Through the viewfinder

Happy New Year to all and anyone who reads my humble blog. Once again we have entered the beginning of a new year, one that we all hope will bring better tidings for everyone.

As usual there were count down events all over the state of Penang last night, I decided to go check out the concert at Queensbay Mall as Power Station was coming to perform. Well my main purpose was not to go countdown, but more towards shooting the concert, and besides, I missed the past year’s concert which I think featured more interesting celebrities, not that the celebrities who came last night aren’t interesting.

Action!

Traffic was really bad when nearing Queensbay, in the end I had to park at Gold Coast and walk over to the stage area, which was already packed with people. Though I was pretty surprised that it was not all that packed as there was still breathing space in between, guess Penangites don’t like to cramp up together eh? I suppose it was due to this that I managed to make my way all the way to the front of the stage, although my angle was kinda blocked by the huge woofers. Standing in front of the huge woofers was quite difficult in the beginning as you could feel the vibrations reaching all the way to your heart, talk about power. But as I got used to it, there was eventually not much feeling at all.

Due to my late arrival, the first performance I saw was by Man Hand (honestly no idea who they are), which was interesting as all the members were bald, even the female member! Their songs were quite upbeat and energetic, not bad for a local group.

Sing with me

Next up was Tank, from Taiwan I think. Young ‘entau ba’ type who gets the girls all ecstatic at the wave of his hand. At least his songs aren’t half bad, quite enjoyed his songs actually, and he does talk and reminicise a lot.

Power Station

The final act was by none other than Power Station!! Saving all the power for last I suppose, the duo did not talk much other than spouting a few Malay phrases, some weren’t too appropriate though, I mean ‘Selamat Hari Raya’? The crowd was all silent when he said that, I guess it’s better than everyone bursting out laughing eh. Brush up on your Malay and get it right next time dude. A very nice performance by them nonetheless.

The crowd goes wild

After which was the count down, 20 seconds followed by 8 minutes of fireworks. Maybe it’s the distance or the type of fireworks they used, but it just did not look great at all, it was equally as bad during the Merdeka celebration. After which was almost an hour’s jam before I reached home, bidding farewell to the year 2009.

The countdown begins

Happy New Year 2010!!

My Bazooka

Now if you are a photographer, you probably know what this lens is, yeah it’s a the ever popular Canon telephoto lens! My very first L lens, a very expensive souvenir I bought in Singapore. This baby really burned a big hole in my pocket (nearly RM7,000), but it’s well worth the money. The full package comes with carrying case and hood as well.

I tried out the lens instantly after making payment, the first few shots I tried out were the panning shots, not only was the auto focus fast to lock onto the oncoming cars, the Image Stabilizer really helped out as well. Just a note, my previous panning attempts weren’t all that successful.

Front profile

However with GREAT POWER also comes GREAT WEIGHT!!! Oh yes this baby weighs a whopping 1.5kg (1.47kg to be exact), and can be rather strenuous after a while. Strangely though, I found it less straining to carry it in my hands than stuffing it in my backpack (also bought at Singapore), where I can really feel the strain on my legs and knees. If I had the bag full, including my Macbook, I’d be carrying over 6kg on my back around the streets of Singapore!! Guess that explains why my pants are slightly looser right now, which I’m glad.

The moral of the story? The best way to lose weight is to go traveling with a full load of camera and computer equipment on your back!

Back profile

Alright, back to the lens itself, well so far I’ve only field tested it in Singapore and I find that the image quality is superb, images are sharper, and definition is higher compared to any other lens in my arsenal right now. With a big F2.8 throughout the focal lengths, there’s no worry of your aperture changing after zooming in for that close up.

Ultrasonice Motor (USM) with Image Stabilizer (IS)

Build quality is superb, very solid in your hands, did I mention very heavy as well? I shall post up more photos later on for further testing of this Bazooka. I doubt I will have any regrets burning a hole in my wallet with this one.

Image Stabilizer controls

• First – Quickly press all the different levels of buttons in the lift. When the emergency electricity supply is being activated, it will stop the lift from falling further.
• Second – Hold on tight to the handle (if there is any).. It is to support your position and prevent you from falling or getting hurt when you lost your balance.
• Third – Lean your back and head against the wall forming a straight line. Leaning against the wall is to use it as a support for your back/spine as protection.
• Fourth – Bend your knees. Ligament is a flexible, connective tissue. Thus, the impact of fractured bones will be minimised during fall.

Anyone has more concrete facts on the matter don’t hesitate to post your comments below.

Ever wondered why men likes looking at the female breasts? Maybe it’s just genetic, a gender response and need, an unresistible attraction, or whatever reason you can think of, here’s another reason you can add to your list of ‘reasons/excuses’ the next time you are caught staring at someone’s breasts.

“10 Minutes Of Staring at Breasts Daily Prolongs Man’s Life by 5 Years” was a really catchy and bold claim when I first read it. How true is it? Well according to the below article it’s been thoroughly researched and tested, still don’t believe me? Read on then…

According to German research published in New England Journal of Medicine, men staring at women’s breasts in fact prolong their lives with years.

“Just 10 minutes of looking at the charms of a well-endowed females is equivalent to a 30-minute aerobics work-out,” said author Dr. Karen Weatherby, a gerontologist.

The team led by Weatherby was made up of researchers at three hospitals in Frankfurt, Germany, and found this results after monitoring for 5 years the health of 200 male subjects, half of whom were asked to look at busty females daily, while the other half had to abstain from doing so.

For five years, the breasts oglers presented a lower blood pressure, slower resting pulse rates and decreased risk of coronary artery disease.

“Sexual excitement gets the heart pumping and improves blood circulation. There’s no question: Gazing at large breasts makes men healthier. Our study indicates that engaging in this activity a few minutes daily cuts the risk of stroke and heart attack in half.” said Weatherby, who even recommends that men aged over 40 should spend at least 10 minutes daily admiring breasts sized “D-cup” or larger.

An interesting read no doubt, believe it or not, like it or hate it, men will always be attracted to certain parts of the female physique. So fellow guys out there, want to prolong your life by 5 years? Then you should really start trying out this therapy. Haha, good luck though…

1. Finding at least one thing about your appearance worth complimenting (“I’ve always loved your … earlobes”).
2. Finding at least one thing about your new haircut worth criticising.
3. Lending you (often without knowing it) moisturiser.
4. Keeping Darfur on the agenda by being interested in what George Clooney is up to.
5. Employing, through her retail habits, tens of thousands of children in the developing world.
6. Leaving lots of little bits of ground apricot kernel in the bath after her weekly exfoliation.
7. Never being too embarrassed to dance with you, despite your two left feet.
8. Compensating for your lack of colour co-ordination (they know the colours that go — and the ones that don’t).
9. Answering all the boy-band questions in the pub pop quiz.
10. Remembering the birthdays of friends, family and long-forgotten godchildren.
11. Having a unique method of navigation (“No, the other left”).
12. Fishing, outrageously, for compliments.
13. Reminding you about Mother’s Day. Twice.
14. Saying that you’re not romantic enough and then complaining about your choice of restaurant.
15. Looking great in a little black dress. Every woman has her inner Audrey Hepburn.
16. Being paranoid about running out of petrol (you know the car will do 50 miles after the warning light comes on, but would it hurt to fill up now?).
17. Restacking the dishwasher after you’ve done it.
18. Gaydar (“My best friend from uni, are you sure?”).
19. Writing thank-you notes after Christmas.
20. Saving the planet, one toilet-roll tube at a time.
21. Making summer in the city endlessly diverting.
22. Spotting lipstick on your collar.
23. Finding something to like about your football team, even if it is only that Cesc Fàbregas “has a nice smile”.
24. Moaning that you never cook dinner, and then getting all control freakish when you try to take over the kitchen.
25. Being the Queen.
26. Asking questions to which there is no winning answer.
27. Wearing the lingerie that you bought her on Valentine’s Day at least once.
28. Saving Hugh Grant and Colin Firth from being unemployed.
29. Making divorce lawyers rich.
30. Monitoring your breath (they can detect garlic-bread consumption at ten paces).
31. Wearing your pyjamas.
32. Getting the kids to school on time … with their homework, dinner money, PE kit and the signed letter allowing them to go on the school trip on Friday.
33. Cajoling you into turning up on parents’ evening.
34. Randomising your CD collection by putting the wrong artists in the wrong cases.
35. Being able to say something nice about your mum’s clothes, hair, garden or cooking no matter how tense things got last Christmas.
36. Giving builders something to whistle at.
37. Giving Italians something to pinch.
38. Hearing your sotto voce cursing from three rooms away.
39. Coming over all Florence Nightingale, when you both know it’s just a cold.
40. Making the prospect of moving into a studio flat and losing half your income seem desirable.
41. Showing you no sympathy for your hangover (maybe you’ll think twice before ordering Jägermeister chasers next time).
42. Being able to have a 15-minute phone conversation when a five-minute one will do.
43. Knowing when the sheets need changing.
44. Enthusiastically dancing with children and old people at weddings so that you can concentrate on propping up the bar and making salacious comments about the bridesmaids.
45. Buying that really nice-smelling shampoo.
46. Communicating with animals, plants and babies.
47. Staying awake all night worrying about when your teenage children will come home.
48. Not making fun of you for falling asleep during Match of the Day.
49. Fixing your bow tie.
50. Buying you new pants and socks.
51. Choosing your aftershave (you thought Lynx was OK?).
52. Preventing you from becoming a sports bore by filling up the diary to coincide with all major sporting events.
53. Criticising you for never tidying up, but using the bed as a table on which to store assorted underwear and hosiery, and filling the car with bits of make-up.
54. Encouraging you to get in touch with your sensitive side.
55. Singing the soprano aria Vissi d’Arte from Puccini’s Tosca.
56. Making you fashionably late by coming downstairs in a dress, going back up, changing, and coming back down again in a remarkably similar dress. Then asking you if you preferred the first one.
57. Encouraging your kids’ artistic talents, despite all the mess that they’ll make with the glue, paint and egg boxes.
58. Breastfeeding.
59. Having a strong opinion on the seating plan, flowers and colour of the bridesmaids’ dresses at your wedding.
60. Remembering all those little details about your children that alcohol, stress and old age have wiped from your memory.
61. Preventing the early onset of Alzheimer’s by making you guess which tiny, imperceptible slight she is cross with you about today.
62. Being more embarrassing than you are when drunk.
63. Solving the recession by buying “investment” fashion items.
64. Reminding you that the mightiest power on the planet is not Russia, or Iran, or the British Army, but a humble sex hormone called oestrogen.
65. Breaking biscuits in half before eating them.
66. Breaking your heart.
67. And then sleeping with your best friend.
68. Reminding you of the nutritional benefits of broccoli and half a grapefruit — and that Kettle Chips, cheese and chocolate biscuits are the reason that you’re a stone heavier than you were three years ago . . .
69. …And then eating two Mini Magnums during Newsnight.
70. Letting you be the knight in shining armour when she didn’t really need rescuing.
71. Knowing everything about your kids’ education when you struggle to remember which class they are in at school (“Is it 9, er, K?”).
72. Being an expert in internet shopping, yet incapable of replacing the printer cartridge.
73. Proving that the application of logic, contrary to the views of most philosophers, is not a necessary prerequisite for winning an argument.
74. Providing the essential sports equipment for Finland’s annual wife-carrying competition (where the winner receives his wife’s weight in beer).
75. Pretending that she’s grateful after you’ve spent all Sunday tidying the shed.
76. Indulging you when you describe how the goal you scored on Sunday was up there with the one that Ricky Villa scored against Manchester City in the 1981 FA Cup final.
77. Diagnosing your child’s latest development problem.
78. Moaning about how all the school shirts she ironed are now scrunched up at the bottom of your son’s wardrobe.
79. Tidying away important documents into the recycling bin.
80. Giving away your most unfashionable clothes to charity (without you realising).
81. Obsessing about your ex-girlfriends enough to make you feel like a lothario.
82. Loving you enough to lie about how many men she has slept with.
83. Giving you the biggest half of whatever it is that you’re sharing.
84. Checking any handwashed dishes for “missed bits”.
85. Justifying the premium that you paid to protect your no-claims bonus.
86. Sharing your most intimate secrets with her friends.
87. Spending enough on her highlights to make you feel OK about buying yourself a new iPhone, Sky subscription or Premier League season ticket.
88. Asking, “Does this taste funny to you?”.
89. Covering beds in enough pillows to suffocate an entire old people’s home.
90. Spitting in a handkerchief and then rubbing it on your face because you’re grubby.
91. Asking who left the toilet lid up.
92. Spending so long in the shower that the drain overfills and floods next-door’s garden.
93. Salvaging the dinner you’ve totally messed up.
94. Looking worse than you with a moustache.
95. Borrowing your favourite jumper and making it smell like a girl.
96. Losing the plot in films.
97. Going through the other DIY jobs that need doing while you balance on a ladder trying to fix something else.
98. Buying things and hiding them at the back of the wardrobe.
99. Calling you just after you’ve pulled out of the car park to let you know about that other essential item that she wanted you to get.
100. Giving you a very good reason for being late for work.
101. Propagating the human race.

1. Whistling at you in the street on your 41st birthday (this should be a state-funded initiative).
2. Model railways, the running and maintenance of.
3. Pigeon fancying.
4. Particle physics
5. Eating up the elderly tub of coleslaw in the back of the fridge after an evening at the pub.
6. Opening all those terrifying brown envelopes that the bank will insist on sending you.
7. Catching spiders.
8. Bringing you tea in bed in the mornings.
9. Forgetting your anniversary, but then wildly overcompensating with a completely over-the-top gesture, preferably involving diamonds.
10. Making your limited capacity for grooving look positively Madonna-esque by dancing around you wildly, arms and legs jerking like a demented puppet.
11. Lending you (often without knowing it) a razor.
12. Parking.
13. Ensuring that the children learn to play happily on their own by applying special male method of childcare, namely sitting on the sofa reading the paper while they set fire to the house.
14. Keeping Coleen Rooney in handbags by continuous funding of endless, dreary football games.
15. Explaining the rules of cricket, slowly and in words of one syllable, every two years.
16. Baring his bottom on stag nights.
17. Helping to keep you fit and supple by generously leaving towels, socks and other items of personal attire dotted around the floor for you to pick up.
18. Supporting the luxury car market with the purchase, on his 50th birthday, of a meno-Porsche.
19. Patronising you at parties.
20. Being the Pope.
21. Cartography, and all its many delights.
22. Trying very hard to distract you in the delivery room by telling you about the time he got really badly constipated and had to go to hospital and, you know, the consultant said that sometimes the pain can be almost as bad as the agony of labour . . .
23. Using the last drop of milk before, very helpfully, putting the empty carton back in the fridge.
24. Looking nice in a dinner suit. Every man has an inner James Bond.
25. Stocking the iPod with obscure (albeit largely unlistenable) punk music from the 1970s, even though he went to a nice grammar school and has never even owned a pair of DMs, let alone used them to stamp on a hippy’s head.
26. Driving up very close behind you on the motorway and flashing his lights repeatedly. So sweet to notice your new highlights . . .
27. Being a rock star. Florence and the Machine is all very well, but no match for, say, the raw guitar strut of Caleb out of Kings of Leon (silly name, silly beard, very sexy boy whichever way you cut it).
28. Loading all the glasses the wrong way up in the dishwasher.
29. Overfeeding the dog.
30. Saying, “Oh, so that explains it” in a cryptic voice the day you get your period.
31. Making the inventor of the electric nose-hair clipper very, very rich.
32. Doing lots of very important pointing and shouting.
33. Hunting — and gathering — on the wild Burgundian plains.
34. Catching man-flu.
35. Feeding your children raw barbecue sausages (“It’ll build up their immune systems!”).
36. Removing dead mice from the house.
37. Losing the keys for the roofbox.
38. Blaming you for losing the keys to the roofbox — then finding them in his coat pocket.
39. Making sure that every last pot and pan in the kitchen gets used to its full potential when cooking special Daddy spagbol for Sunday lunch.
40. Building large, pointy metal tubes, filling them with explosives and firing them into the air.
41. Encouraging Britain’s thriving shed manufacturing industry.
42. Insisting that only he can be trusted to drive on the right-hand side of the road in a foreign country and then going the wrong way round the roundabout at the exit from the airport, careering into an oncoming Fiat Panda, arguing furiously with the police and ensuring that the first night of your Italian holiday is spent in a Sicilian jail.
43. Not calling when he says he will.
44. Doing those really strange man-bonding handshakes.
45. Alphabetising your record collection.
46. Being able to wear the same pair of shoes for 25 years before buying a new pair.
47. Accidentally stroking your bottom while directing you to your chair.
48. Codpieces, the wearing of.
49. Eating full-size Mars bars.
50. Inventing Prog Rock.
51. Drinking warm fermented hops.
52. Listening to Wagner.
53. Being a murderous despot (go on, name a female murderous despot).
54. Letting the lawn grow free and wild. It’s not a lawn, it’s an eco-meadow!
55. Warming the bed.
56. Making those trips to Ikea such a stress-free delight.
57. Reading, and actually understanding, instruction manuals for small electrical devices.
58. If not exactly fixing the car, then at least looking purposeful until the AA turns up.
59. Ordering a lovely big bowl of chips in a restaurant which you then eat most of — without, of course, having actually ordered any yourself.
60. Mixing the perfect gin and tonic.
61. Remembering the rules to Canasta.
62. Standing behind you for emotional support as you creep downstairs to investigate those strange noises . . .
63. Remembering the relevance of minor characters in The Sopranos
64. Constructing your son’s 10,000-piece Lego Death Star.
65. Doing price comparisons for car insurance.
66. Setting the sat-nav.
67. Finishing off that glass of wine you poured an hour ago but never got round to drinking.
68. Having more hair on his legs than you.
69. Working out how to fold up the wretched double buggy.
70. Doing up the zip on your dress.
71. Keeping the local Indian takeaway in business.
72. Eating the children’s leftovers (it makes the eco-wash on the dishwasher much more effective).
73. Sky Plus-ing The Wire.
74. Making sure there’s always enough party ice in the freezer.
75. Sweetly buying you size 12 underwear when in actual fact you’re at least a size 16.
76. Helping the children with their trigonometry homework.
77. Always having at least three glasses of water in the vicinity of the bedside table – even if two of those glasses are at least a week old.
78. Going to the dump.
79. Eating cornichons.
80. Delivering a rip-roaring best man speech.
81. Leaving all the drawers and cupboard doors in the house very slightly open.
82. Being Father Christmas, and beards in general.
83. Opening jars (as loosened by you).
84. Regularly contracting obscure and incurable tropical diseases (as diagnosed on Google), only to recover miraculously just in time for the cricket.
85. Snoring.
86. Carving.
87. Watering the toilet seat. What is it, a plant?
88. Doing the Atkins diet. Fried eggs, sausages, lard: what’s not to like?
89. Wearing comedy swimming trucks.
90. Loving his mummy.
91. Making fire.
92. Putting things very helpfully in the general vicinity of the washing machine – but never switching it on (or hanging the stuff out afterwards).
93. Managing to ruin a perfectly plumped-up sofa within precisely three seconds.
94. Keeping all those lovely old gentlemen-only clubs from going under.
95. Going up into the loft.
96. Making sure there are at least four radios in the house that are tuned to John Humphrys at any given time.
97. Presenting Top Gear.
98. Doing air guitar.
99. Suddenly remembering a very pressing telephone call whenever there’s even the whiff of a dirty nappy.
100. Diving, in exotic destinations.
101. Never (or only very occasionally) wanting to borrow your favourite dress.

Here’s a collection of some one liners that’s sure to make you laugh or at least smile

I’ve highlighted my personal favorites, what are yours?

1. I say no to alcohol, it just doesn’t listen.
2. A friend in need is a pest indeed.
3. Marriage is one of the chief causes of divorce.
4. Work is fine if it doesn’t take too much of your time.
5. When everything comes in your way, you’re in the wrong lane.
6. The light at the end of the tunnel may be an incoming train.
7. Born free, taxed to death.
8. Everyone has a photographic memory; some just don’t have film.
9. Life is unsure; always eat your dessert first.
10. Smile, it makes people wonder what you are thinking.
11. It’s not hard to meet expenses, they are everywhere.
12. I love being a writer…what I can’t stand is the paperwork.
13. A printer consists of 3 main parts: the case, the jammed paper tray and
    the blinking red light.
14. The guy who invented the first wheel was an idiot. The guy who invented
    the other three, he was the genius.
15. The trouble with being punctual is that no one is there to appreciate it.
16. In a country of free speech, why are there phone bills?
17. If you cannot change your mind, are you sure you have one?
18. Beat the 5 o’clock rush, leave work at noon!
19. If you can’t convince them, confuse them.
20. It’s not the fall that kills you. It’s the sudden stop at the end.
21. I couldn’t repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder.
22. Hot glass looks same as cold glass – Cunino’s Law of Burnt Fingers.
23. The cigarette does the smoking, you are just the sucker.
24. Someday is not a day of the week.
25. Whenever I find the key to success, someone changes the lock.
26. To err is human; to forgive is not a Company policy.
27. The road to success…is always under construction.
28. Alcohol doesn’t solve any problems, but if you think again, neither does
    Milk.
29. In order to get a loan, you first need to prove that you don’t need it.

  …and here’s the best of the lot

30. All the desirable things in life are either illegal, expensive, fattening or in love with someone else.

Preparation for the dance

Anyway back to the lion dance, as we arrived early we had the chance to see them preparing, and for the first time we saw that there were actually mattresses and cushions at the base of the stilts which were later covered with a green silky cloth as part of the decoration.

The crew

There was quite a crowd that came to spectate as well, the night started out with a dragon dance, which IMHO would have been better if it were not cramped up on the small stage. Did not bother to get any shots of it either.

The lion on stilts

The first Lion Dance performance by Team B was well done, nearly no mistakes, but it was not so smooth for Team A later on as there was a part where the front dancer kept falling to the ground, apparently it was due to the strong winds, or IMHO, was due to the dancer at the back being unable to grab onto him properly, but well I’m probably wrong as these guys should be well trained for the performance. Luckily nobody got hurt.

Gaze into the night

There was another performance with a black lion but due to bad placement of the drums, all we could see were the drummers backsides and some glimpses of the lion head when they were raised.

Qi Lin

There was a Qi Lin amongst the lions as well, did not quite like the costume though as it looked to me like a hell hound, and again the view of it was obscured most of the time.

The black lion

Leap of faith

Playful Lion

There will be an international lion dance competition on the 26th to 27th September 2009 at the Komtar Dome. Be sure to go check it out if you’re a fan of lion dance as it will be your chance to watch international standard lion dance right here in Penang!

Bob from Tekken 6

Rufus from Street Fighter IV

Guess what, for all their fat, these two characters are surprisingly agile and flexible and not to be prejudice about fat people but we have a real life example of how agile they can be, anyone who watches Kung Fu movies would be familiar with Samo Hung, although not quite the same size as our video game characters but he sure isn’t err… thin, yet he’s a very agile fighter. Check out the videos below to see what I mean.

Rufus shakes his jelly belly as he confronts his rival to become the No. 1 fighter in the USA!

Bob putting the hurt down on some Tekken characters in this trailer.

This really disproves the stereotype that has long been established that fat people are slow, heck they could possibly be faster than you, so think twice before laughing at tubby next time ya. On a side note, maybe fat could become the next ‘in’ look, afterall it’s we humans who dictate these so called ‘trends’ (sorry but could not think of a more appropriate word to use here)

For those who would like to sing along, the lyrics are below for your singing pleasure.

 
Forgot how long it’s been
since I last heard you
telling me ’bout your fav’rite story
thought for a long time,
began to worry.
Is it me who did something wrong?

 
You cried and said to me
that fairytales are all just lies.
I couldn’t be your fairytale prince.
but you don’t understand
since you gave me your hands
stars in my sky began to shine.

 
I’m willing to change into
The angel in those fairy tales
Just turn my arms into wings and hold you near.
You must believe, believe that we will be like a fairytale,
ending with happiness and love.

 
You cried and said to me
that fairytales are all just lies.
I couldn’t be your fairytale prince.
but you don’t understand
since you gave me your hands
stars in my sky began to shine.

 
I want to be your fantasy
The angel that you used to love.
Just turn my arms into wings and hold you near.
You must believe, believe that we will be like a fairytale,
ending with happiness and love.

 
I wish to be your fantasy.
The angel that you used to love.
Just turn my arms into wings and hold you near.
You must believe, believe that we will be like a fairytale,
ending with happiness and love.