Just last week I discovered that for her, 'turning off' means clicking on the Start button, clicking on the Shut Down button, clicking on the Turn Off Computer button, and then waiting for the computer to go silent. After that, she will press the button on the computer monitor, followed by the big round button on the CPU.
Mystery solved. When I told her about her mistake, she told me she didn't know that pressing the button on the CPU starts the computer up again. I'm also pretty sure that, when my mom reads this (hi mom), she will come up to me and give me the usual "You don't need to tell the world about your mother!". But I have to!
Two weeks ago, Carrie and I went to catch the new Prince of Persia movie. First of all, it's a Jerry Bruckheimer production, whose name had become synonymous with action-adventure films that are loud on the bangs and generous with the laughs1. Jerry and Disney collaborations had thus far been generally well-received; National Treasure was engaging and the Pirates films were just awesome (okay, maybe just the first one). Prince of Persia didn't fail to disappoint, although the characters seemed to keep taking unnecessary detours that didn't lend anything credible to the story2. I mean come on, if they wanted Prince Dastan's head for the king's reward, they had approximately 1,349,217 opportunities to kill and/or capture him waaaay before the ostrich race.
Nevertheless, my movie-going experience was enjoyable. In fact, I was just as amused watching trailers to new movies as I was watching Prince of Persia itself. Normally, the trailers that are screened before the start of each movie tend to be in the same genre or have the same audiences as the film being screened. As Prince of Persia is a Disney untuk tontonan umum film, we were treated to the trailers of films such as Toy Story 3 and The Last Airbender4 (aka the Avatar that won't make as much money as the other one). And then there was the trailer for Chloe.
Chloe was anything but an untuk tontonan umum film. Wikipedia describes it as an "erotic thriller", and the trailer was highly suggestive. By highly suggestive, I mean that the audience was treated to Amanda Seyfried (hot) looking like this (sans the censorship stars and the play button):
And this was in a trailer for an umum film. Not just that, later you also see Ms. Seyfried locking lips with Julianne Moore, as well as actual boobies in all their glory (you can see the actual trailer here). Considering that most films screened here get their kissing scenes censored, seeing naked people in a movie trailer must mean that the country is taking a step in the right direction. Either that or somebody in the Malaysian Censorship Board decided that kids here (there were so many in the cinema that day) needed the early exposure to sex education.
While still on the subject of movies, I finally watched The Sound of Music in its entirety for the very first time. I don't think it's that big of a deal, but apparently it is somewhat of a beginner's course6 (I can't think of a better analogy) for anybody remotely into musicals or choir music. I've actually seen bits and pieces of the show throughout my childhood like everybody else, but I don't recall anything about the Nazis.
Speaking of childhood and sex...7 When I was a child of eight or nine, I got my first view of the nude female form thanks to my parents and relatives who decided that they needn't put me back in the room when they were watching Species. I also remember that there was this one scene where a guy was putting on his pants after doing the dirty deed, and I helpfully exclaimed to my amused relatives that he didn't put any underwear on first.
And that wraps up this edition of ramblings from me; have a good weekend.
Footnotes:
1 - As opposed to Michael Bay action-adventure films that are even louder on the bangs, but fail epically on being cerebral. I mean seriously, a pair of twins from robot ghetto? And who could forget "I'm directly below enemy scrotum"? I could go on and on.
2 - Except for the trader dude3 and the Ngbaka guy. It seems that Disney adventure films cannot work unless they have a bumbling, semi-useful buffoonish character as a comedic foil to the suave lead. Except for the time when the lead is the bumbling, semi-useful buffoon, i.e. Jack Sparrow.
3 - I didn't even realise that it was Alfred Molina (of Dr. Octopus fame) playing the part. Did you know that he was Tevye in the 2004 Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof?
4 - I watched the trailer and determined that it was probably not going to be a movie I'd pay RM11 to watch (it was boring). Then I saw the Japanese trailer which was infinitely more awesome than the clichéd American one5 and changed my mind.
5 - You know how a typical American movie trailer looks like. It always finishes with a montage of action clips accompanied by loud, rousing music, but just before the end the music will fade off/stop, followed by a one-liner from a character.
6 - Sondheim material would make excellent advanced level reading.
7 - Childhood and sex; two words you should try never to use in the same sentence, unless the latter refers to the "Are you a boy or a girl?" kind. Incidentally, I don't think I've ever heard the question "Are you a boy or a girl?" directed to anybody else except to extremely confused toddlers.
