Comics this week

52: Week 47- 5 more issue to go and boring as hell. That's says it all for this issue. Another set-up issue for the final 5 issues of this series. Everyone is looking for WWIII to start, instead we have a look at Animal Man (yawn), Steel (bigger yawn), Wonder Woman and Batman (why are they here?) & Batwoman (are the writers crazy?). The only saving grace is the scene on Oolang Island, there is something about a island full of crazy, mad scientists that just make the idea work. But where is Adam Strange? What is happening to Black Adam? 52 is the best selling comic DC has at the moment and I will say that Black Adam is the main reason for that. He has become the undoubt star of the series, put him on show or at least in the book. Boring.

Silent War- This book is false advertising because halfway through the mini-series and there is STILL no war! Where is the war or at least the fights? In fact, issue 3 of the series is mostly on X-factor and Quicksilver. And they aren't even Inhumans! Get the war started already.

Another stupid record for Singapore

A 14-year-old girl, Rachael Baby Yue, managed 157 skips in just 30 seconds, thus giving Singapore yet another stupid world record. Ok, maybe I'm a bit hard on the girl but as I have said earlier, Singapore do NOT need stupid records.

Rachael Baby Yue's achievement will now be sent to the Guinness World Record...so what? How many people will remember the record in a week time. The record-breaker said that she had trained hard for this attempt, I believe her. It is a very difficult record to break and I am glad for her, but it does not change one thing...it is still a stupid record. The Health Promotion Board awarded a prize to her for the record-breaking attempt; that is good, she deserve it. Now if only they will give rewards for world records that's not so stupid.

What for?

I don't care if it is one of the world's most well-known musical and I am sure most Singaporean don't either. The musical, "The Phantom of the Opera", has returned to Singapore for the second time and will premiere at the Esplanade Theatre.

I have to ask, "Why?" I mean who cares for Phantom of the Opera? The show has been going on for what 20 years already, do we ready need to see it? Most Singaporeans already don't care for theatre, and I am pretty certain inviting second-hand shows (even world-class ones) will not help the matter. If Singapore is become an Arts hub (we love being hubs, don't we?), we need to promote Singapore arts, not invite second-hand shows to our shores!

Value system?

Since everyone on the net is going at it, I thought I'll put in my two cents worth as well. A*Star Chairman Mr Philip Yeo had a spat with Chen Jiahao, a 25-year-old blogger. Mr Yeo invited Mr Chen, who is a PhD student and a former Public Service Commission scholar, to join him for tea. Mr Chen agreed to meet Mr Yeo for tea but wanted another party to be present and he also wanted to record their conversation and post it on his blog. So far so good, right?

Then Mr Yeo turned down the idea, saying that he did not want to be "interrogated" with the presence of a "witness" and have the conversation published. This to-and-fro then exchange continued on the net. Then the outgoing A*Star Chairman started questioning value system of S'pore youths, saying that his generation has a value system whereas the younger, present generation does not. He then say that if people don't have that, Singaporeans should forget about them and hire more hungry NON-Singaporeans to come here and add to our value system.

I have this to say to Mr.Philip Yeo. I am sure that a man of your talent will not no problem finding a country whose VALUE SYSTEM fits you. Please, if you like non-Singaporeans so much, immigration is an option. After all, you have said that we should forget about Singaporeans without VALUE and hire non-Singaporeans with VALUE. The only value I remembered being taught is the need to make money, and most young Singaporeans I know share this with me. If you do not want to care for your fellow Singaporeans whose value do not fellow yours, why should we care for you? Afterall our values are different, right?

So please, for the good of all of us, leave Singapore. And remember to close the door on the way out.

Bye, Bye, National Stadium

3,700 people gathered at the National Stadium on Saturday night to say goodbye to the National Stadium. After 18 National Day and hundreds of national games, the National Stadium will be demolished in June to make way for the Sports Hub.

Everyone have many treasured memories of the National Stadium, my favorites were the Malaysian Cup matches. When you are in the crowd with 50,000 screaming people, it is not something you will forget.

Goodbye Nationl Stadium. Sorry to see you go and thanks for all the memories!

Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion; GAME OVER

Yes, I have finally finished Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Game time: over 94 hours (and that is because I rushed through the last 2 missions in the main quest. All you people who think the Steed is useless; AH!). Super game! This is one I highly recommend to any RPG fan.

The last quest was great! (Spoiler here) You helped Martin Septim turned into the dragon god Akatosh and has a front row seat as he fight the demon god Mehrunes Dagon. (Spoiler end) You barely reached the toe of Akatosh. So you looked up as two huge gods duke it out right above your head. You see the scene and you WILL go: WOW!

The main theme of the series is "Live another life, in another world." The developers are very successful in this. You could really believe that you are in another world and the world was filled with characters you felt for. Some of whom will die, some of whom you have to kill. I still can't believe I had to kill my brothers in the Cheydinhal sanctuary during the Dark Brotherhood Quests. I really liked some of them. But just like real life, sometimes it can't be helped. One of the best game I have ever played, and I have played a lot of them. So do yourself a favour; get a copy of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

You will love it!

Oh NO!

Oh NO! More than 1,000 illegal DVDs, uncensored and obscene, were seized at the Woodlands Checkpoint. Oh NO! This is a day after officers from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) arrested another Malaysian driver and seized more than 1,000 DVDs at Woodlands Checkpoint yesterday.

Oh NO! Where I get my pirated games now? These people are doing some cross-country trade right? You know, doing some good for the relations between Malaysia and Singapore. Why catch them? So, so sad.

Review of 300

Just watch 300 today. I went into the cinema 10 mins before the starting time and...it was empty! Yes I was the first person in the cinema and it stayed that way till 3 mins before starting time when at last some other people started coming in. Are Singaporeans cool or what?

First thing I must say is that I've never seem the comics, so I was going in with an open mind. Bloods, guts, gore, lots of action, everything was there for a great movie. Unfortunately they could have used a better director. There were a lot of slow-motion scenes. Wait, there was a slow-motion scene of a guy riding a horse, now a slow-motion scene of someone walking in a wheat field, then a slow-motion scene of the 300 fighting, then a slow-motion scene of someone getting his head cut off...you get the picture? Now think of a movie littered with slow-motion scenes from start to finish? That is the 300.

Another thing I do not like is when the movie moved from the 300 to Sparta. The scenes there were totally useless. It was as if the director, Zack Snyder, was under orders to give Lena Headey screen time because all the screen time with Queen Gorgo were just wasted. The time could be better serve showing Xerxes. The main bad guy showed up for all of 15 mins...IN TOTAL! Rodrigo Santoro must be a hell of an actor because he made Xerxes the most interesting character in the show despite limited screen time.

The action was great! Gerard Bulter as King Leonidas was perfect. You can believe people dying for the man and everytime the action and fights start, the show was great. Like I said earlier, blood, guts, gore; everything was there. Too bad about the uneven directing.

Chasing "Victory"

US President George W. Bush warned that it will take months before the 'surge' in Baghdad produce results. He then say that it is too early for the US troops in Iraq to go home and ask for patience. Dude, you had 4 years!

Remember when the war started, people were saying that it will be over in months, weeks maybe in days? Boy, were we wrong or what? 4 years later, they are still fighting. Even if the fighting end tomorrow, can anyone say that the Americans have won? Even if the Iraqis put down their weapons today, can the Americans shout "victory"? Of course not! The American troops are between a rock and a hard place because victory has already past them by. Saddam Hussein is dead but the length of the war has made victory impossible.

Terrorists are now using Iraq the way they used Afghanistan but there isn't a whole lot the Americans could do about it. The Bush administration doesn't really have a strategy outside more of the same and US public opinion on Iraq has already soured. Only 32 percent of Americans saying they favored the war, compare this to the 70+ percent when it first began. For their own sake, the American troops need to go home. Cause victory is now impossible.

A waste of money

Ang Mo Kio, Sembawang and Orchard Road are involed a trial to provide bus commuters with real-time arrival data. About 30 bus stops, 17 in the Orchard area, 5 in Ang Mo Kio and 4 in Sembawang will have the real-time data. The data will show the date, time, bus service number, and the predicted arrival time of the next two buses and any disruptions, such as heavy traffic or a road accident.

Is this really needed? This is a waste of money. I mean you wait for 30 mins, 45 mins max for a bus in Singapore. In other countries, including the U.K, you could wait for over an hour for a bus and no one there even think of wasting money on a stupid board to show the time. Besides, when you go on the MRT how many of you exactly take a look at the those board that show the train's arrival time? How about using the money on things that are truly needed, like giving more to help the needy in Singapore? Now that is NOT a waste of money!

Night racing in Singapore?

Singapore staging its first Formula One race is a great thing, night-racing in NOT! Singapore government officials are saying that the race will be a night race. Guys, have you tried to go 300km/h at night? That is crazy.

If you don't think so, you try to go 300km/h in daytime. That is hard enough without worrying about lighting. Not only that, can anyone think of the traffic been diverted at the City Hall area for a week? The F1 teams will be that time for testing and that means that the roads can't be used for normal cars during that time! Just think of that! If Singapore want to hold F1 racing, let's built a race track. That way, we can hold a proper F1 race.

After 85 hours of Elder Scrools IV: Oblivion

85 hours in and I am not even close to the finish! Yes, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is huge! I started playing the game in Jan, after over a month (and 85 hours of playtime) I 'm still at it.
Don't let that fool you. The exact game and storyline is really quite short, but there are just that many side-quests in the game. The countless side-quests will have you going all over the place and the stories are exactly better than the main quest. I especially enjoy the Dark Brotherhood quests. In the game, you can join the various factions/guilds in the world and complete their quests. The Dark Brotherhood is the assassins' guild, and it is an evil guild. You know in other games, most of the time you can only join the good guys or they are just a misunderstood faction who are trying to do good or they are a Robin Hood type faction...not these guys. They are EVIL! More importantly, they are FUN to play.
There are 4 major factions in the game, and I have just finished 2 of them. Guess that is another 85 hours.

This week in comics

52: After last week great issue, anything DC put out this week will be a comedown. It was worse than that, Week 45 was a letdown. Black Adam went postal, invade another country and kill millions of people just to find Death, the sole Horseman that live past last week's issue. In other countries, the Chinese Great Ten, Checkmate and the Americans Suicide Squad all prepare to move againest him. Yes, this is a set-up issue. Which was disappointing! After Week 44, the series was hot, hot, hot. DC should have kept moving the series forward, not have Black Adam tear up a country which most people didn't even know existed in the DC world. He is a villian. YES, we know that already. It was as if there is a need in DC to show just how bad Black Adam is so that we can feel for the heroes that will show up later to take him down. Like I said, disappointing.

Civil War: Confession: A blah, blah, blah comic that show a tearful Iron Man talking to the body of Captain America. First off I want to say this; I have no problems with the ending of Civil War. Iron Man and the U.S government won; Fine, I have no problem with that. What I have problems with is the way it ended. Captain America, the man who was in Europe in WWII, the man who live through all the bombing of WWII, gave up because New York suffered too much damage due to the superheroes' fight. Does that sound right to anyone?
I have the entire first run of Powers so a issue with lots of talking is not a problem for me. However, that ending just sucked all the life out of the Civil War event. I just can't feel anything for Iron Man or even the dead Captain America. Just finish the damm thing already!

The Monster is dead

A record-breaking 12 million copies will be prepared for the first U.S. printing of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". The release of the seventh and FINAL book in the popular series by British author J.K. Rowling' will also be backed by a multimillion-dollar marketing campaign. Hooray, it is gone!

I must say, I am sick and tired of all the press Harry Potter has been getting everytime a book comes out. Don't get me wrong, I like the movies well enough and it (along with LOTR) has given fantasy books some much needed clout but enough is enough. How about giving some of that attention to other series like the Song of Ice & Fire (The Game of Thrones etc) or The Malazan Books of the Fallen (Deadhouse Gates etc), these are great series as well. How about showing some love to them?

MAKE UP YOUR MINDS

It was always going to happen. Viacom Inc., the owner of MTV, VH1, Comedy Central and other cable networks filed a $1 billion lawsuit against Youtube and it's corporate owner Google.

When Google bought Youtube for $1.76 billion there were people who said that they were buying millions of dollars in lawsuits. It seems that they were right. In the lawsuit, Viacom says YouTube "harnessed technology to willfully infringe copyrights on a huge scale" and had "brazen disregard" of intellectual property laws (whatever that means).

I find it amazing that companies are suing Youtube when they (like Viacom) are selling such programs on the net. And when Youtube air things such as trailers for upcoming movies, they are great giving a big promotional boost for its shows. But when Youtube air the shows, then suddenly they are not 'respecting' the content. The companies openly admit this. I say MAKE UP YOUR MINDS! Either you are for Youtube for airing clips without permission or you are againest Youtube for airing clips without permission. That's simple right? MAKE UP YOUR MINDS

Who is Sean Walsh?

A critique of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) published in United States-based journal Armed Forces & Society has Singapore in an uproar.

The article was written by an American soldier Sean Walsh, who was stationed at the United States Embassy in Singapore for several weeks in 2004. In it, The Roar of the Lion City, the writer claimed that women have been held back from holding high posts in the SAF, and that there is a policy to keep Malays out of sensitive areas. That Singapore's top military commanders too young and inexperienced. That they are fast-tracked to the upper echelons because of their scholar credentials, while more experienced non-scholars toil in vain. That the soldiers here are 'soft' because of the emphasis on safety during training at the expense of realism. That officers lack professionalism and commitment because due to the mandatory retirement at 45, many see their time in uniform "as a stepping stone" to a second career in politics or business.

I don't know who this guy, Sean Walsh, is but nothing he says is wrong. Especially the part where people are fast-tracked due to their A-levels and Poly diplomas, NOT their ability. In Singapore, its' not unusual to see lance-corporals and privates ordering corporals and even sergeants around. This is due to the fact that the LCP are 'old-birds' who know what to do and how to do their duties. During NS, I was a LCP as I only had O-levels. 9 months from ROD, 2 new guys came into the unit. They were corporals as they had paper...but I had to tell them everything because they were new. And I was only a private then!

Does this look, even feel right to anyone? Even those 2 new guys thought it was stupid they were corporals but this is not an uncommon sight in the SAF. In fact, it's very common. The need in Singapore for paper may just be too great for the SAF to ignore but on this, Sean Walsh is not wrong.

Easy Come, Easy Go?

Let's not kid ourselves. Most expatriates who come to work and live here don't do so because they want to make this place their home. Their primary reason is economic. That is, Singapore is a good place to make money. Our reason for attracting them here is also economic. Without the entry of outsiders, we may as well kiss goodbye to the good times. That was Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng's clear message to Singaporeans last week.

So...does this means that it's ok for them to leave Singapore after they had made their money? Are Singaporeans suppose to be understanding about this? Are Singaporeans suppose to be understanding on the fact that they come to Singapore, take our jobs, then leave? Come on! If expatriates are going to come and take our jobs, is it too much to ask that to stay for the long haul? To be here in good times and bad, it that too much to ask?

If it is, then we should place a "Come here, come all" and "Easy come, easy go" sign at Changi Airport. I mean that's the truth right? If expatriates come to Singapore during good times, they should be here during bad times. That's not about economics, that's about simple fairness.

Good idea that's not going to work

Singaporeans should love their library - that is the message the National Library Board (NLB) is promoting here in Singapore.

In case anyone don't know, here in Singapore you will see people sleeping in the library; putting their legs on the table even playing cards games in the library. NLB new campaign aims to get visitors to see and respect the library as a shared space. It's not going to work. You can have all the posters, exhibitions and Customer Appreciation Day you want, people will ignore everything. You want to stop all these you have to do it the Singaporean way...FINE them. That WILL work!

Let the War begin!

The console wars has began in Singapore! With the official lauch of the Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3) game console, all 3 consoles are now in play in Singapore. Wii and X360 has a head start but PS3 has more fans in Singapore, so it will be interesting to see who will win this one. My bet is that the first console to get a blockbuster/must-have game will win.

Parallel importers at Lucky Plaza and other places however will be taking a hit. No more selling PS3 at a premium. How my heart bleed for those people!

Stores were selling PS3 at around S$1,000. However, the official price is $799 so the price will have to go down. Like I said; my heart bleed for those people! Sony's latest game console comes with many hi-tech features like an ability to connect up to seven wireless controllers, ability to download high definition movie and game content from Sony's online portal and an ability to playing Blu-ray disc. But Sony seem to have forgotten one thing. Where are the GAMES? Their starting PSP3 games are weak! If they want to win the war, they better come out with better (and more) games in a hurry.

Go Black Adam

Week 44 of 52 is out. One word: WOW! When you collected comics for over 15 years like me, it's not easy to impress me. 52 did. WOW! I have just began a fan of Black Adam. After Osiris' death last week, Isis followed her brother this week. Just like that, in a single night, Black Adam lost everything he spent a year fighting for. What's more; you can see that he blamed himself for their death! If Black Adam was still that "kill them all to protect his country and family" kind of guy, Intergang (and everyone else) wouldn't even dream of hitting him. But his acts of kindness in this past year was taken as weakness by his enemies, and in the end even Isis with her dying breath admitted that his way was the correct one. Those genius scientists Intergang locked up on their island must be pissing their pants now, AND THEY SHOULD! Black Adam is coming and he is not taking prisoners. Hope Black Adam live past the upcoming World War 3, I can see just see this character in a series of his own.

In other news, Captain America is DEAD! Unlike most people, I think this is a GOOD thing. After the way Mark Millar destroyed the character in Civil War, kill Steve Rogers! Kill him before Marvel can do even more damage to him. Now taking bets on who is the new Captain America.

Shaking Singapore

Singapore is shaking! Singapore swing? That's nothing compare to the shaking due to an earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter Scale. The earthquake struck Padang, Indonesia at about 11.50am and my office shake, shake, shake.

Amazing that an earthquake 430 km from Singapore can still be felt here but tremors were reported in Beach Road, Jalan Besar, Robinson Road, Shunfu and Toa Payoh among others. Some buildings, like the Concourse at Beach Road, Capital Square and Centennial Tower in the city, and even Ngee Ann Polytechnic in Clementi, were evacuated but not MINE! So sad...

The blood flows

There is no end in sight. Only this time, it's not just China. After a week of bloodletting due to China, people are now worried about the U.S (finally).

So concerned that stock in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines lost more than 4 percent today. Singapore (-4.04%), Malaysian (-4.63%), Philippines (-4.54%); boy are the Thais glad it's a holiday there today. Everyone from MAS officers to fund mangers are now screaming how this is NOT a bear market, merely a correction. Don't be too sure man!

No one in their right mind will take a risk and enter the market at this time and you have to admit, the news out of the U.S are not good (haven't been since late last year). Afterall, Singapore has fallen 8.3 percent since the global sell-off began on Tuesday. That is just in ONE week. If that is a correction, it still a bloody big one!

Comics this week

Picked up #11 of Marvel’s Civil War Frontline, and that's it for the Civil War. About time too! I already said what I'm going to say about the ending of Civil War, the ending of Frontline is better...slightly. However, the series was about 2-3 issues too long and I can't shake the feeling that the series was more cashcow than reading material.

Silent War is another Marvel series that's failed to match expectations. I mean, a war between the Inhumans and America. How can you mess that up? Answer: No fighting for the first 2 issues. Yes; for a mini-series about a war, there's not a lot of fighting in the series. Even a meeting between Black Bolt and Sentry became a stare-down than a fight. I don't think too many people will last another 3 issues of stare-downs, I can't!

As Civil War & Silent War are Marvel's response to DC's smash hit Infinite Crisis, I think it's safe to say that DC got the better of the match-up. If anyone question that, I suggest he pick up 52. The DC weekly shows the 52 weeks missing in One Year later, and it WORKS. I wasn't sure it could at the beginning but it WORKED! Showing how the DC world cope without a year of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman was risky, but 52 was great! OK, some of the storylines didn't quite work (Batwoman?) but overall it was very interesting. Black Adam, The Question, Animal Man; second-tier chacters who became highly interesting thanks to this series. So much so that DC already have another weekly in place to replace 52 when it end. Hopefully, the ending of 52 will match the series so far.

$400 MILLION

They haven't even started yet but they are leaving nothing to chance here. $80 million! That's how much Genting are spending to built a second link to Sentosa. A good thing too as the current one is already very busy, if gambling crazy Singaporeans all hit that one bridge...Sentosa is falling down, falling down. Classic song with a local flavour.

Unfortunately, that also mean that the roads will be changed later this year. Just about a year after the mess due to the first bridge, they're doing it again! Also strange is that they will tell people that when they haven't even agree on the design, completion date or even the connection points of the bridge! Outside that, Genting International and Star Cruises — which own a 75 per cent and 25 per cent stake in Resorts World at Sentosa, respectively also paid $400 million to commence construction at the 49 ha integrated resort site. Yes, that's right; 400 MILLION! Like I said; nothing to chance.

Wonder what will happen if the Singapore government take away Genting's gambling/casino license. Hehe...