Apocalypto

To all Movie Buffs,

I am back again with another review. To celebrate my academic achievement, we went to catch the show, directed by Mel Gibson, Apocalypto.

Sypnosis

Set in the Mayan civilization, when a man's idyllic presence is brutally disrupted by a violent invading force, he is taken on a perilous journey to a world ruled by fear and oppression where a harrowing end awaits him. Through a twist of fate and spurred by the power of his love for his woman and his family he will make a desperate break to return home and to ultimately save his way of life.

To me...

This is a show of one individual wanting to survive and how his love for his wife and kids that gives him the strength and power to overcome all odds. This show is in the native Maya language, but with English subtitles. It is a bit bloody (hence it is rated M18 - i.e. only for audiences 18 and above).

The movie started off showing how a tapir was being hunted and how the people dig out the heart, meat and lungs of the tapir and eat it fresh...

Though it may be bloody.. sometimes, caused you to feel irk... This movie also depicts that one's determination and hunger for success will definitely come true regardless of what circumstances you are in. There are a few interesting and meaningful phase that I want to share with you..

"Fear is a disease... it strikes from your heart""
"Raise up the spirit... Believe you have the strength"

Want to learn some Maya language... see Apocalypto..

My ratings...

Comedy - 1.5/5 stars
Knowledge - 3/5 stars

My Graduation !!

Finally, after 2.5 yrs of hardwork and 3 months of waiting.. i finally get a chance to wear the academic dress to receive my degree in MBA. There are a lot of people whom I want to thank... people who have guided me, taught me and showed me the importance of working hard and persevere. Apart from my parents, I will like to thank my gf, whom stood by me and supported me, especially during my exam period... I will work hard and will aim to embark on my Phd studies in 5 years time.

Global Warming = Ice Age ?

Hi all,

There are talks about global warming may resulted in another Ice Age in the next 100 or even 1000 years, or even earlier. It immediately prompted me to look for more info on this. I have come across one article that I attached for your reading...

Humanity is about to face the most devastating catastrophe that mankind has encountered since the Bubonic Plague during the Middle Ages. This largest threat to humanity is global warming. Sure, some people are still debating if global warming is in progress and the long term effects of pollution in the environment, but the general consensus among most scientists and researchers is that global warming has started and is going to increase at an uncontrollable rate in the very near future.

The effects and consequences of global warming are both frightening and overwhelming. Currently, global warming is modestly increasing the average temperatures throughout the world. However, these temperature increases will continue to spiral upwards and cause massive climate changes throughout the world. For instance, these temperature changes will increase the average worldwide rainfall yet decrease rain in some areas, thus negatively affecting farming everywhere. Seasons to grow foods will shorten in some areas and lengthen in other areas, while few farmers will be to adapt to these changes quickly enough. And farmers will be unable to properly change the types of their crops, because the local climate changes will be continuously too unpredictable and changing too quickly.

Eventually, both polar ice caps will start melting at a very fast rate because of global warming. This will cause the world's oceans to rise rapidly. Not quickly enough to cause tsunami like conditions to drown thousands of people, but rather people will be forced to evacuate coastal cities, where most of the world's population now lives, to higher ground that is more inland.

No one knows for certain how high the world's oceans will increase; but whatever the height, global warming will decrease the amount of land available for human use. This will decrease the amount of farm land available, thus further decreasing the amount of food mankind can grow. Since a large percentage of the world's population already do not grow enough food, this will cause mass starvations. The sudden increase in population densities in smaller cities not prepared for a surge in population growth will cause huge sanitation issues and diseases will spread much more rapidly, especially with food becoming more scarce.

Furthermore with the ice caps melting, the amount of sunlight reflected back into space will decrease thus increasing the temperature of the Earth even faster. Underneath these receding ice caps and glaciers is dead organic matter that when thawed with release even more heat trapping greenhouse gases (carbon emissions) into the environment.

While all this time, humankind will continue to produce an ever increasing amount of carbon emissions via pollution into the environment. Eventually, global warming will melt enough of the polar ice to modify the world's oceans in two ways.

First, the oceans will start to desalinate, in other words the salt in the sea water will be more diluted by the fresh water from the ice. Second, the oceans' water temperature will drop because of the cold melting ice, and this will cause the oceans' currents to change.

Since the world's ecosystem is regulated by the ocean's currents, this will cause another ice age. That's right, global warming will start another ice age. Human civilization is not equipped to survive an ice age that will last a few years let alone a few thousand years. No one knows when this ice age will start, but the world's agriculture can not sustain the world's population during an ice age. This may even cause the extinction of mankind.

No one knows when this ice age will happen, but it is coming. We know that the cycle of temperature increases are followed by ice ages, but this time the changes are not natural. These changes are caused by man-made greenhouse gases released in the environment. Therefore scientists believe that the next ice age will start much sooner than the scientific evidence has proven to have happened in the past.

Let's review for a moment. Global warming is the effects of greenhouse causing gases released into the environment that increases the average temperature of the world, thus adding more energy into the atmosphere. This increase in temperature and energy will cause an increase in rain and hurricanes, and wreck havoc to the agriculture of the world's food supply. Eventually, enough of the world's icecaps will melt to increase the world's sea levels, thus further destroying the world's agriculture land. Furthermore, the melting ice water will disrupt the world's oceans that regulate the world's temperatures and cause an ice age. And finally, human civilization currently can not survive an ice age.

If we do nothing now, the collapse of the human civilization is almost certain, and the entire human race is at risk of becoming extinct.

Source: http://bellsouthpwp2.net/b/e/benichou//Global_Warming.html

These are some other articles that you can also read

How Global Warming may Cause the Next Ice Age
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0130-11.htm

Failing Ocean Current Raises Fear of Mini Ice Age
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8398

Will Global Warming Triggers Another Ice Age
http://www.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,12374,1083419,00.html

Global Cooling
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_cooling

Global Warming starts with us, it can also end by us, only if we want to do it...

Pan's Labyrinth

I am back. I just watched Pan's Labyrinth.. I got to say it is one of the best foreign language show. Yes.. u heard me right... it is in foreign language... it is in Spanish in fact. Anyone who do not know this will think that it is another hollywood blockbuster (at least that's what I am thinking). When I visited the official website... only do I realise the number of acclaimed international awards this film has won..

Sypnosis

The story revolves around a little girl, call Ofelia who need to do three tasks to revive a lost kingdom amidst the WW2. Ofelia settles down with her mother Carmen, recently remarried with the highly domineering Vidal, captain in the pro-Franco army. While the little girl (Ofelia) struggles to get used to her new life, she discovers nearby house a mysterious labyrinth. Pan, who is a Faun (a greek mythological figure of half goat half man) reveals to her that she is none other than the princess who long ago disappeared from an enchanted realm. To discover the truth, Ofelia will have to face three dangerous trials that nothing on earth has prepared her for...

To me

To me, this show is more than just a girl trying to revive a dead kingdom The setting is such that on one hand, you see brutal scenes of war, while on the other hand, you have the scene of a girl, trying her best to revive a lost mythical kingdom. Amidst the war settings, it shows that the most fearful thing is not heidous looking creatures afterall, but the cruelty and harsh reality of war. Through this show, I learn to appreciate Ofelia's yearn for peace around her. She believes that if she save her kingdom, she can restore peace to her family and save her brother and mum

Did Ofelia finally revive the dead kingdom or these are just afterall a little's girl hallucination, remember to see, Pan's Labyrinth.

My Ratings

Comedy Rating -2.5/5 stars

Knowledge Rating - 3.5/5 stars

Latest Updates on Global Warming

Alarming !!! ANCIENT ICE SHELF BREAKS FREE FROM CANADIAN ARCTIC

Global warming is having an alarming and dramatic impact on arctic ice shelves in the Canadian Arctic. Scientists have discovered that a giant ice shelf the size of 11,000 football fields broke free from the coast of Ellesmere Island, about 500 miles south of the North Pole. Shockingly, the shelf broke off in just an hour, and the collapse was so powerful that earthquake monitors over 150 miles away recorded the tremors. It is the largest event of its kind in Canada in 30 years, and scientists consider global warming a major contributing factor.

Please click http://www.stopglobalwarming.org/sgw_read.asp?id=7442712292006 to have the full news.

There is no more important cause than the call to action to save our planet. This is a movement about change, as individuals, as a country, and as a global community. We are all contributors to global warming and we all need to be part of the solution. Join the Stop Global Warming Virtual March, and become part of the movement to demand solutions to global warming now.