TERMINATOR: GENISYS

Hollywood is fond of remakes and , and they are also fond of inviting actors from former movies to appear in current ones to evoke past memories or to provide a sense of humour. The first 4 Terminator movies were screened in 1984, 1991, 2003 and 2009 respectively.

This latest movie set in 2029 wasn't so much about John Connor, leader of the resistance against the machines, but focused more on the relationship between his parents Kyle Reese and Sarah Connor. Saved by John Connor as a child, Kyle was raised to join the resistance in the fight against the Skynet and its machines. The resistance failed to destroy Skynet and Kyle volunteered to be sent back in a time machine to 1984 to protect a young Sarah Connor from harm. Thereafter, the characters were originally planned to be sent to 1997 to change the events but instead moved forward to 2017 to stop the launch of a new global operating system known as the Genisys, which was supposedly Skynet.

Well, this movie was action-packed but it was a tad too confusing for me as they seemed to shuttle between different timelines which altered past and future events. Jason Clarke who played John was second fiddle to Emilia Clarke's Sarah and Jai Courtney's Kyle. Arnold Schwarzenegger reprised his roles as the terminator machines T-800 and T-800 (model 101) and he went from young to old through the times. There were two scenes of Kyle going all naked for the time travel and there was the famous Arnie naked scene as well and his deadpan looks and corny "I'll be back" phrase. Lee Byung-hun seemed to be Hollywood's favourite Asian or Korean actor to play similar roles as the villain (e.g. in the G.I. Joe movies) or killer machine in this as T-1000.

At the end of the movie, there was an easter egg segment, which hinted at a possible sequel.

Arnie as T-800 (model 101) in a rare Kodak moment

Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese

John Connor who was infected by Skynet in the future

T-1000 the killer machine

Kyle and John

TODAY (18 SEP 13) PAGE 23 - DRUG-RESISTANT 'SUPERBUGS' DEEMED URGENT THREATS

Overprescribing of Antibiotics Chief Cause of Resistance - at least 2 million people in the US develop serious bacterial infections that are resistant to antibiotics each year

Written by Dr Thomas Frieden, Director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), this message was clearly stated in the headings of this article which I read. The CDC was extremely concerned over the alarming increase in pathogenic resistance against existing antibiotics and urgent public health threats were recently issued. According to them, at least 23,000 people died from the infections annually and yet new drugs are not being produced as fast as the development of antibiotic resistance.

The prevalent over-prescription of antibiotics in health care is accountable for the increase in antibiotic resistance by allowing these superbugs the chance to develop immunity against the drugs used to treat them. Antibiotic resistant Gonorrhoea, a diarrhoea causing bacteria and another killer bacteria are just some of the pathogens developing resistance.

Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), a family of germs that are difficult to treat, was called a nightmare bacteria because none of the strongest antibiotics are effective in controlling it. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and a resistant tuberculosis are apparently of immediate concern too.

The question now is how such infectious diseases can be effectively kept under control before it becomes a public health crisis that affects a world wide population? In the local medical arena, is anyone spearheading any control measures, I wonder?

Meanwhile, I will be going to watch the Korean movie "The Flu" on the outbreak of a fatal disease sometime soon to get some insights on what and how one can do to save oneself, their love ones or should one just throw themselves over the building when all is lost.

KOREAN

I tried out this stone pot Korean rice dish the other day and well, it was just another new dish to me.