When the Cheshire emerges...

Found this while searching for a photo to accompany this week's review. Pretty cool retrospective.

Photo: IFC

Zod first invades Metropolis in a chilling scene, made to feel relevant and real as we continue to wonder in reality whether we are alone in the universe. Juxtaposed with beautifully ethereal flashback scenes to Clark's childhood, it's unsettling as we see one man's struggle to do good.

A beautiful image...

Kal-El is no Bruce Wayne though; although with its dark moments, Superman's story is one of inspiration as he comes to discover and know his destiny.

Lois Lane loves Superman. Superman loves Lois Lane.

Since seeing Man Of Steel last night, I've had this unconventional love story in my head.

I've mentioned in the past how I thought glamour in journalism came from fictional characters. Watching Man Of Steel was not just a solid return for the Kryptonian to the big screen (you get to read the review tomorrow), but the return of their story to my consciousness. And realising that these two could well have subconsciously been my reason for becoming a journalist.

Just look at Henry Cavill for a minute here. He rocks this cape like a boss and manages to mix gentility and extreme sexiness with little effort. It's fair to say the way he's looking at Amy Adams is how most every heterosexual girl wants to be looked at - like there's no one else in the world he'd rather be around.

Do you blame me for wanting to be Lois and find my Superman?

I know that Hollywood is king at presenting people with hope in fictional worlds. And fantastic stills like this one. I'm hopeful though, even if our reality is nowhere as idealistic - of both becoming a cool journalist and finding the hero. Not so much on meeting Henry Cavill unfortunately.

***

While I'm on the subject of Henry Cavill:


The photos don't do him justice... I didn't even think it was possible for a human to be that ripped and not be on steroids or tanned up with veins popping out. Five thousand calories a day for six months is how you get started apparently. Intense.

***
Since your mind is your own private territory, you can give any new idea a private audition for a few days.
(So I really can be Lois Lane and find Superman... excellent.)

There are some people who live 70 years, and there are some people who live one year 70 times, repeating what they're doing over and over in the name of the gold watch or whatever.

If you're looking for love it will always elude you. If you're looking for happiness it will always elude you. When you become these things, it's all you will have to give away.

Stop blaming your spouse for your unhappiness, your parents for your lack of motivation, the economy for your social status, the bakery for your excess weight, your childhood for your phobias, and anything else to which you assign blame points. You're the sum total of the choices you've made in your life.

I took this, started boiling the pasta, and everything was hunky dory. It had been a good day, one of those where you've had a pretty good run all round...

Then my new smoke alarm had to make itself known, didn't it?

Man, those things are LOUD. How embarrassing...

I am still very much looking forward to eating it... I'm sharing this with you in the first place because it's been a long time since I cooked something that really takes dedication. When I cook stuff like this (ie the sauce from scratch), I feel as if I've truly accomplished something. I put a good amount of effort into it, you know?

Bon appetit!

***
Everything that's happening is supposed to be happening.

Doing what you love is the cornerstone of having abundance in your life.

Analysing is really a violent intellectual act. When you analyse something, you have to break it apart and find every little piece of it.

You control your emotions, so you don't have to explode with anger whenever someone else decides to behave in angry ways.

Loving people live in a loving world. Hostile people live in a hostile world. How come?

You can't be authentic unless you're following your bliss.

The path to the big picture is different for everyone, but the understanding has to be that the big picture is there, and its availability is there.

Believe it and you'll see it. Know it and you'll be it!

World War Z (M)

CANNIBALISM - something humans reject with societal norms and progression of mankind, but nevertheless a primal instinct hidden deep within the darkest part of our souls. What possesses a select few at any given time to undertake the practice is as much a mystery as when zombies - the undead who are blissfully unaware of their traits - threaten to take over the world.

Marc Forster’s latest film, an adaptation of the novel by Max Brooks, is not so much a look at why zombies seek human blood though as trying to identify where the virus creating the creatures started and how to stop it. It’s a return to heavy action for the Quantum of Solace director as he tells us a story of that primal instinct we all possess to survive.

Gerry (Brad Pitt) is a former United Nations employee called to help stop the pandemic as it sweeps the world. Against his wishes to stay with family, he travels with US intelligence to South Korea to try and identify the source of the outbreak.

The zombies, determined to feast on and convert anyone, are ruthless. Their sheer numbers are enough to make most squirm in their seat as the humans that remain try to flee. Gerry is an action man though, more often than not finding himself in close calls during his mission.

His road is not an easy one as the world around him falls to pieces. But he’s a smart guy, putting the pieces together about what makes them tick. To say what they are would ruin the story, but suffice to say the solution to the dilemma is, in typical Hollywood fashion, a potentially costly exercise.

Courtesy g33kwatch.com

Forster leaves Bond behind but takes with him the international flavour to make this story a worldly one. Diverse casting including James Badge Dale, Daniella Kertesz and Moritz strengthens the film, while the locations are something for the Brangelina crew to be proud of.

At just under two hours, the overall story winds its way along as Gerry roughs it out across the planet’s newfound wilderness. That matters little as the plot delivers a not-so-subtle turn here and there to positively set the course in a new direction. Pitt is strong as the saviour, but is supported well by the cast.

This offering gives you a bit of everything; it’s manageable for the squeamish, thrilling for those with questions and even a bit comical for those who laugh in the face of the undead.

This story of instinct can’t answer many of the questions originally posed, but is better for it. To understand everything wouldn’t be truthful to human evolution, and so to leave satisfied would be anti-climactic. An entertaining film that leaves you wanting more is a solid result.

Rating: 3.5/5

A prisoner's last meal.


Courtesy mymodernmet.com, photo Henry Hargreaves

It's a topic that has come up for many in general conversation, a hypothetical way of trying to determine what you would crave at your life's end.

I came across this article a month or so ago and wanted to share it because of the photo essay it features.

New Zealand artist Henry Hargreaves' collection is an insight into what those who have committed the worst of crimes enjoy eating most - it's both slightly sordid and engrossingly interesting.

It didn't help in trying to think of my own preferences though. Still stuck on it.

What would you have as your final meal?

***
The children whom you admire so much for their ability to enjoy life aren't foreign creatures to you. You have one of those children inside you.

FOR PARENTS: One of the really good exercises for releasing attachments is to go through your garage and your closets and take all the things that your children don't use anymore and give them away. Have your kids participate in this.

After Earth (M)

The Earth of the future is a concept thrown around cinema countlessly, and will continue to be for decades more, changed and debated in the form of entertainment again and again. Though now, creators have started to take that concept into their own hands in a more environmentally mindful world, attempting to spark debate about issues like sustainability and technology.

What purpose the attempts carry though is arguably not that relevant to a generic cinema audience. If it was, they’d stick to films like An Inconvenient Truth.

M Night Shyamalan and Will Smith have come together to give us a father-son story set on an uninhabitable Earth, where Senior Commander Cypher (Smith) and Kitai’s (Jaden Smith) ship has crashed, everyone else has died and the only way they can get assistance is to send a signal from a device in the wreckage of the tail of the ship 100 kilometres away.

Cypher is injured, so it’s up to Kitai, a cadet soldier who didn’t pass his recent test, to face the beasts now roaming Earth. The Smiths love good family time, but this is bonding of a different kind. Cypher is cold, having removed all fear from his life and trying to teach his son the tricks of his trade. Kitai, though is a bit of a wimp.

Courtesy The Hollywood Reporter

 To be fair, he’s a kid who’s been through a traumatic early childhood experience and never recovered. But because of Kitai’s weaknesses, the film is largely a moral piece that focuses on strengthening the mind. Letting go of fear, knowing it doesn’t exist, that sort of thing.

For a Shyamalan film so far set from his previous films, it all comes across as a bit of a self-help lesson, patronising to both the kid and us watching. Facing fear in adversity has been explored many times before, not least by Shyamalan, but it’s been done much better in films of the sci-fi genre as well as others.

The overall story (Will Smith’s concept) runs pretty thin, and the screenplay (by Shyamalan and Gary Whitta) maintains enough of a flow but feels it has to compensate for the lack of story by making Kitai encounter everything possible on his way to the finish line. For Shyamalan, heavy on his themes of the unknown, it’s a poor effort with nothing to remotely surprise the viewer.

To the contrary of other reviews, the film is not a complete disaster. Camera movements carried off by cinematographer Peter Suschitzky are varied to remain fresh, while the overall look of the uninhabited land remains intriguing.

The Smiths, however, don’t look the best off this. Will is restricted to serious mode as a generally unlikeable character. He is robot. Jaden plays the wimpy Kitai really wimpy and garners no sympathy from anyone. Emotional involvement is limited - but that’s how future humans are going to be right? Cold and calculated...

Today I saw something on my Facebook feed that made me fair ill...

***
All you need in order to have total happiness, fulfillment, and love in your life you already have right now, whoever you are, wherever you are.

"One in every 150 English words posted on Twitter is spelt incorrectly, with missing apostrophes the most common grammar crime."

A statistic that is not surprising, but still pretty detrimental to the English language.

Part of my job as a sub-editor is proofing copy, and among that knowing things like my its vs it's and making corrections. I'm not flawless with this (to be fair, no one is), but I'm pretty damn good. And I get really annoyed when people get these things wrong. English isn't an easy language, but native speakers should have it down by the time they're out of year 2.

Other unnecessary apostrophes - no excuse. Sadly, I'm pretty sure I sent a page at work a couple of days ago only to see it had been changed and an apostrophe placed in a word (not its/it's) incorrectly by the time I got to putting it online. Deary me.

As a heavy Twitter user, it will be admitted that like the Telegraph (UK) article I got this information from says, I understand how easy it is to want to abbreviate.

Not that difficult for others, surely?

The article also said:

Twitter recently announced it counts an average of 400 million tweets posted by users every day, but it fared worst among all social networks for the quality of spelling and grammar.


Even U2 can't escape misspelt posts. Courtesy CBC



How GOOD was last night's game?!

Courtesy brisbanetimes.com.au





Courtesy The Age


It was a great display by the boys, and honestly the biggest relief. Just to know we're that much closer to gaining World Cup qualification.

I've planned for some time to attempt a trip to Brazil during the 2014 World Cup. Though the last week has raised questions as to whether I would go regardless of the result. It would be heartbreaking to not have my home country there, but the spectacle of Brazil can not be underestimated/ignored.

Either way, Tuesday night in Sydney is going to be the big one.

And I'll be there.

I've said I'll be the loudest at Stadium Australia should we qualify with a result like last night's, and I intend to keep my word. After all, I have five hours in the car and a day in the city to psych myself up for chants and training my vocals to deal with a bit of strain.

***


3.30am(ish) Macca's fix in Berlin. Super.


In other news, I've decided to launch a spin-off blog of my mega McDonald's post.

For those who don't know, I began a quest to try the McDonald's of different cultures on overseas travels in 2010, which will continue indefinitely.

You will be able to revisit past experiences and be invited to new ones as I continue this lifelong quest to try as many different McDonald's menu items as possible.

Have a look at McDonald's: an odyssey as I'm rolling out old posts - reminisce, have your say, share and subscribe!

***
How do you get world peace? You get world peace through inner peace. If you've got a world full of people who have inner peace, then you have a peaceful world.

We all have a well of infinite depth within us that contains more potential for creativity than we can ever imagine.

You can make your life into a grand, ever-evolving work of art. The key is your thoughts, the wondrous, invisible part of you that is your spiritual soul.

You mustn't attempt to will anything. You need only be willing.

The use of mental imagery is onen of the strongest and most effective strategies for making something happen for you.

When you get enough inner peace and feel really positive about yourself, it's almost impossible for you to be controlled and manipulated by anybody else.

If you find yourself being treated in a way you resent or that turns you into a victim, ask yourself this question: "What have I done to teach this person that this behaviour is something I'm willing to tolerate?"

***
Why?

Don't equate your self-worth with how well you do things in life. You aren't what you do. If you are what you do, then when you don't, you aren't.

You don't have to be a person who's at the mercy of anyone who chooses to annoy you.

Shy people make shy pictures over and over in their minds, and until they see themselves as unafraid, they'll always act on the pictures they create.

What makes you human is not this form, but the invisible intelligence that suffuses it - mind, spirit, God, whatever you want to call it.

Imagine the word CANCEL being a huge rubber stamp in your mind. Stamp CANCEL on any self-defeating image you can place in your head, and begin to think in a self-enhancing way.

Suffering comes from wants.

We become what we think about all day long. The question is, "What do you think about?"

Surrender to a new consciousness, a thought that whispers, "I can do this thing in this moment. I will receive all the help that I need as long as I stay with this intention and go within for assistance."

Advance confidently in the direction of your own dreams to live the life that you've imagined. That's when you have success.

There's a rhythm to the universe. When we're able to get quiet enough, we experience how we're a part of that perfect rhythm.

How ironic in that days where I've felt more than a bit isolated I let my blog, and these quotes, slip. No more...

Self-esteem comes from the self, not from acquisition and approval.

You cannot always be number one, or always win a contest, or always get the merit badge, or always make the honour roll, but you can always think of yourself as an important, worthwhile person.

Our beliefs about ourselves are the most telling factors in determining our level of success and happiness in life.

Every single condition in your life can be improved if you learn to be more effective at visualising what you want and having the intention to manifest it.

Individuals who use self-labels are stating, "I'm a finished product in this area, and I'm never going to be any different." If you're a finished product, all tied up and put away, you've stopped growing.

Make a personal decision to be in love with the most beautiful, exciting, worthy person ever - you!

Whenever other people are upset, always remember that they own the upset, and that you can refuse to join them.

With everything that has happened to you, you can either feel sorry for yourself, or treat what has happened as a gift. Everything is either an opportunity to grow or an obstacle to keep you from growing. You get to choose.

Buddha said, "You will not be punished for your anger. You will be punished by your anger."

No one can depress you. No one can make you anxious. No one can hurt your feelings. No one can make you anything other than what you allow inside.

The phenomenon that is the Furious franchise came as somewhat of a massive shock to me as I got to the cinema on Thursday night...

Fast and Furious 6 attendance at #Dubbo is mental, had to sit on the edge of the back row next to 12yo boys... #howembarrassing #atthemovies
— Katina V (@Katiinkaa) June 6, 2013

Then the audience were in fits of laughter for half of the film - I didn't find it all that amusing, but on asking two teenage boys afterwards and them saying it was awesome, I understood just a little bit. I think people have really gotten to appreciate the characters. I get that about LOTR or even Harry Potter and Twilight - but still, these guys?...

Anyway, I got through it. And it was alright.

My horoscope was bullshit today.

Pushing the argument of the validity of horoscopes aside, any day when they turn to the subject of love/companionship I usually baulk - purely because it's not relevant.

Today's was something along the lines of that I'm about to enter a new phase centred on love and that today in particular I may meet someone uncommonly interesting.

I left for work knowing exactly how my day would pan out and being pretty certain that it wouldn't involve meeting anyone new, let alone interesting.

I ran late for work, again, and didn't really care. The day was as average as any other day.

I was on a normal sub-editing shift, stumbled across two potential stories I couldn't chase because of said sub-editing, had slices of the Finnish apple pie I finally made for lunch (because I like my decadence and money's tight before pay-night tomorrow - and it tasted fabulous), read up on some Adelaide and Sydney news and did more sub-editing. Blah.

I did step outside to sit in the sun for half an hour and read Empire but that's as far from the workplace as I got. Chance of interaction with a stranger: minimal. I also went to a Relay For Life meeting (as I'm on the volunteer committee), and now I'm about to watch the soccer. Day over. Eventfulness: zero (unless the Socceroos win).

***

The point is really to say that giving me any form of excitement in this department through predictions hiding in the stars is unwise. Even if worded as nicely as it was today, I'd rather wake up to read something that's actually going to give me purpose to get through the day. Not crap that points out the everlasting lack of romanticism within my existence.