Window Message

I'm staring at the block of apartments opposite my own, or more specifically at a group of four windows.

Each window belongs to a different apartment. The top left one has the letters H, A, P, P, Y arranged out, one letter to a single A4 sheet, across its length. The window next to it bears a message which is harder to read - as it is handwritten using a thin marker on more A4 paper - but a little squinting proves that it spells "BDAY". The bottom left window, just like the one at the top left, also has a printed message, and reads "S'PORE". The last window, at the bottom right, has no writing. It simply has a large and familiar red-and-white flag stretched out across it.

Happy birthday, indeed.

Vocabulary

"So why do you suppose it's Dark of the Moon?"

"Because there's a major plot point about the..."

"No, I mean why not Dark Side of the Moon? It's like there's a word missing."

"Maybe because Dark Side of the Moon was copyrighted by Pink Floyd."

"That's ridiculous. It's just a description. Of a real thing."

"Maybe they should have called it Transformers 3: The Part of the Moon We Never See."

"...I'd watch that for the title."

Transformers 3

In my humble opinion, Dark of the Moon is the best of the three live-action Transformers films. Watch it. Watch iiiittt....

(Again, don't bother with 3D. While less of a waste as with Pirates 4, and while it is used well, it doesn't really add anything.)

Actually, I'll go into a little more detail. Why do I say it's the best? Allow me to break it down.

Stuff improved from the previous ones:

• Juvenile humour - thankfully reduced to a few cringe-worthy bits. Why is this stuff in a movie about giant robots, anyway?
• Annoying government agent - the new one is less annoying, and you get a sense of rationality behind the things she does. Overall, a stronger character.
• Annoying humans - less of them. Unfortunately, Sam is very much evident. You'd think he'd have grown up by now.
• The camera - much, much better. The shots are smoother, and pull back to show the fighting so you can actually see what is happening, as opposed to a frantic jumble of metal. The slow-motion shots are also used a lot better this time. There's one scene, with Optimus bearing down on an enemy while shooting rapidly - and then the camera slows to show you that he is actually picking out multiple targets in quick succession and with perfect accuracy, simultaneously avoiding the enemy's counter-attack  That is the perfect use for slow-motion.

Really good things:

• The plot. Very well written, with several good twists and surprises. Instead of the last movie, which was pretty much random events happening just so that the characters could move from one set piece to another, there is a greater coherency about the whole thing, as well as some nicely-placed Chekhov's guns. The bad guys really show their mettle here, pulling off an impressive, multi-layered plan which takes a while to fully reveal itself. There's still some bad physics, especially with the main villainous plot, which is (literally) straight out of the 1980's cartoon. That said, in a film about giant sentient transforming robots, perhaps disbelief should be suspended for a while here.
• Trope subversions - there are a number of these, to the point that I think the writers may have been hanging around TV Tropes a little too much. Nevertheless, they helped to keep the situations plausible. There's one part where it seems the good guy and bad guy will have a final one-on-one showdown...and then the bad guy calls for backup to take out the good guy, more good guys show up, and it turns into an all-out brawl. Which is, of course, what you would expect in a real war situation. I think it actually helps the characterisation along - the characters aren't stuck in a kid-friendly cartoon, and they know it.
• More robots! There are plenty of them in this movie, with enough screen time allocated to them to make the appearance worthwhile. Even the little comic-relief characters get some good scenes. 
• The military tactics. Instead of simply slinging around hardware, there are more instances of out-gunned forces using their limited resources in an intelligent manner to overcome a vastly stronger enemy. Again, it makes things more interesting. Overall, the final battle was a lot more entertaining, in part thanks to these.
• A cameo by the real-life Apollo 11 astronauts. Optimus remarks that he is honoured. I would be too!
• Desert Megatron. That is all.

Things which still bug me:

• There's that one slow-motion shot. You'll know it when you see it, because you'll be asking the same thing I did, and the same thing the person sitting next to me was asking. "Why?"
• Actually, all the slow-motion shots where the camera is clearly doing nothing other than admiring the female lead. Just for once, I'd like a camera which stops to admire, say, Sideswipe. Or Mirage's gorgeous Ferrari alt-mode. Or even that one Mercedes-Benz.
• Sam, stop whining and grow up already!
• There were some pacing issues - sudden slowing or diversion of the plot just when things were getting serious. It was rather jarring sometimes.
• This film is pretty brutal. As in 1986 movie brutal. 
• Physics aside, there are still some plot holes and things which don't quite make sense.

Miscellaneous

• Did anyone else note the visual and thematic similarities to Half Life 2 in parts of the movie? At times I felt like I was watching a playthrough of the game, only the aliens are giant robots.
• That would actually make a pretty awesome game.
• Optimus... hmm. He's a lot more brutal in this film, and makes some harsh decisions. You can understand where he's coming from, especially since the Decepticons are also more ruthless in this continuity. I have to say, his characterisation was well done, and he shows emotion at some times while becoming unyielding at the right moments an experienced commander could be expected to. It's just a bit hard to get a handle of what his ideals and motivations are sometimes. He's certainly been built to be a separate character from his G1 counterpart.
• This film is darker than the other two, but in a good way. I think it underlines the seriousness of the conflict between the Autobots and Decepticons.

So yes. The first move was a fun introduction, the second one was spectacular but largely forgettable, and this latest one stays with you for days afterwards. A good end to the trilogy.

Recipe: Green Tea Tofu Cake

Look, I know it sounds weird, but it is delicious and my epicurean co-supervisor agrees with me, so there. The beany smell of the tofu is not at all evident after baking. And at least this cake does not contain sauerkraut.

Green Tea Tofu Cake
(Adapted from this recipe.)

Ingredients
2 1/2 tsp Matcha green tea powder
1 cup silken tofu
1 egg
3 tbs butter, melted
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup plain pancake mix

Preheat oven to 180°C. Lightly grease a loaf pan.

Sift together green tea powder and pancake mix. Set aside.

Drain water from tofu and whip until smooth. Beat in egg, butter and sugar. Add half the flour mixture and mix in carefully; add the other half. Mix until well-combined.

Pour cake batter into the pan. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the top of the cake is lightly browned. Remove from oven and, while still in the pan, invert over a wire rack immediately. (I'm not joking about the "immediately". Within one minute the cake will start sinking.) Allow to cool completely before removing the pan.

How to Comfort a Guy

I don't know, how do you comfort a guy? This chap is the sort who stiffens up uncomfortably at the suggestion of a hug, so that's out. And, well, I don't want to keep asking him how he's doing because that would only remind him of the bad thing which happened to him in the first place. He is so very sad, but I don't know what I could do - either personally or by enlisting help from others - which would turn that around.  I'd like to show that I care, but not for the sake of showing that I care, if that makes sense.

Hmm, people are hard.

Recipe: Quick Baked Potatoes

Yet another recipe for lazy people. Or university students. Or lazy university students. It takes about half an hour to prepare these.

Quick Baked Potatoes

Ingredients
Potatoes (enough to fill you up)
Butter

Preheat oven to 200°C. A toaster oven can also be used.

Wash potatoes well and pat dry with paper towels. Stab the potatoes multiple times with a fork. Don't forget the stabbing step, unless you like explosive potatoes.

Place the (stabbed) potatoes onto a microwave-safe plate. Cover with a paper towel. Cook on medium-high heat for 5 minutes. Turn the potatoes over, replace the paper towel and cook for another 5 minutes.

Lightly brush the potatoes on both sides with butter (or olive oil if you want to be fancy). Wrap in aluminium foil. Transfer potatoes to a baking tray and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes.

Carefully unwrap the potatoes (there will be a fair amount of steam, so watch out). Split potatoes open by cutting a cross on top, without cutting all the way down. Lightly mash up the centre of each potato with a fork.

Add preferred toppings and enjoy. I like to top with shredded cheese, return the potatoes to the oven until the cheese melts, and then add a spoonful of Greek yoghurt (healthier and tastier than sour cream!), fried bacon bits and chopped spring onions, with sliced tomatoes on the side. Other toppings can include poached fish, chopped hand-boiled eggs, baby spinach, chopped parsley, chilli flakes or whatever else you happen to have in the kitchen. (Chocolate sauce is not recommended unless you are making baked sweet potatoes.)

Lilac Nails

Apparently, kicking a two-decade-old habit is harder than it looks. I kept nibbling on my nails during moments of inattention. Finally, I painted them in an unappetizing shade of light purple, with a topcoat to preserve the colour layer a little longer. It seems to be working, although the oddly-coloured nails keep distracting me.

Turns out that a Coke Float made with peppermint-chocolate ice-cream is both refreshing and delicious. Which is a good discovery, since I don't actually like peppermint-chocolate flavour and was looking for a way to get rid of it.

I haven't mentioned The SCP Foundation, which is a pity since it contains some well-written examples of short horror fiction the absolute right thing to do since everything there is highly classified and certainly not made-up in any way. Since they are classified, you should never read any of the articles. Especially not at night.