Illusion of Words

Camp

So I went to prefect camp for the past three days, staying in the school.

And as usual, camps - especially this kind - leave you physically exhausted and aching all over. It would have been better had we not gone to Kem Kemuyan on the second day, but I think going there was by far the best thing because time seems to pass faster.

True, I hate going to such camps, but I guess nothing much I can do after signing up for it. Some people in the camp literally did not sleep especially on the second night, because the next day was drilling competition day and we only had three hours on the first day to practise.

I took the first watch of that particular night, sat under the lights in the corridor and got bitten by hungry mosquitoes. While nearly everyone else was drilling. I ‘cheated’ and managed to be exempt from drilling at all that night.

About Kem Kemuyan, in the morning we spent three hours watching and waiting as everyone took to the wall. I think it is called a Canopy Walk, where one climbs to the top of a tower and comes down, spiderman-style, in a harness and all, like walking down the smooth wall. I had some troubles in the beginning, but it was all fine in the end. (By the way, that day was my birthday, and the kids actually remembered and sang the birthday song to me!)

The Obstacle Course in the afternoon was probably really painful for the bigger boys, especially since they had to do a lot of carrying and helping. Doing the commando crawl underneath the barb wire was quite fun actually.

So despite the lack of sleep, and the noisy clanging church bells at precisely 6 am, and dirty toilets, the days passed quickly, and finally I’m home again.

Home has never seemed sweeter.

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Icons

I don’t think I’ve posted these stuff yet. I think they’re based on tutorials.

All from Narnia trailer clips (except for the last one) and resources… my apologies. I don’t remember.

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Episode 9: Horizons

We start with Syd and Vaughn - gasp, but no surprise (spoiled too much already) - carrying groceries. Which is wrong. Then someone tells Syd to stick with Vaughn, then poof - two days earlier.

Syd went for her usual checkup, along with Jack. Jack gives Syd her thingy which she used to love when she was three and under.

Then there’s Kelly Peyton, Dean’s right-hand man (girl), now the leader of the bad guys who used to be under Dean. She kills a guy for his watch, and breaks into someplace where she steals Vaughn files.

Which makes APO go crazy. Syd is assigned to meet with Renee and see whether Vaughn ever told her anything. Nothing. But Syd is kidnapped, at the roadside, even though Renee flung two knifes (okay, that’s really cool), and shot a van like crazy. Renee only got the guy whom she thought to be her father episodes earlier (5x05 Out of the Box).

Jack takes it personally, so he goes to wherever where Renee is, where she holds the wounded guy. The guy is keeping his mouth shut, and won’t say anything, so Jack slices off his ear. But the guy’s tough, and won’t give up. Renee finds an address book on him, where there is an address written at least three times, and one time on the date of Syd’s delivery, which is in three days.

Meanwhile, Syd is fighting hard under hypnosis (or whatever). She goes back into all kinds of memories - season 4, 3, 2, 1, and Vaughn keeps telling her to let him go because the bad guys need intel that he tells her…and stuff.

Anyway there’s this bad guy behind the wall using distorted voice to direct the doctor guy. At last, Syd gives a wrong place name to them. And we see that behind the glass it is — Irina! And she talks to Peyton.

Kelly Peyton comes in, and Syd stabs her with the needle and rushes off. Meanwhile, Jack and Renee are at the specific address found in the book. All three are running around, then Jack enters a room, where there’s a crib, and rocking chair, and he’s surprised (in his Jack way), and says, “Good Lord!”

And Syd races out of the door into the sun just in time to see a helicopter take off, and that she’s so stuck on a cargo ship (called Athena). Looks like she is so going to have to deliver the baby on the ship just as the bad guys want .

Rating: 8/10
Just because of Irina, and Jack back in action (almost action, that is), and well the surprises in the end that really did caught me. Although Irina back wasn’t quite a shocker, I had stupidly half-spoiled myself in the forums before watching and suspected something. The scenes were obviously spliced in, and some say it is old footage, others say it is new stuff, shot in New York. Personally, it doesn’t really matter, so long as she’s there. And the crib room. Spooky. Please don’t tell me the baby is actually the real Rambaldi prophecy or whatever. I’m sick of this junk.

By the way, though this episode takes the highest rating in season 5 so far for me, it obviously doesn’t do the same for the people in USA. This episode has the lowest ratings of the entire series. How devastating can that be?

Hiatus until March. Until then, I’ll hopefully have the season 4 dvd. And meanwhile, so long as Lena Olin comes back, Alias will always rock. (almost always…)

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Motorbiking

Yesterday was the first day I rode a motorbike - on my own. Yeah. Because I’m old enough to do so and because if I don’t do it at this stage, I’ll have to wait until next year. Holidays are a great time to do stuff (and to plan stuff that you end up not doing).

Fortunately I live in a church area that has enough space to ride around, and a locked front gate at night which minimizes the amount of people watching (not like anyone cares anyway).

It was weird. Sort of like riding bicycles, except a motorbike is much bigger and heavier. As if there wasn’t much control over the motorbike, gliding off into the distance…

In the end, it was hot. Because of the helmet and the ‘armour’ I had to wear (courtesies of a mother). But it’s great. Learning to drive. A little scary, but worth it in the end. (Unless you die within the first few days of learning, which I hope doesn’t happen…)

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One more icon

Chronicles of Narnia - Peter. Because I don’t have one with his full face yet. The words are from the first trailer: A destiny will be fulfilled.

Credits: imsomniac, cbg

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Episode 5x08 Bob

Technically I was supposed to do Alias first (since I watched it first), but Chronicles of Narnia, for once, caused Alias to be overshadowed.

So anyways, Bob. There’s some kind of bomb which kills only people when activated, leaves everything else intact. Syd and Jack go someplace to meet the MI-6 contact - Elizabeth, who seems to have some history with Jack. She asks him whether he still plays the piano (since he was pressing some keys on a piano there), which the answer is negative.

After that, back to APO, where Rachel is sent to another place to get stuff. She meets Sark, who apparently is there for the same reason. After successfully getting the intel, she falls into bed with Sark (which sucks big time) as she had nothing else to do.

So they get the intel on the transfer of the weapon. Jack and Elizabeth go to the place and set up cameras and stuff. Unfortunately, the people aren’t MI-6 agents. They were… bad guys. (Frankly I don’t know the real name) The leader is a guy called Benjamin something.

So Jack and Elizabeth are taken to someplace. Where Elizabeth is shot in the hand in an attempt to get intel.

Meanwhile, APO people realize that someone else got intel and it wasn’t just Rachel who got it. They find out it’s Sark and Rachel is upset.

Anyways, Rachel had seen Sark’s plane ticket so she and Syd goes to that place to hire Sark. Sark calls Benjamin M and saves Elizabeth from getting her right hand shot right through.

After Jack and Elizabeth are rescued, Rachel dashes around to find Sark. Apparently he underestimated his friendship with the bad guy and is chained to the bomb.

Rachel is talked through the deactivating process by Marshall and Syd. Of course she’s successful.

Syd calls Jack and actually says ‘I love you’ which is like the 2nd or 3rd time throughout the entire series. And Jack goes to the piano and plays a song.

Rating: 7.5/10
Just for the sake of the fact Jack finally goes out in the field and plays the piano. Jack/Elizabeth got quite some reaction from everyone (including me) but they turned out to seem like old friends. I suspect lots of deleted scenes. The J/E ship technically does not exist and I hope it disappears forever never to return. While I may be a Jack fan, contrary to most Jack fans out there, I will always be a J/I shipper. In other words, always wanting Jack to be with Irina.

There is a great chance of Michael Vartan and Lena Olin coming back, so I’ll keep my hopes high for that.

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The Chronicles of Narnia

I finally got to watch it last night. There were tons of people outside waiting, and I was starting to freak out because I knew I was bound to meet a teacher. (I couldn’t forget the last time I went (which was last year) I met a bunch of teachers).

And…to my absolute horror, there were the teachers. They sat in the row right in front of me. And partly disturbed my watching.

But anyway, leave the disturbance behind. And get to the movie.

It was fantastic. Right from the beginning with the German bombers down to the resurrection of Aslan to the Pevensie children stumbling out of the wardrobe. The animals were amazingly done, comparable to the Lord of the Rings’ stuff.

The movie was well done, faithful to the book for the most part. The spiritual side of it was brought out well, especially about Aslan.

Except I wished I hadn’t read the book first. That took away the tension and excitement because I knew what was going to happen anyway. So I recommend watching before reading.

For Lord of the Rings fans though, don’t expect it to be like it. While Narnia may belong to the same fantasy genre, it is generally much brighter, more for kids. And somehow, the movie is done in a way that just doesn’t make you cry. Aslan, while I will always love him, comes out late, just goes through. Audiences don’t really have time to build a relationship with him.

That’s the down part. No tears. But it is great, for the rest. Go watch it, if you haven’t.

Rating: 9/10

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More Icons - Narnia

Since Edmund was being lonely as the only kid from Narnia being made into an icon, I did the rest of the kids, plus the eagle from the trailer. And yeah, Narnia is out already, going to watch tomorrow.

Credits: imsomniac, colorfilter (I can’t remember because I didn’t save the .psd file, and it’s been days)
Lucy

Peter - I think. Can’t see his face though. And I hope it’s Peter.

Mr. Eagle (lyrics is that song - on eagle’s wings)

Susan the archer

Posted in TV/Movies, Works | 1 Comment »

Sir Big Icon

The terrapins, namely Sir Big and Lady Green, are so cute. Fortunately the neighbours took care of them for us during the 5 days we were away, or else they might’ve died. My little brother figured they could survive well, so he opted not to ask for any help. But they helped out at the end anyway.

Credits: insomniac

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Trip

It’s been two days since returning home, but I haven’t posted anything for two reasons : 1. I forgot. 2. internet connection went down at the most inconvenient time.

Anyways, I really had a great time in Miri, especially visiting the Mulu Caves, which are supposed to be the ninth wonder of the world. Mostly about the cave with the longest cave passage in the world, supposedly able to hold 5 St Paul’s Cathedral (or whatever). This cave, Deer Cave, isn’t the biggest cave in the world like many think. That title belongs to the Sarawak Chamber, open only to nutty adventurers who will put their lives on the line.

We did watch the famous Bat Exodus, where the bats came out in spiraling snake-like formations. And saw a captivating view - almost like heaven-on-earth.

I know pictures are almost compulsory, but the camera still sucks, and the other people who went with us who took the pictures haven’t come up with them yet. I can’t do anything about it. And I’m starting to think we really need a new camera.

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