August 2005 Archives

still needs a job though ... sucker! ..
Rachem' (the west wing fan) is also celebrating her b-day today!! ... It'd be kool if the two got married on the same day, with each other ... in theory it works anyway ;)

Academics in the UK claim their research shows that men are more intelligent than women. A study to be published later this year in the British Journal of Psychology says that men are on average five points ahead on IQ tests. Paul Irwing and Professor Richard Lynn claim the difference grows when the highest IQ levels are considered.

Their research was based on IQ tests given to 80,000 people and a further study of 20,000 students. Dr Irwing, a senior lecturer in organisational psychology at Manchester University, told the Today programme on BBC Radio Four that up until the age of 14, the study showed there was no difference between the IQs of boys and girls.

"But beyond that age and into adulthood there is a difference of five points, which is small but it can have important implications," he said. "This is against a background of women dramatically overtaking men in educational attainment and making very rapid advances in terms of occupational achievement." The academics used a test which is said to measure "general cognitive ability" - spatial and verbal ability.

As intelligence scores among the study group rose, the academics say they found a widening gap between the sexes. There were twice as many men with IQ scores of 125, for example, a level said to correspond with people getting first-class degrees. At scores of 155, associated with genius, there were 5.5 men for every woman.

My thoughts on this are mixed. Sooner or later I need to see him even if only to hand him a letter saying my plans for the future including Ram-Jaane 2020 amongst other things & naturally praising his work & high impact on my life over the last decade & a half. This would require some investment on my part no doubt, opportunities like this will always be costly, but still, I don't feel I'm in a position to afford £175 for an hour in which I may/mayn't get 1 minute with the star. Only if I could.

I really want to go but I can't seem to justify the money in my current financial state. I'm also thinking I'm not sure I have the portfolio in hand that I'd wish to pass onto him. srkworld.co.uk is till in its preliminary stages & hasn't even been made public yet. I don't have even 1 full script to show him. All these things lead to the idea that I shouldn't go.

ORANGE WEDNESDAY:  Unleashed' ..
Runtime: 101m 51s - UK Rated: 18
Tagline: Serve no master.

Plot Outline
A man treated like a dog and raised as a fighting machine his entire life, ends up in a coma and is taken in the care of good people, but his sinister owner is looking to retrieve his most prized possession: a non stop human weapon triggered by the collar leashed on his neck.

Another one of those the US has seen far before the UK (April 8th). If you're expecting a typical Jet Li flick you'll be pleasantly surprised as it is that & much more. He really shows he can act as well as fight. The surpressed slave is played with finesse. His growth as a character is plausible & he makes it look quite believable. With the aid of Morgan Freeman you couldn't really go wrong with this. In addition Bob Hoskins plays a truly evil person. All thumbs up for all of the cast.

Overall Impressions:
As always with a Jet Li flick, a lot of it seems far fetched but a strong script with powerful performances keep you highly entertained. Recommend Highly!!

I in recent times haven't had this leisure to the extent that I perhaps would desire. This doesn't mean I haven't used my time wise but it brings me to appreciate the times I do get to sleep & on this short note, I'm off to sleep. Adios.

Well it wasn't a letdown. The cliffhanger ending of season 1 was mildly interesting but the concluding 2 episodes kicking off season 2 were far more interesting. We get to see the history of how the team emerged & their prior backgrounds. SO its no surprise to find these episodes actually won Emmys in 2001 for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series and Outstanding Single-Camera Sound Mixing for a Series. Truly outstanding. I can see how people who missed Season 1 can easily pickup here & the writing is consistent with comments made in prior episodes subtly. (eg; Vice President should have listened to Josh) - Currently my favourite character is Sam Seaborn, possibly because he very slightly resembles Shahrukh Khan in the way he talks & now in season 2 also his hair :)

On a sidenote: Warm shirts are warm'.

I can finally do this. Its been about a month since I done any ironing. The reason is my routine got broken as I ran out of West Wing to watch. So not making the same mistake twice I decided to order seasons 2 and 3 {staying one ahead of the game.} The buggers sent me season 3 in a matter of days & its taken just under a month for Season 2 to be sent. Today it has been received & I can feel that tingle of wearing a warm just ironed hot shirt, nicely co-inciding with a loss of sunshine, I am happy.

.. surprisingly I might add. SO this one is dedicated to he who has the one-button mouse! (Hover over the picture to see the cool tooltip, no joke its true ...)

58 years of Indian independence is being celebrated today since a long line of freedom fighting through peace made history back on this day in 1947.

.. & on this auspicious day now I have something else to celebrate. 6th time lucky as they say. I passed my driving test. Almost ran into a forklift but he still passed me. Out of fear perhaps. Well its a massive weight of my shoulder, now down at belly, which I really should start working on. Might go on the Dr. Bale diet plan. (see him in The Machinist).

Silent Salutes'

The Island' ..
Runtime: 135m 59s - UK Rated: 12A
Tagline: They don't want you to know what you are.

Plot Outline
Lincoln Six-Echo (Ewan McGregor) is a resident of a seemingly utopian but contained facility in the mid 21st century. Like all of the inhabitants of this carefully controlled environment, Lincoln hopes to be chosen to go to the "The Island" - reportedly the last uncontaminated spot on the planet. But Lincoln soon discovers that everything about his existence is a lie. He and all of the other inhabitants of the facility are actually human clones. Lincoln makes a daring escape with a fellow resident named Jordan Two-Delta (Scarlett Johansson). Relentlessly pursued by the forces of the sinister institute that once housed them, Lincoln and Jordan engage in a race for their lives to literally meet their makers.

Overall Impressions:
An interesting sci-fi action flick full of typical Michael Bay chases & explosions, though sometimes these visually appealing stunts seem to slacken the pace of the otherwise wafer thin narrative. This one s for being visually treated & a slight escapism quite unlike crash which I saw yesterday.

Crash' ..
Runtime: 112m 22s - UK Rated: 15
Tagline: You think you know who you are. You have no idea.

Plot Outline
A car accident brings together a group of strangers in Los Angeles. An insight into their lives & how they are all entwine, in collaboration with how they meet & face their own demons is what this film is about.

It does I think what Changing Lanes was trying to do. It has some small similarities to 21 Grams but is far more gripping than either of these. Don Cheadle is very good as the most central character and I noted he also has some production credits. Matt Dillon & Ryan Phillipe as comparisons work well. Sandra Bullock & Thandie Newton though playing crucial roles & can be sympathised with do get irritating. Jennifer Esposito looks good. Brendan Fraser has little scope. Larenz Tate works with Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges to bring some little humour amongst this chain of quite serious & emotional events.

Overall Impressions:
A very well balanced, thought out, well written & well directed film. All merit it has been given is well deserved. Having said this it is quite grim & I wouldn't recommend it if you're looking for escapism.

Coming soon .. well monday :) So I'm back in mini-india for next three days. Looking forward to just having a change. I can understand why people take holidays now. Saving up money to just get away from it all. Thank god for the movie industry, the only thing that keeps you going when there's nothing else. Its been a much better week at work, in that there has been time to catch up with stuff, because its been fairly quiet. Last week I didn't even get to look at my list of things to do properly until about Thursday. It all balances out in the bigger picture I guess. Hmmm Balance ... Equilibrium .. Gun Kata - Beeeeeep .. not without incident' etc etc

So I got myself a 300GB external hard drive a few months back, silver finish with a neon blue light, very neat, in fact Rachel will probably remember me drooling over a picture of it at work when I was about to order it. As soon as I got it I was overjoyed & backed up everything I had on to it, however my computer being a pensioner now only has USB1.1 so the transfer rate was slower than a tortoise. For this reason, I invested in a Firewire Card (cheap only £10 including postage & packaging). Now all is great.

Last week I figure I should reorganise my filing sytem (on the computer, you wouldn't catch me dead with a REAL filing system.) & here's where my stupidity comes in. I remove all my mp3's from one of the three 100GB partitions, so that I have one FAT32 partition for older computers to be able to interact with if necessary. So far so good. At this point my old hard drive in my computer starts bleeping, honestly literally an hour later after I delete, what are the bloody odds of that?? I restart the computer to find it won't boot up. It works fine if I disconnect it though. Fricking great. So I've ripped it out & plan on testing if its actually dead on another computer very soon. All my 50GB or so worth of songs are on it. I pray it comes out of its coma when I connect it up, else I lose some of it.

Earth is a conductor of acoustical resonance. I however am not. I wish I was but I'm not, this doesn't mean I never will conduct, I mean being such a conductor would rule. The ability to take in the natural essence & variety of sound & I mean literally 'take in' .. Time is required to master this skill though, kinda like my view on events in life, filter out the rubbish & remember the better times. This is my partial explanation for the blank space in my blog ocassionally. I try my best to shorten these 'occassions' as far as I can but there are times when even acoustics can't remove the resonance. Bygones.

Had a hell of a fortnight at work. For the first time in my 5 & a bit months have I had this much on my head. The mischevious activities out of work I usually embark in have had to take a back seat as I've been losing sleep over problems & issues that don't even fall into my area of expertise. (Yes i do have one.) I've been dealing with issues that everybody else was fobbing off & taking no responsibility for. This has been increasing over the past month but I don't mind too much. Its when they have the cheek to pass you their dirty work & then play the role of 'i'm not trying to fob this off & i'd love to help' .. This pisses me off!!! In addition with one specific issue the client was also chasing as he required a result as soon as possible. I don't blame him as he only asked for updates & was fairly okay with my honesty, not pleased but not harsh.

ORANGE WEDNESDAY:   Charlie & the Chocolate Factory' ..
Tagline: The Factory Opens July 2005.
Runtime: 115m 46s - UK Rated: PG

Plot Outline:
A young boy wins a tour through the most magnificent chocolate factory in the world, led by the world's most unusual candy maker, who goes by the name of Willy Wonka.

Johnny Depp as the mysterious Willy Wonka. Directed by Tim Burton you expect a surreal world rather ideal for the works of Roald Dahl & this is exactly what you receive. The Oompa Loompa's, The songs, totally awesome.

Overall Impressions:
Willy Wonka does come off as wierd. Likable but wierd. It brought back the childhood times of reading the book which has been many years I might add. Very accurate to the source material if memory serves. (hehe more RAM jokes)