Humans + Sentiments = Durian ?

Most people tend to hide behind their egoistical mask, inevitably cultivating negative sentiments upon others. On a closer inspection majority of them aren't actually close to being egoistical, they're just verily... shy or just afraid to make a fool out of themselves. I'm not just talking about myself here hehe...

Who doesn't welcome the feeling of acceptance and acknowledgment? Everyone does. What actually hinders them from opening up and totally be themselves is the lack of trust towards others. Afraid that other people won't accept them for who they really are or maybe passing bad judgments on them. Perhaps due to previous involvement or they're just waitin' for the other party to initiate something or maybe they just don't care...

Speaking bout' bad judgments, unwanted grapevines... In truth we can't really run away from all that, moreover prevent it. Whether you choose to stay quiet (& nod once in a while), be the clown & pretty much get involve in everything around you, or plainly ignores everyone.... you just can't escape.

People have their own opinions and you can't do anything bout' that. People have mouth, you can't go on stapling their mouth, that would be downright absurd & impossible (I wouldn't recommend that...ever, please don't do this... I won't be held responsible!!). Even if they don't voice it out, they still thought bout' it. The best thing to do is probably to just ignore... or if you're a good friend / blunt person... just go ahead and confront the other party! =D At least they know. They might hate you for it but surely they will remember what you say and weigh it again afterward when all the REDs are gone.

Some people with scary, unfriendly and demure countenance or presence, when you get to know them, are in fact amicable people and not all of them friendly faces peeps are wat they seem... so go on ahead and make a fool out of yourself (or not...maybe just take the first step), well at least you tried & people with enuff brain cell know that you've at least done ur part to get to know them, the rest is all up to them. Not your fault if they don't like you... you're just being you... (but if alot of people don't like you then, maybe there's a problem... *sweat* unless ur an uber handsome villain >_<>. Opportunity, acquaintances, friends or best friends ... you might find them in the most unlikely places.

Yes... sorry after the long hiatus I'm just back with personal rambles. Well think about it... Just wanna say don't judge a durian by it's cover... the inside is really soft and sweet ya (sometimes...). You never know once you open them, smell and eat them... O_o sounds perdy darn distorted. Well lets disregard the pun and look at the bright side... "Don't judge a book by it's cover" is all I wanna say. =D

Yes I'll be back with updates... soon...

1st Putrajaya International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta 2009

Event : 1st Putrajaya International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta 2009
Date : 21st March 2009
Venue : Precinct 2, Putrajaya

Been looking forward to this event for quite sometime now and in my mind, I've even fast forwarded the launching date to a week earlier than the actual one. Thank God for Hitz.FM constant reminder on the events date and whereabouts. Yes! It's Saturday... yatta!! Off to Putrajaya to ride Hot Air Balloon!

Went there with Mr. Dino and we arrived at around 8 am, and the place was jampacked with people. Can't blame them coz it was on a weekend, moreover school holidays. My plan to RIDE on one of the Hot Air Balloons came crashing down after I saw the word 'SOLD OUT' on the small white board on the ticketing counter. T_T ~~~~ bohooooo So fast they sold out wei!

According to the announcer the tickets sold out at 7.10 am like that. BUMMER! Guess gotta wait for next year! I heard it was RM 10 per piece. Most people thought with just RM 10 you can like ride em from one point to the next but WRONG... it's just moving up and down and the balloon will be on a leash.... hehe. Seriously... not horizontally... it's vertically.

Below is the itinerary for that Saturday... according to their official website.

	0700 - 0745	Arrival of VIP / media / guests
	0745 - 0800	Official Launch of 1st Putrajaya International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta 2009
	0745 - 0815	Balloon area opened to photographers; Photo Op#1
	0800 - 0900	Balloon Fun Fly with VIPs
	0900 - 1000	Para motor showcase
		Children Colouring Contest (aged 7-9), prize: hot air balloon ride with parents
	1000 - 1130	Remote Control Flying Aircraft Display
		Children Colouring Contest (aged 10-12), prize: hot air balloon ride with parents
	1130 - 1200	Paper Airplane Contest
	1400 - 1500	Kite Flying Exhibition
	1500 - 1630	Remote Control Flying Aircraft Display
	1630 - 1730	Para motor showcase
	1730 - 1900	Balloon Fun Fly
	1745 - 1815	Balloon area opened to photographers; Photo Op#2
	2030 - 2100	Night Glow

Snapzaroos of some of the Hot Air Balloons.. I thought I saw a Coke-bottle-shaped balloon on their webby but seen none on that day. In fact quite a number went missing... sesat kot... or maybe that's just in the Philippines. Random snapz of hot air balloons for the official launching... and the afternoon session.

We were at Putrajaya almost the whole day, from morning until the 'Night Glow' event. Initially the plan was to see 'Night Glow' only but it was a last min thingy that we've decided to go early in the morning and while we're at it... why not wait for the night event?

We had our lunch at Alamanda, Putrajaya and followed by a movie... BAD choice of movie!! *cringe*. I feel like literally banging my head on the brick wall. It was vapid, plot less and arghhh!! I actually like Sharifah Amani, and to think that she's stuck in this kind of movie is unforgivable! Her role/acting in Yasmin Ahmad's movies brought out the best in her... well can't blame her for this =/ but I suggest u people out there to just wait for the movie to be aired on TV during the festive season or sumthing... don't waste your moolah!

What movie you say? You wanna know what movie I've chosen? Oh God I can't believe I went to see this movie la... ok la... ok la... sometimes we have to support Malaysian product also la... but please la, if you want people to support Malaysian product, don't just make movie with much make up without substance! I've seen down to earth Malay dramas with more plots, logic and emotions. I don't know much about movie making but I do know that I am one of the many people out there who spend money willingly to go watch GOOD movie with PLOT! Heck, Samuel Rizal's even better in Eiffel I'm in Love. I feel I've been cheated somehow.. Aiyyo... this entry is supposedly about Hot Air Balloon lah! T_T pstt... the movie is Sayang!! You can dance.

I hope you don't mind me make ways for "TalenTime" advert, it's due on 16th March 2009, A movie by Yasmin Ahmad. By the time I publish this entry, this movie will probably have exceeded its launching date. So far with her previous movies... I love her choices of actors, I love their expressions, nice cinematography, the messages that are being conveyed, the jokes are natural & not overboard. Somehow she almost captures and able to relate to the norm of Malaysian... A good movie weaves slowly with their audiences, let them absorb, let them think, let them feel, include them and leave an impression even after the movie ends. I hope this movie is not a disappointment...

...and the trailers :D

Ok back to Hot Air Balloon! We waited 'patiently' for the night's event... and again, the ticket SOLD OUT.. the heck!? Anywayz lets spy on what others were busying themselves with on that day after the morning event... Random shots of people and the stuff around them.

We forgot to bring tripod so pictures aren't that good or clear for that matter. Night Glow happened when they blast the burner into the mouth of the envelope and that's ur night glow! Actually it was quite fun and multitudinous of spectators crammed around the fenced tract. Check it out.

I surfed around for basic info on how hot air balloons actually work and thought I might share the diagram showing the parts of HAB here FYI and for my future ref too =p

Pix + Info from HowStuffWorks

Lets call it a day... :D

As alwayz, credit goes to Mr. Dino for all the pix!

Fast & Furious 4 is ON April 2

"Fast & Furious 4 is ON April 2"

Ohoooo it's back people!! Casting..... *drum rolls*

Even though Paul Walker is like the main char for all the previous FF... I'm still looking forward to see Vin Diesel! :x Beefcake! *slurp* =p~~~

I'll let you see the trailer ya!

Go see em ok!

The Official site is HERE! If you're lookign for synopsis go there :p

Photoshop Tutorial : Lomo-fying your Image

Tutorial Source : How To Make Digital Photos Look Like Lomo Photography

Original Pix

Lomo-fied Pix

Tis looks lomo to you? I'm not sure myself... hehe but I like how it turned out... oh well.

Credit goes to our lil' candid model, whoever she was. This was taken at Putrajaya on Saturday during the 1st Putrajaya International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta 2009. Post regarding this event will be posted soon.

Where The Heck to get all that stuff?

This is just a re-publication of my previous entry in Friendster!. With a little bit of mod. Any dead links do inform me, sank u.

I’m no wiz with these things & just doin’ it like everybody else… but anywayz I’m just sharing em with ya all! ^^ Where I get, where I download n stuff… I might update the links in future…these are just some of the places I usually hang out…

Animes / TV Series / Movies / Japanese, Korean, bla bla Dorama / MP3

Torrents

Yups… used to be super fast until streamyx buat hal…. but anywayz so long as there’re Malaysian seeds/peers it’s K i guess…decent speed with all the popular titles like Naruto… Desperate househusband…. (pftt… hahahha) heroes….ans so on. Now where do you get the software n torrents?

I’m currently using 2 kinds… yeah you can say I’m experimenting :p Used to start with just Bittorent! but that’s basic…. So i’m recommending these 2… check them out

• µTorrent - It’s called that just coz the files are uber small…. (Connection setting to '0' = Unlimited dun go hoggin' all the bandwidth :p)

• BitComet

There are others but these 2 usually ranked the highest…you can like make use of the search engine to find the rest :p After installing them… on to the torrents…

Anime

• AnimeSuki - Popular Anime torrent site… I guess most haf heard of it but they only have non-licensed ones. So torrents like Naruto r not there.

• TokyoTosho - My fav place to search for anime torrents!! and ugh… *cough* hentai *cough* (Other: Dorama,Manga, Raws = Unscanlated, unsubbed, undubbed stuff... )

• DB = Datebayo - this is where i get bleach and naruto

Movies/TV series

• Mini Nova - They don’t just have movies/Tv series here…lotssa other stuff including anime (though not that much), books, games, music, softwares…

• EZTV - This is where you get ur Heroes series! lol and a buch of others… there’s no way the torrents here r fake… just to be safe from Mini Nova :p

Doramas

• D-Addicts - Hmm I think u gotta register first to download… won’t take long, they have soft subs, hard subs…

Direct Downloads / Streaming

When you gotta watch it you gotta watch it… second option fer ya…

Anime

• LoliPower.org - this works uber fast fer me… well at least for the latest series that is… they haf quite alot of em them… check them out! Now it seems that maybe you have to register. Their previous name was Misha Distrocity. Actually there r alot of direct download sites out there… it’s a matter of finding which one offer a decent enuff speed for us to leech from :p.. or you can go to this site and find the links… Anime Field
  

Movies / TV series

Well actually I dun really know where to direct download TV series / Movies… If you know do tell! Ask Mr Google fer moar :p

• Plube Filesharing

Doramas

• Silent Regrets - They have Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese, Chinese Dorama & Movies!

• Idols-Unlimited - They have everything like the above …lol at the time I’m writting this…the website somehow isn’t there… O_o … but err maybe check back later ya… :p

• MySoju (Thanks to - c H i E n -) - You can stream your fav movies/doramas here!
  

MIRC

ho ho ho… I lurv MIRC love em!! started with just chatting then…. DL DL DL mwuahaha *ehem*

Ok for the Client… Me use SysReset, Go and download the SysReset Full Installation pack and ugh u dun need the ori mirc client if u download this… and u can start downloading!!

• Run ur SysReset

• Connect to IRCHighway

• Register your nick first with this /msg NickServ REGISTER yourpassword you@yourmail.here

Join #Lurk(this is where i usually lepak for mangas) or…if u wanna join other channel u can type /list and u can see all the channels available for that server… go to their website for packlist or u can search for the manga title there!

XDCCing - Let you search for xdcc files…and downlaod em…

For tutorial on how to download with MIRC go HERE!

Clubbox

Clubbox ni hanya leh dipakai di IE jek for now…mozilla tak leh rase nye. I’m just gonna direct you to a tutorial site… that will teach you everything from registering, installing to using the clubbox! Clubbox is in korean…so this tutorial will help guide you through everything Here’s the link…. or links…

A - Happyroach tutorial on Soompi - I learnt from this site… you haf to register first to view the tutorial alrite!

B - Info on Clubbox at D-Addicts - Check it out…

C - Additional Info at Wendy’s Clubbox tutorial

Forum

Will list out some of the popular forums where you can get almost anything there... movies, mp3, softwares, wallpapers, ebooks, AudioBooks, tutorials, programming codes, useful informations... Most of these forums you have to register first before ur allowed to download stuff.

• Warez-BB

• ForumW

• ProjectW

• Lowyat.net
  

Major Events & Festivals 2009

No money but still wan entertainment, No entertainment I'll die! So anywayz, recently I went to Central Market to survey for wedding favours (Yes, it's gonna be soon... you'll just have to wait and see =D). Lotssa unique stuff there, I love going to central market even though they marked up some (if not all...) of the prices but still that area is where most of the nifty stuff dwells. If you have no intention of buying you might wanna go there to fish for ideas and maybe get yourself a sample or two. Ok, back to the real reason why I initiated this post in the first place... Take a look see below, you might be interested urself =3 Will keep on adding other events here in future... I got this from CM's information counter, just wanna share.

Thanks to Mr. Dino for scanning :x

Photoshop Tutorial: Slective B&W Pix

How do you turn this pix....

into this...

Hah! R u interested? :D RU? RU? lol ok just ignore that... Actually before I totally forgot how to do this, it's better that I make a tutorial... which can benefit us all.

What you need:

• Photoshop...duh =p
  
• The picture you wanna edit

• Another abstract, flowery or grunge design image (Whatever you like really)

• Creativity ^^
  

I'm not sure if this is the correct way to do this or not... as long as you got the output then it's alrite I guess. =p For this tutorial I'm gonna assume that you haf at least basic knowledge of Adobe Photoshop such as cropping, hue/saturation...bla bla ... and btw, I'm using PS CS3 Extended for this one.

This is where I'll start teaching ya bout how I edited em'... step-by-step. Just one request before we start though... please use you're own pix ok? :p dun go editing mine T_T... later I will feel very shy... mwauhaha

• First eliminate the background! The end product is something like this. Use Lasso Tool to accomplish that and enhance the pic at will until you're satisfy.
  

• Open your layer pallet (Window -> Layers). Click on the 'Create new fill or adjustment layer' and choose 'Black & White'

• Play with the Black & White layer's 'preset' until you're satisfy, for this tutorial I choose 'Green Filter'. Then press OK button.
  

• Select the 'Black & White layer' & pick up the 'Polygonal Lasso Tool' or 'Eraser Tool' and start eliminating the area where you don't want the black & white tone to appear.
  

• This is what it'll look like when it's done (I've done cosmetic touch up to the skin... it looks perdy smooth right? lol Well for that I've used the 'Smudge Tool')

• Next open the flowery design image, copy it and paste (Ctrl+V) it on the image above so that it'll create another new layer on top of it (Name it flower or something, so that you won't be confused & use 'Move Tool' to move the new layer around).
  

• You might wanna re-size or rotate the Flower layer a bit. To do this, make sure you've selected the Flower layer and go to Edit -> Transform & choose your preferred option.
  

• In this case, I will first choose to scale it then rotate. After you're done scaling/rotating, just double click on the layer to end it. Then change the blend mode of the Flower layer to Multiply.
  

• This is the final result. Can you see the difference with the image above? It became a bit transparent. You can further enhance or play with the brightness of your Flower layer by going to Image -> Adjustments. Make sure your Flower layer is selected.
  

• Now while still selecting the Flower layer, we shall cut out all the excess design using 'Polygonal Lasso Tool'. Select the area and press delete. For more visibility, you can choose to disable the layer visibility of the Flower layer by clicking on the Eye, select the area you wanna delete, enable back the layer visibility and delete the layer.

• Ok Done!
  

• Almost there! Now we're gonna create another layer for your name. Click on the 'Horizontal Type Tool' (As for the color of the font, I will leave it up to you. I'm using black for this tutorial), write your name and then select the 'Move Tool' to move it around and go to Edit -> Transform to rotate or scale them. Double click after you've done scaling/rotating. You're basically DONE! All you have to do now is go to Layer -> Flatten Image then save ur image lor. =D

Some other examples based on this tutorial :D



This tutorial is roughly base on the "Selective Sephia" tutorial from Photoshop Tutorial website.

An Interesting Conversation...

Was just blog-hopping & found this rather interesting post ... more like a rather interesting conversation between an agnostic prof & one of his students. The thing is when I googled there were a lot of different versions on the conversation... some even have an extended version of the conversation while others adapted it to suit their religion... Islamic version ... Christianity version and there's the question on who is the student actually? Be it Albert Einstein or PJ Abdul Kalam or maybe someone else? The version below is from We Canadians webbies. Some other extended version can be found here! <- I prefer this version actually but it's a Christian version :p

An atheist professor of philosophy speaks to his class on the
problem science has with God. He asks one of his new students:

Prof: So you believe in God?
Student:
Absolutely, sir.

Prof : Is
God good? Is God all-powerful?
Student : Yes.

Prof: My brother died
of cancer even though he
prayed to God to heal him. But God didn't. How is this
God good then? Hmm?
(Student is silent.)

Prof: You can't answer, can
you? Let's
start again, young fella. Is God good?
Student: Yes.

Prof: Is Satan
good?
Student : No

Prof: Where does Satan
come from?
Student: From...God....

Prof: That's right. Tell me son,
is
there evil in this world?
Student: Yes.

Prof: Evil is everywhere,
isn't it? And God did make everything. Correct?
Student: Yes.

Prof:
So who created evil?
(Student does not answer.)

Prof: Is there
sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these
terrible things exist in the
world, don't they?
Student: Yes, sir.

Prof: So, who created them?
(Student has no answer.)

Prof:
Science says you have 5 senses you
use to identify and observe the world
around you. Tell me, son...Have you ever
seen God?
Student: No, sir.

Prof: Tell us if you have ever heard
your God?
Student: No, sir.

Prof: Have you ever felt your God,
tasted your God, smelt your God?
Have you ever had any sensory perception of God
for that matter?
Student: No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.

Prof: Yet
you still
believe in Him?
Student: Yes.

Prof: According to
empirical,
testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your GOD doesn't exist.
What
do you say to that, son?
Student: Nothing. I only have my faith.

Prof: Yes. Faith. And that is the problem science has.
Student:
Professor, is there such a thing as heat?

Prof: Yes.
Student:
And is
there such a thing as cold?
Prof: Yes.

Student: No sir.
There isn't.
(The lecture theatre becomes very quiet with this turn of
events.)

Student: Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat,
superheat, mega
heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we d on't
have anything called
cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no
heat, but we can't go any
further after that.
There is no such thing as
cold . Cold is only a word we
use to describe the absence of heat . We
cannot measure cold. Heat is energy .
Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir,
just the absence of it. (There is
pin-drop silence in the lecture theatre.)

Student: What about darkness,
Professor? Is there such a thing as
darkness?
Prof: Yes. What is night if
there isn't darkness?

Student: You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the
absence of
something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light,
flashing
light. But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and it's
called
darkness, isn't it? In reality, darkness isn't. If it were you would be
able
to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?
Prof: So what is the point you
are making, young man?

Student: Sir, my point is your philosophical
premise is flawed.
Prof: Flawed? Can you explain how?

Student:
Sir,
you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and
then
there is death, a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept
of God as
something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't
even explain a
thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never
seen, much less fully
understood either one. To view death as the opposite
of life is to be ignorant
of the fact that death cannot exist as a
substantive thing. Death is not the
opposite of life : just the absence of
it. Now tell me, Professor. Do you teach
your students that they evolved
from a monkey?

Prof: If you are
referring to the natural
evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.
Student: Have you ever observed
evolution with your own eyes, sir?
(The
Professor shakes his head with a
smile, beginning to realize where the argument
is going.)

Student:
Since no one has ever observed the process of
evolution at work and cannot
even prove that this process is an on-going
endeavor, are you not teaching
your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a
preacher? (The class is in
uproar.)
Student: Is there anyone in the class
who has ever seen the
Professor's brain?
(The class breaks out into
laughter.)

Student: Is there anyone here who has ever heard the
Professor's
brain, felt it, touched or smelt it? No one appears to have done so.
So,
according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable
protocol, science says that you have no brain, sir. With all due respect,
sir,
how do we then trust your lectures, sir?
(The room is silent. The
professor
stares at the student, his face unfathomable.)

Prof: I
guess you'll have
to take them on faith, son.
Student: That is it
sir.... The link between man
& god is FAITH . That is all that keeps
things moving & alive.

Do You Wear Suspenders? ... I know I don't =p

Ok guys! First of all I would like to thank Lydia Teh personally for dropping by my blogspot! (I was kindda shocked looking at my previous post comment actually... Lydia Teh herself left a comment hehehe). As I wrote in my previous post, Lydia Teh new book... "Do You Wear Suspenders? – The Wordy Tales of Eh Poh Nim"! has already been published and this post will solely help her to further promote this book! I'm tellin' ya to go to your nearest bookstore & go grab one! If you're still not convinced then check this out... a youtubookertisement!

Who is Lydia Teh?

The first printed copy I bought, authored by Lydia Teh was "Honk If You’re Malaysian" [2007]. I didn't know that it's in fact a sequel to "Life's Like That - Scenes from Malaysian Life" [2004], not until recently when I inadvertently found the 2nd printing by Pelanduk Publications of the said book. I much prefer the cover of the 2nd printing rather than the first one though. Her writings are based on observations on our everyday life, spot on and precise. I would sometimes find myself laughing out loud while reading and at the same time agreeing to what was written. All the minute things you take for granted in your everyday life, assuming that it's conventional and not worth worrying about has become the gist of it. Yeah, sometimes life itself requires simplicity and this book is the right choice if you're seeking just that... light, easy read and funny. When I read her books, it occurs to me that it's not just me noticing & experiencing these things, there are others out there and the only difference is our POV... and one of us had made their opinions public & published. It's a good read... I suggest you to read slowly and just enjoy them as I did... any of em!

...and one more thing! I also picked up a copy of her latest book entitled "Do You Wear Suspenders? – The Wordy Tales of Eh Poh Nim"! Haven't started on that one though, bet it'll be awesome!

I'm currently hunting for books by Malaysian writers! Next review? 'Dina Zaman' perhaps, for her book "I am Muslim" heard it's kind of a fast selling book,maybe will give em a try.