Definitely, Maybe

Just finished watching the the movie over dinner tonight. Nowadays life has gotten so busy that i have to watch movies over several sitting, mostly over meals. 

If i get any busier than this, i probably have to further multitask on the comfort of the toilet bowl. Haha. 

The movie was really good. The only regret i have while watching this movie was my company. 

Nesa is just too tall, too big, too dark, and too hairy. 

Anyway the movie is about a father trying to tell his inquisitive daughter about his life story before marriage, the many complicated relationships he had, and getting the daughter to guess who's her real mother in the story. The plot was great, and the acting brilliant. 

And i am sure you will grow to love Abigail Breslin. She's an absolute angel. A 12 year-old angel.

I don't know if it's my paternal instinct acting up, but i would really love to have a daughter like that. 

But... If only i can somehow skip the incessant crying baby and non-stop soiling diapers phase, and fast forward to the age where we can have sweet heart to heart talk. 

That's hardly possible. Let's forget about it for the time being. Whatever it is, I have got to pass my finals before i can have any such grand plans. 

Was thinking about whether it is possible to have a similar discussion with a 12 year old girl in Malaysia/Singapore, on the father's love life before she came into being, on his many stumbles and mistakes, shedding the macho father persona. 

I find it hard to conjure such a picture in a local setting. Anyway a 12 year old girl in Malaysia/Singapore would be too busy studying for their primary school final exams to be bothering about her father's love life. Kids nowadays are really having it bad. I never studied when i was 12. (I think, because i can't remember doing so. haha)

Anyway go watch it, you won't be disappointed. 

---

This part of the conversations somehow lingers very long in my mind. I guess it's insightful. 

WILLIAM: a fetching young intern just started a week ago.

APRIL: Great. Ask her out.

WILLIAM: I should, shouldn't I?

WILLIAM: I don't think I will. You see, I don't want a fling.

WILLIAM: I want the real deal.

APRIL: Forget about the real deal. You don't find it, it finds you.

WILLIAM: does that mean? I don't know what that means.

APRIL: It means that you get to a certain age and then you're ready.

APRIL: You know, you're ready for kids or a commitment or, you know...

WAITRESS: Sir.

APRIL: ...a mortgage.

WAITRESS: Table's ready. Okay.

WILLIAM: Thanks.

APRIL: You know what I mean?

APRIL: And the person that you're with then,they become the one.

WILLIAM: you're saying it's not who, but it's when.

APRIL: Exactly.

WILLIAM: Okay. All right.

WILLIAM: So there's never been a guy, ever, that made you think, this is it.

WILLIAM: This is him. This is the one.

APRIL: (hesitate) No.

WILLIAM: Okay, then why aren't you out there, you know, enjoying yourself?

APRIL: I am.

WILLIAM: You are?

APRIL: Yes. Right now I'm seeing this guy, Kevin.

WILLIAM: Kevin?

APRIL: Kevin.

WILLIAM: Who the hell's Kevin?

WILLIAM: Where did... How come you never, you know, mentioned anything about him?

APRIL: I'm mentioning him now.

Review: Prince Caspian

The prince that looks older than the other 4 kings and queens

*I try to keep spoilers to a minimum ya

I apologize for my extended hiatus from churning out new entries. I needed the break to assure myself that i haven't gotten addicted to blogging. There were no withdrawal symptoms, so all is well. 

The 2 free tickets with my lovely thumb

So i got the free tickets (thanks to Nuffnang) and went to watch the premiere with my Earthbound Almighty at Bugis Junction. You guys should try out the new Sakae Teppanyaki at the basement, its pretty awesome. We had chicken and turkey set lunch, but Steph especially liked the yakitori. But we had never eaten that much of teppanyaki so we didn't have much expectations to begin with. Anyway their set dinner is available from 11am to 10pm. Yes, you can have their set dinner for lunch. Amazing. 

I digressed.

The movie was a good one, with plenty of full of light-hearted humour. The script writers have done a good job, infusing the movie with plenty of witty lines that teased the audience into roars of laughters every other minute. 

This scene was a lil bit heart wrenching to watch. You will concur when you watch. 

It was children-friendly too as there was no excessive violence portrayed in the movie. It's a typical movie that parents will feel safe bringing their kids to watch. 

My favourite dwarf, with a crisp voice that belies his height. 

But if i had watched it when i was 7 years old, i might conclude that a sword is a lot safer than a pen-knife. You can plunge the whole thing into someone and not draw a single drop of blood. Wonderful. Mum will be proud of my observation.

The ultra cool Centaur, Glenstorm. I wonder where his lungs are... Human or horse torso? Or both?

The battle scene that i was eagerly anticipating turned out to be rather disappointing. 

You will find the army uninspiring when those in command are either adolescent, or short. 

The confrontation between the armies was hardly awe-inspiring. At times the Narnians even looked ridiculous as an army, especially when the crowd that pledged their allegiance to Prince Caspian could hardly fill up one small lecture theatre in the university...

Lucy is truly a delight to watch in the movie

That aside, Prince Caspian was a good movie, with plenty of enjoyment to be reaped. There was no shortage of entertaining creatures too, most notably Reepicheep, the noble mouse. He is singly the brightest star in Prince Caspian. 

Incredibly funny mouse, watch his antics, and indignation at Lucy calling him cute.

The expectation must be that of a fantasy for a family audience, lest you might be disappointed.

 

You know it's a family movie when the female lead is so homely

Come May 29, go enjoy the movie. Oh ya, Prince Caspian speaks in a weird accent. Haha.  

The Prince with an accent

Movies that We should Avoid Watching

We should all just avoid watching movie that dabbles in our area of expertise. 

A spy should never watch James Bond.

Likewise, anyone from the triads or mafias should just stay away from all those gangster movies.

 

And any self respecting ogre should never set foot in a cinema that screens the Shrek....

Awake is actually a captivating movie with a good twist of the plot, and enough of suspense to keep us going towards the end. The casts manage to pull off their roles convincingly too. 

Not to forget there are eye candies that cater for audience of both genders, such as Jessica Alba for the girls and Hayden Christensen for the guys.  

Okok i admit i am bullshitting. Jessica Alba was just drop dead gorgeous. 

Nesa did not agree though (He is not gay, if you wonder). He just thought that Jessica Alba's body only got it right at the proportions, but not the absolute 'quantum' of each attribute. Well well... 

Anyway back to my point about why we should never watch movie that concerns our profession, so to speak. Let's see what's wrong with these screenshots from the movie.  

 

The anaesthetist is injecting an induction agent (to induce a state of anaesthesia) into a port of a intravenous line. 

The actor was doing it without first occluding one side of the line! 

That way whatever he injects in will flow in BOTH directions, instead of going straight into the patient's bloodstream. A substantial amount of the drug will go upstream!

And the induction agent we use here in Singapore is milky white... 

ETT in-situ

We don't just leave the endotracheal tube (ETT) in such a precarious position. Usually we secure it with an adhesive tape around the tube and secure each end of the tape on each side of the upper lips. 

Heart transplant surgery. What you are seeing is the complete set of staff on duty for that operation. 

This Varick University Hospital is seriously understaffed, or the staffs are all superhumans. Heart transplant is a major operation, and therefore the need for support staffs is huge. It can easily be twice of what you see here. Not forgetting those medical students who are eager to observe... 

No surgeons would squat and lie back against the wall when in full sterile gown. He even rests the sterile sleeves against the not sterile pants. Tsk tsk. 

You know, we don't wear surgical gloves for fun. We wear them to protect the patient from risk of infection. Which is why you don't adjust your surgical magnifiers with your gloved-on hand. That totally defeats the purpose of wearing sterile gloves, isn't it?

You ask the student nurse or medical student to do it for you. Haha.

Jessica Alba putting on a sterile gown. 

What's wrong is that the nurse assisting her is not wearing a glove on her left hand (therefore is unsterile). The gown has to remain sterile.

I know Jessica Alba is way prettier with her hair down, but no one steps into the operating theatre without wearing a surgical cap. She is not wearing sterile gloves too. What's the point of wearing a sterile gown then? 

The conclusion that Nesa and I reached for the patient in the movie was, if he had not died from any foulplay during the operation, he would have died anyway from the pathetic level of infection/contamination control practiced in this operating theatre. Really sad guy huh. 

Quite embarassing for a Hollywood production that ran on a multimillion dollar budget. 

If only they have hired me. But then again lowly medical students like me are a dime a dozen in the States. 

Ironman

Worth-watching ya this movie. Nesa thought there was something lacking. I agreed too but we both couldn't really put a finger on what really was amiss. 

Anyway i had been waiting for this movie ever since the trailer was released many months back. It was so downright cool, and after watching 'Transformer' i really needed another fix of high-tech gadgetry fantasy. I don't know how evolution did it, but somehow men respond to gadgets. I wonder if our forefathers ever spent so much time fascinated by the different types of wooden clubs. Or was it bipedal car?

Prehistoric Gadgetry

Robert Downey Jr played a convincing Tony Sparks, especially in portraying his role as a rich playboy. However he really did not cut it as a genius inventor. I mean i have seen all the unbelievably smart guys in my class, but simply none of them are this suave... 

Anyway, the movie had a good balance of action and humour, while its attempt at romance appeared lacklustre. However the movie did succeed in captivating us from the beginning of the movie to the very end. 

I only had a few grudges. A few things just didn't make sense. 

Remember the scene where he blasted a tank with a small missile that was recessed in his forearm? There just wasn't any room between the armour and Robert Downey Jr, especially he was quite buffed up in the movie!

And the power module that fit in the chest? It was just preposterous! The unit was so thick that it must had been sitting on the atrium or would be causing outflow obstruction leading to secondary ventricular hypertrophy.... Anyway he couldn't have survived so long, not when there was such a big piece of prosthesis residing in him (infection, biofilm formation...), especially when everyone seemed to be removing it and putting it in without any aseptic technique! 

Haha the list goes on, but let's just watch it without thinking too much ya. That way we will enjoy the movie more, and the same probably goes for living our life too, i guess. A wild-eyed child at the movie probably gets more value out of his movie ticket than you or me.  

Talking about Superheroes, that reminds me of one of my Superman jokes. It's really lame, haha. 

Do you know how Superman defies gravity and fly? And what's his favourite food? 

Superman Fanclub Merchandise

He farts! But he is way better than us normal earthlings in farting, simply by the virtue of him being able to fart really a lot, and fart at a really high rate. Just like a balloon let loose!

The resultant high speed jet of fart propels him forward, and with great control over his anal sphincter he is able to fine tune the rate of the fart jet, enabling him to hover over ground. 

To make sure he has ample of gas to fart, his favourite food is fried onion ring from Burger King. 

Delicious and potent onion ring

Now i wonder how Lois Lane smelt felt in the romantic scene when Superman cradled her, hovering above the earth...

Don't know why the cape didn't flutter from fart jet though

Where would You Jump to?

I have just watched this movie, after being delayed by my finals for many weeks.  

Jumper is one of those movies that captures your imagination. The Invisible Man is another such movie.  

While the movie is not spectacular, it did provide me decent entertainment as long as i watch mindlessly. However the imagination that runs wild after watching easily trumps the movie itself. 

Where will i jump to?

I asked myself the similar question after watching The Invisible Man. That answer was too easy, almost like a reflex arc. I would, as most other guys would, hehe. Let's just leave it as that. Sorry guys for incriminating all of you, but deep down under inside, we share the same anatomy that shortcircuits our brain right?  

So back to the question about where i want to jump to. 

David (Main guy, played by Hayden Christensen) wreaks havoc in the library each time he jumps there (first he flooded the place in water, and in the finale he brought a whole freaking apartment unit into the library with plenty of sea water too). I will be wayyyy more appreciative of the libraries that are as accessible as my bookshelves. Sweet. 

While flooding libraries doesn't really make him a criminal, this certainly is. 

How could that guy jump into a Japanese kitchen just to walk out like that!? Not even the courtesy to take a few bites of sushi or sashimi? What kind of jumper is that?!

I for a change will make sure i drop by the cold room to bring home each day fresh succulent salmon and tuna and yellow tail and scallops and squid, not forgetting some nice sake to wash it down too.... 

Life's a bliss that way. And every time hunger pang strikes, i can just jump to a Japanese restaurants with conveyor belt sushi. Jump in, grab a bite, and jump out. Simple as that, and with Japanese restaurants being so popular, i have restaurants in every timezone to choose from! Isn't that wonderful? 

Best still, I do not have to worry about renting a flat near any mrt station or at an accessible location. Any crap location will do. I can jump to work, and back to relax. No time lost in transit! 

No more bus, no more mrt, no more car, no more pollution, no more....

Now you have just gotten to know me a little bit better - bookworm, glutton, always hungry, hate to travel long distance, and incredibly mundane and boring too!

Now where would you jump to?