I know I'm showing how big a nerd I am here but I am truly astonished that there are people in the Western world who have never seen the original Star Wars trilogy. Having said that, if that were true, then we would have been denied the hilarity that is below:
Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn't seen it) from Joe Nicolosi on Vimeo.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
The subconscious mind
I've mentioned before that I'm a firm believer in the power of the subconscious mind and this manifested itself again today.
As you know, I have an iPod Nano which I use to listen to music while I'm on the way to and from work. Last night, on the way home, I decided to listen to some Aaron Kwok. For those who don't know who he is (and were too lazy to read the wiki article I linked to), Aaron Kwok Fu Shing is a cantopop star and one of the original Four Heavenly Kings of cantopop. Although he isn't a fantastic singer, he is a fantastic dancer and is primarily famous for his dance moves (and toned body - but lets not get into that here!).
This is curious only because I don't really listen to much cantopop. Although I have a couple of cantopop albums, I mainly listen to english music. In fact, the only reason I have cantopop music on my iPod is because I have the hard drive capacity to include it. So why did I want to listen to cantopop, and Aaron in particular? At the time, I thought it was just a whim, a passing fancy to listen to some music which I hadn't heard in a long time.
Flash forward to today. On the way home, while passing a billboard in the MTR station and listening to Aaron crooning in my ear, I noticed a picture of Aaron Kwok in the corner of the ad. It was a very small picture of him and as I looked at the whole ad, I realised it was actually an ad for a magazine for which he was on the cover. In fact, the picture of him was so small that I wonder how I managed to notice him at all.
Did my subconscious mind notice the ad last night hence my sudden hankering for some Aaron Kwok cantopop? Possibly, my subconscious noticed the ad and it took another day for my conscious mind to catch up.
The other possibility is that I only noticed the ad because I was listening to Aaron Kwok. Or rather, my subconscious mind noticed the ad and then drew my conscious mind to the picture.
Of course, the last possibility is that this was all coincidence. But that seems rather fantastical doesn't it?
As you know, I have an iPod Nano which I use to listen to music while I'm on the way to and from work. Last night, on the way home, I decided to listen to some Aaron Kwok. For those who don't know who he is (and were too lazy to read the wiki article I linked to), Aaron Kwok Fu Shing is a cantopop star and one of the original Four Heavenly Kings of cantopop. Although he isn't a fantastic singer, he is a fantastic dancer and is primarily famous for his dance moves (and toned body - but lets not get into that here!).
This is curious only because I don't really listen to much cantopop. Although I have a couple of cantopop albums, I mainly listen to english music. In fact, the only reason I have cantopop music on my iPod is because I have the hard drive capacity to include it. So why did I want to listen to cantopop, and Aaron in particular? At the time, I thought it was just a whim, a passing fancy to listen to some music which I hadn't heard in a long time.
Flash forward to today. On the way home, while passing a billboard in the MTR station and listening to Aaron crooning in my ear, I noticed a picture of Aaron Kwok in the corner of the ad. It was a very small picture of him and as I looked at the whole ad, I realised it was actually an ad for a magazine for which he was on the cover. In fact, the picture of him was so small that I wonder how I managed to notice him at all.
Did my subconscious mind notice the ad last night hence my sudden hankering for some Aaron Kwok cantopop? Possibly, my subconscious noticed the ad and it took another day for my conscious mind to catch up.
The other possibility is that I only noticed the ad because I was listening to Aaron Kwok. Or rather, my subconscious mind noticed the ad and then drew my conscious mind to the picture.
Of course, the last possibility is that this was all coincidence. But that seems rather fantastical doesn't it?
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Firefly
I've just finished watching season 1 of Firefly. Actually, considering that there was only one season, I guess I should really be saying that I finished watching Firefly.
Firefly is a tv series created by Joss Whedon (of Dr. Horrible fame). The show is set in the future and follows the exploits of the ragtag crew of the starship Serenity, a Firefly class starship. Unfortunately, despite having a very loyal hardcore fanbase, the show didn't really take off (for which many people blamed Fox) and was cancelled after only one season.
Which is a shame because I really enjoyed watching it and would have loved to see the story and characters develop some more.
The backdrop to Firefly is that man has expanded to the stars and colonised numerous new worlds. Unlike other Sci Fi shows such as Star Trek, humanity did not encounter other aliens species (no funky head or nose ridges here!) and the Universe is populated entirely with humans. After a brutal war, the Alliance manages to gain control of the core worlds. However, their control doesn't really extend to the outer colonies which have the feel of frontier worlds. The end result is that you get a very 1970's Western feel to the show.
Another element of the show which hearkens back to older tv shows is that, although the show did have recurring plot points, each episode was very separate and discrete in that the crew of Serenity would undertake different missions in each show. In this particular regard, Firefly bears more similarity with Star Trek, which featured the Enterprise going to a different planet each week, than with other more recent tv shows (such as Lost, 24 etc) which were very much about telling a big story over the course of a season.
Firefly also managed to find a unique way of getting around the problem of swearing on national tv. The approach taken by most tv shows is to either not swear at all or to make up new swear words (go frak yourself!). Firefly allows the actors to swear using real swear words - but in a different language! The backdrop is that the US and China joined forces, and became the Alliance, and as such, culture in the show is a mix of East and West. So anytime the actors need to swear, they yell out "ta ma de" or some other Mandarin phrase (which can be hilarious as its clear none of the actors can speak mandarin properly).
All in all, this is a great tv show. It also appears that I'm turning into a Whedonite as I have just started to watch Dollhouse (Joss Whedon's latest show) as well.
Firefly is a tv series created by Joss Whedon (of Dr. Horrible fame). The show is set in the future and follows the exploits of the ragtag crew of the starship Serenity, a Firefly class starship. Unfortunately, despite having a very loyal hardcore fanbase, the show didn't really take off (for which many people blamed Fox) and was cancelled after only one season.
Which is a shame because I really enjoyed watching it and would have loved to see the story and characters develop some more.
The backdrop to Firefly is that man has expanded to the stars and colonised numerous new worlds. Unlike other Sci Fi shows such as Star Trek, humanity did not encounter other aliens species (no funky head or nose ridges here!) and the Universe is populated entirely with humans. After a brutal war, the Alliance manages to gain control of the core worlds. However, their control doesn't really extend to the outer colonies which have the feel of frontier worlds. The end result is that you get a very 1970's Western feel to the show.
Another element of the show which hearkens back to older tv shows is that, although the show did have recurring plot points, each episode was very separate and discrete in that the crew of Serenity would undertake different missions in each show. In this particular regard, Firefly bears more similarity with Star Trek, which featured the Enterprise going to a different planet each week, than with other more recent tv shows (such as Lost, 24 etc) which were very much about telling a big story over the course of a season.
Firefly also managed to find a unique way of getting around the problem of swearing on national tv. The approach taken by most tv shows is to either not swear at all or to make up new swear words (go frak yourself!). Firefly allows the actors to swear using real swear words - but in a different language! The backdrop is that the US and China joined forces, and became the Alliance, and as such, culture in the show is a mix of East and West. So anytime the actors need to swear, they yell out "ta ma de" or some other Mandarin phrase (which can be hilarious as its clear none of the actors can speak mandarin properly).
All in all, this is a great tv show. It also appears that I'm turning into a Whedonite as I have just started to watch Dollhouse (Joss Whedon's latest show) as well.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Man Utd 1 - 4 Liverpool
:D
What a win!
The reality, of course, is that Man Utd still have a fantastic lead in the Premiership. Despite how the media try to portray the title race as being wide open and how Liverpool are now back in the title race, it will take a screw up of almost biblical portions for Man Utd to lose the Premiership.
Regardless, right now, at this moment in time, it feels good to be a Liverpool fan.
What a win!
The reality, of course, is that Man Utd still have a fantastic lead in the Premiership. Despite how the media try to portray the title race as being wide open and how Liverpool are now back in the title race, it will take a screw up of almost biblical portions for Man Utd to lose the Premiership.
Regardless, right now, at this moment in time, it feels good to be a Liverpool fan.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Bespoke babies
Well, you can finally custom order your new baby (and to be honest, I 'm surprised we haven't seen something like this before now).
Apparently, there is a clinic in Los Angeles that can use recent advances in genetics to let you choose what kind of baby you want. Want a blue eyed, blond haired baby? Go ahead (I, for one, welcome our new Master Race overlords)!
By the way, is anyone surprised that the World's largest provider of gender choice is a clinic based in the traditional home of Hollywood? Anyone? Okay - anyone other than the crickets?
I'm personally against genetic engineering of babies for any reason other than health reasons. The World is screwed up enough over petty shit like looks without doctors adding to our problems. Although admittedly, I am a big sci-fi fan and have read more than enough of my share of novels where genetic engineering gone mad has resulted in the end of the World (and that's just a best case scenario!).
On the plus side, if designer babies become popular in Japan, I guess the people there will be a lot more colorful.
Apparently, there is a clinic in Los Angeles that can use recent advances in genetics to let you choose what kind of baby you want. Want a blue eyed, blond haired baby? Go ahead (I, for one, welcome our new Master Race overlords)!
By the way, is anyone surprised that the World's largest provider of gender choice is a clinic based in the traditional home of Hollywood? Anyone? Okay - anyone other than the crickets?
I'm personally against genetic engineering of babies for any reason other than health reasons. The World is screwed up enough over petty shit like looks without doctors adding to our problems. Although admittedly, I am a big sci-fi fan and have read more than enough of my share of novels where genetic engineering gone mad has resulted in the end of the World (and that's just a best case scenario!).
On the plus side, if designer babies become popular in Japan, I guess the people there will be a lot more colorful.
Monday, March 9, 2009
How not to market to gamers
Anyone who follows the entertainment industry knows that videogames are where all the money is. The videogame industry is already a multi billion dollar industry (USD obviously!) so it comes as no surprise that many companies want to try and find ways to get a bite of that lucrative market.
However, when you start marketing a razor for gamers, then you really need to fire someone in either your marketing department!
That's right, Gillette have released a new razor (with five blades, natch!) targeted at gamers. Because obviously, our facial hair is of a tougher stock than your average everyday Joe.
All joking aside, this is quite frankly sad and insulting. Seriously, does Gillette really think I am going to buy their new razor just because it has the word "gamer" on it?
However, when you start marketing a razor for gamers, then you really need to fire someone in either your marketing department!
That's right, Gillette have released a new razor (with five blades, natch!) targeted at gamers. Because obviously, our facial hair is of a tougher stock than your average everyday Joe.
All joking aside, this is quite frankly sad and insulting. Seriously, does Gillette really think I am going to buy their new razor just because it has the word "gamer" on it?
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Some random videos
Recently, I took a couple of videos at home and uploaded them onto You Tube without any editing. You can see them below.
The first video is a video of Gordon doing some exercise. We started him off on doing bicycle reps and then moved to pushups and the butterfly. However, he didn't seem to like doing the butterfly much so we had to go back to doing more pushups.
:)
In the next video, you can see Gerry practicing for a future appearance in a concert. The song he is practicing is called Shake Your Body and comes from a demo DVD for one of those English learning program thingamijigs. You can see he knows the chorus really well.
Although the video is quite long, I just couldn't bring myself to edit it considering how cute his voice is. :)
The first video is a video of Gordon doing some exercise. We started him off on doing bicycle reps and then moved to pushups and the butterfly. However, he didn't seem to like doing the butterfly much so we had to go back to doing more pushups.
:)
In the next video, you can see Gerry practicing for a future appearance in a concert. The song he is practicing is called Shake Your Body and comes from a demo DVD for one of those English learning program thingamijigs. You can see he knows the chorus really well.
Although the video is quite long, I just couldn't bring myself to edit it considering how cute his voice is. :)
Monday, March 2, 2009
Eating out
Here is an interesting commentary on the difference between Western and Oriental culinary culture.
Apparently, in the US, it is becoming normal for diners to split food when eating out. In essence, the current poor economy means that diners are becoming more frugal and splitting food when they eat out. So instead of eating a full 3 course meal each, they split either the appetiser, dessert or entree. This allows a family to save between USD5-12 per meal.
A couple of points about this article astound me.
First off - the obvious point is that, being Chinese, sharing food is actually something very common. In fact, you would never not share food unless you were in a western restaurant with people who weren't family (and even then, you often find friends sharing). It never occurred to me that splitting food was such a big deal.
The second point which amazes me is that people would actually pay money for the chef to split the food. Considering the context in the article is that of a family meal, my reply to the restaurant would be simple. Don't bother - just bring me an extra plate and fork and I'll split it myself!
The third point is the culture of tipping in the US. The last line in the article says, "In fact, if a waitress doesn't make us feel as if we are doing something wrong, we usually feel more generous with the tip." I know that in the US, waiters and waitresses don't get paid much and rely on tips. Well - here's a tip for you. If you feel, as a waiter, that you don't want to give me good service or want to try and take me on a guilt trip then guess what - I ain't gonna tip ya. At all. As far as I'm concerned, you can starve to death and hopefully, the next waiter that the restaurant hires will actually want to do their job (wow - there's a novel concept - doing your job!!).
One last point. I can't remember the last time I had a full 3 course meal in a US style restaurant. The reality is that the portion sizes are so big in US style restaurants (or at least, they are in HK) that I always share either the starter, entree or dessert with the missus anyway. Quite frankly, there's no way that we could finish the meal otherwise. However, this raises one big question about the eating habits of Americans which the article doesn't answer.
The reason that people are saving money isn't because they are splitting food per se (the article makes it out as if splitting is a huge cost-saver). The reality is that eating less food is what is saving them money. For example, I could also get a cost saving by not eating dessert next time I eat out. Which raises the question - are these people "starving" themselves now due to the poor economy or were they simply wasting food in the past by ordering more than they could eat?
Apparently, in the US, it is becoming normal for diners to split food when eating out. In essence, the current poor economy means that diners are becoming more frugal and splitting food when they eat out. So instead of eating a full 3 course meal each, they split either the appetiser, dessert or entree. This allows a family to save between USD5-12 per meal.
A couple of points about this article astound me.
First off - the obvious point is that, being Chinese, sharing food is actually something very common. In fact, you would never not share food unless you were in a western restaurant with people who weren't family (and even then, you often find friends sharing). It never occurred to me that splitting food was such a big deal.
The second point which amazes me is that people would actually pay money for the chef to split the food. Considering the context in the article is that of a family meal, my reply to the restaurant would be simple. Don't bother - just bring me an extra plate and fork and I'll split it myself!
The third point is the culture of tipping in the US. The last line in the article says, "In fact, if a waitress doesn't make us feel as if we are doing something wrong, we usually feel more generous with the tip." I know that in the US, waiters and waitresses don't get paid much and rely on tips. Well - here's a tip for you. If you feel, as a waiter, that you don't want to give me good service or want to try and take me on a guilt trip then guess what - I ain't gonna tip ya. At all. As far as I'm concerned, you can starve to death and hopefully, the next waiter that the restaurant hires will actually want to do their job (wow - there's a novel concept - doing your job!!).
One last point. I can't remember the last time I had a full 3 course meal in a US style restaurant. The reality is that the portion sizes are so big in US style restaurants (or at least, they are in HK) that I always share either the starter, entree or dessert with the missus anyway. Quite frankly, there's no way that we could finish the meal otherwise. However, this raises one big question about the eating habits of Americans which the article doesn't answer.
The reason that people are saving money isn't because they are splitting food per se (the article makes it out as if splitting is a huge cost-saver). The reality is that eating less food is what is saving them money. For example, I could also get a cost saving by not eating dessert next time I eat out. Which raises the question - are these people "starving" themselves now due to the poor economy or were they simply wasting food in the past by ordering more than they could eat?
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