Empire of the Sun

I caught Empire of the Sun during my days with Citrix in some hotel somewhere. The movie is about a British boy in Shanghai, who is separated from his parents during the chaos of World War II. He is later captured by the Japanese and sent to the Soochow Creek Internment Camp, where the European prisoners of war are held. The war is portrayed from the perspective of the boy, and how he deals with the world that is crumbling around him. Alas, I was not able to catch the full movie then.

Now, thanks to YouTube, you can catch the movie in full! Just enter the following search terms in YouTube: "Empire of the Sun - n/17", where n can be any number from 1 - 17.

Here's part 1/17 of the movie:



If there has not been a lawsuit against YouTube already, you bet one will be coming up soon -- and it will be to the detriment of us folks out there who would like to catch old movies that are no longer easily found in retail outlets.

Bizarre statements

As I was reading CNN Money, I came across the following statement:

Delivering a speech to the National Bureau of Economic Research, the Fed chief said "changes in energy [and food] prices should have relatively little influence on 'core' inflation, that is, inflation excluding the prices of food and energy."

I am sure there must be some hidden meaning in this seemingly obvious statement -- but for the life of me, I cannot quite figure it out.

V - the miniseries

Anyone here remembers "V"? It was 1985, when the series first started showing in Malaysia. It was one of those TV series that scared the heck out of kiddy lil' me, especially the part when Mike Donovan first revealed the lizards for who they are. You can find the entire series in YouTube by searching for "V - the original miniseries", and "V - the final battle".

Here's another scene that freaked kiddy lil' me out (although in this time, the special effects leaves much to be desired):

Now, 20+ years on, the special effects look rather cheesy. Heck, even the plot itself is cheesy. I really wonder:
1. What's with the aliens befriending humans, when they were clearly technologically capable of subduing humanity?
2. Why do the aliens communicate with each other in English?
3. Don't the aliens feel warm wearing human skin all day long?
4. Why do the aliens wear human skin even in their space craft?
5. You would think that the aliens would all use "good-looking" disguises.
6. How does a reptile mate with a human?

Still, it is pretty good entertainment despite the cheesiness.