Tuesday, March 13, 2007

8 Days Letter of the Week Winner

“The High Life”

Issue #885 (Mar 8, 2007) has address my curiosity on the Truths & Myths about being an air stewardess. The ever elusive mile-high clubs where everyone wants to be a member of, but could never master the art of contortion in the toilet. However, witness accounts from Kym Ng and other flight attendants confirmed the myth on the existence of such a ‘club’. This issue is a wonderful guide for those thinking of joining as a cabin crew and gave insights into the occupation from various angles. From horror stories of unruly customers which is ass-biting, state of bathroom cleanliness (some humans are Neanderthals even at 30,000 feet) to the love cauldron between cabin and flight crew where anything can happen since space is limited and your senses are heightened. We journey through the wonder years from the 80’s to present day images of the Singapore Girl and ponder if it is still a ‘great way to fly’ while Kym answers questions we always wanted to ask. My checklist reads: ‘Brains vs Beauty’ is debated and checked; salary and allowance figures checked; stereotyping checked; grooming tips checked; service standards checked and finally, bad customers stories checked.

Hipgig

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Movie Review

Movie Review - "300"

Cast - Gerard Butler as King Leonidas, Lena Headey as Queen Gorgo

300 is a spectacular visual feast for the eyes and senses with the art of blood splatter taken to new heights. This is one hell of a war epic loosely based on the Greek legend of the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC. The movie directed by Zack Snyder is true to Frank Miller's vision in his graphic novel "300" published by Dark Horse Comics http://www.darkhorse.com/. Miller was inspired by the 1962 film "The 300 Spartans" as a young boy.
When King Leonidas receives word from a Persian emissary that Sparta and all of Greece should pay homage to King Xerxes or face elimination by his massive army. Not only did Leonidas refuse to yield, he promptly returns a message of defiance and incurs the wrath of Xerxes. He consults the Ephors and Oracle who warns him of mass destruction if Sparta ever goes to war. The council without knowledge of a traitor in its midst, concurs and forbade him from fighting the Persians. Believing in his own destiny, Leonidas left his wife and son to fight for freedom with a selected group of 300 Spartans.
We follow the 300 Spartans who were joined by an army of 700 Arcadians (Thespians & Slaves) to make a last stand at "The Hot Gates" where the passageway is narrow and favour to their numeral disadvantage. Battle scenes were intense and stylish with each thrust of the spear impaling bodies in a combination of slow-motion and fast-forward camera speeds. Imagine blood droplets hanging in mid-sequence while limbs are sliced through the air. Head decapitation is even more graphic in a ballet of squirting blood vessels.
Alternating between battle sequences, we see Queen Gorgo's valiant attempts to rally the treacherous Theron to her side and convince the Council to send reinforcements to her husband. The Queen's determination and self-sacrificial acts are matched by the Spartans' discipline, superior fighting techniques and combat strategies. Armed with their javelin-like spears, sword and shield, they were killing everything in their path without fear nor mercy, absorbing waves of attacks and holding the enemy for 3 days with body count piling up like bricks in the background. However, they cannot hold on any longer when a local Shepherd, Ephialtes betrayed them and lead the Persian troops to an old sheep path around the hot gates. Sensing a final showdown, Leonidas sent an injured Dilios back as a storyteller to regale their tale of victory. Although the 300 Spartans and King Leonidas perished - their honour, valour and sacrifice unite the whole of Greece against the Persian army. The cries of "This is SPARTA" still rings in my ears.

5 out of 5 for cinematic brilliance.

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

The Rubik's Cube

Still puzzled by the rubik's cube?

Rubik's Cube is a mechanical puzzle invented in 1974 by the Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik. Goto http://www.rubiks.com and watch video clips of Tyson Mao teaching you how to solve the cube puzzle in 8 steps.

Step 1 - Find the centre yellow sticker and verify the opposite facing centre color. In this case, it's Blue. The Rubik's Cube centre sticker on all 6 sides does not move and therefore, the objective is to find algorithm moves in various stages which would allow completion at lightning speeds. Move the middle blue stickers so that you form a cross with a yellow centre.
Step 2 - Next, we align the adjacent middle color sticker to the centre sticker on each side and in this case, it's Red (see picture on the left) and turn twice (either clockwise or anti-clockwise, it doesn't matter). Do this for remaining sides and you should have a complete Blue cross as shown on the right picture.
Step 3 - we face the cube with the blue cross side on the bottom and look for blue stickers on the top layer facing any side like the one in the picture on your left. We then see the sticker color on its side and in this case, its Orange. Align the Orange side diagonal to the Orange centre as shown and note the side the corner is on, this case its left. Face the cube with Orange centre and we perform this move - Left anti-clockwise top anti-clockwise and left clockwise (If its right, right clockwise, top clockwise and right anti-clockwise). Move remaining corner blue stickers up to the top side layer and repeat this step until you have a completed blue face. Also, you would notice that the sides of the Blue layer is also completed.
Step 4 - Now we are going to arrange the middle centre layer. First, we look at the top layer and look for middle cubes without a yellow sticker. Here, we have one with Red on top and Green on the side as shown on the right. We align Green side to its corresponding Green centre, check if Red centre is on the left or right of the Green centre. In this case, its left so we perform this move - top anti-clockwise, left anti-clockwise, top anti-clockwise, left clockwise (if its right - top clockwise, right clockwise, top clockwise, right anti-clockwise). Repeat this step until you have completed two-thirds of the cube.
Step 5 - We now look to complete the top yellow face. First, identify two middle cube with yellow stickers and place it on the 12 and 9 o'clock position. Face cube with yellow layer on top and perform this move - front clockwise, top clockwise, right clockwise, top anti-clockwise, right anti-clockwise and front anti-clockwise. At this stage, you should have a yellow cross but luckily, we have a complete yellow face which allows us to skip step 6 & 7 (See footnote).
Step 8 - We find a side of the top layer which is complete and in this case, its Red. Move the top layer so you have a completed side. With the completed side facing the back of you and face the cube as in the picture on the right. Thus, with Orange as your front, we perform this move - front twice, top clockwise (since white is on the left), left clockwise, right anti-clockwise, front twice, left anti-clockwise, right clockwise, top clockwise and front twice.
Whoalah, you have now solved rubik's cube in under 5 minutes or less!

Footnote:
Step 6 - Find a corner yellow and place it on bottom left corner. If you have no yellow corner, find one which has a yellow on its adjacent left and perform this move - right clockwise, top clockwise, right anti-clockwise, top clockwise, right clockwise, top twice and right anti-clockwise. Repeat till you have a complete yellow face on top layer.
Step 7 - At this stage, you should have one side with 2 corners of the same color, if not repeat this move till you have it. With the side with 2 corners of same color at your back, perform this move - right anti-clockwise, front clockwise, right anti-clockwise, back twice, right clockwise, front anti-clockwise, right anti-clockwise, back twice and right twice.

Movie Review

Movie Review - "The Pursuit of Happyness"

Cast - Will Smith, Jaden Christoper Syre Smith (Will's son in real life) and Thandie Newton

This is based on a real life story of Chris Gardner who overcame immense adversity from being homeless and rising to the top as a stockbroker. Convinced a new product called a "Bone Density Scanner" was his ticket to providing a better life for his family, he bet his entire savings into it. Needless to say, our intrepid salesman faced lukewarm response and as time went by, accumulated a mountain of unpaid taxes, long-overdued rents and daycare payments. His wife, Linda got tired of his empty promises decides to leaves him and moved to New York. A chance meeting with a succesful stockbroker on the streets inspired him to nab an internship with a top brokerage firm but there is a catch - no salary during internship and only one in twenty interns gets hired. Soon, he was evicted from his rented apartment and thereafter, from a low-rent motel and found himself out on the streets, sleeping in public toilets and charity homes while juggling work, studying for exams, sales calls and taking care of his five year old son.

Although there was temporary reprieve when he did manage to sold the last of his x-ray machines but the much needed cash was taken away from under his noses for the taxes he owed the city of San Francisco. The interaction of chris and his son as they journey across town on trains and buses as well as lining up in from of charity home for a place to stay overnight cements the relationship and trust between a father and son. Will Smith gave a great performance worthy of his oscar nomination especially in the scenes where he is at a lost and could not do a thing to help himself were gut-wrenching. His joy or should I say "Happyness" at the end of the movie was absolutely believable and tear-jerking.

Ratings: 3.75 out of 5

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