General

300

By on Thursday, March 8, 2007

300 is the story of the Battle of Thermopylae where the Spartan King Leonidas and 300 Spartans warriors fought a last stand against the invading hordes of the Persian Empire. It is based on Frank Miller’s graphic novel 300 which in turn was inspired by the movie The 300 Spartans.

The movie is a frenetic, chest-thumping, testosterone-laden, adrenaline-pumping action fest of a legendary, even mythical scale. The computer enhanced contrast and minimalist CG background makes sure you focus on one thing: the action (and the muscle-tone of the unbelievably buff Spartan warriors). This is further enforced by a rousing, high-energy sound track that make you want to stand up and have a go at the Persians yourself.

The almost non-stop action is punctuated only by short breaks of relative peace as if to ensure you don’t get a heart attack. Or perhaps it’s for moving the story onwards. Whatever it is, you sit back, listen, perhaps understand, and wait eagerly for the next action sequence because that is the reason you watch this movie.

Rating: 5/5

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Uncategorized

Kart Krash

By on Sunday, March 4, 2007

My brother, brother-in-law, and I were supposed to go paintball this afternoon at Global Gutz Boom Camp at Boom na Boom. Unfortunately, nobody else showed up. The only alternative would be playing with a bunch of paintball pros, regulars to the site. But we didn’t want to end up coming out looking like colorful Christmas trees so we decided not to push through with it.

I was able to convince them to go karting at the nearby kart track. We walked over and I was pleasantly surprised at the reasonable price and quality of the track and karts. Although Speedzone is still tops in my book, it’s not so bad at all. The track is wide and the segments long. Good combination of high-speeds and tight maneuvers. It somehow reminded me of an F1 track. The karts, if the ones we used were any indication, are capable enough of letting you do both. And, of course, there’s no beating the price.

Our race, started out well enough, I took the first lap at moderate speed, then on the second lap started becoming aggressive with the accelerator, took a hairpin turn too fast, and understeered straight into the crash barriers.

I was dazed for a full second or two. As soon as I recovered, I tried to extricate my kart but couldn’t until one of the track staff drove over in another kart and helped me out. As soon as I was free from the wall, I resumed racing and, fortunately, nothing more untoward happened.

After the race, I checked my injuries: a few bruises and banged knee. Biggest bruise was probably my ego. But definitely I learned two [painful] lessons: (1) Observe and make notes of the track for the first lap or two. (2) Motorsports, even the entry-level karting, is dangerous and you can not have too much safety. Drive safe!

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General

The Last King of Scotland

By on Saturday, March 3, 2007

The Last King of Scotland is not a Braveheart sequel :P It is the story of a Scot doctor’s experience as the personal physician and adviser of the infamous Ugandan dictator Idi Amin.

The movie claims it is based on true story. Actually, it is loosely based on a book which in turn is loosely based of the life of Bob Astles. So to me, claiming it’s based on a true story is a little bit of a stretch. But that doesn’t really matter, it’s still a good story.

James McAvoy as the doctor did a great job of playing the doctor trapped in a surreal, inescapable descent into an orgy of horror and madness. But this movie is more of a tour de force of the thespian skills of Forest Whitaker as Idi Amin. Before seeing the movie, I was incredulous about him being Idi Amin. But he pulled it off brilliantly!!! He effortlessly transforms from warm to terrifying, from friendly to paranoid in the blink of an eye. He is just plain awesome!

Rating: 4/5

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General

2007 February 24 to 26 Subic, Zambales

By on Monday, February 26, 2007

IMGP1078Some friends from MBA and I went for a quick getaway to Subic over the weekend. We started off very early so traffic was rather light. A quick drive and a stop at a McDonald’s for breakfast later, we were in Subic.

Our first stop was our accomodations. We met up with the caretaker and she guided us up in the hills (heights they call it) to a moderately sized house with a creepy air. It must be all the old stuff there. We dropped off some of our stuff, laid claim to bunks, and freshened up.

Next stop was the Camayan Beach Resort for a swim. It’s a pretty good beach. Whitish sand, not too rocky, and reasonably calm. However, it is a bit smallish and there was quite a lot of people present so it was pretty crowded. Nevertheless, it was still quite fun. Everyone took a dip, bummed and ate at the beach hut, and had a bash taking underwater mugs with my camera. We also absorbed horrendous amounts of UV.

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General

Oakley Unknown

By on Wednesday, February 21, 2007

The Oakley Unknown is one high-speed, low-drag (HSLD) piece of gear. It is has a sleek wraparound frame design that provides a wide field of vision. The frame is made of plastic (“O MATTER” in Oakley marketing parlance) which makes it very light so it doesn’t get burdensome while worn. Rubber (“Unobtainium”) earsocks keep a good grip and keep everything in place during rough activity.

The polycarbonate lenses (“Plutonite”) are very effective at blocking the sun but are extremely clear (“High-Definition Optics”) sometimes I think they’re not even there. The lenses supposedly exceeds ANSI Z87.1 Industrial Standards for impact protection. This means it can withstand a shotgun pellet from 30 ft but personally, I don’t want to find out if this works.

But what I like best is that it’s got that famous Oakley “mad science” look without being overly loud like some of their other designs.

Rating: 5/5

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