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I pray always for

Strength;

 Humility;

Wisdom.

Fight Club: Violent, yet exhilarating

On top of leading a boring, normal life, Jack suffers from chronic insomnia. To ‘cure’ himself from the ‘disease’, he goes to a doctor who refuses to prescribe him a pill; instead, he suggests to Jack to attend a support group for testicular cancer victims for the latter to experience what real pain is. Jack takes the doctor up on his suggestion, and he gets hooked. Soon, he books every support group there is, finding catharsis in their sufferings, and he’s able to sleep well. Until he encounters another ‘tourist’ in the person of Marla Singer. Jack’s concentration at support groups ebbs at the sight of Marla, and his insomnia returns.

On a business trip, he meets Tyler Durden, an intriguing character and a soap salesman. The two hit it off, and when Jack finds his unit blown up, he immediately calls Tyler for shelter. Out of the blue, Tyler asks Jack to hit him, which the latter did. Soon, the two release their pent-up emotions through a slugfest; Fight Club is thus born. Under Tyler’s leadership, the Club expands into ‘Project Mayhem’, with the sole purpose of creating mischief and anti-capitalist vandalism in the city. When one of the members of the Project dies, Jack desperately tries to put a stop to the chaos. He finds it too late. Tyler has moved the Project into major cities around the United States in a sort of franchise. He has penetrated even the law enforcement. As Jack traces Tyler’s footsteps after his sudden disappearance, he is confronted with a shocking surprise: he is Tyler Durden.

Is Tyler my bad dream? Or am I Tyler’s?

It’s split personality at its best, and performances at their most superb. The movie was done MTV-style and this kept it from sinking into the bowels of boredom. Some may see it as too violent for their tastes; in fact, I had, on some occasions, cringed at the sight of blood and gore. But for all the hostility the movie seemed to have depicted, we did not lose sight of the central theme: the members of the club have become victims of the drudgery of day-to-day activities, and the only way in which they can break free from this is to get in touch with their instinct for pain and violence.

I am Jack’s admirer of this movie.

And so is my quill.

The Big Three-Oh

So, how does it feel to be thirty?

Honestly, it’s not that a big deal. I turned 30 on the 23rd, and apart from being a year closer to my grave, nothing special happened. I went to work, as is usual, being a Friday; entertained clients, as I was supposed to; did pleadings, otherwise I’d be up to my neck on it if I dallied a day longer. A colleague (whose birthday falls on the 27th, joined me for the celebration) and I threw a simple lunch at the office. My parents came all the way from the province and treated me to a birthday dinner at home, with relatives from both sides as my visitors. Other than those, the day I turned 30 was a simple day. The only glorious thing about it was that I was born into this world, 30 years ago. And that ought to count for something (wink, wink).

I do my resolutions on my birthday, because technically, my year starts on that day. Don’t argue with me; it’s one of my peculiarities. I’m not into resolutions anyway, but I want to make a fuss about my turning 30. So my new year’s resolution is to save up – for whatever.

On my CD Changer: Enrique Iglesias Greatest Hits Album

I’ve been hearing Enrique Iglesias over the radio ages before I began to like him. And the video of the song Could I Have This Kiss Forever with Whitney Houston did it for me. Liking him first for his good looks rather than his voice, I fell in love with Enrique. His songs stick to you hours after hearing them over the airwaves and one can’t help but tap his feet to the rhythm. I’ve watched a few of his music videos, and only one word comes to mind as a general description: sexy. I love the infusion of Latino beats to his songs, adding a bit of seductiveness to them. The album contains all of his known pop songs, including one or two that aren’t, which are probably fillers. Give Somebody’s Me a spin, a good guitar song; and that hilarious Do You Know a.k.a. The Ping pong Song, yes that’s probably a ping pong ball that takes the place of a percussion. I like all the songs in the album, but my personal favourites are Away and Tired Of Being Sorry. The album has a DVD of Enrique's music videos and two of his live performances from Belfast.

Track list: 1. Bailamos 2. Away (feat. Sean Garrett) 3. Hero 4. Be With You 5. Takin’ Back My Love (feat. Ciara) 6. Rhythm Divine 7. Do You Know 8. Tired Of Being Sorry 9. Escape 10. Could I Have This Kiss Forever (with Whitney Houston) 11. Not In Love (feat. Kelis) 12. Don’t Turn Off The Lights 13. Love To See You Cry 14. Maybe 15. Addicted 16. Somebody’s Me 17. Can You Hear Me 18. Miss You (with Nadiya)

Bring this CD along when you drive across the country with friends, and sing and sway along with the songs. It’ll be fun.

The Mexican: Good Fun

Samantha has had enough of Jerry. He promised her that the last job would be his last job with the mobs, but as luck would have it with Jerry, he somehow managed to land the mob boss, Margolese, in jail. To make amends, Jerry has to do an errand for Margolese's right-hand man, Nayman. The task: go to Mexico, meet a certain Beck at a bar, pick up a pistol and bring it back to the States. Screw this up and he's dead. Jerry tries to explain all these to an enraged Sam, but Sam just wouldn't have any of it. Either they both go to Las Vegas together or she goes alone. With death as his only option if he quits the job, Jerry flies to Mexico, while Sam drives to Las Vegas.

Things don't go well for Jerry in Mexico: Beck gets killed by a stray bullet; Jerry's El Camino gets stolen, the pistol with it; and he learns that Nayman is double-crossing him. Meanwhile, Sam is kidnapped by Leroy and held hostage until Jerry delivers the pistol.

A simple enough story but with lots of twists in between, it becomes altogether fun and quirky. I love Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt, so seeing them together was a plus for the movie already. Surprisingly, they weren't together for long periods of time in the movie; surprisingly still, it worked. What made the movie entertaining to watch was the offbeat manner in which these two megastars portrayed their roles. They were so comfortable with their characters that it's relaxing to watch. In fact, the other casts blended so well with them, particularly James Gandolfini's Leroy to Roberts' Sam. The movie wasn't a romantic comedy, the way romantic comedies should be; but it was so comical in a romantic sort of way. This is a classic example of a funny movie without the buffoonery; witty dialogues and oh-so-natural antics do the trick.

"I need a lift on your el truck-o to the next town-o."

Beat that.

Director Gore Verbinski and Screenplay writer J.H. Wyman masterfully inserted within the story various versions of the legend of the Mexican, the pistol Pitt's character was tasked to deliver. I had a good laugh when these legends were shown because whatever be the story behind the antique pistol, the setting and the characters were the same, with additions each time the allegedly real story was being told by one knowledgeable about the handgun.

It was fun watching this movie. Smart comedy in ages.