Category Archives: Pictures

Trouble Gangs Us

9 Replies

Troubagangers, La Bodega KL, 5th February 2006; the pictures follow.

Justin Wong, on Suzuki-branded acoustic guitar, gets flashed by fans.

Broken Scar sings songs in the key of major.

Lisa‘s guitar sounded jangly and piercing, perhaps due to bad sound EQ?

Errol de Cruz does some good ‘ol country.

Zack Tay features band slut Alda.

Su Ann reads poetry.

Ian Chow‘s voice doesn’t need a mike.

The Sofa Sessions feature Fikri the crooning waiter.

Finally, Rafil projects his masterpiece manifesto with Panda Head Curry. They had what they called an interactive performance; when they sang the Gator Farm song, they passed out KFC Chicken Popcorn, so we could experience the chorus:

“And it tastes like chicken, smells just like chicken, finger lickin’ chicken, fine!”

With Ben of Ben’s B***hes as backing vocals and guitar, they then went on to hilarious songs about Kim Jong-il and homophobia. I wish I kept the lyrics sheet.

And yes, Rafil does look like a Panda Head. Yes, I know, my Photoshop skills aren’t as good as yours.

For an alternate take, check out The Troubagangers Report and Edrei‘s account.

Gay? Bah

14 Replies

Out of the blue, a friend asked on MSN:

albert are you gay?
hahahahaha why
tell me honestly, are you?
why do you think so ah
hmmm
you think i like rainbows? you wanna introduce me to a guy?
do you have frens who are gay?
yes, i have friends who are gay
ok..do you know how diff gay?
how different?
how to differentiate lar
well, gays usually like Mariah Carey
really?
yeah
why arr?
why la you asking
cuz arr…hmmmm im kinda fall for someone lor… frens all suspect he is a gay
then he probably is. 😛
arr?
introduce to me la, then i find out for you 😉
u know why..cuz that’s usually a guy in and out with him, wearing the same design pendant, same hair style
means matching?
hmm… what do u think?
how about his shoes? are they very clean?
yeah. very
OOOOOOOOOO
he’s my instructor lar
instructor for? gym?
yeah
is his hand soft? i mean, like when he talks, does he flop his hand
hmm i didnt notice
means don’t have la? wait wait, why you suspect me aaa?
maybe yes but i didnt notice
how would you know if i am gay?
i dont know… heard from ed long time ago, i couldnt remember
so why did he say that?
hahaha
i mean, he got reasons ah? i mean, i thought i look pretty straight
you heard from Ed… or Shaz?
yo you there?
wait arr on the phone
ok

If I told her I wasn’t, I would not be able to find out why she thought I was gay.

The next day, I watched Actorlympics, where the flamboyant gay guys were the funniest, as always.

The day after that, I was kissed by a guy. Two girls made a deal; “you guys kiss for two seconds, and we’ll make out for 30 seconds.”

It didn’t matter to me whether they did it or not, I’ve been there, seen that. And I didn’t mind a meaningless kiss from between straight guys, because really, in the end, we did it not because we wanted to see them make out, but because they so obviously wanted to make out so badly, and needed some excuse.

But hey, guys kissing are a lot more precious than a mere 30 seconds. And if I wanted to see girls making out in real life without having to kiss a guy, I could hop over to Frangipani when it is their ladies night.

I went to dance, and when I came back, apparently all the guys had kissed each other.

Or maybe they were just getting back at us, as the girls wanted to drop by Frangipani before Zouk.

Finally, I made up for all the gay debauchery on Saturday. Bored of all the Klang Valley malls, I headed to Jusco Seremban 2 (there you have your answer for the sign) with LIMITED EDITION 01. The place smelled of food all over, and it reminded me of Ikano a lot; parallelogram-shaped wide shops and modern, brightly-lit design.

Unfortunately, I am not able to tell a story as imaginative as hers, so I’ll just say we went to watch Pink Panther. It was well-executed slapstick. However, watching Mr. Bean on TV, I still think the British are the best at slapstick and comic timing. In Mr. Bean, for example, the kid uses a remote control to control a toy boat. The remote seems to be spoiled, so Mr. Bean hacks the remote control, and unwittingly makes it take control of a electric wheelchair. He then drives the boat across the pond, with the poor man in wheelchair rolling in the background. He hands it to the kid, and the kid turns it, unaware that the wheelchair is about to crash into him.

With Pink Panther’s style, you’d see the wheelchair hit the boy into the pond, with a splash, and the man’s expression as he flies into the water. Funny.

With Mr. Bean, they cut to the next scene. Funnier.

Interestingly, Inspector Jacques Clouseau is seen in one scene downloading a ringtone for System Of A Down – B.Y.O.B.! Rock on, old incompetent Frenchman.

More interesting was the taxi ride to KL Sentral; the taxi driver asked, “You pergi mana? Seremban?” Caught by surprise, I mumbled, “Bukit Bintang“. Then he asked, “jumpa amoi?”

On Sunday however, I found the love of my life! I never had the real thing in my hands until late last year; one was from London, the other, Australia. We could have a few quickies under one minute. People would look at us on the LRT.

ARGH! After I got Hannna to get me one from Selfridges London, and Ed got me one from Australia, I finally found this, at RM24.95 at Toys’R’Us Express, The Mall, near Putra World Trade Centre. Bloody hell that’s USD 6.56 (online, USD12)! Why was it cheaper? I found that they stuck a white label over the Milton Bradley and Hasbro Toys logos. No wonder it was cheaper!

It felt more consistent than the Australian cube, solid and did not lock. It didn’t seem like friction, but it felt slower, and slower it was; 74 seconds was twice my record.

Subcultured

6 Replies

Guess what this is.

Anyway, I got off the Kepong KTM Komuter station, and the walkover was in darkness. I heard some skinheads laughing rowdily in the background, with black jackets, studded belts, boots and blond mohawks. In the darkness, I heard some tapping; it was a blind man, to my left, with a walking stick (as in, a stick that aids his walking, not a stick that walks.)

“Abang mau pergi mana?” (Where do you want to go brother?)

One of the skinheads was guiding the blind man!

They joked about the darkness and how they could relate to him. All four of them sent him off past the ticketing machines.

A touching moment, not easily captured on film due to the lack of light all around the station.

People in subcultures are still helpful Malaysians, you know.

Gossip Twirls

4 Replies

Sarah asked me once why I do not put pictures of chicks much. Well, quite simply, I was being proper and permission-asking, I told her, since some people get all hissy about it. Or maybe she just wanted some pimpage on my blog, read by loads of rockers, lesbians, geeks, colleagues, alcoholics in denial, bloggers who don’t step out of their homes, amateur photographers, friends, Romans and countrymen. 😛

The subject for today is: How do you tell if a girl is gossippy? Quite simple.

Subject A is seen here on the phone. What does she do with her other hand while on the phone? Twirl her hair, of course. (Note that hair-twirling only happens at a comfortable length; thus, if she has twirls and curls at the top of the head, it is unlikely that it is caused by her message-disseminating pastime.)

However, the girls you really gotta watch out for are those with straight hair. Why? They don’t have twirls, because both hands are busy holding phones. 😛

Troubadours KL, No Black Tie(s)

2 Replies

15th January 2006 was the second and last time I’d ever step into the new No Black Tie (the first was for Moonshine KL). The authorities then decided to revoke the license. Argh!

I just realized who Jerome Kugan sounded like. Stephen Morrissey. His unique clean, glass-like voice and vocal inflections reminded me of the great satirist songwriter. I was listening to Black Smiths – How Sweet Is Leaf and realized that it sounded very familiar. Research followed, and I found out that it was from The Smiths – How Soon Is Now. You may recognize it, covered by Love Spit Love, as the Charmed theme song.

Deserters featured Izuan Shah of Auburn and Kawalski (I think.) I’d have to say I prefered Izuan’s alternative rock stuff to this more straight folky stuff.

Keng, from Furniture, was a good ol’ rock and roll superstar here, with Azmyl Yunor‘s rarely ever seen band. He had the bluesy rock licks, the desirable red Gibson SG, and loads of stage time to let loose, gazing at the fretboard instead of his shoes.

It was also Azmyl’s birthday.

Broken Scar sees the light.

His brother backs up on major key acoustic goodness.

Shahril of Sofa Session~~ist~~s has just one bass tone; dancy. Ariff squeezes my soul everytime he does a Red Hot Chili Peppers cover. 😀

Eu Seng and his band…

…the enveloping void of darkness. I can’t decide which picture better depicts the lonely melancholy of his haunting songs.

Zack Tay Yee Meng pops on stage for an open mike. As always, his Taylor glows on stage.

Finally, our favorite underground scene defender and jail-bailer, Rafil of 360 Degree Head Rotation and Panda Head Curry ends the show.

The next Troubadours will be at KL Performing Arts Center this Sunday! Head on down for a heck of a scenic view.

Of Cheese And Camels

7 Replies

So I went for a movie marathon with a cheesy chick, who, with the magic of her Steadyshot Sony Cybershot T9, has managed to capture a picture with the right angle and lighting such that it looked like I slept a good 8 hours every night.

Some of you may recognize the shirt.

Some of you may also notice that I don’t usually camwhore; that is because with her magical skills with the uh… lighting and angle of the camera, I looked like the bed was my best friend.

Anyway, what is a movie marathon but a celebration of movies, in plural form, in more than one? Alas, two is not grand, toe-numbing and worthy of the epic porportions that the word “marathon” implies. But still.

Big Momma’s House 2 was just alright, not too in-your-face black, not over-the-top, but that is subjective to how many black movies you’ve seen to say that Big Momma was relatively not as annoying as some other black “whatcha looking at foo?” movies.

Prime, with a name like Meryl Streep, initially scared me as I thought her name would imply a chick flick. Thank God it wasn’t, and that it was a romantic comedy, with a shy Jewish momma’s boy I could relate to, and an unusually hot 37-year old. Oh. Then, it was revealed that she was a model, and that she was Uma Thurman who incidentally is 36 this year. She did look familiar, but it didn’t strike me who it was. A pleasantly good surprise for a movie I did not read any synopsis on, and a much more mature, logical and believable than A Lot Like Love.

I then bought the original DVD to Wallace & Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit! The bonus DVD features include DVD games where you gotta whack bunnies that pop out of holes (very inventive use) and dressing up Lady Tottingham, for example. There’s also an alternative ending. Way cool. Eat your ~~hearts~~ cheese out, people!

How To Bug A Lady

8 Replies

I knew a girl who loved ladybugs. And so, it was my plan for the longest time to ~~play a prank on her~~ give her a present. The plan? Make her red Perodua Kancil a ladybug!

I purchased black manila paper, cellophane tape, and cut the manila paper into circles, about the size of CDs.

I arranged a meetup solely for this purpose. I chose a place where I’d be able to see where she parked, namely Amcorp Mall, near Taman Jaya (where KY Speaks collected mandarin oranges). I stood outside, with camera in hand, pretending to take pictures of scenery. She didn’t notice me until I waved frantically (I wanted to hop in so I could find out where she parked.) Instead, she waved back, and parked in the outdoor car park instead of inside, thank goodness.

I then waited in the shade to see which part of the parking lot she came from, so it would be easier to locate her car.

We went for a hearty lunch. Towards the end, I excused myself to go to the toilet, and knowing Amcorp Mall’s hidden, shady toilets, I had an excuse to take a while.

I ran down to the outdoor carpark, frantically tore the cellophane tape and plastered the pre-cut manila paper all over. The manila and tape were concealed in my cargo pants pocket (why would I bring a bag to the toilet?)

Okay fine, I only taped it to the front and right side but that was enough to be seen.

I then ran back, and found that the iced lemon tea I was drinking was gone! I insisted on walking her back to her car to see her reaction.

I’ve done enough straightforward storytelling, so it’s time for you to guess her reaction.

“Hey uh, since you can’t really drive a ladybug around, here’s a smaller toy ladybug.” (Which I produced from my other side pocket.)

Anyway, Happy Valentine’s Day to everybody. Instead of slobbering in mushiness or moping about, you could blog about cool, ingeniously sweet things you could do. Or you could take a friend’s girlfriend out. Taxi drivers will relate to you their stories of how they learned another language for their loves!

Lie And Dance

5 Replies

Here, again, is proof that Albert procrastinates the wrong things. He breaks program schedule to show you this cool trick, brought to you with the power of two polarizers in front of a digital camera. In order – a linear polarizer (must be linear), circular polarizer, digital camera. Yep, my circular-linear-wannabe-neutral-density filter.

The setting? A traditionally scorching bright sunny day, with the absolute EVs scorching at around 15. Perfect, they say, for outdoor action photography, as every shot will be scorchingly lit with shutter speeds of about 1/250 seconds at most. The subject? A lion dance performance.

Of course, I wanted a different effect than to see the lions being immobilized in mid air. I wanted to convey motion, something you would not be able to do even at F8.0. Cue the crossed polarizers!

Settings? ISO 50, aperture priority (anywhere between F2.6 to F8.0) and EV -1. Pardon the composition of the pictures, I was focusing on getting motion in cool ways.

But first, a peek into the mind of a lion:

This is a regular shot, no movement, no filters:

I then attach the filters, and turn the linear polarizer (the outer ring) to reduce the light coming to the lens, letting the camera to choose a slower shutter speed:

Motion looks better in wide shots.

By chance, I got this; one still, the other two moving.

So that’s how it’s done!

Big drums and heavy beats. How could you not headbang to this?

Nod your head yo.

Another way to make use of shutter speed is to pan with the subject, like so: (Note the Queen T-shirt!)

A faster-moving panned subject.

Show’s over, boys.

Happy Chinese New Year to all of you! (Yes, this is still valid till the day oranges are thrown into rivers.)

Diet Coax

3 Replies

11 PM, Friday, February 3rd 2006, location: KL Sentral

For the first time ever, KL Sentral’s concourse area was clear.

Earlier, at 7pm, I was there at McDonalds ordering. They didn’t have chicken porridge or Diet Coke/Coke Light!

How could they not have Diet Coke? How could they run out? Does everybody order Diet Coke? I thought all you McDonalds junkies order Coke, the real thing, not the weak artificial imitation. I thought you all order burgers too, so how could they run out of porridge? (I normally don’t order porridge but I was feeling sick.)

This is why I drink Diet Coke.

Happy (Chinese?) New Year!

3 Replies

This is so majorly procrastinated it amuses noone. At least most of these aren’t last year’s pictures. While all of you are going, “Happy Chinese New Year!” I release them “Happy New Year!” pictures.

I was at Shelley’s for New Year’s Eve 2005 to New Year’s 2006, at Cheras, atop a hill, where we could see fireworks, have a barbeque party and drink from her parents’ winery products. 😉

Marshmellows, when melted on lamb, look like rosebuds.