THE DASH

End of a Decade: 2010 in Retrospect

2010-12-31T20:38:00.028+08:00

According to GMT + 8, that is if you're in China, Singapore, or most other bits of South East Asia, it's going to be 2011 in just a few hours. But before we usher in the new decade and contemplate on the significance of being a year nearer to 2012, here's a summary of 2010, by the editor:

In case you didn't know, The Columnist is run by a single person, yours truly, who's the editor, journalist, etc. etc., churning out the best stories for your entertainment. But I'm sure you did know. Anyway, it's a really tiring job, running to Britain to cover the Stig's story and stuff. Just kidding. But still, you'd never expect that the draft of this post was written on 8th Nov, at 11:30pm, after watching the 2010 MTV Europe Music Awards on the tele (Eva Longoria's smokin' alright!), and for that, I suppose I do deserve a treat. A Mc-Merc SLR 722 would be just fine, so would a gullwing SLS. We do love gullwings here. Alright, let’s cut the small talk.

2010 was a great year, albeit a busy one — almost frantic, I must say. It was such a hectic year that I can’t really remember what I did for more than half the time. In fact, the only things I was sure I did do was watch a Christmas theatrical performance about some guy with massive eyeliner who lost his front teeth, and a Cantonese bat called BaatMaan; the thing I was sure I didn’t do is going ice fishing in the Arctic with no trousers on. I’m also quite sure I hit a high score on ThrillDrive 3, and that Katy Perry got married to a guy with long hair and speaks funny. Hmmm. Oh yes, OBS was phenomenal too, one of the happiest moments this year, in fact. A good word to describe this year would then be eventful.

2010 in timewave theory, just kidding.

Now it’s time for our prestigious and coveted end-of-year award ceremony, where we present whatever prizes we deem fit to whatever/whoever which/whom we deem the prize we deem fit fit, beginning with music.

The music scene in 2010, I must say, is of little surprise, being dominated by those who made it big last year. But there are still plenty of hot tracks too choose from. Except the funny thing is, Hollywood singers are getting younger and younger — there's now a 10 yr old girl singing a crazy song (Whip My Hair by Willow Smith)... Anyway, here are the awards.

Song of the Year:	Club Can’t Handle Me by Flo Rida (This one simply makes you wanna get up and dance!)
Best Music Video:	All The Lovers by Kylie Minogue (This is a sizzling must watch!)
Best Pop:	Teenage Dream by Katy Perry (Title track of her new smash hit album! Awesome video too!)
Best Hip-hop:	We Dance On by N-Dubz ft. Bodyrox ("Imma stand up like a soldier!")
Best Love:	Mine by Taylor Swift (Awesome lyrics from Taylor Swift, as usual, and accompanied by great video!)
For the Lay-dee!!!	We’ll Be A Dream by Demi Lovato ft. We The Kings (sweet lyrics and melody.)
Best Miserable:	Nothing by The Script (They’re always a miserable bunch, and now they’ve taken it to a whole new level!)
Best Happy Miserable o.O:	Misery by Maroon 5 (How can misery feel so jolly! Ouch!)
Best Crap Song:	Woohoo by Christina Aguilera ft. Nicki Minaj (YOU HAVE GOT TO CHECK OUT THE LYRICS FOR THIS ONE! Anyone want a Woohoo?)
Most Over-played:	Love The Way You Lie by Eminem ft. Rihanna (An awesome song made boring by excessive radio airtime… An unscientific study showed that this song is aired somewhere in the world 31 times every 28 seconds.)

Now, let’s move on to automobiles. Really sad stuff this year, with the death of the beloved Murcielago and its supreme Lambo V12 engine that powered the legendary Miura and the Countach… (See Up and Downs II) And the BMW World at Marina Bay Sands Convention Centre was slightly disappointing as well. Not to mention, the new BMW designs are not entirely pleasing. Too many creases too, almost crumpled, I would say.

Car of the Year:	Lamborghini LP 570-4 Gallardo Superlaggera (Green is the new orange for Lambo!)
Best Cheap and Cheerful:	Alfa Romeo MiTo (You must remember, this is an Alfa…)
Best Marginally Affordable:	Volkswagen Sirocco GTI (Essentially a Golf with a crushed nose, less practicality, and a bigger price tag. Just the way we like it)
Hottest Hot Hatch:	Ford Focus RS500 (Imagine 350bhp in front-wheel drive. Now imagine the Ford Focus...)
Best Luxury:	Bentley Continental GT (The Bentley badge has 10 wings on one side and 11 on the other…)
Best Sexy:	Mercedes Benz SLS AMG (You'd wish it was naked...)
Best Hardcore Racing Pedigree:	Pagani Zonda R (It’s loud, really LOUD)

And, a more positive outlook, the new yet-to-be-named replacement for the Lamborghini Murcielago will hit the streets next year, and with already 50 buyers in Singapore getting them at 1.5 million SGD a pop, we’ll hopefully see one cruising along Orchard if we’re observant enough!

Finally (drum roll please), we shall present our most prestigious award of all, The Golden Cock (by this we mean a chicken), for the greatest act of blunder or showcase of stupidity for the year. And this year's Cock goes to Qantas, for blowing up more than four planes in just a couple of weeks! Lesson learned: next time you use an animal for your logo, check to see if it has wings.

Alright, that's 2010 for you! It's been a truly wonderful year, and the new decade ahead will be full of new hopes and promises for everyone, and The Dash also hopes for expansion, if we have the time. Have fun folks, goodnight!

Coming soon: Pedal to the Metal — a quick chronological scale of modern technological advancements.

Deathly Hallow's Magical Blunders (+Bonus content)

2010-12-30T21:39:00.009+08:00

December was a busy month; no time to think, no time to post. But, with the seemingly endless stream of experiments and an audacious report done, here's the bit on magical blunders in the Deathly Hallows, as previously promised. However, you know i've sort of made a blunder myself. I promised 'blunders', that's plural with an 's', whereas in reality, there's only one blunder. But pardon me, I couldn't just put 'A Magical Blunder' in the title; that would make it look pathetic and then you wouldn't be reading this, so I had to lie. But now that you've already read so much, I know you will carry on. It's a scientifically proven fallacy of human nature, in a branch known as human psychology. It's true. Now go on.

The actual substance, i am afraid, is not plenty. Remember the bit in the cafe, on Tottenham Court Road, where the trio took down two death eaters? Well, they then suggested they wipe their memories, and Hermione goes on saying she's never done a memory charm before. But wait, didn't she do them on her parents to send them to Australia?

Disappointed? Here's a bonus feature. The movie division sort of made a mistake in they way they got Alan Rickman (Severus Snape) to pose for the publicity shot...

“I pick my nose with my wand, and so should you!”

"ACCIO BOOGERS!"

Consumer Advice I

2010-11-25T13:29:00.002+08:00

Our first friendly consumer advice, i am afraid, is a short one. Here it goes: do not attempt to drink carrot & papaya milkshake. Do so at your own risk. Trust me, i know. I'm an expert at this. Just kidding; I don't think I am. But still, don't say we didn't warn you. You may want to try that avocado instead.

The Ups and Downs II

2010-11-22T14:00:00.008+08:00

You know, this post has been tucked away in the drafts for a long long time, since October actually, and now I am finally going to release it. However, the was a hiccup, i realized. After countless editing, as a result of the shifting nature of what we know as news, the old introduction to this post doesn't really fit anymore, so here I am, coming up with a new one. And just like that, I've done four lines. I'm pretty good at this, ain't I? So anyway, this issue seems devoted to motoring. I guess I have to provide a reason, so here they are: 1. This is November, so it's N for Nürburgring. 2. It's a tribute to the Murcielago. You'll know why in a short while.

Up: James May* (the English bloke on the right with the Bimmer) has, now not-so-recently, coined a brand new definition for driver experience, a shining yardstick for the measurement of car desirability. But before we continue, children, please exercise your own discretion at the moment, and unplug the computer and walk away. Now, with the kids safely away, let us continue. According to May, when one drive, sit in, look at, or just think of certain cars, one experiences a fizzing sensation at, specifically, of all places, behind the penis. It seems that millions of years of human evolution has provided us with a visceral feedback to automotive stimuli, as May attributes this inexplicable reflex to the elusive existence of a fizz gland. And, girls, don't be disappointed; James claims that a couple of girls he's spoken to experiences similar sensations too... Click here for the whole story behind Jame's fizzy logic: BBC TG. Now what get's you fizzing?

(*You've got to know who James May is. And Richard Hammond. And Jeremy Clarkson. Not knowing them is like not the relationship between Garfield and lasagna. Also, don't forget The Stig. Now, some say...)

Up: The new 2011 Bentley Continental GT has sure got all of us fizzing all right, it's so good you'd want to sit in it naked... 'Nuff said, look at the picture.

And here, have a go at our new favourite computer game: Bently Continental GT Visualiz er.

Down: The 4099th, that is the very last, Lamborghini Murciélago has rolled off the production line... The Murciélago, named after an honored fighting bull, is the swan song of the legendary Lamborghini V12 engine that has been powering the supercars of this iconic brand since the 350GT back in 1964. Now, with the death of the Murciélago, the final 6.5L incarnation of the 12-cylinder beast has made its last roar, the beautiful trapezoidal exhaust has sung its last song, and those sublime scissor doors are swung shut for the last time... As fans of the Charging Bull across the globe garland their SV posters and doff their novelty bull hats, we here at Front End pay our tributes to the supercar legend by urging all our readers to set up camp along Holland Road. If you wait long enough, you'll see an SV blur pass eventually, at the same instant you wet your pants. I've seen an orange one so far, and a white one, and another orange one...




(Standard Murciélago LP 640)	(Murciélago LP 670-4 SuperVeloce, in a desert near Abu Dhabi. Now that is sheer effervescence...)

And on that bombshell, we're sorry to say we have come to the end. Stay merry folks!

Coming up next: Blunders in Deathly Hallows J.K. Rowling had carelessly overlooked...
But first, we'd like to present to you our new Consumer Advice section. Stay tuned!

The day we've studied over 10 years for...

2010-11-09T21:43:00.004+08:00

Here's some comic relief for the grueling Chinese O' Levels coming up in less than 10hrs, sung to the tune of You're Beautiful:

I'm learning Chinese, my thoughts are pure
Written in a language, I've known since 4
Nothing ever happens, the essays are pretty bland
Pretending that I'm learning, pray I dun get 'F'

My O'Levels, My O'Levels, My O'Levels
It's through...
I'll get an 'A', enjoy freedom's taste
And I'll never have to do,
another paper, so will you...

And I give a sigh,
As the 'cher walks by,
I can't talk to nobody or look 'em,
in the eye
And I really should start but instead I,
Sit here stonin' hopin' I'll last till the end...

My O'Levels, My O'Levels, My O'Levels
It's screwed...
I saw your face, it shows distaste
And that's when I really knew
I've screwed the paper, just like you...

2010-11-06T18:58:00.005+08:00

We apologize for delaying the much anticipated release of issue II of The Ups and Downs. All our manpower has been temporarily devoted to cover the sudden unforeseen release of the breaking news about The Stig, in fear of being scooped.
As if that will happen...
But we do have to pretend, don't we?
As an apology we promise the next issue of the Ups and Downs to be packed with even more quirky news and dry humor, including - a new benchmark for car desirability by none other than James May...

BREAKING NEWS: Top Secret Stig Breeding Facility Discovered

2010-11-06T18:29:00.023+08:00

HEADLINE NEWS: TopGear has just released highly classified information about its previously undisclosed Stig breeding program. Immediately, our intrepid journalists popped down to the top secret (free-range, GM-free) Top Gear farm facility in an obscure part of rural Britain and held a colourful inspection of the attempt to reproduce the popular 'tame racing driver'. Success of the program is not entirely impressive; Stigs are seen to act wildly in a stupid and rather untamed fashion.

The question is, is the current white Stig (top-right), who have been boldly tearing down the tracks yet never failing to make the audience laugh with his hilarious muteness since Series 3 back in 2003 (it's currently Series 15), finally going to have a more, well, vibrant replacement?

Here is our exclusive news footage fresh from the epicenter:

Odd characteristics of our current Stig includes being afraid of bells or confused by stairs. He never blinks, naturally faces magnetic north, and the outline of his left nipple is in the shape of the Nürburgring. He sometimes spend his spare time catching fish with his tongue and his New Year resolution is to eat less mice. Now some say, when Stigs mate....

For now, it seems that he really will leave, and we'll definitely miss him dearly.

Credits to BBC: http://www.topgear.com/uk/car-news/stig-farm-exclusive-2010-11-5
To those people who do not know who or what The Stig is, shame on you. Not knowing The Stig is like not knowing who invented the pasta. Do your homework here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stig. And don't emerge into the daylight until you've memorized it down to the very last punctuation. When you do, go jump in a lake.

The Spirit Never Dies

2010-10-30T22:05:00.005+08:00

EPILOGUE: 2009 and 2010 is the story of 38 cute chicks (o.O) who came together, braved through all the hell they threw at us these two years, but, most importantly, had AWESOME fun in the process, and emerged in the end victorious, bonded as a single unbreakable entity that is 4C - the uproarious class brimming with spirit and camaraderie.

A big THANK YOU to each and every person, who have, collectively, though each in their own unique and amazing way, made the class truly GREAT.
4 CuteChicks LIVES ON! XD

The Ups and Downs

2010-10-26T18:03:00.007+08:00

Finally, a new blog title, a new look, reflecting a new outlook in life. Just kidding about the last bit.

Anyway, time for a new segment I'd like to call... The Ups and Downs, where we ponder over bits of news that's probably not news anymore, likely to be deemed as irrelevant to most, but nonetheless fun - just the way we prefer. This issue (Hey it's the first!) has a rather gloomy outlook, but well, we're all cynics. Aren't we?

DOWN: Canon has recently launched the new camera in it's EOS X0 lineup, the EOS 60D. Brilliant, until you've realized how much this latest installation downgraded the series, to the dismay of plenty of 50D fans. But that's not the problem. If you've read my previous post carefully enough, you'll know we dislike fanciful gimmicks in cameras. [Quote: "stop making fanciful toys. Forget about the gimmicks. Give us something real."] Now, just when I asked for something real, Canon attached a fanciful articulated screen commercially dubbed a Vari-angle LCD. Canon was the only major brand left without this invariably irritating swivel-ly flip-screen device. Now this really breaks my heart...
(by the way, in case anyone's wondering, no, that's not my hand)

DOWN: Peugeot has got a new badge! The new badge does not differ really much from the previous one, but if you look at how the logo evolved throughout the centuries, you'll clearly see that the distinctive French automotive brand has gone onto the wrong side of the evolutionary curve, shrinking from an alpha male brimming with chest hair and testosterone, to a cute lion cub which probably hasn't even gone through puberty before it got its special part chopped of...

redefining the industry

2010-09-18T18:09:00.025+08:00

A little bored now, so i shall do a 'review'. Never paid much attention to cameras for a long time. But now, after a glance at the market, i am shocked. A revolution is brewing. You see, in the modern camera market, we have always had two fundamental types of camera, the high-mobility compacts, and the big-gun SLRs. Some manufacturers have attempted to bridge this gap, with high-end compacts featuring SLR performance (e.g. the Canon G11) and also with the look-like-SLR bridge cameras (not much creativity in the naming). Yet even more recently, we have seen a new type that seem to fit snugly in between: the cool-looking Pen-style cameras like the Olympus Pen o.O, and the Sony NEX-3/5 (i fancy one, i do) These cameras combine SLR lens-interchangeability with compact style operation, and the result is a device that cost a bomb (more than some SLRs), works like compacts, yet without the 'compact mobility'. (yes, they're bulky, ain't gonna fit in no pocket) Now you're probably thinking, what's the point? If that's the case, you're not alone.

But -drum roll please- it seems that we now have a new contender for the sweet SLR-compact-in-between spot! For a more dramatic effect, read the following narrative. The other day, I was wondering around, and hit the Sony showroom. Immediately, i noticed something different. A new camera. I walked up to it and carefully held it up. At first look, it seems normal, like any other Sony Alpha SLRs. Then I noticed a dedicated flash button. You don't find these on many Alphas. Pretty neat, i thought. The viewfinder eye-cup extends out, good ergonomics. Looking at the screen, it was on Live View. With the flick of a switch, it went to viewfinder mode. This is where things start to get horribly different. The first thing i noticed was the 'attitude indicator' accelerometer thingy that shows precise camera orientation, like on the Canon EOS 7D. But hang on, hang on, how do they superimpose such a fanciful display in a viewfinder? Damn, it's got an EVF, electronic viewfinder.

Introducing the new Sony double-digit lineup of cameras - the Alpha A33 and A55 series!
Forget about the previously featured A380/90 'toy-SLRs', now we've got truly 'super-bridges!' Designed from the ground up for the bridge users out there who really desire lens interchangeability (that means converting 20x wide-angles to 18-55mm), these two new Alphas even come with the myopia-inducing electronic viewfinders bridge users are used to! And, if you've just converted from, say, the Canon SX1 IS, attempting to zoom out, like on the Sony 'toy-SLR' range of models, will invariably switch off your camera!

But please, don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Sony cameras. I love my W120. Without Sony, we wouldn't have these lovely Cybershots, not to mention Blu-Ray and Bravia TVs and Vaios. The A55 also has many good points that I failed miserably to mention. (You can find them here: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sonyslta55/) I know that i am critical of Sony Alphas. However, i wish you would realize that my anguish is not held against Sony, but the new design philosophy of the industry in general, with the Alpha as a mere example. So here's the catch: please, stop making fanciful toys. Forget about the gimmicks. Give us something real.

The fine print: Here's the real disclaimer. I am no professional reviewer. So I am stating very biased argument based on my own unjust opinions. If you really love Sony, buy the A33. If you really love the A33, then go get it. And while you're at it, treat yourself to a Blu-Ray player or something. (now in case you're wondering, Sony did not hire me to promote Blu-Rays. It is just that i just happened to get one. HD's also probably kinder to the eyes, i believe, than those blinding electronic viewfinders) But the real point is, don't let my personal opinions cloud your own superior judgment.
Next, i shall not be held liable for any decline in sales of the A33/55, nor any other Sony product or products of any other brand, that could be a result, be it direct or indirect, of this particular blog post.

2010-08-22T21:45:00.002+08:00

Yea, trying to do up this place again, too sian lolz. have to wait a while, not so 空闲.

but anws, its a bad time of year now, haha... (the feeble laugh)
and another problem on my mind is, which entry-level reactive ball is better: the Brunswick Slingshot or the Ebonite Tornado?

Happy New Year :)

2009-12-31T19:18:00.025+08:00

It'll be a new decade in a few hours time. Indeed, 2009's been a magnificent year, and there is perhaps no better way to remember it than with great music.

Well, 2009's been a big year in the records industry. And it has, also, be deemed as a ladies' year. We have seen many female singers rise to fame - Taylor Swift, the biggest winner of the night at MTV's America Music Awards in LA, not to mention Lady Gaga, who may very well become the next Madonna. Also including, perhaps even girls like Miley Cyrus, Ke$ha, Pixie Lott and La Roux, just to name a few. And, oh yes, Madam Lambert :D (sorry crude joke).

It's also a big year for the more established singers, like Beyoncé, named as Billboard's Top Female Artist of the Decade. And the Black Eyed Peas - 27 consecutive weeks as Billboard's #1 with I Gotta Feeling, spectacular.

Just not too long ago, Westlife and Backstreet Boys both released their latest albums. It seems that the trans-Atlantic rivalry continues, though i must say, This Is Us totally beats the crap out of Where We Are. Can't even compare. Big thumbs up for bsb!

A great year indeed. Here's a playlist of some of my favorite hits from 2009. The Really Nice and Really Really Nice sections are, to a somewhat moderate extent, influenced by the Charts. But an asterix* denotes that I feel the song is Really Really Really Nice. It reflects my opinion 100%. I call it the Triple-R rating, lolz. Yes, songs with Triple-R ratings are the BEST OF THE BEST, albeit only in my opinion. But the fact that most of the Triple-R songs are from the Really Really Nice section proves that my taste is still very mainstream...

(I also tend to group similar artistes together, so artistes with many songs in the list shall be put to the Really Nice or Really Really Nice section based on average performance. Ok this is confusing... )

BUT, being in the Really Nice section does NOT indicate that they suck. They are still very very very good. That's why its called Really Nice, and not 'sux'. lolz.

Really Really Nice

*Empire State Of Mind, Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys
*Russian Roulette, Rihanna
*Pokerface, Lady Gaga
*Bad Romance, Lady Gaga
*Paparazzi, Lady Gaga
*LoveGame, Lady Gaga
*Just Dance, Lady Gaga
*Halo, Beyoncé
*Sweet Dreams, Beyoncé
Single Ladies, Beyoncé
*Broken-Hearted Girl, Beyoncé
*My Life Would Suck Without You, Kelly Clarkson
*Already Gone, Kelly Clarkson
I Gotta Feeling, Black Eye Peas
*Boom Boom Pow, Black Eyed Peas
*Meet Me Halfway, Black Eyed Peas
*How Do You Sleep, Jesse Maccartney
*Body Language, Jesse Maccartney feat. T-Pain
*Fifteen, Taylor Swift
*White Horse, Taylor Swift
You Belong With Me, Taylor Swift
*Love Story, Taylor Swift
*Battlefield, Jordin Sparks
*S.O.S (Let The Music Play), Jordin Sparks
New Divide, Linkin Park
*Straight Through My Heart, Backstreet Boys
One Less Lonely Girl, Justin Bieber
One Time, Justin Bieber
*Down, Jay Sean feat. Lil Wayne
*Oopsy Daisy, Chipmunk
*Whatcha Say, Jason Derulo
Fireflies, Owl City
Somebody To Love, Leighton Meester
Hoedown Throwdown, Miley Cyrus
*Party In The U.S.A., Miley Cyrus
*TiK ToK, Ke$ha
LoveDrunk, Boys Like Girls
*Two Is Better Than One, Boys Like Girls feat. Taylor Swift
Use Somebody, Kings Of Leon
Right Round, Flo Rida feat. Ke$ha
Sugar, Flo Rida feat. Wynter
*Automatic, Tokio Hotel

Really Nice

*Doesn't Mean Anything, Alicia Keys
*Thinking Of You, Katy Perry
*Waking Up In Vegas, Katy Perry
*Hot N' Cold, Katy Perry
The Fear, Lily Allen
Fuck You, Lily Allen
*Who'd Have Known, Lily Allen
Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny), A.R. Rahmen feat. Pussycat Dolls
*Love Sex Magic, Ciara feat. Justin Timberlake
*Falling For You, Colbie Cailat
*No Surprise, Daughtry
Never Say Never, The Fray
Damned If I Do Ya (Damned If I Don't), All Time Low
*Good Girls Go Bad, Cobra Starship feat. Leighton Meester
*1234, Plain White T's
*Belle Of The Boulevard, Dashboard Confessional
*Outta Here, Esmee Denters
Here We Go Again, Demi Lovato
*21 Guns, Green Day
*The Day I died, Just Jack
Heartless, Kanye West
*Future Love, Kristina DeBarge
*Bulletproof, La Roux
*Happy, Leona Lewis
*Remedy, Little Boots
*I Want To Know What Love Is, Mariah Carey
*Avalanche, Marie Digby
New Perspective, Panic At The Disco
Evacuate The Dancefloor, Cascada
Mama Do (uh oh, uh oh), Pixie Lott
Boys and Girls, Pixie Lott
*She Wolf, Shakira
*Break Your Heart, Taio Cruz
*Never Leave You, Tinchy Stryder feat. Amelle

The truth is I feel like giving every song a Triple-R... Yes, 2009 will always be remembered for its great music. Everything rox.

Time for our letter of the year lolz, reminds me if sesame street. The letter of the year for 2009 is, J! All the great voices and big names in 2009 - J for Jay-Z, Jay Sean, Justin Bieber, Jason Derulo, Jesse Maccartney, Jordin Sparks, Just Jack, and Jackson, and, well, you get the drift (:

But now ,2009 is, well, Already Gone. Lolz.
Welcome to the new decade.
Cheers folks, Happy New Year.

don't u think the title is always the hardes to think of?

2009-10-10T12:58:00.010+08:00

Whoots exams finally over, only left CID on moday. CID should be easy ba. Anw, this entire week has been torture. Everyday sleep at 1am kills. But I'd say it's quite fun too. 12nm at night, with the Muttons to accompany you lolz, blast the rado and go crazy :D Remedy by Little Boots! Or talking on the phone with hk and swearing loudly about the exams past midnight, going #%$$@!!. super cool, this is the life! I've screwed up a few papers, but overall i think it's ok. I'm exceptionally confident bout physics, ha, dunno y.

I've changed all the songs in the music player here. Almost all the songs are very recent, from these few weeks. A few have been at the top of the charts. Bulletproof by La Roux is new, was last week's 987fm featured artist. Fireflies by Owl City is very nice as well, so is Remedy by Little Boots and Never Leave You by Tinchy Stryder. They keep playing Jump by FloRida on radio these days. Those that made it to the top of the charts b4 are Paparazzi (if i rmb correctly), LoveGame by Lady Gaga, and last 2 week's top was Love Drunk by Boys Like Girls. I Gotta Feeling by Black Eye Peas topped S'pore charts for 3 weeks, America charts for over 20 weeks omg.
Marie Digby's Avalanche is a must listen. If You're Not The One is an old song but it ROX.
Taylor Swift's Fifteen (yes' the name of the song is fifteen) is a nice song. Empire State of Mind was sung during the VMAs at new york, so it a song bout new york lolz. Straight Through My Heart is a new single by Backstreet Boys. Backstreet's back yea!!!
I seem crazy bout songs lolz.

Went with 3C for class outing ytd, marina barrage. Still quite fun ba lolz, just slack around nvr do much. Our kite PWNS! Left at almost 5 with hk, went jurong point eat dinner, and played ZoneX lolz. Nvr went into arcade for years i think, skills deteriorated greatly, aim damn off. waste money de.

Failure is always an option

2009-10-04T20:51:00.006+08:00

Gah study geog until die. totally sux. done the last 3 chapters today, river landforms, flooding and coasts. the river landforms is the worst. Bloody meanders and floodplains and stuff. You learn one and forget the previous one. The coasts and flooding was a big mess too. damn. And all the other chapters I learned them last monday. Now forget everything le. Haiz...
Next week is gonna be a bad week too. All the other subjects I learned only a little on each, physics is half done, chemistry i've barely started, bio is half done, maths paper 2's progress is still 0. Damn. This EOY is gonna be damn screwed. I've already badly screw SCS and Chinese paper 1. chinese is really really screwed through the roof! But Lang Arts is beautifully done :D
Anyway, I've adopted a new slogan :
"FAILURE IS ALWAYS AN OPTION"
This is really nice. Good for stress relief during the exams. But then again, let's face it, who wants to fail?

Ok let's not mention exams anymore. My com just broke down on friday. CPU fan spins like mad but it just won't boot up, not even a BIOS error message or anything. Sux huh? Have yet to diagnose the problem, but i've ruled out broken RAM. Probably a failed motherboard or a broken CPU. Maybe the hard disk's toast. Using laptop now, sux.

Anyways, thinking of buying a telephoto lens after the exams. I'm damn frustrated with the EF-S 18-55mm. Does not have the reach i need! I've been having a dilemma between EF 70-300mm F/4-5.6 IS USM or the EF 70-200mm F/4L USM. This are the 2 decent ones with my budget range. The 70-200mm is really great, fixed aperture, excellent build quality and image quality, metal body, it's a L lens!!! The 70-300mm on the other hand, has slightly lower image quality, a variable aperture, but with a 2-mode IS and additional range. Range is very important to me, but is the compromise on image quality worth it? and it also offers Image Stabilization, very important for shooting telephoto without tripods. It's also $100 more expensive than the 70-200mm. Yes, the L lens is cheaper! So the decision is indeed very difficult to make. I've tried out an EF-S 18-200mm the other day and realized that 200mm is not as telephoto as I have hoped. So 70-300mm's focal range is really appealing. But lets not forget the 70-200mm is an EXCELLENT L lens. The decision is indeed hard to make.

RV school value: 精通双语 effective bilingualism

2009-08-29T14:32:00.005+08:00

好我还将用华语写。hmmm 可是相机有一些比较技术性的词用华语不好写。。。用一下英语抱歉。

DPreview.com's review for the Sony Alpha a380 is out. Very interesting camera, weird design. Looks like some kinda Super Zoom instead of a proper SLR. Once look you can tell it'll be quite pathetic. Well it's aimed at 1st time SLR users, so it looks and feels like a compact. I've tried it at the Sony Style showroom, 100% compact-style handling. For a start, you push the left button to pop out the flash, just like on compacts. No dedicated flash button. It's got a very small and light body. This is big compromise, many crucial control buttons are gone, and the Exposure Compensation button is place at a real hard-to-reach spot.
The hand grip is also tiny, any smaller, you won't be able to even tell it's an SLR. It provides very poor grip, though I think the rubber material feels quite good lolz. Altogether, this adds up to very poor handling.
Next, the on/off switch is located around the shutter release, just like the zoom dial around your Canon IXUS or Nikon and Panasonic compacts etc. Real stupid compacts users will probably think that's the zoom dial. "Hey let's zoom in! Oh why did the camera off!!!??? *#^@#!!!". lolz. Yet Sony claims it's meant for 1st time SLR users switching from compacts -_-||| Bit of an irony.
It's got a revolutionary Live-View system, design to provide Live-View shooting just like on compacts. The a380's eye cup is also 'blended' into the design. This adds on the the more 'streamlined' overall look, making it really like a cheap point-and-shoot. I'm not saying it's ugly, it's quite beautiful in fact. But because it's design revolves too much around being compact-like, it greatly lacks the power and feel of a true SLR, so I'll be labeling it as 'TOY SLR'. Yes. lolz. EOS 500D so much better :D wanna post a picture but Blogger seriously screwed zzz.

好的不说相机了。现在是周末，一会儿打算出去逛一逛，骑车去IMM 买点东西，研究一下耳机。现在好忙啊，要处理的事情太多了，尤其是破 cip，还快考试了。。。不过我该乐观一点。星期一学只上到 10点多。放学后可以跟朋友出去逛一逛，得去Jurong Point 买样东西 :D。我也跟 HK 约好一起去健身房。那个人是练到走火入魔了，一个礼拜去三四次。我也可以去 Ken 的家，把可恶的 CID 模型给完成。等他从 npcc 露营回来再跟他约吧。他家有可乐喝哈哈。再过一个礼拜也放假了，到时候至少有可盼望的事情。

喝水塞牙缝

2009-08-28T21:02:00.006+08:00

哎呀这个礼拜是倒霉透顶，好像干什么事都不顺。首先，上个星期天出去吃饭，车停在从NUS上AYE的路口的红灯，结果后头司机有眼无珠，开者一辆破丰田 Corolla Altis，直接给我 Vios 的屁股来一个亲密接吻。不过撞得不厉害，只是后头的保险杠稍微翘了起来。
好，倒霉的事就从这里开始了。星期二，我爸打算把我送去学校，然后把车送去维修，结果，我迟到了。原因简单 - 又被撞了。这次是在AYE 上 Alexandra Road 的出口，停在红灯，又来了一个没张眼的司机，给我来一个热烈拥抱。这回是辆　现代 Avante。　这次可厉害了，差一点儿没把保险杠给撞下来！因此，我爸和那个缺德司机谈判，我只好坐辆 61 上学，迟到了10 分钟左右。3天之内被撞两次！太背了！
还记得上数学课时做练习，蓝笔没墨了，换个黑笔，没写两个字，也没水了。再换一只笔，结果墨水太多，流了我一手。
今天考物理，我前一天本来要早睡，可就当我1１．３０要睡时突然肚子疼，闹得我１点钟才睡着，早上５点又是因为肚子疼而醒。早上考物理也是肚子不舒服，还困得不得了，肯定没考好...
我这几天出去吃饭，也老碰到莫名其妙的人，见到我就跟我打招呼。一次是星期四，在Queensway 麦当劳，一个某某中学的疯婆，见到我就 halow halow。爷们儿不认识你！！
完了星期五在Vivo也来个疯子，见了我就 HEY! 真是见鬼了，我那么吸引人吗？ O.o?

我这次用华文来写，也是有原因的。昨天发华文理解问答的成绩，我才考了20/40！！！太丢人了。得把华文好好练练。。。
倒霉的事情还多的是！就连我为什么肚子疼，也是一个很倒霉的故事,跟家里的锅有关。我就不多说了
真是连喝开水都得塞牙缝！

hi again

2009-07-29T21:58:00.001+08:00

wow, again I hav not posted for a very long time. I'm crushed with homework right now, not supposed to be here so i shall keep this short. School sux. And i'm trying to sort out some other matters too zzz

arrgghhh

2009-06-27T13:06:00.004+08:00

Holidays ending le. Tmr's the last day... School's gonna suck!!! Hate being Yr 3, yr2 so fun lolz. Just shoot me now zzz... And again I haven't been posting here.

Ok bout the holidays. 1 word. Boring. Busy doing Physics project and some bloody chinese presentation thingy. Just finished the latter haha. But thn there were a few nice days. Went out to do test runs for the new 500D, all sorts of conditions. Night Safari for high ISO performance, Sentosa for daylight, airport for fast moving subjects lol. Ok i think there's a design problem with the AI Servo AF mode. The AF points do not light up, and it make you wonder if the camera is focusing at the right place, that why One Shot AF is better, and i prefer to set it to the centre point. This is an awesome camera anyways, but thn it somewhat likes to overexpose sometimes, thn i hav to tune down the exposure compensation zzz. Still good though, beats the crap out of compacts wowza.

And i went to the gym on Thursday, with HK, Wong, Ken, and his 'soul mate' hehe. That was a fun day too. Bout the picture down here, i took it in sentosa. It's a bit off-focus, and there's a bit of a subject blur cuz of the wind blowing the flower around. But i think it's great, love the shallow depth of field!

Holidays...

2009-06-08T21:53:00.012+08:00

ps i very long nvr post le, was very lazy, sorry lolz.
Anyways, exams over, and guess wad? I did the seemingly impossible, GPA 3.8 whoots! And my bio percentile 99, language arts percentile 96, and 95 for chemistry :D did I mention I topped level for my language arts in year 1 lolz. sorry. bragging again. Hopefully can get my EOS 500D...

Anyways holidays now. The first week has been quite eventful. Monday i went to changi beach with WKS for aircraft spotting. It's a very good sport. Logged down my first S'pore Air A330s, and 2 British Airways planes, a 777-236ER (G-YMMH) and a 747-436 (G-CIVR).

Then on wednesday I got on Super Star Virgo for the fifth time, on a trip to Pulau Redang, M'sia. The ship was still as awesome as it was, but the redang place was like bleh! Very sian , nothing much to do, not even jet skis man!!! But it's really a very beautiful place. Went on a snorkeling trip, the gear they provided was good, but the site was not as good as Phuket. And the food, they claim it's 'international', but it tastes malay zzz. I'm not against malay food, but eating it for 3 meals straight for 2 days, it's gotta turn bad. And these pictures are quite nice i think. Tripod stands are real irritating, and too bad no SLR

reality substitution

2009-05-10T22:22:00.005+08:00

Was flying FSX the other day. Didn't fly for quite a long time, so my skills are bit rusty. So i decided to do some leisure flying. Picked myself a nice 747-400, set the location to a random gate in Changi, and started all the normal procedures. Took a long time before I was actually cleared for take-off. Then there was the pre-flight check, not to mention the 'no-smoking' and 'seatbelt' signs. lolz.

Finally, clearance. I just planned to do some practice flying, so I maintained runway heading (i took off from 02R, so heading's 23 degrees), at just 5 thousand ft. Flew till I was about 45miles out, then I consulted the charts, looked for a place to land this thing. I saw Tengah Airbase, that was cool! So i contacted Singapore Approach, requsted airspace transition, then contacted Tengah Tower, requst landing. Adjusted heading and made my way back South to Singapore.

I'm not very familiar with the area, despite tower directions I couldn't see Tengah. I was already only 20miles in, without visual i had to abandon the approach. Then, I saw Changi. time for some extreme flying! I was near the western side of Singapore, I swung the nose around, 30 degrees bank, speed 180, flaps full, gear down. Tried to line up for runway 20R, without ATC clearance lolz.
I thought all i needed was 140KIAS, but when I slowed to 150 i was already sinking like hell, and way below the glide slope, and off-course. I blasted the throttles, banked to the right, and whoots! Perfect touchdown! the ATC went like "World Travel 1420 Heavy, u r not cleared to land. Get off of the runway!" lolz

OrcaShadowX owns!!!

2009-05-01T21:56:00.013+08:00

Hahaz a few recent screenshots from Wolfteam. Click on them to see how pro I really am lolz. My skills aren't that consistent, it's unpredictable, for example I wasn't very good tonight, at my best was 10/5, not King...

Gun master

2009-04-30T22:31:00.003+08:00

Wow! Played Wolfteam just now. So long nvr play le, I have no idea why is suddenly became so pro. 2v2 Arrival, in the beginning i got like 9/0, that's double Perfect Wolf, and I still had 200HP bloody hell!!! Everyone was like saying I so pro lolz. But then I died on my 10th kill, that was a simultaneous death. I was wolfing with this guy and well, we died together, striked each other same time. He took me by surprise, he had the advantage anyways. I'm not that good at wolf 'dogfighting' though, but still quite decent. :P hahas. blah.

Studying like mad for exams... Running brain at max. capacity, but still not good enough. Wad's my goal? 1st in class!!! err that's a bit impossible, but hopefully. Other ppl seem to have started studying long ago, I'm lagging behind...
And I'm gonna find a new blogskin after the exams...

Best thing a guy can have...

2009-04-26T20:41:00.014+08:00

Went to Vivo yesterday, checked out Canon's showroom, it's in a corner adjacent to the cinema. Anyways, was trying to select a DSLR for myself. Well, i wanted to get a new camera, cuz I've seriously stretched my compact to the fullest possible potential. I shoot stuff flying past at almost 300kph, and with compacts there's ultra-high shutter lags and the terrible slow focuses and the zooming goes with all the speed of continental drift!!! All these means that 1, either u have the aircraft off-center, headless or unfocused; 2, u can only shoot each passing plane at a single zoom distance, cuz u have no time to zoom in or out. What's more, the 1.5 fps burst mode is total rubbish, so is low light performance. In short, it's like a kid's toy. No choice, it's a compact. So, to solve all the performance issues, I chose to get a DSLR, cuz Super Zooms face the same problems.

So anyways, i found the most perfect camera, the EOS 500D, it's only entry-level, but it's best in its class, and it truly is AMAZING! It's on a whole new level compared to its predecessors, like the 450D.
Firstly, I love the ClearView LCD, super high resolution, same that on the professional 5D mk2!
Second, it uses DIGIC 4 processor, also a boost from the 450D's DIGIC 3. In conjunction with the CMOS, it totally rock hardcore!!!
Finally, the BEST thing is, FULL HD VIDEO RECORDING man, same as the EOS 5D Mk2!!! Total ownage!!! I dun have to carry around a compact for the sake of videos anymore lolz! And also many other good stuff. Yea u cant compare compacts with SLRs.
It's also supports my EF 28-80mm lens, from my dad's old EOS 50. And i have a Speedlite 380EX flashgun and remote switch, all from my dad lolz. In short it totally thrashes compacts, makes it look like a total pipsqueak toy, but dun get me wrong i still like my W120 :D

What I need is perhaps telephoto, the EF 70-200mm f/2.8 IS USM would work perfect, but that costs thousands. dream on o.O

Life: get used to it

2009-04-24T21:18:00.007+08:00

After 2 months I've finally received my b'day card lolz! I am so touched, thought I had to wait till next year's b'day, ppl wrote funny stuff in it o.O Thanks 3c, preeshiatit.

Anyways, about the weather. Previously it was raining pea soup everyday, now it's like living in a fusion reactor!!! The classroom is so hot and stuffy, to concentrate is like impossible. It's hellish even to copy down mr ong's solutions, and I couldn't take in a word he said. o.O

And again, exams is like a week away, and I haven't even started studying! To complete homework on time is already a huge task. I owe 2 weeks 简报 le, but then other ppl owe more lolz. Have to rely totally on the 5days to revise. Damn i hate it.

The fourth thing, my pc's monitor is still under maintenance, it just refused to start up one day, it's already a week gone. Wah i have to use laptop now, i dun like to, can't play games, and I have no access to Nokia Music Store now DAMN! So many songs I wanna download!!! Anyways, I'm still proud of my Nokia 5800, despite it having some small software glitches. Have to send that for repair too, after exams, got some prob with the alarms thingy. Things just nvr seem to go my way doesn't it?
Anyways, goal of GPA >3.7 muz study hard!!!
still finding blog skin...

err... help?

2009-04-22T22:10:00.004+08:00

I can't find a good music widget, this one isn't playing, it just preloads forever...

Anyway I'm running competitive for cross-country this year, mr teo force me to go. Damn man it's gonna be like so fun whoots!

1st post

2009-04-19T21:43:00.005+08:00

Ok this is my 1st post. Deleted my other blog. Latest post there was in like 2006... I'm still trying to make this place look nicer. I'm bad at this lolz.
Anyways, exams coming, and it's like hell man. In this class every one is like so godly, previously I just have to read a bit and I can get top, now that's like impossible. I've already got a 3.6, to get even higher is something really difficult bleh...
There's still a geog test and zuowen tmr. I hate that!

But then, life's cool. Can't just complain, can't i? Just keep working
By the way, that picture behind the heading, I took that myself =D