Movie Review: Contagion

Contagion, a thriller about a deadly disease that rapidly spread across the globe being transmitted through fomite transmission and killed millions in a matter of days. As the disease spread epidemically, a group of international doctors races to find a cure and control the paranoia that was spreading faster than the virus.

Directed by Steven Soderbergh  (Erin Brockovich, Ocean's Eleven), the American thriller stars an ensemble cast led by Matt Damon as Mitch Emhoff, a Minneapolis man who's wife Beth (played by Gwyneth Paltrow) returned from a business trip from Hong Kong and dies but not before spreading the unknown disease along the way and even killing her son, Mitch. Meanwhile, deaths were being recorded from Asia to Europe and the World Health Organization sent Dr. Leonora Orantes (Marion Cotillard), an epidemiologist to Hong Kong to find out where the sickness originated. Meanwhile, Dr. Ellise Cheever (Laurence Fishburne) of the CDC sent Dr. Erin Mears (Kate Winslet), an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer to Minneapolis to begin their own investigation as CDC scientist Dr. Ally Hextall (Jennifer Ehle) figures out a vaccine before the disease spreads and kills more.

The movie is quite interesting but I expected more ump to the movie. The story line was easy to follow even though the movie was quite slow and could almost not be considered as a thriller. The plot lines were more involved with conspiracies ranging from biological warfare to government conspiring with pharmaceutical companies (sub-plot with Jude Law as Alan Krumwiede, a freelance journalist). Acting was excellent across the board and cinematography was amazing. But the film just did not even got near the level of expectation I had.

"The average person touches their face three to five times every waking minute... " 

Recipe: Vegetable in Plum Sauce

This recipe is for veggie lovers out there. I use four different vegetables in the mix and its easy to make.

Ingredients:
4 Plum tomatoes, diced
Bunch of Kale Greens, stems and leaves coarsely chopped
2 Red Peppers, sliced with seeds remove
6 oz assorted mushrooms
1/2 in of ginger, sliced
Pepper
Canola Oil
4 tbsp Chinese Style 5Spice Plum Sauce

Preparation:
- Heat oil in a wok or a deep saute pan. Add in ginger and saute for one minute.
- Add in tomatoes and peppers, saute for three minutes
- Add in Kale and mushrooms, toss and combine. Cover and cook for five minutes
- Add in plum sauce and pepper, toss for two minutes or until sauce is well distributed
- Serve as is.

You can also serve this with either rice or noodles. Or as a side dish to a poultry dish.

9-11 We Remember

It's been 10 years since the 9-11 attacks - and its still fresh in my mind what I did that day when the country was put into chaos due to the terrorist attacks. I wrote this poem the 1st year anniversary of the 9-11 attacks while sitting in the bus on my way to work.

Electric Zoo 2011

What a way to end the summer with Electric Zoo - New York's own Electronic Dance Music Festival held at Randall's Island for the third straight year. Made Event expanded the two-day festival to a three day event this year which meant three days of electronic dance music ranging from house to techno to dub to trance. But it wasn’t just about edm since there were quite a few surprise acts.

I kick off day one early, due to some uncertainties but made my way to the venue without any hassle. One of the changes Made Event did was adding more transport options to and fro the island. Instead of just having the city buses shuttling people, Made event added their own shuttle service as well as a ferry service running all throughout the weekend. Big props!

If you have not been to Electric Zoo before, you would not know the dust problems of the previous year. To keep it short, when festival goers start dancing, the air was filled with dust and dirt. And those can get into places you don’t want them to. You get the picture right?

Made Event addressed this issue by greening up the grounds as well as placing flooring on each tent. They also move back the main stage - creating more space and allowing festival goers to dance on pavement rather than on the grass. More room to roam and less dust flying all over the place. Major props!

The Main Stage sure looks bigger this year and was push back further to allow more space for people to dance around. And they got three humongous tents representing Sunday School, Hilltop Arena and Redbull Riverside. But I am not sure what Made Event was thinking when they place all the three tents parallel to each other and so close that you can easily hear the beats from each tent. And what happen to the School Bus?

So to begin my three day EDM journey, I stopped by Sunday School Tent or “Carl Cox & Friends take over Sunday School “ and caught Nicole Moudaber, the only female DJ I saw during the three day event. Her set was upbeat composed mainly of House and Techno tunes. And I also had a chance to meet her. Next up was BT on the Main Stage. The Godfather of EDM performed with his “Laptop Symphony” which included a live performance by Jes, a drummer and BT himself playing the keyboard while mixing. His set was filled with electrobeats and mashups dropping tunes such as I’m Feelin It In The Air (a tune he collaborated with Morgan Page, Ned Shepard and Sultan with vocals by Angela McCluskey) and a catchy new tune which I am guessing is entitled “Catch Me If You Can.” BT sang along to These Silent Hearts, The Emergency and Love Comes Again, a tune he collaborated with Tiesto. Jes performed Awaken and Made of Love, which was the finale to an amazing set.

Next on my schedule were Gaz and Markus so I headed to Hilltop Arena and got a chance to listen to Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano. The Dutch duo pretty much rocked Hilltop with a good mix of deep and funky house. Gareth Emery was up next and the tent suddenly got packed. Mr. Garuda opened with Vision by Ashley Wallbridge and continued on with a great mix of trance, house, dubstep and progressive tunes as well as tunes from his Northern Lights album. I was caught by a surprise when Gaz dropped Ben Gold’s Big Sky remix. Never thought I would hear this tune live. Gareth Emery close out his set with a dub tune - the Skrillex’s remix of Promises by Nero. Oh and CDJ didn’t fail this time.

If Gaz brought out Garuda, Markus Schulz brought out Coldharbour. There was a little glitch at the beginning of Markus’ set but that did not stop the crowd from dancing the entire time with tunes from his Coldhardbour, Dakota pseudo and a good mix of old and new tunes. Markus opened with Katowice and dropped Digital Madness, 507, Sleepwalkers, Rotunda and Saints as well as various Mashups (Lethal Traversing, Superstar Camshaft and Avion Skank) and Big Room Reconstruction (Caress 2 Impress, The New World). He ended his set with Outsider by Beat Service.

Got a chance to catch a breather before heading back to the Main Stage to see Moby. Now, Moby surprise me last year because I never expected that he could spin tunes so well. And he surely surprise me again this year with a set filled with House and Electro beats such as Fukkk Offf’s Rave Is King, Bassjackers’ Mush Mush, Bonsai Kat’s Egotripping and R3hab’s Prutataaa. And based on the crowd reaction, he had a sick set.

And back to Sunday School for Carl Cox. The Sunday School tent was the smallest of all the three tents and I feel like Mr. Cox should be in one of the bigger tents, if not, the Main Stage. But in any event, he still packed Sunday School with his massive bassline, acid house beats and hard style techno dropping tunes such as Rob Threezy’s Chicago on Acid, Joe Brunning’s Let Me See You Work and Josh Wink’s Higher State of Consciousness.This is only the second time I have seen Carl Cox live and he surely made me a follower.

Carl Cox

Sad though that I didn't get a chance to see Martin Solveig. He did not made it to the festival due to back injury that force him to cancel his U.S. Tour. Hope you get better Mr. Solveig.

Day one in the books. Two more days to go...

Second day was spend mostly at Hilltop Arena Tent with Zack Roth, Mat Zo, Sean Tyas, Simon Patterson, Andy Moor, ATB and Ferry Corsten. I did manage to make my way to the Main Stage to catch Sander Van Doorn and Above and Beyond.

Being the DJ when the doors just open must be tough since you are playing in a very sparse crowd especially in a massive tent. But the good thing about it is that you can experiment.That’s what Zack Roth did during his set mixing tunes like Off the System by Bambook, Rosetta by Rodskeez, Monotony by Nikko Z & Chris Mozio and Undiscovered by Lemontrip. What a set to start day two.

Next up was Mat Zo. I had high expectation from the 21 year old DJ from England because of his stunning productions. I might have set it too high but Mat Zo still had a good set dishing out tunes such as Vengeance Vengeance by Leon Bolier, Mokba by Cirez D and Ask the Cat by Heatbeat while mixing in his own tunes such as Superman, Frequency Flyer and closing with his mashup of Satellite Dynamics.

Next on my lineup list was the back-to-back set of Sean Tyas and Simon Patterson. I first heard them together at another music festival and was blown away. I think it was the best non-duo set I have ever heard. And I am glad I had a chance to see Tyas and Patterson together once more. They brought massive beats and melodies and seamless transition that would made you think that they do this regularly. Some of the tunes they dropped where Taxi, Ummet’s Reboot, Depeche Mode’s Personal Jesus and Tyas Remix of classic Suburban Train by Tiesto. And not to mention For the Most Part, a collaboration they did in 2009.

I made my way to Main Stage to catch Sander van Doorn’s set. SvD opened with Kendo and the crowd was instantly hooked to his set of trance, electro, and house music. He dropped tunes by Bassjackers (Mush Mush), Nero (Guilt), Tiesto (Work Hard, Play Hard), Alesso & Sebastian Ingrosso (Calling), Dada Life (White Noise, Red Meat) and Marcus Schossow (Acid, Festival, Champagne, B*tches) as well as his tunes - Reach Out, Koko, Drink to Get Drunk and Renegade.

Had to ran back to Hilltop to catch Andy Moor. His set featured vocal and uplifting trance. Mr. Moor opened with the Protoculture’s remix of Black is the New Yellow and proceeded with tunes such as Acting Crazy by TyDi, The Theme by Cosmic Gate and Fight the Fire, his tune with Sue McLaren. It was getting too crowded at Hilltop by the end of his set due to the next act (Skrillex) but I am pretty sure Moor made them know that he can throw it down hard. It truly was Less Talking, Moor Music.

Back to Main Stage for Above and Beyond, the trance superstar was off to a great start dropping tunes from their Group Therapy album such as Prelude, Sun & Moon, You Got to Go and Thing Called Love as well as some classic tunes such as Home, Buzz and On a Good Day. Sadly though, their set got predictable half-way through.

I took a break after their set, grab some grubs before catching Andre Tanneberger, or better known as ATB. ATB had a sub-par performance at electric zoo last year. But that totally change this year mixing his classic hits like Ecstasy and 9AM with tracks from his Distant Earth album. ATB got the crowd going with his showmanship urging the crowd to bring the noise level up and kept the crowd moving throughout his set.

And finally, the last DJ for the second day is Ferry Corsten, one of the famous Dutch DJs in the world. Festival goers got attracted to his up-tempo, big room trance and house sound. And he surely did not disappoint the crowd with a great selection of tunes such as Reboot, Madagascar and Down Under while interjecting his own tunes such as Feel It, Check It Out, Punk, Take Me and Beautiful. He got the crowd singing when he drop the Bootleg version of Scientist and surprise everyone dropping Bart Claessen and Tom Fall’s bootleg of Massive Attack’s Teardrop.
He closed out his set with the massive hit, Made of Love, a tune that would forever be embedded in my brain. I just wonder why the second day headliner, Guetta, did not close out this day?

Day two is finally over, will I have enough to last day three?

Ferry Corsten

With my sore feet and raspy voice, I headed to Randall’s Island for the final day to the festival. This time - it will be moslty trance.

The day started at the Redbull Riverside tent with Jaytech dropping melodic tunes to kick start the day. The Anjunabeats artist dropped a good mix of tunes such as Daquiri’s Lily and Boom Jinx & Andrew Bayer’s By All Means coupled with his own tunes such as Djembe and Groove Nova and a remix of Eternal Sequence. Next up were Finnish duo Super8 & Tab, part of the Anjunabeats family. The duo opened up with their remix of Days and proceeded with a good mixture of trance and progressive tunes. They surely surprise me when they dropped two classic tunes - Above and Beyond’s Can’t Sleep and Paul van Dyk’s Nothing But You. Overall, they surely got the crowd pumped and ready for some more sets.

There’s no party without Arty and it surely was. The 21 year old blew up Redbull Riverside Tent with his set of mashups, remixes and collab tunes not to mention the amazing the L.E.D. display that lit up the tent. The crowd was so intense that security had to start dousing cold water to battle the summer heat inside the tent. He opened with the Myon and Shane 54 mashup of She Gave Strangers Happiness and played tunes such as the Eric Prydz remix of Personal Jesus, Dash Berlin remix of Not Giving Up On Love, First State Bashup of Koko Prutataaa and his remix of New York New York . Arty dropped his tunes such as Kate, Around the World and Rebound, a tune he collaborated with Mat Zo. He also dropped mashups such as C’Mon Me and You, and Catch the Flashback. He close with a classic tune, Tiesto’s Adagio for Strings. Arty surely set the standard for the rest of the festival.

Needing a break, I headed up to the Main Stage to catch Calvin Harris. Started a bit slow but he picked up the tempo with electro-house tunes that got the crowd fist-pumping through Awooga, Flashback, Miami 2 Ibiza, I’m Not Alone, You’ve Got the Love and Bounce. I think Calvin Harris got bitten by the classic bug as well as he dropped Darude’s Sandstorm during the middle of his set. The king of Electro-pop close out his set with Feel So Close.

I did not know who EDX was before today and it was just by a chance that I happen to check his set out. EDX had a good mixture of trance, progressive and house tunes. I only caught the last half of his set where he dropped tunes such as Kaskade’s mashup of Angel on my Shoulder Reaver 76, Nicky Romero’s Remix of Flash and the Avicii Remix of Drowning. He got the tent shaking when he dropped the Hardwell’s mashup of Prutataaa At Night.

Arty set the bar for the Redbull Riverside tent, Michael Woods upped that bar with his progressive and tech-house set. He got the crowd singing when he dropped Otherside vs. Metrum and Kaskade’s mashup of Move For Me vs. First Aid. He got the crowd jumping and fistpumping through Zero 76, his remix of Bounce, I Wish and Bullet. He ended his banging set with Black Strip.

They are back together again - Gabriel & Dresden, the next DJ up on the Redbull Riverside Tent. The duo open with Ascending, the first track on their album Mixed for Feet Vol 1 and continued with their mashups of Beautiful Good Dream, Tracking Civilization Down and Dust in the Control Room. They surely got the crowd singing with As the Rush Comes. I did not stay the entire set though as me and my friends want to take a break before making our way to the main stage for the grand act of them all.

We made our way to the main stage during Afrojack’s set. This Dutch DJ drop some pretty sick tunes such as Silvio Ecomo & Chuckie’s Moombah with Daft Punk’s Technologic and Aerodynamic and Alesso & Sebastian Ingrosso’s Calling. He dropped a new song before closing out with R3hab’s remix of Give Me Everything, a mashup of Replica and Rolling In the Deep and Tiesto’s Maximal Crazy.

What a way to close out a music festival with the number one DJ in the world, Armin van Buuren. The headliner of the third day and I would say the best I have heard Armin this year. He totally blew me away with his set composed addictive trance tunes. He opened with Mansion and proceeded in dropping tunes such as Rotunda, Vengeance Vengeance, The Blue Theme, Viking and Terrace 4 A.M. that got the crowd dancing throughout the night. He got the crowd singing with Fallen Angel, Not Over Yet and These Silent Hearts. The highlight of his set was when the pyrotechnics and confetti rain down on the crowd when he dropped Shogun’s Skyfire.

He dropped his mashup of Beautiful Ashes before closing his amazing set with another mashup - In and Out of Love vs. Raw Deal. And with the crowd, including I, chanting “One more song.” Armin came out and dropped This Light Between Us. I was just mesmerized by his set and ended up with wobbly legs and a coarse voice but it was worth it. And let me say this: This is How You Close Out A Festival!

Armin van Buuren

Another Electric Zoo ends, another great festival in the books. Wish they would do something about the Water Stations since the lines can get pretty long. But at least I did not have to worry about dust and dirt that much this time around. Best sets goes out to Armin van Buuren, Arty, Ferry Corsten, Andy Moor, EDX, BT, Carl Cox, Moby and Michael Woods.

Best set goes to Armin van Buuren followed by Arty, Ferry Corsten, Andy Moor, EDX, BT, Carl Cox, Moby and Michael Woods.

Update: TranceHub adapted my Electric Zoo Festival review and you can read it from here