My Top 10 Epiphanies For the Year 2008

What is an epiphany you might ask? An epiphany is the sudden realization or comprehension of the (larger) essence or meaning of something.

Here are my Top 10 Epiphanies For This Year!

1) When someone tells you to do something, or warns you off doing something, they probably have your best interest at heart. It might not seem so at that very moment, but in time, it will be revealed that it was good intentions. However, at that point in time where you have an encounter, you will never know which way the situation will swing. Most likely, you might interpret it as a sign of hostility or some other sign, which might not be the best to accept. But eventually, it will lead you to a better situation.

2) There are no such things as stupid questions, only very stupid people asking them. And strangely enough, they are positioned in very high places, you start to wonder why you're not in their place earning the big bucks acting stupid and they in yours.

3) Woman drivers still only drive at 1 speed, probably only +/- 2km/h at the speed limit, and are always in the overtaking lane when they don't need to be, driving at the speed of snails, oblivious to the long line of cars behind them. They should be banned from driving in the overtaking lane, and anywhere else that they don't know how to move over!

4) Selective hearing, when trained properly, can be a very useful tool for what the boss says.

5) You are only working as hard as the person next to you.

6) Working too hard and fast does not guarantee rewards, it only guarantees that you finish faster and are forced to help others who are perpetually or purposely working slow - that's your reward!

7) Friends are always there till the situation turns sour, then they utterly betray you to the wolves, if they can throw a few back-stabs to wound you first before that, they probably will.

8) You have to break the rules in order to conform to it.

9) Your boss never has your best interest at heart. Completely different and reverse to what was written in 1).

10) In order to work smart, you have to achieve the enlightened state of indifference!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2009!

From the wonderfully creative minds of my friends, all Microbiologists, I bring you Christmas decorations using only bacteria grown on chromogenic agar!

Joyeux Noël et bonne année 2009!

Prince Of Persia - The Sands Of Time Movie

Can you guess who is acting as the Prince of Persia in this movie adaptation of the famous PC game of the same name?

Jake Gyllenhaal is the Prince of Persia!

Something to look forward to in 2009!

Movies - Showing Now & Coming Soon

Opens Tomorrow! Looking forward to this...

Stephenie Meyer's vampire series has already opened!

Alan Moore's Watchmen, a movie adapted from his award winning graphic novel. Let's hope it turns out right, otherwise Alan Moore will flip, as he always does with all the "moronic" (quoted from Alan's words) movie adaptations!

Tom Cruise in Valkyrie, directed by Superman Returns and X-Men director Bryan Singer. I'm sure this will be a nice one, with dark tones as with all his other movies! Based on the actual WW2 Operation: Valkyrie.

Last but not least, Terminator Salvation's latest poster. Christian Bale seems to be in the limelight with The Dark Knight and Terminator. I think he'll make an excellent John Connor. I wonder what other movies are installed for him.

Logan aka Wolverine

Opening 1 May 2009, watch out for it!

Solace Of Quantum

The latest Bond movie Quantum of Solace (QOS) just hit the screens here this week and I took time off to watch it with a friend after work. Perhaps it was the long day at work, or just fighting to find parking space, I really didn't enjoy this Bond movie at all. Here is a short review and analysis of the movie.

>>> Tons Of Spoilers Below, Read At Your Own Risk! <<<

The film continues from Casino Royale (CR) with Bond driving from Lake Como to Siena, Italy with the captured Mr White stuffed into the trunk of his Aston Martin. After evading his pursuers, Bond and M, interrogate White regarding his organisation, Quantum. M's trusted bodyguard Craig Mitchell turns traitor – allowing White to escape – Bond chases Mitchell across Siena and kills him. I have to say that his fight sequence with Mitchell was amazing, and had me at the edge of my seat!

Bond ends up in Haiti to find Mitchell's contact, Edmund Slate and kills him. Bond's doing too much killing in this movie! He then poses as him, learning Slate was sent to kill Camille (the perpetual PMS-looking new Bond girl) at the behest of her partner, Dominic Greene, the ruthless chairman of Greene Planet and a member of Quantum. I have to say that although ruthless, his character didn't feel diabolical at all in this movie, making him the weakest villain ever in Bond history.

Greene is helping General Medrano – who murdered Camille's family – to stage a coup in Bolivia, that's a country in South America, and not Europe, like I thought the name sounded, in exchange for a seemingly barren piece of desert land.

Bond follows Greene, to a performance of Puccini's Tosca at Lake Constance in Austria. This is a clandestine way for members of Quantum to plan the coup, with each member communicating through special earpieces concealed in gift bags. Bond himself obtains an earpiece and disrupts the meeting. He then uses his Sony Ericsson mobile phone (I don't know which model, but I wish I had such a powerful phone that can take photos from so far away!) to take photos of various Quantum members and sends it back to MI6.

Bond and Camille drive to the location of Greene's intended land acquisition, surveying the area in a Douglas DC-3 propeller plane. They are intercepted by a chopper and a fighter plane sent by General Medrano and subsequently shot down. Before crashing, both Bond and Camille jump from the crippled plane and then freefall/parachute into a sink hole. There, the duo discover Greene is not interested in oil, but has been blockading supplies of fresh water, hidden in underground rivers.

Bond meets his CIA ally Felix Leiter at a local bar, who informs Bond of where Greene is set to complete his deal with Medrano. Bond and Camille go to an eco-hotel, located in the Bolivian desert, where Greene is finalising the coup. As the various parties depart, Bond attacks and kills the departing Colonel of Police for betraying Mathis and sets off a chain of explosions when a hydrogen fuel tank is destroyed. Camille kills Medrano and Bond captures Greene. After interrogating him, he leaves Greene stranded in the middle of the desert with only a can of oil.

Bond goes then goes to Kazan, Russia, where he confronts Vesper Lynd's former boyfriend, Yusef. Yusef is a Quantum henchman who specialises in seducing high-ranking women to get them to give up government assets as he stages his own kidnappings, and is doing the same with Canadian agent Corinne Veneau.

M reveals that Leiter has been promoted at the CIA, and Greene was found in the desert shot dead with motor oil in his stomach.

This Bond movie lacked the character, as a whole, that Casino Royale had with a stellar cast, especially the most beautiful and enchanting Bond Girl, Eva Green. I can't help but saying that, for the record, they destroyed yet another beautiful Aston Martin again! The Aston Martin car this time was a DBS V12. The latest Bond girl, Olga Kurylenko, looked like she was in perpetual PMS, although she had a good figure and great legs, that didn't make up the fact that she was hell-bent on revenge, there was no other side to her, not even a tender side, even her kiss with Bond looked rehearsed. She had a wall up around her that even Bond couldn't get through.

I think the only saving grace of the movie was the excellent car/boat/airplane chases, stunts and action scenes. Otherwise, the movie suffers from a fantastically weak plot and very shallow characters, leaving viewers wracking their brains as to what the organisation Quantum really was. I would think that it is another SPECTRE! Perhaps they will reveal more in the next Bond movie, will it be part of a trilogy?

I only recommend this movie to Bond lovers, otherwise, it's not worth watching at all. I was sorely disappointed, despite the good and positive reviews that I read, praising it as another good movie.

Shall I end with a Bond cliche - this movie left me unshaken, and unstirred!

3 out of 10 stars

Fringe Science

Fringe follows the exploits of FBI Special Agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv), scientist Walter Bishop (John Noble), and his son Peter (Joshua Jackson) as they investigate aspects of fringe science (telepathy, levitation, invisibility, reanimation, etc).

All over the world, a series of apparent experiments collectively referred to as 'the Pattern' ( e.g., a newborn baby who rapidly ages and dies in one day, a bus full of passengers trapped in a strange substance like mosquitoes in amber) are occurring for reasons unknown. Olivia, Peter, and Walter are in charge of investigating these strange events to determine their source.

Connected to the Pattern is a company called Massive Dynamic, which is a leading global research company that holds the patents for a number of new and important technologies.

This new series by director J.J Abrams of Alias and Lost fame, resembles The X-Files, but with more science, terrorism and Homeland Security involved, and has a lack of (for the moment) the love tension between the male and female lead characters.

Already 6 episodes have aired, and it got better and better. It carries all of J.J Abrams's cliffhanger signatures, however, each episode has moderate character development and it is self-contained with a resolution, albeit a satisfactory one.

So far, 22 episodes have been ordered. We shall see how this season unfolds and if it is worthy of carrying on.

A Short Tribute To Michael Layne Turner

While I was away on vacation, I found out that one of my comic book artist heroes, Michael Turner, tragically passed away on 27 June 2008 at approximately 10:42 pm in Santa Monica, Ca. Turner had been dealing with recent health complications arisen from bone cancer.

In March 2000, Turner was diagnosed with chondrosarcoma, a form of cancer, in the right pelvis. He was treated at UCLA Medical Center with surgery in which he lost a hip, 40% of his pelvis, and three pounds of bone. The surgery was followed by nine months of radiation therapy. After that, he continued the battle with cancer for 8 long years.

He was and artist - penciller, editor and writer for many comic books series, up to and including Witchblade, Fathom, Soulfire and many, many more titles.

I will always remember picking up the first issue of Witchblade and admiring the art and how Japanese-looking the characters were and how flowing the textures and inking was. When Fathom came along, his art had evolved to take on a greater texture, and one of the most difficult to draw - water! I was amazed at how he managed to make the ocean in those comic pages jump out of the pages and make it look so easy to create.

I'm sure that I won't be the only person to miss all his beautiful and wonderful artwork.

Rest in peace, forever.

Mimetic Polyalloy

The wait took forever, but finally, season 2 of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles finally aired last night, continuing what was a cliff-hanger from last season's 9 episodes.

>>>>>SPOILERS AHEAD!!<<<<<

The first episode of season 2 started with a bang, literally! And offered a lovely surprise. The title of this thread hints at the suggestion of a new terminator, and no, Robert Patrick is not reprising his role as the T-1000, instead a new female T-1000 has been sent back in time to ensure that Skynet is built at all cost! Here are some spoiler screen caps.

I'm sure that they could have thought of a more original way for Catherine Weaver to murder Mr Tuck, like let him continue peeing into the urinal and bite his dick off or something! After all, she was hiding as the urinal itself, snooping in the men's room indeed! I guess the traditional metallic toothpick seemed to do the trick, and it was certainly neat and easy!

To all my friends, beware, your boss might be disguised as the urinal and lurking in the men's room toilet to snoop on what you talk about behind her back! hahaha...

Enjoy!

My Favourite Things

It certainly looks like all the TV series are starting. It started with Prison Break Season 4. Starting a few days ago was Dexter Season 3, Entourage Season 5 and tonight, it's Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Season 2.

The next few months will seem less boring since Battlestar Galactica's last 10 episodes won't air till January 2009, the withdrawal symptoms were just beginning to set in, thank goodness I've something to keep me busy again!

Prison Break Season 4

I might be a little slow writing this now as I've been super busy with work, but 2 episodes have already been aired.

The biggest anticipation this season is that Sara Tancredi is alive and well. Everything is crazy as hell, new assassin, new plots, new key cards to get hold of, six to be exact, on different people and James Whistler is murdered in episode 1.

There's nothing to spoil as the episodes have already been showed, if you haven't tuned in yet, now's the best time to start. This season began with a bang and I'm anticipating a roller coaster ride!

Mosquitoes: The Bane Of Humanity

A few months back, I attended a World Vaccine Congress which talked about creating vaccines to combat Malaria, Dengue and other diseases. The best thing I remembered throughout the congress was that every single researcher was spending millions upon millions of dollars to find ways in which to deliver the vaccine into the body, how to fight the body's immune system and to overcome rejection or immunity against the vaccine itself, because a vaccine is considered a foreign body and when it is introduced into the body, the body's defences will attack it and destroy it.

The main topic was how to combat Dengue and Malaria. It then went on to expand on this idea and work towards combatting all mosquito-borne diseases, which included Yellow-fever, Japanese encephalitis, West Nile and Chikungunya. Now, the thing that I couldn't understand was why these scientists/researchers were trying to strike at the disease instead of at the carriers, ie the mosquitoes. I may sound mean, but will it be such a bad idea to eradicate all species of mosquitoes on the planet? Or if not all, just the female mosquitoes?

The idea was so simplistic, it was just baffling to me why millions and millions of dollars were spent to prevent it when we could simply destroy it, saving millions of lives.

Here's a short overview on the main and most important 5 mosquito-borne diseases:

Dengue Fever
Do not confuse Dengue with Malaria. Unlike Malaria, which is caused by a parasite, Dengue is a disease caused by a 4 closely related virus serotypes of the genus Flavivirus, family Flaviviridae. Dengue is transmitted by the Aedes mosquitoes, specially the Aedes aegypti mosquito, that feeds during the day.

With Dengue fever, a vicious cycle occurs when a mosquito bites an infected person, then becomes infected, and bites others. Dengue fever is typically characterised by symptoms like severe headaches, fever, nausea and vomitting and pains in the joints or bones. Some may mistake Dengue fever for a bad case of the flu.

The treatment similarly is lots of rest and increase fluid intake to prevent dehydration. In some cases, your doctor may prescribe drugs to bring your fever down. Usually patients recover within 2 weeks. However, if a person who has had Dengue is reinfected again with another serotype of Dengue, hemorrhagic fever can set in and it might become incurable, leading to death.

Malaria
Malaria is a well known mosquito-borne illness caused mainly by the Plasmodium parasites, consisting of the following species, Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium ovalae, Plasmodium malariae. These parasites are transmitted by female Anopheles mosquitoes. The parasites multiply inside red blood cells

Symptoms include fever, chills, muscle aches, fatigue, nausea and vomiting. Patients with malaria may also mistake their symptoms for flu symptoms. Unfortunately if not treated, malaria can lead to other illnesses including anemia and jaundice.

Once bitten it may take several weeks before a patient begins exhibiting symptoms, thus this is one mosquito born illness that is difficult to diagnose. Malaria is most often associated with travelling to foreign countries with large populations of Aedes mosquitoes. Fortunately, there are many treatment choices for patients with malaria. There are also preventive treatments a patient can take. These include:

• Chloroquine - Travellers should consider taking this pill starting two weeks prior to travel and for four weeks after travel if going to malaria infested areas.
• Doxycycline - This treatment starts two days before departure and may be continued for up to 4 weeks upon return home.

Unfortunately malaria is a very severe and insidious disease. Even after recovering some patients may find that their symptoms return several months or years after treatment.

Interestingly Malaria was discovered by Sir Ronald Ross, who was working in Secunderabad in the early 19th century, and is one of the oldest recorded disease in the world in the 18th century. Italians associated it with "Bad Air" (Mal aria).

Malaria remains the world's most devastating human infection, with 300-500 million clinical cases and 3 million deaths every year.

Paul Muller received a Nobel prize for the discovery of Malaria in 1939.

West Nile Virus
West Nile is a viral disease of the family Flaviviridae. It mainly infects birds, but is known to infect humans, horses, dogs, cats, and many other mammals. The main route of human infection is through the bite of an infected mosquitoes.

A 2004 paper in Science found that Culex pipiens mosquitoes existed in two populations in Europe, one which bites birds and one which bites humans. In North America 40% of Culex pipiens were found to be hybrids of the two types which bite both birds and humans, providing a vector for West Nile virus. This is thought to provide an explanation of why the West Nile disease has spread more quickly in North America than Europe.

West Nile Virus has recently invaded the shores of the United States. The symptoms are also flu-like and may include muscle and joint aches and pains, headaches, rashes and fevers. At this time there is no cure for West Nile disease, though patients usually recover in one to several weeks. Some people are not affected as badly as others.

West Nile is particularly risky for those with compromised immune symptoms. Severe reactions to the disease may include paralysis and encephalitis.

Japanese Encephalitis

Japanese encephalitis virus is a virus from the family Flaviviridae. Domestic pigs and wild birds are reservoirs of the virus; transmission to humans may cause severe symptoms. It is associated with inflammation of the brain and hence termed encephalitis. This severe and potentially life-threatening disease and is the leading cause of viral encephalitis in Asia with 30-50,000 cases reported annually.

The virus is prevalent in many countries in Asia with epidemics breaking out every few years. The disease is very widespread in China, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Nepal, Indonesia & other countries in Southeast Asia.

One of the most important vectors of this disease is the mosquito Culex tritaeniorhynchus. This disease is most prevalent in Southeast Asia and the Far East.

The illness occurs in two forms - a primary form and a secondary form. The primary form of the disease is more serious, while the secondary form is more common. But because of the milder nature of secondary encephalitis, more cases of primary encephalitis are seen.

Chikungunya
Chikungunya virus is an insect-borne virus of the family Alphavirus, that is transmitted to humans by virus-carrying Aedes mosquitoes. It is usually a usually self-limiting condition due to a virus.

Chikungunya is a relatively rare viral fever that is caused by the bite of a common mosquito. Outbreaks have taken place in many tropical countries. Recently it has resurfaced in many parts of South India and Southeast Asia.

It causes high fever with joint pain and rashes on the body. Most of the symptoms of Chikungunya mimic Dengue fever and can sometimes be mistaken for Dengue if further blood tests are not performed to exclude Dengue first, before diagnosing it. At the same time, the pain associated with Chikungunya infection of the joints persists for weeks or months.

Protecting Yourself From Mosquito-Borne Diseases
While most of this information sounds pretty terrible (that's because it is) the good news is you can largely protect yourself from mosquito bites. While you may not be able to prevent every bite, you can reduce the risk for contracting a mosquito born illness.

Common preventive measures include:

• Using chemical repellants or insecticides to keep mosquitoes in your yard at bay.
• Use of a mosquito repellant containing DEET. There are family formulas that contain less DEET that are safe to use on young children.
• Wearing long pants and sleeves when out in mosquito infested areas. Mosquitoes are also more common at dusk, thus it is a good idea to wear long sleeved items and spray your clothes when out in this environment.
• Use of citronella candles and other natural insect repellants.
• Keep grass trimmed short to deter mosquitoes.
• Avoid allowing any water to stand for more than a day in your yard or around your house, as mosquitoes tend to breed in standing water.

You'll probably find a combination of these strategies works best to keep mosquitoes from harming you and your family.

After listing down the diseases caused by mosquitoes, the kind of problems they cause and the millions and billions of money spent to research either a treatment or a prevention, wouldn't it be easier and cheaper, to just eradicate mosquitoes off the face of this Earth?

What do you think?

Coming Soon!

Two new movies to look forward to:

Terminator: Salvation (left)
I read that this is going to be a departure from the machine travelling
back into the past to save John Connor storyline.
And better yet, Christian Bale is starring as John Connor. It's going to be a hit, I'm sure!

Quantum of Solace (right)
Whoever said that David Craig was horrible as James Bond need to be shot!
I think he redefined the namesake for James Bond, not just as a spy,
but as a thinking-smart, action-packed MI6 double-O agent!

TR2N Trailer

The Tron 2 movie trailer that was a real surprise, screened at Comic Con 2008.
Featuring Jeff Bridges, who played the role Kevin Flynn in the first original
Tron movie, and will reprise his role (an older version of course).
We catch a glimpse of him overlooking a digitized battlefield in this trailer.

I can't wait for it to be released!

Something to look forward to...

Engineering Anarchy

I just returned from the late night screening of The Dark Knight. I have to say this, throw out all the reviews of all those critics you read about in the newspapers, especially the bad ones, I don't know what they were watching, or what they were thinking when they were watching the movie, because this Batman was not only one of the best, it was one of the darkest! Kudos to director Christopher Nolan for doing it right!

Batman is considered a superhero, but one without super powers. He's just incredibly rich and spends all his money and time fighting criminals and injustice in Gotham City. If you follow the comic books, he's part of the Justice League of America or JLA which comprises of Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash and several other characters who band together and fight injustice. But Batman on his own, well, he's just dark, brooding and most of the time holed up in his Batcave.

What this generation of writers have done is to write Batman as a force to be reckon with. They have somehow humanised his character, not always letting the good side win, but at the same time given him the power to deal with his group of freakish criminals in Gotham City. Unlike how Spiderman always swings to the rescue and spins the criminals up in a web, Batman doesn't use a gun, he takes things up close and personal with the criminals using hand to hand combat.

A few spoilers below, read at your own risk!

Heath Ledger's portrayal of The Joker blew Jack Nicholson's out of the water hands down! This Joker was not only insane, he was unpredictable, diabolical and menacing all at the same time. His plans were plans within plans within plans. Nobody knew or could have guessed the outcome of his plans. The way he flicked his tongue when talking reminded me of the way David Tennant flicked his tongue when he portrayed Barty Crouch Jr in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. He turned all the heroes to look in on themselves. People don't like what they see in themselves and will never admit their darkest secrets. This Joker lived up to his name as Batman's true nemesis. It was possibly an Oscar-winning performance on Heath's part, may he rest in peace.

Christian Bale did his usual good stuff in reprising his role as Batman/Bruce Wayne. It is so nice to see a hero falling, unlike those who would dodge bullets and escape unhurt, and how gravity could not affect them. This Batman could be hurt, not just with bullets, but when those closest to him get hurt. But as Bruce Wayne, it's always so nice to arrive fashionable late for fundraisers in a helicopter, with 2 or 3 beauties in each arm!

Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes over Katie Holmes' original portrayal. Although it does seem that a different actress did make the character older and harder, I still think that the casting was all wrong. I would have thought Charlize Theron could have played a better Rachel Dawes, but that role would have been too small for her as Charlize is lead actress material, not supporting. So, in a way, I was also glad that they got rid of her (oops spoilers!).

Gary Oldman as Lieutenant Gordon/Commissioner Gordon. Wow, he certainly added more depth to his character and had a larger role than in the first movie. He did a magnificent job of supporting actor. Gary Oldman is a very seasoned actor, I've loved his deep and character driven acting ever since Immortal Beloved, and Bram Stoker's Dracula.

Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent/Two Face. Another wow, his portrayal added a lot of charisma to first, Gotham City's suave district attorney and then later as Two Face himself. The other half of his face that got burnt, you have to see it for yourself, the effects are downright scary! "You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain."

If you haven't already watched this movie, go quickly to catch it at a cinema near you. Because telling yourself that you will buy the DVD or Blu-Ray to watch it is just not the same as watching it in the cinemas!

I highly, highly recommend this to all adults and lovers of Batman, as this movie is filled with mature themes and brings Batman to a whole new level of superheroes, along the same lines as Superman, Spiderman and Iron Man. The movie is a little too dark for kids, but I'm sure they'll understand sooner or later.

9.5 out of 10 stars

Jon McLaughlin - Live In Concert

Ever since his album came out May 2007, I've been a great fan of Jon McLaughlin's music. Do not be confused with John McLaughlin, the other guitarist. This Jon plays the electric piano (keyboard), and he gives new meaning to the piano-rock genre of music. The great thing this time is that I got to see him LIVE and to meet him in person at a small concert he held for the Indiana Colts down over in Indianapolis at the American Legion Mall.

It was great to see him perform, and you all out there will agree with me but it is always different when you watch a Live concert and compare it to listening to a studio recording. Musicians tend to improvise music in the Live concerts such that they get their fans to join in the fun. It was the same here. From his lop-sided smile/grin, to his energetic and charismatic strumming of the keyboard, it was an amazing concert right here in his home state of Indiana. He was also not as tall as the photos picture him to be!

I was most impressed with his piano skills, and beautiful and inspirational music. Jon played 4 new songs from his upcoming new album, to be released in August 2008. At the same time, he played some old ones from his Indiana album, including the beautiful piano ballad Indiana, and I got it all on camera and recorded down. The only disappointing thing was that he didn't sing the song from the Disney movie Enchanted, titled So Close, but still, it was great that he performed so many songs at a free and Live concert!

For a little concert that night on the 20 June 2008 at the American Legion Mall, many fans and high school graduates turned up. Jon also played them all a nice new song about high school and that it didn't matter at all, but I didn't get the name of the song. They brought out powerful loudspeakers, when the bass rocked, you can feel it throughout your body, gives me goosebums and temporary deafness when standing next to it!

So, for the time being, an update for June 2008, one of my favourite and newest inspirational artiste out there. I will put up more on him soon.

The recording of him performing the song Indiana Live is huge, over 470MB, and in AVI format, so if anyone out there has suggestions on how to convert that into WMV or some other format where it is smaller and I can post it up here, do feel free to drop me tips in the comments section.

Allons-y

Blame!

Blame, what exactly is blame? The dictionary defines blame as the following:

To hold another person or group responsible for perceived faults real, imagined, or merely invented for pejorative purposes.

Blame is an act of censure, reproach, and often outright condemnation.

Blame is used to place responsibility and accountability for faults on the blamed person or group.

However, I have my own personal definition: blame is the displaced fears of one person projected onto another person in order to alleviate a sense of personal well-being. Thus, I blame you for something I did wrong, so that I don't have to look in the mirror every morning and realise that I made the mistake. It's basic psychology. However, I'm no psychologist, and this is deduced through basic observation of the number of people blaming one another throughout the world.

Let's start small, I blame my brother for misplacing a book I was reading when in actual fact, I'm a scatterbrain, I left the book lying on the table in the bedroom upstairs when I thought it was placed on the coffee table by the television.

At work, when you don't get your projects done on time and correctly, you'll be blamed for its failure. Accountability and ability are 2 completely different things. You may have the ability to complete the project, but are you really accountable for every single thing that goes wrong with it? Is it in essence, your fault that something failed, or when something goes wrong every single time? There are certain things that are well beyond our control. However, nobody seems to believe that fact, so we blame God for it, an imaginary being who is not there - another form of displaced blame!

Governments blame other governments for something that was wrong in their country, so that they don't have to deal with the problem, at the same time, it makes it look like they're actually doing something about it, which they're not. They might be doing something about it, but it's nicer to blame somebody else for their own mistakes and shortcomings.

Most people who enjoy blaming others usually have some kind of inferiority complex, but most of the time, they're just bald - trying to outdo their opponent is a very taxing process indeed! Strangely enough, blame is like a genetic trait that flies around the world like the wind. It is very contagious because when I see someone else blaming someone else, I believe that I can do it too. Blame can mostly be found in developing to developed countries. The more educated you are, the more you know about something, the more blame will reside inside you to release its full potential. Underdeveloped countries tend to have a lesser percentage of the blame "gene", although it is still ever-present in its latent state.

How do we overcome blame? No amount of help or counselling will reduce the blaming that we all carry. Anything that rubs you the wrong way, you will definitely blame somebody else for your bad day.

Blame, we have to learn to live with it. Perhaps blaming is another way the soul copes with stress and in a way, it does relief stress to a certain extent, until reality comes back and slaps you in the face all over again and suddenly you do realise that it is, after all, nobody else's fault but your own!

The secret to success is knowing who to blame for your failures!

Happy 3rd Annivesary!

This blog is 3 years old today!!

It started off slow, but has really picked up quite a bit in the last year and this year.

I never really expected it to last so long.

Well, now I'm glad it did and am hoping for many more years to come!

Thank you everyone who has visited or contributed in one way or another!

Happy 3rd Anniversary!

Tempting Heart

I'm not an advocate of Mandarin movies, because most of the time they can get rather nonsensical and witless. However, once in a blue moon, a movie comes along that someone introduces to me and I was lucky to have the chance to watch it.

Yes, it is a rather old one from 1999 and it is a Mandarin/Cantonese film, and I got to watch the DVD in Cantonese, but hey, there are some lovely ones out there that nobody we don't know about and are not represented widely enough. Then again, I guess we tend to identify with romantic movies which touch our hearts better than others do.

This is a beautifully written and directed, romantic love-story, but it was done it a very abstract manner, in that scenes from the past, present and future were all intermixed and woven together like a tapestry to tell the entire story. Meaning, there could be a scene from when the characters were in the future, and then another from their past and then another in the present. It is up to you to figure out which period they were in and piece the movie together. There were times when I was confused, but in the end, all the questions were answered.

Not many movies make me cry, but this love triangle plot had such beauty in it, it told the human side of love and how close it comes to hitting home sometimes, you just cannot resist not feeling emotional when watching it.

Takeshi Kaneshiro stars as Ho-jun, a shy teenager who falls in love with Gigi Leung's character Xiao rou. Their relationship turns intimate but faces objections from their parents. Karen Mok plays Chen-li, the best friend of Gigi, whom Gigi confides in and tells all her problems.

This teenage love soon fizzled and Ho-jun turns to marry Chen-li. Chen-li then reveals that she and Ho-jun have been in love with the same girl Xiao rou. Xiao rou also gets married. She only later finds out that Ho-jun's wife is Chen-li, but only discovers this after Chen-li has died.

Chen-li left a message for Xiao rou, asking her for forgiveness. As Xiao rou prepared to fly back to Hong Kong from Japan, Ho-jun gives her a present. Inside the box were photographs, each taken when Ho-jun was thinking about Xiao-rou of their brief and bright moments of happiness.

What I loved most about this movie was this last scene, when she opens the box containing the photographs which were taken when Ho-jun was thinking about her. Who hasn't done that for their loved ones in one way or another? To capture a moment in time, through photography or otherwise, in which this same photo will trigger your memory of what you were actually thinking of at that moment in years to come.

Here is the love theme from the movie, also titled Tempting Heart, or Xin Dong. It is sung by Shino Lin Xiao Pei. Even if you don't know the lyrics, the music itself is really beautiful and touching. I've included the lyrics and the lose translation below.

This is a highly recommended movie for all romantics out there. The characters are believable and very easy to identify with and the acting is very powerful by the 3 lead actors.

9 out of 10 stars

You Duo Jiu Mei Jian Ni
(How long have I never seen you?)

Yin Wei Ni Zai Na Li
(I thought you were there)

Yuan Lai Jiu Zhu Zai Wo Xin Di
(In fact you're just deep inside my heart)

Pei Ban Zhe Wo De Hu Xi
(Accompanying my breath)

You Duo Yuan De Ju Li
(How far is the distance?)

Yi wei wen bu dao ni qi xi
(I thought I can't smell you)

Shui Zhi Dao Ni Bei Ying Zhe Me Chang
(Who knows your shadow is so long)

Hui tou jiu kan dao ni
(Once I turn around I see you)


Chorus:
Guo qu rang ta guo qu
(Let the past go)

Lai bu ji / Cong tou xi huan ni
(It's too late to love you from the start)

Bai yun chan rao zhe lan tian
(As if clouds are covering the blue sky)

Ru guo bu neng gou yong yuan dou zai yi qi
(If we can't be together forever)

Ye zhi shao gei wo men
(Give us at least)

Huai nian de yong qi
(the courage to miss)

Yong bao de quan li
(The right to hug)

Hao rang ni ming bai
(So that you understand)

Wo xin dong de hen ji
(The trace of my heart moving)


Zong shi xiang zai jian ni
(Always wish to see you again)

Hai shi zhe da tan ni xiao xi
(I even attempt to inquire your news)

Yuan lai ni jiu zhu zai wo de shen ti
(In fact you're just living in my body)

Shou zhu wo de hui yi
(Guarding my memories)

The Final Season Has Began!

The final season of Battlestar Galactica began and the first 10 minutes was enough to glue you to your seats for the rest of the season!

I don't know if any of you were listening to the background music, but about 8min 29secs into the show, there was this part where Anders was flying in a Viper and the Cylon Raider was flashing its red eye at him and there was a "red eye" moment for Anders, the music suddenly changed to something akin to gamelan music, with bass, just till the Cylons retreated.

Gamelan music is music from Indonesia, be it Javanese or Balinese, it involves deep gongs, brass percussion instruments and chimes played together in an orchestra of at least 65 instruments. The music in the show was just 3 notes, I think it was something like E, C, F, followed by drum beats and it just repeated itself, that was deeply profound for Bear McCreary to compose music like that!

Even the opening sequence has also changed, the Cylons don't have a plan anymore, everyone wants to find the Final 5 Cylons, and we know who 4 of them are.

Here's something from the Simpsons to give you an idea of the parody of the series, toasters indeed!

Hunting For Books @ Borders

I'm sure that anyone out there who enjoys books makes it a point to step into the many Borders Books & Music around the world. I've personally been to several Borders stores around the US. I have to say, I'm impressed by the standardisation of all the designs, layout and bookshelves in each and every one of the stores, even the smell of the store is the same throughout the world, trust me on this, I do remember the smell! However, there is one fatal flaw in all the stores, and that's in the way they shelf their books.

I can almost NEVER be absolutely sure which category the book I'm looking for is shelved in when I visit Borders. I know that different bookstores will have their own little categorisation and methods in which to shelf their books. However, the way the book is classified is sometimes determined by the author, it is mostly found in the copyright page (the first few pages) of the book, under which category it belongs to, and thus where it should be shelved. I also know for a fact that Borders gives their own categories and completely ignores this, even the ISBN number of the books have been pasted over with the Borders price tag and separate barcode.

Take for example, Anne Rice, her books are mostly about Vampires, in other bookstores, her books are shelved under Horror. If I go to the Horror section in Borders, oh wait, there's no Horror section in Borders. Anne Rice has been shelved under General Fiction. Another example is Gregory David Robert's autobiography Shantaram is found under Biographies/Literature in some other bookstore, but shelved under General Fiction. So, General Fiction is like a dumping ground for books that can't seem to be categorised, or at least, where the category simply doesn't exist in Borders.

Tell me, how does one go to find the book then? I can almost hear you all shouting to me,"Go ask the sale staff and do a computer search!; Or use the Borders data terminal to do a book search!" Ah... but that's precisely what I did. That brings me to how Borders categories confuse even their staff!

I asked the staff to search for a book, Jeff Lindsay's Dexter In The Dark. They say there're 2 copies left and bring me to the section, under Mysteries. Lo and behold, the book's not there, but the computer says it's there and there are 2 copies somewhere in the store. Are we going to get all the Borders staff to drop everything and search all the shelves for the book I want? No, the staff apologises nicely, and tells me that sometimes not all the books are on the shelves where they're suppose to. I thank the sales staff for her help and walk around. I later find the book under New Fiction, and it turns out the book wasn't a hardcover, it was a large tradepaperback edition.

I also have to bear in mind that Borders has this policy to let customers read books, so not all books are always put back where they need to be placed. So when the next person comes looking for the book, be it sales staff or customer, they might not find it.

I won't fault different bookstores for their flaws in shelving their books, however I do believe a new system should be put in place. Perhaps if they number their bookshelves in the stores, it will be easier to find books even in their computer system. If it says shelf B3 or something, then the book has to be on shelf B3. However, it might not always work with books not being placed back in their proper shelves.

This is a losing game, to make a bookstore as efficient as possible when looking for books, you might have to turn them all into how libraries shelf their books and tada, bookstores and libraries will be one and the same. Then again, a library is not much different from Borders, the only difference is that if you want the book at Borders, you have to buy it.

The Dogs They Are

The other day, I was walking to the library. A very interesting thing happened. Someone happened to be standing around the corner and was leisurely waiting/walking. Suddenly, she barked,"Angus, Angus, come, what are you doing there, come, come, COME!"

I assumed that she was calling out to her dog, who was probably left behind, or had found a little spot to do its business. How wrong I was! Around the corner, who came running desperately to the calls was a young 3 year old boy!

This wasn't the first time I've encountered this. There are times when I'm commuting, and I hear,"Sit, sit! You sit still, don't move, just SIT!" When you hear that, you naturally assume that the person shouting was trying to discipline his/her pet, be it a dog or cat or another animal. No, it was the complete opposite. It was a little boy or girl they were asking to sit down properly in the seats of a bus or train, because they couldn't behave themselves.

It's scary to actually see the association where a mom or dad calls out to their kids in the same way as they call out to their pets! What are parents doing nowadays? Let's draw a few parallels between their beloved children and their pets. I couldn't tell the difference, could you?

The Pets
1) They feed their pets.
2) They train their pets.
3) They discipline their pets.
4) They play with their pets.
5) They call out to their pets.
6) They clean up after their pets (not all of them do!).
7) They put their pets in "hotels" to get taken care of.

The Kids
1) They feed their kids.
2) They teach their kids.
3) They discipline their kids.
4) They play with their kids.
5) They call out to their kids.
6) They clean up after their kids (not all of them do!).
7) They put their kids in day-care centres.

Here are some of the more commonly heard words used by parents to call their kids/pets.

1) Sit!

2) Stand still!

3) Sit still!
4) Come on!
5) Hurry Up!
6) Where are you? Come to mommy/daddy!
7) Why so slow?
8) Move faster!
9) Shut up!
10) You can't pee/shit there!

If you were a blind person walking along the streets or commuting on a bus or train, it is so easy to mistake a call for a pet and a call for the kids.

Perhaps it will only take someone to point it out before the fine lines between the 2 completely different creatures become seamless and blurred beyond recognition!

How completely embarassing!