The Click 5!!!

Yesh!!! They were at our station (Power98FM) today. They played LIVE in the studio!!!

As I was the only Tech dude in the office today, it fell upon me to fix up the mics and do the audio checks. The studio's designed for 3 guests and 1 DJ (that was the mic assignment) so there was some testing to do to see if we could fit the 5 band members and 2 contest winners.

Well, it worked out pretty well. I've got a recording of the song Jenny which they sang live off-air.

That was pretty cool.

Anyway, here's a picture of the whole gang with Harry (Our DJ who hosts the Double Xpresso lunch-hour show).



This is me with Ben Romans...



And this is their lead...Kyle Patrick...

Words that attract spam...

I spent a good 10 minutes deleting idiotic spam from my Tag Board.

Why?

Simply because I've got keywords such as p*rn and ad*lt m*vies in my blog. Geez. I honestly wonder why they even bother. It's not like as if I'm hooked on to it. I was just mentioning the fact that some Korean actresses looked like drag queens.

In any case, an interesting topic popped up @ work today.

It was about ladies, short skirts and legs. To be honest, I'm a legs, neck and shoulders guy. Lemme see a lady in a dress which exposes all three and well...

You get the idea.

It's a pity that not many local women dress up in clothes which expose all three at the same time. By expose, I don't mean show EVERYTHING...just a hint of what to expect would be great. Too much skin isn't necessarily a good thing either.

Sometimes I do wonder though, if there's something that you're after for very long remains unobtainable, would you persist or give up hope, cease and desist? I've been wondering if I should continue the persistance which after a whle may seem pesky...ah, to strike that balance...

Nostalgia...

This picture was taken in Vancouver in 1991...I just dug it up and scanned it and boy does it bring back memories...

Sleeping in the VW Golf cabrio @ Whistler in autumn and freezing out butt off...(it was like -5°C then. And that jacket...I loved that jacket. It was like CAN$49.99 when I bought it.



This one was taken in 1994 while I was already in Perth and SY was just visiting and checking out the school before she went there as well.

Anyway, I miss that jacket and have no idea where it's gone. :( Well, it has been more than 10 years I guess but still...I think I can still squeeze into it heh.



This shot was taken in 1991...when I was still pretty new to photography really. One of those priceless film shots taken with a Yashica FM2 camera (which was a fully mechanical, manual SLR - my first). Anyway, it's super nostalgic to me. I was there studying and she came to visit...awww so sweet. And we've only been dating for 2½ years too! :P

The Birthday Bash...

Alright, so I haven't updated in a week or so. I had to leave Daughtry up there cause he was giving me more hits!!! HAHAHA!

In any case, we had a ball of a time at Go India restaurant. It was an FM club outing. We also celebrated 2 birthdays. And a first at SAFRA Radio! Boi turns 21!!! Talk about young! He's like the 'baby' of the company although he hates being called that.

Well, that's because us old farts hate being old...that's why we're all young at heart! hahaha!

Well, all the best for the birthday boy and girl! :D

Here's the BD boi...



And the birthday girl girl...isn't she just sooooo sweet!?

DAUGHTRY!

Chris Daughtry and Brian Craddock!!! Woohoooo!!!
They were the in-studio guests on Harry's Double Expresso.

Sony-BMG brought them in and man...the groupies in us turned out at full force.

Okay, so they're not as tall as I expected but they're both way cool dudes.

Was great and we had a helluva time taking pictures with them ahaha!

Anyway, since they had a pretty long day ahead, they didn't stay here for too long.

In any case, it was pretty fun meeting them.

A Clear Night

It's such a beautiful sight. After a cloudy weekend (it's M's fault. He left for China today) it's CLEAR!!!!

I instantly whipped out my C90, mounted the camera onto it prime focus and voila! A nice shot of the moon.

Yes, it was sharpened a little because the original shot had the moon slightly soft. That's probably because of the 7 year old optics which to be honest, weren't maintained very well.

Still, it was a sight to see. Pity I didn't have the time to do shots of Jupiter as well because through the eyepieces, tonight gave a good showing of the planet along with its 4 biggest moons. Callisto, Io, Europa and Ganymede.



Well, I think the shot of the moon alone was well worth the trouble of packing and unpacking the gear. Heh.

And yes, the images are shot by me in Singapore and they're my copyright HAHAHA!

42 minutes past Midnight

This was what it was like at Seletar Reservoir 42 minutes past midnight. It was on the 16th September 2007.

A rather still night with no wind. Clouds hung overhead giving the surroundings a surrealistic glow from the reflection of streetlights.

A couple finds solitude for themselves and escape from the daily grind of city life.

Sick...

My mouth is dry, my head's spinning and my hands are clammy. This to top off with the fact that I'm running a temperature. Damn I hate having a fever.

Backyard astronomy's a good way of feeding mosquitos. We covered more mileage than I'd care to remember driving from Seletar to Tuas to Sungei Buloh and finally to Pasir Ris...all in that sequence!

At the end, I blame M for bringing the rainclouds where ever he goes HAHAHA!

Oh well, I have to be optimistic about this coming weekend though. Might even do some sky tracking in order to get some nice wide shots.

Lets hope I get well by then.

Face Booked

Man...since I got an account on facebook.com, I've been swamped by pokes, beer and God knows what else.

There's been very little happening these couple of days apart from the excitement of horizontal lightning, telescopes and earthquakes...

Okay, so it was a pretty big deal that we felt the tremors here as well but frankly speaking, it wasn't quite what I expected. After all, I've experienced tremors along the west coast of North America before and those were quite something else.

In any case, I won't be living anywhere close to a fault line anytime soon.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for clear skies tonight. Hopefully then I can photograph some nice Messier objects such as M31 or M42.

Polar alignment's still a headache for me though and I believe that M's big ass Celestron's gonna be hogged by his 350D. Still, one can always try.

One wonders what of the local trees that people have spotted with growths on the trunk that look like The Monkey God and the Elephant God. It's probably just a coincidence but since when should we start worshipping trees? It's a strange world that we live in I guess.

Shake it shake it baby!

Yup, some of us here at D-E-P-O-T R-D felt the tremors.

Apparently, our local tremors were caused by a 7.8 (according to USGS as of 8:47am) / 7.9 (according to NEA.gov.sg as of 8:47am) earthquake that happened at 7:49:01am local time in SOUTHERN SUMATERA, approximately 550km SW of Singapore and 90km SW of Sungai Penuh, Sumatra, Indonesia.

The 883Jia DJs felt it while they were still on-air and announced it as it happened. Quite drama yah?

Anyway, I didn't really feel anything much but it could be because of my rather central (in the building) location. They were closer to the edges of the building so they might have felt it more.

Oh well...

If you want more updates, check out NEA's Earthquake Monitoring webpage
or
the USGS Worldwide Earthquake info centre

Maybe they should stop doing the "jogek" for a while there...

Okay okay...not nice to make fun of disaster but have to make light of it lor...otherwise everyone so sad. :P

In The News...

Got a call today...was kinda half asleep when I answered...

"Yo Boz! I saw your photo in the papers!" - Older Sis
"Is it?" - Me
"Yar! You're the Vincent Wang that shot the lightning right?" - Older Sis
"Guess so...not that many Vincent Wangs living on the 12th floor in Bt Batok" - Me
"Niiiiiiiice!" - Older Sis
"Thanks!" -Me
"You got newspapers or not?" - Older Sis
"No lei" - Me
"Okay I cut out for you to frame up." - Older Sis
"Thanks!" - Me
"Click"

So I got up still a little stoned to check out the Stomp! site...

hmm...1200+ views...not bad..get good exposure in Stomp! lei...

So later on when I came into the office I check out the papers...Yup...there it is. The cover photo for Stomp! on today's paper.

Looks like recently I've been involved a lot more in the Media...lending my voice for commercials and spots in Power98, photos posted in the newspapers and on the online portal etc...I kinda enjoy it.

Okay okay...it's attention seeking but then again, it's also fun. Heh :)

STOMPed...

Well, if you guys happen to be visiting the STOMP website, you can see the pictures that I've taken previously of the cloud formation and lightning.

They've been posted here

Now I feel like a typical local "Kaypo" but I do feel that sights such as these should be shared.

It's Showing its Age...

Yup...the 10D is 4½ years old now...and it's showing its age.

Just two days ago, I tried taking a long exposure photo of the lightning (see previous post) storm and the number of hot pixels that popped up are definitely more than when I first bought the camera.



I guess it's kinda protesting against the abuse that it's gone through. I suppose once I save enough for the new 40D. At least it's got "Liveview" which should help in getting a more accurate focus while shooting either prime focus or through eyepiece projection.



Orion's 120mm ST OTA is a 600mm f/5 and is going for under 1K at Astro, but after reading about it, I'm beginning to wonder if a shorter but faster 600mm is a good alternative to my current 1000mm f/11 mirror...

Or should I get a NexStar??? The Orion accepts 2" eyepieces which is a BIG bonus cause I wear eyeglasses...

The difference between the new generation C90 (M's Scope) compared to my old C90 is quite obvious. The new C90 is a 1200mm f/13.3 which appears very dark even though the magnification is better...

Maybe I should continue with the C90 first because it's a pretty decent all-rounder and M's already got the monster NexStar 8SE...

Argh...decisions decisions...

Big Ass Scope

M collected his big ass Telescope yesterday...and today he flew off to Manila.





At least he loaned me his C90 to mess around with along with the NexImage CCD. Haven't had a chance to try them out yet though.



Compare that with my own very old C90 side by side and you'd notice some differences; such as...

1) on mine, the darn focusing ring is on the tube itself...so whenever I try to focus, the whole scope would move...a big no-no if you're trying to spot Jupiter or Saturn...

2) I don't have the 90° dual-view thingy. which means that I have to rely on a star dianganol.

3) Mine's an 1000mm f/11 as compared to his 1200mm f/13 so it's a little bit brighter.

Anyway, he's coming back on the 14th so we're gonna go hang out somewhere n do some stargazing.

Storm on a Starry Night...

The raw power of nature...The picture above was taken at about 6.40pm and you can see the storm clouds brewing. Equally impressive is the super long shadow cast by the clouds from the setting sun. It was just a beautiful sight.



An aeroplane passing by the storm. Obviously the storm's quite a distance away. Probably hitting Johor Bahru and further north to perhaps Senai. In any case, the plane still looks puny!



Horizontal lightning was spotted from my front door and I decided to capture some images. This is what the storm front looks like when lit by the lightning from within...you can also see stars in the sky which made it an even more interesting experience.



This is a 100% crop of the above image...no resizing was done.

Truely a magnificent sight.

Mistaken

People often mistake acts of concern or goodwill (especially from the opposite sex) as a sign of affection (so I've said before).

However, having said that, it's only fair that the party not be kept in the dark about it or be led on. J recently had made this mistake with his ex and when she ignored him, he was utterly depressed.

It's no surprise that he feels that way since he still does have strong feelings towards her. I guess sometimes, women enjoy the attention for a while and then once that initial buzz of it wears off, it becomes tedious.

Guys just have to know when to quit.

Of course, there are times when persistence pays off but it seldom happens if ever at all. Persistence can sometimes become an irritant actually.

It's happened to me in the distant past so I guess you could say that I've got a certain amount of experience with this.

Besides, it doesn't pay to have a crush on someone who's self-centered and in need of temporary attention. You'll just end up being ignored when the person finds a new playmate or interest.

I guess there are people out there whom don't know how to put in a nice way that they want some time to themselves but rather choose to ignore as the easier way out. Humans are always looking for the easy way out. Otherwise, John F. Kennedy wouldn't have had to say, "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard... because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and others too." at the Rice University Address on September 12, 1962 (full transcript here).

Escapism

There are some people that I know that would make Houdini look like an amateur.

Of course they would have their reasons for it. However, it's the fact that it occurs without knowing when it'll happen that gets a little on the nerves.

Otherwise it wouldn't be called disappearing I suppose.

How effective is the Internet in searching someone up? Not very if the person suffers from technophobia I'm afraid. There are quite a few people I know of that are certifiable technophobes. It's a little strange though because first of all, they're my age and secondly, how can anyone truly survive in this country being a technophobe?

It is good to know though that there are senior citizens out there that try to embrace technology with open arms. Even though oftentimes it's a pain to teach them about it, one just has to be patient of the fact that:

A) Because they think they're old, they automatically have bad memories...(but they can remember what you did wrong two months ago)

B) Because they think they're old, they say that it's more difficult for them to learn new things (well, lets just put it down to experience-induced stubbornness).

Imagine that we have this so-called aging population (that's according to a government census), think of the sheer numbers of hair-tearing moments that will occur when our population reaches the average age of 50...dang, we'd have a whole bunch of bald-spotted 20-somethings then wouldn't we?

Oh well...

The World will miss a Great Tenor

Luciano Pavarotti...

One of the greatest tenors of our time and an opera legend has died. He was 71 years old. BBC News has more.

If ever a movie were to be made of his later life (say past 40s), I think the perfect actor to portray him would be actor John Rhys-Davies don't you agree?

They both bear a striking resemblance to each other.

Don't you agree?

And another...

Yup...another ticket at 4:41pm. This AFTER I went to the Branch Office to change back the valid season ticket for my own car.

What can I say? Are they INEFFICIENT or what?

I sometimes wonder what's the use of implementing all that technology if none of it is put to good use? That's so weird.

An Addendum

And I got a ticket about 2 hours after parking at my own house!!!

Hellooooo!

CISCO/HDB Car parks section needs to WAKE UP THEIR FRIGGIN IDEA!!!

I temporarily transferred my season parking ticket to the "loaner" which was from 30 Aug - 10 Sep (being kiasu). I collected my car and by the time I got home, it was roughly 6.30pm (which is obviously after government offices end their business day).

So I didn't have a chance to transfer my season parking back to my own car.

And they gave me a ticket.

Car parks division, being armed with all that technology obviously doesn't make life for me any easier.

I went down to the branch office today to transfer back the season ticket and also to try to get the parking offence notice voided. Lo and behold, the counters that settle ALL season parking matters do not have the authority to void 1 idiotic parking offense notice in a situation is as clear cut as god knows what. So I was informed to get a queue number and join ANOTHER queue to get that done.

Obviously, I opted to do it over the Internet and at the same time, write a long-winded letter on why I be penalised for their or their systems' shortcomings.

Lets see how things go from there...it could be interesting.

Obviously, bureaucratic mentality is STILL the only constant in the universe...and is probably the glue that's holding the entire civil service (of any country for that matter) together.

iPod, iPhone, iPay

According to Dailytech.com, an iPhone customer has filed a class-action lawsuit against Apple.

I guess the iPhone customer must have been asleep or been living in a cave/under a rock before he purchased it because according to the lawsuit, it claims that Apple did not disclose the fact that the iPhone did not have a user-replaceable battery.

Well, all of Apple's portable products with the exception of their laptops don't have user replaceable batteries.

The ironic fact is that even though Apple's batteries for their portable products cost a bomb to replace, people are still snapping them up without much hesitation. Such is the power of marketing and the urge of blending in with the crowd.

People may have bought the iPod perhaps for the fact that they wanted to display their individuality/creativity by buying an Apple product (Apple products gave the impression that the person using their products are "artsy" since many designers have adopted their MacIntosh computers for that purpose).

Well, of course the beautifully designed iPods attracted attention as well..duh!

But lets be honest, non-user replaceable batteries? It'd be such an inconvenience if say you were listening to your iPod one day and it (the battery) just died and can't be charged anymore. You'd have to go through the hassle of sending the thing in to have the battery (which, lets be honest, is a pretty simple replaceable item) changed. That kinda sucks.

Imagine that happening to your phone...major inconvenience.

I don't doubt though that Apple's iPhone will still sell like hotcakes since we're such a bunch of consumers here. To me, it's profiteering from poor product design (or just plain profiteering because they can). Imagine this, in the States, you gotta pay $79 for the battery plus $6.95 for shipping which puts you out of reach for about a week cause you gotta send the phone in to have the battery replaced. To top it off, they even have the cheek to charge you $29 to rent another iPhone...what about your contacts, smses and other stuff that's in the phone with the dead battery???

I definitely wouldn't wanna buy the phone for that and that reason alone.

Oh and by the way, I GOT MY CAR BACK! Wooooooooooohoooooooooo!!!!!

Maintenance

Coffee to me, is the liquid life saver.

Now, I'm no coffee connoisseur but I do enjoy a good cuppa ever so often.

There are 2 known types of women in this world, as coined by Rob Reiner and Nora Ephron; they are the "Low maintenance" woman and the "High maintenance" woman. Lets shed some light on the definitions of "low/high maintenance".

No, it's not the Dictionary.com definition. Instead, the "high maintenance" here would equate to a more picky, more demanding person whom insists on having things done her way.

"Low maintenance" would then describe a more nonchalant, unconcerned or indifferent person in terms of personal requirements.

The worse kind of woman, would be the type that is high maintenance but think that they're low maintenance because they don't realise that they are in fact, rather demanding.

On another note, I've realised that when a woman shows concern towards me, I'm pretty appreciative of it. When I find the person attractive and she shows concern towards me, I may have the misconception that she actually likes me enough to perhaps have a date with. Do all guys think that way? I don't know but lets hope it's unique to me. Otherwise, the world would be in chaos over such misconceptions.

An untitled entry

Yup...I've run out of creative juice and so this is the title of the post.

While everyone (including me at times) is guilty of posting blogs about their love lives, there have been times when I think out loud, "Enough Already!".

Oh...need a crap break...

Back to the post...

But then again, what is this 4 letter word that can sometimes be vulgar?

It's nature at work of course. Because we've evolved into intelligent (at least for some of us) sentient beings with a sense of morality driven into us, we look upon procreation as first having a sense of belonging followed by a sense of responsility towards one another. Jealousy would take over because if the belonging were to be taken by someone else, we'd feel the loss.

Many times, after the institution of marriage has been applied and women have borne offspring, the men have a need to sow seeds further. This is nature's way of ensuring that only the best offspring are born. After all, diversity is the key method of ensuring difference.

Some offspring may be weak physically but strong mentally, others the opposite way round. It's only natural that a parent (be it father or mother) look upon another mate to ensure the diversity of their offspring.

However, this would be contrary to our modern-day standards of morality which condemns so-called adultry. When that happens, one of the parties in the marriage will obviously be hurt but sometimes, the natural instinct is so strong that it overrides the sense of morality and we give in to temptation.

For the sake of sounding sensitive and politically correct though, we would always say that we're married to the person of our dreams. Be honest though, we'll always have a roving eye when disagreements arise.

I may be wrong, I may be right but so far, this is what I've observed. Perhaps my observations are biased by my own upbringing and experiences (yes, they're getting a divorce after 40 years of marriage) and I'm a little sour about that.

On other topic, I'M GETTING MY CAR BACK AT 5!!!!! Wooohooooo!!!! I can at last rid myself of this abomination on the road with a rubber-band engine and transmission although I must say that I haven't laughed so hard while driving because of a car before. It's so bad, it's funny!

Interesting quote of the day (after I wrote this entry) : Many a man who falls in love with a dimple make the mistake of marrying the whole girl.
- Evan Esar

Word of the day : Perambulate

The "Loaner"

Okay, for those out there driving the 1.6litre Mitsubishi Lancer CV-T, I have nothing but pity for you.

THE CAR SUCKS! OMG!!!!

Here's the scenario...I step on the gas...the car crawls forward and the engine revs a little...

I floor the gas pedal, the car crawls forward (albeit a little faster), the engine revs to REDLINE and makes a freakin' helluva lot of noise.

For a moment there, I thought I'd busted up the dang CV-T (Continuously Variable Transmission) cause the speedo wasn't climbing...just the tacho.

Oddly though, I managed to dodge an Accord 2.0 (Euro version) non-Euro-R along CA6 last evening. The moron actually decided to tailgate me while I was passing another CMI Lancer on the right lane at the bend which leads from the PIE to Clementi Ave 6.

Obviously, being very familiar with that particular bend, I took it at about 70km/h and was still accelerating (at a snail's pace) when this idiot in a White Accord decided to come right up to my ass.

Having a Honda Civic recently kiss my own car's ass didn't make me feel any better with this moron sitting behind the loaner car's ass so I floored the pedal and managed a decent slingshot acceleration around the bend.

I guess it kinda took him by surprise cause it was a while before I heard his engine revving trying to catch up. By then I'd already pulled quite a distance from him and was overtaking another car and getting stuck behind a matrix.

Well, sufficed to say, this moron was lucky that I wasn't driving my own car (it's still in the workshop undergoing repairs to the rear-end which was damaged by the Civic) otherwise I would've blow-offed his ass to high heaven and probably given him a layer of soot to wipe off his piss ant faggoty white accord.

It's been a pretty boring day with little or nothing much happening to me. I have the night shift so it's the daytime that's boring. B's got this problem though. He's been around for a fair bit and obviously knows the place inside out and exactly what to do when something happens (or doesn't). What he fails to realize is that the rest of us are pretty darn new to this and honestly, don't really know what's the norm and what ain't. In any case, either way, it's gonna be sad to see him leave but we've gotta make sure that everything's handed over right before he goes. Otherwise, all hell would break loose here.

It's interesting to note that Porcupine a.k.a KXXZ a.k.a SLK seems to not think of anyone besides herself. I don't mean that she doesn't think but rather, if you like someone enough, you'd spend sometime thinking of that person wouldn't you? Obviously I feature very low on the likable scale since she admitted today that she doesn't think of me at all. That kinda sucks.

I can't wait till Wednesday to get my car back! I'm dying here with this piece of junk that they've loaned to me. Yes, yes, some might say that I at least have a loaner. Well, DUH! If I didn't have one, I wouldn't even think of going there to get my car fixed now would I??? Of course I'd want something that at least on the same trim level as the car I'm sending in. After all, fair is fair. I didn't hit the bugger, he hit me!

Time and again...

Being able to blog frequently doesn't necessarily mean that the person has nothing better to do.

For me, blogging is an outlet. A way of putting my thoughts into writing. It's also a good place to store events in my life that I might want to remember later and also to let people around me who read it frequently to know what I'm going through.

I enjoy moments of solace where I can organize my thoughts into words and pen it down. I've tried keeping a diary but I have the tendency of losing them. Anyway, all this is probably just justification for my seeking more attention I suppose. That's what most people who blog are after; some sort of recognition that they actually exist in a world of 6 plus billion people. It's also a way of demonstrating individuality.

I tend to blog more when I can't sleep. I guess the whole reason why I can't sleep in the first place is because my mind's a little too active. So putting the thoughts into words does help.

Kay's got this great Nike Dumbbell in the studios. Kay, if you don't mind, I'm gonna borrow it to use from time to time in an effort to gain bigger arms. Dang, I might end up with huge arms, a small body and tiny legs....geez that'd be weird.

Good thing I bought my camper's mat so I can still do crunches and sit-ups since I can't really sleep on the job anyway heh. That helps.

SLK tried to predict what I was going to blog about tonight. Well, I hate being a forgone conclusion and predictable so, nope, I'm not blogging about what you think I'm gonna be blogging about ;) heh..

I might do it later though.

Word of the day: Egregious <- kinda sounds a little like erogenous doesn't it? :P

Dumb-Bell!

I chanced upon this local website while surfing around looking for a place to get the Nike 5lbs dumbbells.

http://forums.ohgenki.com/lifestyle/health-fitness/

Okay, some of the people that post in there have like Mr Universe muscles etc but that's not really what I'm looking for. Me, being the lazy sort would rather work out for nice abs and well, big arms just for the sake of looking better in a t-shirt.

Well, this guy (Wow his online moniker), seems to be confident of his exercise regime so if you guys want to take a look at it, the link's here

I'm still a firm believer in "Great abs and big arms" so I'll continue to work them out even though the pain's really something the first few times.

It's an interesting enough forum but I doubt I'd make my presence there felt. Does seem to suit the more superficial since it's all about looks. Yes, yes, I'm contradicting myself here but then again, since when are we not at least a little vain?

All I get is a...

Lancer 1.5CVT...that's the loaner car that I got from Star.

Kinda sad cause the civic dude which went there in the morning managed to get his hands on a Camry. I should have gone there earlier, then I might have had first dibs on what car I'd get.

The choices were pretty simple actually, either a Lancer 1.5 or a Latio 1.5. Obviously I'd forgo the Nissan. I'm beginning to regret it now though cause the Lancer's got a rubber-band engine.

I managed to meet SLK today but only for a short while. She looks absolutely fantastic I must add. As usual though, she turned porcupine on me.

And she spent more than she intended to which is I guess normal. Since when does a woman go shopping and not bust her budget? Never!

I got myself a camper's mat from Giant. It's about the same size as the one I was almost gonna get at West Mall except that this one costs only $5.60 instead of $12.10. It's like totally less than half the price. Couldn't get the colour I wanted though.

I'll be heading down to Astro with Mike on Sat PM to go take a look at some scopes. Looks like the boy's found himself a new hobby. One that he's just as clueless to and just wants to spend moolah on. In any case, I'd just tag along and maybe give him some advice on which scope to get.

Word of the day : Supernal <- does sound a little like "Anal" doesn't it? :P

Bang! crash!

This is what happens when people tailgate or stop concentrating for a minute while on the expressway...

I was the first car and the second car was an 8th Gen civic (FD) 2.0. He managed to stop in time as well but was rather close to me. The third car, which was a Comfort Taxi (I've been hit by cabs before...so it's not surprising that a taxi was either involved or the cause of it somewhere along the line) however was obviously tailgating and not paying attention...

After about half a second from slowing down to a stop, the bang started followed by another while my car was jerked forwards. At first, the damage didn't seem more than minor bumper-bumper but upon closer inspection, it looked more apprarent that there was internal structural damage. Well, the C&C guys will know what to do :P.

So much for a nice peaceful morning...

A 2.30am post...

No, I'm not working at the moment but rather, my slumber was interrupted.

I woke up thinking, what happens when the fuel for the fire of passion runs out?
When we get complacent and think that we know what our partners are thinking?
When we stop listening to one another?
When somehow or other, the realisation that the relationship has hit a point where it's too comfortable?
When all there is left is platonic love?
Do we become lifelong friends? Does it mean that physical contact is no longer required? What happened to the hugs and kisses that used to be delivered?

There are some people that believe that showing affection physically, such as holding hands, hugging, kissing and basically just skin contact is not necessary.

I for one am not that sort. I need to feel the reassurance of touch. The warmth of a hug and the passion of a kiss.

When these things go missing or are denied, it gives me the impression that the love that once was, no longer exists. Some will find the excuse saying that well, "it's been so long and I don't feel the need to remind you all the time about how I feel for you".

But it's only natural to have physical contact to show care and affection isn't it? A child feels safe, secure when he/she is held. Even a pet dog feels the need to be patted.

I try to explain these things but they seem to fall on deaf ears and nothing has changed. It's all for the sake of keeping it all together now.

You know what? It's depressing.

It's also the fastest way to infidelity.

Slow E-Mail Day...

This is what happens when the eclipse of the moon is obscured by cloud cover.

It becomes a slow e-mail day for me.

I have no new pictures to post either here, or on my Multiply site. I tried to get as much sleep as I could failing to which I then decided to blog blog and blog more. I think it's becoming a little more and more time consuming.

To the people at NETS (Network of Electronic Transfers Singapore Pte Ltd) I have this to say:

REDUCE THE DAMN TRANSACTION CHARGES SO THAT MERCHANTS DON'T IMPOSE A MINIMUM PURCHASE AMOUNT YOU MORONS!!!!!

I saw the mat which I wanted to buy to improve my work conditions but alas, it cost less than $20. I had previously walked past the POSB ATM and the line was at least 20 people long and there was only 1 ATM. They used to advertise "Why Queue?" when ATMs were first introduced as a convenient alternative to non-communicative transactions with banks but they seem to have forgotten about what they had advertised.

The "GURUs" which decide where and how many ATMs to place should themselves be forced into a situation where they have to wait at least a half hour before being able to withdraw any money. They probably survive on credit cards and seldom have purchases that amount to less than $20. Idiots.

I suppose, in today's society, there's a premium to be paid for everything including BAD SERVICE. And here we are, talking about trying to improve service levels. Well, efficiency is only a PART of good service and not the definition of it.

Well, glad I managed to get that off my chest.

I enjoyed a couple of Chili Cheese Dogs at Superdog before going to work. KXXZ (a.k.a SLK) decided to go for a lighter Yogurt drink and Ben & Jerry Ice Cream. Some people just know how to contradict themselves (food-wise that is). That's why men will NEVER understand women; and it should stay that way. It's because of the mysteries of women that keep us men interested in them.

Again, she has become a porcupine with icy-cold spikes...

This is what happens on a slow e-mail day...

Eclipse and Weather

Well, I guess someone's been doing unauthorized rain dances cause the sky's pretty much completely overcast.

This at 3pm doesn bid well for me as there's only 4 hours left before moonrise and the eclipse. Mr Tang, my dad's associate calls this type of rain "长气雨" or "Long-winded rain" which would usually last for a day while the sky remains overcast for the next couple of days.

Just my luck I suppose.

Cat called me up just to ask me about a previous post. Okay, I know it's not considered impolite to call someone during the day at all but I work nights!!!

Needless to say, after the call, I actually dreampt about her although the salient details have already faded away; plus I was in a semi-sleep mode which at the end of the day, amounts to nothing in terms of sleep. I did also dream of KXXZ and the details are as fresh as if I'm still dreaming of her...I won't reveal too much here though and NO IT WASN'T A WET DREAM!

*sigh*

Nightshift...

Pros and Cons of working 12 hour nightshifts...

Pros:

1. You get the whole office to yourself
2. You get to convert parts of the office to a disco
3. You get to eat loads of junk food with an excuse
4. You get to act silly and nobody knows

Cons:

1. 5am
2. 6am
3. 7am
4. 8am
5. Might fall asleep on the drive home

Mixed Vegetables...

Ratatouille

That's the title of the movie that I watched tonight. There's gonna be one more from Disney that I'd wanna watch (hopefully with you-know-who)...



It's called "Enchanted" and the trailer was played before the movie Ratatouille began.

I actually found out what "ratatouille" meant (initially, I thought it was the name of the rat) from Rocky Masters (a new cafeteria at DTTB) quite by accident today. I was ordering an Iced Mocha when I saw the word "Ratatouille (Mixed Vegetables)". Okay, I did take French 11/12 and French 101/102 but you'll have to forgive me because it has been 15 years since I last spoke French.

In any case, it's considered "peasant food" in the movie since it is a vegetarian dish. I beg to differ though cause about 6-7 years ago, I dined at Original Sin at Holland Village and they served Vegetarian food and I can tell you that the prices there were WAY beyond what peasants would pay for.

In case you guys need to know, I feel that it's about time that I beefed myself up. Not just from a vanity point of view but also just to improve my own self-confidence. The strange thing is that while I may lack self-confidence when I'm alone or out with some people, I feel really confident about myself whenever I'm with KXXZ. Don't ask me why but I just feel that there's the right chemistry there although I'm not certain if she feels ditto.

The irritating thing about beginning to work out is the fact that my arms are really stiff now and I can't keep them in the same position for too long. Otherwise, they hurt like hell when I bend or flex my elbows...ouch!

My Wave-Card arrived today!!! Maurice was nice enough to get it done for me when I asked him about it during BOTEF. So now I can get into Sentosa free! That's just so excellent man!

I didn't even notice the envelope until I searched around. I guess the guys must have been real busy to let me know that I've got mail. Gotta keep my eyes open from now. Heh.

Word of the day : Atelier

First attempt at big arms...

Okay, I really overdid the stuff with the dumbell. I should've used a lighter one perhaps? 3kg instead of 5?

I'm now stinking of mesaltopic ointment which I rubbed on my arms after getting out of bed. The ointment is made of 50% Methyl Silicate (a toxin that's damaging to the cornea), 10% Menthol together with Cajuput and Eucalyptus Oil.

I woke up to arms that couldn't stretch at the elbows at all...imagine me walking around with half-bent elbows?

No wonder beefcakes at the gym all look like gorillas...they spend more time in pain and unable to stretch out than anything else.

I'm definitely going to have to give my arms at least a 4 day break from heavy work of any sort. But, being the vain pot that I am, I shall thus work on my Abs instead. Heh heh heh...

Space Time Continuum

Credit: NASA, ESA, S. Beckwith (STSci) and the HUDF Team.

I decided to add another post because of my own thoughts on what the Hubble Space Telescope has shown us.

NASA Astronomers and Physicists at JPL say that the Hubble has showed us galaxies that are about 12 billion light years away...our universe is supposed to be approximately 13.7 billion years old give or take about 200 million years, based on today's observations - wikipedia.

If that were the case, wouldn't we be looking at galaxies approximately only 1.7 billion light years away?

If the universe started off with a big bang, and the galaxies are moving away from each other, then at the distance of 12 billion light-years, the distance that they would be now, can be said as approximately 27 billion light-years away wouldn't it?

This is where I get a little confused (hopefully, I haven't lost you guys).

Light travels at a speed of approximately1,079,252,848 kilometers per hour - wikipedia.org or 9,454,254,948,480(9.5 billion)km/year and therefore, if the light takes 12 billion years to reach the HST, then it would mean that the distance of the galaxies are about 113,451,059,381,760,000,000,000,000km from us (or roughly 113 septillion kilometres).

Does that also mean that since this light is 12 billion years old, the current distance of the galaxies would then be a further 12 billion light years (which makes it 24 billion light years) or 226,902,118,763,520,000,000,000,000km (or almost 227 septillion kilometres) away by now?

If that were the case, since the universe is only 13.7 billion years old, wouldn't the distance of the galaxies be only 1.7 billion light-years or 16 072 233 412 416 000 000 000 000(16 septillion kilometres) away when we're viewing it now instead?

Rather, we'd be looking so far back in time that the galaxies would only have been 1.7 billion light years away at the point in time which they are viewed now?

I'm so darn confused...

Of Pizzas and Shoes...and 9 lives (almost)

Queensway and I'm told that KXXZ wants to buy a pair of shoes for her friend.

I mentioned the fact that her friend should buy her own shoe because of the number of designs available and the one that she chooses might not be the one that her friend likes. Well, she was insistent that her friend trusts her taste in shoes...

She ended up getting a rather futuristic looking pair of runners with no laces (which I also mentioned that might fly off her friend's foot when running) but she thought that it'd be okay. I made several remarks about the shoe but she threatened to kill me with it and so I prudently stopped those remarks.

Dinner was at Pasta Mania @ Suntec City.

Because of some technical glitch, my Hawaiian Pizza came later than usual and so they offered me extra garlic bread & up-sized it from a 7" to a 10" pizza. I thought that it was a really nice gesture but I didn't really need the extras cause I was pretty sure that I'd overeat. In any case, it was appreciated and I must say that the staff were really nice and all.

That's a real thumbs up for Pasta Mania and I'm definitely gonna go back there to dine again.

I also think that KXXZ's beginning to warm up to me a little more cause we were closer than the past few times we went out together...that's a a good sign for me I hope.

Tuesday's gonna have the Lunar Eclipse and I hope that the local weather will cooperate and at least let me have a few nice shots from the East Coast Park.

At the end of the day, I think I've been killed several times by her using...

1) Shoes
2) Wallet
3) Handbag
4) Fork
5) Mobile phone
6) Dumbbell
7) Barehands

At least if I were a cat, I'd still have 2 lives to go before being really dead.

My arms are aching as well because I was working out using the dumbbell that I bought yesterday...the things we do for bigger arms...

"I have a weakness for hot guys...for tight abs and big arms..." - Megan Fox, Transformers

Word of the day : Gravitas

Porcupines Personified

Creatures with highly developed defense systems either mate very carefully or not at all.

A good example is the porcupine. Don't see many of them around do ya?

In humans, a person with that would have a tendency to become a loner (or Lone Ranger - according to KXXZ)

So what exactly does that mean? It's difficult to say exactly but I suppose having a non-committal relationship would suit such a person very well. When one shuts out emotions, the solitary retreat is all that's left. I guess everyone goes through that state once in a while.

I was introduced to Rochor Soya Bean today and I must say that they do make a pretty mean Soya Bean drink. Pity it wasn't really enough nor was it cold by the time we got to Empress Place to soak up the sights and enjoy the beanie stuff.

It's also time that we got rid of the leftover junk in the office that's been written off. I have no idea how long the stuff's been sitting there but there are some treasures to be had from the pile sitting in one of the producion studios. I just hope that they're really written off cause then I can grab them and mess around with them at home. I'm pretty sure that some of the stuff are actually salvageable.

We'll see...

Word of the day : Melange

The Bourne Trilogy...

THE BOURNE TRILOGY

Identity...


Supremacy...


Ultimatum...

Which is the best? Well, to be honest, I liked 2 followed by 1 and then 3. Somehow, the third one lost it's edge but I suppose after the second (Supremacy), it's a tough act for Greengrass to follow. He may have set the expectations a little on the high side.

I feel that he's gone overboard with the handheld camera this time. It's almost like he took the entire car chase scene from Bourne Supremacy and applied the technique throughout. Made me a little sick to be honest.

Overall, I guess it would have to be 2-1-3. The first and second really demonstrated Bourne's ability to improvise and obtain information. Whereas the third had Pamela and Nikki helping him out which kinda spoiled it for me. Jason Bourne is supposed to be a loner (okay, the first one he had Marie) but she was pretty helpless most of the time.

He still had to rely on his wits a little more. I felt that the only part that made that bit was in the safe-house in Spain when he met Nikki again...okay, that be a spoiler.

I will therefore shut up.

Word of the day? Well, my previous post already had one so...I'll spare you guys this time.

Onomatopoeia

Ping Pong...now that's Onomatopoetic

Talking about ping pong, there's the Ping Pong song...



"Do you know what it feels like loving someone that’s in a rush to throw you away?
Do you know, do you know, do you know, do ya?
Do you know what it feels like to be the last one to know the lock on the door has changed?
Do you know, do you know, do you know, do ya?"

There are days that the feeling's exactly like the lyrics to the song.



The new servers @ work are great! I love the noise they make when they start up man...it's like a jet engine spooling up...reminds me of turbos hahaha!

Too bad it only lasts for like 2 seconds. I wonder if IBM can make them run a little longer...closer to a minute would be perfect.

I've got to get me one of those...

Word of the day you ask? Read the title!

Just a couple of new stuff...

Bought myself a new phone...for S$348 without contract which is pretty good. The National Day promotion is still on unlike what the moron at G-Force(West Mall) told me and tried to rip me off by saying that it was ovr and thus the price was back to $438.

I used to think that the shop was pretty competitively priced but I guess I was wrong. I shall therefore boycott them from now on for sounding so confident and giving me the wrong info...







We went to watch the fireworks since someone managed to get a room on the 47th floor of the Swisshotel Stamford. That made it a helluva lot better to watch than from the ground since we really had a bird's eye view. Traffic was a nightmare though and someone rammed into my car's ass on the way out. Stupid me waved it off as just a bumper rub but when I check it out more carefully at KXXZ's house, it turned out to be a little more than a bumper rub. :( That's so idiotic though why it happened. Just because people were in a mad rush to get out of the carpark, we forget to give way or to alternate-merge. At the end, everyone had to wait while I assessed the damage...purely a bigger waste of time isn't it?

Then, at KXXZ's house, some idiot mistook my car for his friend's and decided to open my passenger door. Was about to hop in when I gave him one of my stares which made him back off. I guess he'll think twice about not checking the plates of the car before opening the door. Hahaha! I think he was pretty embarrassed. Well, serves him right! Ha ha ha!

Word of the day: Masticate <- Sounds like masturbate :P

Movie Classic...

Have you ever watched "When Harry Met Sally" (1989)?


It's a classic romantic comedy and romantic comedies after that have been using that as the benchmark.

The best dialogue in a movie of the genre would be this...

"Harry Burns: You realize of course that we could never be friends.
Sally Albright: Why not?
Harry Burns: What I'm saying is - and this is not a come-on in any way, shape or form - is that men and women can't be friends because the sex part always gets in the way.
Sally Albright: That's not true. I have a number of men friends and there is no sex involved.
Harry Burns: No you don't.
Sally Albright: Yes I do.
Harry Burns: No you don't.
Sally Albright: Yes I do.
Harry Burns: You only think you do.
Sally Albright: You say I'm having sex with these men without my knowledge?
Harry Burns: No, what I'm saying is they all WANT to have sex with you.
Sally Albright: They do not.
Harry Burns: Do too.
Sally Albright: They do not.
Harry Burns: Do too.
Sally Albright: How do you know?
Harry Burns: Because no man can be friends with a woman that he finds attractive. He always wants to have sex with her.
Sally Albright: So, you're saying that a man can be friends with a woman he finds unattractive?
Harry Burns: No. You pretty much want to nail 'em too.
Sally Albright: What if THEY don't want to have sex with YOU?
Harry Burns: Doesn't matter because the sex thing is already out there so the friendship is ultimately doomed and that is the end of the story.
Sally Albright: Well, I guess we're not going to be friends then.
Harry Burns: I guess not.
Sally Albright: That's too bad. You were the only person I knew in New York."

And would you people out there think that it actually makes sense? I would tend to agree with Harry...as would most men but they'd most likely deny that association. Why? Because we're now living in the 21st century which is way past the "Sensitive New Age Guy" era of the 90s and we've moved on.

What may have applied to New Yorkers and Americans in general circa late 80s early 90s might be beginning to apply here now? So we're 20 years behind a socially developed country. Well, to a certain extent, we're still socially inept.

Well, anyway, at least the movie has a happy ending...unlike real life. How often does life have a happy ending right?

Word(s) of the day: Faux Pas

Strange Days...

I got a call at 10:44am this morning on my mobile phone with "Unknown" listed in the caller ID.

This woman starts spouting something in mandarin which if you know me, I have little or no ability to speak.

Anyway, I was busy driving and trying to overtake a truck but I digress. Needless to say, after a full 40 seconds of gibberish, I managed to retort with a "I can't speak chinese". Needless to say, I believe that it was an overseas call since local calls would have "Number Withheld" or just "Withheld" on the caller ID if it was a private number.

The girl was rather disappointed and managed an "Oh...goodbye" and hung up.

I forgot about the call until a friend of mine who lives in KL dropped me this URL on my MSN Messenger..

Cheated By The Hong Kong Lucky Draw Scam

That got me thinking...God I'm glad I didn't and couldn't understand what the heck she was talking about.

Talk about ironic coincidence that I got the call this morning and the message this afternoon...

My vocal talents are once again used for the BOTEF Chant. Listen out for it...you might actually hear me among the 12 or so voices that have been digitally enhanced.

I'm gonna meet KXXZ later. Just wanna see what she's up to actually. Nothing more than that. Perhaps chat a little about the old times...old school days heh. It's nice to be able to have a second opinion on things that are going on in life don't you think?

Today's word of the day: Plenipotentiary

What is to be done...

Ralph has got to be one of the most comical names in human history. Before that would be Bozo and after it, well, Buddy would seem appropriate.

I have no idea why I'm opening the post with this but it just occurred to me.

Anyway, I once mentioned before that a probable impossibility is preferable to an improbable possibility. What I'm going through now, has the virtue of both being improbable as well as impossible.

How's that for firmly getting a fix?

In any case, I'm chasing the dream, not quite living it yet so I'll still have to give myself some time; also, I think that there's little doubt after Saturday's event that I've officially been appointed the company's photographer which means that I get to attend almost every event organised.

Which is good actually because not only are the staff encouraged to go to company organized events, they're required to and I have a specific task to perform each and every time. It gives me an objective as well.

And today's word of the day is...Permutation a significantly more commonly used word than the others that I've put up so far.