This, actually, really isn’t a story about wine. But wine bottles feature greatly in it, and wine bottles that are opened more so, and then there is the wine that is poured, gleefully, into welcoming glasses. A sniff, a whiff of age and waiting, a gentle sip and slurring, and wetted lips turn into smiles that are gold.
All it takes is one good bottle, one good vintage, to bring good friends and old together, back into your fold. You are a happy host for you see before you only happy faces and not a single frown or mope. There is joy untold in the hours of baking and cooking and the hours before that of seeking the best ingredients for your dishes, the preparations and careful following of well-thumbed recipes and sometimes a creative decision to ignore them. Such flavours shall be revealed, the subtle notions unfold as your guests ooh and aah to their hearts’ content (and yours, if you would admit it).
Hungry guests. Such a blessing.
And fortunate are they to be invited to your humble feast. A fresh salad of reds and greens, peppered with the daintiest of quail’s eggs. Mashed pumpkin with a hint of saffron. Home-made pork sausages of different skins and meats. Different pigs, that is. A porcine discovery? A revelation. Ribs braised in molten caramel, a modest chicken pie that satisfies, layer after layer, slice after slice. And to complete the meal, a brand new cake, the concoction of the day. One bite, and your guests all agree – no better use of bananas and dark chocolate and cheese and biscuits and a spare Snickers bar just lying around the kitchen was ever made.
And to accompany this merry eating and feasting, no other beverage serves better to salve our thirsty throats than a glass or two or more of a good red wine. A full-bodied and supple blend from the Cape itself. Alas, I am no wine aficionado; I know not more of its history or its character beyond what I glean from its label, but I’ve been promised a good year. One bottle shall not suffice; this is a small party, yes, but the throats are many and well and thirsty. More bottles, please, to open and to pour.
Surely there is no fashion more perfect to celebrate our erstwhile host and our gathering and our friendship than wine, actually?
.
.
.
.
.
.
A Note on Good People: One is a great host and friend (and terrific baker too!) and the other two are new friends I’ve made who are extremely passionate about what they do (so much so it’s inspired me also). Great conversationalists and wit all round. With good folks like these, it makes it somewhat easier for me to believe that the world is indeed a better place.
.
FatBoyBakes • Fattening Favourites (or simply Cakes)
Fatboybakes bakes cakes as a hobby. He is a Civil Engineer, albeit a non practising one, and baking, he finds, much like mixing concrete, is therapeutic. http://fatboybakes.blogspot.com/
.
Wine Actually • Malaysia’s Online Wine Merchant
WineActually was founded by Wilson Quah and Shaun Lee, two ex-London finance professionals turn wine enthusiasts. http://wineactually.com/
.
.
Copyright © 2010 Kenny Mah Ying Fye. Photographs by Devil Wears Prada.
Kenny Mah believes in the good in people. He has been blogging for over ten years. No, his hands aren't tired. Yet.
Hungry guests. Such a blessing.
My mum’s credo too. It’s a good feeling to be able to share anything made with love, and an even better thing to be able to enjoy it together.
@Lyrical Lemongrass: Oh what I’d do to be able to dine at your mum’s world-famous table one day! Food made with love, and makan-ing with loved ones – that’s the life! *beams*
awww, what a sweet post…that reminds me, i am actually supposed to collect my bottle from shaun lee, who incidentally, is jun chan’s cousin. small world hor. i found out from that woman who’s mother’s table you want to dine at one day.
Its really good to have friends who really enjoy good food….
at times being an veggie i really miss or one can say envy all the gastronomic delights of rest of the world….
but i am a closet wine aficionado and i am going to see i loose my wine virginity this year. :))
and its bit surprising and cool to know that some one from finance has migrated form the world of derivatives and Bonds to wine… :))
PS: you should try an black framed glasses like the one seen here u would look totally geeky and more cool
http://www.fastcompany.com/welcome.html?destination=http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/143/next-design-golden-eye.html
vino, bambino!
u know i love my wine, but i have a story to share about over-drinking recently. it was at a lisbon restaurant, where the wine was cheap and tasty.
anyway, i drank too much, too fast, and was feeling quite queasy by the time my friend and i walked out of the outlet. fortunately, my friend was completely sober, so he hailed a cab for both of us to our rented apartment, 10 minutes away. near the end of the ride, i felt really nauseous, but instead of asking the driver to stop, i just placed my hand over my mouth, thinking for some reason that it would stop me from throwing up. alas, i threw up _ a lot. virtually my entire dinner. in my dazed state, i remember not wanting to mess up the cab, so i purposely threw up over myself, over my shirt and pants.
this tale of woe doesn’t end there. so we got out of the cab, got back to our second-floor apartment, where i changed into clean clothes. i was too groggy to shower, but i put my soiled clothes into a plastic bag and went downstairs to the corridor on the ground floor and dumped it all in a large rubbish bin shared by the block’s residents.
the next morning was a sunday, and we were scheduled to fly to madrid. we were packing our bags and everything, but i couldn’t find my passport, which i usually kept in a “secret wallet” strapped to my belt and hidden underneath my pants.
after searching the entire apartment, i realized it was probably still inside the pants that i had thrown away the previous night.
so i walked downstairs. it was already 11am by then. opened the trash bin, and thankfully, probably because it was a sunday, the plastic bag was still there! i had to open it and dig through the vomit-covered clothes to search, but my wallet with the passport inside was still there.
is there a moral to this story? not sure. :D
@fatboybakes: Haha, I actually knew that. I bumped into Shaun recently at Jaya One, at Starbucks where I was photoshopping some pics for this very post as well as looking at older pics, including some of Jun Chan at Hajime. Small, small world.
Wish the world was even smaller that I “accidentally” find myself dining at the table of the mother of the woman whom you spoke of in your last sentence. Ahem.
*hint, hint, nudge, nudge*
@vimesh: Indeed, I sometimes suspect I make friends based on our shared love for food… Of course, that’s now how it happens, but it does seem that way.
Nothing less gastronomically delightful about the vegetarian lifestyle though, my friend. One just needs to know the right places to eat, or get really creative at home, in one’s own kitchen.
I say this with ease, but I do realise I’m not a vegetarian myself and so don’t really have to try as hard. But I’m almost 100% certain it’s possible.
Me, sometimes I feel I just need to migrate, period.
P.S. Cool does not become me lah. Geeky I shall have to remain.
@Sean: Yikes. I wonder if there is a moral to this story also beyond maybe the next time keep the passport in a safe in the apartment/hotel?
Or maybe not to drink too much cheap wine no matter how tasty it is?
Or screw the cab, keep one’s clothes clean at all cost?
Or… make sure one eats, drinks but not as Sean might in Lisbon?
I jest, I jest. This is all to cover up the immense sympathy I have for the drunken-and-hungover-the-next-day you in your story.
I have a similar one set in Melbourne but that ended far better. Maybe that’s a story for another time/post/comment…
your story ends far better? that simply means you got devastatingly drunk and woke up the next morning in bed with a devastatingly dashing someone :P
i haven’t visited melbourne yet (only been to sydney and adelaide in australia), but i really want to. i said this on another blog recently, but i bet that with all the cafes and restaurants there, i’d just be hopping from one outlet to another, from lunchtime to closing time.
and anyway, i wasn’t hung over at all the next morning in lisbon. i think i threw up a lot of wine as well. THAT’S how much i drank that night :D
@Sean: Haha, I wish! Though, I have to admit, I think I was certainly a devastatingly dashing drunk myself, given the number of looks I got as I sauntered suavely back to my apartment…
Or it could just be the Aussies staring at the tipsy Malaysian kid…
And you’d be right about the cafe/restaurant-hopping in Melbourne. It’s a foodie’s paradise. I wanna go back too!
P.S. Yay for puking up enough wine not to have a hangover the next day! Uhm, wait, should I even cheer that?
I WANT CAKE DAMNIT!!
@Jun: Then, to paraphrase Marie Antoinette (supposedly), “Let (Jun) eat cake!”
And I mean that in the nicest FatBoyBakes sorta way. Hahaha…
Kenny, looking good with specs :) I don’t think I have ever seen you wearing it…
Wine makes every meal an occasion, every table more elegant, every day more civilized.
—Andre Simon, “Commonsense of Wine”
Love the new word that I learn from you today: Babitarian. :P
@seowyin: Haha, it’s a newly acquired possession. Alas, with age, I do need it. Life is CLEARER now with my glasses…
@jemima: Oh that’s a lovely quote. Shaun and Wilson of WineActually.com are gonna love it!
And Babitarian is one of my favourite words, concepts and mode of being. Pork makes my world go round and round, it does. Hee.
being drunk is fun! there might be repercussions later, but when we feel the loosening of inhibitions, the sense of liberation … ‘in vino veritas’ is one of my favorite phrases!
and hey, maybe the aussies didn’t realize you were drunk. you might have just seemed high on love :D
but don’t blame the wine (at least not completely) if i sound intoxicated right now. am in porcine paradise after having dinner at ad hog in sunway damansara (i liked it so much, i just blogged about it!). since u just mentioned that pork makes your world go round, this place might rock your world … ‘babi guling,’ english roast pork, bbq pork ribs, ‘chic pog’ (chicken thigh stuffed with pork sausages and wrapped in bacon), spanish suckling pig, fried pork tail, pork shoulder steaks :D
p.s. throwing up is more pleasurable than a splitting headache, just as bobby drake is more shaggable than hank mccoy :P
@Sean: ‘In vino veritas’? In wine, the truth? Then I best not get drunk too often, too much truth makes one a much less mysterious person…
And nay, alas, back then I wasn’t high on love. It was the potent mix of lots of champagne and lots of red wine.
I think I would have fared better with lots of ad hoc hog (ahem), as one might put it, sauntering into this pork-friendly establishment you just blogged about (though pork-crazed may seem a better description though).
P.S. I wouldn’t call throwing up pleasurable. A relief certainly, afterwards. Though young Master Drake may well be more pleasurable before he is relieved, in the before rather than the afterwards, if you take my meaning. Ahem.
i wish wine and japanese food went together better; i miss my glass of vino… (now it’s beer or shochuu)
i would love to hear about some of your experiences when the wine flowed in extra abundance *wink wink*
Good wine, good food, good wine and great company – what more can a person ask for right? :)
Ohhh lovelies! :) I love that wine glasses. The one I have is just plane shape, I want that fancy looking one!! :)
Great-warm party!
hmmm, what would make someone do crazier things: love or champagne + wine? i’d leaning toward love. i know i’d quit my job for love, but even in my drunkest state, i doubt i’d draft a resignation letter :D
it’s fascinating to reflect on our behavior (and that of our friends) when we’re sloshed though. i generally just get friendlier when i’m tipsy, but if i’m really intoxicated, i become sporadically obnoxious … which kinda worries me.
if being drunk exposes our true natures, does that mean that i’m in fact an uncaring boor at heart? the answer is probably not a straightforward yes or no, but it requires more introspection than i’m prepared to handle :D
p.s. i’m not entirely sure i take your meaning. care to speak in plain language? :P
@mr sekimachihato: Hmm, you just made me wonder if any Japanese food would go well with wine, and if so, what sort of wine? Sounds like a job for the Wine Actually guys!
Might also ask my other Japanese friends but I fear they may give me the evil eye for suggesting wine with their national culinary output…
@J the chocoholic: Oh I can imagine a lot more a person could ask for… a nice comfy bed to lie in after the drinking and eating, for one, and while we are on this subject someone sizzling to share the bed with also would be nice…
@Juno: Cute, aren’t they? Not mine, alas. I do have some really nice wine goblets my ex bought me for a house-warming gift. Time to put that into good use. More wine, please!
@Sean: I would have to agree you: Love does make us move mountains and all that geographic movements on a grand, grand scale.
Here’s the thing though, when one is doing it for love, it ain’t crazy at all. It’s right and wonderful and good and fun and feels so nice…
No?
I do hope I never meet you when you’re well and truly sloshed though – obnoxious people aren’t really my thing at all. Especially those who can consume six eggs at a single seating, rinse their palate with foie gras every other course and gain nary a gram in the process. So unfair.
Though, to be fair, I doubt there’s a boorish gene in you. You are one of the most gentlemanly dudes I’ve met. Or maybe I just normally associate with boors myself and you’re less boorish by comparison? Er…
P.S. Any plainer than that and it wouldn’t be fun lah. Cis.
hmmmm, i wish i could say i’ve done many noble things for love, but most of my actions have been impulse-driven (and alarmingly cliched).
standing outside a house in the pouring rain. making a u-turn at the DBP building and driving back to puduraya to confess my feelings to someone waiting for a bus back to penang. starting to smoke cigarettes for two weeks to desperately get attention. alas, none of those deeds actually paid off, and none of them felt very good either.
but i guess we’re looking at this from two somewhat different perspectives, and interpreting ‘the things we do for love’ in different ways. :D
oh, and to prove i’m a card-carrying member of the mutual appreciation society, i’d definitely say you’re the ultimate opposite of a boor, both in real life and online. how ever do you manage to prevent all that boorishness around you from rubbing off on you? :D
p.s. *scratches head and stares into the great unknown*
U greedy boy :P
@Sean: Wow. I dare say you’ve been far more romantic than I have ever been. (Not sure if these actions qualify as noble though; U-turns and smoking don’t really smack of nobility however one might play it out, er…)
But yes, back to the point. You do amaze me. I wonder why you don’t share more of these escapades on your blog then? Or is it inappropriate, given the food & drink theme?
Oh, and trust me: I can be boorish. Just ask our mutual friend the Queen or my best friend the Diva. I think I am a feminist boor – I treat women more equal than they’d like me to… Slapping them on the backs like one of the chaps and all…
P.S. Nice view, no?
@J the chocoholic: Oh you have no idea…
And greed is good, is it not? I tend to follow Gordon Gecko’s maxim on this. Ask for more, get more. Want more (out of life) and live it to the fullest. We only have such a brief time on this planet; I can’t imagine not wanting, doing, being more…
That, and food, sex and friends go so well together. (Oops, did I just say that? Hee.)
hmmm which reminds me to collect wine from them too just like FBB :p
@babe_kl: Sounds like they are doing rollickin’ good business already! Good job!
ouh, you misread me. i meant that i’ve NEVER performed noble deeds in the name of love, but i wish i had. all of my past actions were designed to scream out, “love ME!” that was the folly of my youth: i sought love, and whenever i thought i had found it, i demanded it.
i think we all have such experiences though. and putting them into words (whether on a blog or not) is risky, because they can come out sounding self-important or shallow…
aiya, that means you’re not boorish lah. you’re just touchy-feely :P
p.s. hmph. you had to mention views, just because you probably have a hotel room view now overlooking the malacca strait. ooh, but i saw a meteorological department warning today saying there might be flash floods in penang on nov. 1-3…
@Sean: Oh indeed do I misread thee – a thousand apologies! If by erring have I wounded thee, know that I am wounded a thousand times more by my own mistake, surely.
By the way, ever considered a remake of Leona Lewis’s ‘Bleeding Love’, retitled as ‘Demanding Love’? (I jest, I jest…)
As for – “…putting them into words (whether on a blog or not) is risky, because they can come out sounding self-important or shallow…” – my friend, isn’t that what my entire blog is about? Oh dear.
And I mana ade touchy-feely. Just touchy. And I like feeling the cute ones up definitely. Heh.
P.S. I do have a hotel room view now overlooking the Straits of Malacca. And a gorgeous view it is too. Unfortunately, I won’t be in town for the flash floods as I’m flying back to KL this afternoon…
Hey waitamin, those two monkeys weren’t on the well-thumbed menu the other night! :P
H2O makes my world go round. I just need good friends :)
@A Lil Fat Monkey: They weren’t? Well, they oughta be – those monkeys were yummy! *winks*
eeeks. haven’t finished the conversation here yet, but u’ve already posted a new entry. this is a first. :P
how apt that you mentioned leona lewis, since she’s actually in kl and will be performing at some street show at changkat bukit bintang tomorrow (no, i’m not going. dunch like crowds) :D
p.s. what a short-lived trip. and unlike your other trips, u didn’t vanish into the online void this time. i’d ask u to blow a kiss to my alma mater (USM) if u pass by, but i figure u’re already gone by now.
ahhh, penang, where i fell head-over-heels for nasi kandar (and probably ate 500 plates of it during my three years there, always with the same crucial components: fried chicken, fried fish roe, chicken liver & cockles, drowned in a flood of curries) and roti canai (i’d use penang’s roti canai to make my “never a dhall moment” roti canai sandwich) :D
@Sean: Haha, whoever said one had to finish a conversation before starting a new one. Come, my friend, let us continue:
It’s news to me that Leona Lewis is in town. I tend to avoid the madding crowds too, so I shall admire her from afar; and perhaps not even that as I don’t really watch the nelly telly.
P.S. Indeed Penang was a brief trip; in fact, I am typing this comment from the comforts of a taxi from the airport. KL, I am home!
Also, I have more dealings (but no kisses thus far) with your alma mater than you may imagine.
Then again, I trust I may not be able to imagine your “Never A Dhall Moment” concoction either (nor would I want to, really). Eeks.
u might be able to resist the lure of leona on her own, but can u say no to leona AND the veronicas (that pop-rock sister duo from australia), cos they’ll all be performing for free tomorrow. what’s the occasion? some launch of new volkswagen models.
p.s. i hope u managed to enjoy a stroll down the hallowed halls of my beloved institution, perhaps following in my footsteps on the paths that i first blazed more than a decade ago. :D
@Sean: The Veronicas? How about The Betties and The Archies? Or for that matter, The Jugheads?
Come to think of it, Stephin Merritt has a band called The Gothic Archies, he of The Magnetic Fields fame. If you haven’t heart of him already, I bet you would love his bands and his music. He’s like pure wit distilled into song.
P.S. I don’t follow footsteps of muddied paths lah. Some more your footsteps prolly washed away long ago by all these flash floods you seem to worry about. *sniggers*
lfb: gasp! u dare make light of the veronicas?! why, these girls deserve absolute adulation for their lustrous hair alone!
actually, i’ve never heard of the gothic archies, but i love one song by the magnetic fields: “all my little words.” it encapsulates the pain and bitterness of unrequited love so well.
p.s. wonder whether the flash floods might come to kl this weekend. i got caught in the rain last night, and even while typing this, i can hear it pouring outside now. hope leona manages to stay dry at her street concert tonight :D
@Sean: Me, make light of The Veronicas? And the highlights in their hair? I assure I would never mock them.
Well, no more than you would. “Absolute adulation for their lustrous hair” indeed.
I love that song and I used to have a micro-blog using that title. You just reminded me of a plan I once had for this. Hmm…
*mutters to himself: Gut, gut…*
P.S. As I am typing this, I have just ferried Devil and his Aussie colleague to the bowling alley at Sunway Pyramid and it was pouring this morning too, perfect for sleeping in. Unfortunately, I’m the designated driver and photographer for their team during this competition. Drats and double-drats.
well, your hair in the photos of this post could ALMOST pass off for lustrous too … but the veronicas could still teach you a thing or two about preventing split ends :D
a plan to get rid of one’s gut? :P
p.s. as i’m typing this, i’ve just woken up from a restful eight-hour sleep. it seems to have poured while i was slumbering. eh, sunway pyramid got bowling alley ar. i thought only ice-skating rink (but that shows how much i know about non-f&b outlets). anyway, i thought u enjoy photographing bowlers while they’re flapping their arms like chickens :D
@Sean: Meh, I’m a dude. No need for lustrous hair. I’m just glad I even got hair, if you know what I mean. Male pattern baldness seems like the lottery, except most people run out of luck when they strike it. Heh.
Das ist Deutsch lah, mein Freund. But I guess, of late, you are more familiar with a Nippon tongue? Or at least their oodles of udon.
P.S. Yeah it’s been raining on and off all day since 6:00am. And I’ve been absent from my bed with roles as chauffeur, photographer, domestic laundry sergeant, etc. Saturday should be renamed Sadistic-Work-on-the-Weekend Day.
But at least I did get those chicken-arm-flapping-bowler pics. Time for blackmail. *rubs hands together gleefully*
ahhh, my maternal grandfather and uncle both went bald before they hit 30, so that was supposed to have been my fate too. considering i’ve passed that age by a few years already, perhaps it’ll be ‘hair today, hair forever’ for me :D
you should get together with my colleague, a german lass who’s been living in kl for a few years now. both of you could blab all day about sausages and sauerkraut. :P
p.s. laundry? that’s what laundrettes are for! think of all the space you’d free up in your home (and use to build an archuleta altar, perhaps) if you could get rid of the washing machine :D
@Sean: Hair today, hair forever? Hmm, I dunno. Maybe losing our hair is a rite of passage, a changing of seasons, like the dignified autumn of our life?
Oh joy, a Malaysian-ised Fräulein? Do make the introductions… It’s been awhile since I’ve had any Sauerkraut or Weißbier!
P.S. Laundry is soothing for the soul, my friend. Unnecessary (and very probably illegal) altars to 19 year-olds would only put a cramp in my style.
eeeee. autumn comes too early then. it still feels like mid-summer to me :P
more of an asian-ized fraulein, who spent some time working in vietnam too before coming to malaysia. not sure how to introduce though … even though i’ve worked with her for three-plus years, i’ve never even gone out for a meal with her before. colleagues don’t often turn into friends in my office :D
p.s. so i suppose a shrine to the 16-year-old justin bieber would also be out of the question :P
@Sean: Ah yes, but after mid-summer comes late summer, and after, the Fall. (Quite dram, no?)
That’s very German of you (and her, naturally) – not having colleagues doubling as friends. One of my mentors when I was living in Munich told me that she had worked with the same folks for 15 years and none of them were her friends. Which is not a bad thing, necessarily. This just means they take the concept and meaning and roles of friendship very seriously and don’t just add anyone and everyone just based on the fact they work together and/or other reasons.
I admire that, actually.
I have a feeling though this is the exact culture that Mark Zuckerberg is trying to erase. Pity.
P.S. That’s so wrong in so many ways, I can’t even begin to number them.
i’m not sure if i’m gonna go the shave-it-all-off, seek-svenson’s-help or stay-in-denial route if the Fall ever comes. i can’t quite imagine u rocking the patrick stewart look though :D
hmmm, actually my colleague is friends with a few people in my office, and they regularly go out for ‘pan mee’ during lunch. but i generally demur at hot, sweaty lunch breaks :P i do subscribe to the philosophy u mentioned though. if the chemistry isn’t right, then friendships shouldn’t be forced…
ooh, zuckerberg! that reminds me, ‘the social network’ opens in kl next month, i think. mark your calendar (or better yet, create an fb event about it! ):D
p.s. i had bieber fever for a few weeks earlier this year, but i’ve since recovered. not sure if that gives me a lifetime immunity from it though :P
@Sean: No, and you’d be right. I’ve had my close-shaved moments (actually all-shaved would be closer to the mark) as a petulant adolescent and I must say, it doesn’t become me. One needs the right shape of head and all.
Speaking of shapes, as with the shape of one’s heart as it connects & attempts to fit with another, so it is with lunch companions – chemistry is paramount. Else, round pegs and square holes and all that.
I haven’t been to a cineplex in aeons – this Fincher/Sorkin film may break the spell. From the reviews, it should certainly be worth it. (And I do want more glimpses at the future Spider-Man.)
P.S. Wait till Bieber hits forty. Should cure you of your fever permanently since that is way past your preferred age range for idle adulation, ja?
maybe u could still rock a cap or hat (one of those fedoras that justin timberlake and jason mraz both like to wear?) :P
and speaking of justin, he might actually be an oscar nominee in a few months for his role in the social network (it’ll be either him or the future spider-man … or both, if the competition is weak!)
my last multiplex (mis)adventure was ‘eat pray love.’ one of the rare cases when i enjoyed the book more than the movie :D
@Sean: Nope. Tried the hats/caps thing too. Doesn’t work for me. Not many things do, apparel-wise. I think this is why I love my Paul Smith t-shirts. They are the bee’s knees.
As for Mr. Timberlake, much as I like the dude and his music, my desired Best Supporting Actor nominees (sight unseen) are as follows:
• Aaron Eckhart, Rabbit Hole
• Andrew Garfield, The Social Network
• Christian Bale, The Fighter
• Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech
• Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right
• Sam Rockwell, Conviction
I doubt Bale or Eckhart will get a nom, but I have always loved their performances and would be giddy at some awards love for these two awesome actors.
@Sean: P.S. I have not watched ‘Eat Pray Love’ but have read its lacklustre reviews.
I must admit the book was a bit of a slog too (bought it as a birthday gift for the Diva who already had the book – I checked with her first to make sure she didn’t have it, and she assured me she didn’t; only to find out later she just forgot she had it after all – and so had to read it myself… waste not, want not and all that).
Which gets me thinking (other than The Lord of the Rings), what other film adapation of a book/short story/graphic novel is even better than the source material, in your opinion?
but what will happen to your paul smith t-shirts after u’re done lining up at uniqlo when it opens this thursday? :D
ya, the sad thing is that we haven’t managed to watch ANY of films that might feature this year’s best supporting actors nominees. but simply because they’ve been doing good work for so long, and they’ve never been nominated, i’d like to see ruffalo, rockwell, bale and eckhart on the shortlist. rush is guaranteed a slot, but i wouldn’t mind ed harris (the way back) or matt damon (true grit) nominated again either…
p.s. hmmmm, y’know, most of the time, if i know there’s a movie coming out, i don’t bother to read the book. for example, the girl with the dragon tattoo trilogy (especially since there are TWO film versions of that one: the swedish, and the upcoming hollywood re-imagining). i haven’t read enough of the original books to really say which is better, but i liked the movie versions of fight club, the english patient, dangerous liaisons (the glenn close one), the talented mr ripley, empire of the sun…
@Sean: They will still be in regular rotation, my friend, with my Uniqlo-wear. And I’ve already several items from Uniqlo via my April trip to Tokyo this year. So it mixes and matches rather well with Paul Smith, methinks.
I’d agree with you on Damon and Harris except they’ve been nominated before and are often in the awards limelight. I’d like to see the rest getting some love, really.
And one fine day, I am certain young Master Nicholas Hoult will get some Academy XOXO too.
P.S. I haven’t read the book or watched the Swedish adaptation yet. Let’s hope I crack both before the American film beckons. I’m with you on all the other movies you mentioned except for The ‘Empire of the Sun’ which I have yet to watch (so malu I know, given how big a fan of Christian Bale I am).
Indeed a fun outing with much food and wine going around for everyone!
@ck lam: Oh yes, and we can’t wait for ANOTHER one! Hahaha…