Movies: A quick catch-up for the last three months.

Duplicity

****

*** for Clive Owen

* for plot, though a tad predictable

CIA agent and M15 agent meet, they had fun, she betrayed him.

They meet again, many years later.

Now they are corporate spies, how exciting!

“Stocks are down, porn is up.”

 

Transformers, Rise of the Fallen

*

** for Arcee

Minus * for the lousy script

At one point, I actually turned to my friend and asked, “are all scriptwriters dead?”

I cringed, I pouted, I whined, I imagined my own death.

The rape of Indiana Jones.

The mindless destruction of Star Wars.

The death of Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett and Transformers IN ONE DAY.

How will I get over this?

 

The Assassination of Jessie James by the coward Robert Ford

*****

*** for Brat Pitt

** for the snivelly Casey Affleck

 

Unfortunately for Transformers, I just watched this gem just a couple of days before.

 

The International

****

*** for Clive Owen

* for the fantastic shoot-out at the Guggenheim.

It doesn't rain but pour.

So they managed to KILL my second bag.

KILL.

It came out on the belt, barely hanging on to its last breath, handle swung over the side pathetically.

*sob*
(@BlackBerry)

Damnit, they fixed blazing orange on the sentinel robes.

Almost half an hour to patch WAR.
(@BlackBerry)

I better see yellow ribbons!

5am. Wake up.

6am. Leave hotel for airport. Taxi cost F$30.

645am. Taxi arrives at Suva airport. Argue with driver about a receipt.

700am. Finally got driver to issue a receipt.

710am. Got my boarding pass for flight to Nadi, but airline refuse to transfer my luggage all the way to Singapore. Ugh!

730am. Plane (ATR42-500) noisily starts its propellars and we are OUTTA here!

800am. Land at Nadi. Claim my baggage. Lug it to counter and stupidly forget to ask for an aisle seat. Grr! 4 hour flight! Double check to see if luggage will NOW go straight to Singapore. Yes!

9am. Flight leaves. I base the last two copies of Times. Encounter the new Kindle. I want one.

11.45am. Plane lands in Sydney at last. Still contemplating the Kindle.

1200pm. Wandered a bit, trying to remember where the damn lounge is. All airports (almost) look the same. Ah hah! I need to take a shuttle to the other wing!

1215pm. On shuttle. The guards seem more excited about the A380 than me. They insist the shuttle driver point it out to me on the way. Other passengers are giggling way too loudly.

1235pm. In lounge at last. Got my last boarding pass issued. Asked for an aisle seat, got mocked. Its an A380, dahling. They are ALL aisle seats. Duh. I have 3 hours to kill before the next 7 hour flight. Soon, very sooooooon.

(@BlackBerry)

They lost my bag. I am bag-less in Nadi.

I have no bag.

No training materials.

No clothes.

No toothbrush.

Nothing.

I should be panicking.

The airline people doesn't seem to be panicking.
(@BlackBerry)

Ugh. Part 2 of 3.

Just landed in Nadi.

One more flight to go.

I am so tired.
(@BlackBerry)

Damn you, Pacific Blue!

Says here on my ticket that I must be at their booth 90 min before boarding at 745am.

I've been standing in front of an EMPTY counter since 645am!

745am - still no one at the counter.

755am - finally got my boarding pass. But they can't issue my pass for the next transfer (Nadi > Suva).

I will need to collect my checked-in luggage, lug it through customs and then check in again to get it on the same flight as me.

Damn you! Damn it! Damn all!

Will be writing angry email to my travel agent for booking me on this flight. Grrr!

805am - flight has been delayed! Will I make it to Nadi in time for my transfer?
(@BlackBerry)

I'm so tired. Stupid body clock.

Its 5am, but its 7am here in Sydney.

I feel as if its 7pm now, and soon I'll be sleepy.

Groan.

Waiting to board my next flight.

Sydney > Nadi

Fun, fun.
(@BlackBerry)

Waiting to board again.

Changi > Sydney > Nadi > Suva

Total travel time (including transit) is almost 24 hours.

Joy oh joy.

Airport money changers do not stock up on Fijian dollars.

How could I have forgotten, considering last year's snafu?

I really should blog more.
(@BlackBerry)

Its almost 7am and I can't fall asleep!

Its been a while since I blogged about my travelling details, so here it is.

Maybe it'll help me fall asleep, I know it'll sure put you to sleep.

March (Tokyo, Grand Prince Akasaka), April (hong kong, excelsior)(Perth, Brisbane, stamfor hotel), May (Jakarta, grand hyatt), June (washington, paloma).

There. I was reminded how important the above information was when I needed to know where I would staying in Fiji!

All I did was search my blog for 'fiji' and I got it!

Thank you, blog!

Next few months:
June (fiji), July (manila, HCMC), August (sydney, melbourne, hong kong), September (tokyo, bangkok), October (wellington), november (dhaka, hanoi), december (brisbane, manila)

That reminds me.

I HAVE to pack. Leaving in a few hour's time.
(@BlackBerry)

A little brain dead. Too much, tooooo much!

Still in Washington.

Day 1 of conference.

I'm done with my surprise presentation.
(@BlackBerry)

Selective Twitter doesn't seem to work with Twitterfeed.

Sucks. ):

Hmm, try again.
(@BlackBerry)

Using Selective Twitter Status. #fb

This should cut down some spammy Facebook status changes.

People need not know every single tweet or blog entry.
(@BlackBerry)

Using Selective Twitter with Facebook.

Using #fb at the end of my tweet will update Facebook.

Since I am also using twitterfeed to link my blog, this post is to check if it will work with everything else.

Joy.

If my last few months' tweets, FB status and blog entries have been spammy, its because I have been trying to link them all with one posting.

Its been 4 months since I integrated all three, things are looking good!
(@BlackBerry)

Training Digital Natives

Am I ready to be a trainer for the new millenium?

Is my organisation ready to accept new training methods?

The last two days have left me feeling 2 things:

1. I am truely sucky as a trainer. Using dated and boring methods, how have I been keeping my learners engaged and interested THESE FEW YEARS!??

2. I have a long war in front of me. Battles will include learning new skills: software and methods! Getting more resources (and toys) will be another battle. Getting leaders to accept these new methods is going to be a huge battle. One more battle would be, where will I find time to do all these?
(@BlackBerry)

"If you are boring in real life, you will be boring in Second Life." Discuss.

Overheard at a workshop.

What's with this obsession with Second Life in this conference?

As usual, the corporate world is a little late with applications.
And ohmigod, the word "Twitter" is bringing tears to participants' eyes.

Groan.
(@BlackBerry)

Bob Pike says, "If you haven't caught it, I haven't taught it."

"We believe in the principle of non-repetitive redundant measures."

Huh?

Its 5pm, my brain is oozing.

Can someone please explain this to me?
(@BlackBerry)

Day 2 of the ASTD Conference

Listening to John Townsend now.

Wow, I never thought I would get to meet him.

Very inspired by the workshops I attended these two days; my to-do list is getting very long.

Collected a lot of junk going from booth to booth in the exhibition hall, guess what my friends will be getting when I get home?

My goodie bag is bulging with plush carrots (motivation booth), plush cellphones (telephone skills training booth), rubik's cube, pens, fridge magnets, candy and t-shirts.

Ok, workshop starting! Ttyl!
(@BlackBerry)