James in motion
...or passing motion, in some of these videos.
19 June 2009
16 June 2009
Fiat 500 lands in Malaysia!
Spotted this Fiat 500 at the Fiat Service Centre in Keramat. Apparently, this is a unit for the mechanics to toy around with.
I'm not sure if it's actually on sale yet, but the guys at the workshop say it'll be priced between RM120k to 140k, which is ridiculous when you consider that you can buy one for just 8000 Pounds in the UK. Even after the over-inflated taxes, it should still cost only about RM90k at most. Me thinks the local distributor is trying to milk as much out of the 500 as they can...
Needless to say, i love this car. Will test drive one once i get the chance :)
10 June 2009
Microsoft being funny...
I'm currently downloading the release candidate for Windows 7 (that would be the next version of Windows, in case you've been living under a rock. Like me).
It would've been a routine thing if it weren't for one tiny thing (click on the following photo to see the full-sized version):
Microsoft is using JAVA to distribute Windows 7!!! (Note the little Java icon on the smaller window).
This is quite ironic, if you consider how Microsoft routinely bashes Java in favour of their own C# language and .NET runtime environments. I've been to a couple of Microsoft TechEd seminars in Malaysia, and they'll always have one session that shows just how superior C# and .Net are to Java.
Funny how the world works... :)
06 June 2009
1 month later...
I guess it's a testament to how busy I've been – that little James was born more than a month ago and only now do I find time to actually write about the experience. Although the irony of it is that I'm probably busier now than I was a month ago. But more on that later.
So... Yay!!! James was born on 3rd May 12:45pm, after about 12 hours of labor. 12 very long hours. Ask Elaine about it. She has a much better perspective of the experience.
With the help of a vacuum suction device thingy, James ended his nine-month tenancy in Elaine's womb with a brief cry.
He then stopped, and scanned the sterile delivery room with his little eyes. He had a look on his face which basically said, “What the hell is THIS?”
He was blue, had a cone-shaped head and when the nurses put him on Elaine's chest, the two of us smiled at each other but thought, “Erm... he looks weird.”
All his fingers and toes were in place, he was breathing fine and he generally looked like a healthy baby. Except for the fact that he was blue.
“He's kinda blue, isn't he...?Hello? Erm, sorry... Excuse me, why is he blue?” I asked the doctor and the nurses, who I believe were trained to ignore any questions asked by the father (i.e. me). And rightly so, because I was probably getting in their way.
“It's normal,” said Elaine.
“Ok.”
Now, the best part was, I had been anticipating this moment for as long as I can remember – the moment when I'd lay my eyes on my child for the first time. The mere visualisation of it in my head was enough to tug on my heart strings. I like kids. I've always wanted a kid of my own.
But as I stood there, staring at this little blue guy gnawing away at Elaine's mammaries, I didn't have the rush of emotion I thought I'd have. In hindsight, it's probably because of the many months of anticipation – I guess I was expecting fireworks and a big brass band playing in the background.
After a day, we brought James home, where he and Elaine were put under the care of our hired confinement lady, Kew (not sure what her full name is). For the whole month she would bathe James, change him, put him to bed at night and watch over him AND continuously prepare food for Elaine and made sure she got enough rest.
This was a bit of a weird time for me, the dad. Because every time I tried to help out, I often found myself getting in the way. There wasn't much I could do other than run some errands (buying supplies), helping to carry stuff around and generally providing emotional support.
I couldn't carry James because he was sleeping or needs to be fed. I couldn't talk to Elaine much because she needed sleep. And to make matters worse, I was at the tail end of a project at work so I had to divide what little time I had.
I guess I felt kind of left out. I did insist on learning how to change diapers (which I am now a pro at doing – even if he starts shitting midway), how to feed him from a bottle, how to bathe him (though I've only done that once). But for the most part, whenever I tried to do something, somebody else will almost certainly come along and 'relieve' me of my duties.
So when friends asked me “How's fatherhood...”, I didn't really have an answer.
But now that the confinement period is over (it normally goes on for 28 days or a month), I've been finally thrown into the deep end. The sleepless nights have finally begun, and I've changed about 20 diapers in five days and have woken up several times to warm up bottles of milk.
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And in spite of the sleep deprivation, I'm feeling happier than before, simply because I'm now a part of little James' life rather than a bystander.
And for the first time in month, I finally had a chance to have a quiet moment alone with him. I was trying get little James to sleep one day – he had been quite testy and had been crying – and I had been carrying him for about 30 minutes already, gently patting his bottom and talking to him (babies like it when you talk to them).
As he was drifting in and out of sleep, I finally had the emotional moment I was waiting for. This little guy in my arms is my son - and I love him to bits :)
* Queue 'Awwwws' *
On another note, fatherhood does strange things to a man (or me, specifically):
1. I'm suddenly more aware of my mortality – I think more about consequences before I do something potentially rash. I'd drive below the speed limit all the time, and I now tend to let idiot drivers on the road have their way rather than confronting them. I want to be there for James as he grows up, and that means not putting myself in harms way.
2. I suddenly have and urge to learn how to fish, so I can bring James fishing when I grow up.
3. When I meet other new parents, I find myself more interested in how they raise their kids.
4. I'm suddenly able to function with less than 8 hours of sleep a day.
5. I have a newfound respect for women who exclusively breastfeed their babies (i.e. no infant formula). It's a very though thing to do. Elaine's a tough girl :)
6. I find myself peeking into baby shops, eyeing rather sporty looking strollers, cool toys and other cool child-raising apparatus. I even saw a baby monitor the other day with a bloody camera on the transmitter and an LCD screen on the receiver! If you're a gear head, having a child is an excellent reason to buy tons of cool stuff.
Now for some videos:
13 April 2009
Good things come to those who wait...
This year, for the season of Lent, I had decided to be a very good Catholic and fasted.
Of course, the Catholic definition of fasting is somewhat conveniently abstract - unlike the Muslim month of Ramadan, where you can be punished for eating or drinking during daylight, most Catholics fast during Lent by means of 'abstaining' from something of worldly pleasure. Stuff like smoking, drinking (alcoholic beverage), playing videogames, sex, etc...
I decided to give up the one vice i rely on the most:
No joke, Coke Light is my cigarette / coffee / cocaine. Prior to Lent, i was drinking Coke Light at a rate of about three cans a day - that's roughly a litre of the black stuff each day. And if you think THAT'S bad, i used to do the same with full-flavoured, sugar-rich Coke. I did it while I was in university and while i was working in the Star. And it made me fat.
So i switched over to Coke Light and - would you believe it - i prefer it to normal Coke. It's even supplanted Vanilla Coke as my favourite variety of Coke. This is a very big deal, especially if you consider my tastes a couple of years ago (Click here for my diet-Coke shootout)
Anyway, back to Lent...
Yes, fasting.
I gave up Coke Light for the entire season of Lent this year. Except for weekends when I'd take a swig from a can that I'd asked Elaine to buy... and except for that one time at work where I'd bought myself an 8 ringgit bottle of Dr Pepper Zero (which is actually pretty good too) as a substitute. And that one time in McDonald's.
But yes, i fasted. And i swear i started feeling some sort of withdrawal symptoms - neither coffee nor sweet drinks could quench my thirst, and whenever anybody nearby drank an ice-cold can of Coke Light on a hot day, it shook the very core of my soul. It was difficult. it didn't really do anything spiritually for me (other than leaving me in a semi-vegetative state for most of the day).
Although it has reminded me of something - that good things come to those who wait.
So Good Friday came and went, followed by Easter Sunday. And then, i rewarded myself with the Coke Zero that I had asked Caryn to buy when she was in Singapore.
Coke Zero?
Yes... if there's one thing that i probably like even more than Coke Light, it's Coke Zero... which is widely available in Singapore, of all things. And after the local Coca Cola boys started putting the 'Zero' branding on Coke Light, I was dreaming of the day that Coke Light would officially come to Malaysia - so I wouldn't have to plonk down 5 ringgit for a can (that's almost THREE times the price of regular Coke Light).
Anyway, back to the end of Lent.
Yes, I've since consumed half the 1.5L bottle of Coke Zero, about a third a 1.5L bottle of Coke and about four cans of Coke Light in the past 48 hours. And after all that fasting and restraint, the Coke actually does taste a lot better.
So i guess the moral of the story is... erm....
We should be thankful for Christ's ascension into heaven (which is what Easter is about, in case you didn't know. It's got nothing to do with bunnies and shit) because He makes Coke... erm... taste better?
There! I've made a connection between Jesus and the Coca Cola company.
Happy Easter.
13 March 2009
Never meet your childhood heroes...
If you know me well enough and started a conversation about cars, and asked me what's my favourite car off all time, i'd say it's the Honda NSX:
This has literally been my dream car ever since 1990 (when i was 11 years old). I first saw it in an issue of Car and Driver and fell in love with it, and i was overjoyed to see one in real life in the first KL international motorshow a year or two later.
I love this car because of the motivations behind it, its history and the technology that went behind it. Honda had just won several constructors' championships in Formula 1 and, i guess, they wanted to show the world that they could do a kickass sports car too. I think one of the original goals was to beat Ferrari at its own game (which it succeeded in doing - the NSX was superior in every way to the Ferrari 348 which was released at about the same time. Rumour has it that it was the NSX that spurred Ferrari to make a decent car for a change, coming up with the awesome F355 in the process).
During the design process, the car was tuned using feedback from the great Ayrton Senna (the best F1 driver EVERRR) - who was a huge Honda supporter. You can see a YouTube video of him testing the first NSX Type R around Suzuka Circuit here:
The technology behind the NSX was really impressive too - it had a lightweight, normally aspirated 3.0-litre V6 with variable-valve timing (rare for a production car in those days) and could generate 270BHP, do 0-60MPH in 5.7 seconds and had a top speed of 168MPH (I quote all these figures by memory, so pardon me if they're slightly off). Some say this is still the best sounding V6 ever made.
The car's advanced, all-aluminum chassis and suspension was (and still is) a thing of wonder - it allowed the car to achieve a low kerb weight of about 3000 pounds (or about 1,340kg), which was very light for a sports car of its profile. It's also one of the most rigid monocoque chassis designs at the time. The original 1990 model didn't come with power steering either.
I remember how car magazines of the era waxed lyrical about the NSX's handling and performance. Even though turbocharged and bigger V8 / V12-engined cars could outrun it in a drag race, few could take corners as well as an NSX. Few cars were as involving. Even when as the car finally went out of production around 2005 ( bowing out with the awesome NSX-R), motoring journalists were still impressed with its handling against newer cars such as the Ferrari F360 and the latest incarnations of the Porsche 911.
Plus, i love the way it looks, of course. It's a pretty understated car, which means that it has aged pretty well.
God, I love this car...
Which is why it was really frustrating when i tried to sit in one the other day AND COULDN'T FIT INSIDE!!!
There's a 1993/94 model currently on sale for just RM148k in a showroom in SS2, Petaling Jaya (near the roundabout) and I just HAD to take a closer look. I giggled like a little girl as I climbed in, leaned back, and had my head wedged against the roof.
Fine, I'll just recline the seat, then. I did. And my head then hit the rear glass screen. The seats were already pretty low, and didn't offer any height adjustment either. Dammit!
This was all a shock to me because I had sat in an NSX in the Birmingham Motorshow, UK in the year 2000 and it fit in fine - but then, I remembered that it was the targa-top version of the NSX. And I hate Targa tops because they compromise the chassis' rigidity and generally come with detuned engines. AAARGH...!!!
I guess that's one more dream car to strike off my list...
However, speaking to the guy in the showroom, I managed to gather some interesting facts about the NSX in Malaysia (though I'm not sure how accurate they are).
There are only about 20 to 30 NSXs in the country and only TWO of them have manual gearboxes, which means that all of the others (including the one in this showroom) were Hondamatic models with the detuned version of the 3.0-liter V6 (producing only about 250BHP or something).
So there you have it - never meet your childhood heroes.
24 January 2009
My new toy...
If there's one reason why the iPod touch is cool, it's because it let's me blog while lying down.
Being a regular mobile phone web browser user, I must say that Safari on the iPod touch / iPhone is the best handheld browsing experience at the moment. The way it displays pages, zooming in and out seamlessly, puts everything else in the market to shame - and it's been in the market for almost TWO years already.
And from the looks of it, it's also a pretty viable document editor - the on-screen keyboard is incredibly easy to use, thanks to its clever auto word correction algorithm. Haven't tried it out with google Docs yet but so far do good - at least it's good enough for me to write this blog entry :)
Just got this iPod a few days ago, actually. It's supposed to replace Elaine's aging Palm Zire and so I can watch movies, play games and surf the web while I'm doing a number two. I'm pretty sure I'll find something to hate about it soon enough but so far, so good...
OH... I've got one: I hate how the ipod touch doesn't seem to have a file system, so I can't save files from the web other than photos. And how you can't receive files from phones via Bluetooth. And you can't upload stuff either - like photos.
...
Gee, that didn't take very long...
(UPDATE: I tried the iPod touch with Google dogs - it doesn't work... T_T )
09 January 2009
Complicated injuries...
I played basketball last night for the first time in... ages, and managed to get myself a little souvenir within the first 5 minutes of play:
Looks rather nasty but it doesn't really hurt that much. In fact, it doesn't really bother me at all - until you ask me how i got it.
I fell on a net.
...
And yes, this is precisely when people start asking, "How the hell did you manage that?"
And that is exactly the trouble i've been getting with injuries, lately - i seem to be getting injured in such incredibly complicated and unusual ways, that I often end up sounding like I'm making things up. Which is annoying, of course. Don't believe me? Try this:
I intercepted an inbound pass but tipped the ball out of the court. So i ran for the loose ball, jumped before the out-of-bounds line, caught the ball with one hand and tried swinging it back into the court before my foot touched the ground. Which would have happened without incident if there wasn't a futsal court next to the basketball court. Now you see, futsal courts have these nets wrapped around them to keep the ball in - and i was about to land on one of these nets. Usually this wouldn't be a problem if I was approaching the net square on since i could just land on it. Unfortunately, i was approaching it at an angle, which meant that I'd scrape diagonally across it unless i landed on my feet. Which I couldn't because of a long, thin, wooden plank that fastens the net onto the floor. i couldn't step on anything without risk of breaking my ankle because - with the hard and strong net fastened to it, it had formed a VERY uneven surface beneath my right foot. So i tried shuffling my feet as i was falling, but still couldn't get a foothold - and all the while, my whole body weight was supported by my right elbow, which was now scraping itself diagonally across the net as i fell down into a crumpled heap. Which is how i got this massive scar...
There! You SEE? It sounds like I made it up!!! The problem is that I can't just say "I fell on a net" and leave it at that because it sounds stupid, and I can't just say "I got it while playing basketball" because people will then ask if I fell down, I'd say no and I'd then have to tell them about the net, which would lead me back to square one.
AAAAAARGH~!!!
My previous injury was also basketball-related: I sprained my ankle because someone fell on me...
...
"How the hell do you sprain an ankle that way? Don't you have to step on an uneven surface or jump and land wrongly? Or trip while running?"
"No," I'd respond. "My teammate ran into a screen, bounced off it and landed on my leg right below the knee - laterally. With his whole body weight."
You see the trend here?
And years ago, I managed to fall into a huge drain because my mum or dad (can't remember) parked too close to the drain and as i got out of the car, my mum told me not to fall into the drain, thus diverting my attention from the ground at the precise moment where paying attention to where i was stepping would've been quite important.
You see?
Why can't i just slip and fall like other normal people? Sigh...
04 January 2009
The year that was. The year ahead
2008. Where do we begin?
Looking at the statistics on the right column, it appears that I've only posted 14 blog entries in 2008, which is a record low (and about a third the number from the previous year). While the casual observer may see this as a sign of this blogs demise, i have a a couple of good excuses:
i) i DIDN'T have a convenient Internet connection at work for most of 2008 (due to security concerns, our office desktops were isolated from the Internet).
AND
ii) i actually got a proper job - meaning one that actually requires your full attention from the moment you step in at 9am right till you walk out at about 7pm. Or 8pm if there's a deadline. Or later...
So yes, this blog is still very much alive and kicking-ish. And to make up for all the lost time, here's a summary of the most significant things I've done in 2008 - in approximate chronological order:
1. I got a new job.
1. I got a new job.
Gee, did I mention this yet? On a more serious note, this was probably the biggest fear I'd ever overcome in my whole entire life. Not only because I was leaving a very nice, comfortable job, I was also setting myself up for possibly the biggest failure in my life.
You see, I'm deeply passionate about videogames - all aspects of it. From playing them to making them. As a kid, I used to scrutinize my Sega Megadrive games and tried to make sense of why the games were designed the way they were - from an artistic and technical point of view. I even went to university and studied software engineering for the sole purpose of making games when i came out.
The problem, however, was that this was a dream job for me. What if I didn't like it? What if it turns out I'm a rubbish programmer? I was really dreading the prospects of living my dreams and actually hating it.
"This office is dark..."
Since then, I've dipped my toes in Wii development and have since moved over to PC/Mac casual games - because it makes a lot more economic sense than console titles these days. I would love to do iPhone/iPod touch games because of the possibilities that platform provides and I've been dropping hints to my boss every now and then. Hopefully, he'll let me give it a shot.
The working culture here is also completely different to my previous job too. From the moment I step into the office, I'm running at 100% until I go home. Although it sounds stressful, it's actually quite addictive, because programming is like playing a giant game of Sudoku - after you've finished one puzzle, you just have to do another one.
And if it seems like I'm hiding stuff, it's because we have non-disclosure agreements. Yep.
2. Tipped the scales at an all-time high of 98kg
Not exactly sure how it happened but I managed to get really fat at the beginning of the year - to the extent that my shirts weren't fitting and I could wear my size 38 trousers without a belt. The following photo was actually taken quite recently - after I've put on weight again (due to me eating the stuff that Elaine can't eat during her pregnancy).
At my peak, I was worse than this....
"Goo goo gaa gaa dee dah Han Soooolo..."
3. Voted at the general elections for the first time.
Yay! I helped make a difference this year and managed to deny the ruling Barisan National party a two-thirds majority in parliment for the first time in 50 years.
Usually, I wouldn't have bothered so much. Until I started seeing ad campaigns like this in the local newspapers by Barisan.
The level of arrogance shown by the ruling party was incredible - they even listed a whole bunch of things that they've done for the country, as if to say "You should be grateful to us" rather than "Here's what we can do to improve the country"
The best advice from BN ever. There was really only one choice, but it wasn't BN...
They also clearly had more money than the opposition, and had ads like this EVERYWHERE, each costing tens of thousands of ringgit. And so, it was obvious that a power shift had to happen. It didn't matter if the opposition parties were inept, the fact is that it had come to a point where the ruling party were behaving like rulers rather than public servants.
I was also spurred by a movie, of all things: V for Vendetta. In particular, the one quote from Hugo Weaving:
"People shouldn't be afraid of their governments, governments should be afraid of their people."
And so, I voted for change. Hopefully, in four years time, there will be more like me - first-time voters who decided that enough was enough, and that our country needs to change. That's because I love this country and I cannot stand idly and watch it continue to rot.
Holy crap, I'm patriotic! Who would've thought...?
4. Ran a half marathon with Elaine.
This was a rather funny experience because - for some reason - Elaine and I thought that practicing on a threadmill for 20 minutes would prepare us for a 21km run. It didn't.
"My gawd, my knees hurt..."
...and she'll be squeezing my hand (possibly crushing it into itty bitty little pieces) while she's at it.
5. Drove a bunch of fast cars...
Did a bit of freelance motoring reviews throughout the year, though it seems to have slowed down recently - I simply don't have the time. Didn't drive anything particularly good this year apart from the Civic Type-R (which I drove up to Ulu Yam, but didn't blog about it - there might be some photos floating around in my Flickr photostream).
Bone-shattering though it may be (it's got a similar suspension set up to a pair of roller skates), I absolutely love the Type-R and it is still the car I'd buy if I had about RM200k to spare. In any case, it's much better than the Jaguar XF I'm kicking here:
"Take THAT, you stupid British car..."
6. Married Elaine.
Yippee! As I write this, we've been married for about 8 months now and things have been great. While it's a good thing being able to get along with someone you're dating - that we've been living under the same roof and still look forward to horsing around, talking, laughing and having $#% every day since is great.
Us and our frens...
Oklah, not every day. Of course, it also helps that I love Elaine to bits. Feel like squeezing her now... :)
7. We moved out into an apartment.
We've been living together in this apartment ever since we got married. It was previously inhabited by my brother but he moved out just as we were looking for a place to stay.
Me moving in a birthday present from the wife :)
Although we're finally settling in, the funny thing is that we'll have to move back into either of our parents' houses soon because we'll need loads of help once the baby comes along.
8. I learned how to cook steak properly.
Pan fry for 3 minutes, drain juices, flip to the other side, fry for another 3 minutes... and you're DONE...!!!
9. I got Elaine pregnant.
Pan fry for 3 minutes, drain juices, flip to the other side, fry for another 3 minutes... and you're DONE...!!!9. I got Elaine pregnant.
Grow, my spawn. GROW!!!
(photoshop courtesy of soon-to-be-aunty Joy)
10. Flossed my teeth for the first time.
I never knew it, but flossing your teeth can be one of the most satisfying things you can do to yourself - apart from something that's frowned upon by most religions...
11. Didn't go on our honeymoon (due to the aforementioned pregnancy)
We were hoping to go to either Japan or Europe for our honeymoon during winter (so we could catch some snow). Looks like that'll have to wait a bit...
12. Finally bought a new Mac
Yes, I finally took the plunge! In spite of being a self-proclaimed cynical proponent of the Mac, I've been banging around in my ancient Power Mac G4 since 2001 (which was my 2nd Mac - the first one was destroyed after an unfortunate incident with some bitch).
It's the new, late-2008 MacBook! My first new Mac in 7 years!!!
The new Macbook is brilliant - it's got this new, fantastic multi-touch trackpad that's almost easier than using a mouse. It's also got amazing colours from its LED-backlit screen, though the viewing angles are a bit poor. It's also pretty damn fast - been doing some HD video editing on it, RAW photo editing and some programming on it and it's been, well... fast.
Oh, and it's also super light and portable. Only thing I hate is the lack of a FireWire port, which more-or-less makes my DV camcorder obsolete...
End word
So that covers just about all of the important bits. Except for my brother and Michelle giving birth to Ethan, which would of course make me an uncle. And me shifting to a new office (with the rest of the company, of course).
Ooh... ooh, how about 2009, then? Predictions? Resolutions?
Well, let's just see what happens, shall we?
29 December 2008
The good, bad and ugly of wedding photography
*Phew!* It's been a long weekend, covering Geoffrey and Joyce's wedding as an official wedding videographer (Elaine did the videography for them while in Sibu). The good news (for me) is that they seem to like the videos which we put together just in time for their wedding dinner, which always feels nice.
For the wedding, Geoff actually bought a brand new Sony HDR-SR12 AVCHD camcorder - so i could use it to shoot his wedding and so he can take it along for his honeymoon after. It's actually a pretty good camcorder, though a little slow to start up and requiring a wide-angle conversion lens to make it useful for event videography.
Anyway, I've learnt a few things from this experience:
THE GOOD:
1. It's actually FASTER to deal with AVCHD, hard disk-based camcorders than old-fashioned DV camcorders (provided you've got a powerful Mac and the correct software). With my own tape-based DV camcorder, i need to stream the entire tape onto my Mac before I can start editing. So if i've shot two hours of video, that's TWO hours of waiting for the video to transfer onto my Mac.
But on a hard disk-based AVCHD camcorder, i only need to select the clips i want and my Mac will transfer the files, transcoding them into an editable format - in this case, about an hour of video takes and hour to transcode, which sounds the same as a DV camcorder but the difference is that i transfer ONLY what i want.
2. Apple iMovie '08 isn't as bad as some people make it out to be. If you didn't know, Apple did the unthinkable in 2007 by throwing out its very popular iMovie HD video editing software, and replaced it with iMovie '08, which had a completely different user interface and removed a lot of core features.
Anyway, apart from the absence of special effects such as slow-motion or soft-focus filters, iMovie '08 is pretty good. For starters, it's bloody fast. All text titles, colour correction and transitions are applied in real time, which is great because you don't have to wait for it to render before you can view the results.
And if you're upset about the lack of a traditional video timeline, don't be - the new system is far quicker for scanning through hours of video and cutting things into the correct sequence. I've never cut together a video faster than this, and I certainly didn't expect HD video editing to be this quick.
The only other thing that bothers me is the loss of finer audio level controls and the hack-ish manner to get multiple titles appearing on the same video clip. Other than that, it's brilliant.
THE BAD
3. Videography is a lot more tiring than photography, simply because you have to hold the camera up for a lot longer, and you have to plan in advance whether you've got enough battery power left, whether you want the camera mounted on a tripod and whether you should be at spot A or spot B to get a better shot.
The difference to normal photography is that you can't run to a new spot, take a shot, and run back - you need to spend at least five seconds at a spot to have useable footage, anything shorter may be too abrupt or may not leave you enough room to edit fades, wipes or to fill in gaps in your video.
Also, you sometimes cannot afford to stop filming because you may miss something - which is a problem if you've mounted the camera on a tripod and suddenly have to move the camera while recording.
An obvious solution would be to simply employ another videographer, but that isn't always a good idea because video camcorders are very expensive (the Sony HDR-SR12 i was using costs about RM5000, not including spare batteries and wide-angle lens converters), and that you may end up with TWICE the amount of video to go through. And videos take up far more space on your computer than JPEG photos.
The other problem is that, with two videographers, you're already adding to the array of photographers during an event, which can be annoying to people attending the event, or even your subjects (especially at weddings). And you'll inevitably get in the way of one another, which nicely brings me to my next point:
THE UGLY
4. Digital photography seems to have spawned a new species of subhumans - the unofficial wedding photographer. While I definitely condone friends and family taking photos of the bridal couple during a wedding, 'just in case' the official photographers don't get a shot, anybody who is not an official photographer / videographer must abide by one golden rule:
Never, EVER, get in the way of the official photographers. Take this dude in the red shirt for example:
This particular idiot was in may way most of the time. Now, I've taken photos at loads of events before (what, being a former journalist and all), and I usually ended up in situations where there are plenty of photographers from different publications, and only one good angle to take a shot. The common thing to do here would be to take a shot at that spot, and then vacate it immediately so that another photographer has a chance. It's common courtesy.
At Geoff's wedding, the two hired official photographers were very courteous to me (the lone videographer) and I'd like to think I got out of their way as much as I could. After all, it's not a competition - we're trying to get shots that Geoff and Joyce would like. I understood that if i didn't give room to the photographer, the wedding couple would not get a shot from that particular angle. And the official photographers understood that, if they didn't give me room, nobody else would get the video footage at that particular angle either. It's a give-and-take situation and we all try to help each other out.
ON THE OTHER HAND, the idiot in the red shirt was HOGGING the good spots. He'd stand there, get a shot and then REVIEW HIS PHOTOS while taking up that precious spot, instead of getting out of the way. There were already TWO official photographers covering the action, the wedding couple certainly didn't need another photographer shooting photos that the professionals would have gotten anyway.
What's worse was that he was taking up precious space when the bridal couple was exchanging vows, rings and lifting the veil. I already had my camcorder mounted on a tripod, so I could stretch it over the two official photographers and film the couple without getting in their way (sort of like a robotic arm).
And because the red-shirted idiot was in my way, i couldn't lower my camcorder to the intended height to shoot the video. This was the result:
Well, this wouldn't be a problem if there was another videographer at the wedding... BUT WAIT, I WAS the only videographer at the wedding. So what does it mean? Well, Geoffrey and Joyce have about 5 extra photos of him lifting her veil, but no VIDEO of it. Thanks a lot, you red-shirted idiot - i'm sure the wedding couple would love to thank you for that.
And here's another example of his stupidity...
Look, there is only one angle to shoot a bridal recessional, and that's from the front of the couple as they are walking out. The red-shirted fool decided to stand next to the official photographer and shoot the same shot from the same angle. WHY THE HELL FOR??? It's not like his photos are going to be any better than the official ones - they're from the same bloody angle!!!
Why the hell hog more space? As a result, I had to move BEHIND them (which isn't so bad), and the official photographer could not get a photo from the middle of the aisle either, since he was pushed to the right by that idiot.
I'll tell you why the red-shirted idiot did that. If he's anything like most gear-heads these days (me included), it because he just bought himself a DSLR and wants to "try out" wedding photography since it's the trendy thing to do these days and since digital photography itself is a cool new hobby.
"I know... I'll EXPERIMENT during Geoffrey and Joyce's wedding!!! That way, I'll get to hone my wedding photography skills! And then, I'll get to post up all the photos on Facebook and people will be rushing to tell me what a great photographer i am," thought the red-shirted idiot.
Selfish bastard...
22 December 2008
4 more months...
Boy, this is one long overdue update...
*ahem!*
Roughly five months ago, I came home from work and was greeted by a smiling Elaine. I asked what's up but all she did was gesture towards the bathroom. Once there, I wondered why I had been gestured into a bathroom. Elaine then gestured towards the floor.
I then looked down and saw a little blue dish, which contained what looked, and smelt, like pee. And in the what-looked-and-smelt-like-pee, lay a white paper strip with two little blue lines.
I looked up at Elaine.
Elaine looked back.
I looked down at the blue lines again.
The blue lines looked back.
I looked up at Elaine again.
“Erm... what does this mean?” I asked.
“Well, one line means I'm not pregnant,” she replied.
And at that exact moment, I probably ran through an entire laundry list of emotions simultaneously, which is normally a very hard thing for me to do – considering how bad I am at multi-tasking. Happiness, anxiety, excitement, concern, shock, dread, anticipation and probably more but we'll stop there for now.
The happiness is because I love kids. I've always gotten along with my younger cousins and my little sisters and I've always loved teaching younger people stuff – at the risk of sounding like a cranky old man, giving unsolicited advice.
The anxiety is because I'm a worry wart. We had just celebrated Elaine's birthday a couple of days before and had finished off a bottle of wine, which is supposed to be bad for featuses. Have we taken enough precautions for pregnancy? Vitamins? Supplements? Will the baby be healthy? Will it be a trouble-free pregnancy? Is she really pregnant or is the pregnancy test kit inaccurate?
The excitement, of course, is because Elaine and I are going to be parents! We'll have a child and he / she is ours – a sign of our love. We'll raise him / her, watch him / her grow. We'll be a family.
The concern was because I had no idea what Elaine was thinking at that point in time. At that point in time, we had been married for only 3 months. So yes, we are stereotypical Catholics, then. Was she happy too? Or did she think it was too soon for us to get a kid? Was she ready to have kids?
The shock was because we didn't think it would've been so easy to conceive. Just remember, if anybody tells you that it's hard to get pregnant, that you can “do it” a few times without protection and it'll be ok. Before you jump to conclusions, Elaine and I WERE trying for a kid, but we were told by our doctor that, due to a surgery that Elaine recently had and because of some other medical condition, it might be hard for us to get a child. We were expecting to be trying for at least six months or a year before we'd succeed.
The dread, of course, is because Elaine and I are going to be parents... We'll have a child and he / she is ours – which means that we'll have to take care of him / her – 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the first few years. That means no more holidays or carefree afternoons. Everything we do will have some sort of impact on his / her life so we'll have to be good examples.
Boy, I sure wish we already knew what gender our child is so I wouldn't have to keep typing “him / her”.
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The anticipation is in wondering what our kid will look like. Will he/she have mommy's intense eyes? Will he/she have daddy's potato-shaped head? His giant nostrils? The anticipation is also in wondering what he/she will be like. Will he/she be athletic or a geek? Or both? Will he/she be rebelious or obedient? The do-er or the one who watches from the sidelines.
Ok, so I didn't think about all of these things in that two-or-three-second moment before I blurted to Elaine, asking her if she was happy, whether this was what we wanted before I broke into a smile. A happy, anxious, excited, concerned, shocked, drearful and anticipation-filled smile. But a smile, nonetheless.
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Fast forward to the present and Elaine's now 5 months pregnant and still puking her guts out everyday, throughout the day. Whoever called it 'morning' sickness had quite a sense of humour. And before you go “Oh, but it's supposed to end after the first trimester”, TRUST US, it can carry on well after.
And in other news, the little bump in her abdomen is just large enough to suggest that something the size of a grapefruit has taken up residence in her uterus. We're slightly past the halfway mark, now and are already stocking up on various paraphenelia (a big thank you to all who have contributed tons of hand-me-downs).
Now if we only knew what gender he/she is so we could start painting rooms and buying color-coded clothes. Or we could dress him/her up in old potato sacks.
27 September 2008
The face of evil...
Facebook is evil. EVIL!!!
My birthday passed by recently, which is nothing out of the ordinary except for the fact that I had spent the whole day wondering why I didn't get any calls or SMSes from friends, or even emails. But since I'm not that much of a party animal, I was still pleasantly, erm... pleased by the few SMSes I got.
"I guess everyone's busy with life..." I thought.
And then, the next day, I got a call from Warren, who wished me and starting chatting. Then, I told him that I had a nice quiet birthday (Elaine brought me to dinner at Euro Deli - my first time there!) and mentioned that I was nice of him to call since nobody else did.
He then pointed out that I had quite a lot of birthday wishes on my Facebook wall.
OH!
SHIT!
So I quickly logged onto Facebook when I got home that night (I can't access Facebook from my office PC. In fact, I can't access the Internet. For security, you see...). Lo and behold - lots of well wishes completely surrounded by about 13 million other messages.
Ok, I decided I'd reply and say thanks - but since it's all written on a wall, I have to go to each entry and type a reply. But I'd end up having to type essentially the same messages back to everyone - and the new facebook interface is soooo slow that it takes ages to do anything.
And so, I got lazy and just sat there, looking at the 20 or 30 friend requests (half of which are from people I either don't know or whom I'd rather not get reacquainted with). Then, I inspected the 500 or so requests I had received for joining new groups or playing new games, etc... My wall was also completely plastered with updates of what my other friends had been doing or what-not.
And then, I suddenly remembered why I stopped using Friendster, and why I'm very sparingly using Facebook nowadays (whenever I do log on): because it's TIME CONSUMING.
There are just way too many notifications and updates to read or groups to join that I get tired just looking at my damn Facebook home page. And because I'm one of those people who feel bad when I don't reply emails, phonecalls or SMSes, it's particularly stressful because of the sheer number of requests, invitations and wall messages that I end up not responding to.
And even as a means of keeping in touch, Facebook is seriously impersonal.
Sigh.
And the amount of spam is ridiculous. Although it is initially fun to receive funny videos from friends, it's worse when you get the same video sent to you by seven different people. It's even worse when your friends spam you with stuff that doesn't even interest you. For crying out loud, I've even been approached by people trying to RECRUIT me to work in another company.
Next thing you know, I'll be getting advice on how I can increase the size of my manhood.
Facebook's new user interface is also a completely convoluted mess - and it's mostly because it tries to be everything. It tries to be a chat program. It tries to be a messaging program. It tries to be a photo viewing program.
And the best part is that, when viewed as individual components, each of Facebook's features are slow and poorly implemented. There's a good reason why people don't use Facebook for really important, time-sensitive announcements or for work-related stuff. Because it's a mess.
Which is the exact opposite of Gmail, Google Docs, Blogger and the whole family of minimalistic but highly intuitive Google applications.
Yes, Google may be the next big evil corporation, but Facebook is the face of evil.
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