tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21311804677015813692024-02-22T06:36:17.679-08:00[e2]e2http://www.blogger.com/profile/14233104076864311244noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131180467701581369.post-44369482830360033072010-10-31T22:09:00.000-07:002010-10-31T22:13:01.394-07:00Thoughts to think about for commercial bloggers in MY..<h2 class="date-header"><span style="font-size:85%;">Reposted from:<a href="http://soloverly.blogspot.com/2010/10/why-so-loverly-is-leaving-nuffnang-how.htm"> http://soloverly.blogspot.com/2010/10/why-so-loverly-is-leaving-nuffnang-how.htm </a></span><br /><span></span></h2><h2 class="date-header"><span>October 25, 2010</span></h2> <a name="1127718983626486146"></a> <h3 class="post-title entry-title"> <a href="http://soloverly.blogspot.com/2010/10/why-so-loverly-is-leaving-nuffnang-how.html">Why So Loverly is leaving Nuffnang & How clients and agencies should treat bloggers</a> </h3> <div class="post-header"> </div> It seemed like such a good idea. A local advertising service catering to the blogging community, bringing unity and credibility to the medium. Unfortunately, Nuffnang has proven to be manipulative, disrespectful to the community and frankly rather clueless of the value and power of the blogging medium.<br /><div><br /></div><div><b>As such So Loverly has removed all Nuffnang ads and will be forfeiting the money we have made on it in protest against such treatment. </b></div><div><br /></div><div>This really isn't about the amounts of money we've made. It's entirely possible that if So Loverly had stooped to slightly less ethical blogging practices we could have made considerably more. Here are our reasons, based on my personal experience as a professional journalist, backed by my co-bloggers:</div><div><br /></div><div><b>1. Nuffnang inherently disrespects the blogging community.</b> By attempting to run competitions instead of campaigns - pitting one blogger against another and by attempting to ban bloggers from dealing with other social media advertisers, Nuffnang is ignoring the media's inherent value. The truth is Nuffnang would not exist without bloggers whereas we'd happily go on blogging without them.. They need to learn their place.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>2. Nuffnang attempts to monopolise bloggers.</b> Recently, Nuffnang created their "Glitterati Plus" group. To belong to it bloggers must, among other things, attend about 50% of all Nuffnang events and attend and post exclusively on Nuffnang events and advertisers. This is ridiculously deluded. The onus is on Nuffnang to create events and campaigns so compelling that bloggers WANT to be at their events. This is how the media is supposed to work. Please don't let them continue with this delusion. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>3. Nuffnang dangles events as prizes and payment. </b>Media events are money-making for the organisers and provide the sponsor with publicity. Dangling it as a prize or payment is like awarding work for work. How ridiculous is that? If I win the event as a prize I should not have to blog about it. Instead they are making money both ways. They run competitions and get paid, award an event they are presumably PAID to organise as a prize, and then reap the benefits of bloggers blogging about the event. Also, competitions pay them better than campaigns as not all participants are compensated. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>4. Nuffnang assumes all Malaysian bloggers are ignorant and teenagers.</b> Not only by the practices listed above but the promotional ideas they forward. For example, the Vaseline "Are You Moist Enough?" blogger competition which had bloggers writing "the best post" answering if they were "moist enough". Who thought this up? A bunch of horny teenagers? Not to mention the ridiculous prize - the Vaseline Are You Moist Enough Party (after which, Nuffnang tweeted that "all ther staffs are moist" [sic]). Frankly, it's the job of professional media to attend these things and we're paid to do so - it certainly isn't doled out as a "prize". </div><div><br /></div><div><b>5. Nuffnang treats foreign bloggers with more respect.</b> If you read online, they treat Australian bloggers with considerably more respect than local ones which, when you consider that Nuffnang is Malaysian, is a crying shame. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>6. Nuffnang is advertorial heavy</b>. Advertorials are really not what blogs are about. Being paid to say something is good undermines the value of blogs as word-of-mouth opinion. If So Loverly ever accepted money to say a product was good, when we didn't think so, would you ever trust us again? So Loverly has never accepted money, products or services to voice an opinion we didn't believe. Giving us a free product or service to try merely gives us the chance to try something we might not have otherwise and will usually guarantee an HONEST review. (Edited from "Nuffnang wants us to lie to you" as I felt that was more sensationalist than fair. I don't think advertorials are ethically wrong if disclosed. I do feel they are a strategic mistake however).</div><div><br /></div><div>These statements are opinion and perhaps not fact. But I have tried to be fair and balanced in my evaluation of this social media advertising service. Do read it through and make your own decision. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>So how should companies and agencies deal with bloggers? Here are 10 pieces of advice on handling Bloggers for brands, PR and media agencies:</b></div><div><a name="more"></a></div><div>1. Treat us with the same respect you treat professional / mainstream media.<br /><br /></div><div>2. If you want us to write about an event, make the event worth writing about. Believe me, we enjoy what we do or we wouldn't be doing it so when something great happens, we're bursting to share. Make something great happen.</div><div><br />3. Freebies and review products are not the same thing. A free gift is a GIFT and I am entitled to do whatever I wish with it. A product for review however, if accepted, promises a review after a full and fair evaluation of the product. (edit: That means giving us enough time to test the product)</div><div><br />4. If you want a review written in any particular fashion disclose it first before sending the product for the blogger to accept or reject. </div><div><br />5. Why are bad reviews good for you? Because not only is it valuable market data, it prevents girls who the product would not work for from trying it and thus damaging your brand image with them. The girls on So Loverly, and many beauty bloggers disclose <a href="http://soloverly.blogspot.com/2010/10/tried-tested-and-tried-again-reviewed.html">our skintypes</a> for a reason. And if a product fails to work for us we try to discern why and recommend it for other skintypes. Your brand value will actually strengthen with honest and fair reviews. </div><div><br />6. Be honest and don't attempt to use us. </div><div><br />7. Choose your blogs wisely. I am the last to say that all blogs are created equal. Each one is unique and appeals to different demographics. Read a few posts to learn if this is the blog for you. </div><div><br />8. Don't expect miracles. Getting your product or service reviewed by us is like having someone tell a thousand friends about a personal experience. Whether they trust us or not entirely depends on the individual. We're not a silver bullet. </div><div><br />9. Please don't treat us like we're idiots or children. All the bloggers on So Loverly are highly educated professionals. Same goes for the circle of beauty bloggers we hang out with. Dangling a goody bag as a prize for a review, asking us to stick products down our cleavage, or assuming we don't know basic chemistry or dermatology is insulting.</div><div><br />10. Be human. Social media is about people. Bloggers are people, our readers are people and this is your chance as a brand to also be a person. Don't waste this chance by attempting to be a faceless product. Talk to us and then listen.</div><div><br /></div><div>I will be happy to talk to anyone about the opinions voiced here. Do leave a comment or send us an email!</div><div><br /></div><div>Love,</div><div>Kahani</div>e2http://www.blogger.com/profile/14233104076864311244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131180467701581369.post-44119018401635632582010-01-27T05:34:00.000-08:002010-01-27T05:38:03.484-08:00Happee Nu Year!!!Wow... It's been awhile. End of last year was quite a bz time at work. Was travelling a fair bit on Dec, a week in SG for workshop and immediately to Sydney via BKK also for work. Was there to shadow our counterpart and learn from her how do they manage digital in an FMCG environment. Back in KL for a week and I was off to BKK and surroundings for Christmas and New Year.<br /><br />Was in BKK for 4days, then off to Pattaya(where I only saw the toilet for 24hrs), then off to Koh Samet for NYE and got back to BKK on 1st and was back in KL on 2nd.<br /><br />What did I learn from all this? <br /><br />Well, BKK airport has a great massage place in the terminal, so if u got time to kill or are transiting at ridiculous times u know where to go. The Mango Tree restaurant serves quite decent Thai food. . Platinum Plaza is a great place to shop, Chatuchak is too HOT, Spending NYE at a beach is COOL, though crowded... Especially if every hotel on the beach is letting off fireworks continuosly for 20 min non-stop.<br /><br />And not to forget, too much sticky rice gives u indigestion.. :(<br /><br />P.S.:- pics to follow later...;)<br /><br /><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone<br /><br />e2http://www.blogger.com/profile/14233104076864311244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131180467701581369.post-23922778357677410892010-01-27T05:07:00.000-08:002010-01-27T05:08:37.158-08:00Hello World... :)Hello world... :)<br /><br /><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone<br />e2http://www.blogger.com/profile/14233104076864311244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131180467701581369.post-80106704523796801372009-10-01T06:29:00.000-07:002009-10-01T07:09:38.998-07:00Hi my name is Yee Ee and its been 5 months since my last posting...<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAGb1h76ooAW5gTKftD6n8Nm-j0pUGOzuW4hLGvg3P4AyglemVVfO7kDPZgnlfspY9UvIz7UC6tYxYsAErAUGVVeZ0l9tLQCdGsDFFzyH6UBmcreuYWB_pMkjpDV9eX5BQ3RmYjHaaVn4j/s1600-h/Picture+4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAGb1h76ooAW5gTKftD6n8Nm-j0pUGOzuW4hLGvg3P4AyglemVVfO7kDPZgnlfspY9UvIz7UC6tYxYsAErAUGVVeZ0l9tLQCdGsDFFzyH6UBmcreuYWB_pMkjpDV9eX5BQ3RmYjHaaVn4j/s320/Picture+4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387632599962047010" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">(don't be fooled by the pic, its an old pic, today i actually havin a flu and look like crap.. hmm... maybe photo with face mask also cool... :P)</span></span><br /></div><span style="font-family: verdana;font-size:85%;" ><br /><br />...many things have happened and not happened along the way.. good and none really bad but lotsa bz times settling into the job, learning how thing work and trying to keep some sort of routine going..<br /><br />i sleep earlier than i used to coz i report to work like 830-900 instead of 930-1000.. so tend to sleep earlier abit.. but u know me.. hehehhehe.. though i have to say those weeks when i goto bed at 10-12 atnight i wake up fresh as a... erm.. vegetable??flower??? just fresh la... :)<br /><br />been down to cross the causeway twice since i started.. been a new experience.. challenging nonetheless but hanging in there for the ride.. progression & growth normally comes with challenge.. i think... lols..<br /><br />a close buddy and some ex colleagues have now defected across the causeway to move on and experience working in another country. i wish you all well and that your soujourn day is rewarding from all angles la of course... my son & daughter (u know who u are) have really grown up (very proud of them) and sometimes i feel like a little nostalgic about our times together as a team.. i may not have been the best but it was a happy period of my life... :D<br /><br />i miss my team in Prox to0.. it gets lonely here.. and i dun have my 2 EE's Angels here, my 2 princesses hv also moved on, one is planning on blissful matrimony and a "tai-tai's" life thereafter(joking oni, dear) and my russian royalette is rocking with the rest of the gang at RAPP..<br /><br />i always worked in a team small or big.. but now its different dynamics though its a team. hehehhe.. new ma so hv to relearn kua.. maybe more serious but still its a very wholesome yet professional environment.. i go for baby shows and not alcohol n cigarette events.. now its hot moms n their babies n not hot chics with hot bods... lol.. well some moms are HOT TOO i have to say... lols..<br /><br />been meeting alot of the good people from the industry and its good seeing them too.. its a same wavelength thing i guess.. am i suppose to go back to the agencies in the future??? are these signs??? TEN TEN TEN!!!!<br /></span>e2http://www.blogger.com/profile/14233104076864311244noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131180467701581369.post-53461555403633450572009-05-06T08:33:00.000-07:002009-05-06T08:51:45.041-07:00Radio Silence... video killed the radio star??<span style="font-size:85%;"><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/22/JohnsonandJohnsonLogo.svg/250px-JohnsonandJohnsonLogo.svg.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 50px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/22/JohnsonandJohnsonLogo.svg/250px-JohnsonandJohnsonLogo.svg.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />Sorry for the radio silence...</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />Been busy at the new job. My first month.. Getting a semblance of a routine going.. And boy do I sleep early indeed nowadays... :)</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />So far so good. Like it here so far. Think they were on the list of "World's Best Employers in 2006".<br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />Feels good to be workin, the extended holiday was exactly tat.. EXTTTTEEEEEEEENNNNNDDDDEEEEED!!!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">More soons... :P</span><br /><br /><br /></span>e2http://www.blogger.com/profile/14233104076864311244noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131180467701581369.post-46438079625819250682009-03-29T04:31:00.000-07:002009-03-29T04:54:07.689-07:002 Foreign Flicks..<div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/88/My_Sassy_Girl_Movie_Poster.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 432px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/88/My_Sassy_Girl_Movie_Poster.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">My Sassy Girl<br /></span><br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/84/Che-movie-poster2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 353px; height: 523px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/84/Che-movie-poster2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">Che</span><br /></span></div><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />Recently just rewatched a favourite Korean flick & also checked out the movie <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Che_%28film%29">"Che"</a>.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Sassy_Girl">My Sassy Girl</a> has been an all time Kollywood film which i have enjoyed watching countless times. Not watched the Hollywood adaptation yet. It actually started as an internet serial in Korea. As most Korean movies that i have enjoy there's always elements of LOVE & STOMACH CLUTCHING HUMOUR!!<br /></span><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Source from Wikipedia:<br /><br /></span></span></span><span style="font-size:78%;"><i><b>My Sassy Girl</b></i> (엽기적인 그녀; literally, <i>That Bizarre Girl</i>) is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_in_film" title="2001 in film">2001</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korea" title="South Korea">South Korean</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romantic_comedy_film" title="Romantic comedy film">romantic comedy film</a> directed by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwak_Jae-yong" title="Kwak Jae-yong">Kwak Jae-yong</a>, in which the lead protagonist's chance meeting with a drunk girl on the train changes his life. It is based on the true story told in a series of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_letter" title="Love letter">love letters</a> written by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kim_Ho-sik&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Kim Ho-sik (page does not exist)">Kim Ho-sik</a>, a man who initially posted them on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet" title="Internet">Internet</a> and later adapted them into a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novel" title="Novel">novel</a>.</span><p style="font-family: verdana;"> </p> <p style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">The film was extremely successful in South Korea.<sup id="cite_ref-2001_Film_0-0" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Sassy_Girl#cite_note-2001_Film-0" title=""><span>[</span>1<span>]</span></a></sup> When <i>My Sassy Girl</i> was released throughout <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Asia" title="East Asia">East Asia</a>, it was well received in the entire region. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Sassy_Girl_%282008_film%29" title="My Sassy Girl (2008 film)">An American remake</a>, starring <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Bradford" title="Jesse Bradford">Jesse Bradford</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisha_Cuthbert" title="Elisha Cuthbert">Elisha Cuthbert</a>, and directed by Yann Samuell was released in 2008.<sup id="cite_ref-english_1-0" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Sassy_Girl#cite_note-english-1" title=""><span>[</span>2<span>]</span></a></sup> A Japanese drama adaptation with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsuyoshi_Kusanagi" title="Tsuyoshi Kusanagi">Tsuyoshi Kusanagi</a> and actress <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rena_Tanaka" title="Rena Tanaka">Rena Tanaka</a> as the leads started broadcasting in April 2008.<sup id="cite_ref-drama_2-0" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Sassy_Girl#cite_note-drama-2" title=""><span>[</span>3<span>]</span></a></sup></span></p><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Che_%28film%29">Che</a> was good. DO watch.. Mr. Del Toro has never let me down!! :)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Source from Wikipedia:<br /><br /></span><i style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Che</b></i><span style="font-family:verdana;"> is a two-part </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_in_film" title="2008 in film">2008</a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biopic" title="Biopic" class="mw-redirect">biopic</a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> about </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxism" title="Marxism">Marxist</a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> revolutionary </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Che_Guevara" title="Che Guevara">Ernesto "Che" Guevara</a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> directed by </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Soderbergh" title="Steven Soderbergh">Steven Soderbergh</a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> and starring </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benicio_del_Toro" title="Benicio del Toro">Benicio del Toro</a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> as the title character. Taking a </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cin%C3%A9ma_v%C3%A9rit%C3%A9" title="Cinéma vérité">cinéma vérité</a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> stylistic approach, the pictorial </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diptych" title="Diptych">diptych</a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> comprises two merged films entitled </span><i style="font-family: verdana;"><b>The Argentine</b></i><span style="font-family:verdana;"> and </span><i style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Guerrilla</b></i><span style="font-family:verdana;">. Each part is intentionally illustrated with differing approaches to narrative linearity, camerawork, and aspect ratios; with such duality intended to be reflective of the two military campaigns' divergent outcomes. The first part, </span><i style="font-family: verdana;">The Argentine</i><span style="font-family:verdana;">, focuses on the </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_revolution" title="Cuban revolution" class="mw-redirect">Cuban revolution</a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> from when </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidel_Castro" title="Fidel Castro">Fidel Castro</a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, Guevara and other revolutionaries landed on the </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribbean" title="Caribbean">Caribbean</a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> island to when they successfully toppled the dictatorship of </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulgencio_Batista" title="Fulgencio Batista">Fulgencio Batista</a> two years later. The second part, <i style="font-family: verdana;">Guerilla</i><span style="font-family:verdana;">, meanwhile focuses on Che's futile attempt to bring revolution to </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolivia" title="Bolivia">Bolivia</a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> and on his early demise.</span></span><br /><br /></span>e2http://www.blogger.com/profile/14233104076864311244noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131180467701581369.post-63393176824578761362009-03-02T04:04:00.000-08:002009-03-02T04:50:44.094-08:00Featuring: Mob's Crib<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.blogger.com/%20http://crete.globat.com/%7Emob1900.com/temp/blogpics3/mob1900_we_are_rpk.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 360px; height: 520px;" src="http://crete.globat.com/%7Emob1900.com/temp/blogpics3/mob1900_we_are_rpk.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://crete.globat.com/%7Emob1900.com/temp/blogpics3/mob1900_macc.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 360px; height: 520px;" src="http://crete.globat.com/%7Emob1900.com/temp/blogpics3/mob1900_macc.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://crete.globat.com/%7Emob1900.com/temp/blogpics3/mob1900_disrespect.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 360px; height: 520px;" src="http://crete.globat.com/%7Emob1900.com/temp/blogpics3/mob1900_disrespect.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://crete.globat.com/%7Emob1900.com/temp/blogpics3/mob1900_uncivilized.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 360px; height: 520px;" src="http://crete.globat.com/%7Emob1900.com/temp/blogpics3/mob1900_uncivilized.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://crete.globat.com/%7Emob1900.com/temp/blogpics3/mob1900_no_oral_sex.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 360px; height: 520px;" src="http://crete.globat.com/%7Emob1900.com/temp/blogpics3/mob1900_no_oral_sex.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Hey peeps, i jus wanna share some cool & sometimes twistedly inspired artwork from </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://mob1900.blogspot.com/">Mob's Crib</a><span style="font-family:verdana;">. He does visually inspiring & sometimes humourous posters of current affairs in Malaysia (political satire).</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://mob1900.blogspot.com/">Mob</a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> yr posters of late... "NICE". My FAVE at the moment must be the RPK face mask one. Very functional.. :) The "no oral sex one"... hehehhe.. no comments..</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Go here for more from </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://mob1900.blogspot.com/">Mob's Crib</a><span style="font-family:verdana;">.</span></span>e2http://www.blogger.com/profile/14233104076864311244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131180467701581369.post-41385638314138185012009-03-02T03:25:00.000-08:002009-03-02T04:28:38.831-08:00MALAYSIA INI MACAM TAK BOLEH!!!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxXRbs2SIX4TFwwWuyDckZKQ8DOUeiD9TjRiicuLo9KCGSyJXDb0IfxlwhwJM-MsAEP_R1R2eskgBEPULRBAFFJSDNZ57Ajr0ltfz9Hykt7ycUVzXCPSY48fhAk7_4YCqSdnu6S-xCg6IS/s1600-h/Untitled-1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 312px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxXRbs2SIX4TFwwWuyDckZKQ8DOUeiD9TjRiicuLo9KCGSyJXDb0IfxlwhwJM-MsAEP_R1R2eskgBEPULRBAFFJSDNZ57Ajr0ltfz9Hykt7ycUVzXCPSY48fhAk7_4YCqSdnu6S-xCg6IS/s400/Untitled-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308556503370257394" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />Was considering create a post or not today as i was surfing through <a href="http://www.malaysiakini.com/">MalaysiaKini</a>.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;">I watched at their <a href="http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=malaysiakini&view=videos">YouTube</a> the latest vid on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwYACy_FsjI&feature=channel_page">"Perak Crisis: What will happen in the next 48hrs?"</a>. Also went to <a href="http://blog.limkitsiang.com/">Lim Kit Siang's </a>English blog & viewed the video which was the confrontation between UMNO youth ppl & Karpal outside the Parliament. This sparked me off looking for the videos of Parliament sitting(believe they call it the HANSARD te actual physical archives) on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/">YouTube</a>.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;">Clicked the search box and keyed in "malaysia parliament" clicked "search"... Lo & behold what you see in the pic was the search results. Check it out yrself <a href="http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=malaysia+parliament&aq=f">here.</a></span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />As a Malaysian i "<a href="http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/translation/malay/segan">segan</a>" seeing the 1st search result "</span><a style="font-family: verdana;" id="video-long-title-AllvDwzHuYk" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AllvDwzHuYk" title="Malaysia Parliament asking Chinese Get Out from Malaysia" rel="nofollow"><b>Malaysia Parliament</b> asking Chinese Get Out from <b>Malaysia - </b></a></span> <div id="video-description-AllvDwzHuYk" class="video-description" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">this is the rasist <b>parliament</b> in <b>Malaysia</b>(UMNO) <b>..."</b>, as being Chinese by ethnicity makes me "meluat" seeing all these antics.<br /><br /></span></div><span style="font-size:85%;"> <span style="font-family:verdana;">To be fair i did a search of the below "singapore parliament", "indonesia parliament", "thailand parliament" & "phillipines parliament". However, i don't see these kinda of antics in out neighbours search results.</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />Seems like Malaysia is the most sensational & 3rd world if i were to jus based my personal opinion from these results.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Its a sad state of affairs we're in... Our only reprieve is watching the reality TV series titled "Politics in Malaysia"</span> </span>e2http://www.blogger.com/profile/14233104076864311244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131180467701581369.post-45479268615925107562009-02-23T03:41:00.001-08:002009-02-23T04:52:20.110-08:003 GREAT @NiMe'S watched recently..<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/68/Grave_of_the_Fireflies_DVDcover.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 336px; height: 475px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/68/Grave_of_the_Fireflies_DVDcover.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:verdana;">Grave of the Fireflies<br /><br /></span><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a7/The_Little_Girl_Who_Conquered_Time_%282006_Anime%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 359px; height: 500px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a7/The_Little_Girl_Who_Conquered_Time_%282006_Anime%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">The Girl Who Leapt Through Time</span><br /><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/02/My_Neighbor_Totoro_-_Tonari_no_Totoro_%28Movie_Poster%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 249px; height: 350px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/02/My_Neighbor_Totoro_-_Tonari_no_Totoro_%28Movie_Poster%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">My Neighbour Totoro<br /><br /></span></span></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" ><br />Recently watched 3 animes worth mentions.<br /><br />Currently I'm on a quest to watch the most popular/acclaimed animes of our times. I've got a <a href="http://www.animenfo.com/statistic/top.php?type=anime">list of 100</a> from <a href="http://www.animenfo.com/">animenfo.org</a><br /><br />I'm slowly vetting through the titles & select those that i find interesting and will reccomend those that i find to my taste.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Grave of the Fireflies (from wikipedia)<br />- MUST WATCH.. I nearly cried..(not exactly my normal reaction to animes)</span><br /></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;" >Taking place toward the end of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II" title="World War II">World War II</a> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan" title="Japan">Japan</a>, <i>Grave of the Fireflies</i> is the tale of the relationship between two orphaned children, Seita (清太) and his younger sister Setsuko (節子). The children lose their mother in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Kobe_in_World_War_II" title="Bombing of Kobe in World War II">firebombing of Kobe</a>, and their father in service to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Japanese_Navy" title="Imperial Japanese Navy">Imperial Japanese Navy</a>, and as a result they are forced to try to survive amidst widespread <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Famine" title="Famine">famine</a> and the callous indifference of their countrymen (some of whom are their own extended family members).</span> <p style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">The movie begins in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sannomiya_Station_%28JR%29" title="Sannomiya Station (JR)" class="mw-redirect">Sannomiya Station</a>, and shows the second main character: Seita, dying from starvation there in rags. A janitor comes and digs through his things, and finds a candy tin, containing Setsuko's ashes. He throws it out, and from there springs the spirit of Setsuko, Seita and a group of fireflies. The two spirits provide narrative throughout the story. The film is, in effect, an extended flashback to Japan, at the end of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II" title="World War II">World War II</a> during the Kobe firebombings. Setsuko and Seita, the two siblings, are left to secure the house and their belongings, allowing their mother, suffering from a heart complaint to proceed to a bomb shelter. They are caught off-guard by a batch of bombs dropped in their vicinity, although they survive unscathed. Their mother, however, is caught in the air raid and dies from burn wounds. Having nowhere else to go, Setsuko and Seita go to live with their aunt, and write letters to their father. On the second day that they stay there, Seita goes out to get the left over supplies which he had buried in the ground to preserve before the bombing which killed their mother. He gives all of it to his aunt, but hides a small tin of fruit drops. This tin of fruit drops later proves a recurrent icon in the film. Following cruelty from their aunt, who gives them barely enough food, insults them and sells their mother's kimonos for rice, which she keeps for herself, Seita and Setsuko finally decide to go and live in an old, abandoned bomb shelter. Gradually, they begin to run out of rice, and Seita is forced to steal food from local farmers. When Seita is eventually caught stealing, he is unable to feed Setsuko enough before she begins to starve. In desperation, Seita removes all the money from their mother's bank account, when he learns of his father's death. He buys a large quantity of food, and rushes back to the shelter, where he finds Setsuko hallucinating. She is sucking marbles which she believes are fruit drops and offers him 'rice balls' which are really only made out of mud. Finally, she dies of starvation. Seita cremates her, using supplies donated to him by a farmer and leaves her ashes in the fruit tin, which he carries with his father's photograph, until his death on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_21" title="September 21">September 21</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1945" title="1945">1945</a>.</span></p> <p style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">At the end of the film, the spirits of Seita and Setsuko are seen—no longer raggedy and etiolated but healthy and well-dressed—sitting side by side as they look down on the modern-day city of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe" title="Kobe">Kobe</a>.</span></p><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (from wikipedia)<br />- The time travel & LOVE brings back some memories about a Korean movie i watched if I'm not mistaken it was called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Sassy_Girl">My Sassy Girl</a> (starring </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cha_Tae-Hyun" title="Cha Tae-Hyun" class="mw-redirect">Cha Tae-Hyun</a> and (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jun_Ji-hyun" title="Jun Ji-hyun">Jun Ji-hyun</a>) <span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;"> .<br /></span></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;" >Makoto Konno (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riisa_Naka" title="Riisa Naka">Riisa Naka</a>/<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Hirst" title="Emily Hirst">Emily Hirst</a>), a girl attending high school in Tokyo's <a href="http://wikitravel.org/en/Tokyo#Old_Tokyo_.28Shitamachi.29" class="extiw" title="wikitravel:Tokyo">shitamachi</a>, realizes she has the power to go back in time and re-do things (called a "time-leap") when she impossibly avoids a fatal accident at a train crossing one day.</span> <p style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Bewildered, she consults with her aunt (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sachie_Hara" title="Sachie Hara">Sachie Hara</a>/<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saffron_Henderson" title="Saffron Henderson">Saffron Henderson</a>) throughout the film, who then implies that she is the protagonist (Kazuko Yoshiyama) from the original novel. At first, Makoto uses her power extravagantly to avoid being tardy and to get perfect grades on tests, and even relive a single karaoke session for about ten hours. However, things begin to turn bad as she discovers how her actions can adversely affect others.</span></p> <p style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Makoto ends up using up more of her leaps to recklessly prevent undesirable situations from happening, including an awkward confession of love from her best friend Chiaki Mamiya (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Takuya_Ishida&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Takuya Ishida (page does not exist)">Takuya Ishida</a>/<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Francis" title="Andrew Francis">Andrew Francis</a>). Eventually she discovers a numbered tattoo on her arm which counts down with each leap. She determines that the tattoo indicates that she can only leap through time a limited number of times. With only a few time leaps left, she attempts to make things right for everyone, but impulsively uses her final leap to prevent a phone call from Chiaki asking if she knows about time-leaping. As a result, she is unable to prevent her friend Kōsuke Tsuda (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mitsutaka_Itakura&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Mitsutaka Itakura (page does not exist)">Mitsutaka Itakura</a>/<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Zahara" title="Alex Zahara">Alex Zahara</a>) and his girlfriend from being killed in the accident at the train crossing that Makoto was originally involved in. As Makoto watches the accident in horror, time suddenly stops.</span></p> <p style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Chiaki reveals that he is a traveller from the future and leapt through time in order to see a painting being restored by Makoto's aunt, as it has been destroyed in the future. While walking in the frozen city, Chiaki hints that his original era occurs after a world wide catastrophe decimates mankind. He then reveals that he has used his final leap to prevent Kōsuke's accident and has stopped time only to explain to Makoto what the consequences will be. Having revealed his origins and the source of the item that allowed Makoto to leap through time, and being unable to return to his time period, Chiaki must disappear. Makoto realizes too late that she loves him as well.</span></p> <p style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">True to his words, Chiaki disappears when time begins again and Makoto is upset. As she tries to come to terms with losing him, she discovers that Chiaki's time-leap had inadvertently restored one time-leap to her: Chiaki had leapt back to before Makoto used her last leap. Makoto now leaps to the moment when she gained her powers, at which point Chiaki still has one remaining time-leap. She reveals everything that he told her in the future concerning who he is, the ability to leap through time, and his reasons for extending his stay in her time frame. Shortly before returning to his time period, Chiaki says he will wait for her in the future and Makoto replies that she will run towards it.</span></p><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">My Neighbour Totoro (from wikipedia)<br />- Enjoyable watch even for older children like me.. ;)<br /></span></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;" >In 1958, a university professor and his two daughters, Satsuki and Mei, move into an old house in rural Japan to be closer to the hospital where his wife is recovering from an illness. The daughters find that the house is inhabited by tiny animated dust creatures called <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susuwatari" title="Susuwatari">soot sprites</a></i> — small house spirits seen when moving from light to dark places. When the girls become comfortable in their new house and laugh with their father, the soot spirits leave.</span> <p style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">While she is playing outside one day, the younger daughter, Mei, sees two white, rabbit-like ears in the grass. She follows the ears under the house where she discovers two small magical creatures, who lead her through a briar patch, and into the hollow of a large <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinnamomum_camphora" title="Cinnamomum camphora">Camphor Laurel</a> tree. She meets and befriends a larger version of the same kind of spirit, which identifies itself by a series of roars she interprets as "Totoro". Her father later tells her that this is the "keeper of the forest".</span></p> <p style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">One rainy night the girls are waiting for their father's bus and grow worried when he does not arrive on the bus they expect him on. As they wait, Mei eventually falls asleep on Satsuki's back and Totoro appears beside them, allowing Satsuki to see him for the first time. He only has a leaf on his head for protection against the rain, so Satsuki offers him the umbrella she had taken along for her father. Totoro is delighted at both the shelter and the sounds made upon it by falling raindrops. In return he gives her a bundle of nuts and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seed" title="Seed">seeds</a>. A <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catbus" title="Catbus">bus-shaped giant cat</a> halts at the stop, and Totoro boards it, taking the umbrella. Shortly after, their father’s bus arrives.</span></p> <p style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">The girls plant the seeds. A few days later they awaken at midnight to find Totoro and his two miniature colleagues engaged in a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritual_dance" title="Ritual dance" class="mw-redirect">ritual dance</a> around the planted nuts and seeds. The girls join in, whereupon the seeds sprout and then grow into an enormous tree. Totoro takes his colleagues and the girls for a ride on a magical flying top. In the morning, the tree is gone, but the seeds have indeed sprouted.</span></p> <p style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Mei, believing her mother's condition has worsened, sets off on foot to the hospital and gets lost. Desperate to find her sister, Satsuki returns to the camphor laurel tree and pleads for Totoro's help. Delighted to be of assistance, he summons the Catbus, which rescues Mei, then whisks her and Satsuki over the countryside to see their mother in the hospital. The girls perch in a tree outside of the hospital to discover that she is doing well. They deliver an ear of corn that Mei believes will speed her mother's recovery, and then return home on the Catbus. When the Catbus departs, it fades away from the girls' sight.</span></p> <p style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">The closing credits show Mei and Satsuki's mother returning home and feature scenes of Satsuki and Mei playing with other human children, with Totoro and his friends as unseen observers.</span></p>e2http://www.blogger.com/profile/14233104076864311244noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131180467701581369.post-40288597101993416082009-02-18T06:45:00.000-08:002009-02-18T07:07:59.466-08:00A lazy afternoon @GaN's & 2 movies later!!<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">TWO interesting movies to watch..</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/98/Taken-poster-0.jpg/200px-Taken-poster-0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 288px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/98/Taken-poster-0.jpg/200px-Taken-poster-0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e7/Deception08poster.jpg/200px-Deception08poster.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 295px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e7/Deception08poster.jpg/200px-Deception08poster.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Enjoysss!!! :D</span></span><br /></div>e2http://www.blogger.com/profile/14233104076864311244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131180467701581369.post-44827930147237075962009-02-17T00:21:00.000-08:002009-02-17T00:27:15.963-08:00IN support of Eli our lovely Selangor state EXCO & ADUN!!!<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://crete.globat.com/%7Emob1900.com/temp/blogpics3/mob1900_carry_on.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 360px; height: 520px;" src="http://crete.globat.com/%7Emob1900.com/temp/blogpics3/mob1900_carry_on.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:78%;" ><span style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold;">Courtesy of<a href="http://mob1900.blogspot.com/"> Mob's Crib</a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;">ELI MY HEART GOES OUT TO YOU!!!!</span></span><br /></div>e2http://www.blogger.com/profile/14233104076864311244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131180467701581369.post-22117491767843749382009-02-17T00:04:00.000-08:002009-02-17T00:28:14.801-08:00On the Perak FROG crisis!!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNJ9xdl8APFD1UP0Z1y9n3nESbJ8P9xKAjoK8QiFxFAs7yHaRZ7z7_qP3gIknZ57JCQ5JaB6ror3CEgtfKtKsCmUTlywKDWmqJyXP8Rrf5DPbRmyIUbMMKVuLC90h9BzeAehn2npfEtG0c/s1600-h/_15905_frogger.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 298px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNJ9xdl8APFD1UP0Z1y9n3nESbJ8P9xKAjoK8QiFxFAs7yHaRZ7z7_qP3gIknZ57JCQ5JaB6ror3CEgtfKtKsCmUTlywKDWmqJyXP8Rrf5DPbRmyIUbMMKVuLC90h9BzeAehn2npfEtG0c/s320/_15905_frogger.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303677153602826322" border="0" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:78%;" >ScreenCap of the game</span><br /><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">I'm a Generation X'er tried & true... Those of you , you know who u are. U had the pleasure of having played with PC's that run on tape drive & TV, booting up in MS-DOS, 286-386 machines with 5.25" floppys & 4GB HDD's, What Windows???, moonbugs, xenon, leisure suite larry, police quest, kings quest, decathlon, karateka, bushido, etc, etc... </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Anyways before i veer further off topic, i would jus like for us to remember an old game called FROGGER!!! Reflect on this game and maybe it will put some perspective on the frog situation in the Silver state... LOL..</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />For those who dunno about the gameplay, its a frog trying to cross the street & river while avoiding moving traffic & obstacles... if the frog gets hit or lands on the wrong place u die lo!!!</span></span>e2http://www.blogger.com/profile/14233104076864311244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131180467701581369.post-79349760903943874982009-02-16T23:29:00.000-08:002009-02-16T23:58:48.155-08:00Of temples, tea & sakura..<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKggeSaOHwj7U74eg7QAEmzIvr2p6yqdGTz7Ms7Jq8SMdjB6vNwAlheyDNQSoj4e9J_fyb7_KuvpkOE76pXuxI8JzgQlR3NQ9sh0Rg7tMfEmf3PtbF2CA835CgD34YnfAefSIzlbAOAeob/s1600-h/IMG_0028.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKggeSaOHwj7U74eg7QAEmzIvr2p6yqdGTz7Ms7Jq8SMdjB6vNwAlheyDNQSoj4e9J_fyb7_KuvpkOE76pXuxI8JzgQlR3NQ9sh0Rg7tMfEmf3PtbF2CA835CgD34YnfAefSIzlbAOAeob/s320/IMG_0028.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303671427894436178" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg94OOU-BCpeS6YFouDR9TKnK-QIkKhnB0eYhD3hbWokN3HDzqMDFH9le-UzFZAMOReMCSX2BAJ9l7HQte0dte4sD8wbMcO2TwDCiCwkcW_4HHOAS5ewlNw-THQ9XR6mcmOs9Q_3NDrHVgU/s1600-h/IMG_0004.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg94OOU-BCpeS6YFouDR9TKnK-QIkKhnB0eYhD3hbWokN3HDzqMDFH9le-UzFZAMOReMCSX2BAJ9l7HQte0dte4sD8wbMcO2TwDCiCwkcW_4HHOAS5ewlNw-THQ9XR6mcmOs9Q_3NDrHVgU/s320/IMG_0004.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303671416075950738" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgforynPL9YD9zFkS4hZmcb2LgCHBTU_Pw4YsLplaTjNV1B4QtkpAv5xlkliqarc3ywsRVo_3AfSQrLKhakLqO41QhsI-Okm9X74v07wRIH9PzWybPV62Bk8ooF-BXJP3pBjTbiM1d4z8or/s1600-h/IMG_0037.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgforynPL9YD9zFkS4hZmcb2LgCHBTU_Pw4YsLplaTjNV1B4QtkpAv5xlkliqarc3ywsRVo_3AfSQrLKhakLqO41QhsI-Okm9X74v07wRIH9PzWybPV62Bk8ooF-BXJP3pBjTbiM1d4z8or/s320/IMG_0037.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303671430230366402" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsUQFM7B-CSIbEWE3PA8Cs8l3FIGjlOER5tcfv7i-pLCY4nNz40pgGiMJnlZ8tBi9djl5RZvZ2s1JFKPX_KUEjGuE5Of6qvc6XXoJuzLvY9VPvVzbdGU1bPsaG5aAM3S-Dlq_hG43VGm95/s1600-h/IMG_0021.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsUQFM7B-CSIbEWE3PA8Cs8l3FIGjlOER5tcfv7i-pLCY4nNz40pgGiMJnlZ8tBi9djl5RZvZ2s1JFKPX_KUEjGuE5Of6qvc6XXoJuzLvY9VPvVzbdGU1bPsaG5aAM3S-Dlq_hG43VGm95/s320/IMG_0021.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303671423041093778" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcXzVXBJEd5HpqddGTkv5tal3Qaik4Zi7ng9kEDbekiHKqz_ZxsG-xJitudJcN_Sh7kLTq_HYBQDfYfZceSfuH9rkr7h3Ts-ZvmWxsm6uUqY9v8gR1OXeHtDCEZVhEFXVDIrrQNxoUh_l7/s1600-h/IMG_0017.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcXzVXBJEd5HpqddGTkv5tal3Qaik4Zi7ng9kEDbekiHKqz_ZxsG-xJitudJcN_Sh7kLTq_HYBQDfYfZceSfuH9rkr7h3Ts-ZvmWxsm6uUqY9v8gR1OXeHtDCEZVhEFXVDIrrQNxoUh_l7/s320/IMG_0017.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303671421644091986" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:78%;" ><span style="font-family: arial;">A little town fair for the Tea Festival, sale of tea & hilltribe cultural shows.</span></span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">My apologies for not updating my blog for quite awhile. I have been away & busy with looking for work and also enjoying the loooooooong holidays...</span> <br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">For NYE2008 i spent it at Mae Sa Long, a little hill village about 45minutes from Chiang Rai, Thailand. A different kinda NYE, as opposed to goin clubbin or reveling in the city. We spent NYE having a bbq & drinks in the little bamboo shed/platform right up front Shiao Shung & CheChe's house. Of course not to forget my favourite NYE activity setting off lanterns (though i think i was not sober enough to remember my camera at that time).. :D</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Mae Sa Long was COLD!!! I think in the evenings it'd be like 16 degrees celsius. This area is largely populated by Chinese community, mostly descendants of the Kuomintang army from the time when the the Kuomintang & Communist were fighting in China. U still see those caligraphy words stuck on the wooden plank doors & red cloths hanging over the doorway.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />The Thai Palace i believe had launched a project in this area to help the ppl residing here change their maincrop from poppy to chinese tea. Today this is a region with numerous tea plantations, surprisingly(or not) they grow chinese tea for export markets like Taiwan. Don't be surprised if u chance upon ppl speakin mandarin to each other... ;-)</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"> </span> </span>e2http://www.blogger.com/profile/14233104076864311244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131180467701581369.post-5676569906949056612008-12-27T10:09:00.000-08:002008-12-27T10:12:03.022-08:00Merry Christmas Happy New Year!!<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Wishing u season greetings n a many blessings for the new year!!</span><br /><br /><br /><br /></span>e2http://www.blogger.com/profile/14233104076864311244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131180467701581369.post-17946530890564755652008-12-20T03:23:00.001-08:002008-12-20T04:04:19.191-08:00These KiWi Guys are BRILLIANT!!!<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/47/Conchords_Intro.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 624px; height: 352px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/47/Conchords_Intro.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_of_the_Conchords_%28TV_series%29">Flight of the Conchords</a> intertitle from <a href="http://wikipedia.org/">Wikipedia<br /></a></span><br /><div style="text-align: left;font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Lately been checking <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_of_the_Conchords_%28TV_series%29">"Flight of the Conchords"</a>!!!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">F@#KIN BRILLIANT!!!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">From <a href="http://wikipedia.org/">Wikipedia</a> :</span><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(192, 192, 192);font-size:78%;" ><b>Flight of the Conchords</b> is an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmy_Award" title="Emmy Award">Emmy Award</a>-nominated <sup id="cite_ref-0" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_of_the_Conchords_%28TV_series%29#cite_note-0" title=""><span>[</span>1<span>]</span></a></sup> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television" title="Television">television</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comedy_series" title="Comedy series" class="mw-redirect">comedy series</a> that follows the adventures of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_of_the_Conchords" title="Flight of the Conchords">Flight of the Conchords</a>, a folk duo from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand" title="New Zealand">New Zealand</a>, as its members seek fame and success in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City" title="New York City">New York City</a>. The show portrays a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiction" title="Fiction">fictionalized</a> version of the real-life duo, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jemaine_Clement" title="Jemaine Clement">Jemaine Clement</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bret_McKenzie" title="Bret McKenzie">Bret McKenzie</a>, who play themselves.</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />Kudos to the Kiwis. Have to say that the Kiwis have always been rather unique to me, possibily because i was there at an impressionable age (NOT). But these 2 guys really show creativity unique to the Kiwis. Well, just my personal opinion.<br /><br />But i shall say no more.. <span style="font-weight: bold;">CHECK THEM OUT!!</span><br /></span></div><br /><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;" ><span style="line-height: 1.5em;font-size:95;" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_of_the_Conchords_%28TV_series%29"><i></i></a></span></span></div><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/WGOohBytKTU&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/WGOohBytKTU&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/fqWrU2NValU&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/fqWrU2NValU&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">More </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.conchords.net/video/fotc-youtube-gallery">here</a><span style="font-family: verdana;">..</span></span>e2http://www.blogger.com/profile/14233104076864311244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131180467701581369.post-74746745062881025692008-12-16T06:18:00.000-08:002008-12-17T07:20:30.564-08:00WOULD LOVE 1 OF THIS FER CHRISTMAS!!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju1Wr4dWfnbAmL9Kh7DWLsEdwUtYfcbbNKo4tddPcj2SQobA68EtMGQo5jaJE8tvs8OHpBRz5CU3kpR_yNps_hZmIwE0qEsMQTSVyCjlez573p8h5_-GsFBXHNNIHhSAwM9hqq1fRWEYUl/s1600-h/4big.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju1Wr4dWfnbAmL9Kh7DWLsEdwUtYfcbbNKo4tddPcj2SQobA68EtMGQo5jaJE8tvs8OHpBRz5CU3kpR_yNps_hZmIwE0qEsMQTSVyCjlez573p8h5_-GsFBXHNNIHhSAwM9hqq1fRWEYUl/s320/4big.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5280398806650712450" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />Running out of Christmas ideas???<br /><br />Check this out wei!!! Full car sim setup..</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />Puts the </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.momo.it/">MOMO</a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/gaming/pc_gaming/wheels/devices/320&cl=my,en">Logitech</a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> steering to shame... hehehhee</span>..<br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">A friend shared this with me today.</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;">Pretty darn cool!!! :)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Original link from for the </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.simcraft.com/apex-sc830.aspx">Apex SC830</a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> for more pics, brought to u by the good people at </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.simcraft.com/">SimCraft</a><span style="font-family:verdana;">.</span></span>e2http://www.blogger.com/profile/14233104076864311244noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131180467701581369.post-19179203727863286272008-12-16T03:13:00.000-08:002008-12-17T07:18:35.426-08:00My Favourite Animes...<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e8/Akira_movie_poster.jpg/425px-Akira_movie_poster.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 425px; height: 599px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e8/Akira_movie_poster.jpg/425px-Akira_movie_poster.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;" >The father of them all..</span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />A list of my all time favourite animes as below.<br /></span> <span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;" ><br />Series:</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">1. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GITS">Ghost In The Shell SAC I</a></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">2. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GITS">Ghost In The Shell SAC II</a></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">3. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rurouni_Kenshin">Ruroni Kenshin/Samurai X + OVA's</a></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">4. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samurai_Champloo">Samurai Champloo</a></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">5. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_Blood">Trinity Blood</a><br />6. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macross">Macross/Mospeada</a> :)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;" >Movies/OVA's</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">1. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appleseed_%28film%29">Appleseed I & II</a></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">2. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GITS">Ghost In The Shell I (Innocence sucked)</a></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">3. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akira_%28film%29">Akira</a></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">4. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gundam">Gundam OVA's</a><br />5. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macross">Macross</a></span> <span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;" ><br /><br />Currently watching:</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">1. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bleach_anime">Bleach</a></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">2.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naruto"> Naruto Shippuuden Chronicles</a><br /><br /><br /></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naruto"> </a> </span>e2http://www.blogger.com/profile/14233104076864311244noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131180467701581369.post-71079826531342933892008-12-16T03:06:00.000-08:002008-12-16T03:40:25.899-08:00Have i told you Lately..<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Lately i have not been updating my blog, not inspired...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Lately i've been going for interviews, waiting for replies & offers & 2nd round interviews..</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Lately i've been feeling depressed, probably because this is one of the downest i've been in the holiday season.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Lately i've not celebrated my 31'st, dunno jus wasn't in the mood...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Lately i've been learning mandarin, need to work harder on this...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Lately i've been having a tough streak, where things don't run as smoothly as they normally do..</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Lately, projects have been problematic & hard to close.. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Lately i've been feeling alone... </span><br /><br /><br /></span>e2http://www.blogger.com/profile/14233104076864311244noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131180467701581369.post-54596024893297583292008-12-04T02:49:00.001-08:002008-12-04T03:03:51.563-08:00Latest News & Political Analysis of Thailand..<span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.asiasentinel.com/images/stories/smoothgallery/JAN2008/thai-red+yellow.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 290px; height: 377px;" src="http://www.asiasentinel.com/images/stories/smoothgallery/JAN2008/thai-red+yellow.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Asia Sentinel</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Tuesday, 02 December 2008</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Thailand and the Coup for the Rich</span></span> <span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Written by Giles Ji Ungpakorn</span><br /><br />The constitutional courts, as expected, disband a democratically</span> <span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><br />elected party<br /><br />Thailand’s Constitutional Courts dissolved the country’s</span> <span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><br />democratically elected governing party for the second time Tuesday,<br />forcing the government to resign. This follows the refusal of the<br />Armed Forces and the Police to follow government instructions to clear<br />the two international airports blocked by armed People’s Alliance for<br />Democracy fascists.<br /><br />The royalist alliance against the government is made up of the fascist</span> <span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><br />PAD, the military, the police, the judiciary, the mainstream media,<br />the "Democrat Party," most middle class academics and The Queen. They<br />are all behind this judicial coup. A leading Democrat Party MP is one<br />of the leaders of the illegal blockade of Bangkok’s two airports.<br /><br />The Yellow-shirted PAD have armed guards which have repeatedly shot at</span> <span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><br />opponents. They constantly use violence and now demand "joint patrols"<br />with the police. The PAD has constantly broken the law, and yet they<br />are untouchable. On the rare occasion when PAD leaders are forced to<br />attend court, they are given bail and allowed to go back and commit<br />the same crimes over and over again.<br /><br />The majority of the Thai population, who are poor, face a double</span> <span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><br />whammy. First, the elite royalists are doing everything possible to<br />take away their basic democratic rights. Secondly, mass job losses are<br />occurring among workers in the tourist industry as a result of the<br />airport blockade. Jobs in agriculture and electronics are also<br />affected and of course we are faced with the serious world economic<br />crisis. The elites do not care if the Thai economy is trashed and<br />Thailand returns to a poor third world nation. In such nations the<br />elites continue to live the same lives as the rich in the developed<br />world. The PAD protestors are middle-class extremists who do not have<br />to go to work, hence their prolonged protests.<br /><br />We are constantly told by the conservatives that the poor are too</span> <span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><br />stupid to deserve the right to vote. The army staged a coup in 2006<br />and rewrote the constitution in order to reduce the democratic space<br />and also to absolve themselves of any wrongdoing. The electorate have<br />repeatedly voted in overwhelming numbers for the government party,<br />whether it be Thai Rak Thai, which brought the former Prime Minister,<br />Thaksin Shinawatra, or its successor, Peoples Power Party. Now<br />People’s Power politicians are moving to the new Pua Thai Party. Will<br />a fair election be held? Or will the elites engineer a "fix" to make<br />sure that their people win?<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">What is the root cause of this crisis?</span></span> <span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><br />The root cause of this crisis is not the corruption of the Thaksin<br />government in the past. It isn't about vote-buying, good governance,<br />civil rights or the rule of law. Politicians of all parties, including<br />the Democrats, are known to buy votes. The elites, whether<br />politicians, civil servants or the military, have a history of gross<br />corruption. Even when they don't break the law, they have become rich<br />on the backs of Thai workers and small farmers. The Democrat Party is<br />stuffed with such millionaires.<br /><br />Ironically, the Thai Rak Thai party was helping to reduce the</span> <span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><br />importance of vote-buying because it was the first party in decades to<br />have real policies which were beneficial to the poor. They introduced<br />a universal health care scheme and Keynesian village funds. People<br />voted on the basis of such policies. The Democrats and the<br />conservative elites hate the alliance between Thaksin's business party<br />and the poor. They hate the idea that a government was using public<br />funds to improve the lives of the poor. This is why the<br />anti-government alliance is against democracy. The PAD have suggested<br />reducing the number of elected MPs and a recipe to do away with the<br />principle of "one person one vote". So the root cause of the problem<br />is the conservative elite's contempt for the poor and their contempt<br />for democracy. They are prepared to break the law when it suits them.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">What is the solution?</span></span> <span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><br />Business leaders and the royalist elites are demanding an un-elected<br />national government. The Democrat Party leader has "volunteered" to<br />provide the Prime Minister! Such a national government would complete<br />the judicial coup for the rich. It would be a victory for the PAD and<br />a defeat for the electorate.<br /><br />The Red Shirts, who are organized by government politicians, are the</span> <span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><br />only hope for Thai democracy. They have now become a genuine<br />pro-democracy mass movement of the poor. This is what is meant by<br />"civil society", not the PAD fascists. Thai academia fails to grasp<br />this basic fact. But the Red Shirts are not a pure force. Many have<br />illusions about ex-Prime Minister Thaksin. They overlook his gross<br />abuse of human rights in the south and the war on drugs, in which<br />hundreds of people were shot as drug dealers without arrest, trial or<br />proof. But these human rights issues are also totally ignored by the<br />PAD and their friends.<br /><br />Throughout this three-year crisis, the majority of the Thai NGO</span> <span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><br />movement (especially the NGO-Coordinating Committee) has failed to<br />support democracy. Many welcomed the 2006 military coup. Many<br />supported the military constitution. Now they are either silent or are<br />echoing the demands of the army chief, who said last week that the<br />government should resign.<br /><br />At no point have they attempted to build a pro-democracy social</span> <span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><br />movement. Many believe that the poor are "uneducated and lack enough<br />information to vote". The honorable examples are the Midnight<br />University in Chiang-Mai, some sections of the labour movement, groups<br />of new generation NGO activists and Turn Left.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The economic crisis</span></span> <span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><br />Millions of jobs are being destroyed by the world economic crisis and<br />the unrest in Thai society. People are being driven back into poverty.<br />Yet the Democrat Party, the military, the conservative elites and the<br />mainstream NGO movement do not have a clue or do not care one jot<br />about the necessary policies to defend the living standards of the<br />poor. They chant about the King's Sufficiency Economy and the need for<br />fiscal discipline. In other words, the poor must trim their spending<br />and learn to live with their poverty while the rich continue to live<br />in luxury.<br /><br />We desperately need massive government spending on infrastructure, job</span> <span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><br />protection and a serious expansion of welfare. The value-added tax<br />should be reduced or abolished and higher direct taxes should be<br />levied on all the rich elites without exception. The bloated military<br />budget should be cut. Wages should be raised among workers. Poor<br />farmers should be protected. This will only happen in a climate of<br />genuine democracy. This is why we must oppose this second "coup for<br />the rich".<br /><br />Giles Ji Ungpakorn is an associate professor at the Faculty of</span> <span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><br />Political Science, Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. He regularly<br />comments on Thai affairs.<br /><a href="http://www.asiasentinel.com/">http://www.asiasentinel.com/</a></span> <span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><br /><br /></span>e2http://www.blogger.com/profile/14233104076864311244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131180467701581369.post-88811499356742880622008-12-01T02:15:00.000-08:002008-12-01T02:33:38.752-08:00Max Payne abit of a pain la...<span style="font-size:85%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/db/Max_Payne_poster.jpg/200px-Max_Payne_poster.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 267px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/db/Max_Payne_poster.jpg/200px-Max_Payne_poster.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Just recently checked out the movie <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Payne_%28film%29">Max Payne</a> starring </span><b style="font-family: arial;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Wahlberg" title="Mark Wahlberg">Mark Wahlberg</a>, </b><b style="font-family: arial;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beau_Bridges" title="Beau Bridges">Beau Bridges</a>, </b><b style="font-family: arial;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mila_Kunis" title="Mila Kunis">Mila Kunis</a>, </b><b style="font-family: arial;"> </b><b style="font-family: arial;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludacris" title="Ludacris">Chris "Ludacris" Bridges</a></b><span style="font-family:arial;"> , </span><b style="font-family: arial;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_O%27Donnell" title="Chris O'Donnell">Chris O'Donnell</a>, </b><b style="font-family: arial;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelly_Furtado" title="Nelly Furtado">Nelly Furtado</a>, </b><b style="font-family: arial;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Burton_%28actress%29" title="Kate Burton (actress)">Kate Burton</a></b><span style="font-family:arial;"> , </span><b style="font-family: arial;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donal_Logue" title="Donal Logue">Donal Logue</a>, </b><b style="font-family: arial;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amaury_Nolasco" title="Amaury Nolasco">Amaury Nolasco</a></b><span style="font-family:arial;"> , </span><b style="font-family: arial;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olga_Kurylenko" title="Olga Kurylenko">Olga Kurylenko</a> & </b><b style="font-family: arial;">Marianthi Evans.</b><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Movie is based on the game which introduced the "bullet time" Matrix like sequences and Mark Wahlberg, so i considered checking it out.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">Well personally i was struggling to keep my eyes open to get through the movie.<br /><br />But Olga (</span>best known for being the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bond_girl" title="Bond girl">Bond girl</a> in the 22nd <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Bond" title="James Bond">James Bond</a> film, <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_of_Solace" title="Quantum of Solace">Quantum of Solace</a></i>)</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> played Natasha Sax , Mona's sister, who was the ever typical hot & sexy eastern european/russian tease... ;)<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">Would only reccomend if its a really stormy sunday night with mothing better to do.. *yAwnZzzz*</span></span>e2http://www.blogger.com/profile/14233104076864311244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131180467701581369.post-6077109038976337232008-11-25T02:00:00.000-08:002008-11-25T03:00:20.261-08:00I'm back...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi08df03KUPKpqwgH3SyvCkiG7aZCukxjg_xorvafRQ4vhO_4HVCOhVE_2eM6gFvPIDQ4PWBIhSNGKelgG1JkfMC125X7qEN3g2Cztw9CoHXoyfbP1a-UwdenEnNrI9TuZPDodSWFEvipiG/s1600-h/425px-SAC_laughing_man_DVD_Box_Front.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 226px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi08df03KUPKpqwgH3SyvCkiG7aZCukxjg_xorvafRQ4vhO_4HVCOhVE_2eM6gFvPIDQ4PWBIhSNGKelgG1JkfMC125X7qEN3g2Cztw9CoHXoyfbP1a-UwdenEnNrI9TuZPDodSWFEvipiG/s320/425px-SAC_laughing_man_DVD_Box_Front.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272548268252945586" border="0" /></a><br />Have been tied up with some work related stuff lately... has not been the most smooth sailing of all times.. But hanging in there and going through the motions..<br /><br />Does life get harder when u turn 31?? Ohhh wtv!!!! :P<br /><br />Malaysian news & politics been the dogs bollocks lately too.. & the economy outlook of nx year is "Go stick yr head in a hole & u will not be affected!!!". I too, sometimes practise the phrase "ignorance is bliss" but i think it may apply on case to case basis lo...<br /><br />Over & out... will keep posting!!e2http://www.blogger.com/profile/14233104076864311244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131180467701581369.post-10502488786973823362008-11-06T23:55:00.000-08:002008-12-08T23:32:13.629-08:00Breaking News in Malaysia!!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNTofkKLtAunspP6hr55dvsb9_NfotlxLxf24CYrEJw5RsBsYArG8LJi6JkeIdoSEWOt39Cn3x2AMEL1JH6LVL44jNEYlTDc0whLr1kGWo0Mj5-vgGHFo87YnSVWCvxB4rJqsDV6y9hts/s400/RPK_Rules.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 166px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNTofkKLtAunspP6hr55dvsb9_NfotlxLxf24CYrEJw5RsBsYArG8LJi6JkeIdoSEWOt39Cn3x2AMEL1JH6LVL44jNEYlTDc0whLr1kGWo0Mj5-vgGHFo87YnSVWCvxB4rJqsDV6y9hts/s400/RPK_Rules.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">2 very interesting pieces of news today...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >ITEM 1</span><br /></span><table style="font-family: verdana;font-size:12px;" class="contentpaneopen" ><tbody><tr style="font-size:12px;"><td style="font-weight: bold;font-size:12px;" class="contentheading" width="100%"><span style="font-size:100%;">Court frees Raja Petra (Update 2) </span></td> <td class="buttonheading" width="100%" align="right" style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span> </td> <td class="buttonheading" width="100%" align="right" style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span> </td> <td class="buttonheading" width="100%" align="right" style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <table style="font-family: verdana;" class="contentpaneopen" size="12px"><tbody><tr size="12px"> <td colspan="2" size="12px" valign="top" width="70%" align="left"><br /></td></tr><tr style="font-family: verdana;font-size:12px;" ><td colspan="2" class="createdate" valign="top" style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Friday, 07 November 2008 14:14 </span></td> </tr> <tr style="font-family: verdana;font-size:12px;" > <td colspan="2" valign="top" style="font-size:12px;"> <p id="story_byline" style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-size:85%;">By M. MAGESWARI in <em style="font-size: 12px;">The Star</em></span></p><div id="story_content" style="font-size:12px;"><p style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-size:85%;">SHAH ALAM: <em style="font-size: 12px;">Malaysia Today</em> editor Raja Petra Raja Kamarudin succeeded in his bid to obtain a release order from his two-year detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA).</span></p></div> <p style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-size:85%;">High Court judge Justice Syed Ahmad Helmy Syed Ahmad allowed the blogger’s habeas corpus application on Friday.</span></p><p style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Justice Syed Ahmad also ordered for Raja Petra to be brought to the Shah Alam High Court before 4pm Friday for his immediate release.</span></p><p style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Upon hearing the court decision, the crowd seated at the packed public gallery clapped and cheered.</span></p><p style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-size:85%;">This prompted the judge to tell the crowd that “this is a court of law”, which caused the court to be silent, albeit briefly.</span></p><p style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-size:85%;">The court erupted again with claps and shouts from the public gallery when the judge said that Raja Petra had to be brought to the court for his release on the same day.</span></p><p style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-size:85%;">At the outset of court proceedings, Justice Syed Ahmad ruled that the grounds for the detention order by Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar for the blogger did not fall under the scope of Section 8(1) of the ISA.</span></p><p style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Therefore, the judge said the Sept 22 detention order was unlawful.</span></p><p style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Raja Petra was detained on Sept 12 on the grounds that he had intentionally and recklessly published articles which were critical and insulted Muslims, the purity of Islam and the personality of Prophet Muhammad.</span></p><p style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-size:85%;">It was said to have caused anxiety and anger among Muslims in the country.</span></p><p style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-size:85%;">He had also allegedly published defamatory articles concerning national leaders which could affect public order and prejudice national security.</span></p><p style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-size:85%;">He was said to have published the said articles in the <em style="font-size: 12px;">Malaysia Today</em> news portal between Jan 16 and Sept 12 this year.</span></p><p style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-size:85%;">The Home Minister was named as the sole respondent in the application.</span></p><p style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Raja Petra was taken to the Kamunting detention camp on Sept 23.</span></p><p style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-size:85%;">The minister had issued the order against the blogger under Section 8 of the same Act.</span></p><p style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-size:85%;">However, the judge said Section 8 of the same Act is constitutional as it falls within the ambit of the Article 149 of the Federal Constitution.</span></p><p style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-size:85%;">(Article 149 is regarding actions to be taken against anyone who participates in any activities which could pose a threat to national security even if it violates their fundamental liberties).</span></p><p style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-size:85%;">“I find that there is no merit by the counsel’s argument that Section 8 is unconstitutional as it does not fall under Article 149,” he said.</span></p><p style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-size:85%;">“Section 8 can only be reviewed under procedural non-compliance as provided under Section 8B(1) of the same Act,” he added.</span></p><p style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-size:85%;">On lead counsel Malik Imtiaz Sarwar’s argument that the order was <em style="font-size: 12px;">mala fide</em> (in bad faith), Justice Syed Ahmad said:</span></p><p style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-size:85%;">“<em style="font-size: 12px;">Mala fide</em> is not procedural non-compliance under the ISA,” he said.</span></p><p style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-size:85%;">The judge said the court only has the power for judicial review for matters which violated the procedures under the ISA.</span></p><p style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-size:85%;">The judge also commented that the ISA was promulgated not only to counter communism or subversive activities but also to halt any activities which caused a threat to national security.</span></p><p style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Outside the court later, Raja Petra’s wife Marina Lee Abdullah said she was very happy with his impending release.</span></p><p style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-size:85%;">“I am glad that everything turned out well as I had hoped. It is a fantastic breakthrough. “I hope there will be a change in the country,” said Marina, who was accompanied by daughters Sarah, 19, and Suraya, 34.</span></p></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;font-size:85%;" > <span style="font-family:verdana;">Original post </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/14624/84/">here</a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >ITEM 2</span><br /></span><h2 style="font-family: verdana;" class="title"><span style="font-size:100%;">Rulers Can Reject Govt Advice</span></h2><h2 style="font-family: verdana;" class="title"><span style="font-size:85%;">2008-11-07 13:59 </span></h2> <div style="font-family: verdana;" class="content_wrapper"><p><span style="font-size:85%;">KUCHING: The Rulers shall not agree with advice given by government leaders which goes against the spirit of the constitution, rule of law and universal principles of justice, the Raja Muda of Perak Raja Nazrin Shah said Thursday (6 Nov) night.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:85%;">"Generally, the Rulers act based on the advice by government leaders elected by the people. Nevertheless, the Rulers cannot accede to acts which do not symbolise justice or sanction moves which do not mirror truth.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:85%;">"The Rulers' views, observation and counsel in the administrative affairs of the country touching on the question of integrity which encompasses justice, law, judiciary, misappropriation, power abuse, corruption and wealth distribution, are with the desire to strengthing the government so that it is stable and receives people's trust," he said at a dinner in conjunction with the National Integrity Day here.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:85%;">To ensure the Rulers' integrity is not questioned and the throne remains respected, Raja Nazrin said, the Rulers shall always be intelligent and wise, master knowledge, understand the surroundings and changes, and possess a group of advisers comprising experts and people knowledgeable in the relevant fields.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:85%;">"This will enable the Rulers fulfil their roles with integrity and make the smart, accurate, just and fair decisions," he said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:85%;">Present were Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud and Chief Justice Tan Sri Zaki Tun Azmi. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:85%;">Raja Nazrin said the Rulers are part of national institutions whose role is to strengthen the democratic system by carrying out the check and balance responsibility and the function as an independent tribunal for the legislative, executive and judiciary branches.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:85%;">As a source of reference should a crisis occurs, he said, the Rulers function as the balancing mechanism which safeguards national stability, protects people's wellbeing, ensures justice, enhances the government's integrity and strengthens the democratic practice in the country.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:85%;">"The Rulers have a role as the pillar of stability -- source of justice, thrust of unity -- hence enhancing the level of people's confidence in the systems of governance and society based on democratic practices, rooted on the doctrine of separation of powers.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:85%;">"The Rulers have constitutional responsibilities and the responsibilities need to be carried out intelligently so that it can help build a high-integrity country," he said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:85%;">Raja Nazrin said the institution of Rulers shall have the role and function to productively and constructively contribute to the nation.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:85%;">"The Rulers reside at a special position, have the opportunity to give smart views to influence and determine the direction of the nation positively and constructively through counsel, encouragement, persuasion, reminder and admonition," he said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:85%;">To strengthen integrity practice, Raja Nazrin said, the Rulers shall hold consultations and negotiations, gather opinions and be open minded to assess each advice rationally, objectively and fairly. <i>(Bernama)</i></span></p> </div><span style="font-family: verdana;font-size:85%;" ><br />Original post <a href="http://www.mysinchew.com/node/18158">here</a></span>e2http://www.blogger.com/profile/14233104076864311244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131180467701581369.post-86708941219413066992008-11-03T00:09:00.000-08:002008-11-07T00:24:13.200-08:00Bangkok Dangerous - Movie<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoYaljKJiSDZONKbl_xF8nRS6RFoN_O6S7gONVCO8CsmlJjVxKjR8Awc6HIbcw3RxexLOthq6-tO-QtBAs0kBNwrOi50BiFhrTSibPaFmnmjDDZg5OrSVceMhgECzPzOPHGtKlrXI_7tPF/s1600-h/bangkokdangerousthaiposter.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 223px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoYaljKJiSDZONKbl_xF8nRS6RFoN_O6S7gONVCO8CsmlJjVxKjR8Awc6HIbcw3RxexLOthq6-tO-QtBAs0kBNwrOi50BiFhrTSibPaFmnmjDDZg5OrSVceMhgECzPzOPHGtKlrXI_7tPF/s320/bangkokdangerousthaiposter.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5264343074183201874" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;" >Bangkok Dangerous - Movie Poster</span><br /></div><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;" ><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjd7yk2HkNB1h0jijYZF3bf3KgqEf7Ee5jPhi9cHVyjjb9mWgSnIo2lb3PjLSQ_uwA9RrJcMHQrcFr2TXoPYJiMMcLa0D8e3O0mNb_vKb-lEa2K_mPmXqlRo3cE7ig7RuvQTA9GFF7QTPT/s1600-h/bangkok_dangerous49.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 194px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjd7yk2HkNB1h0jijYZF3bf3KgqEf7Ee5jPhi9cHVyjjb9mWgSnIo2lb3PjLSQ_uwA9RrJcMHQrcFr2TXoPYJiMMcLa0D8e3O0mNb_vKb-lEa2K_mPmXqlRo3cE7ig7RuvQTA9GFF7QTPT/s320/bangkok_dangerous49.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5264343079127015234" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFZ-tEs72hxu5emfo-aoepd7g3j7wkIBIrhqkG8nMjF7qiiKO3uUnr2ZSB4964P_9xSqHQzlUjO73psQpCzEJ5LLDUrcRTSy82Ie-ZfZCS9Jxb1hfKWp3klsAErN2DdxnL-PapSRSckxKQ/s1600-h/bangkok_dangerous45.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 231px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFZ-tEs72hxu5emfo-aoepd7g3j7wkIBIrhqkG8nMjF7qiiKO3uUnr2ZSB4964P_9xSqHQzlUjO73psQpCzEJ5LLDUrcRTSy82Ie-ZfZCS9Jxb1hfKWp3klsAErN2DdxnL-PapSRSckxKQ/s320/bangkok_dangerous45.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5264343074158257458" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW7mYFXLb0eozhyKaFS1LaMWkdf4lKQ61wuavc11IR0eLOHsQMWyvK6T1pt2urQ1bSfNTFLf-f4QC4RaXOsRzpk-MtGR1vWBp8OmDh-Qvalwlzplp6nXH-wh1m0a1npuY2llW97lG8JR0K/s1600-h/11261060_gal.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW7mYFXLb0eozhyKaFS1LaMWkdf4lKQ61wuavc11IR0eLOHsQMWyvK6T1pt2urQ1bSfNTFLf-f4QC4RaXOsRzpk-MtGR1vWBp8OmDh-Qvalwlzplp6nXH-wh1m0a1npuY2llW97lG8JR0K/s320/11261060_gal.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5264345256304971442" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;" >Aom - </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;" >Panward Hemmanee.. :D</span><br /></div><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;" ><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Just picked up this movie & watched it over the weekend.Enjoyed it thoroughly. Action was fast, plot was expected, chics were HOT!!! LOL..<br /><br />From Wiki:</span><br /></span><p style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><i><b>"Bangkok Dangerous</b></i> is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_in_film" title="2008 in film">2008</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_film" title="Crime film">crime film</a> written and directed by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pang_Brothers" title="The Pang Brothers">the Pang Brothers</a> and starring <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Cage" title="Nicolas Cage">Nicolas Cage</a>. It is a remake of the Pangs' <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_in_film" title="1999 in film">1999</a> debut film <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangkok_Dangerous_%281999_film%29" title="Bangkok Dangerous (1999 film)" class="mw-redirect">of the same name</a>, a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_of_Thailand" title="Cinema of Thailand">Thai film</a> for which Cage's production company, Saturn Films, purchased the remake rights.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangkok_Dangerous_%282008_film%29#cite_note-1" title="">[2]</a></sup> Known by its working title, <i>Big Hit in Bangkok</i>,<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangkok_Dangerous_%282008_film%29#cite_note-2" title="">[3]</a></sup><i>Time to Kill</i>, it began filming in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangkok" title="Bangkok">Bangkok</a> in August 2006, with locations that include <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soi_Cowboy" title="Soi Cowboy">Soi Cowboy</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangkok_Dangerous_%282008_film%29#cite_note-3" title="">[4]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangkok_Dangerous_%282008_film%29#cite_note-4" title="">[5]"</a></sup> </span> </p><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">The movie stars, Nicolas Cage. Think they did it very tastefully with inserting some Thai culture into the movie.<br /></span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />My favourite part of this movie must have been the all scenes with the dancer, Aom in them (view it below). Aom was played by a Thai model/actress <a href="http://absolutelybangkok.com/bangkok-sirens-panward-hemmanee/">Panward Hemmanee</a>. For those who are abit more familiar with Thai Pop(T-Pop) Panward or Pie as she is popularly known made it famous when she appeared in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saranyu_Winaipanit">Ice Saranyu</a>'s hit song <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIWAwaS3DtM">Kon Jai Ngai</a>, 2 years back (view the MV <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIWAwaS3DtM">here</a>). </span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DF_dKvwblRM&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DF_dKvwblRM&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />Nose bleed material.. Pass me the tissue PLEASE!!! ;)<br /><br />BTW, for more pictures of <a href="http://absolutelybangkok.com/bangkok-sirens-panward-hemmanee/">Panward</a>, go <a href="http://www.asiansweetheart.net/Thai_Beauty/Models/PanwardHemmanee/panward.html">here</a> or <a href="http://www.ampedasia.com/asian-images/gallery.php?page=4&album=Panward-Hemmanee/">here</a>. What u waiting for go la!!! ;)<br /></span></span>e2http://www.blogger.com/profile/14233104076864311244noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131180467701581369.post-73297642951072691672008-11-02T01:54:00.000-07:002008-11-02T03:09:44.654-08:00Kuala Lumpur vs Bangkok , A Malaysian Illusion<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://blogs.newamericamedia.org/images/646.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 550px;" src="http://blogs.newamericamedia.org/images/646.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-size:78%;" ><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Long Live H.R.H. King Bhumibol!!! </span></span></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-size:78%;" ><span style="font-family: verdana;">- Photo from </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.bangkokpost.net/60yrsthrone/jazzy/index.html">The Jazzy King</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"> by Bangkok Post. </span></span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Just something that I realized today, was that over the past several months I've have had this conversation several times with different friends, family & acquaintances, of many who are Malaysians of different ages as well as a Thai friend or two.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Many of us(Malaysians) have been brought up with the illusion that we have and are always next to Singapore. I don't mean in a physical sense but more from an economic, social & infrastructure developement point of view. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Well I'm no economist or sociologist, so i won't be able to give you facts and figures to justify what I have to say. I speak only from my observations as a layman who grew up as a PJ boy(PJ is a suburb 15min from KL) and a visitor who has been to Thailand several times in the past few years. I also speak based on experiences related to me by friends and acquaintances.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Malaysians(here i generalise, just my personal opinion) has always had a notion that Thailand/Bangkok was always abit more 3rd world than Malaysia/KL. This could be due to the mainstream medias & governments' constant salvo of how great/developed/advanced our country was in the region. How we were no. 2 only to Singapore. etc, etc..</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">However, after visiting the country I beg to differ from this viewpoint and change my personal stand on this. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I have several very simple reasons to justify my viewpoint, as below:</span><br /><br /></span><ol style="font-family:verdana;"><li><span style="font-size:85%;">I've you've flown to BKK(my 1st was via <a href="http://www.airasia.com/">Airasia</a>), once you depart the Suvarnabumi airport you will hit BKK's multi-storey highways into the city. I thought, "Wow!! this is such an architectural feat(also a practical one)". I can't understand why can the Thai's build such straight & organized roads and Malaysia can only build curvy & pothole filled roads. First topics that come to mind for KL'ites when it comes to roads will always be MRRII incidents, potholes & tolls. </span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">This brings me to my 2nd subject tolls, I have done road trips around the Northern & Central regions in Thailand and never seen a tolled road. How does the Thai government do this??? KL have many tolls(with never ending payment to toll concessions, it seems) yet we still have incidents like MRRII.</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Well since we are on the subject of transportation, yes both BKK & KL have a traffic problem, but I dare say that BKK has a better public transport infrastructure as opposed to KL. They have the Skytrain(our equivalent of the LRT), easy availability of taxis which run on meters unlike KL's infamous taxi touts as well as tuk-tuk's & motor-taxis. Not to mention their taxis are mostly <a href="http://www.toyota.com/">Toyota</a> Vios or Altis compared to our 15 year old <a href="http://www.proton.com.my/">Proton</a> Iswara's & Saga's.</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Yes their cars are cheaper but they pay world prices for petrol. However, we are easily looking at a RM20,000 difference in car prices for our CKD cars in Malaysia. A Vios in Malaysia would cost around RM70,000 but in Thailand it would cost RM50,000(500,000B). </span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Having said that the Thai's pay world prices for petrol, however they already have 2 alternative fuels compared to Malaysia's 1. The Thai's have NGV and Gasohol. Yes Malaysia has NGV too, but the availability of NGV at petrol stations are a far cry from Thailand's.</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Well enough, of the costs comparisons above. I think Malaysia Tourism always used to say we are warm & frienly lot, yes we are, but depends on who la...(u know what I mean). Few years back if you meet a cop on the road to ask for help it seems like u asking him a big favour, see a Thai cop & ask him for help and see. I think the naming of Thailand as Land of Smiles is spot on. This may probably be due to the Thai's Buddhist upbringing of being polite.</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Freedom of speech/expression, look at the protests in Thailand. We only see the sacry part on TV, but if you are in BKK, u realize that it doesn't really affect yr daily going about town, just don't go to the affected area. Malaysia means, FRU & ISA.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Ok la... this post is getting abit long. I'll end it with some food for thought la. GO check out the public toilets in both our countries. Check out the toilets in LCCT and Suvarnabumi and see for yrself la... Cleanliness is Next to Godliness.. I shy, shy wei!!!</span></li></ol><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Good on the Thai ppl, Malaysian's if we wanna stick to the claim we need to buck up..</span><br /><br /><br /></span>e2http://www.blogger.com/profile/14233104076864311244noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131180467701581369.post-1594396035758083422008-11-01T03:07:00.000-07:002008-11-01T05:31:56.238-07:00One Festival I'd go check out.. :)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg009H7lpJx3Xe3tW1nOhf2ONBSP2dSmt9hWyzH2CspbiQsyUpFb8Uwl2AcmNYwLIEVVodZIguyOYkD_e70C1P5fjQfZjIlWqUgj1KFos3uCIhjFohYd1s1fMCrOwuRLNjJydfa_jVWO1Y9/s1600-h/24_-cc08_lion_cropped_sm.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 282px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg009H7lpJx3Xe3tW1nOhf2ONBSP2dSmt9hWyzH2CspbiQsyUpFb8Uwl2AcmNYwLIEVVodZIguyOYkD_e70C1P5fjQfZjIlWqUgj1KFos3uCIhjFohYd1s1fMCrOwuRLNjJydfa_jVWO1Y9/s320/24_-cc08_lion_cropped_sm.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5263662993931762210" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" ><br /><br />Well if you don't already know the 21st High Times Cannabis Cup is just round the corner.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >According to wiki;<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-size:78%;" ><span style="font-family:verdana;">"The </span><b style="font-family: verdana;">Cannabis Cup</b><span style="font-family:verdana;"> is a festival that was started in 1987 by </span><i style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Times" title="High Times">High Times</a></i><span style="font-family:verdana;"> editor </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Hager" title="Steven Hager">Steven Hager</a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, who came to </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Netherlands" title="The Netherlands" class="mw-redirect">The Netherlands</a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> for an interview with the founder of the first Dutch </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis" title="Cannabis">cannabis</a><span style="font-family:verdana;">-seed company. The </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia" title="Australia">Australian</a> owner, Nevil, lived in a mansion filled with growrooms that Hagar dubbed "The Cannabis Castle". The <a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festival" title="Festival">festival</a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, held annually in </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amsterdam" title="Amsterdam">Amsterdam</a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Netherlands" title="The Netherlands" class="mw-redirect">The Netherlands</a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> is one of the most famous cannabis events among cannabis smokers and cannabis-oriented businesses. The public is exposed to a large variety of </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marijuana" title="Marijuana" class="mw-redirect">marijuana</a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> strains which they then help to judge. A team of judges decides every year which company brought the best marijuana, best new product or nicest booth to the festival."</span></span><br /></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" ><br />And its here;</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" ><br /><iframe marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&s=AARTsJq21qssPeeHX_8VXV8CVjS3324Btg&msa=0&msid=101497595889863304758.0004501bec471b9c77099&ll=52.361135,4.892693&spn=0.073381,0.145912&z=12&output=embed" scrolling="no" width="425" frameborder="0" height="350"></iframe><br /><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=101497595889863304758.0004501bec471b9c77099&ll=52.361135,4.892693&spn=0.073381,0.145912&z=12&source=embed" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255); text-align: left;">View Larger Map</a><br /></span>e2http://www.blogger.com/profile/14233104076864311244noreply@blogger.com0