Electronic Drum Set Shirt

So my electronic drum set shirt from Thinkgeek came. And like a little kiddo I opened it with much awe and expectation.

But then I had to cancel the fireworks and celebration. Cause the shirt wasn't really what I expected.

True that it is rare to find a shirt that has a drum set on it and when you hit it the sound of the various part of the drum would sound out. Yet, it was a so-so kindof a shirt.

It took me a few minutes to understand the instructions on dismantling the shirt for washing, cause I didn't wanna pull the battery pack too hard lest it breaks. And my heart as well.

The sound is loud, that's one of the good factor. Then again, I tried it at home and not in a public place like Orchard Road so... a mic would probably be needed to amplify the sound in a crowded place.

The drums aren't really that sensitive. At first, I laid the shirt on my bed and started tapping the various parts, like how L taps his keyboard in Death Note. The sound screwed up. One tap could result from zero to two beats.

So I thought, maybe it needs to be like on a body kinda thing, so I wore it, and then another flaw came up. The battery pack is super easy to fall out, simply because its pocket isn't big enough.

It felt quite alright, not too uncomfortable, then I started whacking. It feels weird to beat your own chest, you know. Like King Kong or The Hulk. But the sound didn't really change much. I thought I got the hang of it, and then I tapped once and no sound came out, so I'm still trying to find the pressure points to know where to tap, but it seems to be a little weird.

Overall, the shirt didn't live up to my expectations. Maybe there will be version 2 coming out. But I doubt so. Or another company might create one that is more user-friendly. Yet, it's still a comfortable shirt. And for only US29.99.

What more can I ask?

For now.

"Clang" as the swords clash against each other, gleaming metal against shiny silver.
"Grunts" as the soldiers charge towards each other, muscle against muscle, sweat against blood.

And he pushes himself as far in to the ditch as he can, willing them not to see him. His eyes sharp and glancing around, his flexed muscles ready to react should a weapon be aimed at him, he struggles to stay alive.

He falls to his knees, pleading for mercy, as lightning flashes all around him. "Crack" and a bolt of lightning razes a tree to the ground in front of him.

Humbled, he surrenders.

And the storm clears. The mental images are distanced. No longer charging.

For now.

yes sir

You know army has really gotten into your head
when you reply the taxi driver with a yes sir.

recce

60km route march.
12km fast march.
Jungle survival.

Recce Randy.

Recce family here I come. :)

*gulps*

WLM 2009

So I downloaded the latest public build of WLM 2009. Or Build 14.0 blah blah blah. What's with all the numbers anyway. They just remind me of defining Pi to numerals. You know, 3.142 something something something.

Anyway, I attached a few screenshots of it. First glance it looks cool. But it's not very customizable. Sure, the standard stuff is there, like font type and size and color and privacy settings and notification settings.

But if this is going to be the final version then I don't really like it. For starters, there are only four statuses that you can choose from. Available, busy, away and appear offline. And each status has a predetermined color. So all contacts who are online will be green. Red for busy, orange for away and grey for available offline.

A new feature is that you can tell either your or your contacts status by the color of the border around the display picture. Refer to the screenshot if you don't understand. But I think the border is a tad too big.

And no chat tabbing. Which isn't very good if you're gonna chat with 5 or more contacts, because it would mean more windows, and lesser space on the taskbar.

A strange feature is this notifications thingy. It's like a small box above the ads on the main messenger window, that lets you know the latest contact updates, like changes of display pictures or nicks.

Another feature, that is useful, in my opinion, is the PSM is no longer your current song played. This means, you can display your nick, psm and your currently playing song.

Font for the group names have changed too. I hope that can be customized.

And, instead of right clicking on your contact to select an action like open a chat convo or send a file or block, you can just let your mouse hover on it for a split second, and a list of available options will pop out.

Msn icon in the task bar also changes.

You can get it from download.live.com if you wanna play around with it. Me? I'm sticking to this, but I hope mess patch or a compatible plus live will be out for me to customize my rather ugly wlm.

throbbing ice

The constant throbbing of the heart
It isn't mine.
Yet it echoes within my mind.

The rolling of the eyes
As cold as ice.

you?

Madagascar on Fri.
The Day The Earth Stood Still on Sat.
Twilight Today.
Bolt Tomorrow.

A friend brought up the topic today. A screwed up slate or am empty one. In terms of relationships, like heartbreaks and experiences and all. Would you prefer the ongoing screwed up one, but more experienced, or a blank empty one, i.e. start afresh.

Both have their pros. Both have their cons.

I think I would choose a blank one though. Cause in due time it'll be a screwed up slate again, so might as well enjoy the brief innocence of the blank one.

You?

me.

Me is thinking who is it that I saw just now.
Cause me knows her.
But me can't seem to remember her name.
And it just seems to be stuck in the back of me mind.
Yet she is vaguely familiar.
And me said hi back.
But me dare not ask who she is.
Cause she with boyfriend.
Is she church or secondary school.
Me wonders.
Me furiously trying to recall her name.

Faith Hope and Love v. 2

Changed my blogskin again.
Revised it, actually.
Should be rather easier to view.
Though the whiteness is like so visible.
Perhaps music isn't a viable option now.
And I included the Current Mood television.
'Inspired' by livejournal about that.
Let me know if it doesn't look that good on your screen
Though I previewed it in both ff and ie.
But we all know how screwed ie can be.
And yes, loading time for tv might be a little slow.
Laggy even.
I'll probably do something about that later.
Color's in the works though. But not that soon.
Hopefully by the end of the year.
Cheers.

take a dagger

Take a dagger
stab me twice
may it be as cold as ice
may the blood that flows out be
warm and lucrid
may it heat the dagger
and make it nice
make it as harmless as mice.

meeked.

And so the memories come back again
Like an invading force they attack
Where solitude is frail
And the train of thought it derails.
And shots they resound through the night
The plot thickens
The smell of gunpowder.
Spears whistle through the air
As arrows shoot forward with such deadly force.
Oh the voices in my head.
The mirrors that reflect reflections
The anguish of attacks that attack anguish.
The stomach churns as the mind reels
And for now life becomes a farce
Only to be a reality when the sun rises up
in a few hours
Some say the best way to heal is to bleed
Remove bad blood perhaps
To remove hurt by hurting
To remove mistakes by making mistakes. not.
To pound the wall in despair
Or scream into the pillow
Engulfed by terrifying moments
Drenched in sweat
Oh, the dreams.
To fall to one's knees
and simply cry out
a soft and barely audible plea
That darkness not consumeth.
That the warmth of the sun come quick.
As he layeth down and goes to sleep.
Meeked.

chips and movies.

Some say having god-siblings became more popular as families got smaller, and both parents worked, thus leaving the child lonely and companion-less. Others blamed the influx of Western media and say it's the Asian version of frat brothers and sorority sisters.

Still others point to the imperfection in a family and the child's earnest desire to create his/her perfect family. And others say it's just one's way to be on closer ground to win the 'sibling' over to romance.

Whatever the reason, I had a good time with my two daughters today. God-daughters. After the breakup with my ex, I neglected them, partly because they reminded me of my ex, and partly because my ex was in the clique.

Self-preservation means cutting the noose that hangs you.

But that's not very selfless of me. And it was with much joy that I revelled in their company.

To just chit chat and catch up with life's happenings, and a rather insightful discussion with the older one, about relationships. Conversations that most have nary a time for.

To simply stop and smell the roses and play with chips off the old blocks.

And enjoy watching movies.

Alexander Pope

How happy is the blameless Vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd.

Odetta

To Odetta
whom have touched many with her singing.
May blessings pour on those
Her rich and timeless voice
has blessed.

pop lo.

POP lo!

And three months is over. Just like that.

Today a dude from another company walked out of the file, staggered backwards before collapsing on his back.

Quite a few fell out today. Well, there was a 24km march before that, and the sun was hot. I had a severe headache from the 12km mark. The helmet always leaves me with a dreadful headache when worn for a long period of time. And the blisters that hurt too.

Thirteen weeks.

I've seen strange stuff. Sometimes you wonder if a person's character is uniquely him or a mere outcome of his upbringing. Or a little of both. If I were to reflect on myself, I can filter out several traits that are uniquely me and others that were as a result of my upbringing.

That said, the people in my bunk are super nice. Though we are all distinct and unique in our own way. Like the one that is very disciplined does not know how to laugh. And the one that has a lot of enthusiasm for military stuff always gets afflicted with either sore eyes or high fever that grants him a home stay for three days.

So well, I'm actually surprised by how much we can gel together even though we are so unique. Perhaps a bowl of chicken rice in cream of tomato soup might taste nice. Or banana noodles with baked beans.

One thing I'll miss though is the scenery. I can't even describe how breathtaking it is, to witness a sunrise or the diffusion of the hues in the sky during the setting of the sun. Or watching a praying mantis poise on a finger. Or laughing at the night sky laughing at us because there were two bright stars above a crescent curled downwards.

Memories, such memories.

young mothers.

http://tingg-loveyou.blogspot.com

Surfed to that blog from a stomp article. Rather interesting read though since it has links to young mothers. And by young, I mean my age or younger. Some are married, others engaged. Some shotgun, others not. But young nevertheless.

And how do you react?

My first reaction was apprehension. And then my mind started to guess other's reactions. Some would be that the youths are careless about such stuff and explorative about sex etc etc. Others would encourage the mother for not abortion. Others might applaud the father for not running away when he knew his then-gf was pregnant. Others might use the opportunity to promote safe sex. And the list could go on and on, to each his opinion, and yet as a group most are of the same nature. Some might even say this is why divorce rates are so high.

I guess those that complain our low birth rates would be silenced by the posts. and then complain about other stuff like their age yada yada.

But who cares? Personally I applaud them. Responsibilities, determination, and love.

Age-wise, are they really that young? Weren't people matchmake-d around that age a few decades ago? At least now they can choose who to be married to, unlike lat time right?

I wish these couples all the best, and no, I'm not saying whether I encourage or frown upon. But I know if any of my close friends get pregnant, I wanna be the godfather =X

Never say which close friend though.

new blogskin.

Well a new blogskin. Simple and plain. Nothing fanciful.

Yet.

Perhaps in the future. When I get inspired.

But for now, this would do. I might iron out some problems, but from experience, I rarely correct my design flaws.

No time. No passion.

So too bad if you don't like this design. New concept for me, though. Coding was way much easier than my former designs. Though my archive list can flow off the screen. But I ain't perfect.

Merry Christmas.

mused.

And so he that clingeth on to rope lets go
and falls down
but lands among family
or rather friends.
and an air of frustrated restlessness
gets unsettled when he lands
thank God for a half sis
a blessing in disguise
yet kids grow up so fast
and parents call them rebellious
as they merely seek to find their identity
and form experiences that might haunt
or bless the rest of their life
like a highly unstrung violin note
he lands
and he wonders about the effect of time and times.
again and again.
trust and companionship.
a sister who was a companion and now a little too far.

balls and me.

There's just something about me and balls. They just keep flying to me. Like a natural ball-netic kinda thing.

Just within these three months, I've been hit in the head by a soccer ball twice.

And then a week ago, a ball of paper came flying down towards me from the fourth storey. Some dude thought area cleaning would be made easier with an improvised soccer ball and he scored a goal.

But balls don't levitate in the air, and so it came down towards me.

Narrowly missing my head by an inch and hitting with my hand with a resounding 'phaack'. And everybody else around me ducked for cover.

Just something about balls and me.

momentos.

Were near now far
Was close now distant
Like the rapid changing of the weather
from hot to cold in an instant
Hot and barren land
Wet and lively in an instant.

A small and fragile plant grows up from the pavement
only to be forgotten and not remembered
as other plants around get bigger and greener
Is it really?

Fall deep and fast
and one gets hurt
Fall shallow and slow
and one gets hurt
Both get hurt.

You, I think about.