Kurang Manis

Why your eye so tiny?

2010-03-07T15:10:00.001+08:00

Who are they protecting?

2010-02-01T18:04:00.006+08:00

I really don't get it. An 8-year-old boy gets his foot caught in an escalator at a shopping mall and Bernama covers the story here and of course The NST and The Star pick up on the story. But all news sources refuse to mention the name of the shopping mall. Really it can only be One Utama or Centrepoint (No known website) because they said it was in Bandar Utama. Why do these stellar Malaysian journalists do this? Are they afraid that if they mention the shopping mall they will lose advertising business? Perhaps lawyers for the shopping mall have already preempted the news? Why the reluctance to report the news EXACTLY as it happened? Newspaper reporters and editors are so wimpy in Malaysia.

The New Grizzly Man?

2009-10-27T18:01:00.004+08:00

Remember Timothy Treadwell? Check this guy out...

Permanent Blue Screen

2009-10-27T10:09:00.002+08:00

I'm not buying it, are you?

KL wins... New shirt sponsor

2009-10-19T20:24:00.004+08:00

Just days after I thrashed him on this blog, the KL Dragons coach has posted a victory on the road against Brunei, the same squad that decimated the Malaysians last Wednesday. So KL sits 1-1. Oh, and it looks like we got a new sponsor for the kit.

Malaysia mix

2009-10-16T13:56:00.003+08:00

Take a closer look at what is being offered under the "top apps" section of the itunes iphone application store (MALAYSIA). We have quite a mix of interests in this wonderful country.

Fire the coach... The REAL coach misses from 3/4 court

2009-10-15T07:09:00.009+08:00

Went to see the KL Dragons get haymakered by the Brunei Barracuda... Barracudas?... Barracuda... last night at MABA stadium in KL. This was the first round of the ABL - the ASEAN Basketball League. The KL coach Goh Cheng Huat lost this one from the opening tip. The American imports looked sluggish and tired... get used to the heat boys. And eat more chili. Next up is Thailand on October 31st. Another Halloween horror? Fire the coach, damn it.
At halftime, Glenn almost represents with a 3/4 attempt for RM14,000. It was short but the boys are busy practicing at the home court. Mac underhanded one in on his first try, no joke.

Quote of the day

2009-10-07T20:46:00.000+08:00

The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.

Bertrand Russell
British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 - 1970)

Polanski nabbed...Bugliosi

2009-09-28T07:48:00.004+08:00

Looks like Roman Polanski could be on his way to a California pokey. Don't hold your breath; this has a long way to play itself out. But it did remind me of this book, which is old but worth reading.

As a prosecutor, author Vincent Bugliosi kicked butt; as an author, he is equally merciless. He has written a lot of good books, like this and this.

Stage Dad

2009-09-13T20:28:00.003+08:00

Johan's entertainment career hits its stride in these three spots from 2002-2003. He's currently retired from the Business.

Princess Diana Gets Some Sort Of Concert Done

2007-07-02T22:28:00.001+08:00

From Heckler Spray

July 2nd, 2007 at 11:30 by Stuart Heritage

Like many people, we spent most of yesterday hiding under our desk terrified that someone would drive a flaming jeep through our first-floor window, but apparently some other people went and saw a concert about Princess Diana instead.

Yesterday 60,000 middle-aged women put down their Princess Diana As An Angel tapestries and went along to Wembley Stadium to celebrate Princess Diana's 46th birthday at the Princess Diana Tribute concert. Acts from around the world, like Duran Duran, Elton John, that boy that won the Joseph programme and Orson, came together to a) remember all that Princess Diana achieved in her life, b) give their album sales a nice little boost and c) try as hard as humanly possible not to make any jokes about bulimia or car crashes, lest they incur the wrath of 60,000 really ticked off Daily Express readers.

Big day, yesterday. Not only did smoking indoors get banned in the UK, but the top half of the country remained under four feet of water and the angry men decided to start blowing cars up in busy places again. Despite all of this, though, the really big news from yesterday was that Bryan Ferry sang Let's Stick Together because it was Princess Diana's birthday.

On what would have been her 46th birthday, Princes William and Harry temporarily stopped toying with girls' emotions and toying with girls' breasts to gather together some of the ~~biggest~~ ~~best~~ most available acts in the world to celebrate their mother's life. In a summer that looks likely to be dominated by a flood of Princess Diana books, Princess Diana memorials and TV shows about Princess Diana's smashed-up face, the Princess Diana Tribute Concert was always going to be the high-point. Almost immediately sold-out - even though Rod Stewart was on the bill - the Princess Diana concert painted a saintly picture of the woman who could one minute hold hands with a leper and the next go and have sex with that married rugby player. Reuters reports that the concert was a success, both for Princess Diana's sons and weirdos with a little bit too much time on their hands:

The princes, who danced and joined a Mexican wave during the concert, organised the event to mark the 10th anniversary of their mother's death and celebrate her charity work, which they felt had been forgotten amid negative press. "For us this has been the most perfect way of remembering her and this is how she would want to be remembered," William, 25, said at the end of the gig, to loud applause. I camped out in London for her funeral, so I really wanted to be here today. She was a caring person who always thought of others," said Julie Rocks.

That's not to say that the Princess Diana concert - broadcast globally to an audience of 500 million - wasn't full of shocks, however, most notably the number of absentees. For example, even though she's been genetically predetermined to sing sad songs at charity concerts, Annie Lennox was nowhere to be seen. Nor were those with the fondest memories of Princess Diana; like George Michael, who thought Princess Diana wanted to shag him and David Hasselhoff, who thought Princess Diana wanted to shag him.

Despite all this, though, Prince William was right - the Princess Diana concert was the perfect way to remember Diana, and when it comes to the tenth anniversary of the death of one of our loved ones, we want to mark it by hiring Tom Jones and Joss Stone to shout "WoahaaahhhhooooOHAHHOOAHHH!" at each other for ten minutes in front of thousands of non-plussed middle-aged women who haven't been to a concert since 1972 too. And we'd also like to commission a series of short films that are meant to highlight all the good work that the deceased accomplished in their lifetime but end up so closely resembling Children In Need charity appeals that everyone watching them just feels weirdly guilty about everything instead.

So hooray for the Princess Diana Tribute Concert. When we look back on the period of 2007 directly between Glastonbury and Live Earth, Princess Diana will be the first thing we think of. Well, the second thing after all the horrifying attempts at terrorist attacks. And the flooding. And Wimbledon. And the smoking ban. And Die Hard 4 coming out. OK, the Princess Diana concert will be the sixth thing we think about. So long as we don't think about the Russian federal subject of Koryakia merging into the Kamchata Oblast too much, obviously.

Prayboy

2007-07-01T21:46:00.000+08:00

D’oh! Homer `kidnapped’ from cineplex

2007-06-20T17:31:00.000+08:00

By SHUHAIDAH SAHARANI

The Malay Mail, Wednesday, 20 June 2007

HOMER Simpson, the lovable bumbling father figure in The Simpsons was ‘kidnapped’ early yesterday morning.

Staff at a leading cineplex in Kuala Lumpur found the character’s life-sized model, placed alongside his family on a display couch to promote the soon-to-be-opened The Simpsons Movie, missing when they were about to open for business.

It appeared that someone had apparently spirited Homer away the night before, leaving wife Marge, daughter Lisa, baby Maggie and son Bart without a father and husband.

Representatives of 20th Century Fox were less than amused at the theft. Its senior marketing director, Moo Hon Mei, confirmed that it was not a hoax.“It’s amusing no doubt, but we’d like to let the people know that it’s a crime,” she said.“We know there are a lot of Simpsons fans out there, but you shouldn’t resort to theft.

“If you really like the displays, the best thing to do is to make a proper request to the cinema after the movie ends its run. “I’m sure we can work something out.”

Mei said she was shown the closed-circuit television camera footage of the culprits when they stole the model and bundled it into their car.“We hope people are aware that cinemas do have CCTVs and they work,” she said.

According to security video records from the shopping mall’s CCTV, located close to the cinema, the thieves first scouted the area after 3am. In less than three minutes, Homer was caught on video exiting the doors in the clutches of the thieves.

The identities of the culprits in the video footage have not been revealed and the stolen property has yet to be recovered. The cinema is treating this as a case of property theft and plans to lodge a police report.

Mei said that there will be no reward for Homer’s safe return.“We are appealing to those who took Homer to return him to his family. They are not complete without their father.“You can leave him anywhere near the location where you took him and we’ll do the rest.”

Based on a popular animated TV series of the same name, The Simpsons Movie is slated for release on July 26 in cinemas nationwide.

Salang Beach, Tioman Island, Malaysia

2007-06-07T09:47:00.000+08:00

It was all just a bad dream...

2007-05-24T17:56:00.000+08:00

I was having a terrible dream. The Blazers.... the BLAZERS.... had fallen to new lows. They were the worst team in the NBA. They rented their arena from shrewd businessmen. They were broke.

Then they hired Nate. The good news was tempered however by Paul's move to put the franchise on ebay. Basketball had never looked so shaky in the Rose City. Portland didn't win 22 games that year. They were threatening to move.

But it wasn't a bad dream, after all. It was really happening.

But then, by some miracle, the Blazers fired the GM and promoted Kevin Pritchard to the role. He pulled off an amazing series of swaps on Draft Day 2007 and ended up with Brandon Roy, the Blazer captain and floor leader for years to come and Lamarcus Aldridge - a future all-star. Suddenly, the Blazers were off the block, and once again principal owners of the Rose Garden. Roy won Rookie of the Year and he and Aldridge made the All-Rookie team. 31 wins in 2007 and things are looking up.

Then suddenly, Wednesday morning, everything changed again. The best moment in Blazers history (since winning the Western Conference Finals in 1992) came when Portland beat the odds and was chosen to select First in the 2007 NBA draft.

So it comes down to Greg Oden, Kevin Durant, or a trade. Scratch the third option, both of these guys are two good. Mostly everyone I've talked to has already decided that Greg Oden - a big man extraordinaire - is the logical route to a second championship. And I attend to agree. But hold the phones. There are a few that believe that Kevin Pritchard, if given the choice today, would take Durant. The guy can flat out play the game of basketball.

It will be an exciting moment a month from now when we find out in which glorious direction the Blazer will head.

Jerry B. Funny

2007-05-21T18:13:00.000+08:00

Jerry Seinfeld is back as Barry B. Benson, a bee in the new animated Bee Movie.

Jerry's lands at Cannes dressed as a giant bee

Bee Movie Trailer

Four years spent in the hands-on development of Bee Movie

Seinfeld's at NBC Fall-lineup event

Gotham's Swankiest Garage

47 Porsches

You can't fire the Donald

2007-05-19T19:22:00.000+08:00

He's not been fired. Donald Trump quit.

The Dirty 10

2007-05-04T16:53:00.000+08:00

Now which one of these ten is going to eventually lose to Hillarah' or Obama, or Al Gore, or even Fred Thompson (the actor-politician-actor)?

Giuliani looked uncomfortable and dodgy

Wasn't this the guy who spent us into a major early-90's recession?

The Hawks

Dean thinks the debate guaranteed a Dem win in 2008

Silly Questions

Where's Fred Dalton Thompson?

John Cox didn't get an invite

Capsule Quotes

"George Bush is a principled man"

"I will follow him [Osama] to the gates of hell" - McCain

Ten Middle-Aged White Men

Music Within

2007-05-03T16:58:00.000+08:00

I guess everyone's got a Hollywood story, or at least knows someone who has one. Last year, when I was working at a nice hotel in Portland, the production company for Music Within used the place as a headquarters for almost six weeks. The film stars Ron Livingston (Peter from Office Space) and Melissa George. IMDB says it's "The True Story Of Richard Pimentel, A Brilliant Public Speaker With A Troubled Past, Who Returns From Vietnam Severely Hearing-Impaired And Finds A New Purpose In His Landmark Efforts On The Behalf Of Americans With Disabilities." In Portland, they filmed mostly at Portland State I guess. The film is directed by Steven Sawalich, who previously healmed Sunday in the Park with George and Phil.

There were a great many other actors who stayed at the hotel:

Michael Sheen, Yul Vazquez, Rebecca De Mornay, Hector Elizondo, Ridge Canipe, Clint Jung, Clint Howard and Marion Ross are who I remember.

Mostly they were a pleasant lot - although the way Clint Howard dressed, he probably should of been out on 5th Avenue together with the domicile-challenged riff-raff.

An "on-the-set" encounter with Ron Livingston

Music Within extra experience

Melissa George's site

Happy Vesak Day

2007-05-01T13:22:00.000+08:00

It's May Day today and most people are off work. Just went out to get breakfast and there was a maddening crowd near the Thai Buddhist temple just off Jalan Gasing. Tomorrow, or today?... is Vesak Day and there were cars and people everywhere. So tomorrow is a holiday in our corner of Malaysia as well. We have the odd Tuesday-Wednesday combination holiday; basically a triple-decker sandwich consisting of three two-day weekends with a Monday and a Thursday-Friday filler layered in between. And Friday's always a half-day for me. Nice.

Josh Hancock

2007-05-01T13:06:00.000+08:00

29-year-old St Louis Cardinals pitcher killed in an early morning accident

Cards dealing with it, says Gammons

Hancock in accident three days before fatal crash

Career stats: 9-7, 1 save, 4.20 ERA, Postseason stats: 2-0

Bittersweet promotion for Dove

While David was sleeping...

2007-04-18T17:24:00.000+08:00

I think we were all caught sleeping on this one. The Insanity of it... Obviously this kid a had a screw loose; it's too bad so many others have had to suffer as well. Here are a few bizarre links associated with shooter Cho Seung Hui: a couple of plays written by him (Thanks David), an alternate link to those plays, an article reporting on his creative writing and a Spiegel Online article which says the European press is blaming Charlton Heston for Monday's tragedy.

Fantasy baseball

2007-04-09T20:10:00.000+08:00

I'm back in it. After a couple of years away, I'm again playing Fantasy Baseball. I'm happy with my lineup, but if you have any suggestions for ways to tweak things, email me. Finished the first week 7-4-1, which puts me 2 games back. If I can finish with this w/l record every week I'll be okay, but the key is to finish 9-3 occasionally so you can weather the 4-8 debacles. If you are losing 3-9 in a given week, then you either aren't paying attention to injuries and playing time, or you just don't care.

Rainy Days

2007-04-02T17:21:00.000+08:00

Weird weather in KL. It's kinda-sorta supposed to be the Rainy Season, but who knows anymore? It rains during the dry season and it's hot and sunny and dry as dust during the wet season? And haven't I anything better to blog about then the weather? No, not really.

Look at this mess. Thunderstorms and rain every afternoon. But you have to love it when you arrive home. After slogging around in it for a few hours, it's great to look at it from the front porch. It's cooling, and it cleans the air, the pavement and the earth.

But the rain has a sinister side as well. In December, large parts of Southern Malaysia were decimated or completely cut off by floods. Here's one story, you can find a lot more.

From Wikipedia:

"The two distinct parts of Malaysia, separated from each other by the South China Sea, share a largely similar landscape in that both West and East Malaysia feature coastal plains rising to often densely forested hills and mountains, the highest of which is Mount Kinabalu at 4,095.2 metres (13,435.7 ft) on the island of Borneo. The local climate is equatorial and characterised by the annual southwest (April to October) and northeast (October to February) monsoons."

The Shins

2007-03-19T17:02:00.000+08:00

Okay, so I've been listening to Wincing the Night Away for around a month now. The Shins are originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico, but they are now based in Portland, Oregon, my "hometown". This is an incredible album. This is exactly the kind of indie rock rolk pop I'm listening to right now. The great songs are Split Needles, Sea Legs, Girl Sailor, Red Rabbits, Turn On Me, Phantom Limb.... did I just name the entire album? Anyway... Here's The Shins' band site. Here's their MySpace page.

QUIZ UPDATE

2007-03-14T17:10:00.000+08:00

We came in third out of five teams. The scores were approximately 70, 69, 68, 64 and 50 something. So it was all quite close to the end. Basically out of 100 total questions, we missed first place by 2-3 wrong answers. Here's the good news.... I see it as good news anyway... The winning team asked us to set the questions... We jumped at the chance. I'll post the entire set of questions in around two weeks after the quiz.

Pub Quiz Tonight

2007-03-13T19:41:00.000+08:00

I've been going to a pub quiz at The Orange in Desa Hartamas for around five years now. It's a good group of people - regulars from the beginning include Ahmad, Mark and Nina Disney and Andy. It's a bit more mellow than it used to be but still a lot of fun. Unique to this quiz, the winning team earns the right to set the questions for the next fortnight's battle. My team used to win fairly regularly circa 2002-2005, but so far I haven't won since my grand return in January of this year. Here's a sample category I wrote if you want to give it a shot. No fair using Google.

Email me for the answers if you can't find them when you are through being stumped.

WIMBLEDON

1. In what year were the first Championships played? (Within three years)

2. The last British to win the Men’s Singles and Women’s Singles events were in 1936 and 1977 respectively. Name both players.

3. How many players are entered in a Wimbledon Singles event?

4. Only two unseeded players have ever won the Men’s Singles event. Name them.

5. No unseeded woman has ever won the championship. The lowest seed to win was a 14th seed in 2005. Name her.

6. How many courts are used at Wimbledon?

7. Wimbledon is the only one of the four Majors still using a grass playing surface, although originally all four championships used grass. Which of the other three majors (US Open, Australian Open and French Open) was the last to abandon grass and what year did that take place?

8. What is the traditional spectator snack at Wimbledon?

9. Which two female tennis legends are tied for greatest total number of championships won at 20 each?

10. Pete Sampras is tied with William Renshaw for most men’s championships at seven. Which years did Sampras capture his titles?

11. Roger Federer has won the last four Wimbledon championships. Name the three men he defeated in those four finals.

I'm a believer

2007-03-08T17:13:00.000+08:00

Have you ever seen this magazine before? It's ad-free and plenty interesting. Check out "THEY WANT US TO LOOK" - THROUGH THE LENS OF THE TEEN SEX COMEDIES OF THE EARLY 1980S.

Dana Brown 1945-2007

2007-03-04T09:32:00.000+08:00

Dana Brown passed away at his home in Longview, Washington on Thursday evening. The Daily News covered it here and here and I originally posted about his illness here. There's also a slide show here. We will miss you, Dana.

Should we be scared of this guy?

2007-03-01T17:02:00.000+08:00

I don't know about 'ole John McCain. What if this guy gets elected?

Should be we be worried about his foreign policy? Frankly, I'm a little alarmed.

McCain's going to charm the socks off Middle America and he stands a decent chance of taking the big prize.

Cheesiest Bands of the 80s

2007-02-25T18:30:00.000+08:00

A list... of the cheesiest bands of the 1980s and their cheesiest 1980s hit:

Boston - Amanda

Journey - Don't Stop Believin'

Styx - Mr. Roboto

Foreigner - Waiting for a Girl Like You

REO Speedwagon - Can't Fight This Feeling

Loverboy - Lovin' Every Minute of It

Starship - We Built this City

Toto - Rosanna

Mr. Mister - Broken Wings

Sheriff - When I'm With You

Air Supply - All Out of Love

Survivor - Eye of the Tiger

USA for Africa - We are the World

Wang Chung - Everybody Have Fun Tonight

Beach Boys - Kokomo

Chicago - You're the Inspiration

Europe - The Final Countdown

New Kids on the Block - Hangin' Tough

272 Steps

2007-02-25T14:18:00.000+08:00

Stopped by the Batu Caves last weekend on the way back from a river bath in Janda Baik. Snapped some photos. This is a few weeks after Thaipusam and a major pilgrimage to this Hindu temple, which is just outside of Kuala Lumpur. During the actual pilgrimage, there were upwards of two million people here.

And of course, we found the monkeys...

Did I really say all that?

2007-02-20T15:10:00.000+08:00

Look what I found on YouTube! A couple of girls from St. Mary's recorded this in January or February of 2006.

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

2007-02-18T17:11:00.000+08:00

Happy New Year to my Chinese friends, and any other followers of the Lunar Calendar...

The Year of the Pig is upon us.

"There's no secret thing he drinks..."

2007-02-16T09:26:00.000+08:00

The General, Bob Knight, on possible College basketball Player of The Year, Texas Freshman Kevin Durant:

Some other classic Bobby Knight videos:

The Chair Throwing Incident

The Pimp Slap

Bobby Knight Golfing... Watch till the end.

Top 10 Bob Knight Sound Bites

Angry Motivation Speech

Marine Recruitment Ad

ESPN la-la piece Part 2

Temper... temper.... after the Missouri game

Classic footage: Knight with the Purdue mascot

Basketball in KL

2007-02-15T17:17:00.000+08:00

It's not the most popular game in town. Every afternoon there are a far greater number of pick-up soccer games going on around the Klang Valley. Hoops is not even the second, third or fourth choice of most KL-PJ sporting types. It's a ways down the list. But there are basketball games, you just have to find them. I'm hoping to get a website up where people can easily scout out and locate weekly and daily games around Malaysia, starting with Petaling Jaya. If we can get the contacts squared away, it would make it much easier for teams to meet for the occasional exhibition challenge. Who knows, maybe even a viable recreational league or exhibition tournament. If you know of regular games or have contacts, let me know. I'll start it off:

Location: Mont' Kiara International School

Frequency: Weekly. Thursday 7 pm

Players: 10-12

Game: 5 on 5 Full Court

Status: Closed. By Invitation Only.

Contact: Nathan Conrad nateconrad@gmail.com

Skill Level: B

Notes: This group has been playing weekly for around five to six years. It is predominately a shorter league that plays uptempo unselfish basketball. The regulation court is in tip top shape with glass backboards, breakaway rims and an incredibly responsive Pulastic floor. This game is currently closed.

It's hot...

2007-02-10T11:23:00.000+08:00

All of a sudden it's hot... really hot... in Kuala Lumpur. According to the BBC, the mercury will top out at 34 C (93 F) in the next few days with around 40-50% humidity. So I guess it could be worse, but it is very uncomfortable in the direct sunlight. According to this heat index, the actual daytime air temperature feels like 41 C (106F). That sounds about right. You can read more about what a heat index is here. Apparently, in Canada they use a Humidex instead. Which shows just how goofy Canadians really are... At night in Kuala Lumpur, it dips down to around 22-23 C (72 F), which is a huge relief. Now where's that rainy season, again?

Jeremy S

2007-02-03T10:02:00.000+08:00

My continuing correspondence with fulltilt poker support. The original post is here.

Cheap Books

2007-02-02T17:57:00.000+08:00

I went to the Pay Less Books warehouse sale this afternoon and I was pleasantly surprised to find greatly reduced prices on thousands upon thousands of used books. I bought 14 books: my usual supply of non-fiction paperbacks, a couple of GAMs (Great American Novel) and four trade paper backs. All for RM50. What a deal. It wasn't too crowded today: I'm sure tomorrow and Sunday will be a little more interesting on that front. You can park inside the YMCA lot for RM2.50 per hour. It's not free, but it beats looking for a spot on the street in what is already a highly congested area. Happy Book Hunting.

Hello? Is this thing on?

2007-01-29T17:36:00.000+08:00

I know I don't get many hits on this blog. My automated bean counters tell me as much. And I know there isn't much here. But this is my effort to reach out to those of you I should be writing letters to on a regular basis. Hopefully I can meet some new souls along the way. I do feel like I'm talking to an empty room, though. Where are the comments? Have you got nothing to say about anything I've posted here? Is this so boring that you can't be bothered to leave your two cents behind on the table?

Check back often, and keep an eye on the right hand sidebar. I've added several items in recent weeks, and the contents are bound to change from time to time. I've also listed my top 20 favourite films. I will blog about my choices soon.

Stay in touch.

NC

Jackpot?

2007-01-27T10:11:00.000+08:00

I turned a Royal Flush in a $1 dollar 9-person No Limit Texas Hold'em tournament at Fulltilt and all I received was a lousy albeit personal reply to my request for swag:

Frog on the porch

2007-01-22T17:42:00.000+08:00

Maybe this is a toad. I'm not to sure. Either way, it was on the front porch and I captured it in this super-boring video. It is 30 seconds of your life you will never get back.

Who's your pappy?

2007-01-21T13:46:00.000+08:00

Oh my...

2007-01-19T11:41:00.000+08:00

What does one do when the naked Emperor sues the two guys with coconuts big enough to point out that he isn't wearing any clothing?

Sherry Siebel circa 1982

2007-01-17T17:59:00.000+08:00

The next US President?

2007-01-17T17:05:00.000+08:00

What many have speculated on in the past will be made official on Saturday, February 10th. Barack Obama, the first-term US Senator from Illinois will announce he is seeking the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States. And there's a good chance he will win. It will be a fierce battle with Hillary Clinton, but once the nominee is determined, as polarized as the country is, I'd expect him or her to win. I believe a simple majority of Americans will elect a Democrat this time around. Barack Obama is a rock-star. There's a nice December 2006 column by conservative Washington Post columnist George Will here that urges Obama to run. Obama was born to a Kenyan man and an American woman, but raised in Jakarta with his mother and her Indonesian husband and Hawaii by his maternal grandparents. He would bring to the White House a perspective never before seen in it's 200-year history. Good Luck, Obama!

Death by Water

2007-01-16T17:30:00.000+08:00

This story just keeps getting weirder and weirder. It seems that a Strange woman - yes that's her name - died after drinking a copious amount of water in a radio morning show contest cleverly entitled "Hold your Wee for a Wii". She died from the little known killer "water intoxication". The DJ crew that sponsored the contest is off the air, and I'm sure that a California-sponsored warning label on bottled water is not far off.

UPDATE: Sacramento's The End KDND 107.9 has fired 10 employees in the wake of the Strange death.

Happy birthday, Johan!

2007-01-12T09:12:00.000+08:00

I love you son! All the best on your 8th birthday!

More Taxi Woes

2007-01-12T08:53:00.000+08:00

Just when you thought it could not get any worse on the taxi front in Kuala Lumpur, a couple of tales to darken your day...

Yesterday I dealt with two cheating taxi drivers. Yes, two in one day. The first was a friendly cheat. he tried to convince a friend and myself that because he had to take us to two different places, he needed to reset the meter, thus gaining an additional RM2-3 following the first stop. He insisted that this was policy and procedure. He is wrong. There is nothing about this in the passenger manifesto posted on the rear window. He even tried to tell me that it was posted back there... As if I don't read! This was an affable cheat, quite chatty and eager to put a good spin on his evil misdeed.

The second cheat was not nearly as nice. Same scenario. Two people, two locations. When the first person got down from the cab, the meter read RM5. The driver kept quiet and continued to the next location, where the meter read RM7. When I offered up a RM50 note to settle the fare, the driver returned RM40 to me and insisted that he was keeping Rm10 because the fare should have been RM12. "WHAT?" I said. Well you see, he explained, you have to pay the RM5, and then you have to pay RM7 at the next location. Whatever the meter says! He wasn't even going to reset the metre after paying the first fare! he wanted me to double pay the first fare. Amazing! What a pile of untter and complete rubbish.

I didn't even argue. I let him keep his RM10, I exited the cab and entered my house. He may have squeezed me for RM3 that didn't rightfully belong to him. But what he didn't get from me was a "thank you", a smile or even the slightest amount of gratitude or the nice tip I regularly give to my taxi drivers.

Next week I'll buy a car. I simply can't wait.

Johan and Arif. Child Stars?

2007-01-07T17:30:00.000+08:00

I ran across this television commercial Johan did for Dettol soap when he was around three or four years old. He is only on the screen for a split second, so don't blink or you'll miss it. He had quite a bit more screen time in a McDonald's Malaysia commercial for Bubur Ikan - a kind of fish porridge, however I can't locate the file; perhaps it will turn up. Johan still works occasionally - he posed for a Watson's drugstore Christmas 2006 catalogue - but he really doesn't care very much for the business. The same with Arif. He's done a a little work and he's told me that he finds show business "very boring." Stay tuned for further career updates.

B Roy

2007-01-04T22:26:00.000+08:00

This guy's the real deal. Even though the Blazers are off to a 13-20 start, I haven't felt this good about general team direction since at least 2002. Brandon Roy was clearly the best immediate impact player in the 2006 NBA draft. And he very well has a chance to be the best of the current rooks over the course of a career. He might just bring one or two titles home to Stump Town. The Blazers were very lucky to get him. Is the East Coast media bias so prevalent in college basketball, that the NBA scouts for the teams drafting in front of the Blazers really could miss this guy out of he University of Washington? Check out these numbers over the first couple of months of his rookie season. He was hurt for around 20 games, but his numbers when he's healthy are promising... perhaps a gross understatement. He's 6'6" and 215 lbs of incredible athletic talent and he's smart, cool, collected and calm under pressure. And he can easily play three positions. Remind you of anyone? The minute they drafted Brandon Roy, every other player on the Trail Blazers roster became expendable. Brandon Roy is the Franchise.

"You're A Good Man, Dana Brown"

2006-12-29T15:39:00.000+08:00

Dana Brown has brain cancer. Barring a miracle, he will die within about six months. Dana was my theatre teacher, director, authority figure, mentor and friend for three of the most important years of my life: 1988-1990. From Dana I learned about self-confidence and professionalism. He ruled with neither fear nor favor. From the Principal right down to the lowliest school misfit, he treated everyone with an equal dose of honesty, straightforwardness and respect... and just the slightest sprinkling of the superiority so necessary and befitting a high school theatre programme director.

Besides his own four I know that Dana touched hundreds, maybe thousands of kids over the years - he's taught at RA Long in Longview since 1979. For his last show, he's doing Noises Off, a comedy. There's an extensive feature in The Longview Daily News and some more letters and info here, here and here.

At 1pm on January 13th, 2006, many of those students will gather at the RA Long theatre to pay tribute to this great man. Barring my own sort of miracle, I can't possibly be there to pay my respects as I am 13,000 miles away in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I hope somehow and someway, Dana is able to view this posting before he dies. I thanked him once before when I graduated, and it was genuine, but I'd always wanted to do it again.

So I now take this opportunity to say, "Thank you, Dana. I'm forever indebted to you for all that you did for me at a time when I needed it the most."

Lost - The Asian Edition

2006-12-27T17:11:00.000+08:00

The magnitude 7.1 earthquake that hit Taiwan Early this morning has disrupted Internet connectivity to many places in Asia, including Malaysia. There were the usual grumblings in the office, but when people were informed that the submarine cables under the Pacific were damaged by the quake, and the outage wasn't due to human incompetence, nearly all quickly acquiesced. You can read more about the outage at Screenshots, here, here and here.

Sushicology

2006-12-21T18:01:00.000+08:00

You can tell a lot about a person by dining with them in a Japanese Restaurant. Too much wasabi? This indicates a certain sloppiness - either personal or professional. But this also strongly suggests excitement and zest for life. What about a California Roll order? He's all about quantity over quality. A sashimi lover? The exact opposite: he's more concerned about the quality of things and less about quantity. What about the shishamo, the fried pregnant fish? This speaks volumes about a top-of-the-food-chain mentality. Whether that person actually sits at or near the top of the totem pole is another thing altogether. An order of warm sake seems to indicate an addictive personality, an order of cold sake screams addiction as well, but to a lesser degree. How about green tea? Hot green tea says that no matter the rebellious streak, no matter the anti-establishment attitude, that person is still willing to fit into certain societal moulds. The one to watch out for is the iced green tea drinker: this is the real rebel amongst us, the one willing to go all the way to crush the system. What about the frequenter of the sushi go-round? Indecisive, a follower, not a leader. Unless someone eats at a sushi go-round but orders strictly from the menu. These are the squeezers, the penny-pinchers, the ones who know what they want out of life, and are and are good at getting it at a good price. Tempura people? Boring! If you are ordering this than you are uninterested, or at the very least unwilling, to experience anything new and exciting in life. Teriyaki is a symbol of commitment and loyalty.... to self, friends and family. Follow a teriyaki order in a Japanese restaurant to a table and I will introduce you to someone who you could trust with your life.

Don't Bribe Me...

2006-12-18T16:45:00.000+08:00

I can hardly believe that the police in Malaysia are driving around with 'Don't Bribe Me' stickers in their rear windows. I'm not joking. Over the past few days I've noticed Proton Waja patrol cars all over Petaling Jaya with the imperative prose glaring proudly out over the back side of the vehicles. Who knows if it's really having any effect on the populace. It is interesting that they chose to go ahead with the message in English. Is it the same in the rural areas where Bahasa Malaysia is more-widely spoken? Do they have the stickers in Chinese and Tamil as well for those respective ethnic enclaves? Is police bribery a plague of the English-speaking suburb-dwelling middle class only? These are a great many perplexing questions. From my experience, and with my spotty driving record I've certainly had many experiences, there are far fewer police and road transport ministry officers asking for bribes than there were eight or 10 years ago. Nowadays, it seems that they are already writing the summons by the time you exit your car and alight to the meeting point at your rear bumper. In the old days, I would pretend not to understand their requests for "duit kopi" (coffee money), and more often than not, the frustrated bribe requester would just dismiss me sans bribe and sans summons! That doesn't seem to work so well anymore. Not only do most cops know enough English to nail me, they seem to love doing it. But I must take my hat off to the upper echelon of the police force. It really seems as if they are interested in rooting out corruption, now we just need the people to cooperate. If no one was willing to give a bribe, the cops would certainly stop asking after awhile.

Stocking Stasher...

2006-12-17T10:35:00.000+08:00

Check this out: www.stashcard.com. It's the shower curtain rod of the new century. Who says everything has already been invented? Thanks for the heads up, hellominor.

Rainy Season?

2006-12-11T17:18:00.000+08:00

When exactly is the rainy season in Kuala Lumpur? Because it seems to me that it rains every single day, 365 days-per-year. Not that I'm complaining, though. Right now the air is so crisp and clean, I want to bottle it and sell it to Californians. The haze problems of eight weeks ago seem so distant and incomprehensible. Another benefit of the daily downpours: the roads and sidewalks are cleaned (or at least rinsed) of city grime.

Unfair Fares

2006-12-10T10:00:00.000+08:00

Ever since I arrived back in Malaysia earlier this year, I have been carless. And as with every other Klang Valley denizen short of private transport, I have had to rely on a series of trains, buses, cabs and my own two feet to reach my job and various other appointments and engagements around Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur. For the most part, I am impressed with the system. It is easy to use, relatively cheap and available at all hours. I can offer no complaints about the LRT system, including the series of feeder buses that work from each station to deliver you to your final destination. Both systems are clean, comfortable and frequent.

Taxis however, bring me some mixed emotions. To use a taxi is an uncertainty. Unlike the train and bus service, which is as predictable as math, taking a taxi in KL can be a varied experience. A perfect ride might be defined as a readily available taxi with a clean interior, a properly functioning metre, and a friendly and knowledgeable well-kept driver whose priority is travelling the quickest, most efficient route available. On the other hand - and their always is an other hand - there is the filthy cab that takes ages to show, with a 'fixed metre' and a rude, arrogant, unhygienic driver who knows exactly how to make the journey long, slow and highly profitable.

But like life, a taxi ride in Kuala Lumpur is usually something in between. And I've taken enough cabs in Malaysia to experience just about everything short of being robbed at knife point.

Just the other night, I left a late movie at MidValley at around 2am. I needed to drop someone at Kampung Kerinchi and then proceed to Taman Desa, just off Jalan Klang Lama. As it stands, the triangular journey should have been around 6-8 kilometres. One can stand on the South Court porch at MidValley and clearly see both Taman Desa and Kerinchi. Neither are very far.

Upon exiting the MidValley doors, one taxi driver broke away from a pack of idle drivers and inquired after my destination. Getting a taxi from taxi-stand at night in Malaysia is a gang-type situation: You can't simply dismiss one driver for quoting an exorbitant fare in favour of the next guy, who during the day, will drive up momentarily and happily agree to use his metre. At night, prying one driver away from the others would be like trying to convince a shark to save your life by turning on his shark buddies. It's not going to happen. An honest driver would be slitting his own throat to openly contradict his crooked nocturnal pals in favour of honesty.

I explained my requirements in my best Bahasa Malaysia, which isn't very good. Realising I wasn't very clear, my companion quickly corrected the Malay. The driver said it was RM20 to Kampung Kerinchi (usually around RM4 tops) and RM30 to complete the ride to Taman Desa (probably a further RM4). I am intimately familiar with both locations so I knew the fare should not be more than RM10 on the metre. Factor in the 50% night-time surcharge and a couple of Ringgit tip and I knew that I would have been out around RM17 with a taxi using a properly calibrated metre. Instead of agreeing to pay the taxi driver the RM30 he wanted, I offered double the metred fare instead of 50%. I reasoned that by paying him RM20 instead of RM30 I was able to save face... and RM10. It was also a chance for him to save face, as he would still be able to "fleece" me to a degree acceptable with his gang.

He quickly accepted my offer of a 100% surcharge on the metre. And I soon found out why. His metre ran like a Derby Horse in early May. On the highway, the RM.10 increments flew by so fast I couldn't see some of the numbers. As he approached Kampung Kerinchi, I said loudly in English, "Hey, there's something wrong with your metre." His response wasn't understandable and vaguely aggressive so my companion shot me a glance as if to say "get out of the taxi here or keep quiet, this guy doesn't want to hear any complaining about his rigged metre." I decided to keep quiet as it was late and I wanted to get home without taking a beating in a dark lane somewhere.

When I reached Taman Desa, the metre said we had travelled an astonishing and very unreal 21.3 kilometres. The fare was RM15, which means under the previously negotiated contract, I owed him RM30. So he got his original RM30. I gave him the money and exited the cab without saying anything. It just seemed pointless to even begin to discuss his use of a rigged metre. Besides, doesn't the fact that he uses it fully explain his thoughts about the matter? Did I actually believe that this guy was going to have a honesty epiphany right there that evening simply because I pointed out that his metre was rigged? Hardly. So I let it be.

But this experience, and quite a few more, got me to thinking. Wouldn't I make the perfect undercover agent for the Malaysian Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board's enforcement division? I'd even wear a wire and everything. We could record the scum fleecing me for my Ringgit. Every Friday I could have a drink at Hard Rock in KL or see a late movie at Times Square in Pudu. Later I could ask a taxi driver for a ride back to Petaling Jaya. The enforcement operators could follow to my destination to bust these crooks once they extorted from me a large and unfair fare. It would probably only work for a few weeks as my picture would surely be circulated around to whichever taxi companies had moles inside the enforcement division, but what fun it would be.

And when they were done with me, they could get someone else to do it. Mix things up, use a Sarawakian. Heck, use an Indonesian labourer or a Chinese student. If the newspapers are anything to go by, these two groups tend to get fleeced a lot. Believe it or not, there are many, many places in this world where the taxi drivers all use honestly metred fares. Malaysians do not have to accept this illegality lying down, it is possible to fight it, but without the help of the authorities, it will be a near impossible hill to climb.

RIP James Kim

2006-12-10T09:52:00.000+08:00

Like many others, I'd followed the case of the missing Kim family with increased interest. Since just after Thanksgiving, James Kim of San Fransisco, his wife and their two young children were lost and presumed stranded somewhere in Oregon's Siskiyou National Forest. A miracle turned to bittersweet joy when the Kati, and the two children were found alive and well after nine days in a 2005 Saab and James was located a couple of days later in a remote canyon, presumably a way point on a long desperate walk to save his family. He was dead, a victim of hypothermia and exposure.

James died in a beautiful and dangerous place. The snowy canyons he traversed in tennis shoes and a sweater are difficult enough to negotiate in the height of summer. In the winter, they can be downright impenetrable. James walked ten miles after nine days of little to no food or sustenance. I can't even imagine what he thought about during this last walk. Hopefully he was at peace when he closed his eyes for the last time.

As the news reports turned inevitably to James Kim's life, I received a major shock. I realised that I, and certainly thousands more, "knew" James. At least in the sense that one "knows" a television personality. I thought I recognised the face shown in the news reports, and as it turns out, I did.

Prior to his last gig as a Senior Editor at CNET, James made a living as a tech reviewer on TechTV, the forerunner of G4TV.

Tech TV and G4TV have played prominently on Malaysia's satellite TV network ASTRO since around 2001 or 2002. As there are a good deal fewer channels available here in Malaysia as compared with cable or satellite in the US, many Malaysians have become quite familiar with nearly all that's available. Unlike in the US, it's difficult for a channel to become lost or buried in Malaysia, even with a subscription to everything. Each new channel here is always greeted with some inward cheer and enthusiasm, as if more information means more knowledge, which we know is not always true.

I remember James' first rash of bit-part appearances on ScreenSavers and a few other shows on Tech TV. I thought he seemed nervous and ill at ease at first, especially compared to some of the other more polished talent. But I was soon won over by his charm, and most of all his tech-review ability. Who knows if he was just reading cue cards? I suspect not. The channel itself seemed to be run on a shoe-string budget, so I suspect that the hosts were also doing a good deal of the writing.

James was a champ, one of us - the 13th American Generation: The X'ers. I feel that a great many racial and cultural stereotypes and prejudices have broken down with Generation X and it makes me feel good to see that. The best news, it seems, is that these injustices are being broken down even further by Generation Y, or those currently in their teens and mid-20s. Youth are impetuous and often rude about the flaws of a prior generation, but they are usually correct...

Here is a video tribute put together by James' colleagues at CNET. I'm sure, thanks to his family and friend's efforts, their own memories and modern technology, James two children will grow up with at least of sense of who their father was. Hopefully, one day they will be able to return to the spot in the mountains where James perished, if only to experience the simultaneous pull of the devastating loss of their father and the quiet, exhilaration of one of the most beautiful spots on the face of this earth. RIP Mr Kim.