The Ball

The Monash Ball of 2006, themed Royale Escapade. Held here at the venerable (although in a slight state of degradation) Palace of the Golden Horses, it was the largest Ball I’ve ever experienced as part of the Ball committee’s Ticketing and Promotions department. Coincidentally, they also put me in charge of the department this year. Boo-yah!

Well, all things considered, I think I did a pretty decent job. No one wanted my head on a platter after the Ball so I will take that as a good sign. The two years of working exp with the Ticketing dept really helped.

Naturally, I had to haul myself much earlier to the site to ensure that everything was prepared for the 700++ exquisitely-dressed university students hording into the Royal Ballrooms. Boredom pretty much set in after awhile so I began to had some fun with my camera.

Preparing the ice sculpture. Always a favorite prop for any Ball photographs.

Just a plant which I thought was a nice shot.

Sean admiring the detailed art craft involved in making ice sculptures.

So yeah, this Ball actually started more or less on time! Something that doesn’t happen a lot in this business. The performances/beauty pageants went smoothly with very little to no pauses in between, which was a great job done by Dahlia, Seng Kiat (Heads of Performances) Melissa and Nava (Heads of Ball Sponsorship and Pagents).

Opening act done by KC and gang. The Chicago Street Jam.

An ethnic cultural dance by Divya.

Jia Qi’s debut as a songbird. A crowd pleaser, judging from the long line of well dressed young men coming onto the stage to hand her bouquet of flowers.

Anyway, here are the usual people-and-me photos.

Highlights was David and Sean BOTH winning the lucky draw! How befitting that it is our last Ball. Dave won some high tea at Sunway Hotel and Sean won a speaker set.



Unfortunately, our traditional Godfather picture didn’t really work out in the end. The other guys weren’t too keen on it anymore. :(
But it’s ok. The two loyal henchmen are still loyal to the Father.

Here is the link to pictures from Sean's and David's camera.
Now, for some YouTube clips!


The Opening Light Show!

Basil & Joanne’s performance of When I Look to the Sky.

Overall, a very satisfying Ball. One where I actually enjoyed every show. And oh boy, do I mean every show! Even the humiliating ones. :P You know what I mean. One thing that I am not going to miss though are total strangers calling me at every odd hours of the day to ask “Still got tables for the Ball or not?” or “When are the tickets going to come out?”.

Hahaha! Although I may miss getting so much attention. :P

“This is the AK-47. When you absolutely have to kill everybody in the room, accept no substitute.”

Clubbing Nerd Hitz!

This Basshunter dude must be the coolest geek in the world!
I mean how many people in the world could actually produce a clubbing hit… about DotA?!



I mean look at this guy! This is how geeks should be revered! With loads of phat clubbing girlz dancing around while we p4wn some n00bs digitally. Unfortunately, the video is portraying a nerd-Nirvana, a spiritual place where only the l33t3st of gamers are allowed into that big cybercafé club in the sky after they die.

But his earlier work, Boten Anna, apparently climbed it's way up to number one on several European music charts. I’m sure that any old school IRC users can seriously dig this song. An ode to all the bot moderators in our chat channels. Go check it out:



See? If you’re a geek, migrate to the U.K. Apparently, they are worshiped as demi-Gods over there.

Thanks to Leto and DJ Lothrion for the find.

“They say life begins at 40. But only a fool would wait that long.”

The Boogie Man Is Here!

Imagine this being the last image engraved in your mind.

Man, I just love Hitman: Blood Money. Excellent graphics, beautifully detailed scenery and of course the ability to make all your hits look… natural. Accident do happen, you know! Pianos falling from the sky, mistakenly using a real pistol instead of a prop one, drowning, weights crushing your windpipe, excessive food poisoning, “tripping” off a 200-foot cliff… It is all very plausible in real life… :)

They are also making a movie for the game! Not to sure if Vin Diesel can pull it off (just because he is one of the more famous bald-badasses out there… sheesh). Still, it looks promising though.

“My client has asked me to ensure it’s the last thing you will ever see... Please, look at the photograph, Mr. Clearance.”

9/11 Blues

I can’t think of any other numerical date that has been referred to as much as today. Unless it is your birthday, then kudos for you because I doubt anyone will ever forget it. Of course, having your birthday reminder associated with the worst terrorist attack in the 21st century is a mixed blessing to be sure.

In some way, 9/11 has also become a very powerful plot tool in many of today’s movies and TV series. Either in the form of comedy (think the airplane scene in Anger Management), lead character's backstory (Detective Mac Taylor from CSI: NY fame lost his wife during the WTC attacks), reaction to racial traits (how the SWAT dudes bitch-smack the poor Sikh bank clerk from Inside Man when the robbers released him with a suspicious briefcase around his neck) and especially in the majority of today’s action flicks where one of the 'plausible' reasons given on why the good, all-American hero just had to hose everyone down with a good dose of lead was because they were “suspected to be terrorists.”

Well, life hasn’t really changed much here in Malaysia. Today’s Star headlines were about the emergency numbers we have. Apparently, from what I can understand from a first glance at the article, the 999 number has been discontinued for some time already. They are planning to bring it back only if someone will be willing to pay for the line’s maintenance! WTF?
Anyway, it is good to know that hand-phones can dial for emergency services with 121… or was it 122? … errr… oh, boy. Better not get into any trouble with an empty credited phone then.

There is something that I’ve been thinking about though. On one of the rare moments where I actually stayed awake long enough before dozing off during my church’s sermon, a phrase sort of gotten stuck in my mind.

“The media has twisted the idea of sex because they portray that intimacy should come before getting to know the person better.”
Then, after watching My Super Ex-Girlfriend yesterday, it got me thinking. When we hear about real friends/associates/people we know screwing around, we are intrigued and sometimes maybe disgusted (or jealous even! :P ).

But when we watch a movie that portrays a looser side of intimacy, we sort of sublimely accept the fact that it is perfectly normal for that one and a half hour of screening time. When we come out, it’s back to being the conservative Asian again.

Not saying that anybody’s like this or that. It’s just funny that promiscuity seams so… normal. Such an everyday thing like washing the car or getting on the train when I am watching a movie.

Oh, yeah. My Super Ex-Girlfriend rocks! Too bad on the censorship though. Very badly done. Another brilliant movie and RM10 gone due to our beloved censorship board that so vigilantly guards our morality from the evils of the Western world. I salute you, good sirs!
Think about this though… they get paid to sit and watch un-censored and screen potentially banned films all day long. Sounds like a wickedly fun part-time job…
I wonder if they are taking in summer interns. :)

“You have invaded the nation of woman and spread your seeds of democracy!”

Avenue Kosong

Avenue K… It’s been like around for ages already but the place still looks like an abandoned warehouse (albeit a really well-kept one).

Empty as heck but I really didn’t notice the security guard while taking the picture until I viewed it in the computer. Scary?

Doesn’t look much different since the last time I’ve been there. That was about a year ago during my stitch with The Star, covering New Year celebration @ KLCC. That was also the time I got my old Minolta camera stolen literally from right under my nose! Damm man… These people are good. A second ago I was putting it into my cargo’s side-pocket and before I knew it, I was a couple of ounces lighter. And they work in teams, as the incident happened in a seriously overcrowded train.

One will pick your pocket as the train enters the next stop and about 5 of them will push their way to get out together. Even if I did notice my camera been lifted, I will in most likely probability just grab hold of the wrong guy walking out. Besides, if things get rowdy, I am rather unenthusiastic on my chances in a 5 vs 1 brawl.

The guys and I found a lonely Nikko hobby shop at the top floor. There were some pretty cool toys for big boys up there. Mostly remote controlled cars, trucks, planes and boats with a whole section dedicated for die-cast model variations. Also, mostly out of our purchasing power. :(

Most young boys will go nuts over such exquisitely authentic looking tractors and trucks, but not me. Thanks to an old traumatic experience with a Stephen King horror movie , I got issues with any road vehicle that is larger than a van back when I was a kid.

Some cool shots of model cars... Looks like the real McCoy, don't they?

Took some other interesting photos of Ave K. They have the longest escalator I’ve ever seen. There is this lonely feel about it as it moves up and down rider-less. A vast emptiness of something that was made to be teeming with life. Kinda mirrors a lot of people I know.

My first shot of the day. I like the color.

"Boris the Blade? As in Boris the Bullet-Dodger?"

"Why do they call him the Bullet-Dodger?"

"...."

"'Cause he dodges bullets, Avi."

Why You Think The Net Was Born?

I love this song! I’m going to teach it to the entire crew!



Our software is perfect, the problem must be with you.