[Self] "Vacation"

A 3-day supposed vacation turned out to be a PD/Blue Lagoon road trip that lasted less than 30 hours. But I guess the relaxing part was the driving with the wind just rustling through.

Of course, there was absolutely no traffic at all be it trunk roads or the highway.

But there were good moments before with some chaps - a quick game of risk where I made a major miscalculation and paid the price very early on; a mini road trip to some unknown part of Kuala Selangor with Tissues, and then a nice dinner but a crappy Sandra Bullock movie* with Tissues and his lovely wife.

*Think it was called Premonition. Very badly executed time-jump thriller drama wannabe.

[Self] Age Infliction

Another basketball injury - one that progressively went from a minor pain to a major stiffness and swelling :(

The soul is willing but the body is aging. Bloody tradegy :(

[Self] Arrrrgh

Idiot, idiot, baka baka baka baka!!

[Self] PMI Membership

Just blew RM600 to become a PMI member. And now to find out how much more its gonna set me back. But it is step 1 of becoming PMP certification so it is a necessary evil.

Apparently they have changed the rules on the "formal education hours" since 2001. (back then if I recall correctly one could take the cert and get the "formal education hours" later).

No wonder my friend CK said expect the whole thing to cost around 10k (exam alone is around 2.5k). Bloody hell I had no idea it was that expensive until just only. Ah whatever it is - gotta burn what has gotta be burnt.

That night job at 7-11 looks pretty good now.....

[Self] A G1 Episode

Ah bless Kids Central Sundays 1230pm; and bless Hasbro too for sponsoring G1 reruns.


After that terrible violating experience last week (read post "Deformers"), it was definitely good to sink into the couch, and watch some good ol' Transformers as it was meant to be.


It was the episode where Megatron reprogrammes Optimus and the rest of the Autobots into mindless droids. And only Bumblebee (with a voice!) and Jazz were not affected as they weren't around. Anyway, the Autobots do the unthinkable and go into a rampage of destruction and try to steal some solar energy plan. Is Megatron going to finally succeed in getting unboundless access to energon and skimp back to Cybertron to conquer it under Decepti-rule?


No way - we have Spike and his dad Spark Plug craft up some diod-modulator thing that does 2 things:
(1) Remove the bad energy >>>>>> (2) Restore the good.
Needless to say, the herioc quartet (2 humans, 2 autobots) soon remoralize the Autobad squad.





Pic: Yes Bumblebee, Optimus does owe you one!





Of course, life is never so simple. Everyone is re-converted except for Optimus. And he splits himself into 3 components (his bot self, wheelie and the trailer). 2 out of 3 are reconverted but the Optimus the bot is going haywire. With the last diod-modular, good ol' Bumblebee saves Optimus.


But as innocent and simplistic as it sounds. It did not end there. Even for an 80s cartoon you have to appreciate the interwoven complexities of the multiple storylines. Saving the Autobots was one thing, but don't forget Megatron and co. were on their way back to impose supreme rule on all sentient mechanoids on Cybertron with that solar technology.


So Jetfire swoops in, picks up Optimus and the rest. What happens next is cool tech-sci-fi-action shit .... Optimus and Rachet climbs on top of a rocket blasting away into space and dismantles the head; while Jazz blasts music so wild even Megatron decides to bail out of this lost cause.


What a tearjerker! And the world is safe again ... until the next episode!

[wtH!] Deformers

I cringed, I balked, and I threw my arms up in disgust many times. But I had to watch it and get it over with.

Michael Bay's interpretation of Transformers had me roving mad throughout the movie. Bloody idiot, total tosser.
- Crap-Idea-Morph: Bumblebee does a Lion-O by shooting the Autobot symbol into the sky; and then Optimus and some Autobots come down from the sky. WTH?
- Crap-Idea-Morph: With the disproportionate emphasis on some elite group of American soldiers, it may have well been a GI Joe Movie with some Transformers in it.
- Crap-Idea-Morph: It boils down to a fight for something called the "cube". Some jackass writer probably tried to create a whiff of mysticism by combing past concepts of "The Matrix" (ORIGINAL MOVIE), "The Key" (from espisode The Key To Vector Sigma - cartoon series), The Cube (pathetic attempt to make G1 cartoon reruns interesting), and Sparks (Beast Wars).
- Crap Plot: They try an insider joke where the original Bumblebee model is placed next to the revisionist Bumblebee. Oh yeah I am so amused you are aware that there is a history.
- Crap Plot: The whole show is full of unnecessary actors. How does an Ozzie analyst come into the pic? The black brainy dude was there just for the doughnut jokes and some PC quota; and the Sec of Defense fights aliens himself?
- Crap Plot: Megatron is a frozen popsicle, he thaws and battles for a few mins; and then goes poof upon being overloaded with energy.
- Crap Plot: Jazz tries to act cool, and minutes later he is torn apart and dies.
- So Wrong: Starcream didn't assert his natural self-presumed leadership of the Decepticons during Megatron's absence?
- So Wrong: Bumblebee cannot talk, apparently it is because his mechanical larynx is spoilt (but it get miraculously fixed after a nasty battle). This is therefore the perfect excuse for Michael Bay to make him talk like Wreck-Gar. Nice touch there man, excellent twist spot on!! No, no, I mean it. I bloody well meant it.
- So Wrong: How could Soundwave - one of the coolest and more intelligent Decepticons ever, be reduced to some mechanical gremlin that stalks around and speak like Crazy Frog?!
- So Wrong: Optimus uses an energy axe, not some sword!
- So Wrong: No Grimlock?! It's just as well the designs sucked. At least Grimlock's character was saved. But everyone can smell a sequel.
- So Wrong: The robots' designs were .... yucks.
- Crap Plagurism: One of the best one-liners ever from the ORIGINAL movie is taken and unashamedly used ... "One Shall Stand, One Shall Fall".
- Crap Plagurism: Guy tells girl .. there's more to you .... than meets the eye.

And to add insult to injury, later in the evening, there was this "The Making Of ..." clip on TV where the idiot is talking about his vision for the movie and oh-so proud of it; and then Steven Speilberg pops up saying how absolutely suitable Michael Bay was for the movie. Of all people .... Steven Speilberg!! Did you actually watch the move Mr. "Exec Producer"??!!

There must be more. But I am sure the brain filtered the rest out so I could stay sane (at least - what remains). And now, I need to get G1's DVDs to cleanse myself of this sacrilege.