Addiction II

I have a sick and sordid confession to make. As a film student and film bluff; there tends to be this expectation that people place on you to like "serious" or "artistic films"...well, I do. But there is this other side of me that likes brain less "silly" films. I mean, as much as film making is my life, I see films as being a form of entertainment too. And that's why I watch all sorts of films. And that's why I like "zombie" movies!

I don't know why but I do! They are often silly, over the top, hardly ever scary but they make me laugh and the above mentioned facts are the reason I like them. They remind me of why I liked movies in the first place. The entertainment factor.

Good serious or arty films are excellent but there are times that your brain really just wants to shut down. That's what "zombie" movies are for! Hahahaha...

For anyone interested, some of the better ones are Dawn of The Dead, Land of the Dead, Resident Evil 1 and 2 and Shaun of the Dead. Check them out. They're all pretty good. Like I said, they make me laugh.

“Can’t sleep, clown’ll eat me...” II

I hate it every time I have a sleepless night. My mind just goes all over the place, thinking about everything and anything. Today my mind just ran through all the dear Australian friends that I have made during my time here and the fact that after I go home, it will be a really long time before I even see them again. If I do get to see them again. Its horrible.

I love to sleep but these few months I have not been sleeping well at all. And from time to time I have these sleepless nights which last for days. And it really makes it very hard for me to function and get things done.

Another thing that exacerbates my current malaise is my current treatment of anti-depressant medication. There are days when I forget to take them and if I do, it makes my head spin out of control. I get bad headaches and this makes the sleepless nights worse. *Sigh*

Sometimes, I just want to take out me brain and shoot it...

Arsenal FC: New goalkeeper

Arsenal has signed a new goalkeeper, Lukasz Fabianski. Not to shabby, our first signing of the season and from the sounds of it, he looks like a good young investment. Lets hope he is really as good as he sounds on paper. Now all we need is a few more experienced players and we'll be set. Frank Ribery and Micah Richards perhaps? Fingers crossed...

All Arsenal related post will be in Arsenal red. :)

Movie Review: Pirates of the Caribbean: The World's End

*WARNING: Post contains Spoilers!*

I have to say that I was very happy with the third of the Pirates of the Caribbean films. It was a fitting end to the trilogy (if the studio chooses to end it here). The first Pirates of the Caribbean film was a classic; a great action adventure that really stood out when it was released. When the decision was made to turn it into a trilogy and film the next 2 films together (ala The Matrix Trilogy), a deep sense of dread came over me and considering what happened with the Matrix, I think it was well founded.

When the 2nd film came out (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest), my fears almost seem to come true. The film was in my humble opinion a big let down from the first one. As far as trilogies go, the middle is always the hardest one to tell and the hallmark of a great trilogy is often decided by how great the middle one is (The Godfather Part II, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Spiderman 2 etc...). Bad part twos often leave too much problems for the final chapter to fix.

But this film really does pull the trilogy back up the the fun and adventure of the first film. And in light of that, all the pieces fit into place, and thus the story thread running through all 3 films is very smooth. This also make watching the 2nd film a lot more enjoyable. Fingers cross on a special marathon screening of all 3 film together perhaps?

For this film itself, as I said early, it recaptures the swashbuckling adventure of the first POTC film and is very much watch-able on its own. All the story treads are tied up very well together and the twist and turns of the film are still surprising enough (well, some of them are but some are rather expected) to make you be on the edge of your seat.

The characters are rich and very well acted. Johnny Depp is excellent as usual as Captain Jack Sparrow and the return of Geoffrey Rush as Captain Barbossa is a welcome addition to this film. The scenes between the two of them are really a great highlight in this film. Another great addition is Keith Richards who does a cameo appearance as Jack Sparrow's father. Keep a look out for that scene. It is really an awesome scene.

The fight scenes are excellent and much bigger and grander then in the first 2 films and the CGI work on this film is first rate. The story itself has a good blend of humour and drama to really get you caught up in it. However, a little problem that I have is the film does move at a very quick pace and sometimes leave you behind for a moment and doesn't give you time to catch up. But on a whole, it wasn't a big issue. The dialogue overall was good but sometimes it was delivered at breakneck speed and it really forces you to pay attention.

The overall plot of the film, however, isn't really played out as well as probably in the first film. I actually overheard some of the audience trying to work out what they had just watched after the show but honestly, I didn't have that problem and neither did any of the friends I went with. Could just be a minority.

And for anyone reading this before they watch the film, remember to stay until the end of the credits for a hidden scene. *BIG SPOILER ALERT: Highlight the empty space if you wish to read it* The child seen in the hidden scene is NOT the boy from the opening of the film but rather the son of Will and Elizabeth; who is waiting to see his father for the first time. I really enjoyed this film and it really closed the trilogy in a thoroughly satisfying way. I give it a 8.5/10.

Happy Birthday Star Wars!!!

Star Wars is 30 years old today. It's amazing isn't it, its been 30 years since our imaginations were sparked to life it. 30 years since the opening lines "A long time ago...In a galaxy far far away..." sparked generations of youngsters to dream and reopened the eyes of every film-maker in the world.

Beyond a film, it become the symbol of an entire generation. And it become the one thing that brought back hope to a generation that has forgotten the difference between good and evil. There are so many different things that could be traced to the impact of Star Wars and I'll probably go into it in detail another day but no matter what people will say about it and the subsequent sequels, the truth is, Star Wars will never lose its place in the hearts, minds and dreams of an entire generation.

The Darkness of Humanity

Some things that have occurred in my life in the past few weeks have shown me only too clearly the most hideous nature of humanity. The self-centred nature of Men (used to represent all human kind - female and male) that exist is the reason I have lost faith in people and in the world in general. I no longer believe in that we are capable of doing good to our fellow Men. The "slow failure" is probably the best way to describe this experiment we call life. When the day those who seem good are shown for what they really are: evil, self centred hypocrites; we know we have failed. Failed the great dream that once was humanity. Aristotle once wrote "Men, though they look, fail to see what is well-being, what is the good in life."

Religion isn't the answer. In fact it's far from it. It divides us ever more sharply. How can we talk about doing God's work, of showing compassion and kindness when the only thing our hearts and minds focus on is on our own gains and benefits. We plead to the world to listen to us, to look at us to show the way. We proclaim it to the world! "Kindness and compassion to all!" We even use it to represent ourselves on MSN and other chat programs. Its so much easier to hide our true nature on a computer screen then in real life. But the truth is, we are so dark, so evil and so twisted inside that we believe our own lies that we are doing everything for the betterment of humanity. All we do is make use of who we can, whenever we can, hiding behind whatever reason we choose to make ourselves feel better. We do it so often we believe in our own bullshit. Humanity hates itself.

All we are doing is slowly killing the little hope that people already have in the goodness of the human heart. We kill ourselves with our own hypocrisy. It's a sad day indeed when the flower of hope begins its slow decay with our souls.

Some of us try to do what is right. We live by the idea that compassion (one that is not ultimately self-serving and pure form of compassion) is the only way we can restore hope within the human race; to once again believe we as a race can achieve what we were designed for but this journey is long and this journey is tiring and for the first time in my life, I'm not sure if I can find the strength within myself to carry on. I've grown tired of the evils of humanity. But everyone has limits. And I am truly tired.

featured photo II

New photo! Took this while I was on holiday in New Zealand (most beautiful country I have ever been too) in 2006. It was in a really nice little chapel overlooking the mountains. A gentle reminder of the beautiful world God made for us.

Photo was taken with a Nikon D70 and a Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 lens (If memory serves me well).

Movie Review: Zodiac

*WARNING: This post contains possible Spoilers.*

I watched Zodiac today. I liked it. Well, maybe I'm biased because I like most of David Fincher's films; especially Fight Club and Seven. But that aside, I think it was a pretty good watch. For those who are unsure of what it is about, well, don't find out. Its better that way. But for a basic sum up of what the film is about: its about a serial murder case. I like stories like this. Mystery and serial murder stuff, its just really great story telling. Particularly when you throw in a set of cyphers into the mix, you got me hooked.

The good points about this film was that it was very well paced, it was slow but you don't really feel the length. The characters are engaging and the acting was first rate. The only draw back I could think of was the fact that because of the length of time needed to cover in the film, if you didn't pay close attention to the captions, you'd feel lost. Another downer I feel was the film does a very odd job when jumping between the two main characters. Actually more of Robert Graysmith (played by Jake Gyllenhaal), he sort of drops away from the story a little during the middle part of it. But other wise, I didn't find anything else wrong with it. The plot was tight, the pace was comfortable and it had great acting.

The look of the film was a departure from Seven and Fight Club, not as extreme but still holding elements of the typical Fincher look. Interesting technical note, Fincher shot this on digital rather the 35mm film. Might explain for why this film looked different from his previous ones.

Overall, I really enjoyed Zodiac. A lot more then Spiderman 3 in fact. I fact I liked it so much more that I rate it at 7.5/10.

Gay or Straight? I Don't Care. Do you?

I found this report on Yahoo videos today. Its a great 60 Minute episode. It touches on a topic which I am very interested in. Not because of any personal issues but rather an overall issue I have in relation to how homosexuals are being treated (particularly by religious and moralistic powers) . As I have mentioned before in my previous post, I am a Christian. And one of the greatest injustice I have ever had against the decisions that my church in Singapore has made was the tough stance in which they held against people who are homosexual.

They are often quick to judge and pass out judgement without fully understanding the context of the issue. I believe anyone who knows which church I belong to will probably disagree with me to the day I die. But let's just say this, the amount of control that a church has on a person makes the person follow an agenda (the church's) without question and without doubt. I cannot do that which is why it was so easy to label people like me "rebels" rather then have someone around who actually has a mind of his own. It's always easier to ignore people who question them rather then having to explain yourself to someone "beneath" you. My question is "Why can't we treat each other as human beings? As equals?". Oh well, that's life I guess.

"Falsus in unum, falsus in omnibus"

*Disclaimer: This post is based on my own personal observations of the people I have encountered in my life. Please make up your own mind about what I have written here. These experiences are personal. I am not passing judgement on anyone here and the reason I am writing this so people can reflect on their own lives and actions. It is something that has been bothering me for a long time and I needed a place to vent.

I am a Christian. And I have been one for coming to 10 years of my life; grew up either in a Catholic or Christian school. I started attending and being active in church soon after the day of my salvation. I've personally had my ups and downs. My time when I was close to God and my time away from God. I am far for being the poster boy of what most people would call “the ideal Christian boy/man/whatever you want to call it”.

One thing I love to do in my life in church is to observe. To watch how every other Christian around me behaves, acts and lives out their lives. To learn perhaps by observation. Most Christians I've encountered love to wear their religion (or relationship but I'm going to use religion here simply because its easier) on their sleeves like a badge of honour.

I am happy to say that in my many years in church I have met many wonderful people. Christians who really care and who really show themselves true. people who have helped me grow, to see different sides of God. To become a better person and a better "Christian".

But on the flip side, I have met more of those who are not. They hide themselves behind façades; behind an idea of how they want to be seen to the world around them. they show themselves great in front of the eyes of those who matter. to climb the social and political powers that surround any organisation (and in particular organized religion).

People who have one more then one occasion caused me to walk away from them. Many people say, you go to church for God and not for people but these are the same people who say that we (people) make up the church. So if I go to church for God, why do I have to fellowship with others? I mean, from the start, the argument is flaw. Most people go to church for the first time because their friends bring them. That proves you do go to church for people. And most of the time, u continue to go because of people, friends etc...

They use the infamous term “in the service of God” or “doing God's work” as a excuse for ignore their personal responsibilities to their own lives while expecting others around them (especially if those other are Christians) to pick up the slack for them. They come of as wonderful Christians but horrible human beings (yes, its possible to be that). When you make a choice, it is YOUR choice; people can support you but they cannot do everything for you. It's your responsibility to find balance in your life and not expect others to help you balance it. And if you can't then it your prerogative to make it work. And if you don't and continue to expect others to pick up your shit , then that is nothing more then being a self-centred p***k.

Yet, these are often the same people who are always the first to judge, the first to cast their stone. They use their positions of power within the church structure or their influence (people they know) to give them the position to measure every one else. Often without really knowing or understanding any thing or any one. It's so easy to judge isn't it?

They cast moral judgement on others as a way to ensure their own superiority. They give themselves the right to be better then anyone else. They become hypocrites. "Pharisees" anyone?

When you stand up and say what you say and tell people, “Follow me! I have found a better way. The TRUE way!” Just remember, the world is looking and they look beyond what is shown. They look at EVERY aspect of your life. And the best part is, once someone knows one side that doesn't add up to what you advertise yourself to be...well, lets just say, people talk.

I have grown tired and wary of these people. I have encountered too many of them in my life; both in Singapore and in Australia and I suspect that there are people like this all around the world. They have become the reason I have grown to distrust the Church (in fact, ironically, most of these people either work for the church or are very much and active part of a church). After all, a church is made of the kinds of people in it. They often enjoy using the fact they are working for the church to become ugly and disgusting human beings. Is that how you want to be seen?

Serving God? Serving a higher purpose? Or serving your own selfish needs for power? Sometimes people just work for the church because they are desperate or incapable of finding a job somewhere else. But it's not for me to say why. Everyone has their own reasons and they will one day have to be honest with themselves. I've had to make the choice one before and my choice was based on what was best in the long run. I was taught a long time ago: Service does not equal to power. Service does not equal to the right to rule. Service is simple to serve. To help. To make better someone else's position.

I am not the perfect Christian, in fact, I am far from it. but I know this. it is not my place in this world to judge. it is my place in this world to listen, to understand and to try to help those that need help. And it is through the way I live my life that they will see that I have found something they need. Its easier to convince someone that you are good by being good rather then saying you are good. Facta, non verba.

I am on a journey, one that will take my entire lifetime to complete. To say "I am perfect" is to say my journey is over. Yet, this is how many Christians want to be seen. But not me, I am happy being an imperfect being. It gives me the chance to learn the lesson in life that i need to learn. Someone a lot wiser them me once said, "The important part of a journey isn't the destination but rather its how we get there."

Many people have said that there are 2 types of Christians in this world; those that are on fire for God and those that are not. I believe there are 2 type of Christians in this world, but its simply those that understand and those who think they understand. It your choice who you want to be. Not anyone else's.

The Simpsons: 400 and counting...

I read this article on Yahoo! News today and its just seems to relate quite well to my earlier post on The Simpsons. Enjoy!

House: One Day, One Room

I skipped my lecture today to stay home to watch House (guilty look). It was one of the best episodes of Season 3 of House. I don't get to watch it much because its on at the same time as my lectures normally. But I knew what was on tonight's episode and I really wanted to. So please keep a look out for the episode titled above. It's really one of the best I've ever watched.

Memoria II

I've been speaking to a couple of old friends in the past weeks. Most of us are around the same age and if there is one common tread between all those conversations is the question of what achievements have we made or what direction are our lives heading in.

Sometimes I think back and wonder when was it when we were growing up that our dreams and wishes for our futures got beaten out of us. I'm one of the lucky ones if I think about it. The one thing a number of friends are envious of me is that from a very young age, I knew what I wanted to do and have spent my whole life doing it. Although as I grew older, different aspects of myself came to light and I have altered my direction but it hasn't changed what I wanted since I was 7, 8 years old. I am one of the lucky ones whose dreams and talents fell together in the right place.

Maybe its because of the schooling system many of us grew up in. For all its successes, it has failed to prepare many of us for what life would be like outside of school. The real world is different from the world within the safety of a school. Knowledge without wisdom is nothing but a waste of knowledge.

I listen to the stories that my friends tell and I think back to conversations we had many years ago, when we were teenagers and the world before us was new. Something changed. The hopeful tones have become voices of regret and unfulfilled wishes. It breaks my heart when hearing it. Many people say the transition years are when you leave childhood and enter your teens, I think the real transition years are when you leave your teens and enter adulthood. The idea that as a 21, 22 year old person, you will have to know by then what to do with you life is just a scary thought for many of us. It truly is the first time in many of our lives we have to take responsibility for our lives and our futures; we are left without a safety net, without someone to blame. No matter how prepared you may think you are (and the truth is, most of us are not), its still scary.

Maybe this is why there are so many movies made about this subject, off the top of my head I can think of at least a few that have touched me; Clerks, Clerks II, Garden State, Dead Poet's Society. There is much to be learnt from these films; reflections of real life presented on the big screen (or the TV screen) for our benefit. Lessons in life and nuggets of wisdom hidden within the layers of laughter and tears that a film brings.

Its not difficult to understand why - As film students, we were taught when we wrote our stories and screenplays that one of the most important element is character development and one technique in story telling is for your protagonist to discover the difference between what he or she wants and needs. Its the same with real life. The reel echoing the real, as I would call it.

In an episode of Scrubs (I believed it was titled My Old Lady), J.D. was trying to convince and old lady to continue living by giving her a list of things that everyone should do once in their life. Much to his surprise, she has done everything that was on his list. Instead, she turns the question around and asks him how many of those things has he done or in fact how often has he done nothing and just sat in the sun.

We are told from a young age that we have to move from point A to B to C and so on and so forth. When we were children, we went where we were told to go. But now, we're older, no one tells us where to go. Many of us stop and stand still. It's like what Randal says in Clerks II, "I think the world has passed us by a long time ago." The question many of us face is simply this: So now where do we go?

There is a line in the screenplay for Dead Poet's Society that was cut from the final version of the film and it goes something like this "Do not be afraid to build castles in the air. That's where they should be. But rather, now build for these castles, foundations upon with they can stand."

Its time to dream again. And to believe that dreams do come true.

featured photo I

Updated the photo at the bottom of the page. Took it on my way home from uni one evening. The sunset was just beautiful. Enjoy.

Photo was taken with a Nikon D200 and a ZF 25mm/f2.8 lens.

The Question

Shakespeare once wrote, "To be or not to be? That is the question." I think he should have also written, "Can a man and a woman be friends? That is THE question." It was established in When Harry Met Sally that it was impossible for a man and a woman to be friends without sex getting in the way. For those who have never watched that film, do yourself a favour, rent the DVD and watch it.

Anyway, I personally think its very much possible for that to happen. Most of my best and closest friends are girls. And most of us have been friends for many years and like I always said, if anything were to happen, it would have happened long ago.

So why is it so hard for people around, especially girls if I have to be honest, find it so hard to accept that 2 people (a guy and a girl) can be close friends without having any other forms of attraction between them? I think its because those people have either been to hurt by someone they once cared (and probably still care about) and thus have become bitter to the thought that someone else can be nice to them without wanting anything else or they are just simply cynical.

I have in my short life time seen many friendship and have had many friendships destroyed by people like this. They go around and whisper their own bitterness and cynicism into the ears of their friends (sadly to say, in most of my experiences, its always seems to be girls who do this but as I said, this is written from personal experiences). It almost seems as thought just because they cannot have a guy or a girl for a friend that no one else can. I mean, get over yourself. Its not your life anyway. What gives you the right to know everyone's intentions anyway? Just because you've been hurt by someone or been played by someone does not mean everyone else's intentions are the same! And just because you yourself cannot make friends with the opposite sex (friends who aren't trying to sleep with you - true friends - and if you don't know what a true friend is, this is directed at YOU!), it doesn't mean that other people have to share in your failures! As I said it before...GET OVER YOURSELF!

I have to say that the few years that I have spent living in Australia, I never had that problem with most of my Aussie friends. It always seems when I am back amongst my Singaporean friends that all this kind of bullshit happens. I don't know why. Maybe its our upbringing? Maybe we just need to get involved in other people's lives? But this isn't the first time I've experienced things like this and honestly, I think those people who do such things should simply be shot dead. I am down right sick of it. It happens everywhere and honestly, it's childish and stupid. Grow up people...grow up.

But why do people do this? I think it because we are becoming more cynical with every passing day and if you ask me, the world could do with a lot less cynicism. We have already embrace ignorance and apathy as "moralistic pillars" of our life. We embrace it and we take pride in it. We walk around comparing whose life is more miserable. I honestly hope that we do not do the same with cynicism. The world is already a painful and difficult place to live in. And we ourselves are part of what makes it worse. Semper fi.

Nemo nisi per amicitiam cognoscitur.

Movie Review: Spiderman 3

*WARNING: This post contains Spoilers.*

I just got home from watching Spiderman 3. I have to admit, I was rather disappointed. When you put all three Spiderman movies together, 3 would be the weakest. I'm not saying that it was a bad movie. In fact, it was rather entertaining but in terms of the overall trilogy (isn't this such a buzz word nowadays?), it just couldn't stand up to the other two films. Since the internet has given every one a chance to speak their mind, here's my two cents worth...

The main thing that bugged me most about Spiderman 3 was the way the whole story played out. It just felt very much like 3 short films about Spiderman spliced together into a single movie (which ran for 2 1/2 hours!). In the first two films, there was an overall story arch that held the films together; Spiderman 1 being about Peter learning to deal with the power he has been given (you know, they whole "With great power comes great responsibility thing); while the 2nd film was about Peter learning to balance his life after accepting his role as Spiderman and not too mention the entire story arch with Doc Octopus. Such an arch was clearly missing in this film.

The opening 30 mins or so of the film felt like we were tying up unfinished story lines left over from Spiderman 2 with the New Goblin sub plot. Then the film continues to drag us through the Sandman/Black Spiderman plot line before finally coming to a slow and tenuous conclusion with the "All-In" fist fight involving not 2, not 3 but 4 superheroes/villians - Sandman and Venom on one side and Spiderman and New Goblin on the other (yes, its not a typo; NEW GOBLIN AND SPIDERMAN).

Character development was really weak as well. We don't really learn anything new about Peter, he's still as indecisive as he was in the first 2 films. How long does it take him to get used to being Spiderman? The there is Sandman, great back story to his character in this film but not used enough to make me feel for him. He was just always in the background and hence, forgettable. It felt like he was there just as a plot device to get Peter to embrace the Black Spidersuit powers. Venom is Venom, awesome but totally underused. He has always been Spiderman's most interesting nemesis (in my humble opinion at least). But to introduce 2 brand new villains to this film and not to mention trying to wrap up the Harry/Peter story line and have Peter fight his own demons was just one villain too many.

In the end, I counted Spiderman fighting 4 different enemies in the whole film. It was just a little too much. I think if they had just focused on a story line using New Goblin/Spiderman/Venom, many of us would have left the theatres feeling a lot better. There was so much that could have been done without need to introduce Sandman. Having said that, Thomas Haden Church did really well in that role. In the film makers defence, once they had decided to attempt such an ambitious story line, they were pretty much locked into it.

I think there is a lot more to come from this franchise, but maybe its time for Sam Raimi to take a short break from it. I just felt that overall, I was being dragged along for the ride rather then sitting back and going with the flow of the story. But what worries me is the fact that they tried to squeeze so much into this film with Venom (who honestly deserves a single film just with him and Spiderman) and company, it might be a sign that there won't be a fourth one. Fingers crossed that's not going to be the case.

So in closing, if I had to rate the film, I'm going to do it in context with the other two films. Hence, Spiderman 1 would get a 8.5/10 (this happens to be my personal favourite), Spiderman 2 would be a 9/10 and finally, Spiderman 3 would come in with a disappointing 5/10.

“Can’t sleep, clown’ll eat me...” I

I couldn't sleep at all last night. No idea why. My sleeping patterns since I got back to Australia have been very bad, I barely sleep nowadays. And it has affected my work and my health quite a bit. I was trying really hard to get to sleep last night, but I ended up tossing and turning in bed for a few hours. At some point I gave up trying and started to sort out my DVD collection.

An interesting realisation dawned on me as I did...I actually own all the films written and directed by Kevin Smith (I'm a pretty big fan of his) - Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Jersey Girl and Clerks 2.

Of all his films, my favourite still has to be Chasing Amy (for anyone who has never seen it, please do yourself a favour and watch it. It will change the way you look at love). Clerks, Clerks 2 and Dogma all are tied for second place and surprise surprise, Jersey Girl is actually the third down on the list. With JASBSB next and Mallrats last of all.

I know most people out there probably haven't watched Jersey Girl before or if they did probably didn't like it very much. Smith seems to enjoy taking the piss out of himself with Jersey Girl but I think its a wonderfully touching film; it has a some-what predictable ending but a sweet flick non-the-less. Ok, it had some really bad acting (actually I think only one of the cast members did a bad job) but overall, I think the film deals with a topic not seen much in films at all. Fathers and daughters.

I think unfair judgement has been passed on this film based upon the early types of film that Smith released. This film was for a much different audience, and if memory serves me right, even Smith himself said so. Jersey Girl really has to be looked at with new eyes; by removing oneself from the well established and much loved "View Askewuniverse". Its a really heart warming story of how a father comes to terms with his own dreams and his role as a father. I think when we look at the film from that point of view, we get a very different feel for it.

I'm not ashamed to say I enjoyed it the first time I watched it at the movies and its not just because I am a fan of Kevin Smith but it was because it was a film that moved me. I found a connection with that film that I didn't with a lot of other movies I've watched. I'm not saying its the best film ever made or that it'll rank as one of my top 10 favourites (hmm...interesting idea for a future post perhaps?) but I'm saying that its a film I enjoyed watching and would not have a problem watching it again. Lets just say I enjoyed Jersey Girl a heck of a lot more then I enjoyed the 2nd and 3rd Matrix films. :)

The Blues are OUT!

Congratulations to Liverpool FC! Once again they have knocked out Chelsea! Once more they have proved that money cannot buy you everything; take that Chelsea!. Although I am not a Liverpool fan, I think what they have achieve have been amazing! And I hope they go on and win the Finals this year. For 3 years running, there has been a English team in the finals of the Champions League; if only their national team could do as well...

Something new: a mini photo space maybe?

For all those who know me well enough, it is a well know fact that I am a bit of a photography freak. Since I take quite a bit of photos, I decided to put mini photo exhibition space of sort.
So at the bottom of the page, you'll find a photograph I took. Enjoy!!! :)

p/s: as a form of protection of my own work, all my photos shown in this space are copyrighted and have been watermarked.

The Gettysburg Address

Hmm...weird one for me to write about given I am not an American, never studied in America and only been to America once; when I was 12 - on a holiday (I went to Disneyland!!!). But as a film student, I watched a series of films called "The Civil War" by Ken Burns. In one of the episodes, it touched on the Battle of Gettysburg which many historians considered to be the turning point in the American Civil War.

What sparked my interest was the speech that Abraham Lincoln gave during the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg months after the battle. I felt a connection to that speech even though the events that it is directly linked to have nothing to do with my life. I think a sign of greatness is how a person can find inspiration from an event from ages past. And from the teacher that is history learn a lesson that will benefit their present. If I had to put a word to it, I guess it could be call "applicability".

Back to the main topic, as I said, the words of the speech really struck home for me. Parts of the speech echoed strongly some of the problems that we face around the world now. Today as I was just reading it again and I thought I'll just put a portion of it here for everyone to read. Especially for those who have never read it or heard of it before. Enjoy...

"But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain..."

I think this portion of the speech is fitting given recently in Australia, where I am currently based, just celebrated ANZACs Day. I guess this part of the speech can be used to honour all the veterans who have sacrificed so much.