Gary writes on Facebook: This is another one of those Facebook memes. You turn your music player to random and write down the first 25 songs it spits out. I’m not a big tagger, but if you want to do it, go for it. [[popup:amarok-feb2009.jpg:(thumbnail):AmaroK!:right:1]]Okay, Gary. I will go for it. There’s The Girl – Heart Central America – Bear McCreary Can’t Fight This Feeling – REO Speedwagon The Weaver’s Answer – Family Kissing You – Des’ree Atomic Al’s Merry Melody – Bear McCreary Lovefool – Cardigans Two Boomers – Bear McCreary Softly Whispering I Love You – The Congregation Streets of London – Ralph McTell Cold As Ice – Foreigner Me and You and a Dog Named Boo – Lobo Us and Them – Pink Floyd Small World (Part One) – Huey Lewis and the News Got to Get You Into My Life – The Beatles Private Army – […]
Continue readingAuthor Archive: hisham
Ashley and Her Parents Come for a Visit
Teik Sing, Michelle and adorable little Ashley took some time to come over for dinner with us on Friday. They fly back home next Saturday. Clear skies, guys. Check out the photos: By the way, Irfan is at the age where Teik Sing and I first met in Standard 1.
Continue reading
The Year the Hasbro Toys Invaded In Tandem
Preview of the upcoming giant robot mayhem movie Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen has been released. In fact, it was shown on TV during the superbowl, and not long afterward the trailers can be viewed in their high definition Quicktime glory at the Apple Trailers site. Let’s have a look at some of the highlights, shall we. Above: Autobot leader Optimus Prime receives a blow to the face, shattering his mouth guard in slow motion. One hopes that he turns around and stabs his assailant in the face with a big ass extendable energon sword as he is wont to do. I have no idea who punches Prime. Above:You wouldn’t want Ravage to bite you, cause after he’s bitten you he’ll probably also fire that big ass cannon in his mouth. Which usually hurts. I wonder if this Ravage can speak, and if he does will he speak in a […]
Continue reading
25 Random Facts
So, Gary tagged me on Facebook, therefore: Rules: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose up to 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about you. (To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag up to 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.) 1. One of my old hobbies is fishing for antlion larvae out of their sand pit traps using live ants. 2. At 9, I was shushed by a guy behind me when watching Raiders of the Lost Ark. 3. I last GMed a Star Wars The […]
Continue readingLines of Communications
Commemorating Sila’s birthday on the 29th, we have here a series of screencaptures taken from Skype on Atok Irfan & Alya’s computer in Sitiawan The proliferation of the internet and its communication applications has been one of the most amazing things to be invented in the last decade or so. I remember in the early 90s, when my sister’s vacation was over and she had to return to the States, it was the saddest time ever for me. Nowadays, or at least the last couple of times Sila and Vin were on their way out of here, I was all like, “Going? OK, see ya when you get home.” So here are Alya, Alya’s Mom and Dad in webcam view. Alya catches sight of the webcam and is intrigued. Perhaps it tastes good. Grab the sucka! [[image:alya-skype-jan2009-01.jpg:Incoming flyer!:center:0]] [[image:alya-skype-jan2009-02.jpg:Attempting to acquire target:center:0]] Who are these strangle people crowded in the […]
Continue reading
Objects At Rest
Comrades, some since Standard 1 in ACS Sitiawan way back when the town had one main road running into it and there were swathes of rubber trees between small clusters of houses and stores and buildings. 20 years after I officially left the school, it’s time for another gathering in Sitiawan, this one precipitated by none other than Chinese New Year. Apart from Gnana, Sathya and Alvin, I haven’t seen this bunch for at least 18 years or so. Coincidentally Alvin and the Chipmunks was playing on Star Movies or Cinemax or whatever they had running on TV. When we arrived it was just beginning. We left just after the credits rolled. In between, we talked of old friends and old times, some of which shall not be reprinted her for posterity’s sake. 😉 There were lots of laughs too. Perhaps more gathering of the old crew should be planned.
Continue reading
The Exercise of Vital Powers
Another month, another new year – making this the third new year in two months. What’s a new year – especially Chinese New Year – without a vital trip to the nearby FELCRA seafood restaurant, as previously seen in this entry from a couple of years back. As usual, the highlight of dinner is the fried calamari a.k.a. sotong celup tepung. The crew depicted above is eagerly awaiting the arrival of the squiddies. However, Irfan is easily distracted as shown in the following photo. When the stingrays were done, Irfan fed its gristle to the cats, who as far as we can tell appreciated the food. Above, Ain happily shows off the batter-fried calamari, which is the best we’ve had the pleasure of tasting. The dinner commemorated group of three birthdays and one anniversary, some of which had just passed and some has yet to come.
Continue reading
Intersections in Real Time
The counter ticks up for Ain every year on January 22nd, which makes this the thirteenth year I’ve been around her to hear the counter tick. This year also marks first year Irfan contributed to his mother’s birthday card. We, including Cik Ma and Cik Su, travelled to The Mines to consume some chicken at Kenny Roger’s Roasters. However, there was a chicken shortage there. So instead we invaded Nando’s instead for some peri-peri chicken. In conclusion, I loved the peri-peri sauce and Ain did not. More for me! Happy birthday, Irfan’s mom.
Continue reading
And Now For A Word
We interrupt your regularly unscheduled pogrom (you know the one I’m talking about) to bring you the latest news. It’s more of a picture of where I’m working, rather than the news. It’s a photo of where I’m currently working from… at this moment… while monitoring stuff. Now that’s roughing it. Also, don’t ask how I’m connected to the interwebs.
Continue reading
The Corps is Mother, The Corps is Father
Roll call for the members of Green Lantern Corps that appeared in the pre-credits teaser of the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode “Day of the Dark Knight!” I’ll bet Green Lanterns Bzzd (a tiny fly-like alien), Leezle Pon (a super-intelligent smallpox virus) and Dkrtzy RRR (a sapient abstract mathematical formula) are also present but invisible to the naked eye in the scene. 🙂 Notes: Droxelle – I’m not certain if that’s her. RRU-9-2 – At first I thought it was Stel of Sector 3009, but this robotic GL has larger shoulder pauldrons and the U-shaped recess behind the Corps emblem on his chest. There are also a bunch of other GLs in the background that I couldn’t identify. Bonus point: Kilowog calls someone “Poozer”.
Continue reading
Moments of Transitions
In anticipation of Irfan’s schooling days, we bought a new desk for him, which came by pretty cheap at Carrefour. After hauling the furniture, allowing it to percolate for 2 days before assembling it last weekend, Irfan finally had a Homework Desk. However, he didn’t seem too interested about it… until his first homework was assigned. Comparing with some of his photos in the rotating, blue-tinged header images on this blog, it seems like he’s really changing fast from being a little kid to a big kid. We see him hard at work, in the picture above. He learned what the colour ochre looked like just minutes earlier. After his homework, he planned on doing his Ben 10 jigsaw puzzle which is current favourite activity. He’d already done it twice before working on his homework. But before he could start on the jigsaw puzzle, there was a knock on the […]
Continue reading
The Long, Twilight Struggle
With preschool ending last year, it’s now time for Irfan to experience actual public school education, warts and all. Waking up earlier than he is wont to, Irfan took a bath, suited up and had some breakfast to eat, namely some freshly fried noodles. The previous night he tried togo to bed with wearing his tie. Unfortunately, he fell asleep at the table before he could even grab a bite: Then he rides down the elevator where the car awaits to take him to school. (Of course I had to drive the car, not him): He kisses his mother goodbye in his class before saying, “Mom. You and dad can go home now.” : During the assembly, it’s not too difficult to spot Irfan in the crowd. It’s like he’s surrounded by Nelwyns: We very much hope at this point he won’t captured by brownies, accosted by trolls and incinerated […]
Continue reading
Deconstruction of Falling Stars
It was the year of fire, The year of destruction, The year we took back what was ours. It was the year of rebirth, The year of great sadness, The year of pain, And a year of joy. It was a new age. It was the end of history. It was the year everything changed. The year is 2261. The place: Babylon 5. Happy New Year! A hearty welcome applause to the year 2261… er, I mean the years 1430 and 2009.
Continue reading
The ‘Tronians Are Back With Friends And Then Some
Check it out: June 2009 will see the release of the sequel to 2007’s Transformers, a movie about cute and cuddly giant robots. Apparently, its full title will be Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The Fallen? That’s a relatively recent addition to the Transformers mythology from 2003 Transformers: The War Within comic book from Dreamwave Productions, which takes place during the Cybertronian War a long, long time before their arrival on Earth. According to his wikipedia entry: One of the original thirteen Transformers created by Primus, the robot who would become the Fallen betrayed his creator by siding with Primus’s dark twin, the malevolent planet-eater, Unicron. In the final battle between Primus and Unicron, the Fallen fell victim to the same fate as his master, sucked through a black hole into another dimension. However, while Unicron emerged into another universe, the Fallen was not so fortunate, finding himself trapped in […]
Continue reading
Ye Olde Good Widow Village
Breathing a little mountain air is said to do one good. So we decided to saddle up and head uphill… so we can inhale lots and lots of mountain air. 4,000 or 6,000 cm³ per inhalation, I should hope. Soon after, we found ourselves at the little mountain village of Janda Baik because of a friend, who has a tract of land up here upon which he’s made a campsite with lots of trees, split-level terrain, a simple gazebo, an artificial creek and waterfalls cutting across the site… and a natural stream across the path from his land. It’s still a work in progress, so there are still lots to build. But it’s good enough for me. Irfan, of course, enjoyed himself and said he’d love to return. And when we return, we shall bring in tow: a tent, a couple of sleeping bags, a torchlight and some delicious consumables. […]
Continue reading
They Come From The 31st Century
Every year since season 4 of Smallville, I used to check out the first few episodes to see if it grabbed me. But the novelty was gone, and even the inclusion of Kara Zor-El in season 7 wasn’t enough to sustain my attention. Season 8 however is a whole new ball game. I’ve not missed a single episode. Inclusion of new character Davis Bloom that eventually turns out to be Doomsday – which reads terribly as a concept on paper, but is pulled off adequately. A new job at the Daily Planet and a burgeoning romance with Lois – including humorous lively banter instead of the unbearable melodrama with Lana. More DC Comics characters as guest stars like Plastique and Maxima. And after the mid-season break, for the first time ever: the live action appearance of none other than the founding members of the Legion of Super-Heroes, flight rings and […]
Continue reading