen. Always looking cool, never flinching even in the face of Armageddon, he is the best at what he does and is never wrong. Or so he thinks. Truth is, he's kind of a clueless dolt, with a heart so big you can't help but like him. Competent, but often forgetful. Alice does all his work for him. Alice being his briefcase. You've got to be a character to name your briefcase. Highly protective of Mina, since he almost became her step-father. His relationship with Sarah; Mina's mother is mostly covered in dust, lost in the pages of history, but always remembered. It bites him like an invisible thorn in his side, and even after all these years, he still has a soft spot for her. Always one with a quip, he's as easy going as one can be. Alice follows him everywhere because despite how cool he pretends to be, he knows he can never get anything done without Alice.

age: 39
race: unknown; but probably half asian.
180cm
79kgs
likes: football, detective novels, classical music
dislikes: Soap operas, baseball.
notes: "Richard" for "Dick" as in "Dick tracy" and "Fenton" from "Fenton Hardy", father of the popular Hardy boys series of crime novels.

Sarah

Mina's mom. Overprotective, agoraphobic( scared of going out ). Still depressed over her husband's death, which contributes to her over protectiveness of Mina. Not wanting to lose another part of her family, she tries her best to keep her beloved daughter out of harm's way. Her methods may not be advisable, or good, but her intention is worth it's weight in Gold. Having Mina at a young age means she's still relatively young for a mother of a 17 year old daughter. Pretty, but years of pills and pointless, aggravating therapy have taken it's toll. Briefly emerged out of her self-imposed isolation when she hired Random for a job years ago, and subsequently developed an attraction for him. For reasons unknown to us, the relationship never worked out, and since then her agoraphobia has gotten only worse.

age: 41
race: asian/Chinese
165cm
60kgs
likes: Mina, the news.
dislikes: outdoors.

Seth

Our ice-cool antagonist, for the most. Mysterious, good-looking, almost androgynous is how we would describe Seth. His voice is almost ethereal, other-worldly. His intentions are currently unknown to us but he's a man(entity) with a purpose. A purpose that involves a lot of blood and laughter at the expense of others. Usually their lives. Extremely manipulative, he harbors no ill will towards anyone or anything, but her cares for none of it as well. Enigmatic, smooth and a walking talking wikipedia, he really can do or say no wrong. Blond and blue-eyed, this instrument of a will unknown to us is related to, or maybe even responsible for the club-massacre that happens in chapter 1. But what, pray tell may be his motives?

age:?? (looks about 25)
race:?? (looks white)
175cm
likes: chaos
dislikes: order
notes: has only been seen and acknowledged by Mina.