On Travel - 2004-09-08 11:43 p.m. So here I am, in a hotel just next to what the locals call four-floors-of-whores. I just had dinner with my sis-in-law and her boyfriend and discovered that he’s a geek just like me. He watches all the star trek series, digs computers, sci-fi and is a techie just like me. *Why did I feel like I just made myself look really UNcool with that sentence?* Anyway, I try to avoid Orchard Tower because it just feels wrong being there. Although I am admitting the fact that I’ve checked out that place once before and found it rather uhm… in what Sean Connery might say - inntereshhting. My colleagues are out with our local ‘consultant’, sipping coffee and teh tarik somewhere while I am stuck here listening to Portishead’s Seven Months (not necessarily a bad thing) while figuring out a way to get the extra headers from wap requests (unnecessary bad thing). This is the third time I am here in two months and I am quite sure that we’ll be here again in the next two to three weeks. For some weird reason, despite all the kiasuness of the people, I feel like I could get used to this city with its pedestrian-friendly walkways, great amenities and facilities, cute fashionable eye-candies, easy-on-the-eyes green trees and not-as-ugly-as-Kay-El traffic. But somehow, I can’t wait to get on the bed in my house so that I could lie beside my wife and that noisy curious half Persian half Burmese eating-machine moving rug that meows loudly when hungry and purrs calmingly when caressed. Contradictory, as usual, I am.

On AyPot and Some'n some'n - 2004-09-03 3:35 p.m. A man is humiliated and forced to be in prison for 5 years for crimes he most probably did not commit. At least my faith in our judicial system is almost fully restored. The thing is, he should’ve been found not guilty in the first place. Common sense tells me that things are more than skin deep. Well, at least he’s out. Also noted, was the classy comment - ‘I did not bear malice on the man (who planned this)’. It is obvious that everything that happened was a political assassination. He could’ve only been dropped from the cabinet. Instead, he was humiliated and embarrassed. Where was the infamous video evidence? That could’ve proven everything beyond doubt... I feel bad for my country. Despite of what every politician is saying, I do believe that politics have a deciding hand in our judiciary system…. Well, at the time, anyway. ……………………………………………………………………………………………… On another note, I’ve been using my click-wheel 20GB I-Pod for a week already. Yeah, I got a 20GB instead of a 40GB because I need the extra 400 buckers. Anyway, this thing really turns heads. I am currently in the habit of keeping this thing in my pockets because people keep glancing on the iPod every time I take it out. So, if you see a dude fiddling around things from outside his pockets, than that’s either me…. or a pervert. Please note that “Me” and “Pervert” do not go together. I hope… Anyway, on to my short personal review of my one-week-old i-thinga-Pod. In point form, of course… - Got myself a set of Shure E2C hearing cans because the iPod’s earphones are too bright for myself. - The software bundled up with the iPod – iTunes is easy and complements iPod very well. - Transfer from PC to iPod is quick – less than 5 minutes for 8 gigs. - The firmware and button layouts are intuitive. In ten minutes, I was comfortably customizing the settings to my liking. - the iPod sounds very flat, which is an audiophile’s dream. But I like my music colored instead. But unfortunately, the preset settings on the iPod are inadequate for me. This thing really needs a user-customizable equalizer setting. Fortunately, my Shure E2C earphones bring out the sound that I need, more than enough. - For the best balance between sound quality and space (for me, at least), 192kpbs is the best encoding rate for ripping music. Personally, 128kpbs (common among P2P files) loses some clarity. Haven’t tried other compressed formats yet – like AAC or Apple Lossless. Will have to test AAC later. - It looks like it drains the batteries quite fast, but needs more testing for this. - Scratches easily, especially the metal casing. Have to get a case/jacket or something. All in all, I am very satisfied with this purchase. I’m looking at getting some line-out docks so that I could play it through the home stereo set. On another note, again, here’s a shout out to Nate for the googlamoog account. You rock! ;-)

On Kid A - 2004-08-25 10:31 a.m. I’ve been ripping some old CDs that I have around the house and in the office when I stumbled upon Radiohead’s “Kid A” deep inside the trunk of my car. Vaguely remembering that this was my best album in 2000, I decided to rip all the tracks and store them in my “Best Of Year something-something” folders. Soon after I finished ripping the last song on “Kid A”, I decided to have a listen at the songs, to test whether the quality of the ripping was sufficient for my listening pleasure. So, I picked up my trusted headphones and put it on my head, settling the cups firmly on my ears and double-clicked the “Radiohead-Kid A-01-Everything In Its Right Place.mp3” file. Then it happened. Everything around me disappeared. Thom Yorke’s “Yesterday I was sucking on lemon” makes perfect sense. Somehow, everything is in its right place… I have been thinking lately that rock music is dead beyond repair. There’s probably a reason why there is no savior for rock music. Rock music is supposed to be dead and meant to stay dead. This brings me the reason why Radiohead’s “Kid A” is the best “rock” album of the last 20 years for me. They didn’t even try to resuscitate rock music. In fact, I could imagine Thom Yorke, Jonny and Colin Greenwood, Ed O’Brien and Phil Selway dancing on the grave of Rock Music. I can see them smashing the tombstone with their guitars and pulling out the grass by the roots and throwing them up in the air. Confetti. A cause for celebration. It’s as if the cacophonous New Orleans Jazz horns (not unlike the music in a typical New Orleans funeral) found at the end of the third track – “The National Anthem” is meant to accentuate this death. Ironically, their previous album – “OK Computer” was heralded as the start of the revival of rock music. To an extent, their latest album – “Hail to the Thief” is more a rock album than not. But, with “Kid A”, they changed the rock music landscape forever, as if just to show people that they can. I feel “Kid A” is mainly about textures and borders (or destroying them). Take a listen to their other albums, or other great rock albums. Close your eyes and you can feel yourself standing in a cramped and full room with weird people and things happening around you that you can’t comprehend or even understand. That’s the thing abut rock music – things are erratic, spontaneous, even wacky. Now listen to “Kid A” and close your eyes. It is as if you’re in a big room with white walls and white ceilings and white floors and alone. Once in a while you see things flashing on the ceiling or the walls for a second (Or did it?). Yet, it is still incomprehensible and beyond your understanding. Now can you feel the difference? ………. I might just save the songs in this album to another folder, probably in the same folder with the songs from the “White Album”.

On CT - 2004-08-24 4:23 p.m. I might lose a few friends over this, but, here goes. I dig Siti Nurhaliza. Okay. I know that she’s over-exposed. I know that most people have already naik muak of her. The question is, WHY? Why is she over-exposed? Why is she all over the TV? That’s because nobody else is on the same level she is. (I'm not comparing her with the older generation artists like Saloma or others. Of course she's not there... yet. Main menipu namanya tu...) She sings really well – in studio and especially, ON THE DAMN STAGE. Has anybody heard how Maya Karin sounds live? I can’t stand her doing live shows. She’s just horrible – out of tune and she couldn’t control her voice. Siti started from humble beginnings – jual kuih. She’s not some rich kid whose father could open up a TV station or made her name through connections. She does not wear skimpy outfits to attract fans. She worked hard for success and she leads a guarded life – unlike other artists yang tak agak-agak gila glamer. She could be a perfect role model for kids. Of course her English leaves a lot to be desired, but at least she’s taking classes. How many other artists take classes to further themselves (Hello Ella “I not queen”)? Her garments are awful, but that’s not totally her fault – 40% of it is that designer dude’s fault. I don’t know why people hate her. Heck, my wife hates her, but when I ask her why, like everybody else, she answered “Siti’s over-exposed”. Again, why is she over-exposed? Yuhuh.