Monthly Archives: July 2006

To Shoot A Hamster

Late, late at night, when I am the only one awake in the house, I am not alone; I always have hyperactive companions. They let me know that they’re awake with the rattling of hamster wheels.


Hamsters are always a challenge to shoot, because they’re always moving. Normal flash would overexpose, so…


Get up close, real close to the hamster. Switch to manual mode, turn on Macro, set the flash to its lowest power, lowest ISO, darkest aperture and fastest shutter speed (if you can set it). Both shots were on ISO 50, flash, F8, 1/500th of a second (I set it to 1/2000 but my camera refused to go faster.) The flash is already too strong even when it’s turned down. The darkest aperture helps with depth of field, lessening the effects of flash, and keeping more of the furball in focus.

Wow, my siblings have had them since the 23rd of August, 2005. I’m not sure, but I think that’s a pretty long lifespan for hamsters.


Oh, and I forgot to put this picture from the Fete De La Musique 2006. Even with a high ISO setting of 200, motion was blurred enough. Should’ve tried a slow-shutter flash, though.

Yesterday’s Burger King Gathering

Here are random pictures from the blogger gathering at Burger King, KLCC, 29th July 2006. WHOA that’s yesterday! Count your lucky stars, people!

Funky colors are thanks to my infrared-modified Fujifilm Digital Q1.


Jasiminne surrounded by the Lengmou gang.


Bodicea/Jolin.


Avril Chan is always always in infrared (her blog’s left-side sidebar features Sony Nightshot effects, which are really infrared.)


Jolene Lai bites.


But really, she’s a (cock-eyed) blue-eyed wonder.


Cheng Sim.


Jasiminne and Evie.


Chloe.


When Joshua Foong takes off his cap, he becomes a Brandon Routh lookalike.


Fireangel is always happy to see me. (This would be a good expression to whoever stole her phone after that!)


Scorkes, who owns a few dragons. Let’s hope they’re not lost at sea like her Jack Sparrow probably is.


Simple As Cheryl. Accessories sold separately.


From left: Kelz, Erin Tan and Cheng Sim, featuring Ivan the eager photographer.


Burger King KLCC has renovated, and boy is it pretty. A lighted bar makes it easy for camwhores.


One big mob.

And now, for normal pictures with my Canon Powershot A520:


Spot the Suanie complaining about the lack of alcohol. Seems like the older bloggers were not afternoon people?


Jasiminne guards entry.


Jasiminne is enraged. (Okay, this was with the infrared camera.)


Slinky, Shaz and Jasiminne.


Jenifur reprises her role as a PC Fair promoter.


Full-color bar.

I have to say, Yvonne Foong captured a very poignant picture of me.
CLICK HERE FOR AWARD WINNING PICTURE.
There’s a second one.

For more pictures, you should start at Tan Yee Hou‘s post.

Work For Her

I make it sound so simple.

Dude, get a job.

Then maybe you’d stop calling her, giving her a chance to miss you and cherish you. You’re always there for her. Before she can even think of missing you… you call.

She wants to feel secure even though she is self-sufficient and independent. Who wants a jobless bum? That might be it. Some girls deny the men the booty until they get a job.

Heck, you might be more appealing after work, formal wear, male pheremones in the air.


Waste no time! If both of you are serious and intense about relationships, then now is soon enough to start. Fear starting, that she may become bored of you? Even if she did, both of you wouldn’t be offended; it’s not so much of boredom but a sense of complacency. I hope. Long-distance issues? You want her, take her now, don’t wait until you’re about to leave to start a flurry of emotions, where both of you will decide to break it off instead of continue.

Once you guys get it on, I’ll be glad for both of you. Even though I don’t know you, dude.

I’m a pharmacist, prescribing drugs that I’ll never use.

Covered

What do Rihanna – S.O.S. and Pussycat Dolls – Tainted Love have in common?

Listen to Soft Cell – Tainted Love.

Ironic how both singles are out, sound about nothing like each other, yet have the same roots. Even then, Soft Cell’s version is a cover; the original was performed by Gloria Jones.

…and I first discovered this, when my Winamp randomizer said The Cure – Tainted Love was playing. Well, it did sound enough like Robert Smith for somebody to have mistakenly labelled it as such.

Reza And Broken Scar


Now, for pictures from Broken Scar and Reza Salleh at No Black Tie, 28th June 2006.


Broken Scar was in his bare acoustic modern rock setup today; just one man and his guitar.


There was also a hot photographer chick! Waitaminute…


It’s Suzanne Lee with a Canon EOS 20D digital SLR!


I knew her from 2002, when she worked in Xfresh as a marketing executive. She also brought me to a gig in Saloma, where I saw and was entranced with Damn Dirty Apes for the very first time.


Last I met her, she told me she just did a beer ad. Little did I know that the money from that ad would be used to buy her first, a Canon 300D; she then modelled and travelled the world, selling her photos (hmm that doesn’t sound right) and got… THIS! The white Canon 70-200mm F2.8L IS USM zoom lens is a premium luxury lens for sniping in the dark.


Spot the photographer!


Meanwhile, all I have is my Canon Powershot A520, and my infrared-modded Fujifilm Digital Q1. Seen here is Lionel modelling for his friend.


Apparently, Reza Salleh and Suzanne Lee were finalists for the KLue Blue Chilli awards. That might be how they met. Or through the underground band Prana.


Reza was backed with a full band; here’s Stephanie drumming. To achieve this effect on the drumstick, use flash, and a slow shutter speed (in Tv/Shutter Priority mode.)


Melina of Tempered Mental on bass, for all you grou fans out there. She probably couldn’t be happier when Reza breaks out into a cover of Red Hot Chili Peppers – Under The Bridge.


Hanafi of Estranged (and sometimes Tempered Mental) does quite a few solos.


Reza invites Broken Scar up to the stage, as his Seattle-grunge voice is better suited to cover Stone Temple Pilots – Plush.

Curve Win

I knew a guy whose girlfriend turned lesbian. Poor dude.

And now, I know a girl whose boyfriend turned gay. Poor dudette.

I also know a guy who turned a girl lesbian, but that’s another story.

But anyway, the winner of the Guess That Curve is Lex. She may have annoyed me many times over in real life (on intention) but at least she gives me plenty of comments, so there really isn’t anything wrong with that now is there? I think she also left me the most Friendster testimonials. Her flattering testimonials were also the most deleted. Still, kudos for the effort. Definitely a friend to make if you need some testimonials.

The LRT station is where Pasar Seni heads to KL Sentral; you can see the third curve when you take a bus from Klang Bus Stand, below Pasar Seni, to Midvalley, or the Intrakota 21C bus to One Utama.

Oh, and there’s the Sunrise Jazz & Rhythm Fest 2006.

Who: Fashion Jazz, Rachel Guerzo Quartet, Lewis Pragasam & AsiaBeat, Hip Hop by DanceStyle, GruvAvenue, Amir Yussof & Friends, Belly Dancing, Cosmic Funk Express, Jupiter@7, Sharizan Borhan & Swing Inc, Shelley Leong & Jazz Odyssey, Funk Mob [John Thomas, Eric Li & Fly], Rentak K.a.my, Mr. Gambus, Tinderbox, Jazzing With Style, Noryn Aziz, Aseana Percussion Unit
When: 28th July 2006 to 12th August 2006 (every Friday and Saturday from 8:30pm to 12:30am)
Where: Sunrise Plaza Mont Kiara
How much: Free!

I’m definitely going for August 4th and 5th, for Cosmic Funk Express‘s last gig and Shelley Leong & Jazz Odyssey.

More details here.

Fete De La Musique 2006: Pictures

And now, for the feat of delayed musically-related pictures, most specifically from the Fete De La Musique 2006, a musical celebration held all over the world on the 17th of June. Pictures and commentaries will tell you that this is not any ordinary gig with specific genres or themes.

Click on any picture to view it at twice its resolution.


Top to bottom, left to right:

  • When Cheneille and I first reached Alliance Francaise, La Casa was playing. Funky, jazzy with some electronica thrown in! The turntablist is also the trumpet player, and they make funky sound effects too. You must go to their site and download their free MP3s.
  • Tony and Ian, a gospel rocker and an alternative rocker; Soft Touch, singing Disaster Radio, a tirade against a certain radio station that wouldn’t play their music.
  • Wow good-looking white boy rock band! Too bad the band sucked. They kept messing up cover songs; between parts of songs, one guitarist would play a different chord, or the drummer would forget to change beat.
  • Dewangga Sakti with the Gambus; the rest of the group, and…
  • …a very gothic-looking fiddler; Jeep Latino Jazz Band.


Meanwhile, at the back of Alliance Francaise, top to bottom:

  • Azmyl Yunor in Cpilaq, Ronnie Khoo plays the synthesizer, Azmyl makes anti-music. Cpilaq is meant to go against the norms of music anyway.
  • Y2K is true to punk rock, X-Cited Screamers rock your caps off.
  • Dragon Red, rap-rock at its best; Adam swallows the bites off the microphone’s head.
  • Amil hilariously broke a string before the show, so he was relegated to a single-coiled Fender Stratocaster. We pointed and laughed at him (since he didn’t have the thrash metal humbuckers of his ESP JH-1!) Last time that happened was when we saw him play bass at Fete De La Musique 2005! Right: Henry shreds for Triple6Poser.
  • Eddy is the hard-rocking frontman, and Khai plays guitar!


Top to bottom, left to right:

  • Sourtury, with some progressive thrash metal (uh, heavy with changing beats, but without those synthesizers…). Check out the hot bassist!
  • Can’t remember the name of the band, but he used to be in Service Provider For The Poor, Syefri‘s former band; she’s on keyboards.
  • Lightcraft plays British indie rock! Excellent work from the keyboard and synthesizers. Then there’s the spot-on British drawl on the vocalist.
  • Inside Alliance Francaise however, is Superbar; there’s also a piano where Shelly plays Chopin; it was the first time I heard that song Zack usually plays on guitar with Cosmic Funk Express!


On to Bangsar, Telawi area, top to bottom, left to right:

  • Some emo punk band performed in front of the stage in front of Ronnie Q, but the stage was shortlived when the restaurant cut the power. 🙁 Right: Beat The System was on full blast at the main stage, however.
  • Later that evening, La Casa performed again, this time, to more than 30 people (Alliance Francaise had a maximum of 100 people at any time). Big crowd, fantastic reception. We all danced! Right: Wwanao the quirky rainbow-colored world music outfit.
  • MC Switch drops it like it’s hot with a rabid hip-hop-loving girl… who is still seen dancing as Vespertine prepares in the background.
  • One Buck Short from the back; Frequency Cannon from the front.
  • Soft Touch returns, with Melina of Tempered Mental playing percussion, and Wong shredding.


Left column, top to bottom: Alliance Francaise; didgeridoos; Jayaram, one of the usual emcees, the night crowd at Telawi, Bangsar.
Right column, top to bottom: An Indian emsemble; harp; a van equipped with wheelchair-loading lift and an old-school air-conditioning unit (I loved the smell); and finally Edge Of Fire, who was a bit off, with a different lineup. As of late people say I look like some dude from that band; I hope it’s this handsome bugger they’re talking about.

20 And Counting

I’ve been tagged.

Name 20 people you can think of and then tag 6 people to do the tag. (Albert says, if you’ve done this before, you don’t have to do it again.)
1. Stim-girl
2. Mystery Wolf
3. Ching
4. Tech
5. Cheneille
6. Tracy

For those who got tagged, think of 20 names and write it in your blog post first before you proceed reading this post. (I’m going to list lesser-thought-of names to challenge myself.)

1. Johnson
2. Anand
3. Cynthia Ng
4. Rama
5. Sarah Chong
6. Amil
7. Ywenna
8. Pietro
9. Jin Nee
10. Nabila
11. Johnston
12. Effa D.
13. Paulvinder
14. Cassie
15. Sashi
16. Jerry
17. Lionel Goh
18. Iszie
19. Amanda S.
20. Dominic

How did u meet #14? [Cassie]
This orang putih sesat was my colleague and Ramli-burger-mate.

What would your life be if u haven�t met #1? [Johnson]
I would not have rode in a turbo-charged Subaru Forrester before.

What would u do if #20 and #9 dated? [Dominic and Jin Nee]
Hmm, they have similiar complexion, and they both speak English. Why not?

Would #6 and #17 make a good couple? [Amil and Lionel Goh]
One makes orgasmic faces on stage; the other uh… hmmm. Maybe.

Describe #3. [Cynthia Ng]
The Nissan car-show-girl I didn’t get to catch up with because she was missing.

Do you think #6 is attractive? [Amil]
Yes, even when he makes those orgasmic faces on stage.

Tell me something about #8. [Pietro]
He once stepped into the office with a whole load of brain radiation.

Do you know anything about #12�s family? [Effa D.]
Her dad is retired.

What is #7�s favourite? [Ywenna]
Favorite long-haired groupie: ME!

What would you do if #11 confesses that he/she likes you? [Johnston]
I’d tell him not to mix business with pleasure.

What language does #15 speak? [Sashi]
English, Malay, Tamil (I’m not sure) but his brother does a lot more.

Who�s #9 going out with? [Jin Nee]
Probably someone who likes eyes. BIG eyes.

How old is #16? [Jerry]
21.

When was the last time you talked to #13? [Paulvinder]
Sometime this week about beginner guitars.

Who�s #2�s favourite singer? [Anand]
I don’t know, only met him like 3 times.

Would you date #4? [Rama]
No way, I’d get way insecure going out with a guy who looks like Asyraf Sinclair.

Would you date #7? [Ywenna]
Only if she’d never cover her ears with her hair.

Is #15 single? [Sashi]
I think so. He is of a wise age, though.

What is #10�s last name? [Nabila]
Nasir!

Would you consider being in a relationship with #19? [Amanda S.]
What kind of relationship?

What schools did #3 go to? [Cynthia Ng]
I have no clue.

Where does #6 live? [Amil]
I have no idea.

What is your favourite thing about #5? [Sarah Chong]
Her accent and intonation. Orrr-raaaight!

What do you think about #13? [Paulvinder]
He’s a wizard.

What do #4 and #19 have in common? [Rama and Amanda S.]
They both look of mixed parentage.

What special qualities does #17 hold in your life? [Lionel Goh]
He has an affable mother.

What is the most memorable memory you had with #18? [Iszie]
Dropping by her shop while waiting to meet other people in 1 Utama.

Guess That Curve

And now, for a different spin on things – Guess That Trashcan Curve! Once again, the first person to guess correctly will get one most complimenting paragraph on my blog. All three answers must be correct.


This should be a major hint; what is this? I have one. I know how to play it, too.


Where is this?


Where is this? Name a nearby landmark.

Don’t worry people, I still have more trashcans to guess. I just don’t want my winners to always be rhyming with “left” or “curve”.

Jumble In The (Concrete) Jungle

For those of you impatient to read about KL Sing Song 2006, click here to read the article I wrote for Xfresh. Then there are pictures by Jasiminne.

Oh yeah, I forgot; the only reason why I wanted a dedit card was so I could reserve tickets at The Actors’ Studio and KL Performing Arts Centre. 🙁

Oh, and maybe get a 2x2x2 Rubik’s Cube. However, that’s the only one that’s out of stock at Rubik’s official website! Argh. I already have every other cube!

And now, for some random takes on movies:

Pirates Of The Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest
The monsters were… poppier than the first. Halfway through the movie they become a lot less gross-looking and more of a spot-the-sea-creature game. I’m keeping my beard for a bit and it’s messier than before. ARRR! I wanna be a pirate.

Fast And The Furious 3: Tokyo Drift
Not supposed to make sense, but cool nevertheless. I wish they’d allow Ford Mustangs here. Too damn loud, they say.

Cars
Now this would be classic – spot the cultural references! For example, the organic fuel provider was Filmore, and he blasted Jimi Hendrix – Star Spangled Banner. Jimi also performed a few times at Filmore East. They even yelled Freebird! 😀 (Which has some relevance, being a tribute song to NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt…) (More details on Wikipedia.)

I also don’t remember the last time watching a 3D CGI movie made me feel as fulfilled in a magical way like Toy Story did. None of the obscene current cultural references like Shark Tale.

And now, for McDonald’s:

Spicy Beef Foldover
Quite a bit of cheese, tasting much like a pizza. A lot more salad and less sauce. And yeah, I have no beef with it. I mean, there’s very little beef in it. Nice, but don’t go for it if you have a beef craving.

Grilled Chicken Foldover (new recipe)
How could they? They removed most of the sauce, and added a lot more salad to make it as healthy as the Spicy Beef Foldover. Thankfully, there are still two chicken patties, but the one I had, sadly, had a foldover malfunction – one of the patties slid down (probably due to the salad’s lack of grip on the chicken.)

And now, for random pictures:


New meaning to window jam.


Here’s how you can indent/emboss a balloon:

  1. Blow up the balloon and tie its end.
  2. Draw on outside of balloon using marker pen.
  3. Deflate balloon (the marker ink will now appear to ’emboss’ the balloon.)
  4. Stick a finger through its top, to turn it inside out.
  5. Blow it just a little bit and you get this!


A mosquito decides to take a sweet dip in my Teh Tarik.


Moths read blogs, too.


Fight like a butterfly, sting like a bee, stone like a moth.


Prepare for take-off…


It seems to be inspecting itself.