The Big Bad Wolf came to town!

Last Friday afternoon was a bonding time of sorts for father and son. Danny is an avid reader who finds pleasure in knowing things beyond his tween age of 11. So when news came that Big Bad Wolf was coming to town, I thought of exciting him by bringing him there. Now, the Big Bad Wolf, as the name suggests, is a book warehouse sale put up by the Big Bad publication house of unsold but fairly new books to be sold at dirt cheap prices. Malaysian who find it hard to miss a bargain were turning up in droves in suitcases to carry their bargain home. Paperback bestsellers of Amy Tan, Jeff Archer and Nora Roberts, to name a few, were going at unbelievable price of RM8! (Normal retail price: RM35-40). Hard cover coffee table books were on for RM20!
After goggling the venue, we headed to the sale. We, the tech-savvy people, decided to use the 3G GPS technology to good use. All was fine until we were barely 1 km from the venue. The map told us to go straight when the road was leading to a dirt road and a brick wall! So much for modern technology! Without much choice, we had to use the technology that Christopher Columbus did not use when he discovered The New World - we asked a passer-by. And we reached there...
After parking the car in a vast car-park and walking toward the exhibition hall, we were instructed to take the free tram car which was provided (even though the exposition hall was just visible in stone's throw distance. The tram took one big circle perimeter around the compound just leave us at a distance barely 500 metres from where we started. But we there.
As expected, the fresh crispy smell of new page permeated the hall air and we joined the rampage. Getting a few books for each member of the family (and extra), we could hear a massive storm brewing outside from the splatter of rain drops the PVC roof of the hall. And it poured cats, dogs and the whole barn.
Coming back from the hall was challenge. Whilst parking the car, we were debating whether to bring an umbrella along. Weighing the pros and cons, we made the obviously wrong decision in retrospect. For some unknown reason, the tram was dropping passengers but not picking them. Probably they were worried that the flimsy machines would be swept off the road by the winds!
We finally made it to the car in one piece. We were wet but our loot was still dry still smelling crispy new. Thanks to the marvelous invention of Man called plastic bags in spite the bad publicity of late. It is just like they say, "Guns do not kill people, people do!"

Have you found it?

I remember a time circa 1972, when the streets around my primary school was plastered with billboards bearing the words 'I found it!' - with the letter O written in heart shaped manner. Nothing else was written on these billboards, stirring the curiosity of man that killed the cat! A couple of weeks later, the rendezvous was flashed across billboards without indicating the purpose of the meeting except with messages like "I found it, have you?"
That got more people more curious and the dead cat twitched too! And the curiosity mounted to a climax as time went on. People started asking each other what that was all about. Was it a new wonder medicine which was the panacea to all human woes? Or a new shopping mall? Whatever it was, they knew that it was all a business strategy.

Never in their wildest dream did they expect to see what they saw when they saw it anyway. It was a mass congregation of souls in a field to listen the gospel word of the Lord by a world famous Man of God who had worked wonders with his brand of evangelism with his congregation back in his hometown where he preached.
That is the beginning of the realization of the power of advertising.

The Eye in the Sky will get you!

Just the other day, I visited my long lost schoolmate for Raya. There he was in his bungalow with 2 Porsche parked majestically in his posh porch (Cayenne and a 911) with a 24 hour security guard stationed in front of his house which was already sitting in a guarded community housing estate. Understandably, his sensitive position as a high flying executive in his line of work warrants such an arrangement.
After living and working in the US for more than 10 years as well as living flamboyantly in the fast lane, he returned home to settle down. And here he was sitting down with me and other old schoolmates.
I noticed that he had become quite private in his outlook. He does not have many friends. He does not have a Facebook account for fear of intrusion of daily activities! Eh, does he have more that he needs to hide? Maybe...
Later, we were discussing about his toys - his Porsches and their performance! He had apparently hit 240km/h on the highway! When asked about speeding tickets, he answered to the affirmative. The worse part, however, was when a summons was sent to his house with an ensuing digitalized 'mugshot' photo-shoot depicting him and another temptress who was not his wife driving along in SUV. And he was supposed to be in a meeting, not enroute to Port Dickson where the shot was taken. Now we understood the privacy and secrecy!
With the advent of internet, Google and the World Wide Web, nothing seem to be sacred or secret anymore. The tentacles of the web will spread its stuff like what spiders do into all nooks and corners to expose everyone's secret lives. Just like how MCA's feeble attempt to draw youngster into its wing fell flat on its face. Everyone went agog when a bevy of beauties claiming to be party members paraded shamelessly to the assembly to entice the roving eyes to join the party something like how the mice followed the Piped Piper of Hamelin.
Leave it to the Netizens, a few days later, the full expose of the said members were out in the open, complete with pictures to match. As predicted, these beauties ranged from lingerie models to pit stop babes! Go ahead, try to make out who is who. They are look alike to me! All straight hair and manga inspired heroine's eyes!

Autobiography in the making?

I am just toying the idea of coaxing my uncle (LM) to start writing his biography. It may not be much but may be of value in the family in generations to come.

1955

He started reminiscing his old times, as he always does, when his sister (my mother) gave him a courtesy call recently. And for the umpteenth time, (as if I, the little child in his eyes, have not been told before) he retold a part of his childhood stories. This time he started talking about his famous chicken pox episode!

55yrs later

There he was, after changing from school to school more often than they do 'dress change' in Tamil cinema, on the eve of his Lower Certificate of Education (LCE)....
A bit of background...
His mother had succumbed to the dreaded malignancy of the mammary gland a year earlier. His father, the man who lived for the moment, was busy looking for a new bride. He called in a family meeting (basically the 2 sons and himself, as 2 daughters had been married off in haste and Amma had to fend off for herself at the mercy and handouts of others) on the future of the sons as he had found a suitable young victim as a bride.
The boys (15year olds) were asked to work to supplement the income of the family. The younger one obliged. LM told his intention of continuing his studies. His father warned him, "Don't you ever come to me for money! You'll get a sound walloping, that's what you'll get." Back to the eve of LCE....
So, this young 15 year old boy with his vision nicely mapped in his mind, managed to get a place to stay from the kindness of a kind soul and ironed clothes to pay for his school fees. And life rolled on...

It was the eve of the LCE. LM was down fever and papular rash over his body. His heart dropped when he self diagnosed himself to have small pox (it was not eradicated yet). He rushed to his school master's house in desperation as he knew he would be barred from the exams. On hearing the mention of the word 'small pox', he shooed him away and promised to apply for a refund of his fees. He was told, "Nobody can help you!"
Feeling miserable, he walked home. Somebody suggested he called the Director of Schools, a Mr. Shortland. Armed with courage in his heart and the disappointing thought of having to do a whole years' ironing again to finance his schooling for another year, he pleaded his case with Mr Shortland. "It is not within my jurisdiction" - the first time he heard that word in his life - I guess LM must have used it many times in his adult life later as a barrister.  Feeling pity on the young chap's desperation and pure zest in this young man, Mr Shortland must have told, "Think carefully young boy! We can refund the money before the exam. If you sit for the exam and are not able to complete it at any time, you will forfeit the fees." Mama answered assertively to the affirmative.
Mr Shortland then told him, "Well, it looks like chicken pox. You get admitted and I will make sure that sit for the exams!"
Sure enough, early next morning, a convoy led by the State Medical and Health Officer followed by officers from the State Education Department marched into his quarantined ward. And the first hurdle was crossed...
The next day, the National Echo was screaming with a picture of young boy sitting for the LCE in the confines of the General Hospital. The master who had earlier asked LM to go back home and sit for the exam the following year was seen smiling ear to ear posing in the same picture. In the text, he was relating how he arranged with the State Department for the exams!
On the third day, LM actually collapsed during the test. It was not due to the advancement of the disease but rather due to hypoglycemia after missing breakfast! Everything was okay after a short break of bread and milk! Before he knew it, this trying time was over.
When the examination results were out, much to astonishment, he passed with flying colours (Grade 1 and 2 distinctions). He was jubilant, only saddened by the fact that he could not share his joy with pillar of strength - his deceased mother.
He rushed to Mr Shortland's house to thank him. Mr Shortland smilingly told him, "Son, I knew you could do it. Congratulations!"

Science can answer moral questions?

Only on BFM, you can hear an atheist trying to rationalize moral issues with science!

Hold on tight! It's your personal journey of the mind!

So, I am writing after watching the first instalment of 'The Girl'. During my purchase of the arty morbid Japanese movie (Departures), I also grabbed a legal National Censorship Board approved, with hologram,18 rating of 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'! The seal must have been given by the imams on a day after stuporous meal of santan laden lemang and rendang or flatulent nasi lemak! In their normal tour of duty, their 18 rating is equivalent to Sesame Street!

Noomi Rapace@Lisbeth Salander

It is always better to read a book before watching a movie. What you see in the movie is just the result of the brain work of an individual director's perception of how a fictional story or event took place. To stimulate the action potential at the cerebral level (probably to decrease the chance of senile dementia and possibly Alzheimer's disease), it must be therapeutic; if not life saving, to read and form your own impression of how a paperback fiction should happened. Unfortunately with the advent of TV and various telecommunication advances, the awe, surprise and gore factor is slowly dwindling. As we, humans, become more exposed and more megalomaniac, everything we see becomes, "Ah, seen that, done that!"...
Maybe that is why, when I watched "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo TGWDT- the movie", what I saw was not much different from what I expected it to be. The disadvantage of watching a movie versus reading the book is that one will miss out all the quirky notes mentioned by the author. You would also miss out on the author's soliloquy and the thinking process of the characters, unless the movie is done along the line of Humphrey Bogart's films. Reading the book opened my eyes on the social structure and history of Sweden which is not quite apparent if I had just watched the movie.

Michael Nyqvist @ Mikael Blomkvist

Blame it on watching many made-for-TV Disney movies and made-in-Canada survival in the cold movies during my childhood, my perception of how TGWDT and Sweden should look like mirrors the one showcased by the director - cold, bone-chilling chilly wind, snowing all the time, showery rains and thick clothes. Living up to the name of being a Swedish movie (option of English dubbing and English subtitles) and a modern one at that, they just had to show less of clothes and unnecessary lots of skin and frontal nudity in some scenes.

That is the problem with many of the new movies. They do not sell if they do not portray graphically the emotional affections and bedroom activities - TGWDT is guilty of that. So, now we know that Lisbeth Salander was sexually abused by her guardian and bedded Mikael Blomkvist - to show minutes showing it in detail? Maybe that is why the Millennium trilogy movies are so popular that the following two instalments of 'The Girl' are out! And yours truly had the privilege of ordering and receiving it recently. TGWDT is good otherwise but I am still contended with my black and white Alfred Hitchcock movies as well as movies from the bygone golden era of the silver screen where acting and great dialogue took paramount importance over matters like the scenery (they had not perfected outdoor filming anyway!)

Steve Jobs R.I.P. (1955-2011)