The Whateverlah Blog

Me: I don’t think Yasmin Ahmad would like it much that they’re calling her “the director”…

Because, please if you don’t mind, she is so much more than a director. I aspire to her levels of living a life brimmed with joie de vivre and an unswerving faith in god, this world, and being Malaysian.

Yasmin Ahmad was buried early this afternoon. The Malaysian Insider has a report from the funeral.

The Star has been posting tributes to the story teller sent in from around the world.

The New Straits Time carries the obituary.

In the final entry of her blog, published just four days ago, Yasmin posted a piece by Puccini from his Turandot which she was hoping to use in her latest project, “Wasurenagusa”. It’s rather ironic then, to learn that Puccini died before he could complete Turandot. I don’t have a point, I’m just moping..

Ending this with an interview she gave on July 21st, 2009:

There are no words to describe the loss this country has suffered in the passing of Yasmin Ahmad, a film maker, the story teller, a hopeless romantic, a one true Malaysian.

We miss you already.

…

Happy birthday to Stephanie March. May you be showered with plenty of tequila today. Hopefully, literally; and hopefully with photographic proof. One can hope.

And, um, also happy birthday to the Prime Minister.

And, and.. happy 19th birthday to Dan Radcliffe, who gets better looking with every HP movie.

Let’s start off with a quote from instant messaging…

me:
I have a crush on Movie Harry Potter
so cute!

PpFt:
ah, *now* you have a crush on Movie Harry Potter

me:
well yea..
i dont do underage okay

I’m going to preface this little rambling by saying that I need to watch the movie a second time to really see where I stand.

[SPOILER WARNING]

For now, there are hits and misses but overall the movie was enjoyable if rather clunky for whatever reason.

Biggest hits:

- the three main stars are getting so much better in their roles. I genuinely enjoyed the comedy and the interplay this time rather than rolling my eyes at contrived efforts in the other movies before.

- randomly, everything will come together and a scene would be so perfect that I have no words for it. These scenes make me glow with warmth inside. The Quidditch scenes in HBP does this for me.

- Dan Radcliffe in the Felix Felicis scenes – GOLD!

Biggest misses:

- uh.. talk about dialing in your performances. They might as well have CGI’ed Robbie Coltrane into this one for all the acting he did.

- the WTF scene of Bellatrix attacking the burrows. Someone explain the point of this and maybe I won’t be so unhappy about it. And believe me, I am plenty unhappy about this and the camera work is but only one reason.

-my biggest, and i mean HUGEST sore point about this movie is Draco and the vanishing cabinet. I really wish I could find someone who’s never read the book but has only seen the movies and ask them what they thought was the point of him working so hard on the frakkin cupboard for. To smuggle Bellatrix and the two unnamed death eaters in and…. witness his almost-killing of Dumbledore?? WTF? My friend who accompanied me to watch the movie suggested that they cut the entire Hogwarts battle out of the movie because it would be too similar to the one in Book 7. Okay, fair. But in doing so they’ve made Draco’s scenes – being all emo in the Room of Requirement – POINTLESS. And that really chaps my ass. *deep breaths*

- I’m going to say it might be because I’m tired but I felt that visually the movie wasn’t as cohesive. I felt like I was in different worlds even while in Hogwarts the whole time. Even the muggle world was whacked. Loved the opening to Order of the Phoenix way better.

Random appreciation:

- Rupert Grint is just gold throughout.

- PpFt pointed out that the Lav-Won-Won in the movie is not as geli as the book. Agreed.

- McGonagall and the Weasley Twins – always awesome and needed more screen time.

File this one under things that looks interesting but will never attempt at home:

… because it’s much too much effort.

The laksa croquette is a menu item from 7atenine, a fancy pants place at the Ascott in KL. The menu actually doesn’t look half bad.

My foodie friends, when will you all return so I can go feast there with people I enjoy nomming with?

So muck geek love coming out of Twitter today that I’m not going to bother to fit it all under 140 characters.

First of all, Stephen Fry tweeted:

Wheee!My alltime hero Richard Feynman.The legendary BBCCornell Lectures.God bless Bill Gates(never thought I’d say that!) http://is.gd/1zXuv

Note: the link probably doesn’t work too well, or maybe it’s just my crap internet. Basically, it’s a link to the videos of Feynman’s lectures (7 hours worth) done at Cornell is now available thanks to Bill Gates. (Hint: go youtube these videos if the Microsoft link doesn’t work for you)

The point is.. Fry loves Feynman. I Love Fry and Feynman. <3 <3 <3

And then..

Go behind the scenes of TEDTalk with a mini documentary. Squeeeee!!!!

Time for a repost, from last year:

A month to Kuwait. Packing? What’s that?

**for PpFt because I neglected Tweet In BM Day on Twitter.

Semalam semasa makan tengahari terlihat saya seorang lelaki yang amat tampan sekali duduk di meja sebelah. Apalagi, mencuri-curi tengok sajalah. Apa nak buat? Mak ada.

Ketika tengah-tengah berlakon ‘cool’ saya bangun untuk membasuh tangan tapi belum selangkah saja sudah hampir jatuh.. terpeleot. “Oh mak engkau!” aku berteriak di dalam hati. (But more accurately it was more like “FUCK!”)

Jejakaku senyum. No doubt, at my dweebness. Mampussss….

…

There. Had a good laugh yet?

“They can use their gay marriage money to pay for their chicken issues.”

Anderson Cooper makes Sarah Palin’s spokesperson look inept(which arguably isn’t difficult) through a telephone interview:

Can’t wait till Jon Stewart comes back from his short hiatus. This Palin resignation stuff is gold.