viva espana - euro 2008

Congratulations to Spain for winning the Euro 2008 yesterday! They were considered a team with the potential to win but who always flopped at the big stage. Well, they've fulfilled their potential and proven their critics wrong. And did they deserve to win? Of course they did! They were the only team that played well throughout the tournament, and they also played wonderful with very neat passing. They're not as fast and exciting as the Dutch and Portuguese at times, but overall, they are the worthy champions.

For me, this is the best Euro that I've watched. It's much better than Euro 2004 where a team who played defensively (read: boring) won the tournament. Most of the group matches were very thrilling, especially Group C (Holland, Italy, France, Romania). A lot have changed in 2 years. The previous World Cup finalists, Italy and France, both lost to Holland and drew with Romania. Holland played really well and most of their goals were just fantastic, especially Sneijder's and Robben's. And Boulahrouz played really well at right back. It was hard to believe that this was the same person who played central defence at Chelsea a few years ago.

All the champions of the groups won their first two games and rested most of their first team players during the third one. And all of them, except for Portugal, won their third group match. Now of course it's understandable that the coach would want to rest his first team so that in theory, they'll be less tired in the next games. Also, those on the bench want to play as well. It's great if one is included in a team in the Euros but it'd be better if one could play as well instead of just warming the bench. However, in the quarter-finals, out of all the group champions, only Spain progressed to the semis. Maybe it's because the others lost their momentum? Portugal and Holland didn't play as well as they did in the group stage. There wasn't much flair and the chances that they had were wasted. Croatia played okay, but were beaten by a very determined Turkish team.

Turkey. Wow. I think they're the most hardworking team in the tournament. Their mental strength is damn high. With players injured and suspended, they still played the same way. Be it the first or second team (or the third team if they had one), you can see that they weren't afraid of their opponents and never gave up even though they were behind. The important thing was that they played to win, which means they played attacking football, unlike Italy in the game against Spain, and Germany in all of their games except the one against Portugal. I really think the Turks deserved to win the semi-final match against Germany because of the way they played throughout the game. The Germans rode their luck all the way to the final and hurrah to Spain for beating them.

Now that this Euro is finished, I hope that the next one will be as entertaining, or even better. It's very nice to see a team who play very good football winning the cup, and I hope there's a lot more exciting football matches with plenty of drama in the World Cup in 2010 and Euro 2012.

army of two

Like its name suggests, Army of Two is a game focusing on a team of two people who are private military contractors or mercenaries, Elliot Salem and Tyson Rios. They were in the US 75th Ranger Regiment before joining the Security and Strategy Corporation (SSC), a private military company. Army of Two is a third person shooter game, which for me is much much better than a first person shooter (less pening) and it's especially made to be played by two people. Well, you can play alone because your AI partner is quite ok, as in he won't die easily and he'll follow your commands, but it's a lot more fun playing with a real buddy.

Okay, let me talk about its graphics first. Awesome! It's as nice as Gears of War (and much better than Kane and Lynch). The water texture is beautiful. But of course, you can't just admire the well-designed graphics and drop your gamepad when playing the game, because then you'll get killed by the enemy. Now about the controls, they're a bit slow when aiming but quite okay overall (again, better than Kane and Lynch).

What makes this game very unique is its Aggro. What's Aggro? Basically, it means attention, as in if you're shooting the enemy, then their attention will focus on you, so your Aggro will be higher than your partner. If you have a bigger and more powerful weapon, then your Aggro will be higher as well. There's an Aggro-meter in the screen where you can see how much Aggro you have. Well, what's the fuss about this Aggro thingy? If a player's Aggro is very high, then all the attention will be on him, and his partner will then be 'invisible'. The 'invisible' partner can then sneak up behind the enemy, or snipe them from long range or do any other strategical manoeuvres to defeat them.

help, i need somebody, help, not just anybody, help

If you get shot, you can regenerate your health by staying away from the line of fire. But if you keep getting shot, your screen will turn red and it's very difficult to see your surroundings. Then, you'll 'die' temporarily and you won't be able to move around anymore and your partner needs to come help heal you. He can drag you to a safe place to heal you and while he's doing that, you can still shoot enemies so that your partner doesn't get shot while healing you. If you're dying and you don't have enough time to find cover to regenerate your health, you can feign your death so that the enemy won't shoot you anymore, but if you do it again, they won't be fooled twice and they'll definitely make sure you die.

There are many instances in the game that require two people to do. There's the step jump, where a player helps his partner get up a wall and once his partner is up, he is then pulled up. There's also the co-op snipe, where the 2 players snipe one or two targets at the same time. This move is cool if you want to take out two guards at once, or if you want to blow up a gas barrel or tank. When parachuting and driving, one player controls the parachute/hovercraft while the other shoots or mans the turret respectively. If you're controlling the parachute, you'll need to stabilize it so that your partner can aim and shoot properly. But sometimes it's still difficult to shoot even though the parachute is very very stable (and somebody learned it the hard way *cough* Marwan [bukan nama sebenar] *cough*).

back to back

The back to back manoeuvre is really cool. It's like that ending scene in Mr. & Mrs. Smith where they're surrounded and they just shoot all their enemies while they're back to back. Well, in the movie they didn't get killed, but in the game, you can get killed if they keep on shooting you. What? You haven't watched Mr. & Mrs. Smith? Then, too bad for you, you now know the ending. Heh.

Another unique thing about the game is its weapons system. You can't pick up weapons as you go along, you can only pick up ammunitions. The weapons need to be bought. There's a wide range of weapons to choose from and they can be upgraded once you buy them. And if you have a lot of money, you can even 'pimp' your gun, which means that your weapon will have a gold/silver coating. Cool. You can also waste your money by buying masks, which doesn't make any difference to your stats. Hyree and I have already pimped many of our weapons and we've also bought masks for our characters. Money wasters!

For me, the bad thing about the game is that most of the enemies are Muslim terrorists. There are even suicide bombers in a mission in Afghanistan. They come barging at you before exploding literally in your face. These terrorists really give Islam a bad name. So sad.

Anyway, we (Hyree, Ammir, Pear and me) have all finished the whole campaign each. Once you've finished, you automatically own all the primary weapons available. Hyree and I have already started playing the game again using the hardest level, Professional. We've finished the third mission and there's three more to go. Oh we've also finished playing Halo 3 last week, or was it the week before. It's a first person shooter game, so I wasn't pretty much interested to play, but main je. The game was quite okay though. Marwan's currently playing Army of Two with Ammir now. He still hasn't finished it yet, but he's nearly there. Hmm, I'd better plug my ears while he's finishing the game. Heh.

let's download firefox 3!

The hugely anticipated Firefox 3 is finally going to be launched on Tuesday 17 June 2008. Let's join the 1.2 million people (so far) that has pledged to download it on its launching day to set a Guinness World Record for the most software downloads in 24 hours. That's right, a world record.

After downloading, you'll be able to tell your mates that you were part of a Guinness World Record. Now ain't that cool. Well, it'll be a little bit less cool if your mates were also part of it. No bragging rights there I'm afraid. Nevertheless, let's download and be a part of it! Just click on the link above or the picture below.

And if you don't understand what the fuss is all about, go read the field guide to Firefox 3. And if you're not already using Firefox, what are you thinking, are you out of your mind??!? Hehe.

*Updated (4 July)* - Congrats to those who downloaded Firefox 3 on Download Day! A Guinness World Record for the most software downloads in 24 hours was successfully made, with 8,002,530 downloads. And don't forget to download your very own certificate for helping set a Guinness World Record.

oil boil coil foil

So the price of petrol in Malaysia has just gone up by RM0.78 per litre. That's an increase of nearly 40%! I've been monitoring the price of crude oil this past few weeks and it wasn't much of a surprise that the government will reduce the subsidy. Just a couple of weeks ago, the price of crude oil reached an all-time high of $137 per barrel. Currently it's decreased a bit to about $120. This is very high if you consider that just 3-4 years ago, it was just $20-$30 per barrel. All sorts of factors contribute to the price of oil, and I don't really understand much about it. Heck I don't understand much about my course either sometimes but that's another story.

Everywhere in the world people are affected by the increase in oil, so it was inevitable that the price in Malaysia would also increase. However, I believe that the manner that the government handled it was very poor. Very very poor. They keep saying contradicting things. One moment they say that the foreigners will be charged extra for petrol and only in August will there be any changes to the structure of the subsidies, and then *poof* out of nowhere came the news that the price will be increased that very night. But then again, they've done this before. One minute the parliament won't be dissolved tomorrow, and the next minute *drumroll* it will be dissolved tomorrow. Such lies are what we don't need especially now, when there are many economic problems throughout the world. Even the UK and US are feeling a slight pinch.

Somehow these people haven't learned from their past mistakes. How do you expect people to trust you if you keep lying to them? Do we need an indecisive leader or a determined one? Yes, of course humans make mistakes, but if you make too many mistakes in your job, maybe it means you're really not capable of handling it.

Like I said before, the price increase is unavoidable, but 78 sen is just too much and too sudden. No steps have been taken to let the rakyat prepare for what was going to hit them. Is this a ‘padan muka sapa suruh x undi kitorg majoriti time pilihanraya dulu’ gesture? If they do want to increase it by that much, they should've done so gradually, little by little. This abrupt news caused massive traffic jams at the petrol stations. And people even got angry with the petrol pumps that were closed due to them being out of oil, accusing them of hiding petrol so that they could sell them at a higher price. How chaotic.

The government should also ensure that our public transport system is quite efficient and covers the routes conveniently. If people complain about the Underground trains in London, then I couldn't imagine how they'd react to the KTM Komuter in Malaysia. Now don't even mention the buses.

It's very frustrating when the government tell us not to waste our money, to spend wisely etc, but at the same time, they're not doing what they preach. Having private jets to take them anywhere they want, spending a lot of money and sending a lot of people to unnecessary ‘study’ trips abroad and other absurd expenditures. I'm not saying we shouldn't learn from others, but do it wisely and remember that you're using the people's money.

In saying all this, I do not agree with people who think that Petronas has a right to subsidise petrol, that most of their profit should be spent on the people. Yes, Petronas is drilling oil in Malaysia, and yes, Petronas is a Malaysian company. However, they do need to pay those who work their socks off for them as well. Even Petronas's employees are affected by the price hike, well not the very high-ranked ones of course. Now let's not talk about the money getting into some politicians' pockets because that would just drag this entry. It's Petronas's profit and they have the right to use them as they please. To put it in a rude way, ingat Petronas ni syarikat bapak kau ke? Well, maybe there's an act somewhere that says Petronas is the company of everyone's fathers or something along that line. If that's the case, then I humbly apologize.

There's no doubt that this price increase will have a domino effect on all the price of goods since everyone is dependant on the fuel to power their means of transportation. I just hope that those in power know what they're doing and help those that will really be affected by all this. On the positive side, at least there'll be a little bit less pollution if many people don't use their vehicles if it's really not necessary to do so. But hey, I'm just hoping.

poynt wezt

Ammir and I bought Marvel: Ultimate Alliance about a couple of weeks ago. It's an action role-playing game (RPG). If you don't know what RPG is, don't worry. Xde masuk exam pun. If you don't know and still wanna know, there's always Answers.com. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is a game where you control Marvel Comics superheroes to perform missions in order to defeat the evil Dr Doom's team of supervillains, the Masters of Evil.

The good news for us (me, Ammir, Hyree and Pear) is up to four players can play the game at the same time. It's played on one full screen, which means the TV screen isn't split into how many people are playing. But the bad news was we only had three controllers, so there was usually one observer.

mari kita belasah orang jahat ni beramai2

In the game, you can have your own team of superheroes, where you can increase your team's performance based on the points that you collect. After experimenting with different characters, we chose Wolverine, Human Torch, Deadpool and Captain America as our team members. It was time to pick the team name...

Ammir: “Chamberlain United dah ada. Point West la pulak.”
Hyree: “I tukar la jadi Y dalam Point.”
Ammir: “Gedik nya.”
Fadhli: “Alang2 nak gedik, tukar S jadik Z dalam West tu.”
Pear: (Hanya mampu pandang slack dan ketawa.)

So there it was, Poynt Wezt. Make sure you pronounce it properly: “Poynt Wezzzzzzzzzzt”.

poynt wezt (from left): wolverine, ghost rider, the human torch, deadpool. captain america and thor were busy fighting bad guys while this photo was taken.

As we progressed, we added Ghost Rider and Thor to our gedik squad. You have to make sure that your team has a good balance of different powers to ensure that the whole team don't die easily. I usually used Wolverine because he heals quickly and his melee attacks using his claws are cool, and the Human Torch because he could fly and has a controllable fire projectile. Pear liked Deadpool, Hyree used Captain America and Ghost Rider, while Ammir preferred Thor.

We had already finished the game last week. It's kind of open-ended, meaning certain choices that you make during the game have their own consequences. Pear has just bought a new blue controller, so boleh la main 4 orang skrg, try characters lain pulak, and main the 'hard' level.

On another note, we've finished playing Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, but the game's not worth an entry on its own. Game tu x best. Nak control x best, cerita x best, even the different endings weren't satisfactory. The only good thing about it was its sniper zoom. Memang sedap la guna sniper. But overall, Hyree couldn't wait to finish it so that he could sell it. Heh.

thorpe park

Since our exams were all done and over with, we went to Thorpe Park to chill and have fun. I know, I know, we still have our projects, but rilek dulu, chill dulu. It was a good thing we went on Saturday since it was a good sunny day sandwiched by rainy days. Special thanks to the organizer Siti Sofia. Say thank you everyone! Thanks to Hyree, Pear, both Hanafi's, Syafa, Lai, Sofia, Baya and Ijah for the wonderful time we had (tiru ayat Hyree, but I really do mean it).

logger's leap, basah sikit naik ni

Here are the rides that we went on that day:

1. Quantum
2. Zodiac
3. Vortex
4. Logger's Leap
5. Colossus
6. Chief Rangers Caroussel
7. Nemesis Inferno
8. Rumba Rapids
9. Flying Fish
10. Tidal Wave
11. Stealth
12. X:\No Way Out

If my memory serves me correctly, this is the order that we went on them. The rides in red are the Extreme Thrills, the yellowish brown ones are the Thrilling and Fun rides, while the blue one is, well, ermm, the scariest one of all, the Young Thrill Seekers.

nemesis inferno, adik kepada nemesis at alton towers

The first couple of rides were 'warming up' ones. You can't just go on the 'heavy' ones straight away. Kalau tidak, nanti cramp. Compared to Alton Towers, Thorpe Park is smaller. That's better because it made it quite easy for us to get to the rides that we want to go to. We didn't need to rush.

If you go there, there's this one ride that you shouldn't miss. It makes you dizzy, you'll feel pressure in your stomach and the wind blowing at your face. Which ride am I talking about? The one and only Chief Rangers Caroussel. Heh.

this is the scariest ride ever

There was also a basketball throwing game that I played. I had three shots to get the ball in the basket. Unfortunately, all my throws didn't go in. Dah la Hyree rakam, and he's probably gonna upload it at YouTube (noooooooooo!!!). Haih, how embarrassing! In my defence, the hoop was a bit tall and small (excuses, excuses).

As you all probably can see, we were prepared to pose at the camera at each ride since we knew where they were. Since there were ten of us, we couldn't fit everyone in one picture. The most that you could fit in a ride was 8, and that's on the Rumba Rapids. We had 10 people, so the logical way to split us up into 2 groups is to have a ratio of 5 and 5 right? But somehow it turned out to be 6 and 4. Hmm.. I wonder why.

“(yang kiri) ni boat bdk2 3rd yr. (yang kanan) ni sume bdk2 4th year. hampeh discriminate siot.” - hanafi tony

We prepared our own lunch to eat that day. (All of us except one, that is. Mana burger special?) Thanks to Syafa, Lai and Sofia for the popia, Baya for the pasta and Ijah for the muffins. All were delicious. Sori la our sandwiches takde la sedap mana ye.

The Flying Fish was the only ride that I tanpa segan silu nya seated at the front seats. It was a 'mild' roller coaster. Hyree and I even did sleeping poses in front of the camera, but we didn't buy that photo. Menyesal la pulak. Since we didn't buy it, I've recreated it and now I present to you the Sleeping-on-the-Flying-Fish photo:

oops, wrong photo

Oh sorry, my bad, wrong one. That's the Sleeping-on-the-Train-because-we-were-Tired-after-a-Whole-Day-at-Thorpe-Park photo. Here's the recreated one:

flying fish zzzzz

The Tidal Wave was the wettest ride of all. We knew what we were in for, but we still went for it. Beratur panjang2, lama2, lepas tu naik ride, basah kuyup, siapa punya idea nih? Heh. After getting all our clothes wet, it was really cold waiting to get off the ride. Time tu jugak angin nak tiup kuat2. Freezing.

Some of the high-demand rides had really long queues. Special thanks to our timekeeper Ijah for informing us how long we were in the queues. They usually took 30 to 45 minutes. We even played Old Maid while waiting to get on the rides. Apologies for the gossiping during queueing, especially on the Nemesis Inferno and Stealth lines. Selamba je buat scandal. But what else were we supposed to do. Hehe.

All in all, it was a really fun day. Thanks again everyone! Oh and I'm sorry that the not-speaking-to-Fadhli thing didn't go so well. Better luck next time! Hehe. And here's Hyree's brief post on that day. When's the longer version coming out?

*Update (2 June)* - Hyree's slightly longer version is already out, including some comments regarding what I've written here (oh I agree it's Lai's fault too), and a 10-minute video. How I wish a few minutes of that video would be erased. Heh.

champions of the uefa champions league

Glory glory Man United!
Glory glory Man United!
Glory glory Man United!
And the reds go marching on!

Hurrah for Manchester United who had just won the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday. What a game it was, with plenty of drama.

Here are some photos of the big night.
(No, the photo on the left here isn't part of the game.)

this is what both teams are battling for

the opening ceremony at moscow's luzhniki stadium

and the match starts

paul scholes gets the first yellow of the game for colliding with claude makelele, who also gets a yellow card

starting with some slick passing from scholes and wes brown, followed by a lovely left-foot cross from brown, cristiano ronaldo heads in man utd's first goal, and his 42nd goal of the season, in the 26th minute

frank lampard equalises for chelsea just before half time

ouch, nemanda vidic helps captain rio ferdinand, who has a cramp

come on lads, urges the manager, sir alex ferguson

ryan giggs replaces scholes for his 759th appearance for man utd, beating sir bobby charlton's record

didier drogba is given his marching orders after slapping vidic

after a goalless extra time, the game goes into penalties, but scorer ronaldo misses his penalty

captain john terry slips and misses his penalty kick

edwin van der sar saves nicolas anelka's spot-kick to hand victory to man utd

jubilant man united players run to their keeper

club captain gary neville, who's been injured most of the season, celebrates with an emotional ronaldo

meanwhile, manager avram grant consoles terry

man utd wins the champions league, 50 years after the munich air crash

the old gaffer celebrates his second champions league trophy with his team

glory glory manchester united!

So there you go. Man Utd have won the double this year. Let's hope next year will be better!

suspension of disbelief

What? What does that mean? Well, this is what Wikipedia has to say:

It refers to the alleged willingness of a reader or viewer to accept as true the premises of a work of fiction, even if they are fantastic, impossible, or otherwise contradictory to ‘reality’. It also refers to the willingness of the audience to overlook the limitations of a medium, so that these do not interfere with the acceptance of those premises. According to the theory, suspension of disbelief is a quid pro quo: the audience tacitly agrees to provisionally suspend their judgment in exchange for the promise of entertainment.

Too many words for you? Yup, same here. Well, basically ‘suspension of disbelief’ for stories, movies etc, means we know what we're watching isn't true, but we're just believing it for the sake of enjoying it. Just go with the flow.

But sometimes, I think it's just too much, especially in those stories that have been adapted from comic books. I don't know, maybe during the period when most of these comic books were first created, they didn't mind much about these stuff, so fair enough then. But to give those movie producers credit, they usually update the overall scenarios when adapting from comic books.

Superman

Superman, or Kal-El, was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in 1932, and is now published by DC Comics. I'm sure everyone knows that his alter ego is Clark Kent, a mild-mannered reporter. Shame on those who don't know!

oops, i forgot to wear my costume. oh yes, it's in the washing machine. damn, now everyone knows my secret identity.

Okay, let's just say we (kind of) accept the fact that The Man of Steel wears tight blue clothing and *gasp* his underwear on the outside (so that should be overwear right?). And of course, his superpowers and the fact that he's an alien. There's nothing wrong with that.

But what about his secret identity? By just wearing a pair of glasses and normal clothing, he's not Superman anymore. Maybe he has some other power: the power to make people see through his spectacles. I think to make it more believable, maybe he should have other powers: the power to grow facial hair at will and the ability to change his hair colour. If Clark was a reporter with a moustache and a beard and maybe blonde(?) hair, that would be a more believable disguise, now wouldn't it?

Batman

Also published by DC Comics, Batman is a superhero co-created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger in 1939, although only Kane receives official credit. Unlike Superman, Bruce Wayne doesn't have any superpowers. He's a wealthy millionaire and a very intelligent man who, as The Dark Knight, uses his skills, wits and gadgets to defeat the bad guys. I'm sure everyone knows this already.

i'm a bat. wanna 'hang' out with me? just gimme a ring on my bat-phone.

Batman has nearly everything. The only thing he lacks is a sense of humour. Oh, and of course, he doesn't have parents anymore since they were killed in front of him when he was small. Kesian.

He usually uses his detective skills to investigate stuff. He knows nearly everything that's going on in Gotham City. You would think that by using a lot of money to create all his bat-gadgets and vehicles, the government sure could trace it all back to him. Come on, by having all these expensive high-tech stuff, there'd sure be suspicions of who is Batman. But no, he always gets away with it. And if there are new masked heroes or villains, he could easily find out who they are. No fair.

Incredible Hulk

The Incredible Hulk is published by Marvel Comics and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1962. When Dr. Bruce Banner becomes angry, he turns into the Hulk, a green, raging monster. He was first transformed into the Hulk after getting caught in a blast of a gamma bomb. The overexposure of gamma ray was the cause of his transformation.

the new (but small) incredible hulk, wearing specs, a watch and a pair of boots, with his bro, the blue hulk, and friends, defeating the evil warlord hell-mee the orange.

So when Dr. Banner turns into the Hulk, he gets bigger and bigger, so all his clothes gets ripped because they're too small for the Hulk's body. All except one that is. Well, not one, but half. His trousers. So they want us to believe that every part of his body grows bigger except his waist to his thigh?

I know, I know. No one wants to see his pants getting ripped away. What a major wardrobe malfunction that would be. But hey, at least make it a little bit believable, like maybe he wears extra expandable pants. That's what they did for Mr Fantastic in The Fantastic Four. He has this specially fabricated suit which can expand as he expands. Go on Bruce, go borrow his suit.

Spider-Man

Another Marvel Comics publication, Spider-Man was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in 1962. Peter Parker, an orphaned teenager, gained his spider powers after being bitten by a radioactive spider.

oops, i'm stuck up here. can somebody please help me? anybody?

Peter Parker is not a rich kid. He didn't have much money, but how did he get that costume? To make the designs himself is believable, but don't expect me to believe that he sewed it himself. Or if he sent the designs to a tailor, then his identity would be exposed, and not forgetting it'd be expensive. The movie version of his suit is way too expensive for him to own. With great power comes great responsibility, but with a great costume, there have to be great money to make it done in the first place.

There's something about the Spider-Man movies which I'm not particularly happy about. I don't know about the comics, but I watched the Spider-Man animated series when I was small and one thing I liked about Spidey was his sense of humour. However, in the movies, he's too jiwang with Mary Jane. If they're making more Spider-Man movies (and I hope they do), it would be good to hear a lot of witty comments besides all the action (and please, less jiwang).

From what I've written, you may think that I hate comics or movies based on them. On the contrary. I'm a big fan of them. A very big fan. It's just that I've switched off my suspension of belief for a while. Now that I've switched it on again, you guys should forget everything that I've written and just enjoy the comics/movies/fictional stories!

Heroes

Heroes is a television series created by Tim Kring, produced by Universal Media Studios in association with Tailwind Productions, and shown in NBC in the US. The series tells the stories of ordinary individuals who discover that they have superhuman abilities. It explores how these people adapt to the changes that their powers bring and their roles in preventing catastrophes. “Save the cheerleader, save the world”.

guess which heroes character. if all your guesses are correct, maybe you'll get a prize. nah, maybe not.

Although its concept is similar to any other comic book, the great thing about Heroes is that it makes the characters look normal, even with their superhuman powers. Well for one, they don't wear any costumes, especially tight ones. I mean, why must superheroes and supervillains wear tight clothings? Hmm, maybe to show off their perfect bodies I suppose. Heh.

I also like its overall story line, although certain episodes are quite disappointing, especially Season 1's finale. And there are also annoying characters like Maya and Alejandro who don't move the story much. (Alejandro's now gone, so when are they gonna get rid of Maya?)

It was a bit sad that Season 2 was cut short due to the writers' strike. I hope they can make the new upcoming seasons as good as the first one, plus make good season finales as well. If you haven't watched Heroes, I seriously recommend you to watch it. Best gua cakap lu. Can't wait for Season 3!

Summer Movies

this is not sparta. this is koolness, bebeh.

There are so many good movies this summer. I've already watched Iron Man, and I'm now of the opinion that Iron Man is the epitome of coolness! It's seriously cool. Go watch it if you haven't already done so. Oh, and stay until all the closing credits are shown. There's an extra scene at the end. It's the first film produced by Marvel Studios and it's great. Since it's made by Marvel, it stays true to the comic books, not like a certain trilogy of movies involving mutants which really strayed. Yes, the X-Men movies were cool too, but it was really disappointing that they changed a lot of stuff. Tukar sikit2 xpe la. But they had to make Cyclops look like a wimp and then kill the main characters. Haih.

mark 1, mark 2, mark 3. mark aih, cool gila.

Iron Man is like Batman, a rich guy with some cool gadgets, but with a great sense of humour which in a way makes him cooler. Sorry Batman. However, he does have certain problems which may be explored in the sequel.

Almost everything about the movie was superb. The starting, the plot, the action, the costumes, the ending, just great. You won't understand if you haven't watched the movie. Well, what are you waiting for? Go watch it. Now! Heh.

i have a whip and i'm not afraid to use it, even though i'm as old as your grandad.

Then there's Indiana Jones. I'll need to ‘revise’ by watching the first three movies before I watch the latest one. I remember watching the third instalment and it was very funny. The chemistry between Harrison Ford and Sean Connery, who played his father, was good and their interactions were mostly humourous. Some scenes in that movie are just priceless.

i'm green but i ain't mean. seriously.

There's another Marvel Comics adaptation, The Incredible Hulk, and it's also produced by Marvel Studios. Now some people may be put off by this due to that dreadful movie Hulk. Well, I actually don't have the right to say it's dreadful, since I haven't watched it yet. Nevertheless, I wanna watch this movie and see how it goes. I heard that Tony Stark/Iron Man is gonna make an appearance in it. I think that Marvel will be making combining these heroes a few years from now. Now that is very interesting.

sorry, i have no idea what to write here.

There's also The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, continuing from the first one, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The first movie was okay, so I hope this one is better. The Chronicles of Narnia is actually a series of seven fantasy novels for children written by C. S. Lewis. When I was in primary school, my teacher usually read us a story book after lunch playing time was over. Some of the books were those written by Tolkien and Lewis, so I vaguely remember some of these stories now. I'm not sure if Prince Caspian was one of those books though, but I'd still like to watch it.

not your normal superhero.

Hancock is another movie to be watched. Starring Will Smith, it's about someone with superpowers but who's very selekeh. Sort of like an anti-hero type of person. The trailer looks good, so I can't wait to watch it. But then again, trailers are usually good right?

you've gotta admit, that's one hell of a mean-looking guy.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army looks like a movie with a lot of action, so it should be a good one to watch. Hellboy is a Dark Horse Comics character created by Mike Mignola in 1993. He's a red-skinned demon. It's a good thing he's not the bad guy, or else all hell may break loose (pun intended).

it's dark out there, just like me.

If I'm not mistaken, The Dark Knight will be the last action/fantasy movie to be released this summer. It's a sequel to Batman Begins, and introduces Harvey Dent, who will eventually become the villain Two-Face, and The Joker. Unfortunately, the actor who played The Joker, Heath Ledger, has passed away a few months ago.

The movie looks really promising, although I don't like the look of The Joker much (with no disrespect to the actor). Batman Begins rebooted the Batman franchise and The Dark Knight continues this reinvention. Now if they combine Superman and Batman, plus other DC Comics characters, that would be very interesting as well.

There are too many good movies to watch. Haih, there goes my money. Oh and I'd like to apologize for the poyoness of some of the pictures above. I blame this craziness on the exams, which I've just finished a few days ago. Hurrah! But now I have to concentrate on my final year project. It's a good thing Manchester United won the Champions League the other day. Yippee! And they've already won the EPL. Yeay double!! So xde la down nk buat kerja kan. Ehe. And in between project work, I can chill to watch a movie with friends, or just hang out. Wanna join?

a couple of songs...

Maroon 5 - Nothing Lasts Forever

It is so easy to see
Dysfunction between you and me
We must free up these tired souls
Before the sadness gets us both

I tried and tried to let you know
I love you but I'm letting go
It may not last but I don't know
Just don't know

If you don't know
Then you can't care
And I show up
But you're not there
But I'm waiting
And you want to
Still afraid that I will desert you

Everyday
With every word whispered we get more far away
The distance between us makes it so hard to stay
But nothing last forever, but be honest babe
It hurts but it may be the only way

A bed that's warm with memories
Can heal us temporarily
The misbehaving only makes
The ditch between us so damn deep

Built a wall around my heart
Never let it fall apart
Strangely I wish secretly
It won't fall down while I'm asleep

If you don't know
Then you can't care
And I show up
But you're not there
But I'm waiting
And you want to
Still afraid that I will desert you, babe

Everyday
With every word whispered we get more far away
The distance between us makes it so hard to stay
But nothing last forever, but be honest babe
It hurts but it may be the only way

But we have not hit the ground
Doesn't mean we're not still falling, oh..
I want so bad to pick you up
But you're still too reluctant to accept my help
What a shame I hope you find somewhere to place the blame
But until then the fact remains

Everyday
With every word whispered we get more far away
The distance between us makes it so hard to stay
Nothing last forever, but be honest babe
It hurts but it may be the only way

Everyday
With every word whispered we get more far away
The distance between us makes it so hard to stay
Nothing last forever, but be honest babe
It hurts but it may be the only way


OneRepublic - Say (All I Need)

Do you know where your heart is?
Do you think you can find it?
Or did you trade it for something
Somewhere better just to have it?
Do you know where your love is?
Do you think that you lost it?
You felt it so strong, but
Nothing's turned out how you wanted

Well, bless my soul
You're a lonely soul
Cause you won't let go
Of anything you hold

Well, all I need
Is the air I breathe
And a place to rest
My head

Do you know what your fate is?
And are you trying to shake it?
You're doing your best dance
Your best look
You're praying that you make it

Well, bless my soul
You're a lonely soul
Cause you won't let go
Of anything you hold

Well, all I need
Is the air I breathe
And a place to rest
My head

I said all I need
Is the air I breathe
And a place to rest
My head

Do you think you can find it?
Do you think you can find it?
Do you think you can find it
Better than you had it?
Do you think you can find it?
Do you think you can find it?
Do you think you can find it
Yeah, better than you had it? (Better than you had it)

I said all I need
Is the air I breathe
And a place to rest
My head

I said all I need
Is the air I breathe
And a place to rest
My head

Do you know where the end is?
Do you think you can see it?
Well, until you get there
Go on, go ahead and scream it
Just say