British bands are pretty melodramatic - I like that but they lack the capability to raise your adrenaline level. Very boring guitar play and stupid electric organ backgrounds. Oasis was good but rarely one sees another as capable with less arrogance.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Kaiser Chiefs Concert... Boring British Band
British bands are pretty melodramatic - I like that but they lack the capability to raise your adrenaline level. Very boring guitar play and stupid electric organ backgrounds. Oasis was good but rarely one sees another as capable with less arrogance.
Posted by αρχάγγελος at 7:51 AM 0 comments
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Your Car Says "Something" About U - New Paper SUV-vival Challenge
And of course, not to forget the biggest LOSERS - CRVs from CRaVers Club. Made the most noise, but nvr go offroad
Posted by αρχάγγελος at 10:36 AM 0 comments
Saturday, November 15, 2008
童年的纸飞机 现在终于飞回我手里
Wooo hoooo! Finally got my SE C905 all malt black and ready for 8MP of snaps! Guess what its only for $18 dollars! A recontract discount of $200, voucher $300 and an additional reward points of $150 gets me there. Moved my plan to Starhub Ultimate @ $200 per mth subscription and with IBM Corporate discount, I'm paying only $140. Coool! My last 12 mths of Hp bills are average $250 a mth... guess this will do some cost savings together with an assured $500 voucher annually on top of the points redemption.
Lighthouse had a play today in church called "The Journal". Was pretty impressive. A group of youth actors in this drama displaying different pragmatic family values, issues and challenges faced by people today. Seeing the way family members treat each other in the drama make all of reflect upon ourselves, have we been a good brother/sister? A caring father or a filial son? A good spouse? Pastor Ronny's daughter was the Director for the play and I'm deeply impressed with the work and agenda behind. Well done! His Son has came to preach in a very impressive and presentable ending towards the closure and all came into prayers for their family. Overall it was good... although the young chap seems abit too over-selling and not too natural about it. Too much rehearsals sometimes. These things come better when its touch comes from that moment itself. But its all good things and he should be a promising youth.
Recently Jay released his new album 魔杰座 and the song 稻香's MV really caught my attention. With such compatibility of the current economic climate, the lyrics describe the mundane struggles and pains we have in real life while endearing and in hope to go back to our childhood days where home was the castle of peace, love and shelter. Watching the MV makes me even more touched. A middle aged guy lost his job, went into depression and his wife left him together with the daughter. Being sacked and dumped, lost and lonely... he left for his hometown, a village where there are wheat fields where he used to familiarise himself with fun and sweet innocent laughter. These were precious moments that touched his heart once more, and his mother was there in arms wide open, hugging him and cooking his fave foods in welcome. He then felt warmth, love and sense of belonging... away from the urbanised and cruel truth in the cities.
The ending was of course, like most of Jay's songs meant to be... encouraging... Amidst the fun he had with the kids in the village, the wife and daughter came to him and reunited. This song has a sense of sadness and empathy for those caught in the financial crisis and downturn. And it was pretty much written either in coincidence or intended, to keep this people going.
Well... I have a few friends from DBS who were out of the 900 staff cut. It could have been me if I was still there. Even so, no one can predict the future with such corporate uncertainties these days that it wun happen to me or anyone of us, anytime. God bless and help all those who were affected. Amen!
Posted by αρχάγγελος at 9:01 PM 0 comments
Monday, November 10, 2008
Wall-E... I love EVE !!!
Damn busy and disappointing day. Life is so meaningless, once more. Nothing new except more mess. Got home, ans emails and went through my online training which is due in 3 days. Fucking crazy shit.
Wall-E features loving nods to everything from Brave New World to 2001 to Star Wars without ever feeling derivative. Instead, it builds on them, making what has the potential to be an almost relentlessly bleak world into one full of complete joy and levity. It always has that undercurrent of melancholy just under the surface, as we never really forget that humanity has utterly destroyed the planet and turned itself into a race of pudgy, helpless babies, but heart of the story is Wall-E and his longing for love.
And isn't that the sign of great science fiction? While on the surface it's a movie about robots and spaceships set centuries in the future, deep down it's about humanity and its place on Earth and in the universe. It uses its out-of-this-world settings and characters as a lens to reflect our own world back at us, showing us both the beauty and the ugliness of our existence through the eyes of a guileless, trash-compacting robot.
In a movie season that's overpopulated with tired superhero movies, remakes and sequels, it's incredibly refreshing to see a movie that stands on its own as a completely new and unique creation. It's safe to say you've never seen anything like Wall-E
Posted by αρχάγγελος at 6:13 AM 0 comments
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Tropic Thunder... Only thing that managed to put a smile on my face tdy
Went JB today instead of church. Damn! Feel so guilty... I missed my sermon. Was feeling really down ytd and even this morning due to work. Deeply depressed in fact. Was drinking non-stop and poping pills. Oh well... Not the worst of my substance utilization anyway. I hate the word "abuse". Its like when people say I have a drinking problem; I dun... I drink, I get drunk, knocked out and I wake up one day or another. There is no problem, right?
Matching Tugg in diva tantrums and insecurity is famed comic and dope fiend Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black), known for The Fatties, a movie series in which Jeff, aping Eddie Murphy in The Nutty Professor, portrays an entire family of prodigious farters. We even see a trailer for a Fatties flick featuring Black demonstrating a Kama Sutra of flatulence positions. This is Black's zaniest performance since School of Rock, and he makes Jeff's turn as a gunnery sarge look convincing as well. Nice touch.
The award for best in show has to go to Robert Downey Jr. — Iron Man himself — as Kirk Lazarus, an Aussie actor who has already collected five Oscars for losing himself in his roles, most recently as a priest who lusts to get inside the monk robes of Tobey Maguire. To get inside the skin of African-American Sgt. Lincoln Osiris in Tropic Thunder, Kirk alters his voice and dyes his skin black. This Chicken George routine pisses off Alpa Chino (a terrific Brandon T. Jackson), the hip-hop hitmaker ("I Love Tha' Pussy") hired to bring street cred to the movie, despite merchandising his ass with a "Booty Sweat" energy drink and his "Alpa Chinos" menswear line. Alpa can't stop Kirk from talking black even when the camera stops rolling. "I don't break character till the DVD commentary," says Kirk. Downey has a ball with the role, and his explanation to Stiller about the dangers of going "full retard" if you want to win an Oscar belongs in a comedy time capsule. Downey is so off-the-charts hilarious that you want to stand up and cheer.
The low-comic ensemble acting in Tropic Thunder is of the highest caliber. Jay Baruchel (Knocked Up) is perfect as Kevin Sandusky, the newbie stuck in a cast of spoiled-brat all-stars. Steve Coogan is deadpan delicious as Damien Cockburn, the British director who is in way over his addled head. And add a big fat shout-out to Pineapple Express madman Danny McBride as Cody, the special-effects techie with an itch to pull the kaboom trigger. Despite having almost blinded Jamie Lee Curtis on Freaky Friday, Cody still wants to blow shit up. And, oh, what fireworks.
Thanks to master cinematographer John Toll (Academy Award winner for Braveheart and Legends of the Fall), the movie looks like the 100 million bucks it reportedly cost. Class, meet crass.
The plot fires up when Cody and Four Leaf convince the director to get the actors away from their entourages and shoot guerrilla-style in the jungle with hidden cameras. That's when they encounter the real guns of a heroin cartel, the Flaming Dragons, led by Tran, a sawed-off 12-year-old terrorist played by star-in-the-making Brandon Soo Hoo. When Tran captures Tugg, death is held at bay because Tran and his cronies are big fans of Simple Jack. They dress up Tugg and force him to act out the entire movie. "More stupid," says Tran, whipping Tugg into beating the studios at their own idiot game.
Is it too much? Sometimes. Tropic Thunder can be silly, shallow and way too inside. But how do you hate on a movie that is willing to do anything for a smile? Plus, there is a shrewd method to Stiller's madness. He knows firsthand that Hollywood is a microcosm for a world that has swallowed its own marketing strategy. Every character in Tropic Thunder is delusional. Having given up on truth, they still do their damnedest to fake it. Stiller has done a howlingly comic hatchet job on the town that has made him a playa. Yet he's caught up, as we are, in the fantasies it's selling. We enter this bizarro fun house giggling at the clowns on view, but we exit — and here's the wow factor — laughing at ourselves.
Posted by αρχάγγελος at 5:23 AM 0 comments
Friday, November 7, 2008
雕栏玉砌应犹在,只是朱颜改
Oh well many will condemn me as the ungrateful kind. Yeah right. Maybe they dunno what its like in my shoes. Everyone leads a different life all together. Some are better off dead if life is too agonising. I'm that breed.
Features
OS Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
Messaging SMS, MMS, Email, Push email, IM
Browser WAP 2.0/HTML (IE), RSS feeds
Colors Solid Black, Steel Silver
Camera 3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, autofocus, video(VGA@30fps), flash; secondary videocall camera
Built-in GPS receiver- A-GPS function- Java MIDP 2.0- FM radio with RDS- MP3/AAC/MPEG4 player- 3.5 mm audio jack- Pocket Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, PDF viewer)- TrackID music recognition- Picture editor/blogging - Organiser- T9- Built-in handsfree- Voice memo/dial
High megapixel count is the rage these days and Sony Ericsson C905 is adding fuel to the fire. The first 8 megapixel from Sony with WIFI and A-GPS comes with geotagging, Smart Contrast, face detection, and xenon flash, the elaborate camera-centric outfit hides the extra sweet Wi-Fi, GPS and turn-by-turn voice guided navigation.
The Cyber-shot squad has its trustworthy captain and its job is to keep spirits high in the face of cut-throat competition by Samsung and LG. Is it just us, or isn't Nokia missing quite some action here? Nokia N96 is a joke of the town with that ridiculous price for a pure 5 MP and no differentiators from her predecessor N95. Moreover, N96 which packs more memory in built up to 16G is still running on the same old processor. What does that mean to us? Handphone hanging 5 times a day, long loading time and unbelievably poor responsiveness.
With my rewards points redemption, I have got $150 vouchers on top of the renewal $300 vouchers for my contract. Had asked Sony whats the retail now... $968! Presuming with contract, its around $698, that means I will have to redeem more vouchers from my reward points. Anyway I have too many to clear anyway. They just make me some stupid platinum Starhub customer... what a joke! Except for the $500 vouchers they assure me each year with free starhub valued added services/downloads and getting a priority queue at retail stores, I totally can't see any value at all. Its not like my signature UOB which gives me my St James VIP or my Citibank Premier Miles that gives me priority VIP membership at all international airports to lounges and extra Kris flyer points. Talking about credit cards... DBS called to offer me their black card, saying its for VIP customers. What a joke! The cold caller didnt even know the benefits of the card and wanted to sell me 5 years free annual fee Black card. No gifts, No special privileges , nothing but waiver of annual fee thats all. All cards are waived off annual fees these days anyway. Only suckers pay.
Damn! Cant wait for the Sony C905 to be out in stores... My hands are itchy for the 8MP camera fone!. Currently my W880 is pretty much a clean cut, simple to use walkman phone. Lightweight, slim and practical. Only shortcoming is the camera. With the c905, most of my needs will be complete. Although it may not have a walkman function installed, the sound quality should not be far off. The only difference is the user interface for mp3 functions are slightly more straight forward... meaning no playlists... here are some previews! Can't wait for both to be ready!!! Arrggggh! My W880i having some problems lately... Hope I can tahan till then, 2-3 weeks time!
Features
Messaging SMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging
Browser WAP 2.0/HTML (NetFront), RSS reader
Colors Night Black, Ice Silver, Copper Gold
Camera 8 MP, 3264x2448 pixels, autofocus, face detection, smart contrast, video(QVGA 30fps), xenon flash
Built-in GPS receiver- A-GPS function- Google maps- Wayfinder Navigator 7- Camera images geo-tagging- Java MIDP 2.0- FM radio with RDS- MP3/AAC/MPEG4 player- TrackID music recognition- Picture editor/blogging - TV out- Organiser- Built-in handsfree- Voice memo/dial- T9
Posted by αρχάγγελος at 4:30 AM 0 comments
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Death, a permanent solution to never-ending temporary problems
Fucking messed up now... All of a sudden, I felt my life has fallen apart. This damned life has broken into pieces long ago, and before I realized, everything seems to be gone...
Its like quicksand, or cancerous infection that eats me up day by day... Minutes pass, hours, then days and years and I can look into the mirror. What the fuck have you done these while? To deserve this pain, this helplessness?
What had I done to get into all these? Suicide is our way of saying to God, 'You can't fire me, I quit...' Your game or mine, lets end it here. I dislike cutting and self abuse. It defeats the purpose somehow. But then physically; pain and gain come together, rather wierdly... complimentary. The physical pain and pleasure distracts the mental torture and helplessness away from reality which sometimes cannot be changed. Facts that cannot be denied, ugly history that was falsified...
The world has never been fair. Face it. People were born evil, read the facts. We were by nature earthly animals who uniquely utilise the best of our intelligence to deny each other of the best, reap the most from one another and invent weapons to kill our neighbours else poison the very food our children eat. We are perhaps the most intelligent beings, closer to God's self in light of his creation. But we are yet indeed the most carnal, vicious beasts born with such instincts
Sometimes when we are upset, we are just... upset then. But when we are antagonised, we do something about it. But what happens when the fire dies? When the hatred ceases? When the passion no longer burns? Ever seen a tiger in a cage? After all the years and helplessness, they change and confine to fate. When u look them in the eyes, you see no soul. Empty hearts... Numb to the outside world. The love has died, so has the angst.
While we continuously seek to live, decently... we lose track of what is really important, the truth. Who is God, where is he now? What do we do when we die? Do we get to rest forever? In heaven? Where is that? A dimension? Hell? Proof? Science? Mystical powers? If Jesus was sent to save the world, If Moses was sent and enlightened to free the Israelis, who in the name of God in our era has been sent? Definitely not Osama... Obama sounds better but still a man. Then who, before the world's eyes will revive the beliefs? The bible, like it or not, was written and passed down over generations. Teachings and verses intepreted differently and depending on perspective. If I were to even suspect, many teachings over time have been massaged into what it is today thus we see different denominions, directions, emphasis and healings.
Lets recall we all die someday. And if we do believe, we go heaven... the other way hell. Does either one ever get full? Well, at least earth does. Interesting thing is that life is permanently full of temporary problems. Obviously the only rational solution to your problem is suicide. A permanent solution to all temporary problems.
Everyday, people die in different ways, accidents and wars, infection plagues and sickness, old age and suicide. The only question is when and how. And what... what happens after... Will we be like the homeless spirits and wandering souls? Or burning in hell? Or just cease to exist? Bodies and bones decay... Do souls do? Do minds do? Minds do become senile, damaged.... but due to physical brain deterioation, only... so like a vase filled with water, when the vase is broken, where will the water go?
Posted by αρχάγγελος at 5:57 AM 0 comments
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Insanity, disturbance, lust and within...
Had done something today which I felt was wrong. Against God's wishes and an act of the devil within me. Then again, what's new? We are sinners... I hold fear in such actions and of repentance I'm. Fear has struck me after that, with prayers pleading for forgiveness.
Proverbs 5:15-21 Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well. Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares? Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers. May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe, a graceful deer-- may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be captivated by her love. Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another man's wife? For a man's ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all his paths.
From the above verse, I had sinned... multiple times. With another's wife, I had. With different wives, I had. 2 of my ex were waiting for divorce. Not yet. Another is married. I seem to have incurred a curse this life. Many of my relationships were complicated and involved married or seperated ladies. Nothing came out of it except trauma, regrets and hurt.
Somehow, I seem to be very compatible with married ladies. Dun asky me why and I assure you I had never had that unkind agenda of taking such ill advantage. Many times, it was only after being together did I realise the consequences or the background of things.
Luke 16:18, NIV. "Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery." From this verse, even if I would to marry my ex, either one of them, I'm in adultery.
Thank god, I didn't. And thank god, I learnt. But in grave regrets, I did what was considered grave in the old testament and immoral in the new testament.
May God and the Holy Spirit forgive my sins and cleanse me of my impurity. Understand my sins, my addictions and my weakness. Behold thy mighty spirit of God, I cast my worries and disturbance upon you and my sins be washed away with your gracious love and forgiveness. I repent and confess before you, my lord. Amen!
Posted by αρχάγγελος at 4:22 AM 0 comments