Alone with Crossing Over...

Again, i found myself alone in the house on a Sunday afternoon. I felt too lazy to go somewhere else so i decided to scrounge some DVDs from Wesa's stock.

I found this movie, Crossing Over, starring Harrison Ford as an immigration agent running after Mexican illegal immigrants.

The film deals with the border, document fraud, the asylum and green card process, work-site enforcement, naturalization, the office of counter terrorism and the clash of cultures.
from: Wikipedia

The movie highlights the lives of different nationalities struggling to get the much-coveted US green card.

There's the Mexican woman named Meriya (Alice Braga), who entered the US illegally with his young son.

Two Australian sweethearts with diverse interest of wanting to stay in the US. The guy (Jim Sturgess) was attempting to pass himself off as young rabbi. His Jewish friends taught him Hebrew prayers that he may use during the interview. He also involved his Mom in Australia to get "some papers" showing he got a Bar Mitzvah and went to Hebrew synagogue.

The girl (Alice Eve) was an aspiring actress and tried a shortcut by getting in bed with an immigration application adjudicator (Ray Liotta), whose wife (Ashley Judd) happens to be an immigration lawyer (pro-bono).

A Bangladeshi girl born in the US but her family is yet to get green cards who got enamored with Islamic extremism and caught the attention of Homeland security after she defended the 9/11 attackers in a class presentation.

A Korean boy and his family on the verged of getting naturalized but got involved with robbery turned bloody after his cohorts killed the Korean owner,

An Iranian-born immigration agent (Cliff Curtis, Ford's partner) belonging to an ultra- conservative family. His rebellious and liberal sister (Melody Khazae) was a considered a dishonor to their family and was killed by another brother (Merik Tadros) in a "family honor" killing. In the movie version, this "honor killing" was omitted. But in the DVD i saw, it was restored.

The climax of the movie was when the Iranian girl was killed by the younger brother , but it was Curtis that Ford suspected as the one who did it.

Distraught, Curtis went to a Korean store, and while inside, a group of hooded Korean youths stormed the store for a robbery. Along the way, the owner was shot and killed. Curtis engaged the youth in a gunbattle and killed all of them, except one young Korean (Justin Chon) who was about to be naturalized the next day. Curtis spared him his life and told him to go.

Ford receive a call from an immigration patrol who found the body of Meriya abandoned in the border. He went to Mexico to personally break the news of Meriya's death.

The Bangladeshi girl (Jaysha Patel) was deemed a future threat and was deported by Homeland security.

The Australian girl was arrested by immigration agents for having gotten his green card a bit too fast.

The Australian guy got a help from an old rabbi during the immigration interview, and eventually got his green card -- and a Jewish girlfriend.

Here's a review from John Hartl of Seattletimes.com:

The writer-director, Wayne Kramer, earned some fans for his 2003 sleeper, "The Cooler," which earned an Oscar nomination for Alec Baldwin. He's certainly good with actors, but he tends to push the big tear-jerker moments.

Kramer is also fond of swooping aerial shots that emphasize the boxy buildings and detention centers that litter the California landscape and trap his characters. He seems to be saying that they can't win in this environment, whether they're as world-weary as Brogan or as cynical as the actress who all but volunteers to prostitute herself.

But (spoiler alert) the movie does hold out some hope for people who luck out and/or won't let the system drag them down. As a result, the doom-laden visual scheme begins to seem inappropriate and a tad pretentious.

Next: DVD - The Red Cliff

Lost in Beijing, lost in translation..

It's Thursday evening and i've got nothing to do, and nowhere to go. After two hours on the net, i finally got tired. So i went to the sala to watch DVD movies.

Already, my two Indonesian housemates were watching a very unusual movie, titled "Lost in Beijing"... This DVD was brought over from Jakarta since last year by another colleague. I thought this was about the Beijing Olympics, so I never attempted to watch it.

Since my two housemates were so engrossed with the movie, i decided to 'sit-in' with them.

To my dismay, the movie was in Chinese.... And the subtitle was in Bahasa Indonesia.

I was just trying to figure ou the story and asking my housemate, once in awhile, what is going n in the screen.

Though i can understand only a few Bahasa words and phrases, i was able to finish the movie with them.

I thought is was an "indie" movie. Shot with a single camera, 8mm i guess. Shots were crude and in some instances, blurry. The fnny thing is the obvious one-camera use with the frequent panning between two actors talking, without a break in the shot.

Anyway, i have to go to my friend Wiki to get an understanding what what was the whole story about:

Liu Pingguo (Fan Bingbing) and her husband, An Kun (Tong Dawei) are a young migrant couple from the northeast of China who have moved to Beijing for a better life. Pingguo and An Kun live in a dilapidated apartment eking out their existence working menial jobs. An Kun works as a window washer, while his wife works in the Golden Basin Massage Parlor as a foot masseuse. Golden Basin is owned and operated by Lin Dong (Tony Leung Ka Fai), an unabashed womanizer, and himself from Guangdong Province. His wife, Wang Mei (Elaine Jin) practices Chinese medicine. Very soon, the two couples find themselves headed for a
collision course.

When Pingguo's best friend, Xiao Mei (Zeng Meihuizi), assaults a customer, she is quickly fired by Lin Dong. Pingguo, wishing to commiserate, takes her friend out and promptly becomes drunk on bai jiu. Returning to the Golden Basin, she passes out in an empty office. Lin Dong, seeing the vulnerable Pingguo attempts to make a pass, which quickly turns into rape, a rape witnessed by the window washer, An Kun. Furious at the sight, An Kun begins a campaign of harassment against Lin Dong, defacing his Mercedes Benz, and attempting to blackmail him for ¥20,000. When Lin Dong ignores the furious husband, An Kun goes directly to Wang Mei, who rather than acquiescing, seduces the naive window washer.

Soon, it is discovered that Liu Pingguo is pregnant, though neither An Kun nor Lin Dong can be certain of who is the father. Lin Dong, however, sees in Pingguo an opportunity to make things right with his barren wife as well as to settle things with Pingguo and her husband once and for all. Soon, the two husbands have concocted a scheme wherein An Kun initially receives ¥20,000 for his mental suffering. If the child has Lin Dong's bloodtype, he will go home with the massage-parlor owner and An Kun will receive ¥100,000. If however, the baby is An Kun's, no money is exchanged, but Pingguo and An Kun keep the baby.

Moreover, if Lin Dong again sleeps with Pingguo, half of his assets will go to Wang Mei in a divorce proceeding. During these negotiations, Pingguo remains conspicuously silent.

As the baby is carried to term, Lin Dong becomes more and more attached to the idea that he will at last be a father. When the baby is born however, An Kun discovers that it is indeed his child. Unable to turn down the money, he manages to convince Lin Dong that it is his son, allowing him to collect the ¥120,000. Although, seeing how happy Lin Dong is with the baby, An Kun grows increasingly jealous, at last resorting to a clumsy and ultimately doomed kidnapping.

After being released (presumably by Wang Mei, who has decided to divorce her husband), An Kun attempts to "repurchase" his child, to which Lin Dong promptly refuses. Pingguo, who had moved into Lin Dong's home after the birth as a nursemaid, at last has had enough. Quietly, she gathers the money that An Kun had returned, and taking her child, walks out the door. The film then ends as the two men, Lin Dong and An Kun, attempt to search for her, only to have their car break down on a busy Beijing highway...

One of the amusing aspect of this movie is its depiction of sex and nudity. Reports said that Chinese censors ordered 15 cuts to the film before being shown domestically. But it seems that our copy is a sort of "Director's Cut" copy.

I almost choked (i was eating 'suya' barbecue while watching) watching the rape scene between Lin Dong and Pingguo, and the sex scene between the young couple. Also, the bed scene between An kun and Wang Mei (Lin Dong's wife). I thought for awhile i was watching a soft porn movie.

One might see it was a "risque" indie film, and very rare for a Chinese-made movie.

While the camera works (cinematography) is erratic and blurry, but the story was kind of tightl woven. Also, to kill time, there's plenty of skyline or horizon shots which served as 'fillers'...

Overall, even if I didn't understand the conversation, i surely understood the storyline.

Ah, to be young and ignorant in the city. And to be taken advantage...

Sounds very familiar. Specially to our female OFWs to Arab countries....

The 90/10 Principle

Author: Stephen Covey


What is this Principle?

10% of life is made up of what happens to you.

…90% of life is decided by how you react…

π

What does this mean?

We really have NO control over 10% of what happens to us.

We cannot stop the car from breaking down.
The plane will be late arriving, which throws our whole schedule off.
A driver may cut us off in the traffic.

π

We have NO control over this 10%.

The other 90% is different.
You determine the other 90%.

How?... By your reaction.

π

You cannot control a red light.
However, you can control your reaction.

Do not let people fool you.
YOU can control how you react.

Let us use an example…

You are having breakfast with your family.
Your daughter knocks over a cup of coffee
Onto your business shirt.

π

You have no control over what has just happened.

What happens next will be determined by how you react.

π

You curse.
You harshly scold your daughter for knocking the cup over.
She breaks down in tears.

After scolding her, you turn to your wife
and you criticize her for placing the cup
too close to the edge of the table.
A short verbal battle follows.

You storm upstairs and change your shirt.
Back downstairs, you find your daughter has been too busy crying to finish her breakfast and getting ready to go to school.
She misses the bus.

π

Your spouse must leave immediately for work.
You rush to the car and drive your daughter to school.

Because you are late, you drive 40 miles per hour in a 30 mph speed limit zone.

π

After a 15-minute delay and throwing
$60.00 traffic fine away, you arrive at school.
Your daughter runs into the building without saying goodbye.

After arriving at the office 20 minute late,
You realize you forgot your briefcase.

π

Your day has started terrible. As it continues, it seems to get worse and worse.
You look forward to coming home.

π

When you arrive home, you find a small wedge in your relationship with your wife and daughter.

π

Why?
Because of how you reacted in the morning.

Why did you have a bad day?

π

A) Did the coffee cause it?
B) Did your daughter cause it?
C) Did the policeman cause it?
D) Did you cause it?

The answer is “D”

π

You had no control over what happened with the coffee.
How you reacted in those 5 seconds is what caused your bad day.

π

Here is what could have and should have happened.

π
Coffe splashes over you.
Your daughter is about to cry.

You gently say:
“It’s okay, honey, you just need to be
More careful next time.”

Grabbing a towel you go upstairs and change your shirt.

You grab your briefcase, and you come back down in time to look through the window and see your child getting on the bus.
She turns and waves. You arrive 5 minutes early a cheerfully greet the staff.
Notice the difference?

π

Two different scenarios.
Both started the same.
Both ended different.

Why?

Because of how you reacted.
π

You really have no control over 10%
of what happens in your life.

π

The other 90% was determined by your reaction.

π

Here are some ways to apply the 90/10 Principle.

If someone says something negative about you, do not be a sponge.
Let the attack roll off like water on glass.
You do not have to let the negative comments affect you.

React properly and it will not ruin your day.
A wrong reaction could result in losing a friend, being fired, or getting stressed out.

How do you react if someone cuts you off in the traffic?

Do you lose your temper?
Pound on the steering wheel? (a friend of mine had the steering wheel fall off),
Do you curse? Does your blood pressure skyrocket?
Who cares if you arrive 10 seconds later at work?
Why let the cars ruin your drive?

π

Remember the 90/10 Principle and don’t worry about it.

You are told you lost your job.
Why lose sleep and get irritated?
It will work out.

Use your worrying energy and time to find a new job.
π

The plane is late. It is going to mangle your schedule for the day.

Why take out your frustration on the flight attendant?
She has no control over what is going on.

Use your time to study, get to know the other passenger, why stress out?
It will just make things worse.

π

Now you know the 90/10 Principle.
Apply it and you will be amazed at the results.
You will lose nothing if you try it.

The 90/10 Principle is incredible.
Very few know and apply this Principle.

The result?

You will see it by yourself!
π

Millions of people are suffering from undeserved stress, trials, problems and headaches.

We all must understand and apply the 90/10 Principle.
It can change your life!

π

It only takes willpower to give ourselves permission to make the experience.

Got Heroes?

When i transferred to new staff house, i was happy that we had a DVD player and Magic Sing. My new housemates were also avidcollectors of movies in DVD and those TV series, like Smallville, Alias, Prison break, 24, and Heroes.

Of course, I am already familiar with the first 4 titles. Bu the last one, Heroes, i haven't seen yet. I was told it was actually being shown in the Philippines under RPN. But since our TV is ony tuned to GMA and ABS-CBN, i never got to see it back in pinas.

And so, i took out 4 DVDs of Heroes - Season 1.

However, i go to my friend, Mr. Wiki, for a synopsis of the Heroes series.

Season One

Isaac's painting of Manhattan's destruction in "Genesis" - the following episode, set five weeks in the future, depicts the same explosion, and the painting forms the basis of the primary story arc of the first season. The volume begins as a seemingly ordinary group of people gradually become aware that they have special abilities. Events illustrate their reactions to these powers, and how the discovery affects their personal and professional lives. At the same time, several ordinary individuals are investigating the origins and extent of these abilities. Mohinder Suresh, a geneticist, continues his late father's research into the biological source of the change, while Noah Bennet represents a secret organization known only as the "Company". While coping with these new abilities, each of the characters is drawn, willingly or unwillingly, into the Company's conspiracy to control superpowered people and into a race to stop an explosion from destroying New York City.

The episodes here are eally action-pack and showcases the powers of each individual, whether used in good or bad ways, and how it came to an end (self-destruction or by Sylar or by the company). I got hooked.

Season Two

Volume two begins four months after the events of Kirby Plaza. The main plot arc of "Generations" deals with the Company and its research on the Shanti virus. This research is explored through the Company's founders, whose identities are revealed, as well as through the effects of various strains of the virus. The "heroes" ultimately come together in an attempt to stop the release of a deadly strain of the virus and avert a global pandemic.

I was a bit annoyed that in Season Two, all the usual bad guys, foremost of which is Sylar, came back. I can already smell the usual venganza in the air. But the introduction of new characters with new powers kept me watching Heroes 2.

Season Three

Volume Three began with the assassination attempt on Nathan Petrelli, and the consequences it has in the future. In addition, several villains escape from the confines of Level 5, and the Company attempts to recapture them. Arthur Petrelli heals from systemic nerve damage with the help of Adam Monroe's healing abilities and eventually gains a few of the villains (Flint Gordon Jr., Knox, and Daphne Millbrook) while later luring in Mohinder Suresh, Nathan, Tracy Strauss , Elle Bishop, and Sylar. Their objective is to create a formula to give people abilities but after many failures they soon realize they need to find the catalyst. Claire and Hiro go back in time with Hiro being given the catalyst by his mother. This is short-lived when Arthur intervenes and grabs the catalyst. Afterwards, Peter Petrelli, The Haitian face off Arthur at Pinehearst where they fight for control of the formula. In the end, Arthur is shot dead by Peter's bullet through Sylar's telekinesis ability, saying he is the killer not Peter. Peter injects himself with the formula in order to save Nathan, who was on his fathers side. Ando is given the ability to charge other peoples abilities (which helped him grab Hiro from the past with the help of Daphne's super-speed ability); Claire, Noah Bennet, and Angela Petrelli fight off Sylar at Primatech in which Meredith's ability goes awry burning the building to the ground with Sylar presumably dead.

I borrowed one DVD containing the first episode only. I looked for the entire set from pirated DVD vendors but couldn't get one. Until I mentioned my frustration to a Pinoy colleague, Roland, about my recent obssession with Heroes. Roland said he has a collection of the episodes he downloaded from the internet. I was finally able to see what looked like an ultimate showdown of superheroes - to the death. I felt annoyed that Peter lost his 'empath' ability, and with it, all the powers he collected from others. Also annoying is Sylar getting split-personality of good guy-bad guy characterization. I was expecting Ando to get a better ability than a 'power booster', super spark plug.

Already, I was beginning to think of how to get hold of Season 4.

Season Four

Volume Four begins with Nathan Petrelli telling the president about the existence of individuals who possess superhuman abilities. The president authorizes Nathan to capture heroes, and the majority of the main characters are rounded up, with the exception of Sylar, who escapes Nathan's agents while attempting to locate his biological father.

After futile attempt to download from the links given in got-heroes.com, i decided to try my luck with the torrents. I felt lucky that the new episodes (HDTV-rip) were already available on the torrent. Boy, aren't these torrent folks great. I was only able to download episodes 15 & 16 yet.

However, i felt that the first two episodes -- Trust and Blood and Building 26 -- were quite lame. It was all 'preparation'. Actions were intermittent. And there's plenty of incredulities in it. Hiro falling hard, face-flat into the ground without his eyeglasses flying or getting broken. The plane crash episode shows characters with a bad case of 'effects' make-up... Too tidy and neat to come out in a smoking and blazing plane...

Daphne getting killed despite her super-fast reflexes. And Matt Parkman not going ballistic with her death. Ando being unable to 'spark' Hiro's ability to come back. Noah Bennet's obssession in protecting Claire and in so doing he must again abduct people with abilities. And Claire's gung-ho attitude which always ends with her getting captured.

I really do not understand anymore Claire's role in this episode. I am beginning to think that this is going to be Sylar's season.

Anyways, 3 more episodes to watch...

--

Which got me to thinking. The reason why i am still watching Heroes is that i want to know which path Tim Kring will go. So far, the entire Heroes episodes tells of how people wih special abilities are despised or dstrusted by 'regular' people. Or want to be manipulated by others to do their vested interests -- like rule the world.

Some people with special disabilities are called 'freaks'. And special abilities doesn't have to mean super powers. A person with dyslexia, or with Down's Syndrome, or ADHD is a person with special ability, in some ways. For the rest of us, supposedly 'normal' people, we tend to consider them freak of nature or the weak link in our genetic pool. For all we know, for those with 'special abilities' or with 'special needs', "we" are the ones wo are freaks...

So far, Tim Kring reinforces our "normal" belief that people with superhuman abilities tend to wreck havoc to our regular lives, instead of becoming reluctant heroes like Spiderman or Superman that will save the day (and the planet) for us...

The only truism in Heroes is what Hiro realized in the Indian episode. That you do not need to have special powers or abilities to be a hero.

And that is why we comfort ourselves reading the news that there really are everyday heroes, the realistic heroes. No super power except the innate power to help and be of help to others, to lay one own's life to protect others... they are the real definition of 'heroes' ....

This Google search error

I am an avid Google search fan. I never want to use any other search engine but Google.

But lately, i was getting this wierd message from Google everytime i type in my search.. It is not that my search words or phrase is about adult words or issues, or my laptop might be infected with spyware or viruses (i am using a commercial-licensed Kaspersky 6), but i wonder why i always get this Google error message:

Google Error

We're sorry...... but your query looks similar to automated requests from a computer virus or spyware application. To protect our users, we can't process your request right now.

We'll restore your access as quickly as possible, so try again soon. In the meantime, if you suspect that your computer or network has been infected, you might want to run a virus checker or spyware remover to make sure that your systems are free of viruses and other spurious software.

If you're continually receiving this error, you may be able to resolve the problem by deleting your Google cookie and revisiting Google. For browser-specific instructions, please consult your browser's online support center.

If your entire network is affected, more information is available in the Google Web Search Help Center.

We apologize for the inconvenience, and hope we'll see you again on Google. To continue searching, please type the characters you see below:

I was beginning to think it is because my ip address is in Nigeria that Google thinks i'm a darned 419 scammer.

So i had to use Yahoo to check if i am the only one experiencing this problem.

In an article from BBC way back Jan 31, 2009, Google said the problem is only temporary and it is because they are implementing a new anti-spamming technology in their search engine.

To quote:

Google's search service has been hit by technical problems, with users unable to access search results.

For a period on Saturday, all search results were flagged as potentially harmful, with users warned that the site "may harm your computer".

Users who clicked on their preferred search result were advised to pick another one.

Google attributed the fault to human error and said most users were affected for about 40 minutes.

"What happened? Very simply, human error," wrote Marissa Mayer, vice president, search products and user experience, on the Official Google Blog.

The internet search engine works with stopbadware.org to ascertain which sites install malicious software on people's computers and merit a warning.

Stopbadware.org investigates consumer complaints to decide which sites are dangerous. The list of malevolent sites is regularly updated and handed to Google.

When Google updated the list on Saturday, it mistakenly flagged all sites as potentially dangerous.

"We will carefully investigate this incident and put more robust file checks in place to prevent it from happening again," Ms Mayer wrote.

Yes, Ms. Mayer, please carefully investigate. Because until now, i always get this error. I have to key in captcha phrases twice before my query is displayed. And every time i close my browser or reboot my laptop and PC, the challenge comes up.

So i think stopbadware.org is blocking searches based not only on certain words and phrases, but also based on ip. And because i happen to be in Nigeria, they think all of us ar bucnh of scammers. I bet all ips assigned to Nigeria are encountering this problem.

But really, i still like Google despite ths annoyances.

If you encounter this error, do not panic. It is not your PC or laptop. It is just Google.

Talked about over-protection.

Are You Wasting Money on Multivitamins?

I am feeling lazy writing something about this weekend's blues. SO let me just share an article about vitamins. You know i take too many vitamins, and not just multivitamins.. There are a lot of articles and email messages about the pros and cons of taking vitamins...

=========
Behind the Headlines
by Simeon Margolis, M.D., Ph.D. a Yahoo! Health Expert for Nutrition

Advertisements with tantalizing promises of improved health, prevention of cancer and heart disease, and greater energy have lured millions of Americans to spend billions of dollars on the purchase of multivitamins.

An article in the February 9 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine reported that multivitamin use did not protect the 161,808 postmenopausal women enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative Study from common forms of cancer, heart attacks, or strokes. And the numbers of deaths during the 8 years of the study were the same in vitamin users as in non-users. Still, it is important to recognize that this was an observational study, not a more meaningful clinical trial. Although these findings apply only to women, other studies have failed to show benefits of multivitamins in older men.

These results are not at all surprising for several reasons. No large study has shown that multivitamins significantly benefit healthy men and women. In addition, for some years physicians prescribed folic acid and vitamins B12 and B6 in the hopes of preventing heart attacks and strokes by lowering blood levels of homocysteine. (High blood levels of homocysteine are associated with an increased risk of coronary and other vascular diseases.) A number of recent studies, however, have shown that, while these vitamins do lower homocysteine levels, they do not prevent heart attacks or strokes.

Many doctors have also prescribed the antioxidants vitamin E and beta-carotene to reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Alas, studies have now proven that these supplements are not protective--and may even be harmful.

No one denies that an adequate intake of vitamins is essential; however, vitamins can and should be obtained from eating enough healthy foods rather than from swallowing vitamin supplements.

Then what about vitamins being a great source of energy? Some multivitamin ads do indeed claim that their supplements boost energy; and some professional athletes gobble handfuls of vitamin pills to increase their energy and strength. But researchers proved long ago that energy comes from calories, not vitamins. The highly touted cholesterol-lowering effects of substances added to some multivitamin supplements? Still unproven.

All this is not to say that specific vitamins supplements are never desirable. Vitamins can be valuable in certain situations:

* Folic acid supplements in women who are pregnant or plan to become pregnant can help to prevent serious neural-tube defects that affect the baby's brain and spine.
* Supplements that contain more vitamin D and calcium than is present in regular multivitamin pills can help older men, and especially women, avoid osteoporosis and bone fractures.
* Supplements of vitamins C and E, beta-carotene, zinc, and copper may slow the progression of vision loss in people with early macular degeneration.

And multivitamins are beneficial for some entire groups of people:

* those on a very-low-calorie weight-loss diet
* strict vegetarians
* heavy alcohol drinkers
* individuals who are not getting an adequate diet because they are too sick or too poor--or live by themselves and are unable to prepare proper meals for themselves

I also agree with a comment made by one of the coauthors of the Archives of Internal Medicine article about postmenopausal women mentioned above. An 8-year follow-up period may not be long enough to show that multivitamins protect against cancers that take many years to develop.

All the same, the results of the studies on vitamins so far point to one conclusion: Healthy people who eat enough calories from a varied diet do not benefit from multivitamin supplements.

La Lingerie

And there I was, on another lonely Sunday.

I felt lazy going to Ikeja's Family Sunday. No driver. And nobody to bum a ride. So i stayed in the house all day, Sunday.

I thought it was only me and Randy in the house. It turned out that the usual bunch is in the house -- me, Randy, Steven, Edward and Wesa. Only our boot camp manager went out that day.

As usual, i went to the living room and rummaged through our DVD collections. I think it is Steven who bought new DVDs regularly. Anyway, i've gotten tired of action flicks so i choose a rather sleazy-titled DVD - "La Lingerie". The cover photo was that of pretty young things (Hong Kong Chinese movie stars).

Hmmm, a teeny-bopper movie.

Bring out the camote and the yoghurt. The whisky and the soda.

I thought it's going to be a sort of B-movie, but it turned out to be a comedy. It's like the sort of Ruffa Mae Quinto movie. Sexy, funny, naughty, and some dorky life-changing experiences thrown in between.

The story is weaved by narration of the main character named Miu, who aspires to be a lingerie designer but ended up as a 'lingerie researcher'.

Among the bunch of characters are :

- Donut (yes, Marix, that's her movie name), Miu's cousin, who is having an affair with a married man.

- Celine, a flight stewardess endessly looking for a rich man in Business Class to seduce and marry

- James, a rookie policeman and an OC, who fell in love with Celine but indeed up as her boy-toy

- CC, a high-class GRO but manages her own lingerie store.

- Lucas, marketing manager f the lingerie store where Miu us working

- Antonio, the son of the lingerie store owner, who is gay and narcissistic.

- The unnamed lingerie pervert who stole lingerie from apartments and collects them in his pad.

I think the most hilarious part of the movie was the scene where the 'gay' Prince Antonio, supposedly wanted to have an 'experience'. Since both of them are virgin, Antonio suggested they should do Antonion's idea of 'safe sex', that is: "you do yours, i will do mine.." Nooo, there is nothing x-rated in that segment. Really reminded of Ruffa Mae's movies.

The movie may look like it has a convoluted plot (magulo) which has no direct relation with lingerie, except maybe for Miu. But if looking at the 'big picture' one will see where the title"La Lingerie" comes into play, and that is because all of the characters' separate story somehow has something with lingerie.

- Miu met Lucas when she was accepted in the lingerie store. Then, inheriting an expensive collection of lingeries from her dead aunt.

- James, meeting Celine after she complained about her missing lingeries

- CC, who owns a lingerie and met Eugene. She used her entire savings from the lingerie business to buy jewelries to be used in Eugene's 'Harvard' ball.

- Donut, who met the married man while doing assisting him in selecting lingerie for his wife

But the main theme is not about the lingerie. It is about everyone's search for true love. About dreaming of their Mr or Miss Right, while someone close to them is ignored. And as a teeny bopper movie, there is the usual need for sex or to wanting to be devirginized. At least the movie kept the 'sex' side of the story safe (no pun, intended) and wholesome.

And in the end, when the efforts failed, there is the (predictable?) usual ending .... realizing where true love lies... As their were four stories/plots in the movie, one ended happily (Miu and Lucas), another in status quo (Celine & James), the third in separation (Donut and her affair), and CC losing her sanity.

I know it's a cheap story. But it's definitely better and less corny than if it were a Pinoy version. Of course, i will make an exception if Ruffa Mae Quinto is in that movie.

The movie dialog is in Chinese (Canto) but the English subtitle is quite grammatically correct. Unlike those other Malaysia-recorded DVDs where the english translation is mangled.

Here is a review from an HK reviewer:

Miu Ho, a sweet and somewhat daffy virgin who's angling for a job as a lingerie designer. She seems to have the skills, but interviewer Lena (Gigi Leung) wants Miu to dig deeper into undergarment culture. Miu receives the title "Lingerie Researcher", and is assigned to look into the world around her to observe how underwear makes the woman - or, in some cases, vice-versa.

Miu starts her duties by surreptitiously peeping at accidental exposures in everyday life and noting in copious voiceover how many of the exposures may not really be accidental. After all, lingerie is hidden beneath a woman's clothes, but the lingerie is eye-catching and expensive, indicating that perhaps the women do want it to be seen. What's the meaning behind this contradiction? Miu's underwear thesis is ostensibly the driving force behind La Lingerie's narrative, and Chan Hing-Ka and his co-screenwriters dig into their toolbox of undue metaphor to come up with their canned, cloying discoveries.
http://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews_2/la_lingerie.html

Despite the half-smile review in HK, the movie is not really that bad --- to alternate with internet...

But next Sunday, I swear I will go to Eleko Beach...

My Amarula Weekend

Well, here comes another weekend.

I worked from Monday until Saturday 2PM. So i get 1 full Sunday off.

Normally, I will spend the Sunday either at the beach or at the shopping mall.

But today, there were no available cars. Marcio borrowed one Peugeot and Edward took the other. So I have no choice but to stay at home. Good thing though that NEPA seems to be holding on since midnight.

I switched on the DSTV and saw the ongoing finals of Australian Open between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

I ran to the kitchen and searched the fridge for something to bite and drink. I found my half-empty (or half-full) bottle of Amarula. Aha. Showtime....

I brought a bowl of ice cubes, chichiria and Amarula into my room (Yes, Marix, my room has DSTV) and settled to watch the game.

In between the game, i was on the internet. After finishing my first glass, i felt compelled to research about Amarula.

According to my trusted friend Wiki:

Amarula is a South African cream liqueur made with sugar, cream and the fruit of the African Marula tree (Sclerocarya birrea) which is also locally called the Elephant tree or the Marriage Tree.

Amarula was first marketed in September 1989. It has the taste of slightly fruity caramel. Amarula has received consistently good reviews, with the caveat that, like many cream liqueurs, it is too sweet for some palates. It has become the second largest seller in the cream liqueur category after Bailey's Irish Cream, with particular success in Brazil. It is very popular and common throughout Africa, especially the south and east coast. Recently, Amarula has attempted to break into the American market.

Because of the marula tree's association with elephants, the distiller has made them its symbol and supports elephant conservation efforts. For marketing efforts it produces collectible items featuring elephant head decoration. Elephants enjoy eating the fruit of the marula tree. A common tale is that the elephants enjoy eating the fermented fruits and become "drunk" from them. Studies, however, suggest this is not true and that an elephant drinks too much water to feel the effects of the
marula.

-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amarula

I also found this video in Youtube.com about the effects of Marula fruit on African animals after they ate too much of the fruit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmQPwgV-WbQ&feature=related

I had a gas laughing out loud watching the drunken masters of the African wild.

Hah, but i am not going to do such inebriated foolishness. I'm in the safety of my room. No cameras. No embarassing moments.

Well, thanks to Amarula for keeping me company on this lonely Sunday afternoon....

Lars and the Real Girl

As usual, i spent my Saturday afternoon with a solo videoke. Yeah, i had all the Magic Sing for myself. I think I sang 20 songs before my vocal chords started vibrating like cat on nips...

So I switched to DVD mode. i rummaged thru our DVD collection and found a promising new copy.

With well-boiled camote in a bowl, topped with ice cream and yoghurt, i was ready for Lars and The real girl.

I thought it's going to be teeny-bopper comedy but it turned out to be a surprise drama.

Well, okay, so there's comedy all over the place, especially in Lars' office and his interaction with Margo.

The story, set in a seemingly old, close-knit Swedish community in the US, revolves on Lars Lindstrom (played by Ryan Gosling), a young man with a very sad childhood, desperate for affection but disliked intimacy, specially with women.

Lars, however, managed with his phobia and was actually able to get an office job. After his father died, his older brother Gus, now married, came home with his pregnant wife Karin. As soon as Gus and Karen settled in the main house, Lars moved into the converted garage. Unable to interact with Gus and Karin.

One day in the office, Lars saw another officemate (the geek type) looking at life-size sex dolls that can be ordered online. Lars ordered one.

When the doll arrived, Lars named her Bianca. The arrival of Bianca turned everyone's life in the community upside down.

On the first night, Lars came to the main house and for the first time, talked to Gus and Karin about his 'girlfriend'. Lars said that his girlfriend's name is Bianca, who is a Catholic Brazilian nurse and he would like her to stay in the main house.

And so Gus and Karin invited them for dinner. To their shocked, they found themselves staring at the life-size doll to whom Lars is talking affectionately. They all have an uneasy dinner while Lars, for the first time, shows a vibrant and talkative mood. Describing Bianca's background in details.
Gus and Karin tricked Lars into going to the hospital to see their family doctor, who is also a psychologist. They explained beforehand what the case is all about. The pretext is that Bianca, the life-size doll, is sick and needs a weekly check up. Lars was very anxious about it. During this hospital visit, Dr. Dagmar takes Lars into her office for interview. The doctor said that Lars is suffering from extreme delusions, as he really believed that the doll is alive.

Meanwhle, Gus and Karin sought the help of the community elders, including the parish priest as to how to managed Lars' girlfrien. The entire community agreed to help by going along Lars' insistence about Bianca,

Margo, meantime, tried to move on by getting a boyfriend. When Lars saw her with the guy, he felt jealous. When he went home, Lars went into a fit of rage and jealousy. He shouted at Bianca and accused her of neglecting him...

Another day, Margo told Lars the she broke up with her boyfriend. Lars asked her why she took a boyfriend. Margo said because she felt so lonely... Margo asked Lars if he cares for a Friday bowling. Since Bianca has schedules to appear in charity event on the same night, Lars accepted the invitation. They had a great time in the bowling alley. As they went home separately, Lars, for the first time, had the courage to shake Margo's hand.

One morning, Lars woke the household, shouting that Bianca is not breathing. So they called 911. The ambulance arrived and paramedics even put an oxygen mask to the doll's face and rush her to the hospital. This being a close-knit community, everyone played their role. Bianca was wheeled into ICU. Lars told Dr Dagmar that Bianca is dying. The news about Bianca dying spread rapidly in the community.

After two days, Bianca was back in the house and Lars insisted that she is dying. One rainy morning, Lars came down to the porch to find it filled with flowers and get-well-soon cards for Bianca, from the community.

Next day, Karin and Gus invited Lars to go out with them to the lakeshore. Lars refused. But when Karin said that maybe Bianca needs fresh air, Lars agreed.

While in the lake, Lars brought Bianca to the water and declared that Bianca is dead.

They had a funeral service in the church, and a burial for Bianca, beside the graves of Lars/Gus parents.

--
Hmm, quite heavy on the psychology side, no?

Lars' delusions with the life-sized doll is brought about by his craving for attention by a female persona in his life. Because he grew up with a father who became a woman-hater and Lars lost touch with intimacy on the female side.

All the story that Lars weaved about Bianca was actually about his own life and his fantasy on what would be an ideal relationship with girl for him.

He thought he is happy with a woman who doesn't annoy him or whose touch do not scare him. But the jealousy against Margo's boyfriend brough Lars to reality and he realized he liked Margo also.

That is why Lars decided to let go of Bianca. The passing away of Bianca gave Lars a feeling of his father's emotion -- how it feels to lose someone you love. But Lars, despite being delusional, accepted the fact the he cannot marry Bianca.

But i think Lars made this story so he can free himself from Bianca and move on with his life, aimed towards Margo. That is why he asked Margo to walk with him after the burial.
------

The arrival of Bianca was actually a blessing in disguise for Lars. She helped Lars undergo a 'healing process' after an abnormal childhood. All the things that Lars wanted to do but unable to do because of his empathy-phobia, like bowling with friends, going to parties, dancing, going to mall and having family dinner -- all of these he finally did, with Bianca by his side. She gave him back self-confidence and empathy. It allowed Lars to express himself and break the chain that bound his emotions all through his growing years.

And Bianca's passing also signalled a 'healed' Lars. Finally able to move on with the real world.

We should expect a happy ending there.
--

Love conquers all. That is what this movie is all about..

===
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0805564/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eivm8o07e0I

Battle Realms: Gaza Map

I have been playing good, ol' Battle Realms in my tiny Axioo laptop during the weekends. Beside my laptop is our DSTV where my eyes shift from time-to-time to catch the news (Al-Jazeera and Euronews).

And since 16 days ago, the news is about the Israeli-Palestinian debacle at Gaza. And as we all know, everyone in the world (except Hillary and Barack) are accusing Israel of committing gencide against Gaza civilians.

From US to Europe, to Jakarta and Philippines, everyone (Muslim & non-Muslims) is on the street to protest the so-called Israeli aggression.

I have this creepy feeling that the world has become anti-Semitic once again... Welcome to World War III.

And welcome to the Battle Realms (BR) - Gaza map.

You see, BR, like other strategy games, have player maps where the player can choose where his battle will be played.

Along this recent events, I will add a special, hypothetical map of Gaza. I am playing Lotus clan, by the way.

--

In Battle Realms, the enemies will usually send a 'probing team' into my territory. And when my guards respond and chase the invaders, an ambush is waiting that decimates my soldiers. To counter this frequent probing attack, i have to make sure my rice harvest is working, water is plenty, and my peasant huts are producing enough peasant to be converted to warriors. And when i have enough of these Unclean ones, Leaf disciples, The Brothers, Zen masters and horse cavalry, then i attack the opposing camps with overwhelming force...

--

The same thing is happening in Gaza. For several months prior to Israel's attack, Hamas were raining rockets to Israel with seeming impunity. Israel had been warning Palestinians and the world that their patience is thinning at such rocket attacks. But no one in the world, except Egypt, bothered to raise a voice to inform Hamas that is provoking a war wih Israel. But of course, Hamas knows Israel will hit back, and they want it to happen.

So after a thousand rocket barrage, and some Israeli civilian injuries and casualties, Israel finally had enough and launch and fierce counterstrike.

Of course, Hamas said hey will not be cowered by Israel's attack and they will meet IDF on the ground and fight to the death.

And so, after successfully baiting Israel to attack, Hamas waits for ambush. But Hamas themselves did not do the ambush -- they are too few and too undergunned to do it.

It is the entire world who ambushed Israel.

Around the worl, including celebrities like Annie Lennox (band Eurthymix) joined in the anti-Israel protest. Everyone condemned Israel as th aggressor and their counter-attack as an act of genocide.

Ok, so let's pause for awhile and re-assess the situation.

If Hamas bombs out a thousand Israelis to kingdom-come, I guess the world will likely say "Ok, Good job"???

If it's Israelis who are getting killed, the world will not mind it -- because they are 'just' Israelis.

Will Annie Lennox protest? Will French Pres. Nic Sarkozy still be the first European leaders to call for a truce?

Will the peace-loving Europeans and Americans protest?

I guess the obvious answer there is 'No".

Possible reasons:
1. Israel has the overwhelming force and it is just right for Palestinians to destroy their state.
2. Too many rich Jewish who can send funds to Israel and so no humanitarian crisis can happen if if Hamas pounds Israel back to Moses' days.
3. The world is afraid of islamo-fascism that no one wants to say it that for peace to happen, Hamas must do a Fatah and learn to live in peace with its Jewish neighbor.

Sure, there is no denying that the war is causing more casualties to civilians than against Hamas. But for Hamas, that is what they want. That is how they planned. Fire rockets from civilian buildings. Hide near cvilian populations. And since Israel will not differentiate a location where the rocket has been fired, Hamas wins world opinion because of Israel's obvious overwhelming force.

And so, assuming Israel will agree to any truce, will it guaranty any peace between Israel and Palestine?

Will the likes of Annie Lennox guaranty that Hamas will stop rocketing Israel?

Becoz if not, war will never end in Near East.

Around the world, sympathy and funds were raised for Hamas, ere, Palestinians. But nothing for Rwanda, Dardur and Sudan. What is happening to these African people are as worst as what happens in Palestine. In Palestine, the images is blurred between a Hamas fighter and a civilian, except for old people, women and children. In these African hotspots, it is clear who are the aggressors and civilians (victims) and what kind of atrocities is committed.

Why no one is sustaining the campaign against the continued genocide in these African hotspots? Why the world is not sending enough humanitarian aid and protection force??

--

Back to BR-Gaza map, there will never be peace because the Gaza civilians (old people, women and children) are always at the mercy of Hamas. No one can complain. No peace is forthcoming to Gaza under Hamas. It is a vicious cycle of violence, attrition war -- until, Israel will have enough and re-occupies Gaza. Hopefully Fatah government will be back in Gaza.

As always, it is the defenseless old people, women and children who bears the pain and hardship of any war as it is in Gaza now.
--
Personally, i claim no admiration for Israel or Jews. But neither for people who makes it their avowed goal for the destruction of another race. If Hamas can do it agaisnst Israel, they will surely do it against the rest of us infidels.

--

Peace, is not the absence of war. It is when nations learn to accept their neighbors and decides to live in harmony with those around them.

Until then, we can only hope that this recent strife will be the last for Gaza 'civilians'.

And for heaven's sake, Annie Lennox, speak at least, so we will know if you are pro-peace or just plain 'rider' on anti-Jewish bandwagon.

--
Back to Battle Realms.

The coming of Windows7

I have always been an avid and 'loyal' Microsoft user since Windows for Workgroup.

I have followed the progression of various flavor and versions of Windows since then. Probably, the only workstation Windows OS that never appealed to me is Vista, and its sidekick, Office 2007.

Vista is such a process and memory hungry OS that i promptly reformatted my laptop and replaced it with XP.

Maybe the murmurings against Vista has become so loud that Microsoft decided to start hyping since last year the 'ultimate' Windows OS -- Windows 7. According to reports, Microsoft's Bill Gates supposedly said that Windows 7 is developed with the user in mind.

But reading the reported 'new features' and features you will not find in Windows 7 makes me think Bill Gates wants us to lose control of our computer system.

Where Windows XP is probably the most user-friendly and the easiest to handle among Windows OS, it looks to that the Windows 7 will be is exact opposite.

Like Vista, Windows 7 is more on graphical and visual - shock and awe, kind of system, designed to make even the most devoted Mac users to blink twice upon looking at the Windows 7 desktop functions. The desktop and the internet browser has merged.
















Like Longhorn before, there are now downloadable 'skins' or 'overlay' for Windows 7. And there is now downloadable beta versions of Windows 7. If you are geeky enough to install it.

Anyways, my friend Wiki has this to say about the vauntd new features of Windows 7:

There are many features new to Windows 7, including advancements in touch, speech, and handwriting recognition, support for virtual hard disks, support for additional file formats, improved performance on multi-core processors, improved boot performance, and kernel improvements.

But i am more interested on the features that will no longer be in Windows 7:

Windows Shell

The file transfer dialogs for copying, moving or deleting do not show the actual file name which is being copied, moved or deleted at that instant.

Active Desktop functionality has been removed. As a result, animated GIF files can no longer be set as the desktop background. No other dynamic web content such as HTML or HTA files can run on the desktop, although Windows DreamScene (released only for Windows Vista Ultimate) allows using videos as the background and dynamic web content can run as part of Sidebar gadgets.

The File Types tab has been removed from Folder Options. This feature was available from Windows 95 up to Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. The File Types tab allowed users to change the file associations for various types of files.

The configuration tab to quickly associate with media file types has also been removed from Windows Media Player 11 options in Windows Vista.

It is not possible to override AutoPlay by pressing the SHIFT key as was possible in previous versions, though it can still be disabled through Control Panel.

AutoPlay settings cannot be configured per-device; they are set globally.

It is not possible to list fonts by similarity based on PANOSE information or hide font variations such as Bold, Italic etc in the Fonts folder.

Menus cannot be set to slide anymore using the user interface. Only the fade effect is available.

The taskbar cannot be dragged to the bottom of the screen to hide it manually.

Toolbars such as "Quick Launch" can no longer be "dragged off" the taskbar as floating minibars or docked to another edge of the screen, though physical folders can be dragged onto the desktop edge in a similar manner. The Language Bar is the only toolbar that can float on the desktop.

It is no longer possible to copy text fragments and other similar objects from a document, and paste them to a folder as a file (called a scrap, but actually an OLE object).

Windows Explorer

It is not possible to display the full path in the title bar when Aero Glass is enabled. When Aero Glass is disabled, the full path can be displayed in the title bar. The full path can be shown in the address bar regardless of the status of Aero, by clicking to the right of the breadcrumbs or pressing Alt+D.

The Toolbar button in Explorer to go up one folder from the current folder has been removed.

This is now accomplished by selecting a folder in the breadcrumbs bar or by pressing together Alt + Up keys.

The ability to customize the standard toolbar's layout and buttons was removed.

Users can no longer make the menu above all other toolbars.

Ability to add a password to a zip file (compressed folder) has been removed. (This has no effect on third-party compression tools, such as WinZip or 7Zip.)

The Common Tasks pane (renamed 'Favorite Links') and the Details pane can be removed only through the 'Organize' button.

Filmstrip view is replaced by the icon view feature which supports multiple sizes, and a new full-screen slideshow mode.

The ability to view and edit metadata stored in a file's secondary stream through the "Summary" tab of the file's "Property" dialog was removed.

The Web Publishing Wizard is no longer available.

Support for enabling a folder for web sharing with Internet Information Services via the Windows Explorer interface was removed.

The Desktop Cleanup Wizard is no longer available.

The "Computer Description" field is no longer shown on the Explorer view of a workgroup.

The Status bar no longer shows the total space used by a folder when displaying a folder's contents or free space remaining on the disk.

The drive mapping dialog box no longer allows a network path to be mapped without assigning a local drive letter to it.

It is no longer possible to add a background to folders via a desktop.ini.

It is not possible to view the Properties of an item in the left pane of Windows Explorer using Alt+Enter.

It is not possible to turn off autorefresh/autosorting of files and folders.

There are limitations to opening multiple files in a single operation, i.e. by selecting multiple files and pressing enter. The "Open" operation is not present in the context menu when multiple files are selected.

Internet Explorer

The ability to customize the toolbar layout is removed. The position of the address bar and the 'command bar' cannot be readjusted.

Internet Explorer is no longer integrated with Windows Explorer. This can also be seen in Internet Explorer 7 on Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.

Image toolbar has been removed. Most of the commands that were on this floating toolbar—Save Picture, E-mail Picture, Set as Background, etc—are now in the context menu that appears when an image is right-clicked.

Offline Favorites, a feature that automatically synchronized and stored web pages for later perusal when not online, was removed in favor of using RSS feeds.

The maximum size for the "Temporary Internet Files" folder (downloaded files cache) is limited to 1024 MB in Internet Explorer 7. This is also true for Internet Explorer 7 on other Windows versions.

For more info, click here.

New Features.

Removed features.

Windows 7 Reviews:

- Microsoft Windows 7 site
- First look at Windows 7's User Interface
- Microsoft Windows 7 / Windows Vienna