the interview meme, part deux!

As you may recall, I answered Kevin's interview questions earlier,,, now, here are Jeff's:

1. You have a gazillion blogs on your blogroll. Do really read them all and how much time do you spend daily reading blogs?
   Referring only to "my" [as opposed to the Lost Bloggers] blogroll: Yes, I read them all! Or try to, anyway. Certainly not on a daily basis though! I probably go through them all at least once a month. I know I've a few inactives, just haven't gotten around to doing any Spring Cleaning yet :p
   
   I'm thinking I should *really* get with the program and start using Bloglines or something, so I'll know when someone's published new stuff [blogroll's being really crappy about the "recently updated" feature lately!].
   
   Time estimate? That's tough - I can get sucked in for hours and hours and hours of blog-surfing and -reading, whether by visiting my blogroll, or using a link exchange directory thingy like Blog Explosion or Little Neo... I'd say AT LEAST 3 hours a day. And that's a VERY conservative estimate :-) I'm sure I've gone over 8 hours before:-) I'm a jobless bum, tho, so I've got loads of time to spare :-)
   
   
2. I've seen every episode of Xena: Warrior Princess. What would you think of a guy who admitted that?
   I'd certainly be amused, and perhaps tease the guy about it a little, but hey, I know I certainly preferred Xena to Hercules myself [See #23 here], and I've seen every episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer *and* know the musical soundtrack by heart, so I don't see why I should judge someone for *their* taste! :-)
   
   
3. Have you become a US citizen yet? If not, do you plan on it?
   No, I'm not a US citizen - yet? - I have about 3 years before I'm eligible to even begin to apply for it, so I've got loads of time to decide. Frankly, it wouldn't be an issue at all if Malaysia recognized dual citizenship! Despite all its social and political problems, I feel the US resonates with me more than any other country I've been to / lived in. But Malaysia has such a skewed view on loyalty and nationalism that she'll disown me if I take up US citizenship... and I'd lose all those "rights" I have courtesy of an accident of birth that made me a member of the preferred race & religion [on paper, at least!]. Not that those things are that important to me. Meh. Bottom line: still undecided, check back in 3 years or so, LoL!
   
   
4. I counted at least 17 different posts where you mentioned Meat Loaf (and I'm sure there are more). Are you OK?
   Oh wow, you get A for effort, considering I haven't even gone back to label my old posts, LoL! Anyways... yeah, me and Mr Loaf.... Well, I do have an ever so slightly addictive personality :-) And more importantly, Meat Loaf / Steinman songs have played very important roles in my life: Paradise by the Dashboard Light totally blew my mind during college, both for the message of "be careful what you promise in the heat of the moment" as well as the whole mini-opera-in-a-song concept. It Just Won't Quit was my reluctant love song during college. And so many songs from the Couldn't Have Said It Better album seemed to outline Kosh's and my feelings & situations. What more can I say? :-)
   
   
5. I drive through Chicago about twice a year. Where should I stop for lunch next time?
   Good question! I'm not the solo-adventurous type, and with Kosh busy at work, I haven't done much exploring of Chicago, whether sight-seeing-wise or culinary-wise. But what pops into my mind right now is Greek Islands over in Greektown: excellent food PLUS free valet parking [you just needs a few bucks for the tip], which is always a plus in my eyes!

= = = = = = = = =
This is a surprisingly fun meme, and while I'm happy to be on the receiving end of the questions, I *would* like to be challenged to come up with 5 questions for *you*! So, want in on the fun? Here are the rules:

1. Leave me a comment with your email addy, or email me at azlynne1972[at]yahoo[dot]com, saying "Interview me."
2. I will respond by e-mailing you five questions. I get to pick them, and you have to answer them all.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

So, any takers?

Little Miss Sunshine, and other movies

omg. if you haven't seen Little Miss Sunshine yet, please utilise your preferred movie rental facility and get it!! Immediately! That's an order!! To have Kosh and I in stitches so often throughout the movie, subdued at certain intense scenes, but finally laughing hysterically at the end, well, I can't think of a better recommendation than that without giving anything away. Sure, there are a few places where you have to suspend disbelief, but you'll so caught up with it all that such details won't matter too much. So go watch it, okay?

Phew, now with that out of the way,,, let me take a few steps back, and clarify that I've had this idea at the back of my head for a while now to do just a quick recap of some noteworthy movies we've watched recently [most of them courtesy of Netflix]. Would have just stayed an idea though, if it wasn't for Little Miss Sunshine last night.

Some others, in no particular order:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Movie (1992): starring Kristy Swanson as Buffy, and featuring Luke Perry's big screen debut. Yes, Kosh insisted that since I'd become such a big fan of the series, I needed to see how it first began. While certainly not outstanding [if I remember correctly, Josh Wheadon left the movie halfway through because movie execs were totally going against his vision of the thing], it was interesting to see what had changed/improved in the transition from movie to tv: the well-oiled fight scenes, the dialogue, the mythos,... oh and of course the actual "dusting" of the vamps. Overall, a rather campy movie, but not as horrendous as I'd been led to believe.

The DaVinci Code (2006): Yes so I'm only seeing it about a year after its release, so sue me! Now, I'm one of those tho thoroughly enjoyed the book, loved the pokes and challenges it made to institutionalised christianity, but was also very much aware it was officially a work of fiction. And I looked forward to seeing just how well / badly Ron Howard translated thie book to the big screen. I'd heard a LOT of bad buzz about the movie, even after filtering out the knee-jerk protesting by faith-challenged christians. However, I was happy to find the movie quite faithful to the book as I remembered it, though perhaps it tried to be so faithful that it ended up a bit choppy. Overall, I liked the movie, and would recommend it to anyone who, like me, wanted to see it but was put off by the poor buzz. Of course, I'd go ahead and reread the book too. :-)

Kung Fu Hustle (2005): Caught this on tv - in chinese with english subtitles. I'm not usually a fan of chinese action movies, but this? well, it's more a comedy with action as a means of getting to the comedy. Hilarious, with some thought-provoking moments. Get it!

Kung Pow: Enter the Fist (2002): Couldn't help but get sucked in! This is essentially a spoof of the martial arts genre, taking archive footage of an old movie, dubbing over the dialoge, inserting some new scenes, inserting a new face into the archives,,, it's rather irritating, and yet you. just. can't. look. away!

Stranger than Fiction (2006): So a regular joe wakes up one morning and starts hearing a voice that describes what he does. This narration is worrying enough, but when the voice says that the character is going to die, well, then it's time to get worried. Or amused, if you're the viewer. Dragged a bit too long in a few places, but overall, 'twas as good as I thought it was going to be.

Donnie Darko (2001): This kept cropping up in the Netflix recommendations, so we went ahead and got it. And got blown away. Screwy timeline, dark ominous scenes, child molesters, giant demon rabbits - but was it all just a "dream" in a Tangent Universe? Rent it, watch it, and be prepared to have your horizons stretched.

Running with Scissors (2006): A rather disconcerting glimpse into a majorly dysfunctional family - alcoholic dad, totally unstable mother; Augusten Bourroughs ends up being absorbed into the screwy family of his mother's questionable therapist. One might be reminded of The Royal Tannenbaums [and not just because Gwyneth Paltrow is in both], but, keeping in mind that this is based on real life, it becomes so very much more disturbing.

Of course, some were total bombs... so in the "are we there yet?" category:
(am not even going to link to them, LoL!)

• Superman Returns: it sucked. I was antsy 30mins into the movie, and despite having Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor [I've liked him ever since I stumbled upon The Usual Suspects], nothing could save this movie with a crappy plot.
• Wedding Crashers: relatively entertaining, but omg it went on for way way way way way too long! The last 30mins were torture!
• The Brothers Grimm: a movie with so much potential, but it falls so flat! Tidy up the script, get rid of that superfluous irritating Italian character, and maaaaaaybe it would have been better.

And finally, a shout-out to Reel Fanatic. I don't remember when he'd dropped by with a comment on something I'd written, but when I reciprocated I found his site to be a great source of movie info and promptly blogrolled him. And have used him as a source of recommendations to fill our Netflix Queue ever since. Heck, if it wasn't for him I don't think I'd ever have heard of Little Miss Sunshine. So, do swing by, and see if you appreciate his commentary, recommendations and insights as much as I have.

And now? off to shower / laundry / grocery shopping... and to procrastinate some more on all that French homework LoL!

MORE this & that PLUS a meme

French: the Spring session has started, and the two classes I've signed up for? AWESOME, and just what I need to get the remaining rust brushed off. Last session I'd ended up taking two larger [about 12 students], more grammar-based classes; this time around, both classes are nice and cosy [about 6 students] with a lot more emphasis on oral. Yes, go ahead, please get your sniggers out at French / oral now. Heeheee!

Responding to Monsoon's comment in the previous post: I suppose preferring one [class of] language over another is a function of what language you're used to / exposed to? Compared to English, Malay and French, German to me sounds to noisy, harsh and guttural. But, if you were born into a Germanic tongue, I can certainly see how the Romance languages, especially French [the language *and* the people!], can seem whiny :-) Despite my not-so-fondness [I wouldn't go so far as to say hate or dislike] of German, if I were to pick it up, it would make accessible a large slice of the language pie: most Scandinavian languages are Germanic-based, and like I've mentioned before, I have this soft spot for Iceland, I'd like to go there someday to explore areas I've only ever imagined while studying Icelandic Literature & Sagas, so ideally, once it's time to get out of limbo/jobless bum mode, I'll be looking at something along these lines.

Books: of the six books that jumped out at me two weeks ago, I've made it through 4, reviews of which are at FWDT.

The 20 Questions Meme: Found this over at Harmonica Man's place last January, but am only now getting my thoughts together enough to put my 2-cents' worth. So, for those who want a bit more of insight into me, perhaps this will help ya:

1. When you buy a greetings card are the words or the picture more important to you?
Words are definitely important, but never ever for one moment think that I'd look twice at those cards with three pages of sappy words! urgh! To me, what's important is wit and humor [brief but clever], preferably combined with an appropriate humorous image.


2. What's your favorite kind of cake?
The kind that I can have *and* eat too? LoL! Okay okay... for the longest time in my younger days cheesecake from the Olive Garden was my major sin. Now, the few times I *do* have cake/dessert cravings, I'm torn between apple pie à la mode, or an ooey gooey hot fudge brownie à la mode.


3. Do you ever make gifts for people, if so what, or do you buy them?
Usually, gifts are bought. But in the past I have made some simple cross-stitch thingys as gifts, and more recently I've created some doodle greeting/thank you cards - does that count?


4. What's your favorite holiday - i.e. Christmas?
Well, considering I don't work anymore, every day is a "holiday"! Back in Malaysia, I appreciated *any* holiday that resulted in the exodus of people from KL back to their hometowns, leaving townies like me to enjoy the traffic-jam-less city for a few days :-) Here in the U.S. I gotta say I don't really participate in any holiday events [it's all too easy for Kosh and I to just not socialise... we gotta get better at that...], but I suppose if I were to pick one particular event, I'd say The Summer Solstice, not that I've ever participated in marking this event, but the sun is my element, and that's the longest day of the year....


5. Are you going on holiday this year? If so, where?
See above re every day being a holiday for me;-)


6. What was the best party you've ever been to?
Heh. I'm sure I've attended a few good ones in my past lives, if only I could remember... LoL! Acheyhol tends to leave holes in my memory *grin!* But the most recent outing I had - my farewell outing to Plant Hollywood with Baby Angel & bf, Krista, & Neome ranks pretty high up there what with the excellent food, great music, and me actually letting loose and dancing [and head-banging too - like I said, great music!].


7. If you are married, describe your wedding. If not, what would your ideal wedding be like?
Due to time constraints as a result of my visa, we couldn't really organise a big fat wedding event [not that we wanted a huge event anyway!], so ours was a sign-a-piece-of-paper-in-front-of-a-judge deal with only our immediate family members in attendance, followed by dinner at a restaurant that evening. His parents are organizing a larger celebration in May, and this will involve extended family and friends. Then.. whenever Kosh and I get around to traveling a bit, we'll need to have a reception of sorts in Switzerland *and* Malaysia so that people from *that* side of the world can meet him. Multi-country/continental unions can get rather complicated!


8. What's the most romantic thing that's ever happened to you?
Heh. I'm drawing a blank. But definitely up there would be Kosh traveling more than halfway around the world to meet me in Oz, where his actual time spent in Oz barely matched the total to&fro traveling time!


9. What's your favorite romantic song?
Heehehee! So many! But the one on my mind right now is Meat Loaf's Because of You from his Couldn't Have Said It Better album: 'tis one of "our" songs.


10. Favorite heartbreak song?
Again, so many to choose from, but for some reason Toni Braxton's Unbreak My Heart popped into my head - this song is so powerfully sad, it gives me the shivers!


11. Which celebrity would you like a dream date with?
Tough one! During my teenage years, I'm pretty sure I'd answer Michael J Fox. Now that I'm old[-er] and boring, I certainly don't have any celebrity crushes or anyone I'd want to go out on a date with.


12. Which female celebrity do you find beautiful?
Eh. Beautiful? Hard to say.. best I can say is that I'm fond of Allyson Hannigan, though it's because of a combination of her looks plus her character and lines in BtVS...


13. Which male celebrity do you think is attractive?
Hahaha, again, in my teenage years I'd have rattled off a whole list: I crushed on *so* many actors [Michael J Fox definitely up there] and singers [Morten Harket from a-ha was soooooooo drool-worthy!]... but now... the best I can say is James Marsters [Spike in BtVS & Angel]. I go for the anti-hero archetype.


14. Describe the kind of underwear you normally wear
Boring ones. Black. Cotton. No "sexy lingerie" for me, thank you!


15. If you could be in a television sit-com, which would you choose?
Heh. F.R.I.E.N.D.S is the only sit-com I've watched/enjoyed in a while, so I suppose I'd choose this kinda by default....


16. Which character would you like to be?
Phoebe, definitely Phoebe. The Phoebe of the early seasons. The quirky one who dabbled in all those new age aura reading type things. The one who lived life oblivious to the usual rules of social subtleties & etiquette.


17. What are your favorite boy and girl names?
No fave boy names,,,, but as a result of being a BtVS freak, "Willow" and "Amber" are stuck in my brain...


18. What's your supermarket of choice?
Convenient / closeby = a JewelOsco. I miss the Meijer we used to go to in Urbana though.


19. What is your best character trait?
My weird sense of humor, perhaps?


20. What is your worst habit?
Procrastination, perhaps?

Okay, that's it for today.... will be working on French homework over the next few days: I'm gonna write up an interview with our psycho kitty cat for one class, and produce an essay describing myself for the other. Fun!

a meme sunday it is!

Okay so I'd taken the easy way out when Adam tagged me the other day,,, and felt kinda bad about the whole wiggling out of making an effort... then Neome went and tagged me for the same thing... so okaylah, I figured I'd go ahead and try to re-do this weird meme,,, here goes!

SIX WEIRD THINGS ABOUT ME

1. "Help, I'm a man trapped in a woman's body!!!" okay, not really... but I'm certainly no "girly girl" either! Sure, in public I'm more than aware of social niceties, but in "safe" locations/situations [i.e. at apartment, with Kosh] I can, and do, produce auditory, vibratory [and odoriferous!] emanations from upper and lower cavities to rival any typical guy, LoL! On a related note, I have no patience for people who think you're not really a woman if you don't wear make-up / heels / skirts - I am who I am, after all! And being feminine doesn't necessarily mean being "girly" anyway. So there!


2. I get choked up and actually have to blink back tears when listening to the "Once More, With Feeling!" soundtrack of that Buffy episode. Even weirder? The song[s] that choke me up differ depending on whether I'm watching the episode itself or just listening to the songs on the iPodShuffle. If it's the former, it's definitely when Spike steps in to stop Buffy from dancing herself into a crisp, when he mournfully sings about "Life isn't bliss, life is just this, it's liiiiiviiiiing; ... the pain that you feel, you only can heal by liiiiviiiing....". And if it's just the auditory experience? Well, then that's when I'm imagining/reliving scenes from the movie, and what moves me most in that situation? The reprise of Standing/Under Your Spell by Tara and Giles, where Tara decides to break up with Willow, and Giles decides to force Buffy to step up. And while it's not in the tearjerking category, hearing Buffy's theory about "what can't we face if we're together..." gives me the shivers...


3. But it's not *just* the sad stuff: one would find it VERY weird how gleefully I reenact scenes/dialogues from the episode, and how much enjoyment I derive from things like that demon getting stabbed but still having time to sing a line of two before keeling over: "She's not half the girl she - owwwww!"; Buffy singing about things not "... penetrating my [pause] heart", when she's doing what else but staking a vamp thru the heart, LoL! And those two? Just from the FIRST song! I totally love the rock/metal "Bunnies" song in the middle of "I've got a theory" And how's about when Spike's singing grumpily about "I hope she fries, I'm free if that b*tch dies" followed immediately by the line "I better help her out" in a desperate puppy dog manner? And a woman pleading against a parking ticket telling the cop that she's not wearing underwear? And having EIGHTEEN seconds devoted to a man celebrating that the cleaners "Got the Mustard Out!"?? Ah, yes, totally up my alley: I have pretty much the entire soundtrack, no, *episode* committed to memory!


4. And seeing how TWO weird items are part of the Buffy episode/sountrack, that should indicate yet another weird thing about me: that when I get "into" something, I *really* *really* get "into" that something! Keeping to a soundtrack theme, another example would be my going out and buying the soundtrack to "A Nightmare Before Christmas" immediately after catching the movie in the theaters. And never got tired of playing it over and over and over and over. I can sing along to pretty much *all* the songs: in fact, we caught it on tv the other day, and I was singing along of course,,, and Kosh switched the captioning *off* to test me : I passed with flying colors, LoL!.


5. My sense of humor is definitely unusual - the most obscure thing can set me off in gales laughter. Or perhaps it's that particular pun, or non sequitur, or whatever. And many times, it's about all Kosh can do to just look at me, shaking his head wondering what sort of weirdo he's married, LoL! No lah, actually he gets it too, but just doesn't *quite* react to it as enthusiastically as I do. Example of what sets me off? In the Pinky & The Brain piece "When Mice Ruled the Earth" Pinky lets loose a pun - scene cuts to Wakko playing a rim shot on a drum set, in reaction to that pun - scene cuts back to Pinky who reacts to the rim shot: "What was that??!" The clincher is Brain then sardonically dismissing it as "engine knock". And I now *use* "engine knock" as a synonym for a pun, teehee!


6. "Help, I'm actually two very different people trapped in one body!!!" Seriously, I am a study in dichotomy. It's all situational, but wow, what extremes I harbor within me. I am the most outgoing, brash, loud character in the room, yet I am also the quiet observer preferring to amuse herself by watching the other characters play out their acts... I am the vibrant enthusiastic overflowing-with-ideas executive at work, or I am the sullen sniper killing the mood of the meeting with my attitude. I am the aloof daughter / cousin / niece who just can't relate to family members, yet I am also the warm and caring friend who would drop everything to run to the aid of said friends. Essentially, I have many layers [like an ogre, yes.. or an onion, Lol!], and which layer "shows" depends on the situation I'm in, how I feel, etc etc. But deep down inside? A core of strength that, when tapped, helps to achieve anything i want. The trick is getting to rock-bottom enough to *get* to that core!

Yeah. So there you have it: the weirdness that is me, valid as at Sunday, 1:20pm [btw, took me about 2hrs to get this done!].

Any comments? Any self-taggers?

Have a good weekend, y'all!

"Hey, he/she looks familiar...."

... or "what on earth would I do without imdb?!"

1. (re-)watching Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story while it was on tv the other day, the character Justin was soooooo familiar and yet I just couldn't quite place him. So out came the 'puter, onto imdb I went... and started LoL-ing once I found the fella's page... the actor is Justin Long, and he made his debut in this fantastic spoof of Star Trek that I've seen like oh only twenty times or so and is only one of my fave movies evah: Galaxy Quest! Can you place him now?

2. Having finally finished going through the entire Buffy series, I'd Netflixed some Angel discs [Season 4 Disc 6, Seson 5 Discs 1 & 2] to just follow the story arc of Spike and how he is established in Angel / Wolfram & Hart (W&H)... and one of the many W&H lawyers looked mighty familiar... again, I turned to imdb to confirm my suspicions.. and yes, the fella who starts a conga line during the Halloween party in Angel has for the past 1.5 years been sharing screen time with Angel [well, David Boreanaz anyway] as Dr Jack Hodgins, or "the bug guy", in Bones. Heh, that's kinda cool :-)

3. And with all those law & Order episodes I've been watching? That tv show has only been on for like 17 years, so it's not like there have been a whole bunch of actors who've participated in it.... not! So anyways, yes, last night there were two episodes with this blonde in the district attorney's office who looked very much like another [early] Angel character... looked her up, and whaddaya know, I was right, she was Detective Kate Lockley, remember her?

... and before you think I'm sadly always spot on for these "he/she looks familiar" incidents, I also struck out recently: another Law & Order person looked familiar, the one who's currently playing A.D.A. Alexandra Borgia [Annie Parisse] but nothing on her filmography says anything to me... finally figured out that she kinda looks like that actress, over at Without A Trace... agree or not?

... and last night The Dresden Files debuted on the Sci-Fi channel... of course, I didn't see it [I'm not gonna sign us up for a majorly expanded cable package *just* for that one channel, y'know!]. No big, it'll come out on DVD soon enough, LoL! Hopefully it gets renewed beyond its original order of 11 episodes, y'know? Then again, depends on the response... and from what I've read in the forum, there are those who totally hate that it's nothing like the book, and others who wanna give it a chance... either way, I'll get around to watching it, one day.

Till then? I'll continue doing what I do best: being a jobless bum & lovin' it!

Cheers!

... the monster's loose ...

Hope everyone's recovering nicely from the Xmas weekend.

Had the in-laws over for dinner yesterday, not so much for Xmas as for the belated marking of MiL's birthday. I think we all survived; amazing, especially considering this was the first "real" entertaining we'd done [and by "real" I mean NOT shoving a frozen pizza into the oven because Kosh was over two hours later than expected getting off work so our outing with KTN became an inning instead... by "real" I mean having an "apple salad" followed two choices of baked chicken {herb&garlic with 'shrooms, or onion-soup-mixed} with a side of broccoli *AND* having all that prepared and ready to eat pretty much at the right time].

And now,, perhaps you're wondering what monster I'm referring to in the title of this post? It's the Netflix monster, that's what!!

I currently have one hundred and eighty three items in the queue.

Okay, so eight of them are "saved" [titles not within the Netflix inventory, but if there's enough "votes" they may consider purchasing the DVD]... but of the remaining 175 in the actual queue, over sixty are television series DVDs - that's over 35%. I dunno how other folks' queues compare, but I think that's quite a large chunk of TV I want to get to know/refresh myself on. You all know, of course, that I'm finally getting caught up on Buffy [will start receiving Season 7 soon], but I've also got other stuff like:

• Firefly [& Serenity]: Joss Wheadon's futuristic/cowboy post-Buffy venture I've heard nothing but good things about
  
• Weeds: Alissa's fault*! Right now I've gone through Season One Disc One, and teeheehee i think it's quirky, unusual, with some really good/unexpected dialogue and twists.
• Greatest American Hero: this one is Karl's fault* ;-) I only have Season One on request, however - we'll see if I like it enough the second time around to watch the entire series...
• Veronica Mars: this one is mainly Dave's fault* although I would never have bothered at all with this except that I happened to catch an episode a few months ago that indicated it was something I could try out... so Season One is on order.
• Battlestar Galactica: yes, the sci-fi channel one. the one which I'd caught a bit of two years ago and totally hated... then kept reading about how many bloggers, who seem to share similar preferences as me, really really liking this new version, so I bit the bullet and have Seasons 1, 2.0, 2.5 and "the miniseries" in the queue.
• The Muppet Show: Season One: okay this is Kosh's ;p
• Futurama: we own Vols 1 & 2, in the queue are Vols 3 & 4 [ 8 discs] - gotta love this "sci-fi cartoon" from the creator of The Simpsons!
• Tru Calling: This only lasted one season, and I'm only checking this out because I'm curious to see Eliza Dushku in a non-Faith role.
  
• The Guyver: this is Kosh's too...
• Neverwhere: BBC turned Neil Gaiman's book into a miniseries. I certainly enjoyed the book, so will give this a whirl and see how it compares to the real thing. Besides, with Kosh being too busy to do any reading, this is about the only way to expose him to tales I like.
• Dr Who: not the 80's version that I might have caught a handful of episodes of, but the new/revitalised one that I would never have thought to visit if it wasn't for Karl gushing over it recently. Yup, all your fault*!
  
• How I Met Your Mother: Kevin's fault* for countering my RHPS quote with something from this series that I didn't recognise so I asked him about it... although I admit, I probably wouldn't have added HIMYM to the queue yet if not for the discovery/reminding that my fave Jewish witch Willow [Alyson Hannigan] is on the show, teeheehee! Yes, I am a total BtVS whore, LoL!
  

I'm sure there are other TV series I'd be happy to revisit/get to know.... However, I continue to be totally bummed that Netflix doesn't have Robin of Sherwood: you know, the one with Michael Praed then later Jason Connery as Robin? *droooool!*

Anyways.

Couldn't sleep well last night, ended up having Animaniacs watch *me* on the couch. Maybe I'll repeat that right now. So what if it's 8am! This is what being a jobless bum is alllll about, teeheehee!

Say good night, Dick; "Good night Dick".

/out.

NOTE: * : I may say "fault" but I actually mean "credit" in the nicest possible way :-)

Ups & Downs in mid-November

Down:
There are majorly strong winds a-blowin' out there; the Windy City is certainly living up to its name today. According to the weatherman, today is the cloudiest it's been in Chicagoland since 1992. Bleah.

Up:
So we signed up for a free trial of Netflix [2 weeks 3-at-a-time unlimited], to be followed by redemption of a 2month 1-at-a-time unlimited gift subscription.

And so I am finally on my way to completing my Buffy education [had only seen up to Season 5]. Devoured the first two discs of Season 6 in one day, whoohooo! Had so much more appreciation for both "Once again, with feeling" and "Tablua Rasa" episodes that Kosh had had me watch when all I knew was perhaps Seasons 1 or 2. Freak that I am, I would now love to get my hands [and ears] on the songs from the musical, and have added this to my wish list, LOL!

btw - other tv shows on the netflix list: Veronica Mars [caught one of the latest episodes a few weeks ago and was intrigued, so figured I'd start at the beginning...] and Battlestar Galactica [the "reimagined" version from the Sci-Fi Channel - wasn't impressed with the pseudo-pilot shown on NBC last year, but I've been hearing so many nice things about it from fellow bloggers who seem to have wavelengths comparable to mine,,, so... will try lah..].

Down:
The DVD player decided to crap out on us right when the DVDs arrived. At first I thought it wasn't regocnizing the disc because it was really really scratched, so I played it on the laptop instead. Then tried the second disc [looking much newer], which also was deemed "bad" by the player. Fine. Played that on the laptop too.

By that time, Kosh and I began to suspect it was the player. Tried our Bab5 DVDs that had worked fine a few days earlier : "bad disc".

Grrrr!

The "up" within this "down" is that Toshiba will replace the unit [surprisingly, considering the warranty is just a lame 3 month thing!] *and* will be sending us a shipping label thingy so that postage is on them too! But we won't celebrate teill we get that shipping label; send off the player *and* get the replacement! Might take a while....

... in the meantime, we are going to have to make do with laptop viewing, tho Kosh has already hooked up the "spare" laptop to our "system" so that we can at least view the next movies on a slightly larger screen :-)

more downs: the IQ vs lbs effort isn't yielding results at the moment. Sure, I delayed starting properly, then sabotaged myself food-wise all too often, *and* while I was good about the water drinking at first, I'm now barely doing 600mL a day; the only thing I'm doing relatively right is the exercise... but all by itself all it's going to do is help maintain where I am, not improve... *sigh*

Anyways, on a slightly related note: was surfing the net and got engrossed [and I do mean gross] reading the testimonials about this product. It's real easy to get sucked in. I'm now considering.... but will bounce the idea off of Dr Kosh first :-p This would make for some *awesome* photos, eh? LMAO!

Anyways - today I'm feeling lazy so probably no gym today.

Will probably finally finish reading Stephen King's Cell; all I can say right now is "omg Mr King how I have missed you! Yes, I loved the DT series, but,,, it's nice to sink mu teeth into a good "horror" tale that you are just excellent at producing!".

Cheers!

... i was hoping I'd be Willow ...

Courtesy of Ms. Q @ Whirled Peas, yesterday I was pointed to where I could find the answer to this burning question:
Am I a Nerd, a Geek, or a Dork?

And it turns out... I am...

Pure Nerd
52 % Nerd, 26% Geek, 30% Dork
For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.
A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.
A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.

You scored better than half in Nerd, earning you the title of: Pure Nerd.
The times, they are a-changing. It used to be that being exceptionally smart led to being unpopular, which would ultimately lead to picking up all of the traits and tendences associated with the "dork." No-longer. Being smart isn't as socially crippling as it once was, and even more so as you get older: eventually being a Pure Nerd will likely be replaced with the following label: Purely Successful.

Congratulations!

Link: The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test written by donathos on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Heh.

*then* I noticed another quiz!! something to do with Buffy characters ... i *was* hoping I'd be Willow ... but I got her lover instead:

Tara Maclay
45% amorality, 45% passion, 81% spirituality, 63% selflessness

What a woman! (Or man, as it may be...)

Tara is a moral, centered, spiritual and selfless person... rather, I suspect, like you. People like this make those around them love them.

Congratulations! (and stay away from windows, just in case)

Link: The 4-Variable Buffy Personality Test written by donathos on OkCupid, home of the The Dating Persona Test

[LYNNE's NOTE: stay away from windows? You mean stay away from stray bullets that come through windows, right? Not the Bill Gates-type windows, right? LOL!]

Anyways... so this reminded me of a meme I'd seen recently over at Dave2's. Joss Whedon has even been a participant, people! Wow! :-)


25 Favorite Television Characters
The rules:
* Does not have to be a show currently airing
* No puppets or cartoons [awww maaaaan! no Wakko??!!]
* No reality show people
* All characters must be regulars on the show
* No mini-series

Lynne's lame attempt, in no particular order [i.e. numbered just so I know if/when I reach 25]:

1. Willow Rosenberg (Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Alyson Hannigan)

A quirky, sweet person - I like how she talks, how she chooses to say things [sure, that's actually Joss Whedon's writing, but still...], and the fact that she's a witch! And that she turns to the dark side at the death of Tara - even cooler!!


2. Phoebe Buffay (F.R.I.E.N.D.S.; Lisa Kudrow)

She was the quirky one, with the Smelly Cat song, and just so confident of herself, oblivious that she was one frikkin strange lady to others. I *so* relate to her!


3. Delenn (Babylon5; Mira Furlan)
Deeply spiritual, with an excellent perspective on life, the universe and everything. I'd certainly like to study under her if only the Minbari were for real.


4. G'Kar (Babylon 5; the late Andreas Katsulas)
Sure, the knee-jerk spats with Mollari early in the series were irritating... but he went through so much pain and suffering and yet was able to emerge a better, more centered Narn in touch with the universe. What an inspiration!


5. Lt Cmdr / Cmdr / Gen Susan Ivanova (Babylon 5; Claudia Christian)

I liked her tough stoic character - it more than balanced the all-too-often over-the-top hot air and actions by Capt John Sheridan!


6. Spike (Buffy/Angel; James Marsters)

What is it about "bad boys" and British accents? But more than that - it's that tough guy persona housing a sensitive soul. He pulls off the "brooding vampire in black" *so* much better than Angel!


7. Dr Gregory House (House, MD; Hugh Laurie)

A doctor who cuts through the crap, doesn't mince his words, and says things I could only *dream* about ever uttering myself! My hero!


8. "Jo" (The Facts of Life; Nancy McKeon)

Ah, the tomboy character I *so* related to!!


9. MacGyver (MacGyver; Richard Dean Anderson)

How could he *not* be a favourite? A handyman good guy, who proved episode after episode that you do *not* have to resolve to guns and violence to overcome "evil". And boy what a handyman!!


10. Nasir the assassin (Robin of Sherwood; Mark Ryan)

While everyone else [especially Will Scarlet!] was yelling and screaming in a fight, Nasir would calmly go about his business, dispatching enemies calmly with his twin scimitars. He was just so different from the rest of the Merry Men!


11. Will Scarlet (Robin of Sherwood; Ray Winstone)
He was the tough guy who provided the comic relief. My 2nd fave after Nasir.


12. Alex P. Keaton (Family Ties; Michael J. Fox)

One of my first major crushes - it was eye-opening to see a family that was relatively normal/laid-back have a son who's so unlike the rest of the family!


13. Dominic DaVinci (DaVinci's Inquest; Nicholas Campbell)

A flawed character - gruff, abrasive, yet he has his heart in the right place. Fighting a seemingly losing battle against his boss, the cops, the mayor and the system to bring about radical but much needed changes to Vancouver.


14. "Howling Mad" Murdock (The A-Team; Dwight Schultz)

Sure, I liked Dirk Benedict / Faceman for no real reason other than he was cute. But Murdock?! He was howling mad [duh!] and so different!


15. Bodie (The Professionals; Lewis Collins)

He was the dark and broody one, with *so* much better hair than Doyle! Don't remember much else about him tho.


16. Captain Jean-Luc Picard (ST:TNG; Patrick Stewart)

A supposedly French dude with a British accent and shiny head - but that smile.... and how he says "Engage!" and "Make it so." : there is something about his voice... wait, the character itself? Heh. Well there must be *something* about him that had Q coming back to taunt him oh so often, eh?


17. Ham Tyler (V; Michael Ironside);

I know I had started rebelling against the typical blond hair/blue eyes hero, and related more to anti-heroes - like this character in V.


18. David Banner (The Incredible Hulk; Bill Bixby)

Gotta admire a man who keeps on going, keeps on hoping he'll be able to master the monster within, even tho episode after episode he's proven wrong. The ending of the show - the haunting music playing while he walks down the road, attempting to hitch a ride - gave me the shivers when Stewie mimicked this in a Family Guy episode.


19. Heath Barkley (The Big Valley; Lee Majors)

Not only does the bastard son succeed in gaining his place among the legitimate children of Mr Barkley over at the Barkley Ranch, but he holds his own too.


20. Denise Huxtable (The Cosby Show; Lisa Bonet)

The rebel of the family; the different one; she went her own way, made her own mistakes, made her own life - my kind of gal!


21. Mrs King (Scarecrow & Mrs King; Kate Jackson)

A little bit zany, with that distinctive husky voice, and holding her own paired with Scarecrow the *real* secret agent.


22. K.I.T.T. (Knight Rider; William Daniels [voice])

I liked the cylon-like moving red light; I liked that he didn't put up with much nonsense from Michael Knight!


23. Xena (Xena: Warrior Princess; Lucy Lawless)

Hey, a sistah more than holding her own against brawn and magic? Rock on!


24. Caine (Kung Fu; David Carradine)

The young grasshopper, all growed up and helping out people in trouble, reluctant to put his deadly skills to use unless absolutely necessary. A man I so admire.


25. Kevin Arnold (The Wonder Years; Fred Savage)
I really liked following the details of his life - and that whole narration / "hearing his thoughts" was really endearing to me


26. Vincent (Beauty and the Beast; Ron Perlman)

What can I say? A beautiful soul stuck in the body of a monster who has to hide in the undergroud pipes/sewer system of New York. Wish he wasn't so enthralled by Linda Hamilton tho.

NOTES:

Yes, I did 26 cos didn't know if anyone would cry fowl foul at K.I.T.T.'s inclusion :-) And yes, I was starting to scrape the barrel by the time I hit #16! btw, I tried hard not to list my childhood crushes - not unless there was more to the crush than just "omg he's so cute!". So that eliminated AT LEAST:
- Starbuck (Battlestar Galactica; Dirk Benedict)
- Robin of Loxley/Robin Hood (RObin of Sherwood; Michael Praed)
- Officer Bruce Nelson (CHiPs; Bruce Penhall)

Sorry about the messiness of the pix - oh, pix taken from either imdb or tv.com.

.. and on that note... have a good weekend y'all!

omg it's coming right at us!

breakfast #1 (5am) = a zone bar
breakfast #2 (7am) = another Zone bar

"brunch" (12.30n) = 1 pt of Ben&Jerry's Dublin Mudslide

"lunch" (6pm) = 2 small bowls of cheerios & silk soy milk

"dinner" (10pm) = About a quarter of a slab of Entenman's cheese-filled coffee cake

yummmmm can we say HEALTHY?!

* * * On to other news...

Hey, I may be getting the hang of Chicago, or at least a small part of the Loop area! I wasn't immediately lost/disoriented when getting off the L! I actually knew where west was!! Whoohooo!!! [don't laugh... in Malaysia streets are NOT laid out in a grid pattern! I'm too used to things NOT making sense!!!]

Good news too - it took a while, but in the end I kinda found the "jewelry" needed to "match" the "outfit" I have planned out for next week. I found it - at Claire's LMAO! Classy/high-maintenance, I am not, waahahahaaaaa!

Oh that reminds me - the past two times I've been on laundry duty, I feel my IQ points drop lower and lower... becuase the tv seems to be stuck on oh-so-intelligent shows like Jerry Springer [the "weddings" theme included this guy who's engaged to three women, and all three of them were appearing ont he show thinking they were gonna be married on the JS show. I think I heard the thump/clunk of my IQ while folding clothes!!] and Divorce Court [this woman who says she is a princess, a perfect ten, and therefore is deserving of hundreds of bucks' worth of new clothes every month week and she can't understand why her husband would actually *gasp* cut her off! She was so self-centered i just pray it was all an act for tv because if this person was for real, omg, she should be shot dead in an attempt to clear the gene pool a bit!!]

In other news, it's quite a relief that Ernesto didn't end up being the badass hurricane he was feared to be... tho I think tomorrow we'll be starting to feel his effects anyways - rain expected over the next few days. So it may be a wet start to the Labor Day weekend. Not that I/we have anything planned - i think Kosh is on call, and besides, he's got some applications to submit for another round of matching into a preferred ENT program. Of course, right now, Kosh is passed out on couch. Poor fella!

We were watching South Park Season One - the pink eye episode was still a good laugh :-)

Oh - then there was a few days ago where we finally watched Memento. Okay so we kinda knew what to expect because we'd gotten this after watching Butterfly Effect and enjoying it, then having a friend pooh-poohed it saying Memento was much better. Heh. I dunno about "better". Certainly warrants a re-watch to see if you could figure out what was going on if you had the advantage of having the end [beginning?] in mind. But not immediately lah. Oh, and thanx to looking these movies up on imdb, I've found out that there's a sequel to the butterfly effect due out in 2007? Hmmmm. Will it pick up where the first ended?? Might be worth a watch [on rental lah].

Speaking of rentals... ugh... Chicago is, errr,,, too cultured!! Within the entire Chicago Public Library system, there are NO Buffy DVDs! I suppose Netflix would be a good alternative [Kosh has said we've got this free trial offer thingy we need to take advantage of soon], if I want to complete my Buffy education. I think I made it up to Season 5. Two seasons to go! And I *so* wanna see the end-end, and how that dropped Spike into the Angel cast the following season. Yes, I like Spike, so sue me! :p

On that note... I suppose I'll help myself to another slab of cake, then get Kosh awake so he can go sleep in bed instead of the couch.

Cheers!

Movie Revue

Kosh needs his vegetation time in front of the telly to unwind from work. During the day I'm still catching up with tons of episodes of DaVinci's Inquest [but I wouldn't impose that upon Kosh!]; in the evening/night, we've watched a few movies.

Like these:

• SHAUN OF THE DEAD.
omg so f*cking hilarious! Get it! Rent it! Watch it!!!! i was howling with laughter through so many parts of this flick! I am so *not* a zombie-movie-type person, but then again, this is NOT a typical zombie movie. It's great. Go watch it! Go!!


• BATMAN BEGINS.
Eh. Wasn't very impressed. Slept through the middle half of it. The only thing going for it? The corny close caption description of the music - THAT had me LOL-ing and smiling [effectively countering the yawning. temporarily.]

Examples:

• In the solitary cell, Qui-Gon Jinn says "I counted six, Mr Wayne" : [ominous theme playing]
  
• When Bruce Wayne gets released from prison & dumped by side of the road, he gets up and studies the mountains : [suspenseful, meditative theme playing]
  
• Soon after Bruce Wayne arrives at the training place, Qui-Gon Jinn growls "Make no mistake : here you face death!" : [tense action theme playing]
  
• Bruce Wayne spray paints his first batsuit : [dark, thrilling theme playing]

Yeah, dunno how funny that strikes you reading it here... i just have to say that when you combine a sucky movie with corny captions, it makes the movie just a wee bit bearable!

Oh, and how's this for s.a.d.?

A few minutes ago the TV was on and I caught a few minutes of something that looked like George of the Jungle - except that it wasn't with Brendan Fraser. And Ursula looked [and sounded] very very familiar. I had an idea of who she was, and wanted to confirm it. So hunted high and low in imdb/amazon before finding the movie (George of the Jungle 2 : i think it was a direct-to-DVD release!). Looked up Ursula, who was played by one Julie Benz. Who played Darla in Buffy / Angel. I was right! Haahahahaaaaa! I am *so* proud of myself!

But wait! It gets better! I noticed Ms Benz is in a new tv series DEXTER, and after a few clicks here and there to get more information... whaddaya know... it's based on those alliteratively-titled books I totally loved last year, about a "moral" serial killer who helps hunt down "run-of-the-mill" serial killers. See here and here. Would be really interesting to see how they adapted that to the small screen. Pity we don't get Showtime. Oh well. [Oh - i *think* Ms Benz plays Dexter's "beard" of sorts. If you've read the book u know how/what I mean].

More Chicago heat...

That psycho cat woke me up at 4am : she was scratching/pawing at the bedside table, i sat straight up and switched on the light, paranoid that the pawing indicated she'd peed/pooped in the table and was trying unsuccessfully to cover it up. Thankfully, that wasn't the case - she was just being her usual psycho self. Tried to get back to sleep, but she then hung out under the bed, and dunno what she was doing there, but her tags were clanking against each other AND the wooden floor... in the end I gave up and got up - at 5am. grrrrr!!

Switched on the tv to WGN, and looks like the main news is about a power outage which occurred last night, people of the affected area being evacuated to other homes or hotels, especially the senior citizens.

The entire Chicagoland is under a excessive heat advisory for today and tomorrow. yesterday it went up to 99F (heat index of up to 116F!), probably more of the same today. Heck, at 5am it was already 81F!

Bottom line: i think i'll be sticking to the apartment for another day or two :-p

Anyways - a quick capture of the journey here:

@ KLIA: Parents insisted on doing the airport send-off, with visiting aunt in tow. Got there about 4 hrs before departure, only to find that check-in opens *three* hours before departure. Will have to keep that in mind for future trips - having comfortable buffers is one thing, waiting unnecessarily is another! So did the dinner thing before checking-in.

Then, at check-in, the person at the counter musta been totally new or something, took forever to get my boarding passes - I think it was because she didn't know the code for my destination (ORD - Chicago O'Hare: definitely not straightforward...). And no eyebrows raised on my luggage weight! grrrrr!! I coulda put more stuff in, maybe? Oh well,

Then, with still lots of time to kill, the parents (and aunt) stayed on for "coffee": ugh, McD's hot milo is so sweet it'll send even the hardiest of non-sweet-toothed people into a major sugar high! Over which was an awkward attempt by the parents to communicate that they would like me back in Malaysia as soon as possible. Yeah, you read right. Going as far as asking about chances of Kosh coming to work in the medical field in Malaysia. Totally ignoring so many factors that have already been taken into consideration; ignoring what I'd already told them of the few plans I do have for the future. I suppose I should not be surprised at this. And neither should they be surprised that I sure am glad to be halfway around the world from them. So sue me.

@ plane:
KUL - Seoul : awesome, I had 4 seats to myself, so I took full advantage and lay across them all for some shuteye.

4 hr layover in Seoul: had no idea what to expect of the Incheon airport, and wondered if it was going to be something like the Taipei airport. Boy was I mistaken! It's a great airport! Bright, lots of shops, and even a transit lounge for travellers to sleep / relax between flights. The only drawback was that I couldn't get any signal for my phone: i suppose maxis doesn't have roaming there? surprising, eh?

Seoul - ORD: crowded, i think every seat was taken! And a family a few rows ahead of me had an obnoxious boy screaming and shouting through most of the trip. I felt like slapping the living daylights out of them ALL! Entertained myself by playing yahtzee, creating a song playlist of rock ballads and 80's pop. And watched the only movie that appealed to me in the entire list: Dirty Harry. Wow. Only bits and pieces of the movie were familar. I remember watching a whole series of Dirty Harry movies on tv when I was much much younger, and totally loving the tough anti-hero character. This time around, I'm cringing at the whole 70's feel to it all, and amused at that husky raspy voice of ol' Harry's :)

@ ORD: The Immigration officer I got musta been bored, and glad at the "diversion" of something other than the usual tourist/business B1/B2 visa coming through. I really didn't like how he had this smirk on his face looking through all the papers, and I certainly didn't appreciate him saying "So, let's see who this guy is," then proceeding to laugh at Kosh's picture, even holding up the pic to me asking "He doesn't always look like this, does he?" I just smiled... sabar je lah... The jerk then got to the medial report, and declared "Well, according to this your are free of disease," I just answered "Well, that's good to know" in a slightly sarcastic manner - after all, if there had been problems, i wouldn't have gotten the visa in the first place! What a jerk! After reminding me that i can't have a Halloween wedding (gotta get hitched by Oct 28th), i was free to go.

Whoohoo!

Then had to wait for Kosh for a while ... combination of the plane arriving early; immigration, customs & agriculture control taking less than 30mins while I'd budgeted for 1hr; Kosh working that morning; Kosh making poor choice of roads to get to the airport... but hey, he got there, and we proceeded to take a long way back to the apartment (making a stop at Lenny's Denny's for a shared meal). During the drive, i made a phone call to my Swiss grandma, and another to Kosh's mom, to "check-in" and say that I'd arrived. Had already checked-in with folks by text message, knowing that they were probably freaking out at not hearing from me during the Seoul layover :p I was not mistaken :p

Overall, I was nowhere near as zombified as I expected - not having additional domestic flights to deal with helps A LOT!

Got reacquainted with Kosh and the psycho kitty, and explored the new apartment here in the Medical District of Chicago... later, did a spot of shopping, followed by a light dinner while watching a small percentage of what Kosh had recorded for me: in this case, the first few DVDs of Angel, Season One. I was falling asleep by the time we were at the end of the 2nd episode, so I hit the hay soon after. That was around 1030pm.

So... now it's my Tuesday, 550am. Will probably spend the day getting caught up with blog updating and reading. And am thinking of throwing some chicken into the crock pot, drown said chicken in a pack of the rendang curry or kapitan sauces I'd brought back with me, so that once Kosh recovers from being on call, if he's hungry, we'll have something more exciting than lunchmeat and bagels or pizza, heeheheh! :-) Will get going on that now.

ciao!

Friday madness!

Today, no wait it's past midnight, YESTERDAY was one heck of a day!

But before I recap that.... take a look at this:

P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
S: Evidence removed.

P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget pounding on something with a hammer.
S:Took hammer away from midget.

If you're going "wtf?" and have no idea what that is all about, do read about it HERE at Dawn's place. Guaranteed major laughs!! Check it out :-)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Got intrigued by Samm's reference to a Jessica Alba show involving barcodes and necks in a recent comment: found out it's Dark Angel. Sounds interesting. Might check it out once am back in the u.s.

It seems the show got cancelled cos FOX wasn't going to fund two sci-fi shows at the same time: it got canned in favor of Joss Whedon's Firefly, which also didn't last long but seems to be something worth watching.... it's been reborn as a movie that is/(has?) coming out: Serenity. Why do I care? Well, he *is* the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, after all.... I wanna see Serenity, but i wonder if it would be "beneficial" to have seen the Firefly tv series first... anyone got opinions on this?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

So. The madness that was Friday.

Woke up at 7. Decided I was not hitting the gym. Slept on, till 8.

Then I slowly get up, shower, dress up, get a ride to the train (well, LRT, actually) station. Take it all the way to Ampang Park station. Accidentally go to Ampang Park: take advantage of the mistake by changing some USD into RM since the rate was better than at KLCC. Needed some cash, anyway. :-)

Then went to the PNB building, in order to get my address changed in their system.

Was slightly early for first of three "dates", so decided to walk thru KLCC park. at 1045am. Hmmmm, *not* the best thing to do when u know you are going to be stuck in the same clothes alllllll dayyyyyyy. Sweaty maaaaah!

Anyway.

So, met up with Pal#1 at my previous haunt. I'd not met her the last time I was back, so it was good to catch up again...

Then, had about 30mins before *next* date.

Went to book a foot masssage for 245pm: figured that would give me enuf time after lunch for bank stuff if needed, and finishing just before my 3rd "date" at 4pm.

Then hopped over to one of my banks, needing to inform them of my change of address, and for another matter too. The counter to get the forms was closed. So I friggin had to take a number and wait to get to the other counters in order to just get the forms. Which I couldn't submit there and then because I had to fill them out first. Bleh. Nemmain, took 'em with me, figured I'd drop by between end-of-lunch and start-of-foot-massage.

12:45 noon: Date #2 with 4 other pals. Had only managed to meet up with 2 of them last time, so had lots to catch up on. Also got "invited on behalf" to a wedding reception the next day of another ex-colleague: they were sure the bride would have invited me she'd known I was back. Okaylah, I will put on my "thick face" and go with them, teeheeeee! Have made arrangements to tumpang with SS to go there, then will have to find someone else to tumpang with to get back to town (it's gonna be out there in Putrajaya maaah!).

2pm: while walking SS to the LRT station, bump into Elaine! "Dump" SS and walk with Elaine to catch up with her pulak!

Then back to the bank, to submit the completed forms.

Notice chopper flying around the building, and large crowd outside: oh yeah, supposedly more protests to be held after Friday Prayers, protesting the hike in petrol prices. I walk by to take a look: seemed to be more curious onlookers than actual protesters. Didn't bother hanging around to listen, but I did notice a banner saying something like "Kerajaan mintak rakyat ubah cara hidup. Rakyat mindah ubah kerajaan!" (The goverment asks the people to change their lifestyle [to adjust to the price hike]; the people say "change the government"!).

Sorrylah, but you're barking up the wrong tree. As tough as the hike is, can you not appreciate that our petrol price is still among the lowest in the region? We can't be expecting the government to keep shelling out money to keep the petrol price low for consumers! All good things come to and end, my friends.... it's hard, it's harsh, it's a terrible burden that's been passed on to us, but please, we have to deal with it! Don't keep expecting the gomen to pay for everything....

But... ya lah, the government also needs to buck up and get more transparent, accountable, responsible, etc etc etc... if they cut into our comfort zone, they sure as hell should reciprocate and cut into their own! Change THEIR "lifestyle" of cronyism, discrimination, bullying, and whatnot...

It seems that later the demonstraters were doused with chemical-laced water from water cannons (need subscription to read the full article. The teaser goes "Helicopter swooping, flag burning, cannons firing and hundreds running. Nope, this is not Baghdad but KL - where protestors see their $$$-fueled fury drowned.". Flag burning??? Really?????? Geeeeeez.... .... good thing I just passed through, eh? (more links & news via Jeff Ooi HERE)

I suppose that happened sometime while I was getting my feet rubbed :D

Aaaah... could feel all the "ketul-ketul" of "angin" in my "urat" (errr.. loosely translated to evidence of wind/air in my veins?)... I stopped myself from asking the guy to do harder, takut nanti I wouldn't be able to walk! And overall, it was quite painful... so again, I gotta make it a point to take walks in the park including hitting the reflexology path! The feet need it!!!

Then, waited for my 4pm date, which in the end was at 5pm. Her meeting ended late. Me not surprised :p

Took advantage of the lull to shop around, and got a pair of sneakers to walk around in (to "spare" my current sneakers for just tennis!).

Saw this excellent piece of creative work (a "lidi" fruit basket) at Royal Selangor, part of its Comyns silver collection. Pity it costs RM4k!??

Anyone wanna chip in for a present for me?? Hurry, it's a limited edition of only 100 pieces!! ... ... ... I can dream, can't I??? :p

Anyways, so did have date #3. More catch-up.

Once over, i so did NOT want to share the LRT with all the office workers. Caught Tristan + Isolde instead. Okaylah... they took great liberties in setting up the story: as far as I know, Tristan was a bard/musician, not the "adopted" son of "King" Marke (Marcus!!) of Cornwall!! But hey, the horrid twist of fate of the lovers was still well told. It was worth seeing despite the cuts (mostly the sex scenes lah. Maybe *one* gory hand-chopped-off scene too). The girl was good. The guy, well, I think he might have been chosen for looks rather than ability? Really couldn't relate to him at all! Then again, i really liked the tale when I studied it in my Arthurian Literature class, maybe I have a preconcieved idea of who he should behave?

Whatever.

Out of the theatre around 835pm.

LRT. Home.

Blog.

Need sleep. Have 1030 appointment tomoro! Have to squeeze into some baju kurung to attend the wedding! B. L. E. H.

'nite!!

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!

http://www.jeffooi.com/mt32/mt-tb.cgi/142

Cheese Naan!

Yummmm, that was dinner last night - along with TWO ice-blended Milo with tapioca pearls.

Yep, was at Sri Steven's at Pandan Indah.

... unlike other places that use those horrid Kraft Singles fake-cheese crap in their cheese naan, Steven's actually uses REAL cheese! All ooogey goooey and unhealthily delicious!

MMmmMMmmmmmMmmMMmMMMMmmmMM :)
- - -
Movie review: Underworld: Evolution

I gotta say "Not outstanding, but certainly much better than dreaded anticipated".

Based on the few scenes of the original Underworld movie I caught here and there on tv perhaps a month ago where I developed the impression that it was a bad rip-off of the Matrix, I would say that Underworld 2 is definitely much better than the original. :p

The mythology is certainly very different than that developed in Buffy/Angel-land... unfortunately, it's also not really clear, so there are more questions than answers for me wrt Kate Beckinsale's character taking in some of the original big daddy's blood... just how did that enable her to withstand sunlight? Just what was the "legacy in his veins" that was so powerful? And how did big daddy come about in the first place anyway?? And that "strong link" between the twins Marcus & William: didn't really see much about that, perhaps they could have explained that a bit better...

on a related note, I wonder if William and Marcus inadvertently embodied the distillation of lycan and vampyr properties separately, which existed together within big daddy?

One really cool aspect of feeding off of blood of victims: everything the victim has experienced gets "passed on" and "absorbed" by the vampire. "no secrets". excellent, totally excellent take on the "legacy" in our veins!

Of course, watching it in the Malaysian cinema involved censorship of sex scenes... tho I'm surprised that lots of the gory scenes of the vamp vs lycan fights didn't seem to have been cut at all.

Yet there were one or two scenes that seemed to jump for no apparent reason, so I wonder what was being said that might have been deemed offensive...

then again, the Michael character swore "Jesus Christ" so often it was hilarious to hear, but I did wonder why *that* wasn't cut out.

I don't think I will ever understand what it is that prompts the Censorship Board to cut or not to cut.

Resulting from watching this movie:

• gotta watch the original movie (once back in the u.s. rent from library lah)
  
• then re-watch #2, also in the u.s., without the cuts, LOL
  
• look up the vamp/lycan mythology according to the movie, see if there's a book/series that the movie was based on...
  
• a long time ago, I had found on the bookshelves of the "mystery/thriller" section of Kinokuniya, a series of books to do with vamps & werewolves with a love affair between the leaders (or high-ranking "officials, or their kids,,,) of these enemy factions. Would have bought to read, if only I could find Book 1... so didn't get anything at that time... then later I couldn't even find it on the shelves anymore... no idea of title, author, etc. So now I wanna try to hunt that down... cos I wonder if maybe this series was the inspiration for the movie? Either way, I'd just like to delve a bit more into this realm...

Da Vinci's Inquest, Smallville and It - a common thread?

Watched Stephen King's It recently.

Bleah, really badly made - poor acting, poor dialogue, poor special-effects - though it was relatively "loyal" to the book. Glad to finally have seen it, tho... cos I didn't catch it when it was first shown on HBO in 1990. But overall, it's still better than what they did with The Stand, LOL!

In It, was really amusing to see a very young Seth Green, playing the young Ritchie Tozier. I knew him originally from the Austin Powers movies, then as Oz on Buffy :-)

Then the young Beverly Marsh looked so familiar,,,, voice, mannerisms,,, finally figured it out she looked like the prostitute Sue from Da Vinci's Inquest. Thanx to imbd, got it confirmed! The actress = Emily Perkins.

And the "old" Beverly Marsh? None other than Annette O'Toole, the same one who played Lana Lang in Superman III, and Martha Kent in Smallville :-) Funny to keep seeing her on screen :-)

And speaking about Smallville.... Watching the older episodes of this tv series, seeing Lana Lang's aunt Nell Potter... something about her reminded me of Sgt Kurtz *again* of Da Vinci's Inquest. Kosh was like "No, they are not the same person", but, well, I wasn't convinced. And thanx to imdb, found out I was right - it IS the same person! Actress = Sarah-Jane Redmond.

Hmmmm, maybe I'm watching at bit *too* much tv?? LOL!!

Or rather.. I'm watching tv *too closely*??! *grin!*

11 days to go...

Good news! Checked my library account and saw that Gregory Maguire's Wicked:The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West is waiting to be picked up! I've been on the waiting list for so long, I'd pretty much given up hope of getting my hands on it before I leave. So - yay! Now to make sure I finish it off before leaving :-)

More good news - yep, *d*o*n*e* with Buffy Season 5. I've had so much Buffy that my dreams of last night/this morning were filled with characters of the show. And with Kosh's snooze alarm going off every 10 minutes, it would disturb my dream but I'd make a mental note while waking up that it was okay "cos I was watching a DVD and could resume once I got back to sleep" or something weird like that, LOL!

The best episode of this season, in my opinion, is The Body, which very poignantly, tastefully and artistically depicts the events happening within the first few hours of Buffy finding the body of her mother on the couch. There was no music used in this episode: no haunting or sad music to go with the mood - so there was a very stark feel to it. Then there was the disjointed focus on the smallest of things. Images of "what if" scenarios running through Buffy's mind. The charcoal in Dawn's hand making a downward mark as she leaves the easel and follows Buffy outside for the news. Anya the ex-demon all confused about the emotions she feels. So many things!! But my absolute fave scene within it all was a short (not even 10 second) sequence where the doctor is done with the autopsy, takes off his gloves, switches off the lights of the morgue, and makes this seemingly endlessly long journey from the dark cold land of the dead, slowly coming into grey, past some doors that lead to some color, some noise, then turns the corner to bright vibrant bustling life - the land of the living - where Buffy and gang are comforting each other waiting for news. I thought that was a particularly well done sequence.

My eyes were leaking big time through most of this episode, btw.

Will spend the next few days listing down what I need / plan to bring back with me, and procuring them if need be. One or two TSA-approved padlocks, definitely. One or two sets of "office attire". And somehow, also need to bring patience, lots of patience (or at least some sort of mental block), otherwise I'll be going mad from exposure after just an hour or so back at the apartment. yay. I know, I know, my bitching and focus about the inevitable is just going to take away from the few days I *do* have of blessed sanity; but this is the way I need to steel myself for the experience.

*pausing for breath between Buffys*

Hey, the TRUE 2005 Stella Awards are out; check 'em out HERE.

Buffy update: finished Season 4, whoohooo!! That Adam storyline was getting so irritating, it was kinda cool to see the end of him/it (*and* The Initiative) in the next-to-last episode. Whoohoooo! Now am taking a slight break before attacking Season 5 in full force.

Reading update: I was in kind of a "self-help / management-help" type mood set off by reading about that Ferrari-less Monk, so before the new DVD player came along I had gone through another three related books:

The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho
compared to the Farrari-less Monk, definitely a better read. But in the overall scheme of things, it's still a shallow trying-to-be-more-than-it-can-ever-be type of wanna-be-thought-provoking-but-failing-miserably tale.

The Identity Code - Larry Ackerman
Oh my what a piece of crap. Again somone who's convinced he's "discovered" these "natural" "laws" this time concerning identity... but bottom line, he's not saying anything new. Start here or with any other book - just don't swallow everything hook line & sinker...

Which brings us to
The Last Self-Help Book You'll Ever Need - Paul Pearsall
The message in this book is very similar to my own stand about all those self-help / management type books out there ever since I got exposed to them in the course of my work. All these people who sell their angle as the only real true correct angle. While I'd easily see the similarity of messages, see that they are essentially saying the same thing, but in different ways. So in the end it's up to us to pick and choose what seems right to/for us. Dr Pearsall takes it one step further by saying that a lot of the unhappiness in the world today is caused by this self-help movement that convinces everyone that something is wrong with them: his angle is most of us are doing just fine, we just need to be more "mindful" as we go through life. I think it's similar to the "self-aware" angle I use.

I'd recommend Pearsall's book out of the three above.

Oh, and one good thing out of it: got a pointer towards a proper scientific investigation into reincarnation (you know, as opposed to unsubstantiated tales or whatnot) - sounded interesting, have already ordered it from the library. It's "Old Souls: The Scientific Evidence For Past Lives " by Thomas Shroder. And perhaps that will naturally lead me to Mary Roach's "Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife"?

By this time, in a fortnight, will be in a plane headed back to Malaysia. Ugh.

supermen in the buff?

..we got so tired of the friggin DVD player that wouldn't play, so we went ahead and bought another one. Not too too happy with it, will probably return it for another model, but for the moment we are keeping it and playing all those DVDs we'd borrowed from the library..

The Superman movies :

The worst one = Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. *o*m*g* lame storyline, lame nuclear man, lame rebuilding of the Great Wall of China, that really was the worst of the lot!! And I really don't remember if I'd seen it before, could have sworn I'd seen it but didn't remember a thing, maybe because i blanked it all out cos it was so lame??!! Oh, did I mention I think this movie is lame? :p

The most different one would definitely be Superman III, with Richard Pryor as the unwitting "bad guy". There was more in terms of humor & sight gags, maybe because of Richard Pryor's involvement? What was cool too about this one was seeing Annette O'Toole playing Lana Lang, when later she's in Smallville playing Martha Kent :-)

Smallville Season One:

Kinda cool to see the absolute beginning of the series. However, it looks like all those otherworldly storyline twists about symbols and elements and caves will come in maybe Season Two. Don't have that from library yet. Me in no rush, probably let Kosh knock himself out on that while I'm gone :-)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer:

Yes, finally got to start on the scooby gang's post-HighSchool action! Almost halfway through Season 4 right now, with Season Five also in hand and due back Feb 9th... yes, four days to go through one-and-a-half seasons of Buffy,,, I think I'm gonna be all Buffy-ed out by then!

Oh, and yeah, 15 days till my departure. *u*g*h*