The Mall Hop

My friend and I have recently embarked on a quest. It is a quest of discovery and it is one which we have unknowingly begun.

It started as a way to relieve boredom. Coupled with my new found skill behind the wheel and a more than adequate ability to navigate, we decided to go mall hopping. Now anyone who knows me will readily attest to the fact that I am not a great shopper. However, my friend is an avid one and rather than spend time cooped up in one another's houses, this is what we came up with. I am still trying to put in order all my thoughts regarding the malls we have visited so far, but once I have I will post about it, as per my promise to my shopper pal.

Just Me.

The Vagaries of Memory

Every creature on the planet, be it mammal, reptile, insect or bird, share one feature; a brain. Every brain, regardless of what it belongs to, share one feature; memory. Animals use this function to remember the location of food and danger.

Human beings, are so advanced intellectually that we have created devices that remember for us. Mobile phones, PDAs, and so on. These devices remember with no bias and that is very necessary. This is because memory like truth, depends very much upon your point of view. No memory is infallible, personal beliefs, opinions and emotions colour every thing.

It is difficult to explain and many will likely disbelieve it, but our view of the world depends very much on the precepts that lie within our mind. The mind is all powerful, and the beliefs it holds can alter our very reality.

Case in point, I have a fairly accurate memory but there are occasions where my memory differs from the recollection of others. This is mostly true of situations with my mother. She rarely ever remembers things the same way that I do. This is why remembering devices are so important. Although knowing my mother, she wouldn't even believe the evidence of such devices. I dread to think that this is what I have to look forward to.

Just Me.

The Best And The Worst

Tragedy brings out the worst in people. My family recently went through a tragedy and I have discovered the truth of this saying.

My grand uncle passed away on Sunday. He was a 66 year old with a history of heart trouble, yet his passing was a complete shock. He left behind a wife and 4 boys and a whole host of extended family. It turns out that he was also very active politically and will be sorely missed by those who knew him.

The man that he was is not the point of this entry. The point of this entry is how in times of crises, our deepest, darkest neuroses rise to the surface. Given that in times of loss, like a funeral, family is thrown together in close quarters for extended periods, this is not a good thing.

In the Hindu faith, there are a series of rites, rituals and prayers that have to be followed. So in times of loss, not only does the family have to deal with the loss of a loved one, we have to bloody run around like headless chicken organising a series of ceremonies. Organising a single ceremony is monumental enough, but to have to do it time and again over the course of a month is just plain exhausting. Of course, all this in addition to living day to day is just a disaster waiting to happen.

Of course, given the family I come from, disaster waiting to happen is putting it mildly. My family is a walking disaster area, on a good day and in times like this, well, you get the idea. So here I am stuck playing intermediary for paranoid, drama fed old ladies who have been lying in wait for an occassion like this. It's like these old crones have nothing else to bloody do with their time except brood in a corner all day, watching tamil serials and feed their own delusions of grandeur.

So I have a week more of putting up with this powder keg parading as a family before I am free of them for awhile. Wish me luck.

Just Me.

Tradition

Some times, people do things the way they do things, because that's the way they've always done things and they refuse to do things in a new way even though there is irrefutable proof that there is a better of doing things and then it's become tradition when all they really mean is FUCKING habit!
Just Me.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day. It's a day you show your mother you appreciate her. My initial thought was 'what bollocks!'. Mother's day is just so much commercial bullshit conjured up by the greeting card company. Somehow over time, the greeting card companies, the florists have brainwashed all of us into believing that a card on this one special day of the year makes up for the fact that we take our mothers for granted the rest of the year. It's like how the florists have men believing that a bouquet of flowers will make up for the fact that they've been callous assholes.

Anyway, that was my initial thought. I have however, begun to see some merit in it. Don't get me wrong, I don't buy into any of the hullabaloo over cards and flowers and gifts and such. However, I look at Mother's Day as a kind of birthday. It's one day in the year when I overlook all the myriad ways that my mother drives me up the wall. I try not to give rein to my anger or irritation.

I love my mother. I truly love her and she's a really wonderful person. I just don't like her very much. She is demanding and unreasonable and old-fashioned and paranoid and quite simply annoys the living daylights out of me. So for one day in the whole year...two if you count her birthday, I bite my tongue and let her interfering, inane remarks roll off me like water off a duck's back.

Dear God, give me strength!

Just Me.

Disconnect

I have come to believe that all mammals are biologically programmed to want to leave the nest at a certain age. This 'disconnect' function is evident in all mammals including the human animal. However, in humans, this 'disconnect' age happens later in life. You see, unlike the young of most other animals, young humans are quite fragile and require the guidance and protection of the adlut for longer. This is because we have evolved different purposes to our existence and set ourselves apart from mere animals.

However, this biological need to leave the nest so to speak is one that we cannot overcome. I have the utmost respect for those who can overlook this call of nature and live with their parents well into adulthood. In Asian families it is quite common for extended families to stay together under one roof and I cannot fathom how that is possible. I believe that at a certain point in our adult lives, it becomes quite impossible to live with our parents. I know I can't. Well I can but not all the time. I value my privacy and my space. Don't get me wrong I love my family but I do not want to and simply cannot deal with them 24 hours a day. If I were stranded on a desert island with my family, I would shoot myself.

Take my advice, move out, move on, don't kid yourselves.
Just Me.

The Battle of the Bulge

Diet plan for 1500 kcal/d

Breakfast : 8 - 9 am
2 slices of bread (white)/wholemeal+vegetables+egg/tuna/sardine/keju
@1 small bowl rice/mee/bee hoon/kuey teow+vegetable+chicken/egg/tofu
@1 piece capati/dosai+dhal
@6 pieces biscuit (without sugar)

1 cup of coffee/tea
+ 3 spoons of non-fat or lowfat milk

Lunch: 12 - 2 pm/ Dinner 6 - 8 pm (four hours before bedtime)
1 small bowl rice/mee/bee hoon/kuey teow
@1 piece capati/dosai
@2 slices bread white/wholemeal
+1 piece (3 ounces) chicken/fish/meat
+1 cup leafy greens/beans
+1 portion fruit
*Fried food/santan allowed only once per day
*only 2 spoons of gravy per meal

Tea time 3-4pm/Supper (if hungry) 10-11pm
3 pieces biscuits (no sugar)
@1 slice of bread white/wholemeal
@1 piece of 'kuih tanpa gula'

1 cup of tea/coffee
+2 spoons of nonfat/lowfat milk

chew food till liquid
drink water only 30 minutes after meal


According to a dietician, this is the best sort of diet plan to lose 4 kilogrammes in a month. This coupled with 30 minutes of exercise per day. Is there any wonder that there are so many miracle cures out there? Or that there are so many overweight, demotivated people in the world. Yikes. Let's see how long I last.

Just Me.

Can't live with em...can't live without em

Families are best taken in small doses. I envy those families that can stand to be in each other's presence for extended periods of time. I know for a fact that there are extended families who until today live under one roof. This is a long honoured Eastern tradition and really I don't see how that works in this day and age.
I can't even spend a week with my family without going completely out of my mind. I suppose I am used to being on my own and not having my actions questioned. I am used to having a reason for actions being taken.
To top it all off I have no patience for imaginary schedules and pointless urgency. I do not like to be rushed. I do enjoy time with family, they are my family after all and they are the people who know me well, at least on the surface of it. They know my history. I have come to realise that as I have set off on my individual journey, I have history unknown to my family and they are no longer people who know me the best. In fact, over the past year I have come to realise that my family no longer knows me at all.
I have outgrown them. What is truly sad is that my family does not realise that
I am no longer the same person I once was. It is a sad fact of life and one that cannot be changed. Truth be told I do not know if I would want to. As much as they no longer know who I am, the reverse that I do not know who they are is also true.
Just Me.

ColoUr Quiz

Eshwari took the free ColorQuiz.com personality test! "Longs for tenderness and for a sensitivity of feel..." Click here to read the rest of the results.

Till London...

As I blogged about the start of the Olympic Games, I felt it only fitting that I write about the end of the historic 29th Olympiad. I was not as impressed by the closing ceremony as I was by the opening, not least because I was fuming throughout the event.
I have specifically paid more for the Astro Sports package so that I could enjoy extended coverage of the Games. We have not been offered an Olympic package, no, as existing customers of Astro we have to simply add on to our current subscription. I have even resigned myself to endure the downgrade fee that will be imposed once I cancel my Sports package subscription. With all the money that Astro is making off us, their customers, one would imagine that we would be given the priority in whatever they screen. However, that was not the case during the broadcast of this ceremony.
It was a live telecast, but it was interrupted every 15 minutes or so by the airing of a sponsor’s advertisement. I mean the greed of this company is monumental. They get paid enormous amounts of money by their customers all over Malaysia. Yet, it appears their greed knows no bounds. Why else would they disrespect their existing clientele by interrupting a LIVE telecast to bombard us with useless, pointless, annoying as hell adverts from supposed sponsors! How fucking rude! Bloody Maxis and fucking Hotlink!
If those advertisers had any sort of sense at all, they would pay a little more attention to the effect that they adverts actually had. I mean I am about ready to swear off Maxis and Hotlink for all eternity. In fact I will advocate that anyone with a Maxis account discontinue it just on the principle of the thing. Bloody idiots!
Just Me.

The Greatest Farce...

I blogged the other day about the start of the 29th Olympiad and there will be no doubt in anyone’s mind that I am an avid follower of the games. It is this sort of international competition that garners my attention, so it won’t be a surprise to any who know me that I am sat in front of my telly avidly watching the games.
Ordinarily I would leave it at that. I mean what would I blog about the games? I appreciate the difficulty of competing at this level and I am in awe of the skill and talent on display. I even confess a little envy because of my own lack of skills. At any rate, I would have been quite happy to let the athletes get on with it and just enjoy the show.
Nevertheless, I have been chivvied from my comfortable cocoon by the repeated airing of two particular advertisements. The first of the pair is the Olympic advertisement. I am not even sure if there is a sponsor involved, but no one will have any doubt about which advertisement I am referring to. It’s the one with this black robed old man with a bit of ‘Zeus’ complex. He stands in the middle of a Greek style pavilion surrounded by athlete dressed in dark gladiatorial style clothes. It’s not the styling of the advert that I have any problem with. It’s a little clichéd, but after all, that’s what the first Olympic games were all about – war skills. No, my problem is with the dialogue. Dear lord, such dialogue! I have never heard such sentimental, corny rubbish in all my life.
He enumerates the many things that the athletes teach us. Against varying backdrops, he starts first with the fastest man in the world who teaches us that every second is precious. The lesson is a little muted as the fastest man is not named, and you never actually get to see his face, instead you see a nondescript black man running among some stallions. Then come the real clangers. He goes on to talk about Yelena Isinbayeva, who currently holds the Olympic gold for pole vaulting. He says “You the girl who can jump the highest, if you can jump that high, there is no obstacle you can’t jump over.” WHAT??? Seriously? Who in the world came up with this line? I mean come on? Are you telling me that the only obstacles are those you can jump over? The stomach churning corniness continues with talk about ‘The Invincible Man’. Yes, you read right, the Invincible Man. And just who does he award this dubious honour to? Roger Federer, the tennis player! I mean who’s judging this? Why is a tennis player invincible? For pity’s sake, if you’re going to be handing out outrageous titles, you may as well, hand them to the right people. There are marathon runners, marathon swimmers, pentathletes, heptathletes, decathletes, long distance runners, long distance rowers, and a whole host of other athletes who deserve the title more. Every time this advertisement airs, it gets my hackles up. Honestly, the people that were responsible for this travesty of an advertisement should all go sit in the corner in a timeout.
The other advertisement that has my back up is the one that introduces us to the Malaysian athletes. Someone obviously thought it was very important that we get to know our athletes. I agree, it is an incredible achievement to qualify for the Olympic Games and the fact that we have athletes in so many categories is in itself something to be proud of. Still, whoever it was that has the bright idea to interview the athletes, should have had the follow through to make sure that the athletes then don’t go on to make asses of themselves. The interview with the archer is especially trying on the nerves. He gives the interview in Chinese, with subtitles running along the bottom of the screen. That isn’t a problem. The problem comes when he decides that at the end of the interview, he has to say something in English. This is what he says, “Aim the moon, shoot the star, be a superstar.” The first time I heard that, I had a serious WTF moment. I mean that sentence doesn’t make ANY sense. Not grammatically, not logically, not philosophically, in fact not in any way. Seriously I blame the segment producer. I mean come on, the guy obviously has not got a good grasp of English. It’s one sentence we could have seriously done without, or, someone could have told him what to say. I mean he must be capable of saying ‘aim for the stars, shoot for the moon, be a superstar.’ Someone could have written it down for him.
This is again indicative of the massive disease of indifference that is pervasive in our society. In my earlier post I spoke about the sheer stupidity of the airport authorities that announced a flight going to India. This is more of the same kind of thoughtlessness that is never ending with Malaysians.
I will probably be posting more examples of Malaysian stupidity, in the vain hope that maybe someone reading this blog will be in the position to do something. Failing which, posting it on my blog will stop me ranting about it to my long-suffering friends.
Just Me.

Savages

A couple of things have happened recently that I really feel I ought to talk about. An uncle of mine was mugged last week. He was literally four doors away from his home on his way back from buying ‘nasi lemak’ at the local hawker. The thieves not only took his money, they also hit him on the head with their motorcycle helmets. I don’t understand that. I get that desperation drives people to do desperate things. My uncle is a frail old man. He’s a diabetic who self-medicates and sometimes over medicates and has fainting fits ever so often. He is the most unassuming person and obviously posed no threat to these thieves. The fact that they hit him is merely an indication that these thugs do this for the violence. If the object of the robbery was the money, then it was unnecessary to hit him. In fact they hit him so hard that he has developed a clot in the brain which the doctors are hoping to dissolve with medication.
As the family was reeling from this attack, another occurred. My aunt’s home was invaded in broad daylight by four men armed with ‘parangs’. By the grace of God no one was injured, as the men did not have much time inside the house. Luckily my aunt is well liked by most of her neighbours and one of her neighbours noticed something awry. The lookout men in the getaway car noticed that the neighbour was about to call the police and so called his accomplices back and the ‘gang’ made their escape.
I can hardly believe that the same family would experience so much tragedy within such a short space of time. I also find it almost impossible to believe the depths that humans can sink to. It is true that with the current state of the economy things are difficult for everyone. I refuse to accept however, that these difficulties warrant the violent crimes that are being committed. My grandmother would say that this is animal like behaviour. I however, believe that to classify it as animal like behaviour would be an insult to animals. Animals do not attack without provocation or reason. No animal would attack for the sheer pleasure of the kill. Only human beings do that. Human beings are the only living things that take pleasure in the destruction. Animals are more interested in their own survival to develop such peculiar tastes. The best I can say about these savages, who commit these crimes, is that someday, they will learn to behave as animals.

The mathematics of indifference

July 16th 9.30 am Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
I sent my mom off to India today. While waiting around anxiously to make sure she actually got onto the flight, I found myself listening to the flight announcements. Imagine my surprise, nay, shock, when I heard the flight announcement for the flight to India. The announcement was first made in Malay which was a little odd, but it is our national language. The announcement was later repeated in English, which is fairly standard as English is the international aviation language. The language of the third repetition of the flight announcement though, that one made my jaw drop. The announcement was in Mandarin! The fourth and final language was Arabic! I was completely flabbergasted. I cannot begin to describe how completely floored I was. Soon that sheer disbelief turned into anger.
Kuala Lumpur International Airport is being touted as the best international airport in the world. We live in a multinational country and Indians are one of the three major races in this country. Despite this, the international airport in this multinational country chooses to ignore the language of this minority group. There is simply no justification for this. The majority of passengers on that flight are Indians; they do not speak Malay or Arabic or Mandarin. The airport blatantly chooses to disregard this statistic and instead makes an announcement for perhaps the one passenger who may be boarding the plane headed for Chennai.
What sheer arrogance? What sheer stupidity! How do these people make any money by treating their customers this way? More importantly, which moron awarded them the title of best international airport?

The Greatest Show on Earth

The Olympics have started! I am ridiculously excited about it. The games of the 29th Olympiad commenced in Beijing last night and let me tell you, it was so worth the wait. I have to hand it to the Chinese, they outdid themselves! Honestly, everything was flawless and so brilliantly excuted. I was so glad that I was watching at home though, I don't think I would enjoyed it half as much had I been stuck in a seat with hundreds of thousands of other people on a hot, muggy night, excitment notwithstanding.
Anyway, where was I? Oh yes! The Opening Ceremony ROCKED! Every little detail was breathtaking. The amazing design of the bird's nest stadium. It looks even more beautiful at night when the lights are turned on inside the structure. It's one aastounding piece of engineering. If that wasn't enough, the performances during the ceremony was again flawless. Thousands and thousands of performers, all of them coordinated and synchronised in a visual display of perfect grace.
The coup de grace of the entire evening was of course, the lighting of the torch. This is an event that signals the official start of the games and the game of one upmanship is rife among host nations. In 2004 the Australians rejoiced that Athens dropped the ball on the lighting of the torch. They held fast to tradition and relied on the grandeur of a gout of flame held high by a giant torch. Many agreed that the Australians had done better, with the fire of the 27th Olympiad rising out of a pool of water. All that pales in comparison to this lighting of the torch. The ingenious design of the torch, the stadium and the spectacular suspended final lap was simply spellbinding. The final resting place of the Flame of Peace was the cherry on the top of this marvellous creation. The torch seemed to curl out of the very stadium, as if the building itself was coming alive to receive and house for the next two weeks the eternal flame of the Olympic Games.
Truly it was one of the events of this decade and the host of the 30th Olympiad will have their work, cut out for them.
Just Me.

Clone Music

I just saw Janet Jackson on the Ellen DeGeneres Show. I’ve never had a strong opinion on music. This is mostly due to the fact that I like music of all sorts. I listen to rock, hip hop, R&B, alternative and even pop. Truth be told, I can’t actually tell apart the genres, it has never been important to me. I am more interested in what sounds good. Now getting back to Janet Jackson on Ellen’s show, well that just rubbed the wrong way.
I am not a Janet Jackson fan. I didn’t follow her music when she was at the top of her game and I barely paid attention to ‘Nipplegate’. However, this performance on Ellen got my undivided attention. It actually made me stop and take notice, but for all the wrong reasons. You see I wasn’t looking at the television when she started performing, and I was busy with something else. If asked, at that point, I would have said that it was Britney Spears. I was shocked when I looked at the television and saw that it wasn’t Britney.
Now like I said, I do not have a very strong opinion on music. What I do have a strong opinion on though, is individualism. I have a very strong opinion about music that sounds the same when you close your eyes. Music used to be the language of the heart. In the 70’s it was the voice of revolution, musicians were the poster people of change and new ideas. Today, there’re algorithms that predict the popularity of each song and the music sounds like it has been assembled on a conveyor belt.
Anyone who doesn’t believe me just has to close their eyes and run the recent hits of artistes like Britney Spears, Janet Jackson, Paula Abdul, Ashlee Simpson and any other number of petite ‘hotties’ with more good looks than talents and more drama in their life than actual substance to their personalities.
Just Me.

An aching tooth is better out than in...

A truer word has never been said. I have taken my teeth for granted for too long in the hopes that if I didn't bother them, they wouldn't bother me. Unfortunately, this strategy doesn't work too well with teeth. They relish attention and ignoring them only makes them mad.

If I sound crazier than usual, it's the fault of the painkillers, I deny all responsibility!

As you can guess, I have a toothache. It's not any ordinary toothache, it's the result of a broken wisdom tooth which defied extraction on Thursday. The dentist after a valiant try finally admitted defeat. So now, I have half a tooth sitting pretty on my upper right jaw, readying itself for the it's round two fight with another dentist on Sunday.

Meanwhile, I am doped up on painkillers and restricted to liquid food for the next three days.

Just (miserable) Me!

Relationship 101

Over the years, I have played Agony Aunt to many, many friends and I've noticed a pattern. Their complaints mainly center around a single theme: relationships. I've heard many variations of this theme; a total lack of a relationship, an over abundance of relationships, not being able to get into or out of a relationship, bad relationships, good relationships, one-sided relationships, even some imaginary relationships. The bottom line is, I've heard them all.

Based on my varied experience, listening to the relationship woes of both sexes, I have a working theory. Many of these problems are caused because too much emphasis is placed on appearance. Even my 'enlightened' male friends, and my 'liberated' female friends all hinge their courtship rituals on appearance. Everyone does this absurd dating dance where they spend a ridiculous amount of time worrying about how to make the first move without actually making the first move, or how to make the other side make the first move. There is an unbelievable amount of stress that goes into attaining this almost mythological 'first move'.

Now after extensive studies, I have observed that what constitutes a first move is different for both genders. On the one hand with women, the first move involves the man asking them out which seems on the face of it, straightforward enough. But nothing is ever that simple. There are certain criteria to the 'asking out'; for instance, it has to be individual, he can't ask you and five other friends, and while the first time need not be dinner and a movie, it can't be the local mamak for an after work 'yam cha' either. My female friend are adamant that they would not do anything until this happens. Even in this day and age, my friends refuse to be the ones to do the asking. I actually have friends who won't even show interest until the guy asks them out.

On the other hand with men, a first move constitutes a show of interest. Any woman out there who thinks men have it easy, has no clue the pressures these boys put on themselves. You see, being men, they haven't exactly defined for themselves what amounts to a show of interest. However, with their fragile egos thrown in the mix, this lack of definition muddies the waters. Men will wait until the get what they perceive to be a sign of interest because they hope that receiving that sign reduces the chance of rejection. In fact, men have a whole defence mechanisms built around avoiding rejection. Really, who can blame them, because let's face it, rejection sucks.

So there's where it stands, my guy friends play it cool and my girl friends play hard to get, but both sides agree, the last thing they want is to look desperate. I'm amazed any of my friends ever got hitched!

I have never bought in to all this hype about first appearances. In my mind, it's all very simple - if the guy is the sort who gets freaked out by a woman who asks him out, he's not the one for me anyway, so it's no skin off my back. If he is the sort of guy who forms a negative opinion of a woman who makes the first move, then I want nothing to do with him and he has no idea what he's missing.

I believe in the old adage: "Be yourself, no matter how crazy or weird. Those who matter won't mind, and those who do, don't matter."

Just Me.

Opening the Pandora's Box...

I was standing in line to buy my cinema ticket to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull at GSC One Utama yesterday, something I haven't done in a long, long, time. A young couple slipped into the line behind me and started talking. Being alone in the line, I was soon shamelessly eavesdropping on their conversation. (Yes, I know, I know...pathetic, but you hear the most interesting things that way) Anyway, this young couple soon began discussing the selection of movies on offer at the cinema and I use the term discussing loosely here. What I really mean is that they were riduculing each movie and trying to see who could come up with the more disparaging comment. Inwardly I was rolling my eyes, 'one of those' I thought. You know the ones I mean. It's the type who go watch "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and then walk away saying 'oh I didn't like it, it was too much like a cartoon'. Those sort. The pretentious nitwits who have no idea what they like in a film but run it down anyway, because they are too cool for it. Right before I go off on a tangent, let me tell about the single comment that really caught my attention. They soon began talking about Indiana Jones, naturally, and the young man had only one thing to say about it: "Retarded!"
Obviously I was intrigued by this scathing retort, especially as I was stuck in a hellishly long line about to fork out my rapidly dwindling savings for a ticket to see this movie. I was convinced that this comment was just more of the same 'I'm too cool to breath' crap that they were spewing and soon had put it out of my mind. After all, it's Indiana Jones that I was about to go and watch. I hardly expected it to be a goldmine of information nor a fount of knowledge. I had no illusions. I was going to watch a movie that was purely entertaining; like a roller coaster ride at the fair.
I staggered out of the cinema two hours later and only one ran through my mind. You guessed it, "Retarded!" Even with my low standards, it was appalling. It was so retarded that as I write this, barely a day later, I can hardly remember much of the movie. What I do remember does it no credit. Harrison Ford can't possibly be that hard up for money that he would stoop to reprising a role that he's at least 25 years too old for. I don't care how he aged, he's no Sean Connery and he honestly couldn't carry off Indy. The whole appeal of Indiana Jones was somehow gone. His lines were unfunny, his movements were stilted and the plot - OH MY GOD! - the plot was mind-numbingly inane. I hardly think even a twelve year would have been all that impressed with this movie. I know the pre-teen boys in the row behind weren't. In fact they were insulted by the lack of intelligence in the movie. In times when most children are growing up on a diet of series like CSI and Numb3rs, it is highly insulting that the writers ask anyone to believe that gunpowder will float through the air being drawn magnetically to the carcass of a dead alien.
Indiana Jones should have been allowed a noble and dignified death, instead of being dredged up and lampooned like he was. On a side note, Shia LeBoeuf acquitted himself very well in the movie. The boy has oodles of talents and bushels of mass appeal and truth be told, I think his future in the industry is bright, provided he doesn't go the Lohan/Downey Jr. road.

So Indiana Jones was a bust, but there was still hope left in my Pandora's box of sorrows, or so I thought. Last night, two friends and I went to watch "Prince Caspian". Now unlike my naive friend, who re-read the book just last week to prepare herself for this 'event', I last read "Prince Caspian" about 5 years when this same friend presented me with the entire collection. Read them all in one sitting and haven't gone back to them since; in fact, I can't even find the book now. Anyway, that being the case, I watched "The Chronicles of Narnia" and I absolutely loved it. The children were a little stilted in their acting, but somehow, for that story and against that backdrop, it simply worked.
So it was with some pretty high expectations that we entered the darkened cinema. Unfortunately for me, disappointment had to decided to make a day of it. "Prince Caspian" while nowhere near the 'retarded' mess of Indiana Jones, it was still disappointing. I have learned my lesson after the fiasco that was "Lord of the Rings" and nowadays I try not to watch a movie based on a book if I have already read the book and if I do, no longer do I expect it at all to match the book in anyway. Many a well written book has been taken apart and disfigured by the demons 'artistic license' and 'mass appeal'. I digress; the point I was trying to make was that I had no such illusions about the fact that some changes would have to be made in order to fit it into a two and a half hour movie, but little did I expect this. It's like the screenwriters read the first page of the book and the last page and then decided to re-write the bits in between however they wanted.
Unlike Indiana Jones, this movie will appeal to the pre-teens and the spectacular shots, amazing creatures and the fantastic CGI will carry the movie. For those, who enjoyed the writings of CS Lewis however, it will prove riduculously trite. For adults who haven't read the book, enjoy the scenery and CGI because you're not going to experience a lot of first rate acting or even a decent plotline. All in all "Prince Caspian" turned out to be one of those movies which have to rely on the CGI to save it. I can understand that in a lot the original screenplay, but when you've already been handed the storyline by one of the greatest storytellers of his time, to massacre this movie, was a crime, I don't think I'll be able to forgive or forget for some time to come.
Just Me.

Simplicity

This is me simply typing because I like the sensation of typing. I write because I like the feel of the nib of the pen against the paper. I enjoy seeing the words form on a blank sheet of paper, literally or virtually. Does this make me odd? I would like to think not. However, it does not make me a writer either. It simply means I have an odd sort of fascination for the act of writing. Whether this fascination stems from the belief that I can write or from the fear that I cannot, I do not yet know. I hope to discover the answer to this question, perhaps soon.

Reality...

Reality TV. I can hear the groans already. The truth of it is though, that no matter how much a person may moan and groan about the declining standards of television programming, reality TV is the big winner. There is simply something addictive about watching an 'ordinary' person do extraordinary things, or survive outlandish situations. It doesn't matter that these people are handpicked to skew the show the way the producers want it to go.
Many a friend of mine will look down their noses at the thought of watching reality TV, then, turn around and religiously watch, Come Dine with Me or perhaps something like The Amazing Race. The bottom line is that watching contestants who are shorter, fatter and not so pretty looking, gives us the sense that it could be us out there. It gets the audience invested in the exploits of these contestants. It gets the audience invested in what happens to these contestants.
The biggest and most watched reality TV on any channel right now is the news. Yes, that's right. It's the local and international news. It's stories of how people thousands of miles away from us have to deal with maybe the same problems we deal with everyday. They have the same concerns about putting food on the table, of being able to set foot outside the house without the fear of ending up dead; they like us, want to be able to live a good and happy life. The specifics of what they each deal with may be different, a tornado in the US, a cyclone in Myanmar, and earthquake in China and maybe just poverty in Ethiopia, but the human drama driving it is the same the world over. Just like the most outrageous reality TV, the news is also streamlined and packaged and delivered for maximum impact. Little stories that fit a 'theme' are sensationalised. Big stories which are oddballs, are snowed under piles of gibberish.
Just like we can't look away from the News, we can't bring ourselves to look away from the contestants, the participants, the guinea pigs of reality TV. Ten years ago, the producers of reality TV would wait for something interesting to happen and compile it, then throw it into one show with maybe a little bit of reenactment and voila! The masses were satisfied. Programmes like Rescue 911! and You Asked For It were runaway hits. Of course in our fast paced, forward moving world, television has to keep up or be outstripped. So instead of waiting for reality television to happen, some smart-aleck televsion executive thought, why not make our own reality.
This is the reason for the popularity of these shows. It's not because American Idol is really about finding the next big pop sensation, although that may have been the original idea. Finding the next big thing is not the reason that American Idol has run for seven seasons. After seven years on the air, only Kelly Clarkson has achieved any kind of international stardom. Not many people outside the US have even heard of Ruben Studdard or Taylor Hicks or even Carrie Underwood. Yet many young hopefuls who have been voted off have gone on to bigger and better things. Daughtry and Jennifer Hudson are prime examples. Daughtry is now the most popular band in the US and they're immensely popular all over the world. One might even say that losing on American Idol is better for a musician's career than winning ever is.
This is because American Idol is not a talent competition. It is a case of FOX building it's own reality. They handpick contestants who will show well on camera, who are dramatic, who have hard luck stories, who are young. Go to the American Idol website and you will have die hard fans of second rate contestants duking it out over the fairness of the voting system. These fans tune every week and are bombarded with advertising and media messages and spend thousands voting for the favourites. It's become a reality of its own and the people behind it may even be having a little bit of a God complex right about now. The thing to remember is that human creation is imperfect, we sow the seeds of destruction is everything we build or create.
Let's see how long it will be before people realise that reality isn't to be found inside an electronic box, it's what you do with the time you've been given.
Just Me.