Movie: This Means War (2012)

It's SPY Against SPY.

This Means War (2012) is a romantic comedy action movie.

Synopsis: Best friends Tuck (Tom Hardy) and FDR (Chris Pine) are CIA agents. One day, they discover that they are dating the same woman, Lauren (Reese Witherspoon). Thus begins a war to win her affection by utilizing CIA's staff and gadgets. Who will Lauren choose, and will Tuck and FDR remain friends?

This is a romantic comedy plus action movie. So you can expect much cheesy liners and lovey-dovey scenes plus CIA agents in action scenes. These elements are kinda balanced with enough amount of comic relief moments. This is definitely a popcorn entertainment sort of movie.

I don't find Reese Witherspoon suits to play Lauren. And the way her friend Trish talks is helluva annoying. In fact, the whole Lauren-Trish chemistry is horrible. I think it'd make a difference if Jennifer Aniston plays Lauren and someone else plays Trish. However, the movie is partially saved by the fantastic chemistry and brotherly love between Chris Pine and Tom Hardy. Too bad Til Schweiger (as Heinrich the bad guy) has such short screen-time.

Well, this is a popcorn movie. So, if you don't mind spending money, you can watch it for fun.

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A Guide to Catholic Wedding Preparation in Malaysia

Church requirements

If you intend to conduct your wedding ceremony in a Catholic church, here are some guidelines.

I'm sharing our wedding preparation experience for our wedding in St. Ignatius Church, Kelana Jaya in June 2012.




Basics

Either the bride and/or the groom must be a baptized and confirmed Catholic.

If both the bride and groom are Catholics, a full Wedding Mass will be conducted. If only the bride or the groom is a Catholic, a Wedding Service will be conducted.

9 months (at least) before your intended wedding date

• Go to the parish office to get the Wedding Enrollment form & check if your intended wedding date and time are available.
• Sign up for the Catholic Marriage Preparation Course (CMPC), a 7-week program for couples intending to get married.
  

6 months before your intended wedding date

Submit your Wedding Enrollment form with:

• A copy of Baptism certificate by the church where you were baptized.
  
• A copy of Confirmation certificate by the church where you were baptized.
• Recent passport-sized photos: one for each person, to be used in the Banns.
• A copy of CMPC certificate.
• A copy of IC of 2 witnesses; one for the bride and one for the groom.
  

3-4 months before your intended wedding date

• Arrange with the parish office for Prenuptial Inquiry (PNI).
• After PNI, proceed to apply for the Civil Registration of Marriages. Refer Legal requirements (Civil Registration of Marriage) below.
  

1-2 months before your intended wedding date

• Arrange for a commentator, a lector (reader), and the choir for the Wedding Mass.
• Prepare your wedding booklet.
• Arrange for a florist (with the church or external).
• Arrange for a wedding rehearsal with the sacristan.
  

1 week before your intended wedding date

• Provide a copy of your wedding booklet for the priest to review.
• Wedding rehearsal.

Legal requirements (Civil Registration of Marriage)

Catholics have the option to conduct their Civil Registration of Marriage at Assumption Church, Petaling Jaya.

• Make an appointment with Jessie at the Assistant Registrar of Marriage's office and she will provide the JPN.KC02 form for you.
• Set your intended registration date and time with her.

1 month before your intended registration date

• Fill up the JPN.KC02 form.
• Prepare one color photograph (32mm x 38mm) against a BLUE background for each person.
• Prepare photocopies of IC (both bride and groom).
  
• Make an appointment to meet the Commissioner of Oath to get their signature. We're getting ours done by Helen Koh (Damansara Uptown). More information here.
  
• Visit any Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara (JPN) branch to get your form certified. If you want to go on a Saturday, only the Putrajaya branch and ibu negeri branches are open. More information here.
  
• Prepare photocopies of 2 witnesses' IC (to be brought on the day of registration).
  
• Submit the signed and certified form to Jessie, at least 3 weeks before your intended registration day, so that she can put up the Banns.

On the day of registration

• Witnesses have to be present.
• There's no strict dress code. The ceremony can be either simple or grand, it's up to you and your spouse.
• Then, remember to submit a copy of the civil certificate to the church where you've submitted your Wedding Enrollment form a while ago.
  

Most importantly, enjoy grace in the process. These priceless experiences bring you closer to your spouse and to God too.

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Project: Reflect 52 #8 - Hit the pins or roll in the drain?

The colleagues (team) organized a mini team building last Friday. We did bowling at UBowl, One Utama.

The bowling alleys and the ten pins at the end of each alley gave me some sort of inspiration about life's journey. For newbie bowlers like me, if I'm lucky, I could knock down 9 out of 10 pins. Most of the time, only 4 or less pins were down. Sometimes, the ball would roll into either the left or right "drain" alongside the bowling alley, without much effort. Hahaha!

You see, life's journey is not a smooth one. Along the way we meet "the pins" (obstacles, problems, setbacks, etc). Sometimes, we "knock down the pins or strike" (face and deal with those difficult situations). Sometimes, we choose to avoid them by "going down the drain" (running away from difficulties).

Whatever method we choose, we will have to face the consequences. "Knocking down the pins" might be painful, but issues are resolved. "Going down the drain" might be less painful, but it is usually a temporary solution and the real fundamental issues could show its ugly head again sooner or later.

Nevertheless, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger (What Doesn't Kill You, Kelly Clarkson).

Love life and live life to the fullest! :)

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Movie: The Woman in Black (2012)

Fear her curse

The Woman in Black (2012) is a horror thriller movie based on Susan Hill's 1983 novel of the same name.

Synopsis: Arthur Kipps (Daniel Radcliffe) travels to a remote village in England to sort out some legal paperwork of a house belonged to a deceased Mrs. Drablow. What is supposed to be a simple 3-day job becomes a nightmare when Kipps starts to be haunted by supernatural appearances of dead children and a sinister woman in black.

Horror movies with sinister ghosts hungry for revenge are always very good to watch. This movie has its story set in the late 19th century and its main focus is a huge, dilapidated, and creepy mansion. The mansion is extremely isolated from the rest of the village, thus adding extra chills to the movie's already dark mood.

I really like the following comment:

The mood is perfect (emphasized by extreme isolation), the sustained dread is gut-wrenching, and the anticipation is a killer. Although this is a ghost story with the standard dilapidated, abandoned mansion as the central location for trepidation, it presents several very unique ideas for old-fashioned hauntings.

The use of demonic-looking toy contraptions and unnerving dolls is nothing new. Nor are the expected, manipulative jump scares fueled by loud thuds, screeches, and jarring sound effects (and a pesky crow), or the sudden appearances of otherworldly imagery coupled with crescendo-favoring musical accompaniment. But the evil spirit itself is wonderfully singular in its ability to scare through subtle materialization (coming into sight in alarming manner, with slower paced emergence more traumatizing than the rapid ones), its targeting of children and pattern of avoiding physical harm to adults, and most of all in its vengeful mission that cannot be appeased, calmed or quelled. She's a wronged poltergeist of legendary ill-omen stature, foreshadowing doom; she's not meant to be satisfied but rather endured. [source]

Seriously, if you're a hardcore fan of old-fashioned horror movie, you must watch this movie.

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In Moments Like These

In moments like these I sing out a song
I sing out a love song to Jesus
In moments like these I lift up my hands
I lift up my hands to the Lord

Singing, I love You, Lord
Singing, I love You, Lord
Singing, I love You, Lord
I love You

******************************

I really, really want this hymn for our church wedding ceremony.

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