Nostalgic Cartoons

Remember Smurfs? Voltron? He-Man? Gummi Bears? Duck Tales? Take a stroll down memory lane here.

Long Live The Clam

A group of climate researchers from Bangor University, UK, were studying growth lines in clam shells as part of a project to understand how the climate has changed over the past one thousand years. While at it, they accidentally found this 405-year old (approx.) quahog clam (below). Once officially confirmed its age, it will take its predecessor's (220 years old) place in the Guinness Book of Records. Very sad to say that while the researchers were counting the growth rings (similar to the rings in a tree's trunk) to calculate its age, the clam died.

Photo and info from National Geographic News "Longest-Lived Animal Found - Clam, 405"

The Keris Is Mightier

Based on what I read from Star Online Nation's "Keris tradition to continue", I have the impression that UMNO Youth's Hishammuddin would not only want all non-UMNO members to get used to the Keris waving tradition, probably popularised by him anyway, but also sharing the blame to all parties about sensitive speech making. He mentioned in the article that the youth movement will continue to wave the sword as it is their tradition. Wonder why no one brought that up before the last incident, then.

Read the article and you be the judge. Cannot be commenting anymore, else it would be another reason to blame bloggers in twisting and turning the truth.

At Last, I've Been There...

Finally, Eye On Malaysia
Originally uploaded by IonBuck.

In the beginning, I told myself that I better let the biggest ferris wheel in Malaysia run for a few months before going on it and then I dragged, and dragged and totally forgot about it. All of a sudden, it popped up in my mind again and time was limited as its last operational day is 31 December 2007 (unless our Tourism Ministry decides to extend the timeline, but seems unlikely judging by the lukewarm response).

So I went with my friend two Saturdays ago for a ride and also for some photographic opportunity and here is one of them. What I realised when I came back and browsed at other people's photos of this subject was, I did not move around looking for a more attractive angle. Something I need to improve on! :(

The Petronas Twin Towers were too close to the wheel and the reflection was not the complete wheel. :(

Took the ride up, paid RM30 for two of us, shared the cabin with a foreign speaking couple who shamelessly did some hugging and kissing and some indiscreet caressing (so they thought) and realised the night scene was errr... not interesting. With the name "Eye On Malaysia" I would expect to see a lot of Kuala Lumpur but that was not the case. Things were made worse because it was still drizzling and the cabin was full of drops, plus some swaying, so I couldn't take any decent photos of the outside view. You will just have to trust me that the view from the top is nothing to shout about.

INSANE: Breaking the US$93 Barrier

No kidding. Crude oil prices just keep going higher and higher! It went as high as US$93.20 a barrel! A storm in Mexico caused it to shut off a fifth of its production plus the US dollar hitting an all time low were blamed for this.

Source: Bloomberg.com: Worldwide "Crude Oil Rises to Record Above $93 as Mexico Shuts Production"

Previous oil price tracking in this blog:

1. INSANE: Crude Oil Prices Higher Than All Time
   
2. INSANE: Oil Prices Break US$90
3. INSANE: Oil Prices Set Another Record High
4. INSANE: Oil Prices At All Time High

INSANE: Crude Oil Prices Higher Than All Time

It has hit US$92.22 a barrel! CNNMoney.com stated that this is due to supply and global security concerns, and possibly because of speculation. :(

Previous oil price watch:

1. INSANE: Oil Prices Break US$90
2. INSANE: Oil Prices Set Another Record High
3. INSANE: Oil Prices At All Time High
   

Con of Men #3: Bogus Monks

This is not new and I am sure a lot of us had encountered these bogus monks many times. I can't even keep count anymore. Some would come and offer some small tokens if you were to give any donations in terms of cash.

There was once at 1 Utama where I was sitting down outside a shop and this monk approached me... with a friendly smile. Can't remember what he was offering but I declined. He was a bit persistent but in the end, he gave up and he muttered something, the friendly smile turned into a snarl. Can you believe that? For once I felt good to have turned a "monk" away!

Here is an article from NSTOnline about how these "monks" have become a problem, partly due to the public's encouragement through their innocence and also greed for divine favours. The Metta Lodge Buddhist Centre is doing rounds in Johor to educate the public on what real monks do: no money and material possessions. Only donations in the form of everyday necessities such as food, clothing, etc. Real monks only make their rounds in the morning.

Other cons highlighted in this blog:

1. The Con of Men
   
2. Con of Men #2 - The Motorcycle Beggar
   

A Bit About Cholestrol

Read a bit more about cholestrol from NSTOnline. Some interesting stuff includes:

Cholesterol in itself is not harmful, but too much blood cholesterol is unhealthy.

When cholesterol levels are very high, it may appear as yellow nodules beneath the skin of the elbows, knees or under the eyes.

There are also some causes and preventive measures.

Genting Founder Dead

Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong, 90, the founder of the Genting Highlands resort died at 11:20am today. Rest of the story here and here.

Bikini Origins

Check out the origins of the bikini swimsuit at srslycool website here. Photo showing women in what appear to be bikinis exercising at a Roman heritage site:

Con of Men #2: The Motorcycle Beggar

'Beggars' like this cause people to no longer trust the real ones. From Star Online Nation "Beggar rides motorcycle on his rounds":

Even beggars have to change with the times. China Press reported that a man in his 30s used a motorcycle to get around.

It reported the so-called “beggar” rode his motorcycle and tried his fortune door-to-door at high-end residential areas in Bukit Mertajam, Penang.

A housewife known only as Huang said the man would only stretch out his hands for alms at houses where luxury cars are parked at the porch.

According to the daily, he would demand between RM10 and RM20 during his stop at each house.

The man, who spoke in Hokkien, would trick his victim into believing that he had failed to land jobs after just recovering from a serious illness.

He also cheated unsuspecting residents that he was jobless and had young children at home to look after.

Previous Con of Men here.

Space Participant Misses Teh Tarik and Roti Canai

Our very own angkasawan, or to the rest of the world (probably with the exception of Russia) space participant, misses our teh tarik and roti canai during his short stint in space. He said that in a very short conversation with a group of Malaysia Amateur Radio Transmitter Society (MARTS) members.

Source: Star Online Nation " 'Superman' misses teh tarik and roti canai"
Previous posts here and here.

Handphone Hunt #5 - Nokia 6120 Classic

3 November 2007 Update: A comprehensive review of this phone by phoneArena.com available here.
It is here! I just saw a full page advertisement in the papers just now. It is priced at RM1,099. Should drop another RM100 or so in another few months, I guess? :P The phone's got 3G and HSDPA (3.5G, it seems), 2 megapixel camera with LED flash! YES! LED flash! If I get it, I will have a torch light at all times! It also runs on Symbian S60 which will allow a whole load of software to be available for this phone... interesting!

It does, however, looks like it lacks in the design department. The silver one looks a tad nicer than the black one. Hang on... I took notice of yet another upcoming phone. The Sony Ericsson K770i... hmmm... need to learn more about that, too. :D

Photo from Nokia Malaysia website.

Previous Handphone Hunt posts:

1. Handphone Hunt #1
2. Handphone Hunt #2 - Nokia N73
   
3. Handphone Hunt #3 - Sony Ericsson K800i/K810i
4. Handphone Hunt #4 - Sony Ericsson K530i
   

INSANE: Oil Prices Break US$90

Never before it is this high... topped out at US$90.02 per barrel!

From CNNMoney.com
Previous insane oil prices posts here and here.

Spider-Man Will Return

No dates on when it will be released but director Sam Raimi confirmed that there will be a fourth movie, which he will leave to others to write and direct. Phew!

Source: IMDb.com "Spider-Man To Return for a "Different" Fourth Film"