Chulupu Quick Reviews

Taken (Rating: 9/10)

2006-10-21T14:34:00.000+04:00

I recently, purchased the Steven Spilberge series called TAKEN.

Its really nice, and I am hooked with it, its about UFO and what happened in Roswell and Area 51. Basically, what I think, is that Spileberge, has taken all the stories and roumours that happen those days and made a movie out of it. So, its like watching a true story, and some my also belive in it.

It all depend on you, do you really think that in those days in Roswell, they were siteings of UFO and flying sourcers, or was it just Government spy planes, and does US government hides the truth and whether indeed there is nothing to hide.

Watch it, its very interesting movie and very addictive as well. And most of all makes you wonder are we indeed alone and what does the USA really hides, CREEPY!

I would rate it 9/10.

2006-09-05T16:50:00.000+04:00

Hotel California (after 3 weeks of playing the guitar

You all remember my first attemmpt of playing the guitar, and yes I sucked, just scroll twp posts below and you will see what i mean. This is me again attempting hotel california, see if it sounds even remotely the same

Photo Magic (Rating : 6/10)=> First Attempt

2006-08-15T09:50:00.000+04:00

Been having way to many free time. So I thought I should teach myself photo manipulations. I am still new in this, so bare with me, but I think I am doing well, thus I rated myself 6/10, tell me if I deserve it

PS/ try to spot what so different for each photo? IF YOU CAN

Me playing the Guitar since four days (Rating 2/10)

2006-07-21T09:58:00.000+04:00

Okay, so I had been having alot of free time these days. My wife owns a guitar that she never used. So I though I should teach myself, you know pass the time. Four days into my lesson, and my fingers are killing, and i think I would call it a quit. However, i think I may have something here I THINK, you tell me

Post: BattelStar Galactica (Movies Review, Rating: 9/10)

2006-05-13T12:40:00.000+04:00

Let me put it this way, I bought the season one three days ago and I finished the entire thing last night.

I think this sums it up all how addictive this series can become. Thanks to Muscati for recommending this to me. And if you liked 24, lost or even Prison break than I think this maybe for you.

One thing to note, although its based in the intergallactic space, but the story line is of day to day happenings. Meaning its not star treck pr babylon type of series, with various creatures and alliens. Its a drama type of series. Basically, whether you are a SCi-FI freak or not, you would love this one regardless, trust me

I cant wait for season two, the one available in Amazon is volume one of season two, I would rather wait for the entire season to be out.

Ps/ Make sure you get the one with the mini series, the one i have which i bought from Amazon comes with mini series, which basically explains the background of the story.

V for Vandetta (Movie Rating : 9/10)

2006-04-22T11:02:00.000+04:00

I will summarize this movie in one simple word "Ideas". Some may find it offending, some may find it Anti-American, but many would find it frightining, as although its a fiction tale, but there resemblance of the real world will live today is just uncanny.

Its a master piece at its best, unlike the many mambo jambo comic hero movies we see these days, this one has a message to tell and not a simple one for that matters. Dont get me wrong, the fighting scenes are superb, the special effects are out of this world, after all the Watchosky brothers of Matrix dude produce it. But what strike me the most is the storyline and how the writer had the insight of foreseeing the political future of the world we live in and make a movie out of it, that makes a person goes hmmmmm

The story goes like this, its about this Masked Villant that goes by the name V, whether its stands for Vendatta or Visous or Violance, i will leave this upto you to decide. However, he is one thing though, a brilliant philanthropist/killing machine bent on taking down the leaders of a near future totalitarian Britain, which is ruled through religious zealotry, uncompromising violence and an all-powerful media. He does it by his art of disguise, sabotage and KNIVES

Again, as much as action/Special Effect/Fighting scene is superb, its the message that it tries to convey that made this movie stands above the rest. Enjoy

Black Sweat Album By Prince (Music Rating: 9.5/10)

2006-04-16T20:29:00.000+04:00

Prince is back after 10 years of silence and one bad album to another. If you recall Prince of Purple Rain, Kiss and when dove cry. This album follows the exact pase and rythem.

And pay particular attention to the song "Black Sweat", one word of caution though, you will be hooked and you would end up humming the song for atleast a month. You will be labled as insane literally

Another song you need to look at is "Lolita", again, make sure you can control your body, because whether you like it or not, it will start dancing by itself.

Overall, each and every song in the album has its own attraction and some sort of addiction. Than again, what would you expect from a person, who mixes funk, jazz and rock in the same song. And what makes the song even more amazing, that everytime you hear it, you discover a new instrument within the song that you didnt hear it the very first time.

Inside Man (Movie Rating: 8.5/10)

2006-04-13T17:17:00.000+04:00

Two things stands above all when it comes to this movie. (1) The Plot (2) The Direction. And ofcourse having casts such as Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, and Jodie Foster wont hurt either.

At the begining I didnt know what I would expect, I havent read the reviews and i didnt know what was the movie is all about. Only to realize yet another Heist type of a movie. I was a bit dissapointed,simply because movies that involve stealing, bank roberring are just predictable

But not with this one. First, for some reason they decided to start the film with an indian songs, A COOL SONG i may add, or precisely an ICE breaker, gets you wondering what on the world would an indian song has anything to do with this movie, the answer is it didnt. It was something that it was intentionally made to bring everybody attention to the maximum, of which it passed with flying colors

Unlike most of heist type of movies, Excluding OCEANS'11 ofcourse, this one was just too well made out, and only when you thought you got it all figure it out, just to realize that you got it only wrong.

What made the movie unpredictable, and just plain genious is how it was directed. Bringing the end to the begining and mideway scenes to the end, not a typical Pulp Fiction per say, but something within the same line.

And most of all the movie was funny, not just gigling funny, I am talking about hurting your ribs type of funny, a chemistry that doesnt go well with a serious bank robbery type of movie, but for some reason the director pulled it off fantastically.

Like I said, the plot, the direction and having Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, and Jodie Foster wont hurt either.

City of God: Movie Review (Rating: 9/10)

2006-03-25T01:19:00.000+04:00

If you havent seen this movie, than you are missing a big part of your life literaly.

City of God is a city in Brazil Rio de Janiro. Its a true story of once of upon time things went bad, really really bad. If you though the thugs of America and the gangs of Ciclli was something you are tarrified from. Think again!

Have you heard of the term "Trigger happy". This movie is exctly about that, its about gangs, thugs, hoods that were trigger happy, going killing people just fot the sake of doing it and having a rush out of it.

The film if it wasnt lightened with dark humour and engaging performances, it would have a been a sure meditation of violance and its pure cruelty

It is in brazillian language, so make sure you get the one with an english subtitle. Its well directed, it was made for future movies, and most of all i belive it won best foreign movie last year at the Oscars.

And yes its a true story, which makes the movie even more irresistable.

The only bad thing, i thought the director overdid with the killings, I mean there is no way there would have been so much killings and viloance no matter how bad the world has come to. Is it a preception from my side towards directors foresight of the actual happenings?. Cause if indeed the director overdid it, than this movie deserves a 9/10. But if the happenigns happen just how the story was told, then i will unbluntely rate it a 10/10 for a superb capture of events

In a nutshel, its a "Black Hawk Down" type of events mutliply by 10 with a sense of humor

Its Hard Out Here for a Pimp: Movie Review (Rating: 10/10)

2006-03-17T11:17:00.000+04:00

Actually the movie's called " Hustle and Flow", but I couldn’t help my self but title it for its amazing theme song (its hard out here for a pimp), for it by the way, won best music theme song at the Oscars. Its been a while since I rated anything 10/10, but let me tell you this, if there were a higher rating I would unresistingly rate it accordingly. Whether its cinematography, the casting, the acting, the story line or the message that it tries to give, its all perfect in all sense.

So what's the hype is all about you ask me. Tell you what, let me explain it by quoting the songs chorus, feel the beat, can you here it, tick tick tick, you ready go:

You know it's hard out here for a pimp (you ain't knowin)

When he tryin to get this money for the rent (you ain't knowin)

For the Cadillacs and gas money spent (you ain't knowin)

Because a whole lot of bitches talkin shit (you ain't knowin)

The lyrics says it all. Its about this pimp that by hustling and flowing whether by pimping his ho's or selling weed gets by the day to day life and barely makes the rent. The pimp played by Terrance Howard, who by the way was too nominated for best actor as the Oscar, the same dude who acted as a cop on (Four Brothers) has a dream and had enough of his shitty life (excuse my French), and decides to do his final and last best pimping he can deliver and that to get his music out to the world to hear it. Does he succeed, well that’s for me to keep and you to find out. In the meantime I have a surprise for you though, you get to download the theme song right here at my blog, but please put comment on how you thought of the movie or the song or whatever.

Click here to Download the Song

Murder She Wrote: TV Series Review (Rating: 6/10)

2006-03-12T08:10:00.000+04:00

Twenty years ago I would have rate this series 10 with no problem. Jessica Fletcher was my hero, I would think she was a genious and wished I would be like her. It was by far the best TV series I loved back than and when I saw it at Dubai Vergin Mega store I baught it withouth thinking twice.

Wait, that was Twenty years ago, for some reason I have lost the charm, the beauty and the reason why I loved it in the first place. Have I matured, and realized that it wasnt as good as I thought it was, have I become more sophisticated with movies that I have unwillingly set a high standard for everything.

Murder She wrote, is about a lady (Jessica Flethcher) who is a mystery author, and as well solves murder. Unlike CSI, where whoooooooooo areeeeeeee youuuuuuu, is based on latest forensics gadget, with Jessica she does it with her brilliancy and her talent of elemination.

The thing is, although the plots are still original, but I cant help it but to think the idea and who did it is too easy, I could practically knew who did it before the end of the movie, not only that, JESSICA played by Angela Landsbury just cant act!, no one in the cast can act. The lightining is all wrong, scene where thrills should occure doesnt, and its a frigging murder case, the least they could have done, but some chilling goose bumps every now and than.

Maybe it would get better in season two or three and knowing myself I would probably get them anyway, just to confirm my thoughts or deconfirm it for that matters

Rating: 6/10

Bank Muscat Client Invitation banquetReview: Rating (3/10)

2006-03-07T10:28:00.000+04:00

For some reason, Bank Muscat decided that myself and the wife were worthy of their annual VIP client dinner party. So obviously the first thing that comes in mind wow, this must be something big, with a lot of activities, quality speeches, important people etc. I mean after all, it is considered one of the best Banks in Oman. And the fact in that they mentioned the draw of the 100,000 Rials will take place in this banquet made it even more interesting.

So my wife, took an entire afternoon off to the hair-dresser, expensive facial and make ups and I went for a RO 5 worth of hair-cut with a quick head massage. We put on our expensive garments and stat of the art perfume that we only use during EIDs off we went.

Let me put it this way, apart from the dinner which was superb and delicious by the way, the rest was plain normal and embarrassment. Why you ask?, well here we go:

1) 50% of the guest were non Arab speakers and yet, the speeches, the poems, the talks were all in Arabic. You could notice the guest with their wide jaw wide open trying to figure out what the hell is going on

2) Don’t get me wrong, I am for Poems, but what they presented in banquet was no poem, not to me anyway. What has a dude falling in love with a dudess has anything to with Banks and the financial industry!!

3) Okay, I love my culture, I am proud of my culture. But the idea of having group of dudes jumping around with drums and sticks and shouting god knows what language was corny and not my idea of a VIP banquet, actually not my idea of any banquet.

3) Let me see the invitation discuss something about RO 100,000 draw that will take place, and yet nothing of the sort happen. I mean God, this was the only thing that kept me staying in the so called party. Did they know their party would be so bad they had to trick people to come?

You know, I am being generous to rate the banquet a 3/10, maybe I am in a good mood, or maybe I am happy with bank Muscat as a client

Second Chance: Book Review (Rating: 7/10)

2006-03-06T10:19:00.000+04:00

I don’t know, I have mixed feelings about this book. Probably I have uncontiously set a standard that must be met or exceeded for me to consider a book a good one. This could be due to the excellent books I read recently. To me when a book is about suspense/thriller I expect twists, an awe, originality, and unfortunately I didn’t get those in this particular book.

It’s called second chance, as it’s a continuation of the previous book called (1st to Die). But don’t worry, its like Da-vinci Code and Angels and Demons. Both had the same character, but one can read either of the books and it doesn’t matter which one you read first!

Over all the book was a good one, it had all the ingredient to be among the best books in the market, after all James Patterson is known for his originality, remember "Kiss the Girl" and "Along Came the Spider". Second Chance had the same vibe of that of his other books, it had a serial killer, and it had a weird yet good storyline. But something is missing, maybe the writer didn’t go into detail in describing the characters, all I got that the main characters (Lindsay Baxter) is a detective and enjoys an evening cup of tea at home from time to time, and no indication of her troubled childhood, despite big chunk of the book discuss her agony of her father abandoned her as a kid. Same thing with the other characters!

Walk The Line: Movie review (7/10)

2006-03-05T21:46:00.000+04:00

Hi my name is Chulupu. I know you all know me, its a just a qoute from the movie "Walk the line", just replace chulupu with Johnny Cash and you would get. "Hi my name is Johnny Cash".

Now apart from the above phrase which for some reason I love it, for a famous performer going on stage everytime stating the same phrase despite people knows already who is, shows style and humblness.

Otherwise the movie overall was okay, a bit above average, and if it wasnt for the superior acting skills from both Reese Witherspoon and Joaqin Phoneix, it would have probably fail. First of all the movie was long, I managed to keep my eyes open through out, my wife slept halfway though.. But again its the acting that made it worthwhile.

But alas, a strong message came out from the movie, that being a star, it takes twice as much hard work to walk the link of stardom than of it from the a normal person. And I think I belive that, let see

1) Elvis Persely, was a junkie and eventually died
2) Maradona, start sniffing, gained weight and lost his limelight
3) Michael Jackson cant decide whether he is black or white. Thus he settled to go after kids instead

And the list continues, so did Johnny cash managed to walk the link, well as far as the movie is concerned he did and very well at it as well.

for those who appreciate good acting and storyline, the movie is definetly for you.

Magazine Reviews

2006-03-03T22:48:00.000+04:00

Recently I was in a Magazine streak, I would get every magazine I find slightly interesting. You name it, I have it. Starting from Fortune, Newsweek, Time, BusinessToday, Economist The Entreprenuer, Empire, Entertainment Weekly and Writers Digest. I told you I was going insane, but the good news is, I can brag about them and rate them and hopefully elminate the ones I dont like and subscirbe to the ones I like. Here goes nothing.

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1) General Magazines: General as in a Magazine that talks about everything, from world news to entertainment to Art. I can think of two magazines that tops my list and they are Time and NewsWeek.

The past three editions I couldnt make out the difference between NewsWeek and Time, they both seems to carry more or less the same content. However, me being a geek and computer freak and fond for those who are self made millionairs, i had to go with Time. Time had this wonderful piece about the founders of google (Page and Brin), the article was so amazing, and really boost my motivation and actually I am applying some of the stuff they do to my own company. Time also seems to have more entertaining content like their notes section and what certain numbers dictates and I thought they covered the Cheney accidental shooting more widely and to the point. Most of all Time had their own prediction of Oscars and I think they may ace it either, do you belive it that they actually think that crash was much better than BrokeBack mountain, but they admit that the Oscars Panel wont agree with them and may choose The gay cowboys instead. And that George clooney may pull it off just because of his look. Imagine!

********* VERDICT********

So I am tosing Newsweek and I am keeping Time :)

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2) Entertainment Magazine: I have read alot of them recently with Oscar buzz and all. Two stand above all, the Empire and Entertainment weekly, and I think I will go with the later. Empire are just to detailed and some of their review only shakespeer would understand, seriously, sometime I wonder whether they use english language at all?.

Empire dont go in detail on TV series, of which I hate, I am into TV series big time and I would like to know what is out there. Entertainment weekly covers everything, plus its weekly hence more upto date and diverified.

PS: I am still between minds about (People Magazine) I have read two edition and I think I like it so far, so I will see how it goes. Beside my wife loves it, there this something about women and their crave to gossiping, what is that all about. From the look of it, I am forced to keep it

********* VERDICT********
So out you go Empire, Congratulations Entertainment weekly. I mean what, you cant say no to a magazine that puts Reese Witherspoon as their cover girl. And yes, People stays as well DAMIT!

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3) Business Magazine: I am reading three at the moment (The entreprenuer, Business Today and Fortune). However, I cant go one month without reading the Entreprenuer, its the source of my creativity and innovation, I feel I can so relate to it, when I read it as if I am reading my life story. I get most of my competitive edge through it and mostly on every edition I get something that I could apply it on my company, that by itself is competitive advantage.

Fortune is just cool type of magazine and I get alot of motivational and extra push out of it, when times I think I am not having fun running a company, fortune gives me that buzz to keep me going that extra mile

Business Today it to keep my upto date of the latest happening in Oman and what area I need to focus when building my company.
And the fact that I was featured in this month edition (March) helps makes my decision easier

**** Verdict *********
I am keeping them all, but I am so not letting The Entreprenuer slipping out of my hand

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4) Misc Magazine: This section is for my own amusment I guess, hence I am keeping them all, because I choose them wisely to begin with, its was not an ad-hoc choice, alot of work was put in it.

-MC2Magazine: Did I mention I am driving Mini Cooper Cabrio, well actually my wife does, but that does stop me from playing with it, its like telling me to stop playing with my baby kid!!. Hence, this magazine is dedicated to Mini Coopers, from upgrade, beautification, latest gadgets and installemnts and latest Mini Magazine.

For all mini owners, I seriously dont know how you can go about without subscribing to this magazine, its just so awsome. Did I mention, I am installing a new Aero Kit to our Mini and I am planning to do it myself. Suprised huh

- Writer's Digest: Well you can make out from the title. For some reason I belive I may write a novel sometime in the future. The problem is, I lake the talent, duhh. But I am stuborn, I am determine to write something, anything. Beside, it helps my grammer!. I have my own stuff, is just that I am not ready to show it to the public, but mark my words, the book I am writing will make Da-Vinci Code sounds like a childs play, yeah right I wish. But overall, I love writing, and I am determine to to become one sometime in the future, next life maybe!

Well I guess thats it than. And I will try to rate each and every magazine I have choose to keep, you know just to keep you upto date with the latest buzz! TATA

OmanHomes Article On Business Today (Review : Rating: 10/10)

2006-03-02T11:16:00.000+04:00

Okay, so this topic is a bit unorthodox, but I couldnt help myself. So I thought I would review Business Today article on My Company (Omanhomes.com), and how well they captured the spirit within me. And I speak for all my staff in my company, especially my wife that the article was superb and deserves 10/10. Read it for yourself below. For those who are interested, the Magazine (Business Today) March edition is on stand now.

PS/ Check out my photo, do I look cute or do I look cute :)

Salim al Harthy, managing director, Oman Homes, is in the business of real estate the business of helping people find a base. The entrepreneur himself prefers multiple bases when it comes to work. The 31 year old is an oil engineer with PDO and the manager of the online discussion channel Oman Forum, besides being the mind behind Oman¹s first real estate website omanhomes.com. And Harthy doesn¹t think that he has more on his plate than he can handle.

You know what business is? It is busyness. You have to be busy in order to do business,² he says. For someone who works 16 hours a day, busyness is really a way of life. ³As an entrepreneur, you¹re always thinking of new ideas. Then you work on those ideas. That¹s your business.² He says that with the confidence of someone who worked on an idea, put in a capital of RO50, and made a net profit of RO500 with his first deal. ³About a year and a half ago, I was looking to start a business that was connected to the Internet. At first, I really didn¹t have real estate in mind. I was just finding out about different business ideas. I came across this interesting software, which was designed for cars actually. I thought that it would be good if I adapted it for housing. It took me about a month and a half to do that. And that was the beginning of Oman Homes.²

In the beginning, it was just Harthy and his partner, and an advertisement in the paper about the houses. ³Three weeks later, we were getting 10-15 emails per day, with people enquiring about the houses. We got an email from this man in Australia, who wanted a house here. He saw the house on the website, liked it, and transferred the money. We had made our first profit - RO500. And it was a net profit because I hadn¹t really spent on anything apart from registering the website.²

To start with, Harthy¹s wife Adhra managed the administration of the business with a telephone and a computer from home. As Oman Homes grew, office space, a team of seven and two company cars, entered into the picture. More expansion is on the agenda now, both in terms of infrastructure and ideation. ³We¹ve bought land at Ansab, and are planning on building and selling next.²

He credits the success of Oman Homes in significant part to how user-friendly its website is. ³How we¹re different at Oman Homes is that you can see the inside of the house through photographs on the site. It is very easy to find what you are looking for.² Besides, Oman Homes has a sponsored link on Google that improves its visibility. ³Sixty per cent of those checking out the website are from overseas. Mostly they¹ve got job offers from Oman and want to find out about the real estate scene here. So the link helps.² What also helps is an arrangement with a certified real estate appraiser. ³Whatever enquiries we get, we forward it to them and we get a commission out of it,² Harthy explains about the value addition.²

The self-taught programmer and web designer describes the real estate business as one which is steeped in the art of negotiation. ³It is essentially all about how you talk to people.² And then there are the three Ls of real estate listing (the number of houses you have), leverage (the people) and leads (the enquiries that come in). ³If there aren¹t enough listings, then I have to check how hard the people are working. If there aren¹t enough leads, I probably have to increase my advertising. They¹re all
interconnected.²

The interest in interconnections was what led to Oman Forum. Oman Forum actually started as the discussion board of the Oman Auto site. ³I realized that people just came to the discussion board to chat, and not even about cars at that. As it¹s popularity increased, we decided to make it Oman Forum.²

The website, which started with about 15,000 hits a day, now gets about 14000 hits a day. Ask Harthy if he is trying to evolve it into a commercial platform and he says, ³Advertisers have shown interest. But I enjoy the fact that it provides information about Oman. And it will continue that way.²

For the continuing success of business, Harthy puts a premium on advertising. ³If you give me RO1mn to invest in a business right now, I¹ll put RO900,000 in advertising and RO100,000 in the business. There are so many companies here who think that the RO50 they might be spending per week or per month on advertising is too much. But they don¹t understand the power of that RO50. With that RO50, you could get RO1000.²

That sentiment makes its way back to his business. ³Every call is a potential RO1mn. You help out one guy with a house worth RO100. He is happy, he tells another guy. You help this other guy, he is happy as well and he tells his big boss. It is a chain reaction that leads to bigger things really. Each customer is important.² He points to a copy of The Millionaire Real Estate Agent by Gary Keller and says, ³That is my favourite book and that is what I am trying to become.² He adds quickly, ³But I don¹t think money is everything. When you die, you cannot take the money with you. I realise that, which is why I am not afraid of taking risks.²

Nokia N-70 (Mobile, Gadget: Rating: 9/10)

2006-03-01T10:40:00.000+04:00

Bye bye I-mate and Welcome N-70. And I say that with no regret whatsoever. Okay Okay, I did rate i-mate 9 /10, but they are two different phones all together, the former is a PDA and the later is just a phone, but what a phone it is. I wont go into detail and its specifications, let us just say it has everything in it. But what makes it so special, is its picture quality, it just amazing, its a 2mega pixel, but with the right angel it acts as a five mega pixel. Check out some of the pictures I took of my wife's mini cooper.

The Video quality is out of this world, its perfect to capture the quality moments and with its PCNokia Suit software that comes with, synchonrizing with your PC cant be much easier. Its also an MP3 player, nothing like the IPOD ofcourse, but still it does the job, its also has radio, very clear and a useful tools in moment of bordem, like waiting for your dental treatment, dont you hate the waitingsss.

The navigation is very easy, something you would expect from a Nokia operating system, beats windows anytime and ofcourse, not to mention its looks, its so slick and professional like. It has all the main function I used when I had the I-Mate (Calendar, To-Do list, Memos, Notes). The size is okay as well as its weight, putting in my Jean pocket is not burden anymore, it fits like glove. And finally with its wide screen, browsing the web is enjoyable and makes sense.

The Alchemist: Book (Rating :8/10)

2006-02-10T08:03:00.000+04:00

A Book about the importance of following your dream. I don’t consider myself a philosophical, certainly not the type to buy a book about it. But for some reason I was highly recommended to read this book, and just because nothing interesting was out there, I though what the hell.

I am happy I got this book, I experienced feelings I never knew I had it in me, and I could literally relate to the main character. Some of the phrases were very inspiring; I actually highlighted couple of them as my favourite quotes. The book teaches you the importance of discovering yourself and how life is incomplete until one achieves his personal goal. It’s a good read, something different for a change.

For those who are into philosiphy, this probably one of those book you would treasure. As for me, philosiphy is just not my cup of tea, but still I got inspired!. However, I thought the language and grammer and how it was written a bit cheesy, than again it an a translation from Brazilian Language (Latino or whatever..)

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Synopsis: Paulo Coelho's enchanting novel has inspired a devoted following around the world. This story, dazzling in its simplicity and wisdom, is about an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago who travels from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of treasure buried in the Pyramids. Along the way he meets a Gypsy woman, a man who calls himself king, and an Alchemist, all of whom point Santiago in the direction of his quest. No one knows what the treasure is, or if Santiago will be able to surmount the obstacles along the way But what starts out as a journey to find worldly goods turns into a meditation on the treasures found within. Lush, evocative, and deeply humane, the story of Santiago is art eternal testament to the transforming power of our dreams and the importance of listening to our hearts.

Prison Break (TV Series): Rating 9/10

2006-02-01T07:50:00.000+04:00

A master piece of itself. Michael Scolfield is not happy, his life is not looking good, and everything that he loves seems to disintegrate in front of his eyes. But when his brother just got a death sentence for something he didn’t do, enough was enough. Despite the enormous effort from his part and his brothers Ex-Girl friends, it seems there are higher power that wants his brother dead, sooner rather than later. So Michael commits a crime, get himself jailed to the exact prison his brother's at and 30 days later the idea is for them to be home free, and no, not being released, BEING broke out!

The idea of getting imprisoned and design a plan to get out within a month span is ridicules, but for Scolfield its a Childs play, after all his is a creative genius and the fact he was involved in architecting the prison blue prints does help!

Buckle Up ladies and gentleman, this is not your normal prison escape, everything has been planned, re-planned and re-planned to the slightest, and not only for them to escape, but also to entertain you to the fullest. Shawashank Redpemtion eat your heart out, Escape from alcatraz Eat your heart out and Midnight express eat your hear out. While all of the mention prison escape movie had their moment, but compared to Prison Break the critics may need to re-think their ratings.

The Broker (Book): (Rating:8.5/10)

2006-01-10T08:10:00.000+04:00

John Grisham cant seem to stop amazing me. This is probably the fifth book of his I have read so far, and they keep on becoming better and better. Most of his work are addictive, you cant seem to let it down, so exilirating I must add.

The Broker in a nutshell, an outgoing president pardons a few people as his last official act. one of them once was a successful broker who was accused of treason and took a guilty plea to spare his law firm and son prosecuton. now after 6 years in solitary confinement, he finds himself a free man living in italy, but also hiding from the people who would love to see him dead.

What I loved most about this one, he clearly and carefully set the scene of a city in Italy (Bologna) makes you wonder for your next vacation, which also could explain why the the pace of this book is much slower than most of Grisham's previous novels, perhaps deliberately reflecting the slower pace of Italian cities.

But overall I enjoyed it, and if you havent read it yet, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR

Six Feet Under(TV-SERIES): Rating (8.5/10)

2006-01-09T09:41:00.000+04:00

One of the weirdest TV Series or any movie I have seen for that matter. It’s so weird you can’t help yourself but to watch the next episode and the next and the next..
Why the title "Six Feet Under". Well for a series that revolves around a family that own a funeral home business, the title makes very sense. It’s basically the depth below the earth you would be buried when you die. The idea of a family owning such business, gives me and it would you give the creeps for sure. I don’t know how else to review this series.
Its basically revolves around a family that each individual has a problem of his/her own, starting by the drug freak daughter, and gay brother, and not full of nuts on the head mother and a psycho girlfriend. You name it, all the problems that a normal family would fear to have, they have it and on top of that they arrange bodies and funeral and burials. I mean it can’t get any weirder.

Two warnings though: 1) The theme music is so addictive, I could hear it now 2) The gay scene is not anyone’s cup of tea so be aware you have been told. Other than that its one hell of a Series, I am ordering season 2 and 3 as we speak!

Three Movies

2006-01-08T20:46:00.000+04:00

FlightPlan: Mysterious, yet predictable. However, Judi Foster made all the difference, her acting was superb especially if its 6000ft above the earth (if you want to believe that that is). Overall, the movie is something you should watch, especially with the streak of bad taste Hollywood produced this year so far. It’s been a while since I had the chilling of a movie that I went, aha now this is original!. Rating (7.5/10)

King Kong: Too long, but genius in a making, did I mention it was too long, I guess I did!. And I don’t know about you lot, but the Idea of a monkey falling in love with a woman was a bit sissy to me, but for some devin reason, the pulled it off!, i mean I could sworn my eyes were dampening. But hey, when matters come to the golden screen anything is possible I guess. One thing to mention though, the effects were out of this world, so surreal. Something that many movies to come will be based upon it Rating (8.5/10)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Different from the first three, something I actually enjoyed and could relate too. But I still think they make a big fuss out of it!. I mean What, we are into the sixth book!, when would it stop, enough is enough. If I hear Voldermort one more time I would go crazy. Rating (7/10)

Blad Sait (Oman Locations Review: Rating 8/10)

2005-12-02T22:52:00.000+04:00

DSC08230
Originally uploaded by Salim & Adhra Trips.

I would make this quick. It was scary but it was worth it. And to get there is probably the most adventurous trips I have been so far.

So many scenery and areas you pass by, but the intention of this trip was to discover Blad Sait, and we discovered it finally, after passing through the torturous road of Wadi Bani Awuf, up the hill towards Snake Gorge and there it was Blad Sait, one of the most beautiful scenery I have ever saw.

The trip was fun and the end point was even more fun.

And its easier to get there. From Burj Al-Sahwa, take right as if going to Suhar, at Barka Round about take left towards Rustaq, and if you have time, go towards Nakhal which is 35KM away from the Barka roundabout on your left, enjoy the Fort as well the Thawara spring. If you dont have time, continue going towards Rustaq, you would see a sign indicates Wadi Bani Awuf on your left said. There where the adventure begins.

At this point, you would need a 4WD, unless you have some sort of death wish in you!!!!!

At a certain point you would require to climb a mountain, keep climbing man and dont stop, at a certain point you would need to take a left turn (ASK SOMEONE) as tehre is no sign indicates Blad Sait, but you would see several 4WD passing by, so just ask and they will show you the way, from the entrance of Wadi Bani Awuf to Blad sit is a good solid 30 clicks

Enjoy

Jabal Akhdar (Oman Locations Review): Rating :7/10

2005-11-24T08:44:00.000+04:00

The so long waited trip has arrived. Jabal Akhdar, Arabic for "The green mountain".
Been hearing about since when I dont remember, the first time I heard or read about it I think when I was in Standard Two I belive, and the one sentence I memorized is how green and fruitful it is.
Hence, for 25 Years and all I can imagine and picture the Jabal its greenish scenary, fruits every where, you could practically extend your hands and grap it.

Finally the government decided to open the Jabal for public, no prior permission required anymore, as it was for the past years. All you need is your 4WD and the heart of adventurer, well you need the courage no doubt about it, after all you would be at 2500m above sea level at one point, and if you are thinking to go there during winter, trust me you would require those winter clothes, it gets upto 15 degree even less easily.

I remember hearing a joke from someone, where a kid asked his dad, how does the people living in the mountain play footbal, wouldnt the ball fall over the mountain. Nice huh, well belive me the top of the Jabal is flat as Holland, there is an entire village there, people dont give their time of the day, going on with their business as if there are not on the second peakest point in Oman.

The climb towards the mountain is slow, yet memorable, scary yet you cant have enough of it, from the gates in Barkat Al-Mooz To the peak it takes a good 45 minutes, worth every minute of it. And than we arrived to the top, and as usual my imagination failed me again, the mountain was not greent not even greenish, yeah there were fruit but hmmm, well you are not allowed to pick them, some say they are cursed and only their truthful owner wont be effected with by it, and knowing Omanis this may well be true!.

But the scenery still was breathtaking, especially in a village called Shuraija, where you could literally climb down the mountain, passing through trees, water streams, and the most fit one of us could climb back, its one hell of hick, but worth every breath and stamina. The are zillion of camping spot to choose from, its safe, peaceful and COLD so be prepared.

Starting from Burj Al-Sahwa Round about passing through Rusail towards Nizwa, taking a right turn towards IZKI, 10 minutes ahead you would see a sign to the right stating Barkat Al-Mooz, Jabal Akhdar, and you are there, a good 1 ½” hours from Burj Al-Sahwa to the IZKI right turn I would say, Enjoy!

End of Oil (BOOK): Rating (9/10)

2005-11-22T20:35:00.000+04:00

I would summarize this book with one simple word "SCARY". And scary it is, ofcourse if you belive everything the writer is trying to say that is, but you cant help but beliving him, his argument are so realistic, as he tends to prove them with real life example.

The book as it titles indicates, its about the energy source that we are so depended on we either forget or ingore its after math should it runs out. Whatever you do, I mean literally what ever you do there would be OIL input in it one way or another. The writer not only discuss the disasterous outcomes should this black gold runs out, he took an extra mile and discuss the politics of oil, the recent wars and how OIL had an input in thier happenings. And why OIL prices are not static and the reason that causes it to spike or to hit rock bottom.

Most of all, which is the scary part, is what would happend if it runs out, and not only that, the even more scarrier part, is that we would never know when the times comes, leaving us no room for planning and react to it, hence a possible WW2 could occure between the EAST the main OIL Suppliers and the WEST the MAIN OIL IMPORTERS.

ITs not all about pessemitism though. Alternative are there, but vast amount of research is required to make it economical, but the IDEA is to start this now in a full throttel, failing to do so, could easily mean yet another GREAT DEPRESSION, even greater.

Lost Season One: (Rating: 10/10)

2005-11-22T20:15:00.000+04:00

And I thought there will never be a TV series that could out perform 24. Boy was I wrong, "Lost" its a master piece, its a show that would stand the test of time. Its original, something you dont see everyday, and something that keeps you thinking and wondering over and over again. Every episode is an adenralin rush by itself, just when you thought you had all figure it out only to realize you are not even close, I mean talking about playign with people emotion, the producers intentions were exactly that.

In summary it goes like this, a plane on route to Los Angeles from Australia Sydney, got crashed mid way in an island. Fourty people survived, the show revolves around key survivors of which each and everyone of them have his/her own story to tell. The island by itself a mystery, Polar bears roaming around makes you wonder how on earth a polar bear doing in a tropical island.

Yes its a show that would definetly put you on the edge of your seat, and you thought 24 was additive, think again, Lost is beyond addiction, Lost as I put it "A forceful Movie Marathon"

Trust me on this, YOU NEED TO SEE THIS SHOW, YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS SHOW

Cinderella Man (Rating: 10/10)

2005-09-09T08:00:00.000+04:00

I dont need to go in depth about the outline of this movie, simply because the idea is a copy cat of that of Rocky Part one. You know, its all about the second chancee, and the American Dream, and that everything is possible bla bla bla, the only difference with Cinderella Man is that Russel Crow is starring it, instead of that one expression dude Sly, and the fact Russel didnt have to go shouting (ADIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN) at the end

Its touching, it really captures the hard life during the great depression in 1930's. And most of all Its a true story, but you only find out that at the very end, which also shows that even with true events, a movie can be as entertaining.

however whether Russel Crow deserves an Oscar for this, I dont know. If you ask me he does deserves it, but the dude went and throw an item to someones face during the production of this movie causing a cut that required stithes. What can I say typical Russell Crow, and his lake of anger managerment skills.

10/10 definetly

Positive Living (Book Review): 9/10

2005-08-27T20:20:00.000+04:00

I think the title of this book speak for itself. Reading this book was as if reading myself and how I go about my life on day to day basis. You see I wake up at 5am, go to work to 5pm, and straight to my company and work until 10pm. I hardly have time for my kids and come to think of it, i hardly have time to sleep. I cant even remember the last time I hanged out with my friends. Hence the feeling of worrienes, stress and lonliness, this was the case until I got my hands on this book

The writer sures know what every person these days goes through, and that time seems to shrink, and find yorself rushing from work to the gym and not having enough time for your friends.

This book basically is magic, it tells and help you how to overcome the stress we being induced. various strategies you will find on how to build your confidence and cope with challenges of modern life. And if you are lonely, alienated, stressed and low self esteem, this book helps you to overcome them in ways you would be suprised. I know it helped me alot.

If you are that type of person who work 14 to 18 hrs a day such as myself, than this book could save your life one day and I mean that literally

Ps/ if you are a gadget freak, than you may have a problem you are not aware of, read the book , you may discover an illiness that you were not aware off :)

My rating is 9/10

Me Wife Mini Cooper in the Week

2005-08-24T23:34:00.000+04:00

Mini_Cooper

The past week my phone just wont stop ringing. My wife's cooper cabrio has been reviewed by our own magazine namely "The Week". Actually it was a publicity stunt from my part to promote my company "Homes Real Estate", so I figure, the dudes at the week would do anything for content, and knowing they have a column just to disucss a person with his car.

I decided why not putting the Mini, after all atleast this way they will have a real car to discuss about :). The car is cute, its a classic, and it handles like a dream

So there she was my wife with her cool blue mini taking a space of two pages horizontally with the car TOP DOWN. Kudos to the week, they did a good job in reviweing the car and the fact they chose a nifty title (Perks for her occupation) for it did a world of good to my company.

Review of the Review: Rating 9/10

2005-05-10T21:35:00.000+04:00

Chulupu Review

Ok so its not really a review, but incidently our local newspaper (The Week) decided to review some of the famous blogs in Oman, mainly moi :) and ofcourse Muscati and OceanDream Blog you can find it at Muscati Blog Site and Calkoons blogsite at Bloggers for Oman which reviews Omani blogs as an extensive list of bloggers

Below is an excerpt of the week review. Enjoy

PS/ Do I look handsome or do I look handsom :)

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Globally, blogs have been used as a medium to react against the September 11 attacks, the war in Iraq and a way to spread political propaganda. In Oman, bloggers use their space for more creative pursuits. For instance, Salim al Harthy’s Chulupu Quick Reviews at www.chulupu.blogspot.com is a place for posting reviews – of books, movies and all kinds of gadgets and gizmos. “I’ve a huge family and everyone depends on me to get reviews of movies,” he said. “So I thought that blogging about it would be easier than telling everyone individually. Incidentally, Salim aka No also runs Omanforum.com, an online meeting place for the cyber savvy, which spawned a lot of
bloggers.

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Kingdom of Heaven (Movie) Rating: 7/10

2005-05-09T14:50:00.000+04:00

Kingdom of Heaven is movie many may find it disappointing. For one simple reason, we the audience have taken an unconscious assumption that such movie maybe rated same as the giants the like of Gladiator, Troy or even Brave Heart. However its not the case. Kingdom of Heaven had one and only one message to deliver, that rather than fighting for Jerusalem why cant the Muslims, Christians and Jews live in peace. And for that a lot of artistic scenes were put in place.

Although some great action scene were there, but for some reason it still didn’t just exactly match the others. Now was is it intended or Ridley Scott could have done a better job in this one by adding the thrill of Gladiator him being the same director and all. Its debatable, probably the idea of the movie didn’t allow such thrill action, or maybe Scott was trying his very best not to offend any religion sector hence balancing the fighting scene, I don’t know!

In a nutshell and Let me put it this way, with Gladiator I had the feeling of rooting for everyone on screen to rise up and defeat everyone else. Sadly that was not the feeling I had while watching Kingdom of Heaven. But I strongly suggest to watch this movie, at least you will have a better idea about the modern conflict than again how on earth would anyone combine peace with fighting battle, its just a conflict that doesn’t seems to fit

My rating: 7/10

The Da Vinci Code (Book): Rating 9/10

2005-04-30T15:08:00.000+04:00

What if I tell you that Christianity as you know it holds far greater secret, secrets of which revealed to you would change the entire concept of such religion for ever creating not just chaos, but ultra confusion and total disbelieve.. What if I tell you there is a powerful group going around by the name of “The Priory of Sion” who took an oath to protect with their lives such secret knowingly such content could be easily meant the destruction of Christianity as we know it. NOW what if I tell you that the secret is in jeopardy and may fall to the wrong hand if not attended on time. But alas, the twist, the secret fortunately is entangled with series of codes and puzzles only the enlightens ones can break it

Is the above true, to me it may as well be. With an ingenious writer such as Dan Brown, and his brilliancy in combining fiction and truth one can easily be tricked the authenticity of every historical data he uses in writing his master piece. Who would ever believe that the Mona-Lisa sarcastic smile could be due to the fact the Mona Lisa herself is believe to be Leonardo Da Vinci in Drag, hence the wicked smile, as if Da Vinci is laughing to the world stating that it is he in a woman dress!!!!. Or Da Vinci original painting “The Last Supper” could hold shocking revelations of Jesus and his relationships hence giving a whole new meaning of the Holy Grail!!

The Da Vinici Code is the 2nd book in a series of books surrounding the character of Robert Langdon by the genius one and only Dan Brown. Langdon made his first appearance in Angels and Demons and not only single-handedly saved the world, but helped "reform" the Catholic church as well. In The Da Vinci Code Langdon's on a quest even more important than saving the world.

Ladies and Gentleman, fasten your seatbelt, this book will take you on a ride, making the roller coaster in Blackpool England seems like a donkey ride. There are hundreds of twist, some are satisfying and some are just remarkably shocking, just when you thought you had figured it out only to discover this is mere the beginning.

Wont you be eager to know why this book is considered the most read book in the century, or why as we speak, MR TOM HANKS on a making of movie out of this book?. Well why are you waiting for, grab one in your nearest bookstore, trust me, this one book you don’t want to miss!

My Rating: 9/10

XXX: State of the Union (Movie): Rating 7/10

2005-04-28T17:55:00.000+04:00

Imagine this, at one point, you are cruising your power boat in a lake somewhere, and few seconds later that same power boat is on top of a bridge, actually on a top of several cars on the bridge. Difficult to imagine, well lets try this than out for size, a 600 HP car racing a fast train, the car decided to jump over the train track loosing all its tyre rubbers and viola chasing a train on its own territory.

Above some of the amazing out of this world scenes you would witnessed while watching the latest XXX played Ice Cube who replaces Vin Diesel in the lead role of a Gen-X James Bond prototype whose extreme sports skills and criminal record makes him an effective and expendable secret agent. The movie as the previous one, not much of story line, not much of any sort brain storming while making the movie, but hey its excellent past time and a good laugh and some nifty movie magic and stunts along with it. One thing for sure though, ICE CUBE out ranked Vin Diesel in all aspects, basically the right person for the right job.

Go watch it will ya, lord knows how much we need this type of movie time to time

Rating: 7/10

Hotel Rwanda (Movie): Rating: 9.5/10

2005-04-25T10:49:00.000+04:00

Want to experience how is like to live among madness, inside a country in the middle of civil war. Hotel Rwanda does just that, but alas that’s not the picture this movie tries to portrait, of which to me is the only weakness the movie had, the director could have probably worked better in bringing the civil war madness to a much realistic form, I mean for a death toll well over one million people, one would assume a well scened massacre should be included (something like Saving Private Ryan, than again its Steven Spielberg we are talking about here). But unfortunately to no avail!

However, the original message intended, did come out wide and clear, and that being the individual courage of a single man Paul Ruseabagina a house manager of a hotel located somewhere in Rawanada played by Don Cheadle of Ocean’s eleven and twelve, who gave a promise to his family that that he will protect them no matter what the stacks were, he did that and on top of it he end up protecting 1200 people along with it.

What made this message so powerful is that he acted solo, while the western looked away and considered the events mainly a local problem and dispute, and the message did come out clear in the movie itself when Colonel Oliver character played by Nick Nolte, tells Ruseasabagina that the problem is that these are just black Africans killing other black Africans and that he is a piece of shit and dung (excuse my French).

Apart from the visuals of which I thought it could been done better the rest is a 10/10 rating no doubt

Acting: 10/10
Visual: 8/10
Direction: 10/10
Story: 10/10

Overall rating: 9.5/10

Coach Carter (Movie): Rating 8 /10

2005-04-23T15:30:00.000+04:00

One would expect a true story's story line is what the story dictates. But if it wasnt for the conclusion remarks at the end of the movie it could be easily mistaken from a fictous story. The movie " Coach Carter" is one of those rare true stories that not only convey a powerful message, but uncanningly draws a picture of what a suberb that seems normaly to those who lives in it and only shocking beyond their apprehension for those who dont.

A bunch of high school kids, from a ghetto, surviving to make it another day having basket ball as their sole reason to stay away from the street. But attitude creeps in causing them to fail to see how good they have it to be part of a basket ball team, forced by the system to abuse the previllage by ignoring the education part of it,. Coach Carter played by Samuel L Jacson takes over the responsiblity to make and strengthen that link by keeping the lads away from the street, inforcing education and the sole purpose of being part of a basket ball team.

Hence a contract is being made, you would play ball provided you maintain a grade point average of 2.3, among other clauses such wearing tie when attending a basket ball game. Furious the kids become backed by their parents where the later are forced by doing several hundred suicide and pushups and the later can only stare in disemy of what is about to happen next. And unlike most of us who would offer solution, catrter was offering resoultions to the problem, forcing them uncaustionsly to see the light without showing actually showing them

The end results is obvious, from the worst team in the state to one of the best team in America, which proves displine, education and the respect to the game does do wonders.

Enjoy

Acting : 8/10
Story : 10/10
Direction : 7.5/10
Visual : 6/10
Overall rating: 8

Apple IPOD (Gadget): Rating: 10/10

2005-04-15T12:22:00.000+04:00

Ipod

Would it be grand if you could carry all of your favorite songs with you 24/7, and being able to customize it to fit your need and mood, and no its not a joke, such gadget does exist, and I will be damn if you haven't heard of it before. The one and only, APPLE IPOD.

With a whooping 20GB capacity, which can fit more or less up to 5000 songs, you can browse your music by play list, artist, genre, or song in seconds with its unique and incredibly easy-to-use, touch-sensitive scroll wheel. You could have your own Billboard chart imbedded in it with the 25 most listen music. It has a touch sensitive scroll wheel that feels uncannily like an analog wheel to a point until this very day I am between minds whether the wheel actually moves or not, amazing huh!

With a help of ITune software that comes with the package you can rate your most loved songs and have it categorized in its own category. Most of all the unique irresistible look that it posses, makes you wonder whether you are worthy enough of its possession, but alas, if you love music, style, basically being cool than this gadget is for you. And don't let me get started with the accessories, let us just say they are endless. I am ordering one as we speak, "The Ultra Compatible I-Station Speakers with Mega sound quality", but that's another review all together.

My rating, do you even ask, of course 10/10 with a slam dunk

CSI, Crime Scene Investigation (TV Series): Rating 4/10

2005-04-09T22:18:00.000+04:00

CSI

There is this cool quote that my friend is carrying as a signature, it basically says " If a man can be considered guilty for what goes in his mind then give me the electric chair for all my future crimes".

Trust me when I tell you, with the so called hit series that everybody is talking about namely "Crime Scene Investigation" CSI in short, its a matter of time before they start busting people with what goes on in their minds, all they need to do is check the criminals DNA sample while they are asleep and they have themselves a fellon, just in case you were wondering, yes I WAS being saracastic.

That much ridicoulous how I found CSI, it actually insulted my intellegence, there is no sense of reality, for every case, you can literally tell that each step was created just so the other step to make sense and viola at the end you have yourself the guys who did, and mind you, none of them stand a chance in front of a jury, beats the idea "without the benefit of the doubt" dont it.

Did I like CSI, well I must admit the theme songs is kind of cool, and i kinda dig why many would love it, but what can I say, I consider myself an old fashion, investigation based on real clues, common sense and twists, series the like of "Murder She Wrote" or " Colombo". But with CSI, what can I say, its just not my type of cup of tea, the factor of creativity was missing, when it comes to solving a murder, creativity is a must, and as Sharlock Holmes would say to Watson " CSI is ELEMENTRY". On thing for sure, criminals in the US of an A would be more careful now

Rating: 4/10

Angels and Demons (Book): Rating 9/10

2005-04-07T14:53:00.000+04:00

Moi and Angels and Demons

Angels and Demons by Dan Brown must be the most remarkable book in this time and age, grasping facts with ingenious splendor of fiction. The book not just broadness your horizons on the ways and mean of the smallest country in the world "The Vatican City" ranging from enchanting rituals of electing a new pope, detailed description of each landmark inside the Vatican City, places like St Peter's Basilica where the burial memorial takes place, Sistine Chapel where the Conclave, I.e. election of new pope takes place. It also discuss matters that many of us in one point of time have asked ourselves such question. The Question being, is this Universe will live in, s it a merely Chain reaction from the so called Big Bang Theory as the extreme SCIENTIST claim or there is a powerful force responsible for all this AS THE RELIGIOUS PEOPLE believe, question that if we deeply research could easily lead us to the ultimate evilness if not sought through carefully and thoroughly

Angels and Demons is about that very question, is a battle between The Church and the scientist. But with a touch of adventure, clues and edge of the seat feeling that literally forces you to hold on the book until your eyes gives up while your mind still dreaming it your way till morning, only to wake up the next morning finding the book one your chest or on the ground. The adventure is being lead by Robert Langdon, a historian, of which through ironic twist of fate find himself solves the most dangerous, one time chance puzzle, if not solved on time the entire Vatican City is you know it vanishes in thin air. The action never lets up, Both the main character Rober Langdon and Vittoria, are constantly thrown into one harrowing ordeal after the other. Dan Brown the writer is able to make all of these variables flow together so perfectly, carrying the reader along for the ride.

The big question that you will find yourself need to answer at the end of the book is WHO ARE THE DEMONS AND WHO ARE THE ANGLES among the two groups (Scientist and Religious people). I will leave you with this thought, with an excerpt from the book, by a Camerlango, a Pope assistant who took over command of Vatican after the Pope death, maybe it will shed some light and give you an idea why I thought this book is the best book i have read in a long time.

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"who is this God science? What kind of God gives a child fire but don't warn the child of its danger. All the while you proclaim the church is ignorant, but who is more ignorant? The man who cannot define lightning , or the man who don't respect its awesome power. Show me proof there is God you say. I say use your telescopes to look to the heavens and tell me how there could not be God. You ask what does God looks like?. I say, where did that question came from?. the answer are one and the same. Do you not see God in your science?. You proclaim that even the slightest change in the force of gravity or the weight of an atom would have rendered our universe a lifeless mist rather than our magnificent sea and heavenly bodies, and yet you fail to see Gods hand in this?!"
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Twin Effects (Movie): Rating 7/10

2005-04-07T00:09:00.000+04:00

twin effect

Before I even discuss the movie, let me warn you that it has nothing to do with Jacki-Chan, its merely mega-publicized cameo, Jackie is just a guest star for not more than 5 minutes worth of scene time. So yes I was fooled with large Poster infront of our humble cinema with Jackie-Chan photo all over it!!!!!!!

Nevertheless, the movie overall lives up to its standard. The Twins Effect is an action-comedy about a couple of vampire-killing babes, who's mission to stop vampires from taking over the world, is it me, or the story line is familiar, and than again aren't all vampire movies the same, but this one comes with timeouts for comedy and romance, and some kickass kung-fu.

The effects are out of this world, but no that you haven't seen it before, the fighting contains obvious wirework, the acting, well typical Hong Kung comedy type of acting if you know what I mean. There are moment where you wonder who on earth have written the screen play, there is this part where Reeve a cool hunter who loses his partner/lover Josie Ho in the film's opening moments. Depressed, he vows never to fall in love with his partner again. Do you find the ridiculousness in the statement, I mean Hello, get yourself a male partner and as if love is something that is in his control. The movie is nice fun, great for pass time, nothing serious in it, but definitely worth watching, I guarantee you will be out satisfied feeling your money well spent. Enjoy it

My Rating

Story: 7
Acting: 6
Direction: 8
Visual: 8
Overall: 7/10

The Sopranos (TV Series): Rating: 10/10

2005-04-03T20:15:00.000+04:00

When any episode starts, a theme song plays in a background with the main charachter (Tony Soprano) driving his car heading to his home. At the first glance, this being the very first epsiode you dont give your time of the day with that particular scene, so you would probably do as I did myself fast forward so that the epsiode starts right away, only through time, and watching Sopranos time and time again, the theme songs, the secnery of New Jersey and Tony Driving his car, with his big fat cigare, becomes part of the sensation of what makes sopranos the best T.V series ever made.

So this how it goes. Organized Crime consists of newly recruits, these newly recuits report to a MADE (Made is the title, and it means exactly that, the newly recruits after time and earning good money and trust for the Organized Crime family, they perform some sort of rituals announcing them that they have become part of the family, hence they were MADE part of the family, hence the title "MADE"), the MADES report to a Captain who reports finally to a BOSS

Not only that, they too actually have policies and procedures, Ethics, Code of conducts you name it, anything you would find in any organization, you would find it in an organized Crime, GANGSTER, MOB etc.

The Family in Question is SOPRANOS, and its headed by the BOSS Starring James Gandolfini or famously known as Tony, or T or Anthony SOPRANOS which ever turns you on.

The Series consists of FIVE Seasons, Where the first season covered Tony's relationship with his mother and that relationship causing him to see a therapist; the second season went more along the lines of him as a brother; the third season was based on Tony and Carmela (The wife) as parents, the fourth season was highly focused on their marriage, the fifth is the final one (yet to see it, cant wait).

Every series starts off well and detoriates, a good example would be 24. But with Sopranos it only gets better, to a point it actually saddens you that its finally coming to an end. What made this Series the best there is in my opinion, is the detailed, net picking Characters bringing. For example, Tony is one brutal dude, but when it comes to Animals he is a baby, what a wiered yet fantastic contradiction only by watching it yourself would make a perfect sense.

I cant say more, its that type of series that cannot be described. All I can say if you found God Father one of the best movie every made, that SOPRANOS is a thing for you, and trust me when I tell you it will literally change your life. I actually using words such as Salute, Cumare, the Sit Down, in my ordinary day to day life, so go figure!

Imate Jam (Gadget): Rating: 9/10

2005-04-01T22:14:00.000+04:00

I have been having this toy for over three months now, and I learned my lesson not to review a gadget until I fully experience it in all sense. I am that type of person who get hype very easily and think of world of any gadget I get into my possession, only to find out later it lakes this and that.

I used to have the old PDA imate, you know the huge bulky one. One month later, I gave it away to my missus, simply because it was huge and the idea of carrying it in my Dishdadha was just too much for me, as it is I carry alot already. Not to mention the battery and most of all it had the worst quality picutres ever.

But now, Imate Jam was invented, its small, perfect for my Dishdasha pocket and good battery life and whooping 1.2 Megapixel quality. I love it, I cant live without it, its just took over control of my life from day one, I cant seem to move a step without it, that much I love it. The battery life is excellent and most of all it doesnt have a craddle, the synchronization is being done by using a standard USB cable, you know the one its being used by a Camera, meanig its available everywhere for only two rails.

Its the smallest PDA available, I dont think it can become any smaller than this, otherwise it will defy the whole purpose of Pocket PC.

Its only flaw is the sound, than again i understand its something to do with ROM settings and the technos will introduce a new ROM version to fix the problem, so I am waiting, other than that, i just cant seem to find any fault in it. Ok so it holds 64 ram of memory, who cares, SDRAM of 1 GIGABYTES are available at a very affordable price. So there!

Constantine (Movie): Rating 8 /10

2005-03-30T22:01:00.000+04:00

Ok, let's face it, it's not a secret that Keanu Reeves has not talent in acting, I mean; the guy has only one expression. But I must give it to him, the guy knows to choose a movie that suits his ability, which eventually makes him look good, movies like Speed, The Matrix Part One, Devils advocate and now Constantine

The movie is not just anyone's cup of tea, you either love it or as my colleague who was with me considered it a waste of time, or some of my extreme religious friends though of it being a sinful, go figure!. The movie is about Angels and Demons. In a nutshell, Constantine is the leading character played by Keanu Reeves, a man who has been to hell once and has been sent back to earth to buy his way into heaven by sending demons that only he can see back to hell.

The Effects were superb; the acting was amazing, as I said, Keanu Reeves is in his best if in the right role such as this one, and the plot, like any typical plot which is based from the comic book, with a drama and actual storyline, not just mindless action, I enjoyed it greatly, there were moment it dragged a bit, and your full concentration is required as it can become easily confusing.

My Rating:

Story: 9
Acting: 7
Direction: 8
Visual: 8
Overall: 8/10

Finding Neverland (Movie): Rating 5/10

2005-03-27T10:52:00.000+04:00

To tell you the truth, I am confused, I have mixed feelings about this movie, and whether I should rate it 9/10 or 2/10, I decided to settle with 5/10 just incase I dont insult those who thought it was an excellent movie and worthy for the Oscar Nomination. Than again I wasn’t a Peter Pan fan to begin with, hence the Idea of how Neverland came to existence was not so intriguing, I went to watch this movie for two reasons and two reasons only.

The Oscar Committee thought it was a superb movie nominating it in the Best Movie Category, and supposedly it was suppose to be a Children type of movie. Was I wrong with the latter, just after the first 30 minutes, my daughter was way fall asleep, cant blame her, I myself was struggling to keep my eyes open, just for the suspense of it may become better and see the magic of it. Sadly, the magic didn’t come, so I wonder what were the Oscar Committee thinking when the chose this movie as a potential best 2004 movie, I mean they must have thought it was an excellent movie them being the professionals and all.

Don’t get me wrong, the movie is an alright movie, but if you are not a Peter Pan fan, or don’t give the time and the day for Neverland, this movie is just not for you, it was surely not for me!

The Last Juror (Book) : Rating 8/10

2005-03-27T09:55:00.000+04:00

Grisham has done it again. The Last Juror in my opinion is one of his best, maybe because its not a mystery per say, however, the character building, and his seemly description of events which made me fall in love with this book. The book is easy to read, it moved in an appropriate pace, the suspense was thrilling as you were forced to keep on reading just to find out what happens next, I read the book in three days, that should count for something!. Most of all the ending, it was appropriate and summarized perfectly. The event and the time that took place and the superb description and most of all the Characters, especially the main ones, Willie Traynor and Callie Ruffin, very compelling and likeable, all the time I had to remind myself that Its a fiction type of a book.

The story goes like this, its about a brutal murder that took place in small county called Clanton, is something of rare thing to happen, a local newspaper owner Willie Traynor uses such opportunity to his newspaper advantage and to boost those number of copies sales, the murderer convicted and sent to life, little did they know that life in prison actually equates to 10 years only as far as the county in question, Clanton, legal laws is concerned, among the jury, there is nice African American lady Callie Ruffin, lets just say she is too the main character in the plot, hence you have a Callie, you have a murder and you have a newspaper owner Willie, if you can add the dots you get yourself a revenge which is the story is all about but with a bit of twist here and there. If you enjoyed a Time to Kill, The Chamber and the Client by the same author John Grisham, you will definitely enjoy this one, read it before you they make a movie out of it

Hostage (Movie): Rating 5/10

2005-03-23T21:55:00.000+04:00

Ok I must admit, been a long time since I last saw die hard sort of movie, so I thought what the heck, i like Bruce Willis I will give this one a go, despite the bad reviews!. Than again I should have known better, after all Bruce Willis is not as young anymore, to me, it seemed like a desperate attempt from his part to recall his action hero days. enough is enough Bruce, but who am I kidding the last I heard they are doing "Die Hard 4" to be released sometime in 2006, go fgiure!

Anyway, back to the movie, Bruce Willis is a negotiator who sadely loses hostages of which one of them is a kid, haunted with the dead kid, he decides to quit and move to a small county assuming a role of a cheif officer. One thing lead to another, he is faced with another hostage situation, only this time, two families are involved of which one of them are his.

The movie starts off nicely, the first 20 minutes actually kept me on the edge of my seat, but it was downhill after that. They overdid the drama i thought, there was this scene between Bruce and the kid and how Bruce was suppose to save the planet etc etc., that was a real turn off!. You always know when a movie turns south, its when the audience start laughing where they should be serioues and probably crying, this exactly happened when some of the scene by the lead villan a rip off from the "Passion of the Christ"

Million Dollar Baby (Movie): Rating 7/10

2005-03-22T20:17:00.000+04:00

Its one of those movie you either Love it or Hate it. And if your main objective for any movie is enterainment, than probably this movie is not for you. But if you appreciate acting, story line, orignality than you will enjoy this movie. As for me, I am in between, I go for the entertainment and I expect good acting. However whether this movie deserved best movie award in the Oscar, definetly not, Ray was much much better if you ask me. Hillary Swank though, deserved her second Oscar award, "Boys Dont Cry" being her first.

But a piece of advice, if you are watching this movie under impression it must be an excellent movie being best movie winner, than you will be dissapointed, just take it as any normal movie, you may end up loving it.

Hitch: The Cure of Common Man (Movie): Rating: 8/10

2005-03-22T20:15:00.000+04:00

I dont recall laughing so out loud for a long time. Hitch is an excellent movie, it has all the right ingredients. Its romantic, funny, smart and most of all some useful advices that you can actually take home with you. Although Will is an excellent comedian doing a part of DR. Love advicing people how to get the woman of their dreams, but you combine him with the star of "The King of Queens" the man himself, Kevin James, the movie becomes hellarious.

Assault on Precinct 13 (Movie): Rating: 6/10

2005-03-22T20:13:00.000+04:00

When a movie its main plot revolves around suspense, and trust, one would assume it should be highly unpredictable. Sadly that was not the case, I predict every second step of it, I knew who was the untrustworthy individual from the very begining. The plot by iteslf is unique, Ethan Hawk as usual was in his best shape playing a local cop who got his entire group killed due to his wrong decision in the heat of the moment, suffering from personality disbute forcing him to take an office desk job at Percinct 13. Laurne Fishburne with his usual Matrix like personality Face facials play a powerful mob who got himself caught and tranfered to Percinct 13, apart from that I cant say much. If you enjoy a fast, suspense action packed type of a movie, you know "Die Hard" type, than you will enjoy this one

Ray (Rating: 9/10)

2005-03-22T20:10:00.000+04:00

What does it tell you when a person goes out immediately after watching RAY and buys himself most of Ray Charles Hits Songs. Well that person was me, I was so overwhelmed and echanted with the movie to an extent I was humming his hit song "Hit the Road Jack" all week.

Ray was excellent, mainly because Jamie Foxx outdone himself, he perfectly played Rays' character in all sense. And for once the Oscar Comittee was 100% right choosing him as the best actor, not suprisngly though after the excellent performance he gave in the movie " Collateral"

With Jamie Fox superb acting, the movie captured the essence of hardships of a young man, may I say Genious as well, determined to prevent his handicap of being blind to hinder him from sharing his talent with the rest of the world.

Dawn of the Dead (Rating: 9/10)

2005-03-22T20:06:00.000+04:00

A disease that spreads causing the infected ones to turns into zombies, you know the UNDEAD, who are constantly searching to feed on the flesh and blood of the few remaining living. And as usual some manage to survive and they want to continue to stay alive. Ok so a plot is not so cool, but that is not the point, the amount of killing, head splashing, blood flowing all over should make up for the plot trust me!.

Many seems to rank this movie in the horror category, i wouldnt!. Simply because its not a horror, okay its not exactly PG13, but a movie that definetly wont cause nightmares despite the awsome blood scene and horrific killings. I thought it was a master piece, it gave zombies a whole new defintion, have a look and hopefully you will get my drift!