Movie Review: Rendition

Tagline: When if some one you love.. just disappeared?

I think the tagline should have been more different, more powerful perhaps. The current tagline sounds like an alien abduction and doesn't justify the amazing story of this film.

The last time I saw Jake Gyllenhaal and Peter Scarsgaard together in a film was Jarhead. That movie had a catchy tagline: Welcome to suck; but the movie I think should have had more action, that movie ending was kinda of an anti-climax for me. Just imagine sitting down watching through the movie seeing them both train to be the best snipers and when they are called onto the Gulf War, neither fired a single shot at the enemy. Yeah it definitely was 'Welcome to suck'!

Anyway, Rendition is a movie about an Egyptian born man who has a family in the US, is being caught suspected of being an accomplice to a recent terrorist attack, thrown into a secret detention facility outside US and being interrogated mercilessly. Somehow this act is legal under the US constitution ever since the ammendment after 911.

Now I know some of you may have seen this kind of plot before, man got caught because he is a suspect of a terrorist attack/plot, he gets interrogated with unorthodox methods, some radical group starts attacking and how everything starts to get into a direction of chaos.

Well this movie is something like that, but trust me, it is much more. There is love involved in this movie, brotherhood, death, the usual terrorist and infidel accusations. The cinematography is pretty good, acting was pretty ok, but the story line is amazing. I don't want to spoil it for you, but the ending would just really leave you shocked, puzzled. It is one of those not so famous movies that is really good to watch.

There were some slow parts which I think should have been kept short or maybe be taken out. Nevertheless the storyline like I said before was amazing. After watching this movie, I feel like watching it again because I felt fooled at the end. I remember watching one guy in the cinema just shocked and probably angry that the movie fooled him. But in the end you really appreciate th movie direction of thsi film.

Basically, what you think you know in the film, is not what you think.

Go watch it.

4 stars out of 5.

Arabian Usher

Stumble upon this video, thought I'd share with you guys. This guy really has got moves! You don't see this kind of thing often. I wonder if he can break dance....

Eating does not make you fat!

My previous blog entries were touching on a bit on the science of losing weight. On how drinking sufficient water ensures that your body works to turn your stored fat into energy. For today's blog, I am touching on how eating food does not make you fat.

Well the truth is eating food does not make you fat. In fact, eating more than 3 meals a day helps you to reduce weight. Hard to believe? Well here is the science part; your brain releases fat burning hormones, and these are released after each meal you eat.


So what does make you fat?
You don't get fat because of a lack of exercising, that's a myth.
You get fat because you're eating the wrong foods, the wrong types of calories per meal, and you're also eating meals in the wrong patterns each day.

So eating less is not the answer, neither is jogging everyday when the food you eat isn't the right food to induce your brain to burn fat.


On the next few blog entry I will begin to touch on proper nutrition and what foods you should eat and avoid. Also, demystifying some myths and facts about certain foods and eating habits.

When you say you can't..

.... when you very well can. When I started my exercise regime about 2 weeks back, it has been kinda tough. It's really hard to get up when you have stayed dormant for so long. So when I did my first run, you can imagine the panting and wheezing I had through out my running. I am sure some of you can relate. But for my case, I had to exercise. Mainly not just to keep fit but keep my blood pressure normal. Some months back I got my BP checked, it was borderline. It is definitely not a good sign. Knowing that both my parents have High BP, I can't allow myself to be a statistic of a hereditary illness.

Maybe someone of you may not understand how it feels to have your blood pressure rising. You'd get this thumping headaches that just won't go away and you'd start to think you are actually having a tumor when having enough sleep doesn't seem to get rid of it. And bending down to pick up things or walking up the stairs seems to be painful and you'd can actually hear your heart beating in your ears. Everything sounds muffled and you'd get cranky because of the headaches.

So I told myself to exercise, watch my diet and avoid foods that contain too much salt, sodium, fat, coconut milk, etc. I even took the time to learn more on proper nutrition. After doing some research, and some trials and errors, I manage to figure out what was causing my high BP. Apart from my lack of exercise, and late nights at work, it is the junk food I have at night munching in the office that is the main culprit. To be more precise, the potato chips!! There is a lot of salt and sodium in there, and if you keep eating it every night it will eventually affect your blood pressure.

Potato chips is a no no for me and so are the other junk foods that I used to have. After learning about the right nutrition, what comes next is finding time to exercise. Previously I used to skip exercise when ever I reach home late. Now I don't, and seriously it has been very beneficial for me.

Even though I may exercise late eg: after ten, I realise that the next day I actually have more energy. My appetite increased, and not to mention the slumber I had, I really slept like a baby. I woke up feeling so refreshed that I looked forward to my next exercise. My sleepiness at work decreased, but I still do take power naps now and then, esp when there is a huge workload at work to finish. My creative juices have started to flow more and I am able to think more clearly and precise. I used to mumble when I speak but now my speech has more articulation.

So what brings me up and take the time to squeeze time to exercise? Well apart from the fear of getting sick or having a hereditary sickness, it is the countless videos and pictures of athletic ppl that has motivated me to keep going. Pictures of men and women doing challenges that are difficult or impossible for them. Ppl like Lance Armstrong, a 7 time tour de France winner. And also like these ppl in this video.

Online Family Tree - It's Free!

http://www.geni.com/

I been using this website for a few months. Quite frankly it's a good website to keep your family tree and you can let your family members to view it too. Plus it is free!

You can add pictures, edit the profiles, birthdate, email, addresses, add first, middle and last names, etc. There is really alot you can do in this website.

Previewing a family member is easy, just point to the box of the family members and quick preview window comes up. Much similar to the new features in the upcoming MAC OS X.

You can also view the family tree in different views. There is tons of features in this family tree.

One of the cool features to me is the map view. When you enter the addresses of your family members, geni will keep track of its location on a map, and it also has a 'Google Earth' view. So that means you can view where your family members are residing any where in the world!

There is more. YOu can create discussions, send emails, create photo albums of your family, it even has a birthday reminder that will be sent to your email!

So check it out, maybe it is time YOU start creating your family tree!