Daryl Tay.net

Finally managed to catch Transformers 2 and quite frankly, I was not impressed for a number of reasons.

1) Who’s who?
Somehow the film manages to do exactly what the first Transformers movie did, which is make every other character except for Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Starscream and Megatron utterly unrecognisable and indistinct. As someone who didn’t watch Transformers growing up, I have no affinity with them and unless the movie makes me care by letting me know who they are, then they’re just pieces of scrap metal.

2) I thought the movie’s name was “Transformers”, not “Explosions”
From the time the movie moved to Egypt, it was as if they ran out of CGI budget to make any real Transformer fights, and just blew up sand instead. Watching humans shoot Decepticons and explosions everywhere is not what I came to see. I want big, monster giants fighting each other and ripping each other to shreads, not flying sand. Oh and it makes it worse that the mega robot that was made up of the smaller robots did nothing but eat sand and half destroy a pyramid. How about at least wrecking one Autobot apart?

3) Humans have no place in this movie.
Yeah yeah without Josh Duhamel and Megan Fox no one would watch the movie, but seriously, the humans just add no value other than to insert the cheesiest of lines at the lousiest moments. Absolute waste of screen time.

4) Robot voices are inaudible
I don’t think I caught half of what the robots were saying. I know they have to sound all “metally”, but it’s not hard to make them sound clear at the same time now is it?

5) Saving on the soundtrack
The Linkin’ Park song played four times throughout the show, the Green Day song played thrice. Did they spend so much money on explosions that they couldn’t afford more tracks to be added in?

All in all I thought this was a pretty bad movie that not only didn’t improve on the first, but is probably worse, and that’s not saying a lot considering I didn’t like the first either. At this point, I’m not sure I’m going to pay money to see the third at all.

Yet another hattip to the girlfriend for recommending that I check out various videos from the UC Men’s Octet. I”m not a fan of choir performances, but when they’re done differently, as it has been here, it can really add a totally new dimension to a song.

The best part is that this video is nearly three years old! To think prior to the internet and YouTube there would be no such way to share these kind of musical genius. More reason to appreciate the internet!

Reuben and Gillian’s wedding was last Saturday and before I blog about that, I really wanted to post the wedding sermon while it’s still fresh (by now semi-fresh) in my head.

Okay honestly the priest was going on a little bit too much on the extreme side of negative things for me, but I liked how he started: the three things that couples need to remember and work on

1) Not being selfish and not taking your partner for granted

2) Sharing each other’s life together - It’s not about the individual lives anymore, it’s about the couple’s life together

3) Communicate healthily

He says although there are many things for couples to remember and to work at, generally they fall under one of these three categories, and that if couples can work at these three, the rest falls into place. I’m inclined to agree, what about you?

Full credit to the girlfriend for referring this video to me. I’m not as hot on the song as I am on the choreography, musical collaboration and the technology involved such as the camera and the lights. The video claims this was all taken and recorded in one take, and if it was, it’s pretty damn amazing.

The one thing I don’t like though, is the gratuitous (to me) appearance of the girl exposing her midriff towards the end. Didn’t add anything to the music video, unlike everyone else. Am I alone in this?

Rant by Chuck Palahniuk

It’s hard for me to review Rant by Chuck Palahniuk (author of Fight Club)without getting into specifics because the twists in the story are so surprising that I wouldn’t want to spoil it for anyone,  but suffice to say that after one read, this book has instantly shot up to one of my top five books of all time.

Rant is pretty different from the usual book in way it’s told. It’s narrated in the form of an oral biography (of Buster “Rant” Casey), and if you don’t know what that is, imagine a Discovery Channel show on a person that has interviews with people who knew that person. Well an oral biography is pretty much a written transcript of those interviews. This style takes some getting used to at first, but Palahniuk gives each character such a distinct voice that before long you can almost visualise the person who is “talking” about Rant.

Rant himself, of course, is the central piece of the puzzle. The oral biography is done after he has died (this isn’t a spoiler) and each chapter provides a little revelation into who he was and who he would grow up to be.

Reading the book, I would come to the end of each chapter and think: masterful. The story isn’t told sequentially, and sometimes the reader has to join the dots. There were nights where I’d come home and try to read Rant, realise my mind was too tired and read something else instead. To fully appreciate the nuances and little connections that lead to bigger payoffs at the end does require some concentration. There were maybe two or three chapters where that word didn’t cross my mind, simply because the twist from those chapters were so powerful, I was speechless.

I know this review is really general, but trust me, if you pick up this book, you’ll thank me for not giving away more than I should. I’d definitely recommend this book (though it may not be to everyone’s taste), and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did, and end up hunting down his other books just as I will.

[image credits: Wikipedia]

Another of those tracks that I heard once and sat up to take notice. Demi Lovato (who’s better known for the Disney movie Camp Rock starring opposite the Jonas Brothers) starts the song with the right combination of strength and vulnerability, builds up to a great crescendo and then ends as the song began: hushed. I’m a fan of songs which change tones in the middle of the track, so this is right up that alley.

Oh, and her makeup is rather waterproof too. Watch till 2:25 and you’ll know what I mean!

So I really don’t know what to make of David Archuleta. Despite the terrible “popness” of his music, they’re catchy and the guy can sing.

Case in point? “Touch My Hand”

For the most part, the song is pretty good, except for the chorus, which is cheesy as hell:

Trying to reach out to you, touch my hand
Reach out as far as you can
Only me, only you and the band
Trying to reach out to you, touch my hand

What do you think? Am I alone on this?

I was in the car the other day when this song started playing on the radio. It’s exactly 10 years old (it was released in 1999), but I think it’s still as relevant as it was back then. Ah to think I was 15 in 1999.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’97
Wear sunscreen
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be
it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by
scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable
than my own meandering
experience…I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not
understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded.
But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and
recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before
you and how fabulous you really looked….You’re not as fat as you
imagine.

Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as
effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing
bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that
never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm
on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing everyday that scares you

Sing

Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with
people who are reckless with yours.

Floss

Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes
you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with
yourself.

Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you
succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your
life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they
wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year
olds I know still don’t.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.

Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children,maybe
you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky
chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…what ever you do, don’t
congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your
choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s. Enjoy your body,
use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people
think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever
own..

Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.

Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

(Brother and sister together we’ll make it through
Someday your spirit will take you and guide you there
I know you’ve been hurting, and I know I’ve been waiting to be there
for you. And I’ll be there, just tell me now, whenever I can.
Everybody’s free.)

Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for
good.

Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the
people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go,but for the precious few you
should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and
lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you
knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live
in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will
philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize
that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were
noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund,
maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one
might run out.

Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you’re 40, it will
look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who
supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of
fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the
ugly parts and recycling it for more than
it’s worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen…

From “Already Gone”

You know that I love you enough to let you go

Bullshit. I’m pretty sure it’s “I love you enough to hold on tight“

I’m a huge fan of collaborations, and I don’t think they come any better than this. Ne-Yo is one hell of a singer (and dancer), and Kanye West, well, talent personified. Keri Hilson is pretty okay I guess, but not quite on the level of the other two.

Regardless, it’s an awesome song, and unfortunately I can’t embed the proper video because her record label, Universal, clearly thinks that people spreading the video via word of mouth actually hurts her publicity. Go figure.