As promised..
The final piece of the puzzle has been fitted... took me an hour last night just to reconfigure all the wirings of the speakers. It's amazing how much dust can accumulate behind and beneath your players, I swear it almost looks like a complete eco-system when I remove my amplifier!
Looking good.. Pass the popcorn, please!
Stay-home weekend!!
it's here!! After eagerly awaiting it for a week... I can finally bask in the full glory of watching LOTR on the 50" plasma widescreen.. Throwing caution to the wind, I turn up the volume and almost max out the sub-woofer... despite it's getting late in the evening. The result? Simple mind-blowing... I'm speechless! Hahhaa.. I can see more movie-nights are on the cards.. Time to stock up on the chips!!
Btw, bought a new TV console.. would be coming in 2 days' time.. shall update with more pics then...
Pan Fried Pepper Spagetti anyone?
My first formal foray into cooking.. thought I'll start with something simple and something edible that I won't mind eating.. Pan-Fried Spagetti! So, a few days back, went over to Cold Storage near my favourite haunt, Ah Mei @ Railway Mall... got myself some Virgin Oil, Spagetti & Pepper.. wanted to get Peppercorns instead but their range was pretty limited, so just settle for some pepper grounds.
Alright, think I shall skip the cooking process as I'm probably a worse cook than you guys! Surprisingly after 20 odd-minutes, I emerge from the smoke-filled kitchen unscathed, it's done! (I made an accidental discovery on the way too... that olive oil makes wonderful smoke bombs!)
Well.. results? It's pretty good I must say! I managed to finish a huge serving, my mom who came home shortly after thought I ordered Pizzahut's pasta! hahaa..
Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with my 1st attempt, smells good, looks ok but taste wise could be improved. It's a little hard (though I've already boiled it for close to 20mins... usually it'll take 10-15mins only.), a tad too much salt.. and lack of other ingredients. Maybe I'll add in some prawns and other seafood next time!?
Oh, 1 more thing.. I've no idea olive oil burns up so fast! Now half my pan is black.. haha.. a good learning experience!
Making "Home" Work
If "you're happy at work, you will ultimately achieve successful work-life balance.." Motivational speaker, David Oliver, stressed the point when he spoke recently at a seminar, At Home With Family. The inspirational speaker and author of Work: Prison or Place of Destiny, says, "When you’re unhappy at work, it will inadvertently affect your family." Work With Passion How to find the common ground between work and family: FATHERS DON’T KNOW BEST
But not all of us have dream jobs, you say? He rationalises that it’s all about making choices and finding the right motivation at work. Choose to put passion at work, and passion will continue at home. But work with a heavy heart filled with overwhelming stress, and no doubt, these work "toxins" will spill over into your family life.
Oliver suggests some practical strategies to putting the spring back into work and managing work-life relationships.
If work is starting to feel jaded, perhaps it’s time to:
It’s not about stumbling on that perfect schedule, or that our family demands too much time. The reality is there is just not enough time for you to do everything you are convinced you need to do, or that everyone expects you to do. We have to accept that saying “yes” always means saying "no" somewhere else.
Tell yourself you’ll leave the office by 6pm, and it’ll give you the energy and motivation to be more productive and work more efficiently.
We often separate work and family, and that creates tension. It would be ideal if you’re working together with the family because it’ll be like having a best friend at work. But if not, invite your family into your work place to let them know you’re in this as a family. I’m 53 years old, but till today, I can still remember the great pride I had in my dad when he first brought me to see his office when I was 18.
For me, being on my boat alone restores my soul. It’s not wrong to love yourself — if you don’t get it right for yourself, how can you do it for others?
Likewise, allow your partner to love herself. My wife likes to do jigsaws to relax. Her stuff makes a mess, and it irritates me sometimes, but I must learn to give her space to restore her soul her way.
Find somewhere away from the immediate noise to do what I call "the stone’s throw," where you skip pebbles on the water. Or find other little routines to unwind before heading home from work, like listening to music in the car.
Oliver, who’s also a father to three grown children, has this first-hand advice for dads out there. "Create regular “magic moments” for your family to build lasting memories," he says. You can do simple things such as
Alien!!
Heard the radio while driving on the way to work this morning about this group of Canadian surgeons having the shock of their lives while operating on a man who began oozing out GREEN BLOOD!
Yes, you heard me right! Green blood. According to them, this 42 year old Canadian have a blood discoloration condition caused by sulfhemoglobinaemia, which happens when a sulfur atom becomes attached the oxygen-carrying hemoglobin protein present in blood.
Apparently it's caused by the patient's migraine medication, sumatriptan, which contains a sulfonamide group.
Talk about science-fiction coming to life! For those Star Trek fans out there, you'll most probably be reminded of 'Spock' whose has green blood due to his Vulcan origin.
For the elites...
Now... wouldn't this make a nice tee-shirt?
My 1st customer?
Note: This phrase is copyrighted to Travis Lee, written permission is required if you intend to use for personal or commercial purposes. Offenders will be tracked and prosecuted.
While the world is working...
ME working hard on a mid-tuesday afternoon. Walking around in Orchard under the scorching mid-day sun, patrolling the Toys R Us store and having an intense brain-freezing iced-tea at Coffeebean, it's a tough job but someone's gotta do it.
Hehehe...
The world's longest abbreviation
Can someone please enlighten me on how to pronouce this???
NIIOMTPLABOPARMBETZHELBETRABSBOMONIMONKONOTDTEKHSTROMONT
Which stands for: Laboratory for Shuttering, Reinforcement, Concrete and Ferroconcrete Operations for Composite-monolithic and Monolithic Constructions of the Department of Technology of Building Assembly Operations of the Scientific Research Institute of the Organization for Building Mechanization and Technical Aid of the Academy of Building and Architecture of the USSR.
iMac cousin
Our new product... pretty cool eh?! So-called the LCD-PC.. this baby is an iMac cousin!
The monitor as you can see.. is the whole deal! Everything is inside.. the cpu, the dvd-rom drive, external ports, blah blah blah.. Heck, it even comes with a TV option!
Sound is marginally good with clear trebles but lacking in the bass department. Good if you have a heart condition and playing any horror games can be potentially fatal.
The other cool factor that outshines her distant iMac cousin is the touchscreen controls located just below the monitor that glows blue inconspicously. Very nice touch!
Well, most cool dudes have a weird side and this is no exception. You may notice from the pictures there are no mouse... and how could a PC do without one?! Well, fret not... there's a mouse but not your conventional one though. If you notice on the top corners of the keyboard is a little joystick on the right and 2 pretty well hidden buttons on the left. That's your mouse!
I do find it a little weird using it.. well, maybe it's just a matter of getting used to. But overall.. this is a really cool looking device... and a definite talking point if you constantly host parties at home. 
Bring out the chips!!
I can't wait... in just 9 more days... I'll be basking in the
full HD glory of this 50 inch beauty, with it's built-in 80GB
HDD.. I can even preset & record my favourite Discovery
channel, sweet!!
Another killer feature that seals the purchasing dilema
between LCD & Plasma for me is the gaming part... it's
called Burn-In. So what is Burn-In you ask...?
Burn-in, sometimes also referred as permanent image
retention, is an effect of an after-image appearing
on your plasma or other phosphor-based screen after
a still picture is displayed for an extended period
of time.
The most common type of burn-in is the result of
watching 4:3 video with black bars on both sides
on a 16:9 screen. Other examples of burn-in may
include 2.35:1 movies watched on a 16:9 screen
(black bars on top and bottom), non-transparent
channel logos, fixed parts of the screen used, for
example, for teletext or weather display, video and
computer games, logos and menus, or even a paused
DVD or DVD title menu.
Like an answer to my prayers.. this cool LG Plasma
has an Obiter feature that totally eliminates this
problem... coupled with my 5.1 THX & Digital surround
JBL home theater system... it's simply heavenly!! Now
I can game to my heart's content with my next purchase..
Nintendo Wii!
Going home will never be the same again...
LOTR Movie-Marathon anyone?
Transformers Review
My little run-of-the-mill review.
Ever since I saw it's sneak preview trailer way back in 2006, I let out a little shreak of excitement and a little boy in me surfaces... very much like a small boy in 1987, I've been eagerly lusting for the big day when it will invade our little island. After a year of restless anticipation, the wait is finally over. Transformers breaks the boundaries of movie imagination, transcending all expectations amongst the legions of fans worldwide. Thoughout the 135mins, its action-packed sequences, coupled with an engaging plot of romance and fine sprinkling of candid humour belts me to my seat throughout.
Filled with excitment and adrenaline, I quickly scrambled to secure my tickets almost a week in advance. Thanking my lucky stars, I discovered one cinema in town that still offers pretty good seats. (All other cinemas are booked solid throughout the opening weekend.)
As I nested comfortably in my seat waiting for the show to start, an entourage of movie trailers dutifully rolls past.. but my mind was transported back in time, back 20 years to be exact. Back to the 80s when I remember rushing and running home from school to catch the cartoon... with my 20-ton school bag on my right shoulder and a pair of scruffy-looking white school shoes leaving a nice brown trail leading to the living room... which never fails to drive my mom mad.
As the 2 iconic logos flashes across my old 21" TV set, faithfully accompanied by the world-famous phrase..." More Than Meets The Eye." I'll promptly take out my proud collection of the entire range of Transformer's toys (One of my biggest regret in life is throwing them away.. darn!!), and mimicking the action sequences on-screen.
Guess if you're a kid in the 80s, you'll know exactly what movie I'm talking about here. Yes, those awesome robots they call.. The Transformers!!
I was jostled out of my thoughts when the lights dimmed and the boisterous crowd was suddenly silent. The show has began.... .... feeling like a 7 year-old kid all over again...
Dreamworks has certainly reached the pinnacle in terms of design and animation. The quality and realism of the CGI visual effects were superb.
The storylines of each individual character are effortlessly integrated together and the SFX (sound effects) added just the right finishing touches at the right moment to making this one of the best action movie of the year!!
I felt like a 7 year-old kid again upon hearing the very 1st distinctive sound when Blackout transforms. They are faithfully reproduced right down to the tone & pitch of the effect. To top it off, they even managed to get Peter Cullen (the original guy) to voiced Optimus Prime for this movie as well.
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