Final Crisis #3- Grant Morrison risk-taking nature is paying off big-time in Final Crisis. Reading this issue, I finally get why so many people dislike Final Crisis compare to Secret Invasion; the bad guys win here! Unlike Secret Invasion where everyone expects the Marvel heroes to eventually win, there’s no such certainty here. You go to the last page of this issue and you get this sense that ‘the heroes are toast’! There are a few bad spots that didn’t quite work (Mary Marvel’s new costume, Article X) but overall, this issue rocks! If Morrison can keep the quality of the series up, Final Crisis will be the best mini-series in years.
Trinity #10- One of my biggest problems with Countdown is that at times, the series just jumped! Flash was killed off Countdown but next thing we know, we are at the funeral of the Flash. Same thing happen here. When did Superman fought the antimatter Metal Men? I hope this is not the start of a trend. What I do like is the back-up story in this issue. A female gorilla called Primate who loves Nightwing’s butt? Great! I also like the way Kurt Busiek played up the Superman archetype here. Is that Stellarman? Apollo? Wait, Superman! Cute
Friday, August 8, 2008
Thursday, August 7, 2008
1 Day to the Olympics
The Olympic Games was supposed to be China’s coming out party, a showcase of the rising power and status of the Chinese people. And so far, the Olympic year has been a nightmare for China.
Between the earthquake, the pollution problems, the Tibetans protests; China has stumbled from one crisis after another this year. So with all these problems, you have to wonder why is the Chinese government shooting themselves in the foot.
That’s what they did when they revoked the visa of former Olympic speedskater Joey Cheek. Cheek was going to Beijing as part of Team Darfur, to urge China to help make peace in war-torn Sudan. What’s more the Chinese did not even bother to come out with an excuse on why they revoke the visa. I mean surely if you don’t want him to enter China, don’t give him a visa in the first place. And if you are going to cancel the visa, at least come out if some sort of excuse right?
Now by preventing Cheek from even entering China, what was at best a minor irritant for China has become an international incident. A self-made PR disaster if there ever was one. From where I stand, the Olympics couldn’t finish fast enough for China.
Between the earthquake, the pollution problems, the Tibetans protests; China has stumbled from one crisis after another this year. So with all these problems, you have to wonder why is the Chinese government shooting themselves in the foot.
That’s what they did when they revoked the visa of former Olympic speedskater Joey Cheek. Cheek was going to Beijing as part of Team Darfur, to urge China to help make peace in war-torn Sudan. What’s more the Chinese did not even bother to come out with an excuse on why they revoke the visa. I mean surely if you don’t want him to enter China, don’t give him a visa in the first place. And if you are going to cancel the visa, at least come out if some sort of excuse right?
Now by preventing Cheek from even entering China, what was at best a minor irritant for China has become an international incident. A self-made PR disaster if there ever was one. From where I stand, the Olympics couldn’t finish fast enough for China.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Losing the Drugs
As if the Malaysian police do not have enough problems with its’ creditably, a new scandal has erupted across the Causeway.
Malaysian newspapers had reported that 5kg of amphetamines, which was stored at the police headquarters in Johor, has gone missing. The stash was believed to be worth 1 million ringgit and was from the year's biggest drug bust in March when the Johor police busted an international drug ring in Johor and arrested twelve people including four Singaporeans.
What’s worse is that the thieves were believed to be policemen! With the Anwar sodomy case hanging over them like a guillotine, one has to wonder what the hell has happened to the Malaysian police.
Losing drugs in the police headquarters! No wonder Malaysian has so little faith in their police force. I would too!
Malaysian newspapers had reported that 5kg of amphetamines, which was stored at the police headquarters in Johor, has gone missing. The stash was believed to be worth 1 million ringgit and was from the year's biggest drug bust in March when the Johor police busted an international drug ring in Johor and arrested twelve people including four Singaporeans.
What’s worse is that the thieves were believed to be policemen! With the Anwar sodomy case hanging over them like a guillotine, one has to wonder what the hell has happened to the Malaysian police.
Losing drugs in the police headquarters! No wonder Malaysian has so little faith in their police force. I would too!
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Reaper's Gale by Steven Erikson
Book 7 of Steven Erikson's epic fantasy series, the Malazan Book of the Fallen, is here. Reaper's Gale is a change of pace as it is a direct sequel to both the fifth and sixth volumes, Midnight Tides and The Bonehunters.
The book starts in the Letherii Empire as the doomed Rhulad Sengar, the Emperor of a Thousand Deaths, is quickly spiraling into madness while the Letherii secret police works its own agenda. They are not the only one as conspiracies seethe throughout the palace and the empire edges ever closer to war against its’ neighboring kingdoms. Even The Errant, a fallen god, plays a game to regain his lost power.
Then the great Edur fleet returned. Warriors from countless people were selected to cross sword with the Emperor of a Thousand Deaths. Amongst them are Karsa Orlong and Icarium Lifestealer, two of the greatest warriors in the world. Just to top it all off; The Malazan 14th Army, the Bonehunters, has come for revenge.
As you can see, a lot will happen in this book. So if you had not read the previous books in the series…forget about this one! You will no chance of picking up the story if you have no previous knowledge of the previous books, especially Midnight Tides and The Bonehunters.
Even if you have knowledge of the previous books, this one will STILL be a mess.
Yes, I did not like this one and the list of reasons is long. For one, for a series called ‘the Malazan Book of the Fallen’, the Malazans did not turned up till halfway through the book, 500 pages in. Tehol Beddict's manipulation of the Letherii economy, which was kind of interesting in the earlier books, was getting more boring by the pages here. The grand conspiracy between nations beyond the new Empire's borders was kind of interesting (Redmask was another great character in the series) and it never managed to gather any pace because the story keep jumping from the border to the Empire to the Malazans and then to Silchas Ruin’s group.
Plot-holes are everywhere in this book. I blame this on Erikson trying to squeeze too many things into one book. Even though it is over 1000 pages in length, the book still feel very rushed.
A prefect example is the deaths that occurred in the book. Sheltatha Lore, Sukul Ankhadu and Menandore, 3 goddess/ demi-goddess, were killed in an extremely confusing battle. Trull Sengar was killed by…a blow in the back? This after facing and beating the Mortal Sword of Darkness! Silchas Ruin, one of the 3 sons of Darkness, was beaten by a group of mortal Malazan marines? This after basically defeating a Letherii army by himself!
Silchas Ruin’s group was the biggest problem in this book. The search for the soul of the Edur god, Scabandari Bloodeye, was a strange one to begin with and it just got stranger and more senseless as the story continued. Don’t even get me started on the end when Silchas Ruin used Bloodeye’s soul as the foundation for a new Azath House. How come a mind-reader like Sheltatha Lore would not know of his plans is yet another big blank plot-hole in the book.
I just hope 'Toll the Hounds' will be better.
The book starts in the Letherii Empire as the doomed Rhulad Sengar, the Emperor of a Thousand Deaths, is quickly spiraling into madness while the Letherii secret police works its own agenda. They are not the only one as conspiracies seethe throughout the palace and the empire edges ever closer to war against its’ neighboring kingdoms. Even The Errant, a fallen god, plays a game to regain his lost power.
Then the great Edur fleet returned. Warriors from countless people were selected to cross sword with the Emperor of a Thousand Deaths. Amongst them are Karsa Orlong and Icarium Lifestealer, two of the greatest warriors in the world. Just to top it all off; The Malazan 14th Army, the Bonehunters, has come for revenge.
As you can see, a lot will happen in this book. So if you had not read the previous books in the series…forget about this one! You will no chance of picking up the story if you have no previous knowledge of the previous books, especially Midnight Tides and The Bonehunters.
Even if you have knowledge of the previous books, this one will STILL be a mess.
Yes, I did not like this one and the list of reasons is long. For one, for a series called ‘the Malazan Book of the Fallen’, the Malazans did not turned up till halfway through the book, 500 pages in. Tehol Beddict's manipulation of the Letherii economy, which was kind of interesting in the earlier books, was getting more boring by the pages here. The grand conspiracy between nations beyond the new Empire's borders was kind of interesting (Redmask was another great character in the series) and it never managed to gather any pace because the story keep jumping from the border to the Empire to the Malazans and then to Silchas Ruin’s group.
Plot-holes are everywhere in this book. I blame this on Erikson trying to squeeze too many things into one book. Even though it is over 1000 pages in length, the book still feel very rushed.
A prefect example is the deaths that occurred in the book. Sheltatha Lore, Sukul Ankhadu and Menandore, 3 goddess/ demi-goddess, were killed in an extremely confusing battle. Trull Sengar was killed by…a blow in the back? This after facing and beating the Mortal Sword of Darkness! Silchas Ruin, one of the 3 sons of Darkness, was beaten by a group of mortal Malazan marines? This after basically defeating a Letherii army by himself!
Silchas Ruin’s group was the biggest problem in this book. The search for the soul of the Edur god, Scabandari Bloodeye, was a strange one to begin with and it just got stranger and more senseless as the story continued. Don’t even get me started on the end when Silchas Ruin used Bloodeye’s soul as the foundation for a new Azath House. How come a mind-reader like Sheltatha Lore would not know of his plans is yet another big blank plot-hole in the book.
I just hope 'Toll the Hounds' will be better.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Foreign Talent at Work
The Singapore government has always said that Singapore requires foreign talent to keep up with other competing countries. Now it seems Singapore needs them as well to keep us alive.
Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) records show that of the 39,490 babies that were born in Singapore last year, only 59 per cent of them have both a Singaporean mother and a Singaporean father. Singapore men fathered 75 per cent of all babies born here, while Singapore women account for just 65 per cent.
It seems that Singapore women just do not want to have babies. 6,071 babies were born to Singapore fathers whose wives are Malaysians, Indonesians, Chinese nationals, or are from other countries. Singaporean women would much prefer to be in the rat race than to look after babies.
Since all the baby bonus; have 2 or more children etc, campaigns are not working, the only out of this is to limit education for women! Yes, limit their education so that Singaporean women have less career prospects, so they will be more willing to have babies. Since the chances of that happening are between zero to none; expect to see more foreigners in Singapore in the future.
So if you are a man looking for a lot of children; remember this: you need to look for foreign talent.
Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) records show that of the 39,490 babies that were born in Singapore last year, only 59 per cent of them have both a Singaporean mother and a Singaporean father. Singapore men fathered 75 per cent of all babies born here, while Singapore women account for just 65 per cent.
It seems that Singapore women just do not want to have babies. 6,071 babies were born to Singapore fathers whose wives are Malaysians, Indonesians, Chinese nationals, or are from other countries. Singaporean women would much prefer to be in the rat race than to look after babies.
Since all the baby bonus; have 2 or more children etc, campaigns are not working, the only out of this is to limit education for women! Yes, limit their education so that Singaporean women have less career prospects, so they will be more willing to have babies. Since the chances of that happening are between zero to none; expect to see more foreigners in Singapore in the future.
So if you are a man looking for a lot of children; remember this: you need to look for foreign talent.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
A Lake on the Moon
Humans had always wondered if there is life in outer space…the answer seems to be ‘YES”!
Scientists have found a lake filled with liquid ethane on Titan, one of the moons of Saturn. The lake was spotted last year, and scientists believed that life could develop in the moon's hydrocarbon lake. Scientists are calling the lake, Ontario Lacus. Of course, it doubtful that it is the ‘only’ lake on Titan so they are still looking for others.
That plus the fact NASA had found ice and water on Mars means that there is also certainly life in outer space. Spore anymore?
Scientists have found a lake filled with liquid ethane on Titan, one of the moons of Saturn. The lake was spotted last year, and scientists believed that life could develop in the moon's hydrocarbon lake. Scientists are calling the lake, Ontario Lacus. Of course, it doubtful that it is the ‘only’ lake on Titan so they are still looking for others.
That plus the fact NASA had found ice and water on Mars means that there is also certainly life in outer space. Spore anymore?
Friday, August 1, 2008
Comics this week
Trinity #9- Who the hell is the Swashbuckler? Kurt Busiek always has a love for strange villains but at least I have heard of Morgan Le Fey and Enigma. Swashbuckler? I’m afraid this is one of my problems with Trinity. When you have the team of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman on one side, you must have a team of villains with at least the same power level or name recognition on the other side. Swashbuckler? Who the hell is the Swashbuckler?
Reign in Hell #1- Writer Keith Giffen has a reputation in the comics’ world as a guy with an eye for strange, compelling and out-of-this-world ideas. Reign in Hell is a prefect example why he has such a reputation. Lord Satanus and Lady Blaze, Lords of Purgatory, launched a coup against Neron under the propaganda of making Hell a more hopeful and less miserable place. As expected, the dammed masses lapped it up and Hell became a war zone. Neron response to the coup is simple. Call in all debts owned, and every hero or villain in the DCU find themselves drafted into the war. An interesting idea to say the least.
Not only that, this also allow DC to showcase the magical side of the DCU. The DCU’s magical world is much superior to what Marvel has; from Shazam to Swamp-thing to Tim Hunter there is also a magical powered hero in almost every team of note in the DCU. They even have a magical superhero team in the Shadowpact. The artwork was also spot on. Tom Derenick and Bill Sienkiewicz gave the book a dark look which fit the book perfectly. Count me in for issue 2.
Reign in Hell #1- Writer Keith Giffen has a reputation in the comics’ world as a guy with an eye for strange, compelling and out-of-this-world ideas. Reign in Hell is a prefect example why he has such a reputation. Lord Satanus and Lady Blaze, Lords of Purgatory, launched a coup against Neron under the propaganda of making Hell a more hopeful and less miserable place. As expected, the dammed masses lapped it up and Hell became a war zone. Neron response to the coup is simple. Call in all debts owned, and every hero or villain in the DCU find themselves drafted into the war. An interesting idea to say the least.
Not only that, this also allow DC to showcase the magical side of the DCU. The DCU’s magical world is much superior to what Marvel has; from Shazam to Swamp-thing to Tim Hunter there is also a magical powered hero in almost every team of note in the DCU. They even have a magical superhero team in the Shadowpact. The artwork was also spot on. Tom Derenick and Bill Sienkiewicz gave the book a dark look which fit the book perfectly. Count me in for issue 2.
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