Chatter Of The Squirrel

Comic: Basic Instructions

So, upon Scott Adam’s recommendations, I’ve been checking out Basic Instructions.

4 panel comic. Lots of words. No plot. Teaches you vital skills for social interactions.

3-4 punchlines every comic, so good odds that everyone can get at least one or more of them.

And in some strips, like the sample below, 99.99% of the average population will miss at least one punchline.

Not everyone has seen Arnie’s Total Recall fairly recently, and remembers the name of the muppet conjoined to the rebellion leader on Mars. And I’m almost ashamed that I got the joke.

Good comic.

Programming Idea

If you can take a photo of anyone, and use some morphing software to paste that person’s face into This Programme
… Wouldn’t that be lovely? Like maybe a picture of your boss, of your wife/husband/girlfriend/boyfriend (ex- or existing), of that annoying neighbour, of Britney Spears, or Ashley Simpson… There’s so much potential.

Everyone will want a personalised copy of the programme, and even be willing to pay a small fee.

Unfortunately such a project will be outside the realm of my abilities.

Pain… This sounded so painful…

Blondes

Movie: Flashpoint

Went for Japanese buffet last Friday with friends. Shogun at One Utama.  This was the third time I’ve eaten there, always with different friends.

I’m kinda like a food-guide. There are always a few places, I try to bring friends to. Teow Chew Meng. William’s. Several different alleys in KL with good pork bits porridge, wantan mee etc…

Somehow my enjoyment of Shogun has waned after eating there for three times. I still find the chilli mantis prawn amazingly tasty, but it also feels flour-y now. The grilled unagi doesn’t taste very exquisite when you’re shovelling them into your mouth in large chunks. I still wish I can eat boatloads of the seafood gratin, but part of my brain tells me that pasta is poor value at a buffet.

After the dinner, we decided to check out the cinema. Wanted to watch Rush Hour 3.

What’s the matter with that movie?? Chris Tucker can’t find work doing ANYTHING else! So he has to BEG for more Rush Hour sequels to be made. Just look at his IMdb record. Rush Hour in 1998; Rush Hour 2 in 2001; Rush Hour 3 in 2007. And NOTHING in between. He’s so type-casted, he can only star as one character. But apparently he got more pay than Jackie Chan.

But the movie starts an hour away. So, second choice, Disturbia. Also one hour away.

Then I noticed Flashpoint, the new Donnie Yen movie. And we went for that.

It’s an old school cops and robbers film. Three vicious Viet drug smugglers. One undercover cop. And one shining example of police brutality. Donnie Yen’s nemesis is Seraph in Matrix Reloaded. Remember the chinese kung-fu dude in white? The burning cold Collin Chou with eyes like a mantis.

The story is really slow going. The director took way too much time to build up every character. All the cookie-cut stereotypes are there. The rough violent bad guy. His cool, calculating, ass-kicking brother. The over weight no-nonsense captain. The other anal-retentive boss. The PYT that falls in love with the undercover while he’s a bad boy, and later gets taken hostage.

But at least none of the characters over-act. No dragged out scenes. But too many scenes not going anywhere much. In a way, I loved the directing. I’m impressed how the director used all the common done-a-million-times stereotypes, and still managed to do it in a way that didn’t make this jaded movie-goer gag. I can’t put a finger on how it was done. But I’m impressed.

Yet, the final showdown makes it all worthwhile!!!

These are martial arts moves never before seen on screen. Watch Donnie German-suplex a guy onto the concrete ground. The fights are no holds barred. Literally, NO HOLDS barred. There’s your usual punching and kicking. A beautifully executed flying kick countered with a well placed elbow strike. Wrestling. Painful joint locking. Arm locks. Neck holds. Throws. Suplexes. It’s street fighting by well rounded martial arts masters. Using any move that will do damage to the opponent.

It’s not as lethal as the fight with Jacky Wu in SPL. But this still had me at the edge of my seat. Can’t wait for the DVD release so I can see that fight all over again.

Jet Li doesn’t fight like this. His and Neo’s fights are already old. Punch-punch-kick-punch; block-block-dodge-block; kick-punch; dodge-block; punch; finally connects. The punched party glares. Repeat above sequence with roles reversed.

Then there’s the huge excess of wire-fu these days. What’s the point really. What’s the point of a tight-rope walker if the rope is 2 feet above the ground? Or why would u want to see stunt doubles tumble?

Flashpoint has moves that only a martial artist of exceptional fitness can pull. It’s far and above better than Donnie’s movies in fantasy settings, like Hero, Dragon Tiger Gate, Once Upon A Time in China 2 etc. In a movie more grounded in ‘reality’ (which being a relative state and all),  his moves have a more powerful visual impact.

Watch this movie, if only just for the last 20 minutes.

Upgraded Wordpress

Upgraded my blogging software from 2.2 to 2.2.1.

See a difference?

Probably not.

Is this a brag worthy achievement?

Again, probably not.

Merely a leap of faith, trusting that Fantastico will do the upgrade without messing up my blog.

And it seems that everything is still hunky dory.