Fail

‘Nuff said.

P/s: Happy triple-10!

Edit: On second glance, I thought ‘Right after test’ does not make much sense now — why would anyone still study right after a test? At least as dictated by the Malaysian Education System, that’s downright dumb. A bit of rationale into why I thought so: I know a lot of us who would linger right outside the exam hall after we’re cleared to leave, dissecting every question and that’s where I usually realise how I got questions wrong. And a lot of times mistakes made at times like these are the ones that stuck.

As of writing, Pictory only has six humble but hugely inspirational features and I’m already sold as a huge fan. Photos and their accompanied stories are presented in a way that beg you to sit down, grab a cup of coffee and savour each entry in its entirety.

My favourites thus far are, San Fransisco and the latest, One Who Got Away which features a thought on the very thing humanity desperately seeks day in and out:

That’s the thing about happiness; you never can tell when you’ve reached a peak. You can only compare where you are to where you’ve been.

- Zander Coomes

Watching the bokeh-works.

Happy Lunar New Year to all of you celebrating! For the rest of the world, Happy V-Day!

Rawr!

And doesn’t get as clichéd as this — Avatar was indeed a spectacular masterpiece. I walked out of the theaters completely blown away by the painstakingly CGI-ed planet of Pandora down to every lively leaf, twig, blade and feather of that breathtakingly picturesque landscape of a tropical planet.

The breathtaking floating islands of Pandora

When I initially saw the trailers, Avatar gave me the impression of yet another CGI-overloaded sci-fi filled with blue alien creatures in war with humans. But boy was I wrong. Avatar’s Pandora wasn’t a world that was created overnight, rather, every insect, creature, plant and Na’vi syllable felt as real as it could fictionally be.

Granted, Avatar’s storyline might not be as original — the younger of us might be reminded of a handful of white-turned-native-leader movies such as Disney’s Pocahontas and even the Tom Cruise-starring The Last Samurai. But Avatar excels at taking such a story to a whole new immersive experience. Which also explains why Avatar absolutely has to be watched in 3D.

Perhaps it was the lackluster CGI (and weak storyline) we’ve conditioned ourselves to in 2012 that made Avatar so much more appealing. Or not. Maybe theater is all about the experience. Throw us a familiar story (although to Cameron’s credit — greatly refined and scifi-ed) portrayed on a visually stunning canvas like no other, everyone’s bound to enjoy it.

Nonetheless, Avatar succeeds as a technically impressive, breathtaking and emotionally overwhelming movie that does a good job at closing the decade’s movie industry in a high note. Coupled with James Horner’s epic score that impeccably compliments the whole Pandorean experience, Avatar will be remembered along with The Dark Knight, as one of finest movies of the 2000’s.

I’ve been wanting to have such mini-posts in between my major posts for quite awhile, for the simple reason that I tend to get rather ambitious that every time I churn out a new post on tehCpeng.net, it has to be full-featured, carefully worded and pictorially complete. More often than not, such posts lead into a growing pile of dormant drafts in my WordPress posts manager.

Posting shorties allows me to put out more casual postings in between, while at the same time not drawing too much attention away from the main postings. That said, look out for short, sweet and cheerful doses of shorties as I sort things out before 2009 draws to an end. Between you and me, I honestly can’t wait to post my next shortie. =p

Happy Holidays!