No this ain't the type that can be blocked by AdBlock Plus =D
QUIS will be performing at Project Breakout vol.3 (PBO3) on the 12th of December (Sat)! If you like JPop, Jrock and Japanese pop culture, please do come down and support!
Tickets selling at $14 ($18 if bought at the door) so the earlier the better! If want tickets can contact me :) Just drop an email or sms! http://sgcafe.com/showthread.php?t=65209
Support the local Japanese music scene!
Next we'll be performing at EOY09 on the 26th of December (Sat)! Fans of cosplay and anime/manga will love this =)
Exactly 1 week to the start of the exams... First paper - Economics. *panic*
Since I'll be spending most of next week locked up in my room (ok, maybe not locked, if I suddenly drop dead from over-mugging no one would find me until its too late), I figured I'll post pics of the small space that'll hopefully help me get through the exam period.
^View from the door.............................................. ^The workspace.
^Supplies, survival kit and rations....................... ^Objects for mental torture
^My only source of entertainment..................... ^The heart of my setup. Note the wiry mess.
^My source of audio gratification (X-Mini 2!)....... ^How I like my speaker positioned....
^...so that the music is amplified here! It really works :D Thanks to the table being made of wood the sound resonates well. The bass and mids are also projected upwards since I flipped the X-mini, resulting in much clearer bass compared to the normal upright position.
And for visual relaxation...
Wallpaper from the romance-drama animated movie 5 Centimeters Per Second.
It took me this long to realise the advantage Twitter/Facebook status updates have over blogs.
When you're tired, have really got nothing to write, lacking in ideas/inspiration, or simply lazy to craft out a long blog post, short status updates are a godsend.
On the other hand, if I were to post "I am feeling SHINGZ" or stuff like that on my blog, I dare say you readers would rather go watch another Ris Low video.
Anyway!
Update on my rapidly deteriorating life.
1) This morning, for the very first time, I got out of bed, washed up, brewed a mug of Milo, and STUDIED. First thing in the morning. And no, its got nothing to do with the "mug" of Milo.
2) I'm rewatching Inuyasha, ever since news about a final season was released
3) I'm re-playing Starcraft: Brood War. The entire, kickass campaign. When I should be mugging.
Yes you heard the title right. I don't need it now. But I never said I didn't want it :P
Windows 7 comes 3 years after the release of Vista, which is short by OS standards (Vista came after 6 years of XP). Maybe its their attempt to end the embarrassing Vista saga, which was blasted and condemned ever since it was released. The common opinion at that time? "Vista sucks."
For me, I didn't have a choice. Vista came with my gaming rig I bought off WCG 2007, so I had to "suck thumb" and lived with it. Initially, it seemed pretty cool, since I didn't have the resource-hungry problem, what with all the Aero effects and cool black bar. I even remembered installing a Vista skin for my old XP computer, before Vista was released. In other words, I was a Vista "fanboy". I loved the way it looked.
Then the problems started coming in. Crashes due to incompatibility, irritating UAC prompts, BSODs, the usual. I spent many hours fixing those problems, more often than not compromising rather than solving. After 2 long years, I've finally reached a state of equilibrium (no, not related to Physics or Chemistry in any way). UAC? Disabled. BSOD? Restart lor. Game crashes? Restart lor. Thumbnail previews buggy? Disable thumbnails lor. Any sense of frustration/anger had long ago evaporated, leaving me in a Zen-like state.
Thankfully, having tweaked the system for over 2 years now, its definitely much more stable than when it was a baby. To this date I haven't had a single un-recoverable crash. Games and other programs run perfectly fine as well (minus the occasional Crysis crashes).
Despite all the new features, amazing looks and all that hype that comes with Windows 7, I'll stick with Vista. That is, until the day I can get Windows 7 for free/uber cheap.
Its already week 9, which means the exams just loom over the horizon in another 5 weeks' time. . . . . . . . Damn.
And I'm still in a relative state of "relaxation", i.e no bouts of panic-mugging. Yet. I can't imagine how it was back in JC, where studying was like the top activity voted by students. I think I'd be buried in a pile of notes and past year papers by now.
As I formulate this blog post, I'm already getting ready to pick up my Computing notes and start reading, as soon as I'm done. *sigh*
Screw mugging.
Anyway, Tuesday was Hall 6's Mid Autumn Festival.
Pause.
Wasn't Mooncake festival a couple of weeks ago?
Strange choice of dates aside, it was a pretty fun event, even though the moon was barely visible (it was crescent already). The Hall 6 jam band, Roku Band (nice name! roku incidentally means "6" in Japanese) played a couple of English and Mandarin songs - 21 Guns, Supermassive Black Hole, Wu Le Bu Zuo (Cape no. 7 theme song) and of course, One Night in Beijing. I was kinda worried that I'd screw up since it was my first time playing solos on stage, but luckily everything went rather smoothly. Everyone gelled pretty well, despite having only 2 practices the week before.
Following that was a singing competition, a standard dress-up-the-guys-by-removing-their-tops costume contest and a couple of games. Even our hall fellow, a prof, was dancing along to the music with his kid in his arms. Now that's one happening prof. Contrary to the event, there wasn't a mooncake in sight; there WAS a faux moon hanging in the concourse though, which looked rather like a yolk XD
Sent David off to London at the airport this morning.
+1 to the pool of friends studying overseas.
A little trip down memory lane, now that one of the old birds of QUIS has flown the coop, if you don't mind the pun :P
If QUIS were to have a history, this was probably it (abridged version).
First time we met was probably in an old run-down jamming studio in a little corner of Potong Pasir called Boon's. Can't remember the reason why, but we were supposed to do a little band performance for VJCO's camp cum mini-concert. That was way back in 2007 I think. Coincidentally we (sean, wes and me) were in need of a bassist, so Wesley intro-ed his BSLC bunkmate David. Thus the foundations were put in place.
We played Broadway, Sunday Morning and Xing Qing (and some others which I forgot).
That was it for a couple of months aside from occasional jam sessions until March/April 2008.
I spotted an ad for the Singapore Street Festival calling for Jrock bands to participate. Being fans of Japanese music we joined immediately. Then we needed a vocalist who could do Japanese songs so Sean intro-ed Sam, his BMT bunkmate (amazing how army can actually be a good thing). And thus, QUIS was born. As for the name, ask Wesley *snicker*.
We played for the SSF Jrock event at Suntec (songs like Rewrite, Alones and Stay Away), as well as joined the band competition. Sadly we didn't win, but managed to get to the final top 5.
Next was the big stage (I wasn't around, in India hearing Booms~) Anime Festival Asia 08 @ Suntec Convention hall. From the videos I think it was pretty darn good =)
After I came back it was crunchtime. We did Project Breakout vol.2, a Jrock concert held at Potong Pasir CC. I must say it was a very good experience, really got exposed to all the people involved in the local Jrock scene. That was where we met our "nanny" Audrey XD
Next was a charity event W.E.A.R concert @ SMU, followed by our biggest gig so far - a full set at the Esplanade Outdoor Theatre, 26th December. I still remember everything clearly, the huge stage, the equipment, the wonderful acoustics.
Last but not least, we played at Shine Mascot Parade '09. Nobody nobody but chiu~!
Nobody minus David though, he was in Alaska with the polar bears =D
Its amazing really, how a bunch of people with the smallest of links to each other, can come together, bonded by a common love of music, and become close friends.
And so a chapter in the history of QUIS has closed, but a new one will start. Next up - AFA 09! Gambatte~!
All the best in the land of Fish 'n' Chips my friend. Gonna miss the lame jokes, the cockness, the imba bass playing and of course your very useful van! HAHA just joking.
Its been some time since I last blogged anything about music. Well, not if you count the recent X-mini speaker review as one.
So whats new in my playlist? In case you've been watching my Facebook, I've recently become "fans" of Fukuhara Miho, Superfly and Stereopony, all being relatively new artistes in the Japanese music scene.
In case the first name sounds familiar to all you Full Metal Alchemist fans out there, yes she's the singer of the 2nd ending song "Let It Out". Coincidentally that song led me to find out more, and subsequently listen to her debut album "Rainbow". Another promising singer-songwriter? What struck me the most was her voice.Think Mariah Carey/Christina Aguilera-esque kind of power, minus the glass-breaking high pitches. Her songs range from gospel and blues to pop-rock and ballads
Her voice really shines on the bluesy and ballad-ish songs, including a cover of Celine Dion's Because You Loved Me. Not to mention her English pronunciation is good.
Superfly was introduced to me a few weeks back on Facebook by Kevin-sensei =D I knew they were fairly new but never bothered to listen to their songs. When I finally did, wow! The lead singer (now solo, still Superfly) Shiho has really smooth vocals - powerful yet controlled, mature and polished, compared with Fukuhara's more raw sound. Their music is rather on the alternative side - 1970's style psychedelic rock 'n roll, and of course the standard balladish fair. A really refreshing change from the pop/rock I've been listening to. They've just released a 2nd album "Box Emotions", on top of their debut album "Superfly".
Last on the list, Stereopony is an all-girl 3 member rock band from Okinawa. Strange, considering the previous 2 on my list are all vocal powerhouses. The lead vocalist Aimi, by contrast, sounds positively J-poppishly cute =.= And I though I was way past that stage. Still, they do have a couple of addictive songs "Hitohira no Hanabira" (17th ending for Bleach) and "Namida no Mukou" (opening for Gundam 00), both found on their debut album "Hydrangea ga Saiteiru.
It doesn't hurt that all 3 members are lookers. Musically-wise, nah. Maybe they're still too new to find a definitive sound (they're 18/19). Chatmonchy still rule the 3-girl rock band list.
Its nice to know that our ministers have such a great sense of humour.
From the Electric New Paper, Sept 11:
RADM (NS) Lui titled the story, which was adapted from an Internet joke, Lessons For The Corporate World From The Animal Kingdom, and said there were lessons in the story which were applicable to the media industry.
"The story goes:
It was a beautiful autumn day. At the top of the trees, a bird was enjoying itself thoroughly. The chirping was especially joyous, loud and captivating.
A rabbit came along, gazed up at the bird and said it wished it too could take things easy.
The bird suggested that the rabbit try. The rabbit rested at the bottom of the tree, but a fox came along and ate it.
RADM Lui said: 'The first lesson ... is that to sit around and do nothing, we must be very high up.'
Then a turkey came along, and it also wanted to enjoy itself at the top of the tree.
The turkey consulted a cow, which said that there was energy in cow dung, because the cow had previously seen the farmer use it for fire.
So the turkey started munching on cow dung, felt stronger and, half-hopping and half-flying, made its way up the tree.
It almost reached the bird, but was gobbling the dung so furiously that the sound alerted the farmer. The farmer thought that the turkey would make a wonderful meal for Thanksgiving and shot it.
RADM Lui's second lesson?
'Bullsh** can get you near the top, but it takes more than bullsh** to keep you up there.'
In late autumn, the bird fell to the ground and was half-frozen.
The cow came along and, hoping to warm the bird up, deposited some of its fresh dung on the bird.
The bird started chirping, disgusted that it was in a pile of dung. The bird's din attracted the fox, who got the bird out of the dung, much to the bird's delight.
The fox cleaned the bird, then ate it.
The lesson?
1. Not everyone who drops sh** on you is your enemy.
2. Not everyone who takes you out of sh** is your friend.
3. Sometimes, when you're deep in sh**, it's better to keep your mouth shut."
I'll say this applies to almost every job out there.
Every 3 months, hordes of people, geeks and non-geeks alike, will converge on either 1 of the 2 holy grounds of IT fairs Suntec City/Expo. The dust (and discarded pamphlets) of the PC Show 2009 held in June had barely settled down before the infamous Suntec Halls 4 and 6 were ready for the next stampede yet again.
COMEX 2009! Held at Suntec Convention Centre, 10-13 Sept, Halls 4 and 6, it descends upon us once again!
Traffic jams! Carpark woes! Citylink body crushes! More humans in an enclosed area than chickens in a farm! Elbowing and stepping on people's toes! Loud and irritating promoters! Pamphlets and flyers making up the floor! Slipping on aforementioned flyers! Credit cards being flashed and cash exchanging hands! Trolleys, plastic bags, cardboard boxes, all fighting for walkway space! Prices that always seem to drop by the minute on Sundays! Freebies, discounts, offers and benefits!
And yet I go back every time.
Cheap thrills. And for the first time, I can't find an excuse to buy anything...
Since today's been a pretty free day, I stumbled upon this nostalgia thread in HWZ and spent the entire afternoon going through the 100+ and counting pages. Makes me relive my memories of Primary school, the toys and games I used to play, the TV shows I used to watch, the food I used to eat and places I used to go.
I know at my age there probably isn't much to reminisce about (have you had your mum/dad start talking about their younger days? Once they start its hard to stop), but still, reading those posts and seeing familiar pictures stir up some pretty warm feelings in the heart. At the same time, you start to feel sad that it all seemed so long ago, and you'll probably never get another chance to experience what you went through all those years ago.
Shall I start invoking those emotions with some pictures? Those born around 1988 will know and recognise most of these :D
The gist of it: This guy ordered a power cable from HP for his notebook, and it arrived in a huge box big enough for 5 laptops, coupled with lots of plastic wrap and strapped down to a 10kg wooden pallet.
Packaging fail. Failblog should pick this up.
Ridiculous right? I mean, its not as if the cord was made of glass or something.
Plus marks to ASUS and other not-so-big companies for their effort in reducing impact on the environment with their minimalistic, recyclable yet stylish packaging.
No points for guessing what I just bought to relieve my audio agony in hall.
In-built laptop speakers, no matter how branded (mine's an Altec Lansing), can never hope to match the quality and volume of external speakers. One exception used to be those portable mini speakers, tiny little things with small drivers and as a whole, sound rather tinny and not much better than laptop speakers.
Until the X-Mini portable speakers came about.
Designed and made by a local Singapore company Xm-i (no, not Creative for once), the 2nd generation X-mini II is absolutely stunning.
It weighs less than a 100 grams, fits nicely into a palm and is coated with a nice smooth rubbery matte finish. A twist counter-clockwise reveals the much hyped-about vacuum base tube. A small blue LED at the bottom indicates the power, and comes with its own 3.5mm audio cable jack, and a separate USB charging cable + 3.5mm audio cable extension. It does have its own volume dial, instead of controlling volume from the player itself.
The design won the company 2 prestigious Red Dot Product Design awards in 2008. I wonder if the red "dot" in the middle of the speaker driver refers to that :P
After reading more than several positive reviews about it, I decided to get it:
I went out to buy a couple of those (at a very attractive price, don't ask me where I got it from) and tested it out with both my Creative Zen vision mp3 player, and my desktop Creative Audigy Value sound card (my laptop's in hall doh).
The audible results:
Audio is VERY clear for a speaker that size, comparable to full size computer speakers. With the bass tube revealed, the sound becomes warmer and fuller, compared to tinny and "begging to be let out" kind of sound when the capsule is closed. Volume is also surprising loud, at mp3 max volume I could almost imagine my neighbours preparing to complain about the noise. Sound gets a little distorted at high levels, but who listens at such levels anyway? Bass is present, though not as thumping and solid as I'd like. It does resonate with the surface (table), and so improves the bass effect as compared to being held up in the air.
Bunch of songs I always use to test speakers with (mostly due to the bass :D)
Bugy Craxone's Come On - The opening basslines shine remarkably well, though minus the oomph
Mika Nakashima's Love Addict - Opening strings are clear and warm, can hear the low cellos and subsequently the faint tinge of the basslines
Michael Jackson's Billy Jean - Vocals are crystal clear, so are the basslines
Ayumi Hamasaki's Evolution - Sounds slightly messy during the chorus due to the nature of the song (distortion, synth, wah) but can still hear the individual tracks.
Tomiko Van's Hold me.. - A simple, clean song. The X-mini II brings out the individual instruments, especially the piano and Tomiko's voice very well. Drums and cymbals are also brought out well.
Conclusion - Not the cheapest of porta-speakers (you can find plenty of cheap ones out there), but if you, like me, are a discerning music lover and enjoy crisp, clear music, the X-mini II is a perfect combo of power, portability and unique design all rolled into one tiny ball.
If you wanna get, I'd say wait for the upcoming IT show. Why did I get it now then? Well... Lets just say the price was too irresistible.
With all the photos uploaded to Facebook I can finally blog about this..
Bang! You die! (I was trying to imitate Han Solo, in case you were wondering)
It was our 4th year anniversary on 080809, so with Singapore fast running out of places to go we decided to pay this little-known place a visit - the Mint Toy Museum. Why a toy museum, you might ask. Well I suppose there was this nostalgic part of me that wanted to re-live my childhood, and we weren't disappointed!
First exhibit was the space age, so I was back to my old fanboy days and drooled over the classic movie posters and figurines. They even had a life-size model of Darth Maul and Jar Jar Binks!
Then we saw this hilarious poster:
The words read - Horniman's Tea, Pure Strong & Delicious. ROFL.
As we went down the building we came across an Astroboy exhibit, and Popeye!
And Tintin! My all-time favourite childhood comic hero!
Followed by old-school superheroes like Superman, Batman and Ultraman
me attempting a lame Ultraman pose =.=
Then it went to old cartoon characters like Felix the Cat, Mickey Mouse and Betty Boop!
The picture on the right is full of Golliwogs, racist toys that were popular in the West in the past
We had tea in the Mint Cafe located in the basement below the museum (great concept!) and used a $5 voucher that came with the museum ticket to order a couple of drinks. Yes cheapskate, I know :P
After a few hours of reminiscing about old times, we took a train down to Marina Bay to the Marina Barrage! The place was quite messy with all the construction going on but we managed to find our way there. Quite a nice place with a great view of the sea, and it has a sustainable living exhibit as well!
We climbed to the roof, where lots of people and families were relaxing on the grass patch having picnics and flying kites! Quite a beautiful sight with the skyline in the background. Looked like a scene straight out from the NDP music video
We stayed there til' the sun set, before making our way for dinner at The Tapas Tree @ One Fullerton. Was quite lost initially as we couldn't find it anywhere inside the One Fullerton building, until we went under the Esplanade bridge and there it was -,-
The appetizer tapas, smoked salmon with olives and a spanish version of bangers & mash - grilled potatoes and spanish sausages. The smoked salmon was absolutely delicious, fresh as well! Couldn't taste the raw taste, and yet had the slight smokey flavour without being too salty. The olives went well with the fish. The potatoes were a tad too oily though.
After which we waited for the main dish to appear, and it didn't disappoint!
Valencian paella! It had loads of ingredients, including chicken, spanish ham, sausage, egg, prawns, sotong and mussels. But the main draw was the super-flavourful rice! It had soaked up the juices from the various ingredients as well as the tomato and onion garnishes, and tasted absolutely heavenly. Each grain of rice literally bursted with flavour!
In the end we were quite bloated as not a single rice grain was spared.
me attempting a lame Ultraman pose =.=
