Scrabble Nationals 2007 (Day Two)

Game 5: vs Ganapathy
Had a bad record against Ganapathy. He won in all our encounters. I was leading by a bit until he bingoed near the end of the game. Lost in the end!

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: FEEDERS(78) Opp Bingos: STRIKES(81)
My Phoneys: NAR* Opp Phoneys: RETRIVES*
My High Moves: - Opp High Moves: LEZ(33)
L 307-392, -85. 2W 3L (Accum spread -83).

Game 6: vs Valli
Was pleasantly surprised when my PLACATED(97) turned out to be good when challenged! Realised that I could have scored more if I had planned my end game moves better.

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: PLACATED(97) Opp Bingos: CLOSING(69)
My Phoneys: KEELY* Opp Phoneys: -
My High Moves: - Opp High Moves: QIS(32), ZA(31)
W 387-381, +6. 3W 3L (Accum spread -77).

Game 7: vs Sharul
Quite happy to meet Sharul again at a competition as he was the first player I played with almost four years ago at the PSTAR games! Had an ADILNU? rack which could only play with either A or U as the first letter and tried UNDIALs*(71) but it was not challenged off as it allowed him to play off some of the consonant tiles.

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: UNDIALS*(71) Opp Bingos: -
My Phoneys: UNDIALS*(71) Opp Phoneys: -
My High Moves: NIX(32), BREW(31) Opp High Moves: ZIT(35), WEEPY(42), CARS(38), TOWING(41)
L 351-414,-63. 3W 4L (Accum spread -140).

Game 8: vs Sim Pin Yi
Had very good tiles in this game with JKQZSSSS?? while my opponent only had the X! Had a chance to bingo out in the end but just couldn't see the word in my EEINRR? rack. Wasted a few moves trying a few possible words that turned out to be phoneys before giving up.

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: TOENAIL(67) Opp Bingos: -
My Phoneys: REINERs* Opp Phoneys: NEM*
My High Moves: QI(30) Opp High Moves: EX(35)
W 428-256, +172. 4W 4L (Accum spread +32).

Game 9: vs Ruby
Was greedy when I put MOTIONER(74) instead of STONIER as I discovered that STONIER just managed to fit in between two DWS cells without touching any of them. Turned out to be a bad move as Ruby managed to hook HAILERS(77) at the back. Was beaten convincingly by her.

New words learnt: MOTIONER(74)
My Bingos: MOTIONER(74) Opp Bingos: UNBARES(72), HAILERS(77), STEROID(76)
My Phoneys: PUHL* Opp Phoneys: UNBANGS*, STORIE*
My High Moves: TOWEL(33), WIVE(31), OX(38) Opp High Moves: ZIT(35)
L 354-448, -94. 4W 5L (Accum spread -62).

Game 10: vs Siew Chin
Turned out that all my King of the Hill opponents were female players. Both of us played several phonies in the beginning before we had one bingo each. Managed to capitalise on my opponent's mistakes to win by a small margin.

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: HALFTONE(72) Opp Bingos: MEDIANS(87)
My Phoneys: KOE*, PENSIER* Opp Phoneys: CEG*, TAC*, MONT*
My High Moves: ZEE(35), FINER(49), DIGS(40) Opp High Moves: RAX(40), MOWER(33), EQUIP(32)
W 402-335, +67. 5W 5L (Accum spread +5).

Game 11: vs Linda
Was quite happy to meet Linda as she was Winston's colleague from Ngee Ann Poly and a possible opponent at the upcoming PSTAR games. We had one bingo each and our scores were quite close until I leapt ahead with KIVES* which was not challenged off. Lucky for me!

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: FASTENS(81) Opp Bingos: COOLIES(72)
My Phoneys: JANG*, KIVES*(46) Opp Phoneys: -
My High Moves: - Opp High Moves: BEAST(36)
W 405-346, +59. 6W 5L (Accum spread +64).

Game 12: vs Dinna
Met her during the Causeway Cup last year. Didn't manage to catch her with the Q at the end of the game otherwise I could have a chance of winning as it would mean a 30 point difference.

New words learnt: ARGON
My Bingos: CARNAGE(80) Opp Bingos: -
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: COER*
My High Moves: FOR(32), OHS(36), FOREX(31), DREW(36) Opp High Moves: JUTES(34), KNEE(36), SHADE(51), ADZ(33)
L 376-400, -24. 6W 6L (Accum spread +40).

Finished the whole tournament with 6 wins, 6 losses and +40 spread in 12th position. Met my basic target with getting at least 6 wins with positive spread but just failed to reach top 10 position. Think that will be the goal for my next tournament!

Scrabble Nationals 2007 (Day One)

Had not played in tournaments for around half a year but decided to take part in the Nationals to prepare for the upcoming PSTAR games in August. This year's tournament is at a new venue at Toa Payoh West CC.

Game 1: vs Dexter Chew
My first opponent was against a young boy who is Alvin Seo's junior from Bukit Panjang High school. He appeared quite nervous and told himself aloud to be calm several times. Guess the very cold aircon didn't help too. Managed to win by scoring two bingos and closing up the board. His last rack was EHIRST? but had no place to play it but he tried to hook to several places to form phoneys and I challenged them off in the process.

New words learnt: TYRAN
My Bingos: PETTIES(76), NUMERATE(71) Opp Bingos: -
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: ABAY*, TEV*, ARAGED* TCOB* SCOB*
My High Moves: - Opp High Moves: TYRAN(51), ZOA(32)
W 472-209, +263. 1W 0L (Accum spread +263).

Game 2: vs Ashley
My second game was with Ashley whom I have played twice before and lost in both occasions. The score was very close until I tried to do a set up by placing CAN on the board. Two blanks and one S had been played while I had two of the remaining three S. Thought it should be quite certain that the remaining S is in the bag but turned out that he had it on his rack and he scored with WISP(30). The remaining game went downhill after that.

New words learnt: VOLAR
My Bingos: UNTILED(90) Opp Bingos: ROADIES(69), SEDITION(80)
My Phoneys: HEG* Opp Phoneys: VIB*
My High Moves: KEF(31), JOG(37), XI(37), PYA(35) Opp High Moves: WISP(35), ZEL(32)
L 369-464, -95. 1W 1L (Accum spread +168).

Game 3: vs Arul
Was glad to meet Arul for my third game as I knew he had very good board equipment! Had this bad feeling when I once again played a vertical CAN on the board. True enough, Arul scored heavily with a DOZIEST(127) bingo followed by FLATWARE(69). He had a few other high scoring moves and thrashed me by almost 200 points.

New words learnt: DOZIEST, FLATWARE
My Bingos: - Opp Bingos: DOZIEST(127), FLATWARE(69)
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: -
My High Moves: EXIT(31), AURAS(30), QAT(30) Opp High Moves: ICING(31), APSO(41), TEARY(30), VIRAL(30)
L 312-498,-186. 1W 2L (Accum spread -18).

Game 4: vs Catherine
Had played Catherine many times and I lost more often than I won. Managed to score well with KEXES(59) although I was unsure of it. Later got away with JAIS*(72) by back hooking JAI with RATIONS(72). Was leading by a comfortable margin but left too many bingo lanes open though and Catherine closed the gap with two bingos near the end of the game.

New words learnt: NUTTERS, SILLERS
My Bingos: RATIONS(72) Opp Bingos: NUTTERS(72), SILLERS(90)
My Phoneys: JAIS*(72) Opp Phoneys: STUNTER*
My High Moves: LIEN(37), KEXES(59) Opp High Moves: -
W 443-423, +20. 2W 2L (Accum spread +2).

Finished day 1 with 2 wins and 2 losses in 10th position.

The New Taira Clan

The story is about the rise of Samurais through the Taira family in ancient Japan when monks are well respected and abused their authority.

Learnt a bit about the social conditions at that time. Young master Taira has really thick eye brows!

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Nancy Drew

The story is about how a young girl who likes to solve mysteries got herself involved in yet another mystery.

Pretty impressed by Nancy Drew who excels in all areas of her schoolwork! She is also polite, likes to help people and has very good dress sense! Liked the way the interesting mystery was unravelled and the delicious pastries presented!

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Repast

The story is about how a wife got tired of her household chores when her husband's niece came to visit them and went back to her parent's place to reflect about her situation.

Liked the voice over narration, the outdoor sequences and how the relationship of the couple developed! The actress looked convincing as the overworked wife!

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Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

The story is about how a team of super heroes named the Fantastic Four saved the world and their encounters with an alien named the Silver Surfer.

Liked the little quarrels among the team and how they managed to stick together to solve their problems together in the end! Nice special effects too!

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Miss Oyu

The story is about a man falling in love with a widowed woman named Miss Oyu but marries her sister instead.

Liked how the film explained the relationship among the three people and how their actions are affected by people's attitude at that time! Was also impressed by the nice black and white cinematography and the fluid camera action that followed the characters around!

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The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

The story is about a girl who discovered that she could travel back in time by leaping forward.

A charming film that describes the girl's everyday life at school and at home in great detail! The theme "Time waits for no one" comes across very nicely too!

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Ghost Rider

The story is adapted from a comic book about a rider who serves the devil to eliminate his violent son.

Nice special effects! The skull on fire looks cool!

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Wild Hogs

The story is about four middle aged friends going on a road trip around United States on their motorcycles.

Interesting trip where they meet all sorts of people! Marisa Tomei who acted as the waitress looked quite cute! The action sequences are exciting too!

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Music and Lyrics

The story is about how a once popular boy band member discovers that his gardener had great lyric writing talent and cooperated with her to make a new song.

Interesting to see how the creative process evolved! Nice dance choreography by the singer whom the song is meant for too!

Internet Movie Database Link

Zodiac

This is based on a true story about a serial killer who taunts the police by forcing the newspaper to publish articles about himself in the 70s.

There was too much information overload and didn't manage to understand who the potential suspects were. A bit too draggy to my liking.

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Bubble Fiction: Boom or Bust

The story is about how a young girl travelled back in time to the early 90s to maintain Japan's economic bubble by stopping the economic minister from releasing a particular news.

Interesting and funny film! Was kept in suspense throughout on how everything would end!

Internet Movie Database Link

Bridge to Terabithia

The story is about how two classmates became good friends and how they discovered a secret hideout that they named Terabithia.

Liked the depiction of school life and how the friendship evolved over time! The lead actor's sister looks quite cute! Also liked the nice ending!

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After This Our Exile

The story is about the relationship between a father and a son living in Malaysia. The father has a wife who left him because he was a loser. The son chose to stay with his dad even though his mum is financially better off.

Chose to watch this two days before Father's day because of its theme. Realised that Aaron Kwok can act pretty well! The son did a very good job too! Liked the scenery at the countryside and the emotional build up to the final scene!

Internet Movie Database Link

D.O.A: Dead or Alive

The story is adapted from an X-box game "Dead or Alive" and is about how a group of martial arts expert are invited to take part in a martial arts competition on an island where the top prize is US$10 million.

Very impressive martial arts choreography! Also liked how the lead actresses worked well together as a team!

Internet Movie Database Link

The Crucified Lovers

The story is about how a young wife of a wealthy miserly scroll-maker leaves home with one of the most hardworking workers and falls in love with him in the process. The custom of the time in 17th century Kyoto was to nail adulterous couples on the cross which is how the title comes about.

Liked the nice black and white cinematography and the detailed description of the social conditions in Japan at that time! Very well written storyline that explains how one event leads to another! The lead actress, Kyoko Kagawa, looks a bit like local actress Evelyn Tan.

Internet Movie Database Link

Gion Festival Music

The story is about life as a geisha in Japan through the eyes of two geishas who have both a teacher-apprentice and a sisterly relationship.

The second film in the Mizoguchi DVD box set that I watched. The rest of the films in the 8-disc box set are: "New Tales of the Taira Clan", "The Crucified Lovers", "Miss Oyu", "Sansho the Bailiff", "Ugetsu" and "The Life of Oharu".

Realised that geishas have to undergo rigorous training in playing musical instrument and dance before they can graduate but their actual job hardly require much of those skills. Learnt that it is more to build up their character and make them more feminine. Story is interesting and I liked the great acting by the two lead actresses!

Internet Movie Database Link

Maya Deren Experimental Films

The DVD consists of several short films by avant garde film director Maya Deren: "Meshes of the Afternoon", "At Land", "A Study in Choreography for Camera", "Ritual in Transfigured Time", "Meditation on Violence", "The Very Eye of Night".

Got this at the World Book Fair as I wanted to see what avant garde film is all about. Thought "Meshes of the Afternoon" and "At Land" were abstract but pretty interesting! Her background in psychology comes through in her films. The rest of the films were pretty boring though in my opinion.

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The Empress Yang Kwei Fei

This is a love story set in the palace during the Tang dynasty in China. The queen is said to be one of the four all-time most beautiful women in China.

Got a box set of Mizoguchi films from Commercial Press at the World Book Fair and chose to watch this first. Found it strange initially to see the actors and actresses dress in Chinese costume but speaking in Japanese but got used to it after a while. Liked how the director related the personal story of Ms Yang!

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Hibiscus Town

The story is about how life in a small town where a couple sells rice bean curd changes during the Cultural Revolution.

Had a better understanding of the Cultural Revolution which is like a large scale social experiment! There is a very tight command and control structure and people's roles are reversed. The rich has to sweep the streets while the uneducated poor became civil servants. Learnt even more about the background to the Cultural Revolution when I chanced upon a talk on Mao ZeDong at the World Book Fair in the later part of the day.

Internet Movie Database Link

Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story

The film is a documentary about the problem of North Koreans abducting Japanese during the late 70s and early 80s period and focus on the case of Megumi Yokota who was 13 years old when she was abducted in 1977.

Was very happy that I managed to get the free tickets that Planet Ads was giving out! Learnt that this is not about a few bad guys abducting rich kids for ransom but involves large scale secret agent operation from a hostile country. Pretty informative as the political situation of both Japan and Korea was explained and there were interviews with Megumi's family and friends as well as a North Korean spy. Felt quite sad for the family of the victims as they had to visit many different places to publicise their cause and when the old photos of Megumi Yokota was shown on the screen!

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The Experiment

The story is about a two week psychological experiment conducted to observe how a group of men would behave when given roles as guards or prisoners in a make-shift prison cell. The rules state that anyone can quit anytime, no violence is allowed and money is only given to all those who make it to the end of the experiment.

Quite scary to see how the guards slowly start to abuse their authority while the prisoners have to endure the stress of living in a cell! Realised that it is based on the true story only after watching the film!

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The Dancer Upstairs

The story is about a police investigating the identity of a mysterious leader who instigated a series of violent acts in the name of starting a revolution. The title comes about because his daughter learns ballet and he became friends with her teacher.

Not the usual CSI type of story where the focus is on getting clues to solve the crime as there is some discussion about family relationship and other social issues. A little slow pace but I liked how everything gels together towards the end!

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Da-Yu: The Touch of Fate

The story is about how a school drop-out fell into bad company and learnt to be a pickpocket. He enjoys his new found lifestyle at first but soon finds out that it is not as rosy as he thinks.

Liked the animation, the fantasy sequences and the in-depth character study! The lead actor's female classmate looks quite cute too!

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Mother

The story is about the hardships that a family has to face especially that of the mother. Quite coincidental that I am watching this on the eve of Mother's day! A search on the Internet Movie Database shows more than a dozen films with the same title!

Read from "One Hundred Years of Japanese Cinema" by Donald Ritchie that this is director, Mikio Naruse's, happiest film. The DVD cover with two smiling faces seems to convey the same message too! I think I agree with the comment based on the few films from the director that I have watched so far. The playful kids and the cheerful teenage daughter who is in love with a bakery assistant help to liven up the atmosphere while we see how the mother struggles to keep the family together. Good storyline and nicely executed!

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Summer Palace

The story is about the life of a teenage girl from her college days in the late 80s to more than 10 years later in the 21st century. Many big events happened along the way, for example, the Tiananmen Square incident, the fall of Berlin Wall, the disintegration of the Soviet empire and the Hong Kong reunification.

Had hoped to understand more about the Tiananmen Square incident as the protagonist was studying in Beijing University at the right time but was disappointed! The political events during the era only served as a backdrop and had nothing to do with the story at all! Liked the nice songs played but the film felt too long and could have been compressed a bit. Pretty good acting by the lead actor and actress although I find it hard to understand why they do certain things.

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When A Women Ascends The Stairs

This film has one of the most beautiful titles in my opinion! It is descriptive as it evokes an image of a beautiful lady making her way up the stairs elegantly, yet there is little clue on what exactly the film is about and leaves much room to the viewer’s imagination. The beautiful lady, Keiko, is played by Takamine Hideko who has acted in several other Naruse films such as “Floating Clouds” and “Lightning”. She is the head bar hostess and has to climb a steep staircase every night when she goes to work. This explains how the title comes about. The staircase is also symbolic of the obstacles that she has to overcome each day in order to survive.

Set in Tokyo in the early sixties, Keiko faced the same set of problems that women face today. She had to deal with pressures from work and from her family. At the workplace, she has a demanding boss but the manager likes her and she is on very good terms with the girls under her charge. Her public relations skills is put to good use when she deals with her customers that included a rich arrogant man, an old sugar daddy, a fat man who looked like her ex-husband and a good looking banker. Her family which included her mother, her retrenched brother and her polio inflicted nephew all depended on her to be the breadwinner.

I liked how voice over narration was used as both a social commentary and the inner thoughts of the lead actress! By listening attentively to what is being said and correlating it to the well shot documentary styled outdoor scenes of the city and ordinary people walking about, one is able to piece together a pretty concrete picture of people’s life then. The accompanying soundtrack that consists of light piano and xylophone music is soothing to the ears and does not distract one from the main story.

I also found out that the director was a very good story teller and was able to explain the cause of a certain action and its ripple effect of the resulting consequence really well! The tempo of the film was quick and I did not feel bored at any time! The director’s humanistic touch in the story also makes one feel for the character as they go through the ups and downs of their life.

This is one of the best Japanese films I have ever seen and I highly recommend it!

Au Hasard Balthazar

This is about the life of a donkey whose name is Balthazar. The donkey had to work very hard and yet was mistreated by some of its owners.

A very unique film that sees life through the eyes of a donkey! The narrative is not very straightforward though and many scenes not directly related to the story are omitted to give it a minimalistic feel. Nice background music by Schubert and the ending was beautifully done!

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F*ck

This is a documentary about the most commonly used English swear word. It describes the origin of the word as well as its effects on society.

Liked the animation and the film clips shown to describe the usage of the word! Was quite impressed by the number of meanings that the word could take on depending on the context!

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Atheism

This is a documentary that discusses about the different beliefs about whether there is a god in the world. Scientists, religious people, writers and professors of philosophy were interviewed.

Pretty interesting to hear about the opinions of people from different walks of life! Was not bored at all by this heavy topic and was particularly intrigued by the discussion on the effects that religion had on society.

German Animation

This is a collection of short German Animation compiled into a single programme.

Liked "The Rocks", "Hessi James" and "Terminal Paradise" the best for their storyline and the humour! Fell asleep during "Cherchez la Femme" as I had a heavy lunch. Thought "Rubicon" was cute" while "Hobo", "Ghost Train", "Recently 2", "The Modern Cyclops" and "The Raven" were pretty interesting! "Harara", "Escape", "The Message", "The Moment" and "The Patchwork Queen" were too abstract for me.

Side Effects Of Love

This is a love story of an Indian couple shown through the male perspective with lots of song and dance.

Liked the many comical moments and how the male lead was able to explain his situation so clearly!

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Don't Look Back

The film consists of three short segments. The first is about a father attempting to reconcile with his daughters. The second is about a telecoms engineer falling in love with a girl who is having an affair with a married guy. The last story is about a guy feeling lost about how things have changed after he got discharged from National Service.

All the three stories are about regret of some sort and how life must still go on despite of this. Liked the shots of the train and the railway tracks that appeared in all the film segments!

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The Choice

The story is about how a detective solved a murder mystery involving a pair of twin brothers who lead very different lifestyles.

Liked how the film unravelled the thought process of the police in solving the case! There was quite a bit of suspense where the audience had to decide who could be the real murderer! Very well written script with great dialogue!

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Life in Loops (A Megacities RMX)

This is a documentary that describes the life of the underpriviledged people in the big cities. It is edited from a similar themed film "Megacities" made almost ten years ago with additional scenes in Tokyo.

Liked how the music complemented what is shown on the screen and the MTV feel! Interesting how the film is cut to show the parallels among the different cities!

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A Zen Life

This is a biography of D.T. Suzuki who brought Zen to United States.

The documentary interviewed many people who are influenced by him. Learnt quite a bit about the Zen philosophy through them and Suzuki's television interview.

Scream of the Ants

The story is about a newly wed couple's honeymoon trip in India. It also turned out to be a spiritual journey as the people that they met acted as their guide.

Liked the interesting imageries and the dialogue! It is also funny at times! Good that most of the dialogue is in English so that I spend less effort reading the subtitles.

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Ad Lib Night

The story is about what happens in a single night when a girl pretends to be the long lost granddaughter of a man who is dying of terminal disease.

Liked the script and the quiet moments of the film! The girl looks very pretty too! Especially liked the sock changing scene that symbolised the decision to step into the shoes of the other person and the dialogue in the car towards the end where the revelation made everything fall into place!

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The Other Half

The story is about the life in Sichuan, China where a young woman work as a secretary in a law firm. Clients would come to their firm and seek consultation on their cases and these are presented in a face-to-face interview style.

Liked how the different clients presented their cases at the law firm! The different problems that they faced helped me understand life in China better. Also liked how the digital camera captured the small town life so realistically!

Feet Unbound

The story is about a young woman retracing the steps of the Chinese Red Army during the Long March period more than 70 years ago. She interviewed six surviving female soldiers who recounted the living conditions then.

Liked the interesting personal stories told by the old soldiers! They looked smart in their uniforms and so animated when they recalled how they had to traverse the mountains, cross the rivers and fight the enemies all at the same time! Also liked the narration by the young woman that served to contrast between the past and present life!

In a Year of 13 Moons

The story is about a man with an identity crisis. He had a sex change operation to turn from Erwin to Elvira so that he could be with a man (Anton) he loved and left his wife (Irene) and daughter (Marie Ann) but things didn't work out as planned and he became depressed in the process.

Liked the extensive use of voice narration and the scenes where Elvira had to talk to strangers in the street! Also liked how the nun weaved her way across the different characters as she walked and the interesting dance that was performed in Anton's office!

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The Woven Lives of Others

This is about the life of a tribal village in Philippines. The priestess laments about her diminishing role in the village while soldiers and communist rebels fight in the jungle.

Liked the leisurely pace, the songs and the music in the film! Not much of a plot though as it just shows the daily life of the different types of people in the tribe.

Betina

A strange film about life in an Indonesian village where people rear cows. A girl tries to find her father who seems to be working in a cemetry and using black magic on widows who just lost their husbands.

One particular cow seems to be a witness to what goes on in the village as people interact with it. The girl milks her and lies together with it in the barn while her colleague is jealous of the cow and abuses it. Reminds me a bit of "Au Hasard Balthazar" about the life of a donkey which I am watching halfway.

Unfolding Florence: The Many Lives of Florence Broadhurst

The story is a biography of a famous Australian, Florence Broadhurst. She is a socialite who started a company doing colorful wall papers when she became a grandmother and got murdered mysteriously one day.

Interesting use of animation to tell her story! Also liked the interviews with her staff who clearly loved her and feared her at the same time! Didn't like the part where they simulated a day in the life of Florence showing her walking around as I thought it was quite pointless.

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The Last Chip

A cute short film about a trip to the casino by three asian women in Australia where one gambler passed them her last chip which is supposed to bring them good luck.

Interesting look at how the casino works in the eyes of both the staff and the client! Quite educational since the Integrated Resorts will be opening in Singapore soon!

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Prague

The story is about how a man travelled with his wife to Prague to collect his dad's dead body and finding more about himself in the process.

Was quite surprised to see the bad guy in "Casino Royale" act in this film! Great acting and nice scenery! Liked how the male lead tried hard to communicate his feelings even though he is clearly not very good at it!

Internet Movie Database Link

M

The story is about the Japanese society's perception of the female sexuality shown through a young housewife who is being pimped by a gang member.

The film described the different roles of the female gender pretty well! As an adult, she has to fulfil her role as a wife to her husband and as a mother to her child, yet she longs to be just a daughter of a father figure. At other times, she is just a sexual image in the head of her husband and other men. Had a better understanding of this through the young housewife's dealings with her husband, her son, her pimp and a young man who befriended her son at the baseball field.

Grbavica

The story is about the life of a Bosnian family that consists of a single mother and her daughter. The mother works in a factory in the day and a bar in the night. The daughter studies in school and she has an upcoming class trip that costs US$ 200. The cost can be waived if she proves that her father died in the war as a soldier, so she keeps bugging her mother about it.

Liked how the film showed the group of single mothers quietly sitting down and staring at different directions! The songs and poems are beautifully written too! Also liked how the individual parts combined nicely together towards the end!

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The Journals of Knud Rasmussen

The story is based on the journals of a Danish ethnographer named Knud Rasmussen in the 1920s. He and his friend stayed with an Inuit family in an igloo and he recorded their way of life which is slowly being eroded away by Western culture.

Liked the opening that showed the family preparing for a group photo and how the director showed their everyday life! Compared to "Nanook of the North", which is another documentary about Eskimos, this films describes more on the family relationship and the spiritual aspect rather than how they catch fish or canoe around on the icy waters. One girl who sat in the corner quietly in her thick bearskin fur coat reminded me of one particular character in "South Park"!

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The Marriage of Maria Braun

The story is about how a German woman, Maria, survive post World War II Germany through her wits and charm!

Liked how the strong minded Maria manage to survive the tumultous times! She figures out other people's mind easily but has people guessing what she'll do. Very nicely written dialogue that cuts straight to the point! Liked the explosive start and finish too!

Internet Movie Database Link

Simon the Stylite

I thought the story would be about an actual filming of a guy named Simon who had great balancing skills on top of a few tall columns but realised that I was mistaken shortly after the film started. The balancing act happened many years ago and all that was left was building ruins and incomplete columns.

Learnt a bit about history from the film even though it was not quite what I expected!

Match Made

This is a documentary about how one Singaporean marries a Vietnamese bride through a marriage agency. There are interviews with the bride, the groom as well as the agents from both countries.

Interesting to see the entire work process from the arrival at Saigon to the interviewing process, and then to the actual marriage cermony. The interviews gave a peek to the thoughts and feelings of various parties. Also liked the filming of the bride's peaceful village home town! The ending really caught me by surprise though!

More insights into Vietnamese brides in here

Best Foods

The film is about life in the slum area of the Philippines. The people have not much to eat and drink but they live their life as best as they can.

Liked the nice black and white documentary and the close up shots on the characters!

Be Quiet, Exam is in Progress!

A light hearted look at the earthquake that occured in Indonesia on May 27, 2006. A student who was learning about World War II history for his elementary school exams, runs after a few Japanese volunteers who are trying to help the victims!

Pretty fun movie to watch on such a serious topic! I also liked the documentary shots interspersed in the film!

KAFA Animation

This is a collection of nine animation works from the graduating students of the Korean Academy of Fine Arts (KAFA).

Didn't catch the titles for most of the works but they are pretty nicely drawn! There is a plant that turns into an umbrella, a realistic doll house, a visit to the zoo, a visit to a sister's place, two big eyed children who rears fish, role reversal between dog and master, a cool detective type of story involving mermaids and the fight for survival between the rabbit clan and the wolves. There is one more shorts but I have forgotten what is it about. My favorite would be the detective story!

Effi Briest

The story is about how a young girl got married to a high ranking civil servant and how her marriage life changed as time went by.

Liked the black and white cinematography, the third person narration and the intertitles shown on the screen. These contribute to a theatrical feel to the film. The storyline reminded me very much of "Anna Karenina" that I read recently! Both stories had a cold rational high ranking civil servant as the husband, a wife who had an affair and a heartbreaking mother and child reunion.

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Ali: Fear Eats the Soul

The story is about how a 60 year old German cleaner, Emmi, fell in love with a Moroccan garage mechanic, Ali, who is 20 years her junior. It also describes their friends', neighbors' and relatives' reaction to it.

The director gave a very in-depth character study with a simple storyline! I especially liked how Ali summed up his situation in just a few Haiku-like German phrases! There is not much dialogue but the looks on Emmi and Ali's faces said everything! I also enjoyed how the director was able to highlight social issues very clearly and concisely!

Internet Movie Database Link

An Inconvenient Truth

This is a documentary about the effects of global warming presented by Al Gore who is the former vice president of the United States. It also describes what motivates Al Gore to become an environmental activist.

Al Gore is a very good presenter! He explains complex scientific concepts very simply through all sorts of graphs, charts, photographs and video clips so that even a layman like me can understand them. I also liked how he begins the lecture with various photographs of the earth to appeal to the audience's heart and how he ends it by breaking the top three misconceptions on global warming to convince the audience's mind!

Ten things to do to stop global warming
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I Don't Want to Sleep Alone

The story is about how a few Malaysians found company in each other when they happened to meet in the streets. They include a poor unemployed guy, a foreign worker and a coffee shop owner's family.

The director's style of having very long takes and little dialogue gives a relaxing feeling as one watches some scenes run real time. Some other scenes are pretty abstract though and I didn't like those. Liked how songs sung in different languages are interspersed throughout the film!

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Peacock

The story is about the life of a Chinese family consisting of three siblings from the late 70s to the early 80s. The eldest son is fat and mentally challenged, the sister works in a factory washing glass bottles and the youngest son is a shy student.

Liked how the film goes through the life of each sibling in turn with voice narration in the background! The storyline is interesting and the slow pace of the film gives it a poetic mood!

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Freedom Writers

The story is based on a true story and it is about how a new teacher's innovative teaching methods helped her class get good grades. She asked her students to keep a daily journal and this helped her to better understand them.

Very impressed by the teacher's dedication to her work and how she managed to help the students work together as a team! I also liked how the film presented each student's journal with voice narration in the background! They sounded very sincere and personal!

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Nine Lives

The story is about the lives of nine women described separately in different short segments. Each segment is filmed in a single shot and some women appear in more than one segment as their lives intersect.

Liked the natural dialogue and how the different roles played by women are presented! Each segment provides a sample on a typical mother, wife, lover or daughter through basic daily activities.

Internet Movie Database Link

McDull, prince de la bun

This is a sequel to "My Life as McDull" which is an animation about the life of a family in Hong Kong. In the first movie, McDull, who is a little pig, studies in a kindergarten and trains hard to be an athlete. The sequel presents the life of McDull's parents as a bedtime story told by the mum to McDull.

Liked the film's distinctive Hong Kong flavor that came out through the social issues discussed and the realistic 3D cityscape! The bedtime story is also very interesting and meaningful!

Internet Movie Database Link

Hula Girls

The story is about how a small town in Japan transformed from a coal mine place to a Hawaiian tourist attraction in the 60s. Part of the plan was to train the miner daughters to be Hula dancers.

Liked the interesting dance moves and the pretty costumes! Was caught a little off guard by the melodramatic moments but they were pretty well executed and not too over-the-top.

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The Old Man and the Sea

The story is adapted from a novel by Ernest Hemingway and it is about how an old fisherman battled a big fish out at sea.

Liked the narration that describes the old fisherman in great detail! Great action at sea too!

Internet Movie Database Link

Osen of the Paper Cranes

The story is about how a servant girl, Osen, befriended a penniless young man and how they escaped from their household headed by an unscrupulous antiques dealer to lead a new life.

Was really impressed by the scene where Osen whipped out a crane from nowhere and blew it towards the sky! Didn't really understand the first part where they described how the bad guys cheated other people and felt quite puzzled. Liked the special effects and the exciting finish though!

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Nightly Dreams

The story is about how a waitress worked very hard to provide for her son and how she reconciled with her out-of-job husband but things didn't turn out as well as expected.

The husband looked like the landlady's husband in "Kungfu Hustle"! The director would suddenly zoom very close to a character's face for several scenes and I didn't really like the effect as it made me dizzy. The storyline is quite good though!

Internet Movie Database Link

Woman of Tokyo

Saw three silent films at one go at the NUS Arts Festival organised by NUS. The first film is a family drama about what happens when a brother learns about another side of his sister from his girlfriend.

The story telling is very well done and everything falls in place nicely! Liked the tense "face-off" among the chracters towards the end! The girlfriend, played by a young Tanaka Kinuyo, looked quite pretty! Only seen her in later films like "Life Of Oharu", "Flowing" and "Equinox Flower" and she looked a little bit older in those films. Hmm, those films happened to be one Mizoguchi, one Naruse and one Ozu too, similarly to what is featured in this film festival!

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The Pursuit of Happyness

The story is about how the life of a young father, Chris Gardner, changes after he started attending a stockbroker course.

Really impressed by how Chris Gardner manages his time and his skills as a salesman! Would have liked the film even more if it was more compressed it is quite longwinded with multiple chase scenes of a similar nature.

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The Sun

The story is about the life of Japan's Emperor during the end of World War II focusing on his everyday life and the interaction with General MacArthur from the US.

Liked the claustrophobic feel of the underground bunker and the interaction between the Emperor and General MacArthur! The animated dream sequence was very nicely done too!

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Pan's Labyrinth

The story is about a little girl's adventure in her garden's labyrinth towards the end of the Spanish Civil War. Her mother remarried a Captain whose job is to eliminate the freedom fighters in the woods.

Very nice visual effects but it was more violent than I expected! Liked the green dress that the little girl was wearing and the interesting tasks that she has to complete! I was very worried when she took her time on one of them!

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The Lives of Others

The story is about conditions in East Germany during the mid 80s seen through the eyes of the Stasi (secret police). A captain's life changes after he starts monitoring a playwright for illegal activities.

Nice plot and the film explains the work of the Stasi pretty well! Quite scary to see the things that people do when they have a lot of power in their hands! Realised that one always have a choice on how he leads his life even under very trying circumstances!

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Casablanca

The story is set during World War II where refugees were trying to escape to America via Casablanca. An influential saloon owner, Rick, meets a former lover, Ilsa, unexpectedly and has to deal with both the police and the black market as events unfold.

An exciting story and great acting by the leading actor and actress! The actress, Ingrid Bergman, is very pretty too! I also liked how Rick manages the bar! He treats his staff well, drives a hard negotiation with his stakeholders and goes out of his way to help his customers! Interesting to note that most of the cast were real life refugees who escaped from Europe! No wonder I felt a genuine sense of patriotism when they sang the French anthem!

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Miss Potter

The story is about the life of a famous children's book author from England, Beatrix Potter. She wrote "Tales of Peter Rabbit" and does her own illustrations using water color!

Liked how the film showed the little things that happened in Miss Potter's life that helped her to become a good writer and the nice use of animation to make the animals in the illustrations come alive!

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The Birth of a Nation

The story is about the life of two American families during and after the Civil War. The film is made 50 years after the end of the Civil War.

Not too familiar with the historical events depicted in the film at first and felt it dragged a little bit but the pace picked up towards the end! Learnt how the Ku Klux Klan came about and how people coped with the racial tension that was present at that time.

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Notes on a Scandal

The story is about the friendship between two teachers in school and what happens when they attempt to cover up a scandal.

Great acting by Judi Dench! She can look lost like a kitten or fierce like a giant tiger in a split second! Liked the voice-over narration as well!

Internet Movie Database Link

World of Geisha

The story is about the life of a group of geishas during the time when Japan wages war against Russia in 1918 and has trouble within the country itself as well.

Thought I could learn a bit more about Japanese history from this film but it only made use of several newspaper cuttings to describe the major events of that era so I didn't learn as much as I hoped to.

Pretty comprehensive coverage of the different types of geishas! There is an apprentice undergoing on-the-job training, a geisha with her first client, a popular geisha doing a show for a group of clients and an obnoxious aged geisha who spends her time sucking flies from the ceiling with a special gadget. Didn't like the blatant use of gigantic words written on the screen to convey the so-called "principles" though.

Internet Movie Database Link

Employee of the Month

The story is about two guys competing to become the employee of the month at a megamart store and to capture the heart of a fellow colleague.

Pretty interesting look at the life of the people working in a supermart! The competition at the end was very well thought out and tested the skills of the cashiers to their limit! Hmm, maybe someone should organise a cashier competition inviting NTUC, Carrefour and Giant to take part!

Internet Movie Database Link

Babel

The story is about how families from different parts of the world have trouble communicating with each other properly. A Moroccan family, an American family, a Mexican family and a Japanese family are featured and they are interconnected with each other.

Liked how the director cleverly linked the different stories together and showed how each family unite in the face of crisis!

Internet Movie Database Link

Bobby

The story is about a day in the lives of the people in a hotel during the Robert Kennedy election. Something shocking happened in the end but I won't spoil it for you here by revealing what it is.

I liked the documentary clips that were inserted into the picture! The film dived directly into showing the thoughts and actions of the ordinary folks with a brief overview of the era of that time. Lots of big stars in this film but the small characters were interesting too! Thought the girl working in the F&B outlet and the reporter from Czechoslovakia looked quite cute!

Internet Movie Database Link

Tickets

This is a collection of three short stories about the use of the train ticket on a train. It is a collaboration effort among three directors from different countries: Ermanno Olmi from Italy, Abbas Kiarostami from Iran and Ken Loach from UK.

The professor in the first segment reminds me of the "Little Red Riding Hood" story where the little girl asks why her grandmother's nose is so big! Liked the multiple flashbacks that presents several perspectives of what happened.

Second segment had an unreasonable old lady, a helpful young man who travels with her and a cute girl in braces. Great acting by the old lady! I felt intimidated when she was arguing with other passengers and sad for her towards the end when she was left alone.

Last segment was about an encounter between a group of Scottish soccer fans and a refugee family. Liked how the dilemma faced by one of the soccer fans was presented and how they struggled to decide what to do!

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Millenium Cup 2006 (Day Two)

Game 5: vs Wong Ying Quan
Was more than 150 points ahead when I bingoed with OCToPUS(74) and my opponent played a few phoneys. He held an EGIINS? rack one time and tried dIEINGS* and tIEINGS* but both were challenged off. He managed to play SINGERs(76) after getting rid of the extra I. This was one of the few games that I tracked correctly and I found out that he could bingo out with an AEELNRT rack and blocked it with LENS(32).

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: OCToPUS(74) Opp Bingos: SINGERs(76)
My Phoneys: CLIT* Opp Phoneys: DEA*, LEO*, dIEINGS*, tIEINGS*
My High Moves: ADZ(43), SEX(34), LENS(32) Opp High Moves: -
W 420-288, +132. 2W 3L (Accum spread -62).

Game 6: vs Low Bee Tiang
Our scores were quite close until my opponent played CURVE with the C on the TWS line. Had the choice of playing MU(22) on top of CURVE or CREAM(30) down the TWS line. In the end, I played CREAM(30) and Bee Tiang pulled ahead with QUEST(76) with Q on the TWL cell and T on the DWS cell!

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: - Opp Bingos: -
My Phoneys: STAN* Opp Phoneys: ETS*, OORN*, RINT*, DOGER*
My High Moves: CREAM(30) Opp High Moves: ZIG(33), TOTES(39), QUEST(76), YEW(30)
L 309-357, -48. 2W 4L (Accum spread -110).

Game 7: vs Chua Zhong Jie
A combination of my opponent's phoneys and having high scoring tiles on my part helped me win the game despite being outbingoed 2 to 1. Missed challenging NUP* although I knew it looked suspicious. I used to think DUH* was good as it was part of the vocabulary of Homer Simpson but remembered that somehow it wasn't in SOWPODS!

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: NERDIEST(60) Opp Bingos: ROUTINEs(66), SEATERS(71)
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: OIR*, OIS*, DUH*, NUP*(29)
My High Moves: REH(32), EVADE(33), BY(30), NOX(47), RIZ(38) Opp High Moves: -
W 450-342, +108. 3W 4L (Accum spread -2).

Game 8: vs zzBye

W 150-100, +50. 4W 4L (Accum spread +48).

Game 9: vs Valli
Interesting to note that my opponent's first move was VALI which is similar to her name! My break came when I tried TALKIER(87) that turned out to be good when challenged! My opponent had very bad luck as she changed twice and phonied several times. Had the chance to bingo again towards the end of the game but I threw it away when I played something that blocked the two existing bingo lanes!

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: TALKIER(87) Opp Bingos: ASSIGNEd(59)
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: PAU*, RETOWNER*
My High Moves: CORDS(38) Opp High Moves: ZED(33)
W 378-323, +55. 5W 4L (Accum spread +103).

Game 10: vs Ng Ming Wei
Start of the KOH round. Realised after the tournament that I could have gotten 3rd place if I had won all 3 KOH rounds. Alvin was placed behind me at this point in time and he eventually got 3rd place. My opponent scored well with the high scoring tiles and got away with several phoneys. Lost despite outbingoing my opponent 2 to 0.

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: NEWSIER(91), INFESTED(76) Opp Bingos: -
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: ZOEAEL*(23), WINT*(21), BORG*(23)
My High Moves: - Opp High Moves: ZOEAE(48), MEDIC(36), QAID(48), VEX(38), QUEY(48), PORN(30)
L 378-402, -24. 5W 5L (Accum spread +79).

Game 11: vs Ashley
My opponent had two blanks, all 4 S and JKQX while I only had the Z. Was basically thrashed by my opponent!

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: - Opp Bingos: LOUsiER(79)
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: QUILTY*
My High Moves: FIZ(30), CAR(34) Opp High Moves: EXACT(39), KEEN(38), HUH(35), GNAW(31), TEENSY(62)
L 311-440, -129. 5W 6L (Accum spread -50).

Game 12: vs Low Bee Tiang
Was holding a ADDEILT rack and hoped that my opponent would somehow open an E out for me to bingo. My wish came true when he played BRAVE back hooking the R to iTEMISE and hitting the TWS line with the E. I had to restrain myself from calling out "Challenge!" as iTEMISER* looked very much like a phoney. Played DETAILED(149) as a nine-timer on my next turn! My first nine-timer in a tournament!

New words learnt: KALE
My Bingos: DETAILED(149) Opp Bingos: iTEMISE(81)
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: MEaTIES*
My High Moves: HEW(40), LIMN(38), ZIN(32), FARO(31), QUAT(39) Opp High Moves: NOSY(30), AXIL(49)
W 475-386, +89. 6W 6L (Accum spread +39).

Had 6 wins out of 12 including a bye and came in 9th out of 13. Didn't do as well as I thought I should. Hope to reach above 1500 ratings by the end of the year!

Millenium Cup 2006 (Day One)

My second time playing in the Millenium Cup. Decided to take part this year again as the venue happened to be quite near to my place at Hwa Chong Institution.

I went to HCI much earlier than needed to catch the div A players in action. Witnessed the exciting finish of the first game between Jiang Pern and Dorai where Dorai managed to bingo out to edge out a win with a DIMNOOS rack! After that, I had lunch at the pool side restaurant where I met Alvin, Huang Zhi and Bee Tiang who were also playing in div B. I saw a few more familiar players including Arul, Boon Hock and Thiam Yong back at the playing venue. Waited for a while more before the pairings were announced shortly after 1pm.

Game 1: vs Chen Huang Zhi
Was quite confident as I had played with him at the Causeway Cup last year. A bingoless game but my opponent tried BARINGS* and another bingo back hooking AJAR with S which I challenged off. Missed challenging AME* though.

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: - Opp Bingos: -
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: BARINGS*, AJARS*, AME*(25)
My High Moves: WIZ(51), LOX(43) Opp High Moves: -
W 392-260, +132. 1W 0L (Accum spread +132).

Game 2: vs Tan Boon Hock
Had lots of vowels at the start and played AIA right in the middle. Probably should have changed instead as my opponent placed BAKE on top of it to score 38 points! He also set up a bingo line across the TWS with NOD and bingoed with mInNIES(83) front hooking NOD with the S! Had DEMOTES(73) late in the game but was too far behind to catch up.

New words learnt: CLEPT, SNOD
My Bingos: DEMOTES(73) Opp Bingos: mInNIES(83)
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: -
My High Moves: JAG(39), EX(39) Opp High Moves: BAKE(38), CLEPT(30), QI(31), ZIT(48)
L 374-417, -43. 1W 1L (Accum spread +89).

Game 3: vs Dewin
My first time playing with Dewin and he is a very polite guy who apologises for counting too slowly or overdrawing. He bingoed with RELISTS(91) first and I bingoed next with LINTERs(65) just below the TWS line. He tried FENnERS* later but was challenged off. I blocked one of the bingo lanes with EX but we realised after the game that two more bingo lanes were available: one back hooking the S to OLD and another front hooking the S to LINTERs. He put FENdERS(84) back hooking to OLD later not realising the existence of the other higher scoring bingo lane.

New words learnt: GOOPY
My Bingos: LINTERs(65) Opp Bingos: RELISTS(91), FENdERS(84)
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: FENnERS*, MOVEN*
My High Moves: PEH(31), QI(44), EX(32), MEAL(31), JUN(36) Opp High Moves: DEMON(34), ZANY(32), GOOPY(49), WEFT(30)
L 357-461,-104. 1W 2L (Accum spread -15).

Game 4: vs Lee Thiam Hock
My first time playing with Thiam Hock although I have seen him several times at tournaments. He started well with ZINEB(52). I scored badly as I was trying to fish for bingos. Tried UNGASSED* with a ADEGNSU rack through an S on the board but it was challenged off! Lost badly in the end!

New words learnt: -
My Bingos: - Opp Bingos: MASsAGES(70)
My Phoneys: UNGASSED* Opp Phoneys: -
My High Moves: LEWD(32) Opp High Moves: ZINEB(52), CRONY(35), DJINNI(44), FOE(32)
L 244-423, -179. 1W 3L (Accum spread -194).

Finished day 1 badly with 1 win and 3 losses in 12th position. Hope to do better the next day!

Pandora's Box

The film is adapted from a play and describes society in the late 20s through the life of a woman named Lulu. She has a very strong personality and affects the people around her subconsciously including her friends, her husband and her step son.

Liked the cute hairstyle of the lead actress played by Louise Brooks! She also acts very well and has great screen presence! The DVD extra features include a documentary "Looking for Lulu" that talks about the life of the actress and I find it very interesting too as it shows the actress acting in many other films and how her real life parallels that of the life of Lulu!

Internet Movie Database Link
Looking for Lulu

The Dog in the Manger

The story is adapted from a play that describes life in the Spanish court. The countess is jealous that her secretary has fallen in love with her maid and this affected the relationship among the three people.

Interesting to see the tricks up the sleeves of the countess! She is quite fickle minded though and I could empathise with the secretary's situation! Liked the nice looking costumes and the beautiful verses spoken!

Internet Movie Database Link

Flowers from another World

Read about the "Spanish Film Festival" at the Arts House from the papers, so decided to go there and take a look. Was delighted to hear that it was free of charge and stayed for two films in a row!

The story is about how three women adapted to life in a small Spanish town after they got to know the men through a singles party.

Liked how the director weaved the lives of the people together seamlessly! She described the everyday problems that people face realistically and in an interesting way! The hairstyle of the daughter of Patricia looked quite cute too!

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Fast Food Nation

The story is about what goes behind the scenes of the fast food industry. It is told through the eyes of the top level management, the front end counter people and the back end workers of a fictitious fast food company.

Was pleasantly surprised that Bruce Willis, Avril Lavigne and the lead actress of "Maria Full of Grace" appeared in the film! Not as exciting as "Super Size Me" which is a film about the harmful effects of eating fast food as there were quite a few dull moments. Appreciated how the director tried to cover many different perspectives to give a fuller picture though.

Internet Movie Database Link

The Sweet Hereafter

The story is about what happens after a school bus got into an accident and many children died while a lawyer tried to get people to sue the bus company.

Liked the complex structure of the film where the director broke the storyline into fragments and used lots of flashbacks and flashforwards to tell the story! The film also portrayed how each of the parents treated their children and cleverly incorporated the Pied Piper legend into the voice narration! The little baby looked quite cute too!

Internet Movie Database Link

School for Scoundrels

The story is about how a young guy enrolls in an unusual school to build his confidence and chase the girl of his dream. Things get complicated when his teacher decides to get more involved with his personal life.

Very interesting school syllabus but pretty expensive in my opinion! Liked how the young guy and his teacher tried to outwit each other towards the end of the film!

Internet Movie Database Link

Borat

The story is about the adventures of a Kazhakstan reporter, Borat, around the United States of America to learn their culture. Due to the cultural differences, people are sometimes disturbed by his behaviour as social norms have to be explained to him explicitly.

It is interesting to see how the film place people in extreme situations and see how they behave much like the television show "Candid Camera"! Didn't like the coarse language, the gratuitous nudity and the lowly attitude towards women and Jews in general but I guess it highlights the problem of discrimination of people who are different from us when taken to the extreme. Liked the lessons with the humour teacher and the dinner etiquette teacher the best as it shows how miscommunication can occur due to cultural differences.

Internet Movie Database Link

Death Note 2

The story is about what happens when a guy, Light Yagami, gets possession of a magical note book that belongs to the death god. The owner of the notebook is able to kill anyone he wishes when he writes the victim's name, time and method of death on the book. He uses it to kill off criminals but the police, with the help of L who is an excellent detective, are on the verge of identifying and catching him in the first episode. The story continues in this sequel.

I regretted slightly of not watching the first episode and plunging right into the sequel as I was quite lost at the beginning but managed to deduce who the main characters are as the story progressed. The rules on how the Death Note works just flashed across the screen! Light Yagami's sister Sayu and the pop singer Misa Amane looked very sweet! I also liked the exciting battle of wits between L and Yagami towards the end! I was totally engrossed by it and marvelled at how both sides were able to outwit each other!

Internet Movie Database Link

Battle in Heaven

The story is about a few days in the life of a general's driver. He accidentally killed the baby that he kidnapped, drove the general's daughter around and took part in a religious procession.

I liked how they panned 360 degrees around to show what's happening in the surroundings and how they simulated the point of view from the driver by blurring some scenes and filtering out some sounds. Also liked the boss's daughter's hairstyle with lots of interesting hair pieces on top!

Internet Movie Database Link

Red Diaries

This consists of 3 short stories. The first is about a mistress falling in love with her lover's servant, the second is about how a young man who is studying in a seminary got infatuated with a young woman, the third is about the unhappy marriage of a wife to a violent policeman.

Read that the Phillipines police wanted to ban the movie because of the third segment as they depicted them in a very bad light. The first segment was pretty straight forward. Liked the dreamy sequences in the second segment and didn't like the violence in the last segment.

Internet Movie Database Link

Quinceanera

The story is about life of a Latino community in Echo Park, Los Angeles. Latino girls celebrate reaching womanhood at the age of 15 years old which gives the title of the film.

Pretty realistic look at how each of the characters spend their free time! Watched my first Mexican film a few years ago and I am still quite amazed at how some of the accent reminds me of "Speedy Gonzalez" which is a cartoon character. The grandfather has exactly such an accent! The two neighbors remind me of Keanu Reeves and Richard Gere!

Internet Movie Database Link

Scrabble Quiz

The above board position is from an actual game (last game of the Causeway Cup 2006).

Your score: 386 Tiles: ACDGILT
Opponent's score: 379 Tiles: ADEEIST

No more tiles in the bag.

It is your turn next. Is it possible to win?

Causeway Cup 2006 (Day 3)

Could make it a 10 game win if I won all 5 games today and had a realistic chance of winning 8 games in total. Didn't manage to do that and only won 7 in the end.

Round 16 vs Dinna Lim (Sin)
Lost to her narrowly by 2 points earlier on, so this was my chance for revenge! I bingoed with EARRiNG(69) early in the game but allowed my opponent to catch up when I let go VENE* for 21 points which I genuinely thought was good. EENV has 3 anagrams and none of them starts with V! Lost again 354-355 but at least improved from the previous game. Hmm, maybe I'll draw with her the next time.

Round 17 vs Ho Yue Jing (Mal)
Scored well with QUOTA(77) early on while my opponent bingoed with ENTRIES(62). Later scored with LEERY for 41 points which was challenged unsuccessfully. Won 425-281.

Round 18 vs Valliammah Thamb (Sin)
Had TOADIES(80) early in the game but she came back with QUIVERER(135) and WIRIEST(86). Had ELNNSU? on my rack. Saw tUNNELS and fUNNELS but I needed a bingo that started with a vowel. Tried UNLENdS* but was challenged off. Had SUGAREd(80) later on but was too far behind to catch up. Lost 383-535.

Round 19 vs Ruby Sim (Sin)
Bingoed early in the game with GORIEsT(69). My opponent didn't have a chance as I had QZ, both blanks and all 4 S. Was playing too conservatively in the end as I could have scored more if there were more bingo lines available. Won 419-282.

Round 20 vs Alex Hong (Mal)
My opponent had two bingos ANTSIER(68) and LACIEST(69) while I had WORKING(106) back hooking to YOK which got challenged. Lost as I had a poor end game finish with 416-423.

It was an interesting experience taking part in this competition! The organisers did a good job making sure everything went on as planned although there were some small hiccups along the way! Only pity is that I didn't have the chance to play against players from Thailand, India, the Phillipines and the UK. Hope I'll be able to do that in the next Causeway Cup!

Causeway Cup 2006 (Day 2)

Round 4 vs Alastair Richards (Aus)
Met another Australian player whose mother was also playing the field. Didn't have a chance at all as he bingoed twice with DOnATED(77) and mEETING(72) consecutively and lost 278-472.

Round 5 vs Tan Jun Horng (Mal)
Was leading until my opponent bingoed with HEROINE back hooking to PIC to form PICE which I challenged unsuccessfully. Lost 334-395.

Round 6 vs Noor Hanis (Sin)
Knew that she won 2nd place in this year's Nationals div C section as I browsed through toucanet during my free time. Pulled ahead when I bingoed with DIETARY(71) which she challenged. She could have formed ZO/ZANY/OE with the Z on the TWL for 69 points and TAX/DA/MUX on the TWS line for 42 points but she missed them. She also went over time by 2 min. Won 397-309.

Round 7 vs Dinna Lim (Sin)
First time playing with this Singaporean player. She pulled ahead with a STOnILY(72)bingo. Would have caught up with a QUIST(76) late in the game if I hadn't spend a lot of time deciding whether it was good or not to go 1 min overtime. Lost 365-367.

Round 8 vs Ganapathy (Sin)
Failed to challenge his opening bingo phoney OUTSEND*(70). Tried to back hook an S to OUTSEND* later to form RECOILS but was challenged off. Narrowed the gap with VOICERs(74) but he widened the gap again with BANTERS(70). Lost 369-491

Round 9 vs Ruby Sim (Sin)
Lost to her in this year's Nationals, so it was time for my revenge! I scored quite well with QUIM(35), JEERED(44) and DITZ(34) while she scored with FAITH(30), WEANS(39) and PAROLE(31). Got my break when she challenged my MIB on the board. Managed to still win narrowly when she finished her tiles first by 345-343.

Round 10 vs Yeap Gim Sai (Mal)
Knew that she won 1st place in this year's Lim Boon Heng div B section. Was playing in the same division but didn't have the chance to play with her then. Both of us had one bingo each with STIPEND(70) from me and STINTER(71) from her. Could have won if I was not too greedy and played HANS back hooking the S to an existing YON on the board. She held for a long time and decided to challenge YONS* which turned out to be no good. Went overtime for my last move and lost 345-350.

Round 11 vs Chen Huang Zhi (Sin)
Both of us had one bingo each, TrOLLERS(79) from him and ANESTRI(75) from me. He was complaining to me all the while about his bad luck throughout the game! Wonder if he says the same things to his other opponents. Won 403-297.

Round 12 vs Ho Yue Jing (Mal)
This Malaysian player wore his school scrabble uniform personalised with his name at the side that looks pretty professional! His good nature was a contrast to my previous opponent. Was more than 100 points behind when he bingoed twice with SNARLERS(70) and LINtERS(65). Managed to overtake him when I bingoed with BRUISING(86) and scored well with ZED(50) and STOW(44). Won 404-375.

Round 13 vs Ismail Kassim (Sin)
Started well with ZETAS(48) and both of us bingoed once each, ROUTInE(70) and MOoDIEST(75) from him. Made a big mistake when I wanted to score with either COD, CON and COL but forgot which one didn't have a front hook. Played CON for 21 points and he played TRAIN for 24 points down the TWS line promptly. Tried to bingo with POLARIED* later but was challenged off. His KRONE(33) and WOXEN(48) sealed the game and I lost 346-381.

Round 14 vs Yeap Gim Sai (Mal)
Had CEIORW? early on in the game. Saw the bingo but didn't know whether it is good or not. Played COW just next to the left TWS line intending to front hook S later on but somehow convinced myself that SCOW may not be good when it was time to play it. Completely didn't have a chance after that when she bingoed with BEAdIER(81) and SPRAINT(75) while I had LORRIEs(62). Lost 360-521.

Round 15 vs Noor Hanis (Sin)
Had a choice of playing the next day but my opponent seemed very enthusiastic to continue so I agreed to play. On retrospect, maybe it was a bad choice as my opponent bingoed twice with STINKING(73) and TASTERS(81) while I phonied twice with ARRETING* and FEETING*. Still had a chance to win if I had blocked the Q spot towards the end of the game but I think I was too tired by then and lost the game 325-353.

Causeway Cup 2006 (Day 1)

I wanted to take part in at least one international Scrabble tournament before retiring from the Scrabble scene, so playing in the Causeway Cup sounds like a logical choice as it is nearest to Singapore.

Three rounds were played in the Open Division for the first day and we had a Chinese wedding style dinner in between the games. The food was delicious and we heard interesting news of the latest tourist attractions in JB from the guest of honour!

Round 1 vs Diane Ward(Aus)
Got thrashed by this elderly lady from Australia with her REtAINS(71) and INULASE(79) while I phonied at least 3 times with BINO*, VICER* and NARRY*. Had BGIMNOO for my last rack but she blocked the only bingo line. Lost 269-464.

Round 2 vs Martin Teo(Mal)
Had one bingo each, HIRiNGS(84) from me and ETOILES(73) from him. Gave away 20 points for challenges (ETOILES, LATI, SWAMI, VADE) and 30 points for going 3min overtime to lose 390-400.

Round 3 vs Aloysius(Sin)
Quite confident as I had a 2-0 record against him. We had one bingo each, LOAThES(81) from me and LABORiNG(61) from him. He was plagued with consonants towards the end of the game and I was able to play FOUL to set up FREAK(48) above it across the TWS line to win 396-348.

Sex and Philosophy

The story is about what happens after a forty-year old man invites four of his lovers to the same meeting place. There are flashbacks to how each of his lovers met him and some philosophical discussions.

The film is a bit slow and I felt that the forty-year old man is pretentious when he said that he is measuring his happy moments with a stop watch. Nice scenery and interesting dance movements though! One of the lovers look quite pretty too!

Internet Movie Database Link