Sunday, July 31, 2005

A Fast One

I will leave for work in about 30 minutes so I'll make this quick.

I downloaded T'Pau's Greatest Hits a few days ago. That's very, very hard to find now. I'm enjoying it immensely. I wonder what Carol Decker's doing nowadays. Is she still alive?

I'm still not sure if my DVD writer can do double layer recordings. I have no time to explore. If it can, then I can start making copies of my Buffy stuff to back it up. I also need to start backing up my music before anything bad happens.

Work is killing me. I have no free time at all for the next week. Luckily, a colleague of mine has graciously offered to cover for me tomorrow if I cover him on Tuesday. At least I don't have to work so many days in a row. That also means I can chill out tomorrow.

The extra money from all the extra work had better be worth it. Actually it would, since my decades-old bed broke on me just now and I need to buy a new one.

My previous blog entry was very boring. Also, you may notice that my unkymood cartoon thingy has been stuck at "Just Here" for months now. I haven't been lazy, it's just the way I feel. It's a reflection of my current state, which is also very boring. I notice that lately, most of my entries have been rather dry.

Life at the moment is like that. Nothing exciting is happening. Nor is there any amount of distress or angst. No emotional highs or lows. I'm not sure, I may be dead inside at the moment. I can't say that I'm doing well, but things aren't getting worse. It's just.... like that, you know?

It's like dreamless sleep, it's just...blah.

One of my friends got married yesterday. Congratulations for the both of them. One less thing to worry about.

I can't wait till the middle of August, where hopefully things will quiet down at work and I can have my long breaks again.

Friday, July 29, 2005

Seven Swords and Such



Last night we went to see Seven Swords. It was a very long movie but quite good.

There's this thing about Chineses movies that I just noticed, especially those kung-fu epics. Mood shots. Long, slow mood shots of scenery, brooding people etc that are quite nice if done properly but get really old if overdone. They should cut back on that. It doesn't help with the story.

Like in Seven Swords. There were lots of scenes they could have just left out. It would've made the movie shorter.

That's my only complaint actually. It was a good movie. Kung-Fu movies rarely suck. Ok, sometimes they don't have much story but the action is always top knotch.

If you go to the website, it actually has more information than the movie itself, especially about the swords and main characters.

Earlier we went to this new eatery called Sri Shan Curry and Such. It serves South Indian dishes aka your typical mamak stall stuff plus some extras. Also very good. And very authentic. I will be back there soon.

The owner came by to our table and urged us to try their fish head curry, which was a very large serving for something that she considered "small". I hate to see the extra large one.

This week, I'm getting extra money. This is always good.

And I bought a new DVD writer.

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Movies That Used to Be Other Things

I found something!

Transformers!!!!! A live action one!!!! Produced by Steven Spielberg!!! Who claims to be a big fan!!! Possibly directed by Michael Bay!!!!

Oh My God.

Click on the link and watch Steven Spielberg talk about it. If he's a fan like he claims, they'd better not make any "changes" to it. So far as I can tell, the movie will be Generation 1, when Optimus Prime was a big red truck, Megatron was a Luger, Bumblebee was a yellow Beetle and Soundwave was a walkman!

Please, please, please don't change anything! I'd faint if they turned Soundwave into an I-Pod.

I wonder who the cast will be. There's not much info yet. I'll be anticipating this movie and will be there when it comes out in 2007.

I can't wait to hear Optimus say,"Autobots, roll out!" Oh yeah. And of course, to hear Starscream say,"Decepticons, retreeeeeeeeat!!".

Heh.

Ok, now that I'm done with the fanboy stuff (for now..) there are quite a few more cartoon/comics/video game adaptions I want to watch on big screen actually.

Like Battletech:Mechwarrior for example. It has everything; giant robot action, conflict, politics, intrigue. Pass this to a good writer and it'll make one hell of a movie. Or better, a mini-series ala Band of Brothers. Ten episodes of Mechwarrior from the different perspectives of mechwarrior pilots, tank crews, politicians, civilians, Elementals and ground troops from all sides, Clan and Inner Sphere. It'd be awesome!

I'm not alone in wanting to see more crossover stuff like this done. Go on IMDB and somewhere (I think it was on the Doom forum) you will find discussions about Half Life and Half Life 2 movies. It would make a nice movie too.

But the problem with Hollywood is the "changes" they like to make, ostensibly to appeal to non-fans.

Witness that horrible Wing Commander movie. I'd like to see this movie remade. The original was aweful. It had so many changes, it was unrecognisable.

They'd better not touch my Transformers! But I have faith in Spielberg. Changes or not, at least the quality of the film will be good, at least. And if Michael Bay is directing, I expect lots and lots of explosions.

Another series of games that would make a good movie/miniseries would be the Baldur's Gate series. Ahh, Baldur's gate. I still say it's the best ever role-playing game I've ever played on PC. Great epic story. It might be as good as Lord of The Rings and miles ahead of that crapo Dungeons and Dragons thing they tried. It was very poor and as an ex Dungeons and Dragons player, I was horribly disappointed.

I also think it's about time someone made a Warhammer 40K movie. A live action one would be nice but a CG one would do as well. As long as the story is "canon" and well written. Fans of Warhammer would never settle for something not canon, that much I can say.

There's a hell of a lot of stuff I want to see made into movies and miniseries. If I were to make a list, it would be endless. No matter what it is, the nicest part of all this speculation is the topic of casting. Like nights when we talk about stuff like a GI Joe and Sabre Rider. Who'll play who?

I wish I could remember those conversations, then maybe I'll be able to put the cast list here. It's fun. Try it. Pick a favourite cartoon/comic/game and try and cast it. Hours of fun guaranteed.

Saturday, July 23, 2005

I Don't Know What To Call This Post

I'm having some trouble writing. I think this is what people call writer's block. It's a bitch. I've written some drafts but I'm having trouble being focussed and lucid. Everything I write just seems to ramble all over the place.

Because of that, I should stay away from current issues right now. I could misquote someone and that's bad you know.

So instead I will write about what I've been doing as opposed to what I've been thinking, which isn't much at all. I haven't been introspective in a while.

I'm quite pleased to find a rare album on one of the torrent sites I frequent. I found Warrant's 1990 album Cherry Pie! Most people nowadays probably don't know who the hell Warrant are. They're glam rock so I'm not so surprised. I'm not really a big fan, but that album has songs that mean a lot to me. So I'm pleased.

Also quite pleasing was something I did on Thursday night. I went to hang with some friends at their house and ended up jamming the whole night. Right now, the fingers on my left hand are killing me. I'm haven't played guitar that long for a long, long time.

As usual with our impromptu acoustic jams, a lot of the songs come from school days. Stuff like Bon Jovi and a whole lot of other rock bands from that time. Lots of mid nineties music too, like Gin Blossoms. And of course, some old school Malay rock ballads. They don't write stuff like that anymore.

I would like to do this a lot more often, if I can. Music is such a relief.

Another interesting thing happened that night. I received SMSes from someone whom I used to fancy quite a bit last year. Apparently she's bored and unemployed and wants to hang out.

I've decided not to. I didn't tell her that though. It would be awkward and quite possibly end up dredging up painful memories. I guess it's my turn to do something other women have done with me. I'm going to play the drifting away game. I feel bad about it, really. In the past, I used to believe that I was "better" than that and above rejecting others. I guess I'm not that high up.

Idealism is so annoying in it's naivete isn't it?

But let's face it, we're just too different to ever be anything more than acquaintances. I don't want to disappoint myself and at the same time I don't want to disappoint others. I got quite distressed the last time I was with her but that wasn't her fault. I'm not taking revenge or anything like that.

Last night for the first time in a while I actually wondered about getting into a relationship again. I thought about it and put a quick stop to the thoughts. I still think I'm in no shape to attempt such a potentially damaging thing. It's not I need it that badly anyway.

But I still have hopes that it might happen in the distant future, maybe. A solid relationship is nice I hear. I wouldn't know, I've never been in one.

Anyway, that is on the back burner for now. I still have other things to do.

And now, please excuse me while I download Cherry Pie.

Current Music - Ender will Save Us All - Dashboard Confessional , The Swiss Army Romance

Thursday, July 21, 2005

Anonymous



I remember a conversation a while ago about publicity and blogging. This was in the wake of the Sarong Party Girl controversy and those bloggers who made the Star article.

I wouldn't reveal my name or my url. I'll be totally anonymous, if I ever make the paper. Actually, I have made the paper a few times in the last few months, but nothing related to blogging. I didn't reveal my real name either.

Last year, I'd probably reveal my name and url with glee. How things change eh?

When it comes to mainstream media, I'd rather avoid the publicity because inevitably, it brings some negative attention. Sure, I should stand firm and ignore the trolls and brickbats who try to bring me down and accuse me of all kinds of attention seeking.

And people should learn to forge ahead and ignore cynical criticism. The question is, is all that crap worth it? Is the juice worth the squeeze?

I like my blog, but I'd rather not make it cause any unnecessary stress. Unnecessary, that's the point. For a worthy cause or a good reason, I can take quite a bit of shit. Entertaining other people's petty jealousies and narrow mindedness is not a good enough reason.

And there's so many people who are still too conservative and too narrow minded in this country. Too many. And for that reason, I honestly think that unfortunately, Malaysia is not ready for full blown free speech. Too many people still too busybody. Too many people still can't leave well enough alone. Too many people can't respect other people's opinions. Too many people can't agree to disagree and live and let live.

But when blogging's concerned, let's not let that stop us from doing it. I know I won't. I think as the older generation dies out and the youth take over, society will gradually open up. That is, if the youth don't let their older mentors poison them with ultra conservatism. Or for that matter, ultra liberalism.

I don't like it either way. I don't like extreme views. I took a political compass test once. The result says, I'm a left centrist. I'm liberal, but I'd be comfortable with some measure of control. I want freedom of expression, use it and endorse it, but not when it becomes an instrument of hate and division. To incite hatred on religious or racial grounds or any other lame excuse is not an acceptable use of freedom of expression. And I think the government should ease up on censorship, which borders on silliness right now. At the same time, excessive violence and porn has no place on primetime.

I think I may have gone astray topicwise. But this kind of thing makes a good topic for discussion actually, I think.

What was I talking about? Oh yes, no thank you to negative publicity. So, I'll stay happily anonymous. No need for me to worry about that actually, it's not as if this blog is good enough for the papers and other mainstream media. It's just me being myself. No controversy (I hope). Nothing to see here.

Fame is one of those things that look good on paper. And like all things good on paper, it ain't all that good most of the time.

Monday, July 18, 2005

Fantastic Four

This month is quite irritating in the way that I have to work on Sundays until the middle of the next month at least.

This morning was one of those mornings when my head is filled is ideas of what to write about. Unfortunately, I always seem to get really good posting ideas while I'm driving. When I'm not driving, I forget what I want to say.

It's irritating.

Also I had another long, long day at work. Doesn't help with blogging, when you're mind is a little fractured due to the fatigue.

Like on Sunday. I went to watch Fantastic Four with Rin and Soph. I had to concentrate really hard to keep up with the conversation over dinner.

Lucky for me, the movie was great. It's a good adaptation. Of course, like all comics based movie there will be those who moan. But it's good. Trust me on that. Go and watch it. And I didn't snicker at Jessica Alba for a change. Actually, there was a time when I actually liked Jessica Alba, circa Dark Angel.

And then she did that horrendous Sleeping Dictionary. The very next day, I saw a Dark Angel episode trailer. I giggled. And have giggled ever since then, everytime I see her.

She's quite good as Sue Storm. I didn't think she could pull it off. And Chris Evans was hilarious as The Human Torch. Anyone who saw Not Another Teen Movie would know that he's quite good at being funny. I liked that movie.

The rest of the cast was pretty good too. My only gripe is that Dr. Doom didn't look threatening enough.

All in all, a fun movie that I actually wouldn't mind watching again.

In other news, there is no other news really. There's still not much happening with all the work I have to do.

I may have some comments to make on some things I read in the paper, but I'll do that when I'm less tired.

Have a good night.

Friday, July 15, 2005

Anniversary Thoughts

Yesterday was my birthday. I am 32.

Earlier this year I had expected to have a hell lot of things to write about on my birthday. I had expected to have a hell of a lot of things to rant about, my life et al.

Apparently not.

I haven't been posting as much as I used to lately. I'm not in any kind of discomfort, that's one reason. Tis true that pain helps create, that much I can say.

I'm in a strange place. Definitely, I've gotten too used to being unhappy about things, to the point that I'm not really sure what to do when I'm not unhappy.

Why was it so bad before? Where did all that angst go? To think, nothing's really changed, except maybe how I see things and how I feel about them. I guess that's enough. Maybe it's enough to change how you see and not necessary to change the world just to make things a little better for yourself? Looks like it so far.

So what's the what for the rest of the year, until I'm 33? Who knows? And it doesn't bother me at all, finally. There really is nothing that I should worry about. I need to get used to that.

I had a good year. And this blog, so influential in almost everything I do. I met a lot of good people through it. It helped solve a lot of internal problems. It helped me see things, see myself and my surroundings in a different way. I think if I didn't blog, I would still be sad. I'm certain that would be the case.

I look forward to what's to come, big or small. The future doesn't scare me as it used to. It could bring wholesale changes or no changes at all. Either way, it's fine by me.

I think this is what it means to cross the line.

To all my friends who came for dinner last night, thank you so much. I had a great time.

Current Music - Wow, Snow Patrol, Final Straw

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

A Comment About Music



Just got back from an evening with some old friends at The Crib. Reminiscing can be fun. We talked about school days and the times we had in the school choir.

That was a great time then. Music was a big thing back then. We organised concerts and played in bands. Me with my ho-hum abilities managed to get in two bands simultaneously. I played drums. And occasionally second guitar. And sometimes bass. I sang back up vocals too. I can sing decently enough but I never had the balls to actually front a band. That takes a hell of a lot of confidence.

I miss those days. I miss them even more now when I was browsing through Jacob Sagan's daughter's website. Shal's got something here. Check the "Message in the Bottle" video clip. I love how Kuching makes an appearance in it. The video is pretty decently made too.

She's Kenyah. That makes her very unique.

I might actually be intrigued enough to get her CD.

My brother's band have cut their album and it should be out soon. It's quite interesting. It's in Iban with a contemporary feel. Some of the songs are in English. That's unique too. No one else have ever had the same song in Iban and in English. They have three, I think.

I hope they do well. I know the guys (and girl) in the band and I hope they do well. They are nice people.

I got some things to say about the local (by that, I mean in Sarawak) music scene. The underground appears to be doing alright, with many indie artists coming out with some really good stuff. The Iban music scene, I'm really not into. In my opinion, a lot of Ibans still can't stomach listening to their own language in a different genre like R n B, pop and alternative. A few people have tried but not much joy there.

I don't really get why. Maybe they can relate to that more than I can. Having said that, there are some that I sometimes listen to, like Jerry Kamit. He's a sape player and he's good. Unfortunately, I missed his appearances at the just concluded Rainforest World Music Festival.

Anyway, about Iban music.

We're still stuck in time, all the stuff is the same old dangdut, joget stuff. Good for parties, but not much else. There's just too much of the same stuff recycled over and over again. I especially hate it when people take a song, sing it in a local language and rerelease it. It's just embarassing.

So far with my brothers band, I know a lot of college students dig them, I think mainly because they're more familiar with the newer genres.

One day, I hope to see an Iban lass pick up a guitar and write music that speaks to a more modern part of Iban society, the younger urban one whose struggles are different from their rural parents. I think our music should reflect more on our continuing evolution.

Some purists hate newer Iban music because it's too "western" and they accuse those people who try something new of having forgotten their roots. That's utter bullshit and smacks of closed mindedness.

When the ETB album comes out officially, I'll be plugging it here. ETB is my brother's band by the way.

And if one day, an Iban girl comes out with an alternative genre album with music about urban life, I'll plug her too.

Meanwhile back at home, I've gotten a little better at playing lately. I haven't played all that much but at least now I'm trying to play more by ear rather than reading and memorizing tabs. I gotta make it a point to play more. If only I had the discipline to do it.

And talking about music, I'm going to resume with the updating of my music collection. A lot of CDs have to be ripped and a lot of the tracks in my collection have no ID3 tags.

Excuse me, now I must go and test some of Shal Sagan's sample tracks.

Current Music - Sidewalks, Story of the Year, Page Avenue

Monday, July 11, 2005

Back from the Jungle.



I slept the entire day. I enjoyed it, even though usually I don't like it when that happens usually. I just came back from an exhausting weekend.

We went to Camp Permai for the weekend, ostensibly to watch the World Rainforest Music Festival. In reality, I wanted to get away from town and just relax. In fact, I think in our group of six, I can say for certain that relaxation and getting away was for the point.

Since we did say that we wanted to watch the show, we did get tickets for Saturday. It was fine. It was brilliant, but it didn't suck either. The only thing that sucked was the venue I guess. For something as big scale as RWMF, the Sarawak Cultural Village and it's surrounding accommodations is just to small for it. Especially parking. Aside from music of many varieties, I managed to experience the longest 2 km drive I've ever had. That wasn't fun.

Unfortunately, aside from recommending the construction of a giant multistory parking lot that would be mostly empty the other 362 days of the year, I don't have any suggestions.

The bigger point of the weekend was us doing nothing at all and not having any kind of itinerary to follow. And the place where we stayed in, had nothing in the way of facilities, which didn't bother us one bit.

We talked about how some people go to the beach, book a hotel room and stay in that room to watch TV for the duration of their stay. Seems quite wasteful to me actually.

If anyone wants to watch TV at a resort, don't come to Permai. If anyone wants tranquility and peaceful surroundings, Permai is perfect. I love the way the it was built. Minimal modern conveniences. And it's cheap too.

We didn't do much at all while we were there. We talked, drank a little. We went to the Jungle Pool and sat in the cold water. We played Monopoly and blackjack.

One more good thing about Permai is that the cabins, tree houses and other facilities are built apart from each other. So unlike Damai Lagoon or Holiday Inn Damai Beach, there were no annoying sugared up hyperactive kids and their annoying anal retentive parents who complain about other guests and the "noise" they make.

A tip, do not bring young children to Permai, the place is kinda dangerous for kids. Rocks, big trees, roots, water. They could break something if they fall or they could get seriously lost in the jungle.

Everything was so quiet and we felt like we were there all alone. Sure there were other guests, but everyone was just chilling out.

I think the next time we go there, we'll just go there specifically to hang out, no need for any other reason.

And I also need to stop referring to Permai as a "beach resort". It ain't. It's a jungle retreat, which I'm actually beginning to like more than the beach.

I had a good time. And tomorrow, I rejoin the rat race.

But I will return soon, that I can promise.

Thursday, July 07, 2005

Not Saying Much



I had an awful, awful night at work.

I was pottering around in the office when out of nowhere I was assaulted by the most painful stomach cramping I've ever experienced in my entire life. I feel a little better this morning, but that was very, very unpleasant.

I think I should watch what I eat for awhile.

I bought Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 7 last week and I must say, season 7 is the most boring one of the lot. A lot of the humour is gone and everyone's too powerful and businesslike. Nothing like the heady days of Seasons 2 and 3. I guess they stopped doing the show at the right time, before Buffy jumped the shark. That would be the worse thing that could happen to my Buffy.

I'm going out later to buy Season 6. Then my collection will be complete.

I miss those days when I would wait for new episodes to come out of the Buffyverse. It's great when there's something to look forward to like that.

Actually there are things to look forward to. Movies are coming out. Like King Kong. I think I'll enjoy that one. Jack Black's in it. And Peter Jackson's directing. And Gollum!

Hopefully this week will be good. I'm on a very long 5 day weekend.

Not a very long post today. Not much to say, really. But that's a good thing, I think.

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

Nothing Happening Here

I'm finding it quite difficult to write these days. It's not because there's nothing to write about. There are always things to write about. I don't know, I'm feeling very unmotivated somehow.

Am I all blogged out, like they say? Might be. I was thinking about that on the way to work just now, and I thought maybe everything that I wanted to say has been said. Maybe.

Or maybe I'm just being lazy again.

But I'm not going to let lack of initiative stop me from writing.

I was playing Grand Theft Auto just now and I suddenly had an idea. Despite having a camera, I've been too tied up with other things to take photos. I don't take nearly enough.

Well, if I can't take enough photos in real life, I was thinking maybe I should take photos in GTA to make up the numbers.

You see, CJ, the lead character in GTA has many items at his disposal. You know the usual street thug stuff. Knives, guns and the like.

He also has a camera.

And so there I was in the morning, running around Los Santos with a camera taking random pictures, much the same way I do in real life. I took a nice photo of a Fire Dept helicopter (a very nice Blackhawk copy that I've not seen before) at the airport. Also, I have good pics from the top of Mount Chilliad. I'll post that later.

So, I'm thinking if I can't post pictures taken in and around Kuching, I'll post pictures taken in San Andreas. I know this sounds terribly geeky. But it'll be interesting and it'll allowed non-gamer types to see what a breathtaking job the game makers have done.

In other news, there's not much to say.

Everything's quiet around here. I'm not in any kind of turmoil. I was thinking about doing a "this is boring" post, but then I decided not to complain for a change.

Although not as good as being blissfully happy, peace and quiet is still better than being sad and depressed.

I guess I'm a little better at dealing with things than I was before. Very recently, a very young friend of mine got engaged. For once, I did not react badly.

Sure, I felt kinda bummed. I still feel like I'm being left out. Sure, at the time it felt like I was a loser who can't get chicks.

But I didn't dwell on it, at least I tried not to. That made a lot of difference. Instead of moping and wondering why I can't do the same things my other friends can, I just tried to stop thinking about it.

I really don't have a good reason to feel bad about this anymore. It's not like I'm looking for a partner anymore anyway.

Oh yes, I suddenly feel compelled to say that even though some people think that I'm seeing someone, I'm not. Still single here.

There's nothing happening, not with her and not with anyone. Not now and not anytime soon.

Sunday, July 03, 2005

The Weekend



We watched War of The Worlds last night. It was very good. I enjoyed. Surprisingly enough, I could hear people in the back saying the movie sucked.

Well, what can you say?

Suddenly now I have the urge the look for the original movie. Been a long time since I saw it. I didn't realize how old that movie was until just now.

I think someone should remake Clash of The Titans. With today's technology, it would be great.

The next movie I'm looking forward to is another remake; The Amityville Horror. It looks quite promising. Ryan Reynolds is in it. I like him.

In other news, I bought an optical mouse! For only RM18 (USD4 something). Very very cheap! Unfortunately, I couldn't find the soundcard I was looking for. I could find SB Audigy2, which cost too much.

I will look for it next week.

And talking about next week, something went wrong with our Holliday Inn booking for next weekend. The dates were right, but the Holliday Inn was wrong. Since Damai is booked solid, we're looking for alternatives, one of which is where we would book ONE suite with three rooms instead of three separate rooms. Works just as well, but let's hope we can get a room.

If we don't, looks like we'll just have to miss Rainforest World Music Festival again. Damn.

I had a fine weekend. For me personally, it was nice. For others, not so much. But I'm just chilling and it's fine.

My birthday is this month. Damn.

Also, must remember to update mp3 collection. Lots of new stuff.

Friday, July 01, 2005

Drift!!



I'm tired.

It's been a long, long couple of weeks. Fortunately, we managed to squeeze one month's work into two weeks, so I can take it easier for awhile.

Went and saw Initial D just now. I'm telling you, as far as racing movies are concerned, this one leaves the rest far behind. It was excellent. The Fast and The Furious? Hah! Inferior.

No, it didn't have much of a story. It's anime, only life action, so the storyline is your typical anime story. Which is just fine in my books. I haven't really watched the anime version so I don't know how close this one is to the original.

I must say that in order to really enjoy this movie, one must have at least a passing interest in cars, racing and drifting. Those drift shots were awesome. You just have to see for yourself.

I think I enjoyed this movie most of all because all the cars in the movie can be found cruising the streets right here in Kuching. Toyota Levin/Sprinter Trueno (my neighbour has the exact same model, AE86), Nissan Skyline R-33, Mazda RX-7, Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IV, all familiar cars. And none of the cars were too blinged out either. It made the movie feel really authentic. I've seen many of these cars race right here in my own back yard. But drag racing, instead of drifting. I'm not sure whether Kuching has a drift scene yet.

I can imagine how much reconditioned Truenos will be worth now. I just read that Toyota is actually considering reviving their Trueno/Levin line due to healthy sales of used Truenos in Hong Kong and Japan. All because of a movie/manga/anime series.

The one thing I didn't like about the movie was the half baked romance between the lead, Takumi and Natsuki. That did very little to advance the story. It was actually quite annoying because I felt like it got in the way of more drifting action.

I think I'll load up Need for Speed Underground 2 again and pick up the Toyota Corolla GT-S, which is what it's called in the US.

All in all, I loved Initial D. I wonder what Fast and Furious III would be like. Yes, the movie wasn't even released yet and someone in Hollywood was already planning a rip off. Set in Japan, drift scene, Initial D fans will find the setting familiar.

In other news, I've been rivetted to my monitor at the office by the awesome Crime Library. Note in particular the impressive serial killers section.

I guarantee a fascinating read.

Now, I must go dig my Need For Speed Underground CD and practise drifting. This weekend, I might go and catch War of The Worlds. Should be a good movie, Tom Cruise notwithstanding.