The Bare Minimum

I have moved! Posts are not guaranteed

2009-04-04T02:07:00.002+11:00

www.foxtwo.livejournal.com

to whomever it may concern....

I'm Okay

2006-07-02T19:49:00.000+10:00

I'm not 19 anymore.

It should have felt worst. It did at first.

But I don't know how it happened. It just did. The hurt and evil thoughts disappeared and I don't know what filled it. It's not a void. It's not anything great either.

I don't know what I have right now. Not sure I need to think about it. Accept and move on? Certainly don't need an essay on it.

Maybe things go down easier the 2nd time round. Maybe it's been so long deep down I've grown tired of it without realising.

Well. No sense thinking about it anymore. Three things for sure. I'm not 19. Losing you as a friend would leave a void. I fight my own demons.

Love you as a friend ya.

Okay I miss looking good... but I don't think I'm being vain

2006-06-30T20:14:00.000+10:00

I'm 27. I don't feel 27. I'm not sure I dress 27. What's the dress code for a 27 anyway. I dress like a 23.

I guess it has as much to do with working. I'm not working. I don't go out on weekdays dressed in long sleeves shirt and pants. I reckon I look pretty good in that, so I guess I do miss dressing professionally, looking mature, the impression of sofistication.

I looked out of place the other day. T-shirt & jeans with sneakers against my working friend. Well then again I always get tongue-tied and self-concious around you. Yah so not 27.

Shirts. Shirts will make me look 27 right?

taking a break

2006-06-10T18:05:00.000+10:00

Colour Management for Windows XP

2006-06-10T18:01:00.000+10:00

http://www.earthboundlight.com/phototips/windows-xp-color-control-panel.html

more control over XP display

Ebay is Evil

2006-05-26T01:55:00.000+10:00

Yes ebay is evil. I didn't succumb to buying the D200. I did buy something else though. But I do take heart that it costs less than a D200 kit+flash.

HK finance minister

2006-05-26T01:15:00.000+10:00

Went along with Kin to attend this mini student forum (or any better word) held by the HK finance minister whatshisname, on his Oceanic tour. Quite an eye opening, a few HK chicks were rather cute... heheh. They have their nice dressing sense, as always. MmmmMmmm

So anyway, the forum was mostly in Cantonese, which I understand to an extent, held in a very informal venue. It wasn't even in a lecture theatre, just behind a partitioned wall. Blocked by the people in front I saw his face at the beginning and at the end. Whatshisname was also very easy-going, cracking jokes along the way. I've never been to any Singaporean Government/Ministers forum so I don't know the comparision, I said to Kin.

Questions by the floor, some good some bad some silly. Kin was particularly irritated by the silly questions to the minister, "I study this-this, will I get a job in HK when I return?" There was at least one fella studing aerospace engineering, asking what should he do when future in HK is bleak for such a career choice. And the gem, this fella studing mental health, asking what prospects he has in HK.

Then Kin was also incensed by this 'trouble-maker' posing questions on the unreported incidents in the China Government and how that affects HK, etc. Well I told him that happens in S'pore too. But didn't get around to add, it's not excatly trouble-making if you're not thinking with a nationalist heart. My opinion anyway.

Later at dinner he mentioned that I should have posed a question. I had no intention of revealing I'm a wolf amongst the sheep (lolz) and besides, even in the diner I really couldn't think of anything good to ask. It's not as though I've got indepth knowledge of finance, anywhere period. And it's also very hard to phrase a opinion/comment/observation/question without sounding as though I were critising. Who the heck likes to hear some yahoo from another country passing comments on your own country/people?

'Cos there was this mainland lady who came with some HK friends and she was commenting her opinion that she rather pitied (maybe not the excat word) her friends as they like to congregate within their own community and some/most fail to improve their command of the English Language. She was speaking fluent English by the way, and learnt Cantonese from her friends. Quite capable of judgement I reckon. Anyway I can't really recall what the minister replied, I have a feeling it was rather weak. And her friends are probably feeling weak too. She was the last one anyway so he was probably wanting to leave.

In one way Kin was not very happy with her, because she was 'making trouble'... while on the other hand Kin agreed that most of his community has blinkers on. Competition is good, it sives the riff-raff. Well, he says his 2 other friends who were there were good in business. Just a pity they didn't ask any questions.

Oh the good question, only one according to Kin, was about GST. I can't recall what I heard or did not hear... hah.

Finally Kin did mention the minister has a nickname: Dai Siew Pien (ya my translation sucks), but I didn't see the resemblence. What a let-down!

dslr?

2006-04-21T22:33:00.000+10:00

I fear I'm slowly succumbing to the purchase of a dslr (d200) in the near future.... I've been borrowing Kin's 20d for assignments this sem, and well, it's me. I am not a 'borrow' person, as a kid I wasn't into libraries, I just buy books. Not necessarily first hand, I got plenty of 2nd hands. But I just prefer to own and read whenever I feel like it.

So back to the d200, sure prices are more ex in Aus, but when you need it just get it. But do I really need it... have just spent a lot on my LF equipment. Still to spend actually, have to buy a hardcase to store them in. But not everything is shot on LF, I still have 35mm slrs, but not the ease of digital... argh... price drop pls... SGD cont. to strengthen too pls! lolz

train

2006-04-20T17:45:00.000+10:00

Been taking a lot of train rides. Half to recce for locations to shoot, half to indulge in wanderlust.

Sunday: Frankston. (ticket: $2.50)
stopped by for photos in the road trip last yr. lost that feeling when i went back. shrug.
Sunday: Pakenham. (change @ Caulfield)
got dark before reaching the end of the line. so didn't see much, don't think i missed much too.

Tues: Belgrave. (ticket: $12.60)
was there last year for the puffing billy.
left the station for a winding main road. winding roads in hilly country, don't you just love the 'i wonder what's around the bend' excitement & curiousity? i tracked my hike once i got home. it was really fun, fun if you like trees and walking i guess but still plenty fun for me. wanderlust.
so down belgrave-hallem rd (melway: 75 F12), spotted a lake down the side. intriged i pushed on hoping to find a track down. found a road (old reservoir rd), then track leading down, and just as i was wondering if the residents here often have hikers trekking past their lawns up the road came this german traveller. had a short chat later, he said he came to belgrave to meet a friend. decided to go look around.
the lake, & monbulk creek, stated to be a habitat for platypus. no platypus spotted by quite a number of ducks. so i'm going along the track, deep undergrowth at the sides, tree over above, suddenly you walk out into the open to a open field, kid's play set at the opposite side, laughter and conversation floating across. hmm.. double-take.
you gotta like trees. and i do love aussie trees, esp the ones with white bark... Dunn's White Gum (Eucalyptus dunnii) looks like. will post pics soon.
got out of there, crossed the road to zig zag rd. come'on, you don't feel the least attraction in a name like that? hahah anyway i (foolishly) thought it would loop me back to the station. so i'm walking a fair bit pass houses and sometimes barked at by dogs which scares the shit out of me. i just have the morbid fear of getting mauled and cursing *fuck* as i bleed on the bitumen with worried aussies crowding round this asian guy. hahahah.
so i'm quite happy walking, still early in the day though not knowing where i'm headed. finally decided to ask for directions just in case. spotted smoke, smoke means people right? esp where i am. sign says a church and christian school. sniggle at the absurdity of asking the father/pastor for directions.
went across the carpark, spotted these 3 men watching the smoke. (the smoke is coming from a heavy machinery, some construction going on.) approached one asking for directions, he asked where i was parked. told him i was walkng. i think he was surprised. he suggested i cut across the school grounds, cross the stream, past the trees, and the field, onto the road, up the steep service track, right to the station. OK. well i wanted to walk. so i'm bloddy walking now.
(ehh... getting really tired of composing) steep was really steep, foothold was no problem, just tiring to get those legs pumping. pics later.
got back to the station at 2:40pm. started off at 1:10pm.

Tues: Ferntree Gully & Heatherdale
the former for being close to the hills, the latter for its powerlines. more on that soon.

kay, i'm tired.

Difficulties

2006-04-20T17:39:00.000+10:00

I have this subject, call it P&G. And it has an assignment for a serie of 3 images. I had plans to do Illustraton as the category but I just have so much problem looking for material to make the shots. My teachers don't know, it's easter break so teachers (other course) aren't in. So finally I've shot Editorial (i guess, still rather unclear on the categories) to hand the assignment in. As Guy (teacher) puts it, making the deadline is everything.

High Tempo

2006-03-11T21:10:00.000+11:00

Stepping into 2nd gear.

let's see, next wk alone. i have to:
1. tmr morning heading to Camberwell town hall for the bi-yearly camera market, then head down to labX with kin to x-process his film, then head to the nearest Bunnings to get material for our pinhole projects.
2. process & print the remainder of my 5x4 triX 320 in the sch's wet darkroom next week.
3. build pinholes whole of mon.
4. tues buy white mounting boards, pick up alternative processes prints from labX at 5:00pm, mount them on wed and hand in on thurs.
5. write up detailed storyboard for folio powerpoint presentation.

Odds & Ends

2006-03-11T21:08:00.000+11:00

hhaha what the hell did i shoot?

Werribee Zoo

2006-03-11T21:04:00.000+11:00

nothing much at the zoo. didnt even see a kangaroo. HAH!

Balloon Sunrise shots

2006-03-11T20:46:00.000+11:00

Stupid Housemates

2006-03-10T23:59:00.000+11:00

No, not stupid in the adoring sense. Just Plain Stupid.

In the signs of a joke Lipei slid open one of my bedroom doors and took a surprise polaroid of me, while in the tune of schoolgirl giggles from Dylan and Jen. I was in bed and could only muster a 'Fuck you' in retort. But still so pissed at the violation of privacy i can't sleep now. Bloody assholes, even paparazzis don't pull this kind of shit off. They at least have the decency to exploit loopholes like shooting through open windows, not barge in closed rooms.

This can't be something to expect when living under one roof. No they are just bloody morons. If i can lock my doors i would, but they don't lock.

Beautiful morning

2006-03-04T10:14:00.000+11:00

Been receiving a tiniey whiney bit of stick for not updating. hahaha

yes as i was saying, beautiful sight this morning at 730am. What was it? nono, let's leave that for later. What psychic forced me to crack open my eyes at the break of dawn on a sat to witness, now that's the mystery.

ok i was just being corny. I have an Atomic clock. every morning it scorches me out of bed from 7am - 10am latest. if i don't hop out of bed, i'll be cooked and dead. how's that for incentive aye?

my room window faces the rising sun, the window blind was damaged before i moved in and won't be fixed so soon. my room's like a square, and the window is half a wall. so at any point of time the death ray is sweeping through and there's no place to hide.

so yah, love the open view at 10th floor. that's why i sleep facing the window, must be the photographer in me that screams view over comfort.

oh i realise i haven't touched on what was beautiful today. Right. Balloon Sunrise. the hot-air balloon outfit out at Yarra county. Opened my blurry eyes and immediately caught the sight of a huge balloon drifting over the city. Rolled out of bed, grabbed my cam (triX) and ran for the balcony. Shot the last 4-5 frames on the balloons against light wispy clouds. *tip: always leave a few frames in the camera for times like this.*

2006 New Year Resolution

2006-01-02T16:43:00.000+11:00

1. Update this blog with past events

Progress - pending

THE ANDREW OLLE MEDIA LECTURE

2005-10-10T00:40:00.000+10:00

I've had the fortune of tuning into ABC's The Andrew Olle Media Lecture this evening. John Doyle, the speaker had this fantastic speech. I didn't understand half on its references to Australian media persons but one can still pick up on the gist. It's all in the joy of listening a talented individual speak, with humour.

Download the mp3 please. It's good intelluctual stuff.
Here's 10 years of other Lectures.

Good stuff, can't say enough.

Mansfield Holiday

2005-10-09T17:07:00.000+10:00

Bought a 8mm silent cine camera at the Camberwell flea market this morning. This is so damn cool 'cos I wanted one all the more after watching one of John Mayer's mtv. It seems to be in working condition but I've yet to find the manual online. Roll of film costs like A$20+-, dev-ing unknown, 8mm projector searching. Hahha, I'm still a still camera person, but vids are fun to make too. But to do it retro style... hahahah. There's a 8mm shop at glenroy. Will check it out.

WankerMania

2005-09-06T23:36:00.000+10:00

Tim Burton should really join up with Roald Dahl more often in the future. I seriously believe any other director would have trashed it (pls refer to 1971).
I failed to discern it was Burton lah, that's why I didn't want to watch.

Roald Dahl
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Movie Review

Get Well Soon

2005-08-12T13:39:00.000+10:00

GongGong has been hospitalised for recurring gout.

I hope some of the good I've had in my photo assignments can offset his ill health. Get well soon, I'll see you 2 months.

Knicknacks From Sydney

2005-07-09T12:38:00.000+10:00

Jam In The Head got me The Sydney Morning Herald and TMNT Issue 22. Beanie shared between her & Dylan.

Thanks dude & dudette

Hey.... why is it "HERO" and not "NINJA"? Is it an anglo-sino thing...

To Par? Phillip Island Clicks

2005-07-09T12:29:00.000+10:00

Hits & Misses in the dark.
(Misses not shown)

Screw A Penguin

2005-06-29T23:12:00.000+10:00

My remembrance trinket from Phillip Island. It's called a finger puppet.

Let your imagination run wicked.

Road Trip: Phillip Island

2005-06-29T22:54:00.000+10:00

Great trip. I'm sure there's lot to gush about but i'm not the gushing kind so... Just kinda rekindle the will to learn to drive. There's a much bigger reason to DRIVE in Aus than in S'pore. Yea... try to make some plan on that.

Experienced fog. Or rather driving through fog. Wish I managed to shoot at least one picture of it, the field where the cows were grazing would have been beautiful. Another cool pic would have been the incandescent lamps on the freeway. Tall tall lamp poles totally fogged leaving only a series of orange lights seemingly floating in the air.

I'm not sure if my other pictures came out good. Usually I do some reading up to refresh techniques. This time I just went ahead and just shot on instinct. I don't have bad instinct, much of the time it looks good. Hell, I'll see.

Prolly got more to say when I get back the results. In the meanwhile, here's a gd chance to intro a friend of mine I met here, Jam In The Head, who was also the driver of the trip. I'm sure she has plenty to say when she gets back from Sydney.

We are not Spielberg

2005-06-29T22:04:00.000+10:00

Hmm... birth of another temptation. Video. I remember the old 8mm film cameras, silent movie type. Kinda cool u'know, especially when you go on a (road) trip or something, 'cept there's no sound recording so that kinda sucks too.

Well anyway, final project worked out just fine. One team created a MTV, another a comedic superheroine caper, ours was a bank robbery planning gone bad. Ours was the best of the lot. It had to.

2005-06-23T00:43:00.000+10:00

Another good day at the studio. Might change tmr, gotta shoot a full short clip as final project. We don't have any ideas, so let's just see what turns up.
This course has taught me the value of the editing team. Never understood before why editing warrented an oscar award. Why doesn't the director do editing too? How the hell does editing know what he wants? Is that why directors always complain of footage cut off?

I suspect the same people who leave trash at lift lobbies are the same who never learn from setting off smoke detector alarms at nights. Every night. morons.

Director For A Week

2005-06-21T18:11:00.000+10:00

Had side-spliting good fun today in Video Production class. The exercise was to make a short clip of 1-2mins to incorporate a storyline within a journey from one location to another with the techniques we've (Boon, Kin, Michael, Me) learnt so far.

Result's pretty good. Plot is about this guy losing his wallet and not realising it till the end. Genre is sick comedy. Gotta make a copy for myself.

Friggin' KNN Shit-Eaters

2005-06-21T17:54:00.000+10:00

I refer to the people who live on my floor. Not all the people 'cos I am an acquaintance to some. Unless they are resonsible, then they can burn in hell.

Let me rant on these stupid shit-eaters who have no civic-mindedness, in fact, no brain period.

This morning I got up for class, and when I reached the lift lobby, was greated by this wonderful smell of garbage. (Stench's a little mild, but definitely present.) Really brighten up my day I tell you. Indeed, quite colourfully... KNNCCB... Those arse-holes left like 10+ bags of trash outside the rubbish chute because it was out-of-order. Come'on... where's the common sense??? Are you all stupid? Apparently you all study to become doctors and lawyers and engineers but fail on simple logic.

WHEN you leave badly tied garbage bags containing the remains of last night's dinner in a poorly ventilated room. What the fuckin' hell do you think is going to happen, huh? You Stupid Shit-Eaters. You didn't want to stink up your apt so you decide to stink up the lift lobby and spoil everybody else's day instead. Frickin' mother-fuckers.

That was at 9am. When I got back at around 4~pm, the trash was gone and the carpet washed with a faint smell of detergent in the air.

May I please shoot them. I will dispose the trash properly.

Flight occupies 1 shelf place. (28rd Mar 04)

2005-06-21T17:14:00.000+10:00

I wish I could fly. Flight is such a fantasy. The joy of soaring above everything and everyone else has got to be unbeatable.

Remember when you were young and the Youth Flying Club sent a newsletter of such inviting membership? My dad said then it was too far to go for something so irrelavant and silly. I agreed too it was far. Dad could also possibly have snorted, "Oh ah-boy, you think they'll let you fly a plane?"

Convincing myself that all one would ever do there was to build model air-planes, collect flight magazines (Tailored to sucker children. You know the kind, "every month a different model featured!!"), and if we were lucky, a trip out to the flight line to touch a real trainer and whiff JP fumes.

I consoled myself that I wasn't missing anything. Only maybe to be able to learn flying one day, surely a youth flying club member had more 'right' to learn flying compared to a nobody. Aye?

While I wished to fly, my sis wished to ride. She had the notion of learning horse riding one time so very long ago. Why these two siblings have such desires is just in the blood I guess. Who from? I have no idea. Dad is strictly practical. "Horse Riding? Where? For what? Where in Singapore are you going to ride a horse?!" "It's too expensive. And not practical."

Expensive to fly I agree. But one can still dream. What do I dream? Hmm.

1) A Flight License.

2) Own ONE sea-plane (four-seater max) painted as the Singapore Flag. Red White complete with crescent and stars. Like the Black Knights (Singapore's aerobatic flight team) 'cos I am so knn patriotic.

3) Own ONE (open-cockpit, two seater) bi-plane. Painted in bright colours with bombastic body art. Maybe a Jolly Rogers on the tail rudder. Gawd! I saw a yellow bi-plane flew overhead a couple of months ago!! Damn Aus is a great place.

Big dreams, anyone with lobang?

Massive Black Out 29th June 2004 2200hrs ~ 0000hrs

2005-06-21T17:08:00.000+10:00

It's a strange feeling of having the rug pulled from your feet in less time it takes to utter wtf.

At first, I thought it was some electrical trip, happened once a month or so back. Amidst the cries of surprise from family members, I silently berated myself for procrastinating in not replacing my multiple-socket-outlet-thingy-watchacallit to a surge-trip-proof model. Basically, it's something from the 1990s and doesn't reflect confidence and reliability in its crummy looks.

Shit, this time's my fault lah... Then came the brief relief "Hey, there ain't any lights across the street either."

Newsflash: Some serious shit has happened to Singaporeans. Well, to me actually, 'cos I've never been personally in a civilian crisis before. Military snafus aren't worth mentioning, heh.

Rummage in the dark for my laughable mini-torch, then went downstairs to help mum search for candles. Lit a few, and my sis comes down with her big-ass emergency fluorescent lamp which would beat any yellow-beamed torch into submission. My family then proceeded to have a laugh over how we can show off our LIGHT by placing the lamp at our front door instead. Grinz, what a lovely dig~

By this time we were hanging out downstairs instead of in our individual rooms. Mom & Sis was complaining of the heat, no electricity to run the fans mah. Dad was fanning himself with Singtel's annual report, me? "Xin Jin Zi Ran Liang", which would translate to "peace mind natural cool" ...should be lah. Later the household pitched in to liberate Sis's pint of Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia from melting a horrible death in the fridge. =P

So it was in many a household in the country, children spend rare family time with their parents only in hours of such. The computer-dependent generation are suddenly left without a spark, wandering room to room staring dumbly at silent 42" boxes. (Me included.)

At my house, Dad recounted ghost stories from his kampong days; in turn I recalled my brownie war in Tekong, when Sis mentioned that the 'IN' thing in aroma candles was not of lavender or peppermint but of pineapple tarts and of brownies... Augh~. (I'm so utterly out of fashion.)

2 hours in candlelight and little to no natural breeze can be a long wait. But I feel 2 hours for power to be restored fully is no small task. It happening at 2200 meant only the night shift was around. The night manager probably had a frantic 5-15mins of phone-calling while his best night shift engineers try to revive the turbines. Probably have higher tier managers & chief engineers streaming in from all over. Notice they might have had to pass through blackout-ed areas along the way, remember that the traffic lights are affected too. So they have to be extra careful. Some districts had power restored by 45mins, to an hour, and finally 2 hours for mine. 2 hrs is reasonable, in fact, quite well done.

So to hear Singaporeans moaning and groaning away was... Wah, you people are too spoilt lah. (Actually, the elderly manage better than most. With their experience in during WWII & the Japanese Occupation, blackouts are nothing.) I was already quite relieved to hear it wasn't a terrorist strike or something equally serious. It being a pipeline problem, shouldn't people be more relieved instead? Even American city(s) has power shortages, dun recall how many hours affected though. You wanna compare?

We can hold the expectation that Singapore is no 3rd world country and the government has planned for everything if not most. But when the shit hits the fan and the first thing you utter is "I can't believe this!", that to me is you speaking from your arse. Some people with better education and wider exposure can certainly provide better feedback to the media rather than some irresponsible remark.

Are you for the republic or behind the republic? I'm not pro-PAP, I'm just realistic. They made it here, and they are making it for the future. If you're not going to back them when things happen, then why don't you just run off to another country now and be a 2nd class citizen there?

Fact or fiction, it's hard to tell 9th Apr 2004

2005-06-21T17:02:00.000+10:00

LONDON - The Cold War never happened but the Battle of Helms Deep did. Adolf Hitler and Winston Churchill are fictitious characters but Conan the Barbarian is for real.

A poll in Britain recently revealed a scant knowledge of history muddled with fiction propagated by Hollywood, said the Independent.

Researchers, who interviewed more than 2,000 people, found that close to a third thought the Cold War was not real while 6 per cent believed The War Of The Worlds, H G Wells' fictional account of a Martian invasion, did happen.

More than 60 respondents said the Battle of Helms Deep, from The Lord Of The Ring's trilogy, actually took place.

There was similar confusion about characters from history and fiction. Five per cent thought that Conan the Barbarian, the warrior played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in a 1982 film, used to stalk the planet.

Almost one in two believe William Wallace, the 13th-century Scottish resistance leader played by Mel Gibson in his film Braveheart, was a fictitious character invented by Hollywood.

I've decided to cut my original short. I sounded as dumb as the 60 respondents.

It All Starts Somewhere 21 June 2005

2005-06-21T16:49:00.000+10:00

I should really have done this sooner, but I was just plain lazy. So finally, 6 months after setting roots at melbourne and getting mini-inspired by a friend's blog, I continue my seldomly updated blog here. Nothing spectacular. Just writing to satisfy my ego when I think someone out there has nothing better to do than to read this.

I'll transfer my old crap over. One big reason I still prefer an independent website is I can have a menu bar. I don't think I can slot a java-script in here. Having an IT background is such a curse sometimes. You expect yourself to make head and tails out of a program/langauge, but end up not to. And that feels really dumb, heck to think I used to eat this for breakfast.

I am really lazy to fiddle with this template. My brain doesn't make sense, is this the bare minimum or not? Apparently....

My Photography