Author: Wilfrid

Categories
Fantasy & Sci-fi Movie Reviews

The Dark Knight Rises: Excruciatingly Boring

I don’t sit well with Batman fans, I know.  Specifically, the Batman according to Nolan.  So glad, this trilogy is finally over.  Sandwiched between Cynthia and TK in the cinema, I had to stay entertained.  The girl sitting beside Cynthia was playing with her wireless phone throughout the 165 minutes show.  I can totally relate.

This show is boring.  My brain bled in utter boredom.  It is hard to stay spoiler free for a not so positive write-up.  Hence, if you are planning to watch The Dark Knight Rises, read no further.  Chances are you will thoroughly enjoy the movie.  Many do, especially when you love the previous Nolan installments.  The aggregated score for this movie is very high, which I struggle to understand why.  But that is just me.

This movie is called The Dark Knight Rises.  I want to see Batman in action.  Majority of the film has nothing to do with Batman.  If it was up to me, I would rename this film to Bane: Power to the People.  For most part of the movie, I see the villain Bane way more than I see anyone else on screen.  The fear and destruction Bane has laid upon Gotham City.  The long and emotional speech Bane gave, which I wish Batman could have had a similar opportunity.  Screamed in my head I did: “Shut up! I want to see Batman!”  I get it. Batman franchise is always about the villains.  Like Joker and Two-Face.  Bane gives me nothing.  He is a fat and buffed man that seems to punch hard (reminds me of Butcher in Diablo 3).  He has a strange mask over his face that synthesizes his voice in a hollow and an unrealistic way.  He commands a terrorist network.  Gotham City has to be destroyed, once again.  With a mask covering his mouth (how does he eat or drink anyway?) and that computerized voice, I find it hard to connect to the character.  His weakness?  The mask over his teeth.  It takes Batman 165 minutes to figure that out.  Oh God.

The chemistry between Bruce Wayne or Batman and his potential love interests is terrible.  For no reason or whatsoever, Bruce is in bed with Miranda played by the beautiful French actress Marion Cotillard.  Since when Bruce Wayne is into one night stand?  No courtship, no relationship development thereafter.  It is the finding of solace, and then business.  Heroes wearing masks to protect those they love.  Who is Bruce Wayne trying to protect?  I was in joy when I heard that Anne Hathaway plays the Catwoman (actually not officially mentioned as one even though the costume has suggested so) or rather Selina Kyle the cat burglar.  There is no transformation on Selina Kyle.  No background story on her becoming a cat burglar, except she is doing it for the people or to erase her past or a bit of both.  The drama between Batman and Catwoman is a tease.  The relationship could have been so much more.  What about Catwoman is the reason for Batman’s comeback and it follows through?  In the end, it is reduced to two big kisses (I think), from Catwoman to Batman.  What a huge disappointment.  Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman still holds a special place in my heart.  Sadly, Anne Hathaway is likely to be one of the two reasons why I can tolerate The Dark Knight Rises.

There is something tragic about The Dark Knight Rises.  The background story of Bane’s younger day, Miranda’s childhood, and even the story of Ra’s al Ghul has a much better potential than this Batman story.  It touches my emotional core so much so that I could weep on that.  I wish there will be a spinoff like the Scorpion King story from the Mummy.  Too much of this movie is focused on the plan to destroy Gotham City.  Too little has been told about such a potential powerful story of Ra’s al Ghul and his heir.

To say that Batman is missing in action most of the film is also not entirely correct.  First part of the story, we see a crippled Batman in retirement.  Doctor has already told him that his body can no longer take all the physical punishment.  His joints are giving way due to years of beating.  Bruce could hardly walk!  Yet, donning the Batman suit with an artificial kneel assist device, Batman is out to take on Bane.  And he failed.  For a good part of the movie, Bruce was stuck inside a prison cell.  Sure, fans would want to see the comeback of Batman.  The so-called transformation through training and willpower can be motivating.  But have we not seen this sort of plot time and time again?  Miraculously, Bruce’s body is totally healed inside a prison cell where he should have died of malnutrition.  He is even strong enough to punch Bane to his face, this time with better precision and power.  Yet, what kills Bane is something else.

There is this one scene when the truck carrying an atomic bomb fell down a bridge.  Maybe a four stories fall.  The young one seated at the front of the truck trained by the legendary Ra’s al Ghul could not survive the fall while an old man inside the cargo area at the back next to the bomb could.  Mind you, this old man was supposed to recuperate in a hospital.  He got out the back of the truck OK.  No bruise no shock, it was a miracle.  I was like: Huh?!

TK reminded me that this is a fantasy story and I should not read too much into it.  Perhaps I should have switched my brain off for this 165 minutes movie.  Logic glitches aside, I find that the ending sequence very exciting and satisfying.  I wish the filmmakers show more civilians in the last part of the movie rather than a school bus full of children.  Batman has saved a lot of people.  It doesn’t appear so.  To sum up, I love the ending; I love the Bat-bike and the Bat-plane.  The bike is so hot.  Having Catwoman on it makes it even hotter.  The rest is a yawn.

Will I watch another Batman movie?  Why not, since TK and Cynthia are such huge fans.  There is always hope for a better reboot.  The Amazing Batman perhaps?

Categories
Diary

Art & Craft With Children At KK Hospital

The corporate volunteering event organizer remembered me.  At KK Hospital, while we were waiting for our lift, she turned to me and said, “We haven’t seen you this year!”

It is true.  It was one year ago when I joined the weeding program at Pulau Ubin.  That was hard work.  Since then, I have been looking for something less laborious and less shocking.  In fact, another option is to spend an afternoon at a mental hospital, which I still haven’t got the courage to sign up yet.  Now that I appear to bond well with my two to six years old nieces and nephew, I thought, perhaps I could contribute my time doing art and craft with children in a hospital.

Except, I have totally forgotten that these children are residing in a hospital for a reason, and they are quite big.  I can’t possibly play hide and seek with them screaming at the top of our lungs and let them beat me up while pretending to be a big bad monster, can I?

Uh oh.  All of a sudden, I realized that I had zero experience for this particular event that I have happily signed up for.

Meet “Lisa”, my proudest creation at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital witnessed by two children whom I spent time with this afternoon.

Before meeting the children from different wards, 12 of us were briefed inside a room specially prepared for the volunteers.  The dos and don’t’s.  And we have a crash course on how to play the games brought in by our corporate event organizer.  Since I am a balloon phobic, I could not join the balloon making team.  Since I am not that good at playing children’s games, I could not man the common playground area either.  Instead, I was paired up with a female volunteer to visit the children at their beds.  Best practice says that children bond better with women.  I was happy to tug along and let my volunteering partner did the introduction.

Drawing is something I love to do.  So I was delighted for this arrangement.  The tool we have is simple, yet utterly fun.  First, we picked a template with the children.  It could be a bee, a flower, or anything that came with the deck.  Then we put a clear sheet of plastic on top of the template and traced the object with some thick ink.  As and when the ink dries up – hours or days – it can be peel off from the plastic sheet.  I told the 12 years old boy that he could stick it onto his daddy’s Apple laptop and we giggled.  OK, I am jumping ahead of my story.

The girl was 19 years old.  We chatted while we drew.  She said she could not draw.  But nothing is impossible after a few words of encouragement.  We talked about K-pop and J-pop.  We talked about seeing the world.  She liked photography and that was quite frankly my favorite topic.

At the other end of the ward, a 12 years old boy saw the three of us having fun.  He also wanted to join.  With my new found confidence, I headed over to him, alone.

Again, he told me that he could not draw.  And he seemed slightly frustrated by the mistakes he made.  I said, this is art, you don’t have to follow the template!  I showed him what I have got, which was totally abstract and random.  All of a sudden, he smiled.  We removed the template underneath so that he could draw freely.  Halfway he stopped and asked me, “What is this that I am drawing?”  Honestly I have no idea.  But it truly looked beautiful.  So I started rotating his drawing and showing him how we could interpret an art from different perspectives.  I then showed him that we did not have to see the picture from above.  Instead, we could turn flip it over and observe its mirror image.  The boy seemed enlightened and he asked if it was OK to add a sun (that later turned into a hand) onto his drawing.  I smiled and said, “Sure you can!”

He said, “I really love drawing!”

I replied, “That is great!  Now keep drawing!”

“I want to be an artist when I grew up.”

“Me too!”

“What do you do?”

“I love to paint and I love creating music.”  (OK, I did not tell him that I write emails and minutes for a living.  That would have been rather uninspiring, I reckon.)

We talked about many things.  He asked if I have a Facebook account and I said no (as briefed by the hospital staff earlier on).  He asked if my band has a video clip on YouTube and I said no (which is true).  He asked how long I would stay with him and I said till I am hungry.  So we have a few hours, he said and I nodded.  I did not stay long because the medication seemed to have zapped his energy away.  At least he has completed his drawing with me by his side.  And I left my drawing titled “Lisa” for the little boy as a souvenir.

What a fulfilling day today in getting to see another aspect of life.

I took a picture from the garden before the event started.
Categories
Fantasy & Sci-fi Movie Reviews

The Amazing Spider-Man: Bad Chemistry, Good Chemistry

Mad scientists, don’t we love them to give us yet another villain to fight against?  In this superhero universe, we have seen bad chemicals injected into drinking water aiming to poison the whole city of innocent people.  We have seen bad chemicals vaporized into air.  We have even seen bad chemicals injected directly into air, or intended to be so.  Superheroes spying on the criminals through the police radio channels.  At times, I can’t tell one story from another.  Haven’t we already seen Spider-Man ten years ago?  Do we need a reboot, yet another remake?  One thing for sure, the chemistry between the new Peter Parker and his new love interest Gwen Stacy is good.  Those kisses Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone have could well dethrone the ones we have seen in Twilight Saga.  Oh no, have I just offended the Marvel fans and the Twilight fans in one single paragraph?

I am not a big fan of remakes.  Not when the original film is merely ten years old.  Technology has not changed that much.  Why not The Amazing Spider-Girl instead?  Hence, I have very low expectation on The Amazing Spider-Man.  I watched it because of Emma Stone (I know!)  While the part about Spider-Man’s transformation still does not make sense (I could see millions of people easily could have become Spider-Man), many parts now make more sense.  Like how spider web gets ejected out from Spider-Man’s wrists.  Or how Spider-Man trains himself to be one, which reminds me of the Batman remake.  Cynthia commented that it is unrealistic for Spider-Man to create his costume.  I pointed out to her that these days, you can learn to make anything using Google.  Except Peter Parker in The Amazing Spider-Man uses Bing and an old Sony Ericsson phone.

Right.

I like it that Spider-Man acts like a spider, how he looks for his prey.  I also like it that the villain is not a thousand times bigger than Spider-Man.  It was a fair fight.  A lot of plot development on the upbringing and background of Peter Parker and the character transformation of Spider-Man, which is also a plus.  I also like it that this new Peter Parker is upfront about his identity when dealing with his love interest.  No more stupid girlfriends who are tricked by a mask or a pair of glasses.  While I will likely forget the plot a month from now, the good on-screen chemistry is probably something I will remember for a while.  Till they reboot this franchise again that is.

Categories
Diary

On My Birthday My Wife And Buddy

On my birthday my wife and buddy took me for a health check, at Universal Studios.  To see if my heart is still as strong as ever.  Oh, those mechanical rides.  I will get to that later.

My buddy TK has decided to take me for a ‘date’ at Universal Studios Singapore on my birthday as he has a pair of complimentary ticket. Cheers mate! My wife was super excited on our excursion. Photographs of this entry taken using my phone.

Rewind to late last evening.  My mother knew that I would take leave on my birthday, like I always do, and hence I would be home late the next day.  So she called wishing me an early birthday.  How sweet of her.  I love you ma.

At the stroke of midnight, Cynthia and I were battling demons in Diablo III.  Act III, Hell difficulty.  Since we did not need to work the next day, we pushed on with our public game and completed the act.  We were ecstatic on this milestone achievement.  It was tough but we did it.  We went to sleep happy.

Since last weekend, my buddy TK and my wife Cynthia have planned what we should do on my birthday – a visit to Universal Studios Singapore.  How sweet of them.  While both appeared to be more excited than I was at the time of planning, once I stepped into the theme park, I was in high spirit, as excited as they were.  Adding three of our age up well exceeds a century, but yet we were like kids and tourists seeing the attraction the first time.  It was a weekday therefore the queues to most of the rides were under 10 minutes, which was an icing on the cake.

First stop, Transformers the Ride: The Ultimate 3D Battle.  I am not really a fan of Transformers though I once held a contest here.  The ride was fantastic.  It is similar to watching a 3D movie and gets to experience the G-force as our vehicle dashed in and out of the battle between the super-sized robots.  I felt as though I was in the movie.  When will video gaming give us a forth dimension of experience, I wonder.

The Battlestar Galactica (1) Human and (2) Cylon rides are intense, especially when you experience one after another immediately.

The Battlestar Galactica themed roller coasters are no joke.  They are intense, meant for the strong hearts.  Red is the Human ride while blue is the Cylon ride.  Both rides run in parallel with each other.  The main difference is that Human ride is the traditional roller coaster that boosts the speed up to 82.8 km/h while the Cylon ride is a suspended coaster that goes up, around and upside down in a corkscrew and cobra roll style.  The pamphlet says that the roller coasters are over fourteen stories high.  That is as high as the condominium Cynthia and I are staying.  Imagining such height sends a chill down my spine.

Three of us have completely different spontaneous reactions to the ride.  TK would go wah, wah, wah.  Cynthia would scream at the top of her lung, with her eyes closed.  It scared me a little bit because I have not heard her screams with such power and intensity before.  Even as the ride came to an end, when no one was screaming, Cynthia would continue to scream, with her eyes closed.  As for me, I would go hahaha, hahaha, hahahah.  It was a fun ride and a funny ride.  I could not stop laughing out loud, literally.  You should see Cynthia’s condition after the Human ride.  Her hair was moist, flying everywhere.  Possibly the most hilarious thing we have seen that day.

At a fountain somewhere in the Far Far Away land.

After the three intensive rides, we passed by Ancient Egypt that features the Revenge of the Mummy ride.  Cynthia has decided to sit herself out on this one.  Totally understandable.  TK hesitated but was convinced by my enthusiasm.  Basically, it is an indoor roller coaster somewhat similar to the Transformers one, but much shorter, without the 3D glasses.  There were some scary moments.  But nothing two grown men who have come, seen, and conquered the Human and Cylon rides cannot handle.  We skipped the Lost World and headed straight to Far Far Away.  Yes, three of us love Shrek and welcomed a more gentle form of entertainment.  The Shrek 4D Adventure is pretty fun, especially when you are a fan.  I had to keep my mouth shut throughout the show so as not to swallow the water of suspicious origin sprayed onto us.

We hopped into a restaurant when the rain started.  By the time we were done with lunch, the rain has stopped.  We reentered Universal Studios.  Just nice for a final family oriented ride – Madagascar: A Crate Adventure.  An indoor boot ride whereby we sat back, relaxed, and enjoyed watching the animated mechanical animals having a party together.

I have this for lunch.

Then we headed out to the mall next door – Vivocity – for our Amazing Spider-Man treat.  That was my idea.  Though I dislike remakes, Emma Stone is too good to be missed.  And I love it, TK loves it, Cynthia loves it.  I wonder if there will be a sequel.  How would this story tie back to the original story whereby Peter Parker dates Mary Jane?  No idea.  And please don’t tell me.

By the time we reached home, after yet another sumptuous meal, I was shagged.  Time to watch F1 Silverstone online via ESPN Player.  mioTV did not broadcast F1 live last weekend, boo.  Thanks to ESPN posting a video thumbnail of Mark Webber opening champagne at the podium, before I watched the race, I could already guess who the winner was.  Common sense is indeed not that common.  Who would choose that as a thumbnail for the audience planning to watch the feed?  In any case, I am happy with the result.  Although I would want Alonso to win, Webber has a special place in my heart.

I seldom log onto Facebook ever since I have switched to Google+.  And I am thankful for the birthday wishes I have received from both social networks.  I am also thankful for God’s blessing in surrounding me with wonderful friends and families, and providing me with all that I need.  What a wonderful day.  That video of my 2 years old niece singing birthday song to me simply melts my heart.  Thanks Lora and Benny.

And I have this for dinner.
Categories
For the Geeks

Nokia Lumia 900 – A Reivew

Prior to writing this review on Nokia Lumia 900, I have started a discussion in Google+.  The interaction turns out to be constructive and insightful.  Some have used this model for months.  Google+ truly melts away geographic boundary and brings people of common interest in one virtual space.  This entry is dedicated to my new and old friends over in Google+.  You guys rock!

The major difference between Lumia 800 and Lumia 900, as far as I can see, is size and size only.

A little bit of background here.  I have reviewed Lumia 800 back in March this year.  Since then, my wife Cynthia has been using the phone.  I have heard some of the feedback in Google+.  Nokia has sent me a Lumia 900 review unit for me to try out, like before.

To cut a long story short, Lumia 900 is a super-sized Lumia 800.  Since there is little value in copy-and-pasting my previous content here, if you are serious in purchasing a Noka Lumia, I urge you to read that review first.  All that works and doesn’t, it is in that article.  I have verified the entry and found that as of today, it is still valid.  Except the form factor section, the entire entry is relevant to Lumia 900.

Assuming that you have caught up on Lumia 800, the rest of this article focuses on the difference between the two.

Form Factor

Nokia Lumia 900 is huge.  With a dimension of 127.8mm x 68.5mm x 11.5mm, it weights a solid 160g.  With a display size of 4.3″, the screen-to-body ratio is under 60%.  Compare to my 4.2″ Android phone’s ratio of 70%, no wonder Lumia 900 feels so much bigger although the display size is similar.  For those who have large hands or prefer a sturdy phone, this may work.  Also, due to the wider margin, it is less likely that you may accidentally touch the screen as you flip the phone from portrait to landscape and vice versa.  Like I often do with my Android.

Unlike its little brother, USB port is now exposed in Lumia 900.  No longer do you require to flip the flimsy latch opened every time you charge the phone.  Personally, I prefer a concealed USB port.  Lumia 800 looks more elegant that way.  But I can understand why others may prefer not to mess with that latch on a daily basis.

Also unlike Lumia 800, Lumia 900’s AMOLED Gorilla glass does not curve and flow through the phone’s rounded edges, which is a shame.  Gone is the scratch resistance mat color back cover found in Lumia 800.  Lumia 900 uses shiny plastic cover.  The white color review unit I have got has already collected quite a fair bit of scratches, grease, and stains.  I have no issue with shiny plastic phone cover.  Just that Lumia 800 seems so much better in terms of form factor.

Lumia 900 comes with a 1MB front-facing camera.  Lumia 800 does not.  Now, if only Google Hangouts works on a Window Phone.

What About That Bigger Display Size?

Lumia 800 has a 3.7″ display size.  Web browsing can be a pain.  As you can imagine, I have high anticipation with Lumia 900.

4.3″ is not large in today’s standard.  While iPhone still stucks in the past, Android has pushed the display size to 4.8″ in the phone category.  As you may already know, display size is only one side of the story.  Resolution is what makes a display looks good on a phone.  That is why people still don’t mind iPhone’s small display size.  And that is why web browsing is more enjoyable on my 4.2″ Android phone than the 4.3″ Lumia 900 (800mm x 480mm resolution with ~217 ppi pixel density).

I wish Lumia 900 has alternative browsers (maybe there is one, but I can’t seem to find it at Marketplace).  The double tap zooming is not consistent.  Depending on where you tap on the page, the browser may zoom in nicely for you.  Or the zooming result may still be too tiny for the naked eyes.  At times first double tap is to zoom in, second double tap is to zoom out.  Other times, there are two levels of zooming in, i.e. 2 taps to zoom right in and 2 taps to zoom right out.  I regularly visit online forums.  Putting the Lumia 900 4.3″ side-by-side with my Andoid 4.2″, the zoom feature of the Lumia browser does not seem right.  The words are still too small to see.  Fortunately, there is manual pinch zoom mode.

My friend from Google+ shared with me that his Lumia 900 has problem loading some websites, such as Mashable.com.  I too have problem using Google+ web version on photo upload (there is still no Google+ app for Windows phones) as well as other websites.  I have noticed the browser issues back in March when I reviewed Lumia 800.  Looks like the issues persist.

Web browsing aside, a larger screen size is a joy to use.  The virtual keyboard is more user friendly.  The font size is bigger.  If you feel that Lumia 800 is too straining to your eyes, Lumia 900 may be the answer.

Will Lumia 900 Get Windows Phone 8 ‘Apollo’ Upgrade?

Some of you have asked the question on Lumia’s next OS upgrade.  Here is an unofficial respond I have received from one of my contacts working with Nokia.

The Lumia 900 along with the Lumia 800, Lumia 710 and Lumia 610 will receive an update with new Windows Phone 8 features, including the new start screen.  They will also receive a pattern of updates from Nokia that will deliver new features like WiFi tethering, flip-to-silence and media content streaming.  Nokia is also introducing new applications like Camera Extras exclusively for our Lumia range, games coming from Zynga, the makers of Farmville, as well as updates to Drive and other signature experiences.

The question would be: Are these new features Nokia bringing over to Lumia series be sufficient for you?  One friend of mine at Google+ has shared with me a list items on why Windows Phone 7.5 is still lacking.  I have gone through the list and found most of the items appears to be valid.  Perhaps that is why fans are crying for Windows Phone 8?

Ecosystems Revisit

A review should be read with the current state of affair.  Early this year, all eyes were on Nokia on their maiden foray into a new operating system.  It was an exciting time.  Because time and time again, we see commercial miracles, like that year 1999 Nokia ‘banana’ phone that Neo used in The Matrix.  Half a year has passed.  Android is advancing, in an ever increased pace.  Samsung has emerged as a strong competitor in this brutal phone making business.  Some of the older Android models from different makes are getting the Ice Cream Sandwich update and the new Jelly Bean OS is just round the corner for the new models.  Apple fans are always Apple fans, holding onto whatever Apple produces.  Today, I look at Windows Marketplace.  The apps are still few and expensive.  Cynthia is still hoping for the much desired update to her Whatsapp and Evernote apps on her Lumia 800.  At times I wonder, how does Windows Marketplace plan to fight against Apple and Android?  How does Nokia plan to keep up with the pace?

I don’t know.  What I know is fans are still fans.  Nokia fans will still love the Nokia ecosystem.  There are exclusive apps like Nokia Map and Nokia Drive that provides turn-by-turn navigation as well as offline maps to more than 100 countries.  Nokia Music sells DRM free music and Mixed Radio plays music over the Internet free to Nokia Lumia users.  Nokia fans whom I interact with seems to be happy with the quality apps in the ecosystem.  In fact, it is interesting to note that all three major camps seems to be with with their respective ecosystems.  Will Windows Marketplace survive?  Only time can tell.

Conclusion

Lumia 900 is a simple to use phone.  Take my wife as an example, she still enjoys using the Lumia 800 because of its simplicity and she is probably unable to relate to most of the concerns listed here.  If you are a Nokia fan and find that Lumia 800 is too small, Lumia 900 could be the answer.  If you are undecided between Lumia 800 and Lumia 900, Lumia 800 may be a better choice due to better form factor and the fact that the improvements Lumia 900 has over 800 appears to be minimal.

The new Nokia Lumia 900 is retailing for SGD849 at Nokia retail stores and at all mobile operators in Singapore.  It is available in Black, White and Cyan.

This is a photograph taken using a Nokia Lumia 900 at a mall near my office.
Categories
Everyday News

Spain Won UEFA EURO, Again

It was the red versus the blue, the Horde against the Alliance.  I wasn’t too sure about the outcome.  Spain could not beat Italy in the quarter-final.  Spain had to go into penalty shootout against Portugal in the semi-final.  I began to have my duda: Can Spain score at all with this new formation?

Image courtesy of UEFA official website

Cynthia and I are happy with the results of course.  We have plenty of Spanish and Spanish learning friends in Singapore.  We have visited Spain twice.   Photographs of last year’s visit are still … in process but you can view the pictures taken on our 2009 trip here.  We practically love everything Spanish.  Perhaps, just perhaps, I may finally get Cynthia into watching Formula One now that the Spanish fever is burning higher than ever.

It was just last weekend when Spanish F1 driver Fernando Alonso won the European race that took place in Valencia, Spain.  At the end of the race, he was meant to cruise to the podium.  Instead, Alonso stopped his Ferrari at the grandstand, with a Spanish flag on his hands, and he paid tribute to the Spanish fans.  Such emotion he was in, it was as though he has won the Championship (which is still a long way to go).  Alonso is a big fan of Spanish football.  I bet he is delighted about the UEFA win.  With the economy black hole Spain is in today, her people could really use some good news.

Some say Spanish football is boring.  Some say watching Formula One is boring.  For some strange reasons, I find either very exciting to watch.  I enjoy seeing how the Spanish football team set up the attack by slowly inching towards the goal through their accurate passing.  There is great teamwork involved and the Spanish team has sufficient star power as well.  To me, the experience of watching football and F1 is similar.  Both take one and a half hour to watch.  The first 5 minutes of a football match is as exciting as the opening laps of a F1 race.  Thereafter, the pace settles down.  Draw in a match to me is like a pole-to-podium-finish in a race.  There ain’t many goals in a typical football match.  Just like F1, there are only one or a few overtakes that truly matter.

Four years ago when Spain won UEFA, I doodled a picture of Torres.  And we enrolled ourselves into a Spanish class shortly after.  This year, I will be doing neither.  Cynthia is still practicing her Spanish.  In fact, her blog entry on this very topic written in Spanish is published faster than mine!  As for me, I will stick with my Spanish guitar.  She needs some love.

Categories
For the Geeks Game Reviews

Diablo III Madness – 140 Hours And Counting

This Diablo III madness has no end.  140 hours have passed and I don’t even feel it.  It is like that one scene in Twilight whereby Bella sits by the window observing the change of seasons in one minute.  There are four levels of difficulty in this video game.  It takes me 140 hours to clear the second difficulty level – Nightmare – for all my five classes.  My next milestone is to complete the third difficulty level – Hell – and call it a day.  Inferno difficulty could well be too brutal for me.

Or maybe not.  We shall see.

Heavens burn as we cast the Prime Evil into oblivion.

I will not repeat what has already been said in my last post “Diablo III – First 80 Hours“.  What I said back then is still valid today.  Instead, I will share my experience with the game as I progress through different difficulty levels.  And a short recap on news surrounding the Diablo community from launch till now.

At launch, Diablo III smashed records, sold more than 6 millions copies excluding the 1 million World of Warcraft annual pass subscribers who got the game free.  Due to this unexpected sales record, a game that requires constant connection to the servers became unplayable as the servers were brought down time and time again by the surge in demand.  Onto then second week, when the US servers finally gained stability, reports started to come in as players’ accounts were compromised, in-game progress was lost.  The solution is to use a physical or mobile authenticator that provides an extra layer of protection like how Internet Banking tackles security.  On top of that, Blizzard gives us an option to enable SMS alert whenever account information is modified.  I do not know of any video gaming company that goes into this level of security to protect our accounts.  That could be due to the Real Money Auction House (RMAH) that I will talk about in just a bit.  Back to the first month after launch, the ride was bumpy.

Meanwhile, while the US region cried about the rumored hacks, Blizzard‘s office in Korea responsible in hosting the Asia servers was raided by the local government that sought evidence against Blizzard in their denial of refund requests.  Asia region has its own controversy.  Koreans were given more quotas in accessing the Asian game servers while other locations such as China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong needed to queue for hours just to get into the game.  In-game exploitation also ran wild in the Asian servers causing long extended maintenance that denied people from playing the game.  Players in Asia were as unhappy as the US counterparts.  I have no idea how the European players were coping.  I suspect they would have faced similar issues.

RMAH was launched in June.  Those who had high end in-game items made profits due to the initial craze.  One item could be sold for US$250 up.  While minority made money out of playing a game, the community overall appeared to view RMAH as the unnecessary evil.  Couple that with the fact that the game had been exploited by some and the economy imbalance that persists till today, RMAH has become a messy business.  However, if we are to take a step back, with or without RMAH, people trade items – items that they do not create – using real money.  While RMAH provides a safer environment for trading, it also encourages those who would not have traded trade.

To add onto this drama, Blizzard has decided that one of the gear attribute – attack speed – was too high.  Balancing the game means that all in-game items – past and future – have to be adjusted.  To compensate, Blizzard also makes Diablo III‘s inferno difficulty more manageable.  The net result was that those who have spend hundreds of dollars buying gears from RMAH suddenly woke up to the new reality that their gears were less powerful than before.  This seems to have put a brake to RMAH sales.  Are you willing to buy in-game items using real money only to find that one day, the items may be no longer what you wanted them to be?

Tricky situation.

If you read the online professional reviews, Diablo III has done pretty well.  If you crosscheck the scores with user reviews, the two do not tally.  User reviews from Metacritic to Amazon slam down the score to the lowest possible.  Some players from US demanded a full refund after beating the game and strangely, Blizzard has granted their requests.  Official forums continue to be on fire citing Diablo III as the worst game Blizzard has ever produced.  Participation in public games seems to dwindle.  The community seems to thin out.  Perhaps the end game is not quite there yet as we are still waiting for a future patch to address this issue.  Or perhaps action hack-and-slash genre is not something some would enjoy doing for hours.

What about me?

This is the secret level, “pony land”. Rainbow and all. Colorful but deadly.

I love it.  My friends seem to love it too.  Day in day out, I play with my friends online, overcoming challenges.  The contents may be the same.  It is Act One through Act Four.  The story is linear.  But different classes play differently.  Different difficulty levels play differently.  After we have cleared Nightmare difficulty (the second level), Hell plays like a whole new different game.  The challenge requires me to pay attention to mechanics I may have overlooked in the previous difficulty levels.  To me, Diablo III is like Tetris.  The framework and the pieces do not change over different levels.  But the fun stacks up as the pace increases.

How long will I stay with this game?  I am not too sure.  Maybe till the new World of Warcraft expansion Mists of Pandaria is out?

Categories
Book Reviews Fiction

Lord of the Clans By Christie Golden

Christie Golden needs no introduction.  She has written tons of books for major fantasy franchises.  I reckon she is one of Blizzard’s favorites.  I may not be agreeable to her writing style, especially her over reliance of the word ‘had’ (who am I to comment about English grammar anyway, though this habit of hers has been highlighted by other online reviewers as well).  But every book of her so far managed to move me to tears.  If you need someone to thoroughly develop a character and to strike the emotional core of the readers, Christie Golden is the one you shall look for.

Lord of the Clan, in summary, is a story of Thrall.  It is the second book from the Warcraft: Archive series.  The demonic power that corrupted the orcs seems to have receded, leaving the blood eyed orcs docile, incapable to return to their former glory.  For most orcs, their way of life is lost.  The warlocks’ abuse of demonic power has driven the shamanic spirit away.  In this era, orcs who were previously addicted to the demonic power are now willingly imprisoned by the human.  The war is lost.  It is a dark day for the orcs.

Infant orc Thrall, son of Frostwolf Clan’s Chieftain, is left in the wild when his parents are brutally assassinated by their fellow Horde.  During a hunting trip, Thrall is found by a human called Lord Blackmoore who is in command of the encampments where orcs are imprisoned.  Instead of killing the orc baby, Blackmoore has decided to enslave Thrall and train him as a gladiator for his personal gain.  He commands his people to teach Thrall how to read and to fight.  He wants Thrall to learn the human language and master the war strategies.  Life as a gladiator is never easy.  However, Thrall is also blessed with a few friends.  One of them is a human girl called Taretha, who treats Thrall as her little brother.

However comfortable life seems to be as a slave, Thrall’s true destiny is not to be a gladiator.  He must join force with Grom Hellscream of the Warsong Clan.  He must unit with the Warchief Orgrim Doomhammer.  Together, the New Horde must rise.

Lord of the Clan is the first book that is written from the Horde’s perspective.  While the Old Horde that fell under the demonic influence is traditionally viewed as villain and the Alliance is seen as hero, with the rise of the New Horde, the line is no longer black and white.  Orcs can be honorable.  Orcs can be merciful.  And human can also be corrupted by political power too.

Thrall has become a center figure in recent lore development.  Lord of the Clans has shed much insight onto Thrall’s childhood and adulthood.  With Thrall’s unique background – born as an orc and taught by the human – it is no doubt he is where he is today.  The question to all whom indulge in the World of Warcraft is: after Cataclysm and at the end of Mists of Pandaria, will Thrall return as Horde’s Warchief?

Categories
Fantasy & Sci-fi Movie Reviews

Snow White & The Huntsman – This Is Not Twilight, Is It?

I am happy that Cynthia has picked Snow White & the Huntsman for our Movie Review Squad outing.  TK did not object.  Hooray!  As a huge fan of Kristen Stewart, I would say, this film does not disappoint.  Plus, I heart Twilight Saga.  There are at least two scenes in this movie I would ask myself: Am I watching Twilight?

I have repeated this story many times to my friends.  Since it is relevant to what I am trying to say, so bear with me.  Since young, my mother disallowed me from watching TV.  Reading novel was my only entertainment as a kid.  Therefore, I have not heard of Snow White or Jack and the Beanstalk.  Hard to believe, I know.  But I just do not know of any of these stories.  Halfway through the movie, I was puzzled about the plot.  So, I whispered to Cynthia: Isn’t this Sleeping Beauty?  She giggled, trying very hard not to laugh out loud in the cinema, and she replied: NO!

I really thought that Snow White and Sleeping Beauty are the same story.  I mean, the girl has fallen asleep.  And there is an evil queen somewhere.  A prince too.  I was genuinely confused because, well, Snow White & The Huntsman is nothing like what I have expected.  Kids, this is not a fairy tale.  There is bloodshed in this movie.  And plenty more.

Snow White & The Huntsman is a contemporary interpretation of the Walt Disney classic.  My little niece and nephew in Indonesia adore Snow White.   They can recite word-by-word even before the lines come out.  In that classic cartoon, Snow White the character has black hair, fair skin, red lips, and she moves with grace.  In this movie, Kristen Stewart too has black hair, fair skin, red lips, and a would-be-vampire look.  Grace, I don’t think she has.  She hunches a bit (like in her Twilight movies) with this hesitant, vulnerable look.  I have no idea why a Hollywood star does not have a good posture (compare her with Charlize Theron).  Cynthia defended her by highlighting the fact that Kristen has to act with a lack of confidence.  Hence the hunch.  I suppose she has a point.  Kristen Stewart’s version of Snow White has been locked inside a prison for a very long time after all.

Charlize Theron, the once upon a time sexiest woman on earth, is scary in this movie.  Truly scary.  She screams at the camera as though she is screaming at me.  Charlize is totally into this evil queen character.  Cynthia thought that she acts really well.  As for me, I thought she has over-dramatized her part.  Is she beautiful?  Without a doubt.  When she is not aged by the CGI technology that is.

Then we have Chris Hemsworth from Thor.  He is the huntsman.  I still don’t think he can act.  But he does have his emotional moment that moves me, slightly.  He has plenty of action too, which he does it well.

There are awkward moments in Snow White & The Huntsman.  Moments that do not make sense.  Corpse kissing is one.  Reciting Our Father prayer in a fantasy world filled with fairies, dwarfs, and a troll is another.  Cynthia was quite mad that the scriptwriter has incorporated a Christian prayer into a fantasy movie.  I was pretty cool about it.  Isn’t God omnipresence?  She rolled her eyes thinking that I have played too much video games.

TK thinks that this film is average.  In fact, I am surprised that he has stayed awake throughout the movie because he couldn’t even stand Twilight.  I have enjoyed watching Snow White & The Huntsman, mainly because I am a fan of Kristen Stewart since her days in Panic Room.  Is this movie entertaining?  Yes.  Will I watch it again?  Probably no.  The good thing is, unlike Twilight, you don’t have to wait for 5 years in order to see the ending.

Categories
Diary

On The Same Day Three Unrelated Events

June 15, there were three unrelated events.  It was the high, the low, and the melancholy mid that filled up the in-between.

Every half an hour, horses are led to the starting point for a race that lasts a minute or so.

I was born in Hong Kong.  So naturally, horse racing or rather horse betting should be in my blood.  Indeed, as far as I can remember, it is a big thing in Hong Kong.  Newspapers run full length articles on everything they can find for each horse.  Reporting both comprehensive quantitative and qualitative information so that betters can make decisions.

I was inside a phone booth at work when one of our department managers asked via email if we wished to buy some tickets for charity.  It is in support of providing early treatments to kids in Africa so that they don’t go blind.  Being able to see nature’s beauty is one of the gifts in life.  It is sad to hear that some lose this gift at young age that could have been avoided.  So I bought a deck without thinking much about whether or not I would be one of the seven lucky winners for an evening at Singapore Turf Club.

And I won a pair of ticket.

The event was held in one of the air conditioned room that overlooks the race course.  I have not stepped into Turf Club before June 15.  In fact, I have not seen a live horse racing before that evening.  Cynthia was as excited as I.  On our way to the booth, we were escorted by a friendly staff who has worked in Turf Club for 30 years.

30 years!

He must have loved his job.  Indeed, he was passionately telling us everything about horse racing.  Level 4 of Turf Club is full off corridors with rooms that can be rented for approximately S$800 a night, or for a year at a discounted rate.  There are betting counters manned by friendly receptionists for those who place the bets and collect the wins.  Horse racing happens on Fridays.  On weekend, Turf Club provides live broadcast of horse racing in around the region.  I suppose if you like to bet on horses, Turf Club is the place to be at.

According to our friendly staff, after each race, horses have to go through the urine and blood test.  There is a ‘podium’ like Formula One for the wining horse and its rider to be photographed with their sponsors.  Riders are weighted after the race, just like F1.

If you bet, I reckon the race that happens every half an hour is an excitement to watch.  The race, it seems to me, lasts for a minute or so.  My colleagues were cheering for the horses and at the end of each race, prizes were put into a glass jar as a donation to charity.  Too bad, gambling is not my cup of tea.  To quote my mother, you are already a winner when you have decided not to bet.

I can safely say that F1 motor racing is a million time more entertaining than horse racing. Maybe because I don’t bet.

On the same day, my sole team member called it his last day in my department.  I am 80% happy that he has finally found a permanent position in our company.  He is a smart kid, fully deserves something more than a contract job.  Besides, returning to the front line probably aligns better to his aspiration.  He was put into my team more for headcount administration’s sake.  19% of me is going to miss his company.  What a great guy he is.  As for the remaining 1%, I am concern over the extra work load.  Fortunately, through last minute negotiation, I have secured an alternative arrangement to outsource his role to a foreign country not too far away from here.

At about the same time Cynthia and I arrived at the Turf Club Singapore, my father’s operation started in Hong Kong.  It was hernia.  It does not seem like a major operation so my sister and I stayed put in Singapore, praying for father.  According to my mother, the operation involved the surgeon operating on my father through small holes opened on his abdomen.  I was worried, of course.  Before the event ended in Turf Club, Cynthia and I have excused ourselves for the evening so that I could wait for mother’s phone call at 9pm.  The call came much later due to time the required for my father to wake up from anesthesia.  I am glad that my father managed to receive early treatment.  Praise the Lord.

I do not know how long I will live.  Events like this make you wonder about random things.  Regardless, I think it is important to be surrounded and to treasure those who love you.  And at the same time, reach out to those who need your love.

Since I planned to photograph horses, I have brought a 70-200mm lens to do the job. It is not a lens I often use. But I do love the effect it has on human portraits. I took this photograph of Cynthia at 7pm, outside Singapore Turf Club.