Transformers 2 will be 3D!

Yes the news might be slightly old by now but nevertheless, the masses need to know this… especially if you are a die hard fan of the Transformers franchise like I am and still think the mechanical sounds when the Autobots or Decepticons transform are outta this world!

So listen up everyone: According to a ShoWest 2008 Newsletter from Dolby Labs it has been stated that the upcoming sequel of Transformers in 2009 will be in 3-D! It is not yet confirmed whether the entire movie will be in 3-D or just the action sequences but 3-D is a definite part of it, yes sir!

Personally, I’d hate to see the entire flick morphed in 3-D. I mean, there are elements that look good in their original skin and nothing beats originality we all know. Get your naughty minds outta the gutter and stop wondering how hot and ‘popping out of the screen’ the FHM’s sexiest woman of the year, Megan Fox would look in 3-D! *chuckles*

Apart from listing the sequel, the newsletter also lists a chunk of its other 3-D projects as below:

[ 2008 Releases ]
Bolt
The Dark Country
Horrorween
Igor
Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D
The Smurfs

[ 2009 Releases ]
Avatar
A Christmas Carol
Coraline
Frankenweenie
Ice Age 3
Monsters vs. Aliens
Tintin
Transformers 2

So there you have it people!

Also joining the cast for the Transformers sequel is Isabel Lucas, the Australian actress most commonly known for her role in the popular Australian soap opera Home and Away. Don’t know much about her but have heard she’s well known for playing active roles in various environmental awareness organizations including Greenpeace International. Let’s see how the Aussie does while competing with the likes of Megan Fox speaking of whom I pray to God they give her something more to do than look hot through out the movie! She’s a pretty decent actress and I hope the directors are done portraying her as a mere love interest for our hero. She neeeds to be given an actual script this time around please!

Fingers crossed for this flick baby!

Transformers Hollywood Megan Fox

Barbarism or Justice Served?

Image sourced from http://khabrain.com

The crowds that gathered around and witnessed the burning bodies of the three robbers near the Timber Market, Karachi yesterday said they were ‘happy over the incident and praised the persons who had torched these robbers alive.’

Is this justice served or a mob that acted out of sheer frustration and torched three men, two of whom died on the spot and the third succumed to his death in the hospital?

Granted the looting and robbing of citizens has reached new highs in recent times and the people were fed up of being robbed and looted. But can this act of ignorance and brutality ever be justified by any means? Where is the sense in torching three human beings to death? What law were these people following and why have none of them been taken in to custody for murder?

As always, there were conflicting reports of what actually happened and how. Daily Times stated that only one police mobile was present at the time when the robbers were fleeing after looting a house and were fired upon. As a result of the chase that the police gave, two of the robbers were shot dead and one was critically wounded. The mobs wanted to beat and set fire to the three bodies which they gladly did while both the police and the Edhi Ambulance people were shoved back by thousands of angry residents.

There was a conflicting account in the very same news clipping that the robbers were caught fleeing by the residents and were beaten up with any thing they could lay their hands on and THEN they were torched to death while atleast 5-6 police mobiles and one ambulance service were rendered helpless by the angry crowds.

What are we turning in to? Just recently we saw chaos in Multan where angry mobs took to the streets and damaged private and government property in their own style of protests against the impending load sheddings. And now yet again, law has been taken in the hands of a common man and three men, although criminals, were burnt alive in broad day light as a lesson for others who followed the same path.

So does this mean we do not need law and order in our country any more? Is there no need for police or the army or the courts or any laws and sentences?

Who is going to be held responsible for this heinous act? The robbers who rob, the people who killed them, the policemen who watched, the ambulance staff who couldn’t help, or us all who will think about this for five minutes and then move on?

karachi Pakistan

Daylight Saving… Again!

Seems like we are going to have the daylight saving rule implemented yet again from next month in the country!

Reason: to reduce the impact of acute power shortages in the country!

According to one news, the country is facing a massive 4,000 MW power deficit that the current government plans to make up for through daylight saving. They also claimed that load shedding would be overcome in three years time (by 2011), which actually refutes a previously mentioned  claim by the same govt when it stated a while back that load shedding will continue till 2010! I wasn’t surprised then and neither am I now! *chuckles*

So everyone, be sure to move your clocks an hour ahead on June 1.

Urban Myths Cracked!

Recently, I stumbled across this interesting compilation of some famous urban myths cracker at the Cracked website and couldn’t help sharing it over with you guys here. We all sometimes hear these detail statistics about so and so myth and some times it is backed up by volumes of facts and figures. Most of the time, it can be nothing more than a pile of rubbish and gimmicks created by some one in times of sheer boredrom!

1. You accidentally swallow about 8 spiders a year!

2. You Only Use 10% of Your Brain!

3. Men think about sex every 7 seconds!

4. You Must Wait 30 Minutes After Eating Before Swimming!

5. The suicide rate jumps at Christmas

Click HERE to view this detailed article.

There are tons of other listings at Cracked.com so do check it out today!

Upcoming Superhero flicks

Hi folks! The Iron Man is in cinemas now all across Pakistan and if you have not seen it as yet you are missing out on an action packed adventure! Better book your seats as soon as possible for this one!

Further to that, there are several superhero movies lined up for release soon.

Upcoming reboots of the Hulk and The Punisher franchises include The Incredible Hulk and Punisher: War Zone from Marvel Comics‘ roster. There are also two prequels to the X-Men trilogy in the works: X-Men Origins: Wolverine, featuring Wolverine, is currently shooting and is scheduled for a May 1, 2009 release, while a a film about Magneto, tentatively titled simply Magneto, is currently scripting. Upcoming sequels include The Dark Knight, scheduled for American release on July 18, 2008, and Hellboy II: The Golden Army, scheduled for a July 11, 2008 release. A possible Superman Returns sequel is currently in pre-production stages.

New franchises include the eponymous adaptations of The Spirit and Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman is to be produced by Joel Silver as well as new adaptations of The Phantom, The Shadow and Mandrake the Magician. Meanwhile, the classic Japanese superhero franchise Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, perhaps best known to Western audiences for the edited Battle of the Planets series, is in production for an animated feature film adaptation. The Will Smith vehicle Hancock, featuring an original superhero character, is slated for a July 2, 2008 release.

Numerous other relatively obscure properties such as the Doom Patrol are also undergoing adaptation. There have been rumors of film adaptations of characters such as Iron Fist (said to star Ray Park) and Deadpool (in which David S. Goyer and, according to Goyer, Christopher Nolan are interested), although they have not been confirmed.

So boys and girls, there is one packed action-filled summer and year ahead to look forward to! Enjoy!

WeCite’s Return

After a gap of over 2 weeks, we are back to our random scribblings again. The reason for the suspended services at WeCite Blog was actually a viral infection called Infectious mononucleosis that I was suffering from and was hospitalized for the past week and a half. Do read about it in the link above because it seems to be happening to a lot of people across Pakistan. Have a look at its symptoms to ensure that if you are (God forbid) going through them, you should get a blood test done ASAP and start medication. This can get REALLY nasty I tell ya!

Well anyways, the news is that I’m back and so is Selina (who decided this was an ideal time to take a break herself and work on her PSFD project).

On my way back home yesterday from the hospital, I heard the unfortunate news of the M2 Pile up involving 30 vehicles and which accounted for the loss of 6 precious lives. Such a tragedy…! May their souls rest in peace and may all who were injured (reported to be oer 50) have a speedy recovery (Amen).  

Across the border tragedy struck as well as India’s tourist city of Jaipur witnessed the death of over 80 with approx 150 injured in 7 multiple bombings. Investigations are still underway and it is thought that bomb-laden bicylces had been detonated for this purpose. However, it is yet to be determined whether any suicide bombers were involved in this horrific act or not. Nevertheless, our prayers go out to the dearly departed and all the families affected. Terrorism, no matter in what form or manner it takes place is a plague on the society and those who use it to their advantage to spread anarchy and chaos belong to no religion or country whatsoever.

Over at our circus of politics and its politicians, not much has changed. Why am I not surprised. Nawaz is still trying his best to get the judges restored as that is the major whim on which his party got their votes. Zardari and his PPP are in no hurry to make the restoration effective. Rightly so. Zardari recently got his cases excused from the courts and the books. The last thing he needs is for old books to be opened up by the very judges he restores. He’ll take his chances with the back lash of the judges against PPP but let’s not forget that PPP is not as weak as Musharraf’s regime. They have weathered many a storms before and will not be easily stirred or pushed around. As a sign of their whining and their oh so passionate loyalty to the lawyers’ cause, PML-N ministers put up their resignation with the Prime Minister recently after talks between PML-N and PPP met a disappointing deadlock in London. Nawaz Sharif and co already seem to be stepping away from the so called coalition government while citing that the judges issue can not be put in the back drop.  

*sigh* and who said this was not expected! *chuckles*

Over to our favorite sporting event, at IPL, Shoaib Akhtar mades his (flashy?) debut for the Kolkata Knight Riders. Brewing up a storm of his own, the controversial Rawalpindi Express was the ‘man of the match’ for guiding Shahrukh Khan’s team to a 23-run victory while they defended a modest total of 133 againt the Delhi Daredevils. Shoaib got a wicket each in his first three overs and ended with a brilliant figure of 3-0-11-4. Shahrukh Khan must be over the moon as he had been pulling all strings to get Shoaib involved in the IPL as soon as possible. With him around and starting off at such an explosive pace, one can expect the competion to only get hotter now!

Mehreen Jabbar’s Ramchand Pakistani

An enthusiastic applause followed soon after Mehreen Jabbar’s ‘Ramchand Pakistani’ ended in a in a packed downtown cinema in Ney York last night!

The movie had recently been nominated for the competition section of the Tribeca Film Festival 2008, New York.

The film portrays the story of a family torn apart as a father follows his son who had accidentally strayed across the border into India, and both get captured by the Indian authorities. Nandita Das from the acclaimed hits of the 1990s like Fire (1996) and Earth (199 plays the Pakistani mother stuggling for their freedom, and mourning their long absence. This story is said to be based on true events.

The film features many prominent Pakistani actors such as Rashid Farooqi, Noman Ijaz, Maria Wasti, Shahood Alvi, Tipu, Adarsh Ayaz, Saleem Mairaj, and of course the our little star, Syed Fazal Hussain who plays Ramchand.

Ramchand Pakistani might not invoke the same level of thought-provokation and enthusiasm as last year’s ‘Khuda Ke Liye’ did but it is set to lay bare a lot about the fact that several innocent people are detained by either of the two countries and tagged as ’spies’. Watch out for this one!

Title picture courtesy of  http://tribecacinemas.com

Mehreen’s image courtesy of http://word.world-citizenship.org

R e l a t e d     L i n k s

[ Ramchand Pakistani Official Site ]

[ Mehreen Jabbar Official Site ]

[ Tribeca Film Festival: Ramchand Pakistani ]

[ Minority Report: Ramchand Pakistani by Madeeha Syed ]

‘Umm… I’m Sorry?’

So it has come down to this. The seemingly not-so sensible and hot-headed speedster, Shoaib Akthar, has been advised to try a new angle with respect to his ongoing appeal over a 5-year ban that has been slapped on him by the PCB. He apologised! 

Adjudged by many is a ‘little too harsh’, Shoaib was banned from all forms of cricket not only within Pakistan but also from representing Pakistan in any tournament any where for 5 years. The reason cited for this severe punishment by the PCB was his consistent breach of the Cricket Board’s code of conduct.

Then, most recently, when he was not granted the central contract like many other high end national players, Shoaib lashed out at the PCB and threatened to take them to court over the ban. The PCB, led by Nasim Ashraf retaliated by saying the board itself will sue the player for 200 million rupees (£2.5 million).

Later on, Shoaib tried another approach be stating to the media that he will be happy to see a decrease in the ban.  

That was earlier this month but now it seems like Shoaib knows he has back against the wall. He has already missed out helplessly on the ongoing IPL where he was signed up to play for Shahrukh Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders. Due to the imposed ban, the sponsors of IPL had no choice but to keep him out.

‘Working’ vs ‘Sitting’ Late!

I got this from a friend (Omer Jan) a while ago in my gmail inbox. This happens to be a mail sent by Narayan Murthy, one of the seven founders of the renowned Infosys Tech to the entire Infosys staff. Worth a read as many of us might be able to relate to it *chuckles*

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author. WeCite does not necessarily agree or disagree with them and is solely responsible for putting it up on its blog as it is.
————————
It’s half past 8 in the office but the lights are still on…  
PCs still running, coffee machines still buzzing…  
And who’s at work? Most of them??? Take a closer look…  
 
All or most specimens are? Something male species of the human race…  
Look closer… again all or most of them are bachelors…  
 
And why are they sitting late? Working hard? No way!  
Any guesses?  
Let’s ask one of them…  
Here’s what he says:

What’s there to do after going home…Here we get to surf, AC, phone, food, coffee that is why I am working late…Importantly no bossssssss!  

This is the scene in most research centers and software companies and other off-shore offices.  
 
Bachelors ‘Time-passing’ during late hours in the office just becaise they say they’ve nothing else to do…  
Now what are the consequences…  
 
“Working” (for the record only) late hours soon becomes part of the institute or company culture. With bosses more than eager to provide support to those ‘working’ late in the form of taxi vouchers, food vouchers and of course good feedback, (oh, he’s a hard worker, goes home only to change!). They aren’t helping things too either!  
 
To hell with bosses who don’t understand the difference between ’sitting’ late and ‘working’ late!!!  
 
Very soon, the boss start expecting all employees to put in extra working hours. So, my dear bachelors let me tell you, life changes when u get married and start having a family. Office is no longer a priority, family is. And  
that’s when the problem starts, because u start having commitments at home too.  
 
For your boss, the earlier ‘hardworking’ guy suddenly seems to become an ‘early leaver’ even if you leave an hour after regular time after doing the same amount of work.  
 
People leaving on time after doing their tasks for the day are labeled as work-shirkers.
 
Girls who thankfully always (its changing nowadays though) leave on time are labeled as ‘not up to it’. All the while, the bachelors pat their own backs and carry on ‘working’ not realizing that they are spoiling the work culture at their own place and never realize that they would have to regret at one point of time.  
 
So what’s the moral of the story??   
* Very clear, LEAVE ON TIME!!!  
* Never put in extra time ‘unless really needed’  
* Don’t stay back unnecessarily and spoil your company work culture which will in turn cause inconvenience to you and your colleagues.  
 
There are hundred other things to do in the evening:  
 
Learn music…  
Learn a foreign language…  
Try a sport… TT, cricket………  
Get a girl friend or boy friend, take him/her around town…  
And for heaven’s sake, net cafe rates have dropped to an all-time low (plus, no fire-walls) and try cooking for a change.  
Take a tip from the Smirnoff ad: “Life’s calling, where are you?”  
 
Please pass on this message to all those colleagues and please do it before leaving time, don’t stay back till midnight to forward this!!!  
 
IT’S A TYPICAL INDIAN/PAKISTANI MENTALITY THAT WORKING FOR LONG HOURS MEANS VERY HARD WORKING & 100% COMMITMENT ETC.  
 
PEOPLE WHO REGULARLY SIT LATE IN THE OFFICE DON’T KNOW TO MANAGE THEIR TIME. SIMPLE! 

Regards,  
NARAYAN MURTHY.    

Taliban Suspend Talks With Govt over Deadlock

Why am I not surprised to hear this? *chuckles*

So our democratic, non-barbaric, pious, and ‘civil’ government has had the door slammed on their face by the T-Boys. Ha. Were you really expecting them to do otherwise? How silly of you.

There were basically four demands put forward by the T-boys to our kind government:

- Withdrawl of Pakistan Army from South Waziristan tribal region and the Swat Valley

- Prisoner exchange. The Taliban claim to be holding over a hundred security forces members and want some 200 of their militants in jails to be released in exchange.

- Compensation to the affected people of Waziristan and Swat

- Free movement of Taliban activities in the country

So I ask our government, what is stopping you from accepting these demands that you had deemed so ‘justified’ while you were taking out protest rallies and crying over in support of the T-Boys when you were NOT in power? What are you really afraid of? Or is it that you are finally showing your true colors? *chuckles*

Disney’s Nightmare!

Disney is in a fix! It’s a debate however whether a 15 year old is to be called a girl or a child and whether the controversially suggestive photographs of one of their supposedly ‘wholesome’ young stars in the recent issue of Vanity Fair actually amount to child pornography or are they as ‘artsy‘ as the starlet, Miley Cyrus, claims them to be, or atleast that is what she said earlier before the storm started brewing.

I am not going to post any of the images under scrutiny here (you can see them in the ‘Related Links’ below) but I would like to say that in my opinion, she does not look like a child. I see a young woman and that too in a country where she is bordering on the legal age anyways. Also I don’t find her ‘topless’ as many suggest her to be. She is wrapped in a bedsheet and looks very similar to a backless gown. What is actually troubling is perhaps not the images but the fact that her fan following majority includes young kids.

Famous US entertainment program, Entertainment Tonight had actually reported on April 25 about this photoshoot. The photo, and subsequently released behind-the-scenes photos, show Cyrus without a top, her bare back exposed but her front covered with a bedsheet. The photo shoot was taken by photographer Annie Leibovitz.

The NY Times jumped in and put up a story about her coupled with the full photograph. Parents across the United States were outraged at such irresponsible behavior from some one their kids adore and love to watch.

The very same day, Miley comes our with an apology that states:

I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be ‘artistic’ and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed. I never intended for any of this to happen and I apologize to my fans who I care so deeply about.

[ source ]

The following day on April 28, Vanity Fair responded by publishing their full interview and photo shoot with Cyrus and her father Billy Ray Cyrus, as well as the behind-the-scenes photographs, on their website. According to the interview, Cyrus’ parents and/or minders were present during the entire duration of the photo shoot. The idea to pose topless was Annie Liebovitz’s suggestion. When asked if she were “anxious” about the pose, Cyrus stated to interviewer Bruce Handy:

No, I mean I had a big blanket on. And I thought, This looks pretty, and really natural. I think it’s really artsy. It wasn’t in a skanky way.… And you can’t say no to Annie. She’s so cute. She gets this puppy-dog look and you’re like, O.K.

[ source ]

R e l a t e d   L i n k s

[ Miley Cyrus Official Website ]

[ NY Times: A Topless Photo Threatens a Major Disney Franchise ]

[ Vanity Fair: Miley Knows Best ]

[ Vanity Fair: Behind The Scenes With Miley Cyrus ]

 

Fun Stuff: Break This Cypher!

The WeCite Blog is sending something your way in hope to work your idle brains in to a frenzy with this bizzare-looking (but in fact very simple) question in the form of a cypher.

Unfortunately there are no rewards for solving this cypher but hey, it’s worth sparking up those neurons

 TMRNOM  HOSDDB  EFTRDE  SFHENR UIUDUS 

This cypher is based on a very famous cypher technique that can be solved by putting the contents of the cypher (yes the ones in blue above) in a grid and then reading it with a given key (see below). Once the cypher is arranged with a little bit of creativity, the message beautifully unfolds on its own right in front of you. Go ahead. give it a shot. 

The key to this cypher is: spiral inwards, anti-clockwise, starting from the top left.

Just a hint, the answer to the riddle within is a five digit whole number

Do we have a smarty pants in the house?

Pakistan’s (New) Image?

Under the Islamic principle of Qisas on the charges of killing one of their comrades, Pakistani tribal Taliban execute an alleged kidnapper. image from Gulf-Times

With the evident news of roadblocks being lifted in the militant stronghold of South Waziristan, the local Taliban Commander, Baitullah Mehsud and his merry men, held responsible for various incidents of suicide bombings and attacks on civilians and armed forces since last year now have an open hand to run their operations.

What needs to be seen now is that whether, despite the ongoing controversial peace deal, the Taliban will remain content with where they are right now or would we be seeing such executions in Fatima Jinnah Park (Isl) or Race Course Park (Lahore) any time soon. 

Objection Please…

Very recently I had the dis-pleasure of reading a post by one of the authors of the Islamabad Metroblogs that really ruined my mood. Generally, the Islamabad Metroblogs have had a very smart and mature breed of writers in their band wagon that have stuck to a very balanced citizen journalism. So it was sad to see their author by the name of Fatima humoring about the hightened security protocals at the Serena hotel in the highly volatile capital of Islamabad.

It wasn’t her description or rather explanation of her friend with a niqab and the text-book labelled “International Politics of TERRORISM” that is objectionable. What leaves a bad taste in the mouth is her seemingly evident sarcasm of the efforts and the security measures being taken to protect the lives of thousands and how she found funny the confusion on the faces of the guards.

As she puts it herself:

So there we were, two strange pedestrians walking up to the main gate of Serena, one of us carrying a huge suspicious-looking backpack, and the other dressed in a black nikaab and abaaya, brandishing a book about terrorism.

Why would you NOT be singled out and scrutinized when it is this very description that has been the cause of so many suicide bombings in the country? And she really does it in her closing statements by saying:

On the way out, my friend whipped out her phone and started making a video of the hotel. From their posts at the gate, the security people stared uneasily. But what could the poor dears do, after all? My friend and I laughed all the way home.

Do grow up child and respect the effort that has been put in to keep you and your friends safe from blowing in to a million pieces. Such irresponsible yap and that too at a place such as Islamabad Metroblogs that has made a name of itself due to its blunt yet honest journalism only goes to spoil its image.

Not only that but it is indeed sad to see how some of us are so naive so as to not appreciate the importance of such efforts done to our own advantage. Making fun of the evident panic that is caused by such stupid behavior as wearing a niqab and filming the hotel is not a joke. You really need to learn what is happening in our country.

NOTE: This post has recently been ‘toned down’.

Harbhajan You Spoil Sport!

image courtesy of www.bhavane.com

In the world of cricket, getting ’smacked’, ‘hammered’, or ’slapped’ around for boundries is often heard of. What is NOT heard of that often is LITERALLY crossing over the ethical boundries and norms of professional behaviour to an extent that you ACTUALLY slap another player!

Indian’s hot-headed Harbhajan Singh, commonly known as ‘Turbanator’ has recently done just that. No big surprises there really. The guy has been known well for his out-bursts and flaring temper ESPECIALLY when he is on the losing end. This is one guy who would whine, groan, abuse, and do any thing else under the sky to vent out his frustrations. HOWEVER, the fact that the guy who got slapped was none other than his fellow team mate from the Indian National Team, the paceman S. Sreesanth, is plain disgusting!

Mr Singh’s hot headed actions have really dented the spirit of the Indian Premier League considering that the sponsors and the captains alike boasted of the so called ‘Spirit of the game’ and to follow the ‘Code of Condct’ by heart!

Not only has his image as a captain has been tarnished but ALSO the image India wanted to portray to the world through IPL has received a big blow! He has made Zidane’s famous head-butt to the Italian in the  most recent football world cup final look like child’s play with his antics.

Harbajan has been suspended for his behavior and might face up to a ban of 10 matches as well.

His parents kept up a very tight-lipped approach when probed around my the media which was a clear indication that some kind of settlement was on the way. While many argue that Harbajan is at fault for over-reacting, there is an equally vocal group that sides with him and accuses Sreesanth of biting more than he could chew by verbally challenging a senior player.

image courtesy of bp3.blogger.com

Still one can not rule out that Harbajan has been flirting with controversies for quite some time now. His stand-off against Australian Andrew Symonds only two months back over racial remarks put him in hot waters when he called the Australian a ‘big monkey’. Later when Harbajan came back from the Australian tour, he said that the former Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist was not a ’saint’, which irked Cricket Australia. Such controversies have been with him ever since he debuted to be honest. He got entangled in war-of-words with Ricky Ponting on his debut ODI back in 1998 for which he was also fined. Add to that his drop from the national team over a suspected bowling action. Then in 2000 he was thrown out of the National Cricket Academy for avoiding workouts and not following the academy’s objectives.

The inquiry into the incident at Mohali in the game between Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians will now take place at the Maurya Sheraton, New Delhi on April 28th 2008. A final verdict would be announced by the adjudicator Farookh Engineer post hearing at New Delh