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Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Stay Alive....


Yeah...given my sleepy state....it's just like a fight to stay alive...or rather, stay awake...hehehe...

I decided to type to keep myself awake....not that I don't have anything else better to type...but this was from something I've typed at home anyway....a movie review on what I watched....yeah...promise not to be too lengthy this time :P

I took a break last night after work and headed to the cinema to catch this movie...about some sort of freaky video game which kills the players the same way their characters died in the game. Pretty creepy if you ask me....so, this game, as the movie title is called, is Stay Alive.
It's freakingly real...with the 3D animations which navigate the players whereby the characters bear a sinister resemblance to the actual person and it seems that they have no control over their own choices in moulding or modelling their own characters...gawk:P

The game is basically based on the Gerouge farmland of some sort and based on the real-life experience of this lady or caretaker of some sort, Countess Elisabeth Bathory who was actually some kinda psycho who killed most of the girls in the convent or place there. Also, she has an interesting streak...she can't bear the sight of mirrors because she cannot stand the sight of herself getting old....kinda explains why she kills those young girls...since they look more youthful.
Also, before you start the game, you actually have to recite some prayer of some sort...which sounds like cult of some sort if you ask me. The prayers actually entails that the blood of those people who died will cleanse age and springs youth on the countess.....mmmmmmmmm.......

So, it goes that this group of teenagers notice the sinister part about the game after a few of their friends died.....and the creepy part...in the same manner their characters died in the game. They soon came to figuring out that they have to continue to play the game to finish off and triumph in victory in their quest to stay alive. Of course, as the generic horror/thriller movies, the characters die one by one...leaving only 1 or 2 of the main characters in the movie.

Haha...this is sort of a fantasy/animation where they have the quest to kill the witch; the Countess through the traditional witch prosecution method...nooooooo, not burn at the stake...close to that, to bury 3 nails in 3 spots of the witch....evil one...with the final nail right in the middle of the forehead and also, to cleanse the evil, she has to be burnt with her blood....urrrggghhhhh.....sounds like killing Count Dracula to me.... does that makes sense that she is Countess? Hmmm....perhaps they meant it as a connection.....:p

The hero, Hutch, found the witch's body....ermm, or the Countess...I beg your pardon....(like duuuuhhhhh...of course he did, otherwise what'd become of the movie???) and nailed the 3 nails. However, she somehow got rid of the nails and sat up from the dead....after centuries of lying dead...wonder how her corpse can be preserved so beautifully though...but then again, she's a witch:p

Then Hutch had to keep her away and he used his metallic cover of the laptop....haha...cool laptop that...should consider getting that....except that it is supported by AMD...arrggghhhh...anyway, Apply's IBook is anytime better:p
Okay, I am losing track....so the purpose of holding up the metallic cover of the laptop is to reflect the image of herself (remember how she can never stand to look at herself in the mirror?)
That worked...and she was unable to break the mirror since this is metallic...ahaha.....
Then while she was howling over the sight of herself in the mirror.....Hutch set fire and burnt her.....

They seemed to have triumphed over the evil...but ironically, copies of the Stay Alive game made its way to the market after that...at the end of the movie....in BULKS....hahaha...guess, the evil never ends.....

Intriguing quirks:
1. I knew Milo Ventimiglia was in the initial part of the movie...but, it was kinda hard to recognize him....then I remembered, he was Loomis.....gosssshhhhh, he looked so different from Jess in Gilmore Girls....he looked so grown up and sooooo tall.....hehehe

2. Sophie Bush from One Tree Hill looked different as well...she looked kinda menacing in this movie....not so sweet as I thought she was....then again, actresses are masters...oops, mistresses in metaphors...

3. Why is it again and again that horror/thriller movies are so UN-realistic?? I mean, don't you sense the horror or uneasy feeling? Why oh why do the characters like to explore on their own to dark and sinister places? Don't they ever learn? If the directors are trying to create suspense...oh puhhhh-leaseeeeee....that was like so yesterday....I think they should be more aware that the audience is also not as so UN-intelligent as they think....

4. The beginning part was cool.....kinda got me....it looked real...credits to the animation

5. Frankie Muniz of Malcolm in the Middle is a little stiff here....not too good...and he still looks young.....probably his height...

6. The music was cool.....probably due to the excerpts from the game itself...also, the graphics of the game were not bad
*winks*

7. Does this game exist? I am no gamer nor expert.....but I'd think this is a rather creepy game to be called a game...then, gamers live in a world of their own...

8. Does the Countess exist in history and all that story about mass murders in Gerouge? Perhaps a research ought to be conducted....hehehe...me and my curiosity...and my friend told me to leave it just at that....
hmmmmmm *thinking*

9. Also, not that much horrifying murder graphical scenes - not like FD series....:P Sorry, if you are expecting some gory killer scenes, dudes...

Review: 3 out of 5

Not that bad...a little entertaining although with predictable plot...gotta admit it did build up a little suspense...although was a little slow in the beginning...or perhaps I was sleepy myself :P
The sight of the witch and those running....hide-and-seek gals did give me those creeps....hope I am not gonna have trouble sleeping...hehehe..typical scaredy cat .....meowwwwwwww

Sleepyhead...wake up!!!


*YAWN*........yeah, I am sleepy...and I have to admit it...I've been sleepy for the past few days...hard to wake up in the mornings....so not like me, huh? Well, I am also only human, remember? hehehe....

For the last few days, I was on medication...yeah, antibiotics....no kidding nor excuses for being sleepy, I was not exactly well last week....(I am always weak....*sniff*) and I had to go to see a doctor....a miracle since I have sort of avoided all the doctors on this island...should I say sworn off the clinics and doctors on the island:p

Reason is simple...I had a previous bad experience with one of the doctors....whoa, that is one story which I should talk about....noticed I never posted on that clinic...should share the story pretty soon *winks*

Now...I am still kinda sleepy...Wake up wake up Wake up!!!!.....sounds like my little Energizer alarm clock buddy...that adorable little stuffed battery pal of mine is lying peacefully at home...on the shelf in my bedroom...and when I mean home, I meant my home back in the city of Malaysia....haha...not to say there are no other cities in Malaysia...yeah, just not as civilized as KL....hehehe.....*grins*

I really gotta get up and run...and it's still so coldddddd in this space.....sleepy and colddd....not exactly a great combination...one sleepyhead....with a good bedtime story and I am on my way to doze off...and this current meeting I am in is not helping either....*YAWN*...wake up Christy, wake up!!!! *YAWN* *YAWN* *YAWN*

Cleanliness my dear....manners...

I am not a super clean person...nor am I a compulsive or obsessive cleanliness freak myself but I am not a fan of dirty environment as well...I mean, who in their sane mind would LOVE to stay in dirty and stinking smelly places??? Oh....forgive my ignorance after you read the following...

Alright...I am not mad or anything, just found that there are people who do not exactly observe the definition of clean. I am not backstabbing...I just observed people staying under the same roof with me...yeah...remember my old housemates moved out? Okay, I am not going to do any names calling here nor am I going to go into any long list of complaints because there is nothing much to say. Furthermore, I am just speaking based on my observations.

So, these new housemates...rather, 2 of them who happen to stay in the same room are actually distant from the rest of the housemates...I don't blame them, they are new to all of us, whereas me and another housemate are continuing our stay...and her roomie is also someone who just moved in but previously I have seen her around in the house whenver she came to visit.
The new housemates are the unfamiliar ones and they kinda appear and disappear....meaning, they come and stay for a week or sometimes a few days and then go back to their hometown. Yeah...reason being, the university term has yet to commence and they have rented the place, so, guess they are just optimizing what they have paid for:D

Anyway, not that we mind their presence....but I do notice...that the house seemed to be pretty dirty when they are back...yeah, even if for a few days and I am not pointing fingers here. Even my other housemates noticed that and nobody wanted to say anything about it...that is, until last weekend...and that was also through hints to us each other....although the alleged culprits are no longer around.
Besides, we have been pretty flexible with our turns in cleaning the house...we do not set the schedule or duty roster as we used to...since there are lesser headcounts these days in the house...so, sometimes it's my 2 other gal housemates or me
(yeah, I actually had to do some REAL housework now too *sob*....I missed my mummy!!)
who cleaned up the house.
WE noticed that the 2 new housemates did not chip in and do their part...they minded their own businesses....well, we did not intend to interfere anyway.
However, they contributed something else....DIRT and MESS to the house.
Since we cleaned up the house, naturally we would expect everyone to keep and maintain the condition....particularly if you do not do anything about it....I mean, that's natural common sense.

Nooooooooooo, they had to HELP to keep the house more than anything but DIRTY....as if it was a place for rats and other creepy crawlies to infest in....yeah, I am not just saying that....

Listed are the offenses:
Offense #1: They actually wore their shoes into the kitchen...
also, sometimes without wiping their feet after them....(we have a nice door mat which we clean every week and place them strategically at the door).

Offense #2: They washed their plates/ clothes in the bathroom and caused the whole kitchen floor to be wet
...don't ask me how....

Offense #3: They do not take out their own rubbish

Offense #4: They spill the gravy when they throw the rubbish and not bother to clean it up - causing the whole kitchen to stink !! - that was the worst!!! - refer to 3.

Offense #5: They ignore any sign of cleanliness or other people cleaning away in the house


Gossshhhhhhh....these offenses could call for summons to the court...hahaha....the thing is, just a short time around in the house and they can cause that much of a damage...gaaaaaa....
Hopefully they will come to their senses one day....though we are already thinking of a house meeting pretty soon...to call the council to order.....and let's see what the tribe says.....
Till then, the tribe will just have to keep cleaning up......Muuummmmmmmyyyyy!!!!

Monday, June 26, 2006

RM150 for seafood...

I have to write about this....I was cruising around with this friend of mine to try out seafood which we haven't tried out yet and here we stumble upon this restaurant; a pretty decent looking restaurant overlooking the bay view of the sea....<little did I know that this is their deceiving front...ugghhh>

Okay, to start on a pretty note, the captain came over to take our orders in the most gracious manner and I had this gut feeling that this place is gonna cost a tad more than other places....especially when you can see those people dressed in uniforms. The feeling became even more for real when I heard the list of fish he babbled...garoupa, grouper, cod,snapper etc etc...most of them on my personal favourite fish list....so I knew this was gonna cost more than usual...so I was telling my friend, we don't have to order fish....
Anyway, we went ahead with all minimal orders...for two persons....we ordered prawns, fish and also crab....only 2 crabs.
The dishes came...and we ate....the food's not so good though (no, I am not saying it out of spite...this is a truthful review - cross my heart)
So, as we finished our meal...(we couldn't even finish the crabs!!)....we asked for the bill....then came the waiter with those sickly "too-much perfume" napkins which we declined.
The waiter came with such a sweet smile that I now know why...and slapped us with the RM150 bill....maybe not the exact amount but it rounded up to that nevertheless.....
Whoa...I was totally taken aback...I mean what kinda meal is that to cost RM150???!!!!!...and the seafood isn't even superbly fresh or delicious....goshhhhh....manslaughter....daylight robbery...
Call me stingy or whatever.....this just isn't worth it....even Eden Seafood, The Ship or Victoria Station is not going to cost this much......
It's not the matter of money....it's more of the worth....I've learnt my lesson to identify worthy restaurants...if they looked at me in the face...:P
In fact, I've come up with my own list of how to identify expensive and non-worthy to dine in restaurants:

1. They look too decent and too nice to be true with a conducive and romantic environment...(with a view overlooking the sea and beautifully decorated...unless you are in a fishing village which you will then risk being bitten by tons of mosquitoes and also pestered by the hordes of big and monstrous looking flies - really puts a meaning to a peaceful evening:p )

2. The waiters are dressed in uniforms - yeah, those black and white suits which look like penguins...haha..

3. The captain smiled too much that it looks sinister

4. The waiters all look at you and smile when the captain is taking your orders - gives me the creeps as if they are all engaged in some conspiracy...they're probably thinking, "Here comes a bunch of morons to waste their money on our food again..."
I know, I am paranoid:P

5. They are too gracious and all smiles with all your requests

6. They changed your plates.....yeah, this's the cue...:P

7. They have nice aquariums with the sea creatures labelled according to the weight and prices - yeah, they have this in Eden and also some classy restaurants but still.....this doesn't justify them....

8. They smile at you even if you spill juices over them or drop your plates and crockery - refer to 5

9. They ask you card or cash when you ask for the bill

10. They smile at you even when you ask to takeaway unfinished food - refer to 5.

11. They offer you those sickly "too-sweet" gagging smell of napkins....(probably any common restaurants have it now...but they still smell awful anyway...)

12. They bid you farewell - refer to 5.

13. They actually thank you and ask you to come again - duuuuuuuuuuuhhhhh....the nerve:p

Hahahaha......that being said, I still enjoy dining in some expensive restaurants which offer delicious seafood and conducive environment *winks*
I've tried several of them; on the Island itself, some are Thai restaurants, a little pricey but the food is good and worthy. Besides, the customer service is good....
However, this place....should I name it...hmmmm, Pinang Fisherman Wharf.....oops.....I've mentioned the name of the restaurant...so....
Anyway, the food is not too good and I even felt uncomfortable after the meal....definitely not because of the bill lar.....guess it's not fresh....and I have a sensitive stomach....:((

Review : 2 out of 5
Been there, try that....not going back again (if I can help it...unless another someone who has too much money to spend decide to go there and "donate" for charity....hehehe...

Colddddd......

Here I am, tapping my fingers furiously on the keyboard....hmmm, if I type fast enough, I might actually generate enough heat to warm myself up.
The point is, it's freaking cold here....yea...I couldn't resist myself to type in an entry at this hour.
The new office is so cold...they must have actually thought we were those chips to be preserved for the processing and manufacturing.
Arrrggghhh...I was told that they actually turned up...or turned down, I reckon the latter would be the right one since you go in the negative direction for the cold temperature....I know I am babbling nonsense now...might as well, before my fingers are frozen and numb and I can no longer be in motion...haha:P

The reason given for the cooler temperature...brrrr....was given due to some engineers who had a couple of workstations in their cube and also the servers which are supposed to dispense heat when they are running....duuuuhhhhh.....

So, because of this row of engineers with those "heater" machines, the whole office with more than 10 rows had to freeze along with them.....BRRRRRRRRRRRRRR....should I growl as well....
nah...sounds so ferocious....and they are my good pals as well....when they don't cause me to freeze under God knows what the temperature is in the office.....and the blazing sun out there looks so good..........................

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

DeCODING of Da Vinci Code


Yeah...I attended a talk on the refutal of the theories which were described in the popular and highly criticized book by Dan Brown - Da Vinci Code. The talk was held in none other than my parish church and the speaker was the guy who actually submitted the article " Da Vinci Code -Debunked" to both The Star and also The Sun, with sound data to backup his opinions on the theories which surfaced in the book.
So, as I found out, this guy, Rufus Bruno Pereira is actually a lawyer by profession and the church was soon busting with people as the time of the talk approaches. Earlier on, there was the Novena mass in conjunction with the celebration of the Pentecost feast day. The crowd started coming in after the mass to attend the highly anticipated talk which has clearly challenged the roots and origin of Christianity and more so, the Roman Catholic Church in particular.
Sharp at 8.30p.m, Rufus turned up and began with 2 questions for the audience:
1. Who has read the Da Vinci Code?
- A few hands shot up....mind you, it was only a very small number considering the rising popularity of the book and also the amount of publicity it received. I can even conclude that the count is not more than 10 - but then again, since the Church has called for all Catholics to boycott the book as a sign of protest, I think some are even embarassed to admit that they have read the book.
I raised my hand; since I did read the book, out of curiosity :p

Now comes the second question:
2. Who has read the Bible?
- Hahaha...boy, that really got everyone in the hall laughing...kind of like those "gotcha" trick to pull on everyone....*giggle*
Well, there were a few hands in the air...more than the 1st question (of course!!) and Bruno was kinda laughing over it. He told us that were 2 of his favourite questions each time he goes to churches :D

Anyway, then there were those lengthy talks about history to refute the famous claim about the secret affair between Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene. This is an obvious relationship, as he stated in his book and that the whole hunt for the Holy Grail is not for the chalice or the cup but rather, the Holy Grail lies in the womb of Mary Magdalene in which she bore the child of Jesus, a daughter in the royal bloodline. This, as Dan mentioned, is a shame to Christianity which led to the Catholic Church using its authority to prevent this from being publicized, they amended history and allowed only certain gospels to be included in the Bible...the ones which depicted Jesus as being saintly and saying that the Church disallowed all the other gospels with the mere mention of the possible relationship between the duo.
So, Bruno went on to talk about the history and also displayed evidence that historical facts cannot be falsified and that those crooks who do that can be caught easily and punished severely. Therefore, there is no way that the gospels can be false and also the influence of the Church to "select" the gospels to be published.
Point No.2 : The highlight of the book....the obvious and yet encrypted depicted relationship between Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene in The Last Supper which Dan alleged that Leonardo Da Vinci, the famous painter ingeniously tried to reveal in his painting.
There are a few points raised with regards to the painting itself:
1. The person sitting to the right of Jesus (left in the painting) is actually Mary Magdalene and not John as claimed in the Bible.
Dan pointed out that the figure looked feminine and also they were both clothed in matching outfits; both in blue and red.
- Bruno struck the claim with the theory and also fact that this painting was done during the Renaissance era whereby all the artists often exude feminism as a soft touch to their paintings. He even commented that if you take a good look at the picture, the one on the far left of the picture actually looked "pretty" and another somewhere on the right of picture...even "sexy"...hahaha...the guy is really a riot:D
2. Simon Peter is actually holding a knife towards John/Mary(as in the book) out of spite and jealousy that Jesus is actually favouring John/Mary.
Explanation: Everyone was busy eating and Simon Peter was actually cutting the loaf of bread with his knife...if you look at the picture, you will see a bread cut in half on the table in front of him in that position and at that same moment, Jesus made the shocking announcement that one of the disciples will betray him that night. So, if you eye the whole picture, it makes sense that everyone looks shocked and disbelieving. Since Simon Peter had just cut his bread, he was still holding his knife and was leaning towards John to verify Jesus's earlier statement -> and not as claimed that he was threatening John/Mary.
3. There is no cup/chalice on the table as the Holy Grail is actually represented by the womb of Mary Magdalene which bears the child of Jesus Christ and is represented by the "V-shaped" distance between Jesus and the so-called Mary on his right.
Explanation: Leonardo Da Vinci came from this particular art school(cannot remember the name which Bruno mentioned) and it seems to be the same art school which the other famous painters went to as it was a highly prestigious school back then. In this school, they were taught that there should be no chalice or cup at the Last Supper as the supper is not equivalent to the Passover Meal. If you obtained other paintings of the similar title by other artists of that time, you will notice the absence of the cup on the table as well.
Secondly, on the V-Shape distance which seemed delibrate between Jesus and John(Mary), it is nothing much - if you notice to his left, there's also a distance, somehow also in the shape of V between him and the other disciple. This is due to the shock they are actually in after Jesus's announcement on the possibility of a betrayal among the disciples and they were all taken aback...everyone felt shocked that the traitor could be one of them at the time and also the disciples on both sides of Jesus felt fearful; logically that's how a normal human being would react - as would you in the same situation; you will have the thought that you may be one of the suspects and hence the shock.
Furthermore, if you notice, the main highlight from the top of the ceiling which formed the triangular shape of light/highlight is actually descending in the form of focus on the middle figure; which is Jesus - probably not that clear in this picture posted.
Bruno went on with his explanation on the origins of Mary Magdalene and the place she came from compared to the so-called royalty descent and place of birth of Mary as claimed in Dan Brown's book and also the fishing village environment she was brought up in. Also, he explained on all the geographical factors and also how she could not be of the place which Dan claimed.
Well, all in all, Dan made a confusing remark in his book about how all the facts in his book about those societies, etc are accurate and no mere mention that it was entirely fictional - which was so misleading to all the readers. This is one of the main cause that the Church is against the publication and showing of this story; it could shake the roots of the long-time belief in the Christianity and in Christ himself as the Son of God.
Yeah...if you're strong in your faith, what is there to worry about.....BUT, there's always a but, religion is always a context sensitive issue and there's no doubt that this is a highly controversial book which clearly strikes its claim on the Catholic Church.
For me...I am skeptical...I believe in my own faith and also, just take it as leisure reading....I took to reading the book since I am a bookworm and a book lover....furthermore, this is such a popular book by demand, I will not miss the opportunity to read and see what the uproar is all about. My verdict? Well, it's an enjoyable read (with an occasional bout of disbelief and hrmmpphhh at the dispute of Christ) and I must admit that Dan Brown is ingenious with the flow of his writing and also the creation of the codes :D
Dan Brown and Tom Hanks in the movie itself - heard that the movie received bad reviews and criticsms.....haha...I didn't watch it....hehe, probably in support of the Vatican's call to boycott the movie...hahaha:P Not really, just didn't feel like watching - and good riddance too since it's not that good....Dan Brown is even criticized by the albinos by stereotyping them as murderous lot...also the Priory of Sion denied having anything as claimed in the book....poor Dan Brown...he should've got his facts right before writing:P

6th of June 2006 -> 666

666 - the satanic number...this is a number always associated to the devil. Today is the occurrence of the date itself... 6th of June 2006 and I thought of posting an entry today:P
Coincidentally, today is also the opening of the movie, The Omen....or rather, the remake of the original classis in 1976 (I think). This open is always launched on the 6th of June and also in the year with the number 6 in it...coincidence, nah, it's definitely planned for. After all, The Omen is all about the coming of the devil...the antiChrist himself to destroy mankind.
I used to hear a lot about this movie from my parents and also the older generation. I think it was pretty acclaimed production and according to some, it's also one of scariest movies after The Exorcist, the horror classic then.
The story's pretty much about this boy, Damien who is actually the birth of the Satan, antiChrist who came to destroy the mankind or rather, God's creation by committing the killings in a horrendous manner. Also, he bore the mark of the devil, the triple 6 number on his forehead or so...obviously to declare that he is the devil himself. That's so much from what I heard from others. A highly anticipated movie and I am looking forward to watch it....yeah, I know, nuts for a girl to want to watch horror movies....but hey, for the fun of it to watch such a highly acclaimed and also criticized movie, why ever not?
Any takers to watch the movie as well? Hehehe....have a good day and beware of 666.....the prophecy....also of the evil hour....if you do not know what time's the bad hour...go figure out...and no, it's not 6.06:P

Angel