Ten Thousand

On 12th September 2010, I blogged about Suburan KID's first thousand views.

5 months and 12 days later, I proudly announce that Suburban KID has garnered Ten Thousand Views. That's ten times more than what I got in the first three months.

Confused? Okay, in the first three months that Blogger Stats were available, Suburban KID earned one thousand views. In other words, 3 months=1000. Now, it's 5 months=10000. I'm sure there's some percentage to be taken from this, but I'm too lazy to find out. All I know is, it's a LOT.

So, a very big thank you to Siangling, Jiawin, Kerryn, Emerlyn, Jarren(is that how you spell it? Sorry dude) and others who read this blog regularly. I even want to thank those who only stop by once in a while, or once in their lives.

No, wait, if you come by only once that's too short. Come more often! It's a whole new world here. (Begins singing A Whole New World)

Okay, singing isn't my strong point. Will halt immediately.

And I promise, there's more to come. Bigger and better. After the first book of The Mercenary is done(I admit that's quite some way away...), I will return to normal blogging, and work on writing even better posts.

So once again, thank you to everyone who reads this blog, provides feedback, criticisms and compliments, or has in any way contributed to the formation of this blog. Suburban KID wouldn't be the same without you.

I, M.E. and my$e!f,
Suburban KID Blog Committee

P.S. Okay, maybe not my$e!f. Not like he cares anyway.

An Incovenient Truth

Have you ever had that time when a good friend stands up to you and say: "You're a/an idiot/bitch/jerk/etc?"

I went through one of those times today.

Now, I want to make it clear: I appreciate these kinds of friends. They may sound harsh, but they really give you honest opinions, and most of your time, are your reality check. Your ONLY reality check.

So what's the fuss all about?

I was called arrogant. In other words, close to a jerk.

While this rather hurt me, it also forced me to sit down and take a good look at myself. I like being a confident person, but am I going too far? Am I becoming a self-centred person, who only cares of his own success and his well-being?

Am I becoming one of those people who makes sure nothing gets in his way to what he wants? One who doesn't care about being rude, just to look 'confident'?

Am I becoming self-possessed? To want everyone to know of my achievements, sticking my nose up to everyone else, who look inferior in my eyes?

I wasn't that confident and sure of myself some years back. And I can still feel traces of that uncertainty. I was scared to be in front of everyone. To stand up for what I felt was right, in fear of getting into trouble. Scared of being the one to stand up boldly and say, "Yes, I'll do it!" Scared to take that leap into unknown territory, in fear of looking weird or 'out-of-place', and not following the crowd. In short, scared of taking the risky path, in fear of the unknown.

But as I grew older, I realised that if I wanted new oppurtunities, new chances, I needed to let go of that fear. I needed to be sure of myself. Positive. Cool. Calm. Collected.

But really, am I going too far? To the point of no return?

I've thought for a long time on this. And the answer is: yes and no.

I know, it always is. But no one said life was easy. In fact, it's always the ****ing opposite.

The answer is yes when I apply this to my friends or family. Like what I always like to say, there's a time and place for everything. And the time for being over-confident is not with friends. Or family.

More importantly, no, during other times. Being slightly arrogant is part of my nature. It is part of identity, and to change that would be akin to getting a plastic surgery. And in truth, I like being confident. Who doesn't? I believe, if I can balance it properly, being arrogant is no bad thing. You're not going to get people looking up to you by being a coward.

Lastly, to that friend who stood up to me and said it to my face: Thank you.

Thank you for making me look at myself, something that I regretfully do too little. Thank you for making me realise that some parts of me are not as good as I think, and I need to work to change or balance myself. Most of all, thank you for being a great friend.

Seeing Red (Chinese New Year 2011 Special)

You can tell it's that time of the year again.
(Yes, yes, I'd said that I'll stop blogging for now but...)

The sofa cushions are red.

The flowers... are red.

 Well, almost...

The bed sheets are red.

The weird-looking lanterns, which look totally out-of-place against your modern fluorescent lamps, are red.

The cloth-like thing hanging over your front door for no particular reason, is red.

And of course, you'll be forced asked to wear red too, or you won't get any of those red-coloured packets, which, quite happily, contain money in them.

Name me one other time of the year where nearly the entire country is covered with a massive blanket of red-ness. No, Valentine's Day doesn't count, that's PINK(And I don't mean the singer).

So, here we are, at 2011's Chinese New Year! Year of the Rabbit, as it is. (lights fireworks-again. Yes, I have a habit to do that on festive occasions.)

Besides the obvious nausea-inducing red-ness and the craze of buying rabbits-thus leading to mistreatment by inexperienced owners, blah blah blah- there is nothing to dislike about the lunar new year.

I mean, come on. Money in packets, readily given out by relatives? Fireworks at the ready, to be fired into infinity(and beyond) at your whim? The best food you can get, and a whole group of relatives you've never even heard of?

When else?

Now that you've got that securely hammered into your head, I want to talk about a small issue of stereotyping of race and religion here in Malaysia. Because the weird thing is, during the weeks running up to CNY, whenever I raised a topic about it, my school mates will go, "Er, but you're Christian aren't you? Thought you didn't celebrate?"

Of course, the response given every time will be a "and why not?". But really, I find this absurd.

Yes, I'm a Catholic, but I am also a Chinese Malaysian. Why wouldn't I celebrate?

The answer, I suspect, lies in the Moral/Sivik textbooks from our early primary years. I did a little research -rummaging through theStar online archives- and found that I was right.

If you can remember, those textbooks thought us this: Malays are Muslims, Chinese are Buddhists and Indians are Hindus. Which is RIDICULOUS.

As far as I know, only the Malays are not allowed to convert to other religions(a topic that I will avoid debating here for obvious reasons). According to the Malaysian Constitution, other races can follow any faith as they wish. Question answered, and the Education Ministry should quickly correct those mistakes.

Funnily enough, my other Christian friends who don't speak English much seldom have this problem.
Why? Because apparently, Christians are supposed to speak English. And those who don't are assumed to be non-Christians. Yet another stereotype. Why are people who speak Mandarin assumed to be Buddhist/Taoist and English, Christians??? Idiots, but I can't blame them.

I could just end this post with my notorious gloomy 'Happy Chinese New Year', light some fireworks, and perhaps burn down the house, but I won't.

I'll just burn down the house.

Note: Oh yeah, you might have noticed that I have stop using the "Terence Wang on...(blahblahblah). Yes, I've dropped it permanently. It felt silly.

Although having said that he won't, Terence Wang still feels inclined to wish all readers a Happy Chinese New Year. And if you're married, he would particularly appreciate it if you give him a red packet or two. Yes, the ones with money in them.

REVIEW: Buried; Law Abiding Citizen; The Tourist; Knight and Day; Toy Story 3

First off, I want to clear this up: Since I'm reviewing so many of these at once, I will not do a full review, only a short one. A gloss-over. Something like that.

Now, where's that disclaimer?


WARNING: This review contains spoilers. Please proceed only if you a)have watched the movie(s); b)don't intent to watch the movie(s) but want to know more about it/them; c) are going to watch it/them, but want to know its/their plot and storyline because of lack of impatience.
You have been WARNED.

 

 Buried

Paul Conroy(Ryan Reynolds) is a truck driver in Iraq, who is kidnapped by terrorists and... buried. In a coffin. The title rather suggests that, doesn't it?

Before we go on, just imagine being buried. In a coffin. Underground. With absolutely nobody around, and only a Blackberry, a Zippo(lighter) and a few other items. Got the idea? Good, let's carry on.

Naturally, Paul tries to do all he can to save himself, ex calling the FBI, his employers, his wife etc.

You have to watch the movie to find out what happened, but I'll tell you this: It is FANTASTIC.

Before I watched it, I was wondering how the director was going to fill in 1.5 hours by just filming Paul in a coffin. I mean, come on. What can he do that is remotely interesting? Sing?

However, saying that Rodrigo Cortés-the director- pulled it off would be just an understatement. This is easily my personal second-best movie of 2010. What he manages to with so little-fill your heart with worry and anxiety for the him(Paul), share his pain and loss of hope and make you gasp at some of the awful things Paul has to do at the demand at the terrorists.

A fantastic job, considering how the director managed to bring so much out of so little. (8/10)

Law Abiding Citizen

Click on the pic, and you'll see the question "How do you stop a killer who is already behind bars?"

Good question.

Wikipedia: "Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler) saw the murder of his wife and daughter (right in front of him) at the hands of Clarence Darby (Christian Stolte) and his accomplice Rupert Ames (Josh Stewart). During their trial, prosecutor Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx) informs Clyde that DNA evidence incriminating Clarence has been deemed inadmissible due to botched forensics because, according to Nick, the actions of the police at the crime scene affected its solidity in court, and that Clyde's testimony alone is insufficient to prove either suspect's guilt. Nick, interested in maintaining his high conviction rate, strikes a deal: Clarence gives testimony that will send Rupert to death row, and in exchange Nick allows Clarence to plead guilty to third-degree murder, for which he will only serve a few years in prison. Knowing that Clarence was the actual killer, Clyde is left feeling betrayed by both Nick and the justice system."

Sorry for such a long paragraph, but I didn't find a good enough way to describe the beginning of the movie.

I think you can guess what's coming next; what happens when someone is left betrayed so badly? Why, he kills them all, of course.

First, he gets revenge on Rupert by switching the drugs for his death sentence to let him die a painful death. Clarence is suspected for this, but Clyde leads him away from the police... into his own hands. Ouch.

I would say that he proceeded to torture and cut him into (personal estimate)14378 pieces, but to keep this below 18+ rating...

The audience will be shocked when Clyde surrenders himself to the police. Even more when he demands a high quality mattress in return for a confession. A mattress, for heaven's sake.

Ah, but wait: Clyde is a master tactician.

I won't give out too much, but even the entire city has to be put on marshal law because of what he's doing. Even in jail.

However, I feel they have overdone it a bit in terms of action and violence. You know, the type that Hollywood feels is necessary to be put in every film they make?

Otherwise, though, a good watch, especially for those who love a well crafted plot/storyline. (7.5/10)

The Tourist

Ah, two big names from Hollywood together. Should be a hell of a film, yes? No?

Neither. Sadly, I might add.

Elise(Jolie) is a woman who is being trailed by Scotland Yard. She receives a letter from a former lover, Alexander Pearce(who has stolen 2 billion from a gangster and is wanted by the British government for tax evasion) telling her to board a train to Venice, pick a man who looks like him and make the cope think that it is him. She does so and picks Frank(Johny Depp, but you probably guessed this)

Interesting, isn't it? And the rest of the plot is actually quite interesting too.

Where it falls apart is the acting. It's obvious that Depp and Jolie don't bond well(although I like Jolie's lines). The pace of the movie is also too slow and cumbersome for an action film. The action itself is mediocre. It's like they want you to take a good long look at the beautiful scenery that they're shooting. A holiday commercial then? Perhaps.

It's sad, really, because the scenery is beautiful. The movie isn't. It's just average. And for a big film with two big stars and a big budget, it's not enough. (5/10)

Knight and Day

Yet two big names again. The difference is these two are nearer to their expiry day than the other two mentioned above. An even bigger recipe for disaster?

Not really.

June Havens(Diaz) is a woman going to her sister's wedding that happens to be in the wrong place, at the wrong time. To be more specific, the wrong plane and flight time. This is because she ends up with Roy Millers(Cruise), an agent on the run. Who has plenty of enemy agents(both from his former employers and outside gangsters) and after him. She must now stay with him, because if the enemy agents get her, she will be interrogated, tortured and possibly raped(ok I made that up). As Tom Cruise puts it, "If you're with me, your chances of survival(raises hand)-this high. Without me(lowers hand), this low. With me; without me. With me..."

Unlike the previous film, the actors here are pretty good. They are fun and humorous, especially Tom. This is because this film is pitted as an cool, funny and breezy-type action movie. Plot is ok.

What spoilt the movie for me was the unrealistic scenes. I understand that they want to make it funny, but showing Tom desperately hiding from the bullets, then just walk through the battlefield to walk over to Cameron? Cameron managing to drive a car unknown to her through a tunnel full of other motorists without a scratch? Really?

It's still an ok watch; just don't expect to care much about the storyline.(6.5/10)

Toy Story 3

Being the third and final of the series, one wonders whether the great Pixar will finally screw it up. I mean, just look at the movies destroyed by prequel; Terminator and Meet The Parents, anyone?

Guess what: They've done it again.

I'm to lazy to write the plot as my arm is already aching by now, so....

Wikipedia: "Andy is now 17 years old and packing for college, and his toys who have not been played with in years feel forgotten and abandoned. Andy decides to take Woody with him to college and intends to store the other toys in the attic. By accident, Andy's mom throws the other toys away, making them think they are no longer wanted; they escape and decide to climb in a box to be donated to the Sunnyside Daycare. Woody, the only toy who saw what really happened, is forced to follow the others and tries to explain they were thrown out by mistake, but they refuse to listen."

Woody leaves, but later finds out that the toys have been tricked. I'm stopping here, because any more would ruin it.

This movie represents everything that is good about Pixar: Awesome scenes and scenery, great and funny lines, themes that touch your heart, characters that you can relate to, and an ending that will make you cry. Literally.

It's my favourite movie of the year, and my favourite Pixar movie. And that's saying a lot. (10/10)

Terence Wang on... A White Christmas (Christmas Special)

EDIT: By 25 December 2010, Jiawin Ng would have left for Singapore to continue his studies under the ASEAN scholarship. This author wishes him good luck and farewell.
______________________________________________________________
It is 25 December 2010. Terence Wang looks out of his double storey terrace house, in the suburbs of Hollywood. He opens the window and stretches out his hand. A snowflake lands in his palm, so gently that he wonders whether it is all a dream.

Editor(M.E.): And yes, of course it's a dream. For starters, it's raining, not snowing.
______________________________________________________________

Sigh.

It's that time of the year again. When I wish raindrops were snow. When I wish my home was located either on the North or South of this blue-and-green(and white) planet. When I wish there was much more of the festive mood that is associated with this time of the year.

But then again, it's Christmas.

And how can one not be happy on Christmas??!!

Fireworks. Signify mood changes, among other things.

Yup, it might not be snowing in this sh*t hole lovely country but I'm staying jolly. And merry. And...

(Starts crying) Oh why, oh why, oh why can't it snow here?? (continues crying...)

Anyway.

First off, the Suburban KID Blog Committee would like to wish all readers, never mind whether you all are Christian, Buddhist, Taoist, Muslim, Jewish, even atheist, a very Merry Christmas(Happy Holidays to atheists). And how can you forget the very optimistic New Year? Seriously, he's always in a good mood, even in this recession! Isn't he afraid of getting laid off like 2010??

As I was saying, since it's a season of being grateful, forgiving and generally good, we should probably keep being upset on the none-whiteness of this country just be thankful and make do with what we have.

In fact, our family has already got the Christmas mood going. Look!

The Christmas tree, obviously. I haven't managed to capture the lights well, unfortunately.

"Cute" little stockings

And a very Merry Christmas to you too, Mr-not-so-big-Santa.

Smile.

Ok, so that's about it(apart from a Christmas party and some songs) but the mood's more important, right?

There. I'm contradicting myself again.

One last thing: Since my announcement of this blog reaching a thousand views, views have gone up by...well, frankly I'm not sure, but let's just say, a lot. To let you 'get' the scale of it, this blog reached 1000 views 14 days ago. Now, it's 1552.

So thank you, and have a great Christmas. (looks around) Where's the Christmas spirit on this blog? Editor, change template! Find some Christmas songs! Hurry!

P.S. You might have noticed the new blog template and songs. Well, ok I went traditional this year on the songs, but at least I didn't go for the old "Jingle Bells".

Suburban KID - 1st Birthday(Continued)

By now, you all should know that the fool that I am has misread the date several days ago, causing him to post his own blog's birthday post... on the wrong day.

And, to make it worse, I decided to post some updates that I meant to post on my blog's birthday(the date that I misread) on my blog's real birthday-which is, of course, 15th December. But I forgot.

(The next day, I received an invitation letter to join the "Epic Fail" club. It is now in the trash can.)


But it's ok, it's not the end of the world. I can still post it now, right?

Fine, I ruined my blog's first birthday. Epic fail. Whatever. It's still my blog, even with all the customer privilege bullsh*t.

As I was saying, I shall post them now, two days late:

1) New template

As you can see, the hideous beautiful birthday template has been taken down, as my blog's birthday is over. Do you like the new look? I feel it represents the "Suburban" part in Suburban KID.


2) Slight name change

The "dots" in K.I.D. have been removed(now it's just KID), mostly because of what it represented was deemed embarrassing.

It didn't stand for anything.

3) I, M.E., my$e1f.

Sometime ago, I introduced the Suburban KID Blog Committee, which consists of I, M.E. and my$e1f. I'm sure you can eventually figure out that this 3 people are actually only one person. Which person? Figure it out.
Their profiles and bio are now on a new page, right here: http://terencewang101.blogspot.com/p/about-suburban-kid-blog-committee.html

4) One more thing

Just wanted to show all of you these posts.

This is my very first post on this blog: http://terencewang101.blogspot.com/2009/12/not-again.html
My first post, ever(my first post wasn't on the blog): http://terencewang101.blogspot.com/2010/01/terence-wang-on-new-moon.html
My most popular post to date: http://terencewang101.blogspot.com/2010/11/terence-wang-on-advertisements.html
My personal favourite post: http://terencewang101.blogspot.com/2010/11/terence-wang-on-demise-of-proper.html

And that's about it for now, unless I feel that there are other things that need changing. Until next time.

Maybe.

P.S. Some may have noticed that the first birthday post has disappeared. This is because... I, er, felt that with this post, the first one was not needed. Right.


I know; I'm a bad liar. I accidentally deleted it. Arrgghhh!!! (Bites tongue, pulls hair, sets ass on fire)

One Thousand.

Ladies and gentlemen, at exactly 1400 hours local(Malaysian) time today, Suburban KID with the domain name http://terencewang101.blogspot.com, has reached 1000 page views.

Cue "cyber" applause.

Ok, I'll own up to a fact here: this blog has reached a 1000 page views some time ago. But we(or rather, I) did not have any proof, as Blogger's Stats only became functional a few months ago.

Reaching a thousand views might be rather insignificant to some viewers, but it is important for me and this blog. This is because having views and feedback is motivation to any blogger. To keep him/her assured and feel that his/her blog is important enough to take care of and to be kept going. I'm also happy that it happened now, just a few days before this blog's first birthday. I'll talk about that later.

Hold on a second... oh, now it's 1001 views. Even better.

Her's a pic:

So, right here, right now, I want to thank all of you who helped me reach this milestone.

I want to thank all of my 6 "followers", which you can see in the mid-right side of my blog, for following this blog when it was still young and it's admin was an idiot who went on ranting about how terrible everything was. He's much more sensible now, thanks to all of you.

I also would like to thank the readers from all over the world, from U.S. to Russia to Denmark to Spain to Japan and other places. Some have given comments, which as I have said for the 1001th time(ok, maybe not), is very important.

I might want to thank my parents and other authorities for not wanting to shut down even after some of the controversial topics that I've written.(This does NOT mean that I'll shy away from them, however.)

Last but definitely not least, I want to thank Jiawin for providing assistance and motivation, and giving lot's of feedback(although not on this blog). Overall, he has given the most, er, assistance, motivation and feedback. So thanks, Jiawin. I know you'll read this.

Here's to 10000 views, hopefully in the near future.

P/S; Oh yes, I said I'll talk about this blog 1st birthday. It won't be that big of a ceremony, of course, but I hope to bring along a few changes to this blog with it. And yes, of course there will a blog post.

I don't know the actual day, but I remember it was somewhere it the middle of December, so I decide to put it right at the middle: the 15th. So watch this space.

REVIEW: The Chronicles of Narnia - The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

WARNING: This review contains spoilers. Please proceed only if you a)have watched the movie; b)don't intent to watch the movie but want to know more about it; c) are going to watch it, but want to know its plot and storyline because of lack of impatience.
You have been WARNED.


Have I overused the "bolds" and "CAPITALS"? Never mind.

This is probably the first time I have watched a movie that has just been released. Seriously.

To make things easier for you readers, I shall break down this review into several sections.

Plot
This, unfortunately, is where the movie falls short.

If only they had just used the same formula that they used in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, that is, to faithfully follow C.S.Lewis's storyline, this section would have got high marks, as everyone knows that his work was brilliant. But no, the script writers had to put their heads together and say: "Let's toss it a little here...and turn it there..."

Result? A little underwhelming.

I entered the cinema late-no thanks to certain people-and missed a little of the beginning. At first, the movie seemed to be following the original plot. Then, I noticed a few changes that I won't mention here, just in case you are one of those who didn't see/follow my warning.

The real disappointments came later. When the crew reached Lone Islands, they defeat the slave bosses(which follows the plot), and after they saved one of the Lords(who is a poor prisoner here instead of the wealthy guy in the book), he hands them a "magical sword" which, as we find out later, together with the other swords from the other six Lords, must a great evil on Dark Island(which does exist) which will threaten Narnia with...something.

WHY??? Lewis doesn't even mention the swords in the book!(Ok, he did, but they were just the Lords' weapons) The plot was supposed to be about all of them  on a quest to the other side of the world which was where they believed Aslan's country was and the obstacles, fears and temptations they faced on the way.

If you haven't read the book, you have to. Now. Go get the car, bike, whatever and find a book shop.

This is the problem with movie producers and directors. They think that every movie has got to have a super villain that has to be killed in the name of humanity(or, in this care, 'animality'). Why can't it just be about each individual's fears?

However, I do think that the producers were clever in choosing the Dark Island part to be expanded, especially as it is about manipulating one's fears and thoughts. (I still feel that they shouldn't have made it something to be destroyed) They also expanded the part on Edmund's rivalry with Caspian, which was great.

All this 'expanding', however, creates a new problem: many details and long parts in the book have been cut short.

First it was on Lone Island. There was a whole sub-plot on how they devised a cunning plan to oust the Governor, but in the movie it isn't even mentioned.

We also have the part on Ramandu's island (Ramandu was the one who told them about the 'spell' that needed to be broken with the 7 swords) and several other parts that I can't remember cut short. Being a fan of the books, this makes the movie feel... stingy, in an odd way.

To give the script writers credit, the parts which followed the original were excellently done(you'll have to read the book to understand). If only they had decided to just leave the rest of the plot alone.

Special Effects

This is one of the best parts.

The scenery, sound effects, costumes and lighting and general "believable-ness" are beautiful and immaculately executed. One has to watch the movie to appreciate this, of course, but here are some, er, examples...

The Pevensies, Caspian and the "Blue Star".

Repicheep(right) and Eustace-turned-Dragon

The Dawn Treader.

The 3-D effects, while not groundbreaking or outstanding, do a very good job at enhancing the viewing experience. Should you pay extra for it? In my opinion, probably.

Characters

I just wish that the script writers were half as good as the actors.

Seriously, they are good. Georgie Henley(Lucy Pevensie) is as delightful as ever; you just can't help liking her.Skandar Keynes (Edmund Pevensie) is slightly boring at normal times, but does a great job at acting out his dark side. High praise goes to Will Poulter(Eustace Scrubb) for (together with the script writers, of course) managing to turn the people-love-to-hate character in the book into...people-love-to-hate-and-laugh-at. He talks in such a complicated manner that it's usually funny. Simon Pegg is also excellent and witty as voice of Reepicheep, although whether it surpasses Eddie Izzard from the second film(Prince Capian) is for you to decide.


Overall, although I'm a little underwhelmed with The Voyage of The Dawn Treader's storyline, the producers have done a fine job on the characters, their lines, the scenery and the effects.

Rating: 7.5


The Good: Characters, witty lines, scenery, special effects.
The Bad: Altered plot, some parts cut short.

Terence Wang wonders when the next Narnia  film will come out, and which book it will be based on.