Fast n Furious wins again

Last weekend, Fast n Furious went racing again. Once again, I was invited to race for J.King’s team. Apparently I did well enough the last time to warrant a recall… but in reality, Chappie’s still away.

Fast n Furious took part again in the MY-Kart Enduro race at Sepang. With the 4th round being the final Endurance race for the year, the overall championship was up for grabs. Having only raced in 3 of the 4 endurance races, Fast n Furious was 6 points behind the overall leader, Tail Happy Racing.

This round started a little iffy for us, with JK bringing the kart back after only 3 practice laps with engine trouble. By the time the race was due to start, we’d gotten the engine changed twice. Even then, our troubles didn’t end there.

With Rizman not racing this round, R.Mardiah stepped in, so it’s 3 guys and a lady. Race order this time would be for me to start, switching over to JK, Mardiah and finally Shahnaz.

The race start was delayed all morning as the mechanics worked on our engine replacement. Our luck didn’t hold then either as on my formation lap, the exhaust falls off. Diving into the pits for new fasteners, I sat there waiting frustratingly as the rest of the field raced past in the rolling start.

By the time I rejoined the race, we were almost a lap behind. All I could do was put my head down and clock in fast and consistent laps. In the end, it worked out well as I lapped in 58sec laps consistently, having not need to deal with any traffic. This allowed me to stay on the same lap with the leaders as well as reel in some of the slower teams.

Consistent 58s laps from myself, JK and Mardiah allowed Fast n Furious to reel in the other teams. By the time Shahnaz came on as our final driver, we’d moved up to 2nd position overall. Not bad for a team with engine problems all morning and starting from the pit lane almost a lap behind. In the end, Fast n Furious won the 4th round enduro race fairly comfortably, beating Tail Happy Racing to the chequered flag. But with the 2nd place finish, Tail Happy Racing took the overall endurance championship for 2005, beating out Fast n Furious by 2 points.

Race reports here: Enduro 4: Fast n Furious wins despite early engine problems
Photos here:
Shahrul Azlan's photos
Dennis' photos
Brian C's photos

Rome - a HBO exclusive

HBO Asia started showing Rome recently. When it debut in the US back in late August, there was so much acclaim for it and I couldn’t wait for it to show in Asia. HBO Asia is showing the first 3 episodes at 10pm on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Subsequent episodes will show on Tuesdays at 10pm. I’ve watched the first 2 episodes and have come to a conclusion… it’s awesome… Rome rocks!

The only complaint I have and it's a major one, is the cuts and censors that have been applied to it. As part of the local media hype surrounding the showing in Asia, a local daily had already pre-warned that the version being shown locally has been sanitized for Asian sensibilities… what a load of crap. I mean, what do you expect? It’s Rome back in like 52BC… morality then was not as we know it now… In trying to depict a level of period reality and yet acceptable for present American TV, there has to be a certain level of violence and gritty raunchiness. C'mon... you've heard about Caligula and his orgies, right... he's Roman, no? And it's set in a period where rape and pillage was the order of war. HBO's production of Rome apparently tried it's best to tell that part of historical assertion on modern prime time TV, but alas, us poor sensible Asians won't get to see it until the DVD box sets get released. We get the sanitised version... Bah!

Levels that are apparently unacceptable in this part of the world. What a load of rubbish man! E.g. in episode 1, when Vorenus and Pullo come across Octavian’s abductors, the ambush is cut. All we got to see was them discovering the band of bandits and next thing you know, the ambush is over, men have died and Octavian is free. C’mon… the fellas overseeing censorship need to get with the times man!

Despite that, Rome is immensely entertaining. Crippled, but still awesome. All the characters have their story and is captivating. Gaius Julius Caesar looks imperious, the legionaires menacing, the Roman senate simply oozes politics and the supporting women devious and manipulative and incredibly beautiful. Niobe's a personal favourite... Now, if they’d only do a Greek mythology series next.

The year is 52 B.C. Four hundred years after the founding of the Republic, Rome is the wealthiest city in the world, a cosmopolitan metropolis of one million people, epicenter of a sprawling empire. The Republic was founded on principles of shared power and fierce personal competition, never allowing one man to seize absolute control. But now, those foundations are crumbling, eaten away by corruption and excess. The ruling class has become extravagantly
wealthy, with a precipitous decline in the old values of Spartan discipline and social unity. There is now a great chasm between the classes. Legal and political systems have weakened, and power has increasingly shifted to the military.

After eight years of war, Gaius Julius Caesar has completed his masterful conquest of Gaul, and is returning to Rome. He brings with him legions of battle-hardened, loyal men, unimaginable riches in slaves, gold and plunder, and a populist agenda for radical social change. The aristocracy is terrified, and threatens to prosecute him for war crimes if he enters Rome. The delicate balance of power lies in the Senate with Caesar's old friend, partner and mentor, Pompey Magnus.

Such is the situation when two soldiers of Caesar's 13th Legion, Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo, are ordered into the wilds of Gaul to retrieve their legion's stolen standard, the unifying symbol of Caesar's legion, setting off a chain of circumstances that will entwine them in pivotal events of
ancient Rome. An intimate drama of love and betrayal, masters and slaves, and husbands and wives, ROME chronicles epic times that saw the fall of a Republic and the creation of an empire.

Cast of characters:

Kevin McKidd as Lucius Vorenus,
Ray Stevenson as Titus Pullo
Ciaran Hinds as Gaius Julius Caesar
Kenneth Cranham as Pompey Magnus
Polly Walker as Atia of the Julii
James Purefoy as Mark Antony
Tobias Menzies as Marcus Junius Brutus
Lindsay Duncan as Servilia of the Junii
Indira Varma as Niobe
Max Pirkis as Gaius Octavian
Kerry Condon as Octavia of the Julii.

Episodes:
01 - The stolen eagle
02 - How Titus Pullo Brought Down the Republic
03 - An Owl In a Thornbush
04 - Stealing From Saturn
05 - The Ram Has Touched The Wall
06 - Egeria
07 - Pharsalus
08 - Caesarion
09 - Utica
10 - Triumph
11 - The Spoils
12 - Kalends of February

Current favourite - No Worries

I've been looking for this for a while now. I like it... love the chorus and it's got a nice groovy beat to it. It's for you, princess... it's just so appropriate for what you're going through... some day soon, you'll be alright. =)

No Worries

Simon Webbe - Sanctuary

I just know your life’s gonna change

Gonna get a little better

Even on the darkest day

I just know your life’s gonna change

Gonna get a little further

Right until the feelings change

So, this is how it goes?

Think you’ve come this far

with nothing to show

That ain’t so,

No, You don’t see where you are

And if you don’t look back

you’ll never know

Bridge:

Cos you think that you’ve been living,

Just treading water

And waiting in the wings

for the show to begin

But I always see you searching

As you try that bit harder

Getting closer, oh yeah,

to the life you’re imagining

Chorus:

(I just know your life’s gonna change)

Maybe not today, maybe not today

Some day soon you’ll be all right

(I just know your life’s gonna change)

Don’t turn the other way,

turn the other way

Feels like luck is on your side

(Just wanna live)

No worries, no worries

(Don’t wanna die)

No worries, no worries

(Fight through the lows)

Say it for me, say it for me

(And take all the highs)

We all need somebody

(Yeah you can sink)

No worries, no worries

(Or you can swim)

No worries, no worries

(Or walk on out)

Say it for me, say it for me,

(Or jump right in) We all need somebody

So, baby keep drifting on

Your endeavours ain’t just

selfless wasted time

Seek and find, yeah

You’re not that far from

what you’ve hoped

and wished for all along

Bridge / Chorus

I just know your life’s gonna change

Say it for me, say it for me

We all need somebody

Melodramatic WLT in real life? No way.

I have some unique (read: weird) guy friends I hang out with. They range from the young to the fairly middle-aged ones, from the really “macho man” (read: MCP) to the ultimate gentlemen. As guys we’d do the usual stuff, you know… play sports, hit the bars, hit on the occasional gorgeous babe (‘scuse me ladies, but yah..) or just hang out and discuss utterly ridiculous & hilarious topics

Anyway, the guy I wanna bring to attention today is this fella whom I’ll refer to as the footballer. Somehow, lately I’ve been hanging out with him quite a bit. It’s a bit of a change from the regular boys, i.e. old man & flyboy. Well, we hang out for coffee and a smoke (yes goddess… I’ve succumbed again... stress, you see?) at the office and sometimes at the mamak hangout.

If some of you can recall, I mentioned sometime back about how Chinese TV serials (i.e. soap operas) are incredibly melodramatic. Last nite I was given a new spin on these serials and why this certain footballer watches them regularly. In fact, not just regularly, if you ask me, it’s bordering on religiously. I mean he stays up till 3am to catch it on a weekday!

For one, I’m stumped that he watches these super melodramatic TV serials, but the one that takes the cake is his revelation that he watches it in the belief that what he sees on TV can become true and events/actions therein can be used in real life! It’s his belief that in the end, the good guy will get the girl. The selfless sacrifice and romantic overtures will win over the love of whichever girl in question. He believes that if he was ever put in a similar situation as in one of the dramas, and if he replicated the actions of the underdog or good guy on TV, he will, like the fella on TV, win over the girl… yes girls, he is still single… :-D

Believe you me I was dumbfounded. If I wasn’t in a car, I’d have fallen off my chair and doubled over in stitches! I think at this point, let me apologise to whomever of you reading this and does indeed watch Wah Lai Toi. My take on this… The good guy will not always get the girl in the end. If she’s seeing this other bloke (let’s call him the bad boy as referred to by the footballer) and he’s not as romantic as the good guy, doesn’t appreciate the girl’s love and affections, she’s not gonna fall head over heels for the good guy just cos he brings her to their spot on the beach and lights a fireworks display all for her trying to cheer her up after a little spat with the bad boy on her birthday. All the good guy’s selfless sacrifice and hidden feelings will all just end up in angst. If she's not into the good guy, she's just not into him, hopeless romantic, selfless or otherwise!

No, it won’t happen, and no, you can’t use that… for one, she wouldn’t be at a beach with the good guy on her birthday and regardless how the good guy feels for her, if she’s so into the bad boy, well… the good guy’s just outta luck. The girl’s not gonna snap out of it just like that and realize that the good guy was meant for her all the while.

Besides, if you did replicate those actions, picture this… there will be these blokes in dark blue uniforms stepping out of their white cars and asking, wtf are you doing and demanding you buy them potloads of coffee for the rest of their lives or they’ll haul you and the lady off to some lovely romantic cell. Besides, there ain’t no decent beaches around here that you could do that at anyways! Hilarious, but highly entertaining this footballer.

Thanksgiving in America

Today is Thanksgiving day in the USA. Whilst visiting one of my favourite daily web indulgences, Least I could do, I came across a thanksgiving wish that echoes my feelings often... Happy Thanksgiving, folks!

I’m grateful for the fact that despite my strongest efforts to convince myself otherwise and incredibly deep skepticism, there’s a little glimmer of hope that always shine through. I'm grateful that I'll keep hanging on to it.
-- Ryan Sohmer

Tenor at Sentul Park

YTL is celebrating their 50th anniversary this year. Music lovers will be happy to find that in conjunction with this celebration, British tenor Russell Watson will perform for one night at Sentul Park on 17 December. He will be accompanied by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Michael Moran.

The performance is free, but tickets are only given out to successful ballot applicants. So, if you’re interested… check it out..

Princess got pierced

A couple of weeks ago, I got this sms from the princess, sort of out of the blue…

“I’m standing in the belly button piercing shop lah. What you think? Do it?”

What a no-brainer question for me rite? My immediate response was obviously “Omigod!!”. I’m so the wrong person to ask, man! As many of you well know, I’ve got a thing for navel piercing on slim, fit women. It's a personal favourite… navel piercing! I just think it’s damn hot & sexy... it drives me nuts. *grin*

Belly rings and navel studs is just such a huge turn on for me… errr… obviously on slim, flat tummies of cos… none of that hippo-look-alike or wanna-be’s, ya. For the record, tongue studs and nose piercings and other bodily parts also doesn't do it for me.

So did she do it? Of cos! And guess what… the princess’ hot chick factor doubled with the simple answer of “hehehe….yah! :p”. Nope, sorry, I got no pictures… but we’ll have to rectify that sometime soon.

Anyways, the princess has been going through a difficult time recently. Cheer up, gorgeous! I’m beginning to miss those hypnotic eyes and that gorgeous smile!

Here’s a little something for ya to enjoy… It’s from way back… when piercings weren’t that common place yet… It's a long one, but it’s a golden oldie! Actually I can’t believe I found it!

------ Excerpt from The Chicago Tribune -------

Piercing analysis: Chicago's out of it by Mike Royko

Originally published: Friday, November 26, 1993

Web-posted: Monday, April 14, 1997

Although I'm not certain what the "mainstream" is, I've always thought I was part of it. Family, home, mortgage, job, dog, beer, pizza, Cub games, button-down shirts, stained ties, mini-van, Pings and a nerdy watch. But now I have serious doubts. Whatever the "mainstream" is, I appear to be outside of it.

I realized this the other day when I read a news story in The New York Times.

The headline said: "Body Piercing Moves Into the Mainstream."

And the story began: "It is easy to pinpoint the moment when body piercing went mainstream. Christy Turlington came out at a London fashion show, her midriff baredbetween two slices of creamy knit. And there in the middle of her navel was a ring.

"The next day, Naomi Campbell was tugging at the waist band of her Vivienne Westwood micro-mini kilt to show the world that anything Christy could do, so could she. A gold ring set with a small pearl pierced her navel.

"The story went on to say that body piercing has become the rage. And not just navels, either. Nostrils and all sorts of places, public and private, if anything is private these days.The story quoted a Los Angeles body piercer as saying that she has been kept very busy piercing eyebrows, nipples and even her own tongue.

One pierced person said she was inspired to have her navel pierced after seeing the "'beautiful decoration' in the nipples of the actor Jaye Davidson, who appeared in 'The Crying Game.' " (I didn't see that movie, and that's good because I'm impressionable and easily inspired.)

The story offers some sociological analysis as to why so many people are dangling jewelry from their noses, navels, nipples and other body parts."With the fragmenting of the former Communist empire, the not-so-gorgeous mosaic of New York, and demands for secession from Ukraine to Staten Island, maybe it is not surprising that fashion should reflect tribalism.

"I suppose that makes sense. The Soviet Union collapses, and the natural reaction is to go out and get your nose pierced. Or one day you notice that New York is crowded and messy, so you instinctively start wearing gold rings in your nipple.

After all, you have to do something to show you care.The story also gives some history of this sort of thing.

"The idea of decorating the body is ancient history. Nose rings were worn in India, throughout the Middle East, and by tribal groups like the Berbers as a sign of wealth and status for marriageable women. The more metal weighing down the nose (some nose rings had to be attached to an ear piece), the bigger the bridal dowry."Those were the good old days. And now they're returning. We live in exciting times.

After I read about this new mainstream trend, I went to lunch. As I strolled through downtown Chicago, I looked closely at other pedestrians, but I didn't spot even one nose ring.And I was embarrassed for myself and my fellow Chicagoans. Why are we always so far behind? We're only 800 miles from New York, an hour or so by plane.

Yet, The New York Times story said: "In the downtown street scenes, both sexes display rings through the nostrils and multiple earrings. ..."

But here in the third-largest city in the United States, I didn't see even one ring through a nose, or even bells on their toes. As it was a cold day, I can't speak for nipple rings, but I didn't see anyone who looked the type.

When I got to my lunch place, I took a stool at the bar and said to a couple of acquaintances: "With the secession of Ukraine and other former Soviet states, have you felt a surge of tribalism that might lead you to having your nose or nipples pierced and wearing gold chains?"

They stared at me, then got up and moved to the end of the bar. Some people are indifferent to global affairs. Little wonder they are out of the mainstream, the hicks.

But on my way back from lunch, I had a flashback. And the memory made me again proud to be a Chicagoan. I had remembered a story I wrote at least 12 years ago. And that story proves that Chicago was many years ahead of New York at being in the mainstream. And I exclusively reported it.

It was about a young man named Adolfo, who was the leader of a Northwest Side street gang. A tribal group, of sorts. One night, Adolfo forced his erotic attentions on a young woman. She had him arrested, and they went to court. Adolfo denied everything, but the woman said she could prove it.

She said a rather private part of Adolfo's body had been pierced, and that was where he wore a gold ring.It was not the sort of thing a woman would forget. The judge asked Adolfo to lower his trousers. He did, and there was the evidence, gold ring and all.

Of course, the judge didn't realize that Adolfo had leaped into the mainstream. He thought he was just a creep and sent him to prison. It just shows that a person can be too far ahead of the times. Had it happened today, Adolfo could have said: "The secession of Ukraine made me do it."

1997 Chicago Tribune

A new phone!

I used to change mobile phones fairly frequently last time. Sometimes twice a year. Since changing from the O2 Smartphone to the Nokia 6260 phone, I've not changed to a new set since . I guess I was just into buying other toys & gadgets. Actually, it's just a little over a year since I changed. It was also November last year when I purchased the Nokia.

Well, I acted on impulse again and have bought myself a new phone. It's the Sony Ericsson W800i. I like the orange/cream colour combination. It's also a Walkman i.e. Sony MP3 player with MegaBass (tm) and comes with a 2megapixel camera to boot and 1Gb Memory Stick Pro Duo!

This time, I sort of regretted the purchase immediately. For the past couple of years, I've been using Smartphones. I've gone back to a plain old GSM phone. OK, so the applications and functions are pretty much the same and it's got everything I normally use on my Nokia, e.g. Web browser, Yahoo Messenger, Address Book, Calendar, MP3 player... yet somehow it feels different. Maybe it's cos I'm not used to the Sony Ericsson's feel yet.

There's always a silver lining

I try to avoid it, but it had to happen sometime I guess and this was one I could not avoid. But with DC being one of my regular close friends, I attended the wedding reception on Sunday. DC’s brother, Andrew tied the knot with Evelyn last Friday. The reception was held last night at Mandarin Palace, Federal Hotel KL.

Generally, I'd try to avoid needing to attend weddings, what with all the history around me as well as to avoid those inevitable thoughts and questions of having to go through it again. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'd very much like to eventually settle down and get married again, but with as little fuss as possible, you know? As usual, it wasn't as bad as I'd thought.

As we were all dressed up and with nowhere to go, we wound down after the reception at KL Hilton, Sentral. I came across this at the lobby. Looks like it’s time to party!

Stéphane Pompougnac is gonna be spinning his music at the Zeta Bar for one night only on the 9th December. A couple of years ago I was introduced to his album series, Hotel Costes and have been hooked since then. His latest, Costes 8 was on my currently listening list for a while and it's pretty good. It’s a fusion collection of Jazz-funk-club music. Some people call it eclectic styled club house music. Whatever that means... all I know is I'm a follower and really enjoy his collection of music. So... time to party... to make up for all the parties I had to miss last weekend!

Bored...

After 32 years, Australia’s football team has finally made it back to the FIFA World Cup. Well done, Socceroos! The whole country was watching as Australia turned a 0-1 deficit from Montevideo to force the game into extra time and finally a penalty shootout. Mark Schwarzer made 2 awesome saves before John Aloisi kicked the OZs to Germany 2006! Brilliant.

One thing about Celcom, the mobile service isn’t the most popular, but they sure have got some really excellent advertisements on TV. Their See Football in Everything ads was good, but the one which I really like currently is the This is Celcom Territory. For me, the main factor it was a good ad – the music. It captivates me… I like it! Note to self… ask Pierre about the ads next time I see him.

Bored… but lazy… let’s see… who’s online tonite... *sigh*

Great jazz scene

No black tie has re-opened! This used to be the place to go to for great live jazz music in KL. It’s now re-opened a few doors down from where they used to be, off Jalan Raja Chulan..

No Black Tie
17, Lorong Mesui, Off Jalan Nagasari,
Off Jalan Raja Chulan,
50200, Kuala Lumpur

The line-up:
jazz on Tuesday, blues on Wednesday, classical on Thursday, singer songwriters on Friday and Unclogged (hardcore bands playing acoustic sets) on Saturday

I used to hang out there every now and then whenever I had the urge for some good live music. I’m glad it’s back. More next time… after I’ve re-established ties… ;-)

Is sleep over-rated?

I never used to have sleep problems, but of late, I've been finding myself lying in bed feeling tired but sleep is just not coming. It's frustrating, lying in bed, all comfy and tucked in but the mind is wide awake and it ain't planning to welcome the sandman... oh well.. something on my mind? *sigh* time for a bit of net-surfing and music therapy...

I like this one... it's from Robbie William's new CD, Intensive Care. The song's called Make me pure.

Make me pure

Some will sing a song

To reel 'em in

It's a song I sung before

And a song I'm gonna sing again

I mean every word

I don't mean a single one of them

Oh Lord, make me pure

- but not yet

Tell a joke

Tell it twice

If noone else is laughing then why am i

I split my sides both times and laugh till i cry

Oh Lord, please make me pure

- but not yet

I don't have to try

I just dial it in

I've never found a job that for me was worth bothering

I got a ton of selfish genes and lazy bones beneath this skin

Oh Lord, make me pure

- but not yet

Smoking kills

Sex sells

I've got one hand in my pocket but the other one looks cool as hell

I know I'm gonna die so my revenge is living well

Oh Lord, make me pure

- but not yet

I stopped praying

So I hope this song will do

I wrote it all for you

I'm not perfect but you don't mind that, do you?

I know you're there to pull me through, aren't you?

So I look for love

I like the search

And I'll be standing for election all across the known universe

Let every president get the country she deserves

Oh Lord, make me pure

- but not yet

And I've been seeing

Somebody's wife

She said she'd leave him for me and I said that wasn't wise

You can't lie to a liar because of all the lies

Oh Lord, please make me pure

- not yet

Crazy fishing adventure

I spent 6 years living in Perth, Western Australia. There, my love for the sun & the surf grew greater than I expected. Then again, being in Perth there wasn’t much else to do anyway. One of the activities I loved whilst living there was fishing. Perth, being fairly close to the Indian Ocean and being right smack by the Swan River was pretty much dominated by all sorts of water sports and activities. The coastline in Australia is also pretty well developed, so much so that we’d be able to head out to the nearest coastline or riverside and be able to practically cast our lines out and start fishing immediately.

Now in Malaysia, it’s a whole different story. The coastline is nowhere as developed and is basically wild growth, meaning there is a major lack of good shoreline fishing spots. Also, being on the west coast of peninsula Malaysia, all we had was the Straits of Malacca, or as I’d like to call it, the drain. It clearly wasn’t anything like the Indian Ocean, but that didn’t deter me and Izzat from heading out for a fishing adventure.

It turned out to be an eye opening adventure. Let me set the scene a bit here, going back at least 10 years. I used to live in South Perth for a bit and the river was pretty much just across the street. As such, I’ve done a bit of fishing by the bridge as well as the riverside. All one had to do was head out to the riverside, pick a spot and cast away. And the catch was pretty decent as well, with Bream and the occasional flounder being the typical catch.

Fade back to the present. Since coming back to Malaysia, the only fishing I’ve done has basically been open sea fishing on a boat. So when the folks at the tackle shop told us about a spot near the river mouth in Port Klang, we decided to check it out. When we got to the spot, it was pretty clearly a bridge, and we could see many anglers on the platforms all the way out to mid-river. What we couldn’t figure out was how they got there, as the platforms were clearly pretty high off the waterline. We asked the folks around there and were told that the access to the platforms would cost us RM1 and we had to see the fellas under the bridge.

Thinking we would be taken out on a boat to the platforms we were pretty shocked when the bloke collecting the “access” fee pointed at a hole above our heads under one of the bridge’s support platforms. It was practically a service tunnel or something under the bridge! Undeterred, we climbed up and made our way through to the furthest and least occupied platform mid-river. Climbing down onto the platform was as un-nerving as the trip out to mid-river on wooden planks in a service tunnel. But damn it, we were gonna get some fishing done.

Well, after spending some 4hours on the platform, all we caught was 3 miserably sized garfish and needlefish and one ugly stonefish or something. As far as shoreline or riverside fishing in Malaysia goes, forget it… it ain’t worth jack! I’ll stick to doing it off a boat in the middle of the sea. So chalk that up as an experience, been there, done that, throw the idea away and bring on the next crazy-assed idea for bored nutters… which is… cricket. But that’ll have to be for another day.

Audio CD inconveniences

This has been an issue for me for a while now, but it has recently inconvenienced the princess. I spend a lot of money on audio cds and I tend to listen to my music everywhere I can. So you can imagine it being a hassle for me to keep taking the disc with me everywhere I am. What I would normally do is to convert the songs into MP3 for home & office use and stick the CD in my CD changer in the car. Besides, it’s for my own personal use and I don’t stick it on the internet for folks to copy or trade.

So you can imagine my frustrations when I bought my first copy-controlled audio CD. It would play in my car and my audio only CD players. When I stick it into my PC, it would install a custom player and the audio tracks will only play from this player. All my regular music converter applications would only see data tracks that aren’t playable. As a result, I can’t convert the audio tracks into mp3 and that sucks.

It had me stumped for a while and after some research, I learned about copy-controlled audio CDs. These CDs are marked, usually at the back of the CD, with the IFPI copy control symbol. As a result, when I buy audio CDs, I tend to look out for this and avoid them. It sucks when a CD I really want has the symbol on it. So, next time you’re at the music store and come across this symbol on a CD you’d like to buy… don’t, there’s a chance it won’t play on your player.

Anyway, as I said, it’s been an issue for a while now. But recently, when the princess bought KT Tunstall’s CD and stuck it into the CD player in her new Honda, it refused to play! I asked if there was the IFPI symbol and whether it played on an audio CD only player. True enough, it was a copy controlled disc.

I figured that it was likely due to the disc being copy controlled, as I was pretty pleased that new cars now ship with MP3 capable CD players. It made sense that the disc would be seen as a data disc rather than an audio disc by the MP3 capable player. Then the thought struck me… there must be a new copy control method out as I’ve always been able to play copy-controlled CDs on my MP3 capable DVD AV system at home.

Oh well… I guess the record companies wised up about the fact that there are now methods and applications out there that are able to overcome these copy controls. Just another escalation of the copy-control vs internet MP3 file-sharing war, if u asked me.

*shrug* If you ask me, just stay away from these copy-controlled CDs. I’ll just stick to listening to KT Tunstall when I come across it on the radio. See if I care about helping make her or her record company a little bit richer.

You know…ironically, if not for my innate stubbornness, I’d say these copy-controlled methods fail miserably in deterring mp3 file sharing. If I was a little more determined, I’d not just stop at refusing to buy the CD, instead I’d scour the net for the mp3 files instead… not that I’d do it… besides, still got no frickin' broadband in the area where I live...

Escapades

Came across this amusing article in the local daily. It says Malaysians are quite adventurous in pursuing their sexual escapades. Apparently the top 3 locations preferred for sex by the 5409 respondents of the Durex Global sex survey in Malaysia are the toilets, in the car and in the parent’s bedrooms.

Hmm… I wonder… toilets would include public toilets right? Kinky… dirty, but kinky. Not sure about toilets, but personally, I think the bathroom is a pretty cool place to do it… and you get to save water while at it too… but maybe not, come to think of it…

The other thing that jumped out at me about the top 3 locations is that the respondents don’t have their own place to stay. I mean, if you have your own shack, why’d u need to do it in the car or the parent’s bedroom… also, what’s wrong with your own room? Maybe it’s just me… but damn, the parent’s bedroom?! Hello, like e-yeww??? Dunno about you, but it kills the excitement factor for me…

With your own place, there’s a lot more excitement to be had than just the bathroom or toilets… there’s the living room, dining room, study, stairs, definitely more comfortable than the crampy car. Not as adventurous, but comfier… food for thought…

• toilets – 44%
• cars – 38%
• parent’s bedroom – 24%
• at work – 15%
• parks – 12%
• infront of cameras – 10%
• at the beach - 10%
• at parties – 8%
• clubs – 7%
• schools – 6%
• gardens – 6%
• alleyways – 4%
• public transport – 3%
• aeroplanes – 2%