Movie 2009.09.27 - An Education

Education, however boring, exists for a reason. Between the debonaire and the geek, always choose the geek. (As the ancient Chinese saying goes: Hao gan bu hao chi.) Why your cello should never accept rides from strangers, even when it's raining.

Story of a bright young girl who exchanges her boring education in exchange for the good life - attending auctions, going to the races, lounging at jazz clubs, weekend trips to Paris and Oxford with her new-found man friend. Turns out her friend-now-fiance is a serial liar, thief, and adulterer, who leaves her high and dry when she accidentally discovers the truth. Fortunately, even though she lost her virginity, she didn't get pregnant. Kicked out of school for her insolence to the headmistress, she enlists the help of her teacher, passes her A-levels, and was admitted to Oxford to read English. Life goes on.

Some memorable quotes:

• "I don't want to lose my virginity to a piece of fruit. "
• "All this fascination and poetry, for only a few seconds?!"
• "One of the boys I dated, and they were boys, suggested that we go to Paris and I said I'd always wanted to see Paris. As if I'd never been!"

My First Ever Duststorm

Woke up to find the bedroom painted an eerie red orange. We do have red curtains, but today the shade is not the same. Looked out the window and the sky is red. First thought that came to my mind is bushfire. That would explain the smell, but not the color. Found out later that the orange haze everywhere is due to the duststorm coming from the west. Said to be the worst is 70 years. It was so bad ferries were canceled and flights were diverted. People are also advised to wear masks or stay indoors.

It's really strange because by afternoon, the haze has mostly cleared up.

Nokia E75

It's been two years since I last bought my E65 from Manila, so it's time for a change. At the $500-range my options are either E66, the E71, or the E75. Yeah, I'm a sucker for the Nokia E-series business phones.

The wife's got the E66 already, so I'm not getting that. I tried out my colleage's E71, but found it too wide, though it's very thin. And the buttons on the keypad are quite small, making touch-typing difficult. So I opted for the more expensive E75. It's a candybar AND a slider (with a full QWERTY keyboard that slides out). Best of both worlds.

What's nice about the E75:

• front and back cameras
• GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA
• WiFi 802.11b/g with UPnP, Bluetooth with A2DP
• USB2.0 with USB charging
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• 3.2MP digital camera with autofocus and LED flash
• N-Gage support
• Built-in GPS
• 3.5mm audio jack

Only downside is that it comes with APN control feature. Without your PIN2 code, you can't do any data traffic. I tried the default 0000, and struck out on my first try. Now the phone's asking for my PUK2 code, which only the operator has. Bummer.

Movie 2009.09.12 - West Side Half-Story

Free movies at the Opera House Forecourt as part of the Spring Dance event. Tonight, it's West Side Story. Got there a bit late, most of the good seats on the steps were taken, so we had to sit on the sides. We also forgot to bring blankets or cushions, so it started getting uncomfortable for our backsides half an hour into the film.

After Maria, America, Tonight, and Gee, Officer Krupke, we decided to skip and have dinner at Eastbank Cafe Bar Pizzeria.

Movie 2009.09.11 - Horton Hears Half a Who

As part of Burwood Festival, there's free screening of movies at Burwood Park every Friday. Tonight, it's Horton Hears a Who!

The video setup is pretty basic. You have this DVD player hooked up to a video projector projecting to a big screen and big speakers positioned around the venue. As with most DVDs, you get this pre-show warming saying "Not allowed for public exhibition." So the guys covered up the projection lens until all the FBI warnings are over, then the show started.

I'm pretty impressed with the video quality though. Left after half-time because it's getting cold. Had coffee/choco and cakes at Cafe Belo, then went back home. Will just have to finish the movie at home.

Movie 2009.08.07 - Looking for Eric

Watched Looking for Eric for free courtesy of SeeFilmsF1rst. Story is about a depressed football fanatic who slowly regains his footing in life through a series of hallucination-induced conversations with his idol Eric Cantona (a.k.a. the King). He works up the courage to start talking to his wife again. He toughens up and stands up to his stepsons and gets them to help out at home. He accosts the gangster who had befriending his stepson and getting him to keep a gun in the house. Didn't work out too well because the gangster turned the dog on him. With a little help from his football friends, they storm the gangster's mansion, wearing Cantona masks. They thrash his place and humiliate him and threaten to put the video on YouTube if he doesn't leave the kids alone. (Yeah, as if that'll work.)

Movie 2009.09.06 - Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon

Part two of the Three Kingdoms movie marathon. Movie is set way after the Battle of Red Cliff. At this point, Cao Cao and Liu Bei have passed way. Out of the original Five Tiger Generals protecting the Han Dynasty, only Zhao Zilong is left fighting the good fight. At least Zhuge Liang is still around to help out the young Wei emperor. From the Wei camp, (fictional) Cao Ying, a granddaughter of Cao Cao, commands the army. There's not much story to this movie. Things start picking up when Zhao Zhilong mounts a second Northern expidition again the Wei. At the Yellowbird Peak, he fights one-on-one with Cai Ying; eventually winning the battle, but not before sustaining his first battle injury. While recovering, his good friend Luo Pingan reveals to him that he had been betraying him all along. Not that it mattered much - at 71 years of age and massively outnumbered, I don't think he'll be willing battles forever. In the last scene of the movie, Zhao Zhilong brandishes his Piercing Spear, and charges headlong into the Wei army to certain death.

Movie 2009.09.05 - Red Cliff I and II

The missus must've liked these movies 'coz she watched them all from start to finish and even asked a few questions. As a purist, I still like the book better, but I'll let the inconsistencies pass. The special effects and location shots are top-notch, but the actors need some improvement. They seem to know that these movies are going to be blockbusters, so I felt they were a bit complacent. The guy playing Cao Cao is really good. Looks a bit like Jet Li. Tony Leung as always is cool as a cucumber. I think Takeshi is wrongly cast. He does not have the maturity to play Gong Ming. Every time I see him, I think "playboy". As for Sun Quan, we need someone who can speak Mandarin properly. We've got Taiwanese supermodel Lin Chiling playing Xiao Ciao, but her accent and voice needs improvement. My wife says nobody speaks like that (at least, not in ancient China). No wonder Cao Cao fell in love with her.

LA32B650 Is in Da House

By LA32B650, I meant the 32" Full HD Samsung Series 6 LCD TV. The one with:

• 100Hz Motion Flow
• 4 HDMI ports
• Internet connectivity with access to YouTube and weather and U.S. news
• USB 2.0 to play movies, music and photos from USB sticks and USB drives
• DLNA certification
• Built-in recipes, games, artworks, etc.

We didn't really shop around anymore. I did check out some online shops before to have a feel of the prices. Walked into a Bing Lee store, and they gave us a good deal. $1400 for the LCD TV, plus an extended warranty, and a free HDMI cable worth $90. (Yeah, right.)

My most expensive impulsive buy yet.