Ashbil & Fatimah

A photo from the wedding of my friend Ashbil and his wife Fatimah. More photos of the newlyweds taken by moi can be found at the link below.

Ashbil & Fatimah

Beware the lady with the SUV

Now I've always been very apprehensive whenever I see a lady driving a big SUV, specifically Toyota Harriers/Lexus on Malaysian roads. I'm sure you agree with me that some (most?) of them act as if they're driving small Kancils and there are no other motorists, barging their way to change lines or cut queues.


Well seems that things are not so different in other parts of the world. In Belfast, Northern Island, a lady driving a Lexus SUV somehow managed to drive her car over both a Porsche AND a Toyota Celica! I forgive her the mistake of changing into the wrong gear, but she must have floored the pedal really hard! I mean, as the SUV was originally static, even if you did go the wrong way, you surely would've realised it long before you're suddenly parked on top of two other cars!!!

You can read more at the BBC site here.

The MOST expensive iPhone accessory ever!!!

For all you iPhone lovers, you can now get your own Merc for your iPhone, available in a range of shapes, sizes and colours. This is surely one iPhone accessory you can't get at Low Yat Plaza!

The Sun articles on Ronaldo

Two very interesting takes on the Ronaldo saga by The Sun - the best source for all the latest footy news and gossip.

Let Him Go

Big-time Charlie has most to lose


Word of warning though, The Sun is also well-known for its Page 3 girls, and celebrity paparazzi snaps, so do exercise extreme caution if you are at work!

Wake me up before you go go!

So is Ronaldo going? Or to be more precise, do I care? On one hand, he’s been United’s ayam tambatan the past couple of seasons, breaking so many goalscoring records (made all the more impressive considering he starts most matches on the wing), and sweeping all awards before him. I remember during the couple of times I was lucky enough to see him play at Old Trafford, each time he had possession of the ball, you can hear the noise made by 74,000 seats as everyone stood up in anticipation of something great. And if he has a good Euro 2008 (based on Portugal’s matches so far, it indeed looks likely), I honestly can’t see anyone else getting this year’s European and World Player of the Year Awards.

BUT on the other hand though, there are his OTT spoilt-little-girl theatrics. To be fair, he has to a certain extent cut down on his diving, and has survived the post-World Cup 2006 jeering all the better. But you just can’t help feeling that this is a boy who really really loves himself, and each time he misses a shot or is fouled, he makes all these facial expressions that would make Jim Carrey envious, knowing too well that the cameras are all trained on him. Hey, even when United were presented with the Premiership Trophy for their 2006/07 triumph, apparently the squad were held back in the dressing room for some time as they had to wait for Ronaldo to gel his hair! What I personally don’t like about him though is his high propensity to MOAN and SULK every time he is fouled, or at least every time he THINKS he is fouled. Just get up and get on with it, boy! Rooney might blast a four-letter tirade to the referee, but he would only do so once play is stopped. Even Giggsy in his younger days would just get up and get on with it, and I’ve never recalled seeing him once pound his fists into the ground, like some 5-year-old who is forced to eat his veggies, something that you would expect at least 3 times from Ronaldo in EVERY SINGLE GAME. It’s mainly because of this that, despite his many wonderful and important goals and assists, I’ve never considered him a favourite of mine. Honestly, if he played for Chelsea or the Scousers, he would probably be the player I hate the most.

Saying all this, I would prefer him staying at Old Trafford for the foreseeable future. But if it’s true that his heart is set on leaving for Madrid, then all the best to him, as long as United get paid considerably for his signature. After all, he’s already achieved everything in England, and for someone hailing from Portugal the sunnier skies in Madrid would be more than a welcome change to the perpetual rain in Northwest England. Plus, I don’t blame someone for changing careers for a better pay, regardless of whether or not the “job” at his new employers would be any better.

So how would it affect United? Well I’d be lying if I said that Ronaldo’s goals and skills would not be missed. On more than one occasion he single-handedly gave us crucial victories. He did miss his penalty in Moscow, but remember that he gave us the lead in the 1st half with that thunderous header. But then, the 60 to 75 million pounds that Madrid are rumoured to offer for him would surely go a long way. Fergie’s targets like Berbatov and Benzema whom were seemingly priced out of the market are now much more viable, with lots of change to spare for a decent winger. Ribery, Simao, Ben Arfa? Kaka and Messi might seem improbable, but any substantial bid would surely be tempting for their current clubs. There’s the cheaper option of David Bentley, who’s itching for a move away from Ewood Park. Don’t forget that United still have other attacking midfielders on their books - Nani and Park Ji-Sung (who was preferred to Giggsy in Fergie’s first XI in the final weeks of the last season). No t to mention good 'ol Hargreaves, whose both goals last season were exquisitely taken freekicks, proving that not only Ronaldo can score them.

At the end of the day, in this day and age of player power, it is ultimately up to Ronaldo himself to decide. If (and when) he formally says that he wants to leave, then in everyone’s interests he should. As long as United get properly compensated with a world-record fee, and any deal is done early enough to give United ample time to use the money wisely, then I’m happy.

Happy dolphins

Regardless of whatever certain quarters say about the authenticity of its contents, the online portal of Malaysia's The Star newspaper has always been my main source of local news. However recently I can't help but getting distracted by an overeager dolphin everytime I'm there. Well, the dolphins are actually part of Malaysia Airlines' banner promoting their "cheap" fares to Brisbane, but it seriously has changed my view of the suuposedly pure and innocent sea mammals. Take a look for yourself by browsing through The Star Online.

iPhone 3G is here!

I have a confession to make - I own a sim-unlock, jailbroken 16GB iPhone, and boy do I love it! For all its weaknesses - and there are many - the two things that make it the killer phone for me is:

• It's an iPod - I can just connect it to my MacBook Pro and my podcasts are updated automatically
• It's simply the BEST mobile web-surfing experience

Now my major gripes about the iPhone are:

• it's not 3G - a shame considering the awesome mobile internet browser
• Bluetooth is not EDR nor AD2P - in other words, no syncing wirelessly with your computer, and no wireless stereo music streamed to your stereo Bluetooth headseat
• 16GB may be a lot of memory for most people, but to be taken seriously as an iPod it needs way more than that - heck, even my last-generation iPod has 60GB!
• no support (yet) for MS Office documents
• does not sync with Outlook - so I can't transfer calendar entries and tasks from my office PC

So, El Jobso announced the iPhone 2 a.k.a. iPhone 3G a couple days ago. To be honest, with 3G (finally!), GPS and the new 2.0 software (officially supporting 3rd-party apps and compatibility with Microsoft Exchange servers, amongst others), it is certainly a better machine. But would I go out and get it? Errrrrr, not really. 3G and GPS are good, but to me AD2P bluetooth and bigger memory size are more important. I was seriously expecting a 32GB version, as there's already a 32GB iPod Touch in the market.

But then, even if I did want to get one, it does look like Apple are doing their best to stop people from unlocking the iPhones en masse. I might wait until it's officially released on these shores, but that looks highly unlikely to happen in the near future as Malaysia is not even in the list of SEVENTY countries to get it by the end of the year. I can live with Malaysia not being in the top 100 footballing nations, but not even among the 70 countries to get the iPhone? You must be joking!

An England & United fan's dilemma

Ever since that black day in November when England were cruelly (if deservedly?) denied a place in Euro 2008, one thing has been on my mind – whom to support in the absence of Rooney, Rio, Hargreaves et al. Naturally for me, it would have to be a team that contains one or more of the recent double-winning players. Here’s a brief look at the relevant countries:

Portugal

United players : Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani
The obvious choice to some, but not really. True, in Ronaldo Portugal have probably the most exciting United player since a young Giggsy burst onto the scene, but chances are Ronaldo would not still be a Red for too much longer. Nani too in his first season has not really made himself a hero with the Old Trafford faithful yet, and that red card against West Ham certainly puts him in my bad books.
The Portuguese under Scolari are a pretty decent bet to win Euro2 008 though, and despite the passing of the Golden Generation of Luis Figo, Rui Costa and co, they still have a very well-rounded squad. It’ll be ironic if I choose Portugal though, as they knocked out England in the last two major tournaments!

The Netherlands

United player : Edwin van der Sar
They say that politics and sports don’t mix. Not so in this case. Due to the recent controversy involving a Dutch director and the Quran, I’m still boycotting all things Dutch.

France

United players : Patrice Evra, Luis Saha. Mikael Silvestre
Evra’s struggling to get a place in the starting 11, while Silvestre and Saha are not even there. A certain no-no for United supporters. Unless that is, we can snag that boy Benzema before the tournament ends (with some of the Ronaldo money, perhaps?).

Serbia

United player: Nemanja Vidic
The Dolph Lundgren look-a-like is fast becoming one of my favourites, but again politics means that I don’t see myself cheering for Serbia.

So that’s it then. Ironic then, that with the recent controversy surrounding the abundance of foreign players in the Premier League, the best club in England and Europe relies heavily on British and Irish players. Take them out, and the squad does look a bit threadbare.

Who to support then? Really hard choice based on the above. All depends on Ronaldo though, which at writing does not look good at all. Compared to previous World Cups and Euros, where I become a “neutral” after the quarterfinal stage, looks like this time round I just have to be a neutral from day one. Bring on August!

Review: Iron Man

Director : Jon Favreau
Main Cast : Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges

Not another comic superhero flick!

I was enticed by Iron Man ever since the first time I heard about it during pre-production because of the fact that:
(a) it's a comic movie directed by Jon Favreau (well, anyone OTHER than Michael Bay), and
(b) with Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges and Terrence Howard, it's got "proper" actors in the cast.

As a result of the above, I expected something more akin to the Spiderman films and Batman Begins, rather than, dare I say, Transformers.



So did it live up to the expectations?

Well happily it did, though at the same time it didn't actually exceed them. The action sequences were great, a lot of emphasis was put on using real costumes and effects rather than use CGI all the time. And when CGI was used, it did look as realistic as the robots in Transformers (come to think of it, the final fight between the two "suits" on the traffic laden highway was a bit of a deja vu moment).

Acting wise, Robert Downey Jr was perfectly cast, lending his natural charm and humour to the role. Jeff Bridges was decent in an unfamilar role as the arch-enemy, though he did ham it up a bit at the end. But then, what are superhero filcks without OTT villains, eh? Gwyneth Paltrow though was a bit wasted for my liking, as she had the typical blonde damsel in distress role, albeit an older version so as to not make Downy Jr come up as a paedo. The dialogue too didn't make you cringe, but you would expect that from a people-director such as Favreau.

Eh?

There were some "Eh??" moments in the film, the most memorable to me being:
(a) Everyone seems to stay only a couple minutes away from each other, ala 24. Especially so in the scene when Potts (Paltrow) finds out who the actual villain was. I presume she phoned Stark (Downey Jr) as soon as she could. But when she did, the villain had already managed to make his way to Stark's mansion, and then back to his lab long before Potts and the federal agents (who were in a nearby building) could make their way over to arrest him!
(b) The villain's suit was at least 3 times bigger than Iron Man's (which itself is larger than life). Question is, how the heck the the villain have long enough arms and legs (not to mention head and torso) to properly control the "suit"?

Don't leave early!

I read somewhere that there is some additional footage at the end after the credits roll. So I stayed and waited. And waited. And waited. And when it did come, was it worth it? You could say so, as it gave a taste of the future instalments of the movie franchise, in the shape of a well-known actor. Bring on Iron Man 2!!