Xmas Decadence...

So I hope everyone is enjoying/enjoyed their Xmas vacation. A couple of people I know are/were vacationing in rather exotic locations like Hawai and Kenya. A few others managed to get steals to vacation hot spots like New York and LA. As for me, since I have nobody to spend the money on but me, and nowhere to go but here, I decided to go on a shopping spree. And a makeover of my computer accessories.

So I have a new Garmin 350 Nuvi on the way. Hopefully this will cut down (significantly) all the desperate "Hello, do you have internet access?" calls some of my friends will be getting.

Also, now I've installed a wireless router in my house so that my bro (who lazes around the house all day long since he can't even drive...) can enjoy the internet without disturbing my surfing/gaming sessions. Setting the whole thing up was a lot easier than I imagined. And I just needed to make only 2 tech support calls in total. And Zee, I can now play Mario Kart DS on the Wifi. What's your friend code?

Lastly, I revamped my internet security since my Norton Suite, which was included in my Lenovo, expires in 2 days. I tried to purchase another year's license but the procedure was so confusing, I gave up and went hunting for freebies online instead. What I came up was the Comodo Firewall (free means free) and AVG Free Anti-Virus. The reviews look good and I'll update if they work okie or not.

So all in all, it wasn't a fantastically meaningful holiday but I'm not complaining. Any chance to rest while getting paid is a good time in my books.

May your New Year's Party be more happening than Christmas'. Party safe people!!

Happy Holidays!!

So, it's the weekend before Christmas and to me, it signals the end of the working year. WooTz. Cos my boss decided to let the whole office off till next year, it means that I have a full week of vacation that just appeared out of nowhere. Truly an awesome welfare move.

I hope everyone has had a wonderful year. Personally, the year represented a major shift in focus and life for me and I'm still treading very gingerly into the new year. But I'm pretty sure with hard work and some luck, things can only go up from here. May the new year bring more joy and happiness and moolah to all my readers.

Honestly, I wanted to work in 1 more post about drivers and noobs on Battlenet, but my blood pressure rose too much for me everytime I started thinking about it. Instead, I present a post about what Japanese kids want for Christmas, taken from Japanprobe.com. Enjoy and Happy Holidays Peeps!

Ironic

It's like raaiiinnnn.... On your wedding day
It's the freetixstoWicked when you've alreadymadeplanstogohomeforCNY....

Ah, the delicious irony of freebies when you've already have plans. The best laid plans indeed do often go astray. But anyways, at least I still have the dinner near Wicked that I won along with the tickets at the Christmas party last week. That was an awesome party. It was the first time I saw a salad that had descriptions 4 lines long. High class stuff indeed. The parking was already 41 dollars per night... In any case, a memo to my peers - during parties with people who are your elders, it pays to know retro (mambo) music since thats what they know. The music selection last Friday was very WednesdayNight@Zouk-ish. With hits like "Staying Alive", multiple songs by Belinda Carlisle and the occasional Ricky Martin tune. Unfortunately, no "Square Rooms".

Oh well, at least the weekend was kind enough to give me a free dinner coupon, the goodwill of a fellow colleague, and a treat from a graduate(d) friend. That would be a good weekend in anyone's books I should think.

To end it all, check out this flash animation. Me and my bro couldn't stop laughing for quite awhile after watching it. Unfortunately, I think non-Singaporeans won't fully understand its concepts but its still a good parody.

Wiisome!!

Why the Wii is awesome? Let me show you 3 videos. If they can make more games like these, I'm pretty sure it's gonna be a winner. Raving Rabbids For The Win!! I especially like the 3rd video, smacking crazy rabbits. Everyone should dig smacking rabbits.







Also, there's another video for Warioware. The player has to imitate all the motions with the Wiimote (the white coloured thing) and the game has the irresistible appeal of smacking, not rabbits this time, but your butt in time with the music. Brilliant!!



そして、きみさいきんげんき？なんであうときあまりげんきがしなかったん？いまなにがこまってるか？もしメンドウやふあんなことがあったら、ぜひぼくとはなしてよ。だまっていてはだめだよ。しているだろ。”きみ”というのはいったいだれだ。じゃ、もしネートであえないなら、ぼくにメイールしてよ。

B4 Pple KB Mii Again...

So it's coming to the end of the exam period, hope everyone did reasonably well for finals. Just a FYI kinda update tonight.

1st up, is this post from Mavericks owner, Mark Cuban, talking about his view about success and how to fight your battles. He's always an interesting read and this is doubly so as he's imparting lessons to the readers.

2nd thing is, new (as in, never before posted) pics are up. They can be found here,here and here.

Lastly, enjoy the Christmas parties people!! And try to stay sober... Tell next time.

LENOVO (IBM)'S DUBIOUS BUSINESS PRACTICES PART II

So I called Lenovo regarding a problem I have with my CMD prompt. Everytime I type any command in the RUN prompt, the DOS window opens and then immediately closes. Anyone has any tips/hints?

But anyways, as I was chatting with the service rep, they tell me that my warranty expires next year, 2007. I was shocked as I thought that when I purchased my laptop in Sept, that I paid extra for a warranty extension option. But apparently, I read wrongly again... I had purchased a warranty service upgrade, but no extension of service. WTF... I guess my next laptop isn't gonna be a Lenovo. As if I needed further persuading after that previous fiasco...

Making People Famous I

Well, with the proliferation of websites like Youtube, Google Video and Toudou, the self-made household superstar has hit it big. It has never been easier, nor cheaper to do an original production and attempt to promote it to the masses. However, what I am doing today, is not that. I have no ritzy self-promotion video to show you, but instead, would like to show others at their (questionable) best.

First up, please watch the koteh in the backrow, 3rd from the right. Notice his deadpan expression and distinct lack of displacement that so brings out activity of the rest of the band. After that, you can look at all the Asian mei mei's, if you're so inclined. They are the TrebleMakers, NU's only Chinese ACapella group. The song is “听妈妈的话“

It's a nice song, unfortunately, my camera can't record indefinitely, so it kinda gets cut off at the end. Here are the lyrics.

小朋友是否有很多问号
为什么别人在那看漫画
我却在学画画
对着钢琴说话别人在玩游戏
我却靠在墙壁背我的abc
我说我要一架大大的飞机
我却得到一只旧旧螺旋机
为什么要听妈妈的话
长大后你就会开始懂得这段话
长大后我开始明白
为什么我跑得比别人快
飞得比别人高
将来大家看的都是我画的漫画
大家唱的都是我写的歌
妈妈的辛苦不让你看见
温暖的事都在她心里面
有空就得多握握她的手
把手牵着一起梦游
听妈妈的话别让她受伤
想快快长大才能保护她
美丽的白发幸福中发芽
天使的魔法温暖中慈祥
在你的未来音乐是你的王牌
王牌谈个恋爱
而我不想把你教坏
还是听妈妈的话吧
晚年再恋爱吧
我知道你未来的路
干嘛比我更清楚
你因为太多学习的同学在这块写东写西
但我建议最好听妈妈我会用功读书
用功读书怎么会从我嘴巴说出
不想你输所以要叫你用功读书
妈妈交给你的毛笔你要好好的收着
因为不知道是我要告诉她我还留着
对了我会遇到我(周润发?)
所以你对跟同学炫耀赌神未来是你爸爸
我找不到你写的情书
你喜欢的要承认因为我会了解你会在操场上牵她
你会开始喜欢唱流行歌
因为张学友开始准备唱吻别
听妈妈的话别让她受伤
想快快长大才能保护她
美丽的白发幸福总发芽
天使的魔法温暖中慈祥
听妈妈的话别让她受伤
想快快长大才能保护她
长大后我开始明白为什么我
跑得比别人快飞得比别人高
将来大家看的都是我画的漫画
大家唱的都是我写的歌
妈妈的辛苦不让你看见
温暖的事都在她心里面
有空就得多握握她的手
把手牵着一起梦游
听妈妈的话别让她受伤
想快快长大才能保护她
美丽的白发幸福中发芽
天使的魔法温暖中慈祥

So Many Things, So Little Purchasing Power...

So it's finally December. That means that it's the festive season and sales abound. That also means it's the season for many impulse buys, cos there are so many things to buy... But I can't, not really, since I'm saving my moolah to go back and spend time with friends and family. And to have fun with friends in Japan along the way as well.

Yeap, I just got the tickets today. Feb 11 Japan, Feb 16th Home!! Now I gotta get me's a countdown timer or something... Maybe I'll kop (steal) one from my 学妹...

The Mac & the Sexy

After watching this, I have the inexplicable urge to randomly burst out in "Big Mac... Big Mac..." But it's a pretty cool thing to try. Perhaps someone could come up with a local version?


And as promised, the sexy. And if you didn't find that sexy, you're either gay (but definitely not lesbian) or a eunuch...

Holiday Consumerism

So, I changed to the beta version of Blogger and I can't see any difference at all in the service. Can anyone out there enlighten me of the new tricks one can do with Blogger Beta?

Anyways, before I start the post proper, I would like to say a "banyat (typo?) terma kasih" to Abang for the postcard I just received today. Hope everything's going well for you in Egypt! And use more English/Chinese in your blog!! Banyat tak faham!!

Okie, so the last post was before the Thanksgiving holidays and I know some of my readers have been getting on my ass about not updating (You know who you are...). Hence, I will talk about my Thanksgiving break.

So there was a pleasant surprise on Wednesday, the company's office hours were till 15:30 only. However, if the boss doesn't leave, a rookie can't have thick enough skin to leave either right? So I stayed till around 16:15 before leaving, hoping to beat the Chicago traffic, for my bro's place. Maybe it's cos I'm still new to the area, but every time I think I have the timing for Chicago traffic down, it screws me all over again. This time, I entered Chicago very very smoothly. Normally, it takes about 40-50 minutes for me to hit downtown Chicago from my workplace, but I made that journey in like 25 last Wednesday. Unfortunately, that means I was trying to leave Chicago, on Thanksgiving Eve, during the "5 o'clock everyone clusterf*cking on the expressway" jam. Normally,i.e. on a normal Friday evening, it takes me about 1.5 hours to reach my bro's place from work. Last Wednesday, I reached his place at like 18:30, even after I shaved 15-25 minutes off the going into Chicago route. Traffic was horrible.

Anyways, so we had dinner and then celebrated Thanksgiving by sleeping and playing WC3/Dota. On Friday, I woke up early (2:30) to get ready to go to the post-Thanksgiving sales at Aurora. I went there with a friend and I think we certainly did our part to stimulate the American economy. I got a pair of deerskin gloves from Timberland and a leather jacket from CK. My friend... well, let's say I still don't get female fascinations with shoes... and bags...

Oh well, I guess she wasn't the only one to go home feeling broke. Ah Seng has to starve till he goes back home and I think Bob has to start pimping on the streets again.

So that was my Thanksgiving story. Anyone has their story to share?

P.S. I just realised that it's only been 8 days since my last post. Talk about impatient readers... Haha.

P.P.S. Also, new pics are up. These are some of the pics from the Singapore Associations Winter Formal. There are more, but I don't have them...

Princess Leia!! In a Bikini!! Dancing!! ZOMG!!

And I just can't stop laughing at this video. Lolxorz!!

And as a side note, I believe this comic very succinctly sums up the Wii (Last Sunday) & the PS3 (Last Friday) launches.



Hmm... Seems like there are technical difficulties with embedding the video. But here's the direct link.

Birthday Alert!

Happy (Slightly) Belated B'dae to Zee!!
Score 1 for Otaku-ism, may your japanese improve by leaps and bounds. And I DID maintain that DS was FTW. Haha.

The Way Things Should Be

I know I should be doing my laundry and catching up on my bills on this lazy Sunday afternoon, but before I proceed to do the mundane stuff in life, I want to post this video about how the way things should be. Girls + Gaming = Best Buy!!

And even if you're not interested in the gaming/girl (your choice) part, you still have the other one to fall back on!! So without further ado, the Dota Song, by BassHunters.


To end it all, a Zu31G Public Service Announcement: Next week is Thanksgiving, have you made your post-Thanksgiving sales plans yet? As they say in Battletech, "Information is Ammunition". And now you know.

Traffic Regulations

As a driver, I find that once you're behind the wheel, you adopt a totally different idiocy tolerance threshold. Things like people taking 5 minutes to overtake cars on a 2 lane highway really really grate on you. And there's a tendency to travel faster than the regulated speed limit and scorn the slowpokes as you zoom by, but perhaps that's not the best thing to do in the world, as evidenced by this song. Kudos to Ah Seng for showing me this.



For a more real-life example, check out what happens when you hit a traffic speed hump at really really high speeds.

The JetSetters

Might have been a better name instead of Champions of Excellence... Considering that the graduates from my batch can be found in Belgium and Egypt. Hopefully, I won't be adding to my frequent flyer miles anytime soon.

Here are some videos to entertain you guys while I try to gather up some of the most recent pics...

1. Cool animation. Reminiscent of Pixar's opening animations.

2. As some might know, it was the midterm elections in the United States last week. If you missed the results, here they are, in a nutshell (or rather, a youtube video clip).

Sexual Innuendo Ahoy!

I can't believe how this got past the censors. Must have been some really magic the producers of this particular episode conjured up. I know it's been around for awhile, but for those who don't go ebaumsworld, this might be new.

Name that Word!

This is a lunch post so I gotta be quick. I was reading a article about FCC's ruling about a "vulgarity" but they never mentioned it so I'm opening it up to my readers.

It's apparently OK to say the S-word on TV — as long as it's on a program that the Federal Communications Commission says even faintly resembles a news show.

The FCC reversed itself Tuesday and deemed acceptable a Survivor contestant's use of the obscenity during an interview on a December 2004 episode of The Early Show on CBS. The contestant used a vulgar term for "smooth talker" to describe a fellow contestant on Survivor: Vanuatu.

So NAME THAT WORD!!

Edit- Turns out that article was misleading. The word in question was "bullshitter". Kudos to E.B.O.F. for that tip off.

Transitional Pains

So I finally weaned myself off that old hunk of junk Toshiba and am using my new IBM fulltime now. The most obvious thing I notice is that there is no incessant whirring noises anymore. That's a real relief. And now, I load my Dota like 2304809825 times faster as well. W00TZ!

But in the meantime, I'm having issues with the longer screen. I've been fiddling with the DPI and resolutions trying to make my stuff look normal on this extended screen but it's not quite working yet. Maybe I need to look something up.

ワァ。。。ここまできたはちょうメンドウ！！なんかぼくのIMEはくるってったから。。。でももう大丈夫。ぼくは”本当にありがとう”と言いたい。送りものをもらったので。いろいろおいしそう食べ物があるんだ！もう一回アリガトウ。

Lolxorz !1On3One1Ne

Why am I so jubliant? Well because I get to go home 1 day earlier than expected!! AWESOME. The plant was up and running today and everything went smoothly so the operators decided that we weren't needed anymore. That means I have 1 morning to enjoy the sights and sounds of town.

A few more things I've learnt (and I'm sure 99.9999999% of my readers will not understand this):

1. Explosion proof glass is a good training window, but that means your temperatures cannot rise above 250 degrees C.

2. I kinda know how 70& DS feels like already. Like damp sand. And 90% DS is dry sand.

3. Even if your VFD is of the right size, often times the ramp rate has to be damped to ensure the motor doesn't short itself out trying to draw too much power.

4. The hallmark of a good system is the ability to regulate the temperature and pressure without wild fluctuation.

5. Always factor in the obvious (i.e. accidental pressing of switches) during the planning of alarms and interlocks.

6. Ensure that equipment is assembled such that there is an easy cleaning method that preferably doesn't involve dismantling the whole damn thing.

7. There are air filters (when fully opened) the size of my comforter...

And so I shall leave you guys off with this singing commentator. Perhaps Kakak (if you come anymore) can leave a translation of what the guy is singing. But it's still hilarious as hell regardless of your understanding of spanish.

回家的感觉真爽！！！

Sooo many things...

Well, so I didn't update the whole of last week cos for the most of the week, I was trying to setup a pilot plant dryer. That meant standing outdoors in 10 degree (celsius) weather and rain for 3 of 4 days. On the fourth day (Thursday), I was originally slated to return to the Windy City but unfortunately, the dryer had more problems than expected and my return was rescheduled to Saturday. It's a real challenge to extend your wardrobe which was packed for a 3 day trip and make it last for 6... I won't go into gross details but I thank whatever gave me the inspiration to pack extra underwear...

Just for my own future references and for any engineers out there, the sequence I did on the pilot dryer was as follows (Warning technical stuff ahead):
-START TECHNICAL STUFF-
1. Check the electrical connections for the control panel
2. Check the alarms and interlocks of system
3. Fix all mechanical/electrical problems

Issues I faced were:

1. VFDs mis-wired. The VFD for the mixer was wired to the feeder screw.
2. Faulty explosion panel on cyclone.
3. Wrong burner DPS.
4. Missing potentiometer on burner motor.
5. Lots of miswiring in the Control Panel.
6. Stupid control panel display.
-END TECHNICAL STUFF-

So because we didn't managed to resolve all the issues by Saturday afternoon last week, here I am, back in the plant to iron out all the kinks. Luckily, most of the problems have been solved in the last two days and basically when I arrived today, I just got to play around with the dryer and saw what corrections were made.

But even on my return to the plant, there were problems. I had a 735am flight so I left my home at 530am, figuring that since O'hare was only about 50 miles away, I had plenty of time in the morning. Unfortunately, it seems that a journey of 264000 feet takes 2 hours in the pre-dawn Chicago trafficc. That works out to be slightly below 30 miles per hour. No chance of me getting a ticket at those speeds. Needless to say, I had to take the next flight which was at 11am. The good news is that I completed about 25% of Mario & Luigi:Partners in Time while waiting.

So that was my week in a nutshell. I'll try to post pics sometime soon. And here's some insight into the game of Dota for the uninitiated. Cheers.

P.S. Go BULLS!!Beat Miami!! (Halftime score:59-30 Bulls)

Light Hearted Stuff

I'm goin to Loudon, TN tomorrow and so before I leave, I'm here to leave you guys a couple of cool/funny vidz. The first up is this Pen Spinning Vid. I always knew Asian kids could do this kinda of things, but these guys are really really pros. I can't even imagine how'd they do it, but I guess that's something else for me to do at the workplace during lunch!
Incidentally, Americans have never ever seen this sort of things in their lives before. I was doing the normal pen spin in school once and people were just staring and going like "Woah". And again at work, someone asked me, "Were/Are you a batonist?". Talk about different ways to spend time in exams...

Okie the next vid is in Chinese. It's a parody of Zhang Yi Mou's latest film, 满城尽带黄金甲 (Autumn Remebrance) that's slated for a 2007 release (I believe). It's NSFW and contains boobies. And it's long, but it's funny as hell. What better way to improve your chinese by watching South Park characters talk about boobies? Enjoy.

Okie that's it from me for now. Maybe I'll post in TN, who knows.

Nothing Much to write about

People have asked me if I intend to stay in the States. I have always answered, yes, but only to gain job experience. After all, America is the land of opportunities and from what I hear, home still has a "look oustide for talent" kind of mentality entrenched in the work force. Perhaps this will change as the old guard steps down and people like me step up to become future important people, but I cannot help but feel as if the whole world is fucked up every I look. In the States, you have this (8 minute video about how Bush has authorised near tortue and is basically a lying douchebag):
At home, you have the person who keep creating political posts for himself (because we are not ready to take over). And all around us, we see war in the Middle East, religious tensions in Europe, genocide and massacres in Sudan.

It's all very WTF. I guess I really can't say that living here is worse than living anywhere else. I'd just settle for living with friends and family. They are the most important parts of your life, not any state nor country that you reside in.

Quick Updates

Warning, the following link will only interest you if you are 1. A JiGoPek (Dirty Old Man) or 2. Have a potential to become 1 and/or 3. Like School Uniforms (on Girls, Jap girls). If you do NOT fall under any of the above mentioned categories, this Short Treatise might not be to your tastes. Having said that, I wonder how many of my readers will bookmark that website I just linked to... I can think of at least 3.

I've been dissing Lenovo for the last couple of posts but I'll give credit when it's due. The tech support was blazing fast(!) in returning my laptop to me. I sent them my laptop, along with the network card via DHL last Tuesday. It got returned to me, all fixed up, on Friday. Wow. 3 day support. That's a rare rare sight indeed. Albeit it was only a 5 minute installation at the most (if you could unpry the goddamn rest pad), judging from the pictures in the Lenovo manual.

Lastly, I'm going to TN next week to observe the installation of a pilot dryer. The boss told me very explicitly to NOT blow anything up. Hopefully, achieving that goal will take 0 effort on my part. I'm kinda busy this week as we have a deadline to meet on Friday so this might be the last post till the weekend.

10W97WY

I am case #:10W97WY. My frustration has been numbered and duly noted in the Lenovo system. A mere alpha-numeric designation cannot even begin to describe the agonizing process of getting my laptop to be wireless enabled. Such a freaking pain. I just hope they can get the laptop back to me by next week before I fly to Knoxsville.

With this, I (feverently) hope that my Lenovo will come back to me all fixed and ready to go and I can put this whole saga behind me.

In other news, step 1 of my plan has been completed. Unfortunate but predicted obstacles have been revealed. I wonder how this is going to pan out.

Tech News

So Google bought Youtube and as the article says, reactions to the deal are very varied. It'll be interesting to see how Google actually makes money off of Youtube, although I doubt that even if Youtube/Google is sued into closure, the legacy of viewing media online will end.

Well, my Lenovo (IBM) saga is still continuing. I bought a wireless adaptor card of the laptop but no matter what I tried, I couldn't get the laptop dismantled to instal the card. Calling tech support was of no benefit. All they could do was read the instructions off the online manual and tell me,"If you can take off the keyboard sir, the wireless card panel is right underneath." And Lenovo pays people to say this? A simple automated voice message that says "ALL YOUR BASES ARE BELONG TO US" would do the job equally well. So now, instead of being able to setup my laptop like 2 weeks ago, I have to send it to Lenovo to install the damn adaptor for me and then wait for them to send it back. WTF is that all about?!

Oh well, at least if I do it soon, the laptop should be back by the end of the month. Then I can retire this Toshiba for good.

Phonetically Speaking...

I'm sure some of it is right. But if I were to play the game, I think I would have to physically force my face to remain straight. Unfortunately, those people who don't enough foul language of hokkien origins will not be able to get the following clip, but for those who do, it's hilarious. Enjoy. Kudos to Ah Seng for pointing this gem out to me.

メイタンテイコ-ナン！！柯南名侦探

Wow, I love Detective Conan and now there's a Detective Conan Drama coming out? That's too good to be true. Especially with it's bevy of babes. Here's the trailer. Enjoy.

Many Musings

The first and perhaps most important, BE VERY VERY CAREFUL when you order a Lenovo (IBM's former laptop/desktop business to you out of date cretins). The website is very deceptive. Apparently, the laptop I just (as in 1 month ago) bought doesn't come with an integrated wireless network card as a standard package. Why is Lenovo so stone-aged I don't know, but if you go to their website, and try to order a Z61M, you'll have to read very closely to even understand if they are bundling the network card with your laptop. In fact, even after reading it like 4 times, I still don't understand if it was a miss on their part or misleading advertising. But still, I think it's irresponsible for Lenovo to use such confusing options on their website.

But let's move on from a company that, despite their huge business, has a lousy setup to an up and coming start-up. It might still only be restricted to sales in Singapore at the moment, but you have to dream big and aim far andFleamarket!has all the makings of a sleeper hit site. So go and check it out!!

Well, speaking of Singapore, when I first came to the States, I was intent on getting a job here after graduating and then work a bit for experience before returning home. Nothing beats friends and family and local food. However, after taking a look at the recent turn of events, home has just turned a shade more worrisome. Since this blog is not political, I'll leave it as that, but I'm sure that what's been reported is just the start of something much bigger. Paradigm shifts can occur instanteously, let's see how this whole thing plays out.

最後は僕のりょうしんだ。最近はかれらから”仕事を勤めてるから、かのじょを探しなさい”の感じだ。僕のりょうしんはとてもとてもいい人だけど、これでやりすぎるよ。僕のみらい、僕のあいぼうはじぶんでさがす。ほかのひとはじゃましないでよ！ハイ。。。

When I work a little bit more, I will post a comparisons type of post. Till then, I leave you with a piece of advice, Sukeban Deka is absolutely discontinous and illogical. Watch it only if you like Japanese babes (who also happen to be part of the Hello Project).

Line Rider

Well, I'm begining to learn that lunch is all about 2 things. The first is food (naturally) and the second is FLASH GAMES!!! And this little gem of a game is really deceptively addictive and unnaturally hard. But if you're able to master it's intricacies, you can come up with masterpieces like this:



Enjoy.

And for the interested, MORE KATAMARI!!

Internet as Media

So, Warner Music has made a deal with Youtube. I wonder how that will affect the popularity and business model of the growing, yet potentially sue-able Youtube.Mark Cuban,the multi-million technopreneur says this marks the beginning of the end. So people agree, others don't. Personally, I hope that Youtube survives cos it's a place to see stupid videos when you're bored. So here's a cheer to Youtube, without it, my blog will have a lot of blank white spaces...

Also, there's a new spin off of Youtube called Toodou. It's a Chinese site and so as of now, is relatively unknown in the west. If you need your fix of asian babes however, go there and check it out. It's also proof that silliness comes in many different languages... As proof of that, check out this cute asian girl making spoofing that Numa Numa song.

Just Because I Felt Like It

After teaming up with nooblets against a veteran battle-tested team (well, 3 of 5 players know each other) and flaming out at a glorious 7-4, I wanted to watch this Zelda ad for some murky, base reason. And since this is my blog, it will display this window into my psyche. Just because I damn well feel like it.



P.S - B-Dash!!

Ramblings of an Insomniac

Well, not exactly, but it's 1240am and I can't sleep yet. So I'm here to note down some of the more interesting things that happened over the weekend.

1st off, here's a reminder, just in case some of you didn't notice - I'M WORKING ALREADY. This means no idle chitchat online 8-5, Mondays to Fridays. I say this because I had the following conversation last friday, at around 3pm...

Blur Cock：dota?
Me:WTF？

Yeah... So please, no more such requests. Although I have to admit, it was pretty amusing.

The 2nd thing was the traffic in Chicago. I went up to visit my brother over the weekend and traffic was truly murder. According to Google Maps, we're only 45 miles apart. Traveling at an average of 50 miles an hour, that's about 60-70 minutes of travel (give or take 10 mins or so). In reality, I took 90-100 minutes to travel that distance. The main culprits were the I-94 expressway (where for some insane reason, they shut down the "express" lanes so a 5 lane highway turned into a 2 lane 30mph zone) and Lake Shore Drive by Lake Michigan (there was a Celtic fest there and I travelled maybe 800 metres in 10 minutes). I hate Chicago traffic...

And the last event was on my way back home from Chicago, on that stretch of highway between Chicago and Northern Indiana, my dashboard indicated I was out of gas. It was the most nervewrecking 20 minute drive of my life. From the time I saw that indicator and the time I spotted a gas station sign. I had nightmares of being stranded in the middle of nowhere and having to call for friends to bring gas... Luckily, I had enough to make it to the nearest big town (Calmut City) and fill 'er up.

And so that concludes all the interesting things that happened this weekend. I'm going to try to sleep again...

P.S.
Happy Belated Birthday BSK!! May you get a job soon!!

P.P.S - Kudos to Kwong for pointing out my typo.

A Tale of 3 Posts (Or How I'm Too Lazy To Split 3 Posts)

Okie, since I've blatantly stated the obvious in the title, without further ado, here's post #1.

Happy (Quite) Belated Birthday to #2. Sorry for the uber lag, I was quite caught up in other things. I belanjar you this weekend lah, when you come back.

Post #2: (It would have been fitting for #2's birthday to be this post, but I was late and... I digress) Had my first working lunch today. ZOMG. Started work as usual at 8 in the morning and around 10am, my immediate superior said,"We are having a meeting to discuss a client's work. Wanna come?" Whenever a superior says that, you know you're going to go to that said meeting. What choice did I have? Little did I know that that 10am meeting would only conclude at 3pm and my lunch time was spent in a conference room snacking on a corn beef sandwich. It was long to say the least and I doubt I even said more than 3 minutes worth of anything. On the plus side, I got a look at contractor-fabricator (or sub-contractor) negotiations and learnt a little more about the system I'm working with. Oh well, growing pains I guess.

Post #3: The (Thai) movie Tom Yum Goong is concentrate Uber Awesomenesstic ZOMG Juice. Go and see it if you've ever liked a Gong Fu flick at all. You will NOT Regret it. I remember watching martial arts movies when I was little and feeling the anguish of the protagonist of losing his wife/family/national treasure/honour and relishing every moment of the bad guy(s) suffering(s). I felt that same kind of feeling again watching this movie. And as a guy with a broken knee, I must say I kinda felt like learning martial arts again just to be as cool as him, although I suspect I need some kind of time machine to actually achieve said coolness. So in short, my movie review of Tom Yum Goong (The Protector in the US) is: GO WATCH IT. NOW. IF YOU EVER HAD TESTOSTERONE. SERIOUSLY. GO.


And those are the 3 posts of the day.

有福同享...

有难同当. And the good news is I don't have any sorrows right now so it's just the good things. And what can get better than 7 lovely ladies having a dance battle? Enjoy. I know Zhenz will... Haha.

First Day

So today was the first day at work and it was rather tamer than what I expected. So here's a rough chronological narrative of my day.

6:30 Alarm rang, was supposed to wake up to exercise.
7:00 Realized I turned the alarm off unwittingly. Jolted out of bed. Rapid teeth brushing and instant face washing ensues.
7:15 The most important meal of the day consisted of 1x Honey White bread and 1x plum.
7:30 Started the journey to work. I allowed 10 minutes of extra traffic time.
7:50 Realised that I needed every minute of that extra time as there was some road work along the way. I noticed that the road dividers here are shallow and broad (~ 2inches) and pose no barrier for people who want to turn left or right. Thank god for advanced planning.
8:00 First step into the office. Meekly looked around, practically radiated "newbness". Made myself very easy to pick out from the crowd. Was herded to the relevant division. Settled down and went to see my boss.
8:05 Got first assignment. Reformat data sheets. Boss briefed me and told me who to seek help from.
8:30 Got notice that I would be taking part in a 9am meeting. "Oh My God"-ed.
9:00 Went to meeting. Sat down and shut up and listened. It was a sales meeting chaired by the President. It was interesting to see how the high level people interact and what they discuss.
11:30 Meeting adjourned. Went for Subway lunch.
12:50 Started on the spreadsheet.
13:10 Learnt how to freeze and unfreeze panes in Excel.
13:30 Learnt how to wrap text in a cell.
16:30 Listened to the project managers discuss golfing and how they suck/pwn.
16:50 Started searching for VBA for Excel to Word conversions. Anyone can help me?
17:10 Gave up and went home. Stopped by the toilet and laughed maniacally.

What a day. Waiting for my new laptop to come. Ships 9/21. I can start counting down liao. Haha.

Edit: If you found that boring reading then perhaps this would be more interesting. For guys, and for girls.

WARNING : Controversial Subject Ahead

Fair warning has been given. I wasn't planning to post anything originally but I came across this quote from Stephen Roberts that I found really interesting. Most people who know me well enough probably know that I am non-religious and generally don't like evangelism or any insistence that I must believe in a certain God to save myself from eternal damnation. So I found this following quote simulating. Without further ado here it is.

"I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours."

Please discuss. It's a new concept that I've never thought about before.

Sick Plus Moving

Equals a distinct lack of updates. But I must take some time off from my relentless gulping of fluids to acknowledge all the wishes for my birthday.

Thanks to everyone who remembered (sooner or later) and cared. =) You guys are great. My Fubar Friends (alliteration!), the Champions of Excellence, the friends of the the Champions and especially to my gracious hosts, JX and Mini. Thank you all so much.

I will be posting what pics I had soon. Er when I get better and have internet access up at my new place in IL.

Till then, take care folks. And keep on coming back. I'm not dead! Yet! I Hope. (Unless EBOF makes good her threat...)

Pass My Time

So here I am, on the 2nd day of school, typing out my blog entry. The whole campus sizzles with a mixture of freshmen-enthusiasm and people-getting-lost-frenzies. Yet for me, all of those things are in the past. It's relatively idyllic just settling my housing and getting ready to move up (and on) with life. Now I know why all those people said to treasure your college days and I guess I coulda spent them better if I had a chance, but I don't have any real regrets. I've made good friends throughout my life, tried hard in education, maybe slacked a bit in other aspects and had a generally fun filled existence. But I guess all that is in my past already.

I'm moving tomorrow and it's such a hassle. But at least it's better now that I know the route there much better. Last week, when I went up to confirm the apartment, I got sooo lost. The first time I got lost was when I chose to exit 80/94 on exit 2 which is highway 41 South. I was supposed to go highway 41 North (exit 1) but because of traffic on 80/94 I thought I would save time by going south a bit and turning around. Well, it turned out that the next exit on 41 South was 20 minutes south. So I had to travel 20 minutes south, another 5 minutes west and then 20 minutes north to reach exit 1 on 80/94. Boom 1 hour gone just like that... Oh well, maybe it's time i switched to American Express and have as much success as Andy Roddick.

ViDz

Here are just a couple of vids to while your time away. The first one is about cosplaying, some of these guys (and gals) really take this thing very seriously. Listen to what they say about their characters.



The second is a Coke ad that parodies the walking controversy that is Grand Theft Auto. I think it's pretty cool that someone could take such a "bad" thing and make it into a really nift commercial. Enjoy.

PS3 vs Nintendo Wii. NO CONTEST!!

And here's some people cosplaying as tentacles (from Day of the Tentacles) cosplaying as Zelda. As seen on bits & bytes & pixels & sprites.

An Intro to the Rest Of Your Life...

Well, that's a wrap then. 3 years of college have come and gone and I have a pretty little piece of paper to show for it. And with that piece of paper, I have managed to secure my exit from Unemploymentsville (population: Not Me). That journey started sometime the past Monday, when I made the 100 mile trip to my new work place for an interview. Having arrived 40 minutes early, I parked in the open air car park and reviewed my notes in the car. It was like 32 degrees outside and I was sweating as I put on my tie and suit.

Having spent 20 minutes getting ready, I proceeded into the air-conditioned building to freshen up and announce my arrival. The company was located on the 3rd story and as I exited the elevator, I noticed that the reception was kinda spartan and they had a book about germanic art. My interview would be with the company president, VP and the sales manager. They were all very friendly people and the interview went very smoothly. At the end of the whole process, the president made me an offer and asked if I wanted to wait for about 20 minutes for him to type it up. Right there and then, I wanted to burst out in song and dance, but of course, I calmly said I would wait. So back I went to the reception. The problem was, I had that walking on air kind of feeling that makes your toes feel very light, and I was struggling to control my facial expressions as I wasthiscloseto bursting out in laughter at the reception. I managed to control my impulses and I started flipping through that book about art. The whole book was written in German so I didn't have to spend much time reading the words, but as the cliche goes "A picture is a worth a thousand words", some of the oil works looked very very realistic and it was a good way to while the time away. However, the interview ended around 4:10 pm and when 4:30 came and left, I started to get anxious. That jump for joy feeling became mixed with a "OMG, they changed their minds" sensation that made my stomach knot up. After 4:40, I became acutely aware of each passing moment, alternately trying to keep myself from laughing out for joy and telling myself not to worry. FINALLY, at 4:50pm, the president comes out with this HUGE stack of paper and said that they had printer problems. I got my offer letter, thanked him and walked straight to my car. There, I locked the door and started screaming and yelling for 5 minutes straight. And then I started calling everyone.

So there you have it, my intro to the rest of my life involved an extremely excruciating 15 minute delay. But at least I have started moving on.

It's been awhile

Yeap, it's been awhile since my last post. I just finished a poster session today that involved staying in school till 11pm last night to get *someone's* poster printed and done... But thanks to another pair of people, I managed to get my poster printed out at the last minute without any hassle.

Anyways, something light today. Although the Middle-East situation looks grimmer and grimmer everyday, we can always fallback on a couple things. The first are anecdotes about lawyers and the conversations they have. Taken from the book "Disorder in the American Courts". Pay close attention o lawyer (to-be) friends of mine, and please don't follow in their footsteps.

ATTORNEY: Are you sexually active?
WITNESS: No, I just lie there.
________________________

ATTORNEY: What is your date of birth?
WITNESS: July 18th.
ATTORNEY: What year?
WITNESS: Every year.
_____________________________________

ATTORNEY: What gear were you in at the moment of the impact?
WITNESS: Gucci sweats and Reeboks.
______________________________________

ATTORNEY: This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And in what ways does it affect your memory?
WITNESS: I forget.
ATTORNEY: You forget? Can you give us an example of something you forgot?
____________________________________

ATTORNEY: How old is your son, the one living with you?
WITNESS: Thirty-eight or thirty-five, I can't remember which.
ATTORNEY: How long has he lived with you?
WITNESS: Forty-five years.
_____________________________________

ATTORNEY: What was the first thing your husband said to you that morning?
WITNESS: He said, "Where am I, Cathy?"
ATTORNEY: And why did that upset you?
WITNESS: My name is Susan.
______________________________________

ATTORNEY: Do you know if your daughter has ever been involved in voodoo?
WITNESS: We both do.
ATTORNEY: Voodoo?
WITNESS: We do.
ATTORNEY: You do?
WITNESS: Yes, voodoo.
______________________________________

ATTORNEY: Now doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know about it until the next morning?
WITNESS: Did you actually pass the bar exam?
___________________________________

ATTORNEY: The youngest son, the twenty-year-old, how old is he?
WITNESS: Uh, he's twenty.
________________________________________

ATTORNEY: Were you present when your picture was taken?
WITNESS: Would you repeat the question?
______________________________________

ATTORNEY: So the date of conception (of the baby) was August 8th?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And what were you doing at that time?
WITNESS: Uh....
______________________________________

ATTORNEY: She had three children, right?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: How many were boys?
WITNESS: None.
ATTORNEY: Were there any girls?
______________________________________

ATTORNEY: How was your first marriage terminated?
WITNESS: By death.
ATTORNEY: And by whose death was it terminated?
______________________________________

ATTORNEY: Can you describe the individual?
WITNESS! : He was about medium height and had a beard.
ATTORNEY: Was this a male or a female?
______________________________________

ATTORNEY: Is your appearance here this morning pursuant to a deposition notice which I sent to your attorney?
WITNESS: No, this is how I dress when I go to work.
______________________________________

ATTORNEY: Doctor, how many of your autopsies have you performed on dead people?
WITNESS: All my autopsies are performed on dead people.
______________________________________

ATTORNEY: ALL your responses MUST be oral, OK? What school did you go to?
WITNESS: Oral.
______________________________________

ATTORNEY: Do you recall the time that you examined the body?
WITNESS: The autopsy started around 8:30 p.m.
ATTORNEY: And Mr. Denton was dead at the time?
WITNESS: No, he was sitting on the table wondering why I was doing an autopsy on him!
_____________________________________

ATTORNEY: Are you qualified to give a urine sample?
WITNESS: Huh?
______________________________________

ATTORNEY: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for breathing?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor?
WITNESS: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.
ATTORNEY: But could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless?
WITNESS: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law.

Kudos to E.B.O.F. for unearthing that treasure.

Also, as many people know, websites like MySpace, Friendster and Facebook have been proliferating over the last few years. Many of these sites are mere excuses for people to post good looking pics of themselves and flirt or indugle in sometime even more. However, the sobering reality is that what people post online might not be what they are in real life. Here's a quick guide to interpreting MySpace account photos. Enjoy and learn. My apologies if it's too small. Kudos to drunkreport.com for that pic.

Mistress of the Universe! WHAZA?

Astute and toy collectible readers might recognise the pun on He-Man's tagline back in the day.

Anyways, the Miss Universe Pagent just crowned Miss Puerto Rico as 2006's ideal combination of beauty and smarts (female category). I really didn't even know that the pagent was held recently, but I remember what people said about Miss Singapore when she was elected. Well, I don't think she's pretty at all but lets give props to someone who dares to parade herself dressed like this.
Apparently this is our NATIONAL COSTUME. Whazzup with that? I think she looks like a reject from Swamp Thing tryouts (Floral Edition). The little orchids along the sides of her legs especially make her seem like a walking plant. I guess the Singaporean side figured that since she wasn't going to win anyway, why not try to win the "Miss Botanical" award...

Well at least that wasn't the weirdest national costume outfit.
She's all ready to kick ass I see.
I guess the warrior woman theme is in this year.

Haha I could make snide remarks all day long about the pictures, but at least they are pretty and smart (by the organizers standards anyway). I'm just smart. Hehe. Last Miss Universe thing for today, check out this video done for the Jay Leno show. Hilarious.

Human Interests

We live on a planet with over 6 billion people. Everyday there is something interesting, something tragic, something amusing happening. In the interest of my readers, I've decided to present a few happenings around the world. Recently, there has been a heat wave rocking the US. Temperatures have soared to above 33 degrees Celsius with the apparent temperature going as high as 38 degrees C. I park my car in the shade for fear of my shades melting... And from what I hear from #2, China isn't much better either. At least he doesn't have a car, nor shades. Hehe.

Also there has been the potential war in the Middle East. Israel versus any and all terrorist organizations/governments that dare to raid inside its borders. I think Israel practices the Terminator style vengence. I can imagine the silo control that fires the missiles saying "Hasta La Vista, B*tches!!" as they rain explosives on Lebanon. This is one of the reasons I find religion to be a very tricky and touchy subject. Much of the violence in that region can be attributed to differences in regious ethos, albeit extreme distortions of relgion.

Then there was the tsunami in Indonesia. A nation that had been devastated by previous natural disasters has been yet again ravage. My condolences goes out to anyone who has friends or family injured or worse.

Looks like the world is a very dangerous place eh. But sometimes it produces something so weird, so unheard of that you just have to stop, say eh?! and laugh. I present the first of 2 videos to teach Japanese people English. Both of them have sexual connotations and the 2nd one is NSFW. This first video is tamer I believe. You have been warned. But do try to watch it at your own time. I found them hilarious. Here goes, enjoy and I hope they take your mind off the sorrows of the world.

1. You're Sooooooooo Good!


2. I G1\/3 g00d |-|34|).

Ar me Mateys!

So, Pirates 2 is a 2.5 hour movie that is very visually pleasing with tons of undead marine creature/sailors. The central theme plays on the old notion of Davy Jones' locker although the film does add some twists to that concept. However, for a 2.5 hour movie, I found that the plot meandered for quite awhile. It never really resolves anything and I found it essentially to be only half a story. Nevertheless, it was quite enjoyable but the ending really felt very lame to me and was definitely lacking in resolution. So I would say that you should go see it but be prepared to have a weird taste in your mouth as you see the ending.

Well that's Pirates. 僕は最近超不運。エクウプメントを壊すつもりが全然ないけど不用意から壊した。それで先輩たちいまは僕に怒ってる。サイ．。。どうすればいいの。Oh well, like #2 says, 不经一事，不长一智。I try harder!! OSH!!

And I updated Driver as requested. See if it's more balanced now.

Day 2/84

Reading Body-For-Life and the 12 week program that it advocates. On day 2 of 84 and everything seems fine so far. Gotta carry on and try to lose those extra pounds so that some people *cough*Obi-woo*cough* can't make lousy jokes when I sing K anymore.

If you like Calvin and Hobbes (and who doesn't?) here's a link you might want to check out. The top 25 Calvin and Hobbes strips of all time. Well, thats it for now. I'll probably update Driver some other day.

Interesting Finals

Well, there you have it folks. It's a French-Italian connection for your World Cup finals. The path to glory has been littered with the bodies of the coulda/shoulda/woulda beens of 14 other countries. Congratulations to the finalists for having the grit, skills and plain luck to be where they are.

Having said that, I think quite a few people lost money on this finals matchup. My initial prediction of Germany and Brazil certainly bombed. Still, I think it would be fitting for the French to win, seeing as this is the swan song for many of its members. Also, I can't help but think that Italy is a very Wayang team. They should do water sports instead. Always diving and such. (Haha, okie, BAD joke. I know.)

So here's my wild and uneducated prediction. France 2, Italy 1. I don't really have any basis for that. I said it cos it looked good and France wins. =D

I <3 E.B.O.F.!!!!!

My birthday (palgatsu ershiwu) is more than 50 days away and already I have had 2 presents. The first was from my parents, the swanky 300G Seagate HD. The second was something I received today from Ms E.B.O.F. herself. It was a real surprise and I totally didn't expect that. She threw me off by saying she would send me a card, and then turned around and gave me this birthday (palgatsu ershiwu) present instead. Very very sneaky. Hehe. So without further ado, I present E.B.O.F.'s present! I apologise for the low quality pics. My webcam isn't that high-tech.

Up close and personal with the title shot.

The Tshirt in its totality.

Me showing off! palgatsu ershiwu!!

Well there you have it. My birthday (palgatsu ershiwu) present from E.B.O.F. It's da bomb. So here's a BIG THANK YOU/고마워/アリガトウ/谢谢/terma kasih to E.B.O.F.

P.S. The lesson learnt here is - Promote your birthday (palgatsu ershiwu) early, promote it often and you just might get a Mario T-shirt.

edit - Changed my birthday from English and roman numerals to something else. At the behest of certain individuals.

真堕落

不知为什么，最近真的很放肆。真的不能这样下去。好！就从今天开始，我的生活会有持续，会有一定的目标！！そうだ、これから本当に生きいてるぞう！怠け者になるはダメ。オシ！頑張れ！

Well, that's saying something. I'm pretty confident that I can hammer myself into shape. Both mentally and physically. Else I'm just slacking my life away. And besides, I need to get into shape so that EBOF can send me my lipstick right? Hehe.

Anyways, on to less introspective stuff, Detective Conan (柯南小侦探) is a great series. Even though it's 10 years old now, it's such a pleasure to see how Conan uses his wits to solve mysteries. I highly recommend getting it if you are Sherlock Holmes fan. Too bad I didn't get the DVD set as my present (hmmm....stares at the relevant people) but thanks to my parents' in-advance birthday (25TH AUGUST!!) present (a sweet 300G HD), I have all the space in the world to download all 175 episodes of that great series. YAY!!

Remember ya'll, Only One Truth Prevails! 真実はいつも一つ！

Sorry, no vidz this time. (Saves a lot of space, doncha think?)

Meh...

The interview wasn't fantastic. It went okie, but I don't think I was outstanding. But it was sure as hell long. It lasted for 75 minutes. On the phone. By the time it ended, my ear was all warm and fuzzy already. A gruelling experience.

In any case, it seems like many koreans are bitter about their country's lost to Switzerland in the World Cup. It maybe karma after all, but the Swiss lost to Ukraine. That probably will not assuage the feelings of many patriotic koreans, like my friend. Here is a short transcript of our conversation on MSN.

Zueig: so no more soccer?
Anonymous Korean Friend (AKF): fucking referee
AKF: it was bull shit
Zueig.: iicic

More elaboration.

Zueig.: i didn't see the 2nd goal
AKF: not only that but
AKF: the through out the whole game
AKF: he was so....fucking..

Post game anaylsis. Incidentally, the referee was Argentinean.

AKF: i think we did really good under that condition..referee being one of the swidsh team
AKF: his wife is swiss
AKF: and the president of FIFA is swiss
AKF: and...the switzerland president was watching the game from the stadium and
AKF: one of the players wife is daughter of FIFA president
AKF: so wut can i say..
AKF: it was all planed

So as you can see, some ruffled feathers in Korea this week.

Now for some more videos. Youtube is the bomb. It has everything you can think of. Unfortunately, whenever their server is down for maintence, you'll see a lot of white screens on this website.

This is a really funny commercial for Fanta. It's really non-sensical. But funny.


Here are some videos of a Japanese magician. A more comprehensive list can be found here.

For this trick, he skewers a pre-selected card while bungee jumping into a pool from a platform 52 metres above the pool. Check it out.


In this other video, he does "shadow magic" and "food magic". Must be seen to be believed!! Incidentally, the food does look good too. Oisou da na!!


Lastly, this is the inspirational poster of the day.
Enjoy.

Video AttacK!!

1st phone interview in god knows how long next week. Gotta start prepping. YOSH!

In other things, for all the hetrosexual guys out there, a list of potential japanese girlfriends. You know you want to click on that link. One of the oldies but goodies Matsushima Nanako (松嶋菜々子) is still looking sooo cute after all these years. Check her out.



ZOMG!! Sorimachi Takashi (反町隆史) is one lucky dude.

Another totally not related to anything but I had to post this. Golfers vs porn stars. What the ?!?! But you know, on some base level, this ad does work. In a kind of "OMG can I get mauled by the 3 females if I get me one of these?" kind of way. Haha.



Caveat emptor, as the saying goes. But I think AOL is taking that way too far. I think most, if not all, of my readers don't use AOL, but please spread this message, AOL is retarded. Don't use it!!



Finally, see if you can name all the tunes here. I knew only about 50%. Clue they are all from Mario games. This guy is crazy ass good.

Avenue Q

So remember some time ago I posted the video of "The Internet is for Porn" done WoW style? That song came from the soundtrack of the musical Avenue Q. And here are some more videos done to the soundtrack of that show. It looks hilarious. Too bad there aren't any DVD's out, only a soundtrack.


Kate Monster (the girl in the red bathrobe) is pretty good. (Shaddup guys...)


A giant ape and a dinosaur discussing homosexualism. How can you beat that?


Such a truism.

In something totally unrelated, Scorched Earth only heals 4hp/s at level 4. And someone still owes me a root beer float over that fact. Don't think I've forgotten!!

Media Blanket

That's it. No more NBA till it's over. I can't bear to watch the Mavs make another mental breakdown. What the fuck was up with that last TO? ARGH!Q$#ELWHRED()$#@&)$*FDKL!!!!!!$##F*)W_%RU#@ V)@H# ㄴ*)#꼬뚜ㅒ4. I'm so upset that I even typed in Korean. Who'd thunk that? WTFD?!?! GAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH.

To celebrate the bittersweetness that is the Mavs, lets all commemorate it with this tribute by Space Invaders to walking contradiction that is Life.

Drivers

So I sent my bro off to the airport this morning. It was a 9am flight so we had to be there by 7 in the morning. We left at around 550 and got there with plenty of time to spare. No thanks, however, to this stupid lady on the road who was travelling at sub 70mph on the fast lane and refused to go to the slow lane (on a 2 lane highway). She tag-teamed with a pair of truckers to ensure that for a good 15 minutes or 20 something miles, the whole highway was just staring at the ugly vehicle posteriors of 2 white truckers and an olive green camry.

So after thinking about it, I decided to follow in The Great Sze's footsteps and create a driver (DotA-style) and see how imbalanced she/he can get.

Name: Ace Drive
Starting Stats:
Strength: 16 + 1.5/level
Agility: 20 + 2.0/level
Intelligence: 24 + 3.1/level

Base HP: 500
Base Mana: 250
Base Armour: 2
Base Damage: 50-65
Range: 600

Skills:

PERCEPTION
Level 1: Gains vision range of 100. Lasts 30sec.
Level 2: Gains vision range of 200. Lasts 45sec.
Level 3: Gains vision range of 300. Lasts 60sec.
Level 4: Gains vision range of 300. No vision loss at night, can see for 100 range around corners and above hills. Lasts 60sec.
Casting cost: 50/70/100/120
Cooldown: 90sec

Remember it's always key to pay attention to your surroundings and opposing traffic / enemy heroes. Never lose sight again!!

QUICK FIXIT
Level 1: 1sec casting time. +3hp/sec regen and 15% movespeed increase. Lasts 20sec.
Level 2: 1sec casting time. +6hp/sec regen and 20% movespeed increase. Lasts 20sec.
Level 3: 1sec casting time. +9hp/sec regen and 25% movespeed increase. Lasts 20sec.
Level 4: 1sec casting time. +12hp/sec regen and 30% movespeed increase. Lasts 20sec.
Casting cost: 100
Cooldown: 60sec

Hate it when you have a flat in the middle of a journey? With QUICK FIXIT, you'll regain that time and energy spent on fixing the tire in a flash.

DEFENSIVE MOVEMENT
Level 1: 30% armour increase. Gains 5% evasion. Lasts 30sec.
Level 2: 55% armour increase. Gains 10% evasion. Lasts 40sec.
Level 3: 80% armour increase. Gains 15% evasion. Lasts 50sec.
Level 4: 100% armour increase. Gains 20% evasion. Lasts 60sec.
Casting cost: 100/120/140/160
Cooldown: 75sec

It's important to always practice defensive driving. You never know what might happen on the road. So stay alert and stay nimble!

Ultimate:

ROAD RAGE
Level 1: Lose ability to cast spells. Lose 0.5% life per second. Deals 1.7 times damage. Gains 25% increase in attack speed. Lasts 17sec.
Level 2: Lose ability to cast spells. Lose 1% life per second. Deals 2.4 times damage. Gains 50% increase in attack speed. Lasts 17sec.
Level 3: Lose ability to cast spells. Lose 1.5% life per second. Deals 3.2 times damage. Gains 25% increase in attack speed. Lasts 17sec.
Casting cost: 100/120/140/160
Cooldown: 30sec

Since you've been such a good driver, it's time to indulge a bit and go Grand Theft Auto on those damn pesky pedestrians, tailgaters, road hogs, etc. Go on, don't hold back. You only have 17 seconds to enjoy yourself.

So there you have it. All the elements of a kickass driver. Go out today and proudly proclaim yourself schooled at the Zu31G Academy of Safe Driving. =D

Star wars!! Lego!!

Does it get any better than this???



Hilarious.

While we're still on the subject of ridiculous videos, check out this flash animation of a Giant Enemy Crab. It has something to do with the upcoming PS3 but I think it's funny in its own right.

Ahpunehneh

Obiwoon's most recent post discusses his views on racial harmony and racism in the supposedly harmonious multi-cultural society of Singapore. Also, he talks a little bit about a stick in the mud blogger who obviously has a chip on her shoulder and has decided to let the world know about it.

His post got me thinking about the whole issue of racism. Having been both a minority and a majority (if there is such a term) in different countries, I would say that most racism is somewhat harmless. In the sense that if some white person were to call me "chink", it wouldn't hurt me personally. It might be insulting, but that is just a passing moment. Even if the person were to give me some threatening gesture, it would not be more than an unpleasant moment. Rarely, if ever, do I see cases of physical and emotional abuse due to racism. It more like small, irritating things that happen, like not getting help from the TA before the Americans. And personally, I would be lying if I said I never exhibited racism or at least racially motivated behaviour. I've laughed at Indian jokes, blonde jokes, Malay jokes and many more. Crude? Perhaps. Tasteless? Certainly (in some cases). But like Obiwoon pointed out, there needs to be a sense of humour when you encounter such behaviour. Take it with a pinch of salt.

However, if you asked me to beat someone up just because they have a different culture or background, that would be wrong. Or to ignore them cos their skin tones are different from mine, that would not sit well with me at all. So I guess people can call me a moderate racist then? If they wish to?

Hmm, looking back, I realise that my post is kinda meandering and doesn't make much sense. However, I would urge all my readers to remember you don't throw stones in a glass house. If you think you have the moral high ground to condemn people about racist behaviours, take a moment to reflect on your actions. I think it's rare that someone will have a totally clean slate.

So er, moral of the story is feel free to laugh at racist jokes but remember that it's just a joke? I guess that's that.

Any thoughts?

Technical Difficulties

Hmm, my laptop just had a near death experience. I'm backing up all my stuff on the 300G HD that my parents gave me as my advanced birthday present (25th Aug for those who are interested!!HINT HINT). So that's a present put to good use.

Job searching is a chore but at least I found myself some paid research work to do in the summer so that's not so bad. The pay is paltry but $8 per hour is still $8 more than what I earn just looking for a job.

Just in case you don't see me online in the near future due to a fatal laptop experience, here's a DDR version of the song Uncle Fucka from South Park. It's crude, it's rude and it's hella funny. But be warned, NSFW. Well, kinda, if I were the boss and it were lunch break, I'd let my employees watch this. But that's just me. I like fart jokes.

Without anymore ado, here is Uncle Fucka for DDR.

GO MAVS!!!

It's the NBA Finals and it means that the Dallas Mavericks are going to earn their 1st ever NBA title, lead by the German wunderkind(I don't know how to do umlauts) Dirk Nowitzki. After this one and a half week basketball climax, it'll be soccer all the way with the 2006 World Cup! What an exciting summer for the couch potato/sports fan.

In other none sport news, here are a few videos of some crazy ambidextrous dude playing video games. What so special about that? He plays a 2 player game ALONE. And has mad mad MAD hand-eye coordination. If I had to do what he did in the vids, my brain would explode.



And again for an encore.



Come one now. Let's say it all together.WOW!!!

Couple of cool vidz

The first one is a parody of the Super Smash Brothers Brawl video I posted some time ago. This time, it's done WWE style. I don't think it's as good as the first one, but you have to give awesome style points for the pokemon man and kirby man.



The second video is real life Tekken. It's actually pretty cool, even if you never played the game, treat it like a kungfu movie.

Some People have Waaay Too Much Time

To be able to do stuff like this. And I guess me too, for showing stuff like this. Haha.

EZ Reading

Apparently, this blog is relatively easy reading. It has a Gunning-Fog index of 6.49. That means that 6th graders (12 year olds) can read my blog. For comparison, here are a few references.

6: TV guides, The Bible, Mark Twain
8: Reader's Digest
8 - 10: Most popular novels
10: Time, Newsweek
11: Wall Street Journal
14: The Times, The Guardian
15 - 20: Academic papers
Over 20: Only government sites can get away with this, because you can't ignore them.
Over 30: The government is covering something up

So will being a comfortable reading site attract more visitors or should I start tossing in words like "anti-establishmentism" to spice up my blog? Any opinions oh erudite readers?

P.S. A new link has been added. Go check it out and comment!! The author is (in his own words) a comments whore.

Interlude

California is great. You see more babes and chicks in 1 hour than you will see in 1 year in Purdue. And you get to eat till you explode at any time of the day. From dim sum at 10 in the morning to century egg porridge at 9 at night, the asian-ness of the place feels very very welcome.

Anyways, I just wanted to let you guys know that some of my graduation pics are up in the albums already. If you're too lazy to click that link on the right, here's a direct link. More will be posted upon my return. Till then, have fun guys!!

Super Smash Bros Brawl Trailer

This probably means nothing to 99% of my readers but I thought the trailer was funny. So there. Enjoy.

Memories

As promised, here is a montage of all the times we had in ChE. Props to E.B.O.F. for the excellent, fantastic techomatic wizardry. Good times, bad times, funny times, drunk times, they were all unique and I'm sure everyone of us will cherish our moments together. So here's wishing all the best and greatest of luck in all our future endeavors. And to the FUBAR gang, we don't need something like this cos it's always there in our hearts doncha think? =D

Here's the link. And remember, copying is bad and may result in grevious bodily harm from E.B.O.F. She means it!!

Frienger

The latest single from Otsuka Ai. It's a pretty upbeat and catch song. And she's quite cute in the MTV. Check it out. For the further obsessed, you can go here and here for your Otsuka Ai cravings.

Nintendo Rube-Goldberg Animation

Hilarious! Enjoy.

Closure?

As the semester draws to a close, the impending paradigm shift just weighs on my mind. When we graduate in two more weeks. I might not have a chance to see many of my friends ever again. That fact has been gnawing at me for quite awhile but I see no way to give closure to my life here. I guess it's different now than in JC cos back then, regardless of what happened, we (the FUBARED people) would still be stuck on the same island at the end of the Malaysian peninsular. Now, the bunch that I've spent so much time laughing together and cursing proffesors with (haha, okie, maybe 60% of the curses originated from me) will all go our separate ways. The only common thread being our shared history.

There's no way to stop the inevitable but I sure as hell wish there was some way to make it feel better.

And to the people who have finished their exams: Nice work guys. Hope you did well.

To the people who are graduating: May the force be with you. Stay in touch!

And to the people who are gonna take their finals: I only have 1 suckers!!! HAHA. Well, I guess you guys can share my luck then. Cos I don't think I'll need it.

Let's see if I have time to do a tribute sometime next week after I turn in my thesis...

A little break

So I'm doing my thesis defence tomorrow and I'm still working on the powerpoint slides (85%) completion. But instead of doing it right now, I'm taking the time to share this gem with my viewers. Cos it's such a classic.

Taken without permission from an anonymous source. Edited for spelling mistakes. The conversation was originally about Kup (a Generation 1 Transformer). Apparently, there are more meanings to "kup" than I thought.

Applying across cultural and social boundaries, taking a conversation btw an uncle and a Laydeeboi:

Uncle: Sa wa dee 'kup'!! Eh, u A 'kup', B 'kup' or C 'kup' ?? Can i 'kup' a feel?

Ladyboy: Can 'kup' my B 'kup', but 20000 baht, 'kup' koon 'kup'.

Uncle: WAH! 20000 baht for a 'kup' of B 'kup'! Might as well 'kum' lan! (Thus the introduction of a new term, 'kum')

Ladyboy: 'Kum' lan also can 'kup' at the same tum!

Etc etc etc. But it's just re-emphasising the point that 'kup' is a very
versatile word, even more so when used with 'kum'.

Okie, back to work...

Birthday Alert

Selamat Hari Jadi Bang!!
祝你生日快乐，学业和职业上成功。我会永远记得你的。
All the best to your future endeavors. May the force be with you. =D

Movie Review

Let me get this out of the way first. Scary Movie 4 is not something you would want to spend money to watch. Download it, get your friend to pay for you, do anything to ensure that it's a freebie. At least that way, you just waste about 1.5 hours of your life only. It's funny, but in the lamest sort of way. And there's just a farce of a plot to carry the story. It has its funny parts but overall, it's just banking on past fame.

Another movie that looks pretty good is Silent Hill. Although it's a movie based on a game, it looks pretty scare. In a tribute to the upcoming movie, here is a clip from Silent Hill 2. The Dog Ending. Stay and listen to the ending. Enjoy.