ArOnIL

Steven Spielberg has done it again. Another, dramatised movie. War of the Worlds, is suitable for all ages and makes one continuously in suspense, and constant thinking of why this and why that. The fact of how a father who does not his kids all that well, kids mostly like to ignore him and all. It was rather touching as to see how the family clung together, or more so how the father tried his utmost best to take care of his kids no matter the cause. The beginning and the ending were quite ingenious to me. I mean you wold not have expected, or to be more precise thought of it, until explained.


*** Attention Spoilers Ahead - Read at own peril ***


The trailer was really misleading, as I original thought it was another movie of human race versus with mother nature who is to fed up with humanity that has destroyed so much of her. But then when you listen to the introduction of the movie, it is actually a movie of earth invaded by aliens. It was a good idea of the publicity people to make sure the audience did not see the alien figure during trailers and only in the movie, leaves mroe of the "I want to know what happen".

Let me first go into cinematography. Camera angles along with special affects were naturally of course always defying logic around that of the hero. You would have a house explode behind our hero Ray and then another one and he is still sturdy on his feet running away from aliens. And of course when other people die from the rays of the aliens and explode into nothing but dust.

The actors were good, especially Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning, who in my opinion is a star in the making. She played her part perfectly. Come to think of it, most of the movie revolved around these two cast members anyway.

What i just can't stand about the movie is probably the reunion of the family at the end of the movie. It i must agree with some been a better ending for the family scenario if Spielberg had actually made the son die(sorry to say so), also what was the point of the son running up the hill saying "I must see this", the fight between human military and the alien tripods. I still don't get it. And after that explosion immediately as he ran into the battle field, you can tell me he actually survived? I think the son was the dumbest part of the movie, he wanted to play hero and then after that wanted to play Mr. Independent. And then suddenly at the end "Oh Daddy, Oh son". Oh well can't have it all.

Also where i think there was mess up, if not calls for further thinking as it was not explained in the movie was where the aliens who supposedly ahve been watching and monitoring earth all this while, were suppose to be the 'smart' beings and therefore have come to earth to exterminate the human race who thought they were all powerful. But if that is so, why did they not take more precautions when they were actually on the planet. And the ships were already there, so to say that they have never been physically on earth before the invasion would then be wrong. So they should have been able to make sure they would not be affected by whatever diseases, but then again at the earlier part of the earth, there weren't the type of bacterias and microorganisms we have today.

The ending of how the aliens died...this i don't want to put it, but it is purely genius of how it is interlinked through out the whole movie. Still a good movie overall though.

End of my so called critique.

My good people I'll be heading to bangkok for a study trip, and as much as some would like to actually think that Monashians happen to be brats and we are never gonna get any work done, but just lepak when we get to our destination..... Stop being such a discriminator :P ..as much as i can say it is the same for any student in any institution

But just pray that all of us will have a safe flight and that we will have good journey ahead off us. The purpose of the tip is to expose our Malaysian eyes to that of a different culture (duh), learn a bit of the issues that revolves in the country and perhaps become a little more wiser when we get back...(don't know how that would be, but I can be optimistic).

If you wish to be updated about the trip, we will be blogging out our time spent in Bangkok, in this blog.

http://insearchofbangkok.blogsome.com

I know it's been a long while since the Da Vinci Code came out but i finally got down to reading it.
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As my opening to the is entry, author Richard Barber author of 'The Holy Grail: Imagination and Belief' says

"There is history and there is imagination, and imagination doesn't work like history and history doesn't work like imagination."

Fascinating is it not when we hear of a detail in the history line, or even an interesting speculation that seems to be like the truth. That the human kind, when exposed to particular reading material, will consider that source even though it is purely fictional for entertainment purposes, yet somehow looks to have a "hidden", if not applausable truth will naturally take that text as a source which is credible. Even worse, is when the human mind is able to conceive truths of its own, through some sort of interpretation which does not seem all that far fetched to the minds of those in the worldly sphere and claim that to be truth in history.

I personally feel that the point the book claims to be fictional is a controversy as much as his story of the "secret" of Jesus Christ is a controversy. At the beginning of the book, they always have a disclaimer stating how this book, is meant to be purely fictional and any relation to anything in the real world is purely coincidental. Then after that it moves on to a fact page, stating that the Priory of Sion is real, The Vatican is real and that all the secret socities and rituals are also real. If that is so then what is fictional in the book?

If what is stated in the book, really are facts, then Christianity has been nothing short of an illusion, created by those who are supposedly in "higher authority". Also after watching Instinct last night, it can be seen that we always see in this world is sometimes a facade....We only think we are in control, we only think that our actions are deemed higher, we only think we have authority.... but that's another story.

As I was saying, Da Vinci code, worries me with the fact that when people who are non-believers of the faith read it, they will actualyl take it as the truth which is plain well ridiculous. It is sad that the thing that makes the most money, the best-sellers, the things that attract are always that which are controversial and would love to do nothing more than to attack the Christian faith. The Da Vinci code, states that there is a hidden secret that is not knowned by the people, a secret if you ask me, is only made by humans. If really this was such an important part in history, then why not be placed in a doctrine. How can a secret as such be kept silent for years.

The point that there is a possibility that Jesus could have even be married and had a child with Mary Magdelene is preposterous and contradicts with any doctrine that has been passed down to us since the death of Jesus Almighty. The fact that we could have someone from the direct lineage is too much, is it applausable? No.

The book, itself, is not all that fantastic either. The only parts that intrigued me were the puzzles and questions that were trying to be worked out. The characters themselves were not all that fascinating, although i did find Sir Teabing to be amusing at times.

Point here is that, the book, is a controversy, and even Brown himself does not know how to differentiate between fact, myth, fiction and imagination.

I forgot to add....

It is ridiculous to me, how they also like to fuse paganism/new age/worship fo the goddess and so on so forth together with Christianity. The fictional stories people love to just twist our minds with. Take for example in Brown there was a aprt that states, Constantine wanted to bring paganism and christianity together...don't know how much o that is true.. but anyway, there was mention of how it just so happens that christians jsut so happen to worship God on the 7th day, which is a Sunday. and the term 'sun' actually is derived from worshipping the sun god.

Sigh this reminds me much of a movie i watched called 'Mists of Avalon', King Arthur fable of course together along with magic. When magic died according to that movie, the priestesses who worshipped the goddess was no more and neither was she.. but then it just so happens that the worshipping of the Virgin Mary is the one where everyone turns to...and their conclusion is that the goddess is still alive.. in the mother Mary.... ai ai...

oh well i'm done here.

I am not generalising here but i am just making a point of how "some" communities, social groups and so on are.
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As all knows, due to migration, practically nearly most countries can be considered multicultural nowadays. They will have the Asians, Eurasian, Caucasions, Africans and so on so forth. All with different background and different languages of their own.

Basically this comes ot he point i wish to blog about. The chinese who is yet not a chinese? The asians who can't speak their native tongue. A banana as one is called for the chinese, Yellow on the outside (chinese skin colour) and white ont he inside (the white man's skin). You also have the coconut which is in reference to the Indian who can't speak their native language...you take a guess at the nickname coconut and see the symbolism of the meaning.

Yes it is a disadvantage to only be able to speak one language so to speak...following a stupid PR joke on language. "If you can speak three languages you are trilingual, if you can speak only two then you are bilingual, and if you can only speak one language, well then you are American..."

I found that joke, funny and at the same time offensive. Allow me to elaborate. Firstly it is naturally funny if you would take a look at some of the truths of it, i think in the American society, they dont' really speak anything but English. However it can't be so over here in our asian region. It is a necessity to at least know how to speak more than the English language.
Now what i find offensive is when, the unfortunate Asians who can't speak anything but the English, they are considered wannabes.

Look at it this way, Chinese individual who can only speak English or Chinese. In your own home country if you speak only English some will look down on you, as if you are some kind of traitor to your own culture. Is it the person's fault for being brought up in an english education and surrounded by people and media that speak as such? Some asians diss their own chinese brother or sister, mock them, poke at them, think of them as posh snobs and even worse "wannabe's" of the Western culture for speaking only English.

Granted not all shun the "banana" in the community. But even so, it is sad. Then again it can also be turned around to how the english educated will thne only look for groups and friends that can speak the same language as them. I suppose that will make them look snobby in the end. Why is acceptance of others such a requirement sometimes? Sigh the vice versa of it all.

.. i shall never make it as a journalist as i have no objectivity in my writing... :P which is fine by me.

Yoda talk, is still lingering very much in the air I breath in. Hehehe that little green fella is just to cute.

In anycase, in Star Wars, Anakin Skywalker failed and went to the dark side. Not merely because of emotions but also because he failed in hi discipline as a jedi. Personally, i find Star Wars wonderful simply not just cause of the effects but also because of the ethical values it portrays.

Emotions are healthy sure, but they can also be detrimental as shown. He didn't know how to control. But then again if he was really disciplined as he should've been as a jedi he wouldn't have even tried flirting with Padme/Amidala anyway. It was clearly stated that Jedi due to what they train in and how they fight they cannot afford to be be comfortable in the realm of emotions. It is a hard an painful scarficie to be a jedi.

The point is when you have something set out. How long will it be until you lose the conviction to go through with it. Is it always a lip service thing, when we make up our mind to do something? Do we end up forgetting the main reason of why we even started to start of that particular goal?
Yess... i'm running out of topics and thoughts to write...

This was originally suppose to go into "The Siren", sorta like a magazine for communication students but since it has been postponed. Do read on...
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It is a new day and you have much to do. You have
assignments to pass up tomorrow, your exams is starting exactly two days from
now, you have emails you need to read, house chores that need tending to, go to
the gym and after all that you want to catch your favourite program on TV if not at least play with a computer game.

But suddenly it hits you, the end is near. You have only one more week left to live according to doctors. One week from now, you are going to pass away....

No, dear readers it is not a true story. But say if it was, how would you spend your last days on earth? Will you actually tend to all the work you have? Or will you drop everything and visit those you care about? Or will you try to reconcile every single relationship may it be lover, friend or foe?

For me, I will tell you I once made the stupid decision of wanting to go through all the work and complete them. Why ever for? Simply for the silly human satisfaction and peace of mind. But then, it dawned to me, it is ridiculous to want to spend and waste the short time I have left just for something that will not matter anymore. Me getting an excellent grade just before I die will not make any impact or difference. It will become pointless and meaningless.

If one were to ask me again, I will change my answer. The reply I will give this time, all those whom I never got to spend enough time with I will at least see them once more. Those whom I have hurt and offended, I will go to them and tell them I am sorry and ask for their forgiveness. For those whom I love dearly, what ever time I have left will be left solely for them. In other words, I will spend all the time I can to repair and build relationships that will no longer be with me physically.

For me I believe very much, that is not the end of the road when death touches. For it is just an end to a physical being on earth, a shell that will be destroyed. The soul will then move on to a different plane. The land of paradise and an endless horizon, white shores and forever lit. But that is another story.
This article is about the choice you make if you knew you had a short time left to live. But should not that be the same though that can be given to our life all the time. Time on earth as it is, will seem so short when you think about it. All the materialistic values you hold on to will be no longer of value anymore. What is the point of taking a valuable item or a good grade to the grave? Would it not be nicer to pass on knowing there was a positive change from a loss life? Would it not be nice for one to see a smile before all becomes complete darkness? It is your choice of how you make your life in the end.
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To just add a little more, I'm not being sadistic or anything, but it was just that i was going through my documents and figure this might be interesting to put up. ^_^I'm putting it up here for you all to read. Funnily it coincides with now, cause I just finished my assignments and also exams are coming up and also it is part of something that i pondered about this week.

I have fainlly succumb to producing an entry which is entirely commercial sports wise. But i'll make it short as i have stupid assignment and exams to prepare for.

Manchester United, what is wrong with you!!!!??? How could you loose... even though this lament is old but nevermind.. loking at today's paper that says, ferdinang can go from the club is the last straw.

First there is the fight of the take over by UStycoon, Malcolm Glazer who bought te club for bout 8oo million, leaving to my thoughts Man U to be in debt and most likely to sell of their VALUEABLE players if they can't fork out the money if Man U is losing as such. Beckham believes in Glazer thinking he'll do a good job.. He'd better if they actually hope to pay of the debt as well as to improve the team further.

Secondly, how could you lose, this season. Not a single trophy in sight.... argghhhh!!!!! And to ARSENAL!!!!!! Man U was winning all the way, they were defending superbly, Ronaldo (my honey) was the MAN, has was in great and the moves...... sigh...

Thirdly today, papers came out stating that it is likely Ferdinand would either leave because of not agreeing to sign the contract with Man u or he'd be sold... NOooooooo...

I end here for the night...