MOVIE: The Lake House (remake of Il Mare)

Original theatrical poster of Il Mare (2000)

I attended a Korean language introductory class in my long extended stay in the univ, years ago. As a prerequisite for the lesson, i watched a lot of K-dramas and movies. (apparently, i never really got a good footing at the language and i'm a cured person of K-fever!). One thing i learnt though, Korean really have a knack of filming good cinematographic movies with beautiful music to accompany.

Il Mare was a good example. a movie so complicated, i tried watching it 3 times, only to get more confused. i braved 3 times for that boring ordeal for the breath-taking views and the actor's facial expressions. Korean boys knew how to melt a girl's heart, i knew. (sigh!)

Original theatrical poster of the Lake House (2006)

So, i half expected the confusion when i watched the Lake House, a Hollywood film remake of the Korean Il Mare, starring Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves. Read the plot here, and see the movie trailer here. i was mildly surprise at my own ability to accept the movie as it was. i thoroughly enjoyed the very romantic movie.

Maybe it was the cinematography and music in the film that nailed me down just right (even batter than Il Mare!). i am not a big fan of big city surrounding (not in real life, nor movie). But, its impossible not to love Chicago in this film, unbelievably beautiful buildings structure. Rachel Portman composed most of the songs featured in this movie, and she's brilliant!. The original soundtrack may available here. however, my favourite song was: i seem can't make you mine by the Clientele.

The time paradox proved to be really trying to my logical mind. But, never mind the logic. The gush of heart wrenching romantic longings the movie produced, was enough to banish logical thoughts. Try to get this for your Valentine's. It brings relief and gratitude to those who have somebody to snuggle with, watching. And it brings hope, to everbody else.

Happy holidays. Be safe. Love.

? MOYMOY PALABOY ?

So, i changed the layout, and the title with a description. (its really not fair, to give title 'just musing' for a blog-----> when the owner, herself rarely muse over things she wrote). in accordance with this year's resolution to keep things as simple as possible and to be concise as possible (mmph... no, it'll always be a murky posts). i try to narrow down the content of my entry to 3 topics; book, outdated movie and music. but, sometime, you know, i'll go rambling off topics. hey.. i'm trying.

some changes are good. hopefully, this is one of those, despite the geeker sound title.

and to qualify this post to the title, i'll give a link for my best discovery this week (its a cross of short movie + music). i'm intending to share these funny guys antics, monday. but, i'll be away monday. so here goes a link to their youtube crazies. dip in the treasures (it gets more than 16 mil view hits) and tell me what you think of them. (personally, i love their Bohemian Rhapsody piece the most)

O happy weekend guys. to those heading home for CNY/ holidays, safe journey.

MOVIE: Rabbit Hole

no? i want to talk book first, then movie.

in this post, i mentioned that i have problem reading autobiography. (please take note of the prefix used). i have more to confess: i dont read horror story nor voluntarily watch any horror movie. and that, not because i'm penakut. i just dont like it. (like prefering vanilla over chocolate icecream)

but, like, in every rules i made up for myself, i make exceptions. i did read Stoker's Dracula (mostly because i thought, its pretty important to know the history of that famous Count, and it's a good read). and ya, i make exceptions for all King's works (i ended up giving away most of my copies to people who enjoy the books much more than i did) i keep some; books by him but totally not him, like, the girl who loved Tom Gordon and Rose Madder (o..ok..the last one look likes his work),and my all time favourite, The Talisman.

in The Talisman, King and Straub coined the idea of parallel worlds, a possibility so alluring and plausible to me. i cried hard over Nicole Kidman's performance in Rabbit Hole, a movie so disturbing i choked on my roselle drink (ya, i concoted my own drink from that lovely calyx and its good) then spilled it over my lovely ironwood table, dribbled on my shirt and leave an ugly stain. O Hole! and the idea of parallel world? ooooo.. so comforting.

no musing last monday, the lord of internet (or rather, his humble modem and the serf at STREAMYX) didnt allow me to make any...ya, some broadband kelajuan tinggi.... I got that.

Youtube rules!

Caution! please dont click on the links provided if you are in a melancholic mood. These links are super-inducer to melancholism.

Jason Mraz: You and I Both

Mercy Me: Homesick

and Eva Cassidy, O! she's amazing! Song bird, Fields of Gold

and this. (i dont have TV, so i dont really follow Glee. but, i do know about their existence).

and to provide some balance in this somehow sappy post. go to this blog.

and this: keep on appearing in my mind

kaibigan @ kambingan

sometimes ago,

Popong, me and Dawn were seated at the back of a car. Jane was driving and Fread seated beside her. Popong were lolling beside me, and me and Dawn were talking about something totally forgetable matter (i cant recall it now). btw, she was sleepy too. its a very hot afternoon, and we've had a huge lunch a few minutes before. Jane and Fread were babbling about something like "....Melbourne to Sydney, kita naik flight la... dari Sydney... jetstar..... Virgin..." "....erry"

Me (the superstar of popping interrupting questions): Jen, mana kita mau naik ferry?

J: huh? kau cakap tidak jadi pigi Bako

D: kita pigi Bako?

F: ihhhh.. tiak maulah. panat pigi Bako

me: huh? tidaaaak... yang di Australia. mana kita mau naik ferry?

J: Australia? Ferry?

(here, we were almost talking simultaneously)

F: mana ada naik ferry? kita pakai flight la.

P: (with eyes shutted) huh? kenapa mau naik ferry?

me: (now, very confused) bukan ko sama Fread cakap tadi naik ferry ka?

J: kita ada cakap pasal naik ferry?

F: (grinning) kita cakap pasal Blackberry bah tadi. Astaga! Togou!

me: huh? Blackberry? ko dengar dorang cakap apa tadi? (looking hopelessly at Popong and Dawn)

P: saya dengar McFlurry

D: saya dengar Blackberry, tapi McFlurry pun ada juga

will i eventually go insane playing along with these idiots?

(i miss you guys so much. i keep on rewinding my mind on the above situation (the version i keep replaying in mind). each of you have the rights to deny/retell your own version) haha.. happy weekend kaibigan. God is awesome good!

BOOK: Stones into Schools

If you're a longtime reader of this blog, you might realize, most of the books mentioned here in this blog are fictions. and i have to confess, yes i mostly read fictions. because its much easier to read and entertaining (ooo.. dont we all love the idea of lite& easy?). and i dont need to keep on checking details and facts, absorbing the ideas and thinking about the contents (as i tend to do, reading non-fictions).

By reading fictions, we let our emotion rules. we dont really care about the facts, as long as its marginally believable, the plots gripping and the characters have character. we're hooked.

i have another thing to confess, i have problem reading autobiography. i just cant decide how to categorize them. but, i do read them and loathed most of them. some of the autobiographies i truly enjoyed were: A Malaysian Diplomat's Diary and Out of Africa. enough to say, i dont buy much autobiography. so, its not a surprise i missed Mortenson's Three Cups of Tea. i bought his second book (mostly because somebody else co-wrote it) 'Stones into Schools' and deeply inspired by the efforts of this guy.

what he did was amazing. an ordinary guy, trying (at first, just to return kind favour) to do something small, contributing with what he have with passion and ended up doing extraordinary humanitarian efforts in the tumultuous regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan. His mantra " if you educate a boy, you educate an individual, but if you educate a girl, you educate a community". He completely won my heart over.

note to self: keep on doing those baby steps...

what's that? Elephant?

Edmund's Elephant

During the weekend, i read (finally finished) Othello and re-read Rob Yeung's The Rules Of Entrepreneurship. on it's slip cover, i jotted 'November 2008, KK'. old eh?

in the wake of my attention to entrepreneurship, i tried writing up a business plan. but, ended up, not convincing myself. the numbers are just too much too handle and the whole ideas are mind boggling. or to put it in a milder words: difficult to attain. argh! passion can wither when the going gets tough.

but then i remember a childish question of 'how to put an elephant into a refrigerator?'. answer: open the fridge, shove the elephant in, then shut the fridge. obvious answer? No. we, adult, have trained our mind to think in more complicated manner: how to chopped up the elephant? how to get an elephant in the first place? how to get a larger fridge to accomodate the bulk of an elephant? etc. now, think, is the question of how to put an elephant into a refrigerator even relevant?

in 'Othello', Othello suffered and died because he made the mistakes of making too much assumptions rather than, going to the source of his problem and he trusted the wrong person. Lesson? dont assume. get clear facts, reasoned and respond. we go back to that issue of an elephant and the refrigerator. we 'assumed' 'elephant' is an elephant, or/and the 'refrigerator' our normal refrigerator. assumption almost always leads to murky situation, which always ended not the way we intended.

Seriously, i'm trying to be practical here. i'm trying to get all the facts and build a solid plan for my venture. i am dead passionate about this and the mere thought of it make me more alive than ever. all i need now, is that tiny mustard seed size of faith to move some mountains. so, i'm shoving away all of my first assumption/plan and concentrate on a more factual, attainable, immediate goal.

All izz well.. all izz well... all izz well..idiots!

MOVIE: 3 idiots

i rarely watch Hindi movie. for the sheer detest of its unrealistic plots and over-dramatized drama. but, i do make exceptions. i watched "Maan" including the dancing and merrymaking songs, i watched quite a numbers of Shah Rukh Khan's Movies (thanks to my Hindi movie craze housemate during my univ days). so, i'm not that illiterate of Bollywood's goods.

in 2009, i read a film review in the Star newspaper of a Hindi movie "3 idiots". the guy who wrote the review compared the movie to "Dead Poets Society" and "Good Will Hunting" in terms of film's content--- ie: passion for education/ learning. who can resist to watch a movie as such?

recently, a good friend's wife told me in passing that she's downloading "3 idiots" because she needs her Hindi movies fix, and the latest movies from Bollywood failed to fill her. (she's in the last stage of her trimester and need all the comforts she can get). ecastically i asked for a copy!! lucky me!

her husband handed it to me last monday and i've watched the movie twice. it was good. i simply fall for Sharman Joshi, the guy who played Raju Rastogi.

the movie is basically about friendship. how good friends should bring the best and the worst in us, and in the end, accepted us just the way we are. the passion for education/ learning came as a by product of the main theme. Raju, Farhan and Rancho were roomates in the best engineering college in India. while Raju and Farhan struggled with their studies, Rancho aced all exams (not only because he's a genius but, because he's really interested in learning engineering). the movie went on about their personal struggles and how in the end they overcome. the whole movie was entertaining. and if we dig a little deeper, quite troubling.


eventhough the film did raised a lot of doubts in the quality of existing education system. in my opinion, it did not offer a better alternative in a concrete way for mass schooling system. thus proved, the ideal way is not always the best solution. but, being an idealist at heart, i firmly believe in what the film's selling, school should focus on teaching the kids to think (a la de Bono) and care less of grades. especially in primary school.



in the ideal world of mine, i'd home-school my kids.

Monday Musings

i want to make this kind of post a regular feature in this blog throughout the year

During the weekend, i read 3 crappy detective stories (i'll post the picture of the books in my January read). But the last one, ignites the imagination of my imaginative mind to really consider, opening up a retreat centre in Ranau. i called my sister (because i need to talk to somebody, who already knew, i'm a half-sane person and still love me). and because, i need some practical, down to earth opinion. i need an engineer's point of view.

She said it's a viable venture. but i have to do it on a part-time basis and i have to relocate to KK to be able to do so. and i really should prepare a neat projection, project paper. that, i think i can do. O gosh! am i really out of my mind? who am i kidding?

Long time ago (days, when i used to write long letters home). i wrote to my dad about, a little bird leaving the nest. He sent me a card: fly, as high as you can (i always believe, its a words of motivation, encouragement). But, nowadays i see the words as a challange. really? how high dare i to fly?

Maybe its about time to test my aptitude for higher altitude free falling? i mean, higher risk-venture. and i guess its a high time for me to flock with the same kin. Spending more time with the parents while time allows? thus, 2 things to muse this week: if i have to open the Retreat center in Ranau, i need to relocate, if i got a new job in KK. fat IFS.

Calling for P&F week. God, Thy will be done

2011

i learnt a lots during the holidays. of putting family first, of spending more time with friends, of how small gesture transformed the whole situations, of trusting ones instinct. i did a lots of thing i never thought i could ever done, like, enjoying 5 hours trekking on a knee deep muds, cold showers at night, enjoying the company of strangers of whom i tried my best guessing what they were talking about.

i went up the hill in Bario and loved what i saw up there. i will sorely miss the evening teas, rice cake and the company of concerned aunties.

thank you, Jane, for making the trip possible.

so, for 2011,

spend quality time with loved ones

make plan and lists

but dont overdo

learn crafting

drive

swim

dive

dance

listen more attentively

pause to smell the flower

read more poems

read more of culture and history

get an ipad

bring home a puppy

finish reading the Book

get a boyfriend (macam pi membeli sana kadai saja kan? muahahhaha!)

updates:

1. plan and lists and estimated budget done for major vacations

2.beads bought for beadings

3.mimi gave me large pot of flowers.. farewell gift. i will literally take time to smell the flower!

4.i'm starting to read Edgar Allan Poe's Poems- it gives me creep.

5.i'll search for Jared Diamond's book

6.will go to animal shelter for puppy this weekend

i'll advertise for boyfriend in class next week. OOOO.. lame.