The Mona Lisa Mock
Mr. Black apologises if the above portrait of Mona Lisa is disturbing. It is, in a weird kind of way, I have to agreed, disturbing for the eyes seem to follow you regardless of where you are looking from (try it). Well, I am not a paint-enthusiast and I am not here to tell you how well this painting was done but this painting did indeed have something to do with the movie I watched lately.

Being not religiously implicated by the contents of the movie, Mr Black went to watch The DVC (Da Vinci Code) -- abbreviation for a code, how apt!-- and was left whirling in a pool of twists and conspiracies wound up so tight it hurts. What's worse is that one has the feeling of mixing fact and fiction after the movie (like imaging dinosaurs are walking alive in your backyard after watching Jurassic Park for 5 times in a row). The plot is intelligently crafted by the now-billionaire Dan Brown (I have yet to read the book, shucks), wonderfully embodied by Tom Hanks as The Professor in question and aptly wrapped up in two and a half hours of thrill in another sense. Thrill as in not pulsating car-chase type; Thrill as in you can feel your adrenaline flowing through your veins when the cryptex (coined by Mr Brown himself by combining the words cryptology and codex) is uncovered. Da Vinci himself will be disappointed to know that a customised cryptex can be bought at http://www.cryptex.org/.

Overall, it was a pretty good movie (if you are not offended of course) which brings the viewer through the streets and churches of Paris and England while on a Holy Grail quest. In Mr Black's opinion, the highlight of the movie must be the point when another professor tried to justify the existence of Mary Magdalene as the companion of Jesus Christ and that a Holy Blood Line does exist, thus giving rise to the postulation of the theory of their descendents. This, and the finding of Mary's tomb, essentially made up the pivotal points on which the whole plot leans on. I like the way the arguement was presented, though I have no qualm about it being true or false. It's all up to your belief, Mr Black concludes, of what is fact and fiction. Like the other portrait painted by Master Da Vinci below, "The Last Supper".


Can you spot Mary Magdalene as depicted in the movie?

"The mind sees what it wants to see" quoted from the movie itself and Mr Black agreed.

Don't lose sleep over this.


Mr Black's ratings: 3.5 stars out of 5 (means that if you are looking for plot and drama, watch it. If you are looking for action, try others.)

You know it as well as I do.

This post has to come.

In retrospect.

What have I done over the last semester?

Something good? Something bad? Something even?

I recommend some nice soothing music, a fluffy pillow, a cup of water if you can afford it. Lay your head back and close your eyes.

And think.

Take a minute or two to think of the things you have done (or have not for that matter) over the past few months. In retrospect, are you glad?

Mr Black did some thinking. And these are his thoughts retrospectively.

"This has to be the most busy semester so far. Luckily I took only 5 modules. But projects are killing. All these makes sense though, if what they say is true (that with increasing number of years in university comes increasing amount of workload. I don't want to sound scientific). I remember nights and days camping at student study areas, lounges and my own hostel bunk churning out reports and projects. I was slacking 50 percent of the time, but I forgave myself. Alright, so school's out. Living in a place other than "home" taught me a lot. It taught me the importance of friends. of maintaining relationships. Relationships (I thought of a wacky idea to call them relationboats since they are as precarious as paper boats instead of wooden ships), the basis of life, of any kind, are important. I cannot stress this further. Break a chord and you will sever the song. Hey friends, we almost broke one. Luckily, we can tolerate each other's pitch and the song goes on. I hope it goes like this, " This is the song that never ends, yes it goes on and on my friend. Some people started singing it, not knowing what it was, and they'll continue singing it forever just because..."

Mr Black loves himself, his family, his girlfriend, his friends and his acquintances. All had and shall come to pass.

In retrospect, are you glad?

"Yes, I am," declares Mr Black. "And thank you."

It's your turn.

Mr Black is feeling black tonight, now.

It sucks to be scolded for doing what you think is correct.

It sucks big time when that person is your mother.

Fuck it.

Metallica, save me.

Going against the norm

That's what they say. The government, the professionals, the experts.

"Challenge the challenge, go against the flow", they proclaimed, "that's when you become special and not one of the ordinary."

But how do you go against the norm? How do you even start when everything you ever wanted to do in life is predestined for you since the day you are born, slapped with a birth certificate and knee-deep in shxt? Then everything falls into place subsequently: you attend primary, secondary, and then if you are "special" enough, college or polytechnic education. You are then channeled, like most others, to either of the 3 universities in Singapore, (or if your dad's rich enough, you might get a chance to play with snow abroad) where you realized that everything is not a bed of roses. Roses do have thorns, and oh yes, they do prick.

Competition is so strong in local universities that one can practically smell it. (Do I have to be more explicit in explaining this? Try walking around halls and residences) Undergraduates, too busy in their research and paper-writing, fail to develop their social life skills, fail to interact, fail to build up networks, but pass with excellent A's when crunch time comes. (Of course, Mr. Black is referring to the minority, watcha thinkin' about?) Do we really want graduates who can't give a proper presentation, or express his ideas in a fluent, undisjointed manner, but instead able to memorize and regurgitate 98% of his notes and books? (Hence scoring 98%, correct?)

No, we don't. At least I don't.

But that's what we are producing. Academics marching out en masse with no life (and lie) skills, but full of bluff that's easily available online. I wondered, "What's up with University education? Isn't it the SAME as JC and secondary school?" Secretly, I feel like a droid, or android for that matter since I possess biological materials, being mass-produced, inspected and dispatched for work in the various fields. The system is lopsided, and it kinda reminds me of a soccer striker (forward) being only trained in shooting and scoring while not being trained on how to dribble. His only job, then, will be to kick the ball in at the right time and will be redundant by the time another younger striker replaces him.

That's when the title comes in again. Go against the Norm.

Can we really do it; can we differentiate ourselves from foreign droids that cost less and (supposedly) work more diligently?

The answer is a yes, though not very resounding. But it starts with oneself. You have to have the willpower and stamina to develop yourself in other ways other than pure academics, and even if nobody seems to appreciate it, be proud that you possess such abilities, for these are the stuff that will segregate you from others. Then you can go against the norm.

Do something special. And that almost seems to be a taboo in local context since something special means something that will draw the unwanted attention of people around you and the glaring eyes of your parents most probably. But if something special is what you always wanted to do, Mr Black says go for it. Hell if people stood in your way or try to advise you otherwise (unless they are constructive advices by good friends). Play any song that has the lyrics "It's my life". Enjoy the wind.

And in the end, even if you fail, you will be remembered. But remember, not everyone is able to fight the storm and go against the norm. If it is so easy to go against the norm, then who forms the norm?

Disclaimer: This post is based on Mr Black's personal experiences and does not represent the views and opinions of students. It is also not meant as a nationalist (whatever you call it) post conjugated to distort the minds of people.

Of somersaulting cars and chopper pursuits.

That's what Mission Impossible III offers to the average cinema-goer. I watched this movie yesterday and found myself thrilled at the end of the show. Well, maybe I like typical kickass police-and-thief chases with glorious-looking-blondes-firing-revolvers-like-they-were-born-with-them type of movies, but this movie co-produced by Cruise himself offers a little more. What more, you may ask, so I have compiled a checklist of what action movies should include in order to make them sell in the world.

Checklist of atypical action movies which have made their mark internationally

1. Big time action star paid like US$20 million per film (Checked, No doubt the 5'7'' (which is about 1.7018m) Cruise is crusing through the movie with a fat hefty cheque stuck in his tights)

2. Expensive cars that blew up for no rhyme or reason (Checked, and boy that's an orange Lambo Gallardo we are taking about (say yahoo!). In the words of Maggie Q, the slim and sleek female lifeform that adorned the car before it was blown apart, "Uhh... it's such a nice car." Totally. And check Cruise crusing (I know I have been using this often, but it sounds nice) through the streets in a Mercedes SLK. Or is it SLR. Whatever. (say yahoo!)

3. Spiderman or Tarzan tactics (Checked, with barely half an hour to save his wife, Cruise leaps off a building (spidey) and swings (Tarzan) from Bank of China to the villain's den, before sliding himself before the building's edge. (say Wow!) Did I hear you ask who the stuntman was?

4. Wall Climbing (Checked, hmmm actually it is a partial check, cause Cruise did not climb up a wall like Jackie or Jet. He walked up the Holy Vatican wall, aided by one of his toys, slept at the top, took a picture and used it to smoke the security camera. Talk about multi-tasking man. I wonder how many NGs that took.

5. Toys (Checked. Any super action star needs his toys. And Agent Hunt (Cruise) has his own assemblage as well. Detonators, Watches, Smoke machines, Drugs... you name them, he has them. Kinda reminds me of Agent Solid Snake in MGS where he could carry all sorts of equipment on his body. How do you store a detonator if you have ran out of space in your tightsuit? They should make toys like that anal-friendly. And yes, Toys R'Us should start selling them soon.

6. Asian kick/kiss ass NPCs (Checked, step aside Michelle Yeong n Lucy Liu, here comes sweet yet perfectly composed Maggie Q. Her emotionless eyes make her one of the hottest killer you can find. Feeling warm at your groin? That's probably because she has a laser crosshair on the jewels.

7. Fly for free (Checked. Cruise and his sidekicks flew for free from US to Germany, then to Italy, then to Shanghai. No wonder everyone wants to be an agent nowadays.

8. Rooftop dancing (Checked, Agent Hunt later found that he had to pay the Chinese 1 RMB for every piece of rooftile he smashed. Ouch.)

9. Running through the streets n across roads (Checked, every hero has to dash through the streets and across the roads in order to save the damsel. Cruise had to do something extra when he ran through a crowded corridor in rural Shanghai. He had to sputter "Zou1 Kai2" and "Xiao3 xing1" every 3 steps. Must be hard on him. No I mean them, the Chinese who have to bear with his accent.

10. Big, fat villain (Checked, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman is literally that. I like the way he teased Cruise. "Who are you? Do you have a wife? A girlfriend? Whoever she is, I'm gonna find her. I'm gonna hurt her. And then I'm going to kill you right in front of her." Ohhh tat's wicked. But at least its pretty original. Sidetrack: He does look a bit like Donald Trump huh? Hmmm...

And as you can see, these are the reasons that make MI 3 a tag more special than other action movies. It is a sequel, yes I know that sequels usually suck, but this movie is above average at least.

Mr Black's ratings: 4 stars out of 5 (meaning "save that 8 bucks of yours on McDonalds and watch this film".)

**This post is based entirely on Mr Black's personal opinions only. No viable lifeforms were killed during the typing of this post.

Mr Black is a current undergraduate who resides in Singapore. This blog is a non-whimsical reflection of his life and the society in which he lives in at large.

- Confidental -

Music, Love and Freedom

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