No, there’s no quitting of jobs or quitting of smoking in this post, but Scrooge’s better quit that miserly attitude of his, but we all know how the story ends right?
So what makes Robert Zemeckis’ “A Christmas Carol”, a novel by Charles Dickens, any special than all the other directors’ versions? Allow me to introduce 3 things…
1. The Robert Zemeckis touch.
The Pursuit of Happiness, Contact, Forrest Gump and Back To The Future. These are shows which have been given that ultra special Robert Zemeckis touch and you can bet that his version of “A Christmas Carol” is going to be a thrilling and entertaining ride, unlike any Disney movie that you’ve watched before.
However, like any Disney movie you can be sure that it’s going to be entertaining and enriching story. I’m pretty sure that I’ll enjoy the movie throughly when it opens on 19th November 2009.
2. The Jim Carrey moment.
I thoroughly enjoy every movie that has Jim Carrey in it, and I can’t stress how funny he can be when he’s in his element, so don’t mind that I’m a little pro Jim Carrey here.
Anyway, the last film that I saw Jim Carrey in a Christmas movie was when he became the grouchy Grinch in “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” in 2000.
In his first ever project with Disney Pictures, Jim Carrey is back — although you’ll only get to hear his voice(s) as the highly talented actor takes on a myriad of characters in Disney’s “A Christmas Carol”.
He is the voice behind Mr Scrooge (in all the various age and time), Ghost of Christmas Past, Ghost of Christmas Present and Ghost of Christmas Future.
If you enjoy Jim’s antics and comedic nature, then get ready for Disney’s “A Christmas Carol” as it opens on 19th November 2009.
3. Disney Pictures
What can I say? Anything that goes by the tag of Disney Pictures is bound to be a lovely episode of drama and comedy, but if you think Disney’s “A Christmas Carol” is a show for kids, think again.
There is plenty of occasion for the plot to go scary and creepy, but with Jim Carrey in it, I think it’ll be a lot more tolerable.
If you can’t wait to catch the movie, then here is a trailer from youtube to whet that apetite…
“A CHRISTMAS CAROL” OPENS IN SINGAPORE CINEMAS 19 November 2009!
A few months back i set myself a targeted deadline to ‘release’ myself from this self-imposed commitment known as work.
I was meandering towards the end of my NS reservist period and yes, I wanted to quit.
Really badly too, but now that December looms on the horizon, I must say that things aren’t looking that bad after all. Give it some time, add a dash of positivity, spicing it up with loads of enthusiasm and things will work out in the end.
If any instigators for the resignatory mood to kick in were to stand up and take the blame, it had to be cashflow, or the lack of it.
Not for a very long time did I experience such a shortage of $$$ that I started to feel the pinch within my pockets and wallets. I even had to dig into my sacred cash reserves to buy myself 1 month of sustainability — and thankfully I had that little bit of cash reserves, otherwise I’d be out busking on the streets with my broken down guitar and frail voice serenading the ignorant Orchard crowd. Come to think about it, I think I would rather just sell tissues at Sungei road, the ROI would certainly be much more than the time wasted in serenading that particular crowd.
I mean how many of us have been to the place where Buskers busk and literally walk right through them? [Singaporeans] We’re a bunch of pathetic appreciators of arts right? I guess it all stems down to the way our parents educate us when we were young, like not talking to or accepting sweets from strangers, and sitting quietly and to never run around when the parents are waiting in queue. This blanket disregard for others contribute somewhat to the ‘play it safe’ mentality that most Singaporeans grow up with.
You need an example?
You see a red button and a green button on a device, and there’s no indication what either one does. Do you press either one or don’t even bother at all? Or do you frantically search for a book of instruction, trying to find out further about the device.
Since young we are programmed to ‘play it safe’ and as we grow and enter corporate worlds, we fashion our thoughts, our habits and our actions along with it.
In harbouring thoughts of quitting, I had actually planned to drastically throw away the ‘play it safe’ mentality by going down the route of the unpredictable, that is by becoming a full time internet marketer, and hedging my future on the lines of an online product.
A what? Nevermind that, because in the end I ‘played it safe’ by deciding to stick it out with the company for longer, but before I get labeled as a coward,I’d like to mention that this company I’m in is like my very own little baby, which I’ve nurtured since its birth right up till it has begun learning to sit up and take its first few baby steps.
This is the company that me and 2 others set up painstakingly and backbreakingly, sacrificing and trudging along its first 2 years with complete dedication and passion. No doubt it has grown really big and fat for a baby, but it’s still a baby in my eyes. It’s barely even learned to walk, so how could I put it all down and just leave?
I simply couldn’t bear to abandon this ‘baby’ of mine just like that. It could barely walk without me holding its hands and I couldn’t walk away knowing that I’ve yet to teach how its like to be running with the winds across your face. I suppose that there is still a bit more work to be done before I can finally say that my time is up and that it’s ripe for me to take my unconditional leave.
So yes, I played it safe but I also wasn’t about to throw away all the ventures and interesting stuffs that I’ve built (with thanks to Bangau, a real buddy that’s been hammering it away together — check out his website: services4you.wordpress.com and be polite, go visit!) in the build up to the saga of me wanting to quit.
I have learnt a lot throughout the entire draining process of this difficult decision. For one, it’s never easy to quit anything. I have as much love for quitters as I have for vegetables (which isn’t much really), because ALL quitters never win and they grow stale, right? Wrong! Some quitters do win — like smokers who quit are very commendable indeed. Hah! Gotcha!
Okay, okay, so in any case if it such that you have that immense explosive courage within you to quit (whatever it is that you want to quit), then good luck to you.
Here’s to wishing you well in your endeavours.
And um, enjoy this song by Owl City that’s playing on my blog at the moment. Somehow it clicks with the current mood. Nice — I feel like a DJ already.
Ever get that feeling of things never going your way, ever though you’ve tried, and tried, and tried, and tried, and tried?
It is definitely an unorthodox method of pulling it off, but I realise that by not trying at all too hard, things do seem to fall into place at times. NOTE: ‘at times’.
Is it because when you come across as someone who tries very hard, trying to be persuasive, even annoying at times, people get turned off? I know I would definitely love to shove my palm into the face of someone who is nagging and pecking at my neck consistently, nitpicking at things and wanting them to be his or her way, except that I don’t shove my palms most time because I’m just too nice and it would totally be unnecessarily disrespectful and I wouldn’t want others to shove their palms into my face anyway.
Of late Liverpool’s woeful form have undergone major operating procedures under the tables of makeshift footballing surgeons, from uncles whose only concern of the outcome of a football match is how much money they make from their bets to veteran pundits on tv, web and the daily papers.
The same time last season I remember that much of the knives were being used to disect the American owners, and much were being said of how they should vacate the positions to some entity worthy of the Red’s proud traditions and ambitions.
But they didn’t go, and in fact they’re here to stay much longer than expected, after any talks of alien takeovers, were alienated indeed.
Now that the skin of the American owners have toughen up against the knives, a new scapegoat is found, recklessly being put onto the operating table at every sign of despair. From Lucas Leiva, to Rafa Benitez, it seems that the knives are sharper than ever and the operational cuts are deeper than ever.
Why the negative sentiments? I often ask when I read them. What is so wrong about Rafa’s selection or tactics that warrants such petulant criticism, like I wonder if these critics were placed in Rafa’s shoes and put on the shoes that Rafa dons, how could they have done it better?
Should Rafa and the Liverpool lads work even harder? I doubt so. Working harder only tires the body and deflates the soul. I believe a marathon work ethic is the key to any successful long-term campaign and at this point of time, after much loss and dissapointment, they (Liverpool) should take things easy — but of course any demanding fans and critics would argue otherwise.
Still I applaud the way Rafa has tackled this issue, by not berating at his players or at match officials, unlike his much illustrious counterpart from Manchester, who seem to deflect the injury of a loss to his team by attacking referees — so that critics write about these attacks more than his team’s loss.
This managerial tactic reminded me so much of how Mourinho used to work, always deflecting losses to his team away, and these are ruthless, single minded managers who will only gladly do anything to get their team back on track.
Unfortunately (or fortunately?) Rafa takes it all in, and keeps assuring everyone that it’s just a blip, just a minor hiccup, just an unfortunate series of events, like how Cameron Jerome scored the wonder goal against the run of play this morning. You can’t predict these things.
Amazing match stats right? You’d be forgiven for thinking how cruel the referee was for not abandoning the one-sided match — but that’s how it goes in football, and it’s this beauty of ‘anything-goes’ that eencapsulates why I love the game so much.
Unfortunately, Rafa’s boys drew and lost points yet again, but I won’t be in grief about it, and I won’t brood much, because I know, it’s a marathon baby, and at marathons you don’t go at it 100% all the way, you pace yourself and we all know that in marathons, the winner is never the fastest runner.
Liverpool 2 – Birmingham 2. The marathon continues.
How can anyone resist this? How can? Or how cannot???
Wait, I know how cannot — cannot afford that is! By not having the money to buy!
So tantalising, so tempting, so… arrghhh! I’ll admit, I’m an Apple fanboy! Bite me!
And then there is the iPhone 3GS! So sleek, so captivating, so smooth, so…. arrrghhhhH!!!
Why must Apple torture me suring this holiday season with all these beautiful gadgets!
It’s not quite an obsession with the brand or anything-but-apple mindset that I possess, but it’s the simple, minimalistic yet functional design of Apple’s products that draws me towards them.
See that iphone above? Ever since its release, how many lookalikes have there been? Or even the imac for that matter.
But you know what’s the down-to-earth thing about apple is? Is that it does have it’s not-so-great moments as well, which it takes on smoothly and moves on.
Remember the Apple Newton? Aha! Not many would realise about it, but it wasn’t the success that Apple then craved for it to be.
In 1998 the Apple Newton was cut off from its production line, due to the lukewarm response for the said PDA.
And to state another, there was the G4 Cube, an award winning product, that was simply out of this world (at that time) and out of everyone’s pockets it seemed. It got stuffed away and despite a few facelift, at least it has driven Apple towards the obsession of slimmer, smaller or lighter, and better.
Thus the imac today.
Thinking about it, the imac, the iphone all perhaps wouldn’t have gained its cult status if not for these duds. It’s the continuous redesign and improvements given to its product line that makes Apple stand out from the rest of its counterparts.
Instead of adding more features and hardware, things are streamlined and simplified, yet functional. The way that good designs should be.
Being a part-time designer myself, I cannot stress how important this simple mantra of mine is: Good designs should make things simple, uncluttered and fully functional.
Keep reinventing, repolishing, reworking on any design before you can call it a final design, and imho there can and never will be a final design, because designs can forever be improved and polished.
And I love, adore, obsessive over good polished designs.
Anyway, since I can’t afford a 27inch iMac at the moment, and sees no reason for me to want to get one either (other than the adoration for having one itself, then I guess I can wait — even if Bidpax offers it to me for cheap!
Now Bidpax.com is one website that is simple, streamlined BUT (sadly) just not functional. Bah~
How many times have you written on a tiny piece of note and stash it hidden away?
How about writing endlessly about that crush of yours in your maths textbook, or how you hate the way the Science teacher speaks and wrote about it in your Science textbook?
How about that little, teeny, weeny piece of secret that you hold inside, unwilling to let out but silently wishes to share it with someone else?
Well now you can, in one way or another by letting it out, yet still keeping it a secret, somewhat, with What A Secret.
The alarm went off at 3am, powered on the comp and I tidied the blankets and refilled the water container for my cats.
I was a little groggy but I managed to wake up in time for the Liverpool do-or-die game against Lyon.
And that was before I decided to take another 5mins of shuteye.
When I woke, Lyon 1 – Liverpool 1, and it’s 6.15am already, with the computer presumably running all the way since hours ago and the monitor watching me, sleeping, instead.
I wasn’t shocked at the scoreline, but rather of how I managed to miss the game entirely.
Anyway, so Liverpool loss, yet so what?
What is there to be said that hasn’t been said of Liverpool’s unprecedented string of losses?
What is worth criticising when there’s a good explanation for every move that is deemed mistaken?
Call me the ultimate Liverpudlian but all the talk of neutrals calling for Rafa’s head to roll sounds a bit tiresome already. Is there something else to talk about?
Say, Rafa picking the wrong players? Well could it be that he doesn’t have any other players to choose?
Oh, Rafa sold the wrong players? Perhaps it ought to be clarified that the board approved the sale?
Lousy youths? Wait, before you blame the manager, then did you knew that with his latest contract, he is finally able to bring in the coaches that he can work with? Coaches that think and breathe like him, and possibly to avoid a Robbie Keane event?
The club disintegrating already? Far from it. Rafa has finally managed to bring the youth academy directly under his control, get transfers and acquisition with his blessings and plenty more.
Things are finally looking bright for the manager and I dare say at this moment that Liverpool will be right up there, challenging for the title race, with key players racing to get fit towards the middle of the season.
Anyway, right now the only thing that’s disintegrating clearly are the patience of the critics, who so dearly and badly longed for Liverpool, the perenniel EPL underdogs, to take the EPL by storm.
Sadly, that’s not the story we’re reading these days, where every paragraph is strung with little to no patience.
For the records, I too dearly want the Reds to triumph at everything, but analysing the squad this season I’m content enough and realistic enough to judge just how far the team can go.
I’ll repeat myself that the teams is dearly in need of at least another world class footballer, but to label the current crisis as the be all, end all, it’s simply premature.
This is all, but a test of character and strength of the players, whom I believe will rise above all the fracas and critiscism, for before dawn wakes in the horizon, the empty night spreads it’s cold darkness.
And from my perspective, things are finally starting to click, and this is only the beginning of the Rafalution.
Apologies if all these don’t make any sense, ‘cos at 3am in the morning, it’s rather pointless tiring to stay sane. Especially when you’ve just had a meal consisting of a generously sugar coated prata, or roti boom, and a glass of extremely sweet Bandung, the mind runs wild.
They are the best navigators of this small country.
You’ve read about them, you’ve probably been in close contact with some of them, in fact some of you may even be related to them. Interestingly we tend to complaint about them quite often too.
No, they’re not the government, far from it, so who can they be?
Taxi Drivers! Who else?
Love them or hate them, they’re here to serve us and serve us they will — but what if you happen to meet this particular driver from hell!? Watch on as the action intensifies towards the end.
Not quite a roller coaster ride and not quite your pleasant ride home either — but definitely one hell of a ride!
No, there’s no quitting of jobs or quitting of smoking in this post, but Scrooge’s better quit that miserly attitude of his, but we all know how the story ends right?
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