It's been a year!

A bit over a year since I started this blog. At this point, I'm just glad that I'm writing all sorts of trash. It's fun fun fun!

Thanks to all readers, thanks to my friends, and heartfelt thanks to those special few who, whether directly or indirectly, helped to make this blog happen and sustain itself. You know who you all are...

Here's to the next year!

Quick Fantastic Four review (with spoilers)

Alright, if you haven't watched the movie stop right now...

Okay, let's get the main purist issue out of the way first. Victor Von Doom, say what??? What, they couldn't think of a way to make him menacing on film without giving him flashy powers? The evil genius of Dr. Doom is what he's all about. Taking that away from him just changes the character entirely. Is it because they were afraid they couldn't convince the movie-goers that a no-powers human brilliant genius (albeit with some limited mystical knowledge) could take on a whole superhero quartet?

The comic that started it all

(I wanted to post Jessica Alba but I think that pic's been done to death on the Web, ha ha)

Okay, onto business...

This movie has the problem of having extremely successful superhero movies preceding it. From Spiderman, X-Men, and most recently Batman Begins, Fantastic Four was always gonna have a tough time in front of the critics.

The main difference in terms of superhero comics was that the FF did not have secret identities. Sure they had codenames but everyone knew who they were. In a sense, this caused the comic stories to be less darker and more colourful than the rest, and consequently, the movie too.

And when it followed Batman Begins, it just looked horrible.

But for all that, I think the movie did okay. It set out what it intended to do, i.e. have a more colourful, cheerful image of the typical superhero group (in this case, family). Although there were other things I didn't like, e.g. Reed's wimpiness with Sue, and Ben Grimm changing BACK into The Thing (where'd the additional power come from? And is the machine still around???!), the Fantastic Four movie was a success in its own way.

Oh, and of course, they found a way to show Jessica Alba in skimpy undies. Never doubted it for a sec!

The Importance of Follow-Up

Back when I was in KPMG, to a lot of fellow colleagues and myself, the word Follow-up was pretty much a four letter word that happened to start with the word F as well. In audit, doing the initial work seemed much easier than chasing people to get outstanding stuff. It's like writing a brilliant opening chapter for your novel, only to experience writer's block in the next.

Nevertheless, it becomes really important not to let any momentum built up thus far simply wash out.

Case in point:

I was at Zouk's Mambo night Special on Wednesday evening (thanks Ruud!), and the Grease Anniversary Medley came on! I was high enough at this stage I leaped on the already full platform and started replicating the movie dance moves.

Then, halfway through the song, a pretty Chinese girl moved to stand in front of me but on the dance floor. She didn't dance, she just looked at me doing my nonsense, smiling sweetly all the time. Towards the end (the slow Summer Loving portion) I started singing to her and she smiled on. Song ends, I introduced myself (still on the platform) with a handshake. Her name was Ju Shuen (not sure bout the spelling). Then she walks away from the dance floor, and throws one more smile at me. And what did I not do?

I didn't FOLLOW UP!!!!!!!!!!!!! Damn damn damn, I just continued dancing instead... An opportunity passed up, just like that...

This is wishful thinking I KNOW, but I hope to high hope that our paths will cross again...

Anywayz, I'd like to write bout Mambo more, (it was an Abba theme night!) but that has ta appear elsewhere on the web ha ha...

Nooo!!! Unbelievable!!!

Rockstar INXS

The bottom three turned out to be Jessica, Heather and Daphna. I think it would have been close, as at least half of the performers had a bad day. And bloody JD dodged another bullet!

And who did INXS eliminate?

Not one, but TWO performers, Heather AND Daphna!!!! Aieeeee, there goes my favourite. I guess she made a mistake of not showing what INXS asked for, vocal range.

So we're now down to ten, instead of eleven, and that's 1/3rd of what they started with.

And currently in the driving seat, IMHO, are... Mig (yeap, eating my words), Marty, JD and Jordis.

Well!

A few posts ago, I admitted I didn't have any recent pics of my my college buddy, Yee Leng coz I didn't meet up with her. She has since kindly provided me an update with tons of pics. Thank you heaps, dear! Here's some samples, and she looks lovelier than ever!!!

Miss Yee Leng as I live and breathe

Rose Gardens, Budapest

Of course, I can't deny the fact that I'm tremendously jealous finding out she went on a huge 4 week trip to Europe!!! Here's another shot:

That's Mozart back there! Well, a likeness at least...

Apparently, she's also quite an avid photographer. Here's an example which I rather liked myself (okay fine, I can't comment on the colour technique!!! I get it already)


Mirrabel Garden, Salzburg

Europe, Europe, sure I went before but I was bloody well 4-6 yrs old at the time!!!

Patience, Azmin, your time will come...

Hmm, saying that more and more these days ha ha

Broken link...

This entry is for Meeshell,

I would like to draw your attention to the left column of my blog. Scroll up or down until you see Sleepy Jedi Associates in small blue font. Then scroll down to the link after Loco and before Moeology. Then try to click on it and see what happens...

But I do feel sorry for ya for such a ridiculous matter to occur. My condolences and hopefully a replacement will be up and running in the near future...

Till then, that link will remain!

The Dirty Dozen

It's Rockstar:INXS time!!!! (think I'm getting a bit obsessed here!)

Well, as you all know from last week's episode, J.D.'s comments about him loving INXS songs compared to the rest of the group, who have to learn them, didn't sit well with the rest. Antagonism towards him has obviously not gone away and it showed this week.

This week's clinic was rather interesting (unlike last week's which I didn't bother commenting on). The focus was stagecraft and the comments from the two members of INXS were quite insightful, too bad it wasn't an hour show.

The Dirty Dozen

But, the concert was not as good as before, maybe due to the songs available. A lot of the singers seem to have problems with more mellow songs.

Concert Report cards!

1. Mig : For someone whom I originally said "Nope" to, I have slowly been forced to eat my words here. Great performance!

2. J.D. : Looks like the gang has problems believing anything he says now. And his excuse for not doing the song well was pathetic. Terrible showing.

3. Heather : She didn't look scary today, and somehow it affected her singing. Apparently she really WAS sick this time and looked it.

4. Brandon : He sang Twisted, a song which I absolutely LOVE. I first heard the song in Reality Bites (awesome Movie) and it was primarily for this song I bought the soundtrack. BUT! He sang the song horribly!!! This just could be his downfall.

5. Daphna: Going the total opposite of INXS here. One of INXS went so far as to say she murdered the song. I Have to disagree totally! I think she sang great! If anyone murdered a song, it was Brandon! But I hated her outfit, though.


Daphna Dove

6. Suzie: She's definitely improved, I'll haveta say, definitely one of the harder working contestants here, if only for the fact she listens to criticism and works on it. Will survive again, the cat, but I stand by what I said last week.

7. Tara : Could be better, but comparatively to the other singers she did well. Then again, maybe I'm biased coz I'm partial to David Bowie songs...

8. Ty : Fantastic job.

9. Deanna : I thought she recovered very well after being shafted the previous week, and should avoid elimination

10. Jordis: Love the song (Gimme gimme some lovin') and she lived up to it, regaining my confidence in her.

11. Jessica: I didn't like this either. Jessica's steam seems to be running out

12. Marty: The best performance of the evening! I'm slowly warming up to his voice too!

Finding the bottom three is hard coz a lot of them didn't do well. Here's my list, in no particular order:

Jessica, J.D., Brandon (Yes, I am VERY upset with Brandon's treatment of the song!)

Had to choose between Jessica and Heather, but if Heather drops to bottom three, she won't get kicked coz of her previous solid performances.

So am I totally off my element here!? We'll find out tomorrow!!

Of sports...

Aside from Australian cricket and Liverpool football, I don't really follow many sports religiously. I am aware of Malaysia's achievements on the international stage, e.g. Nicol David's recent win (well done gal!), but usually not till the final stages. If I tune in to pool or tennis on Astro, I usually have a watch, but that's about it. Well, with tennis, it's when Maria Sharapova plays heh heh...

However, sometimes someone becomes so outstanding one just has to look up and take note.

This guy is a monster:

Mr. Lance Armstrong

Yeap, he just ended his involvement in Tour De France by winning his 7th (read: SEVEN), signing off on his cycling career in a flourish. I tell ya, this guy is someone you've just got to admire. You're looking at a guy who, seemingly at the peak of his career, finds out he has advanced testicular cancer spreading to his brain and lungs. He then undergoes chemotherapy and makes it through, establishes a Foundation to help the worldwide battle against cancer, then gets back into competitive cycling and proceeds to win 7 Tour De France competitions. IN A ROW.

You gotta give the guy credit. What an achievement!

Yee Leng, college buddy

Was trying to clean up and organize my e-mails yesterday and came across one I had overlooked before: A Malaysian friend of mine working in S'pore had been home in Malaysia for the holidays for the past four weeks and was going back to S'pore.... ....THAT SAME DAY!!!

Panicked and called her up and luckily enough I caught her about THREE hours before her flight back!!! Phew...
Flattering when I called and she immediately recognised me, going in her classic greeting, "Yes, Azmin..."

I met this gal in my 1st year at Uni, and I went into the same residential college in our final year. I think we became close coz we kept having the same courses. To my memory, the clincher was our Accounting Information Systems assignments.

!Ai de mi! I can never forget those Macros that just kept having us duped!

This is what she looked like 5 years ago (gimme a break, aight?) I don't have any recent pictures of her...



I don't know what she looks like now, although she'll prob. have that professional aura on her. 5 years working in PWC does that to ya...

It was good to catch up with an old friend, esp. a person like me whom, after two weeks not with the WGS gang, miss them like nuts! In any case, having her MSN username makes it a LOT more easier to stay in touch. Hopefully I'll be able to spend more time with her the next time she comes back down, which should be in about two months.

Till then... :)

c Warne b McGrath..

Thus the 1st Ashes cricket Test ended. As predicted, Australia won. And it actually rained first too ha ha!!!

Ms Marion C

I had the opportunity to meet Ms Marion C. about a month back. Went clubbing one Friday night, and my good man Rudy attempts to introduce me to Marion, and despite the typical semi-darkness of clubs, I could distinctly note that she really did look every bit as bright as I usually see her on TV, and genuinely attractive too! So what did I do?

I can't say for sure, but I believe I muttered a "Hi..", averting my gaze, babble to Rudy some hideous excuse, and wander off.

Damn my instant sudden random out of nowhere shyness!

Whereforth comes such stupidity!!

Apologies to both Rudy and Marion for being horribly rude that time! Promise it won't happen again!

Ms Marion C

I'm not exactly one of those who tunes in everytime to catch her and Adam's show on TV, but typically when I'm surfing channels and she's on, I usually stop to watch. And I can tell ya, this gal is on the up in the industry, coz she's got the brains, wit, charisma and looks to boot. We'll be seeing a lot more of her, the only problem is, her future's so bright, you gotta wear shades...

And if by chance you get to meet her, don't act like an idiot aiiiigghht!

Quotation:

Investigator, upon discovery of weirdly damaged corpse:

"One of the first things I learned in this business: 'Anyone can do anything, to anyone'"

- CSI New York

Current state of the world, just ain't that great is it folks...?

The Ashes is back!

That's right. The good old English-Aussie feud begins anew, and even as we speak, the 1st Test is beginning to reach its conclusion. Guess who's on top?

Yup, it's the Aussies again. Despite a slow start to their English tour, where they even lost a match to Bangladesh in the one-dayers, the Aussies are definitely near, if not at, the top of their form. After three days, England are 156 for 5 in their 2nd innings, requiring 264 runs to win. With 5 wickets left, and with Pieterson (42 not out) as the only specialist batsman left, Englands chances of winning are as likely as seeing pigs fly in Malaysia (double whammy ha ha)

Poor English sod copping a Brett Lee thunderbolt

But to their credit, England have performed admirably. After being nominated last year in the Academy Awards Equivalent in Sports for best comeback, the English Cricket Team have managed to prevent Australian batsmen from running off with the match early in the game as has been the norm in the past few ashes. Prolific batsmen such as Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist were unable to capitalise on solid starts, and even Australia's captain Ricky Ponting found the runs hard to come by.

Michael Clarke, Aussie's Golden boy

But, as so often the case has been, when one part of the Aussie team fails, the others pick up the slack. Michael Clarke became the only batsmen in the match from either side thus far to score 70+, making 91 in the 2nd innings. And if the English bowlers were good, the Aussie equivalent have been excellent, Glenn McGrath chief amongst them, making a 5 for in the 1st innings and being the most miserly bowler in the second.

Mike Vaughan's stumps gets an overhaul from McGrath

Kevin Pieterson, England's latest addition to their Test team, appears to be England's only hope now, but even he can do little when his partners' wickets clutter around him. And unless a miracle happens (or rain!), Australia should take a 1-0 lead into the 2nd Test.

Should be a short day of cricket tomorrow! Enjoy!

--------->

I hope none of my friends (past, current and future) are named Jun. Lying tramp... if I ever see you again...

Okay, back to our normal scheduled programme...

I did some clean up recently and realised some of my stuff is missing. A short while later, I realised I haven't seen this stuff for years. I have a good idea who took it though, pretending it's theirs. I bet it's in your collection right now. Well I'm onto you, you slime...

Uh, where were we?

Lotsa -ve emotions here ha ha...

Miss my friends at WGS though....lots...

soon soon...

Wedding wishes

Fina's second brother got married last weekend! Best wishes from me go out to him, his bride, and his entire family!

The wedding was in Garut, which I understand is somewhere out of Bandung.

The more I think about it, the more I wanna see Fi's family again as well as all her friends I got to know ha ha!

Patience Azmin... soon... wait just a bit more...

And Nauval, I'm tapping my fingers here...

Rockstar Results

So the last three ended up being Tara, Jessica and Neal.

One out of three ain't bad ( I got Tara), but got it wrong with the other two... I'm surprised Neal went so quickly though...I guess his INXS performance didn't go down well with the band...

Suzie, you're a cat ha ha... Can't wait for next week!

13 and 1 to go...

More on RockStar INXS ha ha…

Well, after this week’s show, here’s my evals:

1. Marty: Awesome, and continues to improve, still not sold on his voice though…

2. Suzie: Giving up on this one. She just doesn’t have the full package, and looks too much of a nice girl, i.e. not ROCK enough ha ha…

3. Daphna: HOT HOT and currently my FAVOURITE. Doesn’t hurt that she sang one of my favourite songs, I Hate Myself for Lovin’ You! Voice control was amazing…

4. Brandon: Could’ve been better but should be enough to get him through.

5. Neal: Once again, he proves that he’s better as a SOLO singer.

6. Ty: Talent wise, he has it. But again, he still doesn’t seem to fit INXS.

7. Jordis: I dunno… I think her voice let her down in this one. Or maybe it was the song. Either way I didn’t like her performance.

8. J.D: Loved the mix. I don’t know why he finished half the song gesturing with a peace sign over his head, but I guess it was different…

9. Heather: Still scary, and frankly, she looks unhealthy… Solid performance though

10. Tara: She got her choice of song, but to me, it didn’t work.

11. Mig: He did a good job with the lyrics and all (Walk My Way) but I his movements were rather staggered, giving me the impression he was concentrating on remembering his lyrics, and that ain’t good..

12. Jessica: Something didn’t go right, but I can’t pinpoint what it is…

13. Deanna: Finally, the shafted one. Had to go with a song she didn’t want, and she suffered for it. Of course, one could argue a great singer can make it work. And she didn’t. But she deserves another chance.

And here’s my predictions for bottom three. Another thing I like about this show is that the public chooses the bottom three, but ultimately INXS decides. It is their band after all:

Anyway:

Bottom three are:

Tara, Deanna, Jordis

Well, not really my predictions, but rather whom I think should be bottom three based on performances.

Suzie will scrape through with her last Get Out of Jail Free cards, but if she ends up in the bottom three, she will go as INXS have acknowledged they DO listen to their fans...

The Candidates...

Brandon, Dana, Daphna, Deanna, Heather, J.D., Jessica, Jordis, Marty, Mig, Neal, Suzie, Tara, Ty, Wil...

Er, no Wil or Dana anymore they're gone... ha ha...

These are, L&G, your candidates for RockStar INXS!

Okay, I'm not gonna spend every blog entry on this show, I'm not THAT crazy... is once a week okay? heh heh...

I ain't that fantastic and knowledgeable bout rock to be able to predict now who the winner will be, but from what I've seen:

Brandon: Should go quite a distance, he's quite the stage guy
Daphna: Amazing, oozes attention
Deanna: Quite like her too
Heather: Uh, something about her I don't like, kinda scary
J.D.: I think he's kinda cool
Jessica: Too pretty ha ha... okay, that's kinda sexist
Jordis: Wowza!
Marty: Not keen on his voice
Mig: Nope
Neal: Great, but he seems to be more of a solo performer
Suzie: Image issues, just not Rock enough
Tara: Uncertain really, 50-50
Ty: Will go far, but punk image seems unsuitable for INXS

Reality shows...!

There're Soooooooo many reality shows out there right now you practically have to wade through it to get the stuff you really wanna watch. There's so much bullcrap you have ta look hard to find the good stuff. There's also the in-between shows, more or less watchable but nothing spectacular.

I've always enjoyed watching The Amazing Race. It's my personal favourite but it could be due to the fact I like watching Channel 11, Discovery Travel. The only problem with participating is that they prob have no time to really enjoy the sights at their leisure.

The Apprentice is another show I find to be a good watch. It can be quite an eye-opener how different people treat each other once they enter the boardroom. It's also funny watching the execs + Trump provoke the contestants into saying bad stuff each other. Most of the time they just do one jab, then the blood just flows on and on and on.... ha ha...

Yesterday, a new show came in and I ENJOYED IT LOTS! The RockStar is an amazing show where the contestants fight to be the lead singer for INXS ! Everyone has heaps of talent and this is one show I plan on following all through it... Plus they're from all over the globe too...And when you consider in addition to INXS, you also have Dave Navarro (from Red Hot Chilli Peppers!) helping to decide... It's gonna be one hell of a contest!!!

Just when you thought things were looking up...

Weekend partying....:D

The WGS birthday party turned out to be a great success, although it did start off a bit slow, i.e. the guests were trickling in at the start, everyone being the procrastinators we are all famous for!

I almost managed to go under the radar, but someone (I think it was Michelle, you twit!) ratted me out!

I had a good time although it was pretty exhausting. The auction was great although I think I used up too much energy trying to bid. It was especially hilarious watching people like Blur doing his best to ensure no one else bought his gf! Fortunately his mates came to his aid.

One of the people I wanted to bid for decided to pull a disappearing act instead (I'm on to you though don't think I noticed!) so as a replacement I tried challenging Fiezan for Sierra. At the RM30 mark I realised that Fiezan was gonna stop at nothing so I beat a hasty retreat. She ended up at RM45, which incidentally was the highest female price together with Michelle.

The highest male price went to Wolf at RM70!! It ended up being an all-expensed paid trip to Singapore to see Neil Gaiman, how good a value is THAT! Man, if I had more to spare, I'd go for it too. Dawn won it though and they are in Singapore NOW as I type! Can't get a better deal than that folks!

We ended up at RM685 which was amazing especially considering the fact that the turnout was a bit smaller than the last time! Evening came and with it, lotsa lotsa pizzas, which disappeared pretty fast!

Somehow or rather, amidst all the festiveness, an 11-player ANACHRONISM tournament was held as well! Ha ha, thanks to Andy for organising it, although I didn't play, it was fun to watch. Those who weren't in the tourney played CHARADES inside.

Original plans for later that evening were to KARAOKE, but it was later scrapped and we went drinking at Arjun's place instead...

Lovely, but exhausting...

Sunday was good too :)

All in all, I had a good weekend, in lotsa ways...

Thanks.