Rant Of The Month

Hmm.. Not 2 months like I originally intended, but hey.. I just feel like blabbering today.

2 weeks ago, I upgraded my computer to the new (as of this date) Allendale CPU, the E6300. Man, it was worth every penny paid for! I sold a lot of my old junk just to raise enough funds to get me a half-baked system that runs pretty good to my surprise. :P Bought myself that, a cheap-ass mobo (well, cheapest of the lot), a 7300GT card and 1GB of RAM. I was supposed to get 2GB, but since the price has increased, that blew my already-tight budget.

I installed Mac OS X on my PC just for the fun of it. It works! I even have a screenshot that proves it right here:

Me on Mac

I just finished playing this game called Company Of Heroes. I have to tell ya, it's a great game. The graphics were lovely, the audio was very authentic and the gameplay rocks. The only problem is, there isn't enough single-player missions. Only 15? Come on.

I have been getting throbbing pain since the middle of last week, and it got really bad on Sunday. So I decided to visit the dentist. Doc told me that it is the wisdom tooth and that it better come off or it's just gonna get worse. So I had my wisdom tooth pulled out today. Ow it hurt! The anaesthetic didn't help much! The doc should've injected me with a horse tranquilizer instead. That'll take me out. I think.

It was a huge, rotten tooth. The doc showed me after the "extraction" (doc said it, sounds like a military operation to me) and despite that it was covered with blood, I could still see how disfigured it was. Ridges here and there, cavities, etc. Should've taken a picture. :P On my way back, then I realized that I should've taken that tooth with me to show to everyone. Damn, was too drugged to think properly I guess. Damn. I took a photo of the cotton swab with all the blood on it. I'll link it later. :)

Found this thingy on my friend's Friendster site, so I tried it and here's the result I get. Ladies, come take a gander. :P

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to those who have a split personality - cold as ice on the outside but hot as fire in the heart. In love, you feel the most alive when your lover is creative and never lets you feel bored. You'd like to your lover to think you are stylish and alluring. You would be forced to break up with someone who was emotional, moody, and difficult to please. Your ideal relationship is lasting. You want a relationship that looks to the future... one you can grow with. Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment. You think of marriage as something precious. You'll treasure marriage and treat it as sacred. In this moment, you think of love as something you thirst for. You'll do anything for love, but you won't fall for it easily.

What Are The Keys To Your Heart?

Almost 2 months

Well what do you know. It's almost 2 months since my last entry, and frankly I really don't have anything to say. Apart from getting addicted to an MMORPG called Ran Online (which I am quite respected in, btw), I haven't been doing anything at all. It's the usual routine; wake up, toilet, mmorpg, eat, mmorpg, toilet, sleep. I've been so out of touch with reality I don't know what's happening out there. What, you mean there's a war going on in the Middle East?

On the other hand, I've been having the time of my life. No stress, no traffic, no idiots to deal with; total bliss. Still, I kinda miss cursing at idiot drivers who don't know how to use indicator lights, slow-ass road-hogs and cheap imitation sports cars, Protons and Peroduas specifically.

I've been doing a whole lot of soul-searching. My soul says I must attain enlightenment, and yet I still don't know how to get there. If it's something like ascension in the Stargate series, man oh man, it's gonna be tough! Job-wise, I've decided to not work with computers, or at least not as much. I know, computers can do wonders, but I'm not gonna sit in front of it for hours on end working. That's for gaming. :)

So, I'll just end this entry here and look forward to my next entry in say.. 2 months. Unless something interesting happens in real life. Or until I don't get muscle aches around my neck from gaming too much. lol

End Of Malaysia For Me

Okay, the title is a little too melodramatic. However, a few days ago, I was talking to an old friend of mine about what I want to do, as in job-wise. I told him, I was interested in archaeology and ancient world history, and that I would love to be a researcher in those fields. He laughed. Most people would find it insulting, but I know it's true. In Malaysia, it is virtually impossible to find a job in archaeology, which means the end of job-searching in Malaysia for me.

I can look for other jobs, but I don't know if I can keep them. If it's not something you're passionate about, it's not worth doing.

My Personal DNA

Cautious Builder

That would be me. Just a quick little update, thanks to midnite lily's blog. Pretty obvious I still have nothing to do. Just finished watching 4 seasons of That '70s Show, so I'm feeling a little '70s right now. Bitchin.

What to do...

Well what do you know, it's already June. A month since my last entry. I guess I'm just not cut out for blogging, especially when I'm feeling lazy for the past couple of months. What can I say, not working does that to you.

American Idol has ended, and Taylor Hicks won. Well, I have nothing against him, but I am kinda disappointed that Kat didn't win. I guess I'll just have to watch the whole season again to see those tig bitties. Over and over again.

I am still out of work, by choice, since the end of February. I am now at the greatest crossroad in my life where I need to choose what I want to do. I want to open up a business, but I don't know what to run. I want to write a script, but I don't know where to start. I want to be a historian, but I don't know what to specialise. I want to write something controversial, but I'm in the wrong country. I don't want to do audio anymore, but it's my backup plan. There are just so many things that I want to do, but either I don't have the means to do it or I am constrained by the people around me.

So what do I do? I play games. I watch tons of documentaries. I go on tv-series-marathons. I sit on my ass everyday, in front of the computer, whether I like it or not. I'm getting fatter by the minute, I'm becoming more reclusive and I'm losing the ability to talk. To most people, that is a social suicide, but to me, that's life.

Don't get me wrong, I want to lose weight, I want to go out and meet people and I want to talk crap, but they're all related. One huge chain. I break one, and the rest will follow. Plus, it's hard to find someone to talk to when your interests are very far from the common people of the country.

Don't worry, I'll survive. I'll swing back into action. Heck, I'll probably lose weight and socialise more than I've ever been. Only time will tell. Till then, there's still a whole bunch of tv series for me to watch. :)

To people who know me and reading this: Give me a call sometime, will ya? Let's go out for a drink and talk about ancient history. lol

Angel No More

It is already Tuesday morning, and no sign of Angel anywhere. I fear the worst, that Angel is dead. I find it difficult to bid farewell to him and this is very untypical of me; having feelings. Maybe I was too attached to this cat, more than I would admit. I still stand at the door looking out several times a day, hoping that Angel would show up.

I read in a forum that some illegal immigrants eat stray & domesticated animals for food coz they don't have the money to buy food. I just hope and pray that Angel didn't end up being someone's meal. I'm not telling my mom, though. God knows how devastated my mom will be if I did.

I need to find something to do to get this feeling away. Games just don't cut it anymore.

Missing Angel

So it's been a month since my last entry. I wish I have interesting things to say, but honestly, I have been sitting at home playing games all the time that it would interest no one. I'm still on holiday, though I must say now it looks more like unemployment rather than a holiday. :P

One of my cats, Angel, went missing yesterday morning. My mom cried, saying that he was the best and most tame cat we've ever had for years. He'd always sleep on my mom's bed next to her, and he's always there when she goes to sleep or when she wakes up. However, I fear the worst, that he's dead, far away from the house. However, there's still a glimmer of hope that he might just walk back into the house in the next few days, since we found no body yet. I think he just got himself locked up inside one of the houses up the street. Since tomorrow is a public holiday, a lot of my neighbors decided to pack it up and balik kampung for the 3-day weekend. If he is really locked up in one of the houses, I only hope and pray that he makes it until tomorrow night. Here's hoping for a miracle.

I was supposed to meet up with a potential client this past week regarding a corporate video, but it never went thru. No calls were received which left me thinking if they've already found someone to do it for them. This can only mean no money for me and no opportunity to produce & direct my first corporate video on my own. I was eyeing that new business card design too. :( I was also asked, some time in March, that there would be a video editing job for me in April. Since today's the last day of April, I seriously doubt that it'll happen, unless of course, the event is today, in which case I should be getting the material within a day or two. Here's hoping again, huh?

A few minutes ago I was standing outside my house, just trying to get a whiff of Angel when my neighbors came out and started talking in Cantonese. Yes, they are chinese, and I have nothing against them, but I just found it to be displeasing and uncomfortable. The same goes with all major Asian languages, including Bahasa Melayu, Tamil, Hindi, the many dialects of the chinese and perhaps Indo. I don't have a problem with European languages though, such as Italian, Greek, French, German, Spanish, Nordic, etc. in fact, I enjoy listening to those languages. What can this mean? Have I become incompatible with living in Malaysia, or do I seriously need to move to Europe or America? I wouldn't mind at all, but I think they might, considering how difficult it is to find a good job in another country, especially ones in the West. The biggest hurdle: my Arabic name format with the bin and the Arabic name. I plan to change it eventually, when I have to.

I have a McPheever

It's official. I have a McPheever. And the only prescription is more *cowbell. For those of you who don't know already (where have you been?!?!), Katharine McPhee is one of the finalists on American Idol season 5. As of this week, she made it to the top 9, and hopefully all the way to becoming the next American Idol.

I didn't watch American Idol until about last week, where I've been putting all my downloads to good use rather than just keeping them on the drive. Rather than my usual "Pfeh, same crap, different people" perspective, this hot (and talented) young lady immediately caught my attention. Sure, it was figuratively love at first sight, but she's also talented, though I have to say that some of her performances were mediocre. Is it just me? Have I set my bar up that high? Or is it my disappoitment at the lack of REAL talent here in Malaysia (yes, especially Mawi) that prompts me to do so? I believe so. Irregardless, Katharine is a sight for sore eyes and brings joy to my already-injured ears.

Since we are in the topic of pop idols, I had an interesting discussion with my cousin last week. I told him that any one of the top 12 finalists from American Idol can EASILY beat the metaphorical crap out of any instant celebrities we have here from Akademi Fantasia and Malaysian Idol. He replied by saying that Malaysians' taste for music is different than that of the people overseas, in this case, America (American Idol, duh. :p ). Then I replied by asking, "So, Malaysians prefer singers who can't sing to those that can?" In which he replied by restating his previous comment. So is it true? Is quality not important in this part of the world anymore? Or are we Malaysians simply stick to our "bolehlah" attitude?

For Americans reading this, please vote for Katharine. Text them, call them, whatever, just get her to be your next American Idol. However I have to be realistic. There are some pretty good talents this season. Plus, did I mention she's HOT? :)

* cowbell: A quote from a Saturday Night Live skit featuring Blue Oyster Cult members recording "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" with a producer (Christopher Walken) telling them to add "more cowbell".

Me: For Sale

Well, not literally. I've been somewhat busy the past week, hence the lack of entries here. Apart from midnite lily offering me a job, I have 2 other pending applications in the "Promised Land", one of which is what I've been waiting for for the last couple of months. Then, mid last week, I received a call from a friend of mine, who happens to be the personal assistant to one of our local artist, who I know personally. He offered me a job to do location sound for his production company. This is quite a surprise for me, but I did tell him that I'll think about it.

You see, when I first started work with Astro in 1997, I did both studio and location sound recording, but I excel in the latter. After my contract ended in late 2000, I did some other freelance jobs. Having said that, I don't know if I wanted to take the step "back" to doing location sound, as I am at a crossroad in my life, so to speak. Part of me is dying to venture into video, another part of me telling me I still have audio to fall back to, and then there's this other part of me telling me to start up a business. I'm all up for running a business, but what business do I run? What experience do I have? The only experience I've had was with computer games! lol

Anyway... I still have time to think all this through before my cash reserves run dry, which is roughly about 3-4 months from now, depending on how many trips I make to the nearest hypermarket. {grin} I'm hoping that one of my pending applications come through, though. In the mean time, there's Sims 2, Battle For Middle Earth 2, Empire At War and Tycoon City to keep me occupied. :P

BTW, my room's all patched up, I don't know when is daylight unless I look at the clock, dust is very MINIMAL (yay!) and with the air conditioning unit on, it's way cooler than before. Less dust, lower temperature, perhaps?

On the PC side, I've sold off my Inspiron 6000 to my not-at-home-with-me cousin. Didn't think I'd need a lappy for now, and by the time I need one, there are probably newer, better, cheaper models to choose from. I've also buffed up my current system to play all the games I mentioned above at medium-high level, so as not to hog my at-home-with-me cousin's machine.

Abalada!

I'm sinking deeper into the addictive force of The Sims 2: Open For Business. If I'm not doing things around the house, I'm in front of my cousin's computer playing the game. His computer is currently the most powerful computer in the house, surpassing my own. Plus, I've got a great sim-me going on there. :P

While I was browsing my hard drives, I noticed I have about 90+ Late Night With Conan O'Brien episodes I downloaded that I have yet to watch. If only I could clear that up, that'll be a good 20+ GB of space cleared up. I don't know when I'm gonna get around to watching all of it, especially when I'm super busy with Sims 2. :P

btw, the title is Simlish for "I just recalled!" In this case, recalled/remember that I have other things to do than play Sims 2.. Or not..

Achtung!

My room is currently in the process of renovation to make it dust-free, or at least close to being one. Now that I'm back on my feet, I needed something to do that doesn't involve me sitting in front of my computer. :D My first step, was to block up the windows with plywood, to make sure dust doesn't come in from outside. FYI, there's a frickin highway behind my house. Anyhoo, the second step is to seal up all holes and cracks in the ceiling, and I managed to finish up about half of it today. Another half tomorrow, and then the smoothing bits the following day. I used up 2.5 canisters' worth of putty filler, and I only bought 3, which means I need to get at least another 2 or 3 more to finish up the ceiling. I didn't realize I needed so much until I actually start filling up the cracks. :p

I also blocked the vent-fan on the ceiling, thinking that it might contribute to the whole dust thingy.

Step 3 would be to repaint the ceiling, or at least the parts where I had slapped the putty filler on. Right now, it looks kinda ugly, with my ceiling originally blue in colour with traces of white putty along the lines and cracks. Looks very "under construction"-y though. Smells like it too. At least it's better than smelling dust.

The Sims 2: Open For Business

A warning to those who have yet to try this game; DON'T! I am now heavily addicted, playing it every waking moment. For those who don't know, "Open For Business" is the third expansion pack for the The Sims 2, a hugely popular life-simulator. In this expansion pack, you can run your own business, whether at home, or a comunity lot. You can sell almost anything in the game, and make money along the way. For a more in-depth description of this game, visit The Official Sims 2 Website.

What happened to Battle For Middle Earth 2? Well.. wait till I get bored of OFB. :D

Work In Progress

I'm in the process of moving things around in my room. I was busy since yesterday evening, and even had to disconnect both my internet lines. The basic arrangement is all there, like them tables and my mattress, plus some storage cupboards. I didn't realize I have plenty of space in my room, and now, even my mom wants her room rearranged. I did some measurements on her room earlier, but it won't be much of a difference.

Thanks to all the dust flying around, I'm now bed-ridden. Well, sort of. I have allergies to dust, you see. Either I'll get a runny nose, or a constant smell of dust. Whichever it is, it sucks. Anyone know how to minimize or better still, totally eliminate dust in a room?

Game of the day: Battle For Middle Earth 2. Quite addictive, but I have 2 other games to play; Tycoon City New York and The Sims 2: Open For Business. :D

Fine dining

Today was quite a busy day, from shopping for plywood in the morning, to fixing a friend's PC, to a nice tasty meal at a fine dining restaurant. Nothing interesting happened when I was shopping and fixing the PC, but let me tell you a little bit about this restaurant.

Located in KLGCC in Kiara, Kuala Lumpur, it is definitely one of, if not, the best fine dining restaurant that I've been to. The atmosphere is calm, the staff is friendly and best of all, the food was excellent! They serve a wide variety of malay and western food, but I ordered a Norwegian (smoked) salmon, and I honestly have to say it is the best that I've tried. So if anyone wants to give it a go, please feel free to drive to KLGCC. The restaurant is in the main building, and if I can remember how to spell it properly, the name of the restaurant is FajarRaz and it is open to the public. You can also call up KLGCC for reservations and enquiries at 03-2093-1111.

Tired...

As I expected, nothing much happened today, except for my trip to my PJ house to spray weed killer in the yard, and scrape some wall paint to prepare it for repainting. We want to get it as clean and lovely as possible, as we plan to sell it off. However, the option of renting it out is still being considered, if selling the place proves to be difficult.

Now, the story must continue. The psychological technobabble, yes? Of course. You must've heard these popular idioms; "when in Rome, do as the Romans do", or "fight fire with fire". That was how it went over the past couple of months. You can't be nice to someone who snapped at you and never apologize, no matter how hard you try. It's even worse when that person thinks he's right all the time, and saying sorry is not in his vocabulary. And guess what, he wasn't pleased. I guess one should look in the mirror more often.

If you're a passive person, like me, how would you confront someone who is aggressive, literally loud and nearing obnoxiousness? Do you just keep quiet, or do you speak up to their level, literally?

Hmm.. I didn't realize that by using the two idioms above, I've pretty much summarized what had transpired. Good thing too, otherwise I'd be cracking my mind trying to figure out how to write it. :P

Computer games, anyone?

Fifth post, Five things...

midnite lily has been kind enough to tag me for the five things... tsk tsk.. Oh well, here goes...

5 Things You Can’t Do
* Pat my head and rub my belly at the same time in-sync
* Walk on my hands
* Write with my right hand
* Eat red meat
* Swim without clamping my nose

5 Things You Can Do
* Sleep for 15-16 hours at a time (my specialty)
* Watch a movie, play a game and chat online, all at the same time
* Tell a convincing lie, or rather, "a cover story"
* Survive without human contact for days, weeks even
* Drive a car on momentum and inertia just to conserve petrol

5 Things That Scare You
* My ex-boss
* Creepy-crawlies
* Becoming the Donald
* People who follow blind faith
* Human physical contact (terms & conditions apply)

5 Things You Love
* COKE!
* Cold weather; sub-20 degrees celcius
* Chocolate
* Observing/looking at people (though some may find it invasive)
* The smell of grass early in the morning

5 Things You Hate
* Slow morons driving on the right lane (read: ROAD HOG)
* Inconsiderate smokers
* Money (can't live with them, can't live without them)
* Slow internet speed (1mbps and below)
* My senate-like mind

5 Random Facts About You
* Very shy and quiet
* Loves broadway, but have never been to one
* Have a strange fixation to New York
* Have never travelled further than the Philippines
* Have sixth sense but don't know how it works

5 Things You Want To Do Before You Die
* Visit a cold country, say Greenland
* Attend Saturday Night Live in New York (or any live shows there)
* Produce an heir to my throne (layman: have a kid)
* Orbital skydiving
* Visit the "Promised Land"

5 people to tag
ervan - http://ervanj.blogs.friendster.com/the_world_from_ervans_eye/
niki - http://seizuka.blogs.friendster.com/pretty_petals/
contact me to apply
contact me to apply
contact me to apply
(lol i need more blog buddies)

Marriage?

I went to visit my friendly doctor yesterday. He told me that I'm too stressed out, and that I might get thyroid because of that. And I thought the Viagra that got stuck in my throat gave me a stiff neck. HEY! (tat tat dish!) Anyway, jokes aside, I better get me some extra rest, huh?

The doctor told me that I need to get married, and soon. WHAT? I was somewhat shocked to hear that from a doctor, but he said I need someone to talk to, someone to share all my problems with. I kinda agree with him, but how am I to find someone to marry and care for, when I can't even care for myself? Maybe I should visit a psychiatrist, and hopefully it's someone as beautiful as Nasha Aziz was in Buli & Buli Balik. Honestly, which woman in their right mind would want to marry a geeky environmentalist who loves to play computer games?

Anyways, I spent some lovely time at a local LRT station waiting for my media transaction. Yes, I purchase blank DVDs NOT retail, since they usually mark-up the price exponentially. However that's not the point. The point is, it was so fricking hot/humid, I was totally drenched and felt feverish. Not to self: Spend less time outdoors.

I promised everyone that I'd continue my story today, but I don't want to make this a lengthy entry. Let's save it for tomorrow, okay?

Cheque, mate

Well what dumb luck. First, my cheque didn't clear, and I have to pay an extra RM 10 for someone's mistake for not writing the DATE properly. And to think, my handwriting is bad, but here's someone who's been doing administrative work and writing cheques longer than I have been receiving them and can STILL make a blunder.

I spoke to her earlier, and she said she's going to issue another cheque and counter-sign it so I can withdraw it immediately tomorrow. Well, hopefully it works, because I'm already a couple of days behind schedule to distribute the money. I was beginning to think that Wyn was right, that cheques do not clear over the weekend.

Good thing I sold some of my pc parts on Saturday. At least I have some money to use in the mean time. Plus it looks like part two of my previous story will be for tomorrow. Is anybody actually reading this?

Why quit? Part 1

My answer to that would be, "why stay"? Honestly, the air has been sour for the past couple of months, ever since The Wedding Incident...

Last year, it was the wedding day of one of our friends, and we conjured up some video footage to give to her as a present. Actually, the idea was mine, but I prefer to say it was ours, because I don't believe in taking the credit to myself. Anyway, the initial video + audio edit was completed, with a last minute addition by another friend the night before. It took me until 6am to complete the editing plus encoding, and handed it over to him for surround mixing.

I got to the office by 1pm, and he just woke up. Nothing out of the ordinary. After much dilly-dally he finally began the work at around 2pm, so I left him alone. 4pm, and he's still at it. He was trying to encode it into surround and failed due to software problems. Sure, there are other software installed, but did he try them? No. I told him we're gonna be late, and we're gonna get stuck in a massive jam. He ignored me and I ignored him, or so it seems.

4:30pm, and he's STILL at it. So I told him, "it's late, jam started, so you drive". And at that point, he stood up, walked out of the room. He turned back, shouted at me, "You have no respect for other people! You treat people like they're dirt"! And yes, I left the vulgarities out.

After he snapped at me, I thought to myself, "I have no respect for others? More like he doesn't respect others!", knowing very well that I hate traffic jams; and I normally drive to avoid jam as much as possible. What does he know? He doesn't face traffic everyday. Maybe he should, then he would understand the world better.

Being the gentleman that I am (or rather, trying to be), I apologized to him (albeit with HUGE reservation) and I ended up finishing up his part to my dismay. Doing this just proves another thing, that he gets what he wants, regardless of the consequences. He told me that. Oh how true.

Then I had to do more encoding to multiplex the audio and video together before finally ending up with the final product. Then there's the DVD burning, the tests, all in all which took another hour or so. Voila, 5:30pm. Ish. The very HEART of the jam.

So with tense emotions and evil thoughts for world domination running through my mind, I drove us (there were 3 of us) to where the wedding was, which took a good 1.5 hours to reach (30mins on a normal day). If it weren't for my Vulcan mind training (self-control/emotional suppression), I would've gone MAD.

So where does that story lead to? It leads to me knowing how much anger he has, and how little I know of his true self. I'll leave today's post here, and I will get to the psychological technobabble tomorrow, which truely explains my reasons for quitting. Oh, and did I mention the video was only 7 minutes long?

The dawn of a new era...

Hi everyone, this is my THIRD blog which I hope I will continue writing. I just got lazy with the first two. :P Anyway, let's begin with something biblical. Food for thought, if I may.

“And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and Jehovah caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all the night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left” (Exodus 14:21-22).

"We then inspired Moses: "Strike the sea with your staff," whereupon it parted. Each part was like a great hill. We then delivered them all." (Al-Shu'ara', 26:63-64)

Now, what came to me with the holy texts above as analogy was; everyone knows how bad the traffic is in KL, especially during rush hour, say 7pm-8pm. However, on Thursday, it was as smooth-sailing as driving on a Sunday, and on Thursday, was the day I quit my job. Coincidence, or is it God telling me that I've done the right thing? Has reading all 3 testaments made me closer to God, and God is showing me that He is the almighty? I believe.

Some close to me may wonder, why did I quit. I will tell you tomorrow. I've got things to do today, things to sell, money to earn. "The Promised Land" isn't gonna come soon, so I best keep myself prepared and stocked-up.