District 9

To be honest, this is my first time watching a Cloverfield/Blair Witch Project type of show. It felt so much like a documentary in the beginning, it made me felt like the movie has yet to start. Lots of talking, introduction and pretty much nothing made sense. But slowly, piecing bits of information together, you get a rough idea what’s going to happen, which is always good when you’ve no idea where is the movie is heading.

I felt the beginning was very much an “are we there yet?” moment. It only got interesting from midway and then only the ball started rolling. Then came the truth, the climax – rescuing the package, getting out of there and surviving.

The part that caught my attention was the unbelievable firepower of the alien weapons.. CRAZY SHIT. I had lots of wtf moments and lol moments with the weapons’ capabilities.. Wicked! Alien technology rocks.

Sorry geekspeak.

The movie also reminds me a lot of an old movie, The Fly (1986) which had a similar story but it had prawns instead.

The Fly (1986)

The protective sister said it had better storyline than Startrek but I felt it was so-so. I’d watch Startrek again but this, maybe will only start from the part where weapons were drawn.

I give this a 3/5 star – but because of the slow hype. Watch, but try not to doze off in the first 45 minutes. Enjoy the visual effects if you’re a geek!

Shout out to Euveng for the tickets!

Friendship is not bound to twitter, plurk, facebook, friendster, msn, ym, etc. It’s merely methods of communication, stalking, and keeping up with each other.

And we don’t go around like kindergarten kids saying “I don’t friend you anymore” as well.

So what do we do if really an ‘unfriend’ event occurs?

Tebj hc naq zbir ba.

I caught up with my lecturer and FYP supervisor yesterday for a brief chat on things, etc. One of the few lecturers that I’m close and got to know better. I think it has been more than 8 months since I last met him.

*speaking of which, it’s also the amount of time I’ve been jobless. lol*

Getting to the point, last year, while FYP was still in high gear, he asked me whether I’m interested in leading on of his projects for the uni, which was a online web portal, to promote games development in the uni. I said I’ll consider but most likely after FYP.

8 months passed, he got in touch with me and offered me the same project again, this time with added incentives. Everything will be provided by the uni (hardware, software) and all i need to do was to find a team to develop this portal, but on a larger scale. Mainly to support MDeC’s IPCC and to promote game development in Malaysia.

Update: I know some don’t really believe in the gov, but I believe some gov divisions are actually okay.

However, it will be on me and funding is pretty minimal – knowing my uni being so kiasu and kedekut sometimes. I’ll be leading the team of my choosing. Best of all, I’ll retain sole ownership of the project.

If things work out, the project may get a Pre-Seeding slot by MDeC, which is RM50k  funding for the project. And if that works out better, I’ll get a Seeding slot by MDec which is RM250k. AND if that works out, MDeC will forward the project to venture capitals. That’s 3 BIG IFs.

Time line is short however, as he wants to launch it with the commencements of the ICCG ’09 in November.

I can’t really get into details about the project but it’s surely a first in the country, as my supervisor says, I’ll be the pioneer in the country. I need to give him an answer by this Monday.

So here come’s the crossroad.

I’m sitting for my SAP ABAP exam (which currently I don’t have the confidence to pass at the moment.. T_T) and once I get certified (another IF) I’ll be holding a cert which I’m not putting to good use if I were to take up this project. I would definitely love to get a high paying and good prospect job under SAP, but will miss out doing something big like this.

I could pick up as part time, but 3 months is quite a tight deadline to get the first prototype up. And it also means that I’ll need to let go photography as a part time if it takes off. I can’t however let go of my other part time job because I’m bound by a one year contract.

Or I could stay jobless and work on this full time for a working prototype, get it user tested, etc. I might be able to do a few photography jobs in between as well.

—

I spoke to my dad about it, and he told me to pick it up, though he didn’t say why I should pick it up, I could only assume it’s because I’m still young and I should give everything a try before settling for a *boring* desk job.

I’ve yet to decide, though I’m siding on an option already. I’d like to hear my readers’ (what’s left of it – after the long hiatus) honest comments. Would love to hear from experience and sorts.

I don’t even remember when was the last time I wrote my thoughts down..

My thoughts were Lost in Transit.

Exams in a weeks time. I’m 2 weeks behind study schedule, and I just failed my trial exam. Think I should consider boiling 5 books – each 500 pages and drink it like herbal soup. I may even need 1 week to finish all the soups. Another RM2000 into the drain like my degree. T_T

But somehow, getting a desk job scares me. Maybe that’s why I’m still bumming around, like what Grace and I are happily doing. Though I do have the urge to fill my bank account and besides having the weight above me, I also want to be able to finance my own assets..

Freelancing as a photographer is fun at the moment, but not necessarily good. So I decided to get another source of income.I may very well step into a much more serious job soon, but still working at the comforts of home.  Double the goodiness, if there’s such word.

My skill set is partly limited but still expanding, at a slow rate. WordPress, web hosting, programming (this is getting rustier by the day) and photography (editing skills getting better by the day. lol). The new job I’m hoping to get involves a new CMS (content management system) that I haven’t used before, Joomla.

Though many of you would be thinking “What? WordPress? Blogging is not a skill set!”. Well I’m not talking about blogging, but merely the platform itself. I’m well versed with setting up and maintaining the site. I’d very much love to move into plugin programming and themes development but lack of graphical skills will slow down progress. I’m better at innovating than inventing. Heh.

Hopefully I can put Joomla under my belt as well. Maybe I’ll explore CakePHP as well. Hahaha..

Was showing off a site that I built not too long ago to a friend. A comment was thrown back which snapped me out of my dreamy world of carefree thinking to back to the college years.

I expected better from you.

I guess because I’ve established and maintained a good track record in college, my friends look up to me in a way I never thought it would happen. Usually I’m a pain in the ass for most people, anal as most say. Perfectionist. lol.

Need to keep up the standards!

So, I’m going to work on those stuff I overlooked and scrub them harder. Heh. Now where’s my metal brush…

By the way, anyone want’s blog hosting?

My first typewritten resume. Unfortunately it isn’t mine. Sheesh.

Anyways, have I found a job yet? No. Do I plan to look for one? I guess so. Don’t want to be a house maid you see.

*push chores to sisters*

To be honest, I don’t know what job to look for? I used to WANT to be a programmer, in my belas belasan tahun. Wannabe geek back then.

True geek now. -_-

Something came poisoned the dream and it was photography. And, in my final year of college, it made me realised, programming is hard work, and mostly unappreciated. Graphical dudes gets all the credits.

Hmph.

*going for glory it seems..*

After some though, I wanted to go into photography, full time. After consulting my mom, which in the end mom asking me what is ‘photography’. Something along these lines:

“…police call you and you go and shoot people in the fire…”

THAT worries me somehow.

Then later, few friends came to me and knock back some sense back into my head. Although I thought about it before, I somehow pushed that important thought aside and went with the photography idea without thinking thoroughly. Sigh. -_-

*one day I may actually jump into a fire and start shooting..*

So, I’m back at square one. Hate snake and ladder..

From being behind the keyboard to real life meet ups. Bloggers turned friends. Friends to lovers. Lovers to marriage.

Funny thing is that how people know my nickname/blog name but not me. My alter ego is much more famous than me. Maybe because I don’t post photos of myself that much.

I’ve dated quite a few from the blogging community. Something which I didn’t expect at all. Some turn out well, some didn’t.

Some bloggers became close friends, to the extent I’d travel distances to meet them. To be there when they needed it most and sharing our joys, tears and memories together. My online family.

Then there are a few weird ones who came along. The nasty ones. Whom we just know for the sake of knowing.

But then, no matter whether they are close or not, there are those who double cross, there are those who back stab you when you least expect it, those who you put on your block list on your MSN. Just because we are all human.

Blogging has changed, drastically.

Monetary gain and fame has taken over. Over photoshopped self portraits. Self flaming for more hits. Comment box bashing. Gossips everywhere. Everyone taking sides.

Yes I do make money out of blogging. Only because it’s just to cover my hosting and domain expenses. Occasionally some pocket money for F&B or the coming 1 year old camera.

Someone once told me there’s two types of blogging. Old school blogging and the new way of blogging.

Old school blogging is one typing paragraphs upon paragraphs of thoughts and feelings and just words. Straight to the point. If it’s damaging, password protect. Simple. Something I used to love.

New school blogging. I guess everyone has little to say and more to show in photos. Posts with sole photo and a little caption. Posts with 2-3 lines of words. Cryptic posts. Only the intended reader knows what it meant. Twitter style blogging.

Then comes the generation of promoting your own posts. It was a good idea in the beginning. Good posts gets good traffic. But now, I see posts about a question to post something up getting the top rank in the post aggregator. Maybe it’s just the mentality.

I used to love writing long and windy posts on a topic.. Just on and on about it. It gets interesting when I’m talking about someone. Though calling that person’s name out may not be such a good idea.

I learnt that the hard way.

But things change as times goes by. People change as times goes by. I find myself not interested in sucking up to products and events that I personally find mediocre or even bad. Good stuff of course deserves it’s own mentions, but why write till the extent you change the way you write, the way you express yourself. If you’re mediocre, you’re mediocre. If you’re bad, you’re just bad.

It’s just fake.

I find that some of the reviews I wrote don’t reflect me or my personality. That’s why I categorised them under advertorials, just a way to say I’m writing this post because I’m paid/instructed to write in a certain way to reflect a certain nature of the event/product to my readers. However, I’m proud of a few that I wrote, and even received recognition for it as well.

If I ever get to test a product myself, I’d write it truthfully, and constructively. Constructive comments people, it’s always good.

Shit, I sidetracked.

Occasionally I find myself posting because I have to post and not because I want to post. It’s becoming like a job at times. But there are times I do enjoy, although it’s pretty much seasonal. Things we do to keep the perks we get.

How blogging has changed and how it’s affected me in the process. Wow. Have the new way of blogging changed you?

oh teman tak pernah ku lupa,
persahabatan kita,
ok kawan ingin ku bertanya
masihkan kau setia,
kerna kau pelangi cahaya di hati
selepas hujan turun…ohh
kerna kau pelangi di hati ini
selama ini…3x
ohh..kau pelangi
oh..selama ini
oh..kau pelangi…kau pelangi..
oh..selama ini….

bertahun berlalu tanpa diri mu
masihkah kau ragu
semuanya berubah kini ketemu
apakah daya ku
kerna kau pelangi cahaya di hati
selepas hujan turun..oh
kerna kau pelangi di hati ini
selama ini…3x
ohh…kau pelangi
ohh..selama ini
ohh…kau pelangi cahaya di hati
selepas hujan turun..ohh
kerna kau pelangi di hati ini

Your selfishness and ignorance dispises me, yet you’re the pelangi in me. I’m trying, trying to let it all go. But I’m still trying to understand why, why we end up where we are now. Is it because of …

Though, did realised something that I haven’t done in a very very long time before.

I’m holding on a yoyo because I’m scared it would just slipped off my hand. I should let the yoyo go and it will come back up again, hopefully.

I experienced the joy of birth and the sorrow of death, in the same day. Then there came the in-betweens. Lets start from the beginning of the day.

Without the help of my alarm clock again, woke up at 9am. It’s getting annoying because I’m not getting enough sleep everyday. Anyways, getting ready and all, I ended up stuck in the porch, not able to go anywhere.

Because my cat has given birth to two kittens (so far..) today!

Following were the first thoughts in my mind:

Shit. Have to find kittens every morning again

It’s been a good 2 years since we had to do this every morning. They would be hidden under the car or behind the tyre or anywhere lah.. But still we have to account for each cat, to make sure that we wouldn’t run over them, again. My dad had ran over a few because firstly, back then we had a garden, with grass. Good camouflage for those dark coloured cats. Secondly, we had a .. um.. brain damaged cat before. She loved sitting behind the car to be ran over. We’ve tried to prevent as much as possible, but it’s inevitable lah. Got ran over one day.

So that’s the story behind that thought.

After taking 15 minutes just to move the two kittens and the new mother of two stupid blind kittens (lol. don’t blame me for saying that.. I have my reasons..) I finally got out from the house.

Got to Chung Lern’s place later than my usual lateness. He’s used to it already anyways. Brought me to Kwanon Service Center in Saujana, to get my camera’s shutter button fixed. Without him and his CPS membership, I might be stuck without a camera for 5 working days. Now it’s only 2 working days, but still with the coming public holidays, I’m stuck without a camera for 5 days. BLEH.

Now I’m on borrowed gear, thanks to Chung Lern again.

Had the best Milo, again, ever.

Went to pick up a friend for a movie. While waiting, I witnessed something I’ve seen before. Years ago when I was younger, there was this cat walking around the pavement. As a kid, I chased it and it got shocked and ran across the road.

Cutting the story shot, I got the cat killed in a car accident.

Today, it was a little different. I was in the car, still waiting for my friend who just blurfully woke up 5 minutes before I arrived. Was checking out CL’s spare camera and trying to get used to it. While playing around with it, a lorry passed by, about 50kmph I estimate. Fast within a housing estate.

You should skip the next paragraphs if you’re not ready to read about death. In other words, stop reading. What I’m about to write is what I saw after that. Consider yourself warned. Click on read more to continue.

While I didn’t saw it as it happened because the camera was still on my face, looking at other things. At the corner of my eye, I saw something moving quite a lot. At first glance, I saw a cat jumping up and down like it was playing with a ball. Then it began to grind against the floor. Then I realised, something wasn’t right. I saw blood squirting out from its head.

Friend’s neighbour was looking over, with her hands covering her mouth, shocked with what she saw. I guess she couldn’t take it, and she went back into the house. I was sitting in my car, facing the dying.

This is not the first time witnessing a death of a cat by a vehicle. 3rd time to be exact. First was mentioned earlier, 2nd was a kitten on a road, got ran over by over a dozen cars. 3rd was this.

While I was watching, I wondered what can I do. Nothing really. I still had my camera in my hand, but was still stunned. When I got back to my senses, I thought to myself, I have to shoot this.

I took two shots while it was dying, 2 more after it died. Car was about 15-20 paces away from the cat.

How often do you face death right in front of your eyes? Going through a friend’s or family’s death/funeral is not the same as this. You don’t see the suffering while dying.

What was going through my mind? I asked myself the same thing. I wasn’t sad, nor was depressed. I just watched it as it died, as if it was a show.

Too much of tv actually blinds you from the reality. Too much of Happy Tree Friends. Sigh

I looked around. The neighbour ran back into the house, no one else was present but me, in the car, facing the cat suffering from all the pain. I don’t feel the pain that the cat is experiencing, nor I was sad either. Like I said, I had no feelings or what so ever. Sadist? I don’t think so.

I looked to my right into my friend’s house, saw another cat. It was just lying under the car, sleeping.

World is still moving, with or without the cat I suppose.

I froze time with that two shots. While I had a fixed lens, which I couldn’t zoom in for a closer look, I guess I’m happy that I couldn’t either. Would you like to see, live, a cat dying at a closer range?

No I wouldn’t.

The cat was spinning in circles, blood still spurting out of it’s head. Another minute later, it began to start tensing, as if the worst part of the suffering is about to come. It’s legs started to stretched wide apart. It’s head stretched backwards. Every muscle was .. forgive my English, ’cause I cant get the right words to describe.. Every muscle was tensed, like you were having muscle cramps.

10 seconds later, it ended. It finally died. Loss of blood, head trauma, internal injuries.

I got out of my car, while I’m pretty sure I wasn’t pale, walked over to the dead cat, stopping about 5 paces away, and shot 2 more photos.

I walked away. Went to the sleeping cat, looked at it.

Friend came out, told her about the dead cat which she didn’t noticed while getting into my car. Another car passed by, stopped right in front of the dead cat. Reversed, realigned and avoided the deceased. I had a larger width, drove over.

Life went on. Watched a movie, Transporter 3. Had lunch, took a nap in the car, sent friend home. Went to KL, met up with DGMB for dinner and Comedy Night, had our dinner remains stolen by a begger, had supper, came home.

I wasn’t disturbed at all by what I saw earlier, till now.

On the brighter side, read this again if you have.

I wanted to talk, but I didn’t want to ruin your night, love.