Happy Chinese New Year to all you’s peeples out there that do occasionally drop by and visit. It’s going to be another busy new year and I can only say I’m glad my hometown is right here in good ol’ Selangor. I can’t imagine the poor people having to sit through hours of traffic jams just to get somewhere. KL is going to be super sweet and empty.

Also watched SWEENEY TODD : The Demon Barber of Fleetstreet.

Another creative piece by Tim Burton, this musical (is it classified as a musical?) revolves around nutcase Johnny Depp killing people in his quest for revenge on a corrupt judge responsible for the the royal screwing of his otherwise great life.

Severus Snape leaves gaying with Harry Potter to play Judge Tarpin, a sex-fiend that falls in love with Todd’s (Depp) wife. He gets rid of Sweeney, rapes his wife and takes Todd’s daughter in as his own. This is usually sufficient reason for any man to become a homicidal maniac and the story revolves around the tale of Todd’s revenge with a ironic twist at the end.

I personally enjoy a good crime story and Todd was a real life serial killer. It might interest you to know that the real Sweeney Todd’s life was a lot more dull than the movie makes it out to be.

You can read the whole case here but I’ve summed it up for the lazy.

Born 1748 to alcoholic parents, Todd had a lousy childhood and picked up a taste for violence early on in his life. After his parents vanished, the courts apprenticed Todd to a cutler, (someone that manufactures knives & razors)

14 year old Todd almost hung for a petty crime he committed but instead was imprisoned. At 19, a bitter Todd was released and he began his trade as a flying barber (one that moves around). He killed his first victim then, a young man was bragging about some lady he had shagged with which turned out to be Todd’s missus.

After his first kill, Todd set up a barber’s shop on Fleet Street. With his cutler’s experience, he built a chair which could tilt back and dump his victim through a hole which led to his basement. The difference from the movie was, Todd would dump them first and then razor them if they survived the fall. Most broke their necks going down. He not only killed with his chair but there were many victims which he just slashed outright.

In came the widow Mrs. Lovett, his accomplice. Todd was killing before she joined the picture but was running out of place to store the bodies. Somehow a deal was struck and bodies were delivered through a network of catacombs from Todd’s basement to Lovett’s two-story bakery.

At that time, her shop was reknown for her delicious pork and veal pies.

Todd’s method was to steal his victim’s belongings, slit their throats if they survived the fall, then disjoint the limbs, remove the skin, gut the bodies and strip the meat from the bones. He would then box the produce and send them off for pie-making.

The authorities were called when the crypts of St. Dunstan church where Todd was dumping the remains started to smell. A Sir Richard set his men to watch Todd’s barbershop and they reported that customers went in but quite a few never came out. They then found Todd’s dumping ground and pieced it together. Todd was killing his clients and serving them up as pies. They investigated his house and found his loot. Sir Richard ordered the arrest of Todd and Lovett.

Lovett committed suicide in prison by taking poison. Todd was only convicted of killing one person, a Francis Thornhill. It was difficult to identify any of the other bodies. They found items and clothings of up to 160 people in Todd’s residence.(OMG)

In 1802, Todd was hung and his body was given to barber surgeons to be dissected like his victims. Yes, sweet irony.