My biceps are still stiff and stinging. The soles of my feet pleading mercy.

All because of books.

It all started with a colleague  of mine, O.W.L, he came back from Amcorp Mall on lunch and he told of the most interesting news that The Big Bad Wolf Sale is back!

I’d known that this company had a book sale sometime in mid May, but at that time I was actually preparing for something really big, and so I had given it a miss.

I went there on the evening of the second day of the sale, so I was not to witness the long lines at the payment reportedly a hundred metres long blogged by others who went on the first day

There was though, a line at the entrance about forty people before me. Seeing the crowds of people inside the place I was actually thankful for being made to wait.

Anyone who was there  would agree with me that  it was apparent that a Carnival atmosphere pervades. Chaos, out of control and fun.

I’m proud to say that everyone there was cooperative and civil to each other.

So with a box grabbed from under a table, I jostled with the crowds flooding the aisles rummaging through the piles of books put there.

Time passed unnoticed to me while I was there. By the time acid had accumulated enough to sting my biceps and the soles of my feet, I then realised that four hours had passed!

The damage came to about MYR150.

Then the next Monday i went again after work bought some more…

But theres more… I bought these before the sale at BookXces at Amcorp a few days before the Big Bad Wolf sale…

One Saturday evening after coming back from a charity event at a home for children with HIV/AIDS, while going to Berjaya Times Square to check out some MYR195.00 Seiko watches. On the way there my girlfriend and I walked on the set of a video shooting by my favourite Malaysian band, Butterfingers. Sorry guys. I really thought they were busking, was going to say hi when I saw Emmet the singer crossing the street towards some camera crews that were filming. Nothing to do but give my thumbs up. I hope I didn’t ruin anything.

Stopped at Low Yat looking for some stuffs, bought them and  My lovely girlfriend thought it would be nice to have some sushi.

I completely agree with her, but doing so would make us very late and seeing that we already had lunch, I said to her maybe after Times Square.

Looked at the watches,went to another shop, saw a limited edition watch that was half a thousand more than the non limited version of the same series. With the only difference being the use of the colour green on some elements of it’s typeface instead of orange on the normal one.

Saw some other watches that I liked, but any perfect match would have been a composite of parts from a few of them, the face from one, the bezel from another, etc. A childhood on LEGOs and customisable Swatch watches ruined me.

Went pass the cinema on the way to the Cold Storage, did not see anything worth watching.

After buying a drink, went up one level to survey the prices of these sets that the perfume counters were selling. Nothing of note though.

While walking past the main entrance, saw that there was a promo done  by Sony Malaysia of their new Walkman variety, The A series with the wireless (via Bluetooth) headphones. The GF inquired about the availability of the replacement rubber fittings of their earbuds. Knowing that it was overpriced and the unlikeliness that these marketing drones would ever know. I kind of already knew the answer.

I remember these in ear rubber fitting being sold at the Sony Style shop at KLCC in the under MYR100.00 range, I however held the opinion that they were more likely worth at the under MYR10.00 region.

Looked at these Walkman(men?) they were promoting, it was interesting but my own Walkman is still new and the bluetooth headphones needed to take advantage of the wireless capabilities are sold separately and tend to be expensive. I’m no audiophile, but I doubt that a bluetooth headphones have the same sound quality as a wired one with the same price.

Going back from Berjaya Times Square, saw that we had some time to spare, went back to Low Yat’s Sushi King.

Maybe they had a change of personnel or management because the service was not up to the standard I’ve had Sushi King. This is more like some nameless shop you go to because everywhere else is crowded.

Service was so slow, we were gesturing for ten minutes before a waitress came and waited on us. Also when our order came, they had forgotten my miso soup, I had to remind them, and the soup only came halfway through my rice

Had some Broiled Eel with rice (Una-Don) while the girlfriend had some noodles. We ate some of their Salmon Sushi (Sake Sushi). Everything was OK quality wise, not fantastic, nothing to rave home about.

They must for safety’s sake change their soup bowl to earthenware instead of plastic. Wait, shouldn’t it be the other way around you ask. Well after after finishing my bowl of rice, I was eager to have some soup. I picked up the lid only to see the bowl was still attached with it. Then it could not resist gravity anymore, and promptly spilled it’s high temperature contents on my stomach and left lap.

I let out a little yelp and tried to stem the soup’s flow with the inadequate assistance from Sushi King’s paper napkins. The girlfriend hailed a waiter over in panic.

He promptly came over with a cloth and wiped away what was left of the soup from the table and took the bowl away.

what I think happened was that when after the soup had came, I didn’t open it’s lid to equalise the pressure of the air on the cooling broth and the air outside the bowl. Then the condensed steam was collecting between the bowl and lid forming a seal. so when I was picking up that lid, the air inside the bowl had a lower pressure than the air outside it. The same when one pulls back the piston of a syringe, the medium, in my case air, that have a higher pressure would rush in to fill a vacuum.

A small airhole on the lid would had made all the difference. To their credit though, Sushi King replaced my soup at no extra charge.

Next time I’m going to open any lids, expect me to use both hands, one manipulating the lid and one holding down the container.

finished my meal amidst the strange request of the customer nearest to my left. The man was asking for some chicken skin, the waiter actually went to the kitchen to ask his cook only to return and give a repy in the negative. Anyone for some chicken skin sushi?

After that, we went to the magazine shop/sundry shop/cybercafe on the corner between BB Plaza and Low Yat. It was there that I had found a periodical that dwserved more attention. A magazine named Monocle, selling for MYR15.90 even when the printed price on it is USD10.00. The same price for editions old and new.

What had caught my eye is the quality of design it employs on it’s coves. The photographs used are remarkably different in style and composition. What would come close in terms of aesthetics are covers of architecture magazines. There is a sense of timeless elegance.

The Monocle covers that I saw did not feature any celebrities, instead opting for instance, a well dressed Japanese man taking a picture of the front of a Shinkansen, or another that had a model looking though the viewfinder of a old looking camera (that I found out later is a new Fujifilm Klasse W) as if that is his monocle.

I bought one, the one that had the bullet train on it because I like trains.

There is a fine line that the magazine threads on very well. That slim line between true appreciation for quality and the smugness of elitism. The choice of articles are very refreshing in scope and depth for a current issues magazine, but at least it does not cover the same boring things as other magazines that seems to be too geo-centric to their publisher’s head office.

This magazine simplifies it by breaking up their sections to the alphabets A for affairs, B for business, C for culture, D for design and lastly E for edits and expo. Then throws in an extra Japanese manga for good measure.

A solid buy if not for the price. GBP5.00 for one issue and GBP75.00 for a year’s subscription of 10 magazines and access to their website.

Hope that shop in Bukit Bintang maintains it’s pricing…

Last night I played with this. >>http://mike-love.net/touchgraph/

I know that the connections are arbitrary supositions made by the author of the graph. Some of these names are not connected to people I think should be connected, but I could only be wrong, as always. Yet, I am really surprised by the range and limitedness of my own knowledge.

Some of these names I have never even heard before. One of my favourite author are so far away from who my culture reveres most.

Is there amongst us that belong on the graph and yet be unconnected? Any of us are really that original?

We quote our teachers dead and alive even when they err. Errors combined errors are errors still. Let us hope we are digesting wisdom instead of poison. I toast a vial of hemlock to that…

Just saw the movie, It was good. Lois Lane is one tough lady. Bouncing like mad in the plane and she could still stand…

Five years ago the juxtaposition(comparison?) as per title would not have made sense to most people, but as the penetration mobile phone usage has risen the question of the design of one’s handphone becomes an important criteria for choosing one.

http://www.bwcs.com/news_detail.cfm?item=4372
The link above goes to an article from april last year, it’s about some grievances of some of Nokia’s shareholders about the companies phone design. They are unhappy as Nokia is still lagging behind it’s competitors in phone design. Critics say that the coolest phone on the market is the Motorola RAZR.

The is more to phone design for me as a consumer than just “cool”. Pricing, battery life and functionality for me takes precedence over “cool”. I’m one of the so-called conservatives.

I take it as a rule that for any items man-made that the less moving parts it has the better it will last. The wear and tear of a clamshell is as one would imagine more than that of a candybar designed phone. But this however is not a iron-clad rule.

My sister did once bought a Nokia 2650, and the hinge that I thought would be the first thing that disappoint was not. It was the casing itself, the rubber covered keypad did not last. Read the reviews on this phone here.

As shown here, the family are fans of Nokia phones.

All I ask for is make phones that lwould last, phone shouldn’t be used for only a year. Imagine the trash heap of old phones if that were so. Designers should strive for a design that is timeless and that would not happen if the phone lasts for only 6 months.

What? Is there a push from management to make phone that wouldn’t last? If I were a designer (which I’m not, I’m a consumer), that kind of directive would impose severe pressure on my ideals.

Servus – candybar fan.

…Mountains will give, for a wise man once said,”For every action there’s an opposite and equal reaction.” I really hope it’s as easy done as said. Really want things to be achievable, alas, all are dreams.

…They’ll believe whatever you say. Write US-centric articles, emphasizing the difference of culture between the fifty states (California:Hippy Central, New York:Big Apple, Hawaii:SunSeaSurf &c), refer to Washington DC as “the nation’s capitol”, all will believe we are all living in the US of A.

…People will ignore you. They will grow sick of you, you pushy bastard! All have limits. Push hard and strong but subtly.

All is false, but the truth. The truths contradicts eachother.

Dumb ass. Of course people are.

Who said they did anything nice without wanting any rewards?

Is it writer’s block when you could write but have no compulsion to continue after the first paragraph? Everything written feels like crap.

fiction no.1:

by the blade we live! by the blade we rule! by the blade we prosper!

The shouts were without any sense of weakness. The shouts as promises were sincere.

These are the shouts of those who knew what was expected of them, the hard life that is upon them.

To be sent to the far reaches of the outer sphere is an honour and burden taken by these young.

A thousand bushels per cycle for the house of each selected, a thousand for each that does not return after ten solar cycles, ten bushels for each young that would return after their tour.

Not that it matters very much though, the average income is a thousand bushels per cycle per capita. It is a matter of house honour to send as many young to bridge the gap of the Warp and worked to contribute towards the betterment of the race.

To be one who had stared into the starless eternal night for ten cycles and stayed sane. To understand the insignificance of one’s self when looking at the ego-busting sight of the galactic disk. To truly understand loneliness and helplessness when working in a on a one person sentry pod for days.

fiction no.2:

He made the sky his playground, he flew without effort and without any fear of falling.

On the ground was detached from everyone else, for only when gliding in-between the clouds that he felt truly in-control.

there were some more, but not up to standard and/or are deemed not safe for the image of me that I am trying to project to the world (the stories would only justify the suggestion that I am, regretfully a freak) and could harm the sanity of you, my readers.

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I finally made up my mind, my political standpoint is the same as this guy. Just that for different reasons, eluvium’s views are because of philosophy, while me, on the hand, due to apathy.

*+*+*

Hope I’ll get out of this rut, write a book, write another, quit my job and father a son. ktnx. Bye.