Sao Darly

I’m back and posting again after more than a week of silent. Some of you probably noticed how active I’ve been at FB but do not worry because I don’t plan on abandoning my “home away from home” anytime soon. Let’s talk about some entertainment before heading back to the subject of Laos. One of these days you will get to the end of my two months to Laos trip finally.

I saw a great movie not too long ago. It was a pity that I didn’t get to see the first three minutes of it. I’ll have to wait till this movie is on Blue-ray disc so I can watch it again. If you are a fan of this comic, then go see it.

Watchmen Trailer with the song “The end is the beginning is the end” by The Smashing Pumkins

Watchmen Trailer version two

Music video by M.I.A – Paper Planes in Slumdog Millionaire. This is a really good movie if you have not seen it already. I always like Indian movie as a little kid in Laos with all those Thai sub-titles.

Video description from youtube:

Directors: Danny Boyle
Loveleen Tandan (co-director: India)
Writers: Simon Beaufoy (screenplay) and Vikas Swarup (novel)
Release Date: 5 December 2008 (Italy)

Synopsis:

Slumdog Millionaire is the story of Jamal Malik (Patel), an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, who is about to experience the biggest day of his life. With the whole nation watching, he is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India¹s “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?”

But when the show breaks for the night, police arrest him on suspicion of cheating; how could a street kid know so much? Desperate to prove his innocence, Jamal tells the story of his life in the slum where he and his brother grew up, of their adventures together on the road, of vicious encounters with local gangs, and of Latika (Pinto), the girl he loved and lost. Each chapter of his story reveals the key to the answer to one of the game show’s questions.

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Movie synopsis from Wikipedia:

On the day of the Supreme Dim Sum competition, Madame To and his son SK To (Hacken) were appointed judges, since they owned one of the largest catering corporations in HK. The winner was Jade (Lau Yeung) and Madame To wanted his son to marry Jade. Ceci (Charmaine), a lower class girl employed to introduce the chefs onto the stage, was much impressed by SK more than Jade. Though SK was impressed with Jade, he refused to marry her.

SK was kidnapped one night and was held to ransom. However, luck would have it that the kidnappers imprisoned him in a small room on the rooftop of the building where Ceci lived with her father, Souza (Wong Jing). Ceci saved SK, and hid him in her home. Ceci took SK on a tour of Mongkok where SK did many things his mother never permitted him to do. He found Ceci’s carefree attitude to life refreshing and fell in love with her.

SK took Ceci home to see his mother, who insisted that she would only consent to Ceci marrying SK if she cooked as well as Jade. Souza took her to Macau to learn the art of cooking from his ex-girlfriend Lady Green (Yuen Qiu) who was a descendant of another school of royal chef and an expert in using ordinary food to make a superb meal.

Ceci worked hard, and learned everything Lady Green taught her within a few months. She was confident enough to challenge Jade. It was not only a personal duel between Jade and Ceci, but also a contest between two schools of cooking, the North versus the South. During the last round, Ceci gave Jade a loaf of bread, by means of which Jade make the “Emperor toast” which won applause from all the judges. Ceci was given some noodles, by means of which she made a plate of “Brokeback Noodles”. Who will finally win over the judges and become “The Lady Iron Chef”? Will Ceci live happily with her Prince Charming after all?

Part 1

Part 2

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Finally, I had the opportunity to see The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Narnia.com, IMDb) and was not disappointed in the way the story was presented. I do have to confess that it is a movie made for children and for those that have not read the book, grab one and dive into it before you see the movie for more viewing pleasure.

I already made up my mind not to get a DVD copy of this movie. Yes it was a good movie but it didn’t trigger a “must have dvd” signal to my brain, unlike the Matrix and The Lord of The Rings sets. I tend to collect only the movies that I will watch over and over again without getting sick and tired of them. To my surprise the other day, I noticed the only girly dvd’s I have are Ever After and Notting Hill.

It is now 2:30 AM and I am sitting here sipping green tea and listening to Epica, updating a couple of things on Laoplanet.net and posting on my blog. Yeah I should be in bed but hey it’s Friday night and the fun has just begun.

I don’t know why it is actually soothing to hear Epica or Dream Theater late at night. I like staying up late at night or get up extra early in the morning because it is quiet. When I was in high school I like to go sit on the back porch gazing at the stars late at night when everyone else are sleeping. Come to think of it I did a great deal of stars gazing too when we were in Laos and in the Thai refugee camps. I saw a shooting star at Napho camp and guess what kind of wish I made? I wished my family would be accepted into the United States. Making a wish on a shooting star must be a practice that goes beyond cultural borders?

It’s a pity though that I can’t see much stars from where I am. I should go visit Sweden to see how beautiful the night sky is over there. My Swedish buddy invited me a couple of times to visit during the Hultsfred Festival so maybe this summer I will treat myself to some great sounds. But what I really like to witness is the indescribable Northern Lights.