The City Never Sleeps

Million Dollar Baby is the big winner for the Oscars. Yes, Clint Eastwood is back to get back what he deserves, after Peter Jackson robbed off 13 mini golden man last year, causing Eastwood to bring home only 2 golden man for Sean Penn and Tim Robbins.

Million Dollar Baby brings home: Best Picture, Best Director (who else but Eastwood himself?), Best Actress (Hilary Swank now owns 2 Oscars for playing a more masculine role.) and Best Supporting Actor (truly speaking, Morgan Freeman deserves this award. He has been rubbing shoulders with Oscars four times.) As for the rest? Well, most of them brings home an award, at least one.

Congrets to Jamie Foxx for bringing home an Oscars for Best Actor in his role of the late jazz legend, Ray Charles, in the movie Ray. The biggest nominee The Aviator brings home 5, namely Best supporting actress (Cate Blanchette bring proud to Australia !), Best Art Direction, Cinematography, Editing and Costume Design. Sideways? Best Adapted Screenplay. And the Incredibles are really incredible - Sound editing and Animation. Johnny Depp did not seems to get attention from playing a proper role in Finding Neverland, but an achievement for Original Score now lives in the Neverland forever. Jim Carrey should not count himself and the kids unfortunate: Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events is fortunate enough to gain an achievement in Makeup. Spidey was sharp to capture an Best Visual Effect award. Who else?

Ah, not forgetting Mar Adentro aka The Sea Inside - Best Foreign Film! The Motorcycle Diaries? Best Theme Song. Well, tough luck for Amelie and Jeunet. Mathilde may have found her Manech in the end, but it would never make it way to Oscars for Best Cinematography and Art Direction.

And unsurprisingly, Zhang Yimou is disgracing the Chinese again. House of Flying Daggers shamed the Chinese. It fails to begged Best Cinematography. What does this implies? Lao Mou Zi, stop making ya stupid swordfighting films. Focus on arthouse films and you will make your way to the Oscars.

Somehow, i just feels that the old feeling is back. The kind of feelings i had when i was in Sec 1 and 2. A sense of loneliness, helplessness and the blues.

This begins with last nite, where i bought a copy of Seal's old album, Human Being from $$$ Converters. It was an album that was released in 98 - the year i entered bedok north and begins my 5 years of education there. I was pretty lost and just feel helpless in school.

Another mood adds in when i was in Sec 3 and 4: shame and jealousy. When Kevin Bacon was interviewed by ST's movie corrospondent Ong Sor Fern on his new film, The Woodsman, Kevin says filming Woodman is tough. This is because going to the same old places to do the filming is just like going to the place of shame - he dreaded of it.

This applys to how i feel when i was in Drama and student council. Sometimes i am really dreaded to go there, but still i make it through, until i was kicked out in Sec 4. Only then, i do not feel much of it.

And how does it related to the album? it brings back the old feelings. Somehow, with the gloomy weather outside, i just feel that it makes me feel much more heavier.

Just completed the CJP speech, and i am pretty brain dead now, but hey, my job is not over yet. I have to do my reading for tomorrow's Comm Skills 2 paper. And now, i have to do research for my French project, which is due on wed. Really, i am pretty brain dead rite now.

Made myself a cup of cocoa with chilled milk, and it taste really great. Somehow, my brain was kinda nourished with my favourite drink. Mabey some chocolate cookies would be better? Haha. Anyway, when i was in Giant Hypermart today, i bought a can of chocolates named Yorkies Chunks, produced by Nestle, the French company behind several milk and dairy, confectionary and breakfast products.

Guess what my mum thought it was when she saw the can? She thought it was a beer! Cos it just looks like Foster's beer. What you see from the can was: It's Not for Girls! Well, take a look at the O - A picture of girls being forbidden to eat the guys only snacks. Why? I dunno. But one you sink your mouth into the 2 bite then finish chocolate bar, you will probably understand why it is for guys only. Hey dude, fatten your gals with this if you want to see them screaming over the weight gain.

Somehow, chocolate and vanilla can calm me down. Though both are my favourite, i prefer vanilla. So if you happen to see me drinking Americano at Coffee Bean, do try a sip of my Americano - mixed with about 1/4 amount of vanilla powder. Spending a quiet afternoon with vanilla coffee and listening to soothening music according to my mood can helps me to calm down. That's where i will reflect my thoughts and at the same time, think of love and future.

At home? warm or cold chocolate with bread spread with a very thick serving of chocolate spread. Too bad, no vanilla sugar or vanilla pod to go with. Mabey having a vanilla pod can calm me down?

Do you have any soul food that calms you down?

Now playing: Seal - Latest Craze. Doesn't goes very well with chilled chocolate.

Which is Audrey Tautou and Jean Pierre Jeunet in A Very Long Engagement. Catch the romance/suspense/war drama/comedy/mystery with Yong Bin at Orchard on Thurs. As usual, Jeunet brings back his style into the romantic drama, but this time round, it is Amelie going into a war of hope and faith.

The 2hr 20min drama is definitely worth your $8.50, by provided that you 1) watches French dramas very frequently, 2) enjoy Amelie, 3) finds Audrey Tautou very pretty and 4) you want to see Jodie Foster speaking French in this film, cos Jodie has a role in there. It's a movie which combines the elements of masculinity and feminity. Masculinity is the war scenes, which takes up about 40% of the movie. Feminity is about 45%, on a woman searching for her lover. The rest? Romance for both sexes. To James, my KS supervisor: how can u say that this is a lousy show? Try watching it!

Oh yes, Dangerous Liaisons is over. So, i can spill the beans all over the place now: The prologue:3 male dancer and 3 female dancer dance around the swing, and pretend to have sex. (The moans...), and that begins with the conversation b/w Marquis de Merteuil and her niece. Here comes Victome de Valmont, whom the two cold blooded aristocrats strikes a deal: if Valmont could properly seduce Merteuil's niece, Cecile and the virtue lady Tourvel, and properly discards them, Valmont will win a night of sex with Merteuil. The wife of Valmont, a loose woman, is having a nice shower with 2 male dancers, and have the big champaign bottle pretending to be the private. They dance and dance and dance...

Valmont suceeded in seducing and disposing Cecile, but not Tourvel. He falls in love with Tourvel, and he couldn't get over her. In the end, Valmont caught Merteuil having sex with her new lover and both declare war on each other. It ended up with a showdown between Valmont and Merteuil's lover, which is also Valmont's bestfriend. Valmont was killed in the showdown, and voila, the end.

Hmm...mabey Toy Factory could bring in Quills onto the stage next time?

No, this is not the sequel to Awakenings or Wu Suo Nan Yang, the popular 1985 SBC drama which puts Huang Wenyong and Xiang Yun as household names. I mean, the haze is back.

Thanks to the high temperature we are having for the past few weeks, Singapore ended up with hundreds of forest fires since the opening of 2005. In most cases, it was the heat that dehydrates the grass, and eventually it catches fire just like that. So, when you step out of the house during daytime, you can smell the burning woods instantly.

And a forest fire broke out in Tampines. So the whole Tampines area was filled with the 'scent' of burning woods, which causes irritation to the nose. Oh yeah, throat irritation as well. The smoke thus flows with the direction of the wind, which makes the whole Tampines filled with the atmosphere of smoke. Oh yeah, forest fire attacks Punggol today as well. Eventually, several rainforest fire broke up in S'pore, and all the dehydrated grasses and leaves gathered together. Unable to withstand the heat, the fire broke up. When the fire broke up, the smoke flows together with the direction of the wind.

This explains why i am using the title Wu Suo Sin Zhou.

This is a short passage written based on my observation, and my point of view.

After Dangerous Liaisons ended around 5.20pm for the matinee show, the audiences walks out the theatre. From the staircase where i walk down, i could see the reception table, where a man in his 30's was sitting on the reception table, looking out for the response of the audiences who catch the play. He was none other than the producer of DL, Rabil Lian.

'Hi.' I greet to him.

'You are...' he asked, with a puzzling look.

'Sam Ding, the guy who requested to buy the student's ticket.'

'Oh hi!' We shake our hands together.

and that began our conversation.

From the short conversation, he asked for my feedback on the play, and we talked about the cast, being in drama society and so on...not much, cos this is a short conversation which barely lasted about 3-5mins. As i was about to leave, we shake hands together again and again, and in the end, we shake our hands 4 times. And we say bye bye to each other.

This may seem to be nothing, but i personally feels that it is worth to talk about. Why? I am now supporting my stand with 2 points:

1) Rabil leaves me a very friendly and kind impression. Though he won several awards related to drama productions in acknowledgements to the contributions he puts in, he do not put up any air on others, or sometimes what my friend says, very 'diao.' (aka one was so proud of himself that they do not even bother to greet people.) Yeah, he was nice enough to ask for the feedback of his play politely. His friendly personality has won half a battle in his next production. Why ? Take Cameron Crowe as a very good example. He do not really bother to interact with his audiences when he was here in S'pore few years back for the gala premier of Vanilla Sky. He walks up to the theatre after giving away a few autographs. In the end, it was Tom Cruise's friendly personality who saves the day.

2) Do not see much producers or directors asking for feedbacks on their production from the audience. Even so, it would be done on stage for drama plays, and cocktail reception for movie gala premiers. Rabil was one of the few who would walk to the reception table and wait for the feedback. Why at the reception table? No one would ever walk on to the stage when the show comes to an end, cos they want to leave the theatre. In fact, in my own view, most would not even bother to provide feedbacks. To know how's the production like, go and ask from the crowd. And where is the best place to ask? Most of the time it is located at the theatre's entrance. And it just happened that the reception is at the entrance. So, this is a good chance to ask for feedback. If one is going to wait for the audience to walk up to the stage for feedback, they should jollywell stay at the backstage, cos no one would really bother to tell them, 'hey, i feel that this play...' by walking up to the stage itself.

That few minutes might seem to be unimportant to the audiences, but it means a lot to the people behind the stage. This is a chance for them to know what the audience expects in their next production. And yes, their personality also plays a part in it.

Hope to see Rabil's next production in future. : )

Yep watched Dangerous Liaisons at Victoria theatre tdy. Loves the opening, and how is it like?

Oh yes, Toy Factory brings us what the audience wants: Very RA. I can't tell you how RA it is rite now, cos this is not a movie. It is a show with real person on stage, where anything can happen, so long as the characters is still jumping on the wooden floor instead of the 35mm prints. I won't be responsbile if anything goes wrong.

Release the dangrous fable on Mon, when the show comes to an end tomorrow nite.

After waiting for a long long time, the vcd of Before Sunrise and Before Sunset is out. And yes, the distributor is now releasing the original uncut, uncensored version of Before Sunrise, though they had released Before Sunrise in conjunction with the release of Before Sunset at Cineleisure Orchard. So do pay attention whether the version of the vcd of Sunrise is rated PG with cuts version, cos there are now 2 versions of Sunrise on VCD in S'pore, which is the old PG with cuts version (with the new cert) and the new released NC16 uncut version. Sunst will be released under NC16, for sure. Oh yes, though enjoyed the sunset twice, i will now present to you the vcd of Sunrise and Sunset soon...

And now, i am inviting all Yahoo! users who loves Before Sunrise, Before Sunset or both to join the fan club of Sunrise and Sunset. SnS is a club catering to the fans of the 2 films, where you can get the lyrics of the theme song of Before Sunset, entitled Je T'aime Tant, performed by the lovely actress cum screenplayer Julie Delpy. Lovely pics of the beautiful scenery and more...

Calling to all who loves this film, you can now join them by going to the following URL:
http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/sunriseandsunset

Join now! Dun hesitiate!

And after several days of dry spell, it rains this noon. So in the end, this is the results i get from heaven when i supposed to go jogging: Heavy cloud, no rain. And no rain when it passes my schedule timing for jogging.

But it rain cats and dogs when i am going to school for French this afternoon. This time round, it is: A storm after the sunny skies. I am drenched.

Take a look at the scenry of my neighbourhood after the short drizzle before the heavy pour. Look at the damage done to the grass by the dry spell. Grasses and trees turns yellowish. Ah yes, the lovely atmosphere of grass and breezes of light wind just flew pass.

And that lasts barely a minute. It pours after that.

So what if i am drenched? I like it. I love the felling of getting drenched, especially when i am in my tees+jeans+dog tag+ converse old skool canvas. But don't get my gadgets damaged by rain water will do, or else, it would be back to $$$ issue again. (Once i had gotten my salary from my future vacation job, get myself a MP3 to replace my Sony Discman. So my Sony Ericsson T610 and my MP3 (Apple i Pod or Creative Zen? Or those normal MP3 which is within my budget ?) will be the only handy gadgets i am owing. No waist pouch needed.

Oh yeah, going for this Sat's upcoming adult Drama play: Dangerous Liaisons. Somehow i don't like to see Andrea De Cruz in the show, but i still go for it. Why? Just like to see how RA this play is. Can Tan Kheng Hua be as evil as Glenn Close? Can Mark Richmond seduce his 2 victims with his charm, just like John Malkovich? Can Andrea be as sexually attractive as Michelle Pffifer and Uma Thurman? Lastly, can Beatrice Chia brings in the sexually seductive spirit of the 16th century novel, just like Stephen Frears?

Everything will be revealed this sat afternoon.

Oh yes, i lost another 1/2kg before jogging for no apparent reason.

This is a song written by Sting, which was one of the song featured in his album, ...Nothing Like the Sun.

Why did he wrote the song? He quoted that Sister Moon is a song for the lunatics around the world, where their sanity is dependent on the phase of the moon. (Phase of the moon means whether the moon is round or cresent etc...)

This is a song for the lunatics around the world, whose sanity is dependent on the phase of the moon...

and i wonder if Sting is dedicating this song for me, cos i am going looney today. I almost become a lunatic. CJP notes is a real pressure, cos i am so tongue tied during the peer sharing session. If that's not enough, i have to worry about the HR peer teaching notes, which is due on Thurs, cos i just started on the peer teaching notes.

Worst of all, Friendster is somekind of breaking down today, where 1) i could not log in several times, 2) my friends are gone after i log in!!!!!!

And now here's how friendster is like: my freidns is gone, and they return. They leave, and they return. In and out, in and out, in and out, in and out....and now they are gone again...

Screw u FRIENDSTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And so i checked the daily horoscope: today i shall declare my independence. All i need is willpower.

What's that? Very soon, i am going to be the next Pepa in Almodovar's Woman on the Verge of Nervous Breakdown. But this time round, it will be: Man on the Verge of Nervous Breakdown.

Things was not supposed to be during the CNY: dull and boring days. So i just eat and sleep, eat and sleep away.

Nothing much done during the holidays: catch Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby at Century on the 1st day, then sis's bf came for dinner. Visit the S'pore River Hongbao on 2nd day, and that's it. Cheong for work from the 3rd day onwards.

What's the worst that could happen during the holidays? The dvd player broke down. And so that goes my Last Samurai. Can't watch it during the holidays. Sob....

OK, so i go back to school on the 3rd day of CNY, and as usual, things cannot be completed for the CJP portfolio on Fri, so gotta return back to sch on sat to complete everything. Yes, the baby was send to the tutor this morning. And one major project down.

Just wonder: does the year of the golden chicken spells misfortunes and a rocky path to walk on for the next 359 days, or it's just another road full of challanges? Seriously, i am not really in the mood to invite the golden chicken cum playing with it, cos the schoolwork has exhausted us down.

Today is valentine's day, and love is in the air. Oh my, i am not in the mood for love rite now. Flowers is selling everywhere, be it in school or Orchard Rd. The scent of love is in the atmosphere, cupid is shooting arrows everywhere. Well, the arrow does not reach me. It is shooting the couples everywhere.

Oh yes, to those who are buying roses for your love ones, take note: Taiwan is now flooding with poisonous rose. It contains high amount of pesticides and chemicals, just to keep the rose beautiful. If you want to have a romanticrose bath, beware.

Now playing: We'll be Together by Sting

And today is the 1st day of CNY. Happy CNY to all! Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Yesterday was rather different from my planned routine. 1st of all, the meeting ends at 1.25pm instead of 5pm. Yeah!

And no rest after reaching home. Eat, shop, shop, eat. Buy eggs and cakes to stock up for the holidays, as ya know, most of the shops are closed on 1st day of CNY. A simple act to apply to the term 'stock up the grains to prevent hunger or jin gu fan ji'.

Now this is the most funniest part 0f the attachment yesterday, where Gina, my groupmate for attachment, asked James the supervisor, how to pronounce ju hua (chrysanthemum) in English, cos she wants to test his English ability (everyone was too bored), and he replied:

khek huay (chrysanthemum in hokkien.)

here comes the...should i say the highlight of the day?

fight for cheap goodies at chinatown.

unsurprisingly, the place was packed with people getting the cheap goodies on the last minute. One lesson to be learnt from here: never wear brand new clothes if you are going to squeeze people in a packed place. thank goodness i am not squeezing in my brand new billabong tees...

in the end, i make a last minute decision: i purchased Ray Charles: Genius Loves Company. The made in China version at $7.

Like what Cindy told me just now: it's now or never, cos i dun think i will be in Chinatown for a long period.

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Tomorrow is CNY eve, and yet my Corp Comm group is rushing for the project, and they said they want to do all the way to 5pm...siao bo...have to come back on the 3rd day and that was bad enough. Tomorrow is the attachment and gotta stay for this...sigh...

anyway, don't talk about this now. Look things on the bright side.

Done my spring cleaning and spend most of the time doing new year shopping. Yes, buy loads of food, drinks and beer. Oh, can enjoy Stella Artois tomorrow nite...

Sigh...CNY is here in a few day's time, and have i got what i want? A checklist of items that i need to get for myself for the upcoming CNY is here, and here they are:

A Billabong tees? Yes!
Converse Tee? Yes.
DVD of The Last Samurai by Tom Cruise? Hai. (Just bought it last nite from $$$ converters. A pity that it's a code 3. Code 1 would be better.)
Toe socks? Oui, but the usual length. (wanted an ankle length, but 2 expensive.)
Pants? No need this time, got plenty of hand me downs, brand new.
Sandals? Couldn't find any suitable ones. Teva is good, but too pricey.
Gatsby hairgel? Soon.
Stella Artois beer? Soon.
Heineken? Soon.

But i do spend on unnecessary stuff though:
Dirty Pretty Things starring Audrey Tautou. (Should i say it is necessary? cos i am eyeing for that long long time ago...)
I-Weekly, which comes with free A Very Long Engagement Notebook + tickets. (Audrey again, but she looks beautiful, and yeah, the notebook looks lovely.)
Coffee at Coffee Bean on wed.
extra makan within this week.

Sigh...poor management on $$$, so that's why. Anyway, will get a job during the break.

And the arrival of the year of rooster means one thing: i am growing old again...yes, i am turning 20 this year. I'm old...

Now, here comes the $1million question: how to look forever young? Most of the guys in our age wish to look young for many years, and that means they fool the public on their age with their looks.

Botox? Nah, there is risk. What if i get disfigured? And where do i get the $$$ for botox injections?

Exercise? Yes, but i will die from over-exhaustion soon.

Skincare product? Do the government provide skincare product at a discount rate? If there is, i will flock down to National Skin Centre immediately rite now.

Food? I only know that swallow's saliva aka bird nest is one of the good stuff to make one looks young. But swallow's saliva is expensive leh. Got anymore or not?

Sex? Another form of exercise, but i will run out of energy during the middle of the session.

Living in a neverland? I can only tell you that after i managed to catch Finding Neverland.

And here comes the latest news on movies: Wong Kar Wai is back with a movie, together with 2 directors, Steven Soderbergh of Ocean's 11 + 12, Traffic and Solaris and Italian director Michaelangelo Antonioni in 3 tales of erotic and desire: Eros.

Eros? Sounds like the Indian company that makes best-selling Bollywood films to me. But no, this Eros has nothing gotta do with Bollywood dreams. Like what i said just now, erotic and desire. Eventually they add up to form one thing: sex.

Story? Wong tells us a tale of a shanghai tailor who makes beautiful cheongsam for a prostitute whom he loves with. I mean, this tailor is in love with this hooker. But when his career starts taking up, she starts to fall. Chang Chen gets back his dialogue after his hardly any show performance in 2046. Gong Li is his woman of his dreams. Steven brings us a short drama on a man living in the 50's, whom has been making erotic dreams in his sleep. When he looked for his psychiatrist to solve his problem, we will slowly see what's going on. Rober Downey Jr is back after Berry-Cruz's failure, Gothika. Michaelangelo brings us a simple story: a couple in their 40's whom found themselves no longer loving each other. The husband had a one nite stand with a young girl. The girl meets the wife.

That simple for Michaelangelo's film, but Wong? What i heard ffrom those who had catched the film finds it boring. Steven? Witty is all they said.

A lame title, but related to my French lesson today.

Before i tell u why i am using this title, just to announce that i've passed my French paper! Scored 34/50 for written paper, but 14.5/20 for listening. Thanks to Mr Benoit, the French teacher who could not even pronounce French properly, i get 14.5/20. Oh yes, Ms Vivian had a new hairstyle today. The hairstyle that she has was....

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome Ms Maggie Cheung Man Yuk in her recent French film, Clean!

http://www.telefilm.gc.ca/data/production/prod_3266.asp?lang=en

and yes, Ms Vivian shared the hairstyle as Maggie.

Now, back to how to gain weight. This is what we learnt today: ordering food and drinks in a restaurant. Here are some of the examples:

Un cafe noir (kopi-o), Un cafe au lait (kopi-c), Un grand chocolat chaud (large hot chocolate.) une biere (beer)

un sandwich au jambon et au fromage (ham and cheese sandwich), une gateau au chocolat/au formage/au fromage au fraise (chocolate cake, cheese cake and strawberry cheese cake), une glace a la fraise, a la vanille et au chocolat (strawberry, vanilla and chocolate ice cream), des frites (fries) crepes, pain au chocolat (chocolate bun)

oh yes, high in calories and carbo, so need to do excercise after having this.

If that's not enough, this is what i had when i reach home:

milo with condense milk plus chocolate hazelnut spread, melted together. Add water and miam miam! Together with bread warmed with chocolate spread, oh yes, a sinful spread...

and then, it was dinner time. Mum did not cook any dinner, so i buy wester food, and had a chicken cutlet.

see, how much calories consumed? you do the math.

After dinner, i know that if i am going to laze at home, i am going to store in fats. So i went to the library, but before i went to the library, i head down to $$$ converters, cos there are loads of new films on sale rite now. We have: Love Actually, The Fighting Temptations, You Got Served, Swimming Upstream, Around the World in 80 Days, The Alamo and the documentary drama, Imelda. The lifestory of Imelda Marcos and her 3000 pairs of shoes. Yes, a recommended film, but did not buy, cos 1) can't buy too much. just bought Dirty Pretty Things 2 days ago, 2) Might bring home the vcd of Clean.

And this is the movie that i finding it high and low: All About My Mother. The vcd that i've been looking like hell in all Poh Kim outlets. I did not buy in the end. Why buy while it is a censored version?

As simple as ABC:

1) Set cheem questions. Students who do not know what the heck is the questions or simply could not understand can kon ka kiao liao. Students who do not even prepared by studying for the test will see an instant result. They will fail the paper. However, students who understand the questions is immune to this skills. They won't die.

2) Hold the students appetite when the results for the test is out. Make them wait and wait and wait, and they will die. But somehow, this is not effective for most students. Students who do not want to fail and feels that they don't do well ( or what we call No Failing but Don't Think Can Do Well aka NFDTCDW) will have an instant effect. The rest? Those who think they will fail, they fail. Those who think they can pass but fail, die. Those who think they will fail but pass, pass. Those who pass, pass.

This is not a medicine, neither it is a magic potion for black magic. This is psychological tactics.

And this can be applied on my PCC Paper today: Simply wondering what is the questions talking about. Very simple: my face turns green when i saw the questions. OMG, how to do the questions? Cos it was so many weeks ago since we attended PCC lectures, where i had simply deleted the file of answering the questions to the problems after the HR paper. Yes, i had deleted so many things, such as what to do for the corp comm projets and so on. And in the end, i simply forgotten the HRIS 4 hr lab session. : (

And this applies to Part 1.

Part 2? I just simply told Mr Nah that i feel that i will fail the paper when i had lunch with him in biz park at 11am (an hour later, our Charles Ma was in biz park and he was one of the contestant for the best looking Eng guys. Hey Charles, sorry huh, i ws with Mr Nah and my members discussing our next projects.) And he told me that there are people who bound to fail, but not to worry too much lah.

12pm is the time where Charles/I knows the results. Charles? I don't know. Me? Mr Nah asked whether if i am at ups and downs. (Ups means pass, downs means fail) And i placed my bets on downs, that i bound to fail for sure.

A very wrong move that i make.

Up. I scored 23/30.

Mai da kai xiao, mai xiao kai da. (Buy big open small, buy small open big. This is a Chinese term which means one was in back luck, where things doesn't goes what he wants. )

OK, i pass the test, but i lost all the '$$$' on the bet. Another risky bet tomorrow: French paper.

And after waiting for a month and so, FIRST Feb edition is finally out. Really quite fed up that they are always late at times. And here comes the sneak peak of upcoming movie posters:

Danny the Dog aka Unleashed in Internnational title. In case you missed my blog yesterday due to some technical problem, this is the summary of what has happened: Danny the Dog is Jet Li's return to Hollywood after Cradle 2 the Grave with DMX 2 yrs ago. The posters for Unleashed has been criticised by the Chinese that a Chinese dignity has been insulted by Americans, where the poster features Li being treated like a dog and how he fights back. And i was there to express my unhappiness that Li was treated like a dog, and not only my idol has been insulted, but the Chinese dignity has been badly bruised. However, Danny the Dog's posters seems to be few thousand times better. Featuring Jet with Morgan Freeman and Bob Hoskins in a Tarantino style poster. Think Reservoir Dogs with a Chinese, an American African and a American, with the background was in pale yellow, and looks like any other old posters that has been crumpled. In short, think the combination of Resevoir Dogs and Pulp Fictions. The plot? Jet plays Danny, a Chinese who was kidnapped and trained as a underground fighter for his boss (Hoskins), with basic human rights totally ripped off: no education, eats like a dog, lives like a dog. When his carries some secrets the gang do not want to spread off and his boss goes blind after an accident, Danny runs away. He was rescued by Sam (Freeman in his Ray Charles look), a blind pianist, who teaches him with values of life, and teaches Danny how to lve like a human being. The gang now wants Danny dead, and he must find ways to protect Sam and Victoria, his granddaughter, and at the same time, to get back his dignity.

War of the Worlds: Standing beside Danny the Dog (and opens much much more later than Danny the Dog. While Danny gets back his dignity on 8th Apr in US (S'pore's schedule is yet to be confirmed), the outer invaders invades theatres on late May in US , and S'pore faced the invasion much much later. 29th Jun. ) This time round, it's Tom Cruise! Yeah! As for the poster? Very gigantic wordings, just like the wordings that you see in movie posters made in the 50's and 60's for historical war dramas. Ben Hur is a very good example. Plot? In the future world, world enjoys peace, but when outside forces invades earth, mankind has to fight back. War tells the story of how mankind fights back through the eyes of a family.

Viola. The end of the story.

If you wonder why i am using the title Monster, this is why: just feels that the Americans are monsters, which shows no respect to human rights and respects of human race. This is the 2 things that irks me a lot, especially being a Malaysian and a Chinese.

Malaysian has granted amnesty to Indonesian illegal immigrants and they will not be prosecuted. They will be deported home without any punishments taken on them. They are transported back to Indonesia for free, and before that, they are allowed to buy things that they want before making their trip back to Indonesia. However, the American human rights associations afraid that the M'sian police will abuse the illegal immigrants when deporting them back. The response: M'sia government has closed two eyes for this group of illegal immigrants. They do not have to go to jail, and they are free to buy things there and goes home without paying a single cent.

Being a M'sian, i do agree that M'sian officials might abuse their powers, but that applies to the minority. Take a look at the religious officials in M'sia who arrested young Muslim females who wears skimpy clothes and no tudung on their head. They deserved to be labelled 'no human rights' officials, as these extremist are abusing their power, and claimed that they are doing this under the name of god. Crimes they did? Let 30 odd females squeezed in a small filthy lockup room, no toilet breaks and let them pee on their pants, verbally abuse them by calling them whores and indecent females.

It was kept in the dark until last sat, where it was on the spotlight of the newspapers that such happenings has taken place. In the end, the government steps in to investigate and what about the American human rights associations? None of them said a word.

The 2nd news not only affects me greatly, but to all the Chinese as well. Jet Li is on headlines again. This time, the Chinese feels really insulted with the movie posters of his new film, Unleashed (or previously knowed as Danny the Dog) with Morgan Freeman. The posters features Jet wearing a doggy chain and uses his fist to stop a leg from stepping his face.

Now, let me apply what i've learned from CJP on the poster: the idea of the poster is to present ideas in a short and sweet, and easily understandable way, so that the public could get the idea. Now, let me tell you the story of Unleashed: Jet plays Danny, a Chinese who was kidnappedby a group of American mafia gangs, and he was ripped off from basic human rights: no education, breed like a dog, train to kill. In the end, Danny has the skills to fight much more better than Ong Bak and the never heard before Korean guy in the so called best selling Korean film, Fighter in the Wind, but has the IQ of only a 7 year old boy. When the gang makes loads of $$$ out of Danny, the gang leader met with an accident and goes blind. Danny runs away from the gang and met a blind old pianist Sam (played by Morgan Freeman who looks like the late Ray Charles in Unleashed). Sam and his daughter Victria takes in Danny and after knowing what has happened to Danny, both of them teaches Danny how to live like a human being. But when Danny carries secrets the other gangs wants to know, Danny becomes a man wanted. Danny must be killed, and he must fight back.

And this explains why the Chinese is very angry with Rouge Pictures (the film company which makes Unleashed, Seed of Chucky and Assault on Precinct 13 with Ethan Hawke and Laurence Fishburne. It is a new company which was owned by Focus Features, where their big boss was Universal Pictures. ) for printing out such a poster. Very simple: the Chinese were treated like a dog in this movie, where the Chinese dignity has been treated like shit by the Americans. Chinese has been treated like dogs in the film, and Jet Li was...well, for Chinese who grows up with his film (including me), he has been a figure of a Chinese national hero to most of us. But it was tampered in US, and unsurprisingly, the Chinese feels insulted. This is just like having a national hero being treated like shit in a foreign land.

Insulting a national hero of a particular race is equally as good as insulting ALL the people of that particular race. See how big the reactions could be when Jet Li has being treated like a dog in Unleashed?

Back to the human right issues regarding Unleashed. Do the American human rights association say anything about this? Do they criticised the film shows no respect for human rights, and man were treated like a dog? No. No single human right association members stands up and talk to Rouge Pictures about the poster. It was the Chinese living in America who stands up and fight back.

In a nutshell, these so called 'Americans' criticise an inhuman act done by the non-Americans, but says nothing when the non-American were abused.

Just wondering if these so called human rights association sees any human rights for the other races.