The Notebook

Alright, I'll admit that I always thought The Notebook was a really crappy girly movie that I would not want to watch ever. And I've always really disliked it when people judge a movie because of what genre it belonged to or if it was too girly or whatever

So the other day I decided to watch it, because I found out that Ryan Gosling was in it and he seems to make romance movies less cheesy I guess (I saw Blue Valentine which was another really good movie).

The basic outline is that an old man reads to an old woman with Alzheimer's everyday from a notebook in the hopes that she will remember something. The notebook tells the story of how Ryan Gosling meets Rachael McAdams during the 1940s in some shithole town and they fall in love. He is poor and she is rich and her parents are dicks who won't let them be together. Eventually she has to leave for college which is in New York and they have to say goodbye. If you don't know by now the general gist of how this story will go then you're an idiot. The plot is so predictable that within the first fifteen minutes, you already know how it will end.

So logically I should really hate this movie. Like how I really didn't like Avatar. But I do like this movie and it is probably mostly due to Ryan Gosling and Rachael McAdams. Somehow they manage to make this seemingly bs story into something that feels real. I'm gonna sound like a massive pussy for saying this but I really felt bad for Ryan Gosling during some parts of the movie.

So if any guys out there who aren't afraid of being called a wuss or who are very confident about their sexuality and are not influenced in what your peers may call you, then go ahead and watch this movie. And it goes without saying that every girl on the planet has already watched it also.

The Dark Knight Rises

Recently, I went to watch The Dark Knight Rises at the midnight premier. After being a massive fan of Batman Begins and then going a little bit crazy over the The Dark Knight it's probably an opportunity I wouldn't have missed for anything. 

So the basic outline of the plot is Batman /Bruce Wayne (hope I didn't spoil anything) has been a hermit for around 8 years and then a new bad guy called Bane comes into town to disturb the peace in Gotham city that has lasted due to Batman's actions in the previous film. In a sense this movie is like a sequential sequel to the second film, but a spiritual sequel to Batman Begins. Bruce Wayne has to become Batman again. 

I'll start off with what I liked about the movie. This movie touches on some interesting character aspects of Bruce Wayne. It's hinted that without Batman, Bruce Wayne has lost all his purpose and it explores more of the concept that Bruce Wayne needs Batman rather than Gotham needing him.

Bane was another part of the movie that I really liked. Lots of people have been saying they cant really understand his voice or his voice is weird. I kind of thought that the voice made him unique and actually pretty scary. Some of the lines he has are also pretty epic like "When Gotham is ashes... you have my permission to die". Also, since most of his face was covered by a mask (any fans of Tom Hardy's luscious lips will be disappointed by this movie) I think the acting was pretty effective considering all we had to go on were the eyes. There's a particular scene at the end which really shows the great acting done by Tom Hardy. 

Speaking of the acting, it was really good from all of the actors. A special mention should go to Michael Caine who had to do the half crying voice for most of the movie (watch The Trip) without making it seem cheesy or overdone. 

Now to the things I didn't like. There was a lot of political and social backdrop in this movie. Maybe this is just me but I really hate it when movies do that in a really obvious way (unless its a documentary or a movie that's aiming for that sort of thing). There are a lot of scenes which try to integrate Gotham into the real world, like having a stock exchange and showing the greed of corporate America or something like that. To me, for some reason it makes Gotham seem less real, like it made me realise Gotham is not a real city. In the previous two films, there was just this sense that Gotham was an actual place, something which this movie lacks. This might also have something to do with the fact that it was no longer filmed in Chicago, and instead in other cities like New York and Pittsburgh. Gotham just doesn't feel the same. 

Also different from the other films is the quality of the script writing. There's a sharp increase in cheesy lines ("You've given Gotham everything" "Not everything..not yet) and really big plot holes (which I will not spoil for you). I think this has something to do with the fact that one of the previous writers, David S. Goyer, left to write the new Superman. I think that when Christopher Nolan writes his own stuff, it tends not to be as good (like in Inception). His ideas are good, but the execution of it isn't as great. And the plotholes were really  really annoying. Most of the time when I was going "WTF" in the cinema it wasn't because something epic was happening, it was because I couldn't believe that such a huge plot hole was not obvious to Christopher Nolan. 

Of course there were parts where I went "WTF" because something truly amazing was happening. I really liked the fist fight scenes between Bane and Batman because they were so raw. But the last half hour of The Dark Knight really seemed to be directed by Michael Bay. There was just a series of big explosions with jets flying around and then the Pentagon gets somehow involved. It reminded me of Transformers 3 without robots. 

Lots of people have been saying that this is the perfect conclusion to The Dark Knight trilogy. It's not, otherwise it would have been called The Dark Knight Rises trilogy. Instead what we got was an OK ending to a very good trilogy. And that's better than a crappy one. 

My first week of uni!

I wasn't excited to start university. It's true that during the holidays I started to feel like four months was too long a break for anybody and that my life seemed like one big waste of time. But on the day before my first day of uni, as I set my alarm to go off at 6:40 in the morning, I suddenly appreciated all the good things about sitting at home with nothing to do.

Uni is not so bad. I've made this joke so many times that doing UNSW medicine is like going back to Ruse and it's quite true because I spend all day hanging out with Ruse people. That might seem a bit antisocial but my reasoning is why make new friends when you have so many perfectly good ones already? I admit that this isn't a great attitude though because everyone else tries to make new friends so I probably don't come across as a nice person.

The first two days were boring as hell because it was all introductions outlining the course. Some days we get four hour breaks and we hang out in one of the study rooms in the library. These ridiculously long breaks can get as boring as class which is why Luan screwed up my Facebook and made the last post. Things got better when we actually started learning things. In the first week we started learning anatomy, histology and cell biology, most of which were interesting enough. 

We had a practical where we got to see the cadavers for the first time. Someone told me that every year, someone faints on seeing the cadavers and I didn't believe him until we did the practical and someone actually fainted. The cadavers were chemically preserved so the body parts didn't look very human at first. But then we saw the head which was split vertically with an eye and ear still intact and also the arms and legs which had the skin removed except for at the fingertips which still had fingernails attached. I didn't actually feel hungry from the smells (apparently formaldehyde stimulates appetite) though that might have been because I ate beforehand.

I watched Love Never Dies with Wilson and a whole bunch of other people (Wilson organised it). Being the eager person I am, I was the first one there so I went to Galaxy World with Wilson and kicked his ass at everything we played. The musical was pretty cool at first because I've never watched a professional musical before and seen such spectacular sets and stage effects. In the end though, I didn't like it as much as I had hoped.

Ive changed my gender

As you guys can recently see from my new facebook profile picture, i have changed my gender and became a woman.  I feel that in this world, the subject of homosexuality is frowned upon in a very negative light.  I for one am against this, because I understand the trauma and prejudice modern society homosexuals are subjected to on a daily basis, mainly due to my new found sexuality in that I too am a gay.  Due to the stereotypes and image projected by society, I find it hard to truly express my deep feelings towards my male associates, and as a result have fallen into a deep depression.  My friends are no longer close to me, and are wary around my presence, scared that I would touch them.  Yet this is what I lust for, a man to touch, a man to lean on, a man to hold.

This life is too hard for me to live, thus i have taken some appropriate steps towards changing my position. I underwent gender surgery to get my penis removed, and some boobs modelled out of silicon, which fit nicely on my well proportioned body.  I have also long since felt an affection towards more bigger frames in both men and women, thus i have adopted a bigger sized body.  I hope this will help me find love.

Every movie I've seen since the HSC

A list of movies I've seen through these holidays, with a brief comment on what I thought about it. Underlined ones are movies I would highly recommend other people to see.

Midnight in Paris: Owen Wilson plays a charming protagonist as he is treated to a parade of artistic legends. Chortles to be had.

Kung Fu Panda 2: Slickly animated action and an efficiently presented plot which culminates to scenes that are visually and emotionally brilliant. This really exceeded expectations.

Laputa, Castle in the Sky: (below) As expected of a Miyazaki film, it creates a rich, fully-formed fantasy world in which protagonists who are pure of heart experience magic and romance. Greatly enjoyable.

The General: Silent comedy star Buster Keaton gets into wild shenanigans with plenty of slapstick humour. If you like funny silent films, this is considered one of the best.

Bicycle Thieves: (below)A father and son search for their stolen bicycle, which the father needs to do his poster-sticking job to make ends meet for his family. This film is heartbreaking.

Metropolis: An old German silent movie containing many great iconic images of cinema. It builds up to a thrilling finale which may be the most exciting thing I've witnessed on silent film.

Goodfellas: A movie which follows the life of a kid who grows up to become a successful gangster. Kinda like Raging Bull though, I didn't really connect to this one. I'm too busy trying to keep up with the plot to feel much for the characters.

The Godfather: (below)I rewatched this because I barely understood what was happening when I saw it in Year 9. I suppose now I have a slightly better attention span because this truly is a great film.

Bridesmaids: A chick-flick directed by a director who usually makes films like. This was funnier than I thought it'd be and was a pretty good movie.

Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides: Given all the bad reviews, I was pleased to find that I enjoyed this movie. It's all more of the same action-adventure fluff but Jack Sparrow remains entertaining even at his fourth movie.

Larry Crowne: I watched this on the cruise planning to sleep but instead kept watching this movie on the little television in the cabin until it was over. It's a story with quirky characters but no real drama, tension or even purpose. I wouldn't recommend seeing this on purpose.
Captain America: The First Avenger: A solid superhero action movie worth watching, if only to get ready for the upcoming 'The Avengers', which I am really looking forward to.

Fitzcarraldo:  (below) In this film, an enterprising businessman with an obsession for opera pulls a steamship over a steep hill in order to reach unclaimed rubber trees and make his fortune. What's amazing is that this was filmed on location and to make this film they actually did pull a steamship over a mountain using nothing but logs and ropes.

The Bourne Trilogy: I may well be the last guy to watch this series. Matt Damon plays a quietly intense hero who blazes his way through series of cleverly constructed action scenes to find his identity and purpose.

War Horse: As he did with Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan, Spielberg explores a large historical tragedy through the journey of his small cast of characters. This is quite a sentimental film but is done well enough to be satisfying rather than cloying.

The Third Man: Watching this the second time, I once again failed to get drawn into it. Give it a try if you like old movies.

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol: A well made action movie with generous helpings of humour that let's it all go down nicely. 

Winter's Bone: (below) A seventeen year old girl with a missing father and a catatonic mother struggles to support her two siblings while facing the hostility of the local drug business. Not the most exciting movie but it has a very admirable protagonist and provides a look into the isolated community of the Ozarks, which before this I had not even known existed.

Melancholia: (trailer below) This movie features Earth being destroyed after colliding with the fictional planet 'Melancholia'. This is not a spoiler because the movie depicts this spectacle right in the beginning and instead focuses on the story of two sisters in the weeks preceding the collision. This is a powerfully executed movie and I shall write more about it later so as to convince more people to see it.

Hugo: I expected this to be another very well-made children's movie but I think that it speaks more to older audiences who are interested in film. In Hugo, director Scorsese breathes new life into films from the beginning of cinema.

Battle Royale: I watched this because I had just finished reading The Hunger Games trilogy which I thought was great. I found this movie disappointing though. The characters are crudely formed and unconvincing and the violence is more gratuitous than unsettling. I suspect the success of this film lay in the novelty of its idea.

Some stuff I wrote but never bothered posting before...

Consider the following situation:

One hundred random innocent people are selected and imprisoned. You are provided with two choices. The first is to personally execute fifty of the prisoners, allowing the remaining fifty to walk free. The second is to walk away, resulting in the execution of all the prisoners at the hands of someone else.

I think most people would agree that the first choice is the right thing to do. It causes the least total amount of suffering and since the only disadvantage of the first choice is that you may bring mental distress and social condemnation to yourself by becoming a murderer, then you could even consider it as a selfless choice. However, does doing the right thing necessarily make you a good person?

Let's say a homicidal maniac (a bad person) and Mahatma Gandhi (a good person) are both faced with this situation. Homicidal maniac picks choice one (the right choice) because he wants to kill fifty people, being a bad guy and all. Gandhi picks choice two (logically now, the 'wrong' choice) because he is opposed to killing, being a good guy and all.

So in this case it seems that doing something that is wrong can indicate that you are a good person while doing something that is good can indicate that you are a bad person. Something's obviously wrong here since by definition, doing something right should indicate that you are a good person and vice versa.

The problem here is that we've defined good and bad in a different way to how we've defined right and wrong. We've defined a righteous decision as one which causes the minimum amount of harm to human beings and therefore a wrong decision as one that causes a greater amount of harm. We've defined a good person as someone holding benevolent values and intentions (e.g. Do not murder) and a bad person as someone with malevolent values and intentions (e.g. Murder is fun). The allocation of these definitions to each word pair doesn't really matter since we could've switched 'right' with 'good' and 'wrong' with 'bad' for this entire post and nothing would change. What's actually important is that we now have to wonder what's more important when it comes to one's behaviour: consequences or intention?

I planned to expand on this topic more but it now seems more complicated and less interesting than before. I may try this again when I think of an interesting real life example to apply it to.

Stuff I've been doing since the HSC

Loyal readers may have been growing concerned that I have begun to neglect and forget about this blog. Unfortunately, being on holidays for so long has made it difficult to get out of procrastinating and get something done, even something as easy as a blog post. Anyway, here is my return to blogging with a recount of everything I've done since the HSC.

Schoolies!

Spent with a lot of guys at Byron Bay. The (possible) highlight was the intense mafia games where everyone played very seriously, resulting in daytime votes that would last for up to twenty minutes before someone got lynched. Fun was also had on the beach and we played a lot of video games. I watched the first season of Suits. I also spent at least 5 hours trying to make a song using GarageBand on Alex's laptop. Pretty cool

Formal!

Pretty cool. I had a good time.

Medicine Interviews!

Nothing too interesting to note here. At the UWS interview while they gave us a briefing, me, Jinghang and either Falko or Clement were sitting on dodgy chairs in the lecture hall and we kept swinging on them and nearly broke them. It was pretty funny if you were there. Went to Newcastle as well and saw the stupid Clement there. He was very stupid. Also went to Monash interview and flew to Melbourne with mum and dad. My sister was in Melbourne too for some volleyball tournament and we saw her there. We ate at a restaurant there and I had something nasty that (literally) gave me the shits.

Cruise!

Went on a P&O cruise to New Caledonia and Vanuatu with some family and family friends. At first I was disappointed because it didn't seem as big and luxurious as I imagined. But then we had dinner and I changed my mind. There's a buffet and a restaurant and you can eat as much as you want! The food was quite good and there was a large variety. Spent time at sea playing board games, cards, table tennis and watching movies. I had to take care of my eight year old cousin the whole time because he was attached to me and followed me everywhere the whole eight days.

At each port of call we would get off the ship and the general routine was to sightsee and then spend the day at the beach. New Caledonia was interesting because it was weird to be in a French-speaking country. In Vanuatu there was a beach with sea cucumbers littered across the sea floor. What an array of sumptuous delicacies! There were also lots of crabs and large fish. The asian parents got quite excited.

Also something I remember is going above deck at night. The sky was cloudy so there was no light coming in from the sky nor reflecting off the ocean. It seemed like the ship was just surrounded by pitch black. It was quite terrifying to imagine falling overboard into the darkness.

Here are some nice photos.

 It cost us $2 to take a photo with this sign.

 My cool cousins.

Eating food.

HSC Results!

Pleasantly surprised by 4U maths state ranking. ATAR 99.80. Actually a little disappointed because my estimate was 99.90. Let down by Band 5 English like an asian stereotype.

Macbook Air!

My uncle bought me a Macbook Air which I am using to type this up. Hooray!

Wilson's Party!

The amazing race thing was pretty fun at first but for our group was really slow and so we gave up when we found out we were coming last. Roger and I stayed behind to watch a busker juggle some knives and an axe and then everyone had dinner at a Chinatown food court. Afterwards some of us went to karaoke. I had only been to karaoke once before and I didn't really like it. This time however, everyone was really into it and we started dancing on the chairs and coming up with really dumb moves and it was actually really really fun.

I stayed over at the penthouse with everyone else. Before the karaoke people got there, Raymond had been a pyromaniac chucking flaming tissues off the balcony. Later I suggested we shaved the powder off all the sparklers to make a sparkly bomb and that was pretty cool. When we ran out of sparklers, Raymond kept chucking more tissues. One time the wind blew back and the flaming tissue landed on someone's balcony and we may have scared the shit out of someone because I think NY said she heard someone scream.

The morning after I had breakfast at McDonalds and ate a NY Bagel, a Hash Brown and some orange juice.

Maplestory!

My sister started playing Maplestory and said the new Mercedes class was really cool and I should try it. So I did and now I have joined Vincent Tran, Jinghang, Edwin, Edward and Allan as a Mapler (the dumbass Arthur plays too but he's in America or something). I decided to make a female character called PastrySwirl to be ironic and funny but Vincent Tran keeps bagging me out for it. In fact, he decided to get Edward to broadcast across the server that I was looking for a BF and that I was hot IRL. I got hit on by some guys which was really weird and blowing them off gave me an enlightening insight on how it's like to be a girl. (I'm not serious.)

Christmas!

Spent it with family and family friends at Blaxland Riverside Park, the new playground/cycling track area in Olympic Park. The playground is cooler than the one in Bicentennial park though the park itself isn't as nice. Not much to say besides that we went bike riding a lot.

New Years Eve!

Went with a bunch of people to see the fireworks from the Opera House. Really good view though whether it is worth getting there at 10am to secure a seat is debatable. It was fun though, and Wilson cooked mountains of tasty of food so we had a nice picnic all day.