Lights off for the better of mankind

The clock is ticking. Time is running out. If you don't do your part, who would? Be part of the global effort to protect Mother Nature. Conserve energy & minimise wastes to help reduce global warming. Make a difference now with just a simple action.

Switch off your lights; not only for this Saturday but whenever not in use. Be responsible. Protecting Earth is an on-going collaborative effort.

VOTE EARTH!

Timeless classics

Another week of MPO performances! This week's is by far the best one I've ever watched after Viennese New Year. Firstly, the show was approx 2 hours long. Secondly, the crowd were mainly young & old adults alike. Unlike those irritating kiddos & inconsiderate parents present at last week's concert. I'd have to say yesterday's performance was so beautiful that it felt like I was lost in another realm. Good music knows no boundaries, age, gender & colour.

Songs were taken from award winning films & those noteworthy of an Oscar nomination. A short glance at the song lineup, one can feel shivers & goosebumps all over. Cuz it's one hell of great listing that I'm anticipating.

1. The Untouchables
2. Out of Africa
3. Ben Hur
4. The Godfather
5. To Kill A Mockingbird
6. Meet Me in St Louis
7. When you wish upon a star
8. Silverado
9. Gone with the Wind
10. The High and Mighty
11. Doctor Zhivago
12. The Gay Divorcee
13. The Man Who Knew Too Much
14. The Wizard of Oz
15. The Magnificent Seven

The highlight of the show is two solo performances by Whitney Claire Kaufman, daughter of Richard Kaufman who conducted last week performance too. Such a lovely sight to witness the intense chemistry between these two talented people showcasing their musical prowess - one with a brilliant voice, one with strong passion.

I was almost moved to tears when she performed a rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow, originally sung by Judy Garland; accompanied by MPO. What's even more surprising is that I didn't realise that one of the commonly used theme in HK dramas actually belonged to Out of Africa. It was unbelievably beautiful to hear it live. I was crossing fingers wishing that they would play that again. Nevertheless, E.T. was played as an encore. Better than nothing, huh ^^. I definitely wouldn't mind attending another round of performance like this. Hopefully one that plays videogame soundtracks particularly from Final Fantasy. =D

How much can you watch?

(With pun intended). Can you keep your full attention to a movie without averting your eyes to others or your partner beside you? Especially catching a lengthy 2 hour 45 mins film with a pain-in-the-ass plot. This is probably the worst superhero movie I've ever seen so far. Watchmen, it is.

Sorry, fanboys. If only the narrative structure was less complex, I would've enjoyed the movie as much as you all do. There's a good story behind every Watchmen character but pity that the screenplay sequence was so messed up, not to mention unnecessary mild porn included to whet the appetite of raging male hormones out there. As usual, even those scenes never make pass our censorship board's scrutiny. Haha.

WL & me walked out of the theatre hall, still confused of the whole purpose of the story. It was by far worse than Inkheart in me & WL's history of movies we've watched together. Certainly not worth your time if you aren't already familiar with the original graphic novel written by Alan Moore. Nevertheless, Watchmen might prove otherwise among die-hard fans as I've mentioned earlier.

Poster taken from Movie Poster Addict

Fantasies come alive

My 2nd trip to Dewan Filharmonik Petronas (DFP) for this year brought both good & bad experiences. The good moments were worth remembering reason being the performance is no ordinary classical music by Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert...the list goes on. It's a themed performance featuring guest conductor, Richard Kaufman leading our MPO to churn out tunes from several world renowned fantasy films. The one-hour performance included songs from the following list:

1. William Tell
2. Sleeping Beauty
3. Hansel & Gretel
4. Spiderman
5. Pirates of the Caribbean
6. The Wizard of Oz

Symphonic Fantasies, the show was called.

Imho, it was indeed a fantasy come alive as I got to hear the all-too-familiar themes not to mentioned performed live in front of my very eyes. In fact, I didn't expect that the first piece - William Tell Overture (Finale) was actually the majestic horse-racing song that I grew up listening to. Never came into my thought that this song was written for a play depicting a hero's true story.

Although Sleeping Beauty and Hansel & Gretel ain't my cup of tea due to its melancholic mood, the atmosphere quickened the minute the struck the note signaling the start of Spiderman soundtrack. And it got better & better with Pirates. Absolutely amazing! Just like the movie. E.T. was popular among the Mums & Dads as it was hit during their childhood days. Irregardless of all these, I'd have to admit that the last performance was timeless. Somewhere Over The Rainbow taken from The Wizard of Oz was such a heartfelt performance that I was nearly moved into tears. How I wished to hear it again live~

Good news aside, the supposedly family fun day on a Sundan afternoon turned out an tiresome & distracting one. I can't believe parents actually brought their kids despite knowing their children would never appreciate orchestral music. What's worse, they couldn't be bothered educating their children to sit still the whole time...albeit fun or boring. Oh, there was a parent behind me who'd probably eats & sleeps football - kicking my seat every now & then as if itching to play footie. Hello, uncle?? Can't you behave yourself??

Now it's a little pity & relief that the performance was merely an hour long. Pity cuz it was too short; perhaps they could've played more song selections. There're abundance of good fantasy movie themes that they've missed out. Definitely a relief cuz there's no way I can endure another hour with the kickin' parent & kids slouching, leaning roughly on the seats. Mind you, family fun days are a big no-no if you're looking forward to enjoying good music in a peaceful, comfy surrounding.

Crowning glory

I'd probably told myself a millionth times that I desperately needed a haircut. And I finally did! Dyed with auburn colour too! Hoorah!

My wavy curls are gone now & I'm back with good 'ol straigh hair. It feels good to be back to my old self again. My head feel so much lighter now...(boy, the long hair was really heavy~)

Hail Hitler, The Fuhrer

Me & WL's initial plan was to watch this highly anticipated movie (apparently, according to critics)...

...but unfortunately, most good seats were sold out at our frequent movie hangout. We decided to try our luck at Cineleisure - me being the first time watching a movie there. Gosh, I'm so slow! Anyways, we booked Benjamin Button but agan - for the first time - we arrived fashionably late for the movie. Unaware that Cineleisure's system only supports booking & not e-ticket purchase, our reservation was cancelled. Which means using your credit card number will not guarantee you tickets as it's merely a verification method. What a bummer~

Feeling dejected, I told WL that we need to watch a movie somehow. Since we're already here, why not? In the end, we made up our minds to watch Valkyrie.

The plot was predictable as it depicts the true story of the failed attempts of Hitler's assasination, masterminded by General...err, God! What was Tom Cruise's character again? General so & so. We thought it was a much better movie as compared to Inkheart cuz that one was quite lame.

One thing we found Valkyrie rather odd was that Tom Cruise is still able to move his prosthetic eye. I thought badly damaged eyes will be fully removed leaving no eyeballs behind. Which means no eye muscle is intact to assist the prosthetic eye's movement. And in certain scenes, you get to see that he wears a one-sided blindfold to hide his bad eye. Perhaps that's the only flaw that we noticed from it. Not the best movie but still not too bad for a historical movie.

Posters taken from Movie Poster Addict