it’s been a long time

i think i should start blogging again.

what do you think?

this brings back memories

nice job guys. though u should’ve gagged him. i think some of u guys chickened out once victor started shouting =P and kenny, come on la. u got exp doing all this, why la aim nipples, u should pull down his pants already

earth hour malaysia compilation cd

earth hour gig was stellar! if u weren’t there, u missed out on something big. too bad for u =\ anyway…

oh lookie here. i’m in a compilation! woohoo! who says u need to have an album b4 u can get onto a compilation huh? =] oh yeah, its free too!

so if you don’t have one, well u have to hurry on to one of these locations today! i’m not sure where/when else they will be available. local radio stations and websites are giving them out too! just click on the pic above, and you’ll be directed to a superb site that tells u the locations =]

i haven’t heard the compilation yet, but i heard its good. apparently cds that go through proper burning for audio cd sales have a better quality compared to burning/cetak rompak that ppl commonly do using computer burners. the bands on it are great too! altered frequency, army of three, fourletterstory, pg165, scene at the movies, unabashed and under headlights (that’s me!)

did i mention its free? well, technically la. all u have to do is sign up and pledge to switch of your lights and nonessential electrical stuff TODAY from 830-930pm. easy right? u save electric, the world AND you get a free cd with good quality amazing bands. what a win-win situation for everyone =]

earth hour video, and the devils it unsuspectingly births

to think that such a noble, people-uniting cause can trigger something so meaningless, unhelpful, shallow cause. read below and be amazed:

This week CEI announced the creation of Human Achievement Hour (HAH) to be celebrated at 8:30pm on March 28th 2009 (the same time and date of Earth Hour).

Our press release described ways people might celebrate the achievements of humanity such as eating diner, seeing a film, driving around, keeping the heat on in your home—all things that Earth Hour celebrators, presumably, should be refraining from. In the cheekiest manner, we claimed that anyone not foregoing the use of electricity in that hour is, by default, celebrating the achievements of human beings. Needless to say, the enviros in the blogosphere didn’t take to kindly to our announcement.

Matthew Wheeland, an environmental journalist called the holiday “mind-blowingly strange” and pondered if Earth hour folks are including in their numbers people in countries that don’t have enough electricity to make the choice to turn out their lights. Of course, they don’t have the choice to acquire electricity whereas anyone can choose to stop using human technology if they wish…

…Green and private conservation are fine. We have no problem with an individual (or group) that wants to sit naked in the dark without heat, clothing, or light. Additionally, we’d have no problem with the group holding a pro-green technology rally. That’s their choice. But when this group stages a “global election” with the express purpose of influencing “government policies to take action against global warming,” we have every right as individuals to express our vote for the opposite

If our Human Achievement Hour is at all a dig against Earth Hour, it is so only by the fact that we are pointing out what Earth Hour truly is about: it isn’t pro-earth, it is anti-man and anti-innovation. So, on March 28th I plan to continue “voting” for humanity by enjoying the fruits of man’s mind.

read more nonsense here.

earth hour: are you part of it yet?

i’m sure u’ve heard it, but what is it? what’’s with all this buzz? how many ppl are actually doing it? and the tagline that they’ve been using pretty often: can i make a difference?

earth hour is in it’s 3rd year running, starting solely in sydney australia, spreading to 35 countries last year and growing to 82 countries this year. it’s a worldwide event where businesses and households switch off their nonessential lights for an hour.

there’s a whole lot of articles you can read about it online, but the gist is switching off things you don’t really need for an hour. its so simple. anyone can do it. everyone should do it. but knowing humankind, there is always the few that disagree.

I READ with amazement and irony the efforts of WWF Malaysia to latch on to the Earth Hour event and all the celebrities, media and corporations that have come up in support.

It is amazing that people are so easily taken in by a mere publicity stunt that fails at the very essence. Turning off our lights for one hour on one designated day of the year to save our planet surely is a PR event at best.

It shames the thousands of devoted people, government bodies, scientists and environmentalists that have for years been working on finding real solutions to address this global concern. Malaysians should see past this gimmick by international NGOs and start changing their lifestyles. Surely we can be more proactive and not be fed by an agenda of international bodies.

Why don’t we implement power conservation programmes, ride public transport on certain days in a month, car pool, etc?

It is also ironic that the organiser, WWF Malaysia, up until very recently, did not even have a climate change programme to begin with when all others (even local groups and individuals) have been persistent in their pleas for Malaysians to take action.

Remember, our leaders signed the Kyoto Protocol and there has been concerted movement towards reaching solutions. Please let us all be enlightened and move away from celebrations and gimmicks.

MARCUS,
Petaling Jaya.

some would say that switching off lights for 1 hour even on a global scale is “insignificant” and more of a publicity stunt than an actual way to safe our earth. well, i couldn’t agree more. it in fact IS a publicity stunt. the amount of energy or carbon emmissions we safe is in fact INSIGNIFICANT so to speak.

so if it is merely publicity, and insignificant in its results, why do it? i have 2 reasons for you.

1. a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step no? i can’t speak on behalf of wwf, but i think the bigger goal is to indeed aware ppl that if everyone did something, big things can change. its a simple concept that almost everyone believes but yet is a selective hypocrite to certain situations. a simple example. vitamins, exercise, even conversation. 3 things that should well cover 100% of the world’s population. take these 3 things, and isolate them down to 1 unit of each. take 1 vitamin in your whole lifetime. exercise once in your whole lifetime. have a conversation once in your whole lifetime. the result would be unanimous. they would’ve been INSIGNIFICANT things that you’ve done in your life, right? but you still do it nonetheless. why? if its insignificant, why are you still doing it?!?!? bloody cynical selfish hypocrite you are.
2. there is a certain power in masses. this is pretty simple. if you’re the only one doing it, chances are you won’t stick to it. if everyone is doing it, its easier for you to do it again, and again, and again. simple eh?

so don’t be so short sighted as to see earth hour as merely a 1hour energy saving publicity stunt. that IS what it is, but that’s not what it wants to do. i mean, they didn’t say “save the earth just this once” did they?

if you still haven’t gotten the point. wwf just wants to scream out to the whole world, much like al gore in his movie, just to let ppl know. hey, you CAN do something you know?

dear marcus,

i am deeply saddenned for the human being that you are. you sound very knowledgable yet you fail to be just a little bit more long sighted in your observations of earth hour. i may not know as much as you do, like how wwf malaysia had no climate change programme, but i know that i am happy that they are doing something now.

i would be very interested to know what do YOU do to save our planet earth. i’m guessing nothing much, since anything you do would be insignificant to our dear earth right?

you do have many interesting suggestions on saving our planet, but are you doing anything about it? are you telling everyone around you that they can do something about it? what impact has your actions done? don’t u see that we, as shallow naive human beings, sometimes DO need a publicity stunt to push us into the right direction?

nah, i guess you’re too smart for that.

~

on a more celebrative note, underheadlights will be making its debut performance of the year in support of earth hour! read all about it here!

one of our sponsors, digi will also be present there to take your pledges to switch off your lights during earth hour. if u haven’t pledged yet, come to pledge! you’ll get a free compilation cd containing tracks from altered frequency, scene at the movies, army of three, us (of course), pg165, unabashed and many more! did i mention its free? both the gig AND the cd. what more could you ask for? if you haven’t seen us live, or any of the bands performing live before, you will be blown away. literally, musically, and volume-ally =P

so come come come! and don’t come alone, let’s bring this place down! urbanattic is a major cool chillout place! =]

streamyx roxorz (part 2)

remember this? well, guess what? its the 14th already, and our internet connection is still same ole same ole. makes you wonder whether that whole cable problem thingy was real, or just another of their excuses. wire putus la. malaysians watching/downloading too much porn la. torrent users sucking up all their bandwidth la. these are the 3 that i most commonly hear. have u heard others?

the next article on them should better read something like this:

Malaysia: Streamyx broadband users will have to continue bearing with sluggish surfing speeds until you discover that you will never get decent internet speed as long as we are under the government’s wing.

TM has finally come clean to the Malaysian public after misleading them with many excuses, blaming horny porn downloaders, torrent users and even a cable malfunction which nobody could proof since it was an underwater cable.

TM also admits that they not only have never had the capabilities to deliver any of the said data rates that they promote, but also that they oversell their internet service packages which further reduces internet browsing speed to that comparable to our dial-up days with Jaring 1511.

With all that being said, Malaysia’s only hope is that the companies that have been given the licences to operate WiMax internet connections deliver upon their promises so that the rakyat may switch over and finally be able to go to google, wikipedia or xxx.com without any delays.

Bah.

the wishlist

the mono gigbag. the most coolest gigbag in the world! but no, it’s not just because of the way it looks. though that is a significantly large portion of the reason that it is the most coolest gigbag in the world. this baby is pretty smart too. it has:

a neck safer – you know those things that strap your neck at the center of the bag so that you don’t damage the neck just in case it drops? yeah i know you’ve seen that in many gigbags before, but how many provide protection even for side drops? aha! bet you didn’t think of that. it also has a cute little compartment beside it that keeps your picks. talk about functionality!
a strap pin safer – when upright, most gigbags put a lot of pressure on the strap pin at the end of the guitar. this one doesn’t =]
abs shell – just like a typical hardcase, only that it’s not throughout the whole body, so its really light!
waterproof – its waterproof. something that you will not take for granted when you’re suddenly walking in the rain, or caught in a water balloon fight on the way to a gig =]

commands a pretty hefty price though. it’s available locally at ck music for approx rm600. the pricetag’s the only thing keeping me away now. i prolly can get a nice coffin case with that kinda money =D

if u’ve never heard of aer then you are probably not an acoustic guitarist. aer is an amp making german company, and they make one of the best acoustic amps in the world. they’re so good they prolly can make your kapok sound like a taylor/maton. it sounds impossible until you actually plug a guitar into it. the sparkle. the clarity. its almost orgasmic. here’s a review by sujesh @ bassraptor.

and lookie here! now they’ve come up with a bass amp: the aer bass amp one! woohoo! typically following the standard aer look: the black cube. this little baby is not to be messed with. though small it actually packs 200watts of power. now i haven’t played on this chick yet, still waiting for the guitar store to restock them so i can do a comparison between this and the new ampeg micro-vr. i’m secretly hoping the ampeg wins. coz i’m a little biased brand-wise, and the micro-vr is much cheaper =P i wonder how you would use this lil cube in a live stage setup. a 10*10 wall of em i guess? *droolz* oh yeah, the amp one cost rm6770

~

that’s it for now. list will be added to periodically. full wish list is here. remember, it’s better to give than to receive =D

the bucket list

believe it or not, this is the only movie so far that has made me cry. haha yeah i’m a wuss, not proud of it. if u haven’t watched it you need to. if u’ve already watched it, watch it again. morgan freeman and jack nicholson, these 2 old men work together brilliantly. i was this close from tasting kopi luwak in bali, but the place was closed when i got there =\

the most rarest beverage in the world. apparently the most expensive as well. know why?

here’s my favourite quote in this movie: i believe that you measure yourself by the people who measure themselves by you – carter chambers, the bucket list (2007)

does anyone measure themselves by me? anyone? hello? =\

now. time to write my bucket list. hmm.

why u2 is the greatest band in the world

no, the answer is not bono. actually, it is la. but not in this post! =P why? coz we all already know all about bono. lets look at the edge =]

now i don’t know much about him. don’t really plan to as well hehe. but i was caught in a youtube spree and what i saw was pretty amazing, though i’m quite aware that there are many others out there who can do exactly what he does or even better.

3 major things i’ve learnt from these videos.

1. now that’s a real roadie. malaysian roadies are nothing compared to the edge’s roadie. i wonder when i would actually need my own roadie. hmm.
2. even if i had the chance/money to experiment with as much as the edge has, i think i’ll still never be as great as that.
3. this is the kinda level your music needs to be if u wanna be a u2 in the future. and i reckon i’m pretty far away from it =\

also. you have to be u2 to command a crowd this big to want to come out to look at a balcony 5 storeys (or more) above you and kill their necks just to watch and listen to your songs.

streamyx roxorz!

snippet taken for thestar.com.my. it seems that this particular company always has problems eh. cable problem here, cable problem there. and why does it take so long to repair? this is all very crazy. it wouldn’t be so bad if i ACTUALLY got my 1Mbps when they don’t have any problems. but they can’t even deliver anything close to top speed even during the off peak hours =\

PETALING JAYA: Streamyx broadband users will have to bear with sluggish surfing speeds until March 5 due to technical problems, according to a statement by Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM).

The statement said there has been a disruption of TM’s Internet services since Feb 18 due to circuit faults on the Asia Pacific Cable Network 2 (APCN2) between Malaysia and the United States.

Due to this, customers using Internet services may now experience slow browsing while accessing content hosted in the United States, said the statement.

Additionally, customers using Internet Protocol services such as Virtual Private Network (VPN) and other critical business applications linked to the United States may also experience some service degradation.

To alleviate the problem and ease the congestion, some links have been rerouted, TM said.

~

patience my fellow malaysians. P1 is here to save us all! and all the other broadband providers that are coming to town. streamyx, u’re going down. now that we have alternatives.

even mr turtle in my name is earl is faster than streamyx =\

no coldplay. no sunburst.

the worst has been confirmed. sunburst’s wildcard ain’t coming to town. so all u people who hoped they would’ve come, sucks to be u right now. the possibility for success looked alright though, with them being in asia around the time of sunburst. but i guess it just didn’t happen

i’m forseeing a lot of tickets being sold at slightly cheaper than the retail price from now til the concert date. thank God i didn’t get my ticket yet.

now only 2 things can make me go for sunburst. if i get a free ticket AND (not or) a good group of my friends are going as well. so *ehem* mel? =D

there are bands who i think will be a hit on that night. like that indo band that sings “kau begitu sempurna, di mataku kau begitu indah…” i do seriously hope it doesn’t rain like it did last year.

sorry to the NERD fans out there. how many of them are there here in malaysia? wonder how many nerd albums have been sold here.

sorry deric. your dream didn’t come true. now lets see whether weezer will come anytime soon =]

still my all time favourite coldplay song =]