Life @ Work: Introduction

Now that I've two and a half months into my new job, I finally have the time and mood to sit down and reflect on what is happening and how and why. All my previous attempts have been half-baked, but I really, really want to sit down and sort out my thoughts and feelings about this new place, the people and the environment.

Being honest, I am grateful and happy to be here. Because compared to the junkyard that I was in back then, this place is paradise. The job is brilliant- I got to blend together finance duties and management assignments, so it's really like being back in university again. The environment is great- large office space, my own huge desk (though I'm still clueless about what to furnish in all that space), full air-conditioning and green outdoors. The people are wonderful as well. I walked with a group of what my father called 'Young Urban Professionals', which really opened a whole different world to me. They are an elite group, one which sin is subjective and not really considered, but their minds are exceptionally brilliant. And yet at the same time I'm friends with my fellow colleagues in Finance, who are more on the conservative side. In short, I walk a fine line between two worlds where good and evil are defined very differently, a grey area. 

Put all of those in together, it is an interesting mix. Everyday at work is an adventure, something new to learn, something challenging to face. I think I learned more in two months here than I ever did for a year in my last job. And here, I begin to know where I truly stood. There's so much that I haven't learned, that I have not achieved. With the friends that I have now, each day is a question of how I'm going to catch up with them. It made me think constantly about what I'm going to be in two, three years' time, because I began to have the fear of not being able to be equals with them one day.

If anyone ever question my fears, I will tell you here why: two of my closest friends at work, two guys whom I had come to know since Assessment Day, were graduates from Australia. One of them was offered a post in General Motors before he chose to come here. The other one is a GENIUS plain and simple. Super pro-active and smart, he just knew his stuff. I remember when I got my job offer, I knew in my heart that this second guy had got the job as well, because I would be shocked if he didn't and I did. 

Then there's a third guy, who made up the fourth member in our batch. He previously worked for Malaysian Airlines, and I heard that he actually got the offer to further his studies in Aviation in the UK. 

As if those aren't enough, let me tell you bout my seniors. Although technically they're all relatively younger than me, I still consider them seniors because they came into the company earlier than me and the three guys. One of them, from what I heard, was a certified MENSA member. Another has research as a hobby, and I think he's an overseas graduate as well. The third graduated from Australia while another I think used to study in the UK. And the only other Finance person in this elite group aside from me, he used to work for one of the top four audit companies in the world, and graduated from a top university in France. France!!

Intimidated yet? Cos I sure am.

Movie Rant: Lessons learned from watching the Avengers.

I never thought I'd go and watch the Avengers the second time in a row. I mean, the movie was alright. In my opinion all the hype has sort of diminished the WOW effect it could have had should it been more low-key. But unlike The Hunger Games, I never had the weekly urge to go and see it every chance I get. Watch it once, get it out of my system, and there done.

However, when a colleague of mine had an extra ticket from her friend, she invited me to come along to watch last Friday night. I decided to say yes cos, come on, it's a freebie to one of the year's biggest blockbusters! Since I didn't write anything about my first impression of the movie, I decided that this time around I'm going to list down the stuff that I learned about our favourite avenging superheroes.

1) Keep it short and simple for the green guy, please.

HULK SMASH!!!!

     I like all the members of the Avengers, but Hulk always has a soft spot inside my heart, purely because he's the most amusing character in the movie. Indeed, Mark Ruffalo is probably the best actor to have ever portrayed Marvel's version of Jekyll and Hyde, playing up Bruce Banner's mild mannered persona as the key to his struggle to keep the green monster in check. But once he transforms, even his fellow Avengers and wary of him (except maybe a certain Tony Stark). Despite being the main character who mainly grunts and roars when he's green, Hulk was amusing in his own way. He is the one they're all waiting for to save the day, and when he does, he comes in riding a putty little scooter. That's the image Hulk carries with him throughout the movie. Sure, he's gonna smash his way around and will probably destroy half of New York City while he's at it, but that doesn't mean we won't cheer for him all the way.

Note to any future villains looking to destroy/conquer Earth: make your acceptance speech as brief as possible. Otherwise you're going to get flailed like a piece of laundry by our favourite temperamental hero. Long prolonged essays makes him angry, and apparently nobody likes it when he's angry.

Oh, and Loki? Here's what Hulk thinks about your plan to take over earth: "Puny Gods."

Hah.

2) Captain America is a class monitor in previous life.

     It's really funny in an ironic way when Steve Rogers and Tony Stark have a go at each other, and Stark would call Rogers "old man", given the fact that Robert Downey Jr. is obviously far older than Chris Evans. But looking at their characteristics, it's not really that surprising. While Tony Stark is, in effect, the star of the movie, nobody can contest Captain America as the leader of the pack.

Why won't you guys listen to me????

Being designed as the perfect soldier, he is always the one to tell the others to quit messing around, to keep them in line and stick to the given mission, whatever misgivings he has with the entire S.H.I.E.L.D.S operations. He broke the fight between Ironman and Thor while the two were having at it after Loki was captured, and told Stark to stop poking Bruce Banner just to test the length of the latter's endurance. Oh sure, some might see Rogers as the wet blanket, but in truth he was just trying to keep order. In the crazy world of being part of a superhero team, there aren't many things that stays put and grounded. Things change in an abnormal speed and even the things they felt they're sure about can be a variable. In a way, Captain America sets out to keep everything together no matter how insane their mission turns out to be.

Keeping a firm head above crisis is one of the key things to being an effective leader, thus it's hardly surprising that despite their constant friction and differences, when the going gets really, really tough, the "don't play well with others" Ironman still turns to Captain America and said, "Captain, orders?"

3) If you're the good alien being, then you'll probably take the most hits (Sorry Thor)

From the moment Thor first appeared on the screen, he seemed to be the one who came out the worst. Out of three Avenger-vs.-Avenger fights in the whole movie, he is in two of them- one against Ironman and (partly) Captain America, and then the other against the Hulk (I know, ouch). His younger brother is bent on taking over the world, and when your brother is Loki (which is the Trickster God in some myth), obviously you're going to get hurt in some ways. In Thor's case, he was locked inside a highly durable capsule and plummeted down to earth, barely escaping a fatal fate, and then Loki went and stabbed him as he tried persistently to reason with him.

I have a hammer. And people still throw me around. $%^%^%#&^*&&&^878!!!

Worst part is (or was it the best?), even after working together to bring down a colossal alien monster, Hulk couldn't resist punching him off the screen.

Don't take it personally though, Thor. Maybe Hulk just doesn't like alien beings. At least you worked really well with Captain America.

4) Be careful when you make a girl cry.

More often than not, the female characters served as the sex appeal in the movies. They are there to spice up the romance elements, the center of our heroes' tender looks and gentle words. The Avengers' individual films have shown this, be it Pepper Potts, Jane Foster, Peggy Carter or Betty Ross. No matter how they all tried to emphasize that these women are strong-willed, intelligent and can hold their own, the fact remains that they are merely there to watch in dismay as our heroes charged into danger.

Hang on a sec. There's this guy who won't take a hint.

In the case of Natalia Romanov, however, the science of female leads in comic book adaptations is being challenged. Natalia Romanov is a spy, first and foremost, and a woman second. It is not to say she did not display any womanly characteristics, it is more the fact that she is acutely aware of certain things that a woman can do, and used them to get her way, and I don't mean this in a disgusting, sexed-up way. She played up a female's vulnerability to a point where the man feels like he's in control and has broken her, when in truth, she's just out there to get what she wanted.

Case in point? When she came in to speak to Loki, it seemed like she was trying to negotiate to save Hawkeye. Then Loki threatened to have Hawkeye kill her, before taking the latter's life himself. Everyone (including me) thought that the Black Widow was cracking at the intense picture Loki was painting, but in the end... she was just getting information for Loki's next plan.

Bravo, Black Widow. Who says girls can't play just as well as boys?

5) I don't care what anyone says, Hawkeye has the coolest skills/weapon.

So I don't get that much screen time huh?

Sure, we've got Ironman and his cool suit, Captain America and his cool shield, Thor and his cool hammer and Hulk and his cool, er, right hook. But regardless what people say about the character Hawkeye, I still think that Hawkeye, with his keen senses and bow and arrow, is the superhero I would like to be if I were to join the Avengers. I mean, who doesn't want to be able to shoot a bullseye arrow to the enemy's neck while looking the other way? Really?

6) Errr.... I didn't really notice Ironman. 


Will not elaborate further on this.
*Ducking laser-fires from Iron fans*

Say that again???

A shoutout to Loki, for being one of the most amusing supervillains I have ever seen. Indeed, some funny scenes wouldn't be funny without him in it.

Ahem, aren't you forgetting someone??

No, Mr Fury. Now, goodbye!