HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!

Well, time really flies when I first migrated my old blog to this new blog when I found out that I could write more. Indeed it was great to have chosen this step. Guess what? Humblerboy is now 2 years old (29th August 2007).

I would like to thank all my readers and those who have supported behind my blog and myself for all their patience and effort towards the success of my blog thus far.

On the other hand, my beloved country, Malaysia celebrates its 50th year of Independence from the British colonization. It was through the negotiation of the late His Highness Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra al-Haj, the first Prime Minister of Malaysia (and the 24th prince to the then late HRH Sultan of Kedah) with the Brits to give Independence to the then Malaya, or Malaysia, as it is known today.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MALAYSIA :: CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF NATIONHOOD ::

MERDEKA !!!
MERDEKA !!!
MERDEKA !!!
MERDEKA !!!
MERDEKA !!!
MERDEKA !!!
MERDEKA !!!

RATATOUILLE (rat.a.too.ee)

It's always a pleasure to walk into a new movie from Pixar, those kinetic wizards of shiny sculpted animation who gave us the Toy Story films, Finding Nemo, and Cars, because it's a safe bet that you're in for a sparkly good time — or, just maybe, a great one. In the case of the antic kiddie gourmet comedy Ratatouille, which might be described as Anatole the mouse meets Emeril Live, the expectations are high: The writer-director is Brad Bird, who made The Incredibles (2004), and it would be hard to name an animated film, from Pixar or anyone else, that was ever more incredible.

The hero of Ratatouille is — let's not mince words — a rat, with scruffy bluish fur and what might be called a highly developed sense of garbage. His name is Remy (he's voiced by the comedian Patton Oswalt) and really, once you get past any negative associations you may have about rodents (what would an animated fable be if it didn't fight prejudice?), he's a very sweet guy, with a knack that might qualify him as a genius. He's a natural-born chef. It starts with his quivery pink nose, which can suss out the inner essence of any ingredient, from cheese to chervil. While on a rooftop, he gets struck by lightning, which singes the mushroom he's holding, zapping it into a succulent barbecued delicacy, for which he must then locate the absolute perfect seasoning (it's saffron, in case you were wondering).

Remy, with his overly refined flavor buds, is the odd fellow out amid his scavenger rat pack of country relatives, who regard his good taste as fussiness. But when he's flushed through a sewer into the center of Paris, he ends up at Gusteau's, a once-legendary restaurant (its deceased celebrity chef gets conjured up as a friendly ghost), and before long he has become the kitchen's star cook. Considering that he's a rat, you may wonder how, exactly, this is accomplished.

Here's how: Remy befriends Linguini (Lou Romano), a freckled, redheaded doofus of a scullery boy blessed with no talent whatsoever. Before long, everyone is convinced that he's doing the cooking. Actually, though, it's Remy, who sits under Linguini's toque, pulling tufts of his hair to manipulate his limbs, flinging him around the kitchen like a rag doll so that he tosses the proper ingredients into the pot. Quel wacky rubber-limbed slapstick weirdness! Overnight, the restaurant turns hot. But can Remy and Linguini triumph over the evil head chef, a sawed-off Napoleonic control freak (Ian Holm)? And what about the brooding, cadaverous, ultimate-snob food critic Anton Ego? He looks like a macabre Tim Burton puppet and is voiced by Peter O'Toole, who lends dramatic oomph to lines like ''If I don't love it, I don't swallow!'' Will he deign to give them a good review?

If it sounds like I'm less than excited about these questions, that's because the movie isn't either. Ratatouille is a blithe concoction, as well as a miraculously textured piece of animated design. The foggy Paris streets glow with gaslight romance, and the surfaces of Gusteau's kitchen have such a vibrant photorealist sheen that you want to reach out and touch them, especially if you're a foodie (and, really, who isn't these days?). You can make out every nick and cranny in the polished copper pots and just about smell all of those intoxicating ingredients. When Remy scurries around onto the pipes behind the restaurant walls, the camera tracks him in a loop-the-loop fury, and the pure technical dazzle of the sequence is a delight.

As a story, however, Ratatouille is fun without very much surprise. It's like a fusty old Disney cartoon retrofitted with the Pixar sheen. The lack of celebrity voices is a major drawback, since Remy ends up with very little personality. Contrast him with, say, the bad-boy Owen Wilson speedster in Cars, and you're seeing the difference between a hero with spice and a bland one who happens to know where the spice rack is. Linguini, too, is a one-note stumblebum; you keep wishing the film had given him a touch more dignity, or made more of his romance with the kitchen's feisty, and very French, female chef (Janeane Garofalo). Ratatouille lacks a forceful center of gravity.

At this point, I must pose a consumer-service question: Will kiddies really want to see a movie about a rat who's a champion gourmand? And will adults warm up to an animated comedy in which an army of long-tailed wrigglies ends up taking over the kitchen? If the movie had a wilder time with its belief in culinary democracy — the notion that, in Gusteau's words, ''Anyone can cook'' — perhaps its triumph-of-the-rodent noodlings would come off as heroic rather than rote. As it is, Ratatouillehas the Pixar technical magic without, somehow, the full Pixar flavor. It's Brad Bird's genial dessert, not so much incredible as merely sweetly edible.

Well, this is just a personal critic. However, I must say that this is a really good animation. A must watch animation of the year 2007. I have personally watched it and I will return for a second time if time permits me. Care to join me?

FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION (15th AUGUST)

This shows Mary's assumption into heaven with her body and soul. This painting is attributed to Bartolome Murillo.

Solemnity of the Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary Into Heaven Bodily and Soul is celebrated by the Catholics from all over the globe in a grand mass and procession. According to Roman Catholic doctrine and the traditions of the Catholic Church, the Blessed Virgin Mary (Mary, the mother of Jesus) "having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory."[1] This means that Mary was transported into Heaven with her body and soul united. The feast day recognizing Mary's passage into Heaven is celebrated as The Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary by Roman Catholics. This doctrine was dogmatically and infallibly defined by Pope Pius XII on 1 November 1950 in his Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus. In those denominations that observe it, the Feast of the Assumption is commonly celebrated on August 15.

Possibly the most famous rendition of the subject in Western art, Titian's Assunta (1516-18).

The Virgin Mary's heavenly birthday

The Assumption is important to many Catholics as the Virgin Mary's heavenly birthday (the day that Mary was received into Heaven). Her acceptance into the glory of Heaven is seen by them as the symbol of the promise made by Jesus to all enduring Christians that they too will be received into paradise. The Assumption of Mary is symbolised in the Fleur-de-lys Madonna.

he Feast of the Assumption is a Public Holiday in many countries, including Austria, Belgium, Cameroon, France, Italy, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Paraguay, Malta, Poland, Portugal, and Spain. In Guatemala it is observed in Guatemala City and in the town of Santa Maria Nebaj, both of which claim her as their patron saint. Also, this is the celebration of Mother's Day in Costa Rica. In many places, religious parades, and popular festivals are held to celebrate this day. In Anglicanism and Lutheranism, the feast is kept, but without official use of the word 'Assumption'. Her feast day is Fête Nationale of the Acadians, of whom she is the patron saint. Businesses close on that day in heavily francophone parts of New Brunswick, Canada. The Virgin Assumed in Heaven is also patroness of the Maltese Islands and Her feast, celebrated on the 15 August, apart from being a public holiday in Malta is also celebrated with great solemnity in all the local churches. In New York City, alternate side of the street parking rules are suspended.[2]

L'assunzione della Vergine Filippo Fortunato Ventui, Mqabba parish Church, Malta, 1896.

The Assumption in Catholic teaching

In Ludwig Ott's Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma he states that "the fact of her death is almost generally accepted by the Fathers and Theologians, and is expressly affirmed in the Liturgy of the Church," to which he adduces a number of helpful citations, and concludes that "for Mary, death, in consequence of her freedom from original sin and from personal sin, was not a consequence of punishment of sin. However, it seems fitting that Mary's body, which was by nature mortal, should be, in conformity with that of her Divine Son, subject to the general law of death".[3] The point of her bodily death has not been infallibly defined, and many believe that she did not die at all, but was assumed directly into Heaven. Indeed, the papal decree which infallibly proclaims the doctrine of the Assumption, the Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus, leaves open the question whether, in connection with her departure, Mary underwent bodily death; that is, it does not dogmatically define the point one way or the other, as shown by the words "having completed the course of her earthly life". [4]

References

[1] Pope Pius XII: "Munificentissimus Deus - Defining the Dogma of the Assumption", par. 44. Vatican, November 1, 1950
[2] ^ New York City Department of Transportation: Alternate Side Parking Calendar, 2006
[3] ^ Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, Ludwig Ott, Book III, Pt. 3, Ch. 2, §6, ISBN 0-89555-009-1
[4] ^ Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus, no 44 [2]

Bibliography

1) Shoemaker, Stephen J. (2002, 2006). Ancient Traditions of the Virgin Mary's Dormition and Assumption. Oxford University Press, Oxford. ISBN 0-19-921074-8

2) Duggan, Paul E. (1989). The Assumption Dogma: Some Reactions and Ecumenical Implications in the Thought of English-speaking Theologians. Emerson Press, Cleveland, Ohio

CATHOLIC MASS TIMES IN MALAYSIA

Church of the Assumption, Petaling Jaya
14th August 2007 - Mary Pillar of Faith
By Rev. Fr. Simon Yong, S.J.
6.45 p.m. - Rosary and Novena
7.30 p.m. - Sunset Mass of the Feast of the Assumption

15th August 2007 - MARY, MOTHER OF GOD
By Rev. Fr. George Manikam
6.30 a.m. - Mass
5.00 p.m. - Mass
7.30 p.m. - Mass followed by Procession and Fellowship

Church of St. Francis Xavier, Petaling Jaya
14th August 2007
7.30 p.m. - Sunset Mass of the Feast of the Assumption

15th August 2007 - FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION
Mass Times: 6.15 a.m., 1.00 p.m., 5.00 p.m., 8.00 p.m.

Church of St. Ignatius, Petaling Jaya
14th August 2007
7.30 p.m. - Sunset Mass of the Feast of the Assumption (English)

15th August 2007 - FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION
Mass in English at 6.30 a.m., 1.00 p.m. and 7.00 p.m.
Mass in Mandarin at 9.00 p.m.