Shoot me

About a week ago, a dear friend of mine lent me one of his latest hard-earned toy - his Fuji Finepix S6500fd or..

So I got quite excited when he agreed to the short loan. (Well this dear friend of mine just so happens to be very particular about the condition of anything of his - books, cam, car, car door, etc.)

I began thinking about wild trips to the jungle just for the sake of photography. Can you imagine, everyone going to a random place - be it a jungle, a god forsaken town, etc. - just to capture still scenes of the world.

Overdramatic.

Anyhow so after meeting up, I spontaneously suggested that I follow him back to Putrajaya to take some night photos and so that he might be able to give me some insight on how to operate this advanced piece of thing-a-magic. To cut a long story short, I present to you a beginner's go at pro-photography. =D

(Please click on the thumbnail for the full blow-up. Images have been scaled down and quality compensated to avoid hair loss while uploading pics..)

So there was this bridge. It's one of the 3 bridges that connects the Precints of Putrajaya.
"Is it important", you ask?
Yes, it is if you don't have any avenues to claim fuel or have a Petrol-growing-tree at home.

Well, this is one of the mosques that we had a direct sight of while he was givin me my cam tutorial

Trying to be all artistic..

Our dear friend trying to have an emo pose. Didn't really jadi(make it), tho.

I stumbled upon this road on the way to the bridge (below). Turned in and this was all I got. A.. em, compound? What's wrong with these people man..

Close up. See what I mean?

Bridge pic.

Another bridge pic.

This is my bitch, Pixel. She has two peculiar things about her:
i) She has a pigtail, literally. It's curled.
ii) One of her ears refuse to listen to her, lol.

Su's present for me. A close-up. ;)

Attempt at camwhoring. Su said I 'looked like an alien'.. --____--"

WTH.

Comments are always welcome! :)

Barely passing

Today was another one of a stream of bad events that has been going through my life. When Ian found out, he said Buddhists would call it bad karma. I feel that God's trying to 'put me to the test..and deliver me from evil' as they say. And what's worse, I don't seem to be passing. :(

I duno man. Call it whatever you will, karma, luck, fate, etc., I'm avoiding succumbing to attributing events in my life to these factors. Apparently a friend of mine said that a typical 'Chinese' cure would be to give some donations to the poor. Although I have nothing against that and makes alot of sense, I still feel that it's an indirect way of washing your hands of things, dont'cha think?

A conversation could between Mr.Aeh and Mr. Bee would go like:
A: Man, damn crappy weh today..
B: Why la bro?
A: Duno la, keep screwing up everything
B: Bad luck weh u..
A: Yealah, bad luck.. What to do?
B: Can't do anything bro, just plain 'ol bad luck.

See what I mean? My approach is that unless you've done everything in your capacity to avoid whatever just happened to you, it ain't luck bro. I call it "Learning it the Hard Way" or an "Expensive Lesson".

Oh also, I did something today that I never imagined I'd do. I yumcha-ed with about 7 cops. I didn't know much to talk about when they were going about their usual police garblebob language. Duno whaat la. I'll reserve whatever comments I have for now, though.

On another note..
Here's a fantastic track by Boyz II Men called Tracks of My Tears. In case you didn't know, these guys ROCK. What I'd give to have any one of their voices. Don't get too mesmerized that you forget to check out their coordinated steps too.

Btw, didn't they have 4 members before?

Anyway, here are the lyrics to it. (As far as I've looked, I'm one of the few who have a copy-able version on the net, so you're welcome for typing it out! :)

Boyz II Men – Tracks of My Tears

Verse 1
People say I’m the life of the party
‘Cause I tell a joke or two
Although I might be laughing loud and hearty
Deep inside I’m blue

Chorus
So take a good look at my face
You’ll see my smile looks out of place
If you look closer, it’s easy to trace
The tracks of my tears

I need you, need you

Verse 2
Since you left me if you see me with another girl
Seeming like I’m having fun
Although she may be cute, she’s just a substitute
Because you’re the permanent one
[Chorus]

I need you, need you

Bridge
Outside (I’m masquerading)
Inside (My hope is fading)
Just a clown (Ooh yeah since you put me down)
My smile is my make up
I wear since my break up with you

[Repeat Chorus]

I like. :)

credit to LenJin for introducing this clip to me

Finger lickin good

No, I'm not referring to KFC, but the stuff this guy comes up with his guitar. Simply Amazing, and not just skilled like some rockers - it actually sounds darned good. Anyway, watch and you'll see what I mean.



Do you agree with me now? Percussion+Strings = Percusstrings. Never have I heard/seen anything like this, seriously. O_o"
Now Zack Kim looks like he has some competition.

You can also check out and vote for the other guitar clips running for the Best Guitar Clip award at guitarworld.com.

BTW, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all a Merry and Jolly Christmas and have lotsa fun with your loved ones. And also take extra good care of your wallets/purses.

Love!

Oy, wan fight ah?

It's 12.30 a.m, and I have work tomorrow. But knowing what I know now, I feel that it is my personal responsibility to myself and my country to inform you all of the following happenings.

As you all would know, there has been some widespread violence going around in this country by all parties. (lets not be biased here, most were arrested for a reason) But most of you all probably would not be aware of the extent of which this is happening. Below are a compilation of some videos of the happenings that would show you how close to home this is..and how lightly it has been portrayed to us in formal media.

Hindu temple Demolition in Klang Oct 2007

It's business, not personal..

Don't forget them reporters!



Even in parliament!

That was something. Havoc's even happening outside of parliament. Look at blatant insult to the sanctity of the parliament (ordinarily considered sacred judicial grounds of the law), the justice system - whatever's left of it - as well as individual rights.

click here for a longer and clearer version. Watch from 8:30 onwards.
And most recently, the Hindraf rally, 25th November 2007.

I TOTALLY can't agree with the interviewee, can you?

and finally quoting from Nak Tak's article:
Police says: 1000 people attended the rally
Media says: 4000 people
Najib says: 10,000 people
Bersih says: 40,000 people
Picture says:
A picture is indeed worth a thousand words - tens of thousands in this case.

This shit is f*cked up, seriously. And I'm pissed off.

Losing grip

Much *pause* has happened during my absence from this blog. In fact, these happenings are perhaps the cause of my desire to avoid writing about them as:
Firstly, there's too much to write.
Secondly, there's nothing much to write.
Thirdly, to think about what I'm writing would be like trying to blow an already fully inflated balloon.

I'd

pop.

Dramaticism aside. I'm at one of the lowest points of my life where almost nothing I do seems to be right. Have you ever been through that? You don't have to be a genius to know that it's tough. Especially when you're used to having almost everything going your way right before this.

So I'm wondering to myself,
"Why is this happening?"
"What's different now?"
"What am I doing wrong?"
"Should/can I blame anyone else but myself?"
"Is it me.. or is it my situation/condition?"
"Is it me?"
"Is it..me?"

Notice never once did I ask, "Why me?"

I understand that in this life, you have to go through the rock bottom of shit to know how you should appreciate the times you're not in it.

But this is close.

I'm probably trying too hard to be too [insert adjective here]. Maybe I'm trying too hard.
Working too hard.
Loving too hard.
Thinking too hard.

Yeah bro, the person who gets hurt most in the end is.. (yep, you guessed it) yourself.

Come to think of it, all this being hard is making me soft in the head. (No pun intended, whatsoever) No really, methinks this is draining energy out of me. Everyday I come home tired and mentally exhausted. (For some reason, I've been needing naps periodically and needing additional night sleep. Much more than what I used to need)

All I can do now is utilize my time to the best of my capacity; the rest is up to God.

I can't bring myself to say that this'll be better soon, but I've learnt the hard way not to overpromise others and myself. To those who're also going through trying times, you have my moral support and I'm sure I have yours.

In the meantime, I'll be working overtime. So pardon my neglect of this blog temporarily; though I may drop in to write a word or two once in awhile. Wish me luck, 'n thanks for the love.

Dear Malaysians,

You have to read/watch this. Hahaha, i really have nothing else and am still choosing whether to laugh or cry.

Erections are comin up people. *oops*, elections I mean. So brace yourself for loads of (temporary) good news! Why oh why can't our leaders just be honest about the situation.

I was just discussing with my dad earlier. And it hit me hard when I realized that it's no point even if DAP wins all the seats they're contesting for as it would account for less than 20% of the total seats. On the other hand, 25% or a quarter of votes come from East Malaysia.

I totally support Bangsa Malaysia. It's the only way proper reform can be done cuz the current system's just OOP(out-of-point, as quoted by Jayson). All races fighting for their individual rights. Isn't our political system is fundamentally racist then?

If anything, it'll take awhile to get the formula right - at least 10 years imo. Like the golden day where people will realize that calling themselves Malay, Chinese or Indian.. is just stupid. Aren't we waaay past calling ourselves based on our grassroots?

Anyhow, I'll leave the details to the political blogs, but like always, I just gotta vent.

Fiducia

Picture two tigers in confrontation. The trespasser growls with such intimidation making meeker creatures sense impending danger and scurry away. The other tiger rises and gives a stare so intense it strikes the intruder with such fear that he trembles at the thought of further conflict. A mighty roar paralyses his opponent's will and warns him to never return again.

Scenarios such as the example above are common in the jungle, where battles are won and lost without physical confrontation. We, humans - albeit being more evolved and civilized - are no much different from wildlife as we employ the ultimate tool - Fiducia, Italian for confidence.

The reason I chose the Italian translation of it could perhaps be attributed to the mafia image portrayed in many movies and series alike; where mafia leaders employ can instil fear in their enemies by plain eye-contact.

It's proven when Vincent Curatola (one of the leading men in the hit series The Sopranos) was asked how he would deal with someone of 'higher authority',"After telling him to go to hell, I maintained eye contact. I didn't blink.", "It's a way of showing someone that you could be psychotic in a split second", he says.

But we're not all so violent, are we?

The more applicable employment of confidence is the one we use during our everyday lives. As many of you know, authentic confidence doesn't come from fancy clothes, bulging muscles (for guys), bulging other things (for girls), a thick wallet, or a pretty face.

There are certain people with these criterion yet have a deep inferiority complex. I say deep because ordinarily, it's well hidden under mountains of ego and money.

To me, authentic confidence comes from a myriad of factors, most of which doesn't include many of the above. The following is my personal checklist of why confidence is important. (just in case you haven't realized)

We use it when we meet people.
Someone who can be trusted.
People need to know that you are someone that has unlimited potential.
Someone who will be the last man standing when everything crumbles.

More importantly, we need it for ourselves..myself.
To be able to laugh at others as well as myself.
To be able to look into another's eyes without being self-conscious.
To know that winning does not always mean victory.
To know that in the end only I can shape the image of myself.
We need to know that when I say I can, I can.
When I say I must, I will.
To know that I am in control of my life.
I am the best.

Above everything else, we have got to know that we can trust our own word. Don't get what I mean? How many times have you told yourself that you must exercise only to end up parked comfortably in front of your TV?


To all my Indian machas, wishing you all Deepavali nal Vaalthukal! =D