My Rants

Howdy doodie!

2008-10-18T20:27:00.007+08:00

Hello people,

In case anyone's actually still following this blog, thanks for visiting. The frequency of posting has definitely been less and less, and it's all down to so many things happening in life, competing with your time. There's work, family obligations, finding some free time to enjoy yourself, exercising.. sigh.. so much so that somethings suffer, and blogging and video editing is a consequence.

I've decided to do a short post, simply to share some of the stuff I've been getting up to (and in a way, this blog serves as an online diary for myself too). So here goes:

I've recently restarted my toy collection hobby. I'm now collecting 1/6 figurines etc, some of which are beautiful works of art. Here, check these out:

By the way, those are actually 1/6 (12 inch scale toys) and check out how amazingly realistic they look. Here's one I made myself (they call it Kitbashing)I call 'The First Kill':

1st Kill

If you had to kill to live, would you stare at emptiness like this guy?

And check out this guy from Hot Toys (from Hong Kong - don't you think it looks amazingly like Aaron Eckhart - Two Face from The Dark Knight?

Getting this one when it comes out in the near future.
Are there any 1/6 scale fans out there?

Until next time, I'll take more pics of my collection soon.

New Video

2008-09-12T23:21:00.002+08:00

This is my new video, an Ad I was commissioned to do by TelBru for their Sungaki Beduk ad on RTB. It's currently showing everyday during Ramadhan just before Sungkai at around 630pm. Check it out if you have the time.

Hope you like it.

Taiwanese Song

2008-05-10T18:27:00.001+08:00

What's been happening the past year?! February 2007-February 2008 update!

2008-03-21T16:42:00.010+08:00

Hello everyone (if anyone's actually still reading this blog of course!),

It's been a while since I put up my last posting with any bit of substance (probably a year now), primarily cos I have been busy with work and life in general. I've now been able to find time to actually write something. I don't particularly know what to write about - abit rusty, but perhaps start off with a few lessons in life I have learned over the past year:

1) Take life one step at a time. Things can get stressful, but only if you allow it to get you stressed. Always have a life outside of work to escape to, either friends (both outside and work colleagues) or importantly family. They provide support and an anchor from the stresses of life.

2)Work is work and you should never be defined by what you do or what position you hold. I read somewhere that you should be able to take your work seriously, but take yourself lightly. This is very true. Some people get their ego so entangled with their job positions they start shitting on the little people because they hold a high position at work. As for me, I am defined by my achievements, my education, my family and people I love and care about, and myself. Not by my bosses or people who I do not consider as part of my life. Importantly only one person defines me: Myself.

3)There are unprincipled people everywhere, and many who will probably cross paths with you. Perhaps YOU are unprincipled yourself (although you'll never admit it and explain it away with some far fetched rationale). Unprincipled people believe they are better than other people because they see their principles as far more superior than yours. They also try to supplant your principle with theirs. They also have this narcissistic tendency to play god and if you're in the work place with such a person, you'll be privy to unprincipled actions that make anyone with any sense of work and professional ethics throw up violently.

4) Never choose to be a victim. some people, when they get victimised, wallow in being the victim. Don't. You do yourself a great disservice if you do so. Pick yourself up, be proactive (in Stephen Covey's sense) and choose NOT to be a victim. And choose to be all that is positive and get your focus centred on good principles of life.

5) Everyone has their own self agenda. Some want to be rich, some want to be the CEO, yet others want to be Datos and Pehins. EVERYONE have their own self serving agenda. But when you put a man in charge of an organisation who do not look out for the welfare of the company, its future and its people, then you're in trouble. Governance is not about doing away with self agenda and interest but with aligning self interest and agenda with the overall larger goals of the company.

6) You'll never really appreciate the importance of professionalism in the workplace until you've work with someone, perhaps a boss, who has none. You'll never truly appreciate the simplicity in life until you meet someone who is ethically and morally corrupt, self serving and will do anything (and I mean EVERYTHING) to satisfy their delusional sense of grandeur to achieve ambitions that seem more like the dreams of narcissistic madmen than anything else. You'll never truly appreciate continuing education and life long learning for yourself until you work for a boss who thinks he knows everything, but truly knows nothing.

7) Last but not least, if you're told to do anything unprincipled, unethical, and sometimes outright illegal at work, you ALWAYS have a choice. If you choose to say Yes, then you've made your bed , so lay in it and suffer whatever consequences that comes along. If you choose to say No, then you've also made your decision, and also suffer whatever consequences is dished out by the powers that be that requested you to do so in the first place. At the very least though, the right choice means you can sleep at night and be able to tell your children with some sense of pride that the world can be a better place, simply because you can always choose not to partake in evil machinations designed by morally corrupt individuals.

There. Catharsis... one year's worth ....

Pangea Day

2008-03-21T15:47:00.001+08:00

Wish I had found out about this earlier! Pangea Day....

Xbox360 games for sale

2008-01-12T12:08:00.000+08:00

Hello fellow gamers,

I am selling some of my Xbox360 games, all original and well taken care of, no scratches and kept in a cool dark place!

See below for pricing. Leave a note if you're interested and I can contact you via email or sms.

Thanks.

$60.00

$40

$65.00

Disgraceful

2007-09-29T00:59:00.001+08:00

Like I said in my previous post...
People in Temburong live with their rivers, People in Bandar dumps thrash into it.

Disgraceful..

Beautiful Temburong

2007-07-21T16:50:00.000+08:00

I've only been to Temburong once before this trip and that was yonks ago when I was probably ten and was attending a family's wedding at my grandpa's (he was from Temburong). After this trip, I realised how beautiful Temburong is, and how the people there are so different than us city folks - they cherish their environment and really live with the river (unlike the crap that gets dunked into Kampung Ayer).

Everyone had fun during the trip as you can see from all the smiles...

Will definitely be going back there again sometime soon.

Enjoy the video...

Technical info: Shot on a JVC Handycam. The footage quality was ok but it was VERY interlaced, so had to deinterlace it in FCP.

A little lump of coal turning into a diamond Part 2....

2007-07-06T09:47:00.000+08:00

Congratulations to Tenor Potts.. well deserved. Inspirational story....

A little lump of coal turning into a diamond

2007-06-27T20:04:00.000+08:00

This is a wonderful example of how we should not judge a book by its cover nor to underestimate the talents that all of us may have. Inspirational video.

XBOX360 Games Trade Forum

2007-05-27T21:30:00.001+08:00

As you'd probably know, I bought myself an XBOX360 about a month ago. I haven't been able to mod it as I'd like to keep my options open to playing on XBOX Live but that also means it seriously limits my games library! In any case, I am hoping there are people out there who have tons of original XBOX360 games that they they don't play anymore and would like to trade or sell. If you do, kindly post up a comment on this post!

Here's a few I'm trying to offload:

And here's a few I would like to get!:

A Big Boo..

2007-05-10T17:25:00.000+08:00

.. to AFC President, Mr. Mohammed Bin Hamman. I'm a ManU fan who wasm't planning on going due to family commitments and I'm still peeved off (on behalf of the Malaysians). They have every right to be p*ssed off with him and the AFC, especially if the game was scheduled to celebrate a national event and some p*ssant from another country tells them to do otherwise.

A million curses on the fool above from all Asean ManU fans! How else will we get to see Ronaldo and Rooney play live if they can't play here?

On a happier note:

GLORY GLORY MAN UNITED

Champions 2006/2007

Why are Birthdays So Special? Part 2....

2007-05-07T15:03:00.000+08:00

*if I can get enough sleep!*

Sock it to Bush!

2007-05-05T22:49:00.000+08:00

Well said President Lee Hsien Loong. And Mr Bush seemed a little bit ignorant about Asean when he said "I talked to Prime Minister Lee about America's desire to stay in close contact with not only Singapore, but our partners in what we call the Asean nations,".. yeah what we call indeed. tsk tsk.

Bottom's up!

2007-05-04T23:18:00.000+08:00

Eh? Don't you wish you can do this trick with that favourite drink you just ordered at the restaurant?

Dinosaurs come alive!

2007-04-29T22:54:00.000+08:00

I wonder if they make these for Halloween costumes cos I would get one!

Camcorder for Sale

2007-04-28T17:39:00.000+08:00

Anyone interested in getting a High End Camcorder for Professional use? Click on the picture below for details. I'm posting on behalf only.

The Console Wars, my XBox360 and growing up.

2007-04-23T14:11:00.000+08:00

I just bought an XBox360. I've played games as long as I can remember. My first ever console was bought with my hard earned money which I made working in a month long carnival in Seria (the kinds we used to have where you throw rings of bamboo to catch ducks - I kid you not). It was hot, sweaty, and tiring working from 10-10, but at the ed of one month, I had a console to show for, the Contra games, and of course Super Mario Brothers. It was all worth it.

So gaming consoles have been a hobby of mine and apart of playing games, keeping abreast of the business side of gaming has also been my interest, i.e. PS3 versus XBox360 versus Wii and the Console Wars.

In any case, I came across this article today written by a financial analyst which I thought is extremely interesting. According to him, XBox360 is a complete failure, financially (not gaming wise of course). In any case, if you're interested to know more about his analysis, head over to his blog at http://www.informationarbitrage.com/2007/04/msft_and_japan_.html.

Personally I would love to have all 3 consoles, but given how much busier I am now with my new job, and have a 2 1/2 yr old daughter and one baby coming soon, I definitely have very little time for gaming; but when I do, I try to squeeze it all in.

Sigh, it's the old cliche: When you're kid all you want to do is grow up fast. But when you are all grown up, all you wish is to be a kid again. I guess when you start getting that feeling, you know you're grown up with adult responsibilities. One thing's for sure though: I'll probably still be gaming till I'm in my ripe old age hopefully unhindered by any threat of arthritis.

Lord of the Smoke Rings

2007-04-15T12:09:00.001+08:00

GIANT SMOKE RING!!! Very Cool..

Xbox360?

2007-04-07T23:18:00.000+08:00

This is a LONG LONG shot but does anyone out there have a XBox360 they are bored with and want to sell? Email me :)

Do/Did you like Maths and Physics in School?

2007-04-07T09:22:00.000+08:00

Apparently these people found a way to inject some fun into otherwise quite torturous subjects in school. If I was the teacher, I may not have given the elephant answer a zero, just because of the humour factor - would have made my day as a teacher!

Tiger Woods versus The Army of Troy

2007-04-01T13:03:00.000+08:00

This is one of the first edits I did when I started with videography. If you have 5 minutes to spare, just enjoy the video. It's a tad long I realise. It's also my most watched videos out of all my other videos on YouTube.

Enjoy!

Recent Developments

2007-03-25T11:27:00.000+08:00

Wow! When was my last post?? I have no idea... but it seems my counter is still going up and up, so I guess people are still watching the video. However BlogPatrol has been down for over a month now (get your act together!) and so I have no access to who has been visiting my blog. Well, if you're visiting, thanks for dropping by and enjoy the videos.

I have been EXTREMELY busy with my work. When you get higher up in any organisation (well in terms of responsibilities not power), you tend to get more responsibilities and ALL manner of issues are landing on my table for me to sort out. It's definitely a very positive experience, and one that I am relishing as it is pushing me to learn new things and new ways of doing things.

Here's a quick update on all fronts:

DVXing and Videography
There not been much development in the video front. I take out my DVX once in a while to make sure it is aired properly but have not shot anything for over a month now. I should really get it out and shoot something otherwise I may be jeopardising it to all sorts of ailments afflicting shelved electronics (like the dreaded fungus on lens! - touch wood)

Games Games Games!

I have a few videos to edit but just haven't found the time. I have been attending to my other hobbies which I haven't been 'fulfilling'. Final Fantasy XII is now firmly under way in my PS2 and I'm 20 hours in. Very likely this game will suck another 100 hours of my life!! I also had the opportunity to try Gears of Wars on XBOX360 and I have to admit, it deserves the accolades it has won as Game of the Year! I have also been contemplating buying either the PS3 or XBOX360, but I guess at the moment, it is not the time yet. However I can hold out on these Next Gen consoles when you still have FFXII and God of War 2 still on the platform! I have also been reading up at Rano's site about the Pro Evo tournament that is regularly held these days. I have always wanted to test my skills against other people, but fear I might end up embarrassing myself in front of the public, beaten by some 13 year old 20-0. That would be painful. However with friends, I usually hold my own, but my defensive play is atrocious. I can NEVER keep a clean sheet.

Is that a chainsaw on the gun??!!!

Charity Work
I have done nothing on this front since starting my new job. However I have some ideas planned and would like to launch it to tie it into my new job, so we shall see how we will go about doing it.

TV and Movies
I've been able to atch up on this front really good this month. 300 is a MUST WATCH movie and totally enjoyed it. However the infantile calls and yelps from pubescent boys in the cinema when there was a sex scene was annoying (it's an R rated movie! where the hell was the attendant checking ID? oh well, as my friend said to me yesterday, TIB - This is Brunei). On the TV front: Heroes is very good, Prison Break Season 2 as well, and I finally decided to watch 24 Season 1. YES Season 1. I have not watched even a single episode of this show as I wanted to watch these 'To Be Continued' stype of series all in one go. I hate having to wait one whole week for the next one to come up.

OK that's enough spilling abouit my personal life. This month has been mostly about my personal development at work and how much I am learning inmy new job. I love the fact that I get to see the business from all fronts, as a whole, rather than just from one side (e.g. in just one department).

Adios, I'll try to have a video up soon. I am still thinking of doing an Artsy type film but just can't seem to find the time.

Pusat Ehsan Tribute Video

2007-02-23T21:52:00.000+08:00

Pusat Ehsan is a centre where special kids and adults come together 5 days a week to learn life skills from the dedicated teachers at the centre. The centre helps these people (about 100) of them gain some degree of independence in their lives, providing them a better quality of life and giving their families some support and help in achieving it.

I am particularly touched by the stories of these valiant kids, that despite their 'limitations' fight to become what we take for granted: our independence and ability to do things for ourselves. Jafar (you see him in the video) for example is a 17 year old boy who has cerebral palsy and who lost both his parents to a tragic car accident. When he joined the centre, he told the centre his biggest wish was to be able to walk. Asking for some basic materials, he fashioned himself a knee pad so he could walk. Despite his disability and what little he may have compared to us, he still does his part for the centre, insisting he donate $10 of his $200 monthly allowance to help the centre. The courage this boy has, in turn, given those who know him, great strength and spirit through his example.

Not many of us know the life stories these kids, but there are many of them, and many to tell if we are able to listen. I hope that we will give our support to these kids as much as we can, in whatever way we can. Independence is not just a National event, it is a personal event and mission for these kids. Please help the Pusat help their special people achieve this dream.

The Human Skateboard

2007-02-23T21:29:00.000+08:00

Done with Stop-Motion. Incredibly creative.... and funny

Tony Buzan's Speed Reading Course

2007-02-19T10:15:00.000+08:00

Have you heard of Mind Maps? Well if you have, you'll probably know who Tony Buzan is. He's written many books, one of which is on Speed Reading. He's also designed a workshop to help children and adults improve their reading ability and speed dramatically. And guess what? the Buzan Speed Reading Course is coming to Brunei. The programme is run by A I Training Consultants based in Singapore and their marketing partner in Brunei is T E Management.

This is a great opportunity to help your kids with their reading. For us adults, most of us who like to read books usually complain that we just don't have enough time and only spend time reading while we're on holiday (how true). With speed reading, it'll be possible to get more reading fitted into our busy working schedules and I personally might finally be able finish reading a book in one single 'sitting'.

For further details, just click on the files below.

If you're interested in registering, just tell the good people at TE Management your registration code is B01:

Gong Xi Fa Cai!!

2007-02-15T17:00:00.000+08:00

It's that time of the year again when we all get together, eat loads of food and drink merrily, and dare I say it, gamble (for those inclined to do so of course). Everyone's busy getting new clothes etc, but for us this year it will just be pretty low key. We had an open house last year to coincide with our new house, but this year we won't have one cos it is just too tiring to have one. We haven't bought any new clothes as yet, but I think I will go buy some soon. Incidentally, this is off on a tangent, I bought a pair of running shoes a month or so ago while I was on a stopover in KK. Now I spotted this nice pair of shoes which I thought hmm, this looks good and feels comfy, so I bought a pair. 2 weeks ago I go to Hua Ho and saw the exact same pair so I decided to check out the price. CRAP. it wasn't the pricing that pissed me off. It was the fact that it was labelled as a Ladies running shoe. CRAP. Thing is, it is either labelled wrongly by Hua Ho or I just bought a pair of ladies running shoes (IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE IT BELONGS IN THE LADIES SECTION, OK!!!) So in any case I will continue to wear it and if you spot a guy wearing a pair of Adidas with pink puffy balls on the heel, that will be me.

This year is the year of the Fire Boar/Pig. Some have said it is the year of the Golden Pig so I am actually quite confused. Is it Golden of Fire? No idea, but I do know that for the Fire Dragon, the coming year is supposedly a good one for all of us born in 1976, and those born in the year of the Golden Pig apparently will lead a very lucky life. Our second child will be born in May so he/she should have a lucky and blessed life (we certainly hope so). However my brother did add that they will do so at our expense, i.e. the parents. Guess we'll just have to build that financial empire I have been talking to my wife about so we can support our kids!

Life is a busy as ever, and am enjoying my 'new' work so far. I am about to finish off with my Pusat Ehsan Video tribute which will be shown on an upcoming occasion the Pusat will be celebrating. I hope the video comes out as I intended (emotionally speaking of course). I just need to put up some final touches.

Signing off. To everyone who celebrates Chinese New Year, have a good one this year.

TOO BUSY FOR MY LOVE...

2007-02-08T20:07:00.000+08:00

Life is busy busy these days so I haven't had time to post anything. However here's some quick update. On the TV and Movie front, you have to watch HEROES, which is on Star TV Channel 70 every Wednesday at 10. Also go catch THANK YOU FOR SMOKING. It is very very good.

OK that's about it (that's how busy I am... only short postings)....

I've got a headache...

2007-02-04T10:59:00.000+08:00

Edited: This posting has been re-edited to reduce the number of inflammatory comments I had initially put in. A twinge of guilt overcame me this afternoon...

I was approached by someone last week on email saying that he wanted to ask me to shoot a short film for him so he can submit it into The Lot competition I had mentioned earlier. So I was of course happy to hear there's finally someone with a script. I gave him my number and he called me to have a chat.

First Impression after the chat: DODGY. This guy mentioned nothing, and said nothing. Just said he had a script and he has the cast ready to shoot. I probed a bit more, he said nothing more except it is for The Lot competition.

Now The Lot competition is for directors who self-direct, edit and produce their short 5 minute films. This guy is asking me to DIRECT, SHOOT and EDIT his script but HE gets to enter it into the Competition????

It doesn't end there. I get the script from him and when I opened it up in Word, this is what I see:

A LIFE FOR A LIFE
By
*******#####
(To the guy from me, BKK: I took out your name from my post to protect the innocent)

FADE IN:

INT. OLD BAILEY’S NO. 1 COURT

Ruth Ellis appeared in the dock in a smart black two piece suit and white blouse, her hair re-dyed to her preferred platinum blonde in Holloway with the special permission of Dr. Charity Taylor, the Governor. Not how you imagine how a downtrodden woman looks like.

MR. CHRISTMAS HUMPHREY
Mrs. Ellis, when you fired that revolver at close range into the body of David Blakely what did you intend to do?

RUTH ELLIS
It was obvious that when I shot him I intended to kill him.

Mr. Melford Stevenson, Ruth Ellis’ attorney, made a legal submission to the Court regarding the provocation made by the prosecutors.

MR. MELFORD STEVENSON
The fact stands out like a beacon that this young man became an absolute necessity to this young woman. However brutally he behaved, and however much he spent of her money on various entertainments of his own, and however much he consorted with other people, he ultimately came back to her, and always she forgave him. She found herself in something like an emotional prison guarded by this young man, from which there seemed to be no escape.

This was ruled out by Mr. Justice Havers.

MR. JUSTICE HAVERS
There is insufficient material. Even upon a view of the evidence most favorable to the accused, to support a verdict of manslaughter on the grounds of provocation.

The juries were then brought back into Court. Mr. Melford Stevenson looked on all of them.

MR. MELFORD STEVENSON
In view of the ruling which Your Lordship has just pronounced I cannot now with propriety address the jury at all, because it would be impossible for me to do so with inviting them to disregard your Lordship’s ruling.

Mr. Christmas Humphrey stood up adjusting his silk blue tie.

MR. CHRISTMAS HUMPHRIES
I will not make any final statement, Your Honor.

The Judge then summed up. After reviewing the evidences for the prosecution.

MR. JUDGE HAVERS
You will remember that when Mr. Stevenson made his opening statement to you, he told you that he was going to invite you to reduce this charge of killing from murder to manslaughter on the grounds of provocation, if there is not sufficient material, even upon a view of the evidence most favorable to the accused, that a reasonable person could be driven by transport of passion and loss of control to use violence and a continuance of violence, it is the duty of a judge, as a matter of law, to direct the jury that the evidence does not support a verdict of manslaughter. I have been constrained to rule in this case that there is not sufficient material to reduce this killing from murder to manslaughter on the grounds of provocation.

Mr. Judge Havers then turned to Ruth Ellis who appeared to be extremely calm.

MR. JUDGE HAVERS
It is therefore not open to you to bring in a verdict of manslaughter on the grounds of provocation.

Mr. Judge Havers now referring to the evidence for the defense.

MR. JUDGE HAVERS
(taking off his glasses)
This court is not a court of morals, this is a criminal court and you should not allow your judgment to be swayed or your minds to be prejudiced in the least degree against the accused because according to her own admission she had committed adultery, or because she was having two persons at different times as lovers. Dismiss those matters wholly from your minds. But I am bound to tell you this that even if you accept every word of Mrs. Ellis’ evidence there does not seem to be anything in it which establishes any sort of defense to the charge of murder.
The juries then retired and not surprisingly found Ruth guilty after deliberating for only 23 minutes. It was hard to see how any other verdict was possible.

Mr. Justice Havers had no alternative but to sentence her to death. The black cap was placed on his head. She remained silent and stood impassive as he then read the sentence.

MR. JUSTICE HAVERS
The sentence of the court upon you is that you be taken hence to a lawful prison, and thence to a place of execution, and that you there be hanged by the neck until you be dead.

Ruth Ellis was asked if she wished to say anything. She replied in a soft tone.

RUTH ELLIS
Thank you

Unlike many people who have just heard their death sentence, Ruth did not faint or become hysterical but Ruth smiled faintly at her family; mother, father, brother Granville and sister Muriel who were weeping quietly at the back of the court building and then she walked briskly, high heels clicking, down the stairs to the cells.

INT. HOLLOWAY PRISON SUITE NO. 9656 DAY

Victor Mischon went to see her in the condemned cell at 11.15am on a Tuesday morning.

RUTH ELLIS
How kind of you to come. I wanted Mr. Simmons to know certain facts which I think may have some bearing on my will.

VICTOR MISCHON
Tell me about the gun, Ruth. Where did you get it from?

RUTH ELLIS
I am now completely composed. I know that I’m going to die, and I’m ready to do so. You won’t hear anything from me that says I didn’t kill David. I did kill him. And whatever the circumstances you as a lawyer will appreciate that it’s a life for a life. Isn’t that just?
Victor Mischon was so struck by these words and her calm demeanor that he never forgot them. However, she did reveal some more details of the case against a promise from Mr. Mischon that he would not try and use them to save her.

RUTH ELLIS
I was drinking with a man over the weekend and I told him that if I had a gun I would shoot David.

Victor Mischon was listening intently as Ruth elaborate much more about this unnamed man that offered her the gun.

RUTH ELLIS
(continuing)
He had a gun and took me to Epping Forest to show me how to use it. He then drove me to Hampstead and told me to go and shoot him.

Even though Ruth did not name this mysterious male acquaintance of hers, but Victor Mischon was assured that it was Desmond Cussen, the notorious second lover of Ruth.

INT. HOME OFFICE. DAY

Sir Frank Newsam, the Permanent Secretary, is seen writing a letter on his desk.

SIR FRANK NEWSAM (V.O.)
This uncorroborated statement by the prisoner does not add any material to the information before the Secretary of State when he decided not to interfere. The discrepancy between the officer’s report and Mr. Mischon statement is interesting and illuminating.

EXT. HOLLOWAY PRISON EVENING

Ruth had her last meeting with her parents and brother, Granville Nielson, on the Tuesday afternoon. Reporters were all over the place just to get a glimpse of them.

REPORTER
(squeezing out from the crowd)
How is your sister, Mr. Nielson?

GRANVILLE NIELSON
She seemed absolutely calm and unafraid of what was going to happen to her.

INT. GRANVILLE’S HOUSE DAY

TITLE OVER:
GRANVILLE’S HOUSE

In Hemel Hempstead, north of London, at Granville’s house, Ruth’s mother prayed in a bedroom, as her husband Arthur played softly on his cello. Elizabeth, the youngest of the family, quietly sobbed her heart out as Muriel ran from room to room, crying, "No! No! No!"

EXT. HOLLOWAY PRISON DAY

TITLE OVER:
JULY 13, 1956

Among the crowd outside the prison, Ruth’s oldest brother, Julian, was standing, listening as a street musician played Bach’s ‘Be though with me when I die’. Inside, Ruth was preparing for the last moments of her life. She was given a large tot of brandy and then knelt in prayer before a crucifix on the cell wall, as the prison chaplain served her with communion.

Thirty seconds before 9am on Wednesday, the official hangman, Albert Pierrepoint, entered the condemned cell. Quickly and without fuss, he escorted Ruth out of her room and next door to the execution room. Here, she may well have noticed the Maltese Cross on the wall, placed there at the request of Mrs. Styllou Christofi, who had been hanged here on December 13th, 1954.

Pierrepoint was an expert in his trade, having hung more than four hundred men and women over a 25-year period. Ruth, her wrists strapped behind her back and her ankles shackled, was placed over the gallows trapdoor. The hangman then placed a white hood over her head, securing the hood with a noose. He tightened the rope around her neck, adjusting the rope’s suspension point about one inch in front of her lower left jaw. He pulled a lever, the doors opened with a bang, and in less than ten seconds after entering the execution chamber, Ruth Ellis was dead.

FADE OUT:
THE END

OK did you read ALL of it?? I didn't myself because if you just skim through it, you'll start to realise it is an almost impossible task to shoot. Why? As they say in Real Estate: LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. Not easy. And in Prison? Mana ada prison setting di Brunei except the real thing?? Can you get approval to go in? Build one I hear you say - build a mock one? If you have the dough, spend it on something more worthwhile, not on a second rate (maybe even 3rd rate) film script.

It STILL doesn't end there. When I spoke to the guy, he didn't particularly sound like he has an EXTREMELY good command of English and yet somehow in the script, writes like he took English class from Shakespeare himself (or any other English writer you fancy). Now I am not saying people cannot write better than they speak, I'm just saying there's too much a gap in this instance to be believable. I have been working in an institution where I grade papers for over 9 years and I know almost every trick in the book on how people go about copying written work. In this day in age, it is the Internet that enables it to be so much easier. So I Google parts of his script, and VERBATIM, word for word, listed around ten websites with exactly the same sentences. You know what that is? PLAGIARISM. And I dislike plagiarisers with a passion!

Try it yourself: click on some section of the script and highlight a paragraph, copy it and then go to Google and paste on the search bar and you'll see what I mean.

And the film title A Life for a Life is from a Made for TV movie in the UK in 1999.

Tsk Tsk, very naughty..

Now go sit in the corner like this guy here:

Tech Drool...

2007-02-03T20:51:00.000+08:00

I have finally found some time to watch Steve Job's Keynote address for the iPhone. Just 7 words: ABSOLUTELY GOING TO F*CKING SELL LIKE HOTCAKES. Not the non tasty type too. This is the cue-so-long-you-have-to-wait-1-hour-just-to-turn-around-a-corner-to-get-to
-the-front-of-the-line tasty hotcake. Start saving.

Batman versus Super....boy?

2007-02-03T16:03:00.000+08:00

I like this one. I told you he's good. I especially liked the way he framed everything and most notably the morphing from Nightcrawler to SuperBoy. Keep it coming my friend. And Batman DOES look mighty P-I-S-S-E-D off!

Big Opportunity

2007-02-02T18:46:00.000+08:00

A big big opportunity has popped up and I have seized it.

Consequently my film making hobby MAY have to be put aside for the time being.

Until further notice or perhaps when things settle down a bit, I will update my blog but maybe no videos :(

I have one project to finish for Pusat Ehsan and another for Danurasana and after that I am taking a break for a while.

Photographers who have volunteered, please take note: if you would like to volunteer for a shoot with Pusat Ehsan, please keep yourself available on the 23rd February (National Day) in the afternoon. There's an event on and they would like to to have a photographer (s) there.

Stay posted.

Very Nice Animation

2007-01-27T22:20:00.000+08:00

I have a soft spot for animation films. This one is one of those animation gems. Done by students no less. Enjoy. Note: not one for the kids though, some scenes are surreal and can be scary.

EPHIPANY....

2007-01-27T07:14:00.000+08:00

Haiku of an Epiphany
by BKK

I couldn't sleep.

The stresses of the last week is playing havoc with my head

(and my sleeping patterns).

The plus side:

I had an Epiphany..

at 5am

on a Saturday,

my weekend.

So I've been up since 5 (its now 730).

And have just braindumped my future plans into a word document I have just completed.

I am going to bed now.

Life goes on

Miserable week...

2007-01-26T21:14:00.000+08:00

I've had a miserable time at work this week (in fact over the last month really). It has been emotionally draining trying to sift through my thoughts about work, its shortcomings and the failure of unrealised expectations and aspirations. This, unfortunately, is the painful side of being an idealist. When you're an idealist and you have this vision that life, and the world in general, should be a certain way, and the reality is that it isn't, it can become very stressful. Stressful because of the jarring cognitive dissonance between what you want to believe in and fight for, and what the world throws at you. It's been very taxing having to deal with existentialist issues in life (why am I here, should I give into the curves ball our created reality throws at me and go with the flow, or fight the system even though it is an uphill struggle?), This is obviously compouned by the very very REAL real-life social expectations and the demands of a family man and a breadwinner. Like I said, it's been a miserable week. I am going to be 31 in the middle of this year, yet I somehow feel like my 30 is like the proverbial 40 for other people. Mid-Life crisis at 30 - affliction of the modern man. I should put myself on a couch and analyse myself considering I am half qualified to do it!

However, on a lighter note, I was sitting in my office and a friend decided to MSN me on our internal server. He has finally found out that I am BORGKINGKONG. He referred me to his own blog, and I have to say, I have found his blog to be extremely interesting. This friend of mine, with a very Egyptian name, poses his superhero toys and takes very nifty looking pictures of it, and then proceed to use his Mac to do a comic book/storyboard style layout for his work. He draws his inspiration and stories from his own life, with each superhero representing someone who's part of his life. I had permission to use one of his comic strip to show you his work.

As you can see, his layout, framing and posing of each shot is superb. As we're both comic book fanatics in our younger days, I can see how it has influenced his current work. Go check out his other works at Marvel Less Talk.

I hope the month of February will be brighter for me. After all a good friend of mine passed me his Feng Shui book and it does say the Year of the Fire Boar should be quite kind to a Fire Dragon. And February sounded like a pretty promising month in the book. Fingers crossed and prayers have been sent forth.

James Blunt's It's Bloody Cold

2007-01-23T21:36:00.000+08:00

FUNNY

New Opening Sequence

2007-01-23T18:50:00.000+08:00

Ever since I started filming and putting the clips on YouTube, I've wanted to have an opening sequence for my video clips. I've tried a few but didn't like it, but a good friend of mine started me off by giving me a lovely lookinf Avatar (Thanks AD). From there I managed to animate some of the layers on the PSD (Photoshop) file and played around with it. Of course given that I have absolutely NO budget at all to do this, I had to make do with whatever I had in my computer. Obviously if I had the moolah, I would change the following things in the final sequence in the clip below:

1) Animate BorgKingKong in some way as well as the laser beam coming out from his eye.
2) Animate the Film Reel so that it looks like it is being played and flicker it at the same time.
3) Probably get a sound tech guy and a musician to come up with a better music intro as well as a catchier tune.

All in all, I'm pretty happy with it at the moment, but I will most likely continue to tweak it as I go along to get it just right. If you have any comments on the opening sequence let me know by leaving my a comment (e.g. which version you liked better).

THIS JUST IN...

2007-01-21T22:16:00.000+08:00

HOLY CRAP!

For More Info, click here

Pictures Galore!

2007-01-21T21:56:00.000+08:00

Well here you go. Pictures of my DVX+Letus35FE PLUS Cavision Rails. The rails cost more than I had anticipated because of shipping AND the 20% tax I had to pay! But it helps keep my DVX+Letus steady and the risks of the Letus snapping my DVX front bits into two have most likely been reduced.

Wait there are more pics, these are more intriguing!

If you see the attached 35mm adapter on my DVX, it looks nothing like the Letus35FE.. ??? The Letus is round, this one is squarish.

The adapter you see here is an actual prototype that is being build here right in Brunei.. YES Brunei, for the DVX. We tested it out briefly and as you can see the construction is pretty sturdy. But that's not where the money is. The money lies with the image quality and does it hold out? Well it's a prototype so there are things that need improvement (unfortunately it suffers from some chromatic abberations given the current setup) but first impressions are this little baby can potentially outperform the Letus35FE in 2 departments if the kinks are ironed out: 1) it loses alot less light (letus is 1.5 stops, this one I reckon maybe by 0.5 to 1.0 stops), and 2) the Ground Glass is smoother and hence picture quality could be less grainy than the Letus. But all will be revealed in due time.

All things beautiful..

2007-01-21T10:59:00.000+08:00

Today I wandered into the DVD store at the Mall and while browsing I found a DVD called Ashes and Snow.It is a film by Gregory Colbert, a Canadian born artist, who takes *exceptionally* (this by the way is an understatement) beautiful pictures of animals and their relationship with humans. His pictures are all sepia-toned to perfection. After ten years of capturing these images, he launched his Ashes and Snow exhibition in 2002 in Italy, and believe it or not, the exhibition is coming to Asia - Tokyo, Japan to be more specific, from the 11th March to 24th June 2007.

While the film itself has no storyline (yes I suppose it does qualify as an Arts Film and hence is an acquired taste) fellow photographers and aspiring directors/cinematographers should check out his work. No words will describe the beauty he's managed to capture both in photography and film. Below is Chapter 1 of the DVD, a sequence with a small boat floating through a group of elephants. Judge for yourself his work. If you do get the DVD, check out Chapter 5 (I think) the one with a child lying in the sands of a wind-swept desert with 2 cheetahs by his side. Simply exquisite work.

For more information on Ashes and Snow Exhibition, images and film, go to the Ashes and Snow Homepage.

Short Films, Avatars, Talent and Copyrights Issues

2007-01-20T10:24:00.000+08:00

I have been asking around with my friends with some help in designing a logo which I can use as part of my short film clips. It's not easy as there are obviously time constraints and difference in concepts and ideas to fiddle through. Then there's also copyright issues. I chuckle a little though when I say that cos God knows I have broken a few laws by putting up copyrighted music (please don't sue me, I'm just trying to learn how to become a film artist with very limited resources). However IF (and it is a VERY big IF) and when I get good enough, I'll definitely do my own stuff for music etc, but at the moment with so much limitations in Brunei (fellow Bruneian artisans who agree, please stand up), it is tough going. For example I'm REALLY REALLY considering now to do a short film. Not big, maybe 5mins long. Local cast, local script etc. But we have no arts council to support us, no way of getting official support or funding. It's expensive doing films, what with paying local talents, music, scripts, people helping out with lighting, equipment costs etc. The only way to move ahead I guess is if alot of us volunteer to do something up to open up the eyes of the officials.

So this is pretty much my PIPEDREAM: to gather together a group of people who are interested in making films and team up to do something, each chipping in their effort (not financial, just sweat and probably some tears) and all of us ending up with our own little, local short film, all MADE IN BRUNEI. Anyone interested?

In any case, I hope you like the avatar my friend did up for me above. I made a few changes to it and put it up as my header. I'll also probably get a few phone calls regarding it being coyrighted. But it is a gorgeous avatar done up by a very talented and artistic friend who, as a full time job, jets around in his 747 (no, I'm not referring to His Majesty ok).

My SECOND Music Video

2007-01-18T23:38:00.000+08:00

I told you, this week HAS been a very very busy week, 2 videos in as many days!! I shot this with a few friends at Hifarers Studio (thanks Shariffe) a couple of nights ago. It was a 2 hour shoot, would have liked to have had more footage to play with cos when I started editing it, I find there's just not enough footage to play around with. It's very likely that the next music video I shoot, I'll probably try to get at the very least 2-3 hours of footage so that there's plenty of scenes to pick from. I suppose some form of storyboarding would actually help but that's another lesson to learn for the next shoot.

Enjoy Jamil Balant's performance!

Sorry James,

Please don't sue us for spoofing your beautiful piece of music

ART Films you MUST watch..

2007-01-18T10:50:00.000+08:00

Directed by Wong Kar Wai and beautifully (and I do mean Beautifully in an absolute sense) shot by Christopher Doyle (seen by many as THE best Director of Photography in the world) these 2 films are a must see for people who love love stories and art films. I have yet to watch In the Mood for Love as I can't find the DVD, but the sequel 2046 is one of THE best and most beautiful film I have seen. With a solid cast of actors, two of which are my favourite Chinese actor/actress(Tony Leung, Zhang ZiYi) the scenes are mesmerising, captivating, reflective and emotionally deep. Zhang Ziyi is pretty much in a class on her own with her subtle emotions permeating through the screen and I have to say one of her best performances ever. Tony Leung is as usual doing what he does best. Amazing acting, amazing cinematography, amazing storytelling, amazing film.

Shipping Taxes Make Me Go Bonkers

2007-01-18T10:09:00.001+08:00

OK, remember I said I wanted to get the Cavision Rail Support for my DVX? Well it arrived yesterday morning and the shipping company had to charge me an Import Duty. They calculated it at 20% (CRAP!) so I ended up paying 1/5 of the product cost, which is substantial. Given that my previous shipment for my Letus was only charged at 5%, I decided to call the company. Turns outs, if your product is listed as a CINEMATOGRAPHY item on the shipping document, it costs 20%. If it is listed as CAMERA (as in digital stills) it is 5%-10%. So folks (and myself included), if you want to order something from overseas, tell whoever is sending you the stuff to list the items as items taxed at a lower bracket! 20% is a stupidly extortionist amount to pay.

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

2007-01-17T22:46:00.000+08:00

This is what photographers and videographers do on a lazy Sunday afternoon:

2.00pm - Meet at a cafe and have a teh tarik. Discuss for an hour or so what we should do, where to shoot and where to makan...

3.00pm - Arrive at restaurant, have 'lunch' then off to shoot random stuff all round Brunei.

Here's a very short film clip of our day out.. enjoy :)

All the carrots in the world...

2007-01-17T21:30:00.000+08:00

Anyone who has worked long enough, or have done some management/business courses will know what a 'carrot and stick' approach to management is. As you most probably know, carrots and sticks help managers get people moving in the right direction in terms of achieving company goals. If you do well, you get a carrot (or tens of thousands of them depending on how lucky you are) or if you are an abject failure or performer, I suppose you perhaps do deserve a stick. However I have recently discovered a variation of this approach being utilised at work. This new approach, which I shall now affectionately call the 'carrot AS a stick' approach sees an organisation, in the guise of appraising its staff to reward and recognise them, actually use the performance appraisal to allocate rewards that instead of feeling like you've been fed a nice big carrot, you feel like you've been hit by a rock solid ten foot piece of carrot right in your gobsmackers between your legs (for the men that is).

To add insult to injury, they then try to justify it and clandestinely proceed to shove it up your.. *beep*.... I suppose if you're into that sort of thing, I am guessing having a carrot up your arse may not be too bad.. but I'm not keen on that sorta thing, so that carrot is giving me a mighty sore *beep*.. Maybe I'll submit my case study (plus picture of the aforementioned carrot up my butt) into the Journal of Carrot and Stick Management and maybe, JUST maybe, I could be referenced as the guy who coined the term CARROT AS A STICK approach to management.

BUSY AS...

2007-01-16T22:59:00.000+08:00

Holy Crap, I've been busy today. I finally shot something for Pusat Ehsan and will work on editing it over this weekend. Then tonight, myself and a couple of friends had planned to shoot a music video at a friend's studio, which we did. And I am knackered. Everything should be up here in a week or two...

Viper ARMED! Viper DISARMED! For the Mac!

2007-01-14T23:04:00.001+08:00

Photographers and Videographers Day Out..

2007-01-14T19:42:00.001+08:00

Featuring the photographic and fiming exploits of 5 photographers & videographers on a lazy Sunday afternoon going around Brunei shooting random stuff. It was good fun.

The footage is now in the editing room being finalised. Once it's done I'll post it up.

Miramx presents..

2007-01-12T22:05:00.000+08:00

Holy Crap.. this movie is one of the best I've seen for a while. It's classy, has a great plot, and an anime to boot. The english version has Daniel Craig voicing the main character too.... sizzling 5 kickass stars for this little french gem.

Support for my BIG LONG...

2007-01-11T21:05:00.000+08:00

DVX+Letus35 la !! If you were thinking of something else, shame on you. I need the support rails so that my Letus35FE won't snap off my DVX's front element as it is quite heavy. With the support I won't have to worry too much anymore. I am hoping it should arrive by sometime next week if I place my order tomorrow.

Cavision Support Rails

PLUS

DVX102B & Letus35FE

EQUALS

That is the DOG'S BOLLOCKS, I tell ya....!

(Note: Not actual picture. The adapter here is not the Letus35FE but it will look quite similar)

So what's an Art Film?

2007-01-09T15:33:00.000+08:00

I would *love* to do an art film - thoughts and ideas are already simmering and bubbling away in my head...

Extracted from Wikipedia:

An art film is a motion picture that is presented as a serious artistic work.
Most often, this term is attributed to narrative films with stylistic uniqueness, usually owing to the author(s)'s vision or technique. These are often called "arthouse films" and may include foreign-language films (non-english), independent and non-mainstream films, as well as documentaries and short films. The producers of art films seek a niche audience rather than mass appeal and usually present their work at specialty theatres and film festivals in large urban areas. Art film provides similar kinds of cinematic illusion that one finds in classical Hollywood cinema as well as allusions to previous periods in cinematic history. However, by loosening the ties between its style and narrative concerns, it allows for increased subjective realism and authorial expressivity.
The term "art film" has become a catch-all term for films that do not adopt the main Hollywood conventions of the industry. Therefore, a great number of films, which were presented to a mass audience in countries such as Italy and France, may simply be deemed as "art films" by an average American viewer. This further explains the reason why it is not usually considered as an interpretative term outside the United States.

Production
Often produced on small budgets, these films lack the lavish advertising campaigns of films in wide release. With small initial investment costs, art films only need to appeal to a small portion of the mainstream viewing audiences to achieve huge financial success. Many major motion picture studios have special divisions dedicated to these films, such as the Fox Searchlight division of Twentieth Century Fox, the Focus Features division of Universal, and the Sony Pictures Classics division of Sony Pictures Entertainment.
The most successful American producer and distributor of art films is Miramax Films, which began in 1979 as a studio for the distribution of independent films which were deemed commercially unviable at the major studios. In 1993, Miramax was purchased by Disney and subsequently expanded its library to include more commercial films such as She's All That, A View from the Top, and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. Miramax continued, however, to emphasize less mainstream films, and produced more genre-oriented films like Scream and Spy Kids through its Dimension Films label. When Miramax founders Harvey Weinstein and Bob Weinstein left Miramax in September 2005 to form The Weinstein Company, however, they took the Dimension label with them.

Narrative structure
In the classical Hollywood form, narrative dictates film style. Every event portrayed advances the narrative forward. All characters act as causal agents for the narrative. Additionally, classical films use familiar images, verbal expressions, archetypal characters, and symbols to convey the story to the audience in a short time period. This artificial construction of reality includes nothing that does not clearly help the viewer understand the events of the story.
Art film rejects this as unrealistic. It attempts to portray real life situations and characters where things happen that do not always have a clear meaning or purpose, but instead are vague and even mysterious. Therefore, art films do not clearly explain how plot elements, characters, or events fit together. Any causal gaps that appear in the narrative of an art film are often permanent.

Ambiguity
Art films do not always explain themselves; they often have episodic or meandering plot lines. A character might wander off, encounter something, or do something for no clear reason and no definite explanation provided in the film. Instead, things remain ambiguous to the very end. These films prove challenging to viewers who are accustomed to the classical style, because the final scene of an art film does not tie up loose ends the way classical Hollywood films do.

Objective and subjective realism
Art film deals with realistic social problems in both objective and subjective ways. This genre can more effectively portray its characters true to life by showing their inner psychological state with subjective realism. Therefore, the characters have complex behaviors and relationships.
Classical Hollywood films are also able to portray social issues, but only within the bounds of the narrative. Therefore, this film genre looks at social issues only objectively, from the outside.

Authorial expressivity
Freedom from the restraints of narrative concerns gives filmmakers authorial expressivity to experiment with a style or some other personal peculiarity. Often these filmmakers are called auteurs.

I'm starting to see RED!

2007-01-09T13:56:00.000+08:00

The greatest gift a person has is only a gift when it is shared with everyone else....

2007-01-06T21:50:00.000+08:00

'Bringing Film Arts Into Your Life'

I have been toying with the idea of bringing my film making and digital cinematography to the masses for a while now, and I've decided over the Christmas and New Year's Break that 2007 is as good a year as any to do so. Considering I have a couple of projects coming up (Pusat Ehsan is the main one) and also having done some work for other people already (icklebooks and the wedding doco) I figured being able to share what I can provide would benefit both the people I am sharing this with (memorable events that are forever captured beautifully in motion picture) as well as myself (I get to learn more from doing more and more demanding projects). While there are plenty of different classes of projects to focus on, I've decided the 4 main ones I can make the most use of myself to people is in making Wedding Docos, Music Videos, Video Advertising, and providing editing services for people who want their work to look that extra classy (note: no cheesy transitions or music).

Wedding Docos
I have been approached before to shoot weddings but it fell through for various reasons (pricing, style, etc). I know that within the Bruneian market for weddings, the current approach is to have a videographer to shoot the events of the day and then just dump them onto DVD. What I am hoping to provide is to make that wedding day that extra special by giving you a pre-wedding video shoot that captures that special spark between husband and wife to-be. I have plenty of ideas on how to do variations of these, but as part of being an 'artist' (and a savvy enough businessperson) I'm keeping these ideas under the hat from the public at the moment. I will however work out various packages for couples which will cater to a wide range of clients with different pricing preferences. The whole idea behind the wedding doco is that Quality of footage from your special day will outweigh the Quantity, i.e. I'd rather have 60 minutes of beautifully shot and edited footage rather than 6 hours of mundane stuff of guests chatting , waiting in line to greet the bride and groom etc etc - you get the picture. I'd just like to approach this from a different angle and perspective.

Music Videos
Music videos and weddings go well together and I've done a few already to know this. But I would also like to open up opportunities for me to help local bands get their music out to the public. As Bruneians get more internet savvy, media channels such as YouTube will play a more important role in bringing the works of Bruneian artists into the mainstream and getting them recognised. There are quite a few musically talented local Bruneians who would be able to get even more exposure through music videos. I know that at least one local Bruneian production house has done a purportedly professional music video (I leave it to viewers to decide its quality) but I would hope that the work I can do would add additional juice to the songs from our local artistes.

Video Advertising
The world of advertising(as well as Music Videos) is a wonderful playground for film makers. This is where you can truly express your creativity by bringing the world of arts into the world of business together. I have looked at many an advert that is jawdroppingly amazingly shot and done that it just inspires me (the fact that some of them is actually done by my ex-house mate and good friend during our UK days just adds to this inspiration). Some have been classy, some have been funny, and some have been outright surreal, but ALL of them have been ads that inspire and evoke strong emotions from the viewers. While I do not know personally if I have that ability (my viewers will probably have a better perspective on this) my work on the Jerudong Park, and Icklebooks may be a good indicator. And when February rolls around and I have done the Pusat Ehsan Project, I guess judgment will be passed on this ability then. Businesses interested in making adverts on TV are more than welcome to give me a shout and I can do my best to convey the emotion you would like to come across in those ads. Note: Isn't Jerudong Park coming up with some new rides? Wouldn't it be amazing if I had the chance to promote those new rides through my work? Food for thought.

Professional Video Editing
Many might think that shooting footages is all there is to a movie, but for me, getting the footage is only HALF the story. The ability for a director to tell a good story is in the editing process: Is it to long? Is it too slow? Is it fast paced? Is this in the right sequence? Can I tell this story differently? Directors of blockbuster movies sometimes have BIG BIG clashes with their editors because of creative differences because editing is in a way an enabler for the director to achieve his/her vision (at least that's what I think). Now perhaps I might have gotten a *little* carried away by including Professional in my Video Editing abilities, but I'm learning and trying to be one (Apple Certified Editor - A.C.E.) in the long term if I get a chance. I am not sure what it even involves but as long as one has a dream, it can happen (abit off a tangent so back to what I was saying). I am hoping that people who have some footage (either their weddings, travel videos, birthday videos, corporate events, etc.) I will be able to help them build a coherent story into their video through my editing to make it a little more special.

I am hoping to hear from all of you. I hope I'll be able to make some of your memorable moments extra special. (note: this posting is taking me longer to write and post than expected and I'd like to get back to playing with my daughter now..)

2007 - Here I Come! Grabbing it by the ***** and running with it...
(and hopefully it will be kind to me, my family & friends and all of you)

p.s. I'm likely to change the header of my blog to something more suitable to my work.. so there will be less rants and more videos :)

Pre Wedding Interview and Music Video

2007-01-01T23:46:00.000+08:00

As promised, here's the pre-wedding video I mentioned to you about which I shot a couple of weeks ago. It was done for Yusra and Dahlia who got married on the 1st of January 2007 and I promised them I would only put this up into public domain after they have shown it at their wedding. I shot this at Empire Hotel for just under 45 minutes of raw footage edited into a 10 minute clip. You'll see a 6 minute interview followed by a 4 minute wedding music video with the couple. This short clip was transferred onto DVD for the couple and was shown during the reception on a big screen with a projector. I don't know the couple per se but the groom is the son of a colleague and friend of mine so when she mentioned her son was getting married, I offered to help shoot the video for them as a favour.

Couples and Husband&Wives-to be, if any of you are interested in doing something similar, just email me. After having done this video, I've got a pretty good idea on how to jazz up the next one with tighter editing, more raw footage and staged settings, as well as additional supers (text on the video) and motion graphics shot at different locations and times of day..

PS3 FOR SALE!

2006-12-24T19:30:00.000+08:00

This is for all PS3 owner wannabes. I am in a position to help you guys order a PS3 here from Taiwan to be shipped back to Brunei. The pricing is SIGNIFICANTLY less than the PS3 selling at the Mall (60GB + 3 games for $1800). I won't bundle the games in but you can custom order which games you would like to own and I can try to pack it all in to ship back.

What you need to pay:

1)Shipping cost via DHL, UPS, FEDEX - I will find out the cost of shipping if you're interested.

2) Tax - once it arrives in Brunei, you'd need to pay stamp duty tax.

3) The PS3 itself of course, with any peripherals you may want to have.

After taking this into account, I still reckon you'd be saving up to between $300-$500 from the Brunei pricing - depending on the games you'd like to get.

The games you can get include titles not in Brunei yet : Resistance - Fall of Man, Sonic the HedgeHog, Need for Speed Carbon, Call of Duty 3 and many more.

If you are a serious buyer thinking about getting one, let me know by leaving a comment and emailing me your details. I will confirm the pricing once I can confirm the best price I can negotiate for you guys (again I stress the price will STILL be significantly lower than Brunei pricing).

Greetings from Taiwan!

2006-12-22T22:31:00.000+08:00

Hello everyone,
I'm in KaoHsiung Taiwan! Second largest city in Taiwan, No. 1 being Taipei up north. City of scooters and pollution. It is a shipping port and has an interesting history. People from KaoHsiung are a little more homelier than the Taipeinese (without being too rude, KaoHsiungers are also probably a little more Kampung compared to their northern brothers and sisters - my wife always gives me the evil eye when I say this though - but they are also nicer cos you know what they say about city folks). This trip has become an annual migration for us and its one of those times of the year where we look forward to getting away for Brunei for a little while, letting our hair down and relaxing in the hot springs, spas, and enjoy all the sumptuous food in the night markets of Taiwan. I will most definitely be keeping my postings going, updating for those of my visitors who are interested in knowing Taiwan a little better (no, I don't think Taiwan should be part of China.. heh, I don't marry into a Taiwanese family without getting slightly influenced!). I will also post some pictures up when I can. My sister in law will be getting her hands on a new Nikon SLR tomorrow, so I will take that and stick my 50mm 1.4 on and give it a spin. Should be fun. So far the trip has been marred by one little incident. The fucking (and I curse at them cos its just not on) idiots at Kota Kinabalu Airport broke into our luggage, AGAIN. It happened to my Mother in Law - they cut her luggage's zipper, and last year it happened to us - my wife lost some gold jewelry, however until today we thought perhaps we misplaced it, but now we are pretty sure they fucking broke in and stole in. How do I know...? well I put padlocks on my luggage, one was missing, the other luggage I have two on, and they destroyed one of them and left it hanging there as evidence - some pics to show what they did on the way. So when I am on my way back, that little evidence will go straight into the police report I am putting through at KK airport. Fuckers... By the way if any of you readers have had this happen to you, let me know, we can all write in a petition to the Malaysian High Comm and let them have a piece of our mind. (p.s. you are probably thinking maybe its the Taiwanese side, but I doubt it. My parents in law fly in and out of Taiwan and KaoHsiung airport frequently and this NEVER happened to them but did so only on the KK route. And it is NOT BRUNEI, cos Bruneians are not as low as our neighbours and Brunei outbound passengers NEVR complain about these sort of thing). Hell will freeze over before I put my camcorder and ALL my equipment into the check in luggage now..

In any case, enough cussing! Here's the plan for me and my filming in Taiwan:

1) Shoot some scenes to show the daily lives of Taiwanese going about earning a living over here. Taiwanese have business in their blood and they work hard. Something I truly admire. While our Bruneian traffic jam going home from work starts around 5-530, their rush hour going home is around 7-8pm. So you get an idea of their working hours.

2) Shoot a mini doco tentatively called AN AUSSIE IN TAIWAN. My sister in law's friends will be coming to Taiwan and this will be their first ever trip. I will film them, amongst other things : a) trying out smelly tofus, b) trying out squat toilets, c) interacting with the local people, d) reactions of the local people to 'white people' trying to speak chinese to them! and e) anything that pops up.

3) Riding on a scooter in Taiwan Traffic: This is a VERY tricky one. I hope to be able to zoom around the streets of KaoHsiung with my DVX on me and record how fast we go around the streets, while only inches away from big buses and insane drivers. I say this is tricky because a) to be careful of the traffic and be in one piece, 2) making sure no one notices my expensive camcorder and comes riding towards us to snatch it - yes it can happen and it is potentially scary. So most likely no night rides, but in the middle of the day around areas we are more familiar with.

4) Shooting the Pinang girls - if you want to know more, just stay tuned.. they are skimpily dressed and are always interested to look at... :)

Well that's about it I guess, very unlikely I will do any edits while I am here so there won't be any video postings, but pictures will come along when I can get around to upload it on the computer.

Chai Chien (see you again in Mandarin).

p.s. something wrong with blogger, I can't seem to put paragraphs into my postings. Not easy on the eyes so apologies.

Thingking Outside the Visual Box

2006-12-22T07:31:00.000+08:00

I made this short little 'film' last night while playing around with my Mac. Trying something new. I hope you like the idea (if not the execution!)

Wedding Videos and Updates on Pusat Ehsan

2006-12-18T21:06:00.000+08:00

Edited: I want to thank Zam, BruneiForever and AnakBrunei who have kindly volunteered for the Pusat Ehsan Project. The Centre reopens in January to their new term which is when your kind services will be needed. H and I will let you guys know more come January, so please bear with us for the time being. Thanks again guys.

A quick update on the Pusat Ehsan project. I have spoken to the chairlady of the centre and we had a discussion on what needs to be done for the centre. I mentioned to her of photographers happy to volunteer themselves to this worthy cause (thanks Zam and BruneiForever) and she said that will be great. The centre is currently being audited to be accredited into an association (I think - don't quote me), and part of the audit and requirement for the centre is to have some publications such as leaflets and booklets on the centre. This is where Zam and BruneiForever come in! What the centre would like to have is basically a small library of images ready which they can use for their leaflets and booklets. Of course I did mention that credit should be given to the photographers for their respective pictures used, so no worries there. The new term for the centre starts early next year so a good day's shoot during their term time would be great! H, let me know!

I'm going off now to do some editing. I shot a colleague's son's pre-wedding scene at the Empire Hotel on Sunday and am editing it. A little interview here and there and a nice sequence of the lovely couple along the grounds of Empire Hotel to cap off the little pre-wedding film. I am almost done, but I won't be able to post it until the couples' wedding is over (early next year) so until then, it will be kept under wraps. The scene is shot for the wedding reception when it will be played on a big screen for family and friends of the couple. Its similar to a photo slideshow but in this case, its a short little 10 min film. Something new and different for the Bruneian crowd...

Birthdays

2006-12-13T16:15:00.000+08:00

NEW Video: Birthdays

Finally finished. Please enjoy the next instalment of BorgKingKong's fun loving clips that make you feel all fluffy inside....

Note: I've actually re-edited the clip as the 1st one was just too diffused..

Lies, I tell you, all lies! All filthy lies

2006-12-13T15:07:00.000+08:00

Top Management of any company usually have a script that they stick to in situations where their judgment and decision making is required. This is necessary for them as they have very little brain capacity left after having to think all day about how they can squeeze every last drop of work and effort from their underpaid and undervalued employee. Top Management also usually have a motto, and most times these motto turns out to be hypocritical rants. For example, most top management of organisations say they value feedback from their staff, that they should be vocal and challenge them so that they can become a better organisation. They also say nice things like we don't shoot the messenger. So in any case, I write to the top about something I thought they should REALLY know as it was a critical issue. I write in my email, I am only feeding back to them what others have said to me and my colleagues and EXPLICITLY wrote in my email, I am just the messenger, DO NOT SHOOT ME. 5 days after my email, I received a reprimand about me being unprofessional, that I should not send my email to top management, all the while accusing me of making them look bad... I just shook my head and laughed out a cynical laugh at the same time. You see, its funny because it happens in every organisation, and it's sort of become a big joke for employees. These mottos are all finely captured in Scott Adam's Dilbert books, and here in all its glory, are some of the things that Top Management spew out as if they're truths, but are actually lies:

Dilbert's Management Lies

1. "Employees are our most valuable asset."

2. "I have an open door policy."

3. "You could earn more money under the new plan."

4. "We're reorganizing to better serve our customers."

5. "The future is bright."

6. "We reward risk takers."

7. "Performance will be rewarded."

8. "We don't shoot the messenger."9

. "Training is a high priority."

10. "I haven't heard any rumors."

11. "We'll review your performance in six months."

12. "Our people are the best."

13. "Your input is important to us."

Thanks Dilbert, you're obviously much smarter than our Top Management

Something to smile about....

2006-12-12T23:11:00.000+08:00

I finally captured the video I shot for my daughter's birthday party last week. I am now in the process of editing it and it is almost done. I should be able to post it on YouTube sometime this week. I like this clip I am working on as I think it is nicely sentimental and the missus agrees. Stay tuned and I hope you like the clip!

Calling all volunteer photographers....

2006-12-12T20:51:00.000+08:00

As some of you might know, I am currently in talks with Pusat Ehsan to shoot something for them to raise awareness of the centre and their activities. I have received another email from my friend saying that the centre is also interested to come up with an information booklet but she is hoping that maybe a photographer would be interested to help them out a little (voluntarily). If you are interested, please let me know or leave your contact details in the comments section and my friend will come along and get your details to contact you. Please do lend a helping hand, it's for a good cause. As for me, we will have our first discussion on what I can do for the centre this coming weekend so we'll see how it pans out. I am obviously excited at the prospects but also a little nervous as to how this will pan out. Hopefully we can work something good out that'll benefit the centre.

Memorial to a Poisoned Dog

2006-12-10T09:00:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was our daughter's 2nd birthday celebration. Everything was in place, bouncer all set up, barbecue lit, I'm off to Mum's Bakery to pick up the birthday cake, only to get a call on the way, my mom's dog Patty has eaten something and is now seizing uncontrollably and foaming at the mouth. By the time I got to my mom's place, Patty was gone.

As you all probably already know, dog owners of Brunei are CONSTANTLY living in the fear that our beloved dogs are poisoned by either our neighbours or the authorities who hunt for stray dogs by leaving poisoned bait. Patty is a normal dog, who did nothing but look after my parents' house. She does not bite in anyway, greet us everytime we come to my parents', and will only bark at strangers. She is gentle beyond any expectations of us about a dog, lying down when kids play with her, and getting on fine with everyone.

Now imagine Patty being the friendliest dog and then imagine what my wife, and my nieces and nephew who were at my mom's had to endure:

1) Patty lying down seizing uncontrollably, knocking her leg against a wooden beam so hard you could hear it from far away.

2) Patty unable to move or stand up and in obvious pain, with us helpless to do anything.

3) Patty starting to foam in her mouth and seeing the fear in her eyes and how she must be suffering.

4) Patty dying an undignified death because someone undescribably evil decided to kill dogs for fun, revenge or a sense of duty.

5) Patty being buried in our back yard by my mom who is 60 years old, who has fed Patty and taken care of her since she was a puppy.

It burns me deeply that elements within the Bruneian society (including civil and educated people) see it acceptable to poison dogs. A society's civility is judged not just by the way its citizens are treated but also its animal (its helpess citizens). Aren't we taught in school that ALL animals are creatures of God, and despite the fact that they maybe be dirty, they should be treated like one of God's creatures, with respect? I was not at home when it happened, but if I had been, I might have had to unwillingy and painfully take my camcorder out to film Patty's death, not out of some morbid fascination with a dog dying an undignified death, but to show all of us how PAINFUL it is to watch an animal die needlessly and to see how Patty suffered an immeasureably painful death. It would show to the global animal loving community how fundamentally wrong it is some of the values that are instilled in of our society. In some way I am glad I wasn't there because it would've pained me greatly to have filmed it and disrespecting the last moments of Patty.

As I write this, there is an undescribable level of anger towards those who have done this and those who will continue to do these evil acts. We may never catch these people and never bring justice in this world, but to these people who see fit to poison dogs, or cats or any pet that is part of a human family, I tell you this:

You may do what you do, and you may do it with pride. You may do it and get away with it and not have to answer to me, or anyone who have lost their pet to poisoning or being run over by your car. You may not have to answer to the dogs or cats you have killed intentionally, and you may not have to answer to the authorities. But some day, I promise you, whatever religion you are, YOU will have to answer to God. And when He turns to you and ask you:

'Why did you kill one of My creatures in the most undignified way?'

I hope you better have a good answer for Him. And I'm pretty sure, whatever your answer to Him is, He will send you where you deserve to spend an eternity.

Memorial to a Poisoned Dog
Painting by Leonard Aguinaldo

Rest in Peace, Patty.

Fellow Philipedes....

2006-12-09T13:46:00.000+08:00

Best of luck to all the 2006 Brunei Marathon runners.
Remember to train hard.. erm..maybe it's abit too late already
Anyway, remember to drink plenty and have a good race...

Snakes in the Office...

2006-12-08T18:31:00.000+08:00

If you are like me and you are lucky (or perhaps unlucky) to be able to work in a big organisation, you would undoubtedly have to contend with the issue of office politics. Office politics usually put people in a quagmire. Should we engage in it? Should we get our hands dirty? I have been through various episodes in my work life where people throw office politics at me to either a) make me look bad so they look better, b) retribution for my lack of capitulation to their tune, or c) my overly argumentative nature which makes them uncomfortable. Invariably my response to these situation is this: I bite their head off... You see, I've come to realise that office politics is nothing more than bullying that we see day in and day out happening in schools. The strong pick on the weak and defenseless so that they can get their way. I come from a big family - 7 boys and 1 girl, and being the youngest, I was sometimes bullied in one way or another when I was growing up, sometimes by my brothers (only sometimes) but usually by my school mates. Again without fail, I always fight back despite my smallish stature when I was young. Headlocks were not uncommon between me and my bullies and when they have felt my fist rubbing on their forehead, they also usually stop bullying me.

The same can be said of office politickers. They are nothing more than grown up school bullies picking on those who either do not know how to defend themselves, or think that by defending themselves, they have dirtied their hands by playing politics. Sometimes however, in the face of being bullied, office politics is a necessary evil. 'Never wrestle with a pig if you're afraid to get dirty' is a favourite phrase of mine because when push comes to shove and someone tries to bully me in the office with their own brand of politics, I can become a real dirty pig, pissing and sh*tting mud down their throat. Ask my ex Head of Department. She's felt my kind of mud in her face before and I can tell you, she did not enjoy it one bit. I'm not saying that we should seek to engage in office politics. God knows I try to avoid it because it is a waste of time and achieves nothing. It is emotionally draining at best, and emotionally destructive at worst. But as Steven Seagal says, don't go looking for trouble, but trouble finds you, you bite its head off. Not defending yourself in the face of an onslaught of toxic politicking amounts to nothing more than you committing career harakiri.

I'm sure there are alot of people out there who disagree with me on this. After all, an eye for an eye is the real reason why we have unreconcileable wars. But for me, bullying is something that doesn't sit well with me, and I hate people who pick on other people because they can... and when it happens in the office and people's careers and livelihood are at stake, that's just asking for trouble... I guess that's why they say dragon birth signs have a fiery nature.. tickle my tail the wrong way and you'll hear me roar and then roast you!

I hear the different banks in Brunei are rife with office politics. Any bankers out there want to share their stories?

Two headed snakes are the worst kind of politickers.
Don't give them a chance to bite you.
If you're not ready to fight if they bite, simply stay away

Where the Hell is Matt?

2006-12-07T20:55:00.000+08:00

This is EVEN cooler. This is a MUST see... trust me.. This guy's Matt. He got this idea from a friend and on one of his travels round the world, he decided to dance in every place he visited. When he finished his trip, a chewing gum company in the US called Stride called him up and offered him another Round the World ticket so that he can do it all over again for their company.. Lucky git!!!

Eye of the Tiger!

2006-12-07T20:45:00.000+08:00

This is going to be sooooo cool!

Tales from a Meandering Commuter: Episode1: The Madness of Idiots

2006-12-05T18:16:00.000+08:00

As I re-read my blog from the past few weeks, I realised that alot of my posted rants have started to revolve around my experience from commuting daily, Monday to Friday. So today I decided to add a new category to my Rants, which is one focusing on the things I see while I am driving on Bruneian roads. Having to commute is extremely tiring, the mundane and monotonous task of commuting can also be dangerous, so we try to drive slowly and safely, following the 5 rules set out for us by our big boss man. I hope that by starting this new category, it might liven up the mundane commute and to keep my eyes peeled for interesting things to report on. Today's posting revolves around the madness of some drivers and their kids. How shall we begin....?

Almost reaching our house, and while turning into my simpang, I noticed this lady in her white little Toyota with several kids in the car. The kids were UNbuckled, with one little boy sticking his whole head out of the window. Even my maid quipped, he's going to get his head decapitated if he is not careful. I honked my horn, pointing at the little boy and giving her the concern parent look, only for the lady to give me a quizzical blank stare, as if to say 'what are you on about? why are you honking me and what's the big deal?'

Here's what REALLY gets to me... the idiot parents who let their kids stick their heads out are top of the heap for the subgroup of the human species that we label as Idiots. Here's their own flesh and blood and they have absolutely NO consideration for their safety. And I can bet you the ten dollars I have in my wallet now, if I had come down from my car to confront this lady, which I was EXTREMELY tempted to do cos there was a traffic jam and I could've skipped out quickly, I can guess with a degree of certainty that she would have told me in her own idiotic flair of pride 'F*CK you, it's my kid. Why do you care?'

Why DO I care you may also ask? Beyond the most obvious that this kid's safety is the parent's priority and responsibility, and THEY should protect their own kids, there are also bigger societal issues that require comprehension that goes beyond the processing capaibilities of these idiot's pea sized brains. Take this situation for a moment: God Forbid, that if that kid had fallen or knocked out of the car and hits his head on the road and ends up in RIPAS, who do you think have just paid for the IDIOT parent's stupidity? Yes, the Bruneian people and the Bruneian Government. The parents may pay with grief and sing the follies of their way but WE as a society pay for their mistakes. Instead of using our allocated money to RIPAS to save the lives of those who REALLY need it, we have to channel away precious resources for medical treatments to idiots who brought it on themselves (and worse, on their kids). Multiply this with thousands of idiot parent's letting their kids stick their heads out in the middle of traffic and you start to see how potentially costly it is to us as a society, and the risk our kids are exposed to because of stupidity. And don't get me started on doing an economic analysis of the potential loss of able-bodied workers of the future within the Bruneian Labour pool which would have otherwise been able to contribute to our National GDP (I won't go into that, as an economic analysis of this issue would only depersonalise this VERY personal issue). I am appalled that people still continue to do these acts of stupidity and unfortunately I see no end in it until perhaps a miracle happens and we find that these people can manage to lift themselves to some level of consciousness and awareness about the severity of the consequences of their random acts of stupidity.

After much reflection about this particular episode and asking myself why I didn't step out to confront the lady, I have vowed to do this: In the future, if I see any parent who let his or her kids stick their heads out, I will step out and confront them (where possible) and tell them to stop being an idiot (in the most POLITEST way possible). If they tell me to F*CK OFF, I accept that but at least I have done my part as a caring citizen. And if you see me in the Borneo Bulletin with a black eye being reported on how I was a victim of road rage, then you'll know I was punched while doing my civic duty. A small price to pay if it saves a kid's life.

The Weekend

2006-12-03T20:11:00.000+08:00

It's pouring outside and when it rains, our house gets extremely noisy as the rain splashes onto the polycarbonate roof covering our atrium. So I don't much like it when it rains because of the noise. This weekend has been good, and as relaxing as it could have been. Ran a few errands, spend some money here and there and caught a movie with the missus. ManU won their Middlesbrough game, didn't watch it cos it was at 1am! Saw the PS3 in all its shiny glory at the Mall today. My wife quipped 'doesn't look like there's any difference in graphics'.. I quipped back 'that's because they haven't plugged it into a Hi-Def HDMI LCD screen'.. I think if they did, the graphics would be mind boggling. But at $1500 for the 20Gig version and $1800 for the 60Gig, it is a fair bit pricy. Nonetheless, all units have been sold out and future shipments booked out completely...

We manage to catch a movie today, Deja Vu. It was a pretty decent film despite the fact that an article in the Weekend Borneo Bulletin gave it 1.5 out of 4 stars ....We manage to catch a movie today, Deja Vu. It was a pretty decent film despite the fact that an article in the Weekend Borneo Bulletin gave it 1.5 out of 4 stars ...... Sorry could't resist the opportunity to give you a Deja Vu moment...... It's a decent enough movie to watch. I particularly love the style of the movie, the edit, of Tony Scott the director. His other movie, Man on Fire is littered with really good edited bits that conveys a gritty look and feel to the various scenes (again another pretty good movie with Denzel Washington in it). I definitely can learn alot from these two works of Tony Scott by 'adapting' and incorporating his style into future works of mine.... however I need to experiment and get technically proficient with the software before I think I can pull it off...

Well, now its back to work after this.. YES, work, tonight... I have to prepare for tomorrow morning's session so I know what I have to say and do so I don't look like an idiot in front of a group of people. I may have done this for the last 8-9 years but those little butterflies still fly around a fair bit in my stomach when I have to speak publicly.. come to think of it.. NAH! I don't get nervous at all.. I've learn over the years to love the sound of my own voice so much that people think I am a Narcissist.

OK my daughter and missus are getting into a game of Peek Ka Boo! I am joining in...

ADIOS and have a good working week!

Cheap Blog for sale

2006-12-02T23:06:00.001+08:00

My blog is worth $3,387.24.
How much is your blog worth?

only worth over $3k.... oh well, better than Zero...

.. and what's wrong with blogger today? I can't do any proper editing or posting pictures at all??

PSS PSSS PSSSSS!!!!!

2006-12-01T22:32:00.000+08:00

PSSSSSSS3! So I hear the PS3 has finally arrived in Brunei. I also hear it will set you back 1800 of your moolah. Apparently you need to book first, and they try to get their grubby hands on a set for you.. I'm not sure if I should really fork out $1800 on a game console now considering I hardly find time to play on my PS2 these days! And I am pretty sure my missus will not be keen to come home to see yet another console sitting in front of our BIG @$$ TV.

Can I get one honey?
NO!

In any case this week has been filled with some interesting events. I haven't been able to write anything because I have been so tired from work that by the time I get home there's no more energy left to use my nogging to write something decent in the blog. Anyhow, here's a list of the Top 10 highlights from the week:

1) While driving home from work, I came across a REAL freaking idiot of a motorcyclist probably wishing a death wish. I am driving my SUV on the fast lane at around 110Km/hr just in front of Empire Hotel and suddenly I see this IDIOTAS zoom pass me.... between my SUV and the metal barriers on the right hand side.. Sometimes I really wonder what goes through the brains of these idiots when they drive so recklessly the way they do? Is he not able to use that complex human brain (as complex as an Idiot's brain can get, I guess) of his what might have happened to him if we had accidentally clip each other? He would probably do an impression of Superman before being mangled up on the tarmac.. I just don't understand why they do the things they do... I certainly do not want to have to deal with that in my conscience....

2) Yet another traffic related event: kids sticking their heads out of their parents' car and the dad doesn't even bother to get them to sit down and buckle up.... I don't know what to say and do about these people, so I don't bother.. As a young boy I distinctly remember a little girl of around 10 falling out of her vehicle when her dad turned her car at a traffic light cos I think somehow her door opened accidentally.. It was not a pretty sight.... but she was ok.. just in shock..

3) On a lighter note, over the week I've seen a rather nice white MX5 with full bodykit parked outside my office. Me being an avid MX5 fan have been admiring it and thinking to myself how wonderful it would be to own one, especially that one cos it looked good. Add two blue stripes running through the middle and you'd have a pretty cool roadster.. Yesterday while admiring it, I noticed though it had something stuck on the front bumper grill.... and what are the odds.. I see, yes, a dead bird... like the one I mentioned in my previous post.. stuck on this little roadster's bumper grill.. nice..

Can I get one honey?
NO!

4) Today, we brought our daughter to her FIRST ever Movie at the cinema. My daughter has this fascination with Penguins and when she saw the big Happy Feet poster, you could see her face light up! I think she enjoyed the experience and I hope somehow she remembers it when she is all grown up. The first time to the movie was a magical moment for me and I still vividly remember my first ever trip to the cinema (Bolkiah) to watch a chinese film .. long long time ago..

5) The person who contacted me about Pusat Ehsan has turned out to be someone I know. She didn't know who I was until I told her and she was very surprised. I am waiting for Pusat Ehsan to call me for a meeting. Very eager to get going on this so I hope they contact me soon. Fingers crossed this pans out...

6) Dec 10th will be the Brunei Marathon. I will be out there this year, not running the marathon, but taking some footage of the event with my DVX+Letus35. I am sure there will be some inspiring moments and I hope to capture them as they unfold... oh wait..... just as I was writing this, I just remembered.. December 10th is my daughter's birthday... have plans for it already.. Bouncers and all....oh well we'll see how I can fit in the Marathon cos I'd much rather take videos of my daughter's birthday party....

7) My MacBook Pro did not go to sleep again when I closed the lid! This time I had already put it in the sleeve but left it in a cabinet in my office. Half an hour later I opened up my cabinet to hear the fan whirring away and the whole thing getting hot.... ! Something's up with the latest security update patch!..

8) I've realised after seeing a friend and colleague of mine working on Photoshop that I might be not so good at Titleing (or is that Titling? yeah it is titling). When I saw him work with Photoshop, and how he transformed a blank canvas into a work of art, I was amazed.. He's a true artist as he REALLY has the vision to create works of art.. He has kindly agreed to work on a new logo/avatar for me as well as working on titling for me for future projects (note: Photoshop PSD files can be transferred into Final Cut's timeline and rendered into the timeline as a clip. I have tried this before where I animated each individual layer of the PSD file individually). Not difficult but a fair bit of work and time consuming while waiting for it to render).

9) We caught a small monitor lizard in my colleague's office.. yes in his office. He was about to reach for a bag and there it was. We managed to get it out by trapping it in a bin, and when we released it, it tried to attack us .. it eventually walked off into the bushes...

10) It's almost the end of the year, and a few more training sessions to go and I will be pretty free apart form the odd projects to work on. Once I have more free time, it's back to Hobby Time and I hope to do something before jetting off to Taiwan for a well deserved holiday and opportunity to shoot a doco...

That's about it for now.. I've just brain dumped the whole week into this post. Tomorrow is a full day of errands but hopefully not a stressful day....

Until the next post...

Oh and if you have the time please visit this site and show our support for it.

Waht the....?

2006-12-01T09:52:00.000+08:00

Aparneplty olny rlleay srmat poelpe can raed tihs. I bet yuo cna't rlleay blveiee taht you can aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht you are rdanieg now! The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid! Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.... Amzanig huh? And I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs mkae srue yuor clhdiren dno't see tihs, otrehwsie tehy wno't btoehr wtih suydtnig tiher sllpenig amornye!!

p.s. I had a hlel of a tmie wtih bolsgopt's slpel cechk for tihs psot!! A firend of mnie snet me tihs tdoay and I tohuhgt I wulod try to witre a psot by jmbliung up my ltteers. it was thgouer tahn I tohuhgt. It was esay to raed but to tpye it was emetrlxey dffiulict!

Educational Video for Men...

2006-11-25T18:16:00.000+08:00

Flying to you through YouTube

2006-11-25T17:57:00.000+08:00

I was surfing YouTube today and stumbled across this. As YouTube begins to gain more popularity and have access to hundreds of millions of people, we will definitely see more of this type of advertising. YouTube and other similar websites are really changing the face of marketing and advertising and for consumers like us, there's nothing better than having access to globalisation enabled, brainwashing, subliminal messages, embedded in these ads. At the click of a button, and by-demand too. Basically TV on Tap. Can't complain really.

Now if only TelBru can get their act together and provide a stable connection so my TV show doesn't start and stop every 2 seconds.....

It's a bird, it's a plane, IT'S SUPERMAN flying
through the Tube to You

(cheesy, Yes I know)

One cool ad....

2006-11-24T22:29:00.000+08:00

Came across this ad which was featured on the front page of YouTube. Amazing and beautiful .. and the edit... oh wow... if I can do this, I can quit my day job, seriously.. Those flickers you see on the ad.. I can get them online and add it to my videos, but it will cost me a couple of hundreds for the flicker pack of maybe 2 to three flickers... not cheap, but extremely cool effects... something for the future, currently safely bookmarked and snugly kept in my shopping wish list...

Enjoy the Red.. ermm I mean Ad...

Bumper Sticker of the Feathery Kind

2006-11-24T21:29:00.000+08:00

Today as usual is the day of the week where deep inside when I wake up at 6 to get ready to go to work, I scream a little scream 'Thank God its Friday'. And starting this week, I officially can have a 2 day weekend and lie in all morning instead of having to wake up at 8am for my part time job - a part time job I have yet been paid for (more on this in future posts).

Anyway, today I saw something that perhaps might only be seen on a comic strip or cartoon. As I am commuting up to work this morning, I noticed a green Mazda 6 driven by a lady driver. As her Mazda approached me, I noticed that her front bumper looked a bit funny, like it had something stuck on it. Turns out, that something was a chicken.. YES a chicken .. or a bird of some sort cos it had feathers. This lady driver must have hit this poor little bird/chicken and killed it and it got smacked glued right onto her front bumper.. I kid you now, I was amused, surprised, laughing and disgusted all at the same time. I can only imagine her face when she did eventually come out to see what's hanging onto her bumper.. heh.. just imagine her scraping it off.. OK OK enough.. too morbid and definitely getting gross now... Unfortunately or perhaps fortunately there was no way I could have snapped a picture of the said carnage.... but here's a Photoshop rendition of what I saw:

why did the chicken cross the ....... THUD!!!!!

If you happen to be that lady and you're now reading my post, how the hell did you hit a chicken and not know? More interestingly though, how did you eventually get it off your Mazda?

Have a good weekend folks....

"In the quiet hours .....

2006-11-23T21:31:00.000+08:00

...... when we are alone and there is nobody to tell us what fine fellows we are, we come sometimes upon a moment in which we wonder, not how much money we are earning, nor how famous we have become, but what good we are doing."

A.A. Milne

Over the past few months, as a result of circumstance, I was given a real opportunity to really connect with my inner self. In the past, I was not someone who would duly pay notice to the spiritual side of life, of my life. I don't mean the religious side, I mean the spiritual side. About how I connected with the people around me, about connecting with nature. It's also about being close to the principles you believe and to try and practice these principles as best you can. I believe in my religion but I did not really connect spiritually to that side of my beliefs. When I moved to my new job, it required me to really look into these aspects of life (no I did not become a monk - I became a trainer) so that I could do my job better. In turn, it has helped me in my personal life, and with wonderful support from my wife, I am really getting in tune with myself in that spiritual sense.

Since I started making videos in April of this year, I have thought many a times about doing something spiritual. I've seen ads and videos that really struck the chord, like CAN did for me.... So what does this have to do with this post? Well alot really. I got an email from someone today (whom I think I know as name sounded familiar) and she's kindly asked me to see if I would be interested to shoot something for Pusat Ehsan in order to bring some awareness about the centre and their upcoming activities for the Special Olympics. My first reaction was Wow.. thank you for the huge compliment. I am flattered to say the least. There is of course a twinge of worry that I may suck if I agreed to do the real thing, fail miserably and have to hide in a rock somewhere until people forget about my blog and me. But then I realised this isn't about me. This is about doing something that has a bigger purpose and whatever fears and worries I have should not cloud that fact. So I agreed to the 'potential' project, provided that they realise, as I said in my email reply, that I am more a professional HOBBYIST (emphasis on hobbyist). In any case if this pans out and we do go ahead, I certainly promise to do my best for a bigger cause as I sincerely feel humbled and honoured by the offer to assist in a noble cause....

and... ACTION!

2006-11-21T21:04:00.000+08:00

YouTube has just approved my Director status....

What does it really mean?

Absolutely no idea....

But I like the idea of being called ...

..DI-REC-TOOR...

CAN....

2006-11-21T20:15:00.000+08:00

This is the ultimate demonstration of a father's love for his child... I saw this during a training session I attended today, found it on YouTube and shared it with my wife... and now I'll like to share it with all of you.... Please watch this with your loved ones and share it with your friends and family...

Icklebooks ad....

2006-11-20T05:49:00.000+08:00

Here it is folks. The ad for Icklebooks. Now this ad is not the one that we initially talked about shooting. The scenes for this ad was shot during the opening of Icklebooks last Sunday 19th November 2006. There were alot of people that day and a ton of kids enjoying the books and crayons and toys. When I edited the ad, I was careful not to have too many full face shots of kids in case the parents of the kids might not like that they're posted on YouTube. The kids you see are kids of close friends (and our daughter) and one or two, I sincerely hope the parents won't mind too much.

Before I shot the ad I knew which piece of music I already wanted to use. A friend of mine had sent me an advert with the same music earlier and when I saw it I thought it was wonderful, full of serenity and the mood and feel of the music would fit into the sort of advert I wanted this one to have. The music is called Little Star by Stina Nordenstam from the Romeo and Juliet movie soundtrack (a movie which I absolutely love - not just cos Claire Danes is in it). The ad was edited to capture the mood of the bookstore, the kids and them having fun (which they did!). In any case, enough ranting from me, I hope you enjoy the ad....

EDITED (21st November 2006): I have received ALOT of feedback regarding the lack of titles to explain the ad, and as a result they did not know what the ad was for. I would appreciate any feedback viewers can provide. I am going to start working on putting some titles into the ad and it will be re-uploaded when it is done. However it may take a few days to think up WHAT magic words and phrases to put into the ad.... so stay tuned.....

CSI: Brunei

2006-11-19T10:18:00.000+08:00

I only read about this from AnakBrunei's and Ranoadidas' blogs this morning and it looks like Richard, the guy who was charged with murdering a couple and their little girl has been acquitted. Now Richard is someone who is within our family's circle of friends, and while I do not know him personally, my parents and my uncles do and work with him as well. He's lost 2 years of his life in jail for what the court has decided a crime he did not commit. While we may never know if he did do it as it seemed like the acquittal was based more on the technicality and shortcomings of the investigation process rather than outright evidence to show that he was indeed innocent, only the Man upstairs will know for sure. Whatever it is, I for one, and I am sure my parents and uncles wish him and his family well and that they can now move on from this episode.

So is the case closed then? I don't think so. There are more questions now than answers and some of them to say the least I think is highly politically sensitive. During the course of the case, it was evident from expert testimonials and many a part time CSI-Miami-New York die-hard fans that someone did not do a decent job of investigating the case. The three victims of this heinous and terrible crime have been let down by individual incompetence that has led to either of these 3 scenarios:

1) The acquittal of a guilty man,
2) A 2 year punishment dished out to an innocent party who just happen to be someone they thought would be easy to pin this crime on,
3) The wasted 2 years of investigation that I am sure the REAL guilty devils would be joyfully laughing and smiling everytime he/she/they see the case takes a twist to nail Richard while he/she/they are sitting comfortably and free in their homes.

In either case, let us not forget the victims. While I certainly hope they are now in a better place and whatever has since transpired, I feel that the families of the victims have been let down by at the very least a degree of incompetence that have failed to bring justice for them and the gallows for the true murderer(s).

Dizzy Smiles of the Daisy Kind

2006-11-17T22:59:00.000+08:00

I have had a LONG LONG LOOOOOOONG week. Work has been extra draining this week. Sleep deprivation, commuting and having to stand for 7 hours for 2 days talking and talking and talking is EXTREMELY tiring. It was fun, but by Wednesday, I was in LaDeeDa land, singing ZZZZZZZZs in my office but doing it ever so quietly....(In case my boss reads this, No, I did not sleep in my office, but I may as well be cos I was probably operating at 5% of my usual capacity). It's now the weekend but not really a weekend for me yet cos I still have ONE more day, yes ONE MORE DAY of my part time job and I can have my well deserved 2 day weekend for the first time in 3 months! Tomorrow is still going to be a full day of running around, making things happen and getting things done.

I've come to realise over the past couple of months that when you are always busy at work, you suddenly realise the worth of time, that the cliche saying that Time = Money is ACTUALLY true. That epiphany in itself should tell you I had a very NON taxing job previously. Too bad though that MANY Bruneians are in jobs that do not tax them and as such not many Bruneians appreciate that Time IS Money. All you have to do is look for tons of people waiting in line for absolute ages for whatever they need done in government offices. If I only have 1 day (Saturday) of each week to get stuff done, I want them done FAST.. cos I need my time with the family, go out and enjoy a meal, and catch Casino Royale and watch Dennis Craid (edited: Dennis? who the hell's Dennis Craig.. I meant DANIEL) kick arse as the new James Bond (Shaken or Stirred Mr Bond - Do I look I give a damn! - what a response!). sigh... but I have learnt a valuable lesson about time. It is the ultimate NON-renewable resource that many waste away without even an inch of thought about it.

In any case this Sunday, Icklebooks will be opening their doors for the masses of children and their parents, myself being one of them. I shall be bringing my DVX along to film some stuff so if you see a guy holding what looks like a sonic gun that'd be me. Just drop by to say hi and hopefully that dizzy smile of mine would have worn off, replaced by a somewhat more conventional welcoming one..

Have a good weekend people.

BBZZbbzbzzbBZBBZZ.... poooooof.......ppssssss.....

2006-11-15T18:59:00.000+08:00

KABOOOOM!

I believe I can fly......

2006-11-14T18:05:00.000+08:00

Some of us live our mundane lives day in day out, never really making any sacrifices so we can fly.... We can learn alot from this little kiwi...

Tickling the Icklebook mouse

2006-11-13T20:43:00.000+08:00

Yesterday evening we dropped by at Icklebooks to discuss the proposed plan to shoot a viral ad for them. We had several ideas on how to make the ad work and after a brief discussion, settled on one simple yet interesting idea. We are currently using that mushy-squishy piece of equipment between our ears to work out how we can make the ad work. Suffice to say, our heads are snapping, crackling and popping sunrise to sundown. We've potentially identified some 'actors/actresses who aren't camera shy and who are also not adverse to being popularised through YouTube to the Bruneian community. We'll see how it goes on this one as the weeks progress, as the Icklebook mice is scurrying and scampering around in order to get the shop launched this weekend. The plan is to launch the ad probably sometime early next month before Christmas. I hope to make this project completed successfully, otherwise I will come back in December to disavow and delete all knowledge and evidence of this project from my blog, Mission Impossible style....

I must say though, that this is quite exciting. This is definitely an opportunity to learn even more about videography and Advertising on this project since this is completely NEW territory for me and co.! FUN FUN FUN!

.... not the Icklebook story board but a sample,
but something similar is in the works....

My New Avatar.... and a raging torrent of rants!

2006-11-12T17:27:00.000+08:00

... Charlie Heston would be proud ...

I hope you like my new avatar. It took me 3 hours, YES, 3 freaking hours to post this less than 100kb avatar file. E-Speed2 our ADSL provider is on the blink AGAIN.

B$98/month for this....

2006-11-12T00:45:00.000+08:00

BruNet says 'Live the World Wide Way'

We E-Speeders say: 'Wide's useless without S-P-E-E-D!'

11.11.06

2006-11-11T13:50:00.000+08:00

History will record this day as the day
the next generation of gaming began

The Playstation 3
.. ..welcome to the beginning of a new era in gaming....

...model comes as an optional add-on...
*eye-candy*

Announcing the arrival of ...

2006-11-11T12:26:00.000+08:00

... I might be working on a viral ad for icklebooks,
so stay tuned over the next couple of weeks......

Roaring Laughter

2006-11-10T19:53:00.000+08:00

How can you not laugh at this???

I live in Singapura

2006-11-10T19:25:00.000+08:00

This is pretty funny by a guy called Hossan Leong from Singapura. His site is here but it seems to be out of commission for the time being. We need more artists of this sort in Brunei to make Brunei a more interesting place. We also need more artistic freedom to liven up our abode of peace, which apparently according to Singaporeans are a little boring... Anyway, enjoy the video and wait for the song to come along...

He aint Heavy, He's My Brother.....

2006-11-09T19:31:00.000+08:00

I had an interesting email from a local Bruneian Band a couple of days ago. They were interested in my MVs and wondered if I would be interested to shoot an MV for them. This obviously has peaked my interest, as this would be a real opportunity to put into practice the skills I've learned so far. However as I alluded to the band member who contacted me, my genre of music is a little different from theirs (heavy metal). If you've seen my MVs, you'll know I'm into the kinds of music that usually people listen to when they meditate or when they want to fall asleep! This divergence between the music genres may cause a problem but it may also be a positive as I might be able to bring something different to that genre of music, MV wise. Currently I am thinking about the proposal and waiting for the band to get back to me. So D, if you read this, just let me know. And in case you're wondering, yes, yes, that IS me holding the flowers... I look absolutely Faaaaabulous, don't you agree?

.... a match made in heaven? only time will tell ....

....dizzy dayssss.....

2006-11-08T18:43:00.000+08:00

Please oh please oh please let the weekend come soon. I am absolutely knackered to the bone from having to get up at 5ish every morning to go to work. Commuting is tiring and spending two hours of your life everyday Monday to Friday driving is VERY tiring, especially when once you get into the office, it's all hectic! Well as my friend said to me when I switched jobs: I've made my bed, gotta sleep in it, so stop complaining. It's not all bad. I do like the job.. just the commute!!! I can't even sleep like this guy here! Ok off to bed now!

Yada Yada NADA!

2006-11-07T23:06:00.000+08:00

Notice: Yada Yada Chatterbox is currently out of commission until we figure out how to fit it into the small side bar that this new blog template has. However I have added a link to my email address (see Contact Me under my profile) so please feel free to email me your abuses and questions. The only favour I ask of you when you email me is that you start the email off as Oh Captain My Captain ...

The Emperor's New Skin (edited) ....

2006-11-07T22:47:00.000+08:00

If you've visited my site before, you would've noticed that I have just put on a new snazzy skin for my blog. This couldn't have been done if not for my hardworking pal from across the South China Sea in Singapore who has helped me design it. I've wanted a new look for the site since I started blogging but did not have the time nor the skill to do it. So thank you my dear friend Zrano!!! You are one true friend and if you weren't married, and a woman instead (or we're both gay, which we're not) I'd bed you!

But here's a Kiss for you!...

.... erm.. wrong kind of kiss dude, but you get the idea...

Epiphany of the Wise

2006-11-06T19:07:00.000+08:00

I read this excerpt from a book a few weeks ago, and have decided I should share it with the world. It is an inspirational quote from Mother Teresa and it deals with how we handle ourselves even if the world has beaten the crap and bollocks out of us.

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self- centred;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world your best anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

So the next time you feel like your boss has dead-ended your career or you think just because of the colour of your skin you're discriminated and can't progress in life, do your best anyway, cos giving in would be a cop out to your God-given potential..

Confucius say...

2006-11-05T21:27:00.000+08:00

..... how very true......
so from now on everytime you see someone who is really annoying
and you'd really want to just **%$%# the $#%#$%$ out of him
you should just breathe a deep breath and
imagine him as your pair of balls...

Global Greetings

2006-11-05T11:21:00.000+08:00

....global friends! come come, sit and enjoy my rants!...

Good Morning and Good Day, my global visitors,

In light of the surprisingly diverse nature of my blog visitors, I have taken it upon myself to learn the languages of the world so I can communicate with our global brethren better. So to start off with, let me greet all you warmly with some native tongue-ing action!

Australian: Good DAIy, Maite!
Canadian: Good Morning, eeeeeh!
Chinese (Mandarin): Knee How!
Chinese (Cantonese): Nei Hou Ma?
French: Bonjour Mon ami!
German: Gutenmorgen mein Freund
Japanese: Konichiwa, ogenki desuka? Watashi no ochin chin totemo okie desu! (...the last part of this sentence if you can figure out what I just said, you get Brownie points!...)
Malay: Selamat Datang!
Norwegian: Adjø meg venn!
Portuguese: Bom dia meu amigo!
Polish: Dobry dzień mój polski przyjaciel
Spanish: buena manana mi amigo!
Welsh: Da ddiwrnod 'm chyfaill!

Phew!! Learning a new language is hard enough but learning 13 is TOUGH!

On the videography front, my fellow vsitors, I haven't had much time the past few weeks to get any sort of DVXing and LETUSing done at all. I am in the process of making a support rod for my DVX and Letus35 so I can fit heavier lenses (such as my Canon F2.2 135mm) onto my DVX so that the weight won't eventually destroy my precious!!! ohh my preciiiiouuuus indeed!! Work proper (my 9-5) is hectic and now we go into FULL swing until middle of December when we'll break for Xmas and off we will go to Taiwan for a jolly good holiday to film a doco (see here). So until then there probably won't be alot of videos coming this way, although let me just say there are a few projects in the pipeline, these being:

1) Another MV! A fun music video with my friends. We're thinking of spoofing a music video in much the the same vain (vein? which vein/vain should I use?) as the Jenny video I featured here. We're thinking maybe Meat Loaf, Extreme (More than Words) or something similar. Wigs, make up and cheesy non-matching lipsyncing will be a definite feature. Expected Project Completion: Hopefully before Xmas!

2) Roll Call, Roll Call! I'm planning to do a small and short feature (5 mins, 10 mins tops)! Anyone who has a decent script/story and who's not bothered not to while away their hours experimenting with making a short film, let me know. As long as you don't have high expectations and only see the project as a fun way to waste time, you're welcomed! Cheesy acting is probably a common feature for this project too. This one has an open time frame. So let me know if you have an interesting story! Docos are most welcomed too.

That's all for now. Back to my work! It's a Sunday and I STILL have to work (preparing for my work for tomorrow!)

P.S. If you've figured out the second part of the Japanese translation above, please do not feel offended by my honest and candid nature. I do not mean any offense by speaking the truth.. (now I've REALLY got you interested in finding out what it means!)

P.P.S. (added): I just had a visitor from Serbia and Montenegro. I don't even know what language they speak so I guess I won't be able to say hello to them...

Parallels, Sleeping and Crying myself a River (almost)

2006-11-03T18:49:00.000+08:00

OK dear fellow Mac owners,

A quick warning. I have Parallels Workstation running on my Mac so that I can run some Windows programs (like SPSS for example). Anyways I was working on SPSS through Parallels and I was rushing off from work so I just closed the lid on my Mac. Thinking that it went to sleep, I proceeded to stuff it into my black foam sleeve I use to keep my Mac. While walking to the car, I hear a distinctive Windows' c dialog box chyme. I thought, hmm ok, my other work PC laptop is fully shut down, must be coming from my Mac. So I opened it up and lo and behold, the freaking Mac DID NOT sleep because I left Parallels running on the Full Mode and when I closed it, it was running Windows XP. My MacBook Pro was probably almost hot enough to cook some nice scrambled eggs by then and probably would've overheated and gone kaput, retire to Mac Heaven if I hadn't discovered this!!! So a learning point here, my Mac owning friends: If you run Parallels on FullScreen Mode and you shut the lid while it's on Windows, it WON'T sleep. So shut down Windows, exits Parallels, THEN put your Mac on Sleep Mode! Don't say I didn't warn you! Otherwise you'll have this for a Mac:

.... if this had happened, I would have
FREAKING cried me a Bruneian River....!