Journey to the West - A Chinese Odyssey Classic Scene

My favourite scene from the much older Journey to the West - A Chinese Odyssey starring Stephen Chow:

Way more than 10 years and I still laugh whenever I thought about this. XD CLASSIC!

Everyone's talking about Google's fear of Samsung...

We, the human race, are always wary about the big leader. When Microsoft was dominant, various parties were against it (but still widely using Windows) and then comes Apple and their dominance with iOS devices... Today I read from various posts about this particular Wall Street Journal article that tells of Google's worries about its biggest Android supporter, Samsung. There is no end to this. I wonder which company will be haunting us next.

Green Screen Avengers

Boy, how CGI has advanced over the years! Only a few decades ago we were amazed by Terminator 2's liquid metal and then the first Jurassic Park's lifelike dinosaurs and today while browsing through Engadget, I was surprised to find out almost the whole of the realistic final battle in The Avengers was filmed in a studio with a green screen and the rest added on! Check out how Industrial Light and Magic did it below:

Malaysia - Singapore Rapid Friendship

A rapid transit rail link underground or above and a possible third road linking both Singapore and Malaysia are some of the outcomes when the two leaders went for a getaway earlier. That's development!

via The Star Online.

Year of the Snake

How can this be the year of the snake and there is no mention of any snakes in this blog? So... Here's a photo of not just one but two of them taken a week ago at Publika!

Happiness Index and The Amazing High Income Low Tax Model

What's this? The People's dream come true or one of those things said to promote support before the elections? From our Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmah Husni Hanadzlah:

Since we discovered that the people are earning more day after day, we might lower tax rates to reflect this.

And then something about being happy:

Ahmad Husni said that the government was pursuing the high income and low taxation model since it related to the happiness index introduced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

via The Star Online.

Is tech going to render humans useless?

This TechCrunch article is what I'm most afraid of... Technology overtaking us in the job market, rendering us to become nothing more than batteries to feed the grid to power robots.

Almost every job, in every field, probably including yours, will increasingly be threatened by obsolescence and/or automation. That’s a simple and inevitable corollary of software eating the world and the concomitant increasing rate of change. As that rate accelerates, technology will soon start destroying jobs faster than it creates them…if it isn’t already.

I guess eventually when we can no longer power the grid, we would be hunted for game and then terminated for fun. Rise of the machines seem inevitable... But luckily there is still chance the Vulcans may still visit us and save us all.

Stephen Chow's Journey to the West - Conquering the Demons

What? Another Journey to the West movie? This is easily one of the most adapted story both for the TV and the big screen. No matter how many iterations, this is a must see because it's a Stephen Chow production! I was hoping that he would be in the movie despite knowing otherwise. I went in to the cinema with mixed expectations and cursing the way the cinema is making money by showing this digitally (hence higher ticket price).

The movie started off quite well and Stephen Chow's style of comedy was most welcome. There was no doubt that he was behind this movie... According to the end credits, he wrote and directed this one!

The movie was about this innocent but earnest demon hunter trying to help humanity, first encountering a big demon fish, subsequently a demon pig and all these lead to the final encounter with the ever powerful demon monkey (I'm totally disappointed with this one! Way out of my expectation of the great Monkey God!). Armed with impressive CGI, this movie was entertaining. The acting was above average despite not knowing any of the actors (probably very famous Chinese actors, I do not know) safe for the leading lady, veteran actress Shu Qi. Do note that the ending felt like kind of rushed, though. By all means, folks, go for this movie!

Looking for a comedy? 4/5
Looking to see Stephen Chow in the movie, even for a cameo? 0/5
Looking for an entertaining show? 4/5
CGI? 3/5
Overall 4/5.

I Love Hong Kong 2013

Just watched the movie last night - comedy wise there are some funny moments but like what a friend said, it's more of a lighthearted movie. I'd say it's a lighthearted life lesson movie typical of the series. Every year during CNY, you can expect a I Love Hong Kong since two years ago and each one tells about life in Hong Kong while giving a moral lesson to the viewers throughout.

I found the first one in 2011 the funniest while this year's is better than the one in 2012. Acting is what you can expect from a comedy with veterans Alan Tam and Veronica Yip (who had too much Botox but still a great body, IMHO) doing their thang. The younger Bosco Wong and Kate Tsui did well, too.

Overall 3/5.
Going in without any expectations 3/5.
Going in for lots of laughs 2/5.
Going in for a life lesson 3/5.

Happy Belated Valentine's Day

Can't be blogging without a Valentine's Day wish albeit a delayed one. So, Happy Valentine's Day, folks!

Come On 4K TV!

I welcome 4K TV with open arms. Not into my living room because it will be ultra expensive but so that HDTV will further drop in price and I can afford to buy one. :D

Is Battery Improvement Finally Coming?

A battery that holds triple the charges of current ones, recharges in 10 minutes, and works for more than 2,000 cycles appears to be coming. According to the Engadget article, using porous, flexible silicon nanowires for the anodes of current lithium-ion batteries will do just these.

Growing with Die Hard

It'd be normal to grow with a multi-season TV series but seldom I could say the same for movies. Can't say for James Bond because I wasn't born when it started but after watching the fifth instalment in the franchise, I can safely say I grew together with Die Hard.

I still remember that my first movie was with my mom in one of those super huge cinemas of yesterday. My mom was and still is not a fan of cinemas but she accompanied me because to her I was still too young to know better.

Taking this opportunity, I'd like to have a mini review of the whole series from memory. Even though the first movie was considered small having restricted the whole action in a building, I have to say that I still like it the most. Maybe it was Bruce Willis had more hair and a better build then but immediately what came to my mind was shattered glass on the floor and the hero had to take out the pieces off his feet in a toilet. Ouch!

I like the first sequel second best with Bruce running around an airport but I don't particularly remember any scene that stuck. The third movie was rather good, too because this time, Die Hard is happening around a city. The scene at the water fountain where Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson tried to solve this crazy riddle from baddie Jeremy Irons was my favourite.

Despite being more recent, the fourth movie wasn't very memorable and I must say, the one showing now, the fifth movie A Good Day to Die Hard somehow doesn't give me that Die Hard feel. I can't tell you why but it's just not there. It felt just like another crash boom bang action movie...

A Good Day to Die Hard scores:
Die Hard feel? 2/5 (I would have given a 1/5 but having Bruce Willis in the movie helped)
Lots of action? 3/5
Entertaining? 2/5
Was it a good day to die hard? 0/5

2013 Oscar Nominated Animation Shorts

Here are the cool animated shorts nominated by the Academy for Best Animated Short Film, except for The Longest Daycare that is not available for free on YouTube (in no particular order):

Fresh Guacamole


Adam and Dog


Paperman


Head Over Heels


via The Verge.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Wishing visitors to this blog a healthy and happy year ahead! Have a great Year of the Snake!

Wet Chinese New Year

Our meteorological department warns that it will be a wet Chinese New Year until 17 February 2013 so people, be prepared if you'll be outside and road users be cautious. On the plus side, it will be a cooling festive season as opposed to the usual hot ones years past.

via The Star Online.

It's possible to snap a photo while recording video on the iphone...

What felt like ages ago, some compact cameras came with the premium feature to allow the user to be able to snap a photo while filming a video. Now, it seems the iPhone could do the same, too! While recording video, just tap on the usual camera icon and you get a photo in the camera roll at the same resolution as your video. Phones are really taking over the compact camera role, indeed!

via Cult of Mac.

Will the world go penniless?

Malaysia stopped production of our 1sen coin recently. Now I read that Canada has stopped production of its equivalent because manufacturing cost exceeded the tender value of the Canadian penny. At this rate, I suppose the whole world will eventually follow suit, so future generations would probably no longer know how to offer "a penny for your thoughts".

via @nomadicmatt.

Teresa Kok Chinese New Year Videos

Hahaha, on the surface these videos are light-hearted at best but did you catch the messages they are trying to get through? Teresa Kok do need to improve her acting a bit, though. :P