Innovate or die?

Innovation here, innovation there, innovation everywhere. Nowadays, everyone seems to embrace it as the ultimate gospel in our capitalist world. The word innovation is so trendy, most of us get the impression that innovation is a necessity for a company to survive. In fact, during an interview with Apple CEO Tim Cook, he even told Bloomberg that "to not innovate is to die." If the king of innovation himself said so, it must be true, right? 

The apparent answer is yes. I mean it is not difficult to find an example from recent history to prove it true. Blockbuster, Polaroid, Borders, Alta Vista, just to name a few. But the most famous example has to be Kodak. For anyone who does not know the story of Kodak, here is a little crash course. Kodak is an American company best known for its photographic film product and it dominated the market during the 80's. However, it then started to decline in the 1990 due to the fatal marketing decision to stay in the film industry rather than moving immediately into digital photography. The decline was drastic, to the point that Kodak filed for bankruptcy in January 2012.     

At first sight, it does seem like the Kodak story fits the "innovate or die" statement perfectly. But at a closer look, it is more revealing than that. It is interesting to note that it was Kodak who first developped the digital camera in 1975. So what happened? In fact, Kodak fell into the "low-risk trap". Instead of investing in a disruptive technology like digital camera, Kodak chose to put the money into improving the quality of photographic film, a low-risk innovation. Adi Alon, a managing director of the Operations Innovation and Product Development Consulting Group for technology consultancy firm Accenture, stated : "Low-risk approach to innovation ... helps maintain the brand, maintain the core offering, but it doesn't result in a significant value creation. And over time, it's going to erode your market position."

"Low-risk innovation is a trap that many companies fall into," he explains. Unfortunately, the king of innovation Tim Cook and Apple itself might have just fallen victim to this trap. With its 37 versions of iPod, 23 iPhones and 16 iPads, Apple is basically making different iterations of the same technology. Adding more and more visually stunning features cannot hide the fact that Apple's growth seems to have plateaued. 

Besides choosing the right innovation, to survive in the fast-paced market is also about what you do with your innovation. "More often, it's an inability to do things that have to follow innovation. It's really about getting stuff done," states Cliff Oxford, the CEO at Oxford Center for Entrepreneurs. "Getting stuff done means packaging, selling, delivering and collecting money to increase revenue and profits," he further explains. One can even argue that with an impeccable marketing strategy, one can sell anything to anyone, regardless the quality of the product. 

Beats by Dre is the prime example in this case. While the quality of their products is not bad per say, Beats' headphones are often regarded as overpriced in the audio-lover community. The reason Beats electronics is able to sell their products with such high price tags is perceived value. "You've heard of Beats by Dre, and your mom and dad probably have too. But if you ask them to name another audio company, they might have some trouble unless they're audiohead ... Perceived value is really the name of the game that Beats electronics is winning," says Marques Brownlee, a Youtuber and technology reviewer. 

To conclude, the statement "innovate or die" is only part of the truth. The correct statement should have been : "innovate while avoiding the low-risk approach and increase the perceived value of your innovation, or die." But who wants to put that as the title of their article. Undeniably, "innovate or die" is a powerful statement. It is simple and captivating but lacking foresight. Don't be fool by it, it is just another advertising trick to get more readers, just like I use it as the title of this article.     

Ut4M 2015

If you want to talk to God, run an ultra.

-- Dean Karnazes --

Pursuit of a dream

Ultra Tour des 4 Massifs (Ut4M), 166km, 10000+m of vertival climbing, 4 mountains ranges, all in 53 hours time limit. If you think you can comprehend the distance, think again. I still remember the first time I heard of Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB). I was so in awe. One day I will complete one, I told myself. However, to participate in UTMB, one needs points, points earned by completing other trail running courses. 

And there was me in the beginning of April and there was Ut4M. A course very similar to UTMB but there is no need of qualifying points and anyone who is brave enough can participate. I wasn't sure if I would still be in the Alpes region next year summer and most probably I won't have time and money to participate in enough races to qualify for UTMB. Ut4M might be the only chance to realize my dream. I felt like I was running out of time, and afraid if I didn't give it a try, it might never happen. So I signed up for Ut4M.

The truth is I was no runner. In fact, running had always been my least favorite workout. Yet I chose to do an ultra, simply because I knew it was all about hard work. I was no natural athlete but I believed hard work would carry me far enough. My goal was simple : complete the course within time limit. Besides work and some short runs during weekdays, I spent large portion of many weekends alone in the mountains, doing 40-50km hiking each time, accumulating vertical kilometrage. It was such a long preparation and difficult mental adjustment that it was hard not to take the race seriously. Actually, I had never taken any races as serious as this one before, to the point that I started having recurring dream of running late for the starting time.

The fact that I was a first-timer, having no clue of what to expect during the race, I was extremely nervous as the race day approached. The week before race day, I was feeling out of breathe, my heart was beating out of proportion. I wanted to sleep more but ended up with a few nights of insomnia. I knew the pressure was self-imposed, it was just anxiety kicking in. That week was mentally agonizing to me. All I wanted was to start the race as soon as I could.

Judgement day

Finally on 21 Aug 2015, at 8am, judgement day. I was suprisingly calm at the starting line. Probably I had accepted my fate. Finish or no finish, I just wanted to get over it. In any endurance race, it is always best to start slow and never go into the red zone too soon. For the first 40km, the Vercors portion, I took it slowly but never stayed too far behind. When I reached Vif at 5pm, I felt relatively fresh and I still had a few hours in front of the cut-off time. Plus my friends were there in Vif welcoming me. Able to talk to people I know for a while certainly did good to me.

The race really started at Vif. Most participants I crossed by during the day were doing only the Vercors 40km race. I have to admit that seeing them getting into buses and finisher T-shirts hurt me psychologically. Knowing that they will be sleeping in their cozy bed tonight while you still have 120km to go, you have to question youself : why you choose to do this shit? I had the same thought at Vif. But since my body was still fresh, it was easy to move on.

After Vif, all who left were people doing the full course. Until Laffrey, I was still fine but I could feel the fatigue already. While the front runners were amazing physically, I came to realize that most participants' mindset was not to test how fast they could finish, but to see how far they could go before the time barrier cut them off. We, participants, all had different life during normal days. But on this day, we came together and we were all runners, searching for our own limits. It was clear that nobody was doing it for glory because there wasn't any. We all were there to see how much we were able to keep on going.

There was a van at very refreshment check points to transport participants who abandonned back to Grenoble. It was always there ready. It was very easy to just stop the suffering, walked away, and hopefully forgot about it. Passing by each check point, seeing more and more people abandoned, the temptation to stop was increasingly appealing. The idea of giving up surfaced when I was in between Laffrey and La Morte. I was like : Shit! It comes too soon! It was at this moment that I had accepted the fact that I might not complete the course.

Lowest point at the the highest point

When the night fell, the race became entirely different. At night, the vision was greatly reduced. The runners were quite far apart between each other that sometimes I found myself alone in the dark. It was so quiet that my heartbeat and my breathing became the dominant sound. By the time I reached La Morte, it was almost midnight. The desire to quit was intense. At this point, I still kept my time margin manageable. So I took a nap in hope of boosting my morale.

I always have the tendency of forgetting to eat whenever I am in my own bubble doing some hard effort. After half an hour of nap, I felt so disorientated when I woke up and I made my biggest mistake during the race : I continued on without eating much at La Morte. I only realized about that when I was already half way up to Pas de La Vache. I was already having difficulty chewing down food, now I only had cold chocolate bars in my bag. Pas de La Vache was the highest point of the entire course. Climbing it while running low in energy reserve, I suffered alot. Running out of breathe, I seriously felt like dying. It was an exposed climb, cold wind kept blowing strong during that night. I literally stopped to rest for every ten meters I advanced.

That climb was a tedious conversation with myself. At some point, I sat down and I felt like I was just done. I was just in another world. I just remember seeing all the stars in the sky. I switched off my headlamp and just trying to take in deep breathe. All my thoughts were just gone, the daily life, work and school, all gone. Probably the view or probably the chilling wind, goosebump spread through my body. That feeling for me was really special. That was some really distilled existence.    

The descent from Pas de La Vache to Poursollet was unforgiving too. It was steep and slippery. Some passages were so damn gnarly and scary, especially when my legs were weak. Although it was only 10km from La Morte, it took me 5 grinding hours to reach Poursollet check point. From that point, the sun would rise soon and I knew I would be able at least to reach Riouperoux. At Pas de l'Envious, I saw the sunrise. It was great to see sunlight again after a long long night.

After another long descent later, at around 9am, I reached Riouperoux check point. My legs were just beat up after all. I nearly lost all my time margin. However I was satisfied of what I had done and I had no wish to continue anymore. Although only 25 hours had passed since the starting line, I felt I had experienced a whole year worth of time. I wanted to give up but strangely I didn't have the guts to walk up to the official to annonce so. I had never knew that to give up it needs courage too.  It was a decision so final that I couldn't do it on my own. So I waited for my friend Louis to come. We talked a little bit, only then I abandoned officially.

Gaining elevation

After I came back to Grenoble, I did go to see the arrival of final finishers. It was so emotional to see them fighting until the end. That will power in their eyes, that tenacity in their mind, these weren't something that can be taught. They were the prove that normal people could also archieve the unimaginable. I felt elevated because I knew I had walked among them, although not until the end.

It is a bummer that I didn't finish what I had set to do. I just don't have what it needs to finish the course this year. You could say I could have gone further on instead of stopping at Riouperoux since I still had some margin. I felt and still feel the same too. But in the end, I guess I would say : what important is not the destination, it is the action. I don't regret my decision. I am still new in trail running and this is just my first try at ultra. Imagine if I had actually succeeded. I think this success would do more harm than good. Success makes you overlook many things. In defeat, you will see a bigger picture.

Einstein is right. Time is relative. 25 hours can mean an eternity. Running an ultra is trully a religious experience and this is my way to commemorate Grenoble and all the years I have spent here, huge ups and downs, just like Ut4M.

Special thanks to Louis, Cyprien, Thibaut, and Eugene

A grumbling hermit in a mountainous shell

This entry is a essentially rant. I am sick of hearing people telling me : you should travel more, don't always stay in the mountains. There is a reason why I travel not as often as I used to be. Not that I hate travel, on the contrary, I adore adventures. I had booked a one-way ticket, flied to Sicily alone and slowly figured my way back to Grenoble; I had travelled to India for a month with my mom without any planning beforehand; I had travelled to Tunisia during its unstable time after Arab Spring without any planning; and I had hitchhiked multiple times in several countries. 

By mentioning all the above, I have to admit that I might have the intention to brag. But all I mentioned are stories, great stories even. That's exactly the point of travel for me : stories. As travelling is getting easier and easier, I have seen too many people travel to places and all they care about are beautiful photos, photos that are later to be posted on social media to impress other people they don't know. However breathtaking the scenery is, they won't trully know because they are busy looking at their cameras and selfie stick, trying to get the right angle for the perfect shot. And then move back to hotel as soon as possible, with wifi go back into their own bubble with their phones.  

A quote from a movie I love so much, The Beach, pretty much sums up my thought, 

The only downer is, everyone's got the same idea. We all travel thousands of miles just to watch TV and check in to somewhere with all the comforts of home, and you gotta ask yourself, what is the point of that?

I don't hate travel, I just hate tourists-consumers I meet during the travel. Photographer-wannabes with huge cameras and tripods, narcissistic technology-slaves with their selfie sticks, youngsters who have no intention to be there but dragged by their parents to travel with them and now complaining about internet connection, all of them are pollutants, or like how they are described in The Beach, parasites.

Recently I read an article which inspired me to write this entry. It is in French but I find the final paragraphe really true, from which I quote and translate, 

If travelling has became a to-do-list to cross out, then travelling doesn't make you an interesting person.   

(http://www.vice.com/fr/read/tourisme-et-narcissisme-199).

I still travel, but not to famous places anymore. I try to avoid easily accessible tourist hotspot, and travel more and more to places not many people know. That is why I stayed for only a few hours in JiuFen, an incredibly popular spot in Taiwan, but stayed for four full days in Kinmen, a tiny rural island where foreigners are rarity. 

That is also why I prefer to stay in Grenoble mountains during the holidays, spending most of my time doing outdoor sports. Alpine mountains fit the inaccessible criteria, the scenery is always amazing, and sport and nature are good for health. To get a beautiful view, one has to climb. In that way, mountains always ensure an experience, the one that takes your breathe away, literally and figuratively. People you meet in the mountains tend to be very friendly. Since everyone is sharing the same experience, you can feel the connection between you and them, eventhough they are strangers to you.    

To many ignorant people, I might seem like a hermit in my mountainous shell. May be I am, but at least it is still better than a pollutant, a parasite.   

Villard de Lans to Grenoble

Fire and Blood, Rust and Dust

Mad Max : Fury Road is overloading with fire and blood, rust and dust, and overall madness. The stunts are crazy, the characters are crazy, everything is crazy. I was so damn hyped for this movie, eventhough technically I have never seen the previous three Mad Max movies before. When I was small, I merely remember a scene or two from Road Warrior. The very first trailer of Fury Road really got me hooked in, espcially that sand storm scene at the end. This trailer was so good that I actually worried if the movie was able to match with it. 

This afternoon I watched it and I love it! This is a stand alone film, so one doesn't have to watch the previous three beforehand to enjoy this. The story is simple, not much dialogue, but it sells best what it aims to sell : actions. The movie goes way beyond what the trailer shows. To understand how crazy the movie is, 90% of the scenes showed in the trailer represent only the first 30 minutes of the movie, and the pace of the rest of the movie stays pretty much the same level of craziness throughout. It might sound like Transformers 4 but it is not. Unlike Transformers 4 in which the shots are too dynamic, the shots in Fury Road is clean, static, and wide-angled, which is less tiring and more enjoyable to look at. Transformers 4 is bad in so many ways anyway, so it is not fair to compare Fury Road with it.

The fact that this afternoon when I went to watch Fury Road and there were so few people in the theater made me sad. Screening around the same time as Age of Ultron, Fury Road is overcast by the shadow of Marvel. I really hope that it won't be overlooked. Gotta give credit to the director for keeping the movie rated R and not some PG13 bullshit. He certainly understands that Fury Road needs the R rating. It is an awesome movie. It is a lovely experience to go mad!

     

  

Immune system can be trained

Spring isn't all good. While flowers blossom, pollen is saturating the air. As I am always on my bike, pollen does irritate my nose slightly, making time on the saddle a bit uncomfortable. Pollen allergy apparently is a huge problem for many people in France. There are even pollen index and forecast, which are unheard-of in Malaysia. 

This great video from MinuteEarth explaining how dirtier environment in younger years can reduce the your allergy level. It basically saying that our immune system needs challenges from different viruses and bacterium to strengthen itself, just like what vaccine does to human, to train human's immune system. So, rising a child in an overly hygenic environment may not be a good idea. Bane said to Batman : peace has cost you your strength, victory has defeated you. I am quoting this, not to suggest that we need more war, at least not actual war per se, but a war to your immune system. And partly I think this quote is quite badass. 

War is a wrong terme because war often means violence. I am not suggesting you to go ahead now and eat some spoiled food or stick a flower in your nose and breath in all the pollen. But I am saying that our immune system can be trained. My mom always says, eat dirtier can make you stronger. She always says that to people who tell her hawker stalls on the roadside are unhygenic. 

I remember there was a time when water filter was a hot product in Malaysia, multiple brands like Diamond, Nesh, rising up from nowhere and their advertisements were everywhere. Suddenly, a water filter became a necessity in every household. The tap water was pictured as polluted as it can kill if drank directly. Suddenly, everybody was so aware of the water they are drinking. What we can learn from this are, firstly advertisement does manipulate what people think ; secondly overly hygenic is not necessarily a good thing. My parents didn't get carry away by the craze because partly we didn't have that amount of money to buy one of those expensive water filter, and partly also they thought that was just overreacting. 

I seriously think that living in France has one negative effect on me. I use to have the same level of immunity to dirty food as my mom. But during the India trip, I got minor food poisoning while my mom's stomach accepted everything. Better water quality and better hygiene in general have weakened me. Not that weak until I can't no longer support Malaysian hawker stalls' food though. Phew! What a relieve! 

Muezzins need better sound system

Spring Sunday morning, it was warm and so I left the window open through the night. I had set an alarm for the morning, but I was woke up by the bell from a church not far away before it could set off. While taking my routine morning coffee, I realized muezzin and church's bell were doing the same thing to me : tell me the hour of the day. But I rather listen to bell ringing than muezzin singing, why?

I know the call of the muezzin is an artform and they are not anybody, they are selected. But no matter how skilled the singer is, good equipment is essential too. But judging from many calls of prayer I heard in Malaysia, many were using crappy sound system. So may be the people who plan or manage mosques should start to invest a little more in sound system, better microphones, better loudspeakers, etc..

While I was in Malaysia, I disliked the call of muezzin. Now I kinda miss it. The reason I hated it was because the first call of muezzin was so early in the morning that it was like my annoying alarm clock, and people woke up by alarm clock were often grumpy. Here in France, I am woke up by a ringing bell, and honestly it is less annoying. Plus houses in France normally have thick insulating windows, the sound of the bell is reduced to the minimum when they are shut. 

I think the morning call of muezzin should be turned down a bit. The morning call certainly has good intention for not only muslims but also non-muslims, because me as a morning person myself now, I understand the benefits of waking up early in the morning, the awesome feeling of rising together with the Sun. But unlike ancient times, not everyone of us are farmers. Some have night jobs and have to sleep during daylight. As a non-muslim myself, I treat the call of prayer as a song. Just like any other song, and since people have vast variety of  taste in music, while some might find it peaceful and relaxing, certainly some would find it annoying and nerve-racking. 

Religions need to evolve and adapt.    

The wish to talk to God

I was so happy that I got the project I wanted for summer internship. "Why not continue to build on it?", I thought. Originally, I was thinking of buying an ATH-M50x, a pair of top quality headphones, to reward myself. But I changed my mind. In fact I am glad that I changed my mind. I signed up for an ultra.

What is an ultra? Ultra is short for ultramarathon. To quote wikipedia, an ultra is any sporting event involving running and walking longer than the traditional marathon. The one I am going to take part in is called UT4M, 160km with +10000m of climbing. I have always dreamt of doing an UTMB (Ultra Trail de Mont Blanc). Well, UT4M is not bad as well. It is still relatively new. This year will only be the third time it is held but UT4M is quickily gaining recognition all around France.  

The top runners can finish the course around 24 hours, others can up to 51 hours. It will be a vaillant effort, but at the same time, I feel like if I am not doing it this year, I won't have time and the energy to do it after I start working next year on. I need to try it, hopefully finish it and cross out this in my list of goals. 

I still can't imagine how people can run continuously for days and nights. Well this time, I don't need to try to imagine anymore because I am going to do it. With the internship and this race in mind, with something to look forward to feels great. Both of them are gonna keep me very well occupied during ths coming summer. 

The legendary ultrarunner Dean Karnazes once said, "If you want to talk to God, run an ultra!" I always believe in the power of will. Hopefully I have enough will power, and hopefully talk to God. 

End of feelings, end of the world

Melancholia, despair, deep depression. Not the kind of sadness that you want to cry but rather a state of sober thoughfulness and of numbness. Resisting to emotions and unwilling to feel anymore. Melancholia the movie captures all the above perfectly. I am sure about it because I understand depression and the movie resonates in me. 

First of all, I was surprised that it was not disturbing for a movie directed by Lars von Trier. I watched Antichrist and Nymphomaniac Volume 1 before, both disturbing as hell. To this day, I am still refuse to watch Nymphomaniac Volume 2. Although it is different than the other two in terms of disturbing imagery, three of them are movies difficult to watch. Just like I said, Melancholia portraits depression so well, so well that the movie itself feels like a person in depression, and it is unbearable. 

I know an extremely depressed person is unbearable because I myself had been through depression and I had been that unbearable person before. Depression can be contagious. A person in depression can drag another person down to their mess. It is an abyss that can consume you and suck in everything around you. Watching Melancholia reminds me so much of my past and how unbearable I made myself to other people. I owe those who continued to support me through my hard times. 

Another thing I want to mention is, the movie gave me a claustrophobic feeling. It was set in a giant mansion with a huge open field but I felt confined throughout the film. I think it is because of the approaching Melancholia. The world in the movie felt like a prison where the walls were closing in. Ending of feelings matching with the ending of the world. And when the end hit in the movie, I really felt like it was really the end of the end.     

It is not a movie for everyone. Personally, I don't hate it but I don't like it either. One thing is for sure about Melancholia - it is a beautiful movie. Memorable! 

Kobe > MJ

Both of them are incredible basketball players. Their style is so similar that one can't help but to compare them, which one is the best. The truth is, they are equally good in my opinion. The only reason Kobe > MJ in my mind simply because Kobe is the icon I saw the making-of. When I started watching NBA games, MJ was already history. 

I have never seen MJ playing live. To me, he is basically a god. Epic stories surrounded him, praises and worships clouded him. He is an enigmatic figure, very distant, almost omnipotent. He and basketball are inseparable. He had inspired many basketball players including Kobe. Kobe himself even said so during many occasions. MJ is no doubt a legend.

On the other hand, Kobe is very real to me. I saw him and Shaq, the dynamic duo, three peats; I saw Lakers's fall after Shaq left; I saw Kobe's MVP season; I saw him becoming the scoring machine and the 81 points game; and I saw him winning his fourth and fifth rings. I saw him through the ups and downs, especially the downs. When Shaq left and Lakers performed terribly, I really thought Kobe was nothing without Shaq. Plus the sexual assault case, his career plummeted into the abyss. But he came back and proved everybody wrong. It is exactly his growth as a player, the bounce back, that makes him my favorite.

Like I said, people always compare him with MJ. It is truly unfair for Kobe. The thing is MJ became a legend first. While standing under MJ's shadow, the shadow of a giant, trying to shine is tough. In my opinion, Kobe had long out-shone and became a giant himself. Kobe had proved himself as a legend. Even so, he still plays with the kind of fire and hunger of 18 year-old Kobe. But now age is becoming the raising factor. It is just sad to see Kobe haunted by injuries in recent years.   

So Kobe or MJ? It doesn't matter. Making comparison is stupid. MJ is the legend of 1990's, Kobe is the legend of 2000's. For now, I can't see anybody able to carry on the torch. Nobody in the field now has the same kind of passion and fire as MJ's and Kobe's. Although Kobe's retirement hasn't been announced yet, it feels like it is coming soon. And when it happens, part of me will probably die. 

Amélie - Yann Tiersen - Piano

Ever since I watched Amélie, I have always been a big fan of Yann Tiersen. Amélie always has a special place in my heart. With washout colours, the entire movie seems like a collection of old photos. It is artsy, bizarre, surreal, and lovely at the same time. It sprinkles magic on Paris and makes me want to visit Paris again and again. It doesn't present Paris as a one dimensional romantic place, a place where love is always in the air. Instead, it brings audiences' attention to the seemingly mundane and renders it glamourous.  

To match such a peculiar movie, making the soundtrack is a difficult task. Yann Tiersen pull it off very well. The soundtrack of Amélie is what I would say to be perfect. It has all the qualities of the storyline, a slight touch of melancholy is also added into it. This movie and its soundtrack were the drive and the starting point for me to learn piano. They even give me the impulse to buy an accordion and learn it everytime I watch Amélie or listen to the soundtrack. 

Now, I have almost learnt every songs in the Amélie soundtrack on piano. From experience, I can say that Yann's music isn't hard to remember all the notes since it is always quite repetitive. But to play those songs well, it demands long practice. For exemple, Comptine d'un aurte été, I learnt it a few years ago but still can't get the final part right. I can play it without omit a note but the emphasis on some notes is always off for me since I tend to slam on the notes when there are many eigth or sixteenth notes in a row. 

Besides Amélie soundtrack, my second favorite album from Yann is La Traversée. Actually I have so many favorites songs of his. Rue des Cascades, Le Matin, Atlantique Nord, just to name a few. Recently I just found out a fan-made video for the song Les Deux Pianos. I find it so damn beautiful. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iazYkQmscY4)   

How to rebellion 101 - Get a Marianne

There are no hunger games in Mockingjay, neither do actions. But surprisingly, it isn't that bad as a movie. At least I didn't fell asleep during the movie, at least I learnt something, that something isn't new, but it is something I've seen for the first time on big screen. It is about how to start a rebellion. So how? You need a Marianne.

Marianne, the symbol of liberty, the symbol of France. She is not a real person, but she is on every single French euro coin, every single French official document, and she is featured on one of the most famous paintings of all time : La Liberté guidant le peuple, by Eugène Delacroix. The author of Hunger Games was partly influenced by the most well known revolution in the history - the French revolution, and Katniss is derived from Marianne.

The political propaganda stuff is nice and all, but comparing to Catching Fire, it is rather underwhelming. Or may be it is because of the stupid trend of dividing the final book into two parts. I sincerely hope that this trend stops soon. After the movie, I just couldn't stand the cliff-hanger. So I checked out the the rest of the plot online. (Spoiler alert) And I knew it! President Coin seemed evil and I was right. She's gonna show her true colour in Part 2.

    

The majestic Fall

Before Lee Pace became the Ronan or Thranduil, He was the Black Bandit in the movie The Fall. Before this movie, the only Indian director I know is M. Night Shyamalan. Only after watching it that I realized it was directed by the same director for the movie The Cell starring J. Lo, and the shitty movie Mirror Mirror starring Julia Roberts. The man I am talking about is Tarsem. 

Some say it is pretentious, The Cell is just an OK movie for me. Undeniably, some images had disturbed me while watching it when I was only 14. However The Fall is totally a different story. It is truly the magnum opus of Tarsem. I first knew about this movie through a video talking about Satoshi Kon, from the channel called Every Frame a Painting. 

The Fall is the very definition of every frame a painting. The entire movie is done with little to no CGI, that is reason enough to check it out. Movies we get nowadays are so overly depended on CGI, I am just glad that movie of this scale is still being made. It is the only movie I feel able to match the epic vibe Beethoven's works give out and put them into good use. The opening scene is showing exactly that.   

The following would be a spoiler. Almost everyone dies at the end. Each death scene is tragic but beautifully tragic. It is how I would imagine when people talking about Greek or Shakespearean tragedy although I know nothing much about either of them. Plus the ending is set in Jodhpur, a magical place I'd visited, which gives me another reason to love this movie even more. 

The only flaw I found is the little girl's accent. It is sometimes difficult to understand what she said which prevents me from being totally immersed into the movie. Apart from that, I love this movie. It is one hell of a majestic piece of art. 

Canaan

Israel or Palestine, it is really a problematic to designate the land I am going to talk about with either one of them, because neither Israel nor Palestine represents the entirety of the land. I will just use its old name, Canaan. From the historical point of view, Canaan is really an interesting place. This land is considered holy by three monotheist religions, namely Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. 

I always want to travel to Canaan. I read both Bible and Quran, although the Bible I read is overly simplified and I didn't finish Quran because I find the writing so boring. Regardless of the accuracy, many epic events had happened there. It has always been the most awesome land ever in my mind and Jerusalem is I think the centre of all civilisations if there is ever one. I am neither Jewish, Christian, nor Muslim, but it would be an honour to be there at this magical land, to glimpse into the past, to step on the same footprints left by many great men who had changed the history. 

However travelling there is almost impossible for me. Firstly, my passport forbids me to travel to Israel. Secondly, Israel and Palestine. The conflict is really a headache. It just seems going on and on forever. The fight keeps on going for so long, I wonder if people of both sides still remember what they are fighting for. I am always afraid to talk about it for one major reason, I don't feel like I am qualified to talk about it. It is a conflict of long history. I feel like to talk about the conflict, it needs quite some researches beforehand but I am too lazy to do it. I prefer to rely on colourful videos made by people like John Green to get information on this issue. 

I have many Muslim friends. From their posts on social media, the impression I get is that Israel is the evil one and Palestine is constantly being suppressed. Nothing judgemental on those posts since being truly unbiased is a difficult feat. I have little to no knowledge on the conflict. Nevertheless, one fact is undeniable : countless lives are lost and so much blood has been shed. The relatively central position of Canaan on a conventional map reminds me of Republic City in the Legend of Korra. I wonder what if we can replicate Republic City, relocate all UN buildings to Canaan and rebuild the land as a neutral zone, a common ground for every human being. It is a silly thought but I think it is dream-worthy. Canaan shouldn't be a place of conflict. Canaan should be a heaven on earth.       

UT2004 is amazing

Unreal Tournament games series, probably only 90's kids will know about them. I always feel so sorry for UT franchise for being so little mentioned nowadays while some games like FIFA keeps producing the same shit and people are still buying them. Along with Quake, they both can be considered as the granddaddies of all FPS games. 

Recently my friend just gave me UT2004. I played it and now I can't pull myself out of this game. UT2004 is hands down amazing, mic drops and end of story! I played UT99 and UT2003 before, I can safely say that UT2004 tops them both. It is the combination of UT99 and UT2003, and more new maps, more new weapons. Some classical maps that I like alot in UT99 but omitted from UT2003 such as FaceClassic, Morpheus3, Deck17 and Hyperblast2 are back in UT2004. The sniper rifle is back too. 

Nostalgia is certainly strong with UT2004, but it also brings some new fun stuff to the table, notably the new gameplay Onslaught and vehicles. Personal favorites : Goliath and Leviathan, they are absolutely a treat to manoeuvre. Shooting down some vehicles or buildings with either of them is the most satisfying feeling ever. 

I first knew about UT through my high school tuition teacher. My teacher and my tuition friends and I used to play LAN UT games after the tuition, good old times. I was born in a below average Malaysian family, I had never had a personal computer until I was 14. Games I had played before UT were all in 8 bit. Playing Unreal for the first time, with such high quality graphic was an eye-opener. Soon I became an UT fan. I was never a gamer and I knew very little about gaming. But UT is the only game I know in depth. 

I haven't played UT3 yet. Seeing some UT3 gameplay videos, it is not bad but I think the graphic detail in UT3 is too much for the eye, thus a bit tiring to look at. UT2004's graphic is just right. I feel like UT2003 is the black sheep of the family. If we forget about UT2003, UT99 + UT2004 + UT3 would form a solid trilogy. Just like Nolan's Batman trilogy, UT2004 is the Dark Knight, the best among all three.  

Gone Nakamura

Electronics exam at 8 am. At 7.30 am, I was getting prepared, gloves, head light, and rear light on. Trying to be chill, telling myself this exam didn't make the day any different even though it was an important exam. It was just another winter morning, another normal day. On my bike, I should be able to arrive at school before 8 if I left home at 7.40 am. I didn't want to arrive too early either because I didn't want to wait there in the exam room, because I got more anxious the longer I had to wait for an exam to start. It was time. So I got to downstairs to get my bike. 

"Where is my bike?!!" was my first thought. It was hard to believe. I never thought my bike to be stolen there. The building I stay in needs digicode to enter. I parked it downstairs, it was still within the building which should be safe. There is a bar at the ground floor of the building. So the only other ways to get to my bike are either through the bar or through the back door. But the back door is always locked, it can only be opened by my landlord. Plus I always lock my bike even I park it downstairs. 

I panicked for awhile. I went to the bar to ask the bartender for more details about last night from 7 pm to 12 am, the time where my bike could only be stolen. However, they didn't notice much. That is understandable, I knew my hope was slim anyway. My landlord was there at the bar that morning too. He told me earlier that morning when he had passed by there, the bike had been long gone. There was no time to deal with the lost. I needed to get to the exam in time. So I hopped onto tram and to school I went. 

I know, that whole day, there was no smile on my face. It was a familiar feeling, since this was not the first time my bike got stolen. A shred of anger kept lingering in me. I so wanted to punch the person who stole it. It was a white Nakamura, my bestie for three years. Most people's bikes are normally broken down or in bad shape after 2 years because most people don't really give a damn to constantly maintain their bikes. However, my Nakamura was still kicking ass after three years, still able to climb mountains and shit. It was almost my legs. Without Nakamura, I was a handicapped.  

It feels strange that how much connection there can be between a human and an inanimate object. It suddenly reminds me of Cast Away and Wilson. While dealing with the anger and the sadness from the lost in the tram on the way back home after the exam, I was also wondering if I should immediately buy a new bike. Sitting in the tram, a quick look around, then I remembered the reason why I had chose to cycle in the first place : public transport was too depressing for me. 

Yes, I find public transport depressing but I can't tell exactly why. I have been a cyclist for so long now, another fact also becomes crystal clear : I am no longer fit to take public transports. I am just so used to the feeling of freedom on a bike, free to go anywhere, anywhen, no fix charted route like public transports do and especially no worry of annoying public transport strike. On my bike, I feel in charge of my own time management. 

In the tram, I suddenly felt trapped. At that precise moment, I became aware that getting a new bike was no longer a choice. It was a must. 

   

  

The loop is strong with Predestination

I knew this film through Chris Stuckmann's recent review of it. Through his review, my expectation was already set up high at the begining of this film. I knew I was going to at most get some mindf**k, but nothing too ridiculous. I thought I was ready but ....... HOLYSHIT!!!

From the trailer, we know that time travel can make someone disorientated. No need time travel, I already feel disorientated watching this movie. If you think Inception is hard to follow, then don't watch this film because you either won't understand what's happening and think that it is a bad movie, or try to figure what's happening and die because your head explodes. 

I think that very few people are mentally prepared for this film. Mindf**k at the extreme level, so extreme that I actually felt a little bit dizzy after finishing the film. To sit through this film, I had to use my brain so much that it hurt a little. The ending though, all I can say is it's not a happy ending. The ending makes me feel trapped, trapped inside a slowly collapsing metal box, and sad, sad because of the inevitability and general purposelessness.    

If you read the blog I wrote about Snowpiecer, you know that I am a little hipter-ish. The lesser known is a movie, the bigger the chance that I would love it. However, I love Predestination not entirely because of the hispter-ish reason this time. I love it because it is truly, like Chris said, awesome.