Parting Glass to a Master Chef

 

Parting Glass to a Master Chef

 I had just woken up when I saw Jock Zonfrillo’s latest IG update. It was surprisingly black in colour and was barely a few minutes old. Came to realise moments later that it was not his. That’s how I got to know about his passing.

 Jock, together with Michelle and Andy, made up as trio judges for Masterchef Australia since Season 12, with the latest season, entitled ‘Secrets and Surprises’, was supposed to be premiered last Monday (Malaysia time).

 The show, especially since the ‘Back to Win’ season in 2020, has been phenomenal and came at the right time when the Covid-19 pandemic had (and still) affected the lives of people around the globe. It was uniquely different compared to most competitive reality TV shows. The judges, plus the contestants, have warmed the hearts of viewers with their emotional and uplifting support of one another. At one point, the show felt less of a competition, but rather a large support base for people to be inspired and motivated, all while being surrounded by amazing circle of friends and new families from within and outside the competition itself.

 Then, there was Jock. He was incredible since the start. As a Michelin star chef, and a protégé of the legendary chef Marco Pierre White, he was undeniably a class of his own. While I was in awe by his culinary skills, especially when he displayed his passion in cooking through the Masterclass episodes, you couldn’t help but have a sense of admiration for the guy. He was humble as a teacher, a great listener, and was willing to be at the same level with his contestants to learn of their expertise and specific cooking skills.

 From the show, and through his personal socmed account, I am also able to see what he was; a funny and great friend, a special mentor, and a loving husband and father.

 And, that is why I, among thousands of his Masterchef fans, have been affected by his death. It was made worse when it was recently revealed that Jock was secretly suffering from bowel cancer, of which was detected in a colonoscopy in 2021. People would fall to their lowest with that kind of revelation, but he didn’t. Instead, he persevered as long as he could, while he continued with his passion in cooking and witty behaviour, spreading positive words and inspire people around him.

 Going to miss his loud yell of support at the end of each Masterchef episode. May his family, friends and fans be strong enough to deal with the loss. The upcoming season premiere will undeniably be a bittersweet experience.

 As for now, a share of his words. “Go home, make yourselves a cup of tea, be kind to each other, and we’ll see you back in the kitchen soon.” 

 

By: Muhammad Nazreen.  A Malaysian & a Masterchef Australia fan.

The Walking Dead: A Personal Insight

 

*May contain spoilers.

Kids do the darndest  things before age 7, like sliding down the stairs using the Monopoly board, getting creative with lipsticks and living room walls, and having drain frogs as pets. Emmm….(*wide grin). 

Well, compared to those things, what I did later was a lil bit more extreme; I watched my very first zombie movie. It was the Dawn of the Dead (the original 1978 version, not the 2003’s 28 Hours-ish remake). Not sure if the illicit exposure was due to bad parenting, or it was me who found the hidden VHS tape at home…and got curious. Mum said I brood a lot for a week. When things got to normal again, my thoughtful teenage babysitter brought me to the cinema to watch Night of the Creeps (with the alternate ending…the one with the graveyard scene). And Demons 2 back at her home…plus countless Chinese zombie movies after that….and…(Yikes…WTH did the adults think back in the 80’s?)

Either way, I’m just grateful that I don’t need therapy…coz the present moi could turn out to be a lil bit different at present… perhaps with no blog site, despise sushi, love durian, and share conversations with cats (Butterfly Effects people). Still, have to thank the adults for making me a big fan of zombie movies…and a zombie movie critic (Btw, Resident Evil 4: Afterlife suck)

The Walking Dead; got to know about the graphic novel through a review from The Star newspaper about 2 or 3 years ago. Since then, I got hooked as a reader and a big fan. You can imagine how it almost blew my head off with excitement when I got to know TWD was being made into a TV series. It was too cool to be true…but it did.

Of course the series is way different from the original counterpart. Shane is still alive and well, the addition of the Dixon brothers, the trip to CDC in Atlanta…the list is a long one. But there are Easter eggs/allusions from the novels that were used in the series, like Shane’s police cap, Carl’s hat, Andrea’s choice of weapon, and Hershel’s barn.

An extremely cool redneck Norman Reedus

At the moment, the latest episode entitled Chupacabra (Episode 5, Season 2) continues with the team’s never-ending search for Sophia (I wouldn’t really say it was a team effort…seems Daryl is doing most of the job). Hershel’s annoying qualities began to surface…that clearly depicts his displeasure at team Rick’s presence in his farm. I wonder why Rick could pick-up on that? And after more than 10 episodes, he couldn’t even see the tension between Lori and Shane (Rick needs to be more aware of his surroundings…the living can be dangerous too you know).

I love the scenes with Daryl and his face-off with imaginary big bro Merle. Still wonder if this will turn out to be something like Anakin-turned-Darth Vader thing (Or…dare if I say it…Daryl as the future Governor?). If AMC and the production kept in tune with the fan base, they would be best leave Glenn and Daryl from harm’s way (Aside: Norman Reedus rocks!)

Glenn came, Glenn saw, Glenn stuttered

Glenn’s horrific discovery was no biggie if you’ve read the novel beforehand. The biggest mystery is still Dr. Jenner’s whisper to Rick back in Season 1. Hope that will be revealed soon in the next episode that is aptly entitled ‘Secrets’. Either that, or it is a pending information that will put the end of the bromance between Rick and Shane.

The next episode is due Monday. Thank goodness for TWD’s new #91 issue (*grin).

Compassionate Finales: Part 1

Spoilers within…minus the bacteria+fungus+Lindsay Lohan.

Extreme bloatedness. Had that feeling after a lunch buffet about 2 months ago. Sticking to Nazreen’s List-of-Extraordinary-Yet-Questionable-Buffet-Eating-Rules (™) didn’t help (No food with Santan+anything with soup+rice+greens+cheap stuffs). Well, had Cendol and Somtam at the end of the massacre, so kinda broke the rules like the notty boy I am. Almost had the same sensation when the season finales arrive (Why they have to cramp everything together in 1-2 weeks?). Fortunately, fatherhood+marriage life made it impossible to watch them back-to-back. This is my take on the shows:-

House
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The setting looks realistic (With ruins, debris n all…must have taken a lot of budget to make the episode befitting as a finale). Got to know that they are using the Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera for the whole shoot. I was like…woah…the quality was extremely good+Hollywood standard for a thing that costs around RM8K. Imagine the possibilities….Nazreen Spielberg….Nazreen Scorsese…or Nazreen Bhatia (To be realistic). I would then shoot Irtiza’s dance moves to Ceplos theme song in HD :).


Back to the show…it’s interesting to note that House is slowly to a more compassionate person. This may be a good thing…or a bad thing, coz House’s narcissism+sarcastic remarks made the show unique+a hit in the first place. N I tot the Huddy thing won’t happen? (Will make a good plot for the show’s finale, but not as a season finale…The arguments between House+Cuddy is as essential as rice and…emm…curry?)

The subplot involving Thirteen is unnecessary (Probably it was a hurried process…in order to make way for Olivia Wilde to take a break from the show for the Cowboys & Aliens production). Still, it was unimportant and unneeded…like the damn junkmails on Viagra, lottery wins, MLMs and a foreign guy who wants your bank account numbers so he could transfer you money.

Coming back to the Huddy romance…I wonder if this time the scene is real…or it’s really a hallucination like the last time. Perhaps House hallucinates that he didn’t take the Vicodin pills that made him hallucinate (Err…does this make any sense at all?). Have to wait if Kutner of Amber would pop-up in his head soon.

The Vampire Diaries
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This production deserves an applause for being able to cut production costs by having an actress to play two characters (Same hair lengths nonetheless?). But one of the most interesting parts of the finale comes from Damon. He suddenly becomes this soft-spoken, caring+compassionate guy (Stefan’s preachings finally get to ya huh?). Hmm… I’m not an advocate of evil and the damned (Damn KFC Black Pepper Chicken!…oppss, out of context)…but really need Damon to stay as the bad brother of the two…coz the Stefan character is already as interesting as a growing vegetable.


Tyler…woah…that came from nowhere (Novel readers would sigh and give a bored gaze). Got to know that he might actually be a werewolf (He is in the books). And the mayor too (Like father, like son…’cute’). That would probably answer why they were affected by the device (Werewolves have sharp hearings too) and the one with Tyler’s transforming yellow eyes. Really keen to see how the werewolf mythology would fit in the Vampire Diaries universe next season.

Now, if you’re a type of person who loves emotionally expressive guys (Got loads of them from Astro’s AF) Jeremy is your guy. If not, he is a wreck of a minor character. Perhaps the production changed Elena’s original 4-year-old sister character to a little brother, but forgets to take away the sissyness. Probably a concoction of Anna’s blood and drug overdose will make him a more interesting character in Season 2.

Anna’s death is a saddening scene to watch. The way she pleads for her life is as heartbreaking as John’s wooden stake. But, I guess the move is needed in order to transform Jeremy to a worthy character. Another casualty was David Anders’ character (You either love him or hate him). The show really needs to bring him back…if that’s still possible (He’s a big asset for the show). To the production…please oh please don’t repeat Heroes’ error in judgement.


To Be Continued :)