Hun Sen rages on

“ASEAN chief ‘not suitable’ for office” – Phnom Penh Post headline.

“I think Surin Pitsuwan is not suitable to be secretary general of ASEAN,” Hun Sen said during a speech before 300 disabled former soldiers in Kampot province. “The secretary general of ASEAN abused the role by interfering in internal affairs.”

Hun Sen threatened to raise the issue at ASEAN meetings scheduled for next month in Vietnam.

It looks like my yesterday’s concern that Asean would become Hun Sen’s new target is coming true. All that is needed is for Asean members to express support for their Secretary General and they’ll become sworn enemies of Cambodia forever.

It looks like it’s only a matter of time before Hun Sen tries his belligerence on the bigger targets than Thailand. Nothing good will come out of it for his country.

Avatar and the Oscars

So Hurt Locker won and Avatar lost in all the major categories (art direction and visual effects was a no-brainer).

I’ve watched Avatar five or six times, the first time I downloaded Hurt Locker I didn’t bother watching the second CD, though I could see that it was brilliantly executed in a cinematographic sense. I just don’t find this art all that attractive to watch.

Bomb diffusing in Iraq is a very important job but it’s also a dull subject after having this war on the news for over seven years. You can actually kick a few beers with your friends and conjure the entire Hurt Locker storyline in less than fifteen minutes. Fill the rest with stereotypes and your script is ready. In this particular case it was based on a book that was based on a true story of a real bomb technician.

How unimaginative.

After watching Avatar so many times I can’t stand the storyline either, I was critical of it from the very first time, but the visual effects are still astonishing, I’m still not tired of them and I want more of Pandora and Navi, and Neytiri. I suspect the story will become only cheesier when they do the sequel, though.

So that’s that. Let’s see what HD version would look like on big screen TV, I hope they’d improve on the screener.

Oh, and I noticed Acer 3D notebook going on sale, and Adam Newman is talking about 3D TV in his comic strip. That could be exciting if it eventually works.

PS. I was following Oscars on Twitter, they had this official backstage commentator, and I can’t describe how much celebrity crap he produces, Sandra Bullock said that, Jeff Bridges said that, he smiled, she laughed, they winked, she walked, he said, she said. Urgh. I’m apprehensive of anything endorsed by that crowd. No more Oscars for me.