Burger King’s Grilled Chicken Tandoori Grill Burger with fries and 7Up.
Month: April 2017
Closer Look At The Krenim Weapon Ship *Star Trek Starships*
Up next is a monster. The Krenim Temporal Weapon ship from Star Trek Voyager. The Krenim weapon ship was a weapon developed by the Krenim Imperium some time around 2174 and constructed sometime afterwards. Its design and construction was spearheaded by Annorax, a military temporal scientist. The design of a weapon that pushed targets out of the space-time continuum, thus negating the events involving the target, and the construction of a ship to house it, was overseen by Annorax in the 22nd century. In the 2170s, the weapon ship was activated and used against the Rilnar, the primary enemy of the Krenim Imperium at the time. This temporal incursion restored the preeminence of the Krenim, but unexpectedly also resulted in a plague that cost over fifty million Krenim lives. Annorax attempted to rectify his error with a second incursion, but inadvertently erased the Krenim colony at Kyana Prime and with it his beloved wife.
Annorax continued to alter history with the weapon ship over the next two centuries, obsessed with restoring his wife. Among the civilizations he eliminated were the Alsuran Empire, the Malkoth, the Zahl, the Garenor, and the Ram Izad. The weapon ship was also employed against the Federation starship USS Voyager (Component 049 Beta in their calculations). Voyager had been passing through what in a previous timeline had been Zahl space when Annorax used the weapon to erase the Zahl, turning Zahl space into Krenim space. Attacked repeatedly by Krenim warships using chroniton torpedoes against which their deflector shields were useless, they were forced to develop temporal shields to use against the torpedoes. These shields disrupted the precise calculations Annorax’ crew had made to direct the results of their temporal incursion against the Garenor. This caused the incursion to “miss”; instead of the desired results, that is, the restoration of all of Krenim territory, including Kyana Prime, a timeline was created in which the Krenim Imperium never existed at all. This was, of course, totally unacceptable, and thus Annorax turned the weapon on Voyager. Voyager, however, was able to escape by going to warp speed, taking advantage of its faster warp capability to outrun the weapon ship.
The weapon ship itself was eventually erased from history when Voyager, all but destroyed by Krenim attacks, led a small fleet, composed of two Mawasi cruisers and three Nihydron warships, against it. Tired of the seemingly endless and futile mission, some of the crew, led by Annorax’ second in command, Obrist, shut down the temporal core. This caused the ship to phase back into normal space time, so that conventional weapons could affect it. Though the vessel’s conventional weapons were limited, they were still enough to overpower the attackers. However, Voyager’s captain, Kathryn Janeway, was aware of the exact location of the ship’s temporal core. Alone on her ship after being forced to order the rest of her crew to abandon ship due to its ruined state, she piloted it into that section in a kamikaze attack, causing the core to destabilize. This exploded the weapon ship and, moreover, caused a temporal incursion that erased the ship itself from history, and with it, every one of the alterations in the timeline it had ever made. Ironically, this had the effect of accomplishing exactly that which Annorax had been attempting to do for centuries; Kyana Prime was never erased, and Annorax never lost his wife.
Its main weapon was a beam that pushed objects out of the spacetime continuum, effectively erasing them from history. Careful and meticulous calculations were required to create the exact changes in the timeline that were desired. The ship could be deployed against an entire species by firing the weapon on the species’ homeworld, pushing the species out of the spacetime continuum. This caused a causality paradox; all of history the species played any part in would be altered. The following gallery is an illustration of the method of operation, in which the weapon was used against a colony.
So that’s it about this ship from the best two part episode of Voyager and some would say one of the very best in all of Star Trek. Hope you like the pics. And here is the close up video of the model
The Shallows
The Shallows is a 2016 American survival thriller film directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, written by Anthony Jaswinski and starring Blake Lively. In the film, a surfer gets stranded 200 yards from shore, and must use her wits and determination to survive a great white shark attack. I guess you could label it a horror / creature feature film of sorts.
Well despite being set most on the ocean or is it the sea on a pretty beautiful but secluded beach and featuring our actress heroine trying to just stay alive, it is still is a very good film. Medical student Nancy Adams travels to a remote part of Mexico to a beach which was her late mother’s favourite place. Her mother was pregnant with Nancy at the time and she wants to see the place. From her hotel, a friendly local named Carlos drives her to the location and leaves as he lives nearby. Nancy joins two other locals in surfing through the day and stopping only for a bite to eat, during which she video chats with her younger sister and her estranged dad.
After the two men leave, Nancy stays behind to see the carcass of a large humpback whale nearby and catch the last waves but is bumped off her board by a great white who also bites her leg. She then climbs the carcass of the dying whale but the shark rams it from underneath, forcing her to swim to an isolated rock. She only has a wounded seagull for company as the shark keeps circling the whale carcass and the rock meaning she is stuck there. A drunken local sees her but thinks she is waving hello and so he waves back. He tries to steal her bag but sees her board and in trying to get that he is attacked and killed by the shark. The next morning the two locals from the previous day also return and try to reach Nancy to help her but both are killed by the shark. The headcamera on one of the surfers floats nearby so Nancy risks her life to get it. She leaves a recorded message for her sister and father.
With high tide coming, Nancy knows that the rock will be submerged and the shark will get at her so she sends the seagull whom she names Steven toward shore on a piece of surfboard, and timing the shark’s circles from the whale carcass to the rock, Nancy swims to a nearby buoy, narrowly avoiding the shark by swimming through a group of jellyfish, which sting both the shark and her. She finds a flare gun on the bouy and shoots a flare at a passing ship but they fail to see her. She shoots another flare at the shark, setting the oil from the whale carcass alight and angering it, but otherwise having no effect. The shark attacks the buoy and rips out the chains securing it to the ocean bed. Nancy straps herself to the last remaining chain and as it is ripped from the buoy, she is pulled down to the ocean floor, pursued by the shark. At the last moment, Nancy pulls out of the dive, and the shark impales itself on some rebar from the buoy’s anchor.
By morning, Carlos’s son Miguel who was playing on the beach finds the camera and plays it. He runs to his father who is able to get Nancy out of the water and to a hospital. A year later we see Nancy with her sister on a beach in Texas going to surf on boards with their dad watching nearby. A good survival film and it even has some fun moments. Not since Jaws & Deep Blue have I seen a shark that I wanted dead so much. I thought it was well done. And oh so satisfying when sharky shark bit the dust! 7 outta 10!
Friday Movie, Shopping & Pizza
So day one of the three day weekend and I had some ideas on what to do but in the end I decided to just go to Edapally and have lunch & watch a movie in Lulu Mall. So that’s what I did. But 11:30 am I was off and away in an Uber to Edapally and got down at Lulu Mall. I like it the way it was today on the roads with hardly anybody out and barely any cars around what with it being both Vishu and Good Friday.
I went to a books & dvd/bluray store / gift shop on the 2nd floor before going to get a pizza for lunch. After the pizza and a strawberry / banana shake which was also very yummy, I went to wash up and wait until the movie started. Popcorn and Pepsi was my companion to the movie, which was Fast & The Furious 8. Now I haven’t seen any of the first 7 movies so why did I go in for this one? For lack of any good films that I wanted to watch in the afternoon. I decided to go for this film on a whim and I can’t say that it was a very enjoyable experience. Not the movie in itself, which was for sure just a 6 in the ratings for me. But I can’t stand it when you have assholes in the crowd and in India you tend to get them for action oriented loud bang movies.
Bunch of fans of Jason Statham, Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson in the theatre making a lot of noise and hooting. We also had a bunch of guys from the northern states who were making a lots of noise and creating a ruckus with their nonsensical loud talking. Idiots! Post the movie, I went for some shopping in the hypermart and then came back home. I reached back by 5:30 pm.
Moonwalk
Three Day Weekend Ahoy!
Another three day weekend is upon us. These are so rare that we need to really appreciate them because they are here and then they are gone! So……take a moment. Ok, thanks!
So Good Friday / Vishu is tomorrow the 14th of April and hence I have the day off and therefore the three day weekend. I want to enjoy it a lot, watch a few movies and get some nice food. Maybe go for a bit of shopping. I dunno what I can do but I am going to plan it later today.
I have to work from 12:30 pm to 9:30 pm so by then I will know if someone wants to join me for a movie at either Lulu PVR or Cinepolis. Problem is the only movie I really want to watch is at 6:30 pm and I am not sure if I want to wait till that long. Coming back by Uber is ok but I dunno if I want to wait that long – movie might end by 8:15 or so, and dinner after that will be done by say 9. That means I will reach back home by around 10pm! Hmmm maybe that is a plan.
I dunno but I shall tell you how it goes. If my folks weren’t home and could go away for a few days then I might even stay in for 3 days and only go out to buy some beer and then order some food in.
Pens and Pencils
When was the last time you wrote something substantive — a letter, a story, a journal entry, etc. — by hand? Could you ever imagine returning to a pre-keyboard era?
Short answer – a resound no! It hasn’t been that long since I and most people like me stopped using pens and pencils for writing out words. The last time I wrote a letter? Good heavens, has it been 17 years since then?
I suppose if we had to do it people could easily move back to a pen or pencil – if we really wanted to write, we would. We just wouldn’t write as much though. I used to keep a journal and at the most I wrote about a small paragraph a day, if that much! The most I wrote was when I was recovering from a minor operation that kept me at home for a month. I write a lot more these days and that is because I can type it up.
I don’t think the world would crumble if we lost typing up stuff on a keyboard and computer or other devices and had to go back to a pen and paper situation. But only real writers would write for a few years, the rest of us would stop for a long time. Me included. But I would probably pick up a journal and start writing again after a few weeks of mourning.
Prompt from The Daily Post at WordPress.com
Food Review #156
The Hot Touch Burger at MarryBrown’s with Coke, French Fries and a spicy mayo.
Crystal Palace 3 Arsenal 0
Crystal Palace continued their recent revival to boost their Premier League survival hopes and leave Arsenal struggling to maintain their run of top-four finishes under Arsene Wenger. Palace led through Andros Townsend’s close-range finish, doubling their lead when Yohan Cabaye’s shot looped in. Luka Milivojevic clinched victory with a firm, low penalty as Palace moved six points clear of the relegation zone. Sixth-placed Arsenal did not manage a shot on target in a poor second half. Some travelling Gunners fans again called for manager Wenger, who has led Arsenal to top-four finishes in each of his previous 20 seasons at the helm, to leave the club.The Frenchman’s side are seven points adrift of fourth-placed Manchester City with eight games remaining.
The manner of Arsenal’s performance – disorganised, devoid of attacking ideas and lacking fight – will increase the scrutiny on Wenger yet again. The 67-year-old has already faced protests from some supporters urging him to leave, with more calls clearly audible – along with the barracking of his players in the latter stages – at Selhurst Park. Wenger’s contract expires at the end of the season and the club has offered him a new two-year deal, although he is still to announce whether he intends to carry on. Arsenal had 72% possession against Palace but that mattered for little as the hosts broke quickly on the counter-attack, exploiting space down the flanks and taking their chances clinically. The Gunners looked defensively vulnerable whenever Palace went forward, lacking leadership without injured captain Laurent Koscielny.
And when the visitors did attack, Palace keeper Wayne Hennessey was only required to make saves from Mohamed Elneny and Alexis Sanchez. After the break, Hennessey did not even face a shot on target as Arsenal suffered a fourth straight away defeat for the first time under Wenger. “Palace wanted it more. You could sense that from the kick-off,” Theo Walcott, Arsenal’s stand-in captain, said. While Wenger has never led Arsenal to a finish outside the top four, opposite number Sam Allardyce has a proud record of not being relegated from the top flight. On this evidence, Allardyce looks much likelier to maintain his achievement than his long-time adversary. The former England manager, who has previously kept up Bolton, Blackburn, Newcastle and Sunderland, took a while to improve Palace’s fortunes after replacing Alan Pardew in December, but the Eagles are starting to reap the rewards of his methods when it matters.
Palace had too much pace, power and passion for a lifeless Gunners side. Although Arsenal dominated possession in the first half, Palace had the better chances and deservedly led when Townsend drilled in Wilfried Zaha’s cross from the right. Arsene Wenger has suffered four consecutive away Premier League defeats for the first time as Arsenal manager. This is Arsenal’s worst away Premier League run since April 1995 (also four defeats in a row) when they were managed by Stewart Houston. Wenger lost for the first time against Palace in 12 top-flight matches. Arsenal conceded three goals in four consecutive away league games for the first time since September 1929.
Eat, Drink, and Be Merry…
…for tomorrow we die. The world is ending tomorrow! Tell us about your last dinner — the food, your dining companions, the setting, the conversation.
The food – all my favourite stuff. Pizza, burgers, bacon, chicken fry, biryanis, butter chicken, tandoori chicken, pork, ham, pepperoni, shawarmas, beer, rum, vodka, ice creams and shakes and coffees.
The dining companions – I have a few people in mind. Close family, some friends. But I would dump them all for some hot women.
The setting – a luxury hotel room with big beds
The conversation – fuck talking, I am having an orgy with those hot women! And I don’t care about the world ending tomorrow cause I can die the happiest man in the history of the world.
Prompt from The Daily Post at WordPress.com
Employee Of The Month
“Thank you for contacting Canine Services. Bow may I assist you today?”
Missing Sequels
If you could create a sequel to one favorite (standalone) movie, which would it be? How would it build on the original?
Event Horizon. One of the best and most underrated science fiction + horror films out there. It absolutely rocks and is dynamite in it’s story telling. It has an awesome premise and plot and some really good actors in it. If you are unaware of the movie it’s about a crew of astronauts sent on a mission to get in touch with a starship that has reappeared suddenly after it’s disappearance 7 years ago on it’s maiden voyage. The ship had an experimental engine that opened a rift in the space time continuum.
Joining the crew is the scientist who invented the engine and when they get to the ship, the Event Horizon, they discover that the ship had opened a portal to a hell dimension and whatever got through had killed and mutilated the crew of the Event Horizon and now wants these men and women too. The characters must try and escape but the entity that has taken control of the Event Horizon won’t let them go. In the end everything from the forward section of the Event Horizon is destroyed and heads onto earth like a lifeboat carrying just three of the crew while the rest are dead and the rest of the ship is pulled back into the hell dimension by means of the black hole that was opened. However we are led to believe that all is not right as the remaining 3 are found by rescue crew from earth. Is the closing of the doors ominously mean that the evil still remains?
I dunno and it is speculated as a possible outcome. I would love to see a sequel for this 1997 movie which remains a favourite of mine. Someone please get to it.
Prompt from The Daily Post at WordPress.com
The Magnificent Seven (2016)
Although I have seen the original, it was so long, long ago (Over 25 years I think) that I do not remember anything about it. The Magnificent Seven is a 2016 American Western action film directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by Nic Pizzolatto and Richard Wenk. It is a remake of the 1960 western film of the same name, which in turn was a reimagination of the Akira Kurosawa’s 1954 Japanese film Seven Samurai. The film stars Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D’Onofrio, Lee Byung-hun, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Martin Sensmeier, Haley Bennett and Peter Sarsgaard.
The film pretty much follows the script of the original and the Hollywood remake classic (which makes you wonder why they bothered in the first place). A small mining town named Rose Creek, is looted by robber baron Bartholomew Bogue and his horde of criminals and when the good folk try to stand up to him, some of the men are killed on the street. Emma Cullen, who’se husband Matthew was one of those murdered, goes to the next town with her friend Teddy to get help and runs into warrant officer Sam Chisolm who was there on legal business. Along with gambler and Joshua Faraday, who is impressed with Sam’s skills, Sam agrees to defend the town on hearing that Bogue is the one who is harrassing the townsfolk. They are later joined by sharpshooter Goodnight Robicheaux, knife-wielding Billy Rocks, notorious Mexican outlaw Vasquez, skilled tracker Jack Horne, and Comanche warrior Red Harvest.
After they arrive in Rose Creek they confront and shoot dead enforcer McCann and his men, shoot dead 22 of them, and drive the corrupt sheriff away with a warning to leave Rose Creek alone. Surmising that Bogue and his forces will return in a week, the seven train the townspeople to defend their home and grow fond of them. Robicheaux, haunted by the horrors of the Civil War and fearing the killing he will be a part of, abandons the group and is replaced by Cullen. Bogue and his huge army of men arrive and attack the town but find that the people have rigged traps and bombs all over. A massive shootout ensues, during which Robicheaux rejoins the group. Bogue then unveils his secret weapon, a Gatling gun, with which he decimates the town and kills many of both sides. Realizing they’re outgunned, the seven evacuate the townspeople and mount their last stand. Horne is killed by Bogue’s Comanche assassin Denali, who is later killed by Red Harvest.
Robicheaux and Rocks are killed by a second round of gunfire. Faraday then rides up to the remainder of Bogue’s men and the Gatling gun. After he is riddled with bullets he makes a final attempt to destroy the Gatling gun, by detonating a stick of dynamite destroying the Gatling gun, the rest of Bogue’s men, and himself. Bogue flees into town, where he is confronted by Chisolm, who disarms and wounds Bogue. As Chisolm is strangling Bogue, he reveals that Bogue and his men raped and murdered his mother and sisters during a raid several years earlier, in which he himself survived being hanged. Bogue is then fatally shot by Cullen while attempting to shoot Chisolm with a hidden gun in his boot. Faraday, Robicheaux, Rocks and Horne are buried in town and honoured by the people of Rose Creek as heroes, while Chisolm, Vasquez and Red Harvest ride off. The film ends with Cullen remarking that their heroism made them legends and that it was “magnificent”.
I found the film boring in several places and then it picks up towards the final 3rd. The cast do a pretty good job but you won’t find the film memorable at all. I give it a…..7 outta 10!
Cuddle Buddies
Salad Days
Is there a period in your own personal life that you think of as the good old days? Tell us a story about those innocent and/or exciting times (or lack thereof).
For sure my childhood from the age of 1 to 11. Those were great times and the good ole days for sure. No care in the world, with plenty to do and lots of friends to play with. I was in a great school with lots of friends and in my building as well I had a lot of good folks. We had some wonderful though cheesy tv shows which are still great like the A-Team, Knight Rider and V. And whatever advantages and better toys kids these days have, their cartoons suck! Ours were so much better.
We had fun at school and after school we played games and maybe football whenever we could. Board games and cartoons on tv were the best part of a holiday. I also remember family dinners (with my sister, parents, an uncle and aunt and my cousin who also lived in Kuwait) of either shawarmas, kuboos n hummus and fallafels or KFC! I will always associate those foods with my childhood. Good times!
Prompt from The Daily Post at WordPress.com
Arsenal 3 West Ham United 0
Arsenal boosted their Champions League hopes with a deserved victory over West Ham, who remain in relegation trouble after a fifth consecutive Premier League defeat. After a quiet first half, Mesut Ozil, on his 150th appearance for the Gunners, fired home from the edge of the box after being gifted possession by Jose Fonte. And the German, after playing a one-two with Alexis Sanchez, crossed for Theo Walcott – captain for the day in the absence of the injured Laurent Koscielny – to turn home from eight yards out. Olivier Giroud curled in a fantastic third after being picked out by fellow substitute Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. The Gunners are now up to fifth in the table, only four points behind fourth-placed Manchester City, with a game in hand on Pep Guardiola’s side.
West Ham are five points above the bottom three, although it could have been a lot worse had Swansea not collapsed late on to lose 3-1 to Tottenham. The Gunners had only won one and drawn another in their past six Premier League games, to leave their hopes of Champions League qualification – having reached the last 17 tournaments – in real jeopardy. There were more protests against long-serving manager Arsene Wenger – with some Gunners fans not taking their seats until the 13th minute. It has been 13 years since they last won the league. But it did not distract the team too much, admittedly against opposition in even worse form than themselves. Arsenal had the best of the first half, but it was after the break they took control of the game. Hammers keeper Darren Randolph was unhappy with Ozil’s opener as he felt Sanchez was offside and blocking his view, but referee Martin Atkinson did not care for his appeals.
The two Gunners stars both linked up to set up Walcott’s second, and then Giroud scored the game’s outstanding goal to clinch the match. The French striker, who replaced Danny Welbeck, has scored more Premier League goals as a substitute than anyone else this season – five. Arsenal should have had a penalty in injury time when Sam Byram brought down Nacho Monreal. The Gunners had to play their third-choice keeper, Emiliano Martinez, after injuries to Petr Cech and David Ospina. But the 24-year-old, on his first Premier League appearance since 2014, only had to make two saves in the game. Arsenal became the first Premier League side to score 100 goals in all competitions this season (currently 101).Theo Walcott has scored more Premier League goals against West Ham than he has against any other side (six).
Slaven Bilic’s side have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their past 12 away Premier League games. Arsenal have won both Premier League games against West Ham in a season on 10 occasions – more than they have against any other side. No player has made more errors leading to a goal than Darren Randolph this season (three, level with Simon Francis and John Stones). Mesut Ozil has scored and assisted in the same Premier League game for the second time this season, with the other game being the reverse fixture against the Hammers. Olivier Giroud has scored more Premier League goals as a substitute than any other player this season (five). Emiliano Martinez has kept a clean sheet in three of the four Premier League games he’s started for Arsenal.
Wordless Wednesday
Just outside my balcony.
Food Review #155
Pizza Hut’s Chicken Italiano Feast – sharing a pizza with the cousin.