Much Ado About Nothing

Richard Ng Takes My Cab

2010-05-06T22:21:00.001-07:00

Shawn

2010-01-11T21:00:00.000-08:00

Something Dolby Stereo Comes This Way

2009-03-22T03:04:00.000-07:00

Chung Cheng High School (Main) Graduating Class of 1988 4H

2009-02-01T02:51:00.001-08:00

In the beginning and in the end

2009-01-24T23:45:00.001-08:00

Sliming Gel

2008-12-30T21:17:00.001-08:00

Rub this on your body for 7 days and you will turn into slime!

He Who Dies With The Most Cars Dies Anyway

2008-12-29T23:53:00.000-08:00

The Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, is famous for his vast automobile collection. In 1998, the British car magazine Autocar published undercover photographs of the Sultan's cars, which included unique modifications of Ferraris and Bentleys. It has been said that he has at least 3,000 to 6,000 cars and has bought over U.S.$4 billion worth of cars. The number purchased by his business interests and the number actually used by himself and his family differ greatly. According to Guinness World Records the Sultan's personal private collection has 500 Rolls-Royces — the largest collection of that marque in the world. During the 1990s, his family accounted for almost half of all Rolls-Royce purchases, bulk buying slightly modified vehicles for diplomats and adding unique cars to their own collection. He also owns the very last Rolls-Royce Phantom VI, a 1992 state landaulette. Among his collection are the Porsche Carrera GT, Lamborghini Diablo Jota, Porsche 959, Bugatti EB110, Lamborghini Murcielago LP640, Maybach 62, Jaguar XJR-15 and six Dauer 962's. He is also the owner of six models of the Ferrari FX, the original red show model of the Bentley Continental R, two fully operational versions of the Ferrari Mythos concept car, both of the Ferrari 456 GT Sedans, the only right hand drive Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR in the world, five McLaren F1's including both black LM models and three Cizeta-Moroder V16T cars. He also possesses a Formula One car as driven by every Formula 1 World Drivers Champion since the 1980 Formula One season, particularly the ones driven in the last race for each season. A prime example of this is Jacques Villeneuve's Williams FW19 which still bears the collision damage courtesy of Michael Schumacher in the 1997 European Grand Prix.

He has a special interest in buying one-of-a-kind concept cars, including the Bentley Java and Bentley Dominator 4x4, whilst leaving slightly more common race cars such as the Aston Martin AM3 or the modified Mercedes-Benz 300SL to his brother Jefri. The collection of vehicles was for the most part stored and serviced in five aircraft hangars, where specialist teams from the various manufacturers would maintain the collection.

The Daily Mirror (UK) reported on October 26, 2007 that the Sultan owned 531 Mercedes-Benzes, 367 Ferraris, 362 Bentleys, 185 BMWs, 177 Jaguars, 160 Porsches, 130 Rolls-Royces, and 20 Lamborghinis.

Edvard Munch - The Scream

2008-12-18T01:13:00.000-08:00

Opening Scene of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

2008-12-17T00:39:00.000-08:00

Bearak Obama

2008-12-16T22:26:00.001-08:00

New Creation Church

2008-12-16T21:23:00.001-08:00

New building right above Buona Vista MRT station.

圣诞老人=剩蛋老人

2008-12-15T01:34:00.000-08:00

为什么圣诞老人叫圣诞老人呢？
因为圣诞老人其实是剩蛋老人。
在一个风雪交加的晚上，圣诞老人因为尿急，便在一颗树下撒尿。
结果小鸡鸡冻僵了，所以成了剩蛋老人。

Bolt Out Of The Blue

2008-12-14T16:23:00.000-08:00

Jonathan Ezra Chua Xuefeng

2008-12-07T06:12:00.000-08:00

From $2 To $7,721

2008-12-03T16:40:00.001-08:00

TODAY, Thursday, 04th December, 2008
Tight credit lines actas brakes, even as small car premiums and dealer prices rise:
Neo Chai Chin
chaichin@mediacorp.com.sg:
IT was largely expected: The$2 Certificates of Entitlement (COE) for small cars proved a fluke, as prices in that category yesterday rebounded to $7,721. The figure, though, is still the third-lowest since 2005. A total of 3,149 bids were received for the 1,840 COEs on offer — a contrast to the last exercise on Nov 19, when the number of bids exceeded the quota by just one. Prior to the $2 fluke, small-car COEs had gone for $10,455 early last month. The latest premium falls within the range of what car dealers expected, and they believe COE prices will hold stable until the Chinese New Year.
"I think buyers are trying to get (their cars) before the festive season, so in the short term, COE prices should be around this (range)," said Mr Neo Nam Heng, president of the Singapore Vehicle TradersAssociation. He reckoned that dealers would need two more months to bid for COEs, to clear all the orders placed in the last two weeks.
Dealers had slashed prices by up to $10,000 in the wake of the record-low COE premium. But prices have inched up by a few thousand dollars since, moderated by market sentiment which is still relatively weak. Mitsubishi, for example, plans to raise prices for cars below 1,600cc by $1,000 soon, after a recent increase of the same amount. "Prices won't go up drastically," said a spokeswoman for its distributor, Cycle & Carriage. But demand is also dampened by another factor — full car loans are hard to come by from banks, with the ongoing credit crisis.
"Loan rejection rates are appalling — 30 to 40 per cent of the people (at our showrooms) could not get the full loans," said Mr Glenn Tan, group chief executive of Motor Image Enterprises, Subaru's regional distributor.
"So, I think that even with a bumper crop of people wanting to buying cars, the COEs have not gone to $10,000 or $15,000 because they cannot get loans."
COEs in the big cars, motorcycles and open categories also went up in yesterday's exercise. Prices for cars above 1,600cc rose from $4,889 to $6,501, while open category prices rose from $6,889 to $7,589. Motorcycle COEs rose slightly from $1,012 to $1,102. Only COEs in the goods vehicle and bus category fell, from $6,189 to $5,212.

Treadmill Workstation

2008-12-03T16:25:00.000-08:00

Wanted

2008-12-03T01:37:00.000-08:00

Wanted is a 2008 action film which is very loosely based on the comic book miniseries of the same name by Mark Millar. The film is directed by Timur Bekmambetov and stars James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, Thomas Kretschmann and Terence Stamp. Production began in April 2007. Wanted was released on June 25, 2008 in the United Kingdom and June 27, 2008 in the United States.

Plot
A young man named Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy) works at a dead-end job with an overbearing boss, takes anti-anxiety medication for panic attacks, and has a live-in girlfriend who cheats on him with his best friend. He speaks of how his father left when he was just one week old. He wonders if when he was born his father looked into his eyes and saw a failure.

Elsewhere, an assassin called "Mr. X" (David O'Hara) is targeted by a group of snipers, who he easily dispatches. However, he finds himself standing over an 'X' on the ground, and is killed by a rogue named Cross (Thomas Kretschmann) with an untraceable bullet. During one of his trips to the pharmacy, Gibson is told by a mysterious woman named Fox (Angelina Jolie) about how his father was killed, and that the killer, Cross, is behind him. Cross and Fox engage in a spectacular shoot-out followed by a car chase in the streets of Chicago.

Fox brings Gibson to the headquarters of The Fraternity, a thousand-year-old secret society of assassins. The group's leader, Sloan (Morgan Freeman), invites Gibson to follow in his father's footsteps as an assassin. To show him what he's capable of, Gunsmith (another assasin and member of The Fraternity) holds a gun to Gibson's head and has him shoot the wings off several flies. Gibson has a panic attack and does as asked. Sloan explains that his heart beats around 400 times a minute when he's stressed, sending massive amounts of adrenaline into his bloodstream, and that he can learn to control it. Gibson is initially reluctant and returns to work, only to finally snap after being shown a new possible life. He tells off his boss in front of the entire office. On his way out, he smacks his friend across the face with a keyboard. Fox is waiting outside to take him back to the Fraternity headquarters - an unassuming textile mill.

After much training, Gibson is shown the Loom of Fate, a loom that gives the names of the targets through binary code hidden in weaving errors of the fabric. Those the loom identifies are apparently destined to cause tragedy in the future, thus killing them spares those the person would have harmed. Fox experienced the result of failing to complete a hit when her father, a judge handling a sensitive case, was burned alive by a hired killer (the target) in front of her eyes. The man then burned his initials on her neck. After several routine missions and a chance meeting with Cross, in which Cross shoots him in the arm with a deliberately traceable bullet, Gibson becomes impatient and demands to be allowed to avenge his father. Sloan grants his wish, but then gives Fox a mission to kill Gibson.

Gibson and Fox travel to the Fraternity's original base of operations in Europe and capture the bullet-maker, Pekwarsky (Terence Stamp) who arranges a meeting with Cross. Gibson and Fox are tricked into separating, leaving Gibson to face Cross alone on a moving train. Fox steals a car and crashes it into the train, eventually causing the train to derail when it reaches a bridge over a deep ravine. Gibson is about to fall into the ravine before Cross catches his hand, saving his life. Gibson shoots him. Before Cross dies, he tells Gibson that he is his real father and that the Fraternity had been lying to him. Fox confirms the truth and explains that Gibson was recruited because he was the only person that Cross wouldn't kill. Fox then tells Gibson about the kill order on him, but Gibson escapes by shooting out the glass underneath him and plunging into the river below.

Gibson is retrieved by Pekwarsky, who takes him to his father's apartment, located across the street from his old home. Pekwarsky explains that Sloan discovered that he was targeted by the Loom of Fate, so he started manufacturing his own targets for profit. Cross discovered and went rogue. Gibson realizes that Cross had actually been targeting Fraternity members to keep them away from him. Pekwarsky departs after giving Gibson plane tickets, stating that his father wished him a life free of violence. Gibson, however, decides to take out Sloan after discovering a secret room containing all of his father's weapons and maps.

Using an army of rats that he lured and trapped with peanut butter and strapped plastic explosives and a detonator to them, Gibson mounts an attack on the Fraternity. He releases the rats into the textile mill and detonates them as a distraction. Upon entering Sloan's office after killing nearly every present fraternity member, he reveals Sloan's deception to the other master assassins left in the room. Sloan reveals that all of their names had come up in the weaving, and that he had merely acted to protect them. Were they to follow the code, every one of them should kill themselves on the spot. Otherwise, they should kill Gibson. The other assassins decide to kill Gibson, but Fox, realizing she has been part of a lie, turns on her fellow assassins. She "curves" a bullet to kill the assassins who had been standing in a circle, then throws her gun to Gibson before stepping back into the path of the bullet. Sloan escapes.

Gibson, penniless once more, does not know what to do with himself. While Gibson provides a voice-over, the audience sees a young man sitting in front of a computer much like Gibson did at the beginning of the film. Sloan appears and points a gun at the man's head. At that moment, the man turns around and is revealed to be a decoy (with the name of J.G. Millar, a reference to J. G Jones and Mark Millar, the comic series creators). Sloan finds himself standing on a marked spot. He is then killed by Gibson, who shoots him in the head from the same window his father killed Mr. X at the beginning of the film. Similar to the comic, the film ends as Gibson turns to the camera and breaks the fourth wall, saying, "This is me taking back control of my life. What the fuck have you done lately?"

Cast
James McAvoy as Wesley Gibson: A meek 24-year-old who works in a cubicle, but is heir to a legacy of assassins. McAvoy was cast in the lead role in October 2006.[2] McAvoy, who had screen-tested for the role early in 2006, was initially rejected due to the studio seeking an actor that had conventional Hollywood leading-man looks and physique. McAvoy was later recalled, being considered the "runt of the litter" of those who tested. According to McAvoy, "They [ultimately] wanted someone geeky." The Scottish actor, who portrays an American in the film, trained for the film's action scenes.[3]
Morgan Freeman as Sloan: The charismatic assassin partner of Wesley Gibson's deceased father.
Angelina Jolie as Fox: One of Fraternity assassins who mentors Gibson.[4] Jolie was cast in March 2007 after screenwriter Dean Georgaris rewrote the screenplay to tailor the role for her.[5]
Thomas Kretschmann as Cross: A rogue assassin who has left the Fraternity.
Common as The Gunsmith: A professional gunman who trains others to use weapons.
Konstantin Khabensky as The Exterminator: Khabensky, who starred in Bekmambetov's Night Watch, was cast so the director would have a familiar face around Wanted.[6]
Marc Warren as The Repairman
Dato Bakhtadze as The Butcher: A master of knife work.[7]
Terence Stamp as Pekwarsky: A master in the science of killing. Pekwarsky operates as a rogue agent outside of The Fraternity.[8]
David O'Hara as Mr. X: Said to be the greatest assassin. His killing catalyzes Wesley's introduction to the Fraternity.
Chris Pratt as Barry[9]
Kristen Hager as Cathy[10]

Production
The comic book miniseries Wanted by Mark Millar first attracted the attention of Universal Studios executive Jeff Kirschenbaum, a comic book fan who sought a film adaptation that would be considered a "hard-R" and encouraged the studio to pick up the rights to the miniseries.[11] By 2004, producer Marc Platt set up development of the film adaptation. In December 2005, Russian-Kazakh director Timur Bekmambetov was attached to helm the project as his first English-language film, with the script being written by Derek Haas and Michael Brandt.[12] Millar did not like the first draft of the script. He explained, "I wanted the film to basically be the opposite of the Spider-Man movie, the idea of someone getting powers and realizing they can do what they want, then choosing the dark path. The [script] I read was just too tame. It just seemed a little bit Americanized. But Timur came in with his Eastern European madness, and he really made it nasty. He went closer to the spirit of the book."[13]

Director Timur Bekmambetov said that the film would keep the same characters from the miniseries (which ultimately, did not happen) though the director would take liberty in adapting the comic book's world.[14] In July 2006, screenwriter Chris Morgan was hired to revise the third act of the Wanted script written by Haas and Brandt.[15] The script was also rewritten by screenwriter Ruby Aduana to include the role of Fox for actress Angelina Jolie.[4] Haas and Brandt returned to even out the character of Wesley Gibson, which they had established in their first draft.[16]

Comic book author Mark Millar described the first half of the film as being close to the graphic novel. Millar also said that the film's ending was similar, though it was relocated elsewhere from the setting in the graphic novel. The superhero costumes in the series were also removed, with the exception of the leather attire worn by Wesley Gibson and Fox. Ironically, this had been Millar's intent when writing the graphic novel, although he and artist J. G. Jones had forgotten to. "I wanted them to have those powers and then just wear those costumes for the initiation, but just for one panel." he said. "And then I forgot. I’d have liked [the filmmakers] to keep the supervillain mythos. That’s one thing I’m kind of sad they didn’t keep, ’cause I really liked that, the idea that supervillains and heroes did exist at one point and they’re all gone now."[13] The story arc of the Fates issuing death orders in line with the series' original theme of predestination was a new element to the film, an addition to which Millar was amicable.[17]

Wanted includes free running and parkour in addition to car chases and gunfights.[3] Wanted creator Mark Millar saw previsualized footage for the film and said the footage had raised his expectations for the film adaptation.[18]

Location plate shooting took place in Chicago in April 2007.[19] Several chase scenes, including one with a low flying helicopter, were shot in Chicago on May 17 and 18 on Wacker Drive along the Chicago River, between Columbus Drive and LaSalle Street.[20] Production moved to the Czech Republic later in May,[5] scheduled for 12 weeks of shooting.[21] For the film, production designer John Myhre constructed a large textile factory in Prague as part of an industrial world, the setting of a mythological environment in which looms create fabrics interwoven with the destinies of people, interpreted by weavers to issue orders for specific individuals' deaths to preserve the balance of the world.[6] Afterward, filming moved to Budapest, then returned to Chicago in August.[19]

Release and reception
Wanted was initially set to be released in cinemas on March 28, 2008, but in December 2007, Universal announced it would be moving the release date later to June 27, 2008. Wanted was released June 27, 2008. Previews started in the UK on June 25.[22]

The film received generally positive reviews from critics. As of September 23, 2008, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 73% of critics gave Wanted positive reviews, based on 178 reviews, with the consensus that the film "is a fast-paced, crackling thrill ride tailor-made for the Summer audience."[23] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 64 out of 100, based on 30 reviews.[24]

Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly encapsulated many critics' views, saying "'Wanted' is kind of unintelligible and idiotic. Also kind of nasty and brutish. And also undeniably kind of fun..."[25] Likewise, Tom Long of The Detroit News said, "Wanted may be the most absolutely stone bonkers, crazy-good movie of the century. Or it may be a gargantuan piece of trash. Chances are it's a combination of the two. But man, does it rock".[26] Claudia Puig of USA Today found the "thrilling stunts and hyperkinetic action scenes [to be] the undisputed stars of this surprisingly entertaining film".[27] Conversely, John Rosenblatt of The Austin Chronicle denounced those same attributes, saying, "If Maxim magazine ever decides to branch out into filmmaking, Wanted is just the kind of ear-throttling nonsense it's bound to produce",[28] and David Fear of Time Out New York called it "the cinematic equivalent of an energy drink. The film keeps artificially pumping your adrenal glands with mindless, malnutritional sensations, only to leave you crampy and cranky minutes later. ...[T]his exercise in ultraviolence then insults us by having a beaten, bloodied McAvoy inform viewers that he used to be a loser 'just like all of you'".[29] Frank Lovece of Film Journal International, one of few mainstream critics to have read the comic-book miniseries, said the film compared poorly with the source material. Noting that the hero in the comic goes even further, "breaking the fourth wall and positioning himself so that he's 'prison-raping' and taunting the reader for having liked the series," Lovece found that, "While Millar may have contempt for his readers — and, by extension, the medium in which he works — at least he has his own vision, and gets it across with style and wit" that the movie lacked.[30] Roger Ebert of Ebert & Roeper said "'Wanted' slams the pedal to the metal and never slows down. Here’s an action picture that’s exhausting in its relentless violence and its ingenuity in inventing new ways to attack, defend, ambush and annihilate"[31] while Richard Roeper said "It’s made for fans of films that really just want to see some great visuals, some amazing sequences and some terrific performances."[32]

In the comics press, Erik Amaya of Comic Book Resources said, "The film's biggest faults lie in how far it strays from the source", and that, "If you've ever seen any movie about leather-clad assassins, you already know how this film plays out. The speed and skill of the movie-making balance out those faults, however".[33] Tom McLean of Newsarama noted that while the story deviated strongly from the source, the movie "stands out as a highly entertaining action film that preserves the comic's core premise and cheeky attitude while taking the story into very different but still satisfying territory."[34]

Among European critics, Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian said, "It looks as if it has been written by a committee of 13-year-old boys for whom penetrative sex is still only a rumour, and the resulting movie plays like a party political broadcast on behalf of the misogynist party", concluding, "In an ideal world, the title would have the word 'Not' tacked on to the front."[35]

DVD release date
The DVD was released on December 2, 2008 in the United States. It was released in the United Kingdom on October 20, 2008. The UK Region 2 release is a one disc edition with many shops selling it as a limited edition version, complete with chapter one of the graphic novel.

[edit] Box office performance
In its opening weekend, Wanted grossed $50.9 million in 3,175 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking #2 at the box office and averaged an estimated $16,100 per theater, the $50.9 million opening exceeded the analysts projections of $30-$35 million opening weekend.[36][37] Wanted has made over $134 million in the US[38] and $322,586,628 worldwide.

Soundtrack
The main song that features throughout the film and as the credits roll is a rock song by Danny Elfman called "The Little Things".[39]

Also featured throughout the film is the song "Every Day Is Exactly the Same" by Nine Inch Nails.

Played for comic relief after the initial car chase is the song "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" by Rupert Holmes.

The Marine

2008-12-01T22:49:00.000-08:00

Directed by John Bonito
Produced by Vince McMahon
Joel Simon
Written by Michelle Gallagher
Alan B. McElroy
Starring John Cena
Robert Patrick
Kelly Carlson
Music by Don Davis
Cinematography David Eggby
Editing by Dallas Puett
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date(s) United States:
October 13, 2006
Australia:
June 28, 2007
New Zealand:
March 1, 2007
United Kingdom:
May 7, 2007
Running time 93 mins
Language English
Budget $23 million
The Marine is a 2006 action film starring professional wrestler John Cena. The film was directed by John Bonito, written by Michelle Gallagher and Alan B. McElroy and produced by Joel Simon.

Produced by the films division of World Wrestling Entertainment, called WWE Films, and distributed in the United States by 20th Century Fox, the film received a PG-13 rating from the MPAA for "intense sequences of violent action, sensuality and language". However an unrated version was released on DVD and Blu-ray.

Cast
Actor/Actress Role
John Cena as John Triton
Robert Patrick as Rome
Kelly Carlson as Kate Triton
Anthony Ray as Parker Morgan
Abigail Bianca as Angela

Damon Gibson as Vescera

Plot
After returning home from Iraq, ex-Marine John Triton (Cena), and his wife Kate (Carlson) decide to take a vacation. Meanwhile, criminals Rome (Patrick), Angela (Bianca), Morgan (Parker),and Vescera (Gibson) rob a jewelry store. While running from the cops, they stop at a gas station, where John and Kate have stopped as well. When the cops arrive to get gas, Morgan shoots one and Rome injures the other one. After Verscera knocks John out with a fire exstinguisher, Kate is kidnapped. Morgan shoots at the gas tanks, causing the store to blow up with John inside. John comes out alive, and takes the cop car. He chases after them, with every single member shooting at him. They go through a construction path, and to the edge of a lake. Under heavy fire, John falls out the car and into the lake. With Kate thinking John is dead, Rome and his crew travel through the woods, dragging a bound Kate with them. John comes out of the lake and follows them through the woods to save Kate.

Ratings
Australia: M
Brazil: 18
Canada: 14A
Canada (Quebec): 13+
Finland: K-15
Germany: 16
India: U/A
Philippines: PG-13
Portugal: M/12
Singapore: PG
United Kingdom: 15
United States: PG-13

Production
The script for The Marine was originally written Hollywood Heavyweight Academy Award Winner Al Pacino in mind for Rome. After Austin and WWE parted ways in 2004, the role of John Triton was given to John Cena. Al Pacino turned down the role of Rome due to low salary. After Pacino turned it down, Patrick Swayze was considered for the role of Rome, which was given to Robert Patrick.

Principal photography for the film was actually shot and completed in 2004. In order to cover for John Cena's absence from WWE events a storyline was written after Carlito beat Cena for the United States Championship, saying that he was stabbed by Jesús, the bodyguard of Carlito and was taking time off to recover.

Filming was done at Movieworld in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The Marine Base was filmed at Bond University. The part in which skyscrapers are shown is the downtown area of Brisbane, Australia, in addition to being filmed throughout the outer areas of the metropolitan area in bush land.

The footage of an airplane landing is of Iran Air.

Release
Originally planned for a January or February 2006 release, it was later moved to Spring 2006, then September 8 (which was changed because former professional wrestler The Rock's Gridiron Gang was released September 15). It was finally released to theaters on October 13, 2006.

The film was released on DVD on January 30 2007. It is available in "Rated" and "Unrated" versions. The Blu-ray version was released on February 13, 2007, with a DTS-HD Lossless Master Audio 5.1 track and a 1080p HD transfer. The Region 2 DVD was released in the UK on May 7, 2007.

Box office performance
In its first week, the film made approximately $7 million at the United States box office.[1] In its first weekend, it placed #3 in domestic sales. On October 22, 2006 BoxOfficeMojo.com reported that The Marine had dropped to #9, grossing $3.75 million. Even so, ratings were poor, and the movie garnered a 21% rating from RottenTomatoes.com.

After a total of ten weeks in theaters, the film grossed $18.7 million domestically.[1] Worldwide, The Marine earned $20,226,432.

The Marine is noted as being WWE Studios's most successful film to date, beating out its predecessor See No Evil, starring Kane and its successor The Condemned, starring Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Reception
The movie was largely panned by critics,[2] Jim Slotek of the Toronto Sun referred to it as "a movie so dumb, it may actually cause brain damage."[3] Critics have also complained about the movie's reductive dramatization of Marine operations in Iraq, [4] and its lack of respect for the military. [5]A sequel to "The Marine" is in production and stars Ted DiBiase, Jr. Release date has yet to be confirmed.

DVD Sales
The Marine was the #1 most rented DVD in its first week of release.[6] By March 2007, it had made over $24 million in home sales and rental.[7] Overall, the film made $30 million in rentals in the first twelve weeks.

Aston Martin DBS

2008-12-01T17:05:00.000-08:00

Just Think ‘007’ and Add $269,993

2009 Aston Martin DBS.

By LAWRENCE ULRICH
Published: November 26, 2008, New York Times
STARTING in 1965 with the DB5 in “Goldfinger,” Aston Martin has been linked at the tuxedoed hip with James Bond; gadget-packed Astons have been driven by Connery, Lazenby, Dalton, Brosnan and Craig.

The shift lever is placed a bit too far rearward on the console for ideal shifting, but the lever itself is easy and precise.

Inside and out, the DBS sets a serious tone.

But given the economy, anyone who can still afford a $270,000 Aston Martin DBS might inspire a real-world film, with enough supervillains and world domination to make 007 quiver. Call it “The Man with the Golden Parachute.”

Wafting above the crowd is certainly the point. With 510 burbling horsepower from the V-12 power plant, angry stockholders vanish in the mirror. Seething mobs of the unemployed are drowned out by the 1,000-watt Bang & Olufsen sound system.

C.E.O.-envy aside, the roughly 300 Americans who will drive home a DBS this year need to know the score. First, ignore the self-appointed accountants who have questioned why the DBS costs $100,000 more than the Aston DB9. I mean, these people drive Hondas.

The DBS and DB9 share a lightweight aluminum chassis and the 5.9-liter engine block under their stretched hoods. But the DB9 has been around six years, a virtual eternity for people who want the latest and greatest. Second, the lovely DB9 — designed by Ian Callum before he cribbed from himself to create the Jaguar XK — looks even more Jaglike next to this muscled-up Adonis.

The DBS isn’t just one of the world’s prettiest cars. It pulls off the tricky feat of looking insanely fast and expensive without rubbing everyone’s nose in it. For all its power — a 4.2-second eruption gets you to 60 m.p.h.; top speed is 191 — the Aston is a classic GT, a proper Brit with a noblesse oblige you won’t find in a flaming yellow Lamborghini.

That Aston heritage dates to 1914, but it took Ford to revitalize the moribund company. After 13 years of full ownership, Ford sold out last year to a consortium backed by Kuwaiti oil investors and led by David Richards, a British motorsports entrepreneur.

I spent my first day with the DBS balancing euphoria with skepticism. I figured it would drive like any traditional Aston: a buttery high-speed cruiser with a concert-hall V-12, but too soft and gentlemanly to sully itself on twisty roads.

Instead, after a warm-up, the Aston sliced through the countryside like an English football hooligan, but with a better singing voice.

A dashboard switch maxes out the computer-controlled shocks for high-speed duty, keeping the Aston’s body pinned to the ground like a manhole cover. The standard ceramic composite brakes — which can cost up to $15,000 extra on other exotic cars — could stand a bit more initial bite, but were triple-espresso strong.

An honest-to-God manual shifter — increasingly rare in cars of this caliber — amplified the fun. The lever is placed a bit too far rearward for ideal shifting, and the clutch’s iffy take-up requires practice for smooth starts. But the lever itself is easy and precise, topped with a slab of cool metal. A paddle-shifted automatic is an option.

Then there’s that engine, which sounds like money being torn in two. A valve in the exhaust system cocks open under heavy throttle to release the battle cry of the V-12. On that note, the DBS got a dismal 12 m.p.g.

On this car, pretty much everything that isn’t lightweight aluminum is even more expensive carbon fiber, from the featherweight hood and interior door trim to the angry-looking aerodynamic diffuser at the rear. It adds up to a relatively svelte 3,737 pounds, about 100 fewer than the main competitor, the $310,000 Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano.

Swan doors swing open on a slightly upward angle, clearing curbs that would gouge the typical low-slung sports car. High sills make for body-scrunching entry and exit, but it’s worth it once you’re inside. Semi-aniline leather and a suede headliner were a perfectly matched deep red, making the cabin look like a boutique bordello.

Gauges look as fine as a Swiss chronograph. But while I’ve gotten used to the strange tachometer that spins counter-clockwise, there’s still no red line to show peak engine speed. How much could it cost to paint a red stripe on that thing?

Other nitpicks, just to make clear that I’m not a total sucker for beauty: lumbar controls are buried between the seats and console in a “Where’s Waldo?” arrangement. A cheap-looking navigation screen rises from the dash like a ghoul from the crypt of Kia. And the key is called the Emotion Control Unit, which is appropriate since it forced me to keep my temper in check. This fiddly chunk of genuine sapphire and stainless steel must be inserted into a slot just right or the car won’t start.

There’s a small parcel shelf in the rear but owners can opt for a tiny back seat instead — for children who haven’t been sent to boarding school.

Buyers seeking unrivaled GT performance may choose the 612-horse Ferrari. The 599 GTB is decisively faster than the Aston and its handling is a bit purer. But in my view, the 599 GTB — which even zealots wouldn’t cite as an all-time great Ferrari design — can’t beat the Aston’s looks.

Such fantastical comparisons tend to embarrass me anyway; it’s like asking which superhero would make the best and fastest sushi chef. (My money’s on Aquaman.)

Still, most car fans, including auto writers, keep a fantasy list of cars we imagine we’d buy if we struck it rich. For what it’s worth, the DBS is the first Aston GT to make it onto my mental bedroom wall. Surely there’s no harm in wondering how much a used DBS will fetch in 10 years.

Steamboat Itchy

2008-11-30T19:48:00.001-08:00

Itchy & Scratchy

2008-11-30T19:13:00.000-08:00

The Itchy & Scratchy Show title card.

Format Animated Children's show
Created by Chester J. Lampwick
Starring June Bellamy
Homer Simpson (1997)
Country of origin United States
No. of episodes 80
Production
Executive
producer(s) Roger Meyers, Jr.
Krusty the Clown
Running time 30 sec.
Broadcast
Original channel Channel 6
The Itchy & Scratchy Show is a segment or "side-show" featured on The Simpsons which usually appears as a portrayal of the fictional Krusty the Clown TV show, watched regularly by Bart and Lisa Simpson and other characters on the animated series. Itself an animated cartoon, The Itchy & Scratchy Show depicts an anthropomorphic blue mouse, Itchy (voiced by Dan Castellaneta) who mutilates an anthropomorphic black cat, Scratchy (voiced by Harry Shearer).

They first appeared in the Tracey Ullman Show short "The Bart Simpson Show", which originally aired November 20, 1988. Their first appearance in the regular series was "There's No Disgrace Like Home".

Itchy and Scratchy subvert the "cat versus mouse" archetype popularized by Tom and Jerry in that there is no explicit aggressor; instead, both cat and mouse act as aggressors on occasion.[citation needed] Itchy and Scratchy features more gore and injury than its predecessor, in a send-up of the cartoon violence present in the original.[citation needed]

Contents [hide]
1 Fictional history within The Simpsons
1.1 Origins
1.2 "Past"
1.3 "Present"
1.3.1 Poochie
1.4 The Itchy and Scratchy Movie
1.4.1 The Simpsons Movie
2 Role in The Simpsons
3 Background
3.1 Origins
3.2 Development
4 Cultural influence
4.1 Video games
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

Fictional history within The Simpsons
Origins
The Itchy & Scratchy Show writing staff, caricatures of the staff of The Simpsons, along with Roger Myers Jr., Krusty and the prototype Lindsey Naegle. As shown in "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show".According to the show, Chester J. Lampwick invented Itchy in 1919 and owns the rights to that character. Lampwick was also known as the "father of cartoon violence." (Before Lampwick started his work, cartoon animals only played the ukulele.) Roger Meyers, Sr. (1890–1985) plagiarized Itchy and established Itchy and Scratchy Studios in 1921. Originally Itchy was called "Itchy the Lucky Mouse" (a parody of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit).[1] He starred in his first cartoon made by Lampwick, "Manhattan Madness" depicting Itchy running an Irishman through a washing board and decapitating Theodore Roosevelt with an axe.

Scratchy starred in his first cartoon in 1928, entitled That Happy Cat. The film, which is about fourteen seconds of animation showing the cat whistling and tipping his hat, did very poorly. It is unknown who created Scratchy, or if he was plagiarized by Meyers Sr. in the same way that Itchy was.

Later that year, Itchy and Scratchy starred in their first cartoon together entitled "Steamboat Itchy" a violent parody of Disney's Steamboat Willie featuring Mickey Mouse.

"Past"
Since The Simpsons exists in a form of floating timeline, "past" refers to events that occurred before the course of the series.

Along with the cartoon shorts, Itchy and Scratchy were featured in a wartime radio series,[2] at least two films - Pinitchio and Scratchtasia, (parodies of Pinocchio and Fantasia),[3] and television commercials for Laramie Cigarettes (spoofing The Flintstones).[4]

At one point, additional characters were added to the pair on a show titled Itchy & Scratchy & Friends Hour: Uncle Ant, Disgruntled Goat, Dinner Dog, Flatulent Fox, Ku Klux Klam, and Rich Uncle Skeleton. Bart and Lisa agree that these characters weren't very funny, although Bart (who remembers them better, as he is the older of the two) thinks that Disgruntled Goat had his moments. These characters parodied the addition of superfluous characters to TV shows in an effort to draw viewer interest.[3]

"Present"
Since The Simpsons exists in a form of floating timeline, "present" refers to events that occurred during the course of the series.

Itchy and Scratchy Studios is currently run by Roger Meyers, Jr. (born 1956), the son of the cartoon's "creator." Itchy and Scratchy Studios was bankrupted after being sued by Lampwick for $800 million, but was saved after receiving a large cash settlement from the government over its use of Mr. ZIP.[1]

The Itchy and Scratchy Show airs as a segment on the Krusty the Klown show, though it moved to the Gabbo show during the latter's short-lived run.[5] The show underwent a non-violent retooling following a protest campaign led by Marge Simpson, but after Marge was later discredited, it returned to its original violent format.[6] The show has spawned an Academy Award-winning film adaptation,[7] amusement parks,[3] and a musical.[8]

The show is animated in South Korea, just like The Simpsons cartoon itself. June Bellamy (a takeoff on voice actress June Foray) voices both Itchy and Scratchy.[9]

Poochie
In the episode "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show", Poochie was a dog character added to the Itchy & Scratchy lineup. According to the show's plot, the producers believed the cartoons were getting stale, and needed a new character to reinvigorate the show, despite the objections of one of the show's writers, who "at the risk of sounding pretentious", felt that Itchy and Scratchy comprised "a dramaturgical dyad". Homer Simpson gets the job of voicing Poochie, who is introduced in the Itchy & Scratchy cartoon, The Beagle Has Landed. A product of marketing department thinking, Poochie was near-universally despised, and was killed off in his second appearance, despite Homer's objections. Both plots were a reference to TV shows which added new characters purportedly to reinvigorate the show (often in the show's waning years and/or to replace stars who had either departed or, if they were child actors, grown up). However, Poochie was seen and spoke in the second segment of "Treehouse of Horror IX", where he was seen riding on a skateboard down the road and suddenly get hit by Itchy & Scratchy chasing Bart and Lisa Simpson. Dan Castellaneta again voiced Poochie for this appearance. Another Poochie appearance was made as one of Scratchy's mourners in the installment Tears Of A Clone.

The Itchy and Scratchy Movie
The title card for The Itchy & Scratchy Movie.In the season four episode, "Itchy and Scratchy: The Movie," the cat and mouse duo release a movie that ran for eight months, becoming a commercial and critical favorite. Forty years in the future, it would be hailed as a "Classic of Animation". The novelization of the movie was written by Norman Mailer. Lisa described it as the defining event of her generation and compared it to the moon landing. One scene involves Itchy training to be a railroad engineer for the sole purpose of running Scratchy over with a train.[10]

The Simpsons Movie
At the start of The Simpsons Movie, the Simpson family are seen attending another Itchy and Scratchy movie. In this movie, Scratchy and Itchy go to the moon, but Itchy stabs Scratchy repeatedly with the point of an American flag then leaves him for dead. Itchy then moves on to go back to Earth and become President and to raise a happy family. But then, one day, Itchy finds out that Scratchy is still alive, and is threatening to expose the truth (Itchy told the media that Scratchy died of an accident and that he "tried to save him"). Itchy contemplates over how to deal with Scratchy and decides to blow up the moon with nuclear arms launching a bunch of missiles into Scratchy's open mouth causing him to inflate, a tiny boot kicks one of the missiles in Scratchy's stomach causing them all to detonate and to blow Scratchy up from the inside. Homer then interrupts the movie and breaks the fourth wall by saying “Everyone in this theatre is a giant sucker, especially you!” and pointing to the audience.

Role in The Simpsons
Many aspects of The Itchy & Scratchy show are a parody of Walt Disney movies and include shorts such as "Steamboat Itchy", a parody of Steamboat Willie; "Scratchtasia", a parody of Fantasia; and "Pinitchio", a parody of Pinocchio.[11]

Itchy and Scratchy often play out an exaggerated form of the conflict in the surrounding episode. For example, when the Simpson children are taken into foster care, they watch an Itchy and Scratchy cartoon with a similar theme[12], and when Homer is recruited by NASA, he watches an Itchy and Scratchy cartoon which directly (and gruesomely) parodies the films 2001: A Space Odyssey and Alien.[13]

Itchy and Scratchy have occasionally been used to parody the work of famous directors specifically. One episode, "Reservoir Cats" is supposedly guest-directed by Quentin Tarantino and parodies Tarantino's films Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. Another cartoon was "guest directed" by Oliver Stone and shows Itchy shooting Scratchy in a manner similar to Jack Ruby's murder of Lee Harvey Oswald, in reference to Stone's film JFK.

In the episode "The Day the Violence Died" there was a clip from a 1970s-era X-rated Itchy & Scratchy cartoon titled "Itchy & Scratchy meet Fritz the Cat". According to Comic Book Guy only bootleg copies are available "because of its frank depiction of sex and narcotic consumption".

Background
Origins
The Itchy & Scratchy Show first appeared in the Tracey Ullman Show short "The Bart Simpson Show", which originally aired November 20, 1988. They are based on Tom and Jerry and other cat and mouse cartoons. As a kid, series creator Matt Groening and his friends would fantasize about an ultra violent cartoon and how much fun it would be to work on a show like that.[14] The names "Itchy" and "Scratchy" were inspired by "Pixie and Dixie", who were mice on the cartoon show Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks.[14] David Silverman, a director and producer for The Simpsons, states that the show is based on Herman and Katnip.[15]

Development
"Itchy and Scratchy" cartoons are often added when a show needs expanding[16] or when there is an issue that the writers wish to satirize.[17] The shorts are often hard for the writers and take a long time to develop and come up with a title for the short and in the end they do not fill up a large amount of time.[18] Writing the Itchy & Scratchy cartoons is quite often a group effort, with it being pitched out one gag after another.[19] Itchy & Scratchy are a favourite of John Swartzwelder, who has written many of the episodes that centre around them and quite often pitches the ideas for the shorts.[18] In several episodes centering around the production of The Itchy & Scratchy Show, such as "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show", the show's staff are shown. Almost all of them are caricatures of the actual staff of The Simpsons. In the first scene at the production table the person in the lower right corner, wearing a squid T-shirt, is David X. Cohen. On the left side, the furthest away is Bill Oakley with Josh Weinstein next to him. Next to Weinstein is George Meyer, who is the writer who speaks out and gets fired. The animator shown designing Poochie is supervising director David Silverman. Others who appear include Dan McGrath, Ian Maxtone-Graham, Donick Cary, Ron Hauge, Ned Goldreyer and Mike Scully, who had to be added in later, as the animators "didn't have his photo" from which to get an accurate likeness.

Cultural influence
In a 2006 article IGN.com ranked Itchy & Scratchy in tenth position on their list of the "Top 25 Simpsons Peripheral Characters", citing that "the Itchy & Scratchy Show shines a nice mirror on cartoons, showing just how funny cartoon violence really is."[20] In 2007, Vanity Fair named "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show" the sixth best episode in the show's history, describing it as "a classic satire of network influence, obsessed TV fans, and programs that survive long after the shark has been jumped, the episode is a meta-celebration, a tongue-in-cheek rebuttal to everyone who claimed that the quality of The Simpsons had declined over the years."[21] Todd Gilchrist called it a masterpiece, stating it "could easily be packaged and sold by [itself]."[22] Comic Book Guy's phrase "Worst. Episode. Ever" was named as a quote that could be used in everyday life, as well as being one of the most popular quotes from the show, by The A.V. Club.[23]

Video games
A video game named The Itchy and Scratchy Game was released for Sega Mega Drive, Game Gear, Super NES and Game Boy.[24] Another game, Itchy and Scratchy in Miniature Golf Madness, was released for Game Boy.[25] A level of the SNES/Genesis game Bart's Nightmare also prominently features Itchy and Scratchy. In The Simpsons Hit and Run, if you cllect all of the collectible cards, you can then go and watch a 3D Itchy and Scratchy episode. Itchy and Scratchy play roles in "Grand Theft Scratchy" section in The Simpsons Game.

Criss Angel

2008-11-27T23:56:00.000-08:00

Christopher Nicholas Sarantakos (born December 19, 1967), better known by his stage name Criss Angel is an American of Greek descent. He is a magician, illusionist, musician, escapologist, and stunt performer. Angel was raised in East Meadow, Long Island, New York. He is best known for starring in his own television show, Criss Angel Mindfreak

Criss Angel Mindfreak
Main article: Criss Angel Mindfreak
Criss Angel is the star and creator of the A&E Network show Criss Angel Mindfreak. Seasons 1 and 2 were filmed at the The Aladdin in Las Vegas, with Season 3 at the Luxor Hotel. Premiering on July 20, 2005, the illusions have included walking on water, levitating above the Luxor Hotel (in the light of 39 lightbulbs that can be seen from space), floating between two buildings, causing a Lamborghini to disappear, surviving in an exploding C4 Crate, cutting himself in half in full view of an audience and getting run over by a steamroller while lying stomach down on a bed of glass.[1] Season 4 of Mindfreak debuted on July 23, 2008, and the show is scheduled to run for two more seasons after that.

Criss Angel Believe
Criss Angel collaborated with Cirque du Soleil to create Criss Angel Believe, a live show at the Luxor hotel in Las Vegas, which stars Angel, who is billed as "co-writer, illusions creator and designer, original concept creator and star."[2]

Angel originally tried to develop the show for a Broadway run, as well as other casinos. Eventually, what became Believe came together when he entered a partnership with Cirque du Soleil and the Luxor's parent company, MGM Mirage Resorts, financed the show with $100 million.[2]

After several delays, the show was set for a Gala opening on October 31, 2008, with preview shows in late September.[3][4][5] The initial preview was not well received, with thoroughly negative audience reactions.[6][7] The show opened to equally harsh reviews which cited a lack of the magic Angel is known for, as well as a confusing and uninteresting theme. Reviewers felt neither Angel nor Cirque du Soleil were able to perform their capabilities.[8][9][10][11]

Phenomenon
Main article: Phenomenon (TV series)
Starting in October 2007 he appeared as a judge on Phenomenon, with Uri Geller and in a CNN interview about the show he told Larry King "no one has the ability, that I'm aware of, to do anything supernatural, psychic, talk to the dead. And that was what I said I was going to do with Phenomenon. If somebody goes on that show and claims to have supernatural psychic ability, I'm going to bust [him] live and on television."[12]

Wikinews has related news:
Criss Angel challenges Uri Geller and Jim Callahan over paranormal claimsOn the October 31, 2007 episode of the reality show Phenomenon, Paranormalist Jim Callahan performed a summoning, purportedly of author Raymond Hill, to help discover the contents of a locked box.[13] Although fellow judge Uri Geller praised the performance, Angel called it "comical" and subsequently challenged both Callahan and Geller to guess the contents of two envelopes he pulled out of his pocket, offering a million dollars of his own money to whomever could do so. This led to an argument between Callahan and Angel, during which Callahan accused Angel of being an "ideological bigot", and after Angel rose from his chair and approached Callahan, the two were pulled apart as the show promptly went to a commercial break. Angel has since revealed the contents of one envelope and at the unveiling he challenged Geller one more time. Geller was unsuccessful, and the envelope was revealed to contain an index card with the numbers "911" printed on it for September 11, 2001. Criss' explanation was this: "If on 9-10 somebody could have predicted that 9-11 was going to happen, they could have saved thousands of lives". The other envelope's contents will be revealed on the first episode of Season 4 of Criss Angel: Mindfreak.

Callahan later vented his anger toward Criss in an interview for "Phenomenon", saying that his demonstration of walking on water is "his way of proving Jesus Christ was fake." He also added, "Every Christian in the world should be angry with him."[14]

Afternoons In Utopia

2008-11-27T23:43:00.001-08:00

USS Cygnus

2008-11-25T22:42:00.000-08:00

From the 1979 Disney movie, The Black Hole.

$2 COE Lelong, Lelong!

2008-11-25T16:42:00.000-08:00

TODAY, Tuesday, 25th November, 2008
WEEKEND OF CHEER FOR CAR DEALERS
----------------------------------
Neo Chai Chin
chaichin@mediacorp.com.sg
IT WAS not just a case of window-shopping at car showrooms this past weekend. The crowds that descended after last week's historic $2 Certificate of Entitlement (COE) premium for small cars were keen enough that auto dealers finally had brisk business — racking up a 400 per cent increase in sales, at least in one instance — after the quiet of recent weeks.
More than 50 Chery cars were sold, said Mr Walter Koh, sales manager of Vertex Automobile, the distributor for the Chinese automobile brand. Vertex normally sells eight to 10 cars on weekends, but on Saturday and Sunday, its 20-odd salesmen were all kept busy.

Mitsubishi distributor Cycle & Carriage's sales "more than doubled", as showroom visitorship tripled, said Ms Loh Shurn Lin, Mitsubishi's marketing manager. The brand's smaller cars such as the 1.5-litre Lancer EX and 1.6l Lancer GLX were the top sellers.

While sales figures from Nissan and Toyota car distributors were unavailable, other dealers said buyers were keen to take advantage of car prices that had been cut by $4,000 to $10,000.
"People know they can get better deals now," said Fiat's marketing
manager Brandon Ong, adding that its sales shot up by 30 per cent.

One customer even joked about fishing out $5 to buy two COEs, related Vertex's Mr Koh. But the deal is not that sweet. Some showroom visitors were unaware that the $2 COEs were "yesterday's news", as one dealer put it. Those who bought cars over the weekend would likely have missed out on the $2 COEs and would have to make fresh bids, which some predict would see COEs for cars below 1,600cc bounce back to $8,000 to $10,000 levels.
While the auto dealers said there is "potential" for more buyers to bite, they cited two factors that could dampen interest — whether COE prices rebound and buyers can secure bank loans for their new purchases. Though banks are cautious about lending in the current economic climate, Vertex's Mr Koh felt that loans would be easier to come by for first-time buyers and those purchasing a second or third car. But drivers hoping to trade in their existing cars for new ones could face a situation where their outstanding loans would be higher than the paper value of their cars, leaving them out of pocket.
------------------------------------------------------------
TODAY, Thursday, 20th November, 2008
$2 FOR SMALL CARS
-------------------
Historic low reflects soft car market, uncertain economic climate: Motor traders
Leong Wee Keat
weekeat@mediacorp.com.sg
WITH barely three minutes left to the close of yesterday's bidding, Certificate of Entitlement (COE) prices for small cars was $1. As bidding closed at 4pm, premiums inched up to $2 — still a stunning, historic low. That it happened in an 'open' bidding system, where bids can be monitored 'live', underscores three things, say motor traders: The car market has gone soft; there are too many COEs; and the economic uncertainty has grown sharply. The number of bids for small cars (Category A) was 1,852 — one more than the quota on offer. Just two weeks ago, prices for this category closed at $10,455, with 2,049 bids for the 1,848 COEs available then.
Yesterday, premiums fell in all categories. Prices for large cars (above 1,600cc) fell by 41 per cent, from $8,301 earlier this month to $4,889. In the Open Category, used mainly for cars, the drop was 34 per cent, from $10,490 to $6,889. In the goods vehicles and buses category, prices now stand at $6,189 compared to $8,889 and for motorcycles, at $1,012 from $1,509. The lower prices, especially for small cars, are unlikely to benefit car buyers in the long term, though, said Singapore Vehicle Traders Association president Neo Nam Heng.
Successful bidders will find it hard to sell their cars or otherwise face lower resale values, as the rebate paid out when a vehicle is deregistered before expiry of the COE is pro-rated to the Quota Premium. The last time COE prices plunged to rock bottom was last year, in the goods vehicles and buses category, where the premium stayed at $1 for five consecutive tenders after a new emissions requirement affected the supply of new models. For cars, the previous historic low was in December 1997, when the Asian financial crisis started, and premiums for big cars fell to $50. That was when COE bidding was conducted in a closed tender system in which bidders could not see the prevailing rate of other bids. The $50 COE was then
described as "just a fluke" and COE prices bounced back to previous levels. The last time the COE price plunged in the small car category — to $101 — was in 2001.
Will low prices for small cars continue over the next few months? Motor traders Today spoke to expect prices to rebound. Still, there is the possibility that non-car owners may be enticed by the low COE prices, said Group Exklusiv executive director Kevin Kwee. "They were prudent before but they may consider (an entry-level car) now," he said.
But with the reduction in the allowed vehicle growth rate taking effect in May, which would reduce the number of COEs available, there may be only a small window of opportunity.
"What happened (yesterday) is historic," said Mr Neo. "But it also goes to
show how weak the marketsentiment is."

Patrick O'Hearn - Downhill Racer

2008-11-23T21:11:00.001-08:00

Grand Theft Auto San Andreas Dating Denise

2008-11-18T23:08:00.001-08:00

Grand Theft Auto IV

2008-11-18T21:44:00.001-08:00

Superman In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

2008-11-16T19:37:00.001-08:00

No Choice But To Retrench

2008-11-13T23:40:00.000-08:00

TODAY, 13th November, 2008

Beckham Angers Wife By Staring At Beautiful, Sexy Cheerleaders

2008-11-13T22:27:00.000-08:00

Ladies & Gentlemen

2008-11-13T21:56:00.001-08:00

New US Currency

2008-11-13T21:47:00.000-08:00

The Galleria?

2008-11-08T00:32:00.001-08:00

Hello Kitty - The Cat With No Mouth.

Mickey Mouse.

Woody from Pixar's Toy Story.

Shawn's new Ben 10 bag. Only S$12.90 from Hougang Plaza.

Hibiscus - Malaysia's national flower.

Mulholland Drive (film)

2008-11-06T00:32:00.000-08:00

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
For the street in Los Angeles, see Mulholland Drive.
Mulholland Drive

Theatrical release poster
Directed by David Lynch
Produced by Pierre Edelman
Alain Sarde
Mary Sweeney
Written by David Lynch
Starring Naomi Watts
Laura Elena Harring
Justin Theroux
Ann Miller
Cinematography Peter Deming
Editing by Mary Sweeney
Distributed by Universal Pictures (United States)
TVA Films (Canada)
StudioCanal (international sales)
Release date(s) US: October 12, 2001 (limited)
Canada: October 26, 2001 (wide)
UK: January 4, 2002
Australia: January 31, 2002
Running time 146 min.
Country United States / France
Language English / Spanish
Budget $15 million (estimated)
IMDb • Allmovie
Mulholland Drive is a 2001 mystery film written and directed by David Lynch that exhibits elements of film noir and surrealism. It stars Naomi Watts, Laura Elena Harring and Justin Theroux. The film was highly acclaimed by many critics and earned Lynch the Prix de la mise en scène (Best Director Award) at the Cannes Film Festival as well as an Oscar nomination for Best Director. Mulholland Drive also launched the careers of Watts and Harring and was the last feature film to star veteran Hollywood actor Ann Miller. The film is widely regarded as one of Lynch's finest works, alongside Eraserhead (1977) and Blue Velvet (1986).

Originally conceived as a television pilot, a large portion of the film was shot with Lynch's plan to keep it open-ended for a potential series. After viewing Lynch's version, however, television executives decided to reject it; Lynch then provided an ending to the project, making it a feature film. The half-pilot, half-feature result, along with Lynch's characteristic style, has left the general meaning of the movie's events open to interpretation. Lynch has declined to offer an explanation of his intentions for the narrative, leaving audiences, critics, and cast members to speculate on what transpires.

The film tells the story of an aspiring actress named Betty Elms, newly arrived in Los Angeles, California, who meets and befriends an amnesiac hiding in her aunt's apartment. The story includes several other seemingly unrelated vignettes that eventually connect in various ways, as well as some surreal scenes and images that relate to the cryptic narrative. The New York Times wrote that while some might consider the plot an "offense against narrative order ... the film is an intoxicating liberation from sense, with moments of feeling all the more powerful for seeming to emerge from the murky night world of the unconscious."[1]

Contents [hide]
1 Plot
2 Production history
2.1 Development
2.2 Casting
2.3 Filming
3 Interpretations and allusions
3.1 A "poisonous valentine to Hollywood"
3.2 Romantic content
4 Characters
5 Style
6 Soundtrack
7 Release and reaction
7.1 Performance
7.2 Critical reception
7.3 Home video
8 Awards
9 References
9.1 Notes
9.2 Bibliography
10 External links

[edit] Plot
The story may not be linear and exhibits several instances of temporal disruption. A dark-haired woman (Laura Elena Harring) escapes her own murder when she is the sole survivor of a car accident on Mulholland Drive. Injured, she descends into Los Angeles and sneaks into an apartment which has just been vacated by an older woman with red hair. An aspiring actress named Betty Elms (Naomi Watts) arrives from Deep River, Ontario and takes a taxi to the apartment, where she finds the dark-haired woman confused, not knowing her own name. The dark-haired woman assumes the name "Rita" when she sees a poster for the film Gilda (1946), starring Rita Hayworth. Betty decides to assist her in discovering her identity, and they look in Rita's purse where they find a large amount of money and an unusual blue key.

A man in a diner called "Winkies" tells his companion about a nightmare in which he dreamt there was a horrible figure behind the diner. When they go to investigate, the figure appears, causing the man with the nightmare to collapse in fright. Later, a bungling hit man attempts to steal a book full of phone numbers and leaves three people dead. A Hollywood director named Adam Kesher (Justin Theroux) has his film commandeered by apparent mobsters, who insist he cast an unknown actress named Camilla Rhodes (Melissa George) as the lead in his film. After he resists, he returns home to find his wife having an affair and is thrown out of his house. He later learns that his bank has closed his line of credit and he is broke. He agrees to meet a mysterious figure called The Cowboy, who urges him to cast Camilla Rhodes for his own good.

Betty and Rita try to learn more about her accident and Rita remembers the name "Diane Selwyn" after they are served by a waitress named Diane in Winkies. They call Diane Selwyn after finding her in the phone book, but she does not answer. Betty goes to an audition, where her performance is highly praised. A casting agent takes her to the set of a film called The Sylvia North Story, directed by Adam, where Camilla Rhodes gives an audition and Adam declares "This is the girl". Saying that she needs to meet a friend, Betty flees before she can meet Adam.

Betty and Rita go to Diane Selwyn's apartment and break in when no one answers the door. In the bedroom they find the body of a woman who has been dead for several days. Terrified, they return to their apartment, where Rita disguises herself with a blonde wig. The two women make love that night and fall asleep until 2 a.m., when Rita insists they go to an eerie theater called Club Silencio. A performer explains in several languages that everything is an illusion; a woman performs a song, then collapses, although the song continues. Betty finds a blue box in her purse that matches Rita's key. Upon returning to the apartment to open the box, Betty disappears, and Rita unlocks the box, and it falls to the floor with a thump.

The woman with the red hair investigates the sound, but nothing is there. The Cowboy appears in the doorway of Diane Selwyn's bedroom saying, "Hey, pretty girl. Time to wake up." Diane Selwyn (played by Naomi Watts) wakes up in her bed. She looks exactly like Betty, but she is portrayed as a lonely and depressed failed actress, in love with Camilla Rhodes (played now by Laura Elena Harring), who torments and rejects her. On Camilla's invitation, Diane attends a party at Adam's house on Mulholland Drive. Her limousine stops before they reach the house and Camilla escorts her using a shortcut. Adam, who is a successful director, also appears to be in love with Camilla. Over dinner, Diane states that she came to Hollywood when her aunt died, and she met Camilla at an audition for The Sylvia North Story. Another woman (played by Melissa George) kisses Camilla and they turn and smile at Diane. Adam and Camilla attempt to make an important announcement, but dissolve into laughter and kiss while Diane watches, crying.

Diane meets with the bungling hit man at Winkies, where she gives him Camilla's photo and a large amount of money, and they are served by a waitress named Betty. The hit man tells Diane that when the job is done, she will find a blue key. Diane looks up to see the man who had the nightmare standing at the counter. Back at her apartment, in view of the key, she is terrorized by hallucinations. She runs screaming to her bed where she shoots herself.

[edit] Production history

[edit] Development
Originally conceived as a television series, Mulholland Drive began as a two hour-plus pilot produced for Touchstone Television and intended for the ABC television network. David Lynch sold the idea to ABC executives based only on the story of Rita emerging from the car accident with her purse containing $125,000 in cash and the blue key, and Betty trying to help her figure out who she is. An ABC executive recalled, "I remember the creepiness of this woman in this horrible, horrible crash, and David teasing us with the notion that people are chasing her. She's not just 'in' trouble—she is trouble. Obviously, we asked, 'What happens next?' And David said, 'You have to buy the pitch for me to tell you.'"[2]

Lynch described the attractiveness of the idea of a pilot, despite the knowledge that the medium of television would be constricting: "I'm a sucker for a continuing story ... Theoretically, you can get a very deep story and you can go so deep and open the world so beautifully, but it takes time to do that."[3] The story balanced normal and surreal elements, much like Lynch’s earlier series Twin Peaks. Groundwork was laid for story arcs, such as the mystery of Rita's identity, Betty's career, and Adam Kesher's film project.[4]

[edit] Casting
Lynch cast Naomi Watts and Laura Elena Harring by their photographs. He called them in separately for half-hour interviews and told them he had not seen either of their previous works in film or television.[5] Harring considered it fateful that she was involved in a minor car accident on the way to the first interview, only to learn her character would also be involved in a car accident in the film.[6] Watts arrived wearing jeans for the first interview, direct from the airplane from New York City. Lynch asked her to return the next day "more glammed up". She was offered the part two weeks later. Lynch explained his selection of Watts, "I saw someone that I felt had a tremendous talent, and I saw someone who had a beautiful soul, an intelligence—possibilities for a lot of different roles, so it was a beautiful full package."[7] Justin Theroux also met Lynch directly from his airplane. After a long flight with little sleep, Theroux arrived dressed all in black, with his hair mussed. Lynch liked the look and decided to cast Adam wearing similar clothes and the same hairstyle.[8]

[edit] Filming

"One night, I sat down, the ideas came in, and it was a most beautiful experience. Everything was seen from a different angle ... Now, looking back, I see that [the film] always wanted to be this way. It just took this strange beginning to cause it to be what it is."
David Lynch, 2001
Filming for the television pilot began on location in Los Angeles in February 1999 and took six weeks. Ultimately, the network was unhappy with the pilot and decided not to place it on its schedule.[9][10] Objections included the nonlinear storyline, the ages of Harring and Watts (whom they considered too old), Ann Miller's character cigarette smoking, and a close-frame shot of dog feces in one scene. Lynch remembered, "All I know is, I loved making it, ABC hated it, and I don't like the cut I turned in. I agreed with ABC that the longer cut was too slow, but I was forced to butcher it because we had a deadline, and there wasn't time to finesse anything. It lost texture, big scenes, and storylines, and there are 300 tape copies of the bad version circulating around. Lots of people have seen it, which is embarrassing, because they're bad-quality tapes, too. I don't want to think about it."[11]

The script was later rewritten and expanded when Lynch decided to transform it into a feature film. Describing how he transitioned from an open-ended pilot to a feature film with a resolution of sorts, Lynch said, "One night, I sat down, the ideas came in, and it was a most beautiful experience. Everything was seen from a different angle ... Now, looking back, I see that [the film] always wanted to be this way. It just took this strange beginning to cause it to be what it is."[12] The result was an extra eighteen pages of material that included the romantic relationship between Rita and Betty and the events that occurred after the blue box was opened. Watts was relieved that the pilot was dropped by ABC. She found Betty too one-dimensional without the darker portion of the film that was put together afterward.[13] Most of the new scenes were filmed in October 2000, funded with $7 million from French production company StudioCanal.[5]

Theroux described approaching filming without entirely understanding what the plot was about: "You get the whole script, but he might as well withhold the scenes you're not in, because the whole turns out to be more mystifying than the parts. David welcomes questions, but he won't answer any of them ... You work kind of half-blindfolded. If he were a first-time director and hadn't demonstrated any command of this method, I'd probably have reservations. But it obviously works for him."[14] Theroux noted the only answer Lynch did provide was that he was certain that Theroux's character, a Hollywood director, was not autobiographical of Lynch. Watts stated that she tried to bluff Lynch by pretending she had the plot figured out, and that he delighted in the cast's frustration.[5]

[edit] Interpretations and allusions
Giving the film only the tagline, "A love story in the city of dreams",[12] David Lynch has refused to comment on Mulholland Drive's meaning or symbolism, leading to much discussion and multiple interpretations. Christian Science Monitor film critic David Sterritt spoke with Lynch after the film screened at Cannes and wrote that the director "insisted that Mulholland Drive does tell a coherent, comprehensible story," unlike some of Lynch's earlier films.[15] On the other hand, Justin Theroux said of Lynch's feelings on the multiple meanings people perceive in the film, "I think he's genuinely happy for it to mean anything you want. He loves it when people come up with really bizarre interpretations. David works from his subconscious."[14]

An early interpretation of the film uses dream analysis to explain that the first part is a dream of the real Diane Selwyn, who has cast her dream-self as the innocent and hopeful "Betty Elms", reconstructing her history and persona into something like an old Hollywood movie. In the dream, Betty is successful, charming, and lives the fantasy life of a soon-to-be-famous actress. The last third of the film presents Diane's bleak real life, in which she has failed both personally and professionally. She arranges for Camilla, a cold ex-lover, to be killed, and unable to cope with the guilt, re-imagines her as the dependent, pliable amnesiac named Rita. Clues to her inevitable demise, however, continue to appear throughout her dream.[16]

This interpretation was similar to what Naomi Watts construed, when she said in an interview, "I thought Diane was the real character and that Betty was the person she wanted to be and had dreamed up. Rita is the damsel in distress and she's in absolute need of Betty, and Betty controls her as if she were a doll. Rita is Betty's fantasy of who she wants Camilla to be."[13] Watts' own early experiences in Hollywood parallel those of Diane's. She endured some professional frustration before she became successful, auditioned for parts in which she did not believe, and encountered people who did not follow through with opportunities. She recalled, "There were a lot of promises, but nothing actually came off. I ran out of money and became quite lonely."[17]

The Guardian asked six well-known film critics for their own perceptions of the overall meaning in the Mulholland Drive. Neil Roberts of The Sun and Tom Charity of Time Out subscribed to the theory that Betty is Diane's projection of a happier life. Roger Ebert and Jonathan Ross seemed to accept this interpretation, but both hesitated to overanalyze the movie. Ebert stated, "There is no explanation. There may not even be a mystery." Ross observed that there were storylines that went nowhere: "Perhaps these were leftovers from the pilot it was originally intended to be, or perhaps these things are the non-sequiturs and subconscious of dreams."[18] Philip French from The Observer saw it as an allusion to Hollywood tragedy, while Jane Douglas from the BBC rejected the theory of Betty's life as Diane's dream, but also warned against too much analysis.[18]

Another theory offered is that the narrative is a Möbius strip, a twisted band that has no beginning and no end.[19] Or Betty and Rita, and Diane and Camilla may exist in parallel universes that sometimes interconnect. Or the entire film is a dream, but whose dream is unknown.[20]

[edit] A "poisonous valentine to Hollywood"
Regardless of the proliferation of theories, movie reviewers note that no single explanation satisfies all of the loose ends and questions that arise from the film. Stephen Holden of the The New York Times wrote, "Mulholland Drive has little to do with any single character's love life or professional ambition. The movie is an ever-deepening reflection on the allure of Hollywood and on the multiple role-playing and self-invention that the movie-going experience promises ... What greater power is there than the power to enter and to program the dream life of the culture?"[21] J. Hoberman from The Village Voice echoed this sentiment by calling it a "poisonous valentine to Hollywood".[22]

Contained within the original DVD release is a card titled "David Lynch's 10 Clues to Unlocking This Thriller". The clues are:
Pay particular attention in the beginning of the film: At least two clues are revealed before the credits.
Notice appearances of the red lampshade.
Can you hear the title of the film that Adam Kesher is auditioning actresses for? Is it mentioned again?
An accident is a terrible event — notice the location of the accident.
Who gives a key, and why?
Notice the robe, the ashtray, the coffee cup.
What is felt, realized, and gathered at the Club Silencio?
Did talent alone help Camilla?
Note the occurrences surrounding the man behind Winkie's.
Where is Aunt Ruth?

2002 DVD edition insert[23]
Mulholland Drive has been compared with Billy Wilder's film noir classic Sunset Boulevard (1950), another tale about broken dreams in Hollywood.[12][24][25] Apart from both titles referring to iconic Los Angeles streets, Mulholland Drive is "Lynch's unique account of what held Wilder's attention too: human putrefaction (a term Lynch used several times during his press conference at the New York Film Festival 2001) in a city of lethal illusions".[26] The title of the film is a reference to iconic Hollywood culture. David Lynch lives near Mulholland Drive, and stated in an interview, "At night, you ride on the top of the world. In the daytime you ride on top of the world, too, but it's mysterious, and there's a hair of fear because it goes into remote areas. You feel the history of Hollywood in that road."[12] Watts also had experience with the road before her career was established: "I remember driving along the street many times sobbing my heart out in my car, going, 'What am I doing here?'"[7]

One critic cautioned viewers against a cynical interpretation of the events in the movie, stating that Lynch presents more than "the façade and that he believes only evil and deceit lie beneath it."[27] As much as Lynch makes a statement about the deceit, manipulation, and false pretenses in Hollywood culture, he also infuses nostalgia throughout the film, and recognizes that real art comes from classic filmmaking, as Lynch cast, thereby paying tribute to, veteran actors Ann Miller, Lee Grant, and Chad Everett. He also portrays Betty as extraordinarily talented and that her abilities are noticed by powerful people in the entertainment industry.[27]

Laura Elena Harring described her interpretation after seeing the finished product: "When I saw it the first time, I thought it was the story of Hollywood dreams, illusion and obsession. It touches on the idea that nothing is quite as it seems, especially the idea of being a Hollywood movie star. The second and third times I saw it, I thought it dealt with identity. Do we know who we are? And then I kept seeing different things in it ... There's no right or wrong to what someone takes away from it or what they think the film is really about. It's a movie that makes you continuously ponder, makes you ask questions. I've heard over and over, 'This is a movie that I'll see again' or 'This is a movie you've got to see again.' It intrigues you. You want to get it, but I don't think it's a movie to be gotten. It's achieved its goal if it makes you ask questions."[28]

[edit] Romantic content
Treatment of the relationships between Betty and Rita, and Diane and Camilla varied between those who were honestly touched by their sincerity and those who were titillated. A review of the film by Premiere stated that the relationship between Betty and Rita is "possibly the healthiest, most positive amorous relationship ever depicted in a Lynch movie."[29] Another pointed out that the pivotal romantic interlude between Betty and Rita is so poignant and tender by Betty's "understanding for the first time, with self-surprise, that all her helpfulness and curiosity about the other woman had a point: desire ... It is a beautiful moment, made all the more miraculous by its earned tenderness, and its distances from anything lurid."[30] Another review stated the scene's "eroticism is so potent it blankets the whole movie, coloring every scene that came before and every one that follows".[31]

An analysis of the film in terms of the lesbian as a tragic figure noted the media response to the film: "(r)eviewers rhapsodized in particular and at length about the film's sex scenes, as if there were a contest to see who could enjoy this representation of female same-sex desire the most."[32] The author, Heather Love, wrote that the film used a classic theme in literature and film depicting lesbian relationships: Camilla as achingly beautiful and available, rejecting Diane for Adam. Popular reaction to the film suggests the contrasting relationships between Betty and Rita, and Diane and Camilla are "understood as both the hottest thing on earth and, at the same time, as something fundamentally sad and not at all erotic" as "the heterosexual order asserts itself with crushing effects for the abandoned woman".[32]

Media portrayals of Naomi Watts' and Laura Elena Harring's views of their onscreen relationships were varied and conflicting. Watts said of the filming of the scene, "I don't see it as erotic, though maybe it plays that way. The last time I saw it, I actually had tears in my eyes because I knew where the story was going. It broke my heart a little bit."[33] However, in another interview Watts stated, "I was amazed how honest and real all this looks on screen. These girls look really in love and it was curiously erotic."[17] While Harring was quoted saying, "The love scene just happened in my eyes. Rita's very grateful for the help Betty's given [her] so I'm saying goodbye and goodnight to her, thank you, from the bottom of my heart, I kiss her and then there's just an energy that takes us [over]. Of course I have amnesia so I don't know if I've done it before, but I don't think we're really lesbians."[34] Heather Love agreed somewhat with Harring's perception when she stated that identity in Mulholland Drive is not as important as desire: "who we are does not count for much—what matters instead is what we are about to do, what we want to do."[32]

[edit] Characters

Betty (Naomi Watts) arrives in Los Angeles; pictured with Irene (Jeanne Bates). Betty is bright and optimistic, in contrast with Watts' portrayal of Diane in the latter part of the film.Betty Elms (Naomi Watts), the bright and talented newcomer to Los Angeles, is described as "wholesome, optimistic, determined to take the town by storm",[30] and "absurdly naïve".[35] Her perkiness and intrepid approach to helping Rita because it is the right thing to do is reminiscent of Nancy Drew for reviewers.[35][36][37] Her entire persona at first is an apparent cliché of small-town naïveté. But it is Betty's identity, or loss of it, that appears to be the focus of the film. For one critic, Betty performed the role of the film's consciousness and unconscious.[35] Naomi Watts, who modeled Betty on Doris Day, Tippi Hedren, and Kim Novak, observed that Betty is a thrill-seeker, someone "who finds herself in a world she doesn't belong in and is ready to take on a new identity, even if it's somebody else's".[13] Film critic Amy Taubin suggests that Betty is a reincarnation of Sandy from Lynch's Blue Velvet: Betty's hometown shares the same name as the apartment building of Blue Velvet's femme fatale, Dorothy. Having been freed from her small-town constrictions, Sandy is reborn as Betty, drawn to a dark-haired mystery woman like Dorothy, and falls in love with her and loses herself.[35]

Betty, however difficult to believe as her character is established, shows an astonishing depth of dimension in her audition.[25][38] Previously rehearsed with Rita in the apartment, where Rita feeds her lines woodenly, the scene is "dreck"[20] and "hollow; every line unworthy of a genuine actress's commitment", and Betty plays it in rehearsal as poorly as it is written.[38] Nervous but plucky as ever at the audition, Betty enters the cramped room, but when pitted inches from her audition partner (Chad Everett), she turns it into a scene of powerful sexual tension that she fully controls and draws in every person in the room. The sexuality erodes immediately as the scene ends and she stands before them shyly waiting for their approval. One film analyst asserts Betty's previously unknown ability steals the show, specifically, taking the dark mystery away from Rita and assigning it to herself, and by Lynch's use of this scene illustrates his use of deception in his characters.[38]

Rita (Laura Elena Harring), the mysterious and helpless apparent victim, is a classic femme fatale with her dark, strikingly beautiful appearance. Roger Ebert was so impressed with Harring that he said of her "all she has to do is stand there and she is the first good argument in 55 years for a Gilda remake".[36] She serves as the object of desire, directly oppositional to Betty's bright self-assuredness. She is also is the first character with whom the audience identifies, and as viewers know her only as confused and frightened, not knowing who she is and where she is going, she represents their desire to make sense of the film through her identity.[39] Instead of threatening, she inspires Betty to nurture, console, and help her. Her amnesia makes her a blank persona, that one reviewer noted, is "the vacancy that comes with extraordinary beauty and the onlooker's willingness to project any combination of angelic and devilish onto her".[30] A character analysis of Rita asserts that her actions are the most genuine of the first portion of the film, since she has no memory and nothing to use as a frame of reference for how to behave.[19] Todd McGowan, however, author of a book on themes in Lynch's films, states that the first portion of Mulholland Drive can be construed as Rita's fantasy, until Diane Selwyn is revealed; Betty is the object that overcomes Rita's anxiety about her loss of identity.[40]

The dark-haired woman (Laura Elena Harring) assumes the name "Rita" after seeing the name on a poster. Her search for her identity has been interpreted by film scholars as representing the audience's desire to make sense of the film.After Betty and Rita find the decomposing body, they flee the apartment and their images are split apart and reintegrated. Immediately they return to Betty's aunt's apartment where Rita dons a blonde wig—ostensibly to disguise herself—but making her look remarkably like Betty. It is this transformation that one film analyst suggests is the melding of both identities. This is further illustrated soon after by their sexual intimacy, followed by Rita's personality becoming more dominant as she insists they go to Club Silencio at 2 a.m., that eventually leads to the total domination by Camilla.[26]

Diane Selwyn (Naomi Watts), the palpably frustrated and depressed woman, who seems to have ridden the coattails of Camilla, whom she idolizes and adores, but who does not return her affection. She is considered to be the reality of the too-good-to-be-true Betty, or a later version of Betty after living too long in Hollywood.[21] Diane is the personification of dissatisfaction, painfully illustrated in a scene where she is unable to climax while masturbating, crying tears of frustration. One analysis of Diane suggests her devotion to Camilla is based on a manifestation of narcissism, as Camilla embodies everything Diane wants and wants to be.[41] Although she is portrayed as weak and the ultimate loser, for Jeff Johnson, author of a book about morality in Lynch films, Diane is the only character in the second portion of the film whose moral code remains intact. She is "a decent person corrupted by the miscellaneous miscreants who populate the film industry".[42] Her guilt and regret are evident in her suicide, and in the clues that surface in the first portion of the film. Rita's fear, the dead body, and the illusion at Club Silencio, indicate something is dark and wrong in Betty and Rita's world. In becoming free from Camilla, her moral conditioning kills her.[43]

Camilla Rhodes (Melissa George, Laura Elena Harring) is little more than a face in a photo and a name that has inspired many representatives of some vaguely threatening power to place her in a film against the wishes of Adam. Referred to as a "vapid moll" by one reviewer,[44] she barely makes an impression in the first portion of the film, but after the blue box is opened and she is portrayed by Laura Elena Harring, she becomes a full person who symbolizes "betrayal, humiliation, and abandonment",[20] and is the object of Diane's frustration. Diane is sharp contrast to Camilla, who is more voluptuous than ever, and who appears to have "sucked the life out of Diane".[32] Immediately after telling Diane that she drives her wild, Camilla tells her they must end their affair. On a movie set where Adam is directing Camilla, he orders the set cleared, except for Diane—at Camilla's request—where Adam shows another actor just how to kiss Camilla correctly. Instead of punishing Camilla for such public humiliation, as is suggested by Diane's conversation with the bungling hit man, one critic views Rita as the vulnerable representation of Diane's desire for Camilla.[45]

Adam Kesher (Justin Theroux) is established in the first portion of the film as a "vaguely arrogant",[46] but apparently successful director who endures one humiliation after another. Theroux said of his role, "He's sort of the one character in the film who doesn't know what the [heck's] going on. I think he's the one guy the audience says, 'I'm kind of like you right now. I don't know why you're being subjected to all this pain.'"[8] After being stripped of creative control of his film, he is cuckolded by the pool cleaner (played by Billy Ray Cyrus), and thrown out of his own opulent house above Hollywood. After he checks into a seedy motel and pays with cash, the manager arrives to tell him his credit is no good. Witnessed by Diane, Adam is pompous and self-important. He is the only character whose personality does not seem to change completely from the first part of the film to the second.[47] One analysis of Adam's character contends that because he capitulated and chose Camilla Rhodes for his film, that is the end of Betty's cheerfulness and ability to help Rita, placing the blame for her tragedy on the representatives of studio power.[26]

Minor characters include The Cowboy (Lafayette Montgomery), the Castigliani Brothers (Dan Hedaya, Angelo Badalamenti), and Mr. Roque (Michael J. Anderson), all of whom are somehow involved in pressuring Adam to cast Camilla Rhodes in his film. These characters represent the death of creativity for film scholars,[41][48] and they portray a "vision of the industry as a closed hierarchical system in which the ultimate source of power remains hidden behind a series of representatives".[35] Ann Miller portrays Coco, the landlady who welcomes Betty to her wonderful new apartment. Coco, in the first part of the film represents the old guard in Hollywood, who welcomes and protects Betty. In the second part of the film, however, she appears as Adam's mother, who impatiently chastises Diane for being late to the party and barely pays attention to Diane's embarrassed tale of how she got into acting.[41]

[edit] Style

Dwarf actor Michael J. Anderson, as Mr. Roque, was fitted with oversized prosthetic limbs in order to give him the appearance of an abnormally small head.The filmmaking style of David Lynch has been written about extensively using descriptions like "ultraweird",[31] "dark",[26] and "oddball".[49] An author of a book on Lynch wrote, "One cannot watch a Lynch film the way one watches a standard Hollywood film noir nor in the way that one watches most radical films."[50] Through Lynch's juxtaposition of cliché and surreal, nightmares and fantasies, nonlinear story lines, camera work, sound, and lighting, he presents a film that challenges viewers to suspend belief of what they are experiencing.[25] Many of the characters in Mulholland Drive are archetypes that can only be perceived as cliché: the new Hollywood hopeful, the femme fatale, the maverick director, and shady powerbrokers that Lynch never seems to explore fully.[32] Lynch places these often hackneyed characters in dire situations, creating dream-like qualities. By using these characters in scenarios that have components and references to dreams, fantasies, and nightmares, viewers are left to decide, between the extremes, what is reality. One film analyst wrote of him, "Like most surrealists, Lynch's language of the unexplained is the fluid language of dreams."[19]

David Lynch uses various methods of deception in Mulholland Drive. A shadowy figure named Mr. Roque, who seems to control film studios, is portrayed by dwarf actor Michael J. Anderson (also from Twin Peaks). Anderson, who has only two lines and is seated in an enormous wooden wheelchair, was fitted with oversized foam prosthetic arms and legs in order to portray his head as abnormally small.[51] During Adam and Camilla's party, Diane watches Camilla (played by Harring) with Adam on one arm, lean over and deeply kiss the same woman who appeared as Camilla (Melissa George) before the blue box was opened. Both then turn and smile pointedly at Diane. Film Critic Franklin Ridgway writes that the depiction of such a deliberate "cruel and manipulative" act makes it unclear if Camilla is as capricious as she seems, or if Diane's paranoia is allowing the audience only to see what she senses.[41] In another example of an illusion, in a scene immediately after Betty's audition, the film cuts to a woman singing without apparent accompaniment, but as the camera pulls backwards, the audience sees that it is a recording studio. In actuality, it is a sound stage where Betty has just arrived to meet Adam Kesher, that the audience realizes as the camera pulls back further. Ridgway insists that such deception through artful camera work sets the viewer full of doubt about what is being presented: "It is as if the camera, in its graceful fluidity of motion, reassures us that it (thinks it) sees everything, has everything under control, even if we (and Betty) do not."[41]

An emotionally wrenched Diane (Naomi Watts) exchanges words with Camilla (Laura Elena Harring). Diane's scenes were characterized by different lighting to symbolize her physical and spiritual impoverishment.The first portion of the film that establishes the characters of Betty, Rita, and Adam, presents some of Lynch's most logical filmmaking of his career.[19][52] The later part of the film that represents reality to many viewers, however, exhibits a marked change in cinematic effect that gives it a quality just as surreal as the first part. Diane's scenes feature choppier editing and dirtier lighting symbolizing her physical and spiritual impoverishment,[26] that contrasts with the first portion of the film where "even the plainest decor seems to sparkle", Betty and Rita glow with light, and transitions between scenes are smooth.[53] Lynch moves between scenes in the first portion of the film using panoramic shots of the mountains, palm trees, and buildings in Los Angeles. In the darker part of the film, sound transitions to the next scene without a visual reference where it is taking place. At Camilla's party, when Diane is most humiliated, the sound of crashing dishes is heard that carries immediately to the scene where dishes have been dropped in the diner, and Diane is speaking with the hit man.

Another recurring element in Lynch's films is his experimentation with sound. He stated in an interview, "you look at the image and the scene silent, it's doing the job it's supposed to do, but the work isn't done. When you start working on the sound, keep working until it feels correct. There's so many wrong sounds and instantly you know it. Sometimes it's really magical."[3] In the opening scene of the film, the dark-haired woman stumbles off Mulholland Drive, silently it suggests she is clumsy. After Lynch added "a hint of the steam [from the wreck] and the screaming kids", however, it transformed Laura Elena Harring from clumsy to terrified.[54] Lynch also infused subtle rumblings throughout portions of the film that reviewers noted added unsettling and creepy effects.[55]

[edit] Soundtrack
The soundtrack of Mulholland Drive was supervised by Angelo Badalamenti, who collaborated with Lynch on previous projects that include Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks.[56] Badalamenti, who was nominated for awards from the American Film Institute (AFI) and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) for his work on the film,[57][58] also has a cameo as an espresso aficionado and mobster. Reviewers noted Badalamenti's ominous score contributed to the sense of mystery as the film opens on the dark-haired woman's limousine,[59] that contrasted with the bright, hopeful tones of Betty's first arrival in Los Angeles.[56]

Lynch uses two pop songs from the 1960s directly after one another, playing as two actresses are auditioning by lip-synching them. According to an analyst of music used in Lynch films, Lynch's female characters are often unable to communicate through normal channels and are reduced to lip-synching or being otherwise stifled.[60] Connie Stevens' "Sixteen Reasons" is the song being sung while the camera pans backwards to reveal several illusions, and Linda Scott's version of "I've Told Ev'ry Little Star" is the audition for the first Camilla Rhodes, that film scholar Eric Gans considers a song of empowerment for Betty.[61] Originally written by Jerome Kern as a duet, sung by Linda Scott in this rendition by herself, Gans suggests it takes on a homosexual overtone in Mulholland Drive.[61] Unlike "Sixteen Reasons," however, portions of "I've Told Ev'ry Little Star" are distorted to suggest "a sonic split-identity" for Camilla.[60] When the song plays, Betty has just entered the sound stage where Adam is auditioning actresses for his film, and she sees Adam, locks eyes with him and abruptly flees after Adam has declared "This is the girl", about Camilla, thereby avoiding his inevitable rejection.

At the hinge of the film is a scene in an unusual late night theater called Club Silencio were a performer announces "No hay banda," (There is no band) "But yet we hear a band", variated between English, Spanish, and French. Described as "the most original and stunning sequence in an original and stunning film",[26] Rebekah del Rio's Spanish a cappella rendition of "Crying", named "Llorando", is praised as "show-stopping ...except that there's no show to stop" in the sparsely attended Club Silencio.[35] Lynch wanted to use Roy Orbison's version of "Crying" in Blue Velvet, but changed his mind when he heard Orbison's "In Dreams".[12] Del Rio, who popularized the Spanish version and who received her first recording contract on the basis of the song, stated that Lynch flew to Nashville where she was living, and she sang the song for him once and did not know he was recording her. Lynch wrote a part for her in the film and used the version she sang for him in Nashville.[62] In the Club Silencio scene, before the song ends, del Rio collapses onstage although her powerful voice continues to ring throughout the theater. The song tragically serenades the lovers Betty and Rita, who sit spellbound and weeping, moments before their relationship disappears and is replaced by Diane and Camilla's dysfunction. According to one film scholar, the song and the entire theater scene marks the disintegration of Betty's and Rita's personalities, as well as their relationship.[26] With the use of multiple languages and a song to portray such primal emotions, one film analyst states that Lynch exhibits his distrust of intellectual discourse and chooses to make sense through images and sounds.[19]

[edit] Release and reaction

[edit] Performance

Naomi Watts, David Lynch, Laura Elena Harring and Justin Theroux at the 2001 Cannes Film FestivalMulholland Drive premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2001 to major critical acclaim. Lynch was awarded the Best Director prize at the festival, sharing it with co-winner Joel Coen for The Man Who Wasn't There.[63] It drew positive reviews from many critics and some of the strongest audience reactions of Lynch's career. Universal Pictures released Mulholland Drive theatrically in sixty-six theaters in the United States on October 12, 2001, grossing $587,591 over its opening weekend. It eventually expanded to its widest release of 247 theaters, ultimately grossing $7,220,243 in the United States box office. TVA Films released this film in Canada theatrically on October 26, 2001. In other territories outside the United States, the film grossed $12,892,096 for a worldwide total of $20,112,339.[64] Lynch was nominated for a Best Directing Oscar for the film.[65] From the Hollywood Foreign Press, the film received four Golden Globe nominations, including Best Picture (Drama), Best Director, and Best Screenplay.[66] It was named Best Picture by the New York Film Critics Circle and Online Film Critics Society.[67][68]

[edit] Critical reception
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times awarded the film four stars and commented, "David Lynch has been working toward Mulholland Drive all of his career, and now that he's arrived there I forgive him Wild at Heart (1990) and even Lost Highway (1997). At last his experiment doesn't shatter the test tubes. The movie is a surrealist dreamscape in the form of a Hollywood film noir, and the less sense it makes, the more we can't stop watching it."[36] In The New York Times, Stephen Holden said the film "ranks alongside Fellini's 8½ and other auteurist fantasias as a monumental self-reflection" and added, "Looked at lightly, it is the grandest and silliest cinematic carnival to come along in quite some time: a lurching journey through one filmmaker's personal fun house. On a more serious level, its investigation into the power of movies pierces a void from which you can hear the screams of a ravenous demon whose appetites can never be slaked."[21] Edward Guthmann of the San Francisco Chronicle called it "exhilarating ... for its dreamlike images and fierce, frequently reckless imagination" and added, "(t)here's a mesmerizing quality to its languid pace, its sense of foreboding and its lost-in-time atmosphere ... it holds us, spellbound and amused, for all of its loony and luscious, exasperating 146 minutes [and] proves that Lynch is in solid form—and still an expert at pricking our nerves."[69]

In Rolling Stone, Peter Travers observed, "Mulholland Drive makes movies feel alive again. This sinful pleasure is a fresh triumph for Lynch, and one of the best films of a sorry-ass year. For visionary daring, swooning eroticism and colors that pop like a whore's lip gloss, there's nothing like this baby anywhere."[70] J. Hoberman of The Village Voice stated, "This voluptuous phantasmagoria ... is certainly Lynch's strongest movie since Blue Velvet and maybe Eraserhead. The very things that failed him in the bad-boy rockabilly debacle of Lost Highway—the atmosphere of free-floating menace, pointless transmigration of souls, provocatively dropped plot stitches, gimcrack alternate universes—are here brilliantly rehabilitated."[22]

While reviews of the film were mostly positive (receiving an 81% rating on Rotten Tomatoes),[71] Mulholland Drive was not without its detractors. Rex Reed of The New York Observer said it was the worst film he had seen in 2001, calling it "a load of moronic and incoherent garbage."[72] In New York, Peter Rainer observed, "Although I like it more than some of his other dreamtime freakfests, it's still a pretty moribund ride ... Lynch needs to renew himself with an influx of the deep feeling he has for people, for outcasts, and lay off the cretins and hobgoblins and zombies for a while."[73] In the Washington Post, Desson Howe called it "an extended mood opera, if you want to put an arty label on incoherence."[74] Todd McCarthy of Variety found much to praise—"Lynch cranks up the levels of bizarre humor, dramatic incident and genuine mystery with a succession of memorable scenes, some of which rank with his best"—but also noted, "(t)he film jumps off the solid ground of relative narrative coherence into Lynchian fantasyland ... for the final 45 minutes, Lynch is in mind-twisting mode that presents a form of alternate reality with no apparent meaning or logical connection to what came before. Although such tactics are familiar from Twin Peaks and elsewhere, the sudden switcheroo to head games is disappointing because, up to this point, Lynch had so wonderfully succeeded in creating genuine involvement."[52]

Since its release, the film has been ranked #38 on the Channel 4 program 50 Films to See Before You Die,[75] and it appeared in The Guardian's 1000 Films to See Before You Die.[76] Despite Naomi Watts' experience in twenty film roles prior to Mulholland Drive, she stated that the material she was able to choose from after its release was "elevated by about 1000 per cent ... I'm definitely being showcased out there with a great film and work that I'm proud of."[77] The film was voted as the 11th best film set in Los Angeles in the last 25 years by a group of Los Angeles Times writers and editors with two criteria: "The movie had to communicate some inherent truth about the L.A. experience, and only one film per director was allowed on the list".[78]

[edit] Home video
A DVD version of Mulholland Drive was released in April 2002 in the United States and Canada, with few special features. It was released without chapter stops, a feature that Lynch objects to on the grounds that it "demystifies" the film.[79] In spite of Lynch's concerns, the DVD release included a cover insert that provides "David Lynch's 10 Clues to Unlocking This Thriller", although one DVD reviewer noted, the clues may be "big obnoxious red herrings"[55] and another described them as "vague and cryptic, and frankly a little condescending".[80] Special features included in later versions and overseas versions of the DVD included a Lynch interview at the Cannes Film Festival and highlights of the debut of the film at Cannes.

[edit] Awards
Category — Recipient(s)

Cannes Film Festival Best Director – David Lynch (shared)[63]

New York Film Critics Circle Awards Best Film – Mulholland Drive[67]

Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Director – David Lynch[81]

Chicago Film Critics Awards Best Picture – Mulholland Drive
Best Director – David Lynch
Best Actress – Naomi Watts[82]

Online Film Critics Society Best Picture – Mulholland Drive
Best Director – David Lynch
Best Actress – Naomi Watts
Best Original Screenplay – David Lynch
Best Original Score – Angelo Badalamenti
Best Breakthrough Performance – Naomi Watts[68]

ALMA Awards Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture – Laura Elena Harring[83]

BAFTA Awards Best Editing – Mary Sweeney[58]

Independent Spirit Awards Best Cinematography – Peter Deming[84]

Category – Nominee(s)

74th Academy Awards Achievement in Directing – David Lynch[65]

AFI Awards AFI Actor of the Year (Female): Movies – Naomi Watts
AFI Composer of the Year – Angelo Badalamenti
AFI Director of the Year – David Lynch
AFI Movie of the Year[57]

BAFTA Awards Best Film Music – Angelo Badalamenti[58]

Golden Globe Awards Best Motion Picture (Drama)
Best Director (Motion Picture) — David Lynch
Best Original Score – Angelo Badalamenti
Best Screenplay – David Lynch[66]

President Thomas J. Whitmore's Speech To The Fighter Pilots in Independence Day

2008-11-05T23:02:00.001-08:00

Good morning.

In less than an hour, you will be joining fighters from around the world.

And you'll be launching the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind.

Mankind huh?

Word should have new meaning for all of us today.

We can’t be consumed by our petty differences anymore.

Perhaps, it's fate that today is the Fourth of July.

And we will once again be fighting for our freedom.

Not from tyranny or oppression or persecution.

But from annihilation.

We're fighting for our right to live, to exist.

And should we win the day.

The fourth of July will no longer be known as an American holiday.

But as the day when the world declared in one voice:

We will not go quietly into the night.

We will not vanish without a fight.

We gonna live on.

We gonna survive.

Today, we celebrate, our Independence Day!

4 Pigs & A Bear

2008-11-01T01:32:00.000-07:00

O Justice, Where Art Thou?

2008-10-31T02:08:00.000-07:00

Malaysian acquitted in Mongolian slaying trial

By EILEEN NG, Associated Press Writer AP

Friday, October 31, 2008

SHAH ALAM, Malaysia - A Malaysian court acquitted a prominent political analyst Friday of abetting the gruesome killing of a Mongolian woman in a case that has drawn intense public speculation about alleged links to top government figures.

Abdul Razak Baginda smiles following his release at the High Court in Shah Alam, outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Friday, Oct. 31, 2008. A Malaysian court has acquitted the prominent political analyst accused of abetting the gruesome killing in October 2006 of a Mongolian woman. (AP Photo/Lai Seng Sin)

Abdul Razak Baginda, a close associate of Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, had been charged with abetting the slaying of Altantuya Shaariibuu, a Mongolian interpreter who was shot in October 2006. Two police officers have been on trial for allegedly carrying out the killing.

High Court Judge Mohamad Zaki Yasin ruled Friday that the prosecution failed to establish a case against Abdul Razak following a trial that began nearly two years ago. However, Mohamad Zaki ordered the two policemen to enter their defense.

"I just want to go home," Abdul Razak told reporters after hugging his family.

Abdul Razak, 48, would have faced the death penalty if convicted of abetting the killing of Shaariibuu, with whom he had an eight-month affair.

Opposition leaders had repeatedly tried to link Najib and his wife to Shaariibuu's death. Najib, who is expected to succeed Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in March, has insisted he never knew Shaariibuu and repeatedly denied any involvement in the case.

The case has not directly implicated the government, but Friday's court decision is likely to raise opposition accusations of political interference in the judiciary.

"Regardless of whether it is fair or not, (Abdul Razak's) acquittal will only go further to fuel rumors and speculation about the involvement" of Najib, The Malaysian Insider political news Web site said in a commentary.

The remains of Shaariibuu, who was shot and blown up with military-grade explosives, were found in a jungle clearing near Shah Alam, the capital of central Selangor state.

Abdul Razak has acknowledged having an affair with Shaariibuu. The prosecution had contended that he ordered her killing after she pestered him for money.

Government prosecutor Abdul Majid Hamzah said he would "consider appealing the case" against Abdul Razak's acquittal, stressing that "the fight is not over yet." The prosecution had closed its case in June after 151 days of testimony by 84 witnesses.

The slain woman's father, Shaariibuu Setev, denounced the court's decision, claiming it was a blow to the credibility of Malaysia's judicial system.

"I am not satisfied," he told reporters. "My daughter is dead and (Abdul Razak) is free."

The trial for the two policemen is scheduled to resume Nov. 10.
___

Associated Press writer Sean Yoong contributed to this report.

It Came From Under The Sea

2008-10-30T19:45:00.000-07:00

The Digital Experience

2008-10-29T02:50:00.003-07:00

DTS - Digital Theatre Sound

The Day The Earth Stood Still

2008-10-28T06:31:00.001-07:00

Nissan Skyline GT-R

PSP

A four-storey terrace house.

Green tree yellow flowers

Citroen Berlingo

Baby

Hibiscus

2008-10-28T06:14:00.001-07:00

Sabrina - Boys (Summertime Love)

2008-10-23T19:42:00.000-07:00

A Funny Memorable Line

2008-10-23T01:55:00.000-07:00

"It’s like a fat queer attracted to a dick sandwich."

Britney Spears - Womanizer

2008-10-20T17:57:00.003-07:00

Some Photos

2008-10-19T22:34:00.000-07:00

The View From Empire State Building

2008-10-12T22:19:00.000-07:00

Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories

2008-10-12T19:42:00.000-07:00

i'm still stuck on GTA Liberty City Stories.

Last night, after at least around 50 attempts, i finally managed to accomplish the mission of blasting the 3 deejays for a priest who calls them false idols. Name of the mission is "False Idols".

i realised the fastest way to get to the point where i could shoot the rocket launcher at the helicopter was by a speed-bike and not in a sports car as it takes time to get into and out of the car. Whereas for a bike, i could just speed towards the point where the chopper was, and jump off the bike and aim and shoot at the chopper.

Tough, tough, tough. Afterall all this slogging. I've only managed to complete 30% of the missions.

now i'm stuck on the mission "Steering The Vote". It's very tough also as i had to drive to all the points to broadcast the message to vote for Donald Love as mayor. The points are far apart. To make matters worse, i had to drive a van which catches fire easily and explodes after several collisions. Not like the fire engine which never catches fire no matter how many times you hit it against other vehicles and buildings.

I also had to compete with 2 other vans supporting O'Donovan. How to win? Within seconds of conquering an area, the 2 vans would claim the area as theirs. Super tough. Even after i blow up one of the 2 vans. Another one would pop up out of nowhere a while later! Super tough!

Earlier Sunrise

2008-10-09T00:56:00.001-07:00

Used to get sunrise at around 0704 hours.

This morning. The sky brightened up at 0650 hours.

Misty morning.

Iron Man Flight Test

2008-10-09T00:54:00.000-07:00

Heath Ledger As The Joker

2008-10-05T21:16:00.001-07:00

Singapore F1 - The World's First Night Race

2008-09-28T20:06:00.000-07:00

Bird's eyeview.

Catching F1 for free.

Singapore F1 Simulator

2008-09-23T22:26:00.000-07:00

Road Rage Test

2008-09-12T01:37:00.001-07:00

Nikon P5000

2008-09-12T01:12:00.000-07:00

Zo Gang

2008-09-11T19:19:00.001-07:00

Canto pop playlist

2008-09-07T23:31:00.000-07:00

World

Lim Chu Kang Road and Neo Tiew Road

2008-09-07T22:20:00.000-07:00

Singapore Fireworks Festival - French Romance

2008-08-26T00:02:00.000-07:00

Fireworks Festival 2008 French Romance - Click here for more home videos

Flag Hung Wrongly

2008-08-07T19:32:00.001-07:00

Heath Ledger

2008-08-06T20:37:00.001-07:00

Transformers

2008-07-30T02:40:00.000-07:00

QQ

2008-07-30T02:15:00.001-07:00

Ferrari versus Kia

2008-07-29T23:02:00.000-07:00

typhoon pounds taiwan

2008-07-28T00:54:00.000-07:00

bmp

2008-07-27T23:13:00.001-07:00

Changi Point Ferry Terminal

2008-07-27T23:01:00.001-07:00

The Walking Trapeze

2008-07-27T22:14:00.000-07:00

Money No Enough 2

2008-07-18T01:05:00.000-07:00

乌鸦变凤凰

2008-07-16T02:09:00.000-07:00

Where Do All Roads Lead To?

2008-07-13T19:42:00.002-07:00

In Singapore, all roads lead to ERP gantries.

You can drive from Singapore and reach Rome eventually after a very long odyssey. But not before you pay your dues on the roads in Singapore first.

A Fine Wide Mess

2008-07-13T19:42:00.001-07:00

Carina Lau

2008-07-13T17:29:00.001-07:00

When Carina Lau's nude photo scandal broke out in 2002, she denied being raped when she was abducted, stripped naked and photographed by the triads. Who would have believed her claim that she was not raped? Even a straight man would have struggled not to touch her when she was naked and helpless, let alone a bunch of triad crooks. Of course they gang-banged her.

They didn't kill her. They let her live.

Why was she abducted? She said it's because she refused to act in a movie produced by a triad boss. Tony Leung hired an investigator and found out who this fella was.
Carina Lau Kar-ling (born December 8, 1965 in Suzhou, China with family roots in Rongxian, Guangxi, China) is a Hong Kong actress. She was especially notable in the 1980s for her girl-next-door type roles in films.

PersonalShe has been in a long-term relationship with Tony Leung Chiu-Wai since 1989.

2002 East Week magazine photo incident
In October 2002 naked pictures of Carina Lau were sold in East Week magazine owned by business entrepreneur Albert Yeung. Lau was supposedly kidnapped and raped by the triads in Hong Kong with the kidnapping supposedly taking place roughly in 1990, 12 years prior to the publication.[2] Local papers of Lau through Reuters news agency reported that she was kidnapped and viciously assaulted and gang raped, though a police report was not filed.[1] [3]

Massive protests and petitions were held by fellow Hong Kong entertainers.[2] Lau herself was applauded for participating in the protests. Nansun Shi, a fellow support actress speaking for Lau:

“ She said if this most regrettable incident has made the community aware of the importance of media ethics in our lives then what she has suffered does not really matter.[1] ”

The nude photos revealed the actress in distress. The local magazine was temporarily shutdown after the publication.[4] Many feared the media was taking desperate measures to attract readers.[1]

TVMART
She is currently the CEO of Hong Kong's TVMART channel. Since being appointed as executive president, she is not expected to continue as CEO for longer than seven months, due to a loss of 40 million Taiwan Dollars.[5]

As for the reasons of the company's downward operation, Hong Kong residents are not used to shopping via television and also, the shopping channel invited hosts from the serious news channel, two of which made it a failure.[5]

Hong Kong actress Carina Lau was invited to be CEO because the company coveted her fame and influence. Carina told the media that because she was not that well educated, the decisions made by her might have some negative influence on the company.

Nipples Through Wet Top

2008-07-11T00:07:00.001-07:00

Ferrari Enzo

2008-07-10T19:26:00.000-07:00

Robot Vacuum Cleaner

2008-07-09T00:49:00.000-07:00

DIY Motivational Posters

2008-07-08T22:52:00.000-07:00

Create your own at the following link: DIY Motivational Posters

Compassvale Beacon

2008-07-01T23:27:00.001-07:00

a-ha - Time and Again

2008-06-30T20:36:00.000-07:00

The sun brought me
The moon caught me
The wind fought me
The rain got me
The road sent me
For years bent me
The stars overwhelmed me
Time and again

But now I can't see the stars
The star is a thing I can't see
And now I don't feel the same
To feel is a thing I can't be

Earth crushed me
Fame brushed me
The streets hushed me
As life touched me
Time placed me
Events dazed me
Love saved me
Now and again

But now there can be no love
Love is a thing I can't be
And there can be no trust
Trust is a thing I can't see
But now there can be no love
Love is a thing that can't be
Now I can't be so strong
Strong is a thing I can't be
Time and again
Time and again

The sun brought me...

Single mom sells Florida home and heart on Internet

2008-06-30T19:53:00.000-07:00

By KELLI KENNEDY,Associated Press Writer

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. - She's tried night clubs and online dating sites, but now a 42-year-old single mother is looking for love where everyone else's heart is breaking _ the real estate market.

After a year of trying to sell her four-bedroom home and eight years of singledom, Deven Trabosh is offering her South Florida home and a shot at marrying her on the Internet.

"I figured let's combine the ad because I'm looking for love and I'm looking to sell the house," said Trabosh, a Barbie-esque blonde who teeters around the nearly 2,000 square-foot house in patent leather heels.

"Marry a Princess Lost in America," Trabosh wrote in the ads she posted on eBay and Craigslist last week. She describes a life of romance and travel and a home decorated with vaulted ceilings, upgraded tile and a soaking tub in a gated community with a pool and tennis courts.

Trabosh, a licensed real estate agent who hasn't practiced in years, knew she would struggle to sell the home in the troubled real estate market, but insists her fairytale ad isn't just a sales gimmick.

"I'm struggling...I don't want to lose my house and I want to find somebody," said Trabosh, who changed her name in the ad to Traboscia to keep people from finding her in the phone book. "So I came up with this dream plan because I've always dreamt about being a fairytale princess."

She listed the home for $340,000 on a sell-it-yourself web site, but upped the price, adding a $500,000 shipping fee to include her companionship on eBay.

Trabosh says eBay removed her ad, though she planned to change the wording and repost it. Under the site's prohibited services policy, eBay does not allow the sale of human beings, body parts or relationships, spokeswoman Catherine England said Friday.

Trabosh hasn't received any serious offers, but says she's had nearly 500 responses, mostly positive, including one from Ottie of Surrey, England, who e-mailed to say, "You are offering the perfect life with the perfect American princess."

She whips out her laptop to show off a picture of Claudio, a handsome Italian wine and cheese taster, who she's been corresponding with since he responded to the ad. Seated on a white leather love seat in her living room, she giggles almost girlishly about him. They're hoping to meet in Miami in a few weeks.

She's gotten criticism too. Her 21-year-old daughter Haley says she just wants her mom to find love, but her 14-year-old daughter says her mother is embarrassing her. Other have e-mailed to say she's selling herself short.

"I'm not selling myself. I'm selling love...to meet that true love," Trabosh says. "Of course, it's gonna take more chemistry and connection. It's not going to be instantaneous that I'm just going to be automatically for sale...it's a package deal for true love."

Trabosh isn't the first to use the Internet to hawk the unconventional. A heartbroken Australian man recently tried to sell his life online, including his house, job and friends. Others have sold body space, promising to display advertisements for the highest bidder.

"There is a plethora of quirky ads on craigslist that pop up on craigslist every day, and this appears to be one of them," spokeswoman Susan MacTavish Best said in an e-mail. "Scads of couples have met and, thus, married through craigslist over the last twelve years sometimes marrying the person who bought their tired couch."

Ideally, Trabosh hopes a European man will close the deal and says she's willing to move overseas.

"I know I'm putting myself out there. I'm sincere. I believe in true love," she says. "I want to get married again."

Code Gease

2008-06-30T17:44:00.001-07:00

Rebecca Tan

2008-06-29T22:18:00.000-07:00

Depeche Mode - Shake The Disease

2008-06-26T01:12:00.001-07:00

Tsutomu Miyazaki

2008-06-17T19:39:00.000-07:00

It took 19 donkey years for Japan to hang one of its serial killers.

Tsutomu Miyazaki, apprehended on July 23, 1989 and only executed on June 17, 2008.

Tsutomu Miyazaki
Background information
Birth name: Tsutomu Miyazaki
Alias(es): Otaku Murderer, Little Girl Murderer, Yūko Imada
Born: August 21, 1962(1962-08-21)
Ōme, Tokyo
Died: June 17, 2008 (aged 45)

Cause of death: hanging
Penalty: death
Killings
Number of victims: 4
Span of killings: August 22, 1988 through July 6, 1989
Country: Japan
State(s): Saitama, Tokyo
Date apprehended: July 23, 1989
Tsutomu Miyazaki (宮﨑勤, Miyazaki Tsutomu?, August 21, 1962–June 17, 2008), also known as The Otaku Murderer, The Little Girl Murderer, and Dracula, was a Japanese serial killer.

Background
Miyazaki's premature birth left him with deformed hands, which were permanently gnarled and fused directly to the wrists, necessitating him to move his entire forearm in order to rotate the hand. Due to his deformity, he was ostracized when he attended Itsukaichi Elementary School, and consequently kept to himself. Although he was originally a star student, his grades at Meidai Nakano High School dropped dramatically; he had a class rank of 40 out of 56 and did not receive the customary admission to Meiji University. Instead of studying English and becoming a teacher as he originally intended, he attended a local junior college, studying to become a photo-technician.

Life as a serial killer
Between 1988 and 1989, Miyazaki mutilated and killed four girls, ages four to seven; he then sexually molested their corpses. He drank the blood of one victim and ate her hand. The crimes—which, prior to Miyazaki's apprehension and trial were classified "The Little Girl Murders", and would become known as the Tokyo/Saitama Serial Kidnapping Murders of Little Girls (東京・埼玉連続幼女誘拐殺人事件, Tōkyō Saitaima renzoku yōjo yūkai satsujin jiken?)—shocked Saitama Prefecture, which had a long-standing record of low occurrences of crimes against children.

During the day, Miyazaki was a mild-mannered employee. In his own time, he selected children to kill randomly. He terrorized the families of his victims, sending them letters recalling in graphic detail what he had done to their children. To the family of victim Erika Nanba, Miyazaki sent a morbid postcard assembled using words cut out of magazines, spelling out: "Erika. Cold. Cough. Throat. Rest. Death."

He allowed the corpse of his first victim, Mari Konno, to decompose in the hills near his home, then chopped off the hands and feet, which he kept in his closet, and which were recovered upon his arrest. He charred the remaining bones in his furnace, ground them into powder, and sent them to her family in a box, along with several of her teeth, photos of her clothes, and a postcard reading: "Mari. Cremated. Bones. Investigate. Prove."

Police found that the families of the victims had something else in common: they had all been bothered by strange phone calls. The phone would ring, but when answered, the person on the other end (presumably Miyazaki) would say nothing; if they didn't pick it up, the phone would sometimes ring for upwards of 20 minutes.

Arrest
On July 23, 1989, Miyazaki, while attempting to insert a zoom lens into the vagina of a grade school-aged girl in a park near her home, was attacked by the girl's father. Miyazaki fled on foot, but returned to the park to retrieve his car, whereupon he was promptly arrested. A police search of his two-room bungalow turned up a collection of 5,763 videotapes, some containing pornographic anime and slasher films. Interspersed among them was video footage and pictures of his victims. He was also reported to be a fan of horror films and have an extensive collection from this genre. The centerpieces of his collection were the first five Guinea Pig films; he reportedly used the second film in the series, titled Flower of Flesh and Blood, as a template for one of his killings. Miyazaki, who retained a perpetually calm and collected demeanor during his trial, appeared indifferent to his capture.

In 1989, he became to be known as "The Otaku Murderer". His bizarre murders fueled a moral panic against otaku and anime in Japan. However, the reports of him were disputed. For example, Miyazaki was suspected to have many pornographic videos, but Eiji Otsuka suspected in his book that it was the forgery by a photographer, because people wanted to understand Miyazaki under their sense of values. On the other hand, Fumiya Icihashi suspected a part of stereotypes about Miyazaki as the information manipulation of the police because the police wanted to convict Miyazaki for the serial murders.

Following his son's arrest, Miyazaki's father, who had refused to pay for his legal defense, committed suicide in 1994.

Trial and execution
His trial began on March 30, 1990, during which Miyazaki often talked in a nonsensical manner. He blamed his atrocities on a "rat man" alter-ego of himself, a character which he often drew in cartoon-form for the court. Throughout the 1990s, Miyazaki remained incarcerated while Saitama Prefecture put him through a battery of psychiatric evaluations. Teams of psychiatrists from Tokyo University diagnosed Miyazaki as suffering from dissociative identity disorder or extreme schizophrenia. However, the Tokyo district court judged that he was still aware of the gravity and consequences of his crimes and he was therefore accountable for them, sentencing him to death by hanging on April 14, 1997. On June 28, 2001, the Tokyo High Court upheld his death sentence, and on January 17, 2006, the Supreme Court of Justice upheld the original death sentence.

He described his serial murders as "good job" and had never apologized. His crimes remained unforgettable. Child killer Kaoru Kobayashi described himself as "the next Tsutomu Miyazaki or Mamoru Takuma."

Kunio Hatoyama signed his death warrant and Miyazaki was executed by hanging on June 17, 2008. It was suspected that his execution was related with the Akihabara massacre. However, the Ministry of Justice said "We cannot answer."

Anger Resides In The Bosom Of Fools

2008-05-22T23:54:00.000-07:00

Jason was driving home after a hard day’s work.

His anal boss, Alan, had given him a hard day. He was fuming mad and plotting how to exact his revenge against Alan.

Probably he would bash up his new Audi R8 one of these days. If he only he could find the car alone, away from prying eyes, both human and CCTV.

Just as he was picturing how shiok it would feel smashing up Alan’s R8 felt, he filtered right to the next lane as a black Mercedes-Benz 200E was crawling like a tortoise in front of him.

Even though he did not filter right carelessly, as the car behind was still quite a distance away and not moving very fast, the asshole still flashed high beam at Jason.

That does it for Jason. He wound down his window and showed the asshole behind him his middle finger. The driver behind Jason got further infuriated too and continued to flash his high beam at Jason. Now the asshole also blared his horn at Jason too.

Immediately after the red light turns green, the asshole tried to floor his pedal and overtake Jason. But Jason was driving a Mitsubishi Evo X, not a pushover for a car. While the asshole behind him was driving a Subaru WRX.

Both cars have about similar acceleration powers. But as Jason was in front of the asshole in the first place. It was very hard for the asshole behind to overtake him.

They were racing along the highway at speeds way over 100km/h.

Mind you, it was peak hour traffic in which they had to do their crazy maneuvers. As and when there were pockets of empty road space, they would rev their speed machines to 160km/h.

Eventually, after a crazy chase of almost 30 minutes from Eunos to Jurong along the Pan Island Expressway, the Subaru WRX crashed into the center road divider.

And Jason won. With a certain great sense of satisfaction and vindication, he might add.

As Jason saw the WRX crashing behind him, he couldn’t resist the urge of pointing his middle finger one last time for the race on the asshole who flashed his high beam at him.

“GO FUCK YOUSELF! YOU BLOODY MOTHER-FUCKING ASSHOLE! FUCK OFF,” Jason bellowed.

The asshole couldn’t hear him. He smashed his head against the steering wheel and dashboard and had a major concussion.

Since he had been rammed against his car’s steering wheel and dashboard. His blood cum brain juice gushed out of his hot head. By the time, the ambulance managed to cut through the evening peak hour traffic to get to him, he had already died and gone to hell.

The WRX’s safety belt and air-bag couldn’t save him from his folly of flashing his high beam at the driver far in front of him.

Tai Keng Gardens

2008-05-21T20:10:00.000-07:00

Woman Spins Both Ways

2008-05-20T00:14:00.000-07:00

This is quite amazing..
If you see this lady turning in clockwise you are using your right brain.
If you see it the other way, you are using left brain.
Some people do see both ways, but most people see it only one way.

If you try to see it the other way and if you do see, your IQ is above 160 which is almost a genius.
Then see if you can make her go one way and then the other by shifting the brain's current.

BOTH DIRECTIONS CAN BE SEEN
This was proved at Yale University, over a 5 year study on the human brain and it's functions. Only 14% of the US population can see her move both ways.

Helen Ong

2008-05-07T21:00:00.001-07:00

A Prayer In Vain

2008-05-07T18:52:00.000-07:00

Dear Heavenly Father,

Please rain down fire and brimstone on all the assholes and bitches around me. Send them to the deepest pit of hell to burn forever for being anal, bitchy with me and for being a pain in my ass.

Amen.

Samuel L. Jackson As Nick Fury In Iron Man

2008-05-06T20:40:00.001-07:00

The 2008 film Iron Man saw Samuel L. Jackson portray Nick Fury in a short scene following the credits. He confronts Tony Stark in his home, explaining that they need to speak about the Avenger Initiative.

Australian scientists report weight loss breakthrough

2008-04-28T22:05:00.000-07:00

AFP - Tuesday, April 29th, 2008 SYDNEY (AFP)
Australian scientists may have discovered how to help people lose weight without cutting back on food, a breakthrough that could pave the way for fat-burning drugs.
Researchers in Melbourne found that by manipulating fat cells in mice they were able to speed up the animals' metabolisms.

Get a load of her chunky ass and humongous body.

They found that when a particular enzyme, known as angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE), was removed, mice were able to eat the same amount as other mice but burn more calories and therefore gain less weight.
Animals without the enzyme were on average 20 percent lighter than normal mice and had 50 to 60 percent less body fat, senior researcher at the Howard Florey Institute Michael Mathai said.
"It is very clear that they do have less body fat," he told AFP.

Mathai, who is also a lecturer in nutrition at Victoria University, said the slimmer mice also appeared to have less chance of developing diabetes because they processed sugar faster than normal mice.
He said the research, to be published Tuesday in the US-based Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could be used to develop drugs to assist weight loss.
Drugs which impair the action of ACE already exist and are mostly used to combat high blood pressure.
"The drugs are out there because they are used for hypertension," he said.
"So we know their safety and their tolerability. What we don't know is whether or not they will work in humans. And we don't know whether it will work in all obese humans."
Mathai said it could be a question of finding the right dosage of hypertension medication, or developing a new type of drug of the same class, to be used as weight-loss pills.
"This might be one way in which you can increase metabolic rate in combination with managing nutrition to limit the intake of calories," he said.
Mathai said the research, conducted at the Howard Florey Institute, Victoria University, La Trobe University, Deakin University, the Baker Institute and the University of Melbourne, was yet to pinpoint why the genetic manipulation led to weight loss.
"Because we deleted the gene, the gene is gone from the whole body, that means that it is gone from all tissues including the brain," he said.
"And so we don't know whether it's a direct effect of the deficiency in the tissue or whether it's something coming from the brain."

Maidstone

2008-04-21T19:58:00.000-07:00

Rip Torn versus Norman Mailer.

The film is now famous for the improvised fight between Norman Mailer and Rip Torn. As the camera rolled, Torn struck Mailer in the head with a hammer, intending to "kill his character." Mailer's scalp opened up, and a vicious fight ensued. With the camera still rolling, Torn energetically strangled Mailer until the fight was broken up by Mailer's wife Beverly and Mailer's wailing children. During the melee, Mailer bit off a small chunk of Rip Torn's ear. The fight, in which the actors called each other by their real names, made it into the film, and the segment has proven very popular on the Internet in recent years.

Italian convicted for staring at woman on train

2008-04-20T18:13:00.000-07:00

Fri Apr 18, 9:40 AM ET

LECCO, Italy (Reuters) - An Italian man was given a suspended jail sentence for staring too intensely at a woman sitting in front of him on a train.

A judge sentenced the man in his 30s, whose name was not revealed, to 10 days in prison and a 40 euro fine after a 55-year old woman filed a complaint for sexual harassment.

His lawyer said on Friday he would appeal the sentence. The court will explain its verdict later.

The two met on two separate occasions in 2005 on a commuter train going from Lecco, a town in northern Italy, to Milan.

The first time, the man sat next to the woman but she felt he had moved too close for comfort. The next day, the man sat in front of the same woman and according to her complaint, stared at her for the whole journey.

The two did not speak.

Dark Is The Night For All

2008-04-20T18:06:00.001-07:00

The Rotten Fruit

2008-04-18T01:23:00.001-07:00