This is the official launching of my new series of the above title. To better understand the humour in it, you should have at least watched any of the original Harry Potter movies or read any of the books, preferably The Half Blood Prince. Enjoy.

It was a dark and stormy night, only because too many people like to start off a story that way. Harry Gonner sat by the window of his cramped-up room, waiting in anticipation. His pet owl, Hedbig, had already fallen asleep at the corner, which is illogical considering that owls are nocturnal creatures. Taking another sip of his Mocha Frappucino™ that he magically conjured himself, Harry scanned the horizon once more.

Due to lack of space in his room, his smaller possessions were placed on the ceiling using magic. The fact is that Harry is gotten so lazy, his dependancy on magic to do things have very much increased. While the usage of magic is forbidden outside the magical realm, Harry has managed to elude expulsion by simply bribing the Ministry of Magic. Thanks to his dead father’s immense fortune, he can perform magic anytime anywhere anyplace. He has bribed the ministry so much, his name appears in every annual budget report, which he receives regularly.

A car arrived and stopped right at the front door. Harry’s headmaster had finally come to take him away from the dump in which he lived. Without moving an inch of his butt, he waved his wand saying ‘Pack my things’; everything in the room started floated into a luggage and arranged themselves. Harry had decided that muttering gibberish to cast magic is lame, hence he gives direct orders to his wand to do his bidding.

Downstairs, Uncle Vermin answered the door, furious because it was the middle of the night. Professor Dumbndumber stood at the doorstep, clad in a full black suit complete with a black tie. He was trying to impersonate a government official but his huge thick beard was a dead giveaway.

Dumbndumber: Good evening, Mr. Wursley. I am here to pick up Mr. Harry Gonner.

Uncle Vermin : Who are you?

Dumbndumber: I am er.. (looks at cue card ready in his palm) Jack Johnson from the erm… (looks again) gov-err-ment.

*Wizards have never heard of the word ‘government’ before. Dumbndumber picked up a muggle dictionary.

Uncle Vermin : And what kind of business did that boy got himself mixed up with??

Dumbndumber: He is now under the custody of the gov-err-ment in the process of transferring him to a legit foster family. I hope you have no objections..

Uncle Vermin : Well no, none at all! Please, take him away! He scares the family with his magic and made slaves out of us!

Dumbndumber: Is that so? Well now, you no longer have to put up with him. Ah, there he is now.

Harry trodded down the stairs with his luggage dutifully floating behind. He stepped out, joining Dumbndumber as Aunt Petunier and Dudbag peeped timidly from the kitchen. Uncle Vermin closed the door before anyone could utter another word.

Dumbndumber: Come now, step into my kick-ass car.

To be continued..

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It was a clear Sunday morning, as early as eight thirty the contestants assembled. The entire morning was spent for sound checks, and last-minute pre-show stage preps. 1:30pm, the event begins, with none other than Joey G as emcee.

Early Sunday

By the stage

One by one the 20 contestants performed their 3 challenges: a scenario acted out, a song sung, and an extra talent performed. Most of them did great, I was the only one who screwed my song.

On-looking from above

A total of 11 was picked to proceed to the finals to take place at Zouk 23rd September. I will be there, nevertheless, to support my once-were peers. These extraordinarily talented people deserve the the top ten spots. I, however, will settle for top 20.

The stage from the sound guys’ angle

After the show

I probably won’t forget the people I had this experience with. Talented, open, stage-savvy. It has been a priviledge performing alongside such wonderful people.

Lee Jian, Ice, Ian, and Jeremy

Ian, the only other who did Robbie Williams, and did better too

Pui San, *winks* .. ’nuff said

Munawi and James, the former in the finals

Ice, who put a ringgit note through my holeless shirt and made it reappear in her pocket. In the finals.

Wan Ling, who lent me his guitar for my performance and provided much encouragement. Oh, in the finals too.

I should have taken more pictures of people, didn’t get a proper chance. Those guys really stand out. Ah well. Whoever wants free tickets to the show at Zouk start sucking up to me now.

Our proud little country of Malaysia is finally taking a step towards mobile number portability for its wirelessly wired citizens. View the full article here. Such a development would be very much welcome in this land where its all about convenience and stinge. Yes, this piece of news will delight many, including myself even though I do not plan to switch numbers. But I wonder, what’s in it for the government itself? If its nothing much , then I guess I can finally commend the parliament-dwellers for a wise decision.

Looks like we’re not the first in this world to implement this feature (why am I not surprised). This is one addition to the pieces that makes up the great endless puzzle that is the social implications of technology. Knowing one’s number means being capable to contact that person from anywhere at anytime, a leap from the traditional telephone, which is a leap from postal services. Now that you never have to change your mobile number, it has become very much more associated to your very identity. Of course, to a certain extent it already was but think of how far it will bring itself.

I imagine that fifteen years ago the idea of a number being this attached to a person’s name was unfathomable. In the same way, how elaborate communication will become in the future is wow-worthy. Exactly how it will turn out I do not know; but think of the possibilities. How much a part of your identity a number will become? Will people keep that very number for an entire lifetime? Will that number be placed next to your name instead of under your name? Will it replace your name?

If there will come a time when one is stuck with a number for good, wouldn’t that number be used in permanent records? As a result, that number is likely to be integrated into other systems such as banks, am I right? When this kind of identity-association gains enough credibility, it is plausible that a massive compilation of personal profiles will be created and made available for public access. Seeing that the internet grows in significance by the year, this concept of an accessible global identity database might just be possible. Connecting with other people has been taken to the next level.

Of course, everything will be perfect if it weren’t for crime and corruption; here meaning the improper use of life’s technological wonders. Spam, identity theft, viruses, pornography, privacy invasions and fraud, for example. Everytime a new kind of medium is invented, somebody is bound to misuse it; SMS spam had just begun. Prepare yourself to protect your identity, the darkside of technology looms.

The Japanese: among which thrives a breed of exceedingly innovative individuals, whether in art or science. It was them who created Casshern: the most capturing and emotionally enchanting sci-fi fantasy ever put together on film. Nevermind the unknown director and actors in the eyes of western entertainment, nevermind the troublesome but necessary reading of English subtitles, Casshern is a refreshing breath of air for Anime-lovers and sci-fi fans alike.

Kazuaki Kiriya, director, had employed the use of striking filming techniques which are relatively new and slightly experimental. Layered in thick renderings of CGI and heavy filtering, the scenes were shot in styles and angles familiar to Manga of serious action adventure genres. The entire movie is photo-realistically picture perfect.

Armed with a flawless storyline, Casshern unfolds its plot scene by scene with minimal predictability. Elements include life and death, man and machine, hope and despair, peace and war, as well as love and hate. Set in a post-apocalyptic future (which is by now a bit common), mankind waged war between themselves, drying up the Earth to the last blade of grass. In the face of a growing health crisis due to excessive pollution, Dr. Azuma answers the call with a discovery of a miracle cure.

Upon nearing the completion of his research as funded by the military instead of the health board of the Great Eastern Union, disaster strikes. Rising from the depths came the mutants who became a bigger threat than everything else. It is now up to Tetsuya son of Dr. Azuma, who unintentionally became the only person strong enough to possibly end the war. No other live-action flick to date has a moving ending like Casshern’s; when humanity itself is questioned.

The contents of the movie is obviously far more meaningful than what I have just described. Even though the story may not impress as many viewers, the captivating visuals and concepts will. Casshern will be released in the US sometime 2005; when it does, it will set a brand new benchmark for mainstream portrayal of fictional world-saving acts in moviedom. Buck up, western film-makers.

Rating: A+