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like, what is legit anymore?

Major Sinkholes in 2013

Mar
31

Sinkholes are appearing at an alarming rate around the world, and rapid urbanisation must take some of the blame for it.

Here are some notable instances just in 2013 alone.

neither Sinkhole swallows golfer in Illinois golf course, 12 March 2013

Golfer Mark Mihal was having a fine day with his golfing buddies, when the ground suddenly opened up under him on his 14th hole. He fell 18 feet deep into the hole, but thankfully survived. He was stranded for about 20 minutes before friends managed to pull him out with a rope.

He was extremely lucky, because to get out of this alive, because just a cuple of weeks earlier,

Moanda Sinkhole in Florida swallows man sleeping in bedroom, 28 Feb 2013

florida_sinkhole

Jeff Bush, 36, was in his bedroom when the entire floor gave way, and swallowed his bed, along with himself into the ground. He managed to call for help, but his brother Jeremy, could do little to help.

The sinkhole quickly grew in depth of up to 100 ft.

Rescue efforts were hampered as the grounds were considered highly unstable. Jeff has been presumed dead since 3 March, and rescue efforts called off.

Sinkhole swallows security guard in ShenZhen, 27 March 2013

 

Dramatic video footage captured a giant sinkhole opening up and swallowing up a 25 year old Security Guard. He was eventually rescued, but succumbed to serious injuries sustained in the fall.

Giant sinkhole takes in entire buildings in GuangZhou, 29 Jan 2013

guangzhou sinkhole

A giant hole opened up in GuangZhou and swallowed 3 buildings. Amazingly, no casualties were announced.

Sinkhole along Keppel road tries to swallow a car, 30 Jan 2013

singapore sinkhole

Closer to home, a man-made sinkhole, created when a water-pipe burst, along Keppel road attempted to swallow a car. Earlier this month, another sinkhole appeared in Woodlands, where excavation works ruptured an underground water pipe, creating a massive sinkhole.

Musings Comments Off on Major Sinkholes in 2013

How big is the internet?

Mar
28

We use it everyday. For knowledge. For social interactions. For work. For entertainment. Porn.

For a kid born in the 90s, it will be almost impossible for him or her to imagine life without the internet. We all know the internet’s huge. But just how big is it?

Here are some numbers (mostly from 2012):

Now go wrap your head around those for a while…

Digital, Musings Comments Off on How big is the internet?

Do birds fart?

Mar
26

Sometimes, when I lay awake at night, unable to sleep, I start pondering over Life’s great mysteries.

Tonight, I asked myself… do birds fart?

I got lucky on 2 counts. First, someone actually thought of that too, and went one further in doing research on it. Second, the internet.

Seriously, how did anyone get any knowledge on such esoteric topics before the internet?

The short answer is No. Birds don’t carry the same gas-forming bacteria in their stomach as humans and mammals do to help digest food, so there’s nothing to let out.

There you go. One more weird factoid to charm the ladies.

image from copyranter

Oz the Great and Powerful

Mar
25

Oz the Great and Powerful

This prequel / origins story is set 20 years before Dorothy Gale blew into the mystical land of Oz. This time, the story centres around Oscar Diggs (James Franco), a small-time magician in a travelling circus, and how he comes to be the titular Oz in the land coincidentally named after him.

There it is! The entrance to OooOoooOz

There it is! The entrance to OooOoooOz

A serial playboy, Oscar inadvertently hits on the circus strongman’s wife. Escaping in a hot air balloon, he gets twirled into a tornado, and winds up in the Land of Oz. Once there, he is received by the witch Theodora (Mila Kunis), who is certain he is the wizard prophesied to be the wizard to overthrow the wicked witch.

He immediately assumes the position, not knowing the true extent of the wicked witch’s power. Along the way, he enlists the help of a flying monkey Finley, and a living china doll. He also meets the other witches Evanora and Glinda, as well as the folks in Oz. Over the course of the film, we go over the predictable arc of Oz’s character transforming from a selfish charlatan to a responsible and mature man.

The film is directed by Sam Raimi (Drag me to Hell, Spiderman 1 2 3). But it feels like he is channeling Tim Burton, albeit with much less flair for the quirky and colourful.

At the end of it all, the only thing great and powerful is Rachel Weisz’s ability to look so good at 43.

Rating: 5/10

Definitely, a witch.. and she's been very, very wicked.

Definitely, a witch.. and she’s been very, very wicked.

Movie Reviews Comments Off on Oz the Great and Powerful

Buyral

Mar
22

So you just spent a lot of money producing a funny, high production value video for your company, and want, no, need it to go viral. What do you do? Most people say you can only make a good video, and hope the world turns in such a way that people will take note of it, and spread it virally. Maybe seed it to a few big influencers.

Nope.

You go to Buyral, and spend more money to guarantee it goes viral!

Watch:

OK OK, so it’s not real. Just a very clever self promotional tool by Toronto ad agency John St.

Or is it….

Techcrunch recently reported a network of bots that are costing advertisers up to $6 million dollars a month. An estimated 9 billion ad views a month, are not real views! Wrap your head around that!

Now that video doesn’t seem that funny, does it?

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How to get rich, or queue trying

Mar
18

Singapore is slated to be the world’s richest country, with a forecasted GDP per capita of USD 137,710 by 2050.

It therefore seems counter-intuitive to see lots of people queuing up in the wee hours of the morning, for hours, just to get a free Mcdonald’s Egg McMuffin worth $3.25.

OR maybe this is exactly how Singaporeans build up their wealth. By constantly queuing for free stuff, and hoarding their entire salaries in their mattresses.

We queue for the chance to win big at TOTO, we queue to flip private properties to foreign talent, and now, we queue to not pay for food.

Genius.

Musings Comments Off on How to get rich, or queue trying

Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons

Mar
17

JTTW_poster

I have a huge soft spot for Actor-Director Extraordinaire Stephen Chow, and grew up mostly on his slapstick antics such as the “Fight Back to School” and “God of Gamblers” franchises.

Proving that he wasn’t just a funny actor, he went on to direct himself in God of Cookery and King of Comedy. Since then, it seems the directing bug’s caught on for good, and he went on to find huge success in Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle, both of which got rave reviews in Hollywood.

Long time fans will know that he played the role of Monkey King in 1994’s two-part film A Chinese Odyssey. He returns this time to the source material, but stays completely behind the scenes as director.

Not exactly the threesome i was hoping for...

Not exactly the threesome i was hoping for…

In this prequel/re-imagining/origins story, Chen Xuan Zang (Wen Zhang), a pre-enlightened Tripitaka, is a newbie demon hunter, our to change the world and rid evil with nothing but his positivity and a book of 300 Nursery Rhymes.  Along the way, he is assisted by a real demon hunter Bai Gu Jing (the ever lovely Shu Qi), who will help in capturing the 3 core demons in the film; a water demon, a pig demon, and the Monkey King (all 3 of whom will eventually escort Tripitaka to collect the scriptures in India)

The film structure is thus segmented into 3 distinct parts, each with its own setup. The opening sequence is especially riveting, centering on a remote fishing village and its brush with the water demon, followed by a visit to a restaurant where the pig demon is the head chef, and a final showdown with arguably the most fearsome demon in the entire Journey to the West folklore, the monkey king. (And Stephen Chow is not afraid to make the monkey king ugly and loathesome)

I'm warning ya, don't make fun of my costume..

I’m warning ya, don’t make fun of my costume..

Stephen Chow, while noted for his brand of physical, slapstick comedy, has in recent years shown a lot more heart in his films, and here, its shown in the movie’s final moments as Xuan Zang shares a tender moment with Shu Qi, referencing an oft used line in his 1994 A Chinese Odyssey films.

An entertaining film, but it could be so much better, if he’d star in it.

Rating: 7/10

Movie Reviews Comments Off on Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons

Stare what stare?

Mar
11

 

more stares than care bears

more stares than care bears

If you’ve seen all 4 Twilight films (or like me, just seen all 4 Honest Trailers of the twilight films), you’ll know that a huge part of the films involve the various characters (and wolves) engaging in staring contests.

Now, Screen Junkies has compiled the stares (defined as any shot of someone staring without dialogue or voiceover) from all 4 films.

Yes, all 24 minutes 37 seconds of it.

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