Monday Blog: A Soliluquy in Three Parts

Part One:
Inevitably, it's Monday.

So after all the "excitement" of the past two and a half months, it's back to the routine with an additional time-based task: getting a place in the uni I'm aiming for (which seems impossible given that noone ever answers their email there). Things are moving very quickly, and there's nothing quite like a death in the family to make a person all somber and reflective. Or make that same person purchase without a doubt what may be the worst movie ever made (more on this later). As I sit down behind my desk this week, I realise that events are taking place all over beyond my control, and I'll REALLY need to work fast. It's really been a crazy couple of months for the Ox, and as per Murphy's Law, it can only get crazier. My Uni's recently made it EVEN more difficult to go abroad, so much so several of my colleagues have opted to do their doctorates locally. Oh My God. I'm really scared.

Part Two:
I definitely need to go to Japan. Pronto.

Walking with my brother in the Japan Edu Fair at MVEC yesterday morning, I felt like I'd been caught in a time-warp of some kind. There weren't THAT many people around, but all the same there was this palpable charge in the air, of expectation and excitement. I saw families and students on their own booth-jumping, asking questions of the always-so-smartly dressed Japanese representatives. For a moment I wanted to go so bad, too. That's it, boys and girls, I've been bit by the official travel bug.

Now I know I really want to make it to Akihabara, so that's another thing on my to-do list.

Part Three:
There are times when a movie is so bad, it becomes good. House of The Dead is not such a movie. If ever in my life I pleaded for a movie to end, it was when me and my brother sat down to watch this one. After the funeral that Saturday we decided we needed to cheer ourselves up. A zombie gore-fest based on a video game should provide at least SOME comic relief, we thought. We were dead wrong. From the opening credits, to the cheesy oh-this-is-a-scary-moment music to the acting that makes a plank look like Robert Redford, this is one licensed flick that deserves to bomb. To make a long story short, here's a sampling of the "fun" to be had:

1) Within the first two minutes, there is a boob shot. It multiplies by a factor of at least three in the next five.
2) Victims one and two are killed in the first few minutes of the movie after going skinny-dipping at the beach. Oookay.
3) The only asian girl, named "liberty" knows kung-fu. Don't ask me how or why.
4) Every late twenties "teen" in the movie knows how to shoot multiple weapons effectively.
5) The director saw fit to include in-game footage every few minutes as a transition effect (what, run out of star wipes?)
6) Bullet time. If done well, not too bad. But seriously, bad Bullet Time just sucks.

There's more, but I'll save it for later. Well I'll be off now, people. Take care.