Mood: Zombies!
Currently listening to: Underneath It All - No Doubt

Semi-productive day today - checked up on gun licenses, club membership, the Toastmasters thing, arranged to have a meeting with the Alliance Francaise person to have my French speaking ability checked (funky yeah...), did gym, got in touch with the KL Fencing Association, and managed to get some work done on top of it all. *whew*

Spent the evening with Joa since my parents were out. Went to mamak and then Coffee Bean and that was pretty much it. That, and Joa passed me some pirated VCDs: Dawn Of The Dead and The Girl Next Door. (Yes, pirated as per usual - complete with standard people walking around, shaky camcorder, and muffled sounds - God Bless Malaysia!)

So... without much further ado its time for...

AT THE MOVIES with Pat! (yay! ;p)

*WARNING! SPOILER ALERT!*

Ok, today's movie feature is Dawn Of The Dead! Basically a remake of that good ol' classic way back in the 80s (i think), that - would you believe it - starred a young Lawrence Fishbourne, and which is one of those B Grade horror classics which my old hostel back in Melbourne was so fond of showing. The story goes that the US is plagued by a sudden virus which turns people who are bitten into zombies (duh) and it basically follows a ragtag group of innocents who find refuge in a mall while surrounded by thousands of these zombies. They consist of (as far as i can remember) a nurse, a policeman, three mall cops (!), a pregnant woman, her 'gangsta' hubby, one snide yuppie, and various redneck hicks.

The coolest thing about this movie - the zombies move FAST! Definitely a scarier foe than the original's classis blundering slack-jawed hordes... Second coolest thing? The mall cops - they are HILARIOUS what with the leader being the dumbest, most stubborn, and self-centered individual alive (who by the by has come into some semblance of authority within the mall). *ahem* As mall cops are wont to be i say... Third coolest thing: the scene where they try and take out Hollywood celebrity lookalikes in the zombie hordes during their spare time - courtesy of their sniper friend ('Hey look! There's Rosie O'Donnell!' *BLAM*).

Mind you, the most disturbing scene by far is actually the one where the pregnant woman turns into a zombie (while tied down by her somewhat unhinged hubby) and gives birth. You've gotta see that one - definitely the creepiest part... :o

And the worst thing about this movie? The inherent stupidity in most of the characters here. I have quite a few cases of these - let's analyse a few:

1. Scenario: Your friend on an opposite rooftop (sniper dude) is hungry as he has no food, but you are in the mall about 150-200m away from him. Do you:

a) Tell him to kill himself?
b) Build a home made catapult from the resources available at the mall (there MUST be a DIY store at least! They built reinforced trucks later on in the movie!) and try to lob a few tins at him?
c) Build a grappling hook with rope and a home-made cannon (modified pipes, some gunpowder and voila!) to shoot it across and therefore slide food down via the rope?
d) Attach food to the dog you found and send him through the zombie hordes to the sniper's front door while running the chance that one or two zombies might get him while he's in there?

Yeah, they took d. AND the sniper got killed because of it. AND the idiot girl snuck off with the truck in order to BRING THE DOG BACK. Which resulted in them mounting a rescue raid to SEE IF SHE WAS OK (and get some ammo - i'll give em that much) which resulted in another member, and almost the whole team, getting killed in the process. And yes, the girl and her blasted mutt were fine. Geez, no risk management principles amongst this bunch i swear... ;p

2. Scenario: You're stuck in this gigantic mall with about 8 other people surrounded by zombies, but the mall itself is pretty much cleared - what do you do?

a) Stay there! There's PLENTY of canned food and water, given that most US malls have about two supermarkets, not to mention electricity (power grids were still working) and entertainment to pass the time away. I mean, there's probably a video games store, book store, video rental, bar and arcade to pleasantly pass the time away while awaiting help. Not to mention constructing a HAM radio...

b) Commit group suicide.

c) Make a break for it! Modify two buses by turning them into regular APCs, ram your way through the zombies (and what the heck - lets just go at 100mph and overturn one of the trucks while we're at it!), make it to the marina, grab a boat and then sail to an island somewhere!

Yeah the morons chose c. Not only did four members die in the process from the truck overturning (two managed to gut themselves with their own chainsaw *sigh*) but what's the guarantee that a safe island can be found? And where, pray tell, are you going to get your food from??? Give me the mall any day.

And there's no gun store in the entire mall??? Its America for cryin' out loud! Sad lah...

Ok, that said i think the original was altogether much better (not to mention realistic):
1) Two of the team were SWAT troopers.
2) The zombies were much slower - but there seemed to be more of them!
3) There was a gun store inside. Ammo was not a problem.
4) They stayed in the mall for a mighty long time (their helicopter was out of fuel).
5) There was more information about how the rest of the country was doing. Basically the US Army and a shitload of armed rednecks were slowly killing the zombies one by one (zombies are slow remember? You'd see them coming a mile away).
6) The only reason they left was because a large armed band of Hell's Angels bikers raided the mall by going through the zombies.
7) The last scene of the movie is sheer class. 15 entire minutes just watching the zombies meander around the mall to the tune of muzak (while falling down escalators, etc.).

So. Final opinion? It was ok, although not really worth the money at a cinema, with some new ideas thrown in but, man, you just can't beat the original on this one.

Surfing the various news channels at the moment and aside from Tenet's testimony, a HIV outbreak in the porn industry and the usual trials and tribulations of the Iraqi War nothing too major is going on...

Ok, ciaoz...

6 Things that you should know:

Rock hero is son-Kissed - "LICK father, lick son! Rock hero Gene Simmons looks on proudly as his boy sticks out a monster tongue. The wild 54-year-old frontman of heavy metal band Kiss is famed for his own lengthy tongue which has become his trademark. But yesterday Nicholas, 15, showed he has grown up just like his dad." Pics included!

Porno Hen Hawks for Burger King - "For years, pornographers have used the Web to stage interactive peepshows that let visitors type requests to models in front of the camera. More recently, amateur "camgirls" have used cheap webcams and broadband connections to broadcast performances from their own bedrooms. Now comes subservientchicken.com, a website that mimics the look of an Internet sexcam show to promote a new chicken sandwich from Burger King. Instead of starring a busty young woman or a porn stud with rock-hard abs, the Flash-powered site features an actor in a chicken suit, dressed in lingerie. And unlike previous big-business attempts to cash in on an Internet trend, the Subservient Chicken site quickly became an Internet hit."

China plans for free condoms - "CHINA plans to start handing out free condoms at all entertainment venues in a bid to stem the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS, state media reported today. The government will also distribute new syringes and methadone, a substitute drug used to treat morphine and heroine addiction, the China Daily said, citing the health ministry."

Teen Sentenced To 50 Years For Hitting Jogger On Purpose - "A teen who wrote about wanting to do "horrible things" was sentenced to 50 years in prison for trying to kill a woman by driving up onto a sidewalk to hit her with his sport utility vehicle. District Judge Kenneth Neill sentenced Daniel Robbins to 80 years, with 30 years suspended, for attempted murder. Robbins pleaded guilty in February. Police say Robbins, now 17, told investigators he tried to kill Patty Emanuel, 40, while she was jogging last May 27 because he wanted to have sex with her corpse."

Islamic group demands inquiry into ‘gag’ photo - "In the photo, a smiling Lance Cpl. Ted J. Boudreaux Jr. is standing next to two Iraqi boys. All three have their thumbs up as one of the boys holds a cardboard sign that reads “Lcpl Boudreaux killed my Dad, th[en] he knocked up my sister!” The photo has been circulating around the Internet for at least a month." Then again, some claim that this photo is the original - spot the fake! ;p

Heavy social drinkers show brain damage - US study - "Heavy social drinkers show the same pattern of brain damage as hospitalized alcoholics -- enough to impair day-to-day functioning, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday. Brain scans show clear damage, and tests of reading, balance and other function show people who drink more than 100 drinks a month have some problems, the researchers said."