Madagascar and Other Movies

Recently, I managed to watch a few movies through DVD and where else, my torrents! I watched Madagascar through DVD and surprisingly, it was in DVD quality so soon after the screening of the movie! I guess it's from Greece or somewhere like that and the only down point was that some of the titles such as New York Zoo or something like that was in Greek (or something). I've to agree with my friend that the show was such a let-down and they are actually promoting this movie as from the makers of Shrek? Shrek is so much better! Don't spoil Shrek with such association! Well, I did laugh maybe once or twice throughout the show without thinking that the jokes were just plain lame. Well, I have to give it credit for helping me kill time instead of watching paint dry or milk curdle. :P

One movie (or documentary) I watched was The End of Suburbia which sort of freaked me out. That documentary was recommended to me when the oil prices peaked to its highest ever level recently. For those who have questioned me recently for walking (or more of not using my car much), you can actually read up about the concept of Peak Oil.

Two movies I watched most recently (although they are pretty old) are Eurotrip and Roadtrip. Well, actually I've caught glimpses of them before but didn't manage to watch the whole movie so I decided to do that now. It's good laugh though.

Well, I'll have seasons 2 and 3 of 24 soon so hopefully that will help me get my mind of the horrible events that transpired in London yesterday.

(picture from theZreview)

Explosions Rock London

Four blasts ripped through London at rush hour early on Thursday, killing people, wounding 150 seriously and disrupting a meeting of Group of Eight leaders in Scotland in attacks Prime Minister Tony Blair called 'barbaric'. Witnesses saw the top ripped off a double-decker bus near Russell Square close to King's Cross train terminal, and packed subway trains were hit in three more apparently coordinated blasts. Financial markets tumbled as the scale of the attacks became clear and Blair told reporters he would return to London from the G8 summit to oversee the emergency. He planned to return to the talks in Gleneagles later in the day. Blair said it was 'also reasonably clear' that the attacks were timed to coincide with the opening of the summit. The attacks recalled the 2004 train bombings in Madrid blamed on al Qaeda and left the city's residents in shock. The Islamic Human Rights Commission warned London Muslims to stay at home to avoid any violence aimed at them. A group, the 'Secret Organization group of al Qaeda Organization in Europe', claimed responsibility in a website posting. The authenticity of the claim could not immediately be verified. I just don't understand these crazy people. What do they get from seeing people suffer like this?

(picture from BBC)

London 2012

The right to host the 2012 Olympics have been given to London ahead of Paris, the front-runner throughout the campaign. After Moscow, New York and Madrid were eliminated in the first three rounds, London beat its cross-Channel opponent 54-50 on the fourth ballot of the International Olympic Committee vote - capping the most glamorous and hotly contested bid race in Olympic history. The race had been considered too close to call as an unprecedented collection of world leaders and sports celebrities converged on Singapore to lobby for the bids. London's victory handed Paris a third stinging Olympic defeat in 20 years, following failed bids for the 1992 and 2008 Olympics. Paris hasn't hosted the games since 1924. Paris had the perceived advantage of bidding for a third time, as the IOC tends to reward persistence. The French capital also had a ready-to-go Olympic stadium in the Stade de France and embraced the IOC's blueprint for controlling the size and cost of the games but not even a personal appearance in Singapore by French President Jacques Chirac could secure victory. London centers its bid on the massive urban renewal of a dilapidated area of East London. It's the fourth bid from Britain after failed attempts by Birmingham for the 1992 Olympics and Manchester for 1996 and 2000. I was quite surprised with the results when I was watching it live just now. I was quite sure Paris will be 'rewarded' after being 'snubbed' twice previously but I guess the delegates thought otherwise. The next Olympic games in 2008 will be held in Beijing, China.

Missed Call

A few days back, I left my phone at home while it was charging and usually when I charge my phone, I do not switch it on. The next morning, I received this SMS from Maxis:

04/07/05 01:17
You have 1 missed call
+6043****** (1)
since 19:16 03JUL05

I was like, huh?!? Since when do they provide missed call reports when you can't be reached? I presume the number in the parentheses is suppose to denote the number of missed calls from that phone number? Well, I definitely didn't know who called because I don't recognise the phone number so I didn't bother. Maybe I will do some investigating myself by calling my phone when it is switched off. Hmmm...will I be charged for that?!? :P

O Draconian Devil, Oh Lame Saint

A few days back, I finished reading the highly acclaimed novel by Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code, a novel I've wanted to read for a very long time but didn't manage to do so until recently but thanks to my friend (and her friend), my brains received the best antidote it needed. The book is marvellous, very well written, intriguing plot, just couldn't put it down! Well, I was also motivated to finish the novel as soon as possible so I can return it (I'm not used to borrowing stuff for too long) but solving the mystery was definitely the driving force that kept me up late at night. For those who have not read the book, you can preview the first few chapters here. If you have read it and enjoyed the book, you would probably enjoy the challenges they prepared online - Web Quest and Uncover The Code. Try them out, some are harder to figure out compared to the ones in the book. Well, I don't want to brag...but I did figure out the clues in the book before getting to the answers. :P Maybe it has to do with me liking codes a lot and I learned many codes when I was young. I'm a little rusty now, though. You might get stuck when you play the Web Quest (it was actually a real competition) because you would have to call a US telephone number. I've managed to overcome that obstable though, so I did complete them both.

The book is so well written, it can be so easily adapted into a movie. The scripwriter wouldn't need to do much! Everything is already in the book! Anyway, plans are already underway to make it into a movie which will be premiering worldwide on the 19th of May 2006 staring Tom Hanks (as Robert Langdon, I presume). Malaysians can catch it on the 18th of May 2006, though. You can visit the official movie site here. Well, the reason I was so eager to get hold of the book is because I heard the news that it was going to be made into a movie and I didn't want to spoil the reading experience which everyone said 'is to die for' and I agree with that statement 100%! However, the producers of the movie claims that we will be blown away by the movie regardless of how many times we've read the novel and how we perceive the story to be like. Hmm...this I got to see. Anyway, if you've not read it, please do. You won't regret it!

(pictures from DanBrown.com and Sony Pictures)