Raul Midon – State of Mind (2005)

I think I was very lucky to have gotten this album at the very first shop I checked. Am loving it oh-so-much! Acoustics. Rhythm. R&B. A dash of Latin American.

This guy showcases a completely different style of playing the guitar – incorporating plucking, slapping, hammering, strumming and harmonics. Genius. What makes it all the more amazing is that he was blind since young. Speaking of which, featured in one of the songs in this album, is Stevie Wonder on his harmonica.

Well, find out for yourself what he’s made of in the youtube video below… State of Mind, one of my favourites from the album. Pay particular attention to how he does his “mouth trumpet”

offers, offers, offers!

I’m pretty much a sucker for deals. Not in the sense that I get ripped off, but I like checking out items and services on discount/promo/sales – be it walking around in a grocery shop looking for food items on discount, checking out a credit card company’s latest offers for it’s card-members or just strolling around in a shopping complex during sales periods.

So when I chanced upon Offer Station some time back, it proved to be a real gem! It (somehow) pools together offers of all sorts and organises them into categorises i.e. Offers, Warehouse Sales and Dining, amongst many. It really is practical. On a personal note, I’ve already made some savings (mostly on food) by checking out Offer Station first. Most recent was when I was looking for a place to eat Thai food – of which we ended up dining at Celadon, where I was entitled to a 10% discount plus a 10% rebate. Also, not too long ago were visits to One Utama’s Dockers and Levi’s store, which were offering discounts up to 50% and 70% respectively.

This coming weekend, I’ll most probably be paying a visit to The Summit USJ to check out the Metrojaya Shopping Carnival with Lydia. Who knows, we might be able to find something neat at a discounted price

home cooking adventures #3

Ladies and gentlemen, presenting to you our latest home cooking adventure… this time, it’s Aglio Olio served with Swiss Brown Mushroom. Looks good, tastes good!

Basic ingredients – lotsa Aglio, that’s garlic and a generous amount of olive oil (Olio). Some other ingredients include swiss brown mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, yellow capsicum and some dried chillies.

Unlike our previous two cooking adventures in which we recipes with step by step instructions, the recipe we had this time only indicated the ingredients needed and did not give any instructions as to which goes into the pan first. As a matter of fact, adding mushrooms wasn’t a part of the original recipe – we just decided to have a little bit more to our Aglio Olio, not to mention a handsome pouring of wine in the preparation of the mushrooms

End of the day, our experiment turned out delicious! The only thing we thought we needed to improve on was the order in which the ingredients are put into the pan. We’ll see how that goes the next time we make pasta again.

golfing around

I must say, 4 years back I knew nothing about golf and had no interest whatsoever in getting myself involved in the sport – whether as a player or spectator. My first real exposure to golf, as a spectator at least – was during my tenure at one of my previous jobs in which one of the responsibilities of my group was to transmit the latest scores of ongoing golf tournaments. It was through this responsibility that I eventually understood what birdies, eagles, pars, unders and overs were.

In the latest development involving myself and golf… just yesterday, I played golf for the very first time. It was at the driving range, and using a 9-iron I (only?) managed to hit the ball some 50 metres. Apart from that, what do I have to show for my first hand at golf? A nasty blister.

All in all, I’m quite happy with my first experience at playing golf. I have to say that it is a sport that involves not only strength and speed, but also precision and focus. Quite an interesting combination if you ask me. Having said all that, I know that there’s a certain someone extremely exhilarated at the prospects of me picking up golf – even if it’s just the occasional trip to the driving range with her

DiGi Pimp My Broadband

A video made by a friend of mine – Chern Liang, staring another friend of mine – Leona.

Like it? Vote for it here.

looking forward to monday on a friday!

Yes! It’s Friday and while everyone’s going TGIF! I’m actually waiting eagerly for Monday to come! Before you think I’m some freak who is obsessed with his work to the extent that his life depends on it – I’m actually looking forward to Monday coz it’ll be my first time at Dewan Filharmonik Petronas (DFP)!

Lydia (not her first time there) and myself will be there on 12 October to be entertained by vocalist Mia Palencia and guitarist Roger Wang as they perform jazz pieces including one of my all time favourites – “Somewhere Over The Rainbow“.

I first heard about Double Take (as their collaboration is known) a few years back when I was considering going for a local jazz event – which I ended up not going for. Lydia tells me they are good and that Roger Wang is one of her guitar idols. Well, I’m gonna find out for myself this coming Monday. In the mean time, check out Daily Chilli for a short write up on Double Take.

prayer powered battery!

This morning I stepped into my car half wet from the rain only to hear the “click” sound as I turned my ignition. I tried it again – and to my dismay, no sound of a revving engine but instead – “click”, followed by my car alarm going off. Battery flat, I thought to myself. Sigh…

I quickly typed a sms to my boss informing him that I would definitely be late, with a possibility of taking half day off. It was after all raining quite heavily and my housemates were still alseep – no one to help me push the car. After sending the sms, and as I was about to get out of the car – I decided to say a quick prayer. As I ended my prayer, I turned the ignition one last time, and to my joy, the engine started! Not in a jerky manner or seemingly half powered – it started as if there was no problem to start with! Boy was I thankful.

By the time I reached my office, the rain was already stopping so I decided to check my battery for possible reasons why my battery failed this morning. Battery water was sufficient and no residue was found on the terminals. I continue to wonder why I couldn’t start my car this morning, but my primary thoughts are on the power of prayer and the reality of God answering our prayers.

the serenity prayer

Saying this prayer at my workplace now…

God grant me the serenity,
To accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.

God’s Chisel

Was introduced to this video by J-Son. It was a real blessing as it speaks about God’s love for us – of His design and purpose for us – that He made us GOOD, and continues to work on us to bring us closer and closer to what He intends us to be. It also mirrors our common responses to God’s moulding process to which we so often squirm and writhe under – giving excuses, complaining, justifying myself and even asking for a “time out”. I for one definitely identified myself with several of the responses given in the short video. But most impactful of all, was the closing note on which the video was made – “I am God’s original masterpiece’”. And so are you… YOU, are God’s original masterpiece.

Will definitely be checking out the Skit Guys’ other videos on Youtube.

W.I.P.
Eric Tan

3D

3D movies sure are aplenty this season! My last one (not counting those I watched and/or plan to watch this year), was Spy Kids 3D. I barely remember the story, and as for the effects – I can only vaguely remember some of it. What I do remember is, that I left the cinema feeling rather giddy and nauseated. I told myself, it would be long time before I ever watch a 3D movie again.

Just a short of a month back, I watched UP. I had earlier noticed this title in Rotten Tomatoes (movie review site) with a high rating of above 95%. Well, I wasn’t disappointed – not one bit. The movie in itself was very entertaining and had many layers to its story. Even without the 3D effects, one would easily be drawn into the movie, enjoying several emotion-filled individual plots which eventually merge into a happy ending. Having said that, the 3D effects were different from what I had previously experienced. As Uncle Johnny mentioned before the movie, the makers of the movies had in mind for the 3D not to be intermittent flashy effects, but to be part of the story as a whole. They delivered. It’s hard to describe exactly the 3D effects employed in UP. It was definitely unlike that of Spy Kids 3D – which had objects flying out of the screen (and that sort), yet in no way was it boring. I guess you’ll have to experience it for yourself. Go catch it before it’s taken off the screens. A must watch by my standards!

Anyway, moving on… I have to plan an outing in the near future – and the idea is to watch a movie. Naturally, I looked up what 3D movies would be available within the next two months. I found two. First up is G-Force. I saw posters advertising this movie, with 4 hamsters dressed in commando-looking gear – it looked rather, well, cute – so I decided to check what it’s about. The synopsis I found – “a comedy adventure about the latest evolution of a covert government program to train animals to work in espionage” – didn’t quite get me excited, but on the other hand made me wonder if any good thing could come out of this story line. Ratings by Rotton Tomatoes – a low 24% – did not help and so, I think I’ll be shelving this one unless I hear otherwise from others.

Up next, and probably better – is Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. It’s only due to be out on the 22nd of October, and as such, no reviews are available yet. “The world’s first ever animated disaster movie”, does seem to have quite an ingenious story line – of an inventor who creates a machine that rains food. The synopsis reveals that viewers can expect this animation to be one that is interlaced with a love story. It may be too soon to judge, but I think I’ll be arranging for my group to watch this movie in October.

In summary, I think 3D or not – it is important that the story is good. Good 3D animation will probably make the experience more enjoyable and memorable, but I don’t think it’ll save a bad story line.