Category Archives: General

To Be Fair, I Am White

While some of you are in Malacca partying, I took the less tiring route – Halloween night at Zouk, 27th October 2006. It had been a while, since the last time I was there was for the Paris Hilton album launch in August 2006. Was I going to break my paying-entry-to-Zouk-virginity?

No.

People who come ~~dressed up~~ in costumes get in free.

So I went to Ruud‘s (say it aloud, it sounds cooler than Ruums), and Diane worked her magic. YK was in town too.

What’d I do? A sadako ala cheeserlando? (I didn’t have a white robe.)

The before. (YK on the right with intentionally misaligned buttons.)

Awww how sweet.

Behind the scenes. (Click image for bigger version.)

The after.

It looks better in infrared! Thanks to Diane for the idea, and YK for the uh… note.

Rudy Of The Dead’s arm.

Spot the tattoo.

Rush to Zouk! We have a dying man!

Uh. Who took this picture in the parking lot?

Ben crossing the road. He was the only dude looking normal, so we figured we’d all get in a car, speed, and when stopped, say there was a man about to die (while pointing to Ben.)

Zouk’s Dungeon Of Tortures!

Halt! Who goes there?

Be you angels?

Natalie. Fear her, she is in her pajamas.

Left to right: Kel Li is very scary. Natalie looks like a sleepy murderer. I don’t know what Yoke May’s costume is, but I like it anyway. 😉

Kel Li is scary even when not in costume. (She just jumped in the frame when I was taking a picture.)

Zouk mainroom was quite empty at that time, so we adjourned to good ol’ The Loft (upstairs from Zouk) for Twilight Action Girl, those four deejays who got me started on the whole British rock invasion last year. JUICE Magazine declared it electro night. I love electro, but some people find other methods of entertainment.

Back to main room. (Middle picture’s colors were inverted.)

The haze is in here too. ARGH!

Visibility under 10 meters. Death in 10 minutes.

The decks.

Cool props! Some dudes danced with them.

Fire dwarfs.

Thanks Diane! I have never camwhored with so many strangers in my life before! I didn’t take a lot of pictures though.

I walked and heads turned, trying to read what it said. I now knew what it must’ve been like to be some cele-brie-ty.

I had to wash it off in the toilet, as I didn’t want to give a poor cabbie a heart attack. Well, one taxi driver did speed off when he saw Jack Sparrow. (I didn’t have make up remover so yeah.)

Free lighter!

I will get back to scheduled geek programming soon. Yes, I have at least two super macro posts coming up.

Oh, and Happy Halloween! Happy scaring some chick’s panties off.

Spin Doctors

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Take a good look at the image and guess what I’m about to talk about here.

(No, the Japanese bento meal I had earlier had nothing to do with the choice of colors or shapes in this illustration.)

If the geniuses in you haven’t figured it out already, I am talking about the party game called Spin The Bottle.

Spin The Bottle is usually played with a bottle.

The bottle is usually spun.

Players sit in a circle but do not spin.

The bottle is spun by a player, and the ~~spinning player~~ player who spins the bottle will have to kiss the player who the bottle is pointing at. This player then has to spin the bottle.

WHOA, DID YOU SAY THAT THERE WAS KISSING?

Now, on to less exciting matters. Statistics.

Ideally, everyone should sit in a perfect circle, perfectly spaced apart, to give everyone the same random chance of getting pointed at by the bottle. The further away from the circle, the lesser your sector is. Hence, those sitting in the corners of a room are less likely to be infected with cooties!

I am a self-proclaimed champion of fairness and justice, and I believe that everyone should have a fair chance. I plead all of you who organize parties and play such games to ensure the perfectness of the circle.

Spin Doctors

Then, there is also another lesser-known way of turning the chances to/against your favor; spinning the bottle such that it would stop off the center of the circle.

The black lines cut off sectors, and as you can see, there is a 50% chance that the four players to the top of the graphic will be pointed at. Players who spin may intentionally spin it such to/against his/her favor.

I thus ask gamemasters to ensure that the bottle is spun on the center, and stays in the center. Punishment to players who intend to put a spin on things would be, perhaps, to get kissed by the gamemaster. Ideally, the gamemaster should have bad breath, braces and be unattractive. All the more incentive for the gamemaster to spot spin doctors and corner huggers!

Two Years Pass My Ears

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A change is coming, and those of you who hop over to Laundry Bar for Moonshine will see it. What better way to show The Before than to take dramatic off-camera-light-type shots? (Strobist is an excellent blog about off-camera lighting techniques.)

October 11th, 2006 marks the second year anniversary of me not getting a haircut. (Okay, so I did get my sideburns evened out…)

Win a Sony T30, YO!

OBsession artSCENE

1 Reply

This following entry is copied from my Xfresh article. Without pictures, though.

What: Anak Bulan Di Kampong Wa’ Hassan
Where: Pentas 2, Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Center
When: 20-23 Sept @ 8.30pm and 23-24 Sept @ 3pm
How Much: RM25 and RM10 (students, disabled & senior citizens); you can get tickets at KLPac (03-4047 9000 / tickets@klpac.com) or The Actors Studio @ Bangsar Shopping Center (03-2094 9400 / tickets@theactorsstudio.com.my)
Who: Writer: Alfian bin Sa’at, Director & Performer: Gene Sha Rudyn

More details here.

Gene Sha Rudyn plays all the characters in this play; various people seen in a Kampung. The kampung is slowly being destroyed, but the play does not talk too much about that; instead, he paints a colorful picture of a merry kampung, with all its characters.

I’ve never lived in a kampung, yet from what I’ve seen on TV, read in Lat cartoons, I could relate. He effortlessly alternates between an Indian ice-cream seller and a Chinese minimart owner in a heated argument. He pokes fun of stereotypes (for example, in that scene, he points at a Malay guy, who is just looking and not doing anything.)

Gene also switches from characters instantaneously and effortlessly. I wondered how the lighting director could keep up with it. He also had very consistent voice imitations. There was also trademark Malay humor; for example, in one scene he puts on a most serious face and goes “Aku menangis, tapi dia tak nampak, pasal hujan lebat.”

Despite the easily accessible entertainment value, there were deeper themes and messages; one gripping scene has him crying, playing a homosexual man who was kicked out of his village because of his sexual preference.

Rating: 9/10

And now, for other pimpage!

What: A Malaysian Affair: A Tapestry Of Malaysian Songs
Where: The Actors Studio, Bangsar Shopping Center
When: 6th-7th October (8:30pm) and 8th October (3:00pm)
How Much: RM30 and RM40 (adult); RM25 and RM35 (12 years and below) + RM2 (Axcess Charge)
Who: The Young KL Singers

Oh, and there are lucky draw prizes on all 3 shows; holiday packages for 2 sponsored by Berjaya Hotels & Resorts worth up to RM4

One Minute Short

Ambitschin’

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Recent events have led to a wake up call. A good blow to the head.

If you asked me 5 days ago where I saw myself in 5 years from now, I wouldn’t know. Heck, I hated those ambition-type questions to the core, me being a laidback hippie, a voluntary honorary red ant. Is everybody supposed to be a managing director at the age of 25? I like hands-on programming. I don’t want to be giving orders to subordinates, who I feel would not do the job the way I want it. John Carmack has always been a hardcore programmer for id Software, despite co-owning it! His dedication and passion is what kept their game engines top-notch.

Move Out
I plan to move out of my parents’ house sometime.

I’ve never given it thought. I’ve never thought that I should, or that I would. Until recently.

Just like in Failure To Launch, there really isn’t a reason to move out. I do not hate my parents. I’m not inseparable from them either. I come home just to sleep, use the computer, fix the computer, provide free ASTRO for my family (it’s a company perk) and eat dinner. Sometimes. My Nokia N70‘s alarm clock is more annoying than previous Nokias I’ve had, but I am still coming back after gigs at 2am and sleeping right through the alarm. That’s where family comes in. The human alarm clock.

I don’t need to move out. I don’t get cigarette withdrawal symptoms at home. I don’t get the munchies. (I don’t smoke or do weed.) I don’t have a curfew. They’ve never said that I can’t bring girls into my room but I don’t, because I am shyyy. 😮

I was never forced to live independently before, since I went to college at Informatics KL, which was very near the Ampang Park LRT station. Perhaps, if I was studying Game Design in Multimedia University, Melacca (and then Cyberjaya) I’d be forced to experience it. Perhaps, if I came to the Klang Valley to study, from say Ipoh, I’d be forced to.

At this point, being forced to go for National Service would be good for me. It teaches kids to be independent! It really isn’t about learning how to fire guns. It’s about getting some muscles, a bit of a tan, and watching your back as you pick up the soap.

Where To?

Preferably somewhere in the middle of everything, like KL Sentral or Bangsar. Of course, both areas are prime property, so Seputeh, Brickfields and Kerinchi are cheaper options.

Oh, and it would have to be next to an LRT station, so even schoolgirls can come to my place… and play with my Transformers and watch me play guitar. I’m a private person and only do private performances, unless under inhibition-inhibiting substances.

Getting Around

I love the LRT and fully support it. It’s too bad people aren’t patient enough to live with it. A banged up car, and the cost of banging it back into shape, could be half a Kancil. Plus I could park anywhere without worrying. I wouldn’t put my junk in the backseat.

But really, do I need a car?

NO.

I am one of those people who can live with long bus rides. I’ve got my phone and loads of Symbian games. I’ve got my pen and paper and a Rubik’s Cube. I’ve always got something to mentally occupy myself with.

I just want a car so I can pick up chicks.

…and maybe come home late after clubbing in some place where taxis exorbitantly charge RM50 just to exit Subang/Sunway. But then, I shouldn’t be drinking and driving, so… do you see the irony here?

If I got married, I’d rather she drive while I take the bus. I might have a car, but it’s a matter of having a choice. (Like KL Commuter, a blog about public transportation in Malaysia, says.)

I’d hate myself the moment I find myself unable to ride the LRT.

Saving Up?

Since I’m so good at starting things and not finishing them, I shall exercise the policy of buying a functional item and then not upgrading it. For example, I was getting restless with my (sister’s) acoustic guitar, and wanted a lickable butterscotch Ibanez GSA 370-QM AM electric guitar badly. Just as I had the money for it, I failed for the first time in college. Plans were delayed, and the itch subsided.

Similiarly, I have a Canon Powershot A520, a functional geek camera with manual features. The itch is currently high to get a digital SLR… but I’ve a feeling that that too, will pass. I already have one item of camera. That cash could go to the car.

“Dad, I’m gonna move out. Can you buy me a Kancil?”

That’s not the point. Complete, true independence is the point.

…of course, provisions will be made for a gradual transition, but I will do as much as I am able to.

Food

I ~~can’t~~ ~~don’t know how to~~ haven’t tried to cook, but I have a whole lot of hair that I can afford to lose, by eating a carton of instant cup noodle. I’m used to my family’s kitchen mishaps, so if my cooking sucked I’d be pretty used to it. 😀

Drinks

I’m still at the age where I enjoy just having a sober conversation at a mamak compared to having a sober conversation in the smoky nethers of a pub or bistro. Alcohol is great, yeah, but just like food it goes in and goes out. Starbucks, too. Yeah, so I’m not big on coffee or alcohol. You could say that I haven’t cultivated such cultured tastes… but I should be thankful I don’t have such costly preferences. Ramli Burger anytime!

Changes, Plans

Self-preparation is the plan.

But first, I need to start practising as if I was independent at home, while I save up.

Cut Off Alarming Dependence

Tune myself to the alarm. It will be unavoidable that I will lack sleep. If I sleep at 2am, I’d only wake up automatically 8 hours later. However, there have been occurences where I remind myself before I sleep that the batteries are charging downstairs… and when I wake up, I actually remember to look for them. I set three alarms 15 minutes apart, and the jackpot’s on the third.

When I move, my room will be a mark of minimalism. Wardrobe in a box, the rest of my junk in a box, sofabed, computer table, office chair, fan (air-cond gives me the sniffles) and a toilet.

I felt that this blog entry would’ve been better written last night, since all the points were running in my head all day, but I decided to get off my lazy ass and clean up my room. How would I live the minimalist concept if I had heaps of boxes and papers around?

Thanks Ms. B. and best friend for helping me come to this realization. I’ve been such a dependent person for so long. (And shameless and stupid too.) I just don’t know where to hide my face in shame.

Tarty

1 Reply

Pineapples tarts are heaven.

Pineapples appear on pizzas, but kids pull them from their cheese beds and toss them aside.

Pineapples appear in fruit punch, but kids drink the punch, leaving the pineapples behind.

Pineapple tarts, however, are always a hit.

It’s like pineapples were created by God to decorate fruit baskets and make pineapple tarts.

Pardon this picture-less post, I’m unable to connect to my FTP server at the moment.

The Laid Links

Fake-O

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The winner of the last quiz, “Guess What’s Wrong With My Teeth“, is Ms. Mamoyo! She has a most interesting blog, (with content leading to such ridiculous expressions like I am making) and has posted interesting videos of herself on Youtube. She also provides interesting conversation of interesting insight. Very interesting lady indeed.

Yes, the image is smaller to avoid the trauma of my expression here.

And now for the next quiz; guess what I thought of the moment I saw this:

Glaring Notebook

Pressed For Words