too long to tweet =3

Was going through my old Sydney photos when I came across this quote:

Mankind was destined to live on the edge of perpetual disaster. We are mankind because we survive. We do it in a half-assed way, but we do it - James A. Michener

It makes me crack up when I read it - mainly due to the bluntness of the statement, but it also gives some food for thought.

And so, I think.

on headphones

I really want a pair.. mainly cause I feel that I have to return my ti's Sony headphones (although I know he's currently using another one.. Sennheiser I think, not sure.)

Also, I would like one to call my own since Sibelius 1.0 has been adopted by someone else that hopefully will love it better than I did. Budget range would be still the same, I think I'd go *max* RM250 (or a little more.. I'm not sure if I'm willing to push it to RM300)

Hmm, price aside.. what would I use the cans for? Would probably use them in the office, to cancel out some voices I prefer not to hear simply because. =P And besides I need something to help me forget where I am (not that where I am is a terrible place, but music can transport me into another dimension that allows me to function better, holds true when I'm coding - once I'm in, I'm in for awhile. and loving every second of it! =P) and focus.

What I listen to? Right now I'm into more musicals, but after VGL I'm drifting back into orchestral/classical/game music, maybe the occasional swing, and finally rock first, then pop. So a good range of treble and bass, not that much into bass, I'd rather more trebles - it's meant to complement, not take over the entire piece. Plus I need clarity on the vocals. So I guess higher end of the frequency band. Will be listening to mostly MP3, otherwise FLAC before I finally get around to converting it to MP3.

Preferences so far (based on my limited time spent on homework and the random web trawling) hmm I would say definitely full headphones, open circumaural otherwise closed would be ok - though it kinda means my ears will get stuffy after awhile.. comfort yes, aesthetics factor yes (preferably in white or some *other* colour apart from black - yea I know, I don't keep white things white for very long though) and some form of adjustment for my fairly small head (hahaha a little less capacity, a little more stupidity please! XD)

On with the shortlist (I know some will not be within my budget range, and I am shallow - I chose based on looks for now.. specs I'll have to do my homework and trim accordingly at some other time)

So far, this is what I've set my eyes on (just one, of course..)

beyerdynamic DT235

Denon AH-P372

Grado SR60/SR60i

VGL Kuala Lumpur 2010

It was easily the GREATEST video games concert EVER in Malaysia. Because it's the first to arrive here, and the performers were top notch.

Place
The plenary hall @ KLCC could house more people, and the rules certainly weren't as strict as the ones at MPO. However the sound quality could be better, cause you could hear some sounds louder than the rest. For our end (the right end) the choir was abit drowned out by the strings. Apparently in the middle the voices were clearest, but the strings were all over the place. For me, the sound didn't really penetrate the back parts of the hall so it didn't come across strong enough. But the sheer pleasure of just listening to music I love, adore, recognize, respect and fangirl over was worth it. It struck plenty of chords with me. That's what's most important.

Randoms 1
Met Eu Wye at the front door while Reeis was buying the glowy necklace. XD At this point was thinking the merchandise was a little steep. But seriously considered getting the CD.

A little later, saw ONEE-CHAN and her friends! XD OMG we were going "zomgzomg!" XD she got complimentary tix too, how lucky! XD She probably died and returned to life a couple of times when they were performing One-Winged Angel

During the intermission, I SAW ALEX! hahaha yet another surprise!

We went in just in time to listen to the SNES medley, brought back alot of memories. METROID! AND SPACE INVADERRSSS!! The producer of the show Tommy Tallarico was a very good host. And the conductor Jack Wall did a very good job too. Must also take the opportunity to applaud our choir and ochestra, they did an excellent job! Wouldn't expect any less, really =)

Music
You have no idea how much all of us screamed, cheered and applauded at the music. In no particular order, but asterisks define the AWESOMEST PIECEST IMO

SNES Medley
This was the first starter piece to get everyone warmed up - haha which also kinda reminded us of how old we really are. Being able to recognize Streets of Rage, Mortal Kombat, Metroid~ among other things.

**God of War
I needn't comment on this, once again a job well done - very good choice here. Very recent, very popular and very good arrangement. The accompanying video montage was good though, from the game yes, but very very fitting.

**Halo
So many fanboys were screaming over this! But I have to admit this mashup's arrangement was very nicely done.. the blue lights were slightly annoying though. The strings were very emotive, and set the pace for the music very nicely.

**Shadow of Colossus
-Lauria Intravia's singing voice was absolutely shockingly good. Was blown away by her voice, it gave me the shivers.

**Kingdom Hearts
-plenty of fanboys (well at least the one next to me) was singing Utada's lyrics to the orchestral version of the song. Thank goodness I was too absorbed by the music to be paying attention, the arrangement was excellent =) Thanking Kaoru Wada for the original piece, but listening to it LIVE is always another matter altogether.

**Chrono Trigger/Chrono Cross (encore)
-this one warrants additional comments. Laura Intravia (playing the piccolo, dressed as a pretty cute Link), Hibino Norihiko on the saxophone, Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall on the guitar. AS an encore, I definitely wasn't expecting this one, and all of us practically screamed in delight when we heard the all-too-familiar tunes being played. Especially Chrono Cross, which holds a special meaning for me - by far, my favourite non-FF RPG by Squaresoft (at the time, not yet known as Square Enix)

**ONE WINGED ANGEL BLACK MAGES STYLE
-when Tommy introduced this song, I'm willing to bet mah soul that the *entire* hall saw Heaven right in front of them. For me, the winning point of this performance was the fact that it wasn't *just* the regular orchestral arrangement, but the Black Mages arrangement. Rawk on YEAH! The choir was good, "veni veni venias, ne me mori fascias" and the buildup and the atmosphere of the piece was very well done. Praises all round on this one. Absolutely lovely, and I told Reeis that onee-chan must be dying right now from happiness.

Eh wtf la why use cosplay and fanart! Just leave the original VGL logo there and focus on your playing! I didn't even wanna look up after seeing the 2nd bad cosplay. We were laughing but ignoring it because the music arrangement was that good - no amount of fugly cosplay is gonna distract ME!

Sonic
Plenty of golden rings flying around! XD Memories, and I didn't know the newer Sonic series were so prettifully done XD

Mario
hahah part of me felt so old looking at all the old Mario games and actually recognizing them! XD We could all probably hum the tune out together in unison XD Mario Kart, Mario Galaxy, Super Mario World, Wario! Stuff like that, omgomgomgomgomg! XD

**Zelda
-First performance with Laura at the piccolo. This was when we realized, she is truly talented. And she makes a very cute Link. (haha, onee-chan was going "I can't stop staring at her legs!")

**Castlevania (encore)
This also made me jump for joy, an iconic piece from an iconic game. The guitar work (Tommy is good at this) was also real good XD

Space Invaders
Got this random dude from the stage to play Space Invcaders while they played the accompanying music. So the guy was running around on stage and holding the controller playing Space Invaders.. Funny as!

GUITAR HERO YAWLS
Earlier that day they had a Guitar Hero competition, and the winner was invited on stage to play "Jump!" (haha from GLEEE!) on Expert mode! Oh Vincent, that was so close! 30k points and you woulda pwned AND gotten the gift bag (which he got anyway) but the gift bag contents were awesome!

Megaman
"This came has the most franchises *ever* for a videogame!"
"FINAL FANTASYY!"
"haha, that only had thirteen, this one has way more!"
*laughs all round*
"Ladies and gentlemen, presenting... MEGAMAN!"
*CHEERS ALL ROUND*

**Warcraft
The trailer they used was the initial video used to promote Warcraft methinks. And at the end, a question: "For the Horde? Or For the Alliance?" Trust me if he did go on I expect alot of people would start fighting! =P

Tetris
Whoever was playing this on screen seriously sucked. But the music brought back OH SO MANY MEMORIEEESS!

**Metal Gear Solid
I died when I heard they were performing MGS. Also loved very much the bit when the box was around, and the soldier (complete with the exclamation mark) came on stage acting their bit out. Hilarious, and great great music! Thinking of the box, and it appeared JUST as I was asking for it! XD

**Snake Eater
Another fangirly moment seeing the composer of MGS performing on the sax. Smexiness factor +++++! And besides, with him at the helm there was no way this piece was going to flop. True enough, it delivered!

Autograph Session
A quick signing session, and I just gave a one-liner to thank them for their awesomeness and trying to make sure they put KL on their venue list for VGL 2011! =P
They were selling the hugearse bunting for RM30 though, kinda damn. Already bought the CD so I got them to sign that instead. VGL autographed CD FTW X3X3XDXD

prick up your ears and listen

To the peace on midday Saturday.

That was some terrific sleep =3 Good morning world!

Went out to drinks with reeis yesti, and I must say we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Frank was somewhat surprised to see me I guess, since I only frequent Sid's on Tuesdays, but he seemed happy enough XD Love how he greets everyone with a "Good Morning!" Had a pint and some chicken wings, while really talking about everything to do with work and work ethics, and not losing yourself to your job. Which reminded me of something the Devil once said to me, which goes along the lines of "It's not how you screw up, but how you recover from it. After all, everyone's bound to screw up sometime. " True enough, and yet another gem which I keep in mind and take to heart whenever I can. Makes life less stressful. =P

In the car earlier, reeis was like "Shall we move in together?" which is an appealing offer indeed.. Would like to move out sometime, maybe after I get a car and more money to at least support rent for a couple of months. We've given ourself some time to work on it, maybe the middle of next year? 

After I got back home, decided to listen to some of my freshly-obtained music. First up was the soundtrack to "Funny Girl", mainly featuring Barbra Streisand. She has a great voice, and the score is good! It does sound like something of the 60s, hahah! Could be the recording quality or something but it's not a bad thing - adds to the feel of the music. Actually decided to give it a listen because I was blown away by Glee's version of "Don't Rain On My Parade" and also remembering a performance by not one, but two great acts at No Black Tie! More recently was a rendition by Margie Sergers (she has one awesome voice! and a very important person in the jazz scene in Indon) and also the first time I heard it was at a performance by Llew Marsh & co. @ No Black Tie (which I would dearly love to go to again, I think there's one sometime mid-April) where they performed the song "People", and that struck a chord with me too. "People who need people, are the luckiest people in the world!"

"wake me up, before you go go!"

Typing from a Logitech G110. I like this keyboard, but it's not mine. Such sweet shiney lights and nice little media controls. But mostly, nice shiney lights. Interesting to see gaming shortcut keys (aka macro keys) and what is this funky stuff! Looks better in a dark room cause that's when the light colours really show up nicely. The feel of the keys are slightly sticky but I guess it'll loosen up quickly enough. I like the sound of my fingers tapping on them too, thought not as fluid as shirohiro's but it's a different kinda good. 

project tako's finally done, and looking good =) still have some aesthetic and techie bugs to smoothen out, nothing impossible. =) And *finally* got my season parking pass today! omg no more parking at dodgy areas and the 5-min walk from dumpster-smelling lot to office. Well it's not really that dodgy but it literally stinks. 

Back at Sid's after a 4-week hiatus, and had a Singaporean in our midst (who btw we thought was gonna flake us once more for Times Square!) and man I feel sluggish dancing on the floor with him as lead. I. is. need. practice. Got a message from Jordy at about 8 asking if I was gonna be there, hahah! When I got there I was surprised to see such an empty dance floor, but it livened up quickly with the appearance of the Mama Fab XD and then there was hocksiew's BIRTHDAY JAAAAMMM XD And and and finally I found out the name of that song, it's Pink Martini - Sympathique (thankies Chris! both for the song title and the dance)

Tuesdays are the high point of the midweek, to get me ready soaring for Fridaaaaaaaaaayy =3

I wonder how el's doing. 

compilation of slightly longer tweets?

ohmygawd I finally got the much anticipated tickets to VideoGamesLive! In 2 weeks' time, at KLCC - I guess it's also good timing since WCG is during that weekend too. *and* there's PC Fair that weekend too. Talk about happening.

Been wanting to go to a videogames concert ever since I missed the one in Sydney 2007, which according to Sherlyn was the best since they performed all the famous music from the FF series/Chrono Cross/SE series of games, I nearly died on the spot knowing that I could've spent my Easter break there (haha risking the wrath of my parents though). So now that the chance is finally here, I am *definitely* not going to miss this for the world!  Was quite excited as I hopped by the ticket office to buy it, which happens to be quite near my workplace. 

Got a little grumpy at the prat today, he kept going "eh so cute wan" when I happen to be editing a live file. If I really wanted to listen to that, I could (and would prefer to) get my baby cousin to do it for me. 

Also finished watching Stargate Atlantis Season 1 last night, omg excitingness! Meant to watch the 2nd season tonight but chores got in the way (bah!).. 

Tonight's also the first night kor's on night shift, so it's just ronery me to work now, no more driver and no more "Breaking The Law!" (as he puts it >_> which is actually a song by Judas Priest.. it's pretty decent, but since that time it's been more of a joke between us - me and the fatties, that is) 

Guama's pottering about my room as usual, thinking of ways to pack my already pretty cluttered room. 

Also got a 500GB Seagate Freeagent Go, haven't named it yet. Yet another silver-white addition to my gadget family. What shall I call it?