Wow... My last entry was more than 2 weeks ago? I guess there's just too many things going on that laziness got the best of me. There must've been at least 5 different topics I meant to put in as an entry, but before I got around to doing it, something else interesting took place. While I'm contemplating which one should I wrote about in my blog, little by little I lost the will to actually put it into writing. So here I am... trying to come up with excuses for having neglected my blog.

OK... here's the topics recap, hopefully I'll get around to actually post some of them online as a full entry. There's this dissapointing Indonesian magazine that had all the looks but none of the content, followed by the infectious chuckle-inducing journalism that is the BBC's Top of the Pops. Then, there's the dinner party at my place when my parents were visiting... actually the interesting part was the vino part, where afterwards we kinda just took whole bunch of pictures. I guess it's true that alcohol boosts your artistics side, hahaha. And then there's Anggun's latest news with her new single, new couturier, new clip and all.

Anyway.. soon, I'll put all these ideas into writing, when I'm out of this lazy mode. This temperature + humidity is killing me! upper 90s (Fahrenheit) with 90% (of humidity)? I'm not a physician but I'm pretty sure that can't be good for your santé. So stay indoors and drink (water, that is... not the creative elixir) enough.

So Live 8 was supposed to be broadcasted live on MTV. All of the concerts, not just the Philly one. Well that was supposed to be the case, three of Viacom's music channels (MTV, mtvU, and VH1) are to cover the Philly Live 8 while giving us bits of the other concerts. If MTV/VH1's coverage is to be believe, then the concert should've been Anglo Live 8 for they only covered the London and Philly ones and snippets of performances in English in other country. Surely nobody would believe that the concert was held in 10 different cities in 4 continents. Apparently everyone speaks English in Tokyo, Paris, Berlin, and Rome. Also, whatever happened to Moscow? I was so ticked off that instead of showing the local artists such as Calogero in France, Dreams Come True in Japan, or Jovanotti in Rome, the only foreign artists that they showed was the Brits plus one or two that performed their songs in English (such as Shakira).

I guess I expected too much, I though with all the technology and connected-ness that we have now, this time would be different from 20 years ago when internet was a geek lingo. But apparently Viacom thinks that the American people would be so narrow-minded that they won't even care to see other artists that have won acclaims in their own country (and beyond most of times).

OK, so maybe non UK/US artist is a bit pushing it, what ever happened to those that performed abroad such as Good Charlotte, Bjork, Pet Shop Boys, The Killers, and many more? Where are the clips???

Shame on you MTV for helping is not feel the global-ness of this potentially once-in-a-lifetime event! And to think with a commercial break and reality shows ads on every other song you should have enough fund to do pretty much anything!

I finally saw « The Machinist » starring Christian Bale (Batman Begins, American Psycho), Jennifer Jason Leigh (Road to Perdition, and Aitana Sánchez-Gijón (A Walk in the Clouds). This is one of those rare coincidences when I actually agree with the critics: Christian Bale was superb in this film. Well, to be fair, the whole ensemble was really great. I think any one of the cast member was just as crucial as the other in making the film such an engaging piece of work.

For those of you who are interested in seeing the movie because of its similarity with Memento (Christopher Nolan), it might be a bit of a let down. I think the only reason why people are linking it to the 2000 release is because they just couldn't relate it to any other film. Although there are certain parts of The Machinist that's very similar to Memento (Post-it notes), it's a totally different movie. To me Christopher Nolan's work is essentially a suspense, while this movie is a drama. Memento kept you guessing up 'til the end, but don't expect that from The Machinist; at some point you'd have enough clues to guess what's really happening. Weak script? I don't think so, because if you watch the film with your head clear of Memento redux hopes, the drama behind Trevor's condition is the actual story. Bale's insanity in losing 63lbs has really paid off, because there is no way anyone could help him/herself from cringing looking at that living skeleton. In a way this is a less intense movie than Memento, but more personal.

Hmm... for someone who thinks that this movie is nothing like Memento, I sure mentioned Memento (second time in a single sentence!) a lot! OK, so here's the synopsis of what "The Machinist" is about: "Trevor Reznik is an heavy-machinery operator who hasn't slept for the past year. As he continues on suffering from insomnia, the sleep depravity began to affect him. Hallucinations began to merge with his reality. What's really happening? Is there a conspiracy against him? Or is he really losing his mind? Witness Trevor drudge through his hazy existence as he uncovers the truth."

Now forget all that I've said about the movie, and go see the movie with a head clear of expectations. Just rest assured that the 2 hours you'll spend is worth it. Also, I dare you to resist watching the making-of up to the end!