The In-Laws - movie review

The In-Laws - Michael Douglas, Albert Brooks & Candice Bergen. This is indeed one of those better movies but was surprised that I missed this movie. It started when 2 future father-in-laws for their son/daugther came involved in a government investigation. The FBI were hot on their tails. Michael was an undercover CIA agent and Albert was your ordinary medical doctor majoring in foot/ankle (podiatrist). As Albert somehow bumped into Michael's secret stuff, Michael got no choice but to force Albert to go along with his plans. They "took" a jet to France to meet an international arm smuggler on the day of their children's wedding party.

Albert tried to expose Michael to the US authorities. FBI agents were given a run around going after 2 of them. Towards the end, Albert realised that Michael was truly macho in his fight against arm smugglers on his own. This is a hilarious movie which is not to be missed at all. I was sleepy watching an earlier show on TV until this came on. Even though it was a 2003 show but the storyline was not out of date at all.

Tags: Movie, In-Laws, Michael Douglas

Malaysia glocal

Glocal means... you get into a global space to play local games. According to Bernama, the Parliament was told that the two Malaysian pioneer astronauts will spin top (gasing) and toss "batu seremban' (five-stone game) as part of an experiment during his space travel.

The astronauts will also paint a batik motif and make 'teh tarik' ('pulled' tea) which would be shared with fellow astronauts from other country.

Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry parliamentary secretary Rohani Abdul Karim. Rohani, who was representing the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry at the parliament, said the outcome of the experiments -- gasing, batu seremban, batik, teh tarik et al -- would be studied on earth "with the hope that it would unravel the mysteries in science, education and medicine".

Thanks to Najib Razak, as it was revealed that the Malaysian Astronaut programme was not borne by the Treasury, but derived by offsetting the purchase of Sukhoi jet fighters from Russia by the Defence Ministry. Would anyone mind passing this blog entry to Michael Backman of The Age, Australia? (source: Screenshots)

The best part of this blog in Screenshots was the comments made. Some of them, I do really pass it off as jokes of the year.
Tags: Screenshots, Bernama, Astronaut, Space, Science, Technology

11 Rules from Bill Gates

Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically- correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.

Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it.

Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3. You will not make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping - they called it opportunity.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parent's fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they now are. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites your parent's generation created, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This does not bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

Tags: Bill Gates, Life

World SMS Record

A Singaporean student has set a new world record for writing an SMS message in a time of 41.52 seconds, beating the previous mark of 42.22 seconds set in July by an American.

Ang Chuang Yang, 16, was one of more than 300 competitors to take part in Sunday's SMS Shootout, sponsored by Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel). The Raffles Institution student is now waiting for the feat to be accepted by the Guinness Book of World Records.

If you think you are real good at SMS, try this sentence that was set by Guinness to gauge your SMS speed: “The razor-toothed piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus are the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world. In reality, they seldom attack a human.”

If you can key in the whole sentence and send it out in less than 41.52 seconds, quickly call up the Guinness Book of World Records.
Tags: SMS, Guinness, Singtel, Piranha, World Record

Athletes of the Year

Sprinters Asafa Powell of Jamaica and Sanya Richards of the United States were named as the International Association of Athletics Federations’ (IAAF) Athletes of the Year as announced during the World Athletics Gala held at Salle des Etoiles in Monte Carlo, Monaco on Sunday.

Powell, 23, twice equalled the world 100m record of 9.77 he set last year. He won 16 races and a share of the US$1mil IAAF Golden League Jackpot after winning all six races in Golden League competitions.
Sanya Richards, 21, was undefeated over 400m outdoors and also captured a US$250,000 share of the Golden League Jackpot. She won 13 races, including the year’s five fastest performances capped by an American record of 48.70 at the World Cup in Athens in September. The previous record of 48.83 was set by Valerie Brisco at the 1984 Olympic Games, six months before Richards was born. Her performance was the fastest in the world since the 1996 Olympic Games.

Two world record breakers were given awards for Performances of the Year. Liu Xiang of China clocked 12.88 in the 110m hurdles in Lausanne and Meseret Defar of Ethiopia ran 14:24.53 over 5,000m in New York City.
Tags: Sports, Athletics, IAAF, Golden League, Asafa Powell, Sanya Richards, Liu Xiang, Meserat Defar, Monte Carlo, Monaco, Salle des Etoiles

Tiger & Ernie Venture Into Bahamas

Golfers Tiger Woods and Ernie Els partnered with Tavistock Group to create the world's finest resort community in the Bahamas. The resort will be named Albany Golf & Beach Club, a 565 acres on western end of New Providence Island, The Bahamas.
A family-oriented resort community offering something for everyone, Albany will be highlighted by an array of family amenities including an 18-hole championship golf course designed by Ernie Els; an exotic family swimming complex; a state-of-the-art marina for boats and mega-yachts up to 240 feet in length; a beach club overlooking the beautiful Bahamian waters; a tennis and racquet center; a variety of water sports and activities; an exquisite boutique spa; a world-class fitness center with adult pool, and an equestrian center.

Noted architect and planner, Andres Duany, co-founder of Duany Plater-Zyberk, was retained by the partners to design the land plan and initial architectural code for Albany club.

Tags: Travel, Luxury, Golf, New Providence Island, Bahamas, Caribbean, Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Tavistock

Rare Implant

I blogged about 20-yr-old Yvonne Foong on 20 Aug 2006 about her rare form of neurofibromatosis illness. The Star has reported that Yvonne has raised her own funds (up to RM230,000) to treat her genetically incurable disease and became the first Malaysian to have an auditory brainstem implant (ABI). The surgery was led by Dr. Rick A. Friedman, a medical specialist in this field.

Her 4 Nov surgery in Los Angeles was the fourth major one she had undergone since she was diagnosed with NF2 at the age of 13. However, instead of giving up on life or asking for handouts, she has worked hard to raise money for her operation by selling T-shirts, organising rock concerts, giving motivational talks and writing a book about living with NF titled I Am Not Sick, Just A Bit Unwell.

True grit won her the Asian Youth Ambassadors’ Most Outstanding Youth of the Year award in 2005.

Meanwhile, her townsfolk in Subang Jaya have started a fund-raising campaign for Yvonne and will hold their third charity golf tournament in her aid. They have collected RM16,000 so far which would help meet Yvonne’s surgery expenses and also follow-up treatment in Los Angeles.
As I always said and will say again & again; A Person With A Dream Can Never Be Denied!
Tags: Health, Yvonne Foong, Neurofibromatosis, Auditory Brainstem Implant, Asian Youth Ambassador, Rick Friedman, Dream