the personal blog of C.K.Koay
An arm-chair punter’s view on his world.
Greetings from Apple Store New York! I’m now in the mecca of mac-dom and I’m just so excited that my bladder is going to relax uncontrollably….
Hehehe….Cheryl calls this flagship, glass enclassed store my temple. I am glad that she sees the light of old wise one, aka the “Job”ness…
Cheryl and I will be going to the US Embassy today for our US Visa application and interview. I must say that preparing for the application and interview is like mugging for an exam- there is a schedule that you need to keep, forms to fill, documents to dig out (especially if you are a guy), things to remember, etc.
According to the US Department of State website, all “aliens” have to prove that they do not intend to stay for an extended period of time and that they will return to their country of origin once they have completed their holidays, businesses or medical treatments in the United States.
I do hope that everything will go fine tomorrow- the tickets and travel arrangements are about to be confirmed, thanks to my employers who have graciously paid for the flight and accomodation, hahaha! Not too shaby a deal considering that I nearly missed the deadline in submitting my business plan for the Global SEED competition organized by Telenor. Being placed second is not too bad after they had agreed that I can convert my trip to the Maldives (why tropical beaches when Malaysia is full of them?) to the United States instead.
One more step and then US here we come!
Cheryl and I watched 300 over the weekend and it is has to be one of the best movie that we have seen in years. The visuals were stunning, to say the least, due to the movie being very faithful to Frank Miller’s comic reimagining of the Battle of Thermopylae.
Interestingly, I’ve read somewhere that Miller was inspired by another film in the sixties called “300 Spartans”. With the improvement in visual effects, scoring, editing, the director of this movie, Zack Synder, follows closely in the footsteps of George Lucas who pioneered a new form of movie making with minimal sets, spectacular special effects and word-of-mouth inducing viral web marketing (the web featured documentaries of the movie a year before the movie was released). The difference is that while the Star Wars prequels are visually stunning and story-wise poor, 300 is a winner in both aspects.
One thing to note for Malaysian viewers is that the Malaysian Censors have been very liberal with the cuts in the movie. Most of the “R” rating stuff like gore and nudity is intact in the version shown here. The only noticable cut is the love scene between Leonidas and Queen Gorgo (what a name…).
Watch it.
View the trailer here.
I’ve gone into the equities market some weeks before Chinese New Year since it was quite bullish. Reading the Edge and Star Business, I was pretty confident of the market. It was pleasant surprise, waking up on the 4th day of Chinese New Year to discover that the KLCI was the highest since the Asian crash of 1997.
Think of the even greater surprise a week later when a massive global sell-off happened less than a week after the papers have hailed the record breaking feat in the local bourse. The cause of the massive sell off was attributed to a Chinese capital control rumor. The rumor caused panic sell-off in the Shanghai stock exchange and every market, including the Dow, suffered.
But it has now been a week since then and the sell-off is still high. Looking at the regional market, the bearish sentiment seems prevalent. Is the sell-off really caused by what analysts now call the “Shanghai Sneeze”? Or is it caused by the Yen carry trade?
According to Wikipedia:-
In the last couple of years, the yen has grown weaker and weaker against not only the dollar but against nearly all other important world currencies due to a de facto zero interest rate policy which has encouraged massive yen carry trades, where speculators borrow in yen and buy bonds and other assets in currencies that charge significant interest. This can be very profitable, but is a short position on the yen, which in the absence of other factors drives the yen’s value down
Whatever it is, I wished that I had bought that new flat panel LCD TV that I was eyeing at 🙂
Hahaha! Just when one thought that the Atheism debate is being waged by intellectuals like Richard Dawkins and philosophers like Sam Harris, Hollywood is also stepping up to the fray via Oscar winning director James Cameron and Simcha Jacobvici’s latest documentary about the cruci-fiction of Christ!
It all started with a December 2005 press release, which innocently framed the documentary as:-
“Drawing upon archaeology and forensics, Mr. Cameron and Mr. Jacobovici reveal facts that point toward a potential discovery of historic significance concerning the New Testament”
But latest information reveals something that will have Bible waving folks shouting bloody jihad because the documentary will show Jesus’s grave (and no it’s not empty). The resurrection of Christ is the cornerstone of the Christian faith with Paul saying, “If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is vain and your faith is also vain” (1 Corinthians 15:14).
Head to the show’s website for more information.
I’ve added a new link on the right side of my blog. It is a badge that links to the updates of “Bloggers United”, a site that has been set up for updates to the recent civil suit against two prominent Malaysian bloggers, Jeff Ooi and Rocky Bru.
Though sometimes I may not agree with Jeff or Rocky, I defend their right to publish their views, and the views of their readers- no matter how childish or outlandish some of them may be- in full, without fear of or favour from the authorities.
The badge a sign of solidarity between all bloggers to stand united so that our rights are not usurped by the powers that be.