Interesting optical illusion, it’s Albert Einstein right? Step away from your
computer about 3-5 meter, picture of Albert became a picture of
Marilyn Monroe.

remember, if you see anything disturbing, it's just you.

just got back from watching the premiere of hellboy 2.

i wonder how long i can keep your attention here, because i have a lot to say, and you might probably get bored.

spoilers ahead. turn back now if you can't take it....





all right. you're still here.

hellboy 2 was summer fare, nothing more, nothing less.
predictable, saccharine sweet, action packed,
and as is usually the case, a plot shot full of holes.

for instance,
why does the bad guy, who severely wounds the hero, leave without finishing the job?

or why, when the hero is perched on a precarious ledge, not try to kill the hero?

is there a bad guy code of ethics or something?

and i know this is a comic book adaptation, but do the characters all have to be two dimensional?
even the so called hero, hellboy is about as expressive as a plank of wood.
no emotion whatsoever.

his lady love, pregnant but refusing to accept it.
so much potential, yet all wasted

the fish.
he is a pain to watch.
at least he has an excuse for being inexpressive.

it's as if the producers just wanted something to move the movie along till they got to the action scenes, which by modern standards barely pass the mustard.

i'm tired.
go watch for yourself.

excerpt from the daily mail

go here

Few sights in nature can compare to the sheer magnificence of a
volcano erupting in full flow.

But while scenes of molten lava are relatively commonplace, this
otherworldly picture of Chaiten Volcano in southern Chile shows a
truly spectacular, and devastating, volcanic phenomenon.

Scroll down for more...

This astonishing picture shows the Chaiten volcano erupting
during storms in the middle of the night

As clouds of toxic ash and dust tower into the sky, they ionise
the air, generating an explosive electrical storm. Colossal forks
of lightning spark around the noxious plume as it spews from the
volcano's crater, creating an image of raw, terrifying energy -
as if the air itself were ablaze.

Now, the worst-case scenario is the collapse of the volcano
accompanied by a "pyroclastic flow" - a devastating
super-eruption of scorching dense gas and molten rock that would
roll down the mountainside at 100mph or faster, incinerating and
flattening all in its wake.

Thankfully, experts think this is unlikely at this stage.

Scroll down for more...

The Chaiten volcano has triggered earth tremors and spewed ash
two miles into the air

Seen from space, Chaiten's ash plume streams across
Argentina towards the Atlantic

Locals wear masks to protect themselves from the all-pervasive
ash near Futaleuf

The gigantic plume of smoke from the volcano dominates the
skyline

Pyroclastic flows are also called nuees ardentes - or
"burning clouds" - and are probably the single most
destructive weapon in nature's armoury, capable of flattening
cities in seconds.

It was such a catastrophe that destroyed the Roman town of
Pompeii in AD79.

The 3,300 ft Chaiten Volcano, 800 miles south of the Chilean
capital Santiago, is erupting for the first time in thousands of
years, sending a plume of ash into the sky that stretches as far as
Argentina.

It is also spewing out chunks of lava and hot rock. Authorities
have already evacuated around 4,200 people from the town of
Chaiten, six miles from the volcano, but 300 civilians and troops
remain and are being evacuated now. Rescue is complicated by the
fact that southern Chile is fragmented by fjords and access is
often difficult.

Scroll down for more...

The village of Chaiten, next to the volcano, was virtually
emptied in a massive evacuation

Winds carried the ash to other towns in the region and across
the Andes to Argentina

A local resident cycles through the ash as it settles across the
town

The authorities are also evacuating a second town, Futaleufu.
Some of Futaleufu's 1,000 or so residents had already crossed
into neighbouring Argentina, where some areas have been showered
with ash and where authorities last week closed schools and treated
some for breathing problems.

The ash is more than six inches (15 cm) thick in places, and has
contaminated water supplies.

Chile, which sits right on the Pacific's volcanic "ring
of fire", has the world's second most active string of
volcanoes behind Indonesia.

how's everyone?
seems like no one comes here anymore.
i'm getting lonely.

why would i be at an alumni dinner when i haven't even entered university?
good question.

too bad i don't have an answer.......

well anyway, in case you can't tell, there is a very big disparity in the ages of the alumni gathered here.

in the early days, it seems that hong kong uni had almost 50 percent malaysian students.
and the fees were like 300 ringgit.
and they had butlers, who shined their shoes etc etc etc

but, at one point hong kong uni stopped admitting international students.

only around 1995 did they start taking in malaysian students again.
so there was this old guard, who saw their numbers dwindling, waiting for new alumni to join the club.
which is part of the reason i had a chance to attend the dinner at all.....



the chairman, tan sri samuel kam is 91. graduated in 1938 (i think, can't really remember). kids, history lesson, that's before the second world war. heck, tis before even the third world war....

most of the alumni there have grandkids.
not just grandkids, grandkids that are older than me.
i positively feel like a baby next to them.....

but still they're all as hale and hearty as you could expect them to be.
when that age you reach, look as good as them, you will not.

props to benedict, the secretary (80 years old. wow) for organising such a successful dinner.

oh! the dinner.
food was okay (we were at the takakura japanese restaurant)
standard fare really.

starters was baby octopi.
followed by tempura.
followed by grilled mackerel.
followed by rice, miso soup, ginger stir fried beef.
then dessert was some kind of ice cream wrapped in a pastry.

but there was one waitress i just could not take my eyes off.
she looked so demure in her kimono.......
wow!
hot stuff...
i'm definitely going back just to get her number XD