Super Sandstorm

China is now widely known as a country with great pollution. There has been food scandals, undrinkable water, and heavy air pollution in it's cities. In Northern China however, the problem is dust and sand storms. 

Now I know that sand storms are so bad there that sometimes even the Chinese capital of Beijing suffer from the problem. However I can safely say I never realised how bad the problem is until I read this story.

Sand storms in Northern China are so bad that the storms can be seen from space!

One of NASA's satellites captured this image on April 23 which according to NASA show a sandstorm covering the city of Dunhuang in northern China. The storm forced residents to don masks, but that's almost underplaying the situation when seeing this image.

A sand storm that can be seen from space? We need a new name for that; any suggestion? 

Disney: The King of Star Wars

In a post on the official Star Wars site, Lucasfilm (or to be more exact, Disney) announced that only the six Star Wars films and the Clone Wars television show will be considered canon. Other stories of the Star Wars Universe, whether they are from the books, games, comics or short stories, are all not considered canon.

This means anything that belongs in the “The Star Wars Expanded Universe (EU)” like The Knights of the Old Republic, the Thrawn trilogy, Blood Ties etc; are all not part of the Star Wars Universe anymore. Basically, Disney is dumping everything of Star Wars that did not come from the movies or the Clone Wars television.

Naturally, more than a few Star Wars fans are unhappy about this. I’m not one of them.

I can understand why they are unhappy but this cannot come as a surprise. No matter how much the writers of the novels or the makers of the games "consult" with Lucasfilm, the bread-and-butter of the Star Wars Universe is the movies. Once Disney bought over Lucasfilm, this was always going to happen.

To me, that's OK. This ruling by Disney makes it easier for everyone, especially new fans, to follow the official story. I suspect this is something Disney is doing to get new fans. They don't want too many stories cluttering things up for newcomers. They want to make things simple. 

Not that it matter what their reasons are. This is a lot similar to what happen in “The Witcher”. It’s Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski caused a furor when he said that only the story in “The Witcher” novels are canon, and the story in the PC games of “The Witcher” are not.

Some people were unhappy but they honestly have no right to feel that way. “The Witcher” was created by Sapkowski, so he has the right to rule what is canon and what is not. Same thing with Star Wars. Disney owns it. That makes them king. 

Stupid & Senseless Change

When it was announced that Peter Jackson would turn the short children story, The Hobbit, into a trilogy, I was surprised that he would be able to do this. For those who don't know, The Hobbit is a short book.

As surprised as I was, I had to agreed that the name for the final film, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, was perfect. It was the title of the book Bilbo was writing for Frodo in the very first Lord of The Rings movie. The title was perfect.

Now they are changing its name. The Hobbit: There and Back Again will now be The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.

What the hell was wrong with There and Back Again? It was perfect! The Battle of the Five Armies? The title of the book is The Hobbit, not "How the Dwarves fought the Orcs". The title change is just stupid! Not just stupid, but dumb senseless stupidity that defy decent common sense!

Battle of the Five Armies makes it sound like the story is about the dwarves. IT IS NOT! The story is about Bilbo’s adventure!  Battle of the Five Armies? Sounds more like a battle plan thought up by the marketing people!

Kitty Craze Is Back

Yesterday was a busy day for me. Busy because I had to stay back at work for overtime. Still I thought it was understandable because there were 5 persons on MC and leave yesterday. Sometimes, it just can't be helped.  

Today I discovered that it can. 

The clouds parted and light shone on me when I discovered that yesterday was the day when Singaporeans can purchase the Hello Kitty toy from McDonald! Thousands of Singaporeans stayed home so that they can log into the McDonald’s website to purchase the Hello Kitty toy that was launched at 11 am yesterday.

I'm willing to bet at least some of the 5 missing person in my office yesterday was doing that. 

Honestly I never quite understood what the Hello Kitty craze was all about; it's just a toy people! I can only console myself that I wasn't along yesterday in doing overtime. 

Comics this week

Red Lantern #30- With the meeting with Superman now out of the way, Red Lantern is back on track as the team grapples with the news that Atrocitus is still alive. This issue is filled with character moments; the betrayal of Sheko; the always entertaining duo of Skallox and Zilius Zox; the talk between Bleez and Kara; were all golden moments. However I have say I agree with Bleez. The new red, Sheko, looks like a powerhouse but why would Guy want to get into an arms race with Atrocitus when he already outnumbered him? And he already has Supergirl! Take Bleez, go get Rankorr, and defeat Atrocitus. It’s the simple logical thing to do and writer Charles Soule just couldn’t come up with a convincing argument otherwise. It’s too bad because the rest of the issue rocks!  

Supergirl #30- Having Supergirl join the Red Lantern Corps is a good idea and writer Tony Bedard continue to show why as Kara and her Red Lantern teammates go on a cosmic beatdown of the Diasporans. The addition of the Red Lanterns give Supergirl a very strong supporting cast and that in itself is worth her joining the Reds. It was funny as hell seeing Guy face-palm himself when he hears how excited Kara is at being able to show her rage. He now knows how Hal felt all these years.

Sinestro #1- When it was announced that Sinestro, the thought that went through my mind was, “It’s about bloody time!” As the primary arch-nemesis to the Green Lantern Corps, a complex and formidable villain, Sinestro is long overdue a series of his own. This debut series by writer Cullen Bunn and artist Dale Eaglesham is pretty by-the-book with Lyssa Dark coming to warn Sinestro of an impending disaster and his role in averting it. As he is a villain, Sinestro refused to just jump back into things so Dark raised the personal stakes by telling him that the few remaining Korugarians are at risk. That got him going. That is also why Sinestro is such a great antihero. He has noble aims but is so driven that he do not care about the things he has to do to achieve his goals. This debut issue isn’t great, but the character has amazing potential.  

Panic In Manchester

10 months after replacing the most successful manager in their history, Manchester United has sacked his successor. Manager David Moyes has been given the sack by Manchester United after a very disappointing season.

I can understand why the board of Manchester United made this decision. Manchester United failed to win the Premier League, and will fail to enter the Champions League next season. Also as respected as Moyes is for his work at Everton, he never looked at ease in Manchester. His stifling defensive tactics was at odds with the players at the club and he himself admitted to be taken aback by the sheer scale of the media interest in the club.

The big problem I have is in the timing of the dismissal. Why the hell did they do it now? Manchester United currently lies seventh in the table with only four games remaining. What good will sacking David Moyes do now? If the club was going to sack Moyes, they should do it either weeks ago or at the end of the season when everyone can part ways quietly. What good will it does Manchester United to sack their manger with just 4 games to go in the season? 

Nothing! 

Why Does This Surprise People?

A Facebook post by the Philippine Independence Day Committee 2014 (PIDC) inviting Filipinos to celebrate their national day in Ngee Ann City on June 8 has drawn a backlash from some Singaporeans. Singaporeans have gone on to PIDC's Facebook page to demand that they cancel the celebration.

These Singaporeans who call for the cancellation of the celebration are now being accused of being racist and xenophobic. I don’t see it this way at all.

At the risk of being called racist and xenophobic myself, I can fully understand where these Singaporeans are coming from. I find it very strange that anyone thinks that celebrating a national/independence day in public on foreign soil is an okay thing to do. I mean it's one thing to celebrate the day at the embassy, a private gathering, or even at a party at home; but a public celebration in public? Come on, does it comes as a surprise some people will be unhappy about that?

Now I'm sure the people at the PIDC meant no harm but to say their proposal is foolish is an understatement. I have no problem with Filipinos celebrating their national days, even doing it in Singapore, but doing it along Orchard Road is just asking for trouble.