Animania strikes again!

Now that the 'A's are over and done with, I can devote more time to one of the loves of my life - anime. Some animes have recently caught my fancy and I thought I'd blog about these drool-worthy programmes:

******************************

The Sky Crawlers

I first got to know about The Sky Crawlers when my gal pals and I were waiting to catch a movie at Ang Mo Kio Hub. Being the anime-crazed fan I am, I was immediately drawn to a movie poster showing a guy and girl drawn in manga-style. That movie was The Sky Crawlers and the tagline was something about kids who never become adults (sounds like Peter Pan, LOL). I was intrigued enough to dig up a little more info on the Internet. What I found got me excited:

From http://jasongray.blogspot.com/2008/05/sky-crawlers-takes-flight.html:

In a world not unlike our own, it's a time of relative peace following several world wars. To truly appreciate this transient period of harmony, people demand a "war for show" that they can follow on their TV sets. Pubescent fighter pilots known as kirudore fight deadly air battles over Europe. They fight not for countries but companies that sponsor them, while the media keeps a running tally of each corporation's success.

Kannami Yûichi (voiced by Kase Ryô) arrives at the Urisu base at the front lines. He has no memory of his life before his arrival, yet possesses incredible fighter pilot skills. But why does base commander and former ace Kusanagi Suito (voiced by Kikuchi Rinko) regard him with such intense eyes, as if she's been waiting for him?

What is the secret of these young pilots' existence and why do they hold such fascination for the millions that watch their daring efforts from the safety of their living rooms? Who is the mysterious and undefeatable adult pilot with the black panther insignia on his plane known only as "Teacher"?

The kirudore while away their days on the ground, only feeling alive when they're in the skies. The upcoming "world cup" battle between powerful sponsors Rostock and Lautern will decide many of their fates. The cockpit is "their cradle and their coffin"...

Like, WHOA, sounds really mysterious. Here's a bit of trivia I found: the guy who made this film, Mamoru Oishii, was also behind the highly popular Ghost in the Shell: Innocence. Considering how GITS: Innocence was, I'm willing to wager The Sky Crawlers would be as good too. The reviews I've read so far has been generally positive; Internet Movie Database gives it a score of 6.6/10. Besides, I have a knack for spotting a good anime.....

So it's settled then: I'm so going to catch this movie *nudges Kheng Meng*

The poster I saw

I like this pic

**********************************************

Monster

The anime series on top of my To-Watch list is..... Monster *cues the Jaws theme song*

From Anime News Network:

Kenzou Tenma, a Japanese brain surgeon in Germany, had it all: incredible skill at his work, a rich and beautiful fiancee, and a promising career at his hospital. However, after becoming disenchanted by hospital politics, he chose to save the life of a young boy who got shot in the head over the life of the mayor. As a result he lost the support of the hospital director, as well as his position in the hospital and his fiance. A short time later, the hospital director and the doctors that replaced him were murdered, and once again he was catapulted back onto the top. But as the chief suspect of the murders, Tenma did not get a easy life. As a matter of fact, it seems that the boy he saved was much more than he had appeared to be... Now to clear his name and to correct his past mistake, Tenma must get to the bottom of these and other murders, and investigate the truth of the Monster who is behind all of this.

I love a good horror show, and Monster sounds decent enough, even if it seems a tad long (74 episodes). Hopefully it turns out better than some of the horror movies I've watched: The Unseeable was anticlimatic while Hide and Seek's ending was not satisfactory. I think Monster will turn out more interesting. Crime, horror, drama and a spooky little kid.... one more can one ask for?

Poster for the Monster series

************************************************

Evangelion 2.0

Hear ye, hear ye, all Evangelion fans! The second movie in the Rebuild of Evangelion tetralogy, You Can (Not) Advance is expected to be released in early summer 2009. If you enjoyed Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone, be sure not to miss this one! Especially since there's a mysterious new female character who is believed to be an EVA pilot (No, not Mana Kirishima from Girlfriend of Steel) ...

Evangelion 1.0 poster

Evangelion 2.0 poster. Spot the difference? ;)

See trailer for Evangelion 2.0 here

******************************

Image sources:

Google Images

Wikipedia

http://www.encorefilms.com/skycrawlers/multimedia.htm

My purest heart for you VI

This afternoon's photo. Enhanced it a little using PSP



No One - Alicia Keys


I just want you close


Where you can stay forever


You can be sure


That it will only get better





You and me together


Through the days and nights


I don't worry 'cause


Everything is gonna be alright





People keep talking


They can say what they like


But all I know is everything is gonna be alright





No one, no one, no one


Can get in the way of what I'm feeling


No one, no one, no one


Can get in the way of what I feel for you


You you


Can get in the way of what I feel for you





When the rain is pouring down


And my heart is hurting


You will always be around


This I know for certain





You and me together


Through the days and nights


I don't worry cause


Everything is gonna be alright





People keep talking


They can say what they like


But all I know is everything is gonna be alright





No one, no one, no one


Can get in the way of what I'm feeling


No one, no one, no one


Can get in the way of what I feel for you


You you


Can get in the way of what I feel





I know some people search the world


To find something like what we have


I know people will try


Try to divide


Something so real


So till the end of time


I'm telling you there is no one





No one, no one, no one


Can get in the way of what I'm feeling


No one, no one, no one


Can get in the way of what I feel for you


Oh oh oh...


Oh oh oh...


Oh oh oh...





Happy 2nd month anniversary Kheng Meng! This song is dedicated to you:) Alicia Keys managed to speak my thoughts most eloquently when she sang No One. Do check out the song in Youtube!


Remember: Matte ire yo.


I love you!

There, and back again

It's kinda hard to believe that the 'A' levels are actually over. I mean, at one point we all dreaded it coming. Well, it came, dragged on for what seemed like forever, and finally it ended for me on the 13th of November. I feel like I had just fought a war, which is true, figuratively speaking.

Cambridge is evil this year. Prior to the exams someone told me that the 'A' level 2008 would be difficult since last year's was pretty easy, but I brushed this off as a mere rumour. Unfortunately, it turned out that the exams were indeed difficult. No, scratch that. The exams, especially for some subjects, were KILLERS. I can most certainly kiss goodbye my distinctions already.....

General Paper: I received the first hint that this year's exam is not going to be easy upon scannning the list of 12 essay questions in Paper 1. With a sinking feeling, I realized that none of the 'usual' topics such as environment, women, media and poverty were being tested. Nope. Zilch. Nada. Instead, we got 'less common' topics like..... statistics? reading? migration? I chose the one on migration because I learnt about it in Human Geography. Paper 2 was worse. The comprehension passage was easy enough, it's about the importance of History. Sadly, the same can't be said for the questions, which were TOUGH. And once again, I did not finish the stupid Application Question. WTF.



Mathematics: The sheer difficulty of Maths hit me like a ton of bricks. No one expected H1 Maths to turn out so hard, after all, 'A' level Maths is usually quite manageable and teachers always say that the paper will turn out easier than the Prelims (which was pretty much a breeze for me). But no, this year our paper contained several terms we were unfamiliar with so there were times when we couldn't even understand what the question wanted. Then there were many questions that we simply didn't know how to do. Like the very last Sampling/Hypothesis Testing question (how the fuck do I combine the freaking sample?!). Not to mention the Trigonometry one (I could only draw the graph. Yippee. One mark for me). After the paper, I pondered over why it turned out so bad. It definitely wasn't due to complacency. I practised hard for Maths and did practices not just from my school but other colleges as well. Nor was it stress; I came feeling only a little nervous. In the end, I concluded that Cambridge was just being particularly evil this year. Now everyone who does H1 Maths swears he/she is going to fail. Double WTF.



Economics: As if it wasn't enough to set a bloody difficult Maths paper, Cambridge just HAD to set a killer of an Economics paper as well. It doesn't help one bit that Econs is my weakest subject. Go figure. Talk about a series of unfortunate events. Esaays are DEAD, people, DEAD. Out of the 6 essay questions to choose from, I could only confidently attempt a grand total of 1. The rest can only be described as stuff we know little about. Why the fuck did they have to ask about imperfect knowledge and immobility of factors (?!) of all things for the market failure question (and how come the H1 Econs people got asked about public goods and merit goods. NOT FAIR.)Multiplier effect? Determinants of trade? SCREW YOU!!!!! At one point, I simply wanted to get up and leave. No point staying on to finish the fucking paper when I just couldn't do it. In the end, I convinced myself to stay and just bullshited my way through. The only comfort I had was that nearly everyone, including people from the top colleges, found this paper terribly difficult as well (Mat and Sam actually thought it was easy. HUH?!). As for the case study, it was thankfully easier than essays. That is not to say it was a breeze, I know I screwed up some stuff. Okay, enough said. Triple WTF.



Geography: Geog was okay. The Physical Geog component was easier than the one I got for the Prelims. For that component, I did the unthinkable: I somehow manage to produce 18 pages of text in 3 hours. I swear I never written so much and so fast in my life! Okay, not every page was fully covered with writing, but still, 18 pages is a lot. I thought my right hand would drop off at the end of the paper but nope, I still managed to find to strength to SMS people. The data response questions in Human Geog were tough, but the essays were fine. Another first time: I managed to conclude both my essays!



History: Southeast Asian History turned out quite fine, I'm especially satisfied with the essay I did on democratic governments. As for International History....... let's put it this way: If you studied the theme on Global Economy, the paper was ok. But if you banked on Cold War and Conflict and Cooperation and pretty much ignored Global Economy, bad move. Because the essays on Global economy were easy, but the Cold War ones were quite hard. And guess what? one of the Cold War questions was about the Berlin Blockade! Mr Kellett never taught us that one (although I have heard about it all right) so you could imagine my shock when I saw a question on that! I didn't know Cambridge could specifically ask about the Berlin Blockade, I thought the only 2 events that can be asked specifically are the Korean War and Cuban Missile Crisis. Conflict and Cooperation component was shocking too: NO ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT?! Everyone in Singapore thought that would sure to be tested this year, since Kashmir was tested the year before. Instead, we got religious fundamentalim, which was ok. I am one of the many who focused mainly on the Cold War and Conflict and Cooperation, but most thankfully, I did study some of Global Economy as well. I shudder think what would happen if I didn't, History would have been......history. Turns out that Global Economy saved me; I attepted the 2 questions on that as well as religious fundamentalism. For once, I did not touch any of the Cold War questions.




Needless to say, this 'A' level examinations has not gone well for me. I know Cambridge would probably moderate the Economics and Maths marks, seeing how everyone screwed these subjects up. Still, I dread seeing my marks for these two subjects, and maybe GP too. The 'A' level period has been a most gruelling period. My morale got dented after GP, but after a shitty Maths paper and an even shittier Econs paper, I nearly broke. That's right, I almost sunk into a depression during the 'A' levels. I was so damn dejected because I had worked so hard, and they always say if you work hard, good results will come naturally. Well, screw that. It's no guarantee. And just when all seemed dark and lost, my Dad saved me:

Me (sobbing): Dad, will any university accept me if I fail one subject?
Dad: Yes, there will always be one that will accept you.
Me: Really?
Dad: Yes. I failed 'A' level English but still managed to get into university.
Me: Oh...... and what about your other subjects?
Dad: Well, besides the 'F' in English I scored an A, D and E
Me: I see..... thank you, Dad.

I'd like to add that after university, my Dad managed to move on to pursue his post graduate studies.

It was like that moment in the Lord of the Rings (Return of the King) when Frodo falls face down onto the ground and hallucinates about Galadriel. In his mind, he sees Galadriel walking to him, smiling and as beautiful as ever, and offers him a helping hand. He takes it and pulls himself to his feet so as to face reality again. For me, it was my Dad who extended the helping hand to me. Thanks a million Dad! I couldn't have found the strength to soldier on without you. Thank you, too, Mum, my girlfriends, Clarence and Kheng Meng, for being there for me. I know it was not coomfortable hearing my litany of woes.

The 'A' Levels are over for good now. I'm not wallowing in misery over how it turned out. I do wish it ended on a much happier, more satisfactory note, but I take comfort in the fact that I did what I could for the exams. Whatever results that come my way, I'll just accept it and move on from there. Like my parents told me, there is always a path. Lousy results does not mean it's the end. In fact, it could very well be a new beginning.

Obama won!

I know I'm supposed to be on hiatus but this is a historic moment that needs to be noted:




Obama is president!





The first African-American to become the President of USA. I watched history being made on Channel News Asia, which provided a live broadcast of Obama's victory speech. Change has come! Congratulations Obama!

See Kheng Meng's blog for some videos

And now, the hiatus resumes.


Image from BBC website