Lone Survivor-Human and Technology Blind Spots

A Sad Afghanistan Episode

This is a classic true story about bravery amidst hardship in enemy territory (Afghanistan) and the ineffectiveness of modern communication technologies.

Desperate Defense

Marcus Luttrel with a band of navy seals (The Red Wing) targeted the notorious  al Qaeda leader, Ahmad Shahd in late 2005. They apparently made an unwise on the spot decision to follow the international rules of engagement, letting go of their mountain herder prisoners. As expected information of their presence got to the Talibans and they were duly trounced by the Talibans with the sheer possibility of being decapitated if caught as prisoners.

Fear and Horror

The movie showcased the terrifying carnage of modern warfare where life is but a trifling of shattered bones,body parts and more gore and blood.

Bone Shattering Engagement

The movie attracted 2 Academy Award nominations.

Playing up the Talibans

Classic Beatles LEGO

This is a collectors item of the Beatles in LEGO.

It encapsulates the Beatles as they crossed the famed Abbey Road.

Interesting.

These Pictures are truly Wonderful

I love these photos. don't you?

The Hand Reaching Out!

Phones Galore!

Captivating Majesty

Easter Island Oddity

Central Park, NY - Aerial View

I Do-Li Bing Bing's Finest

'I Do', a Mandarin movie starring mostly mainland actors and actresses is the epitome of modern love stories captured on celluloid recently.

Starring the talented, fabulous and beautiful Li Bing-Bing, the film evolves around another triangular affair pitting beauty and principles against wealth in the pursuit of love.

The main plot line is a girl in her 30's seeking marriage after a successful career and an earlier love affair that left her high and dry.

Though there are bit parts that should not have been excluded, the movie on the whole stands way way up in terms of entertainment value.

In a way, it brings us back to the early 1960s where love movies sans sex rule the day with legendary film stars such as Lucilla Yu Min,Lin Dai, Li Ching and Tang Lan Hua.

Great movie.

Watch it on You-tube!

The Saga of the Production of Mary Poppins

The Saga in the Making of Mary Poppins

Saving Mr. Banks showcases Walt Disney's unrelenting effort to make the movie, Mary Poppins.

Tom Hanks as Walt Disney

The movie tells us about the the many years that Walt Disney endeavoured to have the film rights to the book written by Pamela Travers.

On the outback

The British domiciled Australian writer at first could not accept many of the magic of Hollywood and Walt Disney especially animation.

Winning her over straddles most of the film.

A visit to Disneyland for Pamela

Though a bit draggy in some parts especially the flashbacks to the Australian farm, the movie is worth watching just to enjoy the conflicts between Walt, his song-writers and Pamela.

Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Colin Farrel and Paul Giamatti lend their  superb talent and skills to the movie.

An okay watch.

Burton and Elizabeth:Lives in Desperation

Captivating Performance

I have just watched the BBC production of Burton and Elizabeth, a docudrama of the turbulent lives of both these protagonists.

Dominic west played Burton while the talented Helena Bonham Carter played the manic-depressive Elizabeth, hard on booze during almost the entire staging of Noel Coward;s play, Private Lives.

Tumultuous Off-On Romance 

For the duration of 80 odd minutes, cascade along with the ups and downs of these ex-spouses who are, as it seems, good at throwing barbs at each other.

In reality, both of them led miserable lives.

Good to watch just to have a peep into the private lives of two of Hollywood's greatest lovers!

The Buyers Club: Inflating Property Prices

Chang's Revelation

I took this article from the  online Sundaily dated 21 January 2014 which exposed another side of the construction industry and how it impact negatively on new pre-launch residential properties .

Here is it.

"Investor clubs are buying new houses en bloc from developers, leading to the sky-rocketting of house prices. Comprising groups of individuals, they are usually led by self-proclaimed property gurus who use their numbers to secure huge discounts from developers.

National House Buyers Association (HBA) secretary-general Chang Kim Loong (pix) claims some even get discounts as high as 25% on purchase prices.

This has resulted in developers passing on the "losses" sustained in those purchases to the average buyer in subsequent phases of the project to compensate for the reduced profits in the first phase.

Chang said that to his knowledge, there are at least seven such clubs in the Klang Valley. The HBA wants the authorities to investigate the growing number of such clubs in the Klang Valley area.

As at press time, REHDA had not responded to SunBiz's queries while the Minister of Housing and Local Government did not respond to calls for comment.

Bank Negara also declined to comment on the issue.

Chang said property gurus openly advertised, even showing off who "their" developers are.

"They say they 'front for them (developers)' which means the clubs already have deals with the developers," he told SunBiz.

"Such clubs have been mushrooming in the housing industry, manipulating prices by representing an average of 100 to 200 purchasers, even up to 500 buyers.

"Some even dominate 50% of housing units and commercial development."

"The modus operandi of the operators of these clubs is to negotiate as a block purchaser with cash-strapped developers and bargain for pre-launch discounts of up to 25%," he said.

Developers, for example, fall in with the plan in order to draw-down on bridging loans from banks, where, in most cases, they will only be allowed once 50% of the project is taken up.

"So here, they've got these purchasers who say they will buy en bloc, up to 50% or 60% of the units with a certain discount.

"They may ask for a 25% discount, which is a lot, and the developer may agree, but the property 'gurus' may not tell their members they have got a 25% discount. They tell their members that they got a 15% discount, even better than the bumiputra discounts of 7% for housing and 10% for commercial (units)."

Chang said buyers get excited when they see the discount but they do not realise that the other 10% has been pocketed by the property gurus."