Mr. Haxa Does The Blogs

Movie Reviews: Dreamgirls, The Last King of Scotland, Half Nelson, Saw III, Alpha Dogs, The Illusionist

I'm actually quite pissed off that I don't see any posters for The Last King of Scotland or Half Nelson around! Dreamgirls is only showing in the theater in town which traffic I wanted to avoid during the CNY weekend. Anyway, I saw better film selection showing in Singapore when I was in Orchard Road couple of weeks ago.

So, I decided to get myself some nice movies for the weekend at home:

1. Dreamgirls
2. The Last King of Scotland
3. Half Nelson
4. Saw III
5. Alpha Dogs
6. The Illusionist

Dreamgirls is definitely one of the best musicals ever made! You'd find that it's hard not to fall in love with the character Effie (Jennifer Hudson) in this movie. She's the lead for The Dreamettes (The Supreme) but had to give way to Deena for she lacked the personality to cross over and appeal to wider music audience. Jennifer performance for And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going is simply fantabulous. Oprah actually called Jennifer the day after she watched the show saying that her performance was a religious experience. Ha! She just won Oscar's Best Supporting Actress!

The Last King of Scotland is another biopic and Hollywood romanticizing with the Africa continent after successful The Constant Gardener, Blood Diamonds. Forest Whitaker portrayal of Idi Amin is charismatic, charming, and brutal. I love the Swahili accent and there are lots of funny and suspense moments in this film. Gillian Anderson (X-File's Scully) is in this movie -- looks like she's been putting on great tan on her! Nice! Forest Whitaker just won Oscar's Best Leading Actor!

Half Nelson is an indie film. You can expect a lot of drama from white male teacher teaching history in a black neighborhood high school; high on drugs most of the time; and had a weird relationship with one of his black girl student who turned out to be his "shrink" and favorite student. I can see that Ryan Gosling taking leading roles in future big studio productions.

Saw III is a great sequel to Saw II. There's entirely different game this time. Jigsaw tests his apprentice, Amanda and she flunked it! The highlight of this movie is when the female doctor, Lynn performed a brain surgery on Jigsaw in that unhygienic hideout place while she was placed with a collarbone device around her neck; a life-death time ticker - she'll die if Jigsaw died! Can't wait for Saw IV.

Alpha Dog, an ensemble cast film of a true account on how fucked up drug dealers life can be. In order to get payment, the borrower's brother is taken as hostage. Ironically, the hostage was having a time of his life - came to age with drugs, booze, and sex. In the end, someone made a stupid decision to kill the kid. Filmed in California where the actual event took place, this movie has lots of that "F" words in the dialog. In the end, most of the dealers got jailed and killer is now in the death row.

After Sideways, Paul Giamatti performance in The Illusionist, a period drama is a must see. In this crime of passion film, you'll be awed with illusions performed by Eisenheim (Edward Norton) in theaters in Vienna. If you are smart enough, you'll figure it all out the puzzles during the movie before finally Chief Inspector Uhl (Giamatti) unlocked them in the end. I definitely love Vienna as backdrop and truly mesmerized when Eisenhiem summons the spirit of the "dead" onto the stage.

The Malaysian Ministry of Health Got It All Wrong on Fast Food Adverts Ban on TV/Media

I am appalled by the decision of Health Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek to ban fast food ad on TV in order to curb the "rise of lifestyle diseases like obesity, diabetes and hypertension" among kids and the Malaysian public in general. The Malaysian Medical Association is also recommending 'sinful' tax on food of this kind. Read more:

1. Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia Mahu Haramkan Iklan Makanan Segera Di Media
2. RTM sedia haramkan iklan makanan segera

The decision shows how we always got it wrong on not tackling the root of the problems when it comes to promote better lifestyle. These are probable root causes in this matter (not comprehensive):

1. The unhealthy/excessive trans fat or other forms of fat intake, sugar, salt in food
2. Frequent food intakes
3. Late food intake
4. Higher sugar level in food and beverages
5. Lack of exercise

There are few drawbacks from the move on banning fast food advertisements:

1. Local media industry will be impacted by this move. They are lots of ads money lost from the banned of tobbacco products ads and sports sponsorship
   
   • "Cigarettes were the most advertised product in 1981 when $9 million was spent."
2. Does the ban of tobacco products on TV actually reduce the numbers of smokers?
   • "The number of cigarette smokers increased from 5 to 7% over the last decade. Recent studies of secondary school children showed a smoking incidence of about 20%; about half were habitual smokers and about 1% had smoked for over 3 years."
3. Does instant food such as Maggi Mee, Nescafe 3-in-1, Coffee-mate, Ali Cafe 3-in-1, etc. fall under the same category? If the government thinks otherwise, I think they are making bigger mistake!
4. Hypothetically, if fast food ban will improve our lifestyle; let's consider these:

• Motorcycles ads should be banned as many motorists are killed on the road every year.
  
  • "In Malaysia, about 60% of traffic fatalities involve motorized 2-wheelers" - Asian Development Bank
  • However, hats off to the Transportation Ministry on the right campaigns on the importance of helmets and stop at red lights
• Credit cards ads should be banned as the nation relies more on plastic money and becoming a "debt nation"
  • "The outstanding debt of credit card holders was 5.72 billion ringgit ($1.50 billion) at the end of March, an increase of 1.3 billion ringgit from 4.41 billion ringgit on March 31, 1998, the central bank said."

• Only thin models or personalities are allowed to appear on TV as they are good role model for our children healthy lifestyle (and thus limiting TV appearances of horizontally challenged people)

• Food outlets such as Mamak's 24-hr joint should be closed by 10 pm
  
  • Read The American Society for Nutritional Sciences paper on The Time of Day of Food Intake Influences Overall Intake in Humans

• Government should no longer serve food during festive season's open houses as they promote excessive food intake

• Ban of buffet in hotels or restaurants during Ramadhan for the unhealthy amount of food served

• Does this also apply to our local grown food operators; nasi lemak at Marrybrown; unhealthy-fattening cheescakes at Secret Recipe? I think all they have in mind now is ban on the famous Colonel Sanders and Golden Arches on TV!!!

In some way, this shows that our government wants to improve our lifestyle but totally got it wrong in its policy. 

Here are my recommendations:

1. Ban of trans fat ingredients or food in restaurants (not just fast food). New York and Canada got it right on this one! Read New York Times article "New York Bans Most Trans Fats in Restaurants"
2. Educate public on trans fat intake and its risks
3. Enforce food and drink operators to explicitly publish certified nutritional information of food served
4. All ministry office or government offices to have gymnasium of recreational centers or give tax breaks for private sector's offices to open such facility at workplace
5. In a land where our people already thinking about what to eat during lunch at breakfast and greet each other (same is true among Malays, Chinese, and Indian) "Dah Makan?" "Jom Makan", there should be paradigm shift in our culture on food

In conclusion, our health ministry focuses on the wrong preventive campaign and playing the "blame is it all" to a particular industry when there are more proactive ways of promoting healthy lifestyle.

CNY 2007 Travelog: Hati Merdeka di Kuala Lumpur; Birthday Idris di Singapura

I was under the weather last Friday and decided to rest at home on Saturday. I got better and decided that I should get out of the house enjoying the long weekend. So I gave Najah and Fische heads up that I will be coming to Singapore the next day. I was on the 11pm bus to KL and arrived 3am on Sunday morning. After I had a great 'cucur pisang' breakfast at home, I took the Sunday noon bus to Singapore and arrived 5pm.

While waiting for the bus at the KTM Old Railway Station, I had fun watching Suhaimi Baba and her production crew shooting one of the scenes from her upcoming movie "Hati Merdeka" (to be released in August 2007) in front of the railway station.

There were a few familiar faces from the Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam projects in this movie. It was very nostalgic to witness them proclaiming "Hapuskan Malayan Union" "Hidup Melayu" "Hapuskan British".

Fische fetched me upon my arrival. After checked into the hotel we headed to their place where Najah's and Fische's families were there gathering for Idris birthday party the next day.

I had a great time getting to know the family and savoring Najah's wonderful cupcakes and her lamb BBQ. Fische, his brother, and I had fun doing the BBQ when it was raining on Monday. Idris was quiet during the day but was active (talking and walking) in the evening. Najah has blogged and posted some photos from the birthday party. Here are some photos from the visit. The last two photos are from the dinner at Spaze; Fische and Idris; Azrol and Adam.

It's interesting to note that our neighbor across the Causeway use the greeting "Happy Lunar New Year" instead of "Happy Chinese New Year" here in Malaysia. Here's the wikipedia entry on Chinese New Year describing the festival.

 

Wishing You Happy Chinese New Year 2007

Leveraging on Web 2.0 "Pull Centric" solutions to Transform Learning 1.0 to Learning 2.0

Web 2.0 solutions are "pull-centric" tools that can be used to transform learning from Learning 1.0 (formal e-learning) to Learning 2.0 (informal learning). In another perspective, it is about putting "context" into "content"

Learning 1.0 makes full use of the web medium to "push" synchronous and asynchronous learning solutions to learners. The pull centric approaches enable active-democratic community participation through:

• easy to use content upload capability,
  
• mutliple discussions channels,
• easy to embed content objects,
• learning community, and
• personalized experience.

This translates to viral marketing that makes full use of every possible media (text-blogging, wiki; audio-Podcasts; syndication-RSS feeds, video-You Tube like solution)

Efforts to put in transforming to Learning 2.0 is to find the best fit to leverage these tools into what matters to the e-learning projects; development, communications, evaluation, and sustainability.

Here are some examples how we can take advantage of Web 2.0 to transform learning solution to informal-rather-democratic-learning-solution, i.e. Learning 2.0:

Blogging,
Great transition change management tool for project communication. It's very up to date posting capability, allow multiple authors (project sponsor, prog. Manager, proj. manager, business analysts, systems analysts) to post their thoughts as well as document discussion. Benefits: Reduce redundant communication.
Blogging content commenting capability allows users to have feedback or discussions among themselves as well as content experts. Some experienced users can share their knowledge and indicate where the next updates should focus on.

Wikis,
Low tech sustainability tools for content updates. Wiki has a dynamic content update tool that?s way better than checking in-checking out. It allows multiple edits by users and these updates are tracked and logged for accountability. Projects can benefit from this when e-learning development team handing over training materials to customers for deployment and sustenance.

Podcasts,
Useful for recording virtual sessions as well as offline asynchronous sessions.
Tailored for audience who prefers audio (higher context)

RSS Feeds,
Really Simple Syndication feeds is a powerful to channel the right information to the right users at the right time
Feeds can come from multiple sources, e.g. SharePoint, Wiki, blogging sites and users can get these updates real time via the RSS reader.
Communication blast appearing in training environment

Other Web 2.0 that's worth looking into:

Digg This:
Allows users to rank sites, content, and comment/blogs on that topic (viral marketing!). In one way, this is sort of like Kirkpatrick's first level of evaluation.

YouTube:
Leverage on Adobe Flash technology that allows easy to upload, share, and discuss video content. Users need not to worry about format. Multiple format input ? one output format.

Opportunities:
1. Corporate support
3. Low tech solution
4. Viral marketing
5. Dynamic language of XML is ubiquitously used by developers

Challenges:
1. Adding more capabilities and updates to current tools
2. Getting project teams to start blogging and make full use of these tools
3. Standardization of tools as well look and feel - same user experience throughout
4. Ability to customize future off-the-shelf learning content management systems

Arizona Travelog 4: Live Like Horses "Vivrem Comme Cavalli" - Photos and Song Review

Bernie Taupin beautifully captured the spirit of horses and wrote this wonderful song with Elton John. I particularly love the duet version with Luciano Pavarotti (released in 1996 as single from the album The Big Picture). I have vivid visualization while listening to this version; while Elton takes me to Kentucky Derby, Pavarotti's tenor takes me back to Rome glorious days. 

You can watch their performance at a concert here:
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euiJzyuPWus

Live Like Horse Lyrics
Duet with Luciano Pavarotti:

I can't control this flesh and blood
That's wrapped around my bones
It moves beneath me like a river
Into the great unknown

I stepped onto the moving stairs
Before I could tie my shoes
Pried a harp out the fingers of a renegade
Who lived and died the blues

La promessa non fu chiara
S'erra solo impressa in me
Vidi solo il gelo dentro me
Quella notte dise a me

Vivrem comme cavalli
Liberi dai recinti di ferro

Che piu non voglio
Rinnegare i sensi
Su dai fuggiam
Vivrem comme cavalli

We're the victims of the heartbreak
That kept us short of breath
Trapped above these bloodless streets
Without a safety net

I stood in line to join the trial
One more customer of fate
Claimed a spoke in the wheel of the wagon train
On the road to the golden gate

Nel deserto la nave abbandonai
Per me aveva senso
Son stato troppo tempo nella bestia
Ed ora saro libero

Someday We'll live like horses
Free reign from your old iron fences
There's more ways than one to regain your senses
Break out the stalls and we'll live like horses
Someday

Liberi dai ricenti di ferro
Che piu non voglio
Rinnegare i sensi
Su dai fuggiam
Vivrem comme cavalli

Stranger Than Fiction; and First Taste of Korean Coffee; Hollys Coffee

In Stranger Than Fiction, which I just finished watching; you'll learn that tragedy isn't the always best way for a writer to end his or her fictional work. Other alternative could be making it darkly comedic life changing experience that'd let your characters appreciate life to the fullest.

Well, I'm not going to write more about the movie but rather enjoying my evening here in KL, at a new coffee joint in town; Hollys Coffee. Once you think that the Koreans have already came here big way with their automotive brands, cellphones, liquid crystal display products, computers, paints, kimchi, BBQ seafood-meat, etc; their entrepreneurs are now exploring a new territory; gourmet coffee cafe.

It's quite a nice experience to be at the opening day of Hollys Coffee, a Korean coffee  joint which just made its first presence here in Malaysia, to be exact at the Cineleisure of The Curve in Damansara Perdana. I am surrounded by Koreans of whom I'm guessing must be the owners, their community here, guests of honor, string quarter playing some nice music, and those like me, wanted to try out a different coffee experience.

I was greeted at the counter by cute-lovely-fair-skinned-like-the-white-snow Ms. Jennifer; whom I found out is from Korea asking me what I wanted and was kind enough to answer my questions on where the coffee served in this store are from. Apparently, it's from all over the world, only to be roasted and grounded in Korea.

I asked for hot caramel macchiato to go. It was OK, not too strong and not too sweet like what's served at Starbucks. I wish it was strong though. Perhaps, they were using mild beans or perhaps single shot espresso as base; but I don't know. You can also try out their cakes and danish.

There are two laptops for customers to use and here I am, happily blogging and drinking my Korean coffee while waiting for my next appointment to start.

I would love to hear your experience at Hollys Coffee.

Arizona Travelog3: Funny Signs

[L] A book cart at the Barnes & Nobles on W Chandler Blvd - Do Not Put Child In Bag!
[R] Wall sign at the Comedy Spot Comedy Club in Scottsdale - Do Not Fart During Performance!

Of Islam Hadhari and The Madinah Treaty

Sheih's Kickdefella's posting titled "Eighty-five Malaysian and one Malay fella" made me think the whole morning and this is my feedback to his entry.

I'd love to hear what you have to say on this topic.

You can read Sheih's entry on this URL: http://kickdefella.wordpress.com/2007/02/02/sheih-on-sheih-eighty-five-malaysian-and-one-malay-fella/#comment-2206

And here goes my comment:

It’s interesting to note from Pak Lah interview with Business Week Asia’s John Defterios on Malaysian racial harmony sustainability for the future; our PM starts talking on the Islam Hadhari model in response to John's final question of the interview.

I think the main issue with Islam Hadhari is labeling. The label Hadhari makes it all confusing to general public; I have non-Muslim friends asking me whether Islam Hadhari is in the same category as Sunni, Shiah, or Wahabi; and we are already having hard time in the media on the fundamentalist-liberal labels on Islam.

Interesting point you made here on Madinah. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in his famous Madinah Traeaty wrote and ratified ten agreements with the Muslims, the non-Muslim Arabs and the Jews.

I wonder whether Pak Lah or Tunku Abdul Rahman who founded this idea (under different name) might have modeled the 10 Principles of Islam Hadhari after the Madinah Treaty and putting it in the context of Malaysia.

Here’s the famous Madinah Treaty and you can compare and contrast this list with the 10 principles of Islam Hadhari and find out yourself whether Islam Hadhari is rethoric, redundant, or being used by this administration as a political mileage:

[1] “In the name of Allah (The One True God) the Compassionate, the Merciful. This is a document from Muhammad, the Prophet, governing the relation between the Believers from among the Qurayshites (i.e., Emigrants from Mecca) and Yathribites (i.e., the residents of Medina) and those who followed them and joined them and strived with them. They form one and the same community as against the rest of men.

[2] “No Believer shall oppose the client of another Believer. Whosoever is rebellious, or seeks to spread injustice, enmity or sedition among the Believers, the hand of every man shall be against him, even if he be a son of one of them. A Believer shall not kill a Believer in retaliation of an unbeliever, nor shall he help an unbeliever against a Believer.

[3] “Whosoever among the Jews follows us shall have help and equality; they shall not be injured nor shall any enemy be aided against them…. No separate peace will be made when the Believers are fighting in the way of Allah…. The Believers shall avenge the blood of one another shed in the way of Allah ….Whosoever kills a Believer wrongfully shall be liable to retaliation; all the Believers shall be against him as one man and they are bound to take action against him.

[4] “The Jews shall contribute (to the cost of war) with the Believers so long as they are at war with a common enemy. The Jews of Banu Najjar, Banu al-Harith, Banu Sa’idah, Banu Jusham, Banu al-Aws, Banu Tha’labah, Jafnah, and Banu al-Shutaybah enjoy the same rights and priviledges as the Jews of Banu Aws.

[5] “The Jews shall maintain their own religion and the Muslims theirs. Loyalty is a protection against treachery. The close friends of Jews are as themselves. None of them shall go out on a military expedition except with the permission of Muhammad, but he shall not be prevented from taking revenge for a wound.

[6] “The Jews shall be responsible for their expenses and the Believers for theirs. Each, if attacked, shall come to the assistance of the other.

[7] “The valley of Yathrib (Medina) shall be sacred and inviolable for all that join this Treaty. Strangers, under protection, shall be treated on the same ground as their protectors; but no stranger shall be taken under protection except with consent of his tribe….No woman shall be taken under protection without the consent of her family.

[8] Whatever difference or dispute between the parties to this covenant remains unsolved shall be referred to Allah and to Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah. Allah is the Guarantor of the piety and goodness that is embodied in this covenant. Neither the Quraysh nor their allies shall be given any protection.

[9] “The contracting parties are bound to help one another against any attack on Yathrib. If they are called to cease hostilities and to enter into peace, they shall be bound to do so in the interest of peace; and if they make a similar demand on Muslims it must be carried out except when the war is agianst their religion.

[10] “Allah approves the truth and goodwill of this covenant. This treaty shall not protect the unjust or the criminal. Whoever goes out to fight as well as whoever stays at home shall be safe and secure in this city unless he has perpetrated an injustice or commited a crime…. Allah is the protector of the good and God-fearing people.”