[Documentary] BBC The Blue Planet

The Blue Planet is a documentary series revolving around what covers 70% of our planet Earth: water, or rather the creatures living in it. Let me rephrase in a better way with the following wiki quote:

Described as "the first ever comprehensive series on the natural history of the world's oceans",[1] each of the eight 50-minute episodes examines a different aspect of marine life. The underwater photography included creatures and behavior that had previously never been filmed[2].

The series was first aired in the UK in 2001. The episodes are narrated by Sir David Attenborough, whom I must admt is my favorite documentary narrator. There is something about his voice that's so soothing, and the elegant British accent adds to his appeal (his voice also stirs up a memory within me of a documentary I watched years ago with my Mother. I think it was a documentary about creepy crawlies in the house that are invisible to the eyes. Marked the memory as a "search for" in my to-do list)

I have so far watched two episodes, and throughout each one I was enthralled for entire playtime period. The second episode is espically gobsmacking (bri'ish!). It is titled "The Deep" and it explores the unknown depths of the ocean. I really had butterflies in my stomach as the show displayed deeper and deeper parts of the ocean, along with the (no other way to describe it) freakiest creatures ever. When the camera looked down upon an Oceanic Trench of an Abyssal Plain, my blood ran cold. It was so deep!



I believe Attenborough mentioned that only 1% of the deepest oceans have been explored. WHAT THE HELL COULD BE LIVING DOWN THERE?

Here is a two minute sample from the second episode:

Anyways, I've loved the sea from the first time my Dad threw me into it's water as a baby (am not exaggerating, Dad taught me how to swim in the sea =P) I love snorkelling in the shallows as well, but I have to admit I freak out if one of the large fishes swim close to me xD

I am definatly going to watch this documentary again with my family, espically my little brother who loved looking at pictures and drawings of different sea creatures in my Sea Life Encyclopedia.

5/5.

P.S: The documentary also made me miss my pet Goldfish and Oscar fishes oh so much =(

[Game] Prince of Persia 4

Finally! I got the chance to play this game which I've been waiting for, but sad to say that I'm actually disappointed. I'm such a huge Prince of Persia fan and never thought I'd ever say that about any of it's parts but I guess most games go like this...sadly!

In terms of story, Ubisoft elected to place the Prince in an entirely new canon. You play not as a royal, but a rogue, lost in the desert and searching for your treasure-laden donkey. Swept up in a sandstorm, the wayward hero meets the mysterious Elika and soon becomes involved (albeit grudgingly) in a quest to stop an ancient evil from escaping its centuries-old prison.

To seal evil guy Ahriman in his tomb, the Prince and Elika must travel to each region of her world, ensnared by Ahriman’s corruption, and free it from his minions’ influence.

At your side throughout the journey is Elika, who uses her magical gifts to assist the Prince along the path.

Source

So this is the story for you. It reminded me of Okami (one the awesome-est games I've ever played) greatly because of the way the game is done and story behind it. You know how you have to go to areas with darkness and then heal them...just like that!

It's more of a painting than programming...which looks cool and pretty flash but it really doesn't have the Prince of Persia "feel" to it. Again the graphics are great but I definitely think that the previous PoP's graphics are much more hardcore. I remember how they'd show a scene in the previous PoP's, where it's turned into some kind of high graphical movie...that was pretty cool! In PoP 4 you don't have that at all...it's just full on painted scenes the whole way.

Now the game play; again, the previous PoP's had way better and awesomer game play then the new one. Here, I feel that the moves are limited and slow but the wall running and ring traveling moves are really cool. Also the combo moves you do with Elika are hardcore! I have to give credit for that!

There are less enemies/monsters. Like you don't get attacked by 4+ monsters at once...you just take on one monster at a time. This is where it feels "kind of" empty because most of the time you're just running and jumping around these somewhat similar obstacles...which is absolutely fine but where's the action?!

I did enjoy playing it, but at times I actually got bored. Plus it doesn't make you think. Like there aren't puzzles or stuff of that sort. It's really straight forward!

I give it a 3.2/5 stars.

[Singles] Skillet - Awake

Skillet's new Album; Awake, is due for release sometime in August 2009. How exciting is that!

So far, 2 singles are out; Hero and Monster.

Skillet - Hero


Skillet - Monster

Been listening to both for the past day or two and I love them! Just listening to these 2 songs makes me feel that their new album is going to be awesomer than the first, so can't wait till it's released!!

Way awesome!!

[Music] Staind - Everything Changes

I don't know...but the more I listen to his older albums the more amazing songs that I find.

This is the Acoustic, Live version from the Hiro Ballroom of their 2006 album; The Singles 1996-2006. I've listened to this song a lot lately and it still seems I can't get enough of it.

The lyrics are a mix of heart felt, romantic and sad words. Yet again, this is Staind we're talking about here, it's kind of his thing lol.

Absolutely beautiful!

If you just walked away
What could I really say?
would it matter anyway?
would it change how you feel?

I am the mess you chose
the closet you can not close
The devil in you I suppose
'cuz the wounds never heal

(Chorus)
But everything changes
if I could turn back the years
If you could learn to forgive me
then I could learn to feel

Sometimes the things I say
In moments of disarray
Succumbing to the games we play
To make sure that it's real

(Chorus)

When it's just me and you
Who knows what we could do
If we can just make it through
through this part of the day

(Chorus)

Then we could
Stay here together
And we could
Conquer the world
If we could
Say that forever
It's more than just a word

If you just walked away
What could I really say?
It wouldn't matter anyway.
It wouldn't change how you feel

RIP MJ

This post isn't a review, it's a tribute to the King of Pop. I would be lieing if I said that the news of his death didn't affect me. It hit me like a wall, and though I tried telling myself that this is life, and alot of people die everyday, why don't I feel sad for them ... I couldn't help but feel utter sadness for MJ's early death. His later life was full of controversy, and I don't know how much of the allegations are true, he was acquitted after all. Although I have to admit his facial transformation really creeped me out.

MJ had this child-like aura about him, almost like he is a little kid stuck in man's world. His home was called Neverland, the island in Peter Pan where children never grow up. There was always rumors of MJ being abused as a child by his father, maybe that contributed to his strange behavior as an adult. Never had someone soared so high then sunk so low.

I grew up listening to his music. Both my parents enjoyed his music, as well as my older cousins. I remember being terrified of Thriller's music video, and dancing along to Black and White. When I first watched the video to the Earth Song, I cried because it was so sad! I remember watching one of his concerts, seeing him do the moonwalk and not believing it was real. During a family trip from Muscat to Nizwa, my cousin and I sat in the back of the car discussing MJ the whole way (we were little kids lol). I recall my cousin telling me that MJ has magical powers, that's how he can dance so amazingly, and I believed it xD It made sense that magical powers is what enabled him to do the moonwalk. MJ was always there, a part of my childhood.

I spent the entire day yesterday just watching his music video and listening to his songs. He had some incredibly meaningful songs, you get the sense that he really wanted to make the world a better place.

Here are some of of my fav songs of his


















Best.Dancer.Ever

[Movie] Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Plot:

Decepticon forces return to Earth on a mission to take Sam Witwicky prisoner, after the young hero learns the truth about the ancient origins of the Transformers. Joining the mission to protect humankind is Optimus Prime, who forms an alliance with international armies for a second epic battle.

--------------------------------

G's thoughts:

And the wait is finally over. One might ask...was it truly worth it?! HELL YEAH IT WAS WORTH IT!! Movie of the year...honestly. There's so much to say, yet one can explain this movie in one word...amazing! Yes! Amazing. The movie is so good, that I actually already miss it and want to see it again.

The first one was definitely something, but "Revenge of the Fallen"...well, I can say that it was definitely awesomer and maybe better than the first one. This movie is not to be missed at the cinema. You HAVE to watch it at the cinema (if there's IMAX then even better) otherwise you'll be missing out on some great sound effects, awesome action and a bigger screen!

Loved the story (the comedy was really good), how it was made and the places it was filmed at. Egypt and Jordan huh?! After watching this movie I gotta visit the Pyramids and Petra <3 Petra looked amazing I have to say! They couldn't have picked a better place to hide...I'll just leave it at that =D

3 actors stood out for me in this movie. First of all, Shia LaBeouf! Honestly, I've complemented him on my other blog (Dream Catcher) and I'm definitely going to do it here. This guy never seems to disappoint. Never fails to impress in every single movie I've seen him in. He's definitely one of the top actors out there...right.now. and he's only getting better. Oh and his screams are just...epic! xD


Next there's John Turturro. Yes! He's back in this one...not going to say much but he's a great actor also. He did a really good job and was funny too!

Last but not least is the new Ramon Rodriguez. I don't know him much...but he did a great job and was absolutely hilarious!

I think the cars got hotter in this one plus some new funky autobots are introduced and the Fallen ;) I'm also more in love with Bumblebee (the Camaro) after watching this movie. What a great car lol.

Great movie, great cast, great music, great graphics and I can go on and on. All I will say is...WATCH THIS MOVIE...at the CINEMA!! It's too good! If you liked the first one...then I'm 110% sure you will like this one even MORE!

11/10 for me =D

Aargh!! LOVED IT!!

Here's the official trailer for you if you need anymore convincing =D

[Recipe] Caramelised Onions

I tried out two recipes in the last two days, each containing caramelised onions as a component of the dish. The first recipe I followed step-by-step from the book (including the caramelised onions). However the second recipe is totally different to the original one. Let's begin with preparing the onions:

Ingredients
4 teaspoons of Olive Oil
2 large white Onions, peeled and thinly sliced
2 teaspoons of Brown Sugar
2 teaspoons of Balsamic Vinegar
1 teaspoon of fresh Thyme leaves

Heat the olive oil in a non-stick pan on low heat. Fry the onions, stirring alot until they start changing color. At about the 7 minute mark, increase the heat to medium then add the vinegar and brown sugar. Cook for another 5 minutes, or until onions are brown and moist. Switch of the heat, stir in the thyme leaves and leave the caramelised onions to cool.

First Dish [Basic Bruschetta with Onion and Feta topping]

Ingredients
100g of crumbled Feta Cheese
Freshly Ground Pepper
Half a stick of French Bread
1 clove of Garlic
Vegetable Oil Spray (I used Olive Oil)

Heat grill and line tray with baking sheet. Slice French Bread diagonally into 12 slices, spray each side with vegetable oil spray (or olive oil) and place on tray. Toast the bread under the grill for a few minutes until golden on each side. Pull the tray out and, while the toast slices are still hot, rub one side with the garlic glove. Voila! You got yourself a dozen Bruschettas =P

Spoon the caramelised onions prepared earlier unto the Brushettas. Top with Feta cheese, a seasoning of black paper and more thyme leaves. Serve.

Second Dish [Caramelised Onions, Hummus and Chicken Salad Rolls]

Ingredients
2 large Flour tortillas
Hummus
1 small Red Onion finely chopped
1 Carrot grated
1/2 Medium cucumber, very thinly sliced
4 teaspoon Olive Oil
Chicken breast strips (quantity enough for one person, don't remember how much I used xD)
2 teaspoon of Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon of thyme.

Make the chicken marinade by combining the olive oil, brown sugar, and thyme. Spread most, but not all unto the chicken strips and let it marinade for as long as you can. I left mine marinade for two hours in the fridge. Line a baking tray appropriately, place chicken strips on it, and allow chicken to cook for one about 15 mins on one side. Turn the chicken over, and brush the rest of the marinade on it and allow to cook for another 15 minutes, or until golden.

Spread one side of each tortilla with hummus. Place chicken strips, carrot, cucumber, red onions and caramelised onions on top. Drizzle a teaspoon of olive oil on each, roll the tortilla tightly, and cut in half. Serve.

Thoughts

I loved both dishes so much! The [Basic Bruschetta with Onion and Feta topping] can be served as a yummy appetizer. The distinction of the sweet onions and salty feta cheese feels awesome on the tongue. The [Caramelised Onions, Hummus and Chicken Salad Rolls] had a sweet and tangy taste to it. You can add more veggies to it if you like, such as tomatoes and mesculin salad and also a drizzle of lemon. Makes a yummy lunch.