"His (Peter Low) ideas of doing things is not the New Zealand way, and it certainly is not the Chinese way.

"He does not represent us or the Asian community."

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=30&objectid=10520648

Well it wasn't like we didn't see this coming!

Having had some first hande experience of working with Chinese in political groups, and there always seems to be one person pushing their own personal agenda who has a little clique around them talking them up - one minute they "speak for the whole community" next you find they'd be lucky to speak for their mates!

I'll say it again ( because there's been some comments claiming I am bagging 'Asians') The objectives on the web site were laudable, there are already groups within the community doing great work, and I think anything that invloves recent immigrants in working with fellow NZders to reduce crime is fantastic and to be encouraged. Triads and vigilantes on the other hand, are plain stupid, and Mr Low having lived here for 20 odd years should have known this would back fire.

At the time I thought that perhaps the media was using the term vigilante, and that they were hyping things up when the group appeared to be about education and lobbying - nothing wrong with either although replication of efforts already underway. I wasn't alone and I see Rabon Kan ( http://www.stuff.co.nz/4609463a1861.html ) also thought the same thing.

Unfortunately I was wrong. I see the groups organiser, Peter Low, has described the group as...

"We are a vigilante group and are training now"

"I want this group to be legalised. If they (the police) don't allow it, that's when we might have to employ Triads to protect our community"

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10520221

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4609478a11.html

As this appears in both the Herald and Stuff.co.nz, it isn't miss-interpretation. Peter Low is apparently from Singapore, and as English is essentially a first language there this hasn't been 'lost in translation'.

He comes across as a bit of a ranter (actually sounds a bit like an NZ First member, but that's highly unlikely). The groups motives seemed worthy, but if they think somehow replacing local criminals with triads is a solution they have really lost the plot. Triads, if they even could be bothered operating here, would make the locals look like amateurs, so that doesn't sound like a very well thought out solution. It's possible all the attention is going to Mr Low's head and he's getting a bit carried away. Although if he gets really carried away the sight of Asians dressed in brightly coloured tights with funny helmets roaming South Auckland fighting crime would be a wondrous thing!

As I said last week, people would be far better off throwing their weight behind an existing group, ideally with their fellow New Zealanders.

Mr Low also says "This is non-profit, non-religion, non-politics and non-racist, It is open to all to become a member"- however if he was really serious about reaching out to all sections of New Zealand society then he wouldn't have called it an Asian group.

I am guessing this group won't be around in six months, sensible people Asian or otherwise, will likely gravitate towards existing groups, or someone claiming to be a member will do something silly that will isolate the group from the mainstream.

A pity, this is a wasted opportunity.

Coming back to the movie,after a long time I have spent a good hour on a serious cinema. For a change this time I am not going to tell you the story or give any hints about what to expect. But probably this movie is a part eye opener in the sense that it effectively explains why Abhishek Bacchan fell for Aishwarya Rai. After all being married to Avantika is equivalent to having gay hairless nightmares of Uday Chopra doing Batshit Crazy Belly dance with his muscular lower intestines wearing a leather thong with a metal spiked utility belt holding bondage gear, all the while giggling like slutty female manga characters from some Japanese Doujinshi. The eternal plasticity of Aishwarya Rai is far better compared to that hellish ordeal.Jokes apart (if at all I was....) the movie is a living testimony to the depth of Character Senior B can bring,given the right scenario,director and role.I am personally not a fan of Senior B but truely the film has been a moment of discovery for me and of course I am not glorifying the 'Belly Dance' here.........

The funniest moment in this sporadically amusing outing into an ouch slouch is when all torture fails to intimidate the kidnap victim Rimi Sen. Then Riteish Deshmukh fishes out a copy of Ram Gopal Varma's Aag.

Then the kidnap victim screams in anticipated agony.

That's pretty much the best inhouse joke I've seen in a Hindi comedy. E Niwas not only assisted Varma he also made a semi-sparkling comedy Love Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega for Varma before branching out.

Niwas ab laughter ke liya kuch kuch karega.

De Taali is not quite De Gaali. It falls somewhere in between the taali and gaali. And not quite with a thud. Contrary to the promotional campaign De Taali is not a boys-will-have-fun kind of raunchy comedy we had expected.

Yes there are two boys Aftab Shivdasani and Riteish Deshmukh, both in spirited form as friends, one rich and the other an unselfconscious parasite.

They remind you of Amitabh Bachchan and Rajesh Khanna in Namak Haraam.

Rest assured, De Taali doesn't aspire to be a serious study of spaces that separate capitalism from serious exploitation.

So relax. Put your feet up in the empty chair in front and let that popcorn do all the talking.

Here's a film that goes from goofy definitions of asexual bonding to purely corny sexual bonding.

The tree-house bonding among Shivdasani, Deshmukh and Takiya (in ever-sprakling form and showing terrific timing in both the light and serious moments) is punctuated by spasms of satire on bonding among a trio that seems to have borrowed its primary rules of friendship from Karan Johar's Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, and then turned it on its head. Though alas, no bed.

Somehow the bondings never get deeper than the shallow and skittish. The dialogues are deliberately casual and trendy. And 'cool' in a rather thanda way. And the first-half delivers some tangy tendrils of narration that never quite grows into a tree of titters.

The second- half where Deshmukh and Takiya, out of a feeling of misbegotten friendship kidnaps the gold digger who wants to marry their naively sentimental rich friend, gets out of hand and finally runs of breath.

The director E Niwas's penchant for black humour gets the better of the plot. By the time poor goofy Shivdasani realizes he loves the girl on the tree-top we're well past the stage of caring about this woozy anthem on sharing.

The sequence where Deshmukh visits Rimi Sen's monstrously malfunctional family is so over-the-top you wonder which came first, the family or its psychosis. The jokes on Alcoholics Anonymous are hopelessly inadequate, better left alone.

The talented Pavan Malhotra who was so powerfully perched in E Niwas' My Name Is Anthony Gonzalves makes a cameo appearance as a lecherous tutor who gives Rimi Sen lessons on the dining table whike she licks an icecream with suggestive languor.

Yipes….a bit of Mr Bachchan's Bemisaal here.The Big B pops up ubiquitously throughout the narrative. And that includes a fancy-dress party where everyone dresses up as a character from a Bachchan film.

And Aftab's character is even named Abhishek. Cute.

You could enjoy the spurts of wit that keep cropping up here and there.Soon it becomes hard to keep up with the improvisations and innovations in the script.

The quartet of principal actors keep the comedy afloat. Riteish is in specially good form displaying a razor-sharp comic timing in acrowd of faces.

Yup, this guy has got the 'IT' factor. The film misses the bus by a wide margin. But nevertheless makes us smile a while.

Sarkar Raj, the comeback movie of RGV was supposed to be as good as the original Sarkar. The acting was almost as good but direction wasn't. I found it quite strange that a director who has made gems like Company and Sarkar could come out with a movie with so many jarring loop holes. Oh, may be he is still in hang-over of Aag.

Acting vice Big B and Small B do justice to their role while the new B in the block Aishwarya, shows how lousy she is when it comes to acting-- she should stick to modeling.

The first half was catchy, fast and set the tone.. the audience could smell blood and all that RGV had to do was go for the kill. But instead he let the movie drag on and finished the movie with a ending which came out of the blue. The fault was not with the story but with the direction skills.

The slightly different variant of the sound score from the original Sarkar is used in Sarkar Raj. Only this time the govinda govinda chant is played every now and then. It is played so many times that you are overwhelmed by it towards the end.

The cinematography is beautiful and the tint looks beautiful in the beginning. However it tends to make you weary after a while, because you can sense FAKE written all over it.

I read somewhere that the movie was 2hrs 40min long initially. RGV then decided to cut it down to 2 hrs 5 mins. That was a very bold decision and that reflects in the first half where the bulk of the minutes were lost.

Overall I feel it was the expectation that let me down. It wasn't a bad movie as such. But just like one expect children of great people to be equally great, it is but natural to expect a sequel to be as good as the prequel.

Rating 6.5/10

PS: A friend of mine reckons that the killer who is appointed to kill AB is RGV himself... (if you haven't seen the movie, you won't understand what I am trying to say here =) )

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dasavathaaram

This movie is supposed to be master piece of Kamalahasan! Ya right! Whom are they kidding. Wearing different masks and running around doing multiple roles doesn't make one great. At least I don't think it does!

Kamal plays ten characters in the movie and the only factor uniting them is a Tsunami. The movie is worth watching for the beginning sequence, showcasing how Tanjavur might have been in 15th century. Quite stunning I say. From there on the movie slides down, crashing into a pool of stupidity.

It is just not possible to comment on Kamal's acting as his face is visible for only two characters. In all other characters, all you get to see is the atta like face. The worst character in the movie is of Fletcher, a terminator kinda character who is also an ex-CIA agent. I have nothing much to say about the rest of the characters for they are all equally bad err defective. Like one of friends mentioned, most characters played by Kamal looked like characters out of The Simpsons. Asin plays the typical village lass as shown in almost al Tamil moves -- silly, squeaky and comes under the category of pest. Also I think this is the first movie in which Mallika Sherawat has an item number and a decent role to play.

The soundtrack of the movie is okayish but the songs are forcefully included in the movie and they feel out of context. The story was so crappy that it would have been a bigger flop than Tashan if not for the hype.

I expected a lot from this movie and I expected to come out of the hall in awe, but that wasn't to be. I came out frowning instead.

Rating - 2.5/10
DON'T WATCH IT. STAY AWAY FROM THIS ONE.

PS: On a lighter note; in case somebody gifts you a DVD of the movies (after it comes out that is) do understand that he considers you to be his no.1 enemy!

Club de Golf Palihue logró coronarse como el mejor equipo del Campeonato Interclubes de Damas de Primera luego de derrotar al Golf Club General San Martín 6-2 y de empatar en 4 puntos frente a San Andrés GC. En la jornada final del sábado 10.
De esa forma, María y Lidia Cantarelli, Marcela Parera y María Olivero le dieron a su club la tercera conquista consecutiva en este campeonato, uno de los más tradicionales en la historia del golf argentino. Con 12 puntos, el equipo de Bahía Blanca logró la máxima posición distanciándose por uno de San Andrés GC y por dos de Club Náutico San Isidro.

En Intermedia, el San Isidro GC. logró sumar 16 puntos y se adjudicó de esa forma del primer ascenso. Luisa y Candelaria Villar Urquiza, Constanza Aleman y Nora Ventureira fueron las responsables del triunfo luego de ganar sus encuentros de hoy, en los que ganaron 6-2 ante Jockey Club de Córdoba y 8-0 frente a La Martona CC. El segundo lugar en las posiciones correspondió a Mar del Plata Golf Club (11 puntos).

Rosario Golf Club se mantuvo firme en la primera ubicación de la Segunda División y después de conseguir 14 puntos accedió a una plaza en la división intermedia. Tras vencer hoy 4-2 a Praderas de Luján y empatar 3-3 ante Club de Golf Mar del Plata, María Mercedes Curia, María Domingo y Melani Sisto establecieron una diferencia de 3 puntos con el Jockey Club (30 puntos chicos), Club Mar del Plata (28) y El Valle de Tandil (33).

Y hay más resultados en: http://www.aag.org.ar/noticia.asp?su=&secc=&se=&titu=&sit=¬i=1061

Ram Gopal Varma amuses me with his self deprecatory remark on the sms. This morning his text reads - ‘ Sarkar ( we address each other thus ), people are saying Tashan is as bad as Aag…! If Sholay has set the bench mark for the ultimate hit then the least i achieved with Aag, is that i made it a bench mark for the ultimate flop.. ha..ha ‘

Never too exuberant in success, nor too defeated in failure.

Solid words.

Oh, and check out Google Earth/Map. I stopped by the exhibit booth here, and TODAY they launched the new platform which has street view, as well as 3D buildings with the texture. In fact, Later once I get a better internet connection (painfully slow conference connection currently) I play around with it, and post the google streetview version of the above photo. Awesome.

I also greatly enjoyed Karenjit Clare's (Univ of Cambridge) paper about gendered social networks. It's almost common knowledge that social networks help people advance in their careers, and this is especially true in the creative industries ("it's all about who you know"). But Clare wanted to look at the ways that male social networks differ from female social networks, and if the differences between these networks produced different degrees of career advancement. A great exercise in problematizing popular notions of common knowledge.

11:45a I had just a few minutes to peruse the phone boo - er, program - and settle on a session about Gentrification. I needed to walk to the Sheraton hotel, but I wasn't sure just where to go. All of the hotels in Copley Place are connected by a network of shopping mall corridors and arcades. It's easy to get lost, so I asked a mall security guard how to find the Sheraton. He replied... in a gloriously stereotypical Boston accent. I mean, I know there's lots of people around here who talk that way, but still. When somebody opens their mouth and lets loose with a perfectly molded Boston accent, it's pretty sweet. It makes me wonder if I sound "funny" to him. Freakin' midwestern tourists.

12:10p I found the room at the Sheraton, which is about as far as you can get from Copley Place and still be considered in Copley Place. The session almost began when the presenter's PowerPoint decided to bonk. As they were trying to deal with technical difficulties, I took the opportunity to browse through the program and - wouldn't you know it - there's another session about the Creative Economy going on at that exact moment. It's being held in the Westin hotel, which is completely on the other side of Copley Place, but I decide to go for it. It didn't look like the computer problems were going to get solved anytime soon.

12:40p Getting from the Sheraton to the Westin took longer than I thought. I skipped breakfast earlier, so decided to stop off for a bagel at Dunkin Donuts on the way. I know, a bagel at Dunkin Donuts. Sacrilege. Anyway, I opened the door and poked my head into the Creative Economy session and had one of those moments where everyone turns and looks at you simultaneously to see who's being late/rude/clueless. Yeesh.

3:15pm Met up with another grad in baggage claim and so the four of us went to lunch at the Legal C Bar and Grill in Logan Airport. Had a tuna burger. It was pretty good.

5:00pm Lauren's directions from the airport to the hotel via the T were flawless. Checked into my room at the Holiday Inn Brookline. Nice digs. I think it used to be an older, privately owned, perhaps more distinguished hotel that got purchased and renovated by Holiday Inn several years ago. At least, that's what I gather based on the layout of the lobby, which feels kind of old and stodgy.

9:00pm Met the other grads for dinner at Douzo, a sushi restaurant. Very posh. Very tasty.

Total spent on food today: $60.00

इच्छा,आकांक्षा
फक़त तुलाच आहेत का?
ज्या की नेहेमी सपूर्ण व्हायला हव्यात
दिवस भर काम करून
मी सुद्धा थकून आते
पण तुला त्याचे काय
तुला हवे ते तू ओरबाडून घेतोस
कधी प्रेमाने,कधी हक्क गाजउन
आणि माझ्या भावनांचे काय?
जेव्हा तू थकून येतोस
बोलत सुद्धा नाहीस
प्रेमाचा स्पर्श तर दूरच
मनातली आग देहात पसरते
कामिनी धगधगते
कदाचित सकाळ परयन्त
वीझतही असेल
पण एक अपूर्णतेची 
ठिणगी सुलगाउन.......................

From the glances it is evident that Atif and Ali Noor will be performing and they truly are great live performers
making the show as a not-to-be-missed one.

Ta aí a Lineart... e o Croley disse q vai pintah ele no ps na tablet *____*

Moh honra

Tá no meu DA, quem tiver DA da uma olhada na gallery ^^"

http://kpeta.deviantart.com/art/Viking-Metal-Lineart-75334332

Olions, amigo da Favela Vila Makers, estava em BH.... então decidimos sair para andar atoa e conversar atoa... coidivagabundo neah.... até que resolvemos fazer um merchan na Fave... digo.. Vila

Tá... nenhum animou, até que chamei o Tux pra ir junto... ele aceitou, mas acabou que tinha que ir na reunião do Graal, e chamou a gente pra ir junto...

Haviam eras que eu não via um tiozão vendedor de bala no busaum, e... dessa vez foram QUATRO, 4, yon, four... chame como quiser, 4 tios vendendo Bala... pelo visot os Aliens liberaram todos de uma vez...

Como minha mãe queria resolver umas coisas de colégio comigo, fui almoçar com ela, e acabou depois me chamando pra ir resolver umas coisas com ela no centro... fui... subi com ela pra caralho, pra descobrir que onde ela ia era em frente ao lugar em que encontraria com o Tux, o graal.... a pracinha da polícia =_="

Após minha mãe me atrasar todo, eu vou para a Galeria do Rock encontrar com o Olions, cara bacana, mais um cabeludo, e ele estava acompanhado do amigo, que também é bacana ^^

Subimos denoooovo (aka andamos pracaralho) e... o Tux tava comendo um pão de queijo... decidimos ir comprar uma coca =3

Demos nossas goladas, e ao chegar na praça, eu virando um pouco da coca, e estranhamente começou a dar gás lá dentro, e "saiu do meu controle"... e derramou no meu cabelo =_="

Chega o Tux, me apresenta a alguns do Graal... e para a minha surpresa... alguns sabiam da existência do Baka no Hon O_O" Me deu mó orgulho do tipo "Mwhahahaha estamos fazendo sucesso! *O*"

O pessoal do Graal é legau... e descobri uma coisa... Homer Simpson eh deus O_O"

Falaram que meu homer parecia com Hansi Kürsch (obrigado tux a me ensinar a pronúncia, mas eu jah tinha deixado claor que NAO sei PN de alemão) então.. já que Hansi é Deus, meu hommer.... é deus *___*

Lutei, melhor... passei vergonha com a espada na mão (ui!), recebi umas dicas do Tavos, cairnha bem legau, onversie atoa, conheci gent nova... e.... pow é isso mesmo =_='

E já esotu conciente do meu triste destino... levar um grande montinho from hell... mas é a vida neh...

E, o mais educativo de hoje, aprendi mais uma inútil  frase emNihongo =D

それは罠です,ビノ
Sore wa wana desu, Bino!

Na volta foi normal, desci sozinho para descobrir que infelizmente minha mãe ainda estava no ponto, então pegamos busaum juntos de volta... ao menos ela pagou a passagem ^^

E agora estou aqui escrevendo mais um post, ouvindo ao longe gritos da minha mãe, e esperando mais uma vez, o sono chegar \o/

Abração, ou uma encoxada se preferirem \o/

A Velha Demoníaca Minha mãe queria doar os meus livros, para poder comprar o material do ano novo sem ter muita coisa no armário... já tinhamos brigadoumas 3 vezes no dia, então eu já tava sem paciencia....

Eu, como tenho uma mente já poluída pelo capitalismo, estourado com ela, e precisando de grana, decidi dizer:

aag: "Vender o Caralho, vai é vender essas merdas..."

"Eu nao vou vender merda nenhuma nada menino...Se você quiser vende você!"

aag: "Tá eu vendo... mas e a grana?"

"Até parece que alguém vai comprar isso..."

aag: "Se eu conseguir vender, a grana...."

"A grana é..."

aag: "A grana é MINHA se eu vender, tá?"

"Como assim?"

aag: "Tu vai doar, vai ganhar grana nenhuma... não vai fazer diferença...."

Consegui =D A grana seria minha se eu conseguisse vender eles.... dae cacei quem vendia... e como iria ficar no tédio total fui hoje lá... e LULU foi junto...

Como tinha livro pracaralho, lotei minha mochila, mais uma outra bolsa que dependura no ombro, tava pesado prakaralho...

Por cinco segundos perdíamos o ônibus, mas conseguimos, e fomos cada um ouvindo suas musicas (Ele PunkRock e eu Metal um pouco e Matanza um pouco) ...

Descemos no centor de BH... uma chuva do caralho, filhos da puta tentando arrancar nossos olhos com as pontinhas das sombrinhas, mochilas pesadas, água no allstar, pivetes olhando feio.... até acharmos a loja...

O Cara era um pilantra do caralho, furou meus olhos, vendi livros NOVOS a preço baxo... mas era os unicos garantidos né, tive que arriscar =/

Trinta pilas em três livros novos... quando já tava saindo, o cara foi:

"Ei.... na curituba tem um cara que pode querer uns livros seus...."

Maravilha... peguei o endereço... um buraco, aquilo FEDIA, mas... o cara pegou livros VELHOS.... 70 pilas em quatro livros VELHOS..... claro, quis matar o tio da outra livraria ¬¬

E... lulu se fudeu feio. Não vendou nada >D

Comprei mangáaaaas e o maravilhoso DVD do Rhapsody... e garanti mais uma grana pro Friends em julho =D

E eu estou começando a reparar.... não ta tendo mais vendedor de bala nos busões O_O"

Será que os aliens estão fazendo algo com eles?