the economics of movie piracy

piracy (in the 'copyright infringement' sense) is illegal. no ifs, buts, or maybes.

yet many people participate in it and have no qualms about doing so. i'm not talking about those who make money from piracy, eg selling bootleg DVDs etc, rather those who typically "share" via peer-to-peer networks and the like, for "personal use/enjoyment" and not for any commercial gain, unless you count the fact that the gain is that they haven't had to pay money for something they otherwise would have paid for...

and herein lies the rub of some contrasting views on the economic consequences of piracy.

the australian federation against copyright theft (afact) recently released a study (get the PDF here) that claims this cost to be $1.37b per year for the australian economy.

electronic frontiers australia (efa) countered by calling for "a skeptical reading of this report", noting 8 flaws with the study and the conclusions it drew. internet person matt also casts doubts about the study's reasoning in his blog entry and flow chart.

another recent japanese study examined the case of tv animation in japan on the issue of "Do Illegal Copies of Movies Reduce the Revenue of Legal Products?", and found that youtube can be interpreted as a promotional tool for (boosting) DVD sales. the full study is in japanese though...

somehow i don't see the likes of afact winning this war, even though they have the legal high ground. who knows, maybe the laws will change one day?

the kids are all right (movie)

(another movie that i'm only watching because i got a free double pass to a preview screening.) the kids are all right is a movie about a family with two mums, their two teenage children from the same 'father', and what happens when the children seek out the sperm donor without whom they would not be. it's been labelled as a dramedy, and indeed there are some funny moments, and some dramatic moments (in addition to a number of sex scenes).

i have no idea why the movie is titled the way it is. i suspect that one interpretation is that in this atypical family, the kids are all right and the parents are not. certainly the two kids fairly normal, especially compared to the friends they are often seen hanging out with. the elder kid is an academic high achiever, and the other an athletic all-rounder. mum 1 is an overcontrolling doctor, mum 2 a much more free spirit type person who doesn't have quite an impressive nor definitive answer to the question of "so what do you do?". and donor-dad? a college drop out who eschews academic learning for doing, now restauranteur and locavore, and never married never divorced but seems to have a way with women.

in the end, i'm left wondering what the message of the movie is, or whether the 'father' is meant to be liked or not. the movie was a hit at this year's sundance film festival, which shouldn't necessarily be relied upon to raise your expectations too much unless you are into independent films, of which this is one, and the festival is many. i suppose that the number of known actors involved in this film gives it some weight, but it just doesn't hit any spots with this viewer. there are some truisms about the 'hard slog' that is marriage (though my kind of marriage involves a man and a woman), and how sometimes you tend to hurt most the one to whom you are closest. but i can learn / hear that type of sage advice and reflection elsewhere. definitely not worth the price of admission, though possibly worthy of a DVD rental if you're in the right mood. or just skip it altogether and watch / do something else. i don't think your life will be any poorer for it.

boy - the 2010 movie from new zealand

thanks to some free preview tickets, i went to watch boy last night. before watching the movie, i had

• seen the trailer, which didn't particularly appeal to me - if i didn't already hold free tickets for the movie, i don't think i would have put this movie on my to see list.
• heard that the movie is the highest grossing new zealand movie of all time. this made me somewhat curious to see the movie and find out for myself how good is really is.
• seen increasing numbers of free tickets being given away/offered, which made me suspect that the movie is not really that good, but maybe had potential, so the marketing/promotions people are doing the hard sell to get many previewers to see the movie and get some word of mouth type advertising happening.
  

now that i have seen the movie, i'm thinking:

• it's kinda quirky - i'm not really sure what it was trying to be, as there were some funny bits though i wouldn't describe the movie as a comedy, and there were some fantastical elements which jarred a bit with what could have been a drama, which is another word i don't think quite fits in describing the movie.
• i don't know what the point of the movie/story was, or why it was worth telling.
• i definitely wouldn't have been happy paying money to see this, and can only conclude that i am very unlike the typical new zealand moviegoer.

so... not exactly a glowing review... but i guess if you like new zealand movies and wackyish stuff, you might find this enjoyable. for me, it had some moments, but as a whole it was generally forgettable.

welcome

'welcome' is a movie on the line up of the french film festival 2010, the brisbane leg of which is on now until the end of the month. i got to see a free preview of this movie last sunday at the palace centro cinemas on james st.

i found it to be a pleasantly surprising story. while not a movie i would unreservedly recommend or rave about, nor necessarily choose to watch myself if given a choice of where to sacrifice my movie-going dollar, it nevertheless served to raise pertinent questions of prejudice and social concern, as well as touching on the themes of love and commitment.

[warning: possible spoilers ahead]

the main characters in this tale are:

• simon, swimming coach and former champion swimmer, who is finalising his divorce from
• marion, simon's ex-wife, social activist
• bilal, a 17-year old refugee from iraq who ends up in the french town (calais) where simon and marion live, and trying to make his way to england to be reunited with his girl.

in calais there are laws in place to prevent local townsfolk from giving assistance to the refugees. there are some people, including simon's neighbour, who (despite his 'welcome' door mat?) are decidedly unwelcoming of these outsiders. there are others who do show some welcome, like marion and her new man bruno, who try to give help within the confines of the law - they run a mobile food van/soup kitchen type setup for the refugees, but are careful to refrain from conversation with the refugees / standing on the other side of the serving table. marion also disapproves of the practices of a local shop which denies entry to any refugee, and of simon's indifference to their plight. and then there is a welcome from those who decide to help beyond what's allowed by law, regardless of the trouble this brings from unsympathetic residents and the authorities.

without giving too much more away, i thought that the story was believable and touching without being overly emotional. it raises questions without offering solid answers. the story ends badly for one of the characters, and suggests hope for others. it's difficult for me to recommend that one should watch this, but i think if one does watch it, one would benefit from the experience, and perhaps be prompted to consider how welcoming they are in their social contexts.

Not just another flight

We were originally going to fly with Jetstar for this trip, as they were having same sales at the time we were looking to book. However we were given an offer we couldn't refuse to 'upgrade' to the more expensive Emirates flights - total about A$17xx for 2 (economy class). Despite the odd departure (2:45am) and arrival times (~1am), it would be more convenient for us to fly direct and save on travelling time. Jetstar transits in Darwin - and we'll get to experience what this is like later this year. Another potentially cheaper option was AirAsia which we flew about 12 months ago - this would have required us to depart from Coolangatta instead of Brisbane, as well as transit in Kuala Lumpur. And so began my first experience flying with Emirates.

I should not have been concerned about whether they had video on demand, because their in flight entertainment system called ICE (information, communications, entertainment) digital widescreen blows everything else I have experienced out of the water! Among other things, it features:

• a widescreen format for improved viewing, not the puny screens you might get in some other airlines (that is, if you get a personal screen at all...). The 10.6" screen is bigger than the one on my netbook!
• touchscreen control - this was a bit hit and miss because I had some trouble touching the smaller buttons/icons, and I couldn't find anyway to calibrate the touch alignment (not that I looked very hard). Of course you can still use the more traditional control pad, which features a little joystick type thing to move the cursor.
• over 1200 channels of movies, tv, music and games. There would have been a good 100+ new and recent release movies.
• the ability to be used pretty much at all times during the flight, including take off and landing. My previous experiences with other airlines saw them turn their system on after take off, and turn it off before landing. Of course, during announcements and safety briefings etc the system is paused.
• you can also do stuff like plug in your USB device to view photos, PDFs, play music(?) etc, though I didn't try any of these out myself.
• oh and there are two cameras on the plane that show the downwards view and the forward view, which I found quite novel. At least that way you can feel more connected to your surroundings.

I ended up watching 3 movies:

1. District 9 which I thought had a decent plot, with an ending that leaves the story wide open for a sequel which I fully expect to be called District 10 (for more reasons than one).
2. Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen which was a bit of a waste of time. I started to fall asleep during this movie (by which time I was at least 6+ hours past my typical bedtime). So I paused it, took a nap, and continued watching when I woke up.
3. Michael Jackson's This is It I'm not a huge fan of MJ - I like some of his music and fully acknowledge that he was one skilled and talented individual - and missed most of the media storm that accompanied his passing because I was in China on an IT support short term missions trip at the time (maybe one day I'll get around to blogging my half finished offline entries from that trip), so felt kinda distant from it all. While I'm generally happy to hear his songs, I'm glad I didn't pay to watch this at the cinemas during its limited release.

Anyways, back to the flight itself. Some other miscellaneous thoughts:

• The cabin crew speak a LOT of languages... I didn't keep count, but I think the announcement listed close to 10, if not more.
• I'm not sure if the plane we were on had just been turned around from another flight, but the seatback pockets weren't thoroughly cleaned/restocked. Minor quibble, but the pedantic me notices these little details.
• There is good foot room in the seats to stretch out. The space taken up by the equipment for the entertainment units is not as bulky as other airlines I've flown with.
• Speaking of the seats, they recline better than other airlines I've been on too. Both the upright and the seat pan (not sure if that's the correct term... the horizontal bit you actually sit on) move when you recline, instead of just the seat back. Looks like the plane I was on had their new generation of ergonomically designed Economy Class seating. Yay me :)
• Even the fold down trays were a better design - these planes had a double fold, so it takes up less vertical room when folded up. Not sure if it's related, but I guess this means more space for the screen :)
• Along with the headphones, you get a set of stickers that you can place on your seat to indicate one of the following if you want to sleep:
1. wake me for meals
2. wake me for duty free shopping (though I just realised I didn't see any of this at all... maybe it was while I slept, but that would have been an odd time to have it)
3. do not disturb
• Having said that, they did not hand out any comfort/amenity packs, eg with stuff like eye shade, ear plugs, socks, toothbrush etc, which I would have expected given my previous overnight travel experiences. I can only assume this would have been available on request...
• Otherwise the service was fairly good - wifey said before the flight that I should ask the cabin crew to hang my suit bag, but as we got to our seats, a stewardess offered to hang my suit, so I didn't even need to ask.
• Food wise I thought the meals were reasonable without being fantastic. The snacks we were served after takeoff included a choice of chicken or lamb pie, which turned out to be tiny - I probably could have done with another 1 or 2. They also served a choice of whole fruits, which I don't think I've had on any other flight. Having said that, I think my banana was a tad underdone.

Overall I think it was a definitely value for money flight - compared with the likes of Singapore Airlines or Qantas (both of which I've flown for this route), you are getting more bang for less buck, and that's a win in my books! I'll definitely consider flying Emirates again, assuming the travel budget doesn't consign me to only the budget airlines.

a love story not worth pursuing

no i'm not talking about my own life ;) but a movie i watched yesterday. it was a case of fronting up at the cinema, and trying to pick out something to see. of the few options which were deemed watchable, 'love story' was the shortest wait by a few hours. i had figured that it's been some time since i watched a chinese movie, and since i'm in a country where access to such films in the cinema is more readily available, why not take advantage of the opportunity? even when i was informed that it is a local production (which i did not initially realise), i was still hopeful for something passable in the form of a mildly entertaining or touching romantic drama.

how wrong i was.

from the opening sequence to the closing credits, i was lost. and frustrated. so much so that i could not be bothered trying to figure out what was going on in the screen in front me, and at one stage i almost fell asleep -- a rarity in my cinematic outings, overnight movie marathons not withstanding. i really can't even be bothered trying to explain why this movie sucked so much, other than to say "arty farty" (which is so not me), and to quote from the review linked above:

Unfortunately, Tong [director]’s own lofty ambitions in his script, punches a large dent in this curious and often erratic film. His insistence and overuse of highly derivative, metaphysical and experimental story-telling techniques leave much to be accomplished. The plot meanders too much midway and it starts to become a chore just to keep up with the writer’s own extremities in dealing with the abstract boundaries of fact and fiction. It becomes arrogant in its self-consciousness and is devoid of a personality.

yeah. don't bother man. the closing statement speaks thus: A brave and exciting new direction for local cinema, but becomes too much of an effort even for the most willing. i really don't know whether i would use words like brave and exciting if this is the direction in which local cinema here is headed... but i can certainly attest to the "too much of an effort" for this rather unwilling viewer.

- - - - -

speaking of unwilling viewing and falling asleep, i caught 'perhaps love' on the flight over here. well, caught some of it at least. i had heard about this movie when it was showing on the screens at a local eatery back home. this place (coffee square) is a place i tend to avoid, because it feels too honkie for this non-chinese speaking chinese person. i almost feel some sort of reverse discrimination whenever i'm there. the place does not have an english-friendly feel (possibly different if you are/look non-chinese), and i only went this time to follow the crowd, which included two honkies :p

they stuffed up my order (my theory being that the waiter's english wasn't up to scratch and thought i meant "portugese" when i actually said "mexican"), which meant i had to wait extra long for my food. anyways js gave a brief synopsis of the movie as we waited, and so i saw a few scenes and had enough familiarity to be able to recognise it when i saw it in the inflight movies lineup.

another arty offering with bigger budget and more famous actors. didn't have as much trouble following the plot (which was still somewhat confusing), though it certainly didn't help that the small screen meant rather hard to read subtitles. i tried with this one... but tiredness got the better of me and i gave up halfway in, opting to try for some sleep instead.

didn't manage much success with that either, and i'm slowly trying to catch up this week. oh it's nice to be able to sleep in!

When Your Past Comes Knocking

if a deer hang out on the roads long enough, sooner or later it will encounter a vehicle. i don't think i've ever seen a deer caught in the headlights, but perhaps i understand a little what it might be like - the feeling of being suddenly confronted with something and responding with a perhaps fear-induced frozenness. you know that something is coming your way, and that when it "hits", it's not going to be fun and games. your mind races, desperately thinking of escape routes, frantically analysing what-if-i-do-such-and-such scenarios and at the same time reminds you that the clock is ticking. your body... it does nothing. it just sits in absolute inaction, maintaining a fixed pose with a resoluteness that would give those "statue" mime artists a run for their money.

it's silent, except for the mental *tick*tock*tick* which continues...

- - - - -

a while ago, i wrote:

the mistakes of the past
they continue to haunt
like dogged, hungry vultures
circling, waiting for a swoop...

... to take another bite of flesh from this body
better the victim be dead than half-alive?
the shock leaves him numb and unfeeling of pain
though emotions and psyche more than compensate

- - - - -

more recently, i heard:

Jesus, My Only Hope

I come into Your presence
With nothing in my hands
I only bring thanksgiving
For Jesus, God, and Man
I cast myself on mercy
I cast myself on love
I trust Your gracious promise
To wash me with Your blood

I will not fear Your judgment
For me no wrath I dread
For it was spent on Jesus
Poured out upon His head
When Satan's accusations
Make my poor heart afraid
I hear my King declaring
"Father, that debt is paid!"

CHORUS
Jesus my only hope
My only plea
My righteousness
My Great High Priest
Who intercedes for me
Before the throne
Jesus, I trust in You alone

Though I am poor and naked
Your prodigal come home
You place Your robe upon me
Your holiness alone
Though I be dry and barren
By grace this love springs forth
Love for You and Your Kingdom
Joy in Your glory, Lord

- - - - -

this morning, i re-read:

working through the consequences of past choices ... doesn't mean that you have to dredge up every sordid detail, but it does mean that you need to honestly face the effect your past can have on your future .... Unless you are honest about past sin, you won't be able to understand the potential challenges you'll confront because of it. Neither will you be able to root yourselves firmly in the sustaining grace of God.

- - - - -

earlier this afternoon, i watched:

2 young (link to review), a movie i recently borrowed from a friend (am still recovering/recuperating my voice, so today is another sick leave day). probably not the best choice in my current frame of mind, though i didn't bother to read the synopsis at all before popping the disc in. anyways, maybe i'm reading themes into the movie (from what's on my mind), but i had to pause the movie so i could go clean my face after one particularly poignant scene, and i found a couple of other scenes triggering various thoughts and reflections.

- - - - -

then, i was about to try for a nap and maybe stop thinking for a while, but managed to catch a fom online and a brief chat there indirectly helped me to regain a bit of focus.

and before you know it, the day seems almost over... but there's many a mile to travel before the journey ends.

跑 (去看 'children of heaven') 吧孩子

without having much of an insight into the movie-making business/industry, it usually puzzles me as to why people like to remake movies. is it because original ideas are hard to come by, and so let's just take something that's worked somewhere else, and apply it in a slightly different context? or is there more of a 'paying compliment/homage' spirit at work? is the decision driven by economics and business concerns, or perhaps owes more to the personal whims of the filmmaker?

in any case, i watched homerun (aka 跑吧孩子) tonight. i originally intended to watch a different movie, but couldn't locate the actual disc (and it so bugs me when i know i've misplaced something... but i digress). homerun had been in the house for probably a good year or so, but i had never gotten around to watching it. upon reading the back cover, i was struck by how closely the storyline resembled another movie i had seen in the past... doesn't this sound exactly like children of heaven, i asked myself. upon seeing the opening credits, i realised it is basically is the same story, except homerun had been reworked for a singaporean setting.

maybe because my movie diet does include some foreign (and by that i mean non-western-english-speaking-country) films, and my general preference to see something in its original context (eg i'd rather watch a hk flick in cantonese and read subtitles, than listen to a mandarin audio track or worse still dubbed english, even though i would understand several magnitudes of order more of the mandarin dialogue than the cantonese), mixed in with having seen a few more singaporean movies/shows than i have of anything from iran (it could be the bias speaking, but the acting and dialogue in homerun seemed a bit too stereotypical at times, while the whole of c.o.h. seemed so much more "authentic" [which is a rather ironic thing to say/claim given that i know next to nothing about things iran!])... in the end i still definitely prefer children of heaven over homerun. very simple story, yet manages to be moving and touchingly believable. check it out sometime, and i think people would be better served seeing that than only having watched homerun as a not-quite-worthy substitute, though i wonder whether my conclusion would be any different if i had seen homerun beore children of heaven...

assorted video tales

miscellaneous video-related stuff from the last week or so...

WHERE ARE ALL THE GOOD MOVIES?

the last few times i found myself able to take advantage of cheap days at the local cinemas, i have found that there really isn't anything i want to see (nevermind the difficulty in rounding up a like-minded and available movie buddy). even on my last trip to the video store i had a similar feeling and struggled to find something that i wanted to spend $2 to rent and watch. earlier this week princejay and i talked of doing a movie thing next week, and we both came to a similar conclusion about the lack of enticing offerings. they just don't seem to satisfy like they once did. is it the (quality of the) movies that have changed, or my tastes? is it that i've been fed on too abundant a diet of trash that i need a higher level of sophistication in my intake, or that i can no longer convince myself that the emptiness of what i watch has some faux substance / excuse for being?

TRY GETTING AARDVARK'D

i don't know how or when i first came across "joel on software", but i read the occasional article on it. i don't know why i read them, because i don't have anything to do with the world of software development. i guess i found those articles featured on the mailing list to be interesting and insightful, and i've never gotten around to unsubscribing :p anyways, one of the more recent articles announced the launch of the aardvark'd dvd - a documentary about how "Four interns are brought into Manhattan and given 12 weeks to design, develop, debug and ship a program that will change the way computer geeks around the world fix their friends' computers. Boondoggle Films presents a journey through the world of software development from the perspective of a unique upstart, four quirky interns, and the world of The Geek." maybe it's the last two words (and how they hit on my inner aspirations! haha) that did it for me, or maybe i just happened to be so underwhelmed by your typical multiplex films, but i was almost going to order a copy after checking out the trailer (ahh the cool things you can do with video google :). oh, and it probably did help that i had been following (some of) the progress of aardvark. i nearly fell off my chair when i saw the shipping costs to get from the states to here though... then i realised i was looking at the priority service -- normal post is less than 1/10th of the price :p still... ~USD$25 for something i'm probably only ever going to watch once, and quite likely never be able to share with anyone (i can't imagine too many people jumping at the chance to watch such a doco just for the heck of it).

ARR... BUT AT LEAST IT'LL BE REAL

i've purchased 3 DVDs on ebay. today i realised i've fallen prey to modern day pirates (of the electronic kind), for two of these discs are fakes. i recently decided to buy a copy of the soong sisters movie after coming across this blog entry, reading a bit about their story, and realising that i did recall this movie coming out some time ago but it had since fallen off my radar (and it's been about 8 years since the movie's release!). figured that even if the movie itself isn't earth-shattering, it'd at least be interesting to learn a bit more about the lives of these prominent people in china's history (to the extent that such things can be/are accurately portrayed in a commercial movie). the movie arrives and suspicions are aroused upon closer inspection - check out the photo of the dvd itself for instance. besides the atrocious spelling and grammatical errors (of which i count 8) on the disc, and the rather cheap look of the media itself (a bit subjective, and hard to describe/capture on photo... although vso inspector does confirm it to be a pressed rather than burnt disc), consider the following:

1. at the very top of the disc, next to maggie cheung's head (middle woman), and a bit cut off, is maggie's chinese name in simplified chinese - everywhere else on the cover her name is written in traditional chinese, as it should be for something coming from HK. i have been unable to find any photos/images of the actual dvd to confirm what the disc should look like (can only find pics of the dvd box cover), but this makes me think that what i'm seeing is a non-genuine dvd label printed with artwork lifted from something used to promote the movie in china itself.
2. next, consider the four little boxes near the bottom of the disc. the second box displays a logo which reads "compact disc digital video". from what i've been able to find out, this logo "may only be used on discs complying with the Video-CD specifications: the Philips-JVC-Matsushita-Sony Compact Disc Digital Video Specification (the WHITE Book)." now this is talking about compact disc media, thus this logo should NOT appear on a DVD!
3. moving along to the right, the logo accompanying the "5.1 SURROUND" text is wrong. there is a similar logo on the box cover, which at least features 6 distinct black squares representing the 5+1 speakers (but which i think is also wrong because it has an additional white square, which doesn't match with any logos i've been able to find used by/for dolby-related purposes. anyways, the logo on the disc itself only has 4 squares/speakers! not quite the 5.1 claimed...
4. then there's the region code logo... the one on the disc says it's region 1. the box says it's all regions. vso inspector says it's all regions. another printing mistake? the ebay seller asks me to "please excuse the manufacture's quality control" for the spelling errors, and claims to have spoken to the manufacturer about hiring a proofreader, citing the difficulties of finding "talented people to work for so little wages in asia". schyeah... for a pirating operation this may be a valid argument, for a big corporate body like mei ah (where this DVD is "supposed" to have come from), the line is a lot less likely to be swallowed.
5. lastly the 3 chinese characters printed below these logo boxes... at first i thought it was 非毒品, which means something like "not drugs/poisonous". besides the obvious question of what in the world something like this is doing on a DVD, i also realised after pondering a moment that the middle character doesn't match up to what i originally thought it said... and that a homonym of 读, meaning "(to) read", had been substituted - another printing mistake?? but then a second closer look reveals that it's not even that character... it looks like the character for read but doesn't have the left radical. from what i've been able to find it's not a proper word without one of a few radicals with which it can be paired.

and there's more! as i've been typing this i've looked closer at the cover, and there's a mixture of traditional and simplified chinese printed... rather strange. plus the discovery of more english typos. and how the front cover very closely resembles, but consistently fails to 100% match, images i'm seeing of the proper artwork. the strong weight of evidence points to the work of a semi-professional pirate operation, albeit one lacking even basic QA, but with access to decent photoshopping (or similar) resources, and DVD manufacturing (stamping and printing) capabilities. anyhow, in the midst of researching and gathering evidence to discern genuine vs. pirated DVDs, i came across advice suggesting that my other purchase is also a dud. upon further checking, i slumped my shoulders and concede to being had... funny that the seller from that transaction is no longer registered on ebay? i don't know if that person was actively involved or just a pawn in the bigger game, but i was mildly surprised (maybe i was being a bit naive on this point) to discover a forum thread where sellers were openly discussing strategies to maximise their piracy profits via ebay...

SO WHAT IS THERE LEFT TO WATCH?

enough ranting and gripes. let's end on a more positive note... i leave you with some recent video discoveries worth checking out (for the broadband enabled):

1. baby got book - a humorous parady of sir mix-a-lot's song, reworded to encourage more reading of the good book.
2. incredible dribble - maybe some of the roar players could learn some control from this guy, showing off his skills with a soccer ball.
3. nba tv broadband - delivering all the highlights from the nba. not that i follow, but there's some pretty basketball to be seen here :)
   

padawan, Pauline style

from an interview with George Lucas, speaking about the latest and final Star Wars instalment:

In every one of the Star Wars movies, the concept of a mentor and a Padawan, or a learner, is very important. Why is that?

I’ve had a lot of mentors, especially teachers, who have helped me over the years. I feel very strongly that the future of the human race lies solely in our ability to use our brain and to learn from those who have come before us. That is a central theme in my movies, because it’s important to my life. I very firmly believe that only through education and knowledge – gaining it, then transferring it on to the next generation so they can use it and improve it – will we survive and grow.

rather reminds me of the words of Paul to his disciple Timothy:

Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me... what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also... continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus...Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory (2 Timothy 1:13, 2:2, 3:14, 2:10)

while education and knowledge may be tools in the process, it is only by God's mercy that he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (2 Peter 1:3). much more than survival growth, and preserving the human race from one generation to the next, this is about eternal life! :)

the romantic in me

Love at First Sight
a poem by Wislawa Szymborska (originally in Polish)
-translated by Walter Whipple

Both are convinced
that a sudden surge of emotion bound them together.
Beautiful is such a certainty,
but uncertainty is more beautiful.

Because they didn't know each other earlier, they suppose that
nothing was happening between them.
What of the streets, stairways and corridors
where they could have passed each other long ago?

I'd like to ask them
whether they remember-- perhaps in a revolving door
ever being face to face?
an "excuse me" in a crowd
or a voice "wrong number" in the receiver.
But I know their answer:
no, they don't remember.

They'd be greatly astonished
to learn that for a long time
chance had been playing with them.

Not yet wholly ready
to transform into fate for them
it approached them, then backed off,
stood in their way
and, suppressing a giggle,
jumped to the side.

There were signs, signals:
but what of it if they were illegible.
Perhaps three years ago,
or last Tuesday
did a certain leaflet fly
from shoulder to shoulder?
There was something lost and picked up.
Who knows but what it was a ball
in the bushes of childhood.

There were doorknobs and bells
on which earlier
touch piled on touch.
Bags beside each other in the luggage room.
Perhaps they had the same dream on a certain night,
suddenly erased after waking.

Every beginning
is but a continuation,
and the book of events
is never more than half open.

- - - - -

i think this is the version that appears in the movie turn left, turn right which i saw recently. without knowing much about the movie to begin with, i must say that it first appealed, then took a firm grip on the romantic in me. and despite some cliches, corniness, and suspension of reality along the way (which is not to say that the movie was without its share of nice touches - the opening umbrella scene is a beautiful image, as is a similar picture at the end), didn't let go for the whole movie... (i wonder if it hasn't got a hook or two left in me still!)



what can i say? but to sigh wistfully and gaze off into the distance?

part of the vcd cover promo says that "你盼望著的那個人, 原來一直活在你的左右". although it's not quite the same scenario as the movie (ok ok it's really nowhere near the same scenario - the only real similarities are that there is a guy, there is a girl, and there is a hint or maybe a hope of two parallel lines touching...), i think 这个真理我好像已经了解了，现在只等机会和她见个面，聊了天，提出我们两人之间的未来...

if only it were that easy!

- - - - -
there are a lot of connotations and perhaps implied understandings when words and phrases like "fate", "destiny", and "love at first sight" are bandied about. let me just say that i don't necessarily subscribe to the contemporary/popular understandings of these words in full, though i haven't (yet) completely discarded them from my vocabulary. clarifications available upon application ;)

Rush River Cinema

gee i wished i found out about the Rush River Cinema a bit earlier, then i might have gone to see the last samurai... :/

oh well. off to see another samurai flick tomorrow... zatoichi!

Heroic Forums

bleh... been spending too much time browsing the Heroic Cinema Forum Pages ever since i found that H-C had started forums. i even started my own thread... well, sort of... hehe. but oh i haven't gotten anything done tonight! (except going to watch AvP :p)

bleh... but at least i found out that the 8th japanese film festival (see pdf flyer) is coming soon :)

see the original!

read in the latest cinebuzz newsletter that hollywood has released a remake of 'shall we dansu?', called (surprise, surprise) 'shall we dance?'. reading some of the imdb forum threads, i'd have to agree that there's no real point in remaking what was already a great movie...

while i might not feel as passionate about any anti-hollywood sentiments, i do recommend that anybody who rushes out to see this movie (whether through love of dance, richard gere, jennifer lopez, or just cos they had nothing better to see...?!), make an effort to view the original. sure you might not find it in your local video shop, but wait around for sbs to show it again (i've seen it screened twice).

and if you need your appetites whet for foreign films, take yourself along to the free korean film festival about to tour the country.


yeah, baby! :)

almost there...

it's nearly 5pm... i'm still finishing my sandwich from lunch.

one more day of flying solo next week, then hopefully i can relax a bit more!

watched hero last night on dook's wall... the ad-hoc home theatre didn't work too badly :p interesting movie... think i'll delve into the rest of the dvd while it's still sitting in house. as someone commented, zhang ziyi probably didn't really need to be in the movie... but she does contribute nicely to the scenery ;)

of heroes and wise men

maybe i'm too bloodthirsty(?!), but there wasn't enough fighting sequences in troy. still, nice enough celluloid eye candy i suppose.

speaking of greek mythology and the like, came across this site, winged sandals, described as "a very stylish Flash-based introduction to Greek mythology, courtesy of the University of Melbourne Centre for Classics and Archaeology and ABC online." looks quite well done, and i'm sure to be back when i need an amusing diversion :)

funnily enough it was on the associates section of the CASE site where i made the discovery. lots of reading goodness at CASE... the stuff to make the old mental cogs click and turn with effort.

alright, anime!

'miyazaki showcase' plus 'takahata and other classics', coming soon to a capital city near you :) click here for details.

- - - - -

saw kill bill vol. 2 a few nights ago - not enough fighting! :p will be waiting for the DVDs to be released :)

speaking of DVDs, my copy of the collectors edition of the hire arrived in the post this week too. haven't had a chance to watch it though... have seen them all in WMP format but would be nice to see and hear through the DVD/stereo :)

ooh look at that, it's time to go home... time to make like a tree and leave!

Why The Passion Of Christ is Rated R

just when you thought it was safe to go back... comes this email forward... :p

i think it's american in origin, cos the movie isn't rated R here... nevertheless it's worth considering, so i'm posting it.

- - - - -

Rated R

The "R" of course is because of the violence, the gore. In movie terms "R" stands for RESTRICTED, but in this movie "R" stands for RELEVANT, for REALISTIC, for it REALLY happened for a REASON because we were REBELLIOUS we needed a REDEEMER, we needed to be RECONCILED, we needed to be RECOVERED, we needed to be REGENERATED. Jesus needed to be REJECTED so that we could have a RELATIONSHIP not just a RELIGION.

The "R" is to REMIND us to REMEMBER what Jesus did to REMOVE our sin to RENDER Satan powerless, to RESCUE us from eternity in hell. The "R" rating is to show that Jesus was RESPONSIBLE for giving you REST. As a RESULT of His death Jesus RETIRED your debt. The "R" rating means that some will be REPULSED, some will REFUSE to believe, some will be RELUCTANT, some will think you are RIDICULOUS in believing that a death was REQUIRED.

The "R" rating means that the RESULT of sin has been REVERSED and now through faith in Christ your REWARD is eternity and you are now RIGHTEOUS before God because you have RECEIVED him as the RULER of your soul. What a REVOLUTIONARY and RADICAL solution to REDEEM mankind.

- - - - -

amen! to that.

The Passion of the Christ

  Who has believed our message
   and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
   and like a root out of dry ground.
 He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
   nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

 He was despised and rejected by men,
   a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
 Like one from whom men hide their faces
   he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

 Surely he took up our infirmities
   and carried our sorrows,
 yet we considered him stricken by God,
   smitten by him, and afflicted.

 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
   he was crushed for our iniquities;
 the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
   and by his wounds we are healed.

 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
   each of us has turned to his own way;
 and the LORD has laid on him
   the iniquity of us all.

 He was oppressed and afflicted,
   yet he did not open his mouth;
 he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
   and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
   so he did not open his mouth.

 By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
   And who can speak of his descendants?
 For he was cut off from the land of the living;
   for the transgression of my people he was stricken.

 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
   and with the rich in his death,
 though he had done no violence,
   nor was any deceit in his mouth.

 Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
   and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering,
 he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
   and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.

 After the suffering of his soul,
   he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
 by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
   and he will bear their iniquities.

 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
   and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
 because he poured out his life unto death,
   and was numbered with the transgressors.
 For he bore the sin of many,
   and made intercession for the transgressors.

 -- Isaiah chapter 53

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don't know that there's much i can say about this movie...

watch it.
be confronted.
and whether or not you like the movie (come to think of it, i'm not sure even i like it - in the normal sense whereby one "likes" movies because they're entertaining, funny, feel-good etc), take it in and question why. talk about it. go check out more at the australian passion network.

i dream of simple things...

I dream of simple things
I can believe in
Like the feeling this day brings
True love and the miracle of forgiving
I believe in simple things

everytime i hear this song on the radio it takes me a while to realise it's an amy grant number.

every now and then i glance down at my feet (when i'm shoe- and sock- less) and i'm momentarily confused by the colourful toenails i see - then i realise that they belong to me! heh, i suppose the novelty will wear off soon...

every once in a while you experience a "hey, cool!" feeling upon finding a fellow christian among your colleagues.

every so often i watch a movie more than once. "my sassy girl" was better the first time around, but it did give me some food for thought. not real sure it was the best choice of diet in my current state though...

every once in a blue moon i wander in my wonder, and feel like i'm going round and round in circles. i find myself back in the haze of nebulosity, and i dream of simple things...