David's Space...

Welcome to Laddaland

Welcome to Laddaland, the latest Thai horror flick to reach our shores. Like many other brilliant horror films from Thailand, it is not a mere mindless scare-fest. It is smart, sexy and packs with enough psychological drama to make the on-screen characters come to life. 

Initially, I didn't really like the main character, Thee (Saharat Sangkapreecha) with his goofy smile. But as the movie progress, his awkwardness melted away as weirder and stranger events unfold. The plot is simple, taking a few cues from western thriller/horror flicks. The family moves into Laddaland due to a job of the sole breadwinner, Thee. The opening sequence played that to dramatic effect with an appropriate happy tune, laughing children, sprinklers and a happy dog - almost an American Dream advert except everyone was Thai. 

There were a lot of subplots spanning the whole spectrum of family dysfunctionality. At times, it almost seemed like the family tension was threatening to take over the show and make Ms Melted Face a side attraction. However,  it soon became apparent that the spirit(s) were feeding off the negative vibes and manipulating their minds and inserting insidiously murderous intentions by pitting husband against wife and daughter against father.

After making a grand entrace, Ms Melted Face didn't last throughout the movie. She caused a few scares and mysteriously ceased her haunting. Then, a whole family killed themselves next door. It wasn't clear but I am assuming their deaths were the handiwork of Ms Melted Face. After that, the vengeful spirits of the neighbours made their debut, eventually coming to a close with murder in Thee's household.

I love this movie and although there were a few loose ends but the general plot and feel is almost spot on! I was on the edge of my seat throughout the movie but the special effects and choreography of the scares could do with a tad bit more originality. But the familiar techniques still scares me sh*tless. 

 

A Nordic Adventure

I just watched Thor last night (thanks to a treat by Tsem Rinpoche) and although before watching, I was not too thrilled because I was expecting some silly blond guy in Viking armour wielding an oversized hammer. Well, it turned out to be exactly that but this Viking guy turned out to be a Nordic god. 

It was an adolescent superhero movie after all but the involvement of gods and divine beings kinda makes up for a mundane movie experience. I love Heimdall! He is the black guardian of the Bifrost bridge. His stature, his skin colour - black, his piercing gold eyes, omniscient sight and booming voice makes him a rather interesting god. I didn't really think much of the other characters and unfortunately, that included Odin Allfather, played by the great actor,  Anthony Hopkins. 

The storyline is simple and engaging. The banishment and exile of the young Thor by his father, Odin for being reckless and war-mongering was heart-tugging and I resonated with his struggles of disorientation of being a mortal on earth and his subsequent failure to retrieve his powers when he tried to reclaim his war-hammer. Anyway, it was great entertainment but a friend said that the movie was not epic enough. I asked why and he said that there were not enough epic scenes within the movie. It was not grand enough for a movie on gods. Well, I liked the movie anyway and look forward to its sequel.

 

Happenings of the Past Week

I kinda got off track with my blog for the past week so I would just give you a run down of the emotional roller-coaster ride of the past week. After the Gompa opening, we celebrated our Lama Tsongkhapa day at the new Kechara House. We had the great fortune to have Rinpoche grace the occasion, just 3 days after the Gompa opening. 

I gave a little explanation of Lama Tsongkhapa day or Gaden Ngamcho. This is the day of Lama Tsongkhapa's passing into full Enlightenment. Rinpoche on the other hand, gave a wonderful talk and explanation of the body, speech and mind offerings and a whole lot more! 

I managed to squeeze in two movies during the week, one was Inception and the other was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The much hyped Inception movie was a mind-blower. I mean it blew my mind away with its novel idea of entering into people's minds and messing them up. In some ways it was rather Dharmic because the characters in the movie begin to question their reality at some point. The plot was somewhat complicated if you are not quick to pick up on the explanations of how they create dreams within dreams - simulated reality within another fake reality. Great movie! 

Harry Potter on the other hand was not too bad. I think the cast are a little too old for their roles. The plot thickens as Voldermort grows in power and seeks to destroy Harry Potter. Unfortunately, he can't kill Mr Potter with his wand so he seeks other means to get Potter. So circumstances forced Potter to make a run for his very life. It is the most adult and darkest of all the Potter movies. Unfortunately, the movies ends with a horrible cliffhanger. The makers are obviously trying to prolong this franchise and milk as much money/publicity as they possibly can. 

Besides movies, I had a really fun time shopping with Rinpoche along with many others at Giants'. It was a Kechara departmental thingy and we got literally heaps of groceries, good, toiletries and stuff for our various departments and Dharma Houses. It was a massive shopping expedition and a whole lot of fun buying food and stuff for staff and volunteers of all our departments. I think many people who haven't seen Rinpoche in a long time got their chance to talk and be near him. That made many people very happy and energised them. That is an amazing quality that Rinpoche possesses.

Last night was one of the few moments in my life I felt real stupid. I guess calling myself stupid is a huge escape and what really happened was that I had been in a lull of laziness to the point of being irresponsible. I was told it was self-sabotage and I am always tripping myself all the time. That's true but anyway, there is nothing new in this for those who know me. I just have to pick up the pieces and move on and somehow become stronger, push myself ahead and move with everyone else. I got to grow up and take charge of my life. <--I need to remind myself daily now. I find being lazy is real tough actually and I am somehow caught in its vicious cycle of laziness and paying the price. Sorry, don't want to bore you with more poor me stories and will get out of this rut and move on with the 'program' soon! 

What Is Coming Up At The Cinema's

While I lay at home recovering from a bout of horrible flu, I checked out what's the latest at the cinemas. I realised that Harry Potter is back. Well, the end of the year is coming up and it figures. Time to cash in on holiday-makers. 

This time, it is the finale but they didn't want this cash cow to die so soon. So they have split the finale to 2 parts. How exciting! Now we have another dreaded cliffhanger for this year end and we have to wait for a whole year to catch the real finale! Anyway, I have loaded some nice juicy pictures to whet your appetite before the actual movie comes in. 

A nice brooding picture of Mr Potter....

Oh no! The dreaded Voldemort is back again! He is same ole, same ole... still without a nose. He obviously haven't heard of rhinoplasty surgery. Poor guy! No wonder he is mad at Potter.

Hahaha! My favourite pic....He had used magic to spawn many gay versions of himself. (Especially the bright blue cardigan one)

Ok, Harry Potter has got me zapped! I can't wait for this movie! Due out on the 17th November 2010. Gosh! I sound like a paid ad! I wished GSC or Warner Bros would pay me so I can sponsor KMP. 

 

Another movie, I am looking forward to is The Social Network... Sounds exciting! 

What Would Rinpoche Like For His Birthday?

The whole of Kechara organisation is right now gearing up towards Rinpoche's birthday just two days from now. So, I keep hearing people whispering and asking each other what they should get for Rinpoche's birthday. Therefore, I thought I list here some of the things that Rinpoche likes (from my memory) so it might give you a hint of what you guys can get for Rinpoche. The following are just an indication and whatever offering you give to Rinpoche, he will appreciate it and offer it to the 3 Jewels on your behalf.

Buddhas

Manjushri, Lama Tsongkhapa, Yamantaka, Vajrayogini & Pelden Hlamo

 Manjushri

 Lama Tsongkhapa

 Yamantaka

Heroes

The Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa & Gandhi

 H. H. The Dalai Lama

 Mahatma Gandhi

 
  Mother Teresa

Music

Madonna, Donna Summer, Fleetwood Mac (Stevie Nicks), Jefferson Starship, Journey & Mary J Blige

  Madonna

  Fleetwood Mac

 Donna Summer

Movies

First Generation Star Trek Series, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, Mission Stardust, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Jeepers Creepers and much more... (Good Horror, Sci-fi & Classics of Joan Crawford, Bette Davis & Liz Taylor movies mostly)

   First Generation Star Trek Series

Mission Stardust

Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
Other Misc Favs

Grace Jones, Mountains, Napoleon Cake, Meditation, Vegetarianism, Mumu & Ozer (Rinpoche's Schnautzers), Animals, Momos, Milkshakes, Thick Fries and the list goes on...

  Grace Jones

 Mountains and trees

    Napoleon Cake            

Prince Siddhartha

Prince Siddhartha's renunciation is often interpreted as removing worldly clinging to his wife, family, inheritance, power and glory. He knew he couldn't really help his wife and family from the ravages of sickness, old age and death. So, out of great compassion he has towards his wife and family that he went out to the world and sought a different inheritance. 

The renunciate prince learned the greatest meditational techniques of his day from great masters and found that he still needed to traverse more. This time, he needed to do it on his own and no one could really guide him anymore. However, influenced by the great movement of ascetic practices, he delved into the austerities without a second thought. As a result his body was greatly weakened but his mind was more determined than ever.  

Then one day, he heard something that woke him up from his meditative absorption. He heard conversations about tightening the strings of a Vina just right so it is not too loose or too tight so it plays just the right notes. Having heard that inspired him to abandon the extreme practices because he realised that they were ineffective. So he left the company of yogis to receive his first proper meal in years. Having strengthened his body with food, he sought refuge under a Bodhi tree and began meditating on this newfound Middle path. 

It didn't take long before achieving many heights of absorption and Mara, the embodiment of his negative karma and ego materialised to stop him. Mara quickly summoned his daughters, beautiful maidens skilled in the arts of seduction to sway the Buddha from his meditation. One played the Vina, one sang with a beautifully sultry voice while the others just danced in the unearthly charm of celestial faeries. However, this had no effect upon the Buddha because he could quickly see through Mara's plot. 

So Mara himself angrily dissolved his daughters and created huge armies of demons that attacked the Buddha with millions of thrown arrows, spears and burning projectiles. None of them could reach the Buddha because all of the weapons quickly turned to flowers and fell gently upon the Buddha. Greatly enraged, Mara then appeared as a splitting image of the Buddha and challenged his right to the spot where he was sitting. Buddha merely touched the earth with his right hand and told him that the truth and virtue of innumerable past lives earned him the right and the earth would bear witness to this. 

The earth rumbled its reply and so Mara was utterly defeated and Buddha quickly entered in deeper stages of meditation and finally achieving full awakening at the fourth or last watch of the night.

~ I love this story! It was of course adapted from the scenes of Little Buddha that is not totally accurate but that is how I love to remember Buddha's life. I dunno why but it always gives me a sense of awe to hear how the Buddha conquered his ego. 

Clash of the Titans

I heard that many of my friends didn't like this movie. They told me that it was really just typical Hollywood crap. However, I decided to go ahead and watch it anyway. The allure of a movie with glorious Greek gods, mythical creatures and breathtaking special effects was just too much to resist. 

Well, like on many occasions, I found that my verdict of this movie was completely opposite of the masses... 

I love this movie! 

I love it for....well....the Greek gods, Pegasus and the Stygian sisters.

However, my only grouse were on the over-polished armour of Zeus and the silly giant scorpions. The scorpions remind me too much of Transformers, the movie. On the other hand, I found that the gods were not skimpily-clad enough. Hehe! I thought that the Greek gods should be more like the classical Greek sculptures. 

Anyway, although the greek gods are cool but they still cannot be compared to the Tibetan pantheon of gods (Buddhas). Nothing beats a multi-armed, multi-faced and all-powerful Tibetan god/Buddha.