Elements Bits: Hanna

Cast:

Saoirse Ronan - Hanna
Eric Bana - Erik Heller
Cate Blanchett - Marrisa Wiegler

A rogue asset of the US has been hiding for almost 2 decades, and he has been developing the perfect assassin...16-year old Hanna.

After Hanna insists that she is ready, Erik sends a signal to the US government, and the CIA is surprised that the GPS was activated since the assassin program was terminated a decade ago. So the CIA led by Marrisa Wiegler decides to capture Erik and Hanna. But Hanna manages to escape and is exposed to the world the first time, since she was only a year old and grew up living in the Arctic Forests. Everything seems new to her even a simple light bulb.

The CIA goes ballistic since they don't know who Hanna's target is and it could be any high ranking official of a different country. Eventhough they have a rogue agent and a 16-year old assassin on the lose, the CIA does not want to send a broadcast out that one of their creations has gone missing. So they hire someone underground to track her down. So it is really important to capture Hanna to find out what her mission was.
--------------------------

Elements Bits number 1:

How knowledge can be gained. What seems to be a more effective tool, old school educated by books or visually high-tech trained by this generation? Some medium such as the Internet can provide inaccurate information, so I guess we need to take into consideration the source as well. They say a baby must not be exposed to television until at a certain age and must only have human interaction for better brain development. For me, it can work both ways since there are educational films for children that supports their development.

Does being in a secluded place actually help or can you absorb just about anything while sitting inside a cafe? I actually prefer shutting out any distractions. It helps me focus on the things I need to learn. Though I admire those that can concentrate even with the crowded area of Starbucks.
--------------------------

Memorable Quotes:

Hanna: "Adapt or die. Think on your feet even when you're asleep."

Hanna: "Kissing requires a total of 24 facial muscles and 112 postural muscles. The most important muscle involved is the orbicularis oris muscle, because it is used to pucker the lips."

Disconnect to Reconnect

In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. In 1980, mobile pagers were used to communicate with medical workers within a hospital and a decade later, pagers or beepers were now used by about 61 million people across the world. In 1989 the World Wide Web was commercialized. In 1991, mobile cellular phones that were large as bricks came into our lives. And now we have smart phones, Wifi, iPads, Video conferencing, etc and etc.

There are just so many ways to get in touch with one another. I often use this information to educate some employees who go on AWOL, that unless you are in a coma, I have difficulty understanding how one cannot communicate with their employers when we are in a generation where it is so easy to get a message across the Atlantic Ocean. In fact we are so glued to technology today that we tend to forget how important and fun, face to face interaction really is.

Let’s be honest here, like in my case, the first thing that I do when I get to the office is check my emails. When I come home from work, I log on to Facebook. To de-stress myself, I play video games. Even most kids nowadays, if you gather them in one room, all they do is play PSP, PS3 or apps on their iPod touch. There is no more human interaction. Sure there are a lot of electronic encyclopedias and learning tools out there, but would you really rather have a computer teach our kids the values and knowledge that we received when we were young?

Don’t get me wrong, I am not against with our current technology, in fact I am grateful that there is a online network such as the likes of Facebook, where you can easily reconnect with long lost friends. How you can simply get so much information on the Internet on literally anything under the sun. I get the chance to write this blog and share my thoughts. All I am saying is that it still has its Pro and Cons.

It’s just that recently, I felt that I needed to disconnect from all these distractions so that I could better reconnect with people at work, my family at home, and with my friends as well.

Like in my office, attrition is really an issue. People leave for so many reasons, some unusual, most are the “I’ve heard that before” explanation, and the rare dramas of domestic and personal problems. The company has taken steps already in rolling out incentives, doing surveys, and focus group discussions. But there still seems to be a disconnect somewhere. So we decided to reinvent our group discussions and tried to add a personal touch to it. To make it an event that they look forward to, a targeted small group per session, and to simply have the facilitator break those barriers and really make a connection.

At home, my 3-year old kid loves watching cartoons. But what I try to do is find time to play with him and his toys, because I feel this would exercise his imagination and interactive skills. Having him watch cartoons the whole day, may not be healthy. (I swear, I pretty much memorized the lines of Despicable Me and Rio already.)

In relationships, communication is very important regardless if it’s face to face or over the phone. (But of course, I make my case that it’s better face to face, so that you can also see the reactions and body language of the person you are talking to, and you can show emotion such as sympathy. For me it’s easier to adjust the conversation based on these.) And just like any good conversation, there should be minimal to no distractions, may it be you and the other person at a peaceful coffee shop, or spending the weekend at a secluded vacation spot.

I had my share of “conversations” in both worlds. I had phone conversations stretching to six hours, I spent several hours talking with someone till the coffee shop closed for the night, and sometimes not a single word came out but the companionship spoke for itself. It really brings out that connection between two people. It promotes openness and transparency, and a healthy debate does not hurt every now and then. Of course, for some, they are more comfortable conveying their thoughts and feelings through writing.

Personally, I feel like my brain is all cluttered up already, even though philosophically we just use about 5-10% of it, I am at a point where I want to hibernate and just free my mind of all these things. Turn off my cellphone, shut off my modem, leave all electronics behind and be in a place of solitude. It sounds so cliché, but I want to gather my thoughts and press the reset button so I can get a fresh start. (How I wish we can just reformat or defragment our mind just like a computer)

At a certain point in our lives, I feel that we really need to disconnect from all these in order to reconnect with those who are important to us.

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” – George Bernard Shaw

Elements Bits: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Cast:

Gary Oldman – George Smiley

John Hurt – Control

Colin Firth – Bill Haydon

Benedict Cumberbatch – Peter Guillam

During the Cold War, the Russians inserted a mole inside the British intelligence. When an attempt to flush it out leads to the death of a British operative, they reassign George Smiley to look into the matter.

It is not an easy task to actually investigate on the agency that George works for. And then find out that he is also the one suspected of being a traitor. Because of this, information from sources cannot be fully credible as it may be a way to set the investigation off track.

Plus there are double agents in play, so trust plays a very important role if George is to succeed in this spy vs. spy game.

---------------------

Elements Bits number 1:

A Tinker. Are you someone who always tries to fix things on your own? Who is actually approached by others if they need help on patching something up? It’s good to become a sort of jack-of-all-trades, that any type of problem in Life can be fixed. But sometimes, there are things that can’t really be reconditioned and must be completely replaced and forcing to repair it, it is actually best to know what we are trying to fix or who we are fixing it for. We want to avoid of course “tinkering” with a situation that eventually might end up exploding in our faces or making matters worse.

Elements Bits number 2:

A Tailor. Simply put, we are considered as a mastermind. We choose the pieces and make the moves on the chess board. The role sometimes entail in making decision on what sacrifices needs to be done in order to achieve a certain goal. It is not al that easy because sometimes it puts us in a situation where we have to choose from two lesser evils, with no remorse or regrets. Anything within our power to get the results we want.

Elements Bits number 3:

A Soldier. We are good in executing orders. We abide and live by a certain code and follow a chain of command. The downside to this is that we do not go beyond those parameters, meaning we more often than not will only do things if told to do so. If you deviate from the code on your own, it’s classified as serious misconduct, if you don’t follow orders, its willful disobedience. You have to go by the book on this one and just do as your told.

Elements Bits number 4:

A Spy. A master of manipulation. You weave webs of deceit and use your persuasive skills to obtain certain pieces of information. Nowadays, information is so powerful that it can even topple governments. Being a spy is so risky that information that you may have can put you in a very tight situation where you could make enemies from both ends. Sometimes it’s better to be ignorant and declare plausible deniability.

--------------------------

So who are the worlds’ known Tinker, Tailor, Soldier and Spy?

Tinker: Mahatma Gandhi

Tailor: Sun Tzu

Soldier: Simo Hayha a.k.a “White Death”

Spy: Mata Hari

Why settle for one, when you can call the aid of four:

A-Team

Ready for Armaggedon

2012 is said to be the year that the Mayans predicted that the world will come to an end...the Apocalypse is coming, and these destinations seem to be the most prepared for the Armageddon.

Missile Silo turned Armageddon Getaway

With a 2,000 pound blast door, let's see if zombies can breach through that.

To learn more, kindly click here: Cold War Era Missile Silo

Space Station Vacation

Equipped with it's own air-system, you can survive either a biological attack or a nuclear holocaust.

To find out more, click here: Riding Out Armageddon

Resources:

RealEstate.AOL.com

NYDailyNews.com

Elements Bits: Drive

Cast:

Ryan Gosling – Driver

Driver seems to be a simple individual who works hard as a mechanic in a garage, and has a part time job as a stunt driver. Trying to make a living in the land of opportunity, little does everybody know that he moonlights as a wheelman for thieves.

Driver has never been caught because he lives by strictly following a few rules. But the moment he bends them, things get way out of hand. To make matters worse, he unconsciously stole money from the Mafia. And it is considered a death wish if you ever crossed paths with the mob.

No longer does his life stay out of the spotlight, but now he is being hunted by a ruthless mob that is not after the money anymore but the violation of the principle of not stealing from them. And now the mob has set their sights on Driver’s loved one, and now he has no choice but the face the mob head on.

----------------------

Elements Bits number 1:

Making an honest living. Why is it that that doing things right is more challenging? One strives hard to put food on the table by working legitimately, and yet there are those who break the law and earn hundreds of millions. Of course there is that huge risk of getting caught and you can spend the rest of your life including your family, in jail. Indeed, taking the temptation road is much easier and may reap more rewards, but you have to ask yourself, at what cost?

----------------------

Memorable Quote:

Ryan: “From now on, every word out of your mouth is the truth. Or I’m gonna hurt you.”

Featured Clip of the Day: Summer's End

It's back to school for the kids...

Fanta Fantastic