Abe Sapien: Behind the Mask

I watched Hellboy 2: The Golden Army last weekend. Although I was not overwhelmed by the movie, I thought it was quite an entertaining one with its special effects and myriad of creatures.

One of the characters that I found rather interesting was Abe Sapien. I have watched the first Hellboy movie but this character was not emphasised so much there. After the movie, I wondered... who was the actor behind the mask, behind all those makeup. FYI, I did not watch the making of this movie, so it got me really curious.

I came home and started to google the character and its actor. What I found out about the actor really impressed me. Do you know that this actor played 3 characters in that movie? Abe Sapien, Angel of Death and the Chamberlain.

I thought all the 3 characters were done very nicely. The Angel of Death character was scary and at the same time mesmerising. Perhaps its the whole mysterious, androgynous and having the wing thing.

As for the Chamberlain, although the scene was very short but the character seemed to remind me of someone I know... However I still couldn't figure out who, hehe.

The actor of all these 3 characters was Doug Jones. He has acted in many many movies before, but big chance you wouldn't be able to recognize him. Reason being his characters were always under heavy prosthetic makeup. He played multiple characters in Pan's Labyrinth and he was the Silver Surfer in Fantastic Four.

I was very shocked to learn about the Silver Surfer thing as this guy definitely does not have the looks and the body of the Silver Surfer. Well..I guess nothing that special effect and makeup can't do eh?

"Friends"

"Friends" is one of my favourite TV series of all time. Astro has been having re-runs of the show and I have been catching some episodes here and there when I managed to get my butt to the gym.

Anyway, I finally decided to get the complete Season 9 of it and have just finished watching it today. It is indeed a very very good show and I miss it very much. Think I will continue to go get the final season (i.e. Season 10) too.

Found this clip on one of the funnier scenes from "Friends". Not sure which season this is from though...

PhotoHunt: Hanging

Christmas decorations at shopping malls have always been my favourite. They can come in so many forms and patterns that you can't help but to admire them with awe.

There was this particular one which I found rather interesting... a hanging upside down Christmas "tree". It didn't have many ornaments on it, but I think that's what made it so interesting. Simple, yet nice.

Do you agree?



(Pics taken at Queensbay Mall, Penang in December last year)

PhotoHunt

Bumps

Axel scared the hell out of me just now. Not long after I fed him his dinner, he started scratching like crazy. Then I noticed something was not right with his fur. There seemed to be bumps all over. Then I realised that those were hives. I remember the last time when he got these, he was still a small puppy.

That got me really worried and the vet was already closed at that hour. Called JW to check whether Jake (her beagle) encountered the same before but she had no idea what I was talking about.



So I started to google for "dog hives" and "pug hives" and got some information from there. Hives on dogs happened when they got in contact with something that they are allergic to. It can be from insect bites, medication, chemicals and food. Usually these buggers will go off by themselves after a while. Most of the time they are harmless unless they prolong or cause difficulties in breathing. This is one of the useful reference that I found -> here.

For Axel's case, he's still active and has no problem breathing. In fact, he seemed to be more "manja" than usual and wanted me to cuddle him. Hmm... I think perhaps he wanted me to scratch his itchy body. My poor baby... I thought I would just leave him like that for a while and if situation did not get better in the morning, I would take half day off and bring him to the vet.

Thank goodness not long after that, I could see the hives slowly cleared away. Before I got into my room and started this post, I checked on Axel again and his hives were almost gone. I hope they will be fully gone in the morning.

I still have no idea what has caused it though. It couldn't be the food as he has been taking that for a long long time already. Any ideas?

23/7, 7.00am Update:
Oh dear, the hives are back. Poor baby is scratching like crazy again. I need to bring him to the vet later and see what's wrong.

23/7, 11.30am Update:
I waited until 10am to bring Axel to the vet. By then the hives already almost subsided... so there wasn't much for the vet to see. The vet asked a few questions and I answered as below:

Q: Did Axel go out when this happened?
A: No... Axel is very much an indoor dog.

Q: Where did the hives break out?
A: Around the sides and underbelly.

Q: Were the hives big in size?
A: Yes, some of them were...especially at the underbelly.

Q: Any on the face, did Axel salivate excessively?
A: No... the hives pretty much just on the sides and underbelly. No where else.

Q: Was he still active when this happened?
A: Yeah...other than scratching around, Axel was pretty much behaving as usual.
... and a few other questions that I can't remember.

The vet told me that when hives break out around the face area or excessive salivating, it is usually due to food allergy. If it's just around the body, it could be due to insect bites.

She also asked me whether there are any new stuff in my place when this happened. I couldn't think of any. Still scratching my head on what can be the possible cause.

The vet prescribed some anti histamine for whatever allergy that caused the hives; and some cream for a boil below Axel's right eye. She informed me that the anti histamine will cause drowsiness, so there is no reason to worry if Axel becomes tired after taking it.

Well, I do hope whatever allergen that caused this will go away by itself...

Homemade Dog Gate

Previously I have been leaving Axel to roam free in my living room at night when I go to sleep. He never failed to leave 3 puddles of mess for me in the morning to clean up. So I thought it would be better for me to restrict him to the corridor in front of my room. Moreover the toilet is there and he will be forced to use it when he needs to relieve himself.

So the next thing that I needed to think of was how to limit his roaming space to just within the corridor. I tried to use my sister's baby gate to block the passage to the living room but it is not wide enough. I tried to look for a dog's gate but couldn't find any. So I have to resort to "creating" one myself... with IKEA DIY shower curtain rods and Axel's playpen fencing. I only put the fencing up onto the shower curtain rods at night when I sleep.

Axel on the living room side

Axel on the corridor side

When the fencing are not in place, the rods serve as a jump hurdle for Axel... which is good for his exercise.

I have been using this homemade dog gate for more than a week now, and I have to say that so far it's been really successful. At least in the morning when I get up, there's no mess to clean up... and I didn't need to spend so much money as compared to buying a ready made dog gate from the stores.

Dog gate "enabled"

PhotoHunt:What IS that?

My entry for this week's theme:

One look at it and I am sure you will guess that it is a pot. Well, you are only half right.

In actual fact, this is an ancient fridge! Don't believe me? Read the description.

(Photo taken at The Lost City Exhibition, Summit USJ, Malaysia)

PhotoHunt

Little love song (小情歌)

I came across this song when a female ex-colleague sang it during a Karaoke session. Initially I thought the song was originally sung by a female but later was corrected by my ex-colleague that the lead singer is a guy.

Well...he certainly has a very high pitched voice. Nevertheless, it is a very good song and I like it very much.

The song when translated means "Little love song" and is sung by the group, Sodagreen.

小情歌 by 蘇打綠



Pinyin lyrics:
这是一首简单的小情歌
zhe shi yi shou jian dan de xiao qing ge
唱着人们心肠的曲折
chang zhe ren men xin chang de qu zhe
我想我很快乐
wo xiang wo hen kuai le
当有你的温热
dang you ni de wen re
脚边的空气转了
jiao bian de kong qi zhuan le

*
这是一首简单的小情歌
zhe shi yi shou jian dan de xiao qing ge
唱着我们心头的白鸽
chang zhe wo men xin tou de bai ge
我想我很适合
wo xiang wo hen shi he
当一个歌颂者
dang yi ge ge song zhe
青春在风中飘着
qing chun zai feng zhong piao zhe

**
你知道就算大雨让这座城市颠倒
ni zhi dao jiu suan da yu rang zhe zuo cheng shi dian dao
我会给你怀抱
wo hui gei ni huai bao
受不了看见你背影来到
shou bu liao kan jian ni bei ying lai dao
写下我度秒如年难捱的离骚
xie xia wo du miao ru nian nan ai de li sao
就算整個世界被寂寞綁票
jiu suan zheng ge shi jie bei ji mo bang piao
我也不會奔跑
wo ye bu hui ben pao
逃不了最後誰也都蒼老
tao bu liao zui hou shui ye dou chang lao
寫下我時間和琴聲交錯的城堡
xie xia wo shi jian he qin sheng jiao cuo de cheng bao

Repeat *, **, **

Maintenance

If you have been following my blog, you will know that I am not a regular gym goer... what more about being fit and looking fit. I think I have given up hope long time ago to ever have a greek god type of body. I am just happy and contented if the current one that I have do not get any worse.

Growing older really sucks... the hair goes off (well..at least for my case. If you are a guy around my age and have full set of hair on your head, do note that I hate you!!), the smoothness of your face goes off, the elasticity of every part of your body goes off... I think I don't even need to list down more as these top three are already depressing enough.

So I guess that's why I feel really guilty if I skip gym for too long... well also because I am paying RM175 per month for that! I feel besides "maintaining", it is really crucial for health.

I don't do much weights when I am in the gym. I usually do the cross trainer for about 20 mins, then use the equipments for the abs, chest and shoulder for the rest of my gym time. My gym time also includes pouring myself a nice cup of coffee, then getting a nice seat and start reading the newspapers/magazines there. I guess that's why JW always sarcastically remind me that it is not a library. Well..at least I am still going to one, JW!!! What about you?!!

Well, I have been putting effort to wake up early on weekdays for gym nowadays. So far for the past month, I have been successful 2 times. Woohooooo.... aiya..must give ourselves some encouragement and motivation ma. Lets see how long this will last.

People my age (i.e. over 30).... how are you maintaining yourself?

Defeats the purpose

I am attending this charity dinner and as usual, am early and waiting for my 'table-mates' to arrive. Anyway an uncle came and chatted with me just now. He complained to me that the charity dinner's ticket is so expensive (RM100/person) and that time is bad. I just smiled at him. I then thought to myself, why choose to do a wholesome deed and then complain about it leh? That defeats the whole purpose of doing charity, don't you think?
(posted via mms)

PhotoHunt: Support

Fancy sitting on benches supported by "animals"?

... by monkeys

... or pigs

...or even men's best friend!

(Photos taken at Kek Lok Si Temple, Penang, Malaysia)

PhotoHunt

Cry Babies

This is so hilarious!

Weird Dream

I have been wanting to get up early for gym these past few days but to no avail. Although I slept earlier than usual, my sleep had been plagued with weird dreams. So when my alarm went off at 7.00am, I woke up feeling very drowsy and continued to sleep until 1.5 hours later.

Am feeling so damn guilty now for not going to the gym for a month plus already. Tummy is also getting bigger. Darn!

NOT MINE!!

Anyhow, I remembered part of my weird dream from yesterday. I dreamed my boss came to me and told me that one of my colleagues is resigning. Then she pointed at the aircon unit with english text display and asked me to go find a software patch that can turn it into a simplified chinese display. How weird is that, I don't even read chinese!!

Hope I will sleep soundly tonight... I have a gym to go to in the morning.

Dog Rodeo

Bought Axel a harness last weekend after the vet told me that pug's neck is too short for a collar. I have been letting him wear it for a while everyday although we are in the apartment, so that he can get used to it.

So far he has no problem with it... that is until I used it as a saddle for Little Teddy.

PhotoHunt: Pointed

All the temples in Bangkok, Thailand have pointed roofs. If you are a parachutist, it will be a HUGE mistake to be doing that around these temples!

PhotoHunt

Happy hubby?

Am in Midvalley now and saw this brochure. In the advert, the hubby looked so happy with the wife's shopping spree.

I wonder, do we really have such happy hubby out there?

(posted via mms)

Big Toothache

I just hate hate hate going to the dentist! Thinking about the room, the chair and the equipments are enough to send shivers down my spine. However I had to go see one today. My previous teeth fillings came out and I need them re-filled. Besides that, my wisdom tooth is causing me painful gums as well.


The dentist who attended to me is a SYT (Sweet Young Thing). There were also 2 assistants there, one of them being an old lady. I would think the old lady is a parent or relative to one of the dentists there... as she's definitely over the retirement age.

She was in charge of the suction tube that sucked out my saliva when the dentist was torturing me. If it wasn't for my stress of having that metal drill inside my mouth, I would be laughing aloud. You see, this lady was using the suction tube as if she was vacuuming her home! I could feel the suction tube going all over the insides of my mouth... and I was pretty sure I didn't salivate that much!

The SYT told me that I have lots of problems with my teeth. There were cavities in many of them; and a cracked capping. The worst would be my wisdom tooth that she recommended for me to remove via surgery. Gosh...guess that's my punishment for not visiting the dentist often!

Anyway for today, she filled 6 of my teeth... and 6 more to go next week. Hmm... assuming I still have all my 32 teeth, 38% of them are with holes, how sad!! At the end of the session, I looked at the her and said "This is bloody stressful!".

6 teeth already costs me RM330. Gosh.. I can't imagine the cost for the other 6 teeth and the wisdom tooth surgery if I decided to do it. Looks like I am going to get a big toothache after all.

Note: toothache in cantonese is also used as an expression to mean pain from spending too much money.