Movies to look out for ...

2007 looks to be an exciting year in terms of movies. here are some of the highlights...

TRANSFORMERS


Robots in disguise!!
The Earth is caught in the middle of an intergalactic war between two races of robots, the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons, which are able to change into a variety of objects, including cars, trucks, planes and other technological creations.For anyone who enjoyed the cartoon and the toys, this is the movie to catch. Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg are helming this one so you know it is gonna be good. Not the cheesy kiddy flick I thought it was gonna be.
The trailers are cool if that is any indication.

THE DARK KNIGHT
Batman Begins brought the Caped Crusader franchise back to life. Now Christian bale returns in The Dark Knight.
Ummm..Heath Ledger as the Joker?? You gotta be kidding me!

SPIDERMAN 3


This third installment of director Sam Raimi's hugely successful SPIDER-MAN series finds the webbed superhero (Tobey Maguire) and his girlfriend, Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst), embroiled in a love triangle while confronting a new slate of dastardly villains.
Like the X-Men franchise, this one keeps on getting better and better.

LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD


Bruce Willis returns to reprise his role of John McLane from the DIE HARD movies for this fourth installment in the series. This time out McClane is after a group of Internet-savvy terrorists who threaten the security of the United States.
Die Hard for the IT age. It is one of those timeless roles, which Bruce Willis can play until he is like 70. The underdog cop vs the faceless danger scenario.

INDIANA JONES 4
Twenty-five years after "Raiders of the Lost Ark," Harrison Ford reprises his role in "Indiana Jones 4."
Another triumphant return of an old favourite. Remains to be seen how Harrison Ford pulls this one out as he tries to catch lightning in a bottle for a fourth time.

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES


After the defeat of their old arch nemesis, The Shredder, the Turtles have grown apart as a family. Struggling to keep them together, their rat sensei, Master Splinter, becomes worried when strange things begin to brew in New York City. Tech-industrialist Max Winters is amassing an army of ancient monsters to apparently take over the world. And only one super-ninja fighting team can stop them -- those heroes in a half shell -- Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael! With the help of old allies April O'Neil and Casey Jones, the Turtles are in for the fight of their lives as they once again must face the mysterious Foot Clan, who have put their own ninja skills behind Winters’ endeavors. Making this new incarnation of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles truly cutting-edge, the film will be created entirely with state-of-the-art CG animation, giving them a completely new look for the 21st century.

GHOST RIDER


Based on the beloved Marvel comic, this live-action drama with stunning visual effects follows biker Johnny Blaze (NICOLAS CAGE) on his journey from stunt rider to agent of Mephistopheles.
Eva *Smokin'* Mendes and Nicholas Cage star in it. I wonder who ever figured Cage as an action star or as a comic book hero. He is like the anti-thesis of what a hero should be, yet his movies always seem to do well. maybe there is a lesson there for all of us.

SHREK THE THIRD


When Shrek married Fiona, the last thing he had in mind was becoming the next King. But when Shrek's father-in-law, King Harold, suddenly croaks, that is exactly what he faces. Unless Shrek (with the help of his trusted companions Donkey and Puss In Boots) can find a suitable King for Far Far Away, the ogre could be stuck with the job. The most promising candidate, Fiona's cousin Artie, an underachieving Medieval high school slacker, proves to be more of a challenge than they bargained for.
A must see flick, especially in a year with so little in the way of cartoon and animation flicks worth seeing.

JURASSIC PARK 4
The dinosaurs once more get to terrorize the humans with "Jurassic Park 4." duh!
Definitely no dino tea parties and vegans in this one thats for sure.

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END
Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and Keira Knightley return for a third slice of swashbuckling action in PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END. The movie was shot back-to-back with the second entry into the series, DEAD MAN'S CHEST.

THE FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER


Marvel's first family of superheroes, The Fantastic Four, meets their greatest challenge yet in FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER as the enigmatic, intergalactic herald, The Silver Surfer, comes to Earth to prepare it for destruction. As the Silver Surfer races around the globe wreaking havoc, Reed, Sue, Johnny and Ben must unravel the mystery of the Silver Surfer and confront the surprising return of their mortal enemy, Dr. Doom, before all hope is lost.
The first one was a bit if-fy. But it sure looks like they are back on track with this most venerable of comic heroes.


APOCALYPTO


An action/adventure film set 600 years ago, prior to the 16th-century Spanish conquest of Mexico and Central America, where a man goes on a perilous journey to save his idyllic world.
Another masterpiece from beleaguered director Mel Gibson.

IRON MAN
Robert Downey Jr. stars as Tony Stark, a man who becomes a superhero after a near-death incident, in this big-budget Marvel Comics adaptation.
Hope this one turns out good as it should be.

ROCKY BALBOA


After a virtual boxing match declares Rocky Balboa the victor over current champion Mason "The Line" Dixon, the legendary fighter's passion and spirit are reignited. But when his desire to fight in small, regional competitions is trumped by promoters calling for a rematch of the cyber-fight, Balboa must weigh the mental and physical risks of a high profile exhibition match against his need to be in the ring.
Another comeback of an old favourite (see Die Hard and Indiana Jones above. And Sylvester Stallone somehow makes this one work despite the outrageous premise.

Other movies to catch:

300 300 hundred men versus a million personnel bloodthirsty army. Whats not to like?

Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix
Not really a big Potter fan, but will try to catch this one if I can.

Ocean's Thirteen
A fun movie if the first 2 are any indication.

The Condemned
Wonder if there are any 'birds' or Stunners in this one.

Rush Hour 3
Chris Rock and Jackie Chan reunite for another peak hour rush.

Alexander the Great
(not to be confused with Alexander, also about the same all-conquering dude,starring Colin Farrell)

Wonder Woman
*drool*
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blog at dawn

Just cant sleep. Kept tossing and turning. Must be all the food I had last night at the staff welfare dinner. Ate until I could hardly move. Must remember not to do that again. Still feel so bloated now.

Rusty,my syrian hamster, has made a umber of daring escapes ever since she was moved to her new bigger 2 ft tank. The problem is the tank has no proper cover at the top. Gonna have to find a solution to it. So either I go out and buy a lid proper, or I improvise something out of my odds and ends. She is so smart and so active, almost like a cat and mouse game between us to see who can outwit the other. The sad part seems to be that she is winning....

Seems like stuff is going on at work.

I was supposed to go to PPWC last year but they sent Hasli instead. And now my name came up again, but we reached a consensus to send Edward Sin rather than me. It seems despite all my best efforts,I am still irreplaceable. Darn. I do need a change in my work environment. Was gonna quit this month but postponed it to around the middle of the year. And now I am not even sure if that is doable. May wait until the end of the year when Agnes has graduated. Or maybe even later.Or earlier...

Miss Agnes so. Wish she was here. Feel like a lovesick puppy whenever she is not around. This Saturday we get to spend the day together,her going back to NUS,leaves cutting and lunch with jenny notwithstanding. We try to plan what we can do. This is gonna be like our last Saturday together in a conventional sense, as for the fortnight after that she has this massage thing on in the evenings, which means we can't do anything substantial for those 2 Saturdays. Sigh. But all I wanna do is be with her.

I bought 2 stackable drawers a while back to put all my stuff than had been piling up on my TV table. Turns out even 2 of those was not enough, So I went out and bought 2 more drawers. Now it looks too high. But at least now I have even more space for all my junk.

Bad stuff that happened lately:

Got a traffic summons for waiting in a No Waiting zone at Tanjong Katong Road. My fault actually, but I had little choice. One of the hazards of my job. We are expected to go to all these places without any provision of places to park. So now I await the fine.

A virus somehow got into the network system at my office. The part that sucks is that it was traced back to my User ID. This was despite the fact I was not using the PC at the time of the incident. I guess that is what happens when you log on to the system and fail to log out when you go away. I do not really care who was responsible for it, but I feel peeved that I am held responsible for it when I obviously had nothing to do with it. I got a warning letter from the IT guys who threatened 'disciplinary action' if such a thing hapens again. Initially I was gonna appeal but realised that it was pointless cos my ID was used by whomever. Life is not always fair. That is the price I had to pay for for not logging off when I was away.

Lately I been hearing that I do not tell Agnes stuff going on in my life. I dunno how true that is. Maybe it is just a matter of perspective. I tell her what she needs to know. But I do not tell her everything that is going on. I think no one ever does. It is not like Agnes tells me everything in a timely manner either. Sometimes Agnes feels that she only finds out things from my blog, or that she finds out what happened only after the fact. I guess ultimately we do not have to share everything. Just the stuff that matters most.
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My Walk with Jesus

I grew up in a Roman Catholic household. I went to all-boys Catholic schools. So alot of my growing up years were spent in the Roman Catholic persuasion. I did all the things a good catholic boy would do. Much of my Sundays were spent at The Cathedral of The Good Shepherd at Bras Basah and then later at The Church of the Holy Spirit at Upper Thomson. To me as a kid growing up all of it made little sense and a waste of my precious weekends.

Then round about Primary 6,a close friend brought Leo to her church. It was a little charismatic church in Upper Serangoon, Elim Church. Leo then brought the rest of us to church with him in the weeks that followed. In due time the 3 of us(Leo,Noel and myself) were regulars there. My parents on the other hand started to attend church at St. Andrew's Cathedral. It was a time of change in the Boyd household.

As we grew deeper in the Word, alarm bells started to go off. Being from the catholic faith previously, we got caught up in the comparision between our current faith and how we used to be. Religion was replaced by redemption by faith.

As we grew in the Lord, the devil himself conspired against us. In due time, my dad got retrenched and people we had considered as friends shunned us. All we had was each other and a trust that God would somehow see us through this season of tribulation. It was not easy leaving behind all you knew and believed, and starting out anew. In time things returned to normalcy, although they were never quite the same as they used to be.

At one time Leo and I aspired to be pastors, would you believe it? But life's distractons kind of put paid to those aspirations. Leo became an air steward and that was all that there was to that grand plan. As for myself, I enrolled in the army. I pretty soon stopped going to church altogether once I had finished my NS duties. As is often the case, work and priorities took the place of God as the central thing in our lives.

A few years after that me and Joyce were invited to a little church in River Valley by one of her former classmates. It was then that I started to attend church regularly again. But somehow it did not seem right. Something was amiss. In fact i was rather uncomfortable in that church. It all ended rather spectacularly with me and the senior pastor at that time having a lively debate on the Creation vs Evolution subject. Maybe it was then then I finally understood Grace as found in the bible.It became untenable to stay there after that. I lost a lot of respect for the so-called charismatics after that. Who knew where that road would lead me to.

Joyce and I were now without a church. So we started to look around for a good church in which to attend. We ran the whole gamut from methodists to lutheran to prebytherian to bible-presbytherian to just about every type of church and congregation out there.

After attending church on Sundays, we would sometimes shop at Suntec City. There was this big church above Carrefour. We often saw people going in and out. There were these long, snaking queues. We decided to check out the place...someday.

Finally we plucked the courage to attend that 'big church with the funny rock thing outside'. In the queue, by God's design, was an old friend of mine from the zoo days, April. She gave us a good insight about what this church was about and we finally made our way into the cavernous auditorium.

The praise and worship was awesome. But the best was yet to come. Along came the senior pastor of this church. This half chinese-half indian dude with long hair. The senior pastor indeed. That day he preached a message that resonated deeply with what I knew and what i believed. For the first time in my life everything made sense and all the pieces fit.

That became our home church after that, needless to say. We did venture a few times to other churches, but always came back to NCC in the end. The problem was never about the music and the message, but rather about the long queues and personal issues.

Even after me and Joyce broke up we still continued to attend NCC. And even when I got together with Agnes I still attend New Creation Church regularly.

To me no other church can quite offer to me on a spiritual level what NCC does. No preacher has ever opened my eyes to God's Word quite like Pastor Prince's ministry has done.

I have been there and done that. Been to every church and denomination there is in Singapore. I struggled with the messages I heard every sunday from the pulpits of many great men of God. Somehow the Good News that was to set me free, never quite did. In fact I felt so much in bondage. The same Jesus that came to set me free, somehow always seemed to point an accusing finger at me for all my shortcomings according to these preachers. Somehow the Jesus in the bible that I read, and the Jesus these men preached never quite seemed like the same person. Jesus came and died to save the world, yet I kept being told every sunday that I had to ask that same Jesus to forgive my sins day after day after day. It seemed like a never ending cycle of forgiveness and sin. Then, there was always the 'caring' brothers and sisters who hounded me whenever I missed a sunday service. It seemed to them that my salvation was wrapped up in how many services I attended, how much I tithed to the church and how much of my Bible I read. I was led to believe that it was 'christian' to be poor,sick and miserable. It seemed only sinners seeked to acquire wealth, family and health.

But when I came to NCC, it seemed that the ways of God were never that difficult to follow after all. It is us, mortal men, who take the simple things of God and add our own interpretations to it to make it more unattainable. Jesus Christ came to fulfill all the laws of the Old Covenant and to create a new covenant. A better more superior covenant to the Old one. Under the old covenant men had to obey God and his laws. The reward for obedience was the blessings of God. But more often than not, men found themselves in a quagmire of sin. It seemed that no man could ever live the sinless life. No one single man could love God with all his heart, with all his soul and all his mind. Or so it seemed.

Then along came Jesus, who became our one sacrifice for sin of the entire world. Jesus became our healing, Jesus became our provision, Jesus became our peace, Jesus became our joy. Jesus became our everything!!

The New Covenant was all about how God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believed in him should not perish but shall have eternal life. But it seemed that no church preached that to me before. It seemed that after all that Jesus had done at Calvary's cross, that there was still a lot of work left to be done. I still had to live a good life, read my bible, attend church every sunday, bring souls to Christ, pray for forgiveness of all my tresspasses, help the poor, feed the hungry, tithed regularly to my church and then maybe...just maybe...I might someday be good enough for God. Salvation was never a sure thing according to these people. Your standing before God was dependant upon how much you did and how much sin was left 'unforgiven' in your life. Woe to anyone who died in his sleep and had forgotten to pray for his forgiveness...

Christianity never was, or is not about religion. But for most of my christian life it was. Religious men who condemned their congregations. Men who used God's word not to set sould free but to bind them to a life of self-condemnation.

Religion is man through his own good works trying to attain God's acceptance. Christianity is God reaching out to man with His acceptance. There is little or nothing for the christian to do but to rest and to behold the great salvation of God. Resting in God's presence should be the easiest thing to do. But we as men, we aspire to be doers. We find it hard that God will accept us if we do...nothing. But all that needed to be done was already done at Calvary's cross two thousand years ago. As the only sinless man who ever lived became sin for us all.

Isaiah 53:5:
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

to be continued....




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The Israel trip videos

Following the Agnes video, I made a few other videos, All about my israel trip and original songs from New Creation Church (actually one of the songs featured is a hymn classic).

I must say the results were mixed. It seems like the slower worship songs worked best as compared to the more uptempo praise ones. But I guess I am a sentimental guy. Anyway judge for yourself.

day 1

day 2

day 3

day 4

day 5

day 6

day 7

day 8

the renewal of vows ceremony

When I made these videos, it was sort of like a personal project. But as it turned out, the videos have touched lives as far away as China and Australia in the short time they have been put up. Praise the Lord!
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2007:the year of new beginnings

have not yet done my retrospective post of 2006 nor a post about the new year. so this post sort of serves both purposes.

Just came back from Mt. Alvernia Hospital. Lyn had just given birth this morning to a little bundle of joy. He is yet to be named. A couple of names being tossed around are 'Joshua' and ..err... 'Elijah'. Out of the 2 choices thus far, I am partial to the former. Would be kinda weird to go through life being called Elijah. Although if his surname was Wood maybe it just might work....

Probably the best decision I made in 2006 was to finally make that trip to Israel. It was not easy at the start. It seemed like everything was against me. But in the end God made the provision for my trip. And once there in the Holy Land, I was blessed and blessed. And the blessings have not stopped. The friends I made while there , will probably last a lifetime. And more importantly, I walked where Jesus walked. And will never be the same after this.

2006 was also the year I started keeping hamsters. And what a joy they have been. Initially it was Agnes's idea to start keeping the little rodents. But as time went on it became more and more MY hobby than it was ever hers. After all the initial excitement of the births and hamster accessories shopping, things have now settled to a manageable pace. I now have 6 hamsters. And wil probably maintain the population at these numbers. Too bad my dearie turns out to have some sort of allergic reaction to hamsters.

I recently purchased a notebook pc to replace my ailing desktop. Glad I did though. Do not know how much longer it would have lasted. The problems my desktop had are too numerous to list here...

other notes from 2006:

• in terms of our relationship, Agnes and i were rather uneventful in 2006. there were little of the emotional highs and lows that littered 2005. But I know that 2006 is gonna be a memorable one. *hint hint*
• workwise, it was just me going through the motions. Also a rather tame year compared to the previous ones. None of the nonsense from above that brought me to this stage of my career. Not as much anyway. Hasli went off to PPWC, which in a way left me by my lonesome in Sembawang. We did not keep in touch as much as I would have liked. Likewise Lyn and I grew apart somewhat as a result of her nuptials. We still remain close pals, and probably always will.
• Sunny had a good year by his standards. None of the major breakdowns or accidents. He did leave me worried for a while with his CO emissions issues, but in the end he passed!
• Noel folded up D Storm Entertainment and started out as a manager at Bar None. He seems rather happy there. Booze and babes. What else can I say?
• leo and lynn were kinda the same. guess some things never change. But we all hope things work out for the best, yeah?

what 2007 has in store:

• I aspire to someday own my own business and not have to work for the nutcases that have plagued my working experience thus far. It seems that there are only bad bosses. Hope that I can be a good boss. Otherwise I have to eat my words. 2007 seems like the right time to take the plunge. But the lack of enthusiasm from people around me can be disconcerting. I know they mean well, but i rather turn a deaf year to all the naysayers.
• I am 33 now. Agnes is . We are not getting any younger. And I would figure it is about time we settled down and started a family. We have been together nearly 2 years already. Time sure flies when you are in love!
• With the above points, I have to figure out when Sunny fits in to all of it. I love him. he and I been through alot of good and bad times together. But if i wanna get married and start a business, Sunny would be surplus from an economics point of view. The money I spend on him each month could easily be funnelled to my new family and new business. Also there are thoughts to get a minivan or commercial vehicle for my new business.
• the God issue. I love my church. it is the only church where I feel truly comfortable in. But Agnes does not share my enthusiasm. The perpetual battle between Law and Grace! We want to find a church where we are both comfortable in. But it seems like our opinions differ on what constitutes a good church. The most important thing to me is a church that preaches the true Word of God. And Pastor Prince (and his pastors) do that better than any church I have ever seen or heard. It was a long, hard road that led me to New Creation. And it is not something that I will easily let go off. I hope and pray that Agnes and I find that 'common ground'. Because apart from God, we are nothing.

In short, 2006 was a year of consolidation. 2007 will be the year where the fruits of our labour will come to bear. I have grown in so many ways without realising it. Funny how things all work out in the end despite all the odds. A big part of what I am is due to the presence of the lady in my life, Agnes. She has ground out many of my rough edges and made me a better person on so many levels. Before her, there was much doubt and fear in my life. I had been through fire and brimstone. I smelt of smoke. Love seemed like some distant ideal, something to aspire to, but few experience first hand. But Agnes made me realise things. Made me a better man. Taught me that true love does indeed exist.

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