OMG!!! Its 2010.

This is gonna sound as boring and lame as it seems, but I don't care lah...

HAPPY 2010 TO ALL BLOGGERS AND READERS AND FRIENDS AND FAMILY AND THE WHOLE WORLD POPULATION OUT THERE!!!

I do hope that this year would be more smooth sailing and more merry for you. Maybe having a 2010 resolution may help in living with more purpose and dignity!?

I had drawn up my goals for the year, but am just a bit scared that I can't fufill them at all. This year, is an important year for me and Yoong and my family, its like a year full of tough decisions. If only I can conquer my fears and move on!!!

OK, I need to stop being such a pessimist and look forward and be as presevere as possible.

Nah, a new photo for the new year. Haha... Hope you like it.

Can I Eternal Sunshine 2009, or Do I have to like the movie for that to work?

As 2009 slips away, sadly it has been chosen that I will be spending the evening at home, reliving the few moments worth salvaging before I Eternal Sunshine the year completely. It is just about that time for me to post something really maudlin that I'll regret later (and never end up taking down). But before I do so, I'll post some (hopefully) fascinating miscellany.

My entry to The Auteurs' Notebook's year-end writers' poll went up yesterday, alongside Andrew Grant, Glenn Kenny, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, Evan Davis, Gabe Klinger, Dave McDougall, David Cairns and Ben Simington's choices for our 2009 fantasy double features (of a first-run theatrical release and an older film we happened to have seen in the past 12 months). Mine covers 2 Olivier Assayas films (though I guess technically, I saw L'heure d'été in 2008, it was in the final two weeks of the year...). Glenn's beautiful screencap of Sheryl Lee as the Good Witch in Wild at Heart has become my current desktop pattern.

Cahiers du Cinéma posted their annual 10 Best of the year and continued to prove to us Yankees how much the French love Clint Eastwood (no, not for Invictus but Gran Torino; Invictus will surely make the 2010 list). Alain Resnais' Wild Grass [Les herbes folles] was their #1 (Sony Pictures Classics' website still doesn't have an official date for its release in the States), and the pleasant surprise of the list was seeing Alain Guiraudie's Le roi de l'évasion [The King of Escape] make it. One of the (many) regrets I have in regard to the final Decade List posting was that I didn't get around to rewatching Guiraudie's Ce vieux rêve qui bouge or Pas de repos pour les braves and left them off the 100 (though I'm pretty sure they should have been there).

So the Decade List posting... thanks to everyone for the nice comments. Aside from a clerical error in posting the two Abel Ferrara films in the wrong positions (Go Go Tales should be at 55, Mary at 76), I'm happy (enough) with the way things lined up, and I will be working on a "defense" if you will for my #1 within the next couple weeks. Anyway, to those of you who sent me your list, they will be posted by the end of next week, and if you're still working on yours, don't take the posting of my list as the curtain drop for the 00's nonsense...

...and though there's a purposeful hesitancy in the way I've spoken of the project in the more recent posts, I'm still possibly considering trying the previous decade on for size for 2010... but that depends on a number of factors, not least of which coming up with a (clever) name for it and determining the amount of time I will have to dedicate to it (it would really be better if I didn't have all the time, actually, as being gainfully employed and/or leaving the Midwest sound much more appealing).

2010 looks to be your year if you happen to be a Blu-ray player owning, French-speaking cinephile, as a number of really exciting releases have already been announced by Gaumont on high-definition format:

- Danton, 1983, d. Andrzej Wajda, 9 February
- La nuit de Varennes, 1982, d. Ettore Scola, 9 February, w. Marcello Mastroianni, Hanna Schygulla, Harvey Keitel
- Le silence de la mer, 1949, d. Jean-Pierre Melville, 25 March
- Un condamné à mort s'est échappé [A Man Escaped], 1956, d. Robert Bresson, 25 March
- Les maudits [The Damned], 1947, d. René Clément, 20 May
- Le général della Rovere, 1959, d. Roberto Rossellini, 20 May
- La peau [La pelle / The Skin], 1981, d. Liliana Cavani, 15 June, w. Mastroianni, Claudia Cardinale, Burt Lancaster
- Le rouge et le noir [The Red and the White], 1954, d. Claude Autant-Lara, 15 June, w. Danielle Darrieux

All of the films will also be released on DVD on the same date, some for the first time in France, as far as I can tell. Also in France, though not exactly exciting, the film I've been blabbing about all year, Sébastien Lifshitz's Plein sud, opens today, to almost exclusively damning reviews... Though I will reserve judgment for when I do see it, I was hoping the weariness I felt after watching the blasé trailer and noticing it wasn't announced for any of the autumn film festivals was unwarranted...

And finally, I never got around to posting a 2009 music list for the Decade List, which is fine as I generally only made those for my own benefit, and while I had planned on doing some sort of "the 25 '00 albums that did the most to shape me into the cynic I am today" list... it's looking less likely. I have, however, collected 50 of my favorite singles from 2009. I looked past the disappointment I felt in (a lot of) the particular albums and selected the tracks that left their mark on me in some way. I had planned the list to only include one song per artist, but the thing ran out of steam around 43, so instead of nixing three, I tossed a couple alternate choices from the albums I did happen to like a lot this year (Fever Ray, A Woman A Man Walked By, Logos). So if my plan to Eternal Sunshine all of 2009 actually works, I guess I won't have to look far to play catch up in the music world (though my ability to discern which of the 50 aren't really good songs and don't belong has vanished today). I could post an mp3 link at some point, but I haven't the energy at the moment. It looks like I'm finished rambling, and it doesn't look as dejected as I thought I might. That's good, right? Bonne année à tous.

01. Annie - My Love Is Better [Don't Stop]
02. Fever Ray - Keep the Streets Empty for Me [Fever Ray]
03. The xx - Crystalised [xx]
04. PJ Harvey & John Parish - Pig Will Not [A Woman A Man Walked By]
05. The Hidden Cameras - Walk On [Origin: Orphan]
06. Japandroids - Sovereignty [Post-Nothing]
07. Bat for Lashes - Sleep Alone [Two Suns] (yes, the album version is much better)
08. Röyksopp (featuring Karin Dreijer Andersson) - This Must Be It [Junior]
09. Dizzee Rascal featuring Calvin Harris and Chrome - Dance wiv Me [Tongue 'N Cheek]
10. No Age - You're a Target [Losing Feeling EP]
11. Junior Boys - Parallel Lines [Begone Dull Care]
12. St. Vincent - The Party [Actor]
13. Atlas Sound featuring Laetitia Sadier - Quick Canal [Logos]
14. Vivian Girls - Before I Start to Cry [Everything Goes Wrong]
15. Whitney Houston - Million Dollar Bill [I Look to You]
16. Phoenix - Fences [Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix]
17. Sally Shapiro - Dying in Africa [My Guilty Pleasure]
18. Jay-Z - D.O.A. (Death of Auto-tune) [The Blueprint 3]
19. The Radio Dept. - David [David EP]
20. Peaches - Talk to Me [I Feel Cream]
21. The Legends - You Won [Over and Over]
22. Little Boots - Stuck on Repeat [Hands]
23. Passion Pit - The Reeling [Manners]
24. The Juan Maclean - Happy House [The Future Will Come] (the 12-minute version is much better)
25. Alcoholic Faith Mission - Gently [421 Wythe Avenue] (The song I would have chosen from this album doesn't seem to be available streaming anywhere)
26. Charlotte Gainsbourg - IRM [IRM]
27. Dirty Projectors - Stillness Is the Move [Bitte Orca]
28. Animal Collective - Bluish [Merriweather Post Pavilion]
29. Depeche Mode - Wrong [Sounds of the Universe]
30. Girls - Lust for Life [Album]
31. Deerhunter - Disappearing Ink [Rainwater Cassette Exchange EP]
32. Ciara featuring Justin Timberlake - Love Sex Magic [Fantasy Ride]
33. Bon Iver - Blood Bank [Blood Bank EP]
34. Beirut - The Concubine [March of the Zapotec / Rainpeople Holland EP]
35. Bill Callahan - Jim Cain [Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle]
36. Peter Bjorn and John - I'm Losing My Mind [Living Things]
37. Miike Snow - Animal [Miike Snow]
38. Antony Hegarty and Bryce Dessner - I Was Young When I Left Home [Dark Was the Night]
39. Grizzly Bear - Foreground [Veckatimest]
40. ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - The Far Pavilions [The Century of Self]
41. The Decemberists - Sleepless [Dark Was the Night] (The only song I've ever liked by them, well at least 70% liked)
42. Fuck Buttons - Surf Sport [Tarot Sport] (The album version... exceedingly better)
43. Matt & Kim - Daylight [Grand]
44. Piano Magic - The Nightmare Goes On [Ovation]
45. Yeasayer - Tightrope [Dark Was the Night]
46. Atlas Sound - Shelia [Logos]
47. Annie - Anthonio [All Night]
48. Fever Ray - If I Had a Heart [Fever Ray] (my favorite music video of 2009)
49. Serge Gainsbourg featuring Jane Birkin - L'hôtel particulier [Histoire de Melody Nelson] (Obviously, this isn't new, but as the album was released for the first time in the US this year, and I needed to fill the 50)
50. PJ Harvey and John Parish - Cracks in the Canvas [A Woman A Man Walked By] (this isn't the 2nd best song off the album, but it's the perfect close and part of what keeps me wanting more)

ABC FIRST Gay Sex Scene





Just weeks after canceling Adam Lambert's daytime performances, ABC made history on Wednesday by airing the first-ever gay sex scene on daytime television.

'One Life to Live''s Oliver and Kyle (Scott Evans and Brett Claywell) finally had their onscreen love scene, followed by a tender spooning moment. Evans, who is the younger brother of 'Fantastic Four' actor Chris Evans, is openly gay.
-huffpost

A Resistant Strain, Oh Man!


An HIV/AIDS patient waits for treatment at Wat Phrabatnampo near Lopburi, Thailand on Wednesday, July 28, 2004. (AP / David Longstreath)

Dear Readers,

I was sooooo upset to read this article today. (link below)
Not the best way to start the new year.
My heart aches for any man, woman or child who dies from AIDS.
Please help me!
Please help me annihilate the STIGMA attached to HIV/AIDS.
No human being deserves to be "cast out" of society.
In the Philippines, men are STILL being "shut out" and they retreat to the provinces to..... die.....alone.
Tears.
My core is in terrible distress thinking about any person who dies a slow death from AIDS OR ANY OTHER disease without loved ones around them.

I beg you all, please become more informed about HIV/AIDS and how EASY it is to pass it on.....to the person you love most.

Do NOT discriminate.
Do NOT think you are better than.....
Be SAFE! (It's still heaps of fun!)

Love.

Click HERE to read article- resistent HIV strain CTV

Mount Mayon


A villager staying at the evacuation centre in Gogon elementary school tastes free porridge that was given out in Legazpi city, Albay province, south of Manila December 27, 2009. The Philippines' most active Mayon volcano shot higher ash columns and rumbled louder on Wednesday as authorities warned of a potential hazardous eruption in Mount Mayon anytime.
REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco

A policeman catches a box of relief goods from UNICEF during the loading of relief goods at a warehouse in a naval station in Legazpi city, Albay province, south of Manila December 27, 2009. The Philippines most active Mayon volcano shot higher ash columns and rumbled louder on Wednesday as authorities warned of a potential hazardous eruption in Mount Mayon anytime.
REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco

A soldier distributes candies to Mayon volcano evacuees at an evacuation centre in Guinobatan, Albay province, south of Manila December 26, 2009. The Philippines' most active volcano shot higher ash columns and rumbled louder on Wednesday as authorities warned of a potential hazardous eruption in Mount Mayon anytime.
REUTERS/Erik de Castro

The Mayon volcano's crater glows as it emits lava in Legazpi City, Albay province, south of Manila December 29, 2009. The Philippine government's vulcanologists said on Sunday that the Mayon volcano has been calm over the weekend but warned the public not to be complacent because there could be an explosive eruption soon due to the clogging of magma inside and the swelling of its surface.
REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco


Workers load a cow into a truck during an operation to evacuate all animals living inside the extended 8 km danger zone in Mabinit town, Albay province, south of Manila December 29, 2009. Officials have evacuated nearly 50,000 residents from around the base of the volcano.
REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco

Beloved Oyakodon

My all time favourite Japanese dish since young, Oyakodon (Eggs with chicken and onions). I wouldn't mind walloping the onions in this dish (normally I would pick out onions from any dish)

Yes, and I really can't find any decent Oyakodon here in Belfast, then I proceed to make my own (ok, I haven't really give another Jap restaurant - The Ginger Tree a try).

And these are the ingredients for 1 person:
50ml Dashi Soup (1/5 u.s. cup)
1 tbsp Soy Sauce
1/2 tbsp Sake
1/2 tbsp Sugar
1/2 tbsp Mirin
1/2 Small Onion
85g Chicken Meat (3 oz)
2 Eggs
10 Japanese Wild Parsley (Mitsuba) (I omitted this)
200g Rice (7 oz)


Stupid blogger photo uploader :(

And the end result is totally gorgeous. Even Yoong loves it so much and eventually used Dashi in every dishes he cooked.
******************************************************************************
The method is shown in the video below:
How to Make Oyakodon (Japanese Chicken and Egg Rice Bowl)

Married in Catholic Argentina!


"My knees didn't stop shaking," said the 41-year-old Di Bello. "We are the first gay couple in Latin America to marry."

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Two Argentine men were joined Monday in Latin America's first same-sex marriage, traveling to the southernmost tip of the Americas to find a welcoming spot to wed.

Gay rights activists Jose Maria Di Bello and Alex Freyre were married in Ushuaia, the capital of Argentina's Tierra del Fuego state, exchanging rings at civil ceremony witnessed by state and federal officials.

Click HERE Huffpost Latin Americas First Gay Marriage

My Christmas Present

Erm, don't ask me who gave them to me cuz that doesn't matter right??

OK lah, actually, ....... most of the presents....... I bought them my own..

If you ask what my love gave to me for Christmas, I would say..... erm.... the cross trainer??

Haiz, cuz the both of us are kinda like saving money for our trip to Malaga (Oooohooo, we are going overseas ^__^ **dancing around again**)

Anyways... -__-''' (really, cannot tahan [bear] my pathetic attitude)

Here's the pressies..


A very very "hiong" (fragrant) bear bear. I just love it. But its a pity that I can't hug it while sleeping cuz its not covered in pastic and I'm not sure where had it been to.

And a very "chim" (...... dunno how to translate this, more like.... chio... -__-''', ok I'm not helping here) bag. Unsure what to do with it though.


Got this by surprise. Actually, I was suppose to get a Paris Hilton perfume (and boy does that smell every so great, my friends totally love it), but ended up with this coffee maker set.


Can make my own coffee using powder ^__^ cuz everytime I'm using the normal coffee bags/powder. Now I am an Orang Atasan (high class society) [ok, I really have to stop mixing my English with other languages or I'll totally confuse my own choice of vocab]


These are the ones that I bought for me self. And I ABSO - FREAKING - LUTELY LOVE IT!!! I wore the big ass purple corsage on my hair, and I really do have to say, I look so extravagant and elegant :P And I'd used up the colours in the eye shadow palette and glad to say that it was great.
Although the blush was a bit of a sheer colour, but I like how subtle it is. Now I can apply more layers -__-'''
And the Barry M's lipsticks are really out of this world. Why didn't I discover them sooner?? Thanks to Youtube/Makeup Gurus that I had found my dream lipsticks.


And this, is my very 1st set of proper soft-synthetic-bristles makeup brushes. And I am not regretting the decision of spending £11 on them.


OK, I'm not sure why blogger isn't uploading this picture properly. The brushes are from Essence of Beauty and I get to know them through my friend Tze Yan and through Youtube makeup gurus.


And boy am I enjoying every bit of it. But I still haven't get to use them cuz I wanna treasure them so I wasn't planning to destroy them so soon with my cheapo makeups -__-''' And I actually used my MAC brushes more often instead, -__-''' x 100

These brushes are 2 sided, like super save space but its a pity that they can't be place upright (if in the future I'm going to get a jar for all my brushes) so have to let them to lie down.
Tell me, tell me... What are your Christmas Pressies??

I Am Going To...

Malaga... (It sounds like Malacca when you pronounce it)

I'm going there next January to get away from the cold in Northern Ireland for 4 days. And if you are wondering where the hell it is, its are the most southern part of Spain.

And its like super near Africa, so its kinda near the beach. But since its still winter, the temperature would still be around 16 degrees, so no swimming in the sea and build any sand castle for me :(

Nah, another picture of its city. I can't wait to go there cuz this will be the 1st venturing outside the UK since a year ago. Lets hope that we don't lose our passport this time -__-'''

Reb Meir Baal-Haness presents...

Full page advertisement in a recent issue of the Mishpacha. Forwarded to us by a reader, with the comment: "So Reb Meir Baal-Haness now does comedy and dance productions...?"

The Decade List: #1-20

01. Dogville / d. Lars von Trier / 2003 / Denmark/Sweden/Norway/Finland/UK/France/Germany/Netherlands

02. Talk to Her [Hable con ella] / d. Pedro Almodóvar / 2002 / Spain

03. Morvern Callar / d. Lynne Ramsay / 2002 / UK

04. Zwartboek [Black Book] / d. Paul Verhoeven / 2006 / Netherlands/Germany/Belgium

05. The Headless Woman [La mujer sin cabeza] / d. Lucrecia Martel / 2008 / Argentina/France/Italy/Spain

06. Yi Yi / d. Edward Yang / 2000 / Taiwan/Japan

07. The Piano Teacher [La pianiste] / d. Michael Haneke / 2001 / Austria/France

08. Tropical Malady / d. Apichatpong Weerasethakul / 2004 / Thailand/France/Germany/Italy

09. Late Marriage / d. Dover Koshashvili / 2001 / Israel/France

10. Wild Side / d. Sébastien Lifshitz / 2004 / France/Belgium/UK

11. Songs from the Second Floor [Sånger från andra våningen] / d. Roy Andersson / 2000 / Sweden/Norway/Denmark

12. The Intruder [L'intrus] / d. Claire Denis / 2004 / France

13. Summer Hours [L'heure d'été] / d. Olivier Assayas / 2008 / France

14. Water Drops on Burning Rocks [Gouttes d'eau sur pierres brûlantes] / d. François Ozon / 2000 / France

15. The Raspberry Reich / d. Bruce LaBruce / 2004 / Germany/Canada

16. Paranoid Park / d. Gus Van Sant / 2007 / France/USA

17. Mulholland Drive / d. David Lynch / 2001 / France/USA

18. Before Sunset / d. Richard Linklater / 2004 / USA

19. The White Diamond / d. Werner Herzog / 2004 / Germany/Japan/UK

20. There Will Be Blood / d. Paul Thomas Anderson / 2007 / USA