Visit Malaysia Year 2007

So, here you have the tourism ministry and industry trying to get the world to visit us next year.

In the mean time, most of our public toilets have no toilet paper, no soap and no paper towels.

And that's for a 'clean' toilet, that's not smelly, not wet, no footprints on the toilet seat, assuming the seat isn't broken or missing in the first place, no fecal matter all over the place, etc.

Come on people! Get with the program. You have 11 more days!

The 12 Days of Christmas

For those of you contemplating the gift list from the song, this is how much it costs these days:

-One partridge in a pear tree: $145, up 38 percent from $105; (The partridge is still 15 bucks, the pear tree is up 44%)

-Two turtle doves: $40, unchanged;

-Three French hens: $45, unchanged;

-Four calling birds: $480, up 20 percent from $400;

-Five gold rings: $325, unchanged;

-Six geese-a-laying: $300, unchanged;

-Seven swans-a-swimming: $4,200, unchanged;

-Eight maids-a-milking: $41, unchanged;

-Nine ladies dancing: $4,759, up 4 percent from $4,576;

-10 Lords-a-leaping: $4,160, up 3 percent from $4,039;

-11 pipers piping: $2,124, up 3.4 percent from $2,053; and,

-12 drummers drumming: $2,301, up 3.4 percent from $2,224.

Total cost $18,920.

From Bloomberg: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601093&sid=antOzoRQzTS0&refer=home

Thanksgiving Thought.

Here's something Mark Batterson blogged about, this Thanksgiving. This is something I really need to learn how to do. Stop griping about what I don't have and be thankful for what I have.

From: http://www.evotional.com

Thanksgiving Thought

All four gospels record the story of Jesus multiplying the five loaves and two fish. And all four gospels say that Jesus gave thanks! Read the story. It doesn't say that Jesus asked for what he wanted. It says that Jesus gave thanks for what he had.

Scripture is kaleidoscopic.

On one level, this is a story about the mathematics of faith. When you have faith, 5 + 2 = 5000 R12. But it is also a story about thanksgiving. Jesus gave thanks for what little he had and the Father multipled what little he had so it was more than enough. A little thanksgiving was the difference between being 4,993 meals short and having 12 baskets of leftovers!

I think there is a profound spiritual truth in this story: if you keep giving thanks God will keep multiplying blessings! I think the natural tendency is to focus on what we don't have. And if we focus on the 5000, we won't be grateful for the 5 loaves and 2 fish. But if we keep giving thanks for the 5 loaves and 2 fish, God will keep feeding the 5000! The key to multiplication is thanksgiving!

If we keep giving thanks for the little stuff then God will keep doing the big stuff.

posted by Mark Batterson @ 9:35 AM

Microsoft Zune player overtakes iPod sales!

Well, the iPod's power adapter anyway...

Microsoft's much vaunted iPod killer has gained some traction in the market according the internet retail giant Amazon.com's Electronic Bestsellers list.

I just checked this morning, the Zune is now No 63, finally over taking Apple's iPod USB Power Adapter at No 69.

Ouch! that's gotta hurt.

At least that's better than yesterday where the Power Adapter was outselling the Zune.

Four out of the top 5 on Amazon's Electronics best seller list are iPods.

Out of the top 25? 10 iPods.

Oh, you don't know what a Zune is? Its ok. Apparently most people haven't heard of it either.

Drunk Before Dawn the Musical

Well, the second season's performance of Drunk Before Dawn the Musical is almost here.

Inspired by a true account, Drunk Before Dawn brings to life Shirley Lee's book of the same title. It is a musical that will take you into the heart of Borneo, back to the time of the early missionaries. It bears witness to the lives of a tribe of people stricken by disease, drunkenness and despair. The musical intricately weaves song, wit and drama into a moving story of love, faith and hope in the midst of darkness.

Drunk Before Dawn - The Musical | Season II is a groundbreaking work featuring the collaborative efforts of several rising talents in Malaysia's performing arts circle. The show will feature an ensemble of 30 vibrant Cast & Choruses, an 18-piece Orchestra and a Choir group of over 50. Including the production crew, this musical involves over 100 individuals, both back and front stage. Enjoy the vibrant colours, the unforgettable songs and the beautifully designed set that will surely culminate into a night to remember.


A musical inspired by a true story.

DEC 15, 8pm | DEC 16, 3pm & 8pm | DEC 17, 3pm & 8pm
MAIN AUDITORIUM, SIB KL | 5TH FLOOR, BANGUNAN LIM CHAI YIN
NO 7, SECTION 16/11, JALAN DAMANSARA, 46350, PETALING JAYA
www.sibkl.org.my/dbd.htm

DEC 21 2PM AND 7:30PM
YAYASAN SABAH AUDITORIUM
KOTA KINABALU
http://www.dbd.d-gap.org/
SABAH

Updates

Well, its been a while. The 5 Days project is no more. Not feasible at this time. We'll revisit it next year.
Been sick with the flu or something for the past week and a half. KO'ed yesterday and today. Didn't got to work today. Early night tonight.

Starbucks in KK

Ahhh... Ice Caramel Macchiatto, Hot Hazelnut Chocolate.

Life in KK just got more livable

Shooting starts

Well, its time. Pricipal shooting on the "5 days" project starts tonight with a briefing, cast rehearsals and tech preparation.

Much of the cast and crew are still new and things are coming together rather slowly. Lots of holes to be filled. We haven't even started and I'm tired already. Bleh....

Windows blows!

That's it. Its official. I H A T E windows!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You'd think a company that can hire 50,000 of the brightest, most intelligent, talented programmers on the planet can come up with something better that this.

Oh yeah. Just got a brand new computer at work. 1.83 ghz HP core duo laptop.
Just your normal average business laptop.

It actually doesn't as crash often as the previous ME machine. So I've finally gotten the opportunity to savor the entire windows experience.

1. Why does this state of the art machine take longer to startup, go to sleep, and wake up from sleep than my 5 year old 800 mhz iMac?

2. Popups! There are freaking popup screens everywhere! And I'm not talking about browser popup ads. The system popups and tells you stuff that you don't need to know like RIGHT NOW. Run a program. Splash screen cover the middle of the screen and blots out everything else. Can't make it go away until its done.
Popup telling, me that there's no wireless network available. Hello, I just push the button that turns off the wireless network. The blue light turned off. I KNOW there's no wireless network.

3. Plug and play. In windows, this is only implied. Its not a promise.

4. Making sure that youre security software is uptodate to the very minute, or else! Kena'd first virus a few days ago. There goes a few hours of my life spent cleaning it up.

5. Did I mention popups! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!

6. Why do I need to click on the Start button to turn off my computer?

7. Calculator. Its the same freaking calculator from windows95.

Islands in the sun

Or, 3 days of running around only in a sarong.

Hey all,

Just got back from a 3day/2night solo camping trip on Mamutik Island, just off the coast of KK. Nothing fancy, just a quick getaway and a personal retreat for some rest and personal time.

I brought along a 1 man tent, 5 gallons of water and a cooler with juice, milk, coke and ice. Yeah, its a camping trip, but a few luxuries won't hurt.







Here's the island, relative to KK.






Closeup of my campsite






View from the Jetty






My campsite!




Reverse view with KK in the background






On Saturday evening, I could hear thuder and see lighting in the distance over Papar on the mainland, I figure, that would be a good time to pitch the tent and button down for the evening.
The storm continued to move up the coast and eventually passed over KK. Quite a spectecular lightning show. Somehow the bulk of the storm missed the island which is amazing considering how close it was.

The next morning it started raining heavily at about 630am and continued through the morning. This is when i realised that my job of sealing the seams on the old tent was less than thorough. There were a few spots that i missed which resulted in about 3 leaky spots. I made use of a few plastic bags, towel and tshirt to take care of the drips and went back to sleep.

At about noon, the sun came out so I took the opportunity to dry out stuff and cook lunch.

I spent the next couple of days, vegging, sleeping, contemplating, staring at the coastline, and reading Romans 8 and Malachi 4. Not much else to do except for Bob the Biawak to keep me company.






Also found this interesting looking flower/weed.






I also decided to patch the tent fly with some duct tape to fix the leaks, which was a good idea since it rained heavily monday morning as well.

The boat was supposed to come get me at 5pm, but i decided to call it in early as I saw more rain clouds on the horizon, so I left the island at about 3pm.

The next movie

Story: Check
Cast: Check
Crew: Check
Makeup: Check
Costumes: Check
Screenplay: Not yet
Rehearsals: Not yet
Locations: Not yet
Shooting Schedule: Not yet
Shooting starts: 13th October

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

I'm finally going away this weekend. 3 days camping. I could check my email and take calls while I'm there. But I'm not going to.

E06 Exist Conference

Well, its day 4 or 5 or 6? of the E06 conference. I can't remember. Been sleeping late nights doing video-y stuff. But nonetheless, the conference is going well. God has been very present and very good. Showed me a few things. Hopefully they'll be a few more revelations before the week is up.

I also hope the rest of the bunch who's here will also meet God in a very real way. We all need it. Since we're children of God and all. Even though we often don't act like it.

I came into it physically and spiritually tired. Now I'm just physically tired. Hopefully that'll be fixed next weekend when I go camping.

Someone commented that I've fit back right into church here in KL. In some ways, it feels like I've never really left. Just got a fair bit of catching up to do since I know so many people. :)

I think its only been this week, that the new church building feels more comfortable and familiar. The first time I visited about a month ago, it actually felt quite distant, alien and cold even. This week it feels like I've been here forever, even if the place is only 2 months old. Maybe its because i was lying on the carpet at that time. :)

Reasons for not blogging

1. Not bored

2. Busy with work

3. Busy doing video stuff

4. Haven't watched movie lately
I did watch Click on Sunday, but don't feel the need to blog about.

5. Not so stressed that I need to blog about it

6. Nothing interesting happened lately

7. No news on YB who wanted to buy a mercedes from customs.
Actually, now anyone can buy a mercedes from customs. Not just YBs. I can just see it now, at the next YB gathering. "What lah you! Make so much noise. Now Ah Chong Muthu and Ahmad also can buy cheap Benz. Spoil our chance only."

I am flying off to KL this weekend to attend the E06 conference organised by SIBKL. I'm supposed to speak for 10 mins at the media workshop on Monday. Lets see... Amazed is 8 minutes long, so speak for 2.

After that I'm going camping on Mamutik Island. Yeah, I know its only 15 mins away by boat and I have a clear view of town. But I need to get away and I its been a while since the last lepak camping trip.

I also did an inventory. I own way too much camping equipment for 1 person.

Captain Belinda

I was on Air Asia as usual today, returning from KL, when this distinctly Aussie female voice came over the PA. Thanks for the safe flight Captain Belinda. Must be a first for a Malaysian airline.

Customs in Beemers

The member of parliament, I decided not to rant about below, now wants to know why the Customs officers should use confiscated BMW's as pursuit cars, when the Police get around in Protons and Kancils.

I guess he wants to buy those Beemers as well, since he didn't get to buy the CLK he wanted. The customs clarified that he was offered an E-class instead of the CLK, but he replied that his wife already drove an E-class so why should he get another one.

Bye Dianne

I discovered yesterday that a good friend of mine from Hong Kong had passed away about a year ago. Thats what happens when you randomly google names of people you know.

I first met Dianne in 1995 during a dive trip in the Philippines. We had just met and not really talked until the boat stalled. So there we were in the middle of the night, in darkness, in the middle of Batangas Bay, talking to each other for the next few hours while they fixed the boat.

She was one of those people I just got along with even though we had different ages,backgrounds, philosphies and political leanings. We shared a love of the ocean and were both phlegmatic, so we were laid back enough to get along. She would bring me to these organic cafes for lunch, and we talked like we had known each other all our lives. Being a fitness trainer, she was stronger than me and joked that she could kick my butt.

And I believed her. :D

She was honest, cool, caring, straight forward, very real and a no BS person. She once described me as being simple with no hidden agenda.

Here's the obituary:

Coogias, Dianne 52, of Lincoln, CA, formerly of Medina, MN died Friday April 29, 2005 after a 4-month battle with recurring ovarian cancer. Survived by beloved life partner of 13 years Joy Vogelgesang, mother Frances Coogias and sister Inge Brewer. Dianne lived in Boston, Albuquerque, Hong Kong, Medina, MN and most recently, Lincoln, CA. She had successful careers as a business owner, personal fitness trainer, and most recently dedicated herself to improving the health and welfare of horses through specialized barefoot hoof trimming. Dianne was totally focused and committed to improving the life of today's horses towards a more natural living environment. Memorials to your local horse rescue or local ASPCA.
Published in the Star Tribune on 5/8/2005.

Goodbye Dianne. Sorry we won't be going to Layang-Layang together.

Even as I wrestle with life issues......

"being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

Philippians 1:6

I thought of posting a rant

I've been thinking whether or not to post a rant about a certain member of parliament whose public antics has been bugging me.
You know, the one when confronted about having side businesses, told the newspapers, "Why? I can't do business?" Never-mind, that the company in question was charged for smuggling pirated discs to a neighbouring country last year, or that he asked the customs to close one eye to timber imports being handled by the company. Or that he failed to initially mention that said company belonged to him.

Yes, the very one who has been whining in parliament that the customs won't let him buy his Mercedes of choice cheaply, from the customs impound lot, because someone else had put in a bid before him.

The very one whose constituents are probably wondering why their YB is running around doing his own thing instead of taking care of them.

Yeah, but I decided that its not worth ranting about this guy.

The weekend

Hey all,

Hope you all had a good weekend.

I spent the weekend in KL. One of those 'free' Air Asia tickets I bought last year during their promo. Of course its 'free' as in doesn't include airport tax and fuel surcharge, which comes to RM80. Which is better than the RM800 that MAS charges for KK-KL flights.

I got to catch up with lots of people this weekend, which was good.

There have been weekends in KL where everyone's busy and I end up wandering the malls alone. Not that I mind, since I melancholic.

I went for church at SIBKL's new church building. Very nice main sanctuary. A bit overwhelming when you're used to the old place. Not that its bad, but I've always known it to be a smaller place. Suddenly we're in mega church territory. The building and systems and people are still being sorted out and getting used to the place, but I think it'll be good.

I've got this mega infection on my right thumb. Saturday I noticed an insect bite or something on my left thumb which had liquid coming out and the thumb was getting swollen. I cleaned it and put antibiotic cream on it. Sunday morning found the swelling had spread and there was now pus. Yeah. I decided against posting pics of this.

I can see the infection had spread up my arm with red swelling and decided I had to go see a doctor pronto. After church I stopped by the 24 hr clinic since it was a Sunday. The doc had the clinic assistant clean the wound, but there wasn't much pus since it wasn't 'ripe' yet. Anyways, after that I only get antihistamine and something for the swelling. I'm like, 'hello? you don't see the fact that thumb and forearm are swelling and red? Where's the antibiotics?

Anyway, I'm back in KK. Got a second opinion from a doc and broke out the antibiotics from my 'Stranded in the middle of the jungle or island in the middle of no where' medical kit. We'll see what it looks like tomorrow. Since I have to take a table every 8 hours.

G'night all.

Update:
The thumb is now much better. Thanks for your concern. Augmentin is wonderful stuff, even if it costs $$.

Muhibbah

Muhibbah.
The word that attempts to define Malaysian national unity, goodwill and understanding among the races. Often elusive.

I'm not even going to attempt a political rant here.

I'm just here to say that I'm living in the most Muhibbah place in Malaysia and the most Muhibbah coffee shop is near my office.

Sabah is a land where you can have 10 people sitting at a dinner table. There could be 10 different races represented. Not only that, you would not be able to tell the person's race based on how they look or even their name.

Back to the coffee shop.

Its a Chinese coffee shop. But 15 ft away from the Mee stall with its very 'chinese' ingredients is a Malay stall selling Soto Ayam. The kakak manning the stall is fully aware of what's around her. And so are the 'obviously not chinese' customers. Yes, she wears a tudung and she's secure enough in her faith to make a living there. The girls working in the coffee shop are probably Sulug. They don't seem bothered either, neither is the aunty at the counter.

Everyone's getting along fine. Having their breakfast together in the best Muhibbah spirit they can muster, without even trying.

The Muhibbah Seafood restaurant in Taman Tun Dr Ismail in KL does a lot of business. What does the Malay owner sell? Chinese food! Smart guy figured out that plenty of people will eat Chinese food if they could. And yes, not all Chinese food needs to have pork in it.

Mamaks
Mamak stalls. (Although some of them are more like major food outlets these days with plasma TVs and all) are very Muhibbah places. Why do you think they do such great business? Why, because all Malaysians go and eat and drink there.

So, what do you know? Being Muhibbah is not only good for the country, it can even be good for your business!

And at the end of the day, I it actually takes effort to not be Muhibbah.

Muhibbah!

So long Eddie

For 10 years, Eddie the Jack Russell terrier, has bugged Dr Frasier Crane on the hit show 'Frasier'.

Eddie, whose real name was Moose, died last Thursday at the ripe old doggie age of 16 in Los Angeles at the home of his trainer, Mathilde Halberg.

Eddie who moved into Frasier's apartment with Martin Crane, Frasier's dad, had the main role of annoying uptight Frasier.

In the later years of the show, Moose's son, Enzo actually stood in as Eddie.

Kelsey Grammer while accepting his 1994 Emmy award for Frasier, said, "Most important, Moose, this is for you,"

Thanks Moose for all the memories.

Camelbak

Today we continue in the tradition of seemingly random thoughts from my mind in this blog, by discussing hydration systems. Or those water bags (called a bladder or reservoir) with a tube, things that you carry around in a backpack. Popularised by Camelbak Inc. , these things let you carry water around with you easily and encourages you to drink often while engaged in outdoor activities since you only have to sip on the tube instead of taking the water bottle out of your backpack, drink and then replace the bottle.

Its one of those, why didn't I think of it before things.

The US military likes these things so much, they're now standard issue instead of the old water bottle. Which is a good thing since they're hanging around hot climates a lot these days.



I've been using the 100oz or 3Lt Camelbak Unbottle,

which is basically a water bag with an insulated foam cover. I stick it into a my Osprey harness, fill it up with ice and water and I'm good to go for the whole day when I'm doing outdoor video shoots or hanging out at the islands. The ice and insulation keeps the water cool the whole day and its a lot easier than messing around with the Bubbakeg or various bottles of mineral water which get warm unless they're in a cooler.

I've found that having cool water to drink and sipping on it all day long helps me stand the heat and staves off dehydration when I'm in the sun all day. This is important when I'm directing an outdoor shoot and don't have the luxury of ducking under the shade all the time. I have to keep on reminding the crew to drink water.

Its very important to stay hydrated especially given the weather here, and we all know how hot it can get here in Sabah. I see plenty of people who don't drink enough water here indoors, let alone outdoors.

I used to think that having a camelbak was a luxury and quite unnecessary, now its one of those things I wonder how I did without.

About the only downside I can think of is cleaning these things. Its more effort to clean than a normal water bottle or bottled water (which you just throw away). I only put water in mine, so there's no sugary sticky stuff to clean out.

I just rinse it out, scrub the bladder and tube with a brush if I've left it out too long, then put in a liter of water and a baby bottle sterilising tablet. Let it sit for an hour or so, then drain and let it dry.

Most people I know are not particularly outdoor-sy, but if you are, you should really consider getting one. You'll drink more and feel better when you're outside. Stay away from the cheap stuff, because they leak. The good stuff costs more, but it lasts. If you're in KK, I know a place that sells them at reasonable prices.

The Fast and the drive sideways people

I figure most of you aren't going to see this movie, so I'm just going to give it away.

The 3rd installment to the franchise arrives with a new director, Justin Lin and no recognisable faces from the 1st two movies. Well, not until the end anyway, which was a nice touch.

The plot is shamelessly ripped off from countless kungfu movies and blatently the karate kid. Except this involves cars. Lots of cars. And lots of Japanese girls. The story is wholly lame and the characters one dimensional and uninspired.

Nevertheless the movie has great shots, excellent camera work and editing and the driving is much more exciting than its predecessors. There are some nice camera crane moves and I suspect a good chunk of the driving scenes are CGI, but it comes together very nicely for the most part.

The first movie emphasised flat out speed while this movie showcases the agility of the drivers and cars. This is tokyo after all, there are not that many places to drive over 200kmh.

Oh yeah, female lead much better looking than male lead. Acting ability same-same.

Hmm, this post/review is looking kinda uninspired.

To watch or not to watch. If you're a Gran Tourimo fan, Yes. Otherwise wait for it to come out on Astro and watch if you've got nothing better to do that night.

Cars

I've watched the movie Cars three times, over the past few days. Why? To hang out with people and I really enjoyed the movie.

Some are labelling this as one of the 'weaker' Pixar movies due to its 'not record breaking' opening weekend in the US as well as its subject matter of cars. Which would lend one to think it was targeted at the largely male crowd. Not only that its about NASCAR racing which is pretty much a US white male thing.

Well, I'm telling you to not let all this get in the way of you watching the movie. It's a movie that will appeal to all. The familiar hallmarks of Pixar movies are there. Groundbreaking and gorgeous animation, great voice acting, lovable characters, good values, and a heart warming storyline.

Pixar's attention to detail does not lapse here. The scenery though, obviously CG due to unatural geographic formations, takes one's breath away. And Pixar obsesses over making dust, dirt, light, and cartoon cars behave like the real thing in a cartoon world. The cars sound like they should. Yes, a Porshe sounds like a Porsche. Then again, their boss is the same guy who makes sure that his computers look good on the inside as well as on the bottom. Two places most people never ever look.

Given the whole raft of CG animated features of late, Pixar continues to stand out. The actors voicing the characters don't overwhelm the characters and become the actor on screen. You do see bits of Owen Wilson's playful bravado which is prevelent in other movies, but its played down here and only comes out earlier in the movie.

The movie also has heart. Something that's just missing from most movies these days. When RJ the racoon in Over The Hedge does the 'right' thing in the end, you think, "He'd better! After all the rest of done for him." And RJ is primarily motivated to help his 'family' because they have taken him into their fold. When Lightning McQueen does the right thing at the end, he does it because its right. Even if it costs him everything he's worked for. It will move you.

The movie is a tribute to NASCAR no doubt, with the voices of Richard Petty as the King, the Andretti's and others. Apparently in the german version, the King is voiced by Michael Schumacher.

Oh yeah, since its a Pixar movie, make sure you go early to catch the short in the beginning and stay back for the outtakes which pay tribute to 20 years of Pixar.

If you also pay close attention during the opening race, you will briefly notice a white race car next to The King as he goes into the bank. The white car is number 84 and yes there's an Apple computer logo on the hood.

Rest in Peace Pendeta Asang

John Trevor White @ Pendeta Asang
17/8/1910 - 29/5/2006

Asang passed away the week before. He was 95.

He came to Borneo as a young man from the UK as a missionary and gave his life for God and the people of this land. He must have touched thousands and his impact on the lives of people in the Ranau-Taginambur-Kota Belud area will be felt for generations.

I had the privilage of interviewing him a couple of times. Once in KK and another time in his home in Taginambur which he built himself. There is a peace about the place and I felt the presence of God over the land. I wished I could have attended the funeral, but I was in KL.

So many have left their homes and given their lives for the gospel of Jesus in this land. The thousands upon thousands of us who are part of SIB are their legacy. Lets finish what they started.

The move.

Just decided to move over here. So, welcome all.

A technological leap

Dad used Skype for the first time today. Yay dad!

More on local MVs

Just in case I left the impression that I'm against locally produced music videos shot with handycams, there's actually one I like.

Its by a local Ska band. If you don't know what Ska is
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ska_music

Anyways, this MV was shot with a Handycam using existing light, and as far as I can tell probably shot on analog Hi8, not even DV. It follows the band as they go on tour in Tawau, none the less.

Nevertheless, there is a flow to the story of the band as they travel to Tawau (yes, they fly air asia) to play at a funfair, setup and goof around before the night's performance. Forethought went into the shots, as you can see the band being introduced sucessively along with the Manager/promoter guy. It then chronicles the band's trip. Its super low budget, but it makes good use of the material, is nicely edited and ends up being a goofy, fun, home movie of the band's travels.

The only other time I've seen a handycam (with night shot too) used for a MV was the Foo Fighters MV with Dave Grohl and Jack Black acting as trailer trash and culminates in them dancing around in drag. (Jack's ugly in a dress) Then again, when you're big like them it probably takes a huge crew and a parking lot full of trailers just to shoot something with a handycam. Go figure.

Editing

My mind is on the subject of video editing, hence the post.

Disclaimer: The following is not a slam on any particular person or show. If you so perasan and think I'm talking about your work, its just a coincidence. 'K?

I've been channel surfing the past few days and actually stopping by local channels. A few things stood out to me.

Case 1.
The first was a TV magazine type show talking about proper etiquette in using public parks. (not a great topic to begin with) This particular segment had lots of jerky handheld camera work with the camera tilted to extreme angles. Fast hand held pans and zooms. Good thing I don't suffer from motion sickness easily. There there were jerky fast cuts and various transitions such as page peels, spirals, and wipes thrown in for good measure.

There was this shot of a handheld, fast extreme zoom, going into the camera's digital zoom. Resulting in a grainy image. And this shot was used over and over again like 5 times. Not only that the subject they were zooming into didn't really have all that much to do with what they were talking about. So much for broadcast standards. Why use an expensive betacam? Handycam also can, and edit in MS Movie Maker.

I changed channels after that.

Case 2,
I was watching a channel showing local music videos (or MV's in trade talk, not MTV's mind you) Some of the local stuff actually has great production values and a halfway decent storyline. Some on the other hand....

In this MV there was a bunch of people dancing , then people in a living room, then this guy talks to this girl, another girl talks to another guy. Girl 2 sees guy 1 with girl 1 then gets upset, but I can't figure out why.

There is no flow that I can tell of. The action on screen is often out of synch with the what's happening musically. Groups shots are badly staged. There is no discernible sense to the lighting that I can tell. Camera work is rather random. Many of the shots just don't work and seem like they were dropped in because the editor couldn't find anything else to work with.

Which brings me to the point of this rant. These people are making real money doing it.

Me? I'm making... well, you know.. .

Bleh. :p

PS. Incase you think I have something against local MVs shot with handycams, stay tuned later this week.

X People 3

Hmm, oklah, they haven't stooped so low as to make the title politically correct. Heck, even in the film the government has a Department of Mutant Affairs as opposed to the Department of Genetically Different, Diverse, Enhanced, Differently Able-ed People's affairs.

Anyways....

I enjoyed the film. Alot

Got action, adventure, a bit of suspense, a bit of weak romance, drama, excellent effects. Entertaining and well paced.

Director Brett Radner was smart enough to go with what Bryan Singer had laid down in the past 2 movies and not try to leave his 'mark' on it. So it works well. No need to 'keh gau' here.

Famke Janssen is still a babe. Even if half the time, she's like scary Phoenix.

Don't want to give away the story, but......


Got people die lor.

Some sooner than others. Some have more spectacular deaths.

But since this is a comic based story. Death is never permanent.

Stupid line from movie. "They have plastic guns!"
Doh! After the first two movies, you think people stupid ah?

Moral from the movie:
Next time if your son grows wings, don't try to get rid of them. It may just save your life one day.

I'm off to KL tomorrow for a day. Work thing. bleh. :p

Over the hedge

I like this movie. Its funny, entertaining, doesn't drag and the Dreamworks has finally figured out what Pixar has know all along: The onscreen characters do not have to be personifications of the the actors doing the voices. For example, a ant does not have to look and act like Woody Allen, a Donkey does not have to be Eddie Murphy in the body of an ass, a zebra doesn't have to be as irritating as Chris Rock, a giraffe doesn't have to be as neurotic as Ross on Friends, Well, you get the idea.

The movie is also based on a comic strip of the same name. Check it out at:
http://www.comics.com/comics/hedge/index.html

What the..........

Someone commented that I haven't blogged in a while. I think I've gone longer with no entries, but here we go.
Warning! Meaner than usual post ahead:

I was in line at the ATM in a mall last week.
A tourist is trying to withdraw money. Unsuccessfully.
This mat rock type with requisite tight jeans, cap and metal t-shirt jumps in, tells the tourist to press cancel.
Bewildered tourist wanders off. Then Mr. 'I'm so helpful to tourists' cuts into the queue.
So 3 of us in line do what most other Malaysians would do. We just collectively glare at him. Which is so chicken, but I figure we don't need to introduce ATM rage to the current Road Rage. He ignores us, of course.
Mr, 'I'm too sexy for my t-shirt' proceeds to stick in his atm card, key in his pin, then presses withdraw and then keys in something in the 6 figures. Presses cancel, retrieves his card and then walks off.
I'm like, 'What the.......'
He cuts the queue to press some buttons?
Show off to his gf that he has an atm card?
Fantasise that he has money in his account?
He has no life?
Trying to impress his friends?
Can't afford to play video games?
Is a L O S E R?
Hmmm.

Alias the Movie

[Spoilers below.]










Actually it was Mission Impossible III. The absence of Jennifer Garner was a dead giveaway. I'll take Jenn over Tom anyday. Jenn's absence compensated by Maggie Q.:D
It looked, read and felt like an extended episode of Alias, which is not necessarily a bad thing I guess. Same plot points of: some device needing to be stolen, gadgets, disguises, random gun fights and chases, the threatend love one, the traitor within the ranks, the whole 'things are not what they seem' thing, the geeky looking evil bad guy. All essential ingredients in the average alias episode.
JJ Abrams does pretty well for his first big feature film. There are lots of on the edge of your seat moments, which don't always deliver though. The first half of the movie is very fast paced, almost chaotic with lots of camera movement and fast cuts.
Things actually slow down towards the climax of the movie. They gloss over the whole 'steal the rabbits foot' thing. A victim of budget overruns and threats from the studio boss to cancel the movie? Perhaps.
The explosions, chases, etc are front loaded into the movie with the final showdown taking place in a dentist's office. Some fistfight and some shots fired (and by the hero's wife, at that) I mean, the evil bad guy gets run over by a truck. That's it.
At the end, the Super secret organisation that's so secret that they will disavow you if you're caught, lets the hero's wife run around the super secret office. What's next? She joins the team? Hmm, sounds like...... Alias?
A watchable movie at the end of the day.
Now for XMen III, sans director Bryan Singer. Hmmmm.

The iPod is dead

Well, my ipod is dead anyway. Sigh... :( Out of warranty by 6 months some more.
On the upside, I bought the new Mercy Me CD.

Just move on.... Nothing to see here.

Well, the movie has hit 999 views this morning, now that bandwidth has been restored. I'm quite amazed, (hehe) at all this. I still need to convert and upload the new title. I think I'm going to try H.264 encoding and see how that looks.
Kit and Clive's debut edits where shown over the past couple of days. One had the DVD player playing about halfway when the switcher was switched, the other was let down by a fairly fuzzy PA along with less than good dialog recording on some bits. I figured out the problem. Just difficult to take care of everything on a day long shoot with a totally new crew where I have to show them everything. And I mean, everything.
Still got lots of projects to convert to DVD for distribution and need to train a new editor this week. Hmm, sunday's 5 days away....
Young adults had the ball last night. Good to see everyone all dressed up. Overall, I think the girls did a better job of dressing up than the guys.
Apparently, the mere act of me combing my hair results in a whole new look. The whole change tables to meet more people thing left some people looking lost and clueless. This isn't exactly the most sociable bunch. By the time people are halfway warmed up through the course, its time to move on again. There was no structure to the moving that I could tell, which resulted in some guys looking totally lost and trying to find a new table to sit in while trying to be not too obvious in wanting to sit next to a pretty girl.
In all, the evening wasn't too bad. I guess its what you decide to make of it I guess.
Note to self: dry clean suit and get cuff button replaced.