Deathly Hallow's Magical Blunders (+Bonus content)

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

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

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 Visualizer.


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...

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...

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

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

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

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

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.

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?