Java tsunami death toll increases

Please say a prayer for the victims of the latest tragedy in Indonesia.

Yesterday, when I first heard about the tsunami that hit Java, I didn't think it was that serious.

Today read that the death toll from has now reached at least 463, with nearly 280 people missing.

The cause of the tsunami was an undersea earthquake with a magnitude 7.7 quake, which created waves more than six feet high.

TAGS:Disaster Earthquake Indonesia Tsunami

Something new and some news

1. Notice anything new about my blog?

A few visitors mentioned that my blog looks boring without a banner. Found this picture of palm trees, which I had taken sometime back. Yep! I have a new banner.

2. Some people are of the opinion that having a blog with your own domain name means moving up to the next level of blogging. They sneer at the poor people with a Blogspot blog (like mine). Now I am one of them - the elite. I too have a domain name for my blog now: ahoklah.co.nr and look down on the others. ha ha ha. Actually it links back to my Blogspot blog.

It's totally FOC (free of charge) thanks to the good guys at CO.NR Free Domain Name.

3. I have been trying to find a picture of the World's first solar-powered motorbike on the net but couldn't find it. Finally got my hands on a copy of the NST that carried the story and scanned the picture. Called the Turtle, it has a top speed of around 90 km/hr. The Turtle is manufactured by SOLARin Holdings (M) Sdn Bhd at their plant in Pahang and is expected to cost around RM3,000. Another first from Malaysia.


from the NST, Monday, July 10, 2006. p. 36.

4. Woke up this morning to find that the haze has come back to Malaysia again. Bring out the air filters and ionisers again.

5. Noticed this in University Malaya sometime back.

Can anyone tell me what it means? No, there's no First Aid box inside, though I did notice a broom.



TAGS: Blogs Domain name Freebies News New look Solar energy Solarin

Hard Gay World

Forget Mawi, there is a new guy taking the World by storm. Actually, no one outside Malaysia knows who Mawi is anyway.



Hard Gay, Japanese comedian Razor Ramon’s (pronounced as Lazor) alter-ego, is fast becoming a Worldwide phenomenon. He even has his own Wikipedia page.

With his trademark tight black leather outfit and hip thrusting antics, he sets out with a new mission everytime.

The first time I heard of him was on a Malaysian blog (I can't remember which). It was a clip of him visiting Yahoo's Tokyo office where he tries to appear in a Yahoo commercial- without sucess. Watch it here in case you haven't seen it before. Hilarious. He's crazy.

Here's another clip where he tries to help promote a new ramen store.

BTW, his real name is Masaki Sumitani and ....Surprise! He's not really homosexual.

Say! Say! Say! Say!

TAGS: Hard Gay Humour Japan Razor Ramon

Unusual meme

I usually stay away from memes but this one in Azlynne's blog was quite interesting because it is unusual.

Here's the deal. If you comment here:
1. I'll respond with something random about you.
2. I'll challenge you to try something.
3. I'll pick a color that I associate with you.
4. I'll tell you something I like about you.
5. I'll tell you my first/clearest memory of you.
6. I'll tell you what animal you remind me of.
7. I'll ask you something I've always wanted to ask you.
8. I'll pick a song that reminds me of you.
And how does this propagate?
Well, u drop me a comment, I'll respond with those 8 points, and in "payment" YOU post this same deal on YOUR blog.

Here's what she wrote about me/my blog (unedited):

Adam> heehehe well glad u overcame yr hatred for memes for this most unusual one! :-) It is, after all, a great challenge for me... but let's see how this goes...
1. RANDOM: You helped me educate myself a bit more on the "i love you" vs "satanic" sign on a recent post
2. CHALLENGE: this is a bit of a cheat cos it was featured prominently by Dariush: i challenge u to post just a wee bt more often that u have in the past. *grin!*
3. COLOR: blue. like the logo that appears on the tab when i load your blog page :-) used to say "OK" (or was it OK LAH?) and now is juat "A")
Ans: It was "ao".
4. LIKE: i like the simplicity of your posts. i feel you're writing for yourself, as opposed to posturing for what you think "people out there" want to read.
5. MEMORY: Stumbling across yr blog while checking out the MyCen blog directory.
6. ANIMAL: tough one, seeing as i don't usually associate people with animals, heeehhee!
7. QUESTION: what on earth is that picture u use as your blogger avatar?
Ans: That's a pic of me taken while snorkelling off Pulau Kapas in Terrangannu.
8. SONG: gotta be Hotel California by the Eagles.. but the live version from teh Hell Freezes Over album (i *assume* that's the album u got cheap-cheap? that's the only live version i know, and i'm amazed u haven't heard that version before).
(if these responses are weird, it's not *just* the meme or just me... it's me plus vodka plus Milli Vanilli, heehehehe!!)
Saturday, July 15, 2006 8:00:08 PM

Here's my reply to Lynne:

1. Random: Like you, a couple of years ago, I was jobless for about a year. Did some part time jobs and wrote for an IT magazine.

2. Challenge: Come up with a new layout for your blog. Time to move away from the generic Blogger template.

3. Color: White, because it's the predominant colour of your blog.

4. Like: Your honest posts about being a Melayu but not feeling like one because I guess that's something similar to what I face too - a non-bumi married to a Melayu lady.

5. Memory: I went over to your blog after you left a comment (can't remember when), liked your posts and added you to my blogroll.

6. Animal: Had me thinking for a while because I can't recall you writing about any animal. At first I was thinking of "Bat" because you like Meat Loaf but then I thought the Lion, your zodiac sign. Brave and proud.

7. Question: I was wondering why you wrote "later Chicago Illinois?" under 'About me'

8. Song: It has got to be Meat Loaf's "Two out of Three Ain’t Bad.” I remember you mention somewhere that it is your favourite song. Not my fav but I love it too.

Welcome anyone else interested to continue this madness.

TAGS: Meme

Eye for an eye

I finally watched the movie Munich on DVD. Directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Eric Bana (Hulk, Troy) as the lead character, the film was released late last year but I don't think it will be shown on Malaysian screens.



Reviews tell us that the movie is "Inspired by true events" and it opens with the Munich Massacre during the 1972 Olympics in Germany when members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage by the Palestinian terrorist organization Black September. The film follows a covert Mossad squad, which are ordered to track and kill a list of 11 Black September members thought to be responsible for Munich (and hence the title of the film).

Without giving much away, one scene that I found to be really interesting was the converstation between "Avner", the leader of the team and a PLO member. It's interesting because here Spielberg tries to give a Palestinian viewpoint - about someone fighting for his right to a home. See what happens to the guy later.

The movie is based on the book Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team by George Jonas. Some say that it is not realistic. But I discovered that there was an - "Operation Wrath of God".

Anyway, today I read about Israeli Interior Minister Roni Bar-On's announcement on radio that "Nasrallah decided his own fate" and "We will settle our accounts with him when the time comes." FYI, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah is the head of the Hizbollah.

Mahatma Gandhi once said "An eye for an eye, makes the whole World blind," but I guess, no one is listening.

Get the Munich DVD (Widescreen Edition) here.

Related Link: An eye for an eye

TAGS: Israel Movie Munich Terrorism

Mumbai

Yesterday, Tuesday the 11th of July, while driving to work, I heard the news on the radio - about a series of train bombings killing hundreds of people in Mumbai (upto 200 on the 13th).

All I could think of at that time was... "not again!".

In 2003, more than 55 people died in twin bomb blasts. In 1993, around 250 people died and nearly 1,000 were injured in a series of bomb explosions in the same city.

Emailed a few of my friends working there but haven't received a reply from any one as yet. Not sure whether they travelled by train to their places of work.

My prayers goes out for those who perished in those blasts and their families.

Islamic militant groups fighting Indian rule in Kashmir are the main suspects. However, two of the more famous, viz., Lashkar-e-Toiba and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, have denied any involvement in the blasts.

Whoever it was, hope those bastards go to hell straightaway.

Related Links:
- A day of Terror in India: Mumbai and Srinagar Blasts
- Mumbai bombers 'will never win'

TAGS: Terrorism Mumbai

Miss my other half

WARNING: Emo post ahead

My wife just smsed me from Amsterdam airport. She's drinking latte at some cafe at the airport there waiting for her connecting flight to UK.

I only get to see her and the kids on weekends (people refer to us as weekend husbands here in my organisation). This weekend I will be alone with my two babies while my wife attends a conference in London.



She also plans to get the tenancy agreement for a house there - a UK visa requirement.

Miss you darling. Good luck with your presentation.

TAGS: Conference UK Babies