Atypical

Yesterday was officially The Best Night Call I've Ever Had. Two A&E referrals around 9pm, then totally nothing thereafter. But I still woke up at 4am for no particular reason. Checked my pager just in case, then dozed till 7. Unbelievable. :)

I usually have really bad luck on-call. Must be my reg who cancelled that out, haha. Got another one with him this Friday. Let's see if the winning streak holds.


The Incredibles


*spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers*


On-the-spur-of-the-moment decision to go catch this after reading re-minisce's glowing review. GV Grand was all sold out, so I settled for the theatre near my home this time round. So bloody crowded. So many ^&%* kids. Somehow, GV Grand doesn't gnaw on my nerves as much.

Good seats notwithstanding -- final row aisle, unobstructed some more thanks to the funny staggered arrangement -- I found it lacking when compared to Finding Nemo, which remains my favourite "modern animated feature" to date. ( This is in contrast to older cartoons, No. 1 being Disney's Sleeping Beauty, No. 2 Cinderella, and No. 3 The Aristocats. Ask me to recite dialogue or sing a few songs and I can probably do so off the cuff. Not that I actually would, of course. :))

Maybe I went into this with too many expectations. Or maybe Finding Nemo is simply the better movie. Or perhaps -- and this may be the clincher -- I don't like humans as much as I do fish / turtles / seagulls / other assorted sea and land creatures.

But there were a few memorable moments. The harrowing plane crash over the ocean; Dash's dramatic escape from pursuers through dense jungle and across a wide vista of water and rock formations; Elastigirl's Mission: Impossible-esque confrontation with enemy guards as she neutralized each man with a separate limb while sandwiched between at least 3 different doors ( if that makes any sense to you ).

The best one, though, involves baby Jack-Jack, whose superpowers are unveiled in the last 5 minutes of the film, and is an absolute riot! Alternating between demonic fire-child, a red-faced devil with horns and, at one point, a vibrating human drill, it had the whole audience in stitches.

However, in terms of humour, I'd give Finding Nemo the ultimate thumbs-up. I laughed a lot harder at that one. But then, that's just me.

Next up, the Bridget Jones sequel. :)


The American Music Awards 2004

Missed the first hour while at the gym, aargh!

Terrific line-up, as usual. And with some wonderful collaborations in true AMA tradition -- remember Alejandro Sanz and Destiny's Child a few years back? Yowzah :)

This year, there was John Mayer -- mesmerizing; Alicia Keys -- gorgeous and edgier than usual; Josh Groban -- so handsome and intense ( and playing the piano, yes! ); Gretchen Wilson -- a relative newcomer who ROCKED with Redneck Woman ( take that, Shania ); and Bon Jovi -- sounding a little off, but scoring high with their overall energy.

Duets: Alicia Keys and Usher ( delish ); Snoop Dogg and Pharrell ( minimalist but very effective ); Rod Stewart with Dave Koz ( can't tahan the former, but love the latter -- too bad he's gay ); and the biggest surprise of the night: Jamie Foxx doing a Sexy Jazz / Soul Man routine. Some of these Hollywood actors are so gifted musically, the acting bit seems a bit of a waste. Kevin Spacey and Kevin Kline have beautiful voices ( and Kline plays the ivories ); Alfred Molina ( Doc Ock in Spiderman 2 ), Jonathan Pryce ( the villain in that Bond film with Michelle Yeoh in it ?title ), Victor Garber ( Jack Bristow in Alias ) and Hugh Jackman ( who can miss Hugh Jackman :D) are Broadway veterans; then there's Glenn Close ( Sunset Boulevard ) and even Antonio Banderas ( not too bad a voice, dances VERY well ). And though I don't like her much, I will admit that Catherine Zeta-Jones is an accomplished performer.

Clay Aiken also made an appearance with Kathy Griffith to present an award. Wearing black-rimmed glasses and looking a little sleep-deprived, he still got Griffith all hot and heavy under her wedding dress ( I kid you not ), and eventually pacified her with a mock proposal.
( Earlier in the evening, the AMA host ( Jimmy Fallon is it? ) also took some liberties with poor Clay, joking that Anna Nicole Smith has stolen his virginity. By force. I thought it was quite funny, but my mom said it's in poor taste. Wah, quite protective eh. :))

Fantasia Barrino sang her new song, which sounded awful. She totally overdid it, blech.

Will be away from the wards for 3 days starting tomorrow. HAZMAT course. Promises to be loads of fun.