Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Moleskines etc.

Moleskines are very expensive in Malaysia. Not many can justify spending over RM50 for a small notebook. Now that the exchange rate is much lower, how come Moleskines still cost over RM50?

I use my Moleskine mainly as a journal, but recently several other interesting notebooks are popping up in bookstores. One in particular that I especially like are notebooks from Grandluxe. I found them at MPH and also at Borders. They're much cheaper than Moleskines at around RM12-RM14, depending on which type you buy.


These are 2 products from Grandluxe that I like. The top one looks exactly like a Moleskine, but the cover looks rubbery. This is called the monologue Ruled Notebook. I haven't used this yet. But I did use the bottom one. It's a sketch book variety, and it's called the monologue Soft Sketch Book. I used this during my trip to New Zealand, and it was really useful. I liked the band that stretches across the middle of the notebook. It helps keep everything inside and not fall off. I like it so much that I bought another one as a backup.

I'm glad Grandluxe realise people want something more in a notebook. Sure there are cheaper notebooks out there, but how else can you explain sites dedicated to notebooks like Moleskinerie, Notebookism and Black Cover? (disclaimer: I added the link to Black Cover because there's a contest going on there, with a chance to win a Rhodia notebook.)


I probably won't buy another Moleskine... unless their prices drop. monologue notebooks suit me just fine. They're cheap (relatively) and good, and that's a rare combination.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Disney sneakers, and they're affordable!

The last time I visited Add-On at Queensbay, I was pretty put off by the high prices of Disney merchandise. But at our recent visit over the weekend, I was surprised by the price cuts. There was nary a sign boldly proclaiming "SALES", but clothes that were previously more than RM80 were now selling for less than RM40, and shoes that were RM199 were now selling for RM60.

Which was why SP "ter-buy" this awesome looking sneaker.


Saturday, June 21, 2008

An outing at Pulau Jerejak

I decided to join the company outing last Friday in my attempts to recover from my slump. We were headed for Pulau Jerejak with plans for a paintball session and a go at pretending to be a flying fox.

It was my first trip to Pulau Jerejak and I didn't know what to expect. The ferry ride to the island was rather pleasant. I didn't get seasick, and everything was very orderly. Once on the other island, we had a pretty good view of the Free Trade Zone.

I couldn't sort what I felt. It wasn't a particularly attractive view since it's an industrial area, but I also felt an tingle of elation because I felt a disconnect from what the area represented - work.

So I decided to focus instead on the sky, which was quite attractive.


I didn't have any photos of my paintball session. Too bad, because I was particularly aggressive. The rules were, if you're out of ammo, you out. If you're shot, you're out. I certainly didn't want to go out without a fight, so within the first minute, I had claimed my 2 kills. Each kill was delivered by multiple shots to ensure without any doubt that it was a clear kill.

As I was preparing for my third kill, I got shot! In the head! I was pretty surprised because I was pretty sure I was hiding behind a wall. It was only later that it dawned on me that the "wall" was actually made of foam that didn't offer any protection.

Anyways, it was then time for the flying fox part. We had to cross a suspension bridge.


The flying fox was rather short, but thrilling. I wanted to go for seconds, but I wasn't allowed.

It was a fun trip. Tiring, but fun. I can't wait to have another go at paintball.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Patriotic


Cross-processed

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Giving VLC a new look

Quicktime on the Mac doesn't let you playback popular Internet video files such as Xvid or DivX. Although there are plug-ins available for Quicktime such as Perian to support these files, I think the best and least problematic solution is to install VLC.

Most of the time, VLC works much better than Quicktime on my iBook G4. If there was one thing I wish I could improve upon VLC is how it looks. And thanks to the information at MacThemes, I can now turn the plain VLC from this:

to this - the Black Pearl skin.
Installing the skin is easy. First, download the zipped file from MacThemes. Unzip the file and you'll see these 2 directories.

This pretty much explains everything. Now go to your Applications directory where you've installed VLC.

Then right-click on VLC and click Show Package Contents.


Then just replace the files as instructed in the zipped file.

The skin still works on the latest version 0.8.6h VLC. And if you want to revert back to the default skin, just reinstall VLC.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Guardian of the door

Lomofied RAZR

Thursday, June 12, 2008

These shoes are made for walking


Lomofied 838pro.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Today

I am disgusted by how work has taken priority in our lives. Yes, I realise we work for a living, but it's becoming clearer that we are living for work. Today I am told about a question posed by an interviewer at a certain multi-national company.

She said, and I'm paraphrasing here, "Do you plan to have children? Do you realise that many people who have children do not have the commitment at work. They have longer lunch hours, go home earlier and cannot put in the time for work."

This is clearly discrimination. How can our worth be judged by how much we can sacrifice for work?

Saturday, June 07, 2008

Lomo - Got the film!

Back in SP's home town, and she found some film for my LOMO LC-A. The film is pretty dated... expired in 2002. Anyways... it's still worth giving it a try.



It took me a while to load the film... I guess I'm a little rusty. Now the film is in the camera, and it's time to adjust the ISO on the LC-A. I decided to go for ISO50 to compensate for the deteriorated film. Maybe it's gotten less sensitive to light, so setting a lower ISO might help out a little.

Next... to take some lomographs.

Friday, June 06, 2008

Old friends at Telok Tempoyak

SP and I arrived early, so we went on the wooden bridge that extends way out in the sea. Both of us don't swim, and I was really nervous about walking on the bridge. It didn't help that as we went further out into the sea, the wood seemed more worn with numerous gaps where wooden boards have rotted away.




Quite possibly the last shot we took before the sea turned rougher, and the sky got darker. I thought a storm was coming, but as most things in life, what you think might happen may not happen at all.

Thursday, June 05, 2008

6 years ago - Top of the world


Moments like these come rarely - when you're struck dumb by the awesomeness of life.

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Trying something new

This is a poor attempt at recreating what Heather Champ has done on her site.

Monday, June 02, 2008

LOMO LC-A - Finding myself

I am a different person from who I was a few years ago. 3 years ago, to be a little more precise. Back then, I was tearing down hilly slopes on my mountain bike with nary a care in the world, and every thing around me was an exploration of my artistic eye to be captured on film.

I'm not going to talk about who I am today, but I do know that I want to recapture that zest that I've lost. And my first step is to rummage through my closet to find a long lost friend, my LOMO LC-A. This was the camera that rekindled my love for photography, and led me to buy my first digital SLR. What better way to find myself than to start from the beginning.


The LOMO LC-A is no longer made. At least not in its original form. Even so, I'm not really sure how "pure" is my LC-A. The LC-A stood for LOMO Compact - Automat, a compact, unassuming, simple automatic exposure camera from St Petersburg, Russia. It would have probably faded in history if it were not for the marketing skills of the people behind the Lomographic Society. They made the low-tech camera attractive to people who have gotten jaded by Japanese automatic cameras that produced sharp, focused, accurately exposed photographs. Retro was cool, and the LC-A with all its retro gears and capacitors became cool.

However, all good things must come to an end, and the LC-A is no longer made in Russia. Like many of today's corporations, the production of the LC-A has been moved to China and is now called the LOMO LC-A+. The "+" is added because some subtle tweaks have been added. One addition is the MX slider for multiple exposure shots. Multiple exposure is possible with the original version, but is made much easier on the LC-A+. Perhaps the most radical change is the support for lens accessories on the LC-A+ with the addition of grooves on the camera.

Now that I've dusted off my "original" LOMO LC-A, it's time for me to exercise my artistic muscle. First, I have to get some film, and that's my first obstacle. Film...

A quick trip to Tesco and I came back empty handed. Tesco used to sell store branded film, and I wanted these since they should be cheaper than the branded ones. Nope, no luck. Tesco doesn't sell film any more. A peek at the Kodak Express store, and I balked at the RM11 price tag on the Kodak Max 200 film cartridge. It seems that film prices hasn't dropped at all. I guess I should be thankful that prices haven't increased because so few people use film nowadays.

I try looking around in KL on my next visit. Maybe I'll score some cheaper priced films there.