Here it is, Percy Jackson fans .. a new trailer of the upcoming movie slated for next year … A little bit disappointed with the actor playing Annabeth (the character is suppose to be blonde.. oh well) Here’s hoping that the movie would be as good as the book.
Squawk Report: Percy Jackson and the Olympians : The Lightning Thief trailer
Squawk Report: The Boy Wizard and the Demigod
I always love kiddie fantasy books. I guess everyone who knows me knew that I am a big fan of the boy wizard Harry Potter. Another book that I love is the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series written by Rick Riordan. The protagonist Percy, is a demigod. His dad is the Greek sea god, Poseidon. The books are cleverly written. They are actually making a movie based on the series.. It will be released next year and hopefully it wont disappoint us fans. Here’s a little sampler…
Squawk{box} Report: Taking on the Transformers
Squawkbox
I vaguely remember the day when the very first Generation one Transformers episode came on TV but i do remember the day I accidentally (accidental is the operative word) stepped and broke my cousin’s favorite toy Transformer – his Optimus Prime – poor bugger, I scarred him for life! Well, not really.. the accident actually triggered him to start an impressive and expensive hobby. He decided later in life to tracked down the original Optimus Prime that I “smashed” (his word not mine) and he ended up collecting every single autobot and decepticon on the planet. I am talking about Generation 1 and 2 plus Beast wars et.al. A “prime” (pardon the pun) investment indeed! The guy owed me a lot.:)
During the 80’s, Transformers, GI Joe, Ghostbusters, SuperFriends and He-Man to name a few are just some of the cartoons that dominated the Saturday morning show. By the early 90’s, some of these cartoons were either canned or re-invented to suit the new breed of cartoon couch potatoes.
The Maximals
For the Transformers, they created Beast Wars.. Now, I kinda like this version of Transformers.
The Predacons
I do remember watching the show and loving the computer generated graphics (geek!). From the old vehicle mode (autobots against decepticons) to beast mode(maximals against the predacons). It’s the same characters just totally different looks. You still have the same level headed leader Prime (Optimus Primal who is a Gorilla), the wise cracking Bumblebee (Rattrap) and a team of mammals/reptiles (Cheetor, Rhinox, Dinobot). On the predacon side, you have Megatron who’s beast mode is a T-rex (awesome!) and his minions of insects and arachnids: Terrorsaur (pterosaur), waspinator (wasp), Blackarachnia(blackwidow), Tarantula and ..wait for it … Scorponok!.. Sounds familiar?? But of course, they included him in the 2007 Transformer movie.. remember the desert scene battle in Transformers 1 (woohoo). That’s Hollywood for you:)
Ratchet Gen 1
I know we have to keep with the times and that explains the subtle (yeah right!) changes
Prowl Gen 1
Hollywood did to our favorite autobots and decepticons in the movie. Bumblebee is a classic example. In gen 1 cartoon, he turns into a Volkwagen but in the 2007 movie version, they made him transformed into a Chevrolet Camaro but they kept the colour yellow. Mind you, just to please the fans, in the scene where Sam and his Dad were shopping for his first car – at the car yard sale… we all saw the Camaro Bumblebee parked right beside a Volkwagen beetle.:) Like rubbing salt to the wound, just kidding:) Medic Officer Ratchet who is a Hummer H2 EMS rescue vehicle in the movie was a former ambulance (think Ghostbuster’s ride ECTO 1, more or less like that) and poor old Autobot Prowl the police car. Yep, he became a decepticon and attacked Sam in the movie. Where oh where is my red Lambhorgini Sideswipe? Ah, they changed him into a silver Corvette Stingray! No wonder I did not recognize him. Don’t get me started with Soundwave? Heck, i know that cassette tapes and boomboxes had been replaced by cd’s and mp3 players but still…! I wanna see my SquawkBox! (its not going to happen)
Sideswipe (automode Lambhorgini)
Soundwave
I guess that is the price of “keeping with the times”. I am down with it really. I mean, we can’t expect to see a highly intelligent robot transforming into a classic ‘76 beetle, can we?:) What about the storyline? For me personally, i am not bothered. Movies like this are all about none stop action. I will be more disappointed if the story focused more on the people than with the bots. I believe Shia LeBouf is the perfect choice for the role of geeky Sam Witwicky and Megan Fox, well, you need a bit of eye candy in the movie so she will do (ahaha).
Devastator showing Scavenger,Scrapper, Hook,Bonecrusher, Long Haul, Mixmaster
Ravage
I saw Transformers 2 last Friday and I am glad that they included a few of the bots from Gen1. On the decepticon side, there’s Ravage (jaguar beast mode), the Combiners who bolts in to form Devastator. Devastator is the gigantuan bot made up of 6 decepticons (Scavenger,Scrapper,Hook,Bonecrusher,Long Haul and MixMaster). On the Autobot side, it was a big treat for me to see Arcee, a female autobot in the cartoon. They re-jazzed her up by changing her into a motorbike. They have included new bots too like the Twins – Mudflap and Skid, the Doctor and Wheelie to name a few. Again, to keep with the ever changing time.:)
Arcee Gen1
After seeing the movie, I thought about my cousin again. I wonder if he still crazy about
The new Arcee
Transformers as he was before. Maybe I should give him a quick visit to check his collections. Don’t worry, I will be careful this time and if I ended up breaking one of his toys again. I promise, I will let him smash my collectible Harry Potter wand and let him burn one of my priceless first edition harry potter books. How is that for an exchange!
Note: As I was doing my research on Transformers, I chanced upon a Decepticon with a very familiar name .. SQUAWKBOX. Squawkbox is a combination of two decepticons – Beastbox and Squawktalk. It was Soundwave himself who combined the two “cassette mode” decepticon. So, without even knowing it, I have been channeling Transformers in my Blog thanks to Squawkbox:) By the way guys, for those who doesn’t know what a cassette tape is ..Google is your friend:) Ciao now 
Squawkbox
Squawktalk
Beastbox
**I don’t own any of the photos. Thank you to all you people who is nice enough to share their Transformers pic online thus making my blog looks interesting:) ***
Squawk Report: Best Friend…Best (choice of) Mate?
It’s been exactly 3 years since Paul, my bestest friend (there’s three of them actually) decided to buy a one way ticket to Canada to stalk his on again off again girlfriend of 4 years. He hasn’t been back in Oz since then. I never knew I will see the day dear old playboy Paul would turn putty in the hands of this Bit%*…ok, i promised i will be nice;) Anyway Trish, as Paul fondly calls her, (I prefer calling her Trash but out of respect to him, Trish it is), is from Canada. She came here for a holiday and they, as bloody fate would have it, met (unfortunately). Apparently, Paul was on a date that time and his date had a mild altercation with Trish (tsk tsk) and the rest is history.
When Paul broke the news to me about his plans of moving to Canada to be with her, I thought he was kidding. When he showed me his one way ticket, i felt like beating the daylights out of him. What the hell is this guy thinking? Is he losing his mind? He hates poutine for Pete’s sakes! Okay, before you guys start bagging me for being spiteful, I don’t hate Trish, I loathe her (just kidding). All jokes aside, I knew Paul since the good old days. I know him so well that I can say on behalf of him that she is not his type. He actually admitted it himself while we were bushwalking. I think that explains the intermittent and very tumultuous relationship between them. Obviously, they are two opposite poles. They don’t have anything in common. They have different tastes in music and movies. Their political views is north and south.Paul is gorgeous and Trish is *yawns* whatever… Why did he go for her and not …. me? Oops, did i say that out loud?:P
I guess its time to come out clean. Yes I did carry a torch for him since the dawn of Grunge music, post long haired rock and roll era. We shared the same interests in arts, music, movies, food and just about anything except I am a stick-to-one-person-kinda-chick and he is more the typical wham-bam-thank you-ma’am kinda guy. I think that was the reason why i decided to put my feelings for him on hold. He was never faithful with any of the girls he dated. His impressive track record of breakups related to commitment issues speaks for itself. But when it comes to me, he is like a diffrent person. He is always there when i need him. He never forgets my birthday which is quite annoying because it is the only day that I tend to forget. Whenever he goes overseas, he often leaves messages on my msn or sends me a text messages or two. I am sort of his confidante. I get to hear all of his juicy escapades some are downright raunchy than the other.
At some point, we did talked about “us”. This happened after i bullied him to watch “My Bestfriend’s Wedding” with me one boring night. That’s where we got the idea – that by the time we reach the age of 30, provided that both of us are single, we should try going out as a couple. The idea is brilliant .. I want to propose to him right there and then. But as fate would have it, it’s just wishful thinking. I ended up dating someone else and him.. well, you guys know the story…
In retrospect, I guess suppressing my “carnal” feelings for him turned out to be a good idea after all. If, hypothetically speaking, we decided to pursue the relationship to the next level, how do I know if it’s going to have a fairytale ending. Will he hide secrets from me? Will he treat me the way he treated his girlfriends? Who knows! All i know is our friendship will be in jeopardy if a “break up” happens.
I know I did the cowards way out. Heart of a cowardly lion (not a Griffindor material). But this i know, lovers will come and go but I will always be there with him – his number 1 girl – his best friend – and that is good enough for me.
Squawk Report: Break Up Blues
My friend just broke up with her boyfriend of 4 days.. it was a bad break up (guy “twitted” the bad news to her, direct message of course. At least that makes him half a jerk). She retaliated by removing him from her friends lists. She asked me to do the same but hey i don’t go near Friendster. She updated her Facebook and Myspace page. But this time, she didn’t bother asking me to remove him from my facebook contacts ’cause everyone knows that i seldom add people on facebook. My Facebook is just a prop, at the moment it is in the verge of dying a long painful death .. Okay, enough about Facebook ..that is not the reason why i am writing this blog ..hahaha
Right. So Kay(not her real name of course) spent a grueling 48 hours of boyfriend detox. She didn’t go online, didn’t answer any of our calls.. In short, she was like a nun in a cloister, a cardinal in a conclave, a psycho in an isolation room. Two days after, i got a call from her. She sounded happy, ecstatic for that matter. Time heals all wound they say, this girl took the short cut. I remembered my own break up and it took me i dunno, 8 months before i started picking up the pieces. I guess, some people recover quick than others. Anyway, i went to meet Kay in a cafe in Surry Hills and there she was, stunning as ever, fully made up .. all natural… natural fake eyelashes, hair extensions etc. She’s with a bloke! She introduced the dude as her “boyfriend”. I was like, “okayyyyy, here we go again…” During the interrogation, I was able to find out that they were both Facebook friends and they have been sending messages back and forth for a good 3 months. The guy told me that we were Facebook contacts too( *gasp* when did this happen? I don’t know. i must have added him accidentally). We spent a good two hours talking, sipping lattes and stuffing myself with friands. They both seemed happy together and seeing my friend happy is good enough for me.
When I came home, i decided to log on to my MSN ..hoping to ambush Kay. As luck would have it, she logged on. You see, while i was on my way home, i just couldn’t fathom how quickly she bounces back. With her now Ex- she used to call him as the ONE and i have to say, she was totally head over heels in love with him. I think they dated for a month until it became official and after that it went down hill. She told me that she just woke up and everything is alright. I didn’t buy that. I mean, what about the feeling of emptiness and forlorn.. the feeling of being incomplete. What she said to me after that caught me off balance. “I can’t live without a bf.”, Kay said. Come to think of it, she was right. She had never been boyfriend-less since i knew her. That’s her motivation!? If-I-keep-sulking-I-will-be-sulking-alone -so-better-get-back-to-the-meat-market. She did the whole “grieving period” in the shortest time possible. Was she really over him? Who knows. If she is, then she conceals her feelings quite well.
I didn’t bother asking her if this guy that she is now dating is Mr. Right because if I am not mistaken, every guy she dated is Mr. Right. I might as well not bother asking her whether she is in love with him because …I think you get what i mean;)
I guess some people are in love with being in love. It does give you a feeling of high, no doubt about that. Whether the feeling is true love is debatable. I am pretty sure they won’t be able to tell the difference.
I hope this one lasts a little bit longer .. I will give them a week. Place your bets!
Squawk Report: Twitter Tweak!
Alright I admit, I am a Twit! Twit as in twitter user not the … never mind.. 
I started using Twitter mid March of 2009, influenced by the people from pottercast (you guys rock, btw, more wizard power to you). I don’t really know what I am getting into. All i know is that i get to stalk, er follow certain people and receive updates/news on movies, artists and what nots.
It was awkward at first .. having zero followers. I felt dejected by my peers. So i encouraged (bullied more likely) my friends to create their own twitter account and forced them to follow me (hahaha!). So, from zero to three..not bad:) I felt like a twitterstar already. Now, on to stalk the celebrities. This is going to be a cinch I thought. I decided to type Robert Pattinson’s name and low and behold, there’s a gazillion of Rob Patterson accounts and all of them are swearing that they were the real Rob! Will the real RobPatz please stand up, please stand up ..hahaha. This is one of the drawbacks of Twitter. Just like Facebook and Myspace, you do get a lot of fake celebrity accounts, I just stay away from them.
So what makes Twitter tweaks? I guess its the simplicity, accessibility (you can send tweets on your mobilephone) and its minefield of what it has to offer to everyone. From networking and marketing. Keeping in touch with your mates at all times and getting the latest news on just about anything…Twitter never fails to deliver (whether its news worthy or not). And the most important tweason why tweeple lurve to tweet … it is FUN!
As of today, I published 1,340 updates (gawd!) and following 57 entities:) I have to say, sending tweets and posting twitpics became a part of my day to day activity.
Right. I think i have written enough twitter blog .. need to tweet this … http://twitter.com/maryk3lly
Welcome to the Twitterennaisance period.
Squawk Report: Web+Log = We BlOG!
It turns out that having a blog site is hard work..hahaha No, I am just kidding:) I find it quite relaxing, actually. Back in the olden days, I used to write my thoughts on my awesome X-men diary that came with a lock and key. It was the best looking diary ever. It had my favorite X-men (Rogue, Gambit and Cyclops) on the cover that motivated me to write my thoughts almost everyday. Everything from the interesting (my first liplock with a boy wearing braces) to the mundane (my sister stole my last smint mint) were all recorded and dated. When I moved out of the house, I decided to burn my diary of 5 years. I dunno what got into me but I think my entry about the “Smint mint fiasco” plus a couple of entries that I dare not mention had me running for a lighter and my dad’s favorite Gordon gin. Five years of boring memoirs went up in smoke. At that time I was relieved, but looking back, I wish I kept my diary.
Now, things have changed. With the advent of the internet wherein chatting with people overseas is just a skype away (for free). Writing what you have in mind becomes ultratechy too. Before,we normally like to keep our thoughts to ourselves hence the diary with lock and key (I have to say, my lock doesn’t work. I can actually open mine with a paperclip). Now, everything is all out in the open. We blog (there ya go, techy term) our feelings out in the open where anyone (if we choose to) can read our two cents worth. All of a sudden, everyone becomes an exhibitionist. Sometimes I wonder what triggered the change. Is this one way of connecting to people? Humans are social animals and we can’t help it by sticking our beaks in other people’s business. I guess, reading somebody else’s blog nourishes our curiosity without being branded a meddler. Reading someones misfortune will remind us to count our blessings. In a small way, blogs from random people somehow influence us in the way we look at things.
Which brings me back to my own blog. So far so good, my blog is neither inspirational nor emotional. Just my typical random rants about anything. Move along…nothing to see here
Squawk Report is born!
Today is one of those unproductive days ( i refuse to use the word bored)..not that i am complaining ..i don’t mind lazy days..it helps me reflect (sorta) and let my mind experience the ZEN zone.. well, anyway, i was completely “zenned up” that i needed something to do.. i could have gone to my lounge room where i had a pile of clothes begging to be ironed (eep!) but i decided to turn a deaf ear to their pleas of attention and focused my attention on building my own blog site ..thus, Squawk Report is born;)
Took me a while to think of a catchy username and a blog title to go along with it. I like the RedBaron so I decided to use R3dbaroness as my username because as the author of this blog…i am kinda “piloting” this shindig Let’s just hope that i won’t nosedive:)
Now, why a Squawk report? Whats a squawk anyway.. well, i went and asked google and this is what i found out ..
“To write down a squawk” …….. and it is basically pilot lingo for writing down something that’s wrong or broken for the maintenance personnel. “I am squawking the landing light” could mean he is writing down that the landing light wasn’t working on the last flight. In aviation everything must be kept track of. If you would load up a 10 year old helicopter with all the paperwork that goes with it, it probably wouldn’t even get off the ground.
The NAVY calls a squawk a “gripe”, but they have a different word for everything, don’t they?” http://www.chickenwingscomics.com/encyclopedia.php#squawk2
Yes! i will be squawking my heart out in here about anything.
