Past-Future

It was assumed to be an alteration of the Matrix, it is a phenomenon that most people encounter several times in their lives; I, myself, have lived it pretty often. I'm talking about deja-vu.
Every once in a while it might feel like the same thing has already happened just the way it does at the time; and I want to know what is all of this about!
The thing is that there are no real theories behind the event; it can't be lab-s(t)imulated so it is nearly impossible to study it. So all the real ideas are as plausible as the fictional ones.
What's uttered is that deja-vu could be related to syndromes such as schizophrenia or anxiety or that it's a malfunction in the perception of memories, which would place stuff that happened milliseconds ago in a far distant period of time.

Opening the gate to other worlds, first we have dreams. The phenomenon is depicting something you've dreamed in a vivid moment; but dreaming something that particularly precise, ain't it wicked? (But I have a strong feeling that you'll be reading some other stuff about dreaming here soon.)
 There's also the Matrix proposition, but that's a bit far-fetched.
And so we're left with the final explanation, which I tend to embrace in a supernatural way of seeing things even though Fringe is not my cup of tea...drum-roll...Deja-vus are glimpses of memories from other dimensions that the person has already visited. So our minds go wandering from time-place to time-place and their keep little tokens that come up when you except the least.
I guess that makes us all visionaries (if we could trigger the reenactment at any given instant) or is my dark side darker that I thought, with its deja-vus any other month...

Far from being Despicable at all

Wits: 4/5
Story: 3.5/5
Perception: 5/5
Rating: 4/5 

Gru is a vilain, and one of the good ones. Now he needs to reinstate himself as the greatest of them all and to do so he has to aim up-high. But this time he needs more than his recurrent help and thus...the PowerPuff Girls are born...sorta...they're three little girls with similar behavior as the said cartoon characters but with no superpowers.

To paraphrase one of the girls: this movie is so funny I'm gonna die!!!
The general idea is not the newest on the market: a bad guy gone softer due to something/someone fuzzy and sweet showing up in his life, but the final product is worth its 3D ticket money. The roller-coaster ride is pretty awesome.
At the beginning it seemed to be a little slow and used-up, but it gets a real boost after ten minutes. I guess the thing is that Gru alone is just another Igor-like speaking villain, but all it really needs is some interaction with another character to let the fun come out.
Also, Thumbs-Up for the Minions who fill-up their part more than decently emphasizing on the less subtle side of humour, but funny nonetheless. The girls, in general, are OK, although I was not looking for the hearty part of the movie, so the little sister appealed to me more being the funniest of the three.  
If you go to see it in theatres wait for the first part of the credits also there are some amusing and enjoyable 3D sequences.
All in all, it's an entertaining animation with a good 3D finishing.










Funny - Spoiler Alert!!!

Agnes (the little one) is to die for. 
Personal fave: the fluorescent Minion
I don't know why but all of Vector's stuff look very Apple-ish which is ironic since he looks like a teenage Bill Gates
The Bank of Evil: formerly Lehman Brothers 
"Mr. Gru is nice / But scary / Like Santa"
GRU is actually the name of the new KGB

Ode to Chemistry - IYC 2011

Next year it's the International Year of Chemistry, and I consider this to be a huge opportunity for this field of activity to get a better image.
Nowadays the public opinion mostly ignores or associates this branch of science with all the bad stuff in the world. Well, it is time to spread out the word and bring out the coolness in Chemistry. As a chemist I can assure you that the opportunities in this domain are limitless and that without Chemistry, all the commodities that are today taken for granted would not have been possible. A shortlist would be:

• Medical and Pharmaceutical advancements 
• Transportation
• Technical and Device Development
• Energy
• Food
• Constructions
• Cosmetics
• Quality of living

...and many more

You would probably bring up the Environmental issue, but that is like saying that the Nuclear Bomb is the fault of Atomic Physics. The thing is, Chemistry has the capacity to clean-up after itself (it already provides the tools, you know...), all that is needed is that the humans really take the situation seriously and change their views and behavior.
So, for all the Chemists out there, do your job well and be good lobbyists! and for the non-Chemists widen your perspective on this amazing Science!

How the bash an epic story...

Acting: 1/5
Story: 2/5
Perception: 2/5
Rating: 2/5


I had to see it with my own eyes to believe it. So, it's my turn to trash it.
The movie is a remake of the 80s which follows Perseus' quest to save the world. For those of you who don't know, he's a demigod, son of Zeus, who wants to revenge his mortal family.
There's no delicate way to say it: the film is boring. The characters are predictable and linear, so even if the actors were good, you couldn't tell it out. Concerning the story, it was not supposed to be original (remake, remember!), but being an action movie some thrills were in order, but they're kinda washed out; not to mention the transitions from scene to scene, or the involvement of some characters.
The SFX and the CGI were ok, though not that spectacular to render the movie more attractive. It's true I didn't see it in a theater, but given the fact that everybody criticized the 3D conversion, I'm not sure that it would have mattered.
The only cool scene was the battle against The Medusa, but that's just not enough.
In conclusion, this movie could be skipped without much remorse. 








Stuff - Spoiler Alert!!!

I didn't understand why the film (even the original one) was called Clash of the Titans, the Gods are barely present, so why mention they ancestors. Speaking of the Gods, Hades really needed some throat pills. 
The two hunters seemed fun at the beginning, but they quickly became anachronistic and then disappeared with no reason. And the sort of prophet was creepingly annoying.
 Come on, a black Pegasus!
It's really intriguing how come Hollywood skipped this opportunity for another cheesy love story, because originally Perseus started the quest in order to win Andromeda's hand.



 

Imperfect is the new Good

With a slight 10 days delay here comes my input on Imperfect Harmonies, Serj Tankian's new album.

You might have guessed (or already known) that he's the vocalist from S.O.A.D. If you've listened to his first solo album Elect the Dead, you'll feel a change in style; if you haven't, FYI it is a back to the roots of SOAD.
Getting to this piece, the title suits the content entirely. It is a mix of soughing notes, disturbed rhythms, a good voice, some metal touches and synthesizer add-ons. I can't say that it was what I expected, but I'm impressed of the end-product; musical evolution can still go the right way. 
My SOAD background makes me mostly enjoy tracks like Left of Center (and therefore all of the previous album) but this one has a new harmony going on and deserves at least a full listening. It might appeal to you, System of a Down fan or not.