Thursday, May 29, 2008

Resurrected 2000 CW

- Never Stop Dreaming -

Having lost my 3 year old MADE IN JAPAN PSP and my beloved headphones to some jerk which I will never know his face, I can only put some blind faith to Master Karma to deliver him a punishment worst than death, leprosy would be ideal.

Living thru some troubled times here, my strength have indeed taken a beating but it has not wavered. I am still going strong and my dreams are still pretty much keeping me alive.

Years ago, the abscence of colors are my prefered choice of association as it simply blends and pollenate mystery. Overtime, I have taken a rather deep interest in purity and simplicity which presumably started when the 1st white PSP was added to my cause. Then the Macbook, the seasons and the snow came to extend that affection further.

Being robbed against my will of my precious form of entertainment, LOST the series seems to be a good substitute until the ISOs and CSOs start creeping into my dreams. I knew I had to resurrect it, the white PSP. But no it will never be the same because I had held it, kissed it and nurtured it for almost 3 years with tender loving care and not a scratch or chip because it has never been fallen. Encased in Logitech Polycarbonate case, decorated with intricate Tokidoki designs and polished with a microfibre cloth, it was my favorite toy since my Minidisc Player.

So for the sake of "The Resurrection" and despite my harsh verbal desocration of MADE IN CHINA (MIC) stuffs, my constant propaganda and blasphemy, I am forced to walk the humble route of shame. My face sunk deep in my hands, my head held low in disgust and my ego crumbled to nano pieces, I settled for a MIC PSP and Ipod TOUCH.

Not something that I can be proud of and not something that I would want to promote, I simply have absolutely ZERO faith in Chinese products. The lingering thought of these gadgets failing are so regular it has almost become a self-fulfilling prophecy if that day of the LAST JUDGEMENT should ever come.

2 full weeks of research to "custom firmware" my PSP had proven that I have not lost the blazing trail of Dark Alex's wonders. From the initial research, to the memory card purchase to the final PSP purchase, I have spent a considerate amount of effort. Even when checking the physical PSP before purchase, a full 10 minutes was expanded to magnify every detail, lines and screws to uncover any flaws.

Finally, the white glossy PSP 2000 Ceramic White (CW) woke up to continue the legacy of the Great PSP 1000 CW. Tweaked as I did, the minutes and hours simpled ticked away but there is still no progress to defy SONY's Official 3.90 firmware. Holding on to the legacy, I perserved and researched and researched. My efforts eventually paid off when the answer came in a string of DOS prompts - "mspformat" and "msinst F msipl.bin".

These were the necessary commands to de-partition and format the memory stick and to write the code so that the PSP will be able to boot externally with the help of the recovery aka "PANDORA" battery. As the percentage rolls steadily, the "Complete" status eventually appeared in the MS-DOS command box and I knew this was it. Memory stick, "checked!", Pandora, "checked!" and "VIOLA!". The options screen appeared and an "X" button was entered where the flashing and installation of the scripts scrolled in white texts on the PSP's screen.

Welcome to 3.71 M33-2 which was later updated to 3.80 M33-5. Now the new legend begins...

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Point Break 2

- Never Stop Dreaming -

I can't believe my eyes when I saw that startling news sometime ago. Now I can finally put those ney sayers to rest. Point Break 2, the sequel to the original iconic movie that gained an instant cult following will be produced by a Singapore company. Not much is revealed as we speak but the original one was possibly the best ever surfing movie written by Peter Iliff. So I am pretty surprised that he actually decided to reprise the master piece with a part 2 as most sequels sucks.

The original Point Break was one film that locked in a huge pop culture success that thrived for many years. Ever since then there were not even a single surfing movie that came close. 1991, more than 15 years ago...I could still recall the scenes of the final journey where Keanu watches Bodhi sets out to ride the biggest waves ever.

Yeap indeed I am proud that the little island where I was born is constantly spinning crazy tales that still continues to drop jaws internationally. The Integrated Resorts, The F1 races, the first A380 monster to arrive in Narita Airport and now Point Break 2. *Clap* *Clap* *Clap* Way to go SG...I have to salute you on these.

Ok ok, aside the celebrations and international recognition, I have come to ponder over some uncertainties to quench my pessimistic nature.

1. With regards to the recent tragedies brought by Tsunamis, what impact or significances does surfing movies have?

2. Of all the known surfing spots, where exactly does Singapore fit in?

3. Why the 15 year break before a sequel?

4. Of all the production companies, how did the SG one secure it?

Well these are my 2 cents worth of thoughts so far but of the 4 I guess the one that deserves the most brain damage would have to be no. 2. How was Singapore even consider for a SURFING MOVIE where all I see are the impressive SGreans' ability to surf the internet. A vibrant and advanced country where paper chasers are the common norm, minorities like our friends, neighbours and colleagues who chose to skim board and pursue other talents are often frown upon...my my my I seriously see a parody of disparity here but hey, that's just my own perception.

ALrite conflicting interests aside, the bottomline is that I would be anticipating the upcoming Point Break 2 with an open mind. Thumbs up for SG on this one though.

Monday, May 19, 2008

良好の週末でした

- Never Stop Dreaming -

先週の土曜日僕は友達のお店に行った。あの友達は日本へ来たら、良い友達のうちに一人だ。彼に知り合っては半年だけど、僕たちはいろいろなことをやったぞ。先月の花見バーベキューは彼のおかけでだよ。とにかく彼は土曜日の言葉を言ったら、僕は驚いたけど、嬉しかった。彼はね、僕に会ったら「イケ面」と言っていた。最初ね僕はあの新しい言葉の意味をわからないので、電池辞書で確認した笑顔を向けた。

驚いたの理由はね「イケ面」は「Cool-looking」ということだ。実は僕は「イケ面」じゃねよと思ったが、眠いだけだ。しかしこの事実誰にも知らないそうだ。

嬉しいな理由はいつもカッコ良くないと思うの僕は誰かほめてくれたら、久しぶりの感じだった。

あの感じを持てて、自信もレベルアープだ。しかし僕はすごく眠いから、残念なことに何でもしないだ。

この以外今あの事件まだ考えているよね、実際に考えらすにいられないだ。いいぇ、以上のが違うよ、僕の荷物が盗られたの事件だ。よく考えて見つけないなら、新しいの買うしょうがないなぁ。それから多分新しいPSPを買うかもしれない。メモリカードも、ケースも...

Saturday, May 17, 2008

花見 BBQ Chikuma Park Photos

- Never Stop Dreaming -

Here's the photos I promised...not quite up to the standard I wanted but this is probably my first major night shoot so it took me quite a while to get accustomed to the settings without the use of flash. Had to account for the aperture speed and the movement of the subjects. In the end, I realized that night shoots are fun but will probably take a while to pick it up as I am not comfortable with using the flash.

Enjoy



















Tuesday, May 13, 2008

モーカサメ

- Never Stop Dreaming -

On the road to recovery, to preserve my precious face, taking my skin tone into consideration, I have been presented with a rather stringent and simple fare from various sources. My mum, my aunties, friends, etc. have advised me to refrain from certain food products so that the inevitable scar will be less obvious. But since the damage had already been given a permanent resting place on my face, I can only make it less obvious to console the vanity side of me.

You see I am a perfectionist and imperfections and abominations are not desired much less imprinted on me. *Sigh* I am flabbergasted but I can only credit the whole incident to my own misjudgment.

Ok back to the topic...my simple daily fare include veggies, fruits and cooked fish. Soy, soy related products, beans, bean related products, seafood, fungus, chicken and beef are excluded from my diet. Even sashimi and sushi are not spared so I have to go to the supermarket and grab the various supply of fishes and veggies to cook.

On a constant staple of Salmons, and the other regular fishes, I grew thin on the taste of cooked fish. Then one fine day I chanced upon this weird looking juicy and succulent milky fish steak. The cut were thick slabs of meat like beef or pork but the color was milky with read streaks like veins. Ooooh....it looked really really yummy but I have absolutely no idea what it was as I do not have the tendency to check the species of food that I consume especially if all the fishes here taste so good. Besides it's only a measly ¥158 (SGD$2) for 2 huge slabs of it.



Back home I tossed some oil into the pan, washed the fish and rubbrd some salt and pepper before frying it. The meat was rather springy and not flaky like regular fish meat so I presumed this had to be a huge fish. When it's done I took one enthusiastic bite into it and VIOLA! This is indeed one tasty fish. The portion near the end with the prominent read streaks tasted the best. Can't explain it but it tasted like milky fish eggs (not roe) fused into the meat.

Liked the taste of it so much went ahead to run a check on it. Holy cow...hailing from Miyagi Prefecture, this is the infamous shark steak courtesy of the blue shark. Didn't really realize that sharks can be eaten other than sharks' fins. This is definitely better than sharks' fins. But according to a report on the net, predators high up in the food chain in the ocean tends to contain a rather high level of mercury so I shall refrain from it after finishing my fridge supply.

Yummy.

Monday, May 5, 2008

4th of May's tragedy

- Never Stop Dreaming -

On this day I was so down on luck that I broke my head, left me with a 5 stitch gash. The reason was stupid so I shall skipped it altogether. And that's not the end, I got my beloved PSP, my headphones and my treasured flashlight stolen. Talk about bad luck, it just keeps piling up. Walking into a nearby convenient store with half a bloodied face and an arm full of blood, I became the horrid sight of a massive gang fight victim. No it's just my stupidity and not a nasty gang clash and I was pretty guilty of messing up the entire convenient with my fresh red blood.

The little trickles of fresh blood bear so much red that I had witnessed in my life, I can only say those droplets were the most beautiful colors of red I have seen. An ambulance was called because I looked as if I was about to pass out with that much blood oozing out. I survived but I am trashed because the unnecessary hospital bills, ambulance bills, and other emotional injuries...*sigh*

What have I done to deserve such a nasty fate...if God is seriously around, then perhaps he was busying playing his PS3 when I got injured. Or can I attribute it to karma for all those little pesky ants, insects and mosquitos that I have innocently killed.

Whatever the case, I am really really down right not. I am not alright and I am not fine but then again I do not want anyone to send me any well wishes and such asking me if I am alrite. I will survive for now but I will seriously miss those food that I must refrain in the course to recovery.

God doesn't bless, he just hangs around and drink Kilkenny.



I have lost my beautiful face and my pride...