The Missing Link... Part One

Boy, does a soda run out really quickly when you're waiting for someone! I should have ordered for something stronger, considering what this 'appointment' is all about. I should have known when she set up this appointment that things would get quite serious. I took the chance and said I had something to tell her as well. This was hastily put together, but at least I got to pick the venue.

And then she arrives. I can detect a scent of lemon and strawberry, but that may just be the icecream she's eating. There's also a hint of urgency with just a touch of foreboding. And strawberry. I think I'm smitten all over again.

I finally remember to get up, smile and pull out the seat for her. We hug first, but it's one of those hugs you wish you hadn't (hugged?). We almost just fumbled about it. Anyway, she takes her seat, and I take mine. A little while later (about an hour, she's talkative!) we get down to business... I shoot first.

"It's always nice to hang out together like this. You're really good company."

"Oh? Wow! Coming from you, that means a lot. Glad you feel that way."

"Aww shucks! Er...so, I was wondering...You're a very interesting lady. You're sweet, thoughtful, smart, gentle. I like a lot about you. In fact, I like you and... would you be my girlfriend?"

"Well, that's sweet! I like you too, but not that way! I think of you more like a brother. Why would you spoil our good friendship? Can't we just be frien...."

"Ah, no! No no no no no!"

"What? Why are you overreacting?"

"I'm not. But just don't play that card, dear."

"What card?"

"The 'let's just be friends' card. I know, you have the 'best' of intentions, but what I hear is 'just continue being nice to me and in return, I'll offer you nothing but a smile!'"

"But I value your friendship and ....."

"Oh, really?"

"Duh! Why not? I mean, you're the nicest guy I know."

"And she says it! Have you never read that 'nice guys finish last'? And you call yourself my friend. Yes, you are, but we've crossed the Rubicon."

"The what now?"

"There's no going back. I have crossed the line. I'd rather die, theoretically, than live without you. If I can't date you, I can't stay by your side while some other guy does something I didn't."

"But you've done enough!"

"Clearly, I haven't."

"Ok, now you're just being childish."

"Perhaps, but I know when to move on when my dreams have been crushed. But let me ask you this. Do you girls think that the average guy is so gifted in foresight that he can attempt to have a relationship with you, which you will kindly reject, and fall back to (best)friendship, which was his original plan all along?"

to be continued...

I met a girl... (Aptly named, huh?)

Every once in a while, someone gets to the point where they have to rearrange their priorities. I reached such a point last week. It all began when I met this girl...
Hahaha, no! It's not one of those (awful) 'boy-meets-girl' kind of story. Yeah, you might argue that it is. I'll let you argue until I feel comfortable enough to join in.

As I was saying, I met this girl. this girl believes I can do things I'm not sure were even possible. She is convinced that I am awesome, nonetheless, and as such have a great future ahead of me, should we enter some sort of partnership. Aha! I knew it! There had to be some catch. Now i wonder what's in it for me. This sort of situation looks familiar. Case in point: LXG - the part where Allan Quartermaine is being recruited. They tell him his country needs him and they can't possibly win without him, blah blah blah. Strangely, that card usually works! Is it something about telling a guy he's much needed and how the world would be so lost without him?

This girl wants me to teach her a skill I haven't perfected. I know lots of tricks using various software, but I hardly think of myself capable of teaching! I can explain a few pointers here and there, but honestly, I can't teach! I do not have all the patience, and word has been said that I'm not good at explaining things either. So, I'm stuck with a hopeful student and no game plan. Hmm.. Perhaps I should draw up one.

Step one: Keep the relationship professional. Do not, under any circumstances, accept to be paid in kind.

Step two: When you explain, look at her eyes, not her chest area.

Step three: Speak in monotone. It will go a great distance in maintaining composure, and occasionally provide comic relief when student looks dissatisfied with your teaching method.

Step four:  Make sure you go for drinks after she's learnt some things. You know, to make sure she's alright.

Step five: If any of the above steps fails, improvise!

I hope I'm sufficiently armed to deal with any surprises that may arise. Oh, and she'd better pay cash!

UBHH Recap: New Look

For those that are not sure, Uganda Bloggers' Happy Hour (UBHH) is a bloggers meet that happens every last Thursday of the month. Yesterday was the last Thursday of Feb, so it went down at Mateo's. I arrived at the scene to find Darlyne, Mildred and Dilman already settled in. Not bad, I thought. I hadn't seen these faces in a while. After our hearty hellos (these folks sure know how to welcome kindred spirits), I got to take a seat and take in my surroundings. Mateo's now has steel barristers. Before, they were not made of steel. Looked a lot like rope. They also have straw chairs and tables! The place looks funkier. They still don't let us take photos though, apparently. They still have those beefy guards at the entrance.

Well, we were soon joined by Caesar. I'd never seen him before but he seemed to be a crowd favourite. I got to learn why moments later. By this time I had a smile on my face. The second BHH I've attended without a ULK rep? What happened? Solomon King joined us later. He exchanged one of those greetings with Dilman. You know, those ones of 'So you're the one! Great to finally meet you' type of greeting. We had settled down by then. As you'd expect in meetings such as these, we discussed our work. Then we went on about trends, CGI, photography, fashion, series and movies, and possible collabos. No, not the musical ones. Not the hostile takeovers either; just collabos. Perhaps Mildred and Dilman are going to sing a song together. People have all sorts of passions, I tell you. When a couple of guys started talking about cameras, I was amazed. It’s always refreshing to hear someone talk about something they know well. They almost convinced me to take up photography myself. I’m still thinking about it.

These blogger meetings keep getting better. I got a chance to get a great movie that I’d heard about just recently. I’m not sure what the others got, but they can speak for themselves. As for those that missed, we are a forgiving bunch. In fact, we are so forgiving that there is no beef for anyone. That’s as a group. Personally, I’m putting a bounty on Jhny23’s head.

Generic Recap of an otherwise awesome BHH...

Last Thursday, as is the norm every month, the bloggers were at it again. Well, some of them. Glad the skies didn't fall on us this time. We would have been furious.

The first time I attended BHH was the last time I was there first. It's tough being there first these days. When I got there, the crew had already settled in and a fair round of 'oohs' and 'aahs' had passed. Those were in relation to Tipsyalco(etc)'s new look. I too expressed my sentiments, and was heartily rewarded. Yes, she looked fabulous, but threats of her leaving early were relentless. Almost took the fun out of it. She's forgiven, for she stuck around for a while. Or was I the one that came very late?

Found Nev there, having a blast chatting about graphics and all. Rev seemed to be paying close attention, but gave up when he could no longer resist showing us his baby's pictures. The baby looks nice (don't they all?), but his daddy claimed to have had a hard time getting him to pose for the pics.

Solomon King and Rhino seemed like an unlikely duo. Seemed. But they got by splendidly. Sibo and Ivan shared a joke about their hairstyles. Seeing as I had a similar one, I found it mildly amusing.

We were visited by a sight, nay, two sights, once familiar but now redeemed by their presence at such an opportune time. Boy, was Walkonby a sight for sore eyes! The lady was seriously outnumbered. And after a long absence, Basiks turned up! He got a round of applause and hi-fives. Yep, it was good to see some long lost faces. Walkonby reminded us about the Mega-BHH we had talked about. She offered her place (for/as the venue). There was some debate about who should be in charge of the music. When Rev suggested he do it, there was a chorus of disagreement. It seems we're yet to catch onto Malian music. Same went for Nev. The idea of playing Hillsong music all night long was disturbing the peace of some. Case settled. Ivan won. I think that was because he made no suggestion whatsoever as to what sort of music he'd play. Clever. I think he whispered something about having an artist (artiste?) sing live. I think. So, all ye bloggers be warned. Mega-BHH coming soon (rumoured to be in early Dec).

I must add that for a great part of it, it was only guys. This event drew a hearty laughter from Nev. No need to imagine in what direction the general conversation drifted. If you know these guys, you'd know.

The 'regulars' absent ought to be ashamed. Really ashamed. Or else they stand to lose the prestigious title of 'regular.' And that's a wrap!

Green Lantern's Light...

Yes, this is a review of the DC Comics movie 'Green Lantern' that I watched only last night.
For clear reasons, I avoided having to watch it in the cinema. I got a very clear (720p HD) copy. For those who don't know, it means this copy was so clear you'd see the sweat on a dog's nose!
Anyway, this is how it went down:

For starters, I began this movie at around 1am. I didn't dose off. A major plus.
The origin story is as cliche as they go, but the stunning visual effects did go a long way to cover that flaw. I think there was also a romantic side to it somewhere. Didn't surprise me, neither did it impress me. It seemed as though someone decided it would be nice to just fix it there. It didn't work.

As for the plot line... Ok, let me admit. It's tough to stretch this review.

Just as I was warming up to the movie, it ended! Just like that! It practically came to a screeching halt! That was an anticlimax to crown them all! In short, it had the potential to be a great movie, but it collapsed like a house of wet cards. The villain just wasn't 'villain enough'.

Maybe I just like the guy, but the presence of Mark Strong (Sinestro) helped the movie along. I think he has what it takes to give Hugo Weaving a run for the title of Mega-villain. (Mark Strong is the guy who played Lord Blackwood in Sherlock Holmes. He has that ominous voice, typical of the great movie villains.) He wasn't the villain in this one though. Sad indeed.

Well, apart from the awesome effects, there's not too many talking points really. Don't say you weren't warned.

Sucker Punch-ed!

Ok, I admit it wasn't the best idea to decide to do this, but there's so much I felt like saying that wasn't going to cut it in a 'mere' facebook status message.

Last night's movie in point was Sucker Punch. Despite the truckload of negative criticism attached to it, I decided to brave the movie. Brave it I did, for it was a tough test on my nerves. I can relax to the fact that it offered little to tax my mental faculties, seeing as I was rather exhausted by the time I started it. These are my findings.

First 5 minutes:
Found nothing wrong with the opening scene. At this point it looks like a sensible movie. The title sequence had me clap my hands in glee... Something about such movies and rain that just makes the whole scene tick.

Next 20 minutes:
Still not asleep, so I soldier on. Not having a problem with the soundtrack so far. And like the Russian accent. Hate the whole ballet thing. Then she 'dances.'

Some sort of Eastern temple. Old man offers advice, laced with corny quips. Amusing at first. Then the first battle. I'm impressed by the realistic tactics I notice in the fight, though I'm put off by the seemingly invincible sword. Two hits from those giants should have shattered that ka-sword. What's it made of? Vibranium? (Vibranium: fictional energy-absorbing metal. Used to make Captain America's round shield, and to power the Mark VI in Iron Man 2 - courtesy of wiki)

Hmm, so instead of watching some silly (and most likely erotic dance routines) we're treated to some awesome fight scenes?! Cool!

After an hour:
I gave up on following any story developments. Just waiting for the fights. The four items (around which the plot seemingly revolves) no longer bear any significance to me. And I'm also disappointed that the dragon died so easily. It must have had such a low self-esteem. At this point, I'm pretty sick of the old man's words of advice. Shoot him already!

At 1:14:05:
Fighting robots! Yay!!! This gets me seated upright. I like robots. Of course the ragtag band of soldiers comes through every mission without a scratch, but I can live with that. Though the robots put up a decent 'fight' it's the awesome sword-gun combo that does it for me. I've only seen that in video games. Ok, I think it would have been way cooler if it were a guy doing the shooting/slashing. But then again, it's a girls day out. So far, no girly cries so it's still ok.
Have been greatly enjoying the scenery.

Then, somehow the movie comes to a screeching halt! I run out of appropriate diss words before they even come out. Well, I can't say I didn't expect some disappointment.

In general, I managed to watch this movie while doing about 3 tasks simultaneously, so lost nothing in the way of plot. Of course I had to pay attention when the fighting started. Can't watch a fight and make an omelette at the same time.

I was admittedly impressed by the visuals and the soundtrack, only! In short, I agree it was a terrible movie. One I enjoyed watching. I did find the gems in the dirt.

UBHH Recap: Ain't no Sunshine!

I must admit that, unlike all other days, this Thursday was filled with mystery. My ID had mysteriously vanished from the security desk at work. I tried to harass the guard into telling me what had become of it. But seeing that it would have caused me to go unusually late for BHH, I decided to finish it first thing next morning. I told him to prepare himself for my wrath. For those of you who don’t know, I hate losing my ID. Under what circumstances would I lose one? Well, on many occasions, it has been at the hands of guards. There, that’s enough history on that matter.

So, off I go, and get to Mateos just in time to hear the punchline of one of Johnny’s jokes. I missed a monumental event, I must say, for I rarely hear the punchline to his jokes. I’m sure I would have laughed as well, had I heard the ‘joke’ from the start. In strength was, as usual (big ups man!) Solomon King, Dee, Kampire (it had been a while), Jhny23, Mildred (a.k.a Tipsyalc..mob things), Rhyno, who I later came to learn actually has a real name. I didn’t learn the real name.

Of course I was asked where Nev was. He had given me his excuse beforehand, but as I was telling them he wouldn’t be able to join us, the guy comes ambling in! Imagine that! I’m never speaking for that guy again. Well, if I’d checked my phone as soon as I’d arrived, I’d have seen that he’d sent me another message (after the one telling me he wouldn’t come) that he’d changed his mind and would be with us after all. Still, who changes their mind like that? And for some reason, Jhny23 kept insisting that I should try the intestine. It was a cocktail. I didn’t. I must have cost him a bout of laughter, or a bet.

UHF joined the band soon after (oba before? Details are misty). Apparently, she has something in common with Kampire. I’ll ruefully regret having not exchanged any words with her. Not even a customary ‘hi.’ In my defense, she was a good distance away and didn’t do the customary round of greetings. She’s forgiven. Oh, UHF-Unidentified Hot Female.

Angela Kintu was in force too! And she has jokes! She had SK laughing uncontrollably, or was that just one instance? If was just one, it must have been a very long one. Lorac, new blogger from last time, came in fashionably late. Somehow, she had Rhyno give up his seat. I asked her why ‘Lorac’ doesn’t end in q rather than c. I thought a q would be cool. As in ‘Loraq.’ She said I probably didn’t get it. I insisted that I had got it. It was just a matter of c against q. I don’t recall who won.

Just as I was about to conclude that this was a night of breaking records, Streetsider showed up! That means that there’s a ULK rep at almost every BHH I’ve attended. Almost. And he represented well, though it was more like a cameo for such a highly anticipated ‘performance.’ Yeah, the guy looks and dresses like a star, so you can expect words like ‘performance’ and ‘cameo’ attached to him.

The night was full of surprises, but hardly any more delightful than the ‘sudden’ appearance of Di Ncy (Hope I spelled it right). I saw many faces light up on her arrival. Some of us even welcomed her back. It’d been like forever since she was last seen.

The night was going on well until someone asked (suspected in mid-stupor) who still blogs. You should have seen people! Haa, fellaz were quick to defend themselves, as in those ones who were guilty. Mbu Facebook, simanyi Twitter oba has done what to them? Somewhere, someone said Baz said mbu those things of writers’ block are wolox. How can you call yourself a writer when you can fail to write? That one put many hands on respective chins (and foreheads). Some hands went as far as putting themselves on other people’s chins! It was a deep question, but the general conclusion was that Baz is probably very talented to not have blocks. Tut tut.

As people were warming up to Di Ncy, it decided to rain on us. I don’t recall BHH being rained out, so there was a record! And I got home soaking wet…obviously, but with a strange smile on my face. For a funny reason, I find being in the rain quite relaxing, especially when I’m going home. This time, the song in my head was ‘Draw You Near.’