Surely this isn’t normal? If it is we all really need to be wearing raincoats on the streets.
September 2007
Monthly Archive
September 28, 2007
September 16, 2007
Marco (in blue) finally catches Sebastian with Trevor, the couple-shirt giving it away. Desperate to explain himself, Sebastian refuses to let a distraught Marco leave. In the background, Trevor realises where Seb’s heart truly lies…
I’ve never played rugby or even contemplated trying it. The reason is really quite simple: I don’t want to die.
Going up against a wall of 15 juggernauts charging towards me at full speed and hell-bent on grounding me into minced meat is not my idea of a friendly contact sport.
Not that I have ever made it to any rugby team during school days. My chances of being used as a practice ball were probably better. No, my game in school was softball. Yes, even the name sounds lame…
Softball’s not a contact sport, but I still managed to break my wrist playing it. I shudder to think what rugby would have made of me.
Anyway, without much hoo-ha the Rugby World Cup made its way onto the tube last week on ESPN. It’s still a big deal for many sports fans, even if the competition (held in sunny France) feels more like a well-attended outdoor party compared to the absolute pandemonium that surrounds the FIFA World Cup.
This year I find myself watching the matches with increasing interest. Some fresh observations about the game arose:
1. Players REALLY belt out their national anthems and some often border on crying – like they’ve just had 5 beers and Oprah’s on TV preaching patriotism.
2. Change the environment into a bar fight and you get pretty much the same thing – basically men behaving badly.
3. There’s always one huge, scary prehistoric-looking dude in each team – like a monster dragged out of solitary confinement every 4 years to wreck havoc.
4. Some players wear head protection, others don’t. Head injuries always seem to happen to those who don’t. So why isn’t EVERYONE wearing head protection??
5. Bad teeth give you extra strength (apparently).
I’m trying to think of another profession in the world that involves physically stopping a person from running away. Nothing else seems to hold a candle to Rugby Union in terms of technique, aggressiveness and artistry. Some of these guys should be posted at immigration checkpoints or be attached to counterfeit DVD raids.
September 10, 2007
Warner Bros. Pictures to make live action Robotech movie
When Transformers hit $600m worldwide, you just know life is not going to be quite the same again. Every major studio now wants robots on the menue. Straight away, Voltron was put on the fast track. Now one of the most beloved (and sacred) of 80s robot franchises is about to get the Hollywood treatment.
Truth be told, I’ve been pining for this for years, more so than Transformers. While Optimus was the hero, what every kid really wanted was to pilot a Valkyrie. The premise is irresistible: Top Gun meets Battlestar Galactica in an all-out space war with a love triangle in the centre. It’s criminal that this took so long.
Having said that, I’m not too crazy about emo Spiderman T. McGuire at the helm of the Valkyrie. If he starts dancing I swear I’ll eat my Macross DVDs.
The greatest thing about many classic sci-fi anime is that they truly aspired towards a mythical and human level of storytelling. Even if it has to be dumbed down (and Hollywood will undoubtedly render it that fate), if the characters and tone stay true to the spirit of the series you could still have an infinitely better summer tent pole than the hemorrhage of superhero and Middle-Earth-friendly flicks these days.
There’s really only one other anime robot franchise left that has a wide enough awareness base for Hollywood to attempt, and it probably is the most difficult and riskiest of all.
Gundam, for me, is the holy grail. The ultimate mecha heavyweight. A titanic, sci-fi epic that depicts the awful grandeur of war yet dreams the ideals of pacifism. Its mythology runs so deep, its characters so layered and its philosophies so elemental yet contemporary that it would take the bravest of adaptations to bring it to the big screen.
James Cameron or Peter Jackson, you reading this?
September 8, 2007
Being sent to a course by the company is like going on a cruise to nowhere – you kinda look forward to the break, but at some point things get so excruciatingly slow you invariably realise that all it means is a mountain of emails to clear when you get back to the office.
I’ve been to worst courses than Dr Bob Foo’s 2-day ‘Solution Selling’ course at Park Mall. Far worst. I remember attending a ‘Presentation Speaking’ course years ago where an elderly instructor showed learning videos made in the 70s, then made each student recite Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 Gettysburg Address. The instructor’s idea of speaking with gusto is to almost ‘sing’ whatever you’re saying, and he would instruct each student’s speech like a maestro – literally, arms waving and all.
I’m convinced if someone did a business presentation the way he taught it, the client would call security immediately.
Tea breaks are important at these courses. When the instructor drags the lesson on (even by a few minutes) and delays the tea break, you feel cheated and betrayed. There is a sudden disdain for him and his family. Your brain shuts down and you feel tired and restless, sometimes breathless, like a fish out of water for too long.
Strangely, the morning and afternoon breaks are the times when things most resemble the office – people gather around to chit chat, procrastinating real work. There is total disregard for the ten minute tea break time the instructor allocates. You’ll go back when you are ready and well-rested from seating on a chair doing nothing for two hours.
My favourite quote from Dr Foo during the two days, although I have absolutely no idea why he said it and in what context, is:
“When elephants make love, the grass trembles.”
I hope he was using a metaphor and not recounting something he saw on the Night Safari tour.
