A Touch of Clay

You have a good sound system, a crowd that readily claps at anything and everything, a trio of male strangers seated to your right crunching loudly on ice, and the lights in the cinema that goes dim a near minute too late, and still it is declared to be all good.

Terminator Salvation is a resounding symphony of brilliant script writing, careful blend of instruments that revolves around good directing, cautious graphics and intelligent casting.

Brought to you by the Executive Producer of The O.C and director of We Are Marshall, McG orchestrates his vision with careful thought in bringing the key instruments together.

Christian Bale leads an outstanding role as his character John Connor, whose quiet intensity delivers the necessary characteristics as the son of Sarah Connor.

Two thumbs up for Sam Worthington, whose character Marcus Wright compliments Bale’s performance in chorus, and of course there is Anton Yelchin, who plays the young Kyle Reese.

For those who are adverse to seeing an over-aged Arnie take possible centrestage again, rest assured that he of Austrian accent proclaiming a cocky return, only appears briefly as an overblown, wrinkle-free airbag without a crotch.

With all due respect to the founding actor of the movie, it was good to see good old Arnie for the brief few seconds again on screen, giving us even more reason to be thankful for the new cast, and drawing in the depth of how every scene flowed near-seamlessly together.

For those who are not inclined to sit through a war movie without earplugs on standby lest thy ears get blown away, I would not encourage you to sit through a theatre screening of this. However, don’t regret feeling letdown by missing out on the splendid sound effects and accompanying composition of the overlaying soundtrack, because both sound and visuals compliment each other thoroughly in this resuscitated vision.

I look forward to he who will be back in the following installment, and applaud the entire production team for their evidently tireless patience in bringing forth Terminator Salvation, which saved the initial diminishing hopes I had had after T2.

Where humans versus machines are involved, indeed we cannot deny that what sets us apart are our conscience and beating heart, and no matter how cold or strong an unfeeling object may be as an obstacle in your life in all its apparent treachery, there is always hope. Just know where its mechanical Achilles tendon lies and address it accordingly.

There will always be a new dawn of a crescendo in your life even when it feels like almost all hope is lost.

4 out of 5 stars for an instrumental masterpiece well delivered, and for a soundtrack I look forward to.

In tribute to an episode of Sex and the City, where it is reflected somewhat with a tinge of paranoia, that any scrunchy-bearing woman might be declared an exile or extinct.

To set the record straight, I am not a fan of the TV series. It’s almost as appealing as watching my dog shed her fur twice annually, fluff and all.

However, as I was looking at my Comfort Scrunchy in my tote, I realised superficiality is always taken to newer and greater heights, just when we think it’s as bad as it gets.

For all you know, Sex and the City fans might find this article atrociously superficial as well.

Let’s be honest here, do we really need 3500 pairs of shoes and twice that amount of luxury bags?

Fashionista or not, it’s how we carry things that count, not the other way around. For crying out loud (or as known in the Hokkien dialect, kao peh*), I would much prefer that we don’t become accessories of our, well, accessories instead.

Scrunchies. I’ve travelled to a fair share of fashion conscious cities, having grown up in this vain city myself, and note that truly aesthetically beautiful people can carry off a neat, sleek ‘do with a scrunchy.

That being said, as long as one has reasonable taste and is well groomed, it is all good.

And being well groomed does not necessarily mean thrice weekly manicures or looking like an over-clipped front lawn.

Ladies, if we had all the money in the world, I believe we can further cultivate character through several channels: community, aid and welfare.

We bin all unnecessary feminist sentiments and take deeper notice of issues that can be made lighter with financial aid. Don’t tell me there’s greater satisfaction in buying four Gucci bags on a spree, compared with ensuring a Red Cross mission sees an additional two thousand quid in financial aid that could help a disaster stricken zone where shelter and medical aid are needed.

You’ll even have some leftover to buy something quaint for yourself, and cookies to fill the crystal jar.

The heart you wear is like the tastefully created scrunchy they scoff. Wear it amicably because the world needs a beating heart like how our hairs sometime require the scrunchy to hold it beautifully.

To pioneer and not blindly follow.

Make a choice, it starts with yourself.

*Kao Peh in its original form refers to the grieving act of one mourning the loss of a paternal figure, however in this case I am referring to its slang in description of ‘making a lot of unnecessary noise’, therefore no parents are harmed in the writing of this dialogue.

There remains a considerable amount of people to hear about an alternative investment vehicle that is very fine indeed.

The Fine Wine investment market has been the leading alternative investment platform in the UK for the past 50 years, and has seen even the Queen of England herself investing in highly sought after labels.

How this platform works is simple: it leverages on the simple yet powerful basis of Supply & Demand, based on various factors covering selective labels:

1) past track record of respective labels’ market performance
2) consistent demand for highly collectible labels that has a sound history
3) past track record of winery in terms of quality of wines produced

We also look at other factors such as a comparison between the mainstream and this alternative vehicle, and chart the significant increase in potential returns.

On average an investor who has his hands on a sound label can conservatively estimate about 8% - 14% P.A over 3 years, amounting to an approximate 40%.

That, and the fact that these wines are placed under full ownership of the investor, including the standard shipping, storage and insurance within the investment amount.

For En Primeur wines (fermenting in barrel at source in France), while they are not possible to be shipped to the respective outbound countries, the wines are still under full ownership of the investors and are inclusive of insurance.

What you might want to consider is doing a general read-up on the internet, where information is widely available, on the Top 5 First Growths of Bordeaux, France, and the significance of internationally renown wine critics such as Robert Parker Jr. (French wines), his associate Jay Miller (who rates Australian wines), Jancis Robinson (first person outside the industry to be certified MW), and the likes.

A general read-through should suffice, because each sound wine brokerage should process their selection of the wines based on the above 3 points mentioned, via a procurement team that secures these highly sought after labels.

Because not all labels are widely available in the open market, these brokerages that manage to secure the labels can do so based on standing relationship with the representatives of the wineries, who produce these wines.

Only about 1% of overall production of wines worldwide can be considered investment-grade, and in Fine Wine investment, it is also definitely about marketshare, especially when highly demanded labels start selling-out in even the larger wine retailers across the regions.

Fine Wines that are considered worth of investment are covered mainly by 2 countries, France (Old World) and Australia (New World). While that is not to say that fine wines of other countries do not hold a respectable value, it is their history based on selection into respective classifications that allow for them to lead the vehicle.

Do take note that labels not within the Top 5 First Growths of Bordeaux, France, should not be unfairly dismissed as “non-valuable”, as there are other rankings such as the Super Seconds, and other highly notable labels that fall within other categories.

The First Growths chart is only a clear indication of the rich history behind each winery, and does not benchmark the complete standard of wines, only the collectibility value it holds.

If you are not one who drinks wines or know much about investment-grade wines, do not worry as you can trust a broker from a sound brokerage to advise you on the labels to secure and learn along the way based on advise and rappall.

Should you face a phobia of a Lehman Brother’s collapse in this parallel vehicle, do not worry about liquidating because after all, the wines are stored under your name, non-withdrawable from the storage facility even by the brokerage itself.

Fine Wines have to be kept carefully, which is why storage is also included. The correct temperature and humidity level help ensure the value of the wines when it is time for trading.

The labels on the wine bottles are kept in tact by the right maintained humidity level in the facility (which is usually a bonded warehouse, not subject to government taxes unless withdrawn for consumption). This is important as the label is representative of the brand of the wine.

You would not want to purchase a luxury handbag or watch with a damaged tag or embossing.

Root yourself in a sound brokerage, trust your broker and equip yourself with a little of bare basics via the transparent accessibility of the internet.

In fact you can look forward to toasting yourself to a ripe yield of sound returns, for this is a vehicle that allows for you to have a steady buffer in your investments, based on its low correlation with the movement of the economy.

This low volatility alone is enough for you to drink to good cheers.