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Name: Shaun
Birthday: 8/24/1982
Gender: Male
Interests: I'm a Kiwi Malaysian, or is that a Malaysian Kiwi? One of those..
I am and will forever be in that funny dead zone between two cultures, or in two cultures.. one of those :)
Expertise: A graduate software engineer :P
Message: message me
Member Since:
5/17/2004
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| I have so much written down... but haven't got around to writing anything up. argh! Soon enough....
Back in NZ for 2 weeks now and life... mostly back to normal.
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| I have much time to record random thoughts here in the UK. Lots of time by myself.. at home, on the train, wherever :P
Last Monday's random thought:
"I woke up this morning in Crassier, Switzerland. Watched my cousin get ready to go to school. Then walked out the door.... to go to work in the UK - HOW COOL IS THAT!!!!" (well, yes, its only 1 hour flight to London) - then heaps of transport, so my plane was at 9:40am, and got to work at mid-day. The gaining of one hour through timezone change helped that though.
Other random thoughts:
"London is addictive! So much happening, and such a mix of people" - this was probably after a few nights around London. I went to Melbourne late last year - and I thought THAT was happening - so very wrong.
"On the wings of a dream, so far beyond reality" - well, this is a quote from a song :)
"Living in Europe and being able to go to lots of random places on weekends... this is living my childhood dream - and I'm enjoying it.". Although I've been mostly restricted to the UK, I think I've made the most of it. Frequent trips into London. And around the country. Although, I've done a bit of this alone - am I becoming a loner? Nooooo!!!! ( Where's Yin? lol )
In just a few months, I've been able to see all of the overseas GBA bunch - Wicks in Canberra, Rory in Melbourne and Pradeep in London.
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| I waited for Avatar for many years. Then it came out, and it was pretty awesome in most parts, and a bit dull in other parts. Overall, I was still very impressed.
With all the ultra hype before Avatar, I forgot about most other things I was looking forward to. Then after it came out, there was an emptiness... as what was I waiting for now? In relation to TVs and movies anyway :)
Ah, but I remembered, and have recently found some other things to look forward to.
So, movies and TV-series which I am looking forward to this year:
#1: Pacific (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pacific_%28miniseries%29)
The spiritual sequel to one of my favourite series' of all time - Band of Brothers. Tom Hanks and Steven Spielburg producing. Another World War II series, but where Band of Brothers was set in Europe, Pacific is set... in the Pacific... focusing on the Americans and Japanese. It will follow about two or three main characters in most of the major battles in the Pacific theatre. The budget... is massive.
This one, I've been waiting for, in anticipation, since I first heard about it being filmed in Aussie about three years ago.
#2: Pillars of the Earth (http://www.the-pillars-of-the-earth.tv/)
An HBO series based on one of my favourite books (a book frequently in top 50 bookstore lists). Its a book authored by Ken Follet about the building of a cathedral in Kingsbridge, a small town in England. It focuses on the lives of a large number of characters over the course of the several decades it took to make the cathedral. Its an immense, amazing and unique story, and one that I have enjoyed reading numerous times.
Let me quote the blurb:
"The Pillars of the Earth is a sweeping epic of good and evil, treachery and intrigue, violence and beauty. This sensuous, spirited and passionate story is set against a backdrop of war, religious strife and power struggles which tears lives and families apart. In that time, there rises a magnificent Cathedral in Kingsbridge. Against this backdrop, human dramas and love stories entwine: Tom, the master builder, Aliena, the noblewoman, the sadistic Lord William, Philip, the prior of Kingsbridge, Jack, the artist in stone work and Ellen, the woman from the forest who casts a curse. At once, this is a sensuous and enduring love story and an epic that shines with the fierce spirit of a passionate age. Ken Follett masterfully weaves these stories through the political turmoil of 12th century England, creating a relevant and viable world for today's audience and for generations to come."
But enough about the book, the series is being produced by Ridley Scott - who made Gladiator, another of my favourite films - on another huge budget.
I just randomly came across this news the other day - and its being released in the second half of 2010!!! OMG!
#3: A Song of Ice and Fire (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Song_of_Ice_and_Fire)
This is a bit of an interesting one. It is a book series written by George RR Martin that is still in the making, and last year, HBO announced it would try making it into a series. But I've been following this fantasy book series for more than 10 years now - there are now four books out of a planned series of seven.
These books come out many years apart... sigh.. and the latest one has been coming for 3 years now, and is still being done. Sigh.
The plot? I have to say... it is hard to describe. It is a fantasy world, with a number of noble families at war with each other and many other major events all happening at the same time. It has a cast of literally hundreds of characters. The story is ambitious, and amazing. With so much happening, following the stories as they weave in and out of each other is like going on the most amazing roller coaster. There are so many types of characters, from young children, to knights, to old men - the points of view and types of stories coming out are... breathe-taking. Also, on top of all that, I admire the way George RR Martin writes; if I were to ever write a novel, I think this author's style and structure would be a heavy influence on anything I did.
On the series, a few larger names are signed on, such as Sean Bean. However, even though an episode has been shot, this is only a pilot that still has to be green-lit by HBO.
So, actually, now that I think of it, I'm only looking forward to TV-series' this year. I cannot currently think of any movies which I am dying to watch. I'll let them creep up and surprise me - just like last year's Star Trek, Up and District 9 did.
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| I actually currently keep a daily "diary" of events now, while I am here in the UK. I hope to transfer these to my blog one day. I also hope to keep doing this on a daily basis even after the UK.
Anyway, it is my third day of snow today.
I had snow on my first day in the UK. A huge mass of snow, that was coming down heavily all morning.
Then, yesterday morning in Macclesfield, there was a very pleasant surprise - Jon said, "look out of the window". I did, and noted the bright sky (less common in the UK) - then he said "no, look down" - I looked down... and EVERYTHING was white! Later on, I discovered that the snow, whilst thick, was very fluffy and powdery.
This morning, I was also very surprised to look out of my window and see things were white. But it was just a very brief, frosty covering of extremely light snow. But still....
The part that is enjoyable, is that it has always been a surprise to see the ground white. Given the past day's weather, I never expect to see it. So, while most Britons dislike the snow by now, it still brings some child-like delight, when I see everything changed into a wonderous winterland.
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| I'm a fussy eater, with many many requirements for the food placed in front of me. One of these is a very subjective requirement... I don't eat animals which are too intelligent. Like... I couldn't eat an ape. Or a monkey. This requirement of intelligence is a vague - but I would have to say... if an animal can problem solve, or use tools - both of which are indicators of extreme intelligence, into which only a minute fraction of the animal kingdom fall - I would definitely avoid them on the table. Dolphins. Dogs. Cats.
Another animal I have always tried to avoid is the octopus. A frequent of Japanese dishes. The octopus is a very intelligent animal. They can do mazes, remember things, and I have read stories of them escaping from their tanks, walking across floors, to enter the tanks of other fish, eat them, and return back to their tanks. This morning, I am reading about an article in CNN (http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/12/15/octopus.study/index.html), where an octopus was observed carrying coconut shells underneath them, for use later on as an external protection. This is something unheard of for an invertebrate. Planned future use of tools. Sometimes, when I go into aquariums, I try to look into those large large eyes, and try to imagine what is going on behind them. Well, not much as far I as could see.
So yes, let the octopus remain out of my dish! | | |
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