Diablo 3

It's official: Diablo 3 by Blizzard has been confirmed during the WorldWide Invitational event today. Diablo 2 is my top favorite game, along with other blizzard game: Starcraft and Warcraft. I still remember, when I live with my group of friends at dormitory with LAN facility during college time, we almost spend every possible free time to play this game together in network, over and over again. That was actually a very time wasted, but it's also the time that I remember I could really enjoy. I doubt that I will ever have that kind of time anymore. How sad..

The official website has also been launched, contains (as usual) a superb cinematic teaser, several screenshots, wallpaper, gameplay trailer, etc. There are at least two characters confirmed: "Barbarian" and "Witch Doctor", which their abilities are previewed in the gameplay trailer. By just looking at the website, I will know that this will be another mouth-watering, addictive playgame with detailed graphics and wonderful storyline, which is a very trademark of Blizzard's game. At the other hand, for Starcraft 2, several retailers' website has been given pending release date, which is .. tada.. December 3rd 2008, but it's still a very unreliable source. Although, I might not have privilege to full-time play these games, but I will certainly at least complete the campaign of these 2 favorite games, and enjoy the storyline.

The Kite Runner

I really love the book "Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini. It's one of the books that can really move me and felt very closed to the characters. I was simply unable to put it down. The author really knows how to tell story, put it together piece and puzzle, and represent it in a very comprehensive writing, using first-person narratives.

It's a story about friendship and redemption. Two boys (Amir and Hassan) grown up in Afghanistan, when the land is is still peaceful. They're bonded together as friends, although one is a wealthy family son, and other is the family servant son. Before the war torn apart the country, the two of them are already separated by horrible incident and betrayal, and might not be able to see each other anymore.

After reading the book, I look forward to watching the movie. However, since it's not released island wide here, I somehow failed to catch the movie in cinema, until recently I am able to get the DVD. It's actually a very good movie with a superb cinematography. I love the scene with the kites flying in the sky, beautiful. The movie itself follows closely what happens in the book. Although it's quite difficult to put it together all detail in the book, the movie can somehow capture the emotion of the book, especially in the first part of the movie. But, through the second part of the movie till the end, the movie seems a bit too rush and some main story near the conclusion of the story is cut. (Spoiler ahead, stop reading if you intend to read the book or watch the movie). In the book, Amir was hurt badly by Assef, and hospitalized in Afghanistan/Pakistan. It's told how Sohrab (son of Hassan) has a transition phase of accepting Amir to his life. Being traumatized of his parents' murder and being raped, Sohrab slowly accepts Amir to his life. However, as there's problem of Amir bringing small child to US, Amir plans to go back first to settle all the procedure. Accidentally, Sohrab heard that Amir will leave him, which causes Sohrab to get scared and unable to accept Amir anymore.

There is one phrase that sets me chilled while reading the book or watching the movie, "For you, a thousand times over". This might be better tagline than "There's way to be good again", however, it might be meaningless and less marketable for the ones that haven't read the book. If you like this book, I recommend to read the next book by the same author , "A Thousand of Splendid Sun", which tells the story of Mariam and Laila, two girls from different generation, brought together by a sad incident. The novel is split into four parts of the story. It's very well written with a very sad and convincing story, although the story felt a bit depressing.

Commitment: So Easy, but..

I have made a truly simple commitment since some times, and it is "to sleep early". Well, I have been very little success to fulfill that commitment. Internet and TV Series really do well to kill time in the evening. I am not sure, nowadays, I feel more energetic during evening, and, as the result, waking up in the morning is like hell. The alarm that wakes me up every morning become like evil's laugh. I remember I hear the same ringtone in the MRT, that surprisingly gave me some light shock. Bad.. Every day, I wish that I can have a job with flexible hours, but, in contrast, I just recently move to a job that needs more traveling which result less time to sleep in the morning. Sigh.. Has anyone had same experience?

Well, it's time to sleep, but wait, there's one pending TV series episode need to finish.. Hmm..

The Incredible Hulk

Well, I definitely like this version better than Ang Lee's 2003 version. I love most of the movie by Ang Lee (esp Lust, Caution), but i just don't get his Hulk version. The Hulk in his version seems too desperate and for movie that is adapted from comic book, it's just too dramatical, and quite boring. As usual, Edward Norton looks great, although he seems quite old in this movie (he showed a bit of skin in this PG movie, not as much as Red Dragon, and of course, the ultimate skin in American History X :p), and Liv Taylor looks lovely. The story starts with Bruce is on the run and try to seek for the cure of his gamma radiation to someone called "Mr. Blue". 4 of 5.

Before watching Hulk at Cathay Orchard, I joined 2 classes at California afternoon, 1 Step Up and Body Pump. Well, I already suspect that Daniel's Step Up class might be too complicated for step's beginner like me (because he's SgBoy's favorite :)), well it's true that I am kinda of lost in the half of second block and third block. I think I have problem remembering the series of step, especially if the step is quite tricky and requires a lot of turn/twisting, and when I forget the first movement, it's difficult to catch up till the next block. But, at least, I can still do first and fourth block, so I am not look like stone in the class :). In the class, I saw my ex-client's manager, which I am quite admire during project, quite surprising to see him there, but I think he didn't recognize me, so I don't dare to call him too :(. I usually join Harry's Step 101, but as the class is canceled, I joined Don's Body Pump. Well, what a good class there although it's very packed. He will be definitely my favorite after Tim's Body Pump.

David Cook: Always be My Baby

I love this version of "Always by My Baby". It's originally sung by Mariah Carey, and it's a good song too. I had a good dinner with my friend at Cafe Cartel, where they usually play radio channel 95. We had a good talk, and suddenly this song is played, we become silent and enjoy the song. Maybe it's just the situation there, and now this has been my favorite song. Since the end of American Idol Season 4, I am not really a big fan of the show anymore, although this year finale is a bit more interesting than previous season.



We were as one babe
For a moment in time
And it seemed everlasting
That you would always be mine

Now you want to be free
So I'm letting you fly
Cause I know in my heart babe
Our love will never die
No!

You'll always be a part of me
I'm a part of you indefinitely
Girl don't you know you can't escape me
Ooh darling cause you'll always be my baby
And we'll linger on
Time can't erase a feeling this strong
No way you're never gonna shake me
Ooh darling cause you'll always be my baby

I ain't gonna cry no
And I won't beg you to stay
If you're determined to leave girl
I will not stand in your way
But inevitably you'll be back again
Cause ya know in your heart babe
Our love will never end no

You'll always be a part of me
I'm part of you indefinitely
Girl don't you know you can't escape me
Ooh darling cause you'll always be my baby
And we'll linger on
Time can't erase a feeling this strong
No way you're never gonna shake me
Ooh darling cause you'll always be my baby

I know that you'll be back girl
When your days and your nights get a little bit colder oooohhh
I know that, you'll be right back, babe
Ooooh! baby believe me it's only a matter of time

You'll always be apart of me
I'm part of you indefinitely
Girl don't you know you can't escape me
Ooh darling cause you'll always be my baby
And we'll linger on
Time can't erase a feeling this strong
No way you're never gonna shake me
Ooh darling cause you'll always be my my baby....

You'll always be apart of me (you will always be)
I'm part of you indefinitely
Girl don't you know you can't escape me
Ooh darling cause you'll always be my baby
And we'll linger on (we will linger on....)
Time can't erase a feeling this strong
No way you're never gonna shake me
Ooh darling cause you'll always be my baby

Always be my baby

Get Firefox 3

At last, Firefox 3 is launched. I have waited for the launch last night, but not sure it's still not available until past midnight. It turns out that there were technical difficulties during the planned launch time. Mozilla plans to get the launch as the record of the most downloaded software in 24 hours. So, get your firefox here.

With Firefox 3, there's new skin and appearance of Firefox, which IMO, is more pretty and able to compete with the default skin of IE7. There's a feature called "Smart Location Bar", while you are typing some keyword in the URL address, Firefox will show all URL (with title) for you to choose (based on your browsing history). There is an easy way to bookmark by pressing star button in the URL, but I still prefer IE7 way of handling bookmark.

And, IE7 team congratulates Firefox for its release by baking cake. :D

About Depression

After reading Leon Koh entry in his blog about depression, I just think to share one story from my big family as well. I feel very grateful that I never really felt into real depression mode (or maybe I haven't realized it), hmm, but when we feel ok, I think it's better we just enjoy it.

Well, one of the stories that happened when I was young, was my uncle, that diagnosed with serious cancer or tumour (not really sure which one). Their family live in a very small village, that there's no proper medical to even detect early phase of disease. They need to travel using traditional small boat to another city (where I live and which is small too) for about 6-7 hours, and the journey is very unpleasant. So, after several times of treatment, at one day, I saw him sitting alone outside of my house, looking at the traffic. I was not sure what he was thinking at that time, is he thinking how his wife can survive without him with 6 small kids (oldest is only 12-14 years old)? I was too young to figure it out at that time, but I was sure that he was kind of feeling helpless. Well, several months later, he passed away. And it's a very hard time for his family to cope, they're certainly not a wealthy family, my aunt is just a typical stay home housewife. Luckily, all of the families came to help. Some takes the kids to bigger city to get better education or to help the business. Now, about 10 years passed, they are so much in better shape, the eldest son and second son have setup their own business, and I heard it's quite successful. I believe if my uncle is able to see this, he will smile from heaven.

Well, when we look back to our past, we can only take it as a lesson for us to journey to the better shape of future.

The Happening: Will Mr. Shyamalan Get Back to His "Sense"?

Well, for me, the answer is definitely NO. I am huge fan of The Sixth Sense, it's one of the top movie that I will mention if someone ask me movie to recommend. I also like Unbreakable and The Signs. The Village is still ok for me, because I set my expectation low before watching it. For Lady in The Water, I totally hate the movie. But, I think his next movie is still worthed to wait, and the trailer is quite interesting.

So, here is the next movie from MNS: The Happening, which actually not much happening there. It's about apocalyptic event: kind of "toxic" has been released to lead people to get confused, repeating word, and then commit suicide. As usual, you can feel the suspense and horror of the movie, how people fear with the happening around them, scared, uncertainty, etc, which is still very Shyamalan's style. It starts with the strong note as already shown in the trailer, but as the movie goes, the story just went wild and uncontrolled. The characters are weird and unrelated, and this "toxic" is just simply ridiculous. Well, I might set my expectation too high that the movie just totally failed me. So, if you decide to go to watch, my 2c advice: it's still watchable and a little better than Lady in the Water, but set expectation low, buy popcorn, and just enjoy your time there. Oh ya, don't expect any surprising twist at the end. 2 of 5.

Blog List

Blogger has just released "Blog List" that enables you to display other blog with snippet and latest update (utilizing RSS). Cool, I have added this new feature to my left navigation. Click here for more information.

Oil Price

Stock markets worldwide are hit badly again this week. After the last sell down because of subprime mortgage in US mid 2007 , financial market is somewhat recovered a bit. Nowaday, because of oil price, the whole financial markets are dragged down again. Well, I am not really sure what happens to the oil price. Some experts said that it's caused by China and India powerhouse that results higher consumption, not enough exploration, etc.

I am not a financial expert here, so my opinion should worth 2 cents only. Price should be controlled by demand, so, higher demand results higher price, well how beauty this concept that we learn from school. Well, combine with human greed, demand can be a true and fake demand. Let's see this Friday, when oil price was increased by 10$ in one night, is there really so high demand for oil overnight? My bet, this must be another bubble price again, created by some big player to gain more money, similar to dotcom bubble. Whatever this big player is called, speculators, capitalist, etc. And, who will be the real victim? Of course, big corporate will get hit by this, but they can have a strategy to offset it, like passing it to consumer. Countries with heavy subsidies on oil, like Malaysia and Indonesia, have just recently increased the oil price to not overblown their budget, and it's really necessary. If there's no such action, well, we'll see another 1998 crisis. It's such a pain to make such decision, as poor people will suffer. Well, we as just ordinary folk can only try to help by reducing power consumption. Be green and save money and mother earth as well.

Update 17 June: Oil touch new high 139.89. Scary..

Talk about green, incredible hulk is released this week. I think i will like this one more than the previous Ang Lee's version.

Ludacris ft Mary J Blige: Runaway Love

I like this song very much, it's a very sad and dark song. It tells the story about child abusive, dysfunctional family, teen pregnancy/abortion, in three different stories of teenage girls, and they decide to runaway from their life. At first, I got this song from my friend and only listen it on my walkman, wow, what a powerful lyric, and kept repeat the song several times. The video clip just added more sentiment to the song. Although, Mary J Blige only sang several sentences, mostly "runaway love", but she really put the whole feeling of the song together. When we know that there are so much problems in this world, our own problem seems so small.

Well, for the one with traumatic experience in the younger age, and wonder why the world is so cold: "close your eyes, And picture us running away together, when we come back everything is gonna be okay, Open your eyes......."



Runaway love

[Verse 1 - Ludacris]
Now little Lisa is only 9 years old
She's trying to figure out why the world is so cold
Why she's all alone and ain't never met her family
Mama's always gone and she never met her daddy
Part of her is missing and nobody will listen
Mama is on drugs getting high up in the kitchen
Bringing home men at different hours of the night
Starting with some laughs -- usually ending in a fight
Sneaking in her room while her mama's knocked out
Trying to have his way and little Lisa says 'ouch'
She tries to resist but then all he does is beat her
Tries to tell her mom but her mama don't believe her
Lisa is stuck up in the world on her own
Forced to think that hell is a place called home
Nothing else to do but get some clothes and pack
She says she's 'bout to run away and never come back.

[Hook - Mary J. Blige]
Runaway love [x8]

[Verse 2 - Ludacris]
Little Nicole is only 10 years old
She's steady trying to figure why the world is so cold
Why she's not pretty and nobody seems to like her
Alcoholic step-dad always wanna strike her
Yells and abuses, leaves her with some bruises
Teachers ask questions she making up excuses
Bleeding on the inside, crying on the out
It's only one girl really knows what she about
Her name is little Stacy and they become friends
Promise that they always be tight 'til the end
Until one day little Stacy gets shot
A drive by bullet went stray up on her block
Now Nicole stuck up in the world on her own
Forced to think that hell is a place called home
Nothing else to do but get her clothes and pack
She says she's 'bout to run away and never come back.

[Hook - Mary J. Blige]
Runaway love [x8]

[Verse 3 - Ludacris]
Little Erica is eleven years old
She's steady trying to figure why the world is so cold
So she pops pills to get rid of all the pain
Plus she's having sex with a boy who's sixteen
Emotions run deep and she thinks she's in love
So there's no protection he's using no glove
Never thinking 'bout the consequences of her actions
Living for today and not tomorrow's satisfaction
The days go by and her belly gets big
The father bails out he ain't ready for a kid
Knowing her mama will blow it all outta proportion
Plus she lives poor so no money for abortion
Erica is stuck up in the world on her own
Forced to think that hell is a place called home
Nothing else to do but get her clothes and pack
She say she's about to run away and never come back.

[Hook - Mary J. Blige]
Runaway love
Don't keep on runnin'
Runnin' [4x]
Don't keep on running [x]
I know how you feel, I've been there
I was runnin' away too

I will run away with you [2x]

Runaway Runaway Love
Don't keep running away
I'll run away with you, if you want me too

[Outro - Ludacris:]
Yea, I can only image what you're going through ladies,
Sometimes I feel like running away myself,
So do me a favor right now and close your eyes,
And picture us running away together,
when we come back everything is gonna be okay,
Open your eyes.......

Natasha Bedingfield: Soulmate

Well, for all the lonely soul there, this song is very suitable for us. If you want the full video clip, go to this url: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEzbkGj7EaQ (this version cannot be embedded). Good question: Is there a soulmate for everyone?



Incompatible, it don't matter though
'cos someone's bound to hear my cry
Speak out if you do
You're not easy to find

Is it possible Mr. Loveable
Is already in my life?
Right in front of me
Or maybe you're in disguise

Who doesn't long for someone to hold
Who knows how to love you without being told
Somebody tell me why I'm on my own
If there's a soulmate for everyone

Here we are again, circles never end
How do I find the perfect fit
There's enough for everyone
But I'm still waiting in line

[ Soulmate lyrics found on http://www.completealbumlyrics.com ]
Who doesn't long for someone to hold
Who knows how to love you without being told
Somebody tell me why I'm on my own
If there's a soulmate for everyone

If there's a soulmate for everyone

Most relationships seem so transitory
They're all good but not the permanent one

Who doesn't long for someone to hold
Who knows how to love you without being told
Somebody tell me why I'm on my own
If there's a soulmate for everyone

Who doesn't long for someone to hold
Who knows how to love you without being told
Somebody tell me why I'm on my own
If there's a soulmate for everyone
If there's a soulmate for everyone

Comic Bar

Every morning, I like to read several comic bars from comics.com. It's quite refreshing to start a day, with a cup of hot coffee. These are several that I consistenly read every day:

- Dilbert, a lot of funny reference to daily office job.
- Get Fuzzy, I just love Satchel and Bucky. It's featured in life section of StraitTimes.
- Bug Bash, which is very relevant to IT folks. This is not from comics.com, but the content is not updated so frequently, latest 2 posts were dated 26 May and Jan 7 08.

Any other good comic bar?

Not so Sex in the City

Just went back from watching Sex and the City. Actually there's no plan to watch movie at all, but after going back from gym (I like today basic step class which is quite easy to follow) and feeling blue about latest happening, I decided to watch this movie alone (sad), as most of my friends had already watched it and they made a lot of funny references, which I was clueless.

Overall, it's a entertaining movie with a crafted script, exactly the same as its tv series. But, it's really too long and stretched too much in 2.5 hours. After the wedding thing over, the story is felt prolonged, and quite boring for me. I keep looking at my watch. However during the show, there's one guy sit behind, keep making comment "oh my god", "shit", blabla. This movie might get sentimental to him, but it's a bit irritating to make such comment, just laugh, take a deep breath, gasp, etc. There's one part quite amusing for me, when Carrie looked for phone to call Mr. Big, and someone offered her iPhone, she was confused, and rejected it. Haha, it's funny because most reviews like iPhone because of its user-friendliness and intuitive, which means I looked at it and I already knew how to use this phone (which is actually quite true). I laughed quite loud in this part, and I think I was the only one laugh in the cinema (how nerd i am). Not bad, 3.5 of 5.

Get Smart Poster

I found the posters of this movie are quite amusing, not sure what it means though, one people cover the face of other people? Hope it's a great movie, Steve Carrell anyone?

Not sure what's wrong with the rendering, if I wrap everything using <table>.

Frank Miller: The Spirit

Be a huge fan of Frank Miller's movie since Sin City and 300, "The Spirit" is one of the movie that I am dying to watch (to be released December 25th). Although there's not much excitement from the first trailer, but I still hope this will be another kick-ass movie from Frank Miller. I still remember first time I watched Sin City, my eyes are just hooked up to the screen till the end, it's one of the best adaptation from comic book. The experience is like you read the comic page by page, with narrative from the actor like description in the top corner box in the real comic. Well, it's one of the movie that one can love it very much, and others just don't understand what the movie is all about.

Below is the story line I quoted from IMDB:

Down these mean streets a man must come. A hero born, murdered, and born again. When a Rookie cop named Denny Colt returns from the beyond as The Spirit, a hero whose mission is to fight against the bad forces from the shadows of Central City. The Octopus who kills anyone unfortunate enough to see his face who has other plans. He's going to wipe out the entire city. The Spirit tracks this cold hearted killer from the city's rundown warehouses, to the damp catacombs, to the windswept waterfront all the while facing a bevy of beautiful women who either want to seduce, love or kill the masked crusader.

Well, another hugely anticipated movie this winter is Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (HBP). Although I like the latest installment of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (HP OOTP), but it seems that a lot of people complain the movie is not as excited as the previous one and "too" slow. As a reader of Harry Potter book, I find HP OOTP is extremely fast. The book itself is the thickest among the rest, although I find this book is the most boring one, but it's necessary to show Harry Potter grow up from kid to teen. Well, I really put high expectation to HBP, and look forward to how this movie describe the younger age of Lord Voldemort. However, I am not sure why there's no teaser or even poster for HBP yet, rumour said that the teaser will be shown in Get Smart or Batman, well the other two movies that I will definitely watch this summer.

Oops.. Sorry, Wrong Recipient..

I thought I would start a great morning today. While traveling to office, I usually listen to radio, switching between class 95 and 93.8 live. and amused by the joke of FD and Glenn Ong. Arrived at office, first thing is to open email, and receive number of emails from client to request meeting to solve certain problem. So, I intend to discuss the matter with colleague first before confirming with client. However, I am supposed to use Forward, but accidentally use "Reply to All" button, and happily click "Send", so all the internal discussion is sent to the customer. Aarrghh.. try to recall the message, but it is too late :(. Hope that it won't cause any problem in the future. Well, it's not great as I think it was.

Michael Buble: Lost

I love this song very much, inspired by the breakup with his fiancee, from album "Call Me Irresponsible". Another sentimental song like "Home"



I can't believe it's over
I watched the whole thing fall
And I never saw the writing that was on the wall
If I'd only knew
The days were slipping past
That the good things never last
That you were crying

Summer turned to winter
And the snow it turned to rain
And the rain turned into tears upon your face
I hardly recognized the girl you are today
And god I hope it's not too late
It's not too late

'Cause you are not alone
I'm always there with you
And we'll get lost together
Till the light comes pouring through
'Cause when you feel like you're done
And the darkness has won
Babe, you're not lost
When your worlds crashing down
And you can't bear the thought
I said, babe, you're not lost

Life can show no mercy
It can tear your soul apart
It can make you feel like you've gone crazy
But you're not
Things have seem to changed
There's one thing that's still the same
In my heart you have remained
And we can fly fly fly away

'Cause you are not alone
And I am there with you
And we'll get lost together
Till the light comes pouring through
'Cause when you feel like you're done
And the darkness has won
Babe, you're not lost
When the worlds crashing down
And you can not bear the cross
I said, baby, you're not lost
I said, baby, you're not lost
I said, baby, you're not lost
I said, baby, you're not lost

Working in Big Organization

Recently, I just joined a so-called "MNC" company, which is much much bigger than my previous company. After working for almost 5-6 years in SME, I told myself that the next job will be bigger and more stable one, at least I can gain more experience, and perhaps better environment, work-life balance (a lot of people will giggle, i know), no pay delay, bigger team, no uncertainty due to lack of administrative procedure, etc. Well, here I am now. But, is it as good as what I have expected?

Well, there's always pro and cons of every situation. Well, of course, good things are better pay, no pay late, clearer procedure, etc. However, Office politics as I have expected is the worst to tackle, everyone try to protect themselves. Although it also happens in the small organization, the thing get more severe when there's a work that involves a lot of party. There are certain group of people that just try to do the best to finish the work together, but there are group of people that are all about themselves. And sadly, the earlier group of people are usually come from contract staff, they don't really care about protecting themselves etc, but they are usually the one to be blamed for, especially if their contract expires, etc. Although the bad thing, some of them tend to be ignorant, which cause another pain to the team. I am lucky enough that most people in my team are willing too work hard to finish together, although there's a thorn too. However, thinking positive that this is just a challenge to learn.

However, some incident happens in the office recently, that makes me lost my respect to someone and feel angry. But, thinking again, I might just overthink about it (as I always tend to, and feel guilty after that). A bit stress of problem here and there, I decide to go to gym to try step class, well only intermediate class is available, and I decide to try again, sadly, although I have joined number of basic class, I still lost in the class, and decide to give up in the middle of the class. How pathetic I am.