Eid Mubarak

As I sat on my balcony and watched the Diwali celebrations accross the river burst into the sky, I said a little prayer to all my brown friends out there who are celebrating some sort of religious holiday today...

Eid Mubarak & Happy Diwali

Remember, Eid is a time to be celebrated with friends & family, where we all appreciate the long, hard month we all endured & thank God for the return of that much needed mid-morning snack.... Don't forget to count your blessings...

Sport's fan quote of the day (with picture)

"Maybe Spanish referee Manuel Enrique Mejuto Gonzalez can see something in Henry that the rest of us can’t?"


Thanks to Gunnerific for this awesome picture, and to last night's ref, bite me.

The Crackberry

Working with different jurisdictions means two things: 1) you learn how to sweet talk in different cultures in order to get something done for you and 2) work doesn't stop when you do. Working with people all over the world means when you go to work early one morning you will probably have a fright-of-a-sight of an email inbox with furious chains of "Where the hell are you? I need this right now!" sent at unreasonable times - times when you were trying to catch up on your crochet or One Tree Hill (admit it - even the toughest of you watch it)... Working with different parts of the globe means you have to find people when they're available and make sure you're catching someone during working hours in order to get your own work done. Of course, all of this can be resolved if you live in the office (insert sarcastic laughs from Clifford Chance trainees) or you've got a Blackberry.

I have to admit I did really wanted one... It just seemed so cool to be scrolling down your emails with your thumb on the train while everyone else looked sullenly on... Men were so much cooler, women so much more powerful, everone seemed to have this cutting edge that I didn't have because they were furiously thumbing away on escalators/movie theatres/bathroom stalls while I was just wondering what surprises my email inbox held for me...

Of course, I wanted one until I started working. You see, only a number of my bosses here that have a Blackberry actually use it - some choose to ignore it. Why, you may ask, Why would they want to bang their little office in a pocket against the wall? Reason would probably be because you're literally at your client's mercy with it. Anytime, any place, you're forced to answer back emails and calls from clients whom against you can't use the excuse that you were "unreachable" (To which they'll probably reply, Bull-Shit). And this I know, as I've received emails from my Boss at 00:08 a.m., answering back queries from NY and much to my pleasure, have pestered co-workers on the other end of the world to make sure my clients are happy in the wee hours of the morning, their time.

So here I am, stuck in a Catch 22 situation: I want to look cutting edge and fiddle around with my Blackberry Pearl but I also don't want to sell my soul to my company - where do you draw the line? After much contemplation, I can solemnly state that these things are little Monsters. Oh, and definitely a little intimidating, especially after reading this article here of how addictive these things are. Anyone who actually has one will agree - and those who don't are better not knowing what sleepless nights are like because of a little twinkling tone.

**
Slow start to the week which is fine as I'm not feeling too well - waiting to see what madness the rest of the week has in store for me...

MOVIE REVIEW: The Departed - a far departure from the original...

Applause, applause, I managed to get over to the theatre this weekend to watch Martin Scorsese's latest movie, "THE DEPARTED". The only reason I actually got to the cinema and wasted three hours (yes, three hours) of my time was the curiosity to watch Scorsese's Hollywood adaptation of the Chinese blockbuster "Infernal Affairs" - and to see whether he's mucked it up or not.

Infernal Affairs is a story of an undercover cop in the Triads and a Triad mole in the police force - it's the story of two young lads who started out together and went their separate paths working for different ends of the police force. Due to some seedy scams, they're forced to seek eachother out from the instructions of their superiors (also big time cops) without getting themselves discovered. It's basically an intense, skilful crime thriller in the streets of Hong Kong done by the famous Chinese director Andrew Lau (War of the Underworld, A Man Called Hero). The leads are played by Andy Lau and Tony Leung (you can feel the Chinese girls swooning already) and they do an excellent job of portraying the good cop who's not really a cop and the bad cop who turns good cop. The script is clearly written for a Chinese audience and is definitely not a made-for-Hollywood Oriental film - don’t expect this to be anything artsy and include some computer enhanced martial arts. This is a Chinese action film, not what you'd watch at your local world globe theatre before drinks with some wanna indie cover band members.

Rather than the streets of Hong Kong, The Departed is set in Boston with native Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio running up and down the Charles. I must note that this isn't entirely a story about the police force, but a story about the Boston Police Force and the Irish Mafia that exist within it. It was an interesting insight into what could be going on, and the star studded cast including Jack Nicholson, Martin Sheen, Marky Mark Wahlburg and a chubby Alec Baldwin, definitely had you entertained with their fake Bostonian accents. "Get in the caaah. Get in the feckin' caaah!"

Scorsese follows the original script quite well, with a few additions and extractions of his own. Scorsese's neglects to build up the relationship between Martin Sheen's character and DiCaprio's - definitely something he shouldn't have taken out as you don't really understand the dynamics of their relationship. Also, the original includes the extra character of May (Chinese pop star Elva Hsaio) who is only in the film for a brief scene, but definitely includes a sweet touch to the thriller as Tony Leung's old flame. There are a small number of new twists and turns but The Departed sticks to the original's production quite well, with the main scenes being almost exact the same as the original. Also spot a lot of scenes in china town = much appreciated by fans of the original.

Part of the excitement of the original Chinese film was the fact that it's filled with subtleties - nothing is spelled out for you and the story unravels as you watch the struggles of Tony Leung's character cope with being an undercover cop and you understand the relationship he has with Mr. Wong, with brief flashbacks of the young student's upsets at the Triad Academy. This was the main problem with The Departed - the original movie was about an hour and forty minutes while this version was stretched out for an extra hour. A whole extra HOUR. Mainly because Scorsese's must have though American audiences wouldn't be able to keep up with the plot and had to explain every detail while Chinese audiences were left sitting at the edge of their seat, taking in every detail in order to piece together the story. Entirely necessary? Perhaps Scorsese's thought he could put forward extra scenes with cussing and some flesh in order to keep his audience focused on the plot (perhaps).

Another disappointment: Scorsese's didn't bother milking out the emotional scenes (Mr. Wong/Martin Sheen - don't want to ruin it for you) to replace them with some tactlessly placed sex scenes with Jack Nicholson involved. Grr. I do love The Shining star - his facial expressions in random bursts of irish song are brilliant as the main villian in the film - but was it completely necessary? Picture Nicholson, naked but for a leopard print silk robe. Think hard now.

Overall, I'd say the movie was "good" for an adaptation of a chinese film to for a western audience. It definitely over simplified the plot and did put in some extras that weren't entirely necessary, but again, overall, it was good. "Very good" for those who haven't seen Infernal Affairs and won't compare it to the original. "Not so great" for those who look down on Scorsese's not having seen the original when deciding to film The Departed. "Disgusting" for those die hard Andy Lau fans who think Matt Damon is no equal.

Rating: 3.5/5

More about The Departed here, and Infernal Affairs here.

I can't waaaaiit... for the weeekend to begiiiiin...

Weekend Stuff:

- Steady's coming over - much missed after a 2 month departure (yes, it's been that long!), looking forward to having a chinese & a chat with my narcaleptic friend. Sometimes we think Teddy's Deady when he passes out, but lucky he's not this bad.

- OCTOBER 14 - DOOMSDAY - card-game night at my place, prepare yourself for some dog-eat-dog-rummy. I don't have a name for our game, could someone give suggestions, err... please-gesstions?

- Preparing for the London Film Festival coming up next week - looking forward to seeing some good British films, especially Venus, which is a collaborated work of one of my favourite writers, Hanif Kureshi, and with Peter O'Toole in the lead. That and Breaking and Entering with yummy Jude Law. Yummay in ma Tummay. If I do end up going to a movie, go over to Coffee & Dates to read my review and then applaud me for actually sitting through a whole movie in the cinema & not thinking it's an absolute waste of time.

- Tom the temp (who was also my advocacy opponent in law school) is leaving today, I will be very sad - no one to take countless coffee & tea breaks with who will complain about the quality of coffee & tea with me.

- Weekend means sleeping in - fun!

Andre the Giant Lives!

He does - in the form of a courrier man from DSI! Minus the Spandex, of course, but it was definitely him. I almost wanted to jump out of a building and fall into his arms, wearing a floaty dress (that's me in the dress). It didn't happen - he didn't even crush someone with his bare hands - because someone else gave him their package to deliver and I just stood their dumbfounded by my Fezzik. Nonetheless, I am in shock; happy, happy shock.

Speaking of happiness, if you can't seem to find it in the heart of your tiny weeny little heart, buy it here for the small price of $4.99. I don't even want to know what these people have bottled up but I'm curious: their site says they sell different types of happiness... Sooo... do they have, say, ecstasy perhaps? Perrrhaps?

Happy Wednesday's almost over - big E4 night, sadly, I don't have E4. Boo hoo. Lucky for me tonight it's not too much of a problem as it's England v Croatia tonight and I will be watching, along with my whole nation of yobs. Love you lads (innit).

So, as in the words of So Solid Crew: Sticky icky flicky.

Just so you know, while you were gone yesterday, I'm answered the phone like this: "Bob's Country Bunker, Bob speaking."

After a nice night out with family friends & lot's of chats, I wonder how I crawled out of bed to get to work today when everyone's made plans to go to the Dorechester for tea (and I'm on bloody Kingsway! Pitiful!)

Link of the day: Somehow I don't think my boss will appreciate any jokes this morning... Click here for some office humour

Happy tuesday, people... x

Get rid of 'em - co-workers can be vermon

Seeing as I work with a lot of relocation companies (and I've had mice), this conversation kept me entertained as I thought of how to get rid of a couple of people I work with (who look like rats, too)...

Funny conversation here

Link This: London's Calling

Fancy learning a little bit more about London? Link yourself up to

Coffee & Dates

where I myself am a contributor to whatever we see, hear and by golly, take part in here in the nation's capital...

It's still being played around with so check it up on a daily basis and leave your comments!

Other contributors are awesome and opinionated - you'll love 'em!

That's it for now - crazy days - when aren't they?

Peace x

(PS. So Wenger admitted selling Viera & Edu in the same year was a mistake... true to a certain point, their position was missing and that did put a lot of pressure on Fabregas... but what's done is done, and we're back up there.... quoting The Boss "I’m convinced that we can fight for, and win, the Premiership title. I’m a competitor so my aim this season is to win both the Champions League and the Premiership." Amen.)