Long Live Life

I know I said I wanted to write a review on an album that I just got, so here it is:


This is Coldplay's latest award-winning album (yes, I know, it's been out for a year already), entitled Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends. It's their fourth studio album after 2005's brilliant X&Y. The band wiped the floor with the others at this year's Grammy Awards, nabbing seven nominations and walking off with three wins, including Best Rock Album and Song of the Year (for Viva la Vida).

So why does this particular copy have a different cover from the original (the one with Eugine Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People)? Because this is no ordinary Viva la Vida.


No, this is the deluxe version called the Prospekt's March Edition and includes the eponymous EP, which adds eight new tracks to the original ten.



The main album starts off strong with the lush instrumental track, Life in Technicolour (a complete version with the vocals is in the EP), leading into the dark Cemeteries of London. 42 is by far my favourite track of the album, with three parts - a deep, mysterious piano-and-strings opening, a brooding instrumental middle piece complete with fast-paced drumming and an uplifting final bit. And of course, who can forget Viva la Vida? The upbeat song about a former ruler reflecting his past glory always brings the spirits up on every listen. Violet Hill, on the other hand, brings the band a bit closer to its rock roots with the thunderous guitars. Bringing up the rear are Strawberry Swing and Death and All His Friends. Despite the ominous title of the latter, both these songs are joyous and rousing, a brilliant end to a glorious album.

The accompanying Prospekt's March EP complements Viva la Vida well, and they should - the songs on it were meant to go on the latter but were finished too late. Although there aren't many standout tracks apart from the fit-for-arena Glass of Water and the neat-but-ultimately-too-short piano piece Postcards from Far Away, they are a pleasant addition (apart from a slightly questionable and unnecessary rap section by Jay-Z on Lost+).

There are some minor problems, however. Although Chris Martin is an accomplished falsetto singer, his experimentation on singing in a lower pitch on some of the tracks, particularly on Yes shows that he is perhaps quite uncomfortable in that part of his vocal range. Also, sometimes his voice sounds muddled, almost like he's mumbling.

Still, it's hard not to like this album. It's so grandiose and atmospheric when it's at its best that you can't help but get carried away. Sure, some of the lyrics are downright gibberish, but who cares when the music's this good?

How to Buy a Present

Today's my sister's birthday, so it's my family obligation to buy her a present. Now, I'm not exactly the best person at this sort of job, because first and foremost, I'm not a great observer - I never, ever keep track of people's likes and dislikes (which probably means I'd be the world's worst boyfriend, but I digress).

Which made the whole thing a bit of a nightmare. I mean, I know my sister is a bit of a fashionista, but what should I get her? A bag? Accessories? Clothes?

My head span for a while, until I got round it using simple logic. Now, I have to warn you again that I'm not exactly an expert at such things, but I do think these tips will help you the next time you're stuck in a mall looking for the right present.

The first thing a prospective buyer needs to get into his/her head is that you have to get something you wouldn't mind receiving yourself. Of course you also need to consider stuff such as gender and age, but you get what I mean. Do you think someone would be happy receiving a shoddy toy you paid a fiver for at Petaling Street? Would you? Exactly.

With that in mind, you then have to decide exactly what to buy. And one of the most popular gifts people get are clothes. Nice idea, you may think, but there's a caveat: never, EVER buy clothes unless you are absolutely sure of the person's size. Sure, some shops let you exchange clothes in case you've inevitably bought the wrong size, but it would be a complete waste of time, effort and most importantly during these times of environmental awareness, petrol. And even if you get past this hurdle, there's a problem.

I never liked people buying clothes for me, because they rarely ever get it right, even if they know me rather well. There's so many things to consider - the type of clothing, the style, the cut, the colours, the materials, etc. - that there's every chance you'd get one, maybe all of them wrong. To be honest, I'd rather give the recipient the money so that they can go shopping on their own (all this goes for shoes as well).

Another favourite is stuff such as snow globes and music boxes. Another no-no. The whole point of a present is for it to be used and appreciated. Those things are nice, I admit, but it's only a matter of time before they are assigned to the back of the shelf as dust-collecting fodder. Not the way you want your birthday present to be treated, is it?

If your recipient is a girl, you might be tempted to buy make-up and fragrances instead. Which brings me back to the point I made above. Yes, presents are supposed to be used, but they're also supposed to be a lasting reminder. Which is exactly what a disposable is not - the stuff eventually gets used up and the container is thrown away, never to be seen again.

So, you might be thinking, you'd probably be better off buying accessories (bangles, necklaces, the lot) for that girl. However, girls usually have drawers full of them, so unless you know EXACTLY what to get, your present would likely never see the light of day again. Ditto handbags.

Purses and wallets are relatively safe buys, as people usually go through them one at a time. They're especially safe when their current ones are showing some wear and tear. But like I've been stressing so many times on this article, know what your recipient likes. Don't make the classic mistake of buying a pink purse for a girl who hates pink.

Boys (or men who have the mental age of 6, like me) like to receive toys and electronics as gifts. But tread carefully - if you're getting a toy, get your facts right - their favourite action movie, cartoon, car or aeroplane. You don't want to get a 1/2-scale figurine of Superman for a Batman fan, do you?

As for gadgets, you need to know what sort of gizmo your recipient is looking for. An MP3 player is only cool to someone who hasn't already got one/is looking for one. Otherwise you'll run the risk of buying something that's inferior to what they've already got. And keep in mind that us boys can be quite fanatical about certain brands and reject anything that is even remotely related to other manufacturers - if I got Philbert a Sony Vaio, for instance, he'd be quite livid...

So there, those are my non-expert tips for anyone who's ever been stuck finding presents. Of course, I'm only talking about the usual here - if you wanna get someone a Ferrari 430 Scuderia, he/she would most likely be more than happy to have it. And if you have the time (which I didn't), consider making your own present - the recipient will really appreciate the time and effort you put into it. Last but not least, I hope this helps you like how it helped me, whoever you are. Good luck. And feel free to voice out in the comments whatever you disagree with.

Oh, and the present I bought for my sister? A white Vincci purse. She likes it, thank god. Thanks to Priya and Pui Yin for helping me choose the present!

That was when I ruled the world...

Review coming soon.

*kitty = kit lens

Yes, I've just returned from the Sony Service Centre with my trusty 18-70mm!

And the first miracle is, it's all covered under warranty. There was a brief misunderstanding about the computers not updated on the extra three months I should've got when I registered the camera, but other than that it was smooth sailing.

The second miracle is, the lens feels fantastic - tighter and smoother in operation, as though it has just made the trip off the assembly line. The Carl Zeiss can wait (and my wallet can relax).

The third miracle is, they've even found the time to replace the loose rubber grip!

So, satisfied, I went to KL for a class presentation. Got 2GB of RAM while i was there. Got back, disassembled my Mac. Ten minutes later, with the 'mini put together again and two RAM sticks slotted into place, I ran it for the first time.

Well, when I said "ran", what I should've said was "flew", because that was exactly what happened.

Having double the memory meant that tasks that were once a pain to deal with became a breeze. Photoshop? iPhoto? GarageBand? Pah! My rejuvenated Mac mini laughs in the face of all this pettiness.

And the best part? It cost less than RM100. Power to the economically-hampered!

"If you don't mend it, I'm gonna bone your dog."

Back on the blog for a while.


You may remember, if you've actually been following this pathetic, lazily updated blog, that last year my well-used 18-70mm Sony kit lens had what can only be described as a nervous breakdown every time I put it on my DSLR. Then it got fixed. And now it's back.

Same symptoms: sticky focus ring, vibrates wildly when affixed to the camera. Already sent to Sony Centre at Mid Valley - its second visit in barely half a year. Hoping, no, praying it's still covered by the warranty.

This lens seems like it's on its last legs - doesn't feel as smooth, and the rubber grip has come loose. I can already see the Sony salesman trying to drag me towards his stash of Carl Zeiss.

This is gonna take a big chunk out of my MacBook Pro fund...

Things you can't take with your own DSLR.

1. Your own DSLR.
2. Your entire lens collection.
3. All your memory cards.

P.S. I'm finally 18. Now stop telling me I'm underaged.

Never mind the bollocks.

It's Malaysian Studies. Lecture was boring and full with absolute bullshit, as usual, made worse by a stand-in lecturer who sounds like he's constipated. Suddenly, a message rings in. It's Philbert.

"Just met Pei Hau. Damn ironic bugger went to Naza [exotic car showroom] yesterday. Saw this guy with two chicks walking out as he was walking in. Bugger looked familiar - was Razak Baginda. Bloody hell, blow up Altantuya and still can go buy car..."

I fired back.

"Ironically, I'm at a Malaysian Studies lecture. Or, more accurately, a BN propaganda event."

P.S. The race is on. Damn, she's gorgeous.

D for drive, N for neutral, R for reverse, P for panic.

I hate parking.

I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate parallel parking.

Trying to place your car into a space barely big enough to fit it is bad enough. Add a big drop by the side (also known as a drain) or a curb and the experience is diabolical.

I can drive on the road almost well enough, but once I get to my destination and the only parking spots available are those of the parallel variety, panic sets in and I need help.

For one, I'm sitting on the right side of the car and about as far away from the parking bay as I can get without being outside the car, so judging distances is a Herculean effort all by itself. And then there's the problem with driving the car into the said parking bay.

You see, to be able to fit into the space available you have to turn left into the space ridiculously early. So you'll almost certainly whack into the car behind the space before you actually set a wheel into that space.

Then, still turning left, you have to drive ridiculously far in before turning right. Which means you'll almost certainly fall into the drain or clip the curb.

And then you have to actually turn right to fit into the space. Which means you'll almost certainly drive into the car in front.

And then you have to reverse to straighten the car. Which means you'll almost certainly back into the car you'd almost certainly have hit earlier.

And if, after all that, you still haven't fit in to the space (which is almost a certainty), you have to drive out to try again. And that almost certainly means you'd add another dent into the car in front. And so it goes on.

Of course, it's a bit easier if you reverse into the space. But of course, as this is Malaysia, by the time you've shifted into reverse, there'd almost certainly be a line of cars an inch behind your rear bumper. Which means you'd almost certainly reverse into the car behind.

Before I got my hands on a licence, I used to think that everyone should know how to park and those who don't are idiots. But now I know I was wrong. It's virtually impossible.

Left-hand politics.

I know this sounds weird, coming from someone from both sides of the fence, but I really do think left-handers are like Mac users, in the sense that they think that they're unique and better than everybody else.

Now, before anybody from both camps pelt me with food, think about it. Lefties always extol the virtues of being a left-hander, like being smarter and more artistic. But you never see a right-hander boasting about being more logical, do you?

Likewise, a typical Mac user utilises every opportunity available to talk about how their aesthetically-pleasing machines run faster and more efficiently than an equivalent PC, whereas Windows users...wait, there are no redeeming features for Windows.

Mac users and left-handers are also similar in other ways. For instance, you always see lefties go looking around in class for other people writing with the same hand (I'm afraid I do that sometimes) the same way someone with an iMac looks around at Starbucks for people carrying MacBook Pros.

These characteristics can be shared with people of/with other things as well. In fact, I wouldn't be at all surprised if 95% of the world's left-handed people are also either Mac users, DSLR photographers, Citroën drivers, artists, French or various combinations of all of the above.

Shittyx, part deux.

Just to show anyone bothering to read this how monumentally frustrated I am of Streamyx, I've came back to rant.

Streamyx is literally the most hopeless, most unreliable piece of technology I've ever had the misfortune to pay for. The iPod comes close in reliability - that thing broke after just three years - but at least it was fun while it lasted. All Streamyx does, on the other hand, is give constant headache.

What's so hard about giving us perfectly decent broadband service? It's not like we're asking for supersonic download speeds - just make it simple, reliable and adequately quick. And yet somehow, the thick people at Menara TM (they couldn't even design the building by themselves and ended up with a Burj Al Arab rip-off) could screw it up.

We should all sue them for fraud. After all, Streamyx isn't cheap.

Tagged. Again.

This was off Philbert's blog.

Does it matter to you if your boyfriend or girlfriend smoke?
Very much. I don't give an inkling if friends smoke (and trust me, a lot of my friends from Limkokwing do), but as far as a girlfriend is concerned, it's all a bit...meh.

How about drinking?
That's not a problem. As long as she's not Amy Winehouse alcoholic.

Do you like someone you can't have?
I did. Who hasn't?

If someone liked you right now, would you want them to tell you?
Yup. Because it never works the other way round.

What's your favourite sport?
Like Philbert, Formula One. Kimi Räikkönen really needs to wipe the smug smile off Lewis Hamilton's prepubescent face this year.

Its Saturday night, and you're home alone... what do you do?
Threesome. Nah, joking.

Do you like roller coasters?
Haven't been on one. Seriously. Does that count as a no?

When's the perfect time to have a bf/gf?
When you can juggle work and play.

If you could date any celebrity, who would it be?
What do you mean by "celebrity"?

What are you doing this weekend?
Going out with a friend from primary who's about to leave to Australia.

What is your favourite restaurant?
I've no favourite. I love all food too much.

Have you ever hugged someone?
Yes.

Ever kissed someone you weren't attracted to?
No.

Do you like anyone right now?
Um, yes and no. Take it however you like.

What is the first thing you notice about the opposite sex?
Looks. I'm a shallow person, to be honest. Philbert says it's "the whole picture", but he also told me once that he looks at girls directly where his eye level is, i.e. lower.

Which do you prefer, Beach or Mountains?
Mountains. The beach doesn't really do it for me, somehow. Probably because all the sand goes straight into your pants.

What kind of phone do you have?
My bargain-fodder Sony Ericsson W200i. As far as Sony Ericssons go, it's positively cheap.

Computer or Laptop?
Got a desktop, want a laptop. That MacBook Pro...

Jeans or Sweats?
Jeans.

Which year(s) has/have been the best so far?
1991. Because I was born then.

How old are you gonna be on your next birthday?
Legal age.

What should you be doing right now?
Sleeping.

What is your favourite TV show?
A draw. In the American corner, we have Emmy-winning medical drama House (whose titular character is played, ironically, by a Brit). In the Brit corner, we have Emmy-winning motoring show Top Gear. Both epic shows.

What's been your last purchase?
Converse clothes.

Are you attracted to girls/boys that smoke?
I can understand why people do it, but apart from that, no.

Have you ever fallen on your butt in front of a crowd of people?
Not yet.

What do you do when you're at home?
Computer, video games, eat, shit, sleep.

What is your favourite subject?
Hard to consider, since all of them revolve around the art of drawing. Probably Analytical Drawing. But hey, there's Photography coming...

What's the best thing that's ever happened to you?
I dunno. When was the last time I got a toy/gadget?



Tagging:
Everyone.

Shittyx.

Streamyx - for me, anyway - is stupidly, hopelessly tepid.

You know, there was a time in the not-too-distant past when Streamyx was a moderately adequate broadband service.

Now, it's so slow that the bandwidth can only be described as one-way-street narrow.

What an utter waste of precious, hard-earned money.

Every month my family pays RM66 to the overlords of telecom service that is TM and what do I get?

Frequent disconnections.

Painfully slow loads.

And - this is what really irritates me - MSN constantly bouncing back messages that I've sent.

Every time I use MSN there's bound to be a slew of "The message cannot be sent because a timeout/connection error has occured". Which is deeply annoying when you're engaged in a conversation.

Seriously, the only reason I'm not rushing to plug that phone line straight to the Mac mini is that it doesn't support dial-up.

I really do hope that in this economic recession TM will be hit by such a shitstorm of debts, corruption, mismanagement, complaints and loss of customers that even government bailouts can't save it from being steamrolled into the depths of bankruptcy.

And that, while trying to bailout all the struggling companies, the government itself will go under.

And that, without the money that they can sneak so easily from under the table, the corrupt politicians and businessmen in the country will all go wither and die a painfully poor death.

Which would give me a really good reason to switch to some other broadband service.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm on a phone call to TM. Because I know that ain't happening.

Scuderia Fisher-Price

Have you seen Ferrari's new F60? No, it's not a replacement for its Enzo flagship but rather, its latest in a long line (make that 60 years long, hence the name) of Formula One contenders. And certainly when you look at it, the words that flow through your mind are less "world-class racing" and more "Fisher-Price"...


Like a few people who've seen it, I initially thought that this would be a look that we would eventually get used to. But after a few days, some thought and the subsequent launch of Toyota's own TF109...


...my opinion changed.

This year's crop of cars will never look "right".

Some people may argue that with every rule change - and it's always the rules that dictate the shape of the car - there's always a certain time before a car's new look becomes comfortable to look at. But in the past, no matter how revolutionary the changes were, all the cars had a certain rightness in their proportions.

Take, for instance, an F1 car from last year (like this BMW Sauber, and spamming my own blog with my photo in the process)...


...and one from, say, 1950 (like this, Nino Farina's championship-winning Alfa Romeo)...


The two of these cars couldn't be more disparate, yet they are both pretty in their own right. One, heavily-bespoilered yet somehow sleek; the other - devoid of any aerodynamic devices - elegant and pure. And most importantly, both look proportionate.

Which is more than can be said of this year's cars. The huge new front wings make the cars (despite undoubtedly occupying the same footprint as their predecessors) look small, almost go-kart-like - a look exacerbated by the narrow-yet-tall rear wings.

True, these changes are due to new rules designed to make races more interesting (the new wings are said to encourage overtaking), but surely there are better solutions out there. I mean, '90s racing was close, and they didn't have to resort to this...

But one thing's for sure - with all these new rules and regulations - and the teams struggling to cope with them - this season is shaping up to be a good one. Who knows, maybe these new appendages do work after all.

Oh, and by the way, Ferrari, lose the spinners/wheel covers. Yes, they're there for aerodynamic reasons, but nothing says 'cheap' like hubcaps on a US$25m car.