Selling Your Soul!

Mitch McDeere was a young man with a promising future in Law. A law graduate from Harvard, he was about to sit his Bar exam when he was approached by 'The Firm' based in Memphis which made him an offer he couldn't resist.

Seduced by the money and gifts showered on him, he was initially totally oblivious to the more sinister side of his company.

Then, two Associates were murdered. The FBI contacted him, asking him to turned snitch which he refused. Then he was compromised by a night 'sexcapade' on the beach in Cayman Islands.

Torn between the FBI and the firm, he worked out a all-win solution to trade-off his life for money and the paroling of his brother.

Great plot-line and good acting from a young Tom Cruise and the ever delectable Jean Tripplehorn.

A great film even though it is no longer current.

The King is Dead!

Michael Jackson-the King is dead! Apparently from a cardiac arrest.

Born on August 29, 1958 , Michael showed his singing and showmanship on stage as the Jackson 5 and then moved on to solo. He built his Neverland playground for kids to enjoy themselves but then was branded a pedophile and had his image tarnished further when he went into near bankruptcy.

He had a sold-out tour this year to salvage his sagging image and taking the name Mikhail,after converting to Islam.

He departed on June 25 2009 at 51.

During his life-time, he married the daughter of Elvis Presley, Lisa as well as released excellent albums and songs from Beat it, Dangerous, Bad, Heal the World;just to name a few.

God rest his troubled soul.

Real Easy

Yes, New Orleans-the Big Easy.

Beautiful Creole music and a mishmash of culture down south Louisiana.

I missed this movie when it first came by in the late 1080s. Continues to have its thrills. Plot-wise, it's all about police corruption and the low down of cops who wants to make it big by drug dealing, murder and extortion.

Good chemistry between a youngish looking Dennis Quaid and a sexy Ellen Barkin.

Love the music;love the dialogue.

Great revisit

It's okay to be fat?

Would you believe this?

Reuters reports:

According to a Canadian study,a few pounds appear to protect people from an early death.So this would certainly be happy news to many who are out there carrying that little extra weight.

Apparently, researchers have found out that while underweight and extremely obese people die earlier than people of a normal weight, people who are slightly overweight actually live longer than those of a normal weight.

These findings of a new study were published online in the journal Obesity by researchers at Statistics Canada, Kaiser Permanente Centre for Health Research, Portland State University, Oregon Health & Science University, and McGill University.

“It’s not surprising that extreme underweight and extreme obesity increase the risk of dying, but it is surprising that carrying a little extra weight may give people a longevity advantage,” said researcher David Feeny from the Kaiser Permanente Centre for Health Research.

But fellow researcher Mark Kaplan, professor of Community Health at Portland State University has added a caveat to this. He is of the view that while a few extra pounds may protect older people as their health declines, that did not mean people of normal weight should try to bulk up.

He indicated that the study only looked at mortality and not at quality of life,reminding that there are many negative health consequences associated with obesity, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes.

The study was based on examining the relationship between body mass index and death among 11,326 adults in Canada over a 12-year period using data from the National Population Health Survey.

During the study period, from 1994/1995 through 2006/2007, underweight people were 70 per cent more likely than people of normal weight to die, and extremely obese people were 36 per cent more likely to die.

But overweight individuals were 17 per cent less likely to die. The relative risk for obese people was nearly the same as for people of normal weight.

The researchers said this was the first large Canadian study to show that people who are overweight may actually live longer than those of normal weight.

An earlier study, conducted in the United States and published in 2005 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, showed similar results.

Caution and Apprehension at UH

They are not leaving anything to chance, I hope.

So, as I was about to enter into the RUKA area, I realised that only one door was opened. There was a guard there and he had a spray in his hand. It was an alcohol wash. So he sprayed some onto my opened palms and I rubbed it down into my skin.

The hospital is a bad place to be if you have no business to be there.

I was there to collect my periodic prescription and so I had to sit down among the sick, coughing and sneezing lot; all waiting for their numbers to be displayed to quickly collect their medicine and to vamoose!

It's really frightening if this swine fever is not contained quickly!

Bernama has the latest report on the status of Resorts World Singapore.

The latest position report regarding the development of Genting's RM16.61 billion integrated family resort and casino on Sentosa Island in Singapore is set to put a stop to worries that the project is behind in terms of its physical completion.

The report stated in no uncertain terms that the project is nearing completion and on track to open early 2010.

All structural buildings would be completed by next month.The buildings that will be readied under the first phase of the project will include Universal Studios theme park, a casino, a dining strip and four hotels – Hotel Michael, Maxims Tower, Festive Hotel and Hard Rock Hotel.

Building works, which began in April 2007, were on scheduled, and 60 per cent of the resort’s built-up area would be opened to visitors during its soft opening.

The second phase of the project will involve two more attractions-the Marine Life Park and the maritime museum and two more hotels, the Equarius and Spa Villas, which would be opened progressively. Resorts World Sentosa will be the largest resort, with 10,000 staff when fully operational. Some 12 million to 13 million visitors are expected to visit the resort yearly.

The Universal Studio, the only one in South-East Asia, will offer 24 themed rides, including 18 which are exclusively designed for Singapore especially the world’s tallest pair of duelling roller-coasters in the world.

Other attractions are its seven zones which include Sci-Fi City, Egypt, New York, The Lost World and Hollywood, and the Waterworld Stunt Show.

The Marina Bay Sands, another casino resort complex under construction at Marina Bay and is targeted to be completed by year-end.

Not new and Not the First Case

This must have been happening for doggone years.

So what's new?

Apparently, a lecturer at a private international university allegedly demanded sex and money from students in return for better grades. He has been arrested by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

The man, a foreigner in his 40s who lectures in Cyberjaya, was arrested at about 5pm after a victim lodged a report with the MACC.

It is learnt that the woman, 24, sat for a qualifying exam to enable her to continue her Masters’ degree. After sitting for her papers, she was allegedly approached by her lecturer who told her she did not do well in her exam. He then allegedly told her that he could help her, provided she agrees to give in to his demands for sex and cash.

Initially he asked her only for sexual favours but when she refused, he demanded money as well if she wanted to pass the exam.

The lecturer was also reported to have instilled fear into the woman through some wordy threats as well.

An MACC director confirmed the arrest.

To me, this is nothing new and has been happening all the time in both institutes of higher learning in both the government and the private sectors.

So far, it just went unreported!