YouTube July 5, 2009
Posted by faranaaz in Uncategorized.add a comment
I have exactly four videos on YouTube. Was watching them tonight and thinking, damn, I really should shoot more videos. They are sooo much fun and much more expressive than pictures. They capture the sound and the vibe, little thing’s you’d otherwise forget, like the kids at the Shedd Aquarium going “Ginormous?” or what Hamza’s toddlerish high-pitched squeal sounded like.
Videos ftw.
Oh, I wrote something long and rambly about watching a Confed Cup game which I’ll prolly post if I can remember when I’m at work.
An Engineer’s Guide to Cats June 18, 2009
Posted by faranaaz in Life.Tags: cat, engineer, husband, Izzy
1 comment so far
It’s been a very long time since I saw a video that made me laugh so hard I
- (a) couldn’t breath
- (b) cried
- (c) almost peed myself
Background: I have a cat, and I’m married to an engineer. This video proves that cats and engineers the world over, are all alike…
Star Trek ftw May 10, 2009
Posted by faranaaz in Movies.Tags: 2009, Star Trek, X-Men Origins: Wolverine
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A day after seeing this film and I still can’t stop thinking about it. I don’t know when last I enjoyed a movie this much.
There have been a lot of good origins/bad origins comparisons with the Wolverine film and I can understand why. They’ve both come out around the same time, both are sci-fi-y, have reams of backstory, and massive followings. And I find myself making the same comparison.
After Wolverine, I just thought “Meh, adequate”. Nothing stood out for me. Hours later I couldn’t remember a single memorable line or fight scene. No offense Gavin Hood, but you didn’t really blow us out of the water with this one.
After Star Trek, I thought “Oh my god, we have to watch that again!” The movie was just so much fun, so completely gratifying. You really couldn’t ask for anything more.
The casting was spot on. The actors captured the essence of the characters without impersonating. The Spock/Kirk relationship is still central to the entire show and after all these iterations, Bones and Scotty still make me laugh the most. And action sequences — shazam. Loved the fight on the massive drill thingy and a dangling off a bridge thingy scene with punchline which I won’t spoil. Also, the final Spock scene re: Live long and prosper (trying not to spoil here), classic. 
This movie was just generally great and basically, everything you could ask for from a reboot.
I’m linking to an Onion spoof of fan-reactions to the film, that I picked up from Wil Wheaton’s twitter feed. So funny.
Misery May 2, 2009
Posted by faranaaz in Uncategorized.Tags: family, friends, homesickness
2 comments
It only took me 14 hours since we landed in Johannesburg to realise that everyone at our house is depressed. Sameer spent 12 of those 14 hours playing some slice-n-dicey Xbox game in the lounge. I spent about twelve hours in bed with the laptop balanced on my tummy and watched two movies, half a documentary, two episodes of House, and seven episodes of Greys Anatomy, skipping the boring or irritating bits. Izzy spent most of the day meowing in random corners of the house, compulsively grooming herself or trying to escape into the great outdoors. She’s now retired to her fluffy pink blanket in the guest bathroom. We’re all miserable. We miss home and by that we mean Cape Town.
We miss familiar street names and eateries. We miss popping into cousins’ houses for catchup chats and pudding, we miss people randomly turning up at the house to say hi, we miss being asked to go to the movies or to lunch by people who’ll actually set a day and a time and turn up.
We miss friends who call us “The Parkers” and get the in-joke, who go shopping with us and tell us what size jeans to buy, friends who surprise us with Doctor Who books, who worry about us when we’re sick and send orange juice, neices who tell us they “always free”, cousins who greet us in their PJs and entice us to chat until midnight, aunties who invite us for specially-made crayfish curry, sisters who put extra blankets on the bed when it’s cold, and mommies who’ll make lemongrass tea for Sameer and milky tea for me.
I think Izzy just misses being the centre of the Dalvie universe. We cannot compete, of course.
Basically, today is the day we remember why Joburg sucks so bad.
My Xbox is blogging about me… April 19, 2009
Posted by faranaaz in Games, Tech.add a comment
The website www.360voice.com takes the public information from my Xbox 360 account and turns it into a blog, “penned” by my Xbox. It’s soo funny. Here’s an excerpt:
I didn’t think I would see her yesterday, but fuzysmile was back and ready for action. Total gamer score is 2,475 points. That is an improvement of 20 points over last time! She rallied Fallout 3, Geometry Wars Evolved², Gears of War 2 gaining 1 achievement, and laughed with joy and glee the whole time. I like making people happy.
The rest of fuzysmile’s xbox blog is here.
This is the kind of thing I’d actually go back to check myself. A sort of an autoblog that allows me to keep track of my own gaming habits, without even having to try. I like that it gives me kudos every time my gamer points increase.
