random stuff

sometimes i wonder why tourists and foreigners think that we malaysians don't speak english and that we still live on trees in the jungle. other times i don't blame them. first of all...malaysia was one of the destinations in the AXN tv show "world's apart". yes we all spear boar for food and wear loin cloths. then i walk through the singapore/malaysia border and there's a billboard in the malaysian immigrations building that reads "any persons entering or living malaysia". gosh...and i thought that areas with a high traffic of foreigners and tourists should have quality control. anyway...malaysia isn't the only one. singapore still has the "Exposing your valuables and you might end up losing it" poster on their side of the border. plus...i was walking along north bridge road and i saw a poster that read "Drink driving shatters lives".

ooh...read the papers about ms.paris hilton. the dumb blonde who didn't know that london was in britain and that people in europe don't ONLY speak french. plus i did watch an episode of her tv show 'the simple life' and she had to work at a mechanic for a day. so the guy asks her to check the engine and she says something along the lines of "what's an engine?" or "where's the engine?". can anyone be that ignorant (i wanted to say DUMB but it'll be harsh)? or is it all an act? could the smartest thing she's ever done be to make herself look completely idiotic? being a dumb ditzy blonde sells. if you can't sing and dance or act....act dumb yah!

seems like the world is on guard. someone has a sick and twisted way of adding fuel to the fire. things have never been peaceful since 9/11. there was the war in afghanistan and iraq...accusations of weapons of mass destruction...abuse and torture in prisons...a string of terrorist activities in multiple countries...kamikaze bombers...the danish cartoons...and now the graphic pictures of more torture. before the havoc and uproar of the danish cartoons could even end out comes the pictures. plus...the cartoons didn't cause an uprising last year when it was first published. i guess the muslims changed their minds and found it offensive 6 months later. dispute between the muslims and the west seems to be a constant.

but its funny...pakistan gets hit by an earthquake...south east asia is still suffering from the aftermath of the tsunami...poverty and hunger plagues so many countries around the world...and the relief effort comes from western countries. probably because they're the ones that can afford providing relief and also because it's a show..."we're not violent people...we help the needy". a way to try to reverse the misconceptions that people have towards their country. a way to subconsciously sneak into the minds of the poor...the needy...to get them on their side.
we save you...now you must forgive us and support us. hm...it's subtle but it works.

anyway....i live a sheltered life. i've got food on my table...i've got more clothes than i need...i have money to pamper myself. what do i know? do i need to suffer to understand?

movie watch:

- Brokeback Mountain ****
- Pride and Prejudice ***
- The New World **

(out of 5 *****)

i still haven't recovered from the messy "new world". it looked like it had potential...sounded like it had potential...but the execution was just messy. so was the script. there wasn't much dialogue...mostly narration...mostly silence. the storyline was jumping from one place to another. i still haven't been able to figure out whether it's a drama or a love story or adventure or historical. it's confusing. plus...christian bale only shows up during the last 40 minutes of the 2++ hour movie and christopher plummer was probably there for a grand total of 10 minutes. but hey...that's not the point as we all learned from denzel washington and his oscar win for "training day". it's not how much time you spend in the film...is how big an impact you make and how significant your role is to the development of the movie. anyway...i'm still confused and i doubt i'll watch it again to try and figure it out.

pride and prejudice was a surprise though. i kinda liked it more than i thought i would. i never read the book but i've been told that it's one of the greatest love stories ever written. so i'm a sucker for romance...plus i just needed to see kiera knightley's oscar nominated performance. so it's not that great a love story...kinda reminded me of bridget jones' and a bit of sense and sensibility. but what i loved about the jane austen is her ability to make everything sound polite. even the sarcasm and the insults sound polite. i guess it's a lost art. anyway....even though i think kiera knightley can't act...i must say she did pretty ok in this movie. not really sure whether it calls for an oscar nomination but i was impressed.

brokeback mountain was strange...touching...interesting...kinda surreal. i went through the movie trying to understand the pain...the love...the fear. most of the movies i watch leave me with no real thoughts. this one left me with many thoughts. definitely belongs in the oscars.

movies to watch:

- capote
- good night and good luck
- history of violence
- munich
- lord of war
- syriana