Indiana Jones is Back!

Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

I am so stoked. I just checked out the trailer for the upcoming Indiana Jones movie and just hearing the strains of the theme song & seeing the fedora in the opening few seconds got me going. Indiana Jones certainly brings back a lot of fond childhood memories and the whole high adventure magic of movies. Harrison Ford looks really good … I must say that when I heard of the new movie I wasn’t too sure but my fears are laid to rest by the trailer.

May 22nd folks. That’s when Indy’s gonna be swinging into cinemas. I am so thinking of getting the Indiana Jones boxed set now. Ha ha! The trailer certainly made me feel better even with this headache pounding on my skull now. Check out the trailer here.

Magic’s come back to cinema. Transformers’ Shia LaBeouf’s in it too I believe! Hooray! That kid’s certainly going places.

Re-starting a Life Put on Hold

It’s been a long week this week. I’ve been hanging out late at night chatting with a new friend and venting a lot. At the same time also learning more about what it’s like to be free of the shackles of pain that I put myself through over her (her = the girl I was/am in love with). Am learning to let go some more of all the pent up anger & disappointment in me. Am learning also to start living my life again and to lay to rest the hope that she’d open her heart to me again.

Writing these words makes me feel like there’s a finality to it all. Maybe God will bring her back to me one day … maybe there’s someone else out there who waiting for me. Whatever it is God has given me hope again. And that’s a good thing. It’s time to super-glue together my life after 2 years of picking up the broken pieces. I will always mourn the loss of her heart and forever regret my inability to hold myself together in my desperation to want to be with her. All I wanted was for her to love me … but it’s over now. For good.

Anyways, this week has been a solid week. Not as productive as I would like but it was a good week. I caught Transformers again last Wednesday. The 2nd time wasn’t as amazing as the first but it was worth a 2nd watch nevertheless. The difference this time round is that I could take in all the detail that I missed when I first watched it. The sound effects in that movie are top-notch & the movie was delivered in true Michael Bay fashion. A stirring score by Hans Zimmer rounds off the package. It most definitely wins my vote for best sci-fi/fantasy/action movie this year.

The evening with my cell members was great & everyone celebrating Ee Von’s birthday that night made it a perfect cell outing. It was heart-warming to see her so happy and to hear the laughter coming from all around the dinner table. Aaah … The simple joys of being a cell-leader. Here are some pictures of our “makan” that day. It was good fun and a proud moment for me being a part of this group. Enjoy!

This is the lot of em'. THE SALTSHAKERS. Err ... except for Roland.

This is the lot of em'. THE SALTSHAKERS. Err ... except for Roland.

This is some weird girl thing ... don't take my picture please?! Sorry Daph, but I've taken it already!

This is some weird girl thing ... don't take my picture please?! Sorry Daph, but I've taken it already!

That's Ee Von the birthday girl looking up at us ... can you guess which one she is?

That's Ee Von the birthday girl looking up at us ... can you guess which one she is?

That's Lina on the far right, Ling Yew, Nat (Ling Yew's definite better half ) & Ee Von.

That's Lina on the far right, Ling Yew, Nat (Ling Yew's definite better half ) & Ee Von.

That's Elly on the far right, Matt, Angie & Terence. Sorry Ling Yew ... my camera phone doesn't have a wide-angle lens.

That's Elly on the far right, Matt, Angie & Terence. Sorry Ling Yew ... my camera phone doesn't have a wide-angle lens.

Here's a picture perfect shot of Daphne, Ee Von and Lina who is faaaar at the back. Oh! Lina's from Korea by the way. Can any of you tell?

Here's a picture perfect shot of Daphne, Ee Von and Lina who is faaaar at the back. Oh! Lina's from Korea by the way. Can any of you tell?

A Shot of the THREE MOST MACHO GUYS in the SaltShakers! Can you smell the testosterone?!!

A Shot of the THREE MOST MACHO GUYS in the SaltShakers! Can you smell the testosterone?!!

Here's Tim! He's the youngest guy in cell so he's like the small brother in our "family". Lina says he's adorably cute!

Here's Tim! He's the youngest guy in cell so he's like the small brother in our "family". Lina says he's adorably cute!

Mr. Kenneth looking immensely pleased after a delightful meal of pancakes!

Mr. Kenneth looking immensely pleased after a delightful meal of pancakes!

The birthday girl's birthday pancake? STRANGE but TRUE!

The birthday girl's birthday pancake? STRANGE but TRUE!

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY ..." Oh! Was I singing too loud?

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY ..." Oh! Was I singing too loud?

So there you have it! Happy Birthday Ee Von!!! And may all the blessings and good things we wished for you that night come true … err … soon!!!

To cap off this blog entry I’ll end off with another movie. Last night I caught Die Hard 4.0 with Ivan & another friend. Die Hard was an action-fest and I loved every minute of it. There were just times when my jaw stayed agape at the reality-defying scenes playing before my eyes. It was most definitely a thrill ride for me.

The week still isn’t over. Tomorrow is our regular book study and Ling Yew’s cooking lunch for us at his place in Sg Buloh. And on Sunday we’re off to Gentings! Hooray! It’s gonna be another great weekend! It’d be tiring but good. Can’t wait!

Cheers!

So Much More than Meets the Eye

TRANSFORMERS totally rocked. It absolutely is the BEST Summer Blockbuster I’ve seen so far. I doubt that even Die Hard 4.0 would top it (which I’m definitely gonna be watching). Somehow I feel quite a tinge of excitement about it and am nostalgic about the slam bang action fest that the original Die Hard movie was.

My only gripe about Transformers is … why does the darn website hang my browser all the time?! I use Firefox 2.0 on my iBook and every time I try to look up the Robots subsection on the site it hangs?! It doesn’t matter whether I’m in the Autobot or Decepticon portions of the site. Sigh … I wanna make more wallpaper for my Sony Ericsson K750i and would like to have a Bumblebee wallpaper instead of just modifying the default Optimus or Megatron ones like I did before. It’s pretty cool having Optimus on my phone. I’m most pleased by the simple theme that I made.

Anyways, I’m off to Port Dickson in an hour or two from now. I’ll be driving down together with Angie. I’m already pretty much packed. I’ve just gotta put together some Devotional material for my members and I’m good to go. It’s been a good day today but I was so tired that I slept a bit just so I’ll be more rested for my drive down to PD.

Optimus & me.

Optimus & me.

Here’s a picture of me and Optimus that my cousin took of me at Robotcon 2007 at Cineleisure Mutiara Damansara. It’s supposedly the biggest model of Optimus Prime in the world. Ha ha! What is it with Malaysia and setting records?

Cheers and here’s to a FUN weekend this weekend!

Fasting Ain’t Easy …

I just started on a personal fast yesterday and today is DAY 2! GOODNESS! It’s not easy to fast at all. I’ve not had a bite to eat except liquids and um … one milkshake. It’s been doing me some good and has softened my heart some (must be God at work!).

I’ve just been asked to get my whole cell group to sit together in a cluster and the possibility of having HER around is eating me up some. It’s hard being asked to think about the group and to have a Kingdom mentality. Feels like I’m being asked to put duty before self every time. I’ve always put others before me and foregone personal comfort in a lot of my decisions and I feel very unappreciated in doing that. Does anyone ever think of me and my own comfort? I know … sounds selfish, but that’s a struggle that I’m faced with every time it comes to her.

I want to do the right thing and I will but I’ve had to harden my heart a lot in order to be strong. To push her out of my heart so that I don’t have to keep on loving someone who does not appreciate those feelings. I had to choose to hate when all I had was love. I don’t know how to fix things between us anymore. I don’t even know anymore what I want. I wanted to be a blessing in her life. To be someone who could be there for her … to be a friend and to love her. But she’s just been so critical of me. Maybe I’ve got self-esteem issues. My best friend tells me that I’ve got it all but why is it that I’m still single then? That’s the million dollar question ain’t it? Another question that bugs me now is do I still wanna be with her? I guess I do but what’s the point if I’m going to be 2nd-choice? Yeah …

Well, dear reader … I don’t want to depress you guys so here’s a low down on my SUMMER MOVIE sojourn. I’ve been watching at least 2 movies a week and it’s been awesome. Here’s my take on all the movies I’ve caught over the past 2 months.

Spider-Man 3 (2 & 12 May 07)
Really awesome movie this one. I watched it twice and only made up my mind that I liked it after the 2nd watch. It’s melodramatic but I must say that it made sense that Spidey could turn arrogant and shirk the help of other “lesser” beings. It’s a great watch and I’m definitely getting the DVD when it comes out. The villains were pretty disappointing though; mostly because there were too many of them and unlike the previous two movies I couldn’t emphatise much with the villains as people. VENOM looked really cool but was very under-utilised.

Next (14 May 07)
This one was an OK watch but had a very disappointing ending that made the whole movie feel like such a waste of screen-time. I wouldn’t recommend this movie.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (25 May 07)
Pirates was an action-packed romp through pirated-infested waters! I enjoyed it thoroughly and Johnny Depp was brilliant. I mean … if ever there were a crazed pirate who wanted immortality … Jack Sparrow’s it. The action sequences are over the top and it was a BLAST to watch. I loved every minute of it. AVAST me hearties!

Shrek 3 (2 June 07)
Shrek 3 was a good watch. It was funny but it did get a little bit draggy especially with the whole Shrek turning into a father-like, advisor figure to King Arthur. The supporting characters are great; especially Gingerbread Man and Pinocchio.

Blades of Glory (4 June 07)
Good, mindless fun … that’s all I can say. I had a blast watching it and it made me really happy. I laughed and laughed. The jokes weren’t cerebral but that’s exactly what I was looking for. It certainly made my day!

The Last Mimzy (8 June 07)
This one was a pleasant surprise. The child leads were really good. A definite feel-good movie that brings you back to more innocent days when we were kids.

Priceless (9 June 07)
A French romantic comedy. My first international flick in ages. It was funny and most certainly different. Twisted morals but it had a happy ending. I’d recommend it to those looking for something different.

Ocean’s 13 (11 June 07)
I liked this one more than Ocean’s 12. But less than Ocean’s 11. It was entertaining and I had good laughs with my brother and my friend Ivan who watched it with us. And it’s always cool to see a hypothetical crime being pulled off.

The Namesake (13 June 07)
Mira Nair’s a brilliant director and this one really touched a chord in my heart about being Asian. It’s a wonderful story and really speaks about our culture and how so often we lose it in the face of modernity and especially so with Western influences. We are so much less Asian that it’s pretty sad. A must watch for those looking for something out of the ordinary.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (16 June 07)
Way better than the first movie. And the Silver Surfer is really cool. Buff too. All the girls who watched it with me were swooning over him. Gah! Ha ha! Too little Doctor Doom though. Not the best comic book adaptation this summer, I’d say Spider-Man 3 tops that one in my book. Another comic book movies to watch out for is Iron Man which has got Robert Downey Jr in the title role. How cool is that?

My Neighbor Totoro (DVD – 17 June 07)
I’ve heard so much about this movie and finally managed to watch it after splurging RM200 on a boxed Studio Ghibli set. Am very much in support of buying original stuff ever since I started working in the music industry. Main reason why I got the set was cos’ of Spirited Away which I wanted to screen for the Film Appreciation class. Anyways, back to My Neighbor Totoro … TOTORO is waaaay cool. He’s huge. Furry and a hit with the girls. The depiction of love between siblings is presented in a very special way here and reminded me about my own fights & play-time with my brother when we were younger. This movie warmed my heart and gave me the izzy fuzzies.

Surf’s Up (22 June 07)
I bought tickets twice for this one cos’ I missed the 5pm show due to an over-run in a work appointment. I had good laughs in this one and the animation was superb. Made me feel like I wanted to be a surfer dude and travel the world to look for choice waves. Totally radical man …

Children of Men (DVD – 23 June 07)
I picked up a copy of this after hearing about it while doing research for the film appreciation class I took over for my friend Choon Ean. It was pretty depressing to watch but brilliant. The sound design was amazing and the way it was shot made me feel like I was right there with Clive Owen in the middle of an oppressive version of England in the future. It made my Saturday drab but definitely worth a 2nd-watch (when I’m not depressed of course).

That’s it from me, you have my thoughts on all the films that I’ve caught in the past two months. I believe Transformers is gonna rock! Michael Bay! Optimus Prime! What’s there not to like? I’ve got my very own ticket for this Thursday. Anyone care to join me? 🙂