Faisal Bawazir's
UiTM Projects

Uploaded by: Faisal Muchtar Bawazir via You Tube

Introduction:
The term blog actually meant different things to different people. Ideally, to most of the technology savvy it meant "CMS" which is short for content management system. We personally have visited many websites and most of it as can be observed are diaries that were created and sorted according to time and date. But surely a blog is not limited to jsut that and in reality it can be a whole lot more.A website in the past used a specific code (HTML) that allows the computer to understand the intention of the author. In the past, this knowledge belonged to only a limited few and in fact it still does as far as more than just the basics are concern. I will not go into the technical side here. It would defeat the purpose of this post. However for our understanding, the evolution of designing a website has been made very easy, even for lay people to the extend that it requires only a few push of a button.

Content: People create blogs to publish just about anything from diaries to politics and gizmos. Some even created websites to win back their girlfriend. In the end, the bottom line is to make yourself published. Generally, when you publish a blog on your own, you are free to do and say out your ideas. Others might have different views and opinions, but just like yourself others too can have have their say.

However, there are few exceptions that you should be consider especially when you affiliate yourself with other. When you publish a blog, anyone on the globe with an internet access will be able to view what you said and perhaps they like to know more about your ideas. Obviously, the last thing that anybody wanted is to surf your blog only to find a lot of international garbage lying around. It would be a waste of their time and perhaps even yours.

Similarly, the content of your blog indirectly will be the representation of the person you affiliate yourself with. Perhaps your lecturers and even your Professors if you are in education industry. Rest assured that after a few visits to blogs that does no good to the visitors, the tags will automatically be transparent and ignored. If you are in marketing ... it simply means very bad business!

Here is a golden rule for a good blog. The golden rule of the thumb is originality. This is a fact ignored by bloggers at the expense of mere publishing. For others, they might even be married to a website and the saying could have not been more true. There would be no point to browse into a blog only to find what they could easily find in commercial website. In stressing the originality of your content, you blog naturally have to look feel and reads r-a-r-e. It is a matter of simple understanding really. There is no significance to fix a Ferrari engine to your car unless the body was design for a Ferrari. IMEO, it's hazardous !

Adaptation of the film 'A.I" by Director Steven Speilberg (2001) from the short story 'Super Toys All Summer Long' by Writer Brian Aldiss (1969)

Al-Bawazir's Film Choice Rating : +

©Copyright Faisal Bawazir Muchtar, UiTM 2008

Adaptation of the film '2001 Space Odyssey' by Director Stanley Kubrick (1968) from the Short Story 'The Sentinel" by Arthur C. Clake (1951)

Al-Bawazir's Film Selection Rating :

Would you consider that human being were the only beings of intelligence on this planet? How about the entire nebular system? Have you considered that we are not the only beings capable of thingking, to be able to do things out of perfect reasoning. How about yourself or the beings within you? Those micro-organisms . Cells that knows exactly knows was best for them and for you. Would you have considered them intelligent. Or insects like bees or ants, the best and the most industrious of insects. Would you have considered them as intelligent, superseding even the intelligence of humans. If micro-organisms existed on this planet, then perhaps there is a possiblity of finding one in another. We are not alone then...We share the comfort of our bed with literally billions of other creatures. After all we all dont want to be alone. Should we really think deep about it? How about creations...God creates!. We human create too but only limited to mechanical ways. No..not life..non. If you have pondered all of my questions and reasonings, should we let go and let god?

To me those are the question that both the authors and the director seek to direct our focus to. It simply taps into the memories of creation. As we eveloved, se seem to distant our self from our evolving ancestors, millions of years ago (or could it be?, since new discoveries are challenging and refuting Darwinism).

I mean look at it at one angle of mine which I asked so many times ever since I was a child...when my teachers thought me about the evolution of humans from pro-maglion to Australopithecus (hope I got that right). Why did they show me pictures of human evolution, yet there was no pictures of evolutions in animals or dinosaurs? In fact all the dinosaurs skeleton looked the same everywhere, only the variety was different. Needless to say, at the time I was asked to stand on my chair. Apes to human...?? nah, from science point of view, DNA from certain species from bees are wayyyyy closer than of apes or any other species. Only our skeleton resembled almost the same though.

However, like any movie goers we leave the realism of reality outside of our minds and somewhat the Darwinism seem to settle in quite comfy. Anyway, the movie seek to find the missing link that seemed to have been left open in Darwinism theory. More importantly, was the spaceship that crosses the universe, searching for life itself and the monolith.

There was a (*) glitch somewhere between the movie and the story. In Clarke's story, the pieces of slab stones (monolith's) was technological machines that belonged to the alien's and hundred of such monoliths were sent to earth by the aliens to teach and transform the apes for their betterment...into intelligent beings (humans). No such indication were given in the movie though. The slabs pop up and disappears as though it has existed long before the creation of time and was watching...observing and judging what was being done. As a matter of fact I think Kubrick was indeed looking for answers, looking for direction and searching for god.

There was also another glitch. (*) at the beginning of the movie, in the water hole. In the apes quest for survival, a band of apes went to the waterhole, led by an upright tall man like ape named Moonwatcher in the story. In short, one of the apes found a bone which it used as a tool and flung it up into the air victoriously. I think the fim try to assert the time when mankind first created evil and championing it as a way of life right in the presence of the creator who was only watching, and evaluating and constantly testing. Not to mention that inter cut of a tapir that fall into the ground....depicting mankind change in diet......carnivorous was created the apes ate raw flesh in their hands!

I particularly like it when the apes threw the bone into the...and then boom ...fade out into four millions later. Yes, it was mankind jubilant throw. From a primitive tool as modes as a bone, into lunar journey. The slabs appeared when the spaceship was docking on the moon. Imagery of a journey, representing the representation of life. When they found the slab on the moon Dr. Floyd said: "It was deliberately buried four million years ago". It looked the same, produced the same sound heard by the apes in the previous scene. The first sighting of the monolith signifies mans first encounter with a significant tool that changes how they lived. The second sighting of the monolith also signifies mans second encounter with a significant tool that changes how they lived: HAL 9000. A machine created from the evolution of mankind. Worst, capable of similar intelligent and feelings...jealousy, rebel and anger.

(*) In my opinion, since humans created these machine, therefore, humans became the creator. As such, the created took instructions from the creator. Nonetheless, since the machine have all the tendencies of a humans, HAL deliberately began to refuse to obey instructions. In clever imagenary, Kubrick was actually reveaking to us the nature, the dark side and the truth that human beings have always fought with the will of god, ever since the beginning of time.

IMEO, I have to say that Director Stanley Kubrick could vividly imagine the writings of Arthur C. Clarke so elaborately perhaps to the surprise of Arthur himself. If you are have a hard time understanding the reading, then fear not. The story was never designed to be understood rather it was much more intended to be imagined. The story also never made it into a competition in native a English speaking country. So fret not! But the original intention to create an imaginative mind was an applaud.

The attention to details, and the timing as well as the creation of gadgets and gizmos unheard of at the time was one of the hallmark that Kubrick deserves so well even if he had access to information of prototypes (i am making assumptions here) at the time. Why did I say that? It is simple...none of the directors could have devised the cinematography, montage and special effects of developing the movie at the time. It was 1968 guys, with a standard 35 mm lens...Imagine creating a man defying gravity or the stars and the moon with that. So, Kudos Mr. Kubrick.

P/s: If you love spaceship, space and quest for extraterrestrial life consider some of my all childhood favourite .... Battlestar Galactica, E.T and StarTrek.

Adaptation of the film 'Sydney White' by Director Joe Nussbaum(2007) from Re-Writes of 'Snow White' by Writer Chad Gomez Creasey (2007)

Al-Bawazir's Film Selection Rating :

Mannnn...Love This Movie a lot! Lot's of twist when compared and contrasted with the stories of Snow White. If you dont really have much of a spot for the sad old i feel sorry for myself ass kind of films then my fiends, this film will surely take you out of your realms of reality and make you a spirited Snow White wannabe yourself.

Unlike most version of classical Snow White based films and stories this particular modern day Snow White does not have an unnatural mother. Rather, she has a peer (Rachel Witchburn...nice!) as evil as the stepmother in modern classification. Of course with modernisation, evil disguises itself in ... a much more complex, hard to define and well eluding forms. Hmm, depending on your own terminology of evil is , based on your sad sorry ass that life experience has thought you, I describe evil as "characteristic that animals dont have". Hmm, guess peoplenology is on the list. Anyway...nuff of my philosophical nature side.

The protagonist in the fim was Sydney White, a student who got her admission to enter SAU. I don't know if I missed anything but the closest in my research is St. Ambrose University in Iowa or Southern Arkansas University but I may be wrong at both. Her mother died when she was nine and was raised by a single father among his father's construction worker peers. (Not very constructive environment doug but she seems well constructed...LOL!). Her father has a very unorthodox way of raising a girl but as Sydney said it herself "well, at times a girl just needs her mom".

Her mum was a Kappa in Kappa Phi Nhu's sorority house in SAU. Therefore, her enrolment into the exact spot as her mother did made her a 'le-ga-cy'. Another similar legacy was Dinky Dimitry Rosemead (aint that kinda literal...dinky! Yup, a dinky she was. Charm you off your feet with that accent. Go girl!). On their way to Kappa Phi Nhu's rush party, Sydney and Dinky bumped into Tyler Prince who was the President of Beta Omega fraternity house who accompanied them to Kappa Phi Nhu. On the way, he explained to them about the characteristics of various fraternity and sorority houses in the SAU including the Vortex.

The Vortex was supposedly a fraternity for the outcasts in SAU. It looked like an old (I do mean really old!) castle like building and that was where the 7 outcast of the University (* parallel the seven dwarfs) lived. Rachel Witchburn was a status conscious freak and she regarded herself as a member in the elite society and she intend to demolish the building and change it into a Greek House of her own.

When Sydney got into Kappa Phi Nhu, life was not all that easy for her despite being a legacy. She had to work her way into acceptance as Rachel Witchburn (the snort ?..he he) probably saw her as...a contender right from the beginning. Rachel created the "sorority pledge enlightenment", similar to ragging for the Juniors and devised numerous task for them to complete. Inclusive were 'The Date Dash' where Sydney had to find a date and later instructed Sydney to ditch her date. Rachel claimed that the Vortex guy (Lenny) that Sydney brought was unsuitable for the occasion. It was actually another evil device that Rachel deployed. and cleaning of the Beta Omega fraternity's toilet..just to name a few.

Naturally, Sydney was expelled from Kappa Phi Nhu during the inauguration of new Kappa members based on Rachel's own jealousy of Sydney befriending her old boyfriend Tyler Prince . Ratchel however announced that she disposed Sydney on issues relating to exposing inappropriate behaviour of being a Kappa. Sydney ran away and wept in front of the Vortex where the seven Vortex members ( the seven dwarfs remember?), Gurkin (the publisher of a blog), Embele (the Nigerian), Terence, George and Jeremy accepted her. Hmm..wondered if there was an English word for unisex social organization in the US?? Sorofraternity?

Anyway, Sydney put all her friends up to run for student council after she learnt that most of the budget in the campus went to the Greeks. Somehow, out of no reason Terence was named as President of the new found 'Freedom to the 7th Power'. Meanwhile, Sydneys ranking in the 'SAU's Hot or Not leaped from number 121 to number 21 after she was expelled. (*parallel to Classic Snow White of 'Who is the Most Beautiful of all'. The mirror was replaced with a computer instead).

A few scenes later, Rachel decided that "Sydney and her must die a social death" after she learnt that Sydney's SAU's Hot or Not ranking superseded her own. Cunningly, she maneuvered a plot by using her sorority girls to seduce the Vortex guys (who not only were brain nerdy, but sex needy as well..). They were exposed naked on their way to find the non existing swimming pool and the naked girls who were not available. Ratchel who did her homework then informed that Terence who was running against her was disqualified as he already graduated 8 times in a row. Rachel also informed that the Vortex was going to be demolished after a blunder that Tyler made, exposing safety hazards that he witnessed to Ratchel before.

All the members of the Vortex were angry with Sydney and they stayed in a motel. Sydney came to them, heightened their spirits and told them that she would be running for President of the 'Freedom to the 7th Power'. Sydney started her campaign. She began to reach out. Her Professor who was teaching coincidentally thought her Political Science (i might take this course later!). Her Professor thought her two vital thing which she took seriously.

1. Kennedy was an outsider but reached out to other outsider
2. Minorities, Woman and the poor won that particular campaign for JFK.

Therefore, Reached out she did!! She won the heart of every transitives, the Jews, the Army and even the Hawaiian Hula dance....who are proclaimed dorky!! Everything was working well when suddenly her well prepared presentation for a debate with Rachel that she saved in her Machintosh was deleted. "One poison Apple". Her Machintosh was cracked and she became tranced (*parallel).

Ratchel paid the hacker (oops, sorry hackers out there, i mean ...the cracker) to delete her files and paid him with puffs in a box. (Yup, we hackers built and the only thing that a cracker can do is destroy...and that is why puffs in a box was more than enough...IMEO!! ). He should work in Microsoft though. Perfect spot!

Anyway...Sydney woke up from her trance when Tyler passionately kissed her once and walla !! She was all fired up and on the run to win her debate . Bla bla bla...she won, Terence sold his "Predictive Probability Theory" to I-Bet.com for USD10 million, George finally able to tie his shoelace, Jeremy throws his puppet, Embele changed his jetlag, Gurkin found himself a hardcore blog admirer as his girlfriend, Spanky was about to get laid with four girls and get and finally Lenny the sinus guy got Dinky.... :-( ouch that really hurts!!

And after all the troubles that they went through, they lived DORK-ILY ever after...Or I would have not watched this movie otherwise IMEO.