Changing Lanes

Camera Model : Canon EOS 7D
Shooting Date/Time : 23/05/2011 17:58:17
Tv(Shutter Speed) : 1/4 | 1/15 | 1/60
Av(Aperture Value) : f5
Metering Mode : Pattern
ISO Speed : 400
Lens : EF 16-35mm f2.8 L
Focal Length : 35mm

I showed SJ one of the pictures today and she seemed quite proud of my effort which I think is a good thing cause she's the architectural photography wiz... (^_^)

Disney chooses to scale it down. How much bigger can the series get they said. A complete reboot…back to basics. And that’s what I like about this movie. A lot simpler but entertaining at the same time like how the original ‘The Curse of the Black Pearl’ was which I adore more than the other two installments.

Johnny Depp returns as Jack Sparrow (There Should Be A "Captain" In There Somewhere); the swashbuckling pirate nailing the role once again with Ian McShane making his Pirates debut as Blackbeard; the villain in this installment who even though does justice to the role but isn’t able to fill the mighty shoes of Bill Nighy (who played Davy Jones in the previous installments). Kevin McNally plays the ever faithful and equally funny sidekick Gibbs and Geoffrey Rush does a fantastic job yet again as Captain Barbossa though this time with a wig. Penélope Cruz as Angelica is rather impressive; a little feisty but easier on the eyes though with her rather underdeveloped character, she lacks the screen presence that Keira Knightley had. Honestly all the new characters seemed that way which was disappointing. Sam Claflin as Philip could have been utilized better while Astrid Berges-Frisbey as the Mermaid Syrena was awkward to say the least because she hardly had anything to do and the fact that she was artistically naked seemed to excite some people in the theatre. More could have been done with both those characters and the same could be said about Blackbeard who seemed a little forced and cliché. In fact quite a few scenes in the beginning of the movie were predictable, something you wouldn’t expect from Captain Jack Sparrow.

The rather uncomplicated story starts off a little slowly picking up pace somewhere in the middle taking the viewers on a vivacious fun ride. The mermaid scene is by far the highlight of the movie for me…mermaid sharks/vampires as my sister put it. The cinematography, graphics, sets and costumes are immaculate while the action sequences are exhilarating. The background score is a little unoriginal and loud in some scenes though did add to the complete pirated package. The supporting small characters were nonexistent unlike the other installments which was a rather big disappointment while Orlando Bloom (who played Will Turner) interestingly wasn’t missed at all.

Rob Marshal has done a better than expected job as a first time Pirates director making a flawed but still fun movie. Even though this is claimed to be a reboot of the series, comparisons do crop up and this may not be the best installment but it is surely not the worst.

Had planned to make a detailed post about what I've been up to lately but can't be bothered anymore. I've been sick for the past 5 or so days. I’ve been diagnosed with Asthma after getting three attacks in a day. Lack of sleep, messed up diet and a stressful life...this is what happens when you stop taking care of yourself. I’ve been stuffing myself up with various medicines (one of tablets supposedly being steroids) and been having Nebulizer sessions every day at home which seem to make little difference. Another trip to the doctor I suppose...oh what fun!!

And on the other hand…I managed to scratch SJ’s Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc screen even before she started using it, I dented the iPad, the Ford Mondeo had a hit and run incident, had to cancel an assisting job that was the only work I had for the first half of this month due to illness and I just spent twice the amount of money I’m going to earn this month on a tripod and memory card. Yep…this is going well.

Lighting a subject with LCD screens. That's how the below shot was taking i.e. the purple light is from the computer screen while the blueish one is from the iPad. By far the best use of the iPad... (^_^)
Camera Model : HTC Desire
Shooting Date/Time : 07/05/2011 03:36
Tv(Shutter Speed) : Unknown
Av(Aperture Value) : Unknown
Metering Mode : Center Weighted
ISO Speed : 227
Lens : N/A
Focal Length : 4mm

A Sam Tsui cover of a song originally sung by Christina Perri. Click here to hear the original.


For complete lyrics click here.

A person in a Mercedes G class tells his friend (driving a Honda MRV) to watch him drift in the sand while the friend is busy thanking him for everything...whatever that means. A white tinted Altima sits in the middle of the sand with its lights on but unmoved for the past 15 minutes...make out session?? A cluster of cars parked near the fence unmoved as well while a Lexus ES300 crawls by and joins them. A Toyota Corolla trying hard to drift playing ostentatious music leaves and a VW Touareg enters perhaps honking at me deliberating what I'm up to. They drive by again closer this time taking a careful look at me followed by an almost chickened out deep sand session; they managed to not get stuck. A speedboat rumbles in the darkness that seamlessly transfers from the water to the night sky. The only sign of a horizon are those blinky lights doing what they do best. The Burj Khalifa flashes a light as a rally blue Subaru Impreza makes an unflattering entry as the Filipino lady driver wonders what I am. Arabic music plays somewhere in background with the wind whispering in my ears. Somewhere on the palm a car hits a dead end while a Suzuki Vitara that suspiciously looks like an unmarked cop car makes a second round. There's a southwesterly breeze that's managed to give me Goosebumps with the right amount of cold. It's the month of May but this is pleasant almost in an uncanny kind of way. A plastic bag rolls by illuminated by the Altima lights. Somewhere a kid has a conversation with her father and bikers go rumbling by superseded by the growl of a truck. I am thankful that I picked this over the meadow windows even though the outcome is the same. Dead beach...that's what we used to call it in college but that now seems like another life. An Infiniti EX35 floats by fulfilled and here I am using an iPad like my little best friend.

This is what happened.....

"Al Tayer Motors, the Ferrari and Maserati dealer for the UAE, has re-opened their Dubai showroom after an extensive refurbishment and expansion. It was unveiled during a media event last week."

And this is what I was doing...... ^_^
Camera Model : Canon EOS 7D
Shooting Date/Time : 27/04/2011 12:18:28  |  12:19:06  |  12:19:52
Tv(Shutter Speed) : 1/200  |  1/100  |  1/160
Av(Aperture Value) : f8
Metering Mode : Center-weighted
ISO Speed : 400
Lens : Samyang 8mm f3.5 fisheye
Focal Length : 8mm

People in general love birthdays. They love feeling extra special on that single day and I’ve had an inclination to make an effort to make sure that happens. Cakes, birthday presents, surprises…been there done that. Oddly I haven’t done that in a while but for SJ I will… (^_^)