southeastaSEAn

Help our northern neighbours

2011-03-14T15:51:00.005+08:00

Triple elements of water, earth and nuclear have been trying to wipe out Japan. Beat them back with generous $$$. Donate generously to charities of your own choosing. No need all, just 1 also can. 2 is better. 3 is betterer and you get the idea. See the list of legit charities at Yahoo! How you can help guide

MAS and AirAsia X should co-pilot efforts to achieve nation’s aspirations

2010-09-26T00:26:00.005+08:00

The following is a piece written by the current MAS CEO (taken from the Star online), in defense of MAS against its battle with AirAsia. A good read with some very valid points that show us why MAS is still relevant today, despite almost everyone becoming AirAsia fans.

COMMENT
By TENGKU DATUK AZMIL ZAHRUDDIN

May 1,2010

AIRASIA X has been lobbying its cause aggressively in the media locally and abroad to fly to destinations operated by Malaysia Airlines (MAS).

On the surface, its argument appears logical: Open up Sydney, Seoul, etc., as that is best for the country.

There are two sides to any argument and I would like to take this opportunity to put forward the MAS point of view.

A bit of history: Under the domestic rationalisation exercise in March 2006, MAS was asked to give up the operations of the rural areas in Sabah/Sarawak and hand them over to AirAsia Bhd.

MAS was awarded 19 trunk routes to operate and AirAsia was granted both the trunk and non-trunk routes (about 96 routes). AirAsia subcontracted non-trunk routes to its wholly-owned subsidiary, Fly Asian Xpress Sdn Bhd (FAX).

FAX operated the service from September 2006 to September 2007. There were countless complaints about the unreliability of its services which severely and negatively impacted communities, tourism and businesses in Sabah and Sarawak.

The Government asked MAS to take back the rural air services and MAS’s wholly-owned subsdiary, MASwings, took over on Oct 1, 2007. During that one year of FAX’s operation, it was paid more than double what MASwings received for the same scope of services over the past two years.

FAX was subsequently renamed AirAsia X.

In just some three years of operations after dumping the rural air services, AirAsia X has obtained rights for nine routes: London, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, Mumbai, New Delhi, Taipei, Beijing and Shanghai.

The MAS-AirAsia X rivalry can be addressed by having a clear aviation policy that offers real choices to consumers and ensures that all local airlines are given equal treatment.

Flight rights and hubs

Recently, AirAsia X announced it has been given rights to fly to Seoul. But to date, there has been no Government announcement. AirAsia X was recently also granted the rights to fly to Male and the rights were transferred to AirAsia.

Excluding the rights to fly to Seoul and Male – assuming this is official – 90% of AirAsia X’s routes overlap with those operated by MAS. On the other hand, only 17% of Tiger, Singapore Airlines (SIA) and SilkAir’s routes overlap.

We will stand up and be counted. Yes, MAS lobbies the Government. So do AirAsia and AirAsia X. As an airline, we have transformed and we are fighting for our rights, as are AirAsia and AirAsia X.

Let me outline our viewpoints and why we stand behind the facts – not blind accusations – that we presented to the Government:

What makes Suvarnabhumi and Changi great hubs is that these airports provide customers with many destination choices.

Some 93 airlines operate out of Suvarnabhumi to over 187 cities in 71 countries. About 85 carriers operate from Changi to more than 200 cities in 60 countries.

On the other hand, some 50 airlines operate from KL International Airport (KLIA) to 100 cities in 44 countries.

What makes Changi a good hub is the number of destinations it offers. This gives consumers greater choice. For example, someone who wants to fly to Moscow has to go via Changi as there are no airlines flying to Moscow directly from KLIA.

If someone from Melbourne wants to fly to Moscow, he is likely to go via, say Changi, and not KLIA. AirAsia X can fly 10 times a day to Melbourne and this passenger is still more likely to use Changi.

If AirAsia X is serious about providing customers “with choices”, it should fly to new destinations. There are 34 or more new destinations that currently do not have direct flights from KL. All these destinations are within the range of AirAsia X’s A330-300s.

AirAsia X has been lobbying the Malaysian Government saying that it deserves to get the rights to fly to any destination because it has bought so many aircraft.

Yet, it is not willing to consider any of these 34 cities because it claims that these cities do not make economic sense.

Amongst the 34 are Fukuoka and Nagoya in Japan, and Chongqing in China. All these routes are operated by both SIA and Cathay Pacific. SIA also operates to Ahmadabad in India and Cairo in Egypt.

One of the destinations which the Transport Ministry lists as being granted to AirAsia X is Paris/Orly. Interestingly, AirAsia X CEO Azran Osman-Rani told MalaysianInsider in an interview dated April 28, 2010: “It (the rights) has yet to land on my desk. Until it does, we cannot initiate detailed plans”.

If AirAsia X’s argument is that it does not have planes or the correct aircraft, note that it has two A340s, each of which has a 12-hour flying range. It can also operate the A330s with one stop in the Middle East.

In addition, AirAsia X has applied for and been granted the rights to fly to many cities which it is not exercising. These cities include Amritsar, Cheongju, Pusan, Tianjin, Xian, Bahrain, Sharjah, Berlin, Manchester, Dublin, Vienna and Moscow.

AirAsia X is not keen to operate to these new destinations as it is well aware that it takes years of investment to make a route profitable.

Case in point is Abu Dhabi. SIA flies to Abu Dhabi. Yet, AirAsia X pulled out from Abu Dhabi after just three months in operation, citing that the route is not profitable.

When MAS flies to a new route, we are likely to incur losses in the first year up to the first five years as we spend money to develop awareness in the new destination and expand the market. This is an investment we are prepared to make, as short-term losses can result in long-term profits. In the long run, it is good for the country and gives consumers more choice.

For example, for the past 20 years, we invested tens of millions (of ringgit). Even today, we invest some RM100mil annually in marketing costs alone in Australia.

If AirAsia X is really serious about “choices for the people”, it will fly to destinations where it has the rights to. But the reality is that AirAsia X is only interested in MAS’ routes. Is this then in the best interest of the country?

For the record, we have been competing with various global, full service carriers for the past 60 years and competition is not new to MAS. We welcome competition as it means that we have to constantly transform ourselves – which is what we have been doing intensely in the past four years.

Passenger numbers

Let us also set the record straight on the information that AirAsia X has been providing to the media to support its claim to fly to Sydney and Seoul.

Azran claimed in the same interview that “some 80,000 Malaysians were flying to Sydney indirect.”

PaxIS (passenger intelligence services) data (collated by the International Air Transport Association), which captures all full service airline transactions, shows that in 2009, only 2,848 passengers travelled from KL to Sydney via Singapore. In 2010, the number is reduced to only 2,359. It would be good if AirAsia X can substantiate its allegations.

For Seoul, Azran claimed: “We should see a reversal of the trend of negative growth in 2009 to a positive growth in 2011” on the assumption that AirAsia X were to fly to Seoul.

For the first three months of 2010, tourist arrivals from South Korea grew by 26% compared with the same period in 2009. MAS’ passenger growth was up 48%. The trend is already strongly positive.

Both MAS and AirAsia X bring in tourists to the country. Tourism studies indicate that there is a 12 times multiplier effect to the country.

This year, we expect to fly in 5.5 million passengers. We expect this to generate some RM12.7bil of tourism dollars for the country.

However, most of AirAsia X’s passengers are in transit. For example, AirAsia X has said that 80% of its Australian passengers on AirAsia X self-connect to other destinations after arriving in KL.

In other words, while AirAsia X increases traffic into the country, most of their passengers transit in KL to other destinations. Although this makes the arrivals figures look higher, these passengers may not spend much money in Malaysia. This means less economic value to the country.

However, if AirAsia X operates to new destinations and invests in promoting Malaysia, it will go a long way to attract tourists from different countries and boost tourism in Malaysia.

In July 2008, when we met the Transport Minister, we proposed a clear framework for the aviation sector.

This framework will involve airlines, airports as well as a range of services to airlines and airports, MRO (maintenance, repair and operation) and catering. The sector contributes about 4% to Malaysia’s gross domestic product. Beyond its direct contributions to the economy, the aviation sector is a key enabler of tourism and commerce.

It is never too late to start. Malaysia needs a clear aviation policy – one that offers real choices to consumers and that benefits the country. It must be a long-term, comprehensive and impartial policy that will ensure that the country and rakyat takes precedence.

One that will ensure that KLIA becomes a regional hub, on par with Changi and Suvarnabhumi and that all local airlines – MAS, Firefly, AirAsia and AirAsia X – are given equal treatment, with consideration given to what is best for the country.

At the time we made the proposal, AirAsia was not advocating this. I am glad that it now thinks that this is a good idea.

The winner should not be the one who shouts the loudest in the media. Nor lobby the hardest. We need to learn to compete and collaborate, and work with the Government to achieve the nation’s aspirations.

● Tengku Datuk Azmil Zahruddin is managing director/CEO of MAS.

Air Asia AMAZES Again

2010-09-22T13:30:00.003+08:00

Remember when Tony Fernandes became the team principal of Lotus F1 and we thought it was impossible for him to do that and run Air Asia? Well he did it.

And now, apparently F1 isn't enough for Tony. He is now moving into F1's feeder series, GP2 with the establishment of a totally new team called Team Air Asia.

At this rate, it will only be a matter of time before Air Asia turns into a conglomerate.

I bet that's what Tony wants. For Air Asia and conglomerate to be used in the same sentence by everyone one day.

A Blessing

2010-09-22T07:21:00.004+08:00

Hadn't been paying attention for like the previous 3 or 4 IT classes cause they were so boring and so Excel intensive. Then I find out that I have homework due like 2 days from now, and I'm thinking "Shit, I probably need the knowledge from the previous 3 to 4 classes to do it. How the hell do I do it now?"

So today, I almost decided not to go for IT class cause I had already not been following for a while I figured chances are I probably wouldn't be able to follow today's as well. But for some reason, I decided to go anyway, half an hour after it started. They were already in the middle of a solving a problem with Null Hyps, t-stats, etc. and true enough I couldn't follow. But then in the last 15 minutes, we did something new with regression analysis which I could follow easily.

Six hours, later as I begrudgingly, hesitantly pulled out the homework and read it, prepared for jargon, terms, and instructions that I wouldn't even know how to begin comprehending, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that all the homework needed me to do was REGRESSION. The last 15 minutes of today's class which I almost missed.

I though this homework would take me a few hours. Seems like only 1 at most now.

Hallelujah.

2010-09-22T07:21:00.001+08:00

Told You So!

2010-09-11T01:52:00.001+08:00

As was predicted...

The next trilogy in the Dune universe

2010-07-18T01:48:00.004+08:00

Just discovered that The Heroes of Dune tetralogy is on hold to make way for a new trilogy, set 100 years after the Butlerian Jihad. GROAN. Blog post taken from kjablog.com (Kevin J Anderson's personal blog)

Brainstorming THE SISTERHOOD OF DUNE

Now that HELLHOLE is delivered and in production, Brian Herbert and I spent most of last week holed up together in intensive brainstorming for our next DUNE novel.

After writing two novels at the far end of the Dune timeline (HUNTERS and SANDWORMS) and two standalone “inquels” closely set within Frank Herbert’s original “Dune” trilogy (PAUL OF DUNE and THE WINDS OF DUNE), we’re going back to the exciting and unexplored territory of the first century after the end of the Butlerian Jihad — a trilogy that explores the formation of the major schools and political organizations that guide and shape the Dune universe.

Over the course of three novels, we’ll describe the formation of the Bene Gesserit, the Mentats, the Suk Doctors, the Spacing Guild and the Navigators, as well as the solidifying of the Corrino imperium. It’s a big story set against the great turmoil of continuing anti-technology fervor and the religious unrest of the C.E.T. The first novel is titled THE SISTERHOOD OF DUNE and will likely be published in early 2012. Anyone who’s attended our talks and signings knows that Brian and I have been planning this series for a long time.

We still have two more inquels to do, after WINDS and PAUL, but those are independent books, and we plan to go back to them later; right now, we found ourselves much more engrossed with this story in the early time period—and a large portion of our fan mail comes from readers asking when they’ll see more of Vorian Atreides.

We’ve written a detailed 84-chapter outline and are fine-tuning and fleshing it out right now. We should start writing our individual chapters by the end of the month.

The little Low Cost Carrier that could

2010-07-16T00:17:00.004+08:00

As I predicted 5 years ago. Article taken from Bernama website.

AirAsia Flies More Passengers Than Mas Last Year

KUALA LUMPUR, July 14 (Bernama) -- Budget airline AirAsia overtook national carrier Malaysia Airlines (MAS) last year in terms of overall passenger volume, the Dewan Rakyat was told Wednesday.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha said AirAsia flew 15.23 million passengers last year compared to the 13.87 million recorded by MAS.

Of the AirAsia passengers, 7.2 million were international passengers while 8.03 million were domestic passengers, he said in a written reply to a question from Loke Siew Fook (DAP-Rasah).

Of the MAS passengers, 7.37 million were international passengers and 6.5 million, domestic passengers, he added.

-- BERNAMA

On a separate notes, AirAsia's other recent achievements include:

1) won Skytrax's Best Low Cost Carrier Award for the second year in a row. (that means it has beat the competition of Ryanair and Southwest)

2)broken into the Top 10 airlines by passengers carried at Singapore Changi Airport.

3)become the first airline in South East Asia to connect all ASEAN capitals especially Laos and Myanmar, thereby making it a de-facto airline of ASEAN that sports the motto of being "Truly ASEAN"

On the battlefront:

1) Air Asia is planning to list its Thai, Indonesian and long haul subsidiaries soon when market conditions are best.

2) Air Asia is still trying to start operations on its Vietnamese subsidiary after the Vietnamese government turned around and got hostile with foreign players in their airline industry, partly on the nudging of Vietnam Airlines who doesn't want to give up its monopoly on routes.

3) The ever elusive KL-Sydney route.

Air Asia and Lotus finally pair up.

2010-07-11T22:19:00.004+08:00

Finally over the weekend, at the British Grand Prix in Silverstone, Lotus sports Air Asia's sponsorship. As if we never saw that coming. Only a matter of time before we get an Air Asia plane in Lotus' livery.

Fourth time's the charm? Cause the third certainly wasn't

2010-07-11T01:00:00.005+08:00

Some comments i've heard on Linkin Park's upcoming album:

"it's going to be more consistent than Minutes to Midnight"

"its going to be in between Hybrid Theory and Minutes to Midnight"

Personally I think that this fourth album will be A LOT better then Minutes to Midnight. Why? Because Minutes to Midnight sunk so low, it really is very difficult to go any lower. It can only go up from there. ( I reviewed it way back in the day. It's still somewhere in this blog's archives)

Also, head over to Linkinpark.com if you're interested in learning how you can be involved in making the first single of the album.

In any case, I'm looking forward to this fourth album so that it can erase the stain of disappointment left by Minutes to Midnight.

sorr leee....

2010-06-23T21:51:00.003+08:00

why is the blog called southeastasean when there is nothing southeastasean about it?

I admit fail. I thought Kane would have kept you happy and satisfied, but he did not.

BUT

there is something big. something southeastasean coming up. and its pretty unique. and for me. a little bit nerve tingling.

k lar....no more suspense. i'm going to the land that time forgot. to southeastasean's north korea. to the place where tourists come to stand outside aung san su kyi's gate hoping to catch a glimpse of her as if she were some animal in a zoo.

i'm going to myanmar. and you are very welcome to join. at your own peril.

England misseth me

2010-05-13T09:25:00.003+08:00

What do I miss most about Malaysia? Cheap movies. So come back, come Wednesday (cheap day), must go watch.

So wanted to see IP Man 2, due to the glamorous reviews of the show on everyone's FB status'. But at the ticket counter, turns out they were already selling Robin Hood! I was like what? Is it even out? Because if it was, I would have known of some friends who surely would have already seen it. (AMF this is you). Whatever. Have Robin Hood, must watch. Malaysian kiasuness says it's always better to watch a movie before everyone else.

So it was a good show. Great comeback by Ridley Scott from his disappointing Kingdom of Heaven. Im pretty sure if Russell Crowe was in that movie it would have been much better. Anyways, Robin Hood is great war action. Story is ok. Romance is not too sappy. LOTS of bow and arrow action. Don't know if it beat Ip man though. Have to see that to judge. But yes, not 2 days after coming home from England, here I was watching England all over again on the big screen. It's fated. England wants me home.

En Taro Starcraft 2

2010-05-05T02:37:00.004+08:00

This is my longwinded story of how I got into Starcraft 2 beta for free.

OK. So usually I'm not one to get excited over betas, never participated in them, never bothered trying to. Then one day friend of mine says he got into SC2 beta. I non-chalantly ask him "how." He replies, you can get in just by pre-ordering the game from Gamestop.

Then I think, hmmm..I never buy from that site. But the SC2 release date is so far away. Many had even doubted it would come out this year (2010). So I thought it would be worth it to pre-order to get into the beta early, and play SC2 by up to a few months ahead of everyone else. Most pre-orders dont charge your credit card until the game ships, and you can always cancel your order until the day the game ships. Not for SC2 though, because of the fact that you get into the beta. They dont want people pre-ordering just to get into the beta and then cancelling their order thereafter.

Then yesterday it was announced. SC2 - JULY 27, 2010. I was like shit. So soon! I expected the game to come out in October or something. the delivery address I used was my dorm at ND. I won't be back till end of August! Some stranger is going to get my game!!! So I e-mailed them asking them to postpone delivery until a month later when I would be back. They said CANNOT. I should just go ahead and cancel and place a new order.

COOL. SO I CAN CANCEL MY ORDER (cost me an insanely high $65) and I still got to keep my beta! Now I need to find a cheaper site to purchase SC2 from.

This was my long-winded story of how I got into the SC2 beta. for FREE. Hopefully Kane is Real will make a return soon.

The only difference between him and us is he got caught

2010-04-29T04:00:00.002+08:00

The following article is a respsonse to the news that Gordon Brown had called a woman he had earlier chatted with as 'bigtotted'. He did not realise his microphones were on, had been caught, and is now facing the fire. Here's something intelligent, thought-provoking, and not Command and Conquer for once. Enjoy and reflect upon it. Article was taken from Yahoo! News.

Comment: The attack on Brown is hypocritical
By Ian Dunt Wednesday April 28

Brown's 'bigot' gaffe may be unpleasant, but those attacking him should look in the mirror.

A short while ago Gordon Brown was caught making unguarded comments about Gillian Duffy, a voter he had chatted with, while campaigning in Rochdale. The media response is already fevered, not least of all because journalists hate talking about economics and the economy was the only other issue on the news agenda today.

The prime minister spoke pleasantly to Mrs Duffy, asking about her children and telling her how great her family was. It was after he got into his car that he branded her a bigot. Later, listening to the recording during a BBC Radio 2 interview, he looked utterly beaten and there's a danger the image will haunt him longer than the comments themselves.

You can see why he is so dejected. The gaffe is symbolic of the sense the public has that politicians are secretly sneering at them. They are all smiles at election times and then abject distaste behind closed doors, locked in their shiny, beautiful cars.

Duffy herself could not have been better picked: retired, widowed, working class and eloquent - she is perfect for the tabloids. Perhaps they created her out of stem cells.

But - and I imagine I'll get my fair share of hate mail for this - Brown had a point. This is what Duffy said about immigration: "All these eastern Europeans that are coming in - where are they flocking from?" Beyond the fact that she has answered her own question, this statement is profoundly problematic. This sort of talk about immigrants has become more and more acceptable, but we would do well to remind ourselves that it is not acceptable to use animal or geographic metaphors about immigrants. Talk of 'flocks' and 'swamps' serve to cement a sense of immigrants being 'the other'. They are not so different to us. They marry us, drink beer with us, work with us and live side by side with us.

Brown himself is actually as guilty as anyone of allowing the rhetoric of the far-right to corrupt the mainstream debate, by popularising that primitive and narrow-minded phrase 'British jobs for British workers'. But it is not tolerable for people to discuss immigrants in this way, and it reflects badly on the character of the person speaking.

But Brown's behaviour was undeserving of the criticism he has received for another, broader reason: he did what you do everyday.

We all have two faces: our social face and our private face. Nobody loves everyone in their office, or everyone in their extended family. We show our smiling social face in the day, ask people we are utterly uninterested in about their children, and then we go home and complain about how boring they are to our partner over dinner. That is normal human behaviour, not least of all in Britain, which is still more private than most other countries.

If we despise the robotic version of politicians which have invaded our TV screens, the pre-programmed Cabinet-level automatons who emit soundbites and vacuity, then we must accept that politicians will behave like humans. They are not moral paradigms and we must accept that behaviour we would tolerate in a friend or colleague should be tolerated from them as well. This disproportionate reaction to their all-too-human failings will just provide us with another generation of political robots.

The attack that's currently underway won't fade quickly, and it will frame perception of his performance in Thursday's TV debate, which he desperately needs to win. But Brown isn't particularly out of order - you've done the same thing yourself. Glass houses and all that.

Kane is Real Pt. 14: ;;;::..";;:.,::.....::.""";";",,,

2010-04-27T07:16:00.006+08:00

;;;::..";;:.,::.....::.""";";",,,"";;;.....::. Command & Conquer 5:Return of the Scrin..::"";;....::"..:::.,,,"""";::: ;;;::..";;:., ;;;: :..";;:.,:: .....::."....',,, ,,"";";" ,,,"";;;. ....::...::"";;....::"..:::.,,,";;""";:::

.::"";;....::"..:::.,,,"""";:::

Kane is Real Pt. 13: No Bases is here to stay & ex-Westwood returns to its roots

2010-04-27T04:27:00.010+08:00

The new RTS gameplay of C&C4 did not arrive without due reproach, but it seems that despite all the scalding criticism, this style of play is setting a new trend in the industry: NO base building or resource harvest, just build units freely till you reach your pop cap limit, which was about an average of 10 tanks. Also, to gain access to the most powerful units, you had to level up RPG style.

This style of gameplay was trashed by Adam Isgreen, former Westwood employee and now one of the leads at Petroglyph ( considered a heritage of Westwood due to the large number of ex-Westwood employees who went there). And they are making a new game. Guess what the concept is. It's basically the same as C&C4, except you don't build you just control a square of tanks. It's an online game. MMORTS. The trailer is cheesy. Yep no base building. Resource gathering? None. Just a squad. Tanks. Destroy. RTS. The new direction.

OR should I say Westwood is coming back to its roots? C&C Online Community Manager posted a question on the forums and on Facebook what does C&C mean to you? ( presumably so that the next C&C game will not pull a 360 on fans and shock them to bits again). Most replied MCV, FMV, base building, resource gathering, great story,etc. But now we know that for the folks at Westwood C&C was all about one thing: tanks, tanks , TANKS. Commanding and conquering TANKS. Thats why in the early games, infantry was so useless. Because you were meant to build tanks can you not see that dammnit? Tanks SQUISH infantry. SQUISH. SQUISH. Oh no I forgot to press X in time ( to scatter my infantry) SQUISH.

Looks like all along Adam Isgreen was just upset that he wasn't the first to show the world RTS without bases. After all, all you need is tanks.

Whatever, I've levelled up to the max and I'm still playing C&C4 daily.

Head over to End of Nations to check out the new Petroglyph game. CHEESY STUFF. But like C&C4, could have the potential to be lots of fun. Time will tell.

Tanks versus a huge tank. The core of Westwood's philosophy.

Tony does the impossible again

2010-04-20T05:55:00.003+08:00

Brief updates. Too lazy to post links, so sorry. Hey, if you can't bother to look em up yourself you're just as lazy as me.

1. Air Asia X has secured rights to Seoul! Congrats Tony, once again, despite the odds, namely MAS and Korean Airlines and the Korean government, you did it. This should be a very very profitable route that will help to bolster AA-X's balance sheets. Number of flights given is estimated to be around 15 a week, the same number that MAS currently has.

2. Tony Fernandes was recently awarded France's highest honor for a non-French citizen. It's called something Frenchy, I didn't really care to notice. He was given the award for his contributions to Airbus by having Air Asia buy all 100 something of their planes from Airbus.

Where will AA go next??? Only Tony knows.

My one and only C&C Fan Art

2010-04-17T07:16:00.011+08:00

Since the franchise is now dead for the immediate future, and we can expect nothing "redeeming" (ingat keyword ni) for a while, I though I would contribute to the database of C&C fandom out there. Here's a colorful, nostalgic wallpaper for us to remember the series by. Made by moa.

Chewahhh...tiru dan lekat je. Tak tau haram ke tak.

If you want something simpler, and just the very latest in the Tiberian universe, here's another one. Set as desktop background (centered), with black background. Alternatively, you can set as (tiled) for repetitive motif.

Kane is Real Pt12. Kane is Dead

2010-04-16T22:43:00.011+08:00

and the rest of C&C along with him.

Forget the expansion pack, there is really serious doubt as to whether there is actually going to be one. I have just woken up.

I thought C&C4 was bad, but the final episode of Battlecast Primetime really hit it home on just how bad things are at EA LA.

Just as C&C pioneered the era of Real Time Strategy gaming back in 1995, Battlecast Primetime pioneered the concept of a community based monthly video for a computer game series. It's essentially a Sportscenter for C&C. And the show was really good. It started concurrent with C&C3 Tiberium Wars, and went on through the Kane's Wrath expansion pack and Red Alert 3. The dialogue was witty, and the contents were spectacular. There was plenty of humor, advertisements, and jokes. Content included game replays, interviews with designers, coverage of C&C events, etc. The show ran for over 2 years and with 25 episodes. The final episode just came out yesterday, and i is terrible. What is usually a 30 minute long show has now been reduced to a 10 minute showing of 10 replays. And even APOC, community manager for C&C has apologized on the official forums, stating that the budget has just become so bad that they were not able to deliver the 'epic' finale to the television series. Looks like epic finales just aren't EA's thing.

Sportscenter for C&C. This episode has the Ackerman Girl song.

So I guess the whole issue has been boiled down to money. The franchise just isn't making enough money to justify EA's spending. And now they're cutting back on everything. And there's a lot of inhouse politics going on as well. Remember the supposed Tiberium FPS that was cancelled?

Anyhow, Tiberium was cancelled. C&C4 was completed on a tight budget that restricted the developers to making a shitty campaign, the launch event that I went to was held in a tiny dingy internet cafe hidden right at the back of a dilapidated shopping mall in London, as opposed to the migdnight launch event of RA3 at Trafalgar Square, and now Battlecast Primetime ends with a fizzle instead of a bang. Do I even dare to dream of the possibility of an expansion pack that will redeem C&C4?

Let's see. Budget for expansion pack. $10. Maybe $15. Knowing this, EA would just make 2 new units, slap on an expansion pack title and sell it off anyway. That's what they're very good at. Churning out crap. So thankful they had the right mind to cancel Tiberium. I really don't know what to say if they release an expansion pack that makes C&C4 any worse off than it already is. If they can't make a good expansion pack that will redeem C&C4, then don't make any at all. I'd rather they not create a new all-time low for the series. It's achievements like this that only EA can do.

So I guess, the C&C franchise is dead for now. EA LA and the gaming industry are going through some difficult times. So hopefully, the series will be reborn in the future, with renewed direction and vigor and promising talent. Just like how it died off at Generals, and then came back to life years later with C&C3, which was EA LA's best RTS game.

Command & Conquer under EA Los Angeles. Bye :'(

"Only time will tell. Sooner or later.....time will tell." -Einstein, Red Alert 1 intro.

Kane is Real Pt. 11: C&C4: Incursion Wars

2010-04-15T10:53:00.007+08:00

The Expansion, or more aptly, Redemption Pack.

There are 2 main complains about C&C4:
1) Total change in gameplay
2) Terrible ending to the Kane saga that left all questions unanswered.

From what I gather, the more serious issue that most fans are upset about, or at least what I can gather from the forums, is the unbefitting storyline ending. As someone, who likes the new gameplay, I agree too.

Thus, if EA is smart, and is reading all the fan complaints, they too will realize this. And assuming that they have not reduced the budget of further C&C projects to near zero, they should know that the unsatisfying, gap-filled story ending can be redeemed with a C&C4 expansion pack, in the same way that Kane's Wrath's campaign was interwoven with Tiberium Wars'.

Again, I propose that the expansion pack campaign be about events that happened during the Incursion Wars prior to C&C4 and also to events happening concurrently with C&C4. Primarily, the Incursion Wars was the period in which Kane and GDI were working together to build the Tiberium Control Network (TCN), and they were facing resistance from Nod splinter factions led by Gideon. Use such a backdrop to design missions that fill in the gaps in the C&C cannon. Why does Kane want to ascend? What happened to LEGION? How exactly does the Tiberium Control Network control Tiberium? etc. And remember, the box art should be purple, since we already have green, red, and blue cover arts.

And make sure not to repeat the problems of Kane's Wrath, which opened up more questions than answered them, creating such high expectations for the culmination of the series in C&C4, which answered none of them. And please EA, mission design has to be better. We know you can do better. Please do not reduce the budget for the campaign to zero.

It's not to late EA. The expansion pack is your second chance. FIX IT. Fans like me are a rarity and a blessing, we have not abandoned and boycotted C&C4 like the rest. Instead, we are appealing to you, through our blogs, and your forums, and other forums, to please for the love of Kane redeem the finale of Kane's story.

In C&C4, the Tacitus was used to save Earth. In the real world, the expansion pack is your Tacitus. Use it to save C&C4.

Kane is Real Pt.10: Westwood disowns C&C4.

2010-04-15T07:34:00.005+08:00

Ok not Westwood, cause it doesn't really exist anymore, but a former developer of Westwood.

Alright, so apart from me, pretty much everyone else including Hitler doesn't like C&C4. (see previous post. Also make sure to lookup videos of Hitler phones Kane, Hitler phones Yuri, etc. Farny stuff!)

And now, one of the former developers of Westwood whom everyone loves, Adam Isgreen shares his thoughts on C&C4. He trashes it.

The problem I have is, he is trashing it before he has even finished it. And some of the complaints he makes are about things that are just wrong, that he doesn't know enough about.

And lastly, Mr former Westwood guy who worked on Tiberian Sun, your new games at your new Petroglyph Studios (Universe at War) tanked big time, so I'm pretty sure that if you were in charge of C&C4 you'd tank it as well.

Here's a snippet of his C&C4 review.

So all of that is very clever and all, and it’s a tight design loop of all the systems, but you know what? This feels like a downloadable RTS game, one I’d pay $20 dollars for on Steam.

...

I had a theory that this game didn’t start out as a core C&C title. After talking to various folks, turns out I’m not completely off base with that assumption, which explains a lot.

I applaud the EA folk for actually trying something new, but I don’t think that messing around with the finale in a franchise and story that’s 15 years in the making was the right moment to get experimental. You know what’s funny? If they’d taken everything they cut from this game and made that into a game, we’d be much closer to a classic C&C than what was produced.

I don’t personally see C&C4 as a core C&C game. But, if you treat it as a stand-alone multiplayer-centric game and have a group of friends you can play regularly with, go for it.

Read the rest of his article at his own blog. HERE

On the side note, I've been looking at some old videos of C&C3 gameplay. And I must admit, that is a really good C&C game. But I still maintain that while it was better, I am now enjoying C&C4 more. IT SUITS CASUAL PICK UP AND PLAY GAMERS LIKE ME. So bugger off Adam! Go play your own crappy Petroglyph games!

Kane is Real Pt.9: Hitlerious Stuff!

2010-04-14T08:08:00.009+08:00

Want to know what Hitler thinks about C&C4? See for yourself in this famous scene that has become a internet parody sensation of just about anything.

Earlier on before the release of the game, there was a video in which Hitler was briefed on the changes of C&C4, and then he gets mad about the changes, namely, about there not being 'base building' and 'tiberium harvesting'. To me that original one was a whole lot funnier, but I do not have permission to put it here. So here is the link. Here.

The video below is his rage and madness AFTER finishing C&C4's terrible single-player campaign. Not as funny, but still worth the watch.

There are few others about other C&C4 issues including one where Hitler reacts to the news that he has been killed in Red Alert 1 by Einstein at the beginning of the games, and even one titled "Hitler phones Kane". And if you're not a C&C fan, then well, there are lots of other parodies of things you hate/love. Eg. Windows 7.

To give credit to the original film though, Der Untergang (Downfall) is a superb movie, probably my favorite German movie thus far with a very realistic, tense, and emotional portrayal of the last days of the war in Berlin. It's highly recommended if you're a history buff, war buff, or simply the artsy type for whom foreign-movies-that-you-can-only-understand-by-reading-subtitles make you feel sophisticated and intellectual.

Kane is Real Pt.8: Just a picture. Of my Desktop

2010-04-14T03:50:00.002+08:00

A (hearing) tour down memory lane

2010-04-13T05:28:00.002+08:00

I lied. I need to talk about CNC more. This is too important to not blog about. At the very least, its no longer just about "Kane is Real".

For all of you CNC fans out there, or simply any of you who've played any of the CNC games, I'm pretty sure that one of the most memorable things about the series was the quotes. Either by the units like the Tesla Trooper or the Kirov Airship, or from the actors and their dialogues in the FMV scenes.

Anyways, here's a site for all of us.

Wikiquote: Command and Conquer

All the best from the series of games. And a lot of them are really funny. Here's a select few of my favorites.

"At least I have job." - Flak Trooper

"The needs of the many are outweighed by the needs of the Yuri" - Worker

"There will be no more free will; only my will." - Yuri

It's all just text for others, but it's music in my ears. And surprisingly, there's lot's of quotes that I've never really noticed, but upon reading them, my subconcious tells me that yeah, that was in the game I just never really took notice of it! And now I want to go back and play it again!

Kane is Real Pt.7: I, the Heretic

2010-04-11T22:21:00.022+08:00

Yes, yes, I too didn't expect it to carry this far. This is my last say about CNC4.

Those who know me well know that my favorite CNC game is Red Alert 2. But what about my second favorite? Ok here it is : Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twillight

Yup, I have come to like CNC4 more than CNC3. I still maintain that the campaign is the worst of any CNC game, but CNC4 has done for me what no other CNC game has, gotten me hooked onto its multiplayer.

An RTS becomes an RPG.

I think I finally get what all the fuss about ‘leveling up’ is that makes you RPG fans RPG fans. So in CNC4, you don’t get access to all the units straightaway. You have to level up and unlock stuff when you reach a new level. This is done by playing the game, any part of it – Campaign, Skirmish, online, whatever. Just play it, and you will level up. Even when you lose a match, you still gain the victory points accumulater in the game. The maximum level is 20. Like most other RTS games, I bought CNC4 for the campaign, which severely disappointed. By the time I had finished it though , I was only at Level 10. The other better half of the more advanced units eg.Avatar, Mammoth Tank, Temple of Nod, Ion Cannons were still unlocked. And so I dabbled in a little multiplayer just to see how the leveling up and unlocking system went.

So at first I tried the Player vs Computer online matches. Wow this is actually pretty fun. And then next I move on to the player vs player online matches. Ok against real people, even more fun! So I kept playing and leveling up, to reach my goal of unlocking all those powerful units at level 20.

So, in my quest to unlock those powerful units, I forced myself to play the game. And now, I am hooked. As I’ve said before, the multiplayer is easy to get into, and a lot of fun. Everything is about capturing those points on the map that generate the victory points needed to win the match. Essentially, this was an FPS like Battefield or Modern Warfare, except in the RTS world. Yup, you know how fun those games are.

I'm really not a fan of multiplayer RTS. I'm just not good at it.

However, its ok to be NOT good at CNC4. Multiplayer matches are not 1 on 1 like CNC3, Starcraft, Warcraft, and all, its always played in teams. So when you lose, you don’t feel like its your fault. The loss doesn’t hurt as much. And when your team losses cause of someone else, you just want to @$$F&*! that idiot. And when you win, then it just means that life is fair. That, coupled with my constant repetition of: this dumbed down RTS game is the easiest RTS to pick up and play. Just like in Modern Warfare, you still had fun, eventhough you team lost. In effect, I am spending the most time with CNC4 than with many other CNC games. With RA3, I uninstalled it the moment I finished the campaign. Thus, CNC4 is giving me the most bang for my buck. Oh wait, got it for free.

Now, I’m at Level 18 Nod and Level 13 GDI, still a long ways to go before I reach level 20. But you know what . I’m hooked. I don’t think I’ll stop at 20. I’ll probably only stop playing CNC4 when the CNC4 expansion comes out. That’s right, out of the frying pan and into the fire. Starcraft 2 you say? Probably not. I’ve seen the battlereports. Omg oh so competitive, every single unit counts, every single move counts, move a unit 1 cm in the wrong spot and that spells victory or defeat. That is traditional RTS at its finest competitiveness. It's not for casual me though. I’m pretty sure I will dabble a bit with the SC multiplayer, but without the leveling up incentive that CNC4 offers, I think I’ll fizzle out of the multiplayer pretty soon. Unless someone makes a DOTA for SC. Remember what made DOTA so fun? No base building! Yeah, NOW you see the point of CNC4.

But the Campaign is so undeserving of Kane’s finale!

Yes. Sadly, it is. Even, Sam Bass, the lead designer for the campaign admits it. And from what I hear, the budget for CNC4 was lacking. Guess the assholes at top management EA don’t appreciate CNC like us. It’s just another cog in their mass-producing factory of games.

The way I see it, CNC4 is a multiplayer emphasis game, like Battlefield and Counterstrike was for the FPS. For me, the canon of the Tiberium story practically ended with CNC3 and Kane’s Wrath. In CNC4, the crux of the story is simply, Kane ascended. Bye dude. Good thing I met you in London before you disappeared! In between, you have a wife. She cries. A lot.

So please expansion pack have some redeeming qualities. Give us a real Tiberium War. The Incursion War! Between Gideon and the GDI/Kane Alliance. It’s not too late.

So you really, really, REALLY love CNC4 huh. Even more than CNC3.

Yes, and in my feeble defense, I applaud EA for trying to do something new with the traditional CNC formula. And what they’ve done is pure heresy from the standpoint of a fanatical CNC fan, but the new, when judged for itself, isn’t completely bad. The game is pretty balanced, the units and the sides well thought out and tight. I’m seeing a little skewness of better units on the GDI side, but that could just be my opinion. Don’t think about the hype it was supposed to live up to; the finale of the Kane saga. Think of it as, just another CNC title, like Generals was: deviant but nevertheless a whole bundle of fun in the end.

And now, with the CNC4 gameplay being so different, doesn’t this mean that CNC3 will continue to be played? So now us fans have 2 great games with two different play styles to choose from! Kane’s Wrath lives on! Yes, I know, its like saying, I’m thankful the new Hobbit movie isn’t so good. That way the original LOTR movie can still be my favorite. Oh well, c’est la vie.

Also, I’ve begun to see how appropriate the Tiberian Twillight subtitle of CNC4 is. Why the surprise that there’s no more Tiberium? Doesn’t the word twilight mean the end of something or some period after all? So duh, no more Tiberium in Tiberium Twillight!

STFU? Alright, alright, I’m getting to the end.

From disappointing campaign, to wanting to level up a little, to wanting to reach level 20, and now to go beyond that. From a Nod player, I’m now appreciating GDI. From frontline offense class, I’ve moved onto critical support role for me team. Eventually, I’d like to play the offensive Defense style that’s becoming more and more popular now. From CNC4 critique, to CNC4 lover. I am a heretic.

But make no mistake EA, I, the heretic, have managed to appreciate the efforts and innovation that CNC4 has brought. But please, BRING BACK MY BASE in future CNC games. One game with crawlers is more than enough. Best wishes for Generals 2 and Red Alert 4.

I still don’t get all this nonsense. Why can't you blog about something relevant?

Hmm. You must be a – normal person. Alright I'll try to curb my enthusiasm and limit it only to EA's servers. No more CNC, for a while. In return, indulge me. Watch this short video from YouTube summarizing what CNC4 is about. Normal people do YouTube, right?

Yep, the campaign wasn't epic, but the music is.

---FIN---

The 4th Air Asia

2010-04-11T18:51:00.005+08:00

Finally, a break from Kane is Real. Yes, I can hear your sighs of relief! Here's my other passion. The Red Airline that could.

News Article: AirAsia, VietJet Air sign partnership

OVERCOMING OBSTACLES

Tony Fernandes has done it once again. Overcoming the 2 key challenges of 1) bureaucracy and red tape profound in many Asian governments and 2) the stern opposition of the country's national carrier.

When Tony initially wanted to start up the new AirAsia with local company VietJet, Vietnam Airlines protested, partly because they know how popular AirAsia is in SEA and how its eaten away at the monopolies of national carriers like MAS. But somehow, Tony has managed to charm the key governments officials who are the gatekeepers in charge of having the final say to whether he can or cannot open up a new AirAsia in their backyards. Once before, Tony wasn't an important figure with the government. Now, he is practically following them everywhere there are international summits. He followed Najib to Paris sometime back for some bilateral France-Malaysia trade thingy to work out concessions and discounts for future purchases of Airbus aircraft. Two days ago, Tony used the 16th Asean Conference to officially sign the partnership with VietJet, in front of Najib and the Deputy PM of Vietnam.

With the favorable approval by both governments, its confirmed, Tony is free to eat away at Vietnam Airlines' market share. Tentative first flights for VietJet AirAsia begin in August according to the article.

SIGNIFICANCE OF VIETNAM

Why the need to open up a 4th AirAsia? The reasons are mostly geographical.

1) Routes. Currently as a Malaysia company AA can only operate Malaysia-Vietnam routes. Thus, AA can only fly from KL to Hanoi, HoChiMinh, etc. AA can't operate routes like Hanoi-Bangkok. Because the two destinations have nothing to do with Malaysia, and so govn regulations say that AA has no business there. How did Tony solve the solution? Open up AirAsia Thailand. So now Air Asia has become a local Thai company. Therefore, Hanoi-Thailand is a go.

Therfore, the strategic geographical importance of a base in Vietnam is to gain access to upper East Asia, the markets of China, Japan, and Korea. So I'm guessing there will eventually be Hanoi-Beijing, Hanoi-Tokyo, Hanoi-Seoul flights, or something like that. Why not fly there straight from KL you ask?

2) Time and Distance. For successful low-cost operations, a flight should be no more than 3 to 4 hours away. Any longer, and you require bigger planes to be economical, and bigger planes add more expenses, like longer gate rentals because of longer boarding times, longer baggage load time, etc. And also, as we all know even RapidKL busses are more comfortable than AA's black leather seats. Hence, the reason why long haul AA-X has had to introudce flat beds and comfy stuff, cause ppl can stand a hard surface for only 3-4 hours at most!

So yes, Air-Asia could fly to Jpn and Kor from KL, but that would be the job of AA-X then. And personally, I don't think AA-X is doing as well as AA in terms of profit margins. So by flying out of Vietnam, Tony solves the 3-4 hour distance problem. Hanoi is already 3 hours away from KL, and is probably 3 or 4 to Japan, China, or Korea. Thus, there will be two types of passengers flying to those places outta Hanoi 1) local Vietnamese wanting to go there for holidays/business 2) transit passengers from Bangkok, KL, Jakarta, Singapore.

3) Reverse Traffic. For us ASEANS, everytime AA opens up a new destination to a new country, we immediately say, yes! We Malaysians/Thais/Indonesians are going to benefit! We are getting low-cost access to other countries now! But we also have to think of the reverse, the benefit also belongs to the people on the other side. For instance, the new destinations to India are actually for the thousands of Indians who want to come to Malaysia, not so much that a lot of Malaysians want to go to India. The same goes for the KL-Dhaka route, in which AA brings in lots of Bangla migrant workers. And the same for KL-Indonesian routes. All the maid agencies are now using AA to bring in the maids. So with the opening up of Hanoi -China/Japan/Korea, the dual purpose is not only for us ASEANS to get access to their countries, but also to give them low cost access to ours. This is Tony's primary spiel when trying to convince local and foreign authorities to open up new routes: the spill over benefits from tourism and business.

WHAT NEXT TONY?

I'm guessing AirAsiaIndia. I'm pretty sure he has dreams of an AirAsiaChina, but we all know that THAT is the ultimate challenge, dealing with the Chinese government. And now that Vietjet Air Asia is being set-up, the access that Tony will get to China from Vietnam will appease him. For now.

Oh wait. First things first. Lotus needs to become F1 champions.

Kane is Real Pt. 6: Speaking of not having a collector's edition.....

2010-04-10T04:36:00.014+08:00

Pay attention EA. Your "pre-order" just didn't cut it.

Kane is Real Pt.5: The Fans scream Murder

2010-04-09T08:58:00.011+08:00

When people have nothing to do on the internet, they Facebook, they Youtube, they blog/read blogs.

I read the C&C4 forums. There are many. On fan sites. On the official site as well. And they are blardy damn farny. They mostly bash C&C4 and EA. Here's a link to three of such threads on the official site. I think the "superb" grammar in the titles alone is enough to indicate the hilariousness of these threads.

C&C 4 possiblity of return??

the death of the modern C&C games Due to C&C4

SPOILERS - Just completed the game... Er... What the hell?!?!?!

Seriously, the way the fans express their rage, especially those that employ sarcasm; it's a literary art form.

Impressed and inspired, I too would like to leave my own forum post. For now, this is the best I can think of. It's not artistic, inspiring, sophisticated, nor humorous. Just plain sincere.

"One day if I have the money, I will buy out the franchise from EA. The healing and restoration can then begin."

Kane is Real Pt.4: The Warning Signs

2010-04-07T22:21:00.005+08:00

In hindsight, the suckiness to become of C&C4 should have been expected due to these warning signs.

NO COLLECTORS EDITION
This is supposed to be the grand finale of the C&C saga where Kane is concerned. This is our long awaited Tiberian Twillight. For C&C3 there was the Kane edition. For RA3; the Premier Edition. This game should have generated the most pomp and flare on the internet, and should have come in collectors, premium, platinum, Kane, Black Hand, Ascension editions. All we had was just a pre-order, and it still came in the same casing with the same cover art.

NO BOASTING OF AN ALL-STAR CAST
If you remember C&C3 and RA3 that came before this, they heavily advertised the casting line-up for their FMVs way in advance. For C&C3, it was a whole lot of popular actors and actresses from shows like Battlestar Galactica, Lost, and even Star Wars' own Lando Calrissian. (Sorry I do not know any of their names. I think it's Grace, Holloway, and Lando Calrissian) And for RA3, well...they were basically selling sex with all those girls. Shame on you EA. But still, no word on casting line-ups for C&C4.

Clearly, now that I look back, it seems that EA had determined way in advance for C&C4 to be mediocure at best.

Kane is Real Pt. 3: The Geeky Stuff! is Good but not Great

2010-03-29T06:52:00.012+08:00

To understand this post, you need to be familiar with Command and Conquer. (A major dialect of Geekspeak) Otherwise don't waste your time. Yes Nushka, you bugger off. There are no 4 letter words in this. =P

OK so all the hype about my surprise at unknowingly finding myself at the UK launch event. But the more important question is. How is the damn game?

GET IT ONLY FOR THE MULTIPLAYER.

The real 4th Tiberium War is found not in the Campaign but in the hundreds of online matches raging across EA's servers between CNC fans.

OK. I'm aware of all the bashing I've given the game until now. And all that critisicm still holds true - for the the Single Player Campaing. the CNC franchise, 15 years in the running, c'mon man, this finale has to blow us away!

But it doesn't. The Campaign has the weakest story ever of any CNC game. this is no 4th Tiberium War. It's a personal spat between a Kane who wants to 'ascend' to the Scrin heavens on top the Scrin towers, and a psychopathic GDI commander has a personal score to settle with Kane. The endings is horribly weak and disappointing, and explains nothing. Kane ascends. That's it. Was that a spoiler? No. Cause it wasn't even anything good worth spoiling to begin with. No more are the grand strategic battles you used to fight over the first three Tiberium Wars. It's all personal now. And except for 3 to 4 missions that are truly memorable, the rest of them I forgot as soon as the mission was over. Oh, and you have a whiny wife now. Yes. In the single player campaign. You have a wife. She is always crying. Now you know this is just bad cinema. EA you have let us down with C&C4.

But the multiplayer is a different story. If you don't know by now, the biggest changes of CNC4 are NO tiberium harvesting, NO base building, and imposition of a population cap. What this means is no more bases to macromanage, and a limited number of units to control. You know what this has done? It has made the multiplayer more accessible to the general public!

I am one of those casual gamers who could not keep up with the highly competitive environment of previous CNC games, and so I usually stayed away from CNC multiplayer. The best were really good. They memorized build orders, and were able to maco and micro manage between controlling units, building buildings, and harvesting. I'll admit, I was not good at doing so in the fast paced blink of an eye speed of multiplayer. But now, all I have to do, is build units instantaneously until they reach the pop cap, and attack. No problem if units die, build them again. For Free! And they also build while your MCV is on the move, and they come out when you deploy it. So yes folks, I like the fact that CNC4 has been dumbed down. Now dummy like me can take on pros like you beetch.

Also, each faction NOD and GDI is now divided into 3 subfactions: Offense, Defense, and Support. Each subfaction has its own units. So all in all there are actually 6 distinct armies. And to gain the best units, you have to level up till level 20. Yup, like an RPG. And it is this facet of the game that initially made me dabble with the multiplayer because once I finished the campaign, I was only at lvl 10, and I wanted to unlock all the other more powerful units. And this was where I became hooked to the multiplayer. Trust me when I say, I'm not multiplayer expert, and CNC4 is very accessible to the casual gamer. A match is no longer won by destroying all of the enemies' buildings, but by capturing Control Nodes, killing enemy units, etc. in which you accumulate points. First team to do so wins. Yup, something like FPS games of Battlefield and Modern Warfare. Doesn't matter if you lose your MCV, you just get a new one! And even though you lose the match, you still get to keep the experience points your team earned, so this gives you the incentive to keep on fighting even though you know the battle is lost. Cause those experience points will still help you level up!

All the stuff to unlock for NOD offense class.

VERDICT
If you've been looking at CNC4 reviews on other sites, you can see the wide discrepancy between official site ratings and fan ratings. Fan ratings are all at 1.0 or close to zero, whereas official site ratings have given CNC4 and average of 7.0 out of 10. This is because all fans have been judging it on the single player campaign which absolutely sucks, and the new play style of no bases just doesnt suit it. So this is a terrible game to be given the name CNC4. But judged on its own, this game is good and fun system for multiplayer. This is what official sites have done in rating this game.

For me, I say the same. Single player absolute bollocks. But I can tell that I will be playing the multiplayer for a long time to come. I had got the game free, but having known this, if would buy the game if I had to.

NOD defense class. See the difference? Defence can build a few buildings! (mostly turrets)

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
Expansion pack of course. I'm pretty sure that the expansion pack can do no worse than CNC4. If anything, it should add new multiplayer game modes, and perhaps add a bit more of a decent story and campaign. I'm thinking will it be about the Incursion Wars prior to the 4th Tib War? They sound like more fun missions to play than the crap family drama in CNC4. Once again, we can have strategic battles between NOD and GDI. Oh, and given that we've already had green, red and blue covers, I'm betting the expansion will have a purple or yellow cover.

Also, RA4. C'mon, you didn't expect them to give CNC4 without RA4 didja? And don't forget, Generals 2. What type of gameplays? Return of the base? Highly probable. Let's just hope CNC4 was a one time malady. In the meantime, I'll be enjoying the multiplayer, at least till the expansion/RA4/Generals 2/New version of Renegade. (After all, the CNC universe is one of the richest sci-fi ones out there. Lots of money to be milked. This is all that EA knows about CNC )

NOD support class. All the aircraft plus see the support powers.

Oh, just to clarify. In the pictures, you can see upgrades. How do you use upgrades in the game. Well, there is no tiberium harvesting. But there is a tiberium collecting. There are tiberium points in the game, where a tiberium crystal will appear. You collect it, and bring it back to your MCV deploy zone, and you get points to use the upgrades. Hence, I think that this sod of a game whilst not deserving title CNC, is very deserving of the subtitle Tiberian Twilight, meaning the end times for Tiberium.

Gawd EA hire me to write your stories, I'll do it for free...

Kane is Real Pt. 2: The Geeky Stuff! on Video

2010-03-29T02:17:00.014+08:00

So I was looking at some CNC fansites the other day, in particular CNCNZ because they have the best galleries of CNC concept art, and I was just scrolling down the site, and WHOA..... WHO IS THAT HANDSOME FELLA? (Not talking about the bald guy, the one next to him)

SO that's where my interview with EA went. To Gametrailers and now its being distributed around all of CNC fandom!

And the best part is, my photo session with Kane has become the image representing the video!

So yeah I make appearances at the 3.00 minute mark, where I'm taking a photo with Kane.

And again at the 3.45 minute mark, where my hair is shit thanks to me putting on and taking off the headphones everytime the camera or Kane comes near me, and my entire grand interview has been cut down to me saying.

"I like it a lot. (A big lie at the time) It's CNC. I love anything CNC. And I hope there'll be more games in the future. "

Damn EA is free advertising all you want. Don't you want to know what my favorite unit is?????

Revival

2010-03-24T03:22:00.003+08:00

For clarification purposes, this blog is not dead. It's just when there's so much else to occupy your time with, it really needs to be something big for me to blog about it.

And this past weekend in London actually merits that! So keep checking back soon in the next week or two. I will split the weekend into two posts as they are two chief events. The first post is already up below!

For those of you who don't know still, I'm currently in London for a few months. Cheers!

Kane is Real: The Pinnacle of my video gaming life. Geeky stuff!

2010-03-24T00:21:00.032+08:00

WHO IS KANE?
Kane holds the record of being the longest running villain in a video game series (15 years according the Guinness Book of Records). He is the head villain in the long running Command & Conquer series of computer games. To everyone including the player, Kane is portrayed as the leader of a fanatical army of followers constituting freedom fighters/rebels/the oppressed/the marginalised in a world that is slowly being poisoned by a powerful alien substance called Tiberium. This army is called the Brotherhood of Nod, or just NOD. Their enemy is the GDI represents the privileged spoilt minority who lead comfortable lives in the Blue Zones, safe from the deadly affects of Tiberium.

Kane in action.

In every game the actors change, but Kane (played by actor Joe Kucan) is always present. Just as Kane is the most famous villain in the video gaming industry, Joe Kucan is the most famous actor in the video gaming world. Command & Conquer 4 (C&C4) is the last game in the series to feature Kane, as it has been decided that this will be the end of Kane's story. (Though definitely not the end of the C&C series). C&C4 came out on March 16th in the US. I also thought it came out on the same day in the UK, but unbeknown to me it came out on March 19th.

If you want to know more, click here to go to the official Command & Conquer website. Make sure you also visit the Red Alert and Generals tabs up top to see the other two universes of Command & Conquer!

A CHANCE ENCOUNTER WITH THE MESSIAH.

Nearing its release date, I still hadn’t ordered C&C4 yet. I had tried to several times but somehow never really completed the online order. There was always something stopping me.For one thing, I wanted the US version cover over the UK version cover, if not for anything other than wanting to avoid the ugly age suitability rating on the UK version. But the shipping costs of sending it to the UK from US were too high for me. I had decided that I would just wait till I got back to the States to get it. (That would be this August). A few days before the release though, I discovered that the HMV near school had an attached cybercafé that was having free walk in plays of C&C4 for one week from March 19-26. So I decided not to buy it first and go for the free trial.

I decided to go there on the first day of the trial week, March 19^th, but time was going to be tight cause class finished at 11am and I had a train to Manchester to catch at 7pm, and I still hadn't done my laundry and packed my things. But I really wanted to at least spend an hour trying C&C4 out, so I went anyway. I reached the cybercafé at HMV at about 11am (right after class duh!), and the guy said the game had not arrived. He said to come back in the afternoon. I was disappointed, and I thought the game wouldn’t be coming in at all that day, but I hung around, the area, and came back at 12pm, upon which I could see that they were setting the place up. I got excited. There was something definitely going on. But again they said it wasn’t ready and told me to return at one.

At 1pm, I came. There was a huge crowd waiting. Alright here we go! But no, we just stood there and waited. I could see that all the coms had C&C4 already up and running in their main menus. So I asked the young chap next to me : What are we waiting for?

“The actor is coming”

Huh?

(Pause as his sentence registered in my mind)

NO WAY. Kane is coming??? OMG. Why was he coming? Isn't this just a free one week trial?

“This is the UK launch. Everyone also gets a free copy of the game” he continued.

WTF. Ok, I seriously thought this kid was pulling my leg.

“I’m totally serious! You don’t know this? Why are you even here? Did you just walk by and decide to drop in?”

Errr.....Yeah mate. I was just here to try out the game for free. Mate.

Surprise! Thank goodness I didn’t wait till after coming back from the weekend to try the game out for free! I would have missed the launch! A few moments later, Kane really did come. I was still in disbelief. All this while I’ve been reading on the internet about all the special C&C events that are held in big cities in the States, or Germany where Kane and the C&C promotional teams go, but I never thought I’d get a chance to be a part of that. Certainly not in Kuala Lumpur, or South Bend, but I guess I was in London now! So why not? Lots of stuff from America premieres in London. I’d been to the premieres of Valentine’s Day and Alice in Wonderland already, so why not computer game premieres too?

I’ll tell you why. For starters, that cybercafé was so small and obscure I’d think they would have chosen a more popular spot to premiere it. And the crowd was really small for the premiere of the game. But then again, if you’ve been following the controversy surrounding C&C4 (another post on that later), you’d realize that such a dismal launch event isn’t really all that surprising. In the end, only about 70% of the computers were occupied.

THE MESSIAH SPEAKS

Enigmatic even off-screen.

So the event started with Kane giving a speech. He’s really sarcastic. Joked about nearly everything. He apologised for not being in C&C5, he told us that he had never won a single multiplayer match, because we guys were really good. I think that's all from his speech I could remember, cause I couldn’t help it. Took out my N82 and started snapping and recording away. I was the only one to do so. Am I the only jakun one here who has never seen Kane before? After his speech he opened the floor to Q&A.

What's your next move now that you're done with C&C?

Several options. My tears apparently can cure lots of diseases even cancer. So I have a stint with Dow Chemicals where they put me in a torture chamber, and torture and punish me so that I'll cry and they collect my tears in a vial that goes to market. And I'm also lined up for a few movie roles!

What is your favorite new feature of C&C4?

Well, I never really liked harvesting. I know. It's what C&C is all about, but I just disliked it immensely. So I'm really happy there is no harvesting in this new game.

What is your favorite C&C game?

Probably Renegade. (Hiss and snickers from the audience) I know, I know, I'm supposed to be Kane but the game I like the most is the one which I'm not in. But you know, I just really liked being able to see the universe from a first person perspective.

How do you get into character?

Well, I take a bunch of cute little puppies, and I put them in a cardboard box, and then I curb stomp the box of puppies. Again and again and again. What do you mean I how do I get into character? I'm Kane! I just stare at anyone and I'm already in character!

Do you have a favorite Kane moment?

I do actually! The second game what's it called? Tiberian..... Sun? And the guy in that game....what's his name......erm....Slavik! That's right Slavik. He's addressing an audience of Nod troops and they're about to execute some traitor. And Slavik is chanting: Kane Lives in Death! Kane Lives in Death! And then suddenly, I appear on the big screen above him, and I say: KANE LIVES! That scene still gives me the goosebumps until now.

And that is all I remember of his Q&A. Remember, I was more focused on snapping pictures and recording him, so my memory might be slightly fuzzy. For the most part, I have only put in what I actually heard, and have not filled in the gaps myself. But there still might be errors, so if you see differing accounts on other websites, just know that they may be right.

PLAYTIME FINALLY. BUT I WASN'T INTERESTED IN THE GAME ANYMORE

At the end of the speech and Q&A, Kane congratulated all of us, because our attendance was supposedly due to the fact that we won some contest. Woohoo I just walked in Kane! And then he said that he would be hanging around the cybercafé the rest of the day and he hoped to get the chance to shake each of our hands and talk to us. Nice!

Then when he finished, I thought everyone would walk up to him to take pictures, but no one did. So I didn’t want to be so jakun. So I obediently sat down at one of the PCs next to the same chap who had told me what this event was about. I asked him to take a picture of me and Kane when Kane came up to us. There was already a pre-signed photo of Kane and a free C&C4 shirt. waiting at the computer. Sweet! But hold on, where's my free game? That's the most important!

Everyone dove into C&C4 immediately, some playing campaign, some the online multiplayer, and some skirmish. I was more interested in getting my free game and getting the photo with Kane though and I kept looking around for him and my game. I mean come on, why do I want to settle for seeing Kane on screen when he's right there in the same room with me in real life!!! Eventually some staff member came and handed out the free game to everyone. Woohoo! Now I didn’t have to spend 50 USD on the game anymore!

wtf...C&C4 is so bloody different and screwed up!

Alright, now where is Kane. Ah ok, he’s walking up to people and talking to them. But not everyone though. More like every other. Crap, gotta make sure I get to talk to him. In the meantime, I started playing the game. OMG this game was terrible. (Game review will come up in the next post!) I felt like complaining about it to Kane, but thought better of it. He might not want to take a picture with me if I bash his game. Though I could definitely tell from his speech that he was no C&C junkie like us fans, and I bet that he hardly ever plays the game. He probably just takes all the money that he gets from us fans who made him famous and spends it on life's luxuries. And he's probably doing all that whilst laughing at us computer game geeks. But what can we do, we love you Kane!

Eventually he came up on the other side of the guy next to me. OH no, I had a feeling he was going to walk away once he was done talking to my neighbor. So at the end, as he was about to depart, I called out: “Kan- ….Joe! (His real name ref: JOSHUA), can I get a picture with you?”

FREE brand new C&C4 game: CHECK.

Photo with the video gaming industry’s most famous actor and villain: CHECK!

INTERVIEW WITH KANE

Then we talked a while. At first he made the standard C&C4 chit chat that he’d been doing with the others. “Playing Nod eh, you should be winning, etc.” But I took our conversation down a different road. I immediately told him. “ Joe, I’m so surprised to see you here! I didn’t even know this was the launch event I just wanted to try out the game. Furthermore I’m not supposed to be in London. I’m actually from In-dee-yeah-nah.

“REALLY? Yeah, I can hear the slight accent!” Alright now it was Kane’s turn to be excited and surprised. And this really got the conversation rolling. It was his turn to ask me what I was doing in London. And then we talked about my schooling in Notre Dame, March Madness, and the best part was him saying: “Notre Dame eh? My ex from 2 years ago went there. SCREW HER.” And then he asked me how UNLV was doing in the March Madness and I didn’t really know. And then at the end, before we ended the chat, as I wanted to thank him for the nice surprise, he proceeded to shake my hand and ask for my name. WOW. Have you ever had a celebrity ask for your name? No. Cause they won’t see you again so why bother. But he asked mine! What an honor. It was then that I knew that I was definitely born to be Nod. And I probably would have been one of those guys who would make it to his inner circle. And then he’d eventually kill me off for knowing too much/becoming a threat to his power. Seriously, can you possibly think of a better way to die than this???? Oohhh…the honor and prestige!!!! I HEART YOU NOD!

And then Kane left to take pictures with another fan. And I sat down at my computer again, fully satisfied to my heart’s and fandom’s content. What a wonderfully surprising turnout of the day! Because I was so happy I still couldn’t concentrate on the game. I just remember clicking aimlessly at things without really caring what my clicking did. I MET KANE! I TOOK A PICTURE WITH HIM! I TALKED TO HIM! HIS EX WENT TO NOTRE DAME! I MET KANE!!!! GAHHH...... =DDDDDDDDDDDDDD!

But the elation didn’t end there.

INTERVIEW WITH EA

A few minutes later, EA UK’s media and promotions team came up behind me, tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I would like to do an interview for them. HELL YEAH! Wow, I was so excited. Am I going to be on the website? Must I only say nice things about C&C4? (Cause the gameplay was crap). When will this appear? Must I make the cut? Are you going to edit it? Then the interview began and he asked me the questions.

What do you think of the new C&C4?

Mind: It’s a piece of shit. I’m so happy you guys are giving me a free copy. I would have gone back to M’sia and bought a pirated one if you didn’t.

Mouth: It’s pretty exciting. Just very different from traditional C&C games. But pretty exciting. And enjoyable.

Do you think that the more you play the more you will get used to the difference and enjoy it more?

Mind: Fuck no. What type of bloody C&C game has no base building, no tiberium harvesting, and you win the match by waiting for victory points to accumulate? This is not C&C at all you dumbnuts! Thank goodness you gave me a free copy! Paying for the game would have been the biggest waste of money! (Retail price is U$50, UK Pound 30)

Mouth: Definitely! It’s just very different and not what people usually expect from traditional C&C games, but the more you play it, the more you will discover it to be exciting. And enjoyable. (Gawd, I am repeating myself to much. Stop asking me about this stupid game!)

Are you a big fan of the C&C franchise?

Mind & Mouth: OH very definitely!

Which is your favourite C&C game?

Mind: Alright, now this question I can shine for your website EA.

Mouth: Wow, that’s a tough one there are so many good ones. I started with Red Alert and then moved on to Tiberian Dawn. So the Red Alert universe has always had a special starting point for me, and Red Alert 2 is my favorite game of all. My 2^nd favorite would be C&C3 Tiberium Wars, that was really well done. ( I meant it!) But I didn’t like Red Alert 3 so much. I felt that it tried to be too comical, to emulate the success of Red Alert 2, but the effort was just over done, and in the end, everything felt forced and unnatural, as if they inserted features for comic’s sake only.

Which is your favorite unit?

Mind: Yep, I can do this too.

Mouth: Oh the Kirov airship would probably be my favorite. Actually I have many favorites. I’m a big fan of Nod so I love most of the Nod units. Like the Scorpion Tank, Obelisk of Light, Flame Tank, etc.

Alright Chris, thank you very much, and enjoy your C&C4!

Mind: I’ll try my best, but you guys have screwed up the game too much. And its supposed to be the grand finale of my lord Kane’s story too. Bastards.

Mouth: Yep definitely, can’t wait to get my hands deeper into the game!

“YOU’RE VERY LUCKY TODAY”

After the interview, the chap whom I had sat next to who had been telling me what was going on and snapped the picture of me and Kane asked me, “What was that all about?” I said in a very nonchalant way, “Oh you know…just asking me my thoughts on the game and all.”

With a tinge of jealousy he replied: “Oh. You’re very lucky today.”

My reply: “ I KNOW!”

Chris, you jerk, why did you have to make him feel even worse? I had just walked in unexpectedly but I got the most out of the event. At this point it was already 240pm, and I had to go back and do laundry and pack for my weekend trip with Queen Er and Jit Han to Manchester for the EPL match on Sunday.

So I decided that I would help him get a photo with Kane at the very least before I left. The bloody bugger, I had asked him several times before if he wanted a picture, but he kept on saying he didn’t want one. Only after he saw all the attention I was getting did he feel like he was losing out on a lot. But now that he wanted to get a picture, Kane was nowhere to be found. And I had to go. So I thanked him “for everything”. Which to me was lot as you can probably tell by now. I really do hope the poor chap got a photo with Kane in the end.

As I left and made my way home, I was still in slight disbelief. I thought I was going to get to try out the game for free for like an hour, but I ended up meeting the Messiah Kane and getting my own free copy of the game, as well as an autographed photo. As I reflected on the surprisingly miraculous day and basked in the elation it brought me, I realized that the entire experience could be summed up in that one sentence that poor chap had said to me that continued to resonate in my mind:

“You’re very lucky today.”

My unexpected haul at the end of the day.

PS: Check back later for my review of C&C4 to see if those of you who did not get a free copy should buy it!

Steampunk: Reclaiming Tech for the Masses

2009-12-08T11:02:00.003+08:00

read it from TIME magazine

Steampunk: Reclaiming Tech for the Masses

i have also added a few of only the best steampunk links on the right side bar

The Real Mile High Club

2009-09-27T09:27:00.004+08:00

wowiee...! only on the new A380! first class only of course!

Upcoming Airasia livery

2009-09-23T08:25:00.004+08:00

Hope you enjoyed looking at the many liveries of Airasia in the previous post. What was the purpose of that? So I could lead you into this next post which is going to talk about a guaranteed upcoming livery. For starter's though, I'm recapping F1. Promise it will lead back to Airasia.

So Renault is temporarily banned. Honda left before this season even began. BMW is leaving at the end. Toyota is not sure of its spot next season. If worst comes to worst there will only be 2 engine suppliers next year, Ferrari and Mercedes. But let's not forget the newcomers. 4 of them. Campos F1, Manor F1, US F1, and Lotus. Lotus used to compete in F1 back in the 1980s and today is owned by Proton. So I was reading all about it...yada yada yada....and then...WHAT?!

Lotus will be rejoining F1 under the team name of 1Malaysia F1?????????? OH no. How much will it cost? RM1 billion a year. I see.... Well .....I do hope the paint scheme for the car is nice. Btw, is there a model car of the team that i can s- GARRGHH!!!
Oh no non ono nono no.....this is really embarrasing for my country....too many bloody number ones when I suspect that we will be the last car on the track!

Again, what does this have to do with a guaranteed upcoming Airasia livery? Well, apparently the team principal for 1Malaysia F1 is ....(drumroll)...Uncle Tony Fernandes of AirAsia! Yes folks now you can see that in the near future, unless the tragedy of a paint scheme above is redesigned, one of AirAsia's planes too will become a tragedy of a livery.

In the meantime, may the underdogs continue to dominate the rest of the 2009 F1 season!

The Colors of (Air) Asia

2009-09-22T16:19:00.011+08:00

Aih.....so sorry la guys my Jogja post still in the works (that means indefinitely on hold). In the meantime let me reward you for your efforts in coming to this page with some liveries of Air Asia.

As you know Air Asia has sponsorships with lots of companies. Because of this, it has quite a few planes painted in special liveries that feature the brands that it sponsors. AirAsia also boasts the awards it wins by painting them on its planes too. Though using airplanes as billboards is nothing new, Airasia is the first airline to pursue this strategy aggressively.

The standard livery of the A320s of Airasia and its Thai and Indonesian affiliates.

The old inverse red and white livery of AirAsia that was painted on its old fleet of 737s which are mostly being retired nowadays and replaced with the A320s above.

This livery was the winning design in a competition amongst students at some university in Thailand.

Promoting amazing Thailand.

An old 737 with Lat's drawings

Sponsors of the Amazing Race Asia

Bearing the Malaysian flag on an old 737. Really wish they would paint one of their new A320's in this livery too.

AirAsia plane painted to resemble the Williams F1 car

Promoting Tourism Malaysia's new 'Zoom Malaysia' Campaign

Bank Rakyat. must be the 1st bank in the sky

Promoting itself as 'ASEANS' (South-East Asian Association) airline

AirAsia X sponsoring the livery of the laughing stock of the American NFL. Though I wish Mr Tony has chosen a better team, I can see why the Oakland Raiders were chosen. AA-X plans to fly to America pretty soon and is eyeing a cheap airport on the west coast of America, preferably in California. By sponsoring an American team, Airasia is hoping to spread brand awareness of AirAsia to Americans travelling in Asia, so that when the airline finally does fly to America, its brand would have gained some recognition amongst the locals. And of course, by picking a shitty team to sponsor, that means sponsorship is cheap. Another innovative cost saving measure by AirAsia...

...which is no doubt the World's Best Low Cost Carrier! (MU fans, FYI, this used to be the Manchester United plane. Guess Airasia doesnt have to hang around with shoddy outfits now that it's the world's best)

...and before that it was Airline of the Year 2007! (Who cares where these awards come from? What matters is that Airasia has them!)

Seeing the .

2009-08-11T23:22:00.003+08:00

"DIEHARD" fan of southeastaSEAn: What's the point of naming your blog southeastasean when you don't even blog about your holidays to asean countries?

Me: ...

Stay tuned for my experience in JOGJAKARTA!

AirAsia reaches the States first.

2009-05-03T13:19:00.004+08:00

According to this article in USA Today AirAsia is in the works to fly to either Los Angeles or New York by 2010.

Without a doubt AirAsia is Malaysia's most innovative company in history. Perhaps the most innovative LCC ever. AirAsia must be the first LCC to try and spread its wings so far. Other LCC's like Southwest, Ryanair, and Easyjet just stay in their market zones and continue capturing from the legacies. Hope Tony Fernandes knows what he's doing, and most especially, the people who are going to run AirAsia after him. Would be a shame to have AirAsia crash under its own weight.

The thing that worries me is the battering that AirAsia, and other LCC's in the region are facing from the global recession. Buying more and more planes with no one to ride them. I think right now Tony Fernandes goal is just to whether the storm until the boom times come.

Also this article from FlightGlobal tells nicely about the convergence that is happening between legacy carriers and LCC's over time. As LCC's continue to grow and expand their fleet, they deviate from the purist low-cost model that differentiated them in the beginning. Legacy carriers on the other hand, have begun offering just as competitive prices (eg. Malaysia Airlines), forming theier own LCC subsidiaries, or buying stakes in private LCCs. In the end, they are all converging to the middle ground, in which case the legacy carriers have the upper hand at the moment because of extra comfort and mileage points.

Read the article yourself for the whole picture!

In the meantime, AirAsia come to America quick!

Tak de kerja lain. (Nothing better to do)

2009-04-14T03:44:00.002+08:00

Ever since the the military coup 3 years ago, Thailand has not been functioning. Protest after protest after protest that is sometimes no different from rioting has occured. Last year the Yellow Shirts opposed to Thaksin's gangs took over government buildings and the new airport. They finally stopped when they got their way and Samak resigned.

Now the Red Shirts have stormed government buildings, forced the cancellation of an ASEAN summit, and are demanding the resignation of the PM elected after Samak, Abhisit.

If you think you qualify as the concerned world-minded citizen that you should be, you would have already been reading up on the Bangkok protests the past few days.

Even if you are not the world minded citizen that you should be, but are the avid YouTube addict, you should definitely take a look at some of the videos of the protests. The ferocity and intensity of the people is really terrifying. Im not posting links but you can look them up on BBC, Al Jazeera, and yes, your favorite YouTube.

Flaming driverless busses are being used as unguided missiles.
Protestors are climbing aboard army tanks and the soldiers aren't even trying to stop them.
People are beating tanks with sticks and kicking them with their bare feet.
People tried to destroy the PM's car with their bare hands.

These obervations beg me to ask quite a few questions and state some assuptions.

What on earth has happened to the peaceful Thailand that we knew? Why is the country so deeply divided?
Where do all these people come from? The crowds are so massive. Are these all the unemployed people who have lost their jobs?

When the Yellow shirts were protesting, there was no Red Shirts around to combat them.
Now that the Red Shirts are protesting, there are no Yellow Shirts around to stop them. And these two colors are at odds with one another. But it seems that all they want to do is fight the Prime Minsiter. Even when the current PM resigns, another color will come up and protest
Is there a possibility that these are the very same protestors over and over again but just tukar baju? (wearing different color clothes?)

Cause it reeally seems like these people are not really fighting a cause but just want to vent some anger and mayhem. GO SEE THE VIDEOS AND THEN YOU WILL UNDERSTAND.

To me, it just seems like these Thai people have 1)lost their jobs due to the economic downturn caused in part by the protests 2) never had jobs and just want some excitement in life.

whatever it is, it is seriously hurting Thailand. In economics, we have market failure. to me this is democratic rights failure. Clearly allowing these people to do what they want is not doing any good for the country. the miliary and the police are just standing there. Occassionally they bulk up and forced the protesters back with water guns and tear gass, and even live firing over protestor's heads, but in other videos they are just chillling back and lettting the protestors stand on their tanks.

Testimony of a boardgame

2009-04-10T15:45:00.003+08:00

When introducing a new boardgame to players, there will usually be people who like the game (those who won or almost won) and those who dislike it (those who end up last or near last).

Thus you can tell that a boardgame is truly TRULY great when even the player who finishes last says that it was fun.

Power Grid. #3 in the world!

How great is your passport?

2009-03-20T05:23:00.004+08:00

On wikipedia just search for your country's passport. Eg. for malaysia type ' malaysia passport'. they have a really helpful map of the world telling you where your passport can take you without visas. great for travel planning. there are also specific visa required/visa-free/visa on arrival conditions listed for each destination country.

here is a pic of our malaysian one. as you can see we can go a lot of places without visa. in fact, reading up on our passport inform you that Malaysia's passport is 11th in the world in terms of international travel freedom. berharga tau.

Stamps

2009-03-20T05:09:00.002+08:00

Today I went to the post office to send a package.

Post office lady: Did you buy some Chinese New Year stamps a while ago?

Me: err...yes.

Post office lady: But you never got them right?

Me: err....yeah. i couldn't find them. I always thought they were somewhere in my bag.

Post office lady: No. You left them here on the counter. I've been looking out for you ever since, but you never came back till now. Let me get them for you.

I had bought those $5 stamps more than a month ago.

Good Samaritan

2009-03-20T05:05:00.003+08:00

From now on I shall create a new series of posts to immortalize the kind and miraculous deeds of people to me and also to others so that all may bask in their kindness. let these accounts brighten our day and be a model of behavior for our very selves in our dealings with others, especially in these times where Ayn Rand's godless heresies continue to propagate upon the people's despair.

A lazy post

2009-03-16T14:07:00.003+08:00

ok all you blogger extortionists satisfy yourselves with this. the picture is of the toy that is the only way we can get any clear pic on him at this moment. this big guy is going to appear in Trans 2 and he is a combination of 5 or 6 smaller robots called the constructicons. i think he is called devastator but then wasnt the tank in the first movie also called devastator? apparently that was a mistake and he was actually supposed to be brawl. whatever i couldnt care less. what the hell is happening in this movie i donno someone pls inform me. otherwise just go for the fireworks.

Determination

2009-01-08T13:45:00.002+08:00

of a kid who really did not want to miss a day of school.

Read the following news article from Gamespot that made my day.

Grand Theft Auto teaches 6-year-old to drive

Just what are children learning when exposed to violent video games like Grand Theft Auto? How to drive, according to one Virgina 6-year-old.

The Associated Press is reporting that the child missed the bus to school Monday morning, and decided to take his family's Ford Taurus instead. The boy made it almost six miles before crashing into an embankment and utility pole just a mile-and-a-half shy of the school. He suffered only minor injuries, and a county sheriff told the news agency the determined boy began walking the rest of the way to school after the crash.

According to the report, the boy told police he had learned to drive by playing unspecified games in the Grand Theft Auto and Monster Jam series.

The boy's mother was asleep when he took the car keys, police said, and both parents are charged with child endangerment. Both the boy and his 4-year-old brother were placed in protective custody.

*End of article*

You go kid! Get that education!

EA Using Sex to Sell

2008-10-27T07:52:00.007+08:00

Never has C&C or any other respectable game done this before. The promotion for RA3 has been frequent and heavy, but you soon realise that most of it is promoted using women and their sexiness. C&C has always been known for its live action cutscenes that fans are grateful was brought back in the 3rd iterations. But in RA3, there are just too many women, and all of them are wearing skimpy uniforms more suitable for pornos or slutty halloween celebrations than the military theatre. Shame on you EA LA. Shame on you for resorting to such base line tactics. This game better be as good as the women are.

The poster that comes with the Premier Edition that costs twice as much that I'm going to get for free. Yay!

Never Had a Chance to say goodbye

2008-10-27T07:47:00.002+08:00

I haven’t been home in a year. And the home I’m going to in December wont be the same. I’m not a Bangsar kid anymore. I’m now a Kiara kid. I never got the opportunity to take a last look at my home before we moved.

Luckily, my brother was wise enough to post some pics of the house before we left.

You can also see a brief pic of my new home on the header of his blog.

EA has quality control!

2008-10-01T06:57:00.003+08:00

The upcoming FPS based on C&C3 Tiberium Wars simply called Tiberium has been cancelled because it did not meet the internal quality audit of the EA studio developing it.

Kudos to EA! We don't want trashy games that lower the standard of the series. Personally, I wasn't ever really interested in Tiberium. Compared to it, Renegade has me more excited because of the fact that you were actually shooting at NOD soldiers, instead of some alien-spinoffs.

Our Government Deals with Pirates

2008-09-30T14:40:00.003+08:00

Lately, the Pirates of Somalia have been living somewhat of a legend by hijacking cargo and container ships and ransoming them for money. The one thats been headlining the news recently is of that Ukrainian ship carrying 32 Russian T-72 tanks. As of now, three warships from three different navies are in sight of the vessel. Action has yet to be taken.

On another issue closer to home, did you know that two Malaysian ships (palm oil tankers) were also hijacked? And that our government paid U$2million for their release? In hard cash somemore. WTF???

I used to buy Perajurit (Warrior)and Tempur (Combat) magazines back in Malaysia. These magazines would glorify the armed forces and special forces of Malaysia so much that I was often deluded into thinking, hmmm....maybe not everything under government is bad.

And they would show articles and photos of our PASKAL (Pasukan Khas Laut/Sea Special Forces) in constant training for maritime emergencies such as dealing with pirates who hijack ships. All that TRAINING. This should have been the opportunity for them to get some real combat experience! Why were they not deployed??? I mean yeah, the pirates would have killed the crew, but in the end PASKAL would have killed the pirates. RIGHT? It simply cant be the other way around. Instead we presented them with U$2million. It seems our buah tangan culture extends beyond our own borders.

Now the two ships have been freed, and are on their way to Djibouti under escort by two Malaysian warships. I bet these are loaded with more cash to offer any more pirates in their speedboats that they see along the way.

Once again, I am so disappointed with the Malaysian authorities. I have no doubt now that if Singaporean Armed Forces were to attack Malaysia, they would reach Kelantan faster than your Perodua Kancil can drive there.

(Image of one of the palm oil tankers)

If you want U$2million hijack a ship that says Malaysia

Giant of the Skies

2008-09-30T09:08:00.004+08:00

What was the world's biggest airline? who cares.

There is a new king. It's name is DELTA. Shareholder's have just approved the merger between Northwest and Delta, forming a single new airline that retains only the Delta name.Both airlines do not overlap in terms of customer base and geogaphic operation markets. Northwest dominates the US-Asia market, whilst Delta dominates the US-Latin Americ-Europe market. With this merger, I guess they form the first truly global airline that reaches almost every part of the world except Africa. This is what you really call ECONOMIES OF SCALE.

United is also in talks to merge with either Continental or US Airways, and then there's also the never ending American Airlines-British Airways, now including Iberian Airlines threesome. Consolidation is happening in the skies as much as it is happening on Wall Street.

I'm so glad I switched to NWA already. If any company should go under in these times, it should be United Airlines. No love lost for them.

Find out more about the new biggest airline at www.newglobalairline.com.

Happy Birthday to Malaysia growing up

2008-09-01T13:47:00.002+08:00

FROM THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER

Malaysians reiterate need for change, reforms

AUG 31 — The surprising thing about the Permatang Pauh by-election result was this: that some Malaysians were actually stunned and shocked that the Barisan Nasional could be defeated so soundly.

Let’s get real. Nothing much has changed from March 8 2008, that watershed day when Malaysians threw off the yoke of fear and conservatism and voted for the opposition in great numbers.

Five-and-a-half months on, this is the scenario on the ground. The Chinese and Indians still believe that the Umno-led government treats them as tenants and that the power-sharing concept of the Barisan Nasional does not protect minority interests.

The young voters still believe that Umno politicians are corrupt, arrogant and consumed by power and position.

Non-Muslims still believe that the country is sliding down the slippery slope towards intolerance and narrow-mindedness. Many Malaysians still believe that Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is the prime minister of grand sounding rhetoric, but rhetoric none the same.

Here are just a few examples of what has happened since March 8 to confirm that nothing much has changed.

• The Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) is still anti-government despite several overtures by BN officials to a few leaders of the movement. When Abdullah visited the Karu Mariamman temple in Butterworth he was booed by a segment of Hindraf followers. Others upset at the presence of the PM refused to take part in the gathering.

Abdullah, protected by a phalanx of Special Branch and Unit Tindak Khas officials, stayed on for a while but there was little doubt that he was an unwelcome guest.

Several Hindraf officials who were informed of the PM’s visit were dismissed as lackeys of the government. The tone of the protest against the PM showed that the movement still has not forgiven the government for jailing P. Uthayakumar and others under the Internal Security Act and for addressing the marginalisation of Indians seriously.

MIC and IPF members who canvassed for votes in Permatang Pauh conceded that they faced a tough time convincing the 3.300 Indian voters to support BN’s Arif Shah.

In some households, they were simply not welcome, much like during the general election campaign period.

End result: Vast majority of Indians voted for Pakatan Rakyat, just like they did on March 8.

• Christians and other non-Muslims groups. Anecdotal evidence suggest that non-Muslims, upset their religious rights were trampled upon in the years since Abdullah became prime minister, deserted the BN in numbers in March.

They have grown weary of the arrogance of Umno politicians, the impotence of MCA, Gerakan and MIC politicians to stand up for the rights of non-Malays. They have become cynical with Abdullah’s pledge of being the leader of all Malaysians.

Their vote in March was not a protest vote but a vote for change. In their opinion, their best hope for a more equitable country lies with Anwar Ibrahim. In the run-up to the Permatang Pauh by-election, all they heard Umno politicians talk about was Malay unity and the need to ensure the rights of Malays enshrined in the Constitution were always protected.

Indeed, Malay unity and not Malaysian unity has been the number one concern of Umno since March 8. On Aug 25, a day before the by-election, Umno division chief Ahmad Ismail spoke at a ceramah and called Chinese pendatang (immigrants) and added that “as the Chinese were only immigrants it was impossible to achieve equal rights amongst races”.

His comments were carried in all the Chinese language newspapers. Predictably, more Chinese voted for the opposition in Permatang Pauh on Aug 26 than they did on March 8.

Since then, MCA and Gerakan officials have demanded strong action against Ahmad Ismail.

Abdullah has promised to remind Ahmad Ismail to be more careful with his words.

His meek response will only serve to drive home the point that nothing has changed since Election 2008. Umno is arrogant and incapable of change.

• Young voters. There has been no attempt to draw up a plan for Umno/BN to win over young voters.

An analysis of Election 2008 results shows that many newly-registered voters and those in the 21 and 30 age-group supported DAP, PAS or PKR candidates.

Their reasons were varied — they viewed BN as corrupt; they believed that the New Economic Policy was only benefiting a select group of Malays; they did not believe that the future of a better Malaysia was dependent on BN running the country.

Since March 8, many BN politicians have been talking about getting closer to young voters. What they don’t realise is that younger Malaysians will only support a political party which shares their aspirations, not one that continues to lecture them.

At Permatang Pauh, some 90 per cent of the young voters supported Anwar Ibrahim.

• Malay voters. In July, the Islamic International University polled 1,500 Malays from across the country to find out their political values.

They discovered that 70 per cent of those polled said that even though the government could guarantee strong economic growth and stability, it was necessary to hold elections and ensure that democracy was alive.

Some 90 per cent of them wanted the special rights of the Malays to be maintained but they also wanted other races to be treated fairly. Nearly 70 per cent said that they did not agree with detention without trial.

Taken together, their views seemed to be closer to what Anwar Ibrahim spoke about in the run-up to the by-election than what Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak and other BN leaders promised.

Anwar assured the Malays that their rights were protected under the Constitution but added that needy Chinese and Indians also needed help from the government.

He said that the Internal Security Act must be abolished and more must be done to ensure that the political system was not corrupt.

So like Election 2008, he was speaking a language which found resonance on the ground. In contrast, Umno politicians still are stuck in a time warp, believing that appealing to Malay insecurity is the only way to keep political power.

• Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. How can a leader squander an approval rating of 91 per cent in March 2004 and watch it plummet to 43 per cent in July 2008?

By not fulfilling a raft of promises including the pledge to be a leader of all Malaysians; to fight corruption; to bring about reform in the police, judiciary and the political system.

By the time March 8 came around, many Malaysians had become disillusioned with Abdullah, believing that he was indecisive and could not execute policies.

In the days after Election 2008, he came out strong, saying that he had heard the voices of dissent and was committed to repairing the country’s institutions and tackling the rising cost of living.

After the initial burst of enthusiasm, his unwillingness to upset Umno during the party’s election season has seen him go slow on reforming the judiciary.

His Cabinet does not inspire confidence nor does his stewardship of the Malaysian economy. Cynicism and skepticism accompanies every promise and pledge that he makes today.

So really no one should be surprised that Anwar won by a yawning gap over BN’s Arif Shah on Aug 26.

Malaysians voted for change on March 8. It was not a protest vote, it was a vote for change.

Abdullah, Umno and the BN still don’t get it. So the electorate sent them another message on Aug 26.

Only this time it was more emphatic.

Why Shouldn't You Leave Malaysia when even 'He' is leaving Malaysia.

2008-08-15T13:01:00.004+08:00

From Malaysian Insider:

Dr M will migrate if Anwar becomes PM

KUALA TERENGGANU, Aug 10 — Saying he did not want anyone like Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim "who stabbed him in the back" as Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad said yesterday he would rather migrate if the former deputy prime minister succeeds in toppling the Barisan Nasional government.

"If he comes Prime Minister, I will get out of the country. Give everything to him," Utusan Malaysia quoted the former prime minister's reply to a question at the Current Challenges for Malays forum here.

However, the acerbic Dr Mahathir was confident that Anwar will not become Prime Minister by September 16 although he was sure his former protégé would be victorious in the Permatang Pauh parliamentary by-election this Aug 26.

He said Anwar was greedy enough for support that he would forsake the special privileges for his own race to cooperate with the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) which is filled with racism.

Quote: "who stabbed him in the back". Are you trying to be funny???

Revenge of the Fallen

2008-08-05T07:39:00.002+08:00

is the title of the Transformers 2. Now unless you are a diehard fan of the Transfomers comics, you would think that the fallen here refers to Megatron because he did 'fall' in the first movie, or perhaps Starcscream cause well he ran away into space. But as it turns out, the Fallen here refers to one single Transformer whose name turns out to be 'the Fallen'

I donno who the hell this junkhead is all i know from the most reliable wiki is that he is one of the original 13 created by big daddy primus for god knows what but he betrayed primus to join unicron coz he was a bad seed turned bad apple from day one and he's always on fire. Even when he goes to bed at night.

here a description of him from tfu.info:
The Fallen forgot his real name long ago. It didn't matter. It was a name given to him by his creator - the one he betrayed. It was a relic of the time before he had some to see the truth. The truth of Unicron.

Created as one of the original 13 Transformers to serve as a protector of Cybertron, Fallen has always been a creature of chaos and degradation. His original purpose was to oversee the stately running down of the universal clock, the ordered tick of universal balance from energy to entropy, the slow and total collapse that heralds a new creation - for what are creation and life without dissolution and death? He knew his purpose only too well, and became obsessed with the end of all things. Intrigued by the dark sciences, he came in contact with Unicron, and fell under the evil planet's thrall.

He exists now for one purpose alone: the destruction of the Seal of Primus and the release of Unicron into the universe. He lives only so that one day he might witness the last star in the universe wink out, and eternal ending fall.

Primus and his 13 creations. As you can see the Fallen was still on fire.

So bad so bad. Apparently, rumor has it that Megatron will be revived by the Autobots to help them defeat this dude.

Now all that is sweet and nice, but what is the greater significance of all this ? It simply means, that Unicron will be the star of Transformers 3. Cool beans.

weirdo logo of the Fallen. everyone needs a corporate identity these days

Make Love, Not War

2008-07-29T14:33:00.002+08:00

Batman Continues

2008-07-24T15:37:00.007+08:00

No need to repeat what millions are already saying. If you can only watch one film for the whole of 2008, it should be this one.

Instead, let's talk criticism. That's always more fun right?

1. Batman: You talk like a retard when on duty.
2. Two Face: You look like the Terminator.
3. Rachael: You look too alike to Spiderman's woman. Not cool.
4. Alfred: You're too fat and healthy. But that's cool.
5. Joker: You should have been there to win your nomination. You will be missed dearly because of this film.
6. Batman's motorbike: Your tyres are too fat.

Age-old-wartime-debate: Experience vs. Technology

2008-07-22T13:29:00.007+08:00

Pertaining to the latest 'tiff' between Thailand and Cambodia over a temple on their border, the following article claims that Khmer (pronounced Khmai) (Cambodian) soldiers are itching for the fight, believing they have the edge over the Thais due to their experience as Khmer Rouge soldiers under the most brutal Poly Potty regime. Sure the Thais have more modern weaponry and are better equipped but the Khmer are 'battle-hardened' and 'know the terrain'.

Head here to read the article and see pictures of the soldiers all excited and preparing for glorious defense of the Khmer motherland.

Now, I hope and I know that it is very unlikely that there will not be a war between the two countries over one stupid temple. Yes it is stupid, because its making everyone behave like children. If it comes to war, then maybe we can have a third party like XXX come and bomb it to pieces and then there would be nothing to fight over. I' m not saying it's stupid because I'm not a Buddhist. Even if it was church, well blow it up anyway. If it's a mosque, same thing. Deliver the air-mail. No temple,church, mosque is worth killing each other over.

Anyway, back to the point. Although war seems unlikely, the over-inflated egos of the Cambodians just makes me wish that there would be war so that the Thais could go in and wipe them off the face off the earth. (the arrogant soldiers I mean, not mass genocide on all Khmer everywhere)

Let's put this debate into perspective shall we. The Thais will bury them. Why?

1. Khmer Rouge soldiers have a lot of experience killing... innocent Cambodian civillians. Armed thai soldiers are a different thing.

2.In the later years, the Khmer Rouge got fed-up killing defenseless civillians and were spoiling for a bigger challenge. So they started to pick fights with neighbouring Vietham over some border villagaes. This ended up with the Vietnamese army coming in full scale to put and end to the Polly Potty regime. So yes, they were excellent at killing unarmed civillians, but could not give the same performance when faced with armed soldiers. Mind you, the Vietnamese army was not only technologically superior, possessing Soviet planes and tanks, but they were also THE most battle hardened troops in SEA,fresh from fighting the Americans just years earlier.

3. The Thai soldiers do not have much experience true, but the Thai nation's history has a lot. Countless wars with Burma. And don't forget the Thais are the only people to be independent of any foreign Western power in SEA. Plus, they are excellent at performing bloodless coups. As it is said, the best warrior is the one who doesnt even have to draw his weapon.

4. Experience is SO over-rated. The Taliban in 2001: "We will (expletives) the Americans, just like we (expletives) the British and the (expletives) Soviets before! Afghanistan will be their grave! bla bla bla. " Two months later, they've been chased to the mountains and have been hiding there ever since. Still playing the same old message like a broken tape recorder.

And now I leave you with this cute politcal cartoon, courtesy of BUN HEANG UNG
OK I lied, I'll leave you with more than one. Here's another good one about the Temple standoff from the same artist.

What flag is this?

2008-07-18T13:19:00.003+08:00

This is probably new news for everyone, but I've been into vexillology for quite a while. And I came across this flag which I just can't find belongs to what organisation or body or what nots. I do know that its from Australia. Can my Aussie friends help me out with this? And what is that lotus flag in the background? It looks like some Buddhist Hindu thingy.

Wise Words of ... a Teacher. dhum dhum dhum....

2008-07-08T09:36:00.004+08:00

I dont know what made me remember but I do.

A long time ago.....in a country far far away, there was a teacher akin to a Maoist version of Margaret Thatcher. Last I heard, she eliminated all her political opponents and is now in a position of considerable power. Woe to the people.

On the first day of class, she came in and said that it didn't matter if we were a bright class or a 'dim' class. She treated all students the same.

" The different outcomes of the soup depends on the different ingredients. The cook is always the same."

Now at first glance, this seems like a very honorable and dignified stance. Communist rule of thumb #1: ALL ARE EQUAL. Check.

But then imagine if you were the cook and you cooked all your ingredients with the same recipe. Don't you think you would get fired in no time? Or sent to the gulag if you were in Siberia? Or denounced as a Jewish saboteur in Nazi Germany? Or denounced as an economic saboteur and suffocated to death with a plastic bag by an 8 year old Ongka female youth in Khmer Rouge Cambodia?

Don't you think that a good cook would cook different ingredients with different recipes, so as to maximise the potential of each and every ingredient in the process of moulding exquisite cuisines?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As the days went by, she also kept cautioning us against listening to myriad forms of rock music. Seeing the list of listener friendly rock music dwindle at such an alarming rate, I then proceeded to ask her: "Teacher, what type of rock music can we listen to?"

She replied: "None actually. All rock music is influenced by the devil".
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This post was not written to belittle, degrade, or make-fun of the said teacher, just to let her know that she is WRONG.

Ahhh......what a productive break, back to standard normal distribution and confidence intervals.

The Stuff of Movies

2008-07-05T13:31:00.003+08:00

A Colombian army helicopter painted white to pose as an NGO helicopter.

Its Colombian army crew that took acting classes for one and a half weeks.

The same crew that dressed up as FARC rebels and NGO workers in white tees bearing the image of Che Guevara.

The helicopter that landed in the midst of rebel territory full of rebel soldiers under the guise of an NGO helicopter arriving to transport 15 hostages from one FARC rebel base to another.

The two real rebels that came aboard the helicopter not knowing what they were getting into.

The rest of the real rebels on the ground watching the helicopter fly away.

The overpowering and stripping of the two real rebels once the helicopter was underway.

The half-second confusion, followed by endless jubilation as the hostages see their two captors naked and tied up on the floor of the helicopter.

The proclamation of confirmation from the NGO imposters: "We are the Colombian army. You are now free."

Real stuff. Major headlines. Go update yourself.

The best Malaysian screenplay ever written

2008-07-01T12:43:00.003+08:00

Whether you have been following Malaysian politics or still think Dr. Mahathir is the Prime Minister, you will not want to pass up on this.

Click here for the synopsis.

I can't wait for the next part. I haven't been this anxious since the ending of Fellowship of the Ring.

The Measure of a True Communist

2008-06-27T13:02:00.004+08:00

We often evaluate the level of communism in communist societies by criteria like genocide statistics by the ruling regime, enormous military spending, high poverty affliction rates, and the crazily disproportional wealth of the few ruling elite on top who are more equal than everybody else. But such criterias are poor measures of judgement, as countries do not need to be communist to fullfill the said criteria. There are many other third-world-foreva! countries ruled by despotic tyrants and disfunctional monarchs with whom the above criterias are easily fullfilled, but they are NOT communist. These criterias may have been applicable once, but they are now fast becoming obsolete.

Thus, for communists to be truly acknowledged for their own merit, I present another criteria - adoration for the first communist of their society. Indeed, after the passing of their first communist leaders many years ago, the citizens of communism today no longer hold such devotion to their founding fathers. How many of you reading this post have a picture of Lenin, Mao,Kim Il-Sung, or Castro in your house? It is known that many communists pretend to love thier founding leaders, and the moment the escape the controlled safeguard of communism and they achieve foreign citizenship and they are confident that they are beyond the reach of their respective communist watch agencies back home, they openly denounced their first leaders.

But for one communist nation, the adoration lives on. These pictures taken at the South East Asian Games 2007 in Thailand show ardent Vietnamese fans cloaked in the unmistakable red cloth, yellow star of communist Vietnam. The game is football and Vietnam is playing Myanmar. But what truly makes these people the real Capital-C deal is the presence of the late Uncle Ho. The first of them all, the unifier of their nation, he continues to live on in their hearts and minds. He is with them in ideology and spirit until this very day, despite the rapidly changing conditions.

Today, Vietnam is experiencing what most communist dont - rapid development. And they have failed to fullfill most of the criteria above anymore. Hardly any large number of people are being killed by the government, they have not boasted the awesomeness of their militaries with public parades for quite sometime, and the wealth gap hardly seems to be an issue. Today, the mention of Vietnam is accompanied with talk of development, rising livng standards, and investment opportunities.

These pictures speak for themselves. These fans adore Uncle Ho and they cannot bear to not include him in the SEA games. Uncle Ho comes along to share in the blood, sweat and toil of his fellow countrymen on the field. Uncle Ho will not be left behind. And neither will his product of communism. He is part of the present and continues to be the future for communist Vietnam. Even the Chinese do not bring Mao to their games. Even finding authentic Maoist apparel like the green sling back with the red star/Mao's face is difficult in China these days.

Ho at the game.

Ho at the after-party.

Spotting Movies: The Poster Method

2008-06-25T00:50:00.006+08:00

These days, everyone's a critic. Or is awarded the potential to be. One of the tools that critics utilise the least is judging a movie by its poster. Unlike a trailer, judging a film just by looking at its poster is a very unrealiable method. Usually in a trailer, the best scenes of the movie are shown, and audiences can more or less feel an interest or not after watching it. But a poster is just one frame, and it's not even a screenshot. It's like the same with judging books by their cover. Books with shit covers (think: British Harry Potter) have good insides. whilst millions of books with super cool covers, have nothing but shit inside.

There are many films with sucky cheapass advertising budgets because all the funds have been spent on making a top quality film. Hence, bad poster, or no poster. And then there are movies that are just destined to be doomed no matter the amount of money put into them, so an effort is made to salvage them with cool posters.

Here's an example.Drool...

When you see this poster, you feel excited. "It's black. There's a big gun. His suit is sophisticated, skin tight and sexy. His face has a scar. Look at the cool logo font. 2009??? Now I have something to look forward to in the future!" This poster gets you excited. Is the movie good? We can't tell. Poster looks good, but poster is not same as movie. Must wait for trailer. That will tell us more. Hopefully that will be good, and you'll end up watching the movie. And if fortune really meant it to be, you'll come out of the theatre another satisfied consumer of Hollywood capitalism.

But there are also RARE cases where a movie has failed right from the poster stage. Here's an example.

Drool vessicles dry and empty.

Bahasa Simple

2008-06-16T12:26:00.003+08:00

I was flipping through a book for Americans looking for international work opportunities, and apparently Bahasa (the context refers to Indonesian) is one of the easiest foreign languages in the world to learn! I say...Paul Moss teruk la...

Part 3: Desperate Neighbours

2008-06-10T08:08:00.009+08:00

Dubai this, Dubai that. If there's anything good in that part of the world it must be in Dubai. Or at least that is the general assumption.

This time, let's take a detour further north to another tiny emirate called Kuwait. Here's some fast facts from Wikipedia:
Kuwait is a highly industrialized country with a GDP (PPP) of US$138.6 billion^[40] and a per capita income of US$55,300^[41], making it the fourth richest country in the world.^[42] Kuwait's human development index (HDI) stands at 0.871, the secon d highest in Middle East, after Israel and the highest in the Arab world. With a GDP growth rate of 5.7%, Kuwait has one of the fastest growing economies in the region.^[43] According to the 2008 Index of Economic Freedom, Kuwait has the second-most free economy in the Middle East.

Indeed, Kuwait has seen spectacular growth, but it is all being overshadowed by Dubai. Not to be left out, Kuwait is vying to retake its place as the number one place to be in the Gulf. It has planned for the development of the single biggest real-estate project in the Middle East called the Madinat al-Hareer (city of silk).

Built on an area of 200 square kilometres, the city would consist of four major zones - a city of commerce, a city of leisure and recreation, a city of ecology and a city of diplomacy and education, Kuhne said. The commerce city would sit in the middle of a canal system and aims to boost Kuwait's efforts to become a regional trade and financial centre, he said.

At the centre of the commerce city, a 1001-metre tower will be built, called the Mubarak Tower.
Its height is a reference to the classic work of Arabic literature, The One Thousand and One Nights. Three blades that will be built near the top of the tower, will carry a mosque, a church and a synagogue to signify the unity of the three monotheistic religions.

The City of Silk supposedly signifies the rebirth of the famed Silk Road.

Meanwhile in THE kingdom.....

King Abullah: Damn! all these puny emirates are becoming so famous! How can this be??? We are the Kingdom! The family of al-Saud! We are the biggest Arab nation, the birthplace of the prophet and his successful product called Islam, and we own a quarter of the oil on this earth! Yet all outsiders see of us is terrorism and religous extremism. How did Dubai come to have so many tallest buildings???

Vizier: Sir, the rulers of the United Arab Emirates are a very forward looking bunch. They know that Allah's blessings of oil will run out one day, and they are using all their wealth to build up industries that will ensure the continued survival and prosperity of the nation long after the oil has finished. Today Dubai is the number one place to be for foreign travellers and businessman alike in our Middle Eastern part of the world. Maybe if you would spend less money on your personal expenditures like your expensive European car collection, or your open house pleasure palaces, and instead tried to channel more of our Saudi nation's wealth toward uber-development projects so that the dispersion of wealth would be more equal and our Gini co-efficient would be closer to 0, than we could become as popular and well known as the United Arab Emirates

King Abdullah: I don't know what babble you just said, but the family of Saud will not lose face to these puny emirs! Insya-Allah we shall build a tower ONE MILE HIGH, and it shall be called the Mile High Tower!!!! We shall be the first to reach Allah!

At that very moment, throughout the Gulf, all the legions and devouts of Allah paused from whatever they were doing: smoking shisha, reciting the Quran, practicing their Ak-47 skills; and in unison as one ummah they praised: ALLAH-U-AKHBAR!

An overly defensive graph made by some overzealot Saudis: Anyone know what mamlakah means?

a not so defensive graph: The Hyder Consulting tower is a different building, but it is also a mile high, and will be built somewhere in the Middle East.

As you can see, the Middle East will soon offer people the opportunity to be part of the Mile High Club without ever getting into an airplane again.

Part 2: Half a mile/800metres is not enough

2008-06-10T07:25:00.007+08:00

Vizier (or whatever modern title): The price of oil is rising faster than rabbits are breeding. Alhamdulilah. We are actually having more funds than we originally had.

Emir of Dubai: then make the Burj Dubai even higher.

Vizier: Impossible your grand emirness. We are already more than halfway to completion and we cannot modify the designs to go any higher than the planned 800m at this point.

Emir of Dubai: Then build me another one. A higher one.

Vizier: Insya-Allah, your wish is my command! (Poof!)*

* Disappears in a puff of smoke.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thus, Al Burj a.k.a. The Tower was conceived. Whilst the final design is yet to be solidified, the general idea is that Al Burj will actually be three towers very close to one another. and they will be connected by skybridges. The number of skybridges speculated remains from 4 to 10. No one knows yet. They always say that on top of every skybridge will be a garden.

Like all tall buildings competing for tallest building status today, the final height of the Al Burj remains a secret. Whatever leaks of info that get spilled seem to be inconsistent. Some say it was initially meant to be 700m, 100m less than the Burj Dubai, and it can still be an icon of national pride and that height wasn't everything. I guess whoever said that was fed by the emir to the sharks. Cause now there are those who say that it was initially meant to be a MILE high (1600m), but has been scaled back to 1200m. This seems to be consistent with another source that says no matter the final height, it will be at least 1km high. Though not yet solid fact, it is only a matter of time before it becomes one. Construction has not started at this writing.

Burj Dubai a.k.a. the Tower of Dubai is already yesterdays news, even before it is completed. Such is the pace of the world we live in today.

as you can see, the rate of growth of skyscraper sp. is exponential.

Part 1: The Sky's the Limit

2008-06-10T05:45:00.009+08:00

I've always had a childish fetish for tall buildings. To me they represent the feasible realization of ultra visionary ambition. They are the product of those who dare to do more than dream. True, they have little practical economical value at the present moment, except for boosting our tourism revenue and being a source of national pride. No one can deny the pride they feel when they see our majestic twin towers dominating the Asian skyline. Even the starving beggar feels proud to be here: Wow, I'm so lucky to be a beggar in Malaysia!

What more shall we non-welfare people feel when we stand at the base of the twin towers, and marvel at how high they really are, and we often tell ourselves, it is a wonder they were able to build this at all. Never mind that the money could have gone to better use and improved our healthcare, our infrastructure, education or some damned issue of need. Those buildings are just so damn high! They are the true epitomisation of the phrase Malaysian Boleh! We really boleh!

only the lucky few can beg beneath such majesty

But there's a reaon people say the sky's the limit. And no one understand this better than the Middle East. You've heard of Dubai. It is the place where the emirs play Allah. With their billions in petrodollars, they are in the process of making the most impressive sandbox the world has ever known, that is gonna make all the other kids in the park oh so jealous. As it is, the Burj Dubai remains incomplete, yet it already holds the record for being the tallest building in the world, (already at 600m plus and surppassing).

The temporary record our twin towers held over the sears towers was forever mired in controversy. The Sears towers had the highest point but it was considered irrelevant and therefore not counted as part of the building. The same happened with Taipei 101. It surpassed the twin towers but was still not as high as the antennae of the sears tower. yada yada chicken poop and so on...

Now the burj dubai has shut them all up. Not merely content to beat its rivals by mere tens of meters, it is on its way to beating them by hundreds. The final height is projected to be at around 800m. That's 300m taller than the 2nd place Taipei 101. That's nearly double. Can you imagine standing at the base of the twin towers, and imagine a building twice as high? TAK BOLEH. At least not in Malaysia for the mean time. We got a govt to oust and an ex-deputy minister/alleged anal fetish lover to reinstall on our plate at the moment.

Indeed, Burj Dubai will be the tallest of them all, despite the final height being kept secret. Sadly, it will only be a short lived glory. And in this ever smaller world we live in, the next reigning champion will be had in that very same sandbox itself.

Burj Dubai rising...

Why I support Petrol Price Hike

2008-06-08T18:23:00.003+08:00

1) Discourage use of personal cars
2) Leading to collapse of Proton once and for all.
3) Causing more carpooling
4) More emphasis on better public transport
5) Wake up Malaysia. Realize that your economy sucks. ubah gaya hidup atau ubah kerajaan. whichever easier.
6) Dare I hope, a change for better government.
7) Not my problem wut. I already cabut.

Transformers 2

2008-06-07T17:47:00.005+08:00

Think what? I'm going to do all the work for you? Go read up yourself la!

A Despot Disposed

2008-05-29T09:13:00.002+08:00

In the beginning, kings were seen as representatives of Gods on earth, given the heavenly mandate to preside over their subjects. Today, we now know that this is another BB (Big Bullshit). As history has proven, almost all royalties end up becoming corrupt complacent despots with no care for the people whom they preside over. Eventually, those who have dared and those who can no longer stand the oppression have taken action. Countries like France, China, India, Russia have ousted the royalists. Even in countries where royalties exist, their roles have been limited largely to ceremonial functions. Eg. Britain, Japan, Spain.

Today there is no longer any practical or functioning role in the modern world for royalty. Those that continue to exist today do so only as puppets. But these are very costly puppets, for which taxpayers monies have to contribute to. Valuable resources which could otherwise be used for economic development, alleviating poverty, and raising the standard of living of the people. As it is now, these puppets commit serious crimes by consuming so much unnecessarily for themselves which could otherwise be distributed amongst a populace.

Secondly, by spreading the governing power to the people of the country instead of concentrating it all in the hands of one despot allows for greater accountability and transparency in government, creating an automatic monitoring system benefits the nation.

It is only a matter of time before all royalties may exist. For now, they remain for the sake of 'culture and history' . But the sooner they are gotten rid off, the sooner shall people be able to carve out their own histories and aspire for greater heights. It may not be tomorrow, it may not be next year, or even within the 21st century, but eventually, kings and their spoiled kin will be ousted.

For today though, one puppet has been abolished, and the road for development can finally really begin. Best wishes and congratulations to the people of Nepal! Best wishes in carving the future of your nation!

Taken from BBC News 23:36 GMT, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 00:36 UK

Nepal votes to abolish monarchy

The Himalayan nation of Nepal has become the world's newest republic, ending 240 years of monarchy.

A constituent assembly meeting in the capital, Kathmandu, overwhelmingly voted to abolish royal rule.

The Maoists, the largest party after laying down arms and standing in last month's elections, were committed to ousting King Gyanendra.

People celebrated wildly in the streets of the capital after news of the assembly vote.

The approved proposal states that Nepal is "an independent, indivisible, sovereign, secular and an inclusive democratic republic nation".

Only four members of the 601-seat assembly opposed the change.

Royal privileges "will automatically come to an end", the declaration says.

It also states that the king's main palace must be vacated within a fortnight, to be transformed into a museum.

"I am overjoyed," student Rajesh Subedi, 21, told AFP news agency as Kathmandu celebrated.

"This is the most important day of my life."

The BBC's Charles Haviland in Kathmandu says it is not clear how soon King Gyanendra will leave.

The Maoists and other politicians are being conciliatory about the monarch now being ousted and say he should live on in Nepal as a private citizen.

-End-

Besi Man

2008-05-17T15:49:00.007+08:00

superhero boleh dibahagikan ke dalam dua kumpulan: kaya dan tak kaya. besiman kaya.

lagi dua kumpulan: ada kuasa luar biasa (labah2man) dan tak ada kuasa luar biasa (kelawarman): besiman kaya.

otak pun boleh tahan. orang suruh dia buat missile, dia pulak pegi buat pakaian besi. kenapa tak terus buat robot, atau mech (cth: mech warrior, gundam, ) ataupun tank? suka hati diala. asalkan boleh bunuh semua orang tanpa mati sendiri dah kira great success.

kalau nak banding dengan semua filem superhero yang lain, boleh kata besiman ni better than most. tapi jangan sampai melampau. ada orang kata ia sama hebat dengan labah2 man dan kelawar man. itu kira karut. pembangunan perwatakan dalam besiman tak sehebat labah2man dan kelawarman. yang dua-dua tu ada unsur perkawanan, unsur cinta, dan sebagainya. yang besiman cuma dia suka buat flirting dengan PA dia.

berbaloi tak bayar RM10 untuk besiman? baloi. adegan aksi cukup hangat, terutama adegan besiman main terbang-terbang dengan YF-22 Raptor. kat akhir filem juga boleh tengok satu lagi besiman yang lagi besar. syok kasi penonton. besi lawan besi.

tapi aku seru korang semua, kalau tak cukup duit, simpankan dulu, tunggu sampai satria gelap. yang tu dijamin best!

yalah...tahu saya ni bukan besiman. tapi dia pun buat daripada besi.

My National Geographic

2008-05-07T21:03:00.005+08:00

I was just cleaning up my hardrive when i came across these two. Caught them in the act outside my house last year. This is probably my best work to submit should I ever apply for the position for photographer for National Geographic. Even then you can tell the flash was too powerful. What to do. Canon Powershot only got Flash on or Flash off. nothing in between

and this shot has better view of their compatible gonads. remember that in these type of tiny insect animals, the male is the smaller one and the female is the bigger one.

Political Parody

2008-05-05T02:09:00.002+08:00

Poem by Phoebe Lim!

2008-04-30T06:35:00.002+08:00

i stole this poem from Phoebe's blog. So farny! I think that at some point or another we've all been there, that's why this poem rings close to home for so many of us! I appreciate your sense of humor whilst roughing it out Phoebes!

study so hard
study till can die
study till want to puke
come out question also cannot do
panic then make stupid mistakes
what a waste of my stupid time
makes me start to think
you study so hard
you still cannot be no.1
you are still average or below average
you stupid ar
one more year of being average
have fun

Gamespot's First 10

2008-04-29T15:07:00.001+08:00

is Grand Theft Auto IV.

I have to get this game.

No more Bullet Train

2008-04-22T12:50:00.003+08:00

Excerpt taken from TheMalaysianInsider.com

KUALA LUMPUR, April 22 — Bullet train – dead on the tracks.

The Malaysian government has pulled the brakes on YTL’s RM10 billion bullet train project to Singapore. The Economic Planning Unit has decided that the project is not viable nor is it critical for the country, The Malaysian Insider has learnt.

This decision ends the uncertainty surrounding Tan Sri Francis Yeoh’s ambitious plan of reducing travel time between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore to 90 minutes. Since the tycoon floated the idea of a bullet train in 2006, there has been a sharp division of views over the project.

Its supporters argue that besides reducing the time of travel, a bullet train will also create a convergence of properties and level out the price of properties between the two countries.

Critics say that Malaysia does not need another expensive infrastructure project and note that it will impact on the KLIA’s position as a hub, with many Malaysians travelling to Changi to take advantage of better connectivity.

Within government circles, there was a concern that the project will not be financially viable and government funds will be needed to subsidise the project or even bail out the project if it failed. Initially, there was speculation that the government may have to guarantee a subsidy of RM1 billion a year for a period of time.

There was also the fear from the Johor government that a bullet train from KL to Singapore could have an adverse impact on Iskandar Malaysia...

Read the full aritcle at MalaysianInsider.com

BODOH! Absolute bodoh at its maximum. The one mega-project that we really need and they pull the plugs. This type of 'scared-all-the-business-go-to-Singapore' mentality is so short-sighted and backwards. Obviously none of the people who are making the decisions at the moment have ever taken an Economics class in their lifetime. Have they not heard of MULTIPLIER EFFECTS or SPILLOVER effects??!

Simply BODOH the lot of them.

Singapore -1 Malaysia -0

Spring in My Step

2008-04-18T05:53:00.002+08:00

Going through my first winter in this here South Bend, Indiana was not too bad. I really expected the worst so everything fell short of my expectations, though people tell me this year was the coldest that its been. So, in my mind I thought to myself that I wouldn't mind winter lasting the whole year.

But I was so wrong. The only reason I said that was because I forgot what the spring was like. The weather today was just gorgeous. I could go out in shorts and sandals, I played frisbee, and I went for my first ever swim in one and a half years. Now I want more, I want to be at the beaches back home, I want to scuba again! I MISS SCUBA!!! I MISS THE MASK!!!

I never thought the weather would play such a big part on my feelings, but I guess in the end its what u call circle of life or whatever bla bla. I call it being in tune with nature.

On another not, my I got my XBOX exchanged for a new one, and its still a Halo one! My XBOX had not been able to go online, and a friend of mine handled the entire fixing process for me, including contacting microsoft, sending it in and all. When I heard my XBOX was coming back, I never thought I would get a new one! YAY!!!

Today was a great day. This post is just a rambling of that. But it wasn't that there was nothing bad though. I bought a burger and just before I could eat it I drop it and everything spilled out. Boohoo. Luckily it was only a buck. that means U$1. That means RM3.15 at the moment of writing, and dropping, dropping, DROPPING!!! (rate was RM3.8 when I first landed in America!)

Speaking of our country, I'm sure these are exciting time for all of you back home. What with Anwar's revenge and the end of political tyranny by BN. There is so much hope for our nation right now. Bear in mind that I am not a opposition supporter, but I am a supporter of a fair and functioning democracy, which our country never was. It still isn't but we're making a lot of steps that improve things.

Alhamdulillah for such a beautiful day. Please help me to finish a great FYC paper by tonight and complete the perfection of today.

Easter dedication

2008-03-23T06:31:00.003+08:00

Hey everyone, I just want to wish you all Happy Easter from Notre Dame , Indiana and I just want you all to bear in mind our dear friend Ju Liang who has suffered a relapse of his leukimia and is now undergoing treatment, in Singapore. Please visit his blog that you can find on the links on the right, and you can read up his entire journey through there. So please give your hearts and prayers to Ju Liang that he will get a successful donor for his transplant as well as triumph over this ordeal. And dedicate this Easter specially to him. Lift up his name for prayer at mass. Ju Liang is the miracle we want!

No Wonder LAH

2008-03-09T16:30:00.007+08:00

So I was still asking the question. How on earth did Lembah Pantai lose to the opposition. This was totally unforseen. So the nice old lady with the headscarf Sharizat lost to Anwar's eldest daughter. OK, baik aku pergi buat research pasal siapa orang ini. This is what I found.

Patutlah dia menang. Who want to vote for a nice old lady when Keadilan fields a girl like this!?

"She's like, you know, as young as, my eldest son. She's like my ..daughter. You know"
-Sharizat, upon discovering her new opponent.

"Bangsar is a hot place. We need hot girl to represent"
-Comment by someone on YouTube

Memang pandailah kita orang Malaysia buat pilihan.

It's true! Malaysia is a Democratic Nation!

2008-03-09T15:30:00.005+08:00

In the entire 50 over years of our nation's history, Barisan Nasional has never lost an election. But today, it suffered it's deepest wound, losing the two-thirds majority of the vote.

But Lembah Pantai under Keadilan? This is personal. I always thought Sharizat was a nice old lady. Why, she even wears a headscarf! Well, for one thing, I'm happy for this change. This is the first time since I was born that I have truly felt the reality of what being a democracy is all about. It definitely proves that the election system in Malaysia works, and its not that Barisan throws away all the people's votes, and then takes out their bag of pre-cancelled ballots and hands it over to be counted.

To the oppostion, this is your chance. Awak suka buat bising pasal semua perkara, sekarang awak boleh tunjuk yang awak lagi pandai dari diorang. Most of the 5 oppostion states govn's will be made of a coalition of DAP-PKR-PAS. The keyword guys, is BEKERJASAMA. It's one of the chapters in the Pendidikan Moral SPM textbook. Who says SPM teaches you stuff that isnt practical. Two elections back, you guys tried to form Barisan Opposition, which failed because you couldn't agree on a common platform. Learn from your mistake, and realize that when you fight with each other, the people suffer, and Barisan Nasional will be laughing all the way to the next elections.

Selamat Merdeka to Selangor, Penang, Kedah, Perak, and of course Lembah Pantai (aka Bangsar). These 5 states will be guinea pigs in my research project. The objective is to discover which brings more prosperity: being independent, or being under an umbrella.

Ya, benar. Ini hasil kerja awak semua. Jangan buat macam tak tau je.

Fandom

2008-02-15T17:49:00.006+08:00

Ok so the word on RA3 has been out for quite sometime now; almost 30 hours. From what little we've seen, it is undeniable that whilst everyone is celebrating the return of Red Alert, a significant few, me included have raised a few eyebrows at the direction that RA3 is heading. Red Alert 2 has gotta be my favourite RTS of all time. I love any game that has Soviets, I loved Red Alert because it is C&C, and I loved Red Alert 2 because of the overly-stereptypical and slightly comical theme that the game had. It was a fun game to play, with all the wacky technology like mind control and dolphins and squids and what not. Though it was my favourite game of the series, many at that point had already expressed how disgusted and frustrated they were in this new lighthearted outlook on RA2, saying things were just getting too messed up.

Now, with RA3, things might get messed up even more. The buildings and units for the Soviets look just so comical. They look like they came from a toy shop or something. You know those playsets? Like for petrol station, or military base, or shopping mall. Now you have the Soviet base playset for children.

Gripe #2:
For the past 7 years, those who have always had that hope that RA3 would eventually come, guessing what the new third faction would be was always a favourite topic of discussion. Some said, Yuri, some said Europe, some said the new China. For me, it was my personal favourite for Hitler to reappear from his time travels and bring back the Wehrmacht to bear once and for all. Of course, the idea of Nazis in the game would not sit well with Europeans, especially the hardcore German fans. So the new faction is....(drumrollll) Japan!

Wha- ?

This is really stupid. Japan has no place in this game. It has no history in Red Alert. It has no place on the world stage as a military power. What happen to Korea from RA2???? COME. ON. Nobody wants Japan to be in this game.

I'm not saying this just because I'm Chinese. I'm just saying that putting Japan in as a major third faction is soooo RANDOM. I know they were an imperial power during World War 2 but what about the sensitivities of its history amongst the people of China?? Way to go, EA, good job at courting the 1 billion people market of China. You just lost out on the biggest market of the world. Ever heard of World of Warcraft? You know where it was made? Yeah US. You know where the biggest group of players come from? Yeah, China. I'm not surprised if this game is banned in China, and maybe even in Korea, as they don't need RA3 since theyre getting Starcraft 2.

OH well. What can you do. RA3 will still be a commercial success (except in China). And I am still going to pre-order it! And I am still going to LOVE it! I am what you call.... a FAN!!!

Red Thursday

2008-02-15T01:37:00.003+08:00

The official RA3 announcement video is up on the the official CNC website, announcing this day as Red Thursday. Here's part of the official press release:

After seven years, Red Alert returns! After a time travel mission goes awry, a new superpower has been thrust onto the world stage and World War III is raging. The Empire of the Rising Sun has risen in the East, making WW III a three-way struggle between the Soviets, the Allies, and the Empire with armies fielding wacky and wonderful weapons and technologies such as Tesla coils, heavily armed War Blimps, teleportation, armored bears, intelligent dolphins, floating island fortresses, and transforming tanks.

Whilst news of RA3 is spreading like wildfire, EA has presented us with another awesome gift. Take a walk down memory lane on this website where you can see the movies and cut-scenese that made CNC what it is today! Go over to http://www.ea.com/cncmovies

Wha- YOu Dont Believe ME???

2008-02-14T16:45:00.002+08:00

You think its all just hoax? Well here's some proof!

From your Valentine: EA

2008-02-14T16:04:00.007+08:00

A few years back, Westwood Studios was bought over and then disbanded by the greedy conglomerate monster Electronic Arts (EA). And instead of continuing with CnC3 or RA3, EA instead tarnished the CnC line with an excuse of a game called Generals. Generals in itself was not a bad game, just unworthy of the CNC title bestowed upon it. How can there be CNC with no Construction Yard? No Engineer? No sidebar? No live action cutscenes? And more importantly, neither Tiberium nor Soviets? The future of CnC looked truly bleak. EA was gobbling up all the great independent developers out there and putting them under its umbrella to churn out half-baked products faster than the spewing forth of John Grisham and his ever increasingly recycled almost-novels. Then in 2007, EA surprised us with the release of CnC3:Tiberium Wars which exceeded everyone's expectations, including mine. Then came CnC TV. And now, even before Kane's Wrath the expansion to Tiberium Wars is due to be released, EA deliberately steals the spotlight of Valentines away from your girl. Forget that candle light dinner, and its after-events; be they planned or spontaneous. Why, you have Natalya (above) now! Instead scour the web for all news you can, find your buddies and rejoice for the good news is given! Spread the word all you bloggers, for no one lights a lamp and hides it under a bowl or a bed. Instead put the lamp on a lamp stand so that all may see its (red) light! The wait is over, comrades. For the third time, the world shall once again be in a state of RED ALERT.

Workers (Gamers) of the world, unite!!!

Physical Abuse

2008-01-21T23:28:00.000+08:00

Very often, particularly, in my residence hall, it is the toilet bowls which get the most shit. Pun INTENDED. But the drinking fountain in my section gets its fair share as well, from being treated like a toilet bowl....

to being totally abducted.

Farewell o' beloved drinking fountain. Thy shite of water we shall be missing NOT. Sympathies in advance for the replacement.

Crush Malaysia

2007-12-17T20:02:00.000+08:00

As all Malaysians who were not absent during Sejarah period know, the only reason why Malaysia is not Indonesia today is because Indonesia was so impatient to get their independence that they decided to leave the Malaya peninsula behind. And then in 1963 when our great and sovereign but kadang kala bodoh country of the Federation of Malaysia was formed, the Indonesians decried our new nation calling it a new form of neo-colonialism. Thus they launched a minor armed military campaign against us called Ganyang Malaysia, which literally means the above. In 1965, Sukarno was ousted in a coup, and the new Suharto came in. Ganyang Malaysia was over, and the two countries normalized relations.

However, the truth is, Ganyang Malaysia is still well and alive today, just as we know that there are still communists hiding all over the jungles of South East Asia, and if you ever get lost in the jungle and found by them you can say goodbye to your free-market spending ways forever. If you go to the causes application on Facebook, and search for Malaysia, some very interesting causes come up.

The first one is atas sebab politik bahagian teks ini terpaksa ditapis (JPF, 2007). Wow, its true. The Jabatan Penapisan Filem even has their presence on our blogs now. Anyway, if you want to see the first one you can look it up on Facebook, before JPF censors it. Following that cause though is Ganyang Malaysia. this is their info

ganyang maLaysia...

memutuskan hubungan dengan maLaysia...

Basic Info:	1. Tidak mau menggunakan/meLihat segaLa macam bentuk produk keLuaran maLaysia. 2. Tidak memacari atau menikahi orang maLaysia. 3. Tidak mau mempekerjakan/bekerja/bekerjasama dengan penduduk maLaysia.

And then the next group

Safeguard Indonesian culture against Malaysia

Safeguard Indonesia against Malaysia

Basic Info:	There have been controversial claims from Malaysia over some aspects of Indonesian culture such as dance (jaranan-Central Java and reog-East Java), musical instrument (angklung-West Java), etc. We have to stop further claim from Malaysia! If the Malaysians happen to claim any more aspect of Indonesia culture, let's pulverize them into dust!

and one more...

STOP MALAYSIA ABUSIVE Act!

Malaysia go to Hell!

Basic Info:	* Indonesian worker in all areas has been physically and mentally abuse by the malaysian. * To stop sending in Indonesian worker t o Malaysia * Protect Indonesian people from abusive act by any malaysian authorities,people and government. * To stop Malaysia stealing our resources and rights. including "rasa sayange song" which is also used to promote malaysia's tourism program.
Positions:	Indonesia is Greater than Malaysia. Protecting Indonesian people and resources To stop sending Indonesia's worke r to Malaysia.

And this is their logo of their cause

Maling means burglar.

Let this revelation be some food for thought for all you Malaysians and Indonesians, and people who just love debates. I strongly encourage you to visit those sites and see the comments the supporters have made. They will brighten up your day, if you can get past the Indonesian that is.

So it begins...

2007-11-06T10:46:00.000+08:00

I couldn't wait any longer. Nothing else kept me warm enough from the wind so it was time to bring out the heavy duty gear : my pirated made-and-sold-in-China Northface. This was a timely decision. As I walked out of the dining hall at 9, I encountered my first taste of the coming season. The sky was raining hail. Winter has come.

My first real post since I have left our greatest nation.

2007-10-24T07:58:00.000+08:00

Hello everyone,

It is now fall break for a week. This is the only real break I get so I'm taking this opportunity to write about Notre Dame. My English gets worse and worse the further down you go. I have had to watch my English to be prim and proper for two months and I am SICK of it.

It's been two months now that I have been in America. More specifically the University of Notre Dame, in tiny South Bend, Indiana. My conclusion? Not taking into account future job prospects, I am going to take this plunge and say that my university experience is most definitely better than yours, that is if you are attending a uni outside America. (Just being brutally honest k, no offense intended. :) Also, I am eager for someone to prove me wrong!)

Coming to Notre Dame was a very big risk. Nobody including me knew anything about this uni. If you remember, I gave up LSE to come here. And I am so glad I did, for these reasons.

Notre Dame is a very, very, wealthy uni. Endowment is around U$ 6 billion i think. When I first came here I got so many free stuffs: shirt, food, etc. Everyday I get to eat 5 star quality buffet meals twice a day. My aunt and uncle came to visit me and they were stunned by the enormous variety of food available in our dining halls. What I eat twice a day is equal or better to what you get for buffet breakfast in Hilton.

Also one of my reasons for not wanting to come here was that it was a Catholic uni. In most of our points of view, religious schools are not really good schools. But my point of view has changed. I am thoroughly enjoying the Catholic environment here. I can't explain it but there feels almost tangibly a certain kind of bond with others here, even whilst not actively acknowleding that we are all Catholic. And perhaps the biggest Catholic influence is in the system of our residence halls. I was initially put off by the fact that we have single sex residence halls whilst other unis had coed ones. Again, I've changed my mind. Though single sex, opposite sex are welcomed to come and go at any time except for after 12 midnight. Which i found out is good, because u can have the safety of knowing that there will be no girls around then, which means there is total privacy. this means that when u get sick of opposite sex u know that 12 oclock is just a few hours away. so good catholic system. and because of this boys always want to go to girls dorms and vice versa like a little tiddly wink adventure. but if u are lovers and u just cannot separate with your signifcant other who is not of the same sex u can hang out together in the 24 hour lounge downstairs which every dorm has. About my dorm which is Dillon, I am realy grateful I got into this dorm. We are one of the oldest and most beautiful dorms with very beautiful architecture and the widest hallways. (btw, right now I am warming up my water and my frozen Subway on our room's radiator) our toilets have just been newly renovated. Ahhh....extreme piece of mind. Everything is white in color as should be. no stains. everyone who comes to visit toilet leaves asking, "Is Dillon a new dorm" . Yes that is how powerful the impact of Dillon's toilets, which people stupidly say bathroom here eventhough they are not going to take a bath. I stay on third floor and am glad as there is least traffic here so you can leave your door open and not have the entire uni peek into your room. another catholic pro is that there is mass available in every dorm, every night. so skipping sunday mass for me is practically non-existent as going to mass is just three floors down.

Reflection on post: Wow. I am so proud of my English. It's gotten a lot better since I came to an English country.

Halo 3 review for Andy

2007-10-10T11:07:00.000+08:00

Personally I never was a big fan of Halo. Played the first one on the com; didn't see it through the end. Never touched the second one. Today, I just finished the third in singleplayer. Halo 3 is a great game. Enjoyable all the way throughout. Significant fun points of this game is the ability to wield two weapons at once in both hands and the numerous fantastic vehicular action. I was supposed to play this game in stages over a few days. But today I just couldn't stop playing it until the end. Thus, I am booked for Halo Wars when that comes out. Great stuff this Halo. Definitely one of the best games available on the XBOX 360.

But I don't like the Halo storyline or setting. I'm not a big fan of sci-fi. Because of that I don't think I will be playing this game again anytime soon. I prefer to play more military style games. I do regret a bit that I spent so much money on this. If I had waited a bit longer I could have borrowed someone elses copy when they were done with it. But I still want to get Halo Wars when that come out.

If I had to compare this with Gears of War, I think I would choose that simply because I like the darker more serious, more military tone in GOW. Also, I find GOW closer in nature to my favourites like Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six and Call of Duty 4; the next one on my list.

UPDATE 22/10/7: Played Halo3 on local multiplayer today. Multiplayer is definitely Halo3's strongest point. I' feel like i'm finally getting my $60's worth. Halo3 is the Counterstrike of America.

Despite the millions of hardware failures around the world, the XBOX 360 has found yet another new home.

2007-09-28T08:31:00.001+08:00

I don't even like Halo. Yet.

Update 5/12/07: According to my Official XBOX Magazine, this special Halo 3 version is fitted with the new Falcon chip that does not overheat. SUCK YOU!!!!

Bilik Saya II

2007-09-19T13:03:00.001+08:00

Ada orang kata ini bukan bilik, tetapi kotak kasut. Itu tidak benar. Ini ialah sebuah bilik. Bilik ini sangat kecik. Katil saya sangat tinggi. Tengok gambar di bawah. Ya, kalau saya bangun terlalu cepat kepala saya akan sakit pada siling. Ini bukan kotak kasut.

Bilik Saya

2007-09-14T13:03:00.001+08:00

Ini bilik saya. Bilik saya ada meja dan rak baju. Di atas meja dan rak baju ada katil. Selain itu, ada buku dan bendera. Ini bilik saya.

The Curse of Microsoft strikes again

2007-07-17T23:25:00.000+08:00

Microsoft has recently come to admit in press statements (Go Google it yourself, I’m too depressed) that all 1 billion over XBOX 360 consoles built so far have a fatal flaw inside them just waiting to knock them out. Speculation says it’s a design/manufacturing flaw that causes overheating in I-really-don’t-give-a-rat’s-ass what. It just overheats supposedly and from that point on illuminating the three red rings of doom is all your machine can do.

HEARTBREAKING. It’s like being told that your most beloved pet dog in the world is going to keel over and die one day, no matter what you do, no matter what you try, no matter how much TLC you give it. It may be today, tomorrow, next month, or ten months, but the dog WILL die eventually.

In most cases though, it will be a slow death before the red rings come, like my first XBOX unit. It just kept freezing everytime i loaded it. When I sent it to the shop, they said it was already on its way to Three-Red-Rings-Hell. Thank goodness mine kicked the bucket within the 3 month warranty so I could change it in for a brand new one. Recently, my neighbour’s XBOX also died, but he wasn't so lucky he had to pay RM250 to ship it to Singapore for a replacement. And then they tell him there’s no new stock, so he gonna get a ‘refurbished’ one. And I guess with Microsoft’s admitting these machines are built to kill themselves, it will be a matter of time before my 2nd unit goes as well. What’s Microsoft gonna do to compensate us? They gonna extend the warranty to 3 years. Whoopee (flat tone). If only it covered the RM250 transport fee to Singapore.

To all XBOX360 owners, enjoy what you can of your 3 year warranty left. After that maybe it’s time to get a Wii. Yes, even with all X360’s having this fatal flaw in them, the best alternative is Nintendo. NOT Sony.

One day your dog will be like this too.

Transformers is a Give and Take movie

2007-07-01T22:33:00.000+08:00

Take stock, rejoice, and be very grateful that

The Transformers franchise has been rejuvenated on the big screen, in live action. See the best of CGI on Earth bring these metal harbingers of destruction to life.
Also be prepared for a very convincing showcase of the US air forces’ killing prowess of their F-22 Raptors, A-10 Warthogs, and low flying gunships.
Sexy vehicles like the new Chevrolet Camarro, Pontiac Solstice, and Ford Mustang police car, and of course the blue and red flame streaked trailer truck a.k.a. Optimus Prime
Megan Fox
This is only the first of a trilogy.

Give way and let go off stupid issues that very nearly ruin this film like

Michael Bay's interpretation of the Transformers is really bizzare. Most of them barely resemble their animated versions. They look like the Terminator's cousins instead.
No Transformers theme song. How can there be no transformers theme song??? Instead, this film immortalized Linkin Park’s ‘What I’ve Done’. Let’s hope the DVD comes out with a silent option.
All time sappy love thingamajig that Michael Bay keeps trying to do (think Pearl Harbor) between two misplaced individuals who amongst all else are caught up in the greater scale of things. Less air-time of them means more air-time for robo mayhem and destruction.
Disjointed insertions of lame jokes and failed emotional scenes spoil the flow of the movie.
Megan Fox can be a distraction at times. (See pic below)
Incoherent story. Eg. How come Bumblebee can speak in the end? What happened to that cool policecar transformer? What happened to the machines brought alive by the Allspark in the city? Why would the the army want to bring that dangerous Allspark and hide it in a city full of innocent people??

I am a very ardent fan of Transformers, so my expectations for the film have been very high. But for the average movie goer of all ages, Transformers is the most fresh, original, and spectacular blockbuster to watch this summer. So please, spend your hard earned pathetic RM10 to go see this at least once on the big screen. I’ve already seen it twice at the time of this review, just to see whether I would be blown away a second time. And I was. Definitely gonna buy that special extended director’s platinum two disc edition DVD when it comes out.

This is how I recommend you to watch repeated viewings of Transformers on your DVD. > is the play button. >> is the skip button. (Look at your remote)

Insert disc.
Press >. Starts off when an unidentified helicopter enters US base in Qatar. Transforms into badass machine and blasts everybody to kingdom come. Then press >>
>>
>>
> Scorponok tries to harass some pissed off marines. Marines call in awesome, unstoppable, and unsurvivable might of US air force to annihilate Scorponok like the bug he is.
>>
>>
> Bumblebee and Barricade duel in a droid death match,
>>
>>
> Autobots crash land on earth and assimilate earth vehicles
>>
>>
> Autobots escape pursuing Sector 7 agents, Bumblebee gets rounded and pounded
>>
>>
> Frenzy locates Allspark, radios all Decepticons to come crash the party
>>
>>
> Decepticons crash party, Optimus Prime does a sharp undercut on Bonecrusher
>>
>>
> Climax: Ultimate destructive metal orgy of sorts between Autobots and Decepticons. This is the part where: one shall stand, and one shall fall.
>>
>>
> Optimus Prime tries to not to look at Sam & Mikaela making out on top of Bumblebee. Distracts himself by sending message to all Autobots in space to come crash this planet.
>>
>>
> Starscream blasts off into space to obviously NOT do charity work, thereby heralding the arrival of Transformers 2 by 2009.

Was young master Witwicky ever glad she got into HIS car.

"No I am NOT a Transformer. I am a FEMALE!"

Truly a Midnight album.

2007-05-16T01:17:00.000+08:00

After one and a bit of a listen, my civic conscience prompts me to tell you all that despite what is labeled on the cover, this is NOT LINKIN PARK. For my proof, let me summarize each and every song for you. Since not a single song is worth remembering the name, I’ll just use their track listings.

Track 1: N/A. I can't get past the horrible static.

Track 2: Chester Bennington. Hardrock. LP worthy.

Track 3: Chester Bennington. Some rock. Some emo.

Track 4: Mika Shinoda & Chester Bennington. Pop-rap/rock. LP with a good new sound.

Track 5: Chester Bennington. Some rock. Some emo.

Track 6 (What I’ve Done): Chester Bennington. Some rock. Some emo.

Track 7: Singer: Mike Shinoda & Chester Bennington. Rap. Talking. Boring.

Track 8: Chester Bennington, Hard rock. LP worthy.

Track 9: Chester Bennington, Some rock. Some emo.

Track 10: Mike Shinoda. Talking. Promising opening. Unfortunately it lasts till the end.

Track 11: Chester Bennington. Some rock. Some emo.

Track 12: Chester Bennington. 6 minutes 20 seconds of audible torture.

I’ve never had to do this before. Before, the summary for every Linkin Park song was the same: Mother Effing Good. On this album, only the three in bold sound original and great to me. But remember, this album is not Linkin Park. From above, you can see that its 95% Chester Park, and another 5% Shinoda Park. Even then, this isn’t Chester at his best. I believe he’s saving his best for his own solo project. And as for Shinoda being absent 95% of the time, I think it’s cause he was so busy doing Fort Minor. For a band with such high-standards, this release is unforgivable. Of over 100 songs, these are the 12 best??? You could say that my judgement comes too early, what with only one listen. But with an album like this, it's gonna be really difficult to get through a complete second round, and even more impossible to start the third.

I do not know why they did this. Hybrid Theory was the ultimate defining sound for Linkin Park. And it launched them to instant fame. To date Hybrid Theory has achived 2x Diamond status. That’s 20x Platinum. That’s 20 million copies sold. I don’t think Minutes to Midnight will even reach 3 million. At least not in the next 5 years. For all the fans of Linkin Park, I would say that this is a real utter disappointment. If this album sells, it will only be because of the Linkin Park name on it. Only 2 types of people will get this album. Die hard fans like me who loved the original LP sound and will buy their albums even though they start singing haiku, or people who have never liked LP’s sound before and will come and support this new album just because it does not sound like their previous albums. To make things worse, the first three tracks on my disc are so full of static. (Apparently this is a problem with all the first batch of Made in Malaysia discs. Go figure.)

To me, this album is as bad as every other forgettable release by forgettable American bands out there. For those who do like other forgettable albums, they might like this forgettable album too because it’s not really that bad. It just not worthy of the original Linkin Park. It will not have the LP logo branded on it. Instead Linkin Park has chosen a new logo that looks like some gay sign. This is a Linkin Park that has supposedly ‘grown-up’/ ‘matured’/ ‘found a new sound’/ ‘explored new horizons’ or whatever excuse they will call it. They spent the most time on this album: 14 months compared to 3-6 months for their previous albums. But it looks like all their effort came to nothing. In the end, this album is not only NOT Linkin Park, but it also succeeds at being NOTHING else. What direction has Linkin Park gone in? Anywhere except their successful winning formulas of the past. This album has no defining sound or style. You can't even say it's a mix of different styles. At best, you can say it was an experimentation gone noisily wrong.

Linkin Park will go only two ways from here. The best they could do, is admit that this evolution/ deviation was not a right path, and they will go back to being the sound that won the adoration of millions around the world. Otherwise, given the fame and fortune they have already achieved; they could ignore the millions, press on with this new noise and say that they will keep doing it because they ‘enjoy the process’, which to them; is of the ultimate importance.

Looks like any other forgettable band now. Where did the artist in Linkin Park go???

Their new sign. The result of trying too hard to find inspiration that just didn't exist.

An expert gets it wrong

2007-05-09T01:35:00.000+08:00

This post is for those who have already read my previous article : Microsoft vs. Sony.

On Gamespot, there's this article written by this supposed expert telling about the long life of this generation's consoles and how the PS3 will emerge the winner in terms of sales by 2011. And then there's all this readers bashing him about how wrong he is! Very interesting read, even if you do not own a console. And Wardi, they also talk about the Wii!

READ MR. SMARTASS'S OPINION HERE!

I will be posting up my correction of his 'opinion' shortly.

Updated 14/5/07: You know what, I don't think I have to write out anything. The response from the Gamespot readers are spot on. You should just read their responses. Maybe I will compile their points or something. This is my favourite comment that I've read so far: "its like sony against the world with all the bashing."

Dear Readers, We Need Your Say!

2007-05-04T01:52:00.000+08:00

Casino Royale. Me and my friend. One of us thinks it’s a very good show, the other one think’s it’s a total letdown. And we’re not telling you which one of us is in favour of which opinion. We are however, interested in finding out what others think of the film.

The questions are:
1. IS CASINO ROYALE A GOOD MOVIE?
2. IS CASINO ROYALE A GOOD JAMES BOND MOVIE?
3. IS CASINO ROYALE BETTER THAN THE PIERCE BROSNAN JAMES BOND FILMS?

For your answer, please state your name ( or at least something other than anonymous ), followed by YES or NO. You can post your answer in the comments or in the shoutbox.

Example of an answer: Jessica, YES, NO, YES

Please voice your opinion on this. We really appreciate it. Please answer the questions honestly in your OWN personal opinion. Do not be swayed by what others think of it. Do not be swayed by how internet websites rate it. WE SEEK YOUR OWN PERSONAL VIEW FROM YOUR OWN PERSONAL VIEWING OF THE MOVIE.

Spiderman's Sucess is Spelt with a Capital M.J.

2007-05-03T01:10:00.000+08:00

Sorry I know this is going against my one month sabbatical, but I just had to share this good good with you all.

On the third showing it hit me. It’s not the friendship troubles, it’s not the morality issues, it’s not Parker’s charming nerdiness. Instead, Spiderman’s success is spelt with a capital M.J. If you think about it, the one thing constant in the plot of all three Spiderman movies, is that EVERYONE is fighting for that stunning brunette Mary Jane Watson. Peter wants MJ. Harry wants MJ. The bad guys know that to get Spiderman, they first need MJ. No matter how intricate the plot gets, no matter how many ‘Where do they all come from’ freaks and baddies are involved, it all boils down to everyone telling everyone else: KEEP YOUR HANDS OF MY MARY JANE. I tell you this Mary Jane is one lucky gal to be getting so much ah-ten-see-ohn. She is without a doubt, Sam Raimi’s secret ingredient for making Spiderman so successful on the big screen, with Spiderman and other villains as mere colouring. Take MJ out of the equation, and Spiderman becomes as clichéd, forgettable, and utterly missable as every other big screen comic book superhero adaption. For extra colouring, Spiderman 3 comes with a limited black edition. For extra sugar and spice, MJ has to compete with the equally stunning and beautiful in an entirely different way, Gwen the blonde. (Note: particular colour of rival’s hair is NOT coincidental) Spiderman 3 is nothing new from the first two movies, but it still succeeds because it doesn’t try to fix anything that isn’t broken. It’s a definite must watch.

This picture isn't her at her average best shot but Khai Ven...isn't she so Carrie Underwood???

2007 will be remembered as the year of the triquels. They’re all back for a third showing: Spiderman, Pirates, Shrek, Ocean’s, Resident Evil, and The Bourne. I know this is too early to say, but I have a feeling the rest will have a tough time biting Spiderman 3’s dust. Though I am looking forward to the next one, Pirates 3 if only to hear Chow Yun Fatt the Cinapek pirate say one more time: ‘Welcome to Singapore!’

What is the world coming to...

2007-04-17T00:42:00.000+08:00

I hate this blogging spree. It’s nearly driving me nuts. Not only did I miss church. I missed Bahrain GP as well!! Hamilton is amazing man. I was only keeping track of the score between champion Alonso and traitor Kimi but little did I know he is now tied for 1st place with both of them. He’s only had 3 F1 races in his life so far ok! Anyways, I have already posted 5 posts. Only one more to go. It’s 12 past and I have work in the morning. I was going to save the last one for tomorrow, until I read this in the paper.

MARYLAND: A two-year old boy was severely burned after he went down a slide that had been splashed with industrial strength drain cleaner by vandals at an elementary school playground. The boy was scheduled for surgery yesterday and will be hospitalized for several weeks. Someone had broken into the school and stolen several bottles of drain cleaner and splashed it all over the playground equipment, authorities said. Peyton suffered 2nd & 3rd degree burns, mostly on his legs, from the cleaner which contained strong concentrations of sulfuric acid. “I just don’t understand what would draw somebody to do something like that,” the boy’s mother told WMAR-TV. “What kind of sick joke is that?”

That last sentence of hers is exactly what was going on through my mind as I read this article. I mean come on, man. Doing stupid stuff is the norm for all the stupid people to be found in the world today thanks to too much freedom and not enough guidance. But there has to be a limit. For goodness sake, these are CHILDREN getting hurt man. In this case it a poor, unlucky 2 year old. The world just isn’t safe for children anymore, even in America where this shit took place. Now I can understand friends of mine who say they may not have children because the world is such a terrible place. How much worser will it be for OUR kids?

Just the other night I was at this Easter party at my godparents house. Suddenly this 8 year old girl Mathilda came up to me and asked me whether I wanted to play Scrabble with her. I obliged. Soon her 9 yr old and 6 yr old sisters also came to join us. I had a lot of fun teasing the youngest one as I kept calling her Susan when her name was actually Natalie. Nat then disappeared into the kitchen and wouldn’t come out until I promised to stop calling her Susan. So I started calling Mathilda Susan and Seraphina ( the eldest) Annabelle. Usually I don’t know how to handle children but those three girls were just so friendly I couldn’t resist playing with them. And then it hit me.

I was a complete stranger to them. They don’t even know me. They never seen me before. And their parents never even spoke to me at all the night. So why were they being so friendly to me? If they were like that then, that means they could also be like that outside in public like at the playground right? The bad people, perverts and sickos wouldn’t even have to lift a finger as these girls would probably just walk right up to them.

After they had left with their parents, I complained to my godparents that those children were being too friendly with me, and that they could be just as friendly with anyone out there. I said that their parents needed to teach the girls to be more cautious and not to simply talk to strangers. Am I being too paranoid here? Or has the world really come to a point where my paranoia is now valid? Should we teach children that everyone is a bad person unless mommy or daddy says they're not?

If anyone should cause one of these little ones to lose his faith in me, it would be better for that person to have a large millstone tied around his neck and be drowned in the deep sea. Matthew 18:6

There. Half a dozen posts in 2 days. That should last a while. so leave me alone!
No more blogging . i hate writing. I only like reading. I hate blogging!
If you are desperately hungry for more, Khai Ven is in the works for a new blog. Copied my previous theme he did. And he even wrote a post that categorizes girls into 5 types. ONLY 5???? Khai Ven....Khai ven. Would be interesting to see if we all agree with him. FYI, I like the Carrie Underwood type.Wish I could tell you what that means but he only wants to reveal it when he's completed it.

Indian wedding vs. Chinese wedding

2007-04-16T23:42:00.000+08:00

Yesterday the sister of my friend of more than 11 years got engaged. The engagement ceremony was a traditional Indian one. A Gujerathi one to be exact as they are Guju Indians. I was invited by the parents themselves to help out. Basically I did the video recording. Judging by the scale at which the engagement ceremony took place, I’m going to call it a wedding straight. Purvi (Kishan’s sister) & Monaj (the lucky guy because it turns out Purvi is the most eligible and sought after woman in the Guju community) are definitely gonna end up together although their real wedding is only gonna be end of this year. Because after all the money spent yesterday and the amount of people who turned up, breaking their engagement now would be tantamount to suicide.

At and Indian wedding Indian people still wear their traditional cultural clothes. For the women, it’s the sari, and and as I’ve told Anusha a million times before, saris make Indian women look deadly sexy. For the men, their traditional costume is not much different from other cultures; a pajamas suit. For Chinese women, cheongsams are deadly sexy too, but hardly anyone ever wears them nowdays. Most often at a Chinese wedding, the only thing Chinese is the people wearing the clothes.

At an Indian wedding, there is just so much rocking Bhangra music. You just can’t escape the beat no matter how hard you try! And there were so many performances, half of them done by members of the bride’s relatives, and Kishan and his other sis themselves! That really makes it worthy for a relative faraway from Johor to drive 6 hours up just so he can see his relatives performing. At a Chinese wedding, there is NO dancing whatsoever, because Chinese culture is devoid of dancing except for dancing animals like lions and dragons. Singing is quite common though as long as it does not involve gyrating. The most exciting thing the audience can participate in is the Yam Seng in which we compete to see who has the biggest pair of lungs.

At the Guju wedding, the seats were 75% empty most of the time as people were milling and mixing about. In fact, it was difficult to get people to get seated for the speeches as if this was primary school. At Chinese wedding, you sit at your table and the furthest person away you can talk to is the one directly opposite you. If you try to walk about, people will start asking who your irresponsible parents are.

At Chinese wedding, dishes are served one by one. Sometimes it is a pain waiting for the next dish, or before you can even dig in to this one the next one arrives. At Indian wedding, buffet style. Stuff yourself silly cause it’s all readily available, unlimited, and free!

Verdict: Indian weddings beat Chinese weddings all the time unless the Chinese women wear cheongsams.