"NHK amateur singing contest"

Yes, I shamelessly watch this show regularly, it's much more fun to watch than that American idol show, less glamor and more music variety that is if you can get through the bizarre fashion sense of the hosts and some of the contestants.

As for the the singing quality it's like going to a karaoke bar, bizarre yet fun, at times I feel like changing the channel but out of some masochistic sense I kept listening (what can be more fun than listening to a 75 year old lady singing a new pop number with more gusto than a 20 year old?), good thing they usually stop them before it goes too far, on the other hand you do get some really good ones once in a while.

eh...wha?

No, Cinco de Mayo doesn't mean a sink filled with mayonnaise

Goodbye, so long, adieu

Three cheers for courage

Three cheers for progressive change

Three cheers for the woman who said "no"

Rest in peace Mrs Rosa Lee Parks, may your spirit lives on.

Busy busy busy

Dual core powermacs, upgraded powerbook, price drops on HD cinema displays, Aperture and iTMS Australia...oh my! all this in a day? and less then a week since the new iPod and upgraded iMacs?! Hurry, somebody stop Steve Jobs before he ascends into Godhood!

I KNEW IT!

STUPID PC!! first I tried to install Dune: Emperor, the installation was fine but when I tried to play it the system didn't recognize the CD, it said the CD wasn't there, WTF? I just friggin' installed it with that flipin' CD damnit! Then I installed C&C: tiberian sun, guess what? same damn thing happened! now the only thing I can play is starcraft, I hate this piece of shit junk box!

Food for thought

Today I found myself stuck in front of the TV for 2 hours straight looking at the 2 best things created in this sad little planet, choclate, and ice cream. One show is called the history of ice cream I watched in a few times before but it's still fun to watch, and the other was some documentary about choclate (I can't remember the name), it just shows all the various types of chocolate and choclate based food. I have to say it was the best 2 hours I spend in front of the tube, just when I thought it couldn't get any better the next hour I spent watching a show about restaurants around the world, life is good

I WANT ONE!

I usually don't get worked up on prototypes, especially if its a car or motorcycle but this bike really caught my eye. It's stylishly sleek, has power (600cc) and more importantly more eco-friendly than most bikes.Too bad hybrid vehicles usually cost more than an arm and leg, they should make eco-friendly technologies more accesible to the public.

And one more thing...

it plays your music, it shows your photo and now it plays your video's too! not to mention now it comes in black....Apple announced it's new product line up, including the new iPod, just several hours ago in its "One more thing event". The new iPod is less than 1/2 an inch thin, as I said before plays videos and 20 hours of battery life, that's 5 more hours than the previous iPod model and about 12 hours more than mine and did I mention it comes in black?. The new iPod comes in two models, 30GB (US$299) and 60GB ($399).

The other thing Apple announced was the new iMac G5. The new iMac comes with a built in iSight, bluetooth and Airport extreme, Apple's mighty mouse now comes as a standard with the new remote control for your multimedia pleasure and all the regular hardware upgrades.

Now only of they'd put those built in iSight on the next note book lineups...

It's a prisacopier!

I went out to buy a printer and scanner and instead I bought an HP 1410 printer/scanner/photocopier today. So far it's been really impressive but it took me almost an hour to actually buy it I asked the guy at the store to test it, to see if it's faulty or not, it took the guy 45 minutes try and get it running before they guy finally said "I haven't used this before, I don't know how to use it". Bastard should've told me before wasting my damn time. Anyway I'm happy with it so far, I got my printer, my scanner and a free photocopy machine! not that I need a photocopy machine but it was a nice extra.

"They got my toes!"

You know I really don't get Japanese news. I was watching NHK news on TV the other day when I saw something funny, the news line up went something like this; Chinese pipeline dispute, Avian flu outbreak, New York subway upgrades terror alert, (Japanese)Parents unsatisfifed with school education, a drive by shooting with a BB gun in an Osakan expressway, elderly women gets her toes bitten off by a cat"and finally White sox beats yankees.

How did a toe stealing cat made into the news I have no idea but they sure cover the whole news spectrum here.

coming to a close

Now, at the end of the second great console war most people say Sony won this war with the PS2 being the highest selling console, I wonder where this console wars will take us in terms of gaming. I've played more games than I went to the cinema, my total gaming time is probably about 6-7 years. looking back at my 17 years as a gamer I saw many innovations and improvements in games and its consoles along with many failed concepts and ideas, nerds became millionaires and gaming became mainstream. As I sit here playing alleyway on my gameboy I wonder if it's time for me to move on to other things, although I hear Nintendo's coming up with something interesting....

For most gamers this war never ends, the second great portable game console war is already under way with Nintendo Dual screen (DS) and the Sony PSP. In the coming months the third great console war will begin with Microsoft opening it's first salvo with the release of the Xbox 360, it won't be long until Sony's PS3 and Nintendo's Revolution move in, preparations are already at it's finishing stage, console fans have taken their positions. In A.D 2006, "war was beginning..."

as the story goes...

As I finished junior high I saw the downfall of the once great Nintendo in the home console wars while still holding strong in portable game consoles, Sega still held with their Dreamcast against the new power that is Sony with its playstation. I moved away from the generic games as I found "dating sims" games, I found games such as Tokimeki memorial more appealing than most, it didn't take me long to become a fan of the series. By this time I mostly play dating sims, flight sims, and RPG. I was in the Sony block and saw the demise of Sega as a console power in 2001 as they lost their OS support. Games were still fun but much more complex and still a geek thing.

While I was in University I saw the beginning of the second great console war. Sony launched it's Playstation 2 (PS2) as it effectively put the playstation into retirement, It didn't take long for me to own one, sadly the console was an Australian one, it really limited my game option and I was not willing to shell a few hundred bucks for a dodgy mod chip. Being in Australia for me meant limited game options and long waits. It was about a year after its release that I bought the Nintendo gamecube, good games were even lesser for this console yet I managed to scrounge up a few. Despite the raising popularity of the Xbox I never seriously considered buying it primarily because I have an aversion towards the company that released it, that and the controllers were big, bulky and really sucked. In a different front Nintendo's Gameboy reign is seen coming to a close after so many years with different variations, it has successfully fended off many of its competitors, even the ones deemed more advanced. 3D was standard, gaming became mainstream and is integrated into popular culture.