Golf Balls Vs Sand

On my way to work this morning, I read an interesting and profound article on the SPH My Paper, written by Geoff Tan. Yes, I'm reading the competitor's paper. But who cares, I'm already counting down to my last day of work! Woohoo! Finally breaking free from the (ahem!) Priestess' control.

This is a story which the journalist related. He heard it some years ago. I find it to be meaningful and really love to share it with those who didn't have a chance to read it on the papers.

Extracted from The Paper, 31 July 2008.

A professor stood before his philosophy class with some items in front of him.

When the class began, he picked up a very large and empty glass jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and pour it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous "yes".

The professor then produced two cans of beer from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The student laughed.

"Now," said the professor. "I want you to recognise that this jar represents your life. The golf balls represent the important things - your family, your health, your children, your friends, your passions - the kind of stuff that if all else are lost and only these remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things, that matter, like your job, your house, you car. The sand is everything else - the small staff. If you put the sand into the jar first, there will be no room for the pebbles and the golf balls."

The moral of the story is to pay attention and spend your time on the important things that matter to you. Don't waste time and effort on little things. If you do, you will have no more room left for the things which are really important in your life.

Prioritise the things which are critical to your happiness and well-being. Don't let the minor issues blur your vision and focus. Take charge and make your life a happy one! Live and let live. C'est la vie.

X-Files: I Want To Believe

The truth is out there. I want to believe. Honestly, I really want to believe. And very honestly, I am disappointed by the mere fact that the something out there which Fox Mulder believes at the bottom of his heart, is still nowhere to be found or seen or heard.

It has been a while since the finale of the TV series X-Files. Now that it has moved to the big screen, I have an expectation of what I should find in the movie, X-Files: I Want To Believe. I was the biggest fan of X-files in the first 3 seasons. Thereafter, the scriptwriters became a little lax on the thrill and suspense factors.

Now, Dr. Dana Scully works in a children church-funded hospital while Fox Mulder is a stick in the mud who hides at the comfort of his home, collecting bits and pieces of information of any paranormal reports in the newspaper. The disappearance of an FBI agent and psychic vision of a pedophile convicted priest are all it takes for the FBI to request for the help of Fox in their investigation. Both ex-agents are back into the scene of investigating the unknown and unbelievable.

The plot fails to reach a climax. Despite all the mysteries, all the investigative work, all the subplots and signs, the truth is so mundane. I wouldn't even classified such a case as an X file, more fitted will be a case of over enthusiastic mad doctor playing god.

Rating: 3.5 of 5 fairy clouds.

Summer Rain

Also known as Camino de los ingleses (The English Road), this Spanish movie is directed by Antonio Bandera. I'm rather impressed by his cinematography. He pays very close detail to the mood and development of the various characters but a still seems a little tad bit loosely connected the storyboard development.

The movie features four young men, Miguelito and his friends Paco and Babi. Miguelito has a kidney removed and his dream is forever altered. He inspires to be a poet and met with the beautiful Luli, who dreams of being a ballet dancer. Paco has an estranged relationship with his mafia father who is constantly nagging him to ditch his hot-bod girlfriend. Babi never understands his parents till he reunites with his mother when she plans for her wedding in London.

During this summer in 1970, theses young men experience accelerated growth into adulthood and get caught up with love, passion, romance and lust. The young and impressionables are also brave and yet foolish like a newborn lamb. The tempo of the movie does get a little slow and confusing from time to time. Perhaps there is an overzealous editing which might have caused it to lose some flavour as compared to the original novel. Yet it is still delightful to see the final growth of the young men despite that fact that life is at times rather harsh and brutal in bringing the truth to our faces.

Rating: 3 out of 5 fairy clouds. I hate using the term coming-of-age, but this movie is really a coming-of-age movie. A decent movie, but not my cup of tea yet. Got a little too boring at a couple of different spots during the movie.

Rent

This is a FREAKING BRILLIANT contemporary musical. It totally blew my socks! It is extremely funky and entertaining and gripping!

Rent is a musical about gay, lesbian and AIDS. You see struggling artists, young hearts with big dreams, victims of circumstances, love and acceptance, dreams and hopes, etc. and etc. This musical will shake your values and open your eyes to a brand new world which many people try to deny.

It starts with Mark and his roommate Roger (musician) who are told to pay last year's rent or be prepared to be evicted. Benny, their landlord, used to stayed with them till he married into a wealthy family. Collins returns from MIT after he was expelled by MIT. He was mugged and rescued by Angel, a drag queen drummer. Both have AIDS, fall for each other and attend Life Support, which is a social support group for AIDS victims.

Mark has been dumped by his girlfriend Maureen, and she is currently seeing a lady Joanne, while Roger is being seduced by a little neighbour, Mimi. He gets angry and chases her away. Mimi reminds him of her ex-girlfriend who has passed away from AIDS because of her drug addict.

The music, dance, choreography, theme, scene are all extremely lively, extremely modern with a hinge of rock and pop. Cheeky yet loud, beautiful yet sad, modern yet fearful, artistic yet realistic... there are many dichotomies in this controversial musical. It is a musical which you either love it or hate. And for me, I love it! I would love to watch this in Broadway when I have the chance.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. Bravo with catchy music and amazing lyrics!

No Reservation

Kate (Catherine Zeta-Jones) is a successful head chef of a restaurant which she runs it like an army. She is strict and expects her team to conform to her regimental style of running the kitchen. An unfortunate turn of event ended with her being a foster parent to her niece.

While at work, a new chef is hired to work in the kitchen in view of Kate's current situation. Nick (Aaron Eckhart) is a friendly chef who loves to make the team happy and listens to opera as he cooks. He is totally opposite of Kate. She takes an immediately dislike to Nick. Yet her animosity toward Nick soon turns into admiration and romance as she learns more about him.

The heart warming movie fails to melt my heart till Kate learns to becomes more connected to the lost little child. However, there is a missing element of grief which has been downplayed and overshadowed. The director has focus too much on the love and romance between the two lead actor and actress and fails to understand that grief and loss has a big motivational factor in helping one long for love and belonging.

Rating: 3 out of 5 fairy clouds. It is worth watching once and to be forgotten soon.

WALL-E

WALL-E is another cartoon production by Pixar. The storyline for this little robot is rather simplistic and bland. It is catered to the young children, very different from the usual Pixar storyline which has adult jokes to it.

Wall-e is the only robot left on earth and his task is to clean up the garbage on earth. As for the human race, they have abandon earth having overwhelmed the 3rd rock from the sun with too much (ahem!) trash. One day, a new sleek pod robot by the name of Eve arrives on earth. Her mission is to look for proof of life on earth.

Wall-e falls in love with Eve and followed her back to AXIOM, where the life-form she found was to propel the human race back to earth. A little mis-adventure happens here for Wall-e and Eve, and sparks off their little robotic romance.

Overall, it is a rather entertaining and cute little future work of robots and of love. Simplistic to the bone. Nothing fancy. Nothing mind-blowing. A good movie to watch on a weekend with family, especially kids.

Rating: 4 out of 5 fairy clouds.

The Dark Knight

I attended the Gala Premiere of The Dark Knight this evening at Shaw Lido. Again I'm not a big big fan of Batman but I went to check out the movie nevertheless.

I have to say this: Bravo to the late Heath Ledger! He gave a spectacular performance as The Joker. He gave it a life with his own charm, very different from the legendary performance given by Jack Nicholson.

The story is very dark and twisted in a very Gotham's charm. It is very sad to be living in a society overrun by mafia, murderers and thieves. I must say the burden is rather heavy to be on Batman's shoulder. It is a very serious affair to see the righteous Batman, Gordon and Harvey Dent fighting the evil-doers. I particularly like Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine characters in the movie. They both added a light and humane touch to the movie.

I do believe Christain Bale has been cast into the shadow by The Joker again. He is a decent actor but Heath did a damn good job as a villain this time around. As for the female lead, I'm rather disappointed. Maggie Gyllenhaal has always been a pretty interesting actress to me since I saw her in The Secretary. She remains a little bland and hidden in this movie instead of shining through as the only female character in Bruce Wayne's life.

The movie does seem a little draggy at a couple of places. Three times I wanted to check my watch to see how long the movie has ran, except it was too dark to see anything on my watch face. Overall, it is an enjoyable movie. If you are a Batman fan, you definitely do not want to miss this.

Rating: 4 out of 5 fairy clouds.

The Other Boleyn Girl

The affair of the heart is the most confounding matter. Add in another ingredient, wrath of a woman, you have the full plot of "The Other Boleyn Girl".

Both Anne and Mary Boleyn are beauties of their time. As the Queen Katherine was unable to produce a heir to the throne, Anne was being offered to the King of England to fulfill the task. However, the King took a fancy to Mary instead.

Anne bore her hatred and anger towards her sister, believing that she stole the King away from her. An opportunity arose when Mary was pregnant and had to be confined in bed. Anne took the chance to flirt with the King and regained control. She schemed and plotted her way, and finally became the new Queen.

The movie is dark and twisted about the evilness of the people who are willing to do anything or sacrifice anyone to achieve their goals. The true meaning of greed of power. It is a tragic to see two sisters fallen apart under such situation. I guess they do not realise the importance of family ties and that blood does run thicker than water.

Rating: 4 out of 5 fairy clouds. Excellent acting by the two girls! Bravo.

Get Smart

GET SMART
Have an afternoon delight by myself with a nice movie treat - Get Smart! I remembered watching Get Smart on TV while I was a little girl. I always love the beginning of the series whereby Agent 86 Maxwell Smart (Don Adams) will walk through this passage with many impressive doors before he reaches the harmless phone booth which was the elevator to CONTROL's headquarter. Most memorable of him was the way he calls Agent 99 (Barbara Feldon). Oh I love good old television series.

Back to present times instead of my nostalgic memory of Get Smart. The movie starred Steve Carell (40 years old virgin man) and Anna Hathaway. This two agents will tickle your funny bones. You get to see their love-hate relationship. It's a very modern touch of the old series. Funny and amusing! A show other watching for a couple more times.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. A must watch for all Get Smart fans!

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GET SMART - BRUCE & LLOYD OUT OF CONTROL

While checking out Get Smart, I stumbled up a spin-off comedy movie, Get Smart - Bruce and Lloyd Out of Control. The story focuses on the 2 genius brainiacs who developed interesting devices for all the Control agents.

During a party one evening, the two lost a precious items. An adventurous journey to recover the lost item started for the 2 nerdy scientists. It offers a bundle of laughter and silly jokes.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. Though I do like that cute Japaneses guy, acting silly might not really be a smart move for this real genius.