Idle Musings: Damn you Apple, and you too Creative

Remember when I lost my Zen a month ago and almost immediately went to get the Zen X-FI as a replacement for it? I based my decision on getting the X-FI instead of other models based on its value for money as it offered much more than any other MP3 player at the $229 range. So as befitting my splendid luck Apple has now come up with the new iPod Nano which not only comes with all the wizz-bangs in the Creative (except of course the X-FI system) but also comes with a video camera. Priced at $228 for the 8gb model it trumps my X-FI for value and also happens to be the first iPod with a similar capacity to a Creative to be similarly priced. And I hardly need to state that the iPod is more attractive as it is a fashion statement of sorts. But that's not all, Creative have now released the X-FI 2, which comes with touch-screen interactivity instead of the clumsy buttons on the original X-FI, which I own. Damned, maybe I shouldn't have rushed to purchase a replacement after all.....My X-FI, new, and obsolete.

Master Chef.....NOT!

Tried to cook a chicken burger for dinner today and since I was too lazy to break out the frying pan I decided to chuck the thing into the microwave and set it for two minutes. The result? Chicken biscuit.....well it's still chicken.....So after lamenting over that wasted piece I decided to persevere and chucked another one in at one minute. It came out hot (undoubtedly) but was kinda soft (like nua nua) so it was back in for another 20 seconds. This time it came out marginally better with a more edible taste but I thought "what the heck, another 20 second shot of radiation". Came out kinda hard this time, first signs of "microwave burning" as I call it but still edible all in all. Next time I think I'll just throw it in for a whole one minute 30 seconds and see what happens.....or I could just get a new frying pan and do it the proper way (the previous owners frying pan looked somewhat careworn with mysterious white stuff flaking off it). Another point I'd like to make, frying stuff with a sauce pan which is not non-stick is not the brightest thing to do.....

"Fly Away From Here"

Ya know sometimes ya just feel like lettin' everythin' go and leavin' on a jetplane to fly away from here, anywhere but here. Now wouldn't that be nice?

Fly Away From Here

By Aerosmith

"Ain't nothin' gonna change, if we stay 'round here"

MANIFEST 09! PICTURES!

So Manifest 09 has come and gone like a quick breeze. It's quite possibly the last time I attend it for a few years as I will be taking my leave from Melbourne sometime in July next year. While not permanent I guess where I end up after National Service very much depends on which way the wind takes me. Which means that it might be my last Manifest. And in some ways this year's Manifest while enjoyable as usual felt a bit melancholic. The crowd was fantastic as usual, cosplayers everywhere but for some reason it felt that the crowd got smaller. Well, since this years Manifest wasn't at Melbourne Uni but at the Showgrounds instead I guess only those with an interest in all things anime bothered to make their annual pilgrimage to Manifest. A bit disappointed with the traders this year as the latest products which I expected to see and probably blow my budget on didn't materialise. Well one of the traders did say that new stuff filters down to Australia real slowly due to it's location "down under" so I guess that's that. If you're on the hunt for brand new merchandise Australia is not the place to be. Damn, and I was all hyped up about getting some K-ON merchandise. Well I did get a few decent buys but all things considered not much, well not much when you compare it to the previous two years in any case. Well enough talk, time for some pictures, which I did not take much of this year too. Here are some of the highlights (don't expect too much as all pictures were taken with my swanky but dated N76 which I bought solely because of look not function and only has a 2mp camera).

Mio from K-ON!

Lucky Star Cheerleaders

Hatsune Miku and dude in Shinsengumi uniform

Random Kimono girlsCardcaptor Sakura and Random Maid Random girls in loli dressRiku from Final Fantasy-X and Yoko from Gurren Lagann

Chi from Chobits and Konata from Lucky Star!

Ouka the Divine Fist from .hack//Legend of the Twilight Bracelet

Mio from K-ON! (again....but it's a good shot so what the hell)

DEFINITELY NOT an Idle Musing: Manifest 2009

Eh wa lao Manifest 2009 is like tomorrow la. KNN lucky I saw the bloody event on Facebook on Monday if not GG already. Basket this year the bloody thing not at Melbourne Uni must travel to Melbourne Showgrounds instead, CCB must buy train ticket again. As though the bloody entry not expensive enough, $50 for three day pass. But nevermind, since confirm my last time going for it for a few years I will take the effort to wake up extra early on one of my free days, will sacrifice the cash to go there and hopefully enjoy myself until sui sui. This year I will definitely take a lot of pics one and post here post there. Shit now must see if my camera got battery or not.....

Not-So Idle Musings: Affirmation

I've realised that I tend to harp on a lot of the negatives which occur in my life, that the foul sequence of events which plague me are more than coincidences. Who else can lose an MP3 player and have his PC crash within a week? And if that's not enough what if I said that the exact same thing happened almost exactly a year ago? What else is there to blame but your own bad luck. I guess you could say that with all the shit happening in my life I've become rather paranoid. A very very sarcastic, cynical and dark humoured person. But I'll try to change that now, no don't expect me to start smiling broadly and stop cussing my ass off, but maybe I'll tone down the cynicism and sarcasm a little (not to mention the knn's and ccb's). It's time to get up and dust myself off. To get moving forward once again. And not to look back.

The Untitled Track

You know, things change as time goes by. Either that or it was never what you thought it was, merely an illusion created by oneself. At the end of the day what you think is yours alone, inference, quite possibly a ways away from the truth. But what is the truth? Everyone has their own version of it. What you believe is not fact, it's personal. That doesn't mean it's false, it's true alright, because you believe it. The same goes with rights and wrongs, black and white. I won't go so far as to say it's all grey, but what's black and white to me may be purple and green to you. I guess what I'm trying to say is "to each his own". We've all got our own problems, but we tend to forget that everyone else has them as well and while you might think your problem is greater than the person next to you that's just what it is, it's only what you think. But don't worry, because he has exactly the same thoughts as you, for he is thinking his problem is greater than yours. While I try to preach understanding in my haphazard way I am of course guilty of being a hypocrite as well. Sure I may say I try to be as impartial as I can my judgement and reasoning will always be based on what I know, what I have experienced. Which is exactly what it is, my experiences, not yours, mine. Now how impartial can that be? As people come and go there are a select few who will always be there. Family, brothers, friends. I don't have any close relatives here so for me down under my family are my friends. Sure it's a dysfunctional family at best but we make do with what we have. Being totally frank had our paths crossed in another time at another place the previous me would have scoffed at the idea of hanging out with these people. People who were afraid to get their hands dirty when they needed to, people who didn't know how it was to work long shifts at manual jobs, people who have never had to scringe and save for the things they wanted, their next meal. It might sound tough but you do what you have to do. Sure I didn't have to do some of the things I did but self-sufficiency has always been high up on my list. No sense in impressing chicks with my parents cash. My parents are closer to 60 than 55, they don't run businesses but instead work for people. They could do with fewer burdens. But as I said before this is my situation. Since coming here I've learned to temper my views. Learnt to see past the surface and to a certain extent become a milder version of my old self. Everyone has got their points, you've just got to see them. Although there might be a great many differences there are equally as many if not more similarities. If we all didn't have our differences something would be very very wrong. We're bound to have our scuffles, disagreements and the like. But what makes people friends is their ability to see past that. There is no taking without first giving. While it might seem like you are always doing the giving, the time will come for others to give too, and for you to receive. And although things may change as time goes by I hope that one thing will always stay the same. That friends, brothers, family will always remain that way.