After asking him to do a reading test on stuff all over the house, standing at a distance, we came to the realisation that Irfan’s eyesight isn’t good at all. We took him to the optometrist to get his corneas measured, but instead they gave him more sight tests. The next day, Irfan was wearing new glasses and the world was much clearer to see than the day before. Too bad the optometrist couldn’t provide ruby-quartz lenses.
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Fansubs
Sometimes, fansubbers are also Star Wars fans.
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A Star’s Cream
Here is Starscream. Not the Voyager-class toy, but the smaller Legends-class one, complete with the ‘Tronian markings he got himself waiting for Revenge of the Fallen to be released. Strangely enough, I find this little thing to look much better as an F-22 Raptor than the Voyager-class alt-mode, which has an inordinately huge underbelly.
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The Wedding At Precinct 9
Irfan’s uncle on my side, known to him as Pak Alang gets married to Irfan’s now-Mak Alang. Atok took photographs as festivities were being held at their apartment in Putrajaya. Here are some photos from the event. The parking area and road immediately in front of the building was turned into the pelamin area. Pak Alang points at something offscreen, perhaps a giant mecha; maybe a Destroid Excalibur. It’s not a Putrajaya wedding if you don’t take pictures in front of one of its bridges. Where was Irfan all the while? Having a fever upstairs in the house, lying down in front of the TV. Later, he hijacks Pak Alang’s tengkolok to have his pictures taken. Congratulations, Pak Alang and Mak Alang.
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A Bad Example Of A Group Portrait
Here is a picture of the crew of the Bad Example, the Star Wars RPG campaign I’ve been running sporadically with GOKL. Front: T’k’li a.k.a. Tickley, the Jawa Jedi. Back (L-R): Ssssawar the Trandoshan cook, Captain Hunter Maelstrom, Neh’Koh’Moo’Su’May a.k.a “Annie” the Trianii co-pilot, HK-78 a.k.a. “Weapon-X” and Aden the former Clone Trooper. Addendum (2010): Click here to download the paper miniatures of these Star Wars RPG characters!
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That Is One Big John Fruit
The last leg of the vacation was a couple of days back at Ain’s kampung at Pasir Mas, Kelantan. When we arrived, Irfan’s cousin Aiman and family were on their second-to-last day there before returning to Kuala Lumpur. They had a few hours together to play, with the Atok’s ball from Sitiawan, and the bubbles. That night Aiman slept over at his paternal grandmother’s house. They came to visit the next morning before leaving. Fruits were abundant. There were roadside stalls which sold tons of them. Ain bought a pineapple to be turned into pajeri nenas. Tok Bah and Tok Ma also bought mangosteens, as seen in the above photo. It had been a while since I had some. Irfan poses beside a jackfruit tree, where a large jackfruit waited to be cut down by Tok Bah. We brought the fruit with us back home. We are slowly eating the […]
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In Character Subtitling
Why haven’t I done this before? I had the means to do this for years and years. Go to Preferences, fiddle about with subtitle font and select Stephen Crane’s Aurebesh… then watch any Star Wars movie.
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Here There Be Mountains, Ryan
En route between Sitiawan, Perak and Pasir Mas, Kelantan we had to drive across the Titiwangsa mountain range. It was about one hundred kilometres between the towns of Gerik and Jeli, both major population centres that flanked the range where the federal road crosses over. There was a rest stop along the way where we bought lunch, though we did not eat there. Irfan, by the way, had just woke up from a long nap in the car. We drove further down the road to stop the car park of an abandoned army shooting range, which had an abandoned restaurant in front of it. I ate here once. Across the road was an abandoned army outpost which I hadn’t noticed before. While we had lunch Irfan blew bubbles:
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The Monkey-Swamps Of Lumut
What are these monkeys up to? Where do they come from? Do they have insurance? It was late afternoon when Irfan, Ain and I went for a drive toward Lumut. We drove through the little tourist town which was jam-packed with visitors from out of town. It was after all the school holidays. After getting through the traffic jam, we drove to the area beside the old defunct Lumut Hospital where we could walk on the sand, see ferries head out toward Pangkor Island and view frigates at their dock at the naval base. Then from Lumut we headed Sitiawan-wards but took a detour to the Mangrove Park. It looked far better than it used to. The walkways had been extended to other parts of the mangrove jungle and there were lamps everywhere. Everything looked shiny and tourist-friendly. There were lots of visitors that day, even a recently-married couple taking […]
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LOL! PraWNED!!!111
Once upon a time, Atok and Opah told us of a little out of the way place named Bagan Nakhoda Omar, Harbour of Captain Omar in Anglic. Who was Nakhoda Omar and ship did he captain? I’d like to know that as well… On our way to Sitiawan for school holidays, we thought we’d stop there for lunch. It was a warm sunny day, but not sweltering at all. There was a cool breeze coming from the sea and we took a table under the undulating shadow of some coconut trees. We ordered the specialty that Atok and Opah told us about: fried meals with prawns. Ain & I ordered nasi goreng and Irfan the meehoon goreng. While waiting for lunch to be cooked, Irfan explored the area around the food stalls, chasing a small monitor lizard into a pool under the gazebo where most of the tables were situated. […]
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Hunting Pirates – Bad Example, Episode 2 Part 2
Episode 2: Crab Meat Beach Party IV Continued from Part 1 Ever the diplomat and unable to shoot from the back of the column, Hunter Maelstrom climbed up the nearest tree to get a clear shot as well and yelled, “Don’t shoot! It might be friendly.” Annie the Trianii brandished her talons and attempted to perform an acrobatic leap over the droid Weapon-X and the Trandoshan chef Ssssawar to get to Aden. Unfortunately, she slipped and fell face down in the dirt. Weapon-X was still trying to bear his blaster rifle on the creature, but Aden’s military skills prevailed. His DC-15 rifle was up and he fired, but the bolt slightly grazed the side of the creature’s head. Sharp, slimy teeth centimetres away from the clone’s throat, Ssssawar stepped in and swiftly punched the beast hard at the side of its head. It fell into a heap on the carpet […]
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Shooting Zebras – Bad Example, Episode 2 Part 1
I ran the second episode of Star Wars: A Bad Example In The Spacelanes last weekend with the GOKL crew. Without Adrian, Tickley the Jawa Jedi would be relegated to behind-the-scenes NPC while the rest of the crew did their thing. In Bad Example In The Spacelanes Episode 1: Pilot, Or Lack Thereof, some stuff happened which you can read here. Here follows the story of the game that was ran: Episode 2: Crab Meat Beach Party Long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… The shipping line to the mining community of Port Barrow on the planet Sriluur was under constant raid from pirates. Because Port Barrow was being developed and industrialized by the outlander human Tam Gromer, it was relatively shunned by the rest of the planet. However, after the arrival of the crew of the yacht Bad Example, three pirate YT-1760 freighters had been taken out […]
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Walking Through A-Deh-Deh-Deh Like That – A Terminator Salvation Review
In the first Terminator movie, if time travel convention is to be adhered to, just before John Connor’s troops stormed Skynet and was on the verge of destroying it in Timeline A, the human resistance is screwed the moment the T-800 Model 101 went back in time moments before Kyle Reese did. What actually did happen? Was that Skynet destroyed in Timeline A even as the T-800 terminated Sarah Connor in a new divergent timeline (Timeline B) in which case John Connor never existed and Skynet was triumphant? From Timeline A, Kyle Reese went back and stopped the Terminator creating Timeline C. Do all these three timelines exist simultaneously? If you didn’t stop to think about it all however, thanks to the superb direction, story and visual effects – if you are sufficiently entertained – then Terminator was a flawless movie. Similarly with Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the movie was […]
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A Sporting Event For Irfan’s School
Irfan handed us the letter from school early this week saying that Friday morning is sports day! The pre-school and Years 1, 2 and 3 classes’ sports day to be precise. The older primary kids will have theirs on Sunday. Early Friday morning, Irfan’s mom and dad was there, all eager to see Irfan in action on the field. His year only had one game, which was pulling a ball across the field with a hoop. Nothing much to talk about there, so here’s a bunch of pictures with accompanying captions. Above: Can you spot Irfan during the initial assembly of short humans? Above: Irfan and friends walks in a column from the assembly area toward the school field. Above: In the very hot sun… very, very hot sun… Irfan’s class 1 Ikhlas during the walk-by. Above: Waiting under the kids’ tent, Irfan traded is now-empty tumbler of orange juice […]
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I’m Just Gonna Title This Entry “A Star Trek Review” Okay?
Doctor Who. Yes. You always have at least one scene (and usually more) in every episode of the show. You know the kind of scene they have: “Run!” “Doctor?” “I said, run!” “Did you say…” “RUN!!!” And then present company goes tearing down a corridor or a hallway or an alien cave at top speed being chased by a monster or an alien or both, usually lethal. That’s the kind of energy I found in almost every other scene in the new Star Trek movie which is entitled, uh… Star Trek. When I heard this project being announced I didn’t feel any apprehension or outrage or elation over it. I was all Star Trekked out. Younger actors portraying the Original Series’ characters. Young Kirk, Spock and McCoy. Trek 90210. Yeah, whatever. But closer I got to the release, the closer I got excited about information that leaked out of the […]
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A Bad Example In The Spacelanes, Part 2
Continuing the adventures of the crew of the Bad Example on Sriluur… III Meanwhile, Aden, Ssssawar and Annie crossed a bridge over the river that led to the waterfall only several metres due west. Their destination, Spacer’s Bistro, was on the other side of the river. Port Barrow had the expected large percentage of Weequay population in the streets, they saw. But there were also other species, including humans, several Rodians here, a few Duros over there. The Bistro was a domed building overlooking the cliff. There was a large window pane which allowed for spectacular view of the canyon and other mountains in the range. It was still early, so there were not many patrons in the Bistro. A green and black clad human was drinking alone in a table. There was a Weequay passed out, presumably drunk at another table. A Rodian was at a table near the […]
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